Chapter 156

In the Capital City.

The street from the Wang Gong to the General's Mansion could be called incomparably broad, fully able to accommodate fifteen fine horses riding abreast, yet now it still appeared somewhat narrow.

Only because there were truly too many people today.

With the chariot driven by Gu Xuan at the lead, upon which Sima Gu was bound like a dead dog, followed by fully over ten thousand people behind.

Among them, there were royal guards, Forbidden Army soldiers, and also many citizens.

And from afar, even more people, having heard the news, were surging toward this direction.

And this was precisely the effect Gu Xuan wanted; as long as it did not affect his extermination of the Sima Clan up ahead, the more people present, the better.

Thus, he could establish his authority more smoothly, maximizing the integration of all forces.

……

Furthermore, speaking of inside the General's Mansion.

When Sima Shang received the news transmitted by Sima Gu's close School Captain, his first reaction was somewhat disbelief.

Originally in his view, this so-called "King's rebellion" was merely a farce stirred up by an ignorant puppet youngster, not worth mentioning at all.

Third Brother Sima Gu going forth would certainly be able to easily pacify this farce, binding the impulsive and reckless Zhou King back to the Wang Gong.

Afterwards, he would again in the name of the actual-power General, either depose or confine him, however he wanted to manipulate the Zhou King would be fine.

Therefore.

He himself did not show up at all, even the council in the mansion was not interrupted much, but he directly continued.

But who could have expected, the current Zhou King, like a Peerless fierce general, slew generals and annihilated troops, just like the High Ancestor of old, his cultivation of the Great Zhou Divine King Art had reached an extremely profound level?!

This completely did not match his impression of the King!

All along, the current Zhou King had been a frail young puppet, this past year even more so spending whole days only knowing to drown sorrow in fine wine and beauties.

How did he suddenly possess this kind of Peerless martial power?

Good fellow, so you've been playing hide-your-light-and-bide-your-time, secretly crossing the warehouse with me?

However, as the General who usurped power for over ten years, Sima Shang ultimately still had the true colors of a heroic villain.

Although somewhat shocked, he still made the optimal arrangements at the first moment.

First point.

He dispatched confidants to summon the East Garden Forbidden Army nearest to the General's Mansion.

This was also one of the Sima Family's most core armed forces, fully three thousand iron-armored elites.

Second.

He did not announce this news, but secretly sealed it off.

Because at this moment, the many ministers and subordinates from the Three Offices and Six Departments discussing matters in his mansion were numerous; if these people learned of this, they would surely panic and clamor, making the situation even more unfavorable.

At the Critical Moment, he could still seize these people as hostages, and if necessary even fight to the death.

Besides that.

He also ordered men to summon the five hundred death warriors meticulously selected and raised for many years by the Sima Family, and also ordered the Iron Armored Guards, each one a fierce soldier able to stand against ten.

And not only that.

Yet it is said this Sima Family, having risen through military chaos, feared others would likewise stage a military coup to behead them, so they built the General's Mansion with high walls and deep courtyards, the main gate cast from mixed iron, impregnable.

Ordinary soldiers, even numbering thousands, would probably find it hard to breach.

With all these arrangements in place, Sima Shang himself felt it was somewhat overdoing it, paying excessive attention to this young Zhou King.

However.

After years of terrifying bloody experience, Sima Shang had long understood the principle that a lion uses full strength even to catch a rabbit.

Before long, the East Garden Forbidden Army's three thousand iron-armored elites had already rushed to the General's Mansion gate.

In this armed force, the vast majority of mid-level School Captains were promoted by Sima Shang himself, and many among them were even death warriors who had followed him in those years.

Therefore, this force was absolutely loyal and reliable, and was also one of Sima Shang's greatest reliances in this battle.

……

And almost at the same time.

Gu Xuan also led several thousand people to the General's Mansion main gate, facing off against that East Garden Forbidden Army's three thousand men and horses.

It must be said, the power comparison between the two sides was still extremely disparate.

