Chapter 539

Northern Frontier, a land of barbaric wilderness.

Hu Lao Ye's fleet advanced with difficulty, and along the way giants, great demons, fiends, and evil aberrations—various inconceivable tribes kept appearing to attack. For some reason, according to Wu Tie's judgment, the danger of this Northern Frontier barbaric wilderness is far greater than that of the southwest.

No wonder the Divine Might Army of the Great Jin, in its northern deployment, whether in troop numbers or equipment, is far stronger than in the south.

Having been torn apart all the way, it is obvious that the Divine Might Army has clashed countless times with the tribes of this Northern Frontier; these fellows, upon seeing Hu Lao Ye and company, can quickly judge they are from the Great Jin and then swarm upon them like leeches smelling blood.

These tribes are very strong.

Hu Lao Ye's party advances with great difficulty.

That day, at midnight, the outlaws suddenly woke up, relying on the warship's power, they barely managed to slaughter a flock of over thirty thousand flying snakes with wings growing on their backs, each panting exhausted. A chieftain of a manor's outlaws could not help but curse: "What the hell, are we here to act as vanguards for the Divine Might Army, clearing out these alien tribes for them?"

The outlaws cursed nonstop, and some vented by using divine abilities, smashing the attacking flying snake corpses into pulp, leaving the mountains filled with bloody mud, truly a hellish sight.

Hu Lao Ye stood at the bow, listening to the outlaws' tirades, his face also turning somewhat grim.

He took out a constantly changing atlas, flipped through it carefully for a while, then let out a heavy sigh. At the current pace, to approach the nearest point where an innate supreme treasure is nurtured would still take at least two months.

The distance isn't actually far, but the tribes of this Northern Frontier are too troublesome.

That very night, as the outlaws frenziedly slaughtered the flying snakes, the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards under Lao Tie and Pheonix Feng, stationed at the east gate of An'yang City, were completely surrounded by an elite force more than ten times their number.

Without banners, bugles, or orders, countless enemies came flying in; hundreds of battle formations rose into the air, a massive pressure crushing down, followed by a barrage of main cannon fire that lit the void with fiery trees and silver blossoms, as if countless fireworks were bursting in anger.

Fortunately, the four spirit warships held the line; eighteen such warships set up a Nine Palaces battle formation, the millions of elite troops of the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards communicated the formation, and the four spirit phantoms shot up into the sky, turning into four-colored pillars of light that completely enveloped the Eastern Garden fleet.

Born of the same source, the five-element spirits, once formed into a battle array, released five-colored light pillars that were even thicker and sturdier. The two great arrays merged into one, and the main and secondary cannons of tens of thousands of warships from all directions unleashed a wild barrage, causing ripples in the light pillars—how could they be broken in a short time?

The Eastern Garden Imperial Guards' counterattack came in waves; the main cannons of the four spirit warships were like world-ending hammers, eighteen light pillars each several dozen li thick pierced the void—wherever they passed, no matter how strong the enemy formation, the great array was always pierced in a single blow, after which warship after warship twisted, shattered, and finally exploded with a tremendous roar.

Moreover, thousands of accompanying warships' main and secondary cannons, under Feng's order, focused fire on a certain spot.

The attacks of the unknown enemies always came like a sudden storm from all directions; they appeared wild and violent, but in fact their force was scattered, posing little threat to the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards.

The Eastern Garden Imperial Guards' attack, by contrast, focused on a point; every few breaths they could break a battle formation, slaughtering many troops while also smashing a large portion of the fleet behind it.

Among them, Lao Tie's Yin-Yang Divine Spear turned into an extremely fine thread of flowing light, streaking through the void at terrifying speed; wherever it passed, any battle formation or warship was shattered in a single blow, easily turning each warship into a ball of fire.

Also, among the five-element spirits, millions of elite wood spirits selected with care, under the command of Mu Sanjiao, loosed heavenly arrows imbued with the vast mana of the wood-element spirit formation, like a green mad dragon charging across the sky. The arrows fell like rain, swift and fierce; a battle formation of millions of elite soldiers would be shattered by the arrow storm in just a few short breaths.

Once a battle formation is broken, the soldiers composing it have no chance to escape.

The wood spirits' arrows are merciless, swift, and sharp; these soldiers lack the speed and defense to face the free scattering of millions of wood spirit arrows—they cannot avoid being hit, and before they can even utter a wail, they plummet from the sky to the ground.

The east gate of An'yang City burned fiercely; the gate tower, over ten li long and three hundred zhang wide, was more than half destroyed, the remaining stub resembling a strangely shaped torch, slanted against the city wall and blazing.

The flames illuminated the battlefield outside the gate, lighting up the soldier corpses and warship fragments falling like raindrops from the sky.

Within the besieging formations, someone finally could no longer restrain themselves.

A jet-black and crimson serrated great sword rose into the air; with the mana of a million soldiers poured into it, this Heavenly Dao divine weapon–level great sword expanded to tens of thousands of zhang in length, bringing an overwhelming killing intent as it slashed down upon the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards' formation.

