[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take":3,"chapter-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-68":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","If You Will Not Reject Me, I Wish to Bow and Take You as My Adoptive Father",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2276795,4454,"Chapter 68: Complete Form Fire Crow Array","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-68",68,"\u003Cp>\"Marquis Lieyang, I was previously quite worried. If those few had simply slain you in the raging waters, I would have missed the chance to exchange martial strategies with a commander of the Central Civilization.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Military Immortal Sun Jinbiao was not alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the western slope, densely packed soldiers and officers, fully armored and helmeted, filled the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their number exceeded five hundred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one knew how the Eight Immortals of the West had transported them here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And they, like the Fire Crow Army at this moment, had formed a military formation, their qi networks linked together, turning the entire array into a single whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Fire Crow Army charged in a spearhead formation, appearing externally as a four-clawed fire dragon—the dragon’s body was severed halfway, leaving only two claws.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the western slope, a dark red, single-horned rhinoceros crouched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All were infantry; not a single man rode a horse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Sun Jinbiao, positioned at the front of the formation and clad in black iron armor, stood firmly on the ground, gripping his guan dao directly in hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang accepted the challenge, reclaiming control of the “Fire Dragon” from Xiao Yu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Fire Dragon turned direction and swiftly “glided” toward the western slope—Bao Shengshui maintained the Water-Repelling and Water-Control Spells, allowing the Fire Crow cavalry to gallop across the water’s surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you wish to test your military formation against mine, you could have arranged your troops before my conquest of Chechi Kingdom, facing me openly at the city gates for a proper battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if you lost, I would still honor you as a battlefield general, not some lowly assassin unfit for the halls of state.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang halted before the slope, not immediately launching a charge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you think I fear you?” Sun Jinbiao raised his voice, thick with resentment and bitterness. “My loyalist army had just left Shounan Commandery when news arrived that the brat Mao Tian had surrendered, bare-chested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was still marching to aid the throne when Mao Tian sent thirteen imperial edicts ordering me to halt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, he slandered the righteous folk of my seventy-two fortresses on Shounan Mountain, branding them all as bandits and thieves unworthy of the words ‘protecting the state and guarding the sovereign.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mao Tian was the ruler of Chechi Kingdom—formerly, and still now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because he surrendered too quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang stripped him naked, hung him outside the Meridian Gate, and whipped him thirty times—that was punishment for defying the Central Civilization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Jinbiao’s seventy-two fortresses on Shounan Mountain were not regular troops of Chechi Kingdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Jinbiao was ninety-seven this year; forty years ago, he served as Pillar General of Chechi Kingdom, but fell out of favor with the new king and retired at fifty-seven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though retired, he did not return home to enjoy peace, but wandered across the western states.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passing Shounan Mountain, he encountered bandits ambushing travelers—only to discover the bandit chief was his devoted admirer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun General first took temporary residence on Shounan Mountain, then gradually recruited nearby outlaws, persuading them to turn from evil, and eventually established the seventy-two fortresses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though they received not a single copper coin of state pay, upon learning the Central Civilization intended to destroy Chechi Kingdom, the seventy-two fortresses mustered eighty thousand troops, all bringing their own rations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire Shounan Mountain region had only about three hundred thousand registered residents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soldiers standing neatly behind Sun Jinbiao were all brave warriors from the seventy-two fortresses of Shounan Mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So that’s how it is. I only knew you joined the Eight Immortals Alliance; I didn’t know about Chechi Kingdom’s affairs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang nodded slightly, then asked: “Since the King of Chechi shows you no gratitude and even humiliates you, why are you aligning with Dou Yilin and the others?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, he knew Sun Jinbiao and his five hundred elite troops planned to ambush him at Feixian Ferry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five hundred soldiers, too many mouths to keep silent—word had leaked long ago, intercepted by the Wind-Ear Gao Xianjue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the Eight Immortals of the West also knew Marquis Lieyang was aware of Sun Jinbiao’s ambush plan—it was precisely their design.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang treated Gao Xianjue as a hidden trump card; the Eight Immortals, however, had discovered Gao Xianjue’s existence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “Shooting the Sun” plan had two parts: the overt part, meant for Gao Xianjue to learn, to reassure Marquis Lieyang; the hidden part was the true killing blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Undoubtedly, the five hundred elite troops of the seventy-two fortresses, inherently difficult to conceal, were best placed in the “overt” role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Marquis Lieyang grew even more puzzled: what did Sun Jinbiao stand to gain by bearing the greatest risk?