Chapter 516

In the twelfth year of Great Xia, December 29, just before dawn.

The eastern, southern, and northern city gates of Beishuocheng began suffering the first wave of relentless arrow barrages from the Xia Army.

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“Hold the line! Front ranks, raise shields—just hold!”

“Everyone, lower your heads and stay behind the wall!”

“Don’t move. As long as the enemy doesn’t get close, don’t move.”

“Rear archers, fire arrows to slow their advance—hurry, hurry, hurry!”

………………

Compared to the smaller gates on the north and south, the eastern main gate was now under the most terrifying assault; atop the wall, dozens of armored officers moved within the formation, shouting orders relentlessly.

Whether in bowmaking or arrowcraft, Daya’s standards surpassed Beishuo’s; if there had been any lingering doubt before, after the two major battles at Zhongyang the day before and Bai Mu City last night, everyone in Beishuo had accepted this fact.

So, matching Daya in an arrow formation was out of the question.

Beishuo’s defenders clearly understood this; as soon as Daya’s arrow rain descended, the front-line soldiers immediately raised tall shields, while others either crouched beneath the wall or hid behind the shields—only a handful periodically fired cold arrows through gaps in the wall, trying to slow Daya’s advance.

Clang… clang… clang…………

Daya’s continuous arrow rain either embedded itself in the wall or struck the shields; very few managed to hit the defenders.

“Rear archers, keep firing! Front ranks, set up ladders and battering rams—attack the wall!”

Yet, Daya never intended to breach the wall with arrows alone.

In midair, Liu Yuan saw the front-line soldiers within fifty meters of the wall; after giving his order, he leapt down first, landing directly atop the wall.

Boom…………

Liu Yuan had only just broken through to Xianyang this year; with his Golden Bone heritage and Sacred Pattern enhancement, his strength barely reached the sixth jun—unremarkable among Xianyang cultivators, but on this wall, he was invincible.

As he landed, a powerful shockwave erupted beneath his feet, flinging over a dozen Beishuo soldiers ten meters around him into the air.

“So Lu Yang was right—the Beishuo wall is strange…”

Yet Liu Yuan’s face showed no triumph; instead, he stared at the ground, his expression growing heavier.

With over five jun of force, even the thickest cast-iron wall should have dented under his foot—but this Beishuo wall showed not a single deformation.

Boom…………

“This wall is mostly poured with hundred-forged iron slurry; after over a century of inheritance, Beishuo’s resources are truly astonishing!”

After Liu Yuan, Yue Feng and Xiao Kangcheng also jumped down; Yue Feng slashed the ground with his blade and saw over a hundred silver forging patterns exposed beneath, his tone filled with awe.

The entire left army, excluding Commander Xia Chuan, had ten Xianyang cultivators: Xu Ning, Liu Yuan, Yue Feng, Zhou Yuan, Meng Yi, Zhao Long, Hou Tong, Mu Longhe, Mu Qinghe, and Xiao Kangcheng.

Since the attack came from three sides, troops had to be evenly distributed; before dawn, Xia Hong had already deployed them:

Liu Yuan, Yue Feng, and Xiao Kangcheng led twenty-two thousand elite Daya troops to assault the eastern main gate, under Xia Hong’s personal command; Xia Chuan, with Xu Ning, Zhou Yuan, and Meng Yi, led the newly formed First, Second, and Third Battalions of the left army—fifteen thousand men—to attack the northern gate; Mu Longhe, with Zhao Long, Hou Tong, and Mu Qinghe, led the newly formed Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Battalions of the left army—fifteen thousand men—to attack the southern gate.

Daya knew Beishuo’s internal situation perfectly.

Beishuo had thirty-five thousand Yuhán-level defenders: ten thousand elite Beishuo troops, eighteen thousand town-guard troops among the remaining twenty-five thousand, and seven thousand hastily conscripted from hunting parties—not true soldiers.

Of course, there were nearly two hundred thousand Ju Di-level cultivators inside the city—but it was daytime now; even Daya couldn’t deploy two hundred thousand Ju Di-level cultivators in daylight, let alone Beishuo?

So those two hundred thousand Ju Di-level cultivators would be useless.