Because on Gu Xuan's side, aside from over a hundred of his Xinei and Wang Gong guards, the vast majority were scattered soldiers, citizens, and the like.

While the opposite side was an established-system portion of the Forbidden Army.

Not to mention Sima Shang's mansion defense like a Copper Wall Iron Wall, and other terrifying forces that might exist within.

Can Say.

Even if Gu Xuan killed Sima Gu, the situation for him was still extremely dangerous.

Because by this moment, it had already reached the point of bayonets seeing red; Sima Shang and his death warriors would absolutely no longer care too much about Gu Xuan's King identity.

And that motley crowd behind him, the vast majority were still "whoever wins we follow"!

Regarding this point, Gu Xuan knew it clearly in his heart.

He had not yet become foolish and arrogant to that extent, to believe that merely relying on his King identity, he could take for granted that everyone would stand on his side.

Just when his chariot was not far from the East Garden Forbidden Army's forest of iron ge formation, approaching fifty meters.

Gu Xuan drove the chariot to a halt; he could already see the tension and bloodlust in the pupils of those elite soldiers opposite.

Very clearly, these soldiers were loyal to the Sima Clan to a great extent, while toward this King of his, they did not have too much awe.

"Today's matter: only punish the chief culprit Sima Family, do not question the coerced followers!"

At Gu Xuan's signal, his nearby Xinei Huang Jing and others shouted loudly, and even some Forbidden Army soldiers who had followed along started shouting as well.

Under the unified shouts of fully several hundred people, the sound shook the vicinity of nearly ten li.

The ministers of the Three Offices and Six Ministries within the General's Mansion had naturally long since been alarmed, most of them panic-stricken, never imagining the situation would actually develop to this point.

And at a time like this, they naturally could not possibly leave this General's Mansion.

Ostensibly they were being protected, but in reality it was tantamount to a disguised form of house arrest, another form of hostage.

Huang Jing and the others' calls to surrender were immense, yet their effect was obviously negligible, incapable of shaking those Eastern Garden Forbidden Army men, only drawing a few even more fierce shouts of killing.

Speed is the essence of war!

Gu Xuan did not delay much effort, for the longer he dragged it out, the more fully Sima Shang's armed forces would react.

By then, even if Gu Xuan possessed world-covering martial power, he would likely only be able to preserve his own safe escape, yet find it very difficult to completely turn the tables.

Therefore.

He let out a great roar, his voice like a giant thunderclap, shaking everyone in the whole arena; for a moment the entire arena fell silent.

Even before he had begun to act, this kind of divine might had already been imprinted in everyone's hearts.

At this moment, he wore the Golden Armor, planted his Square Heaven Painted Halberd on the ground, divine might awe-inspiring, bearing like a heavenly god.

"Gentlemen, just watch how I break the enemy."

He first turned his body, shouted loudly at everyone behind him, then flipped down his visor; from then on his whole body was thoroughly protected without a single flaw.

The next moment.

Gu Xuan once again displayed his miraculous Dragon-Seizing Skill, from the chariot beneath his feet seizing a precious bow nearly two meters long, along with several peculiar arrows.

Obviously, this was yet another Royal Treasure.

Under the gaze of ten thousand eyes, Gu Xuan drew the bow and nocked an arrow, the bow like a full moon, the man like a heavenly god!

The arrow in his hand was of a very special shape; its tip was not an ordinary arrowhead, but rather a crescent-spade shape, fully several inches wide.

"Hum!"

In the next instant, amid a piercing whistle, Gu Xuan loosed the arrow in his hand.

Only a crack was heard — the Eastern Garden Forbidden Army's military banner, made of great timber and incomparably stout, actually snapped directly!

This?!

Everyone was stunned dumb — what kind of combat power was this, before battle even began, a single arrow shooting down the enemy's command banner?

Since ancient times, battlefield slaughter has had the saying of four great military merits: First to Scale, Breaking the Formation, Beheading the General, Seizing the Banner.

