Chapter 90: Siege

The towering walls of Jade Splendor Pass seemed to pierce the clouds; in the morning sun's glow they appeared solemn and mysterious, the sturdy bricks having endured wind and rain, still as hard as iron.

On the gate tower, the Qi Zhou Army's banner fluttered in the wind, as if provoking the allied armies that had come from afar.

At this moment, beneath Jade Splendor Pass, Su Ye rode a tall warhorse, his armor flashing a cold light in the sunlight.

His gaze was like a torch, fixed on Jade Splendor Pass ahead, his face full of solemnity.

Behind him stood tens of thousands of fully prepared Cangzhou troops, the blades and spears in their hands flashing a cold light in the sun, exuding a murderous aura.

Bai Hu, Sun Wukong, and the others stood in a line before Jade Splendor Pass.

Their aura was extraordinary!

Noticing Li Jing's gaze beside him, Su Ye withdrew his look at Jade Splendor Pass and nodded to him.

"Ready!"

With Li Jing's command, a horn blast tore through the sky, and the Cangzhou great army surged toward Jade Splendor Pass like a tide.

War drums shook the heavens and earth, horn blasts rose and fell one after another.

For a time, the sounds of war drums, shouts, and clashing weapons intertwined, echoing through the valley.

Arrows rained down from the walls like rain, falling among the charging soldiers; many fell at the sound.

But the Cangzhou soldiers behind did not retreat; they stepped over their comrades' corpses and continued to charge forward.

They marched in neat steps, waving their weapons, launching a fierce assault on the walls.

The defenders of Jade Splendor Pass also showed no weakness, relying on the sturdy walls and advantageous terrain, they frenziedly counterattacked with bows, rolling stones, and logs.

For a moment, arrows fell like rain, striking the charging soldiers and emitting a dull thud.

Despite heavy casualties, the Cangzhou great army did not retreat; they pressed on, laying a road to victory with their lives and flesh.

At this moment, the War Gods among the Cangzhou troops also formally joined the battlefield.

Sun Wukong, wielding the Golden Cudgel, let out a long roar, like a tiger descending the mountain, and charged ahead.

"Ding, Sun Wukong's skill 'Equal to Heaven' activated!"

"Equal to Heaven: The Sage Equal to Heaven of Flower Fruit Mountain, on par with heaven, Sun Wukong's exclusive skill."

"Effect 1: Upon activation, own martial force +8."

"Effect 2: When our side is outnumbered, it can greatly boost our morale."

"Effect 3: When affected by negative skill effects, it can immunize against all negative skill effects."

"Effect 4: When battling someone whose skill contains the character 'heaven', if their base martial force exceeds ours by X, our martial force increases by that same X."

"Currently, Sun Wukong's base martial force is 108, weapon Golden Cudgel +1, warhorse +1, Equal to Heaven effect 1 activates, martial force +8, current martial force rises to 118!"

He brandished his Golden Cudgel, charging left and right, invincible in all directions.

Whenever Qi Zhou troops tried to block his path, he sent them flying or smashed them aside with his Golden Cudgel.

Under his leadership as the vanguard, the morale of the Cangzhou great army rose even higher, and the attack grew fiercer.

On the other side, Bai Hu naturally also shone on the battlefield with his agile movements and extraordinary martial arts.

Wielding the White Tiger Holy Blade and the White Tiger Heaven-Slaying Spear, he darted back and forth through the enemy ranks like a flash of lightning.

"Ding! Bai Hu's skill 'War God' effects 1 and 2 activate, martial force +6, current battlefield martial force +2."

"Bai Hu's skill 'Twin Supremacy' effects 1 and 3 activate, martial force +6; when facing an enemy wielding a single weapon, as long as their base martial force is not higher than ours, our weapon bonus doubles and martial force +3."

"Bai Hu's skill 'Oversee Troops' effect 2 activates, martial force +5."

"Currently, Bai Hu's base martial force is 110, weapons White Tiger World-Slaying Spear and White Tiger War Blade +4, divine steed White Tiger King Steed +1, current martial force rises to 137!"

Whenever a Qi Zhou army commander tried to direct soldiers to counterattack, he always swiftly closed in and speared them off their horse.

Such a ferocious display made the enemy troops tremble with fear, and also caused the Cangzhou great army's soldiers to cheer and be encouraged.

Under the leadership of several War Gods in the Cangzhou army, the Cangzhou great army gradually approached the walls of Jade Splendor Pass.

They erected cloud ladders, braving the enemy's arrow storm and rolling stone/log attacks, and bravely climbed up.

Although soldiers continually fell from the ladders or were killed by the enemy, their comrades did not give up, but instead climbed up more resolutely.

Under the leadership of Sun Wukong and other War Gods, some Cangzhou soldiers successfully climbed onto the walls.

They engaged in a melee with the defending enemy troops, fighting to the death with swords, spears, and halberds.

Although the number of Cangzhou soldiers who had scaled the walls was small, under the leadership of Sun Wukong and others they displayed extraordinary tenacity and combat power.

However, a wall only has so much space, and the number of Cangzhou troops that could get on it was likewise limited.

Due to their numerical disadvantage and the advantageous terrain held by the Qi Zhou army on the walls, the Cangzhou great army could never expand its gains.

The defending Qi Zhou troops continually launched counterattacks using bows, rolling stones, and logs, pushing back the soldiers who had climbed the walls.

Although Sun Wukong and the other War Gods possessed extraordinary combat power, our troops on the wall were continually knocked down.

Meanwhile, the Qi Zhou great army on the wall received endless reinforcements.

It was impossible for just a few of them to slaughter all the defenders on the wall.

Thus, after only a handful of Cangzhou troops remained on the wall,

those few War Gods could only rely on their own combat strength to forcibly hold back the Qi Zhou troops on the wall.

allowing the rest of the Cangzhou troops to withdraw from the wall.

Then they themselves followed closely behind.

They slid straight down from the cloud ladders.

"Wukong and them have been knocked down again."

Su Ye, Li Jing, and the others below the wall watched Sun Wukong's signature linked golden armor and the white-robed Bai Hu swiftly descend from Jade Splendor Pass once more, sighing and shaking their heads.

However, Li Jing and Yao Guangxiao's faces showed nothing unusual.

From the moment this group of turtles from Qi Zhou prepared to use these strategic points to hold fast,

they had already anticipated this situation would arise.

With their strategic vision, they had naturally prepared to leave countless corpses at every pass.

"My lord, on the Qi Zhou mountains side, there won't be any significant progress in a short time."

"Now we can only see whether the detachment force of Xue Ren Gui and Tie Shi Wen can open another situation behind Qi Zhou."

Yao Guangxiao slowly turned the prayer beads in his hand, gazing at the Yaohua Pass Road not far away.

Siege cities and capture strongholds.

The current situation of the Qi Zhou mountains is no longer something that can be resolved by stratagems or the Commander-in-Chief.

Unless there is internal chaos within Qi Zhou now, or this detachment force of Xue Ren Gui achieves merit, setting fire to the rear of Qi Zhou.

Otherwise, pure stratagems are already meaningless.

Even if one uses stratagems to seize one or two passes, the significance for the overall war situation is not great.

We can only rely on manpower to grind them down one by one!

(End of chapter)