Chapter 373

A long howl, Xiahou Tu's soul rushed out from the blood mist.

Wu Tie was quick-eyed and quick-handed; his right hand faintly glowed with spiritual light as he seized the soul in one grasp and then held it aloft.

In Baihe City, the Shenwu Army's hundreds of thousands of soldiers shouted in unison.

Jiang Ping clapped and laughed loudly, then let out a sharp whistle.

Two streams of light shot out from beside Jiang Ping; they were two leaders clad in heavy armor whose cultivation had reached the Tai Cang realm.

Although he himself was only a fourth-rank commandant, he could, in the name of acting commander, exercise the authority of a third-rank general, commanding the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Third Battalion of the Bing Unit; this shows the preferential treatment Jiang Ping, of the general's family Jiang, enjoys in the army.

As a scion of a general's family, and acting as commander in the name of acting commander, Jiang Ping himself is indeed of Tai Cang cultivation, and naturally he is not lacking in expert guards beside him; the two who rushed out as streams of light are precisely his Jiang family's household troops.

Wu Tie held Xiahou Tu's soul, and from the Jaguar Cavalry flagship came an angry roar.

Standing at the flagship's prow, the two leaders who had been covertly shielding Xiahou Tu shouted angrily, their forms flickering as they simultaneously charged at Wu Tie.

"Bold!" a furious shout rang out, and a large hand lunged to seize Xiahou Tu's soul from Wu Tie's grasp.

In the void came a low rumbling sound; a heavy wolf-tooth club spat out rosy light and auspicious aura, shattering the countless flying knives launched by the myriad-blade cart, and abruptly appeared before Wu Tie.

This wolf-tooth club is clearly an immortal weapon not inferior to the myriad-blade cart.

Wu Tie clutched Xiahou Tu's soul and retreated hastily, at the same time shouting sternly: "You people of Wei, can't you bear to lose?"

"Dong!"

The two leaders Jiang Ping had sent arrived just in time; one punched the hand that tried to snatch Xiahou Tu's soul, while the other let out a long howl and thrust a spear similarly entwined with smoke and cloud, accurately striking the wolf-tooth club almost as thick as a person's waist.

Two rings of explosive qi slowly expanded, and the four Tai Cang realm leaders became entangled in midair.

Wu Tie drove the myriad-blade cart to protect his whole body; countless flying knives whirled and intertwined across the sky. Since he was already close to Baihe City, after retreating a few breaths he reached the city's edge.

Xiahou Tu's rhinoceros mount bellowed, wanting to ram Wu Tie, but Wu Tie's speed was far greater; after chasing a distance it couldn't catch up, the rhinoceros rolled its eyes, turned tail and fled, soon disappearing into the distant forest.

This bastard actually didn't return to Heishan City; taking advantage of the moment Xiahou Tu was killed, he simply fled!

"Slash!" Jiang Ping let out an extraordinarily satisfied roar.

In the previous great war, Jiang Ping was ambitious, originally planning to earn merit in one battle and smoothly promote from fourth-rank commandant to third-rank general, thereby rightfully taking command of the Bing Unit's Third Battalion.

Unexpectedly, a moment's carelessness during the fierce battle of the Tai Cang realm leaders saw this bastard Xiahou Tu disrupt the formation, consecutively slaying many officers and low-rank commandants, causing troop morale to collapse, the whole army to scatter in disastrous defeat, and the Third Battalion to suffer heavy losses.

Jiang Ping's hope of promotion was utterly dashed; after returning to the Shenwu Army's main camp, he was further punished for poor command, with Jiang Hu ordering a brutal beating of one hundred military sticks, leaving him unable to get out of bed for a month.

This time he brought some reinforcements from his clan, intending to wipe away his previous disgrace.

Truly unexpected, Wu Tie gave him such a great surprise: in just one battle he shattered Xiahou Tu's fleshly body and captured his soul alive.