Lao Tie had ransacked the mansions of countless wealthy clans in Yuzhou, slaughtered who-knows-how-many great clan experts, and looted untold riches from their secret vaults; heavenly Dao divine weapons, various innate and acquired spirit arms—the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards lacked nothing.

Excluding the treasures ruined by Wu Tie's closed-door cultivation, the various divine weapons and arms held by the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards, on average, far outshine the four main armies of the Great Jin—the Divine Might, Divine Martial, Demon-Suppressing, and Demon-Quelling—being much more lavishly equipped.

The great sword fell from the sky; within the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards' formation, a coiling dragon long spear rose up, likewise becoming tens of thousands of zhang long, its tip striking the sword's blade. A tremendous roar shook the void, the terrifying impact audible throughout An'yang City.

The two Heavenly Dao divine weapons clashed in midair; in the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards' formation, another two Heavenly Dao divine weapons—a heavy hammer and a heavy axe—simultaneously flew high, swaying in the wind to become tens of thousands of zhang in size, then came down upon the formation that had launched the serrated great sword.

Just one strike, and the mana of millions of Eastern Garden Imperial Guards and countless five-element spirits, channeled through the formation, gathered entirely upon those two Heavenly Dao divine weapons.

The million soldiers forming the formation all vomited blood; their battle formation was like a fragile glass cup, shattered with a "dong" sound. The Eastern Garden Imperial Guards' formation then activated, almost condensing into substantive killing intent that surged forward, whereupon nine-tenths of the opposing formation's soldiers simultaneously exploded and died.

This is the terror of battle formations.

Within a battle formation, everyone must exert their utmost; if the formation breaks, there is no chance to escape.

Once a battle formation is formed, all soldiers can only advance, never retreat; there is no luck of fleeing mid-battle.

In the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards' formation, countless soldiers shouted in unison.

With a series of "swish" sounds, a dozen or so Heavenly Dao divine weapons rose spontaneously from the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards' formation, a dozen or so streams of light flying and spinning in the air, slashing down upon enemy formations near and far.

Within those formations, burly figures continually emerged, laughing lowly; likewise, stern-aura Heavenly Dao divine weapons drifted from their sides, and after being imbued with mana by the formation, they shot up into the sky with astonishing vigor.

The Eastern Garden Imperial Guards possess tremendous combat strength and an abundance of divine weapons; especially with the four spirit warships anchoring the formation, and Lao Hei's Yin-Yang Divine Spear completely destroying battlefield balance. Although the enemy numbers are many, the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards were merely halted outside the east gate, unable to advance an inch; otherwise they suffered no mishap, and after fighting for a quarter hour, the entire force sustained no casualties.

Within An'yang City, suddenly flames sprang up everywhere.

A tumult like a tsunami rose from An'yang City, as an obscure rebel army suddenly appeared, charging wildly and directly storming into the manor of a renowned clean-stream official, where they began a frenzied slaughter.

In An'yang City, the mansions of the great clans, especially those of military lineages, all had set up solemn and powerful defensive formations.

Only those clean-stream officials, who consider themselves upright and aboveboard, harboring no secret scheming—so-called "the gentleman is open and aboveboard, the petty man harbors grudges"—regardless of rank, their mansions lacked even the most basic warning wards.

These clean-stream officials, about half are disciples of Gongyang Sanlü, while the other half are close attendants of the imperial clan like Gu Haoran.

The manor invaded by the rebels belonged to a scholar of the Great Jin's Wen Yuan Pavilion, who daily attended Sima Xian and served as a close aide drafting various edicts for him.

The rebels numbered nearly ten thousand, while that scholar's manor normally had only a couple hundred grooms and coachmen.

When nearly ten thousand rebels stormed this modest manor, in an instant walls collapsed and houses fell; the servants were slaughtered in a few blows. Soon came mournful wails: the scholar's female relatives fell victim to the rebels' violence.

After just a dozen breaths, when the rebels dispersed, the Wen Yuan Pavilion scholar was already "open and aboveboard"—naked, his body covered in wounds, collapsed at his own manor's gate. A fatal blow struck his brow, shattering the just-conceived divine embryo; his life force was extinguished.

As if someone had blown a charge horn, after the Wen Yuan Pavilion scholar's household suffered disaster, hundreds of fire spots ignited throughout An'yang City.

The mansions of the great clans protected by defensive formations could not be taken quickly, whereas those clean-stream officials lacking protective wards were almost simultaneously invaded by the rebels, subjected to a frenzied slaughter, their entire households meeting disaster.

Pitiful these clean-stream officials, basically from humble origins, having cultivated low-grade arts since youth, their cultivation is extremely limited.

But after taking office, as their ranks rose, they received ever stronger arts and more cultivation resources; yet by then these clean-stream officials were already mired in the court's great and small vortices—who still had the will to painstakingly cultivate?

Thus, these clean-stream officials generally formed divine embryos, usually possessing the Embryo Storage realm of cultivation, and their arts are quite good; some even received imperial-bestowed divine technique manuals.