As for Xianyang-level cultivators, counting the wounded Yang Zun, Beishuo had only twelve total: six in Cang, five in Beishuo; not only was Yang Zun wounded, but their leader, Chu Yuankong from Cang, had both arms crippled—so Beishuo’s effective Xianyang-level forces amounted to just ten.

Since Daya held absolute superiority in both troop numbers and elite strength, splitting forces to attack from three directions simultaneously was clearly the optimal strategy.

Beishuo was entirely on the defensive; each of the three Daya assault forces was substantial—fifteen thousand on the north and south, twenty thousand at the eastern main gate. If any one gate fell, it would be catastrophic; to hold the city, they had to split their forces to match Daya’s—and they had to defend all three gates.

As soon as Yue Feng landed on the wall, he saw Beishuo had stationed fifteen thousand troops at the eastern main gate, over half of them elite Beishuo soldiers.

“At least they have some sense—concentrating their main force at the main gate. But thinking this many men can stop us? Too naive…”

“Dongxin, come with me to hold them—everyone else, keep firing arrows and pour water on the wall—don’t let Daya climb up!”

Yue Feng sneered; seeing Mo Haiwen and Yu Dongxin, two Xianyang cultivators, charging toward him, he drew his blade and met them head-on.

Of course, he wasn’t alone—Xiao Kangcheng followed right behind him.

“Liu Yuan, you and I handle them—you hold the wall’s edge and let our men climb up first; the gate won’t break open anytime soon…”

Yue Feng’s long blade slashed out a chilling arc, crashing against Mo Haiwen’s longsword; his strength was slightly weaker, and he was forced back three or four steps.

“How dare you be so arrogant? Men, kill him!”

Mo Haiwen had forced Yue Feng back with one strike; seeing he didn’t retreat into the air but instead stood firm on the wall alongside Xiao Kangcheng, blocking Liu Yuan’s path, he realized the three were trying to carve a path for the following Daya troops—he roared and led countless soldiers in a swarm toward the trio.

Mo Haiwen’s strength was eight jun; Yu Dongxin was slightly weaker, at just over six jun. Individually, Liu Yuan, Yue Feng, and Xiao Kangcheng were no match for either—let alone with so many Yuhán-level soldiers surrounding them.

The encirclement by Mo and Yu on the wall quickly bore results: Liu Yuan’s trio was pushed back step by step; within mere seconds, they were driven to the wall’s edge.

No—“edge” was no longer accurate; the trio had been completely surrounded by hundreds, even thousands of Beishuo defenders—the so-called edge was now fully occupied.

Mo and Yu didn’t stand among the front-line troops; instead, they rose slightly into the air, hovering five or six meters above ground, directly above Liu Yuan’s trio, continuously striking down at them.

Clearly, they were deliberately blocking the trio’s aerial escape, aiming to kill them before Daya’s infantry could climb up.

Clang… clang…………

Yue Feng and Xiao Kangcheng bore the greatest pressure: they had to guard against Mo and Yu above while fending off Beishuo soldiers closing in from all sides; under this dual threat, though they’d slain dozens, their maneuvering space shrank relentlessly—even swords occasionally struck their bodies.

Yet the Beishuo soldiers who landed blows on them showed no joy—only deep despair.

Their blades simply couldn’t pierce the two men’s armor; over dozens of seconds, at least a hundred strikes had hit their armor—yet aside from leaving faint white marks, they achieved nothing.

Moreover, since their armor was silver and densely forged with patterns, even those faint marks were barely visible; this utter helplessness—striking with full force and achieving nothing—only deepened their despair.

“Ten-thousand-forged silver armor? Daya can even make this?!”

Mo Haiwen’s sword had also struck several times; his eyesight was far sharper than the common soldiers—he’d long recognized that Liu Yuan’s trio wore ten-thousand-forged silver armor, and now his pupils were filled only with envy.

Forging armor differs from making weapons; having materials isn’t enough.

Armor has countless parts, complex designs, and its purpose is to be worn into battle—so it must fit snugly and remain comfortable without hindering movement; this demands astonishing precision in every component, so every camp keeps its armor-forging methods top secret and never teaches them outside.

To this day, Beishuo Town can only forge hundred-forged white-silver armor; anything higher must be bought from the Fanzhen.

How many years has Daya been expanding eastward?

They’ve already forged ten-thousand-forged silver armor!