"Xiahou Tu!" Jiang Ping gritted his teeth, muttering that name viciously. Remembering the four specially summoned Jiang family warriors whom Xiahou Tu had just slain, Jiang Ping was so angry his bones itched.

"Slash!" Jiang Ping let out another angry roar.

On the Jaguar Cavalry flagship, more than a dozen streams of light shot forth. Though their auras were not overwhelmingly crushing, they were genuinely Tai Cang realm cultivation.

Jiang Ping gave a cold snort and waved his hand; beside him were also more than a dozen who had reached Tai Cang cultivation, but whose backgrounds were insufficient, whose cultivation methods were inadequate, whose battle strength was slightly weak and military merits low, men who had lingered in the army for years yet still held the rank of commandant, and they rushed out.

In the high sky, the combined thirty-plus Tai Cang realm experts from both sides became a melee of one-on-one combat.

Wu Tie stood in the air above Baihe City's wall, his right hand exhaling spiritual light as he clenched hard; a miserable howl rang out, Xiahou Tu's soul dissipated into smoke, and Wu Tie's hand gained a storage bracelet radiating spiritual light.

Xiahou Tu's soul scattered, the soul seal inside the storage bracelet vanished, and Wu Tie easily opened the bracelet.

According to the Shenwu Army's regulations, beheading an enemy commander and seizing his storage treasure yields all of the commander's personal treasures, elixirs, and cultivation resources; other gold, silver, jewels, etc., the slayer may keep half, while the other half must be turned over to the Shenwu Army.

Moreover, on the Three Kingdoms battlefield, every commander of an army certainly stockpiles large amounts of supplies and armaments in his personal storage treasure; of these supplies and armaments, the slayer may keep thirty percent for his troops' use, while the rest must also be turned over to the Shenwu Army.

Wu Tie rummaged inside the bracelet for a while, then suddenly burst out laughing.

With a wave of his hand, a tiger-head shield wreathed in immortal light howled forth from the bracelet; Wu Tie seized it and imprinted a soul seal within. A low tiger's roar sounded, the shield exhaled faint smoke and rosy mist, and began to revolve around Wu Tie.

Xiahou Tu, worthy of being royalty of the Wei Divine State, even if only a branch or distant relative, still received astonishing treatment.

Having just broken through the Mingchi realm, he actually obtained a shield of the third-refined immortal weapon grade.

This bastard is also overly arrogant; otherwise, if he had prepared this shield in advance and unleashed it when the myriad-blade cart attacked, how could Wu Tie have slain him even without being able to exert his full strength?

Jiang Ping grinned so wide his mouth couldn't close: "Commandant Huo Xiong, splendid, splendid! This Xiahou Tu has come to deliver merit and treasures to you!"

Jiang Ping laughed loudly while clapping: "Where is the Army Chief Clerk? Record a first-class merit for Commandant Huo Xiong for slaying the Wei royal family—definitely a first-class military achievement!"

Wu Tie laughed, holding in his left hand a ninth-refined spiritual weapon Azure Dragon Crescent Blade, in his right hand a third-refined immortal weapon Myriad-Blade Cart, wearing ninth-refined spiritual armor Kirin Scale Mail, with a third-refined immortal weapon tiger-head shield spinning and dancing beside him, his whole body suffused with rosy auspicious aura—truly an impressive sight.

On the Jaguar Cavalry flagship, a middle-aged man in heavy armor stepped forth, his face dark as lacquer, with two white eyebrows hanging down from his cheeks a full half-foot long.

He glared fiercely at Wu Tie, committing his current appearance to memory, then pointed at Wu Tie and declared: "All soldiers hear the order: whoever can slay this person, enlisted men and soldiers will instantly rise three ranks, commandants will be promoted two ranks, and commandants will rise one rank!"

Jiang Ping burst out laughing: "Sun Bo, you're impatient! Hehe, thanks to you, I've gotten such a head start!"

The black-faced, white-eyebrowed Sun Bo stared fixedly at Jiang Ping, slowly making a throat-slashing gesture.