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mao Tian humiliates me, but that doesn’t mean you may humiliate him! You hung him naked outside the Meridian Gate and whipped him—his pain is his own, his dignity long gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the ones truly humiliated are the ancestral kings and the people of Chechi Kingdom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a former Pillar General, how can I endure this?” Sun Jinbiao cried out fiercely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang said: “The Emperor of the Central Civilization is sovereign and father; the kings of vassal states are ministers and sons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the universal ritual of the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hence the custom that envoys of the Central Civilization need not bow to vassal kings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am an envoy of the Central Civilization; even if the King of Chechi were virtuous and sage, I could still stand equal to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now your king has no reputation for virtue, yet defies and disrespects his sovereign, violating the dignity of the Central Civilization—my whipping him is entirely in accord with ritual and law.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Emperor of the Central Civilization is sovereign and father; the kings of vassal states are ministers and sons—this is the truth of heaven and earth, and I have no rebuttal. But if you must strike him, strike him inside the palace, inside the hall—even if you beat him clothed on the street, it would be acceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To strip him naked and hang him outside for all to see—your intent was never punishment!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the sovereign father of the Central Civilization ought to protect the subjects of vassal states and serve as the moral exemplar for all kings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet you constantly speak of ‘ritual’ and ‘propriety’—where is the ritual and propriety of Great Qin today?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our Chechi Kingdom lies ten thousand li from the heartland of the Central Civilization—how could we possibly threaten you?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why must you annually plunder our lands for Dao seedlings, destroy our fengshui, suppress our dragon veins, and steal our fortune?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am ninety-seven this year; in the first half of my life, Chechi Kingdom suffered barely a few demonic calamities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet in the latter half, within just a few decades, great demons have destroyed cities in the south, one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two years ago, an elephant demon descended upon Huizhou City, sucking thirty thousand civilians into its mouth, chewing them with glee, raining blood like a storm—I moved too slowly to pursue, and could only watch as it laughed and departed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You, noble of the Central Civilization, can never understand such grief, helplessness, and agony, can you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Jinbiao grew more agitated as he spoke, his eyes brimming with tears as he roared in anguish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang replied calmly: “From the Liang River Beach battlefield beyond Tianmen Town to today’s Feixian Ferry, I have explained countless times: the demonic calamities in the western states in recent years have nothing to do with Great Qin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the contrary, the Emperor has received reports and long harbored the desire to exterminate demons and protect the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But demonic calamities do not occur only in the western states—other regions suffer worse and more urgently.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How can it not be your doing!” Dou Yilin shouted angrily. “If Dao seedlings could grow to maturity in our western lands, how many immortals would our states gain?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang replied coolly: “How old are you yourselves?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With your talent and opportunities, the average age for ascending to Human Immortal exceeds one hundred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great Qin’s Dao Palaces may seek Dao seedlings, but can those seedlings naturally mature into Human Immortals within mere decades?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they did, what use would they be against demonic kings surpassing Celestial Immortals?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enough. In this moment, in this place, words are meaningless. I have no desire to chat with you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I merely pity General Sun’s loyal and righteous heart, and the grand military formation you’ve arrayed—so I’ve paused, waiting for the floodwaters to recede, so your infantry may descend the slope and arrange your formation properly, allowing a proper, honorable battle to send General Sun on his final journey.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Miao was dead; the flood had no source. Feixian Ferry’s terrain was high. Soon, the earth and stones reemerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, the Fire Crow Army had already proven in this recent combat that they were unafraid of floodwaters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sun Jinbiao’s “righteous folk” certainly lacked the supernatural ability to cast Water-Repelling or Water-Control Spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Jinbiao stared at Marquis Lieyang for a long while, his expression complex, then said gravely: “I can only repay you, my lord, with my strongest killing formation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang nodded: “I share the same thought.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised his right hand and gave a signal to the rear Fire Crow Army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu didn’t understand, nor did she need to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Changqing spontaneously adjusted his position according to Marquis Lieyang’s will.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In less than half a minute, the remaining three hundred Fire Crow soldiers shifted from spearhead formation to goose-wing formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another ten minutes passed before Sun Jinbiao brought the “single-horned rhinoceros” down from the slope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, General Sun’s efficiency was not low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had no horses; over five hundred men ran down the slope, their legs caked in wet mud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Xiao Yu began to suspect a conspiracy—that Marquis Lieyang wasn’t honoring Old Sun’s loyalty, but merely torturing them, draining their strength and morale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, that was pure conspiracy theory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For ordinary soldiers, such exertion would indeed harm combat readiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sun Jinbiao himself was a Human Immortal, and every soldier under him was a true qi master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mud on their armor looked disheveled, but consumed little energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arranging a formation on level ground truly maximized the effectiveness of a military formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Lieyang bowed his head slightly, saluted Sun Jinbiao with a respectful gesture, then raised his halberd high and roared with unprecedented fervor: “Supreme Yang Golden Crow, True Flame of the Great Sun, protect my divine body!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Guaa~~~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly above Marquis Lieyang’s head, a three-legged divine bird’s shadow emerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shadow was immense, a hundred zhang tall, its golden wings shimmering with flowing fire, stretching wide enough to obscure half the valley.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three-legged bird let out a long cry, then suddenly exploded into boundless liquid heavenly fire, like molten lava, descending from the sky to drench the three hundred soldiers of the Fire Crow Army, casting them into a single, massive, solid three-legged divine bird.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ghost of a Fire Crow Army—it’s clearly a Golden Crow Army! I bet Marquis Lieyang’s ‘Fire Crow Qi’ is actually the ‘Golden Crow Great Art.’ This man is either too cunning or too humble?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Astonished, Xiao Yu, now back on her saddle, still found the wit to mock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My brave sons, let the envoys of the Celestial Court witness the spirit of Chechi’s men!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the three-legged bird radiated overwhelming might, “The Military Immortal” Sun Jinbiao did not lose his resolve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the contrary, his battle intent burned even higher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within him erupted powerful true yuan, connecting with every soldier behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aaong~~ Aaong~~~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The single-horned rhinoceros did not grow larger, but became denser, lifting its head to roar, shaking the valley.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Charge!” Marquis Lieyang shouted, leading the assault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three-legged bird flapped its wings, moving so swiftly it seemed to skim the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill!\" Sun Jinbiao roared, dragging his massive guan dao backward as he charged forward with heavy steps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kill~~~\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the combined forces of the two battle lines numbered only eight hundred, their momentum surged like a storm, their shouts shaking the heavens, making those nearby feel as if they stood amid a vast army of ten thousand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boom!!!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three-legged divine bird and the one-horned rhinoceros collided, causing the still-damp ground to tremble slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Jinbiao’s massive guan dao met the golden spear of Marquis Relying Sun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Crash!\" Sun Jinbiao flew backward like a leather ball kicked by a mighty warrior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even as he hung midair, his black iron armor melted under golden flames, molten iron pooling across the earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, the three-legged divine bird became a sun crashing to earth—a sun stabbed through, spewing torrents of golden liquid flame from its wound, drowning the one-horned rhinoceros in endless molten fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Immortal of War, Sun Jinbiao, and the five hundred righteous folk of the Seventy-Two Forts were annihilated!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How could this happen? My men had stronger conviction than your ragtag army...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Jinbiao was not yet dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lay on the ground, nearly charred into a lump of black coal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rocky ground beneath him glowed red and softened under the scorching heat of the Sun’s True Flame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Crimson Smoke Steed walked as if on level ground, arriving beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marquis Relying Sun looked down at the aged general, his expression complex, his voice cold: \"If conviction alone decided all, why bother cultivating divine arts?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Moreover, the righteous folk of the Seventy-Two Forts were no match for the Western Fire Crow Army, now perfected through the 'One in Ten' selection, whether in conviction or individual combat prowess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"True...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Jinbiao breathed his last.\u003C\u002Fp>",2269,"2026-06-20T00:29:13.334Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","59f1af1c4fd43d980e035f69897b16b068e64453c5e1f5710888db191d965692","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-69","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-67",840,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fif-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-cover.jpg"]