No matter what method is used, to cut down or seize the enemy's banner is the ultimate embodiment of a certain peerless military merit and martial power.

And Gu Xuan's actions did not stop there.

The next moment, he raised the Square Heaven Painted Halberd in his hand and shouted loudly: "Kill! Whoever takes Sima Shang's head shall be enfeoffed with ten thousand households!"

There was no room for hesitation.

Under the watch of all eyes, ten thousand gazes fixed upon him, Gu Xuan held a shield in his left hand, a halberd in his right, and actually once again personally led the charge, rushing straight at the Eastern Garden Forbidden Army — the main gate of the General's Mansion.

"This..."

Everyone who saw this scene was dumbstruck, shocked beyond measure!

By this moment, no one doubted any longer that the current Zhou King His Majesty's martial power was heaven-shaking, a world-covering powerhouse on par with the High Ancestor.

However.

Even one as strong as he, if he fell into the encirclement of three thousand elite iron-armored Forbidden Army soldiers, would likely end up surrounded and killed.

Yet Gu Xuan did exactly that.

Such an act made the opposing Eastern Garden Forbidden Army tremble for a moment.

When did our Great Zhou Dynasty's sovereign possess such blood-courage and gall?

From officers down to soldiers, there was not one who was not dazzled and spellbound.

Still, in the end there were Sima Clan die-hard School Captains who let go and issued the order for archers to fire in unison.

Several archers hesitated and were immediately beheaded by the School Captain; the remaining men at once dared not delay further.

In the next instant, a hum — like ten thousand arrows loosing at once — they volleyed toward Gu Xuan; these men had thoroughly torn off all pretense, no longer even regarding the Sovereign.

Gu Xuan planted his shield on the ground, blocking before himself; although his armor was firm enough to block the vast majority of arrows, he still had to guard against possible mishaps.

Clang clang clang!

Countless arrows struck his shield.

And the next moment, the School Captain on the other side who had given the order to loose realized he had made two mistakes.

First, he did not have his hundred-odd archers use a two-stage or three-stage attack method, but thought a single volley would suffice to heavily wound the enemy before him.

Second, he still underestimated the terror of the current Zhou King.

Because in the very next instant, Gu Xuan burst forward in a charge, his speed exceeding the understanding of ordinary soldiers.

In mere breaths, he arrived amidst the foremost archer formation, activating peerless mode.

Only under the infusion of the Great Zhou Divine King Art's energy, the Square Heaven Painted Halberd in his hand became like a demon god's weapon; with a single horizontal sweep, he struck down over ten archers who acted against him, their bodies severed into two halves.

This was still Gu Xuan deliberately holding back some force, to avoid excessive divine power consumption.

"This... is this still within human capability?"

"How can this be fought?!"

Who knows how many minds flashed with such thoughts.

Among them naturally included the Forbidden Army School Captain who had given the order earlier; his eyes went straight, and he simultaneously realized that because he stood relatively forward, he had already been targeted by the Zhou King His Majesty.

He instinctively wanted to retreat, withdraw into the army formation.

But obviously it was already too late; Gu Xuan charged horizontally, sweeping away nearly ten archers here and closing in on this School Captain.

The Square Heaven Painted Halberd fell — only a thud was heard — this School Captain was split from head to toe into two halves, helmet and mail alike, innards and fresh blood scattering across the ground.

On the battlefield, the bloody aura instantly became terrifyingly thick, the stench assaulting the nose, like an asura battlefield.

Such a desperate and terrifying scene, even for the Eastern Garden Forbidden Army who were used to battlefields and steeped in army formation training, still sent a chill through their gall.

Like Gu Xuan, not pausing for a moment, his whole body covered in fresh blood, like a towering, majestic demon god, he pressed step by step toward the main gate of Sima Shang's residence.

Yet the Eastern Garden Forbidden Army facing him still numbered over two thousand, each clad in fine armor and wielding iron ge, but before Gu Xuan