Jiang Ping laughed, pointing at Sun Bo: "Come on, this time I'll really put in the effort to kill you… I heard you got married during this reorganization? I'll strive to make your little wife a widow! Hehe."

Sun Bo ceased his gesture, and the massive flagship slowly retreated backward.

The thirty-plus Tai Cang realm leaders locked in combat in the high sky split left and right, each guarding against the other as they withdrew.

Upon reaching the Tai Cang realm, unless one has an overwhelming advantage in arts or treasures, or unless three to five gang up on one, ordinary Tai Cang cultivators fighting each other may sometimes go several days without a clear victor.

After dozens of people launched hundreds of frantic attacks, Wu Tie examined closely and found these fellows bore not a single wound.

The Jaguar Cavalry, seeking to establish prestige, slunk back in disgrace to Heishan City; inside Baihe City the Shenwu Army suddenly burst into cheers, its morale, which had almost collapsed, partially recovered.

One side lost the royal Xiahou Tu, the other lost four talented scions of the general's houses; the psychological blow to both sides is roughly equal, and it's unclear who gained an advantage or suffered a loss.

Baihe City's defensive prohibitions were all activated; detachments of soldiers patrolled the walls back and forth, while Wu Tie took Xiahou Tu's storage bracelet to report to the central command.

After all, being of royal lineage with a very strong background, Xiahou Tu's storage bracelet measures roughly a hundred zhang in length, width, and height—over a hundred times larger than the standard issue bracelet Wu Tie received upon his promotion. He therefore returned the standard bracelet to the logistics camp, filed the record with central command, and then placed Xiahou Tu's bracelet on his wrist.

Xiahou Tu's bracelet was stuffed full of logistical supplies and various armaments.

It is obvious that the Jaguar Cavalry had just relieved the garrison at Heishan City, and without even pausing to rest they came out to provoke; Xiahou Tu's bracelet is filled with all kinds of supplies.

It is quite possible that, due to the enormous capacity of Xiahou Tu's bracelet, even a portion of the central command's supply reserves for the Jaguar Cavalry's rotation at Heishan City are stored inside his bracelet.

Having confiscated Xiahou Tu's bracelet this time, the Jaguar Cavalry's future food and expenses will likely become tense.

What is especially critical is that Xiahou Tu's bracelet contains a large quantity of raw materials needed to construct and maintain formations, plus a great many finished formation disks and bases.

I suppose these things are used to repair the grand defensive formation of Black Mountain City.

Of course, these materials can also be used to repair the grand defensive formation of White River City, and these huge formation plates, bases, etc., are extremely expensive; Jiang Ping, leading the army this time for a rotation, merely brought along a spare set.

After hearing Wu Tie's seizure report, Jiang Ping couldn't help but slam the table and laugh uproariously.

"Sun Bo this time has lost face and lost money… hehe, he actually let Xiahou Duo carry the maintenance materials for the grand defensive formation on his person?"

"Hahaha, the Wei Jaguar Cavalry and my Divine Martial Army are the same—each rotation, there is only one set of maintenance materials for the grand defensive formation; if lost or damaged, one must pay out of pocket to procure from the military department… hahaha, if converted to military pay, Sun Bo will have worked for nothing for the next ten years."

"Satisfying, satisfying!"

Jiang Ping laughed until saliva flew, extremely pleased, and had the marching commandant add another merit to Wu Tie.

At nightfall, the skies above White River City and Black Mountain City, separated by little more than two hundred li, simultaneously lit up with a faintly glowing defensive barrier.

On the opposing city walls, gate after gate of defensive cannons rose from the walls, their ten‑zhang‑long multifaceted pyramidal barrels protruding from the walls and locking onto the opposite city.

"Boom, boom, boom"... White River City fired first, hundreds of light pillars tearing through the void and instantly slamming into Black Mountain City's walls.

Black Mountain City, unwilling to be outdone, immediately opened fire in retaliation.