As for their combat prowess… heh, it's nearly zero.

Some clean-stream officials have, since they began cultivation, never even touched chicken or duck blood with their ten fingers, let alone human blood.

When faced with the rebels, some officials were still naïve, thinking they could suppress the rebels with state law, or persuade them with a three-inch tongue that never falters to lay down their weapons and become Buddhas on the spot—naturally the result was being hacked to pieces, the clean-stream officials becoming dumpling filling.

Shouts of killing shook the heavens; some rebels were bold enough to launch assaults on several mansions of military lineages.

These several inventive rebel units quickly learned the depths of the Great Jin's military aristocracy. They could not breach the protective great formations of the military clans' mansions, and were further shredded by long-range attacks. Ordinary flying knives and swords, various magical treasures aside, even bows and crossbows empowered by formation strength were no match—yet within those military mansions there appeared large quantities of heavy armaments.

Bed-mounted city-defense crossbows, linked heavy crossbows, even the main cannons mounted on warships, and so on.

Bursts of blinding light shot through the void, emitting a sharp 'gee' as they tore space, like gigantic ghost claws ruthlessly ripping the void. Where the light pillars struck the ground, a mass of fire shot up into the sky, and hordes of rebel soldiers turned to nothing in the flames.

Gradually, no one knew who started it, but inside Anyang City, on the high floors of the mansions of various generals and in those towering pavilions, similar attacks were unleashed. Arrows filled the sky like rain, light pillars rose like a forest, and the rebel soldiers massed in the streets were struck down, wailing across the fields, while sharp whistles and curses came from all sides.

By the time dawn broke, the fighting inside and outside Anyang City gradually ceased.

The rebel soldiers killed or fled, with some whose whereabouts were unknown. Outside Anyang City's east gate, the military formation besieging the East Garden Forbidden Army was completely shattered; the ground was littered with wrecked warships, piled up hundreds of zhang high and stretching tens of li across.

On the hill formed by the wrecked warships, scattered rebel soldiers clutched their heads, helplessly kneeling on the ground, some letting out soft sobs.

Warship after warship of the East Garden Forbidden Army hovered in the air; the wood elves held strong bows, and any rebel soldier on the ground who made the slightest move was instantly shot down by an arrow, killed on the spot.

Low war drums and horns sounded from afar, and battalions of Anyang City's defense army appeared. Flags fluttered, armor gleamed, killing intent shook the heavens, morale was high—the scale of Anyang City's defense army was vast; though not counted among the Great Jin's four main war corps, in terms of numbers, equipment, and training, Anyang City's defense army was in no way inferior to any main war corps.

However, Anyang City's defense army normally only defended the city and the surrounding hundred prefectures, never taking part in external warfare, so its fame remained low.

The mighty City Defense Army Corps closed in from all sides, like a black blanket of ants, marching toward Anyang City.

At the same time, reinforcements came from the loyalist troops of the surrounding prefectures. Hundreds of prefectures sent aid to Anyang City, and the troops from the farthest prefectures relied on space gates to transmit all the way, taking an entire night to arrive here.

Inside the Imperial City, the golden bell boomed; Sima Xian sat on the Nine Heavens Hall, his face grim, as he ordered the bell struck to gather all civil and military officials.

Linghu Qingqing, face cold, carried a scroll of documents, leading a throng of heavily armored generals, striding straight into the Nine Heavens Hall. Walking shoulder to shoulder with Linghu Qingqing was Gongyang Sanlü, his face grim beyond words—the Right Minister Gongyang Sanlü, under whom seventy percent of the Great Jin's civil officials served.

Last night, in Anyang City, civil officials suffered heavy casualties; many of the promising young civil officials whom Gongyang Sanlü highly regarded—talented and of good private character—had their homes slaughtered by the rebels, and the reported figures left Gongyang Sanlü heartbroken.

A faint heat rose above his head; at this moment, Gongyang Sanlü wanted to find someone to fight to the death.

On the Nine Heavens Hall, Linghu Qingqing opened the document and shouted in a stern, expressionless voice: 'Your Majesty, officials, last night's revolt has been investigated… the rebels mostly came from the reorganized Three Gardens Forbidden Army and Twelve Guards Forbidden Army… the rebel commanders are all linked to Princess Jingcheng.'

Sima Xian snapped his head up, his eyes blazing, staring fixedly at Linghu Qingqing.

An hour later, an edict was issued from within the Nine Heavens Hall and proclaimed to the world: Princess Jingcheng's conduct is improper, she fails to govern strictly, possibly colluding with foreign states to bring chaos to the Great Jin; she is to be stripped of all titles and honors, imprisoned in the heavenly prison, pending investigation, after which a final verdict will be given.

Moreover, a large number of Great Jin officials failed in their loyalist duty to rescue the emperor, with reinforcements delayed in entering Anyang City; for example, the Duke of Yuzhou, Huo Xiong, was demoted three ranks, to serve the state while bearing guilt.