Separated by little more than two hundred li, the nearly thousand main cannons of the two cities fired in a chaotic barrage, and battalions of essence crystals were instantly burned to ash.

Clearly visible, after the daytime emergency repairs, White River City's defensive barrier was very solid; when the enemy barrage hit, the barrier only rippled with faint waves.

Meanwhile, the situation of Black Mountain City opposite was far worse; White River City's barrage caused their defensive barrier to undergo great agitation, the shield flickering unstably, as if it could be torn apart by enemy fire at any moment.

The defensive cannons of both sides sounded throughout the night.

When dawn was approaching, the fleets of tower ships from White River City and Black Mountain City also rose from the anchorage, their bow-mounted main guns protruding, and, separated by little more than two hundred li, they unleashed a furious bombardment on the opposing city.

The fleet's bombardment lasted about a quarter of an hour, after which the two fleets returned to the anchorage; cooking smoke rose within both cities, logistics personnel began to cook, and the defensive cannons ceased, retracting back into the walls.

Within White River City, the bugle call sounded, and from Black Mountain City came the blaring of war drums.

After breakfast, both cities' four gates stood wide open, and throngs of townspeople, holding various farming tools and with ashen faces, walked out of the walls.

Subsequently, dozens of streams of light rose from each city, and the commanders in the Embryonic Treasury realm hovered in the air, facing each other from afar.

Rank after rank of soldiers rose into the air and quickly dispersed into the surrounding mountains and forests.

Moreover, in the opposing city gates, a thousand sturdy soldiers under the command of a seventh‑grade colonel shouted as they charged toward each other; they collided head‑on above the middle of the great river, and two thousand troops instantly became a tangled melee.

In the high sky, the commanders of both sides in the Embryonic Treasury realm coldly watched the soldiers' melee below while closely monitoring the movements of the opposing commanders.

Shrill wails continually came from the melee; soon soldiers fell into the great river, their blood staining a vast expanse of the river surface.

Wu Tie commanded his unit's soldiers and likewise left White River City.

The autumn offensive officially began; while other places were unaware of the situation, Wu Tie and his men of the Third Battalion, C‑unit, would rely on White River City and mutually slaughter the opposing Wei Jaguar Cavalry.

Autumn is the season of harvest.

On the Three Kingdoms battlefield, there are some extremely special and extremely precious crops.

For example, the fields near White River City are planted with large quantities of "Dragon's Tooth Sorghum"; each grain is unusually sharp, like a dragon's tooth, containing incomparably pure and vast heavenly‑earth elemental essence, each grain almost equivalent to a third‑grade spirit pill.

These Dragon's Tooth Sorghum are mild in nature and highly nourishing, greatly aiding the cultivation of Foundation Establishment and Perceiving Mystery practitioners; in the Divine State of Great Jin, only top‑tier aristocratic clans and even the royal family can afford to eat them daily, their price being extremely high and precious.

Dragon's Tooth Sorghum forbids metal tools and magical powers; to harvest it, one must rely on manual labor using a jade‑bladed sickle.

Every autumn, when the Dragon's Tooth Sorghum harvest arrives, the opposing Jaguar Cavalry will surely massacre the White River City civilians harvesting it, then set fire to the sorghum fields.

Moreover, each autumn White River City has a fixed quota of tribute, and must deliver a certain amount of Dragon's Tooth Sorghum rice to the Divine Martial Army.

If the quota is not met, Jiang Ping will be beaten, and everyone in the Third Battalion, C‑unit, from top to bottom, will receive severe punishment.

Besides Dragon's Tooth Sorghum rice, White River City also has many strange and precious crops and spiritual plants that need to be gathered.

The opposite Black Mountain City is the same; they also have harvesting duties and tribute obligations.

Both sides must, on one hand, protect their own harvesting teams, on the other, sabotage the enemy's harvesting, and also slay enemy soldiers to gain military merit.

Throughout the autumn offensive, it is brutal and bustling; everyone will be so busy they cannot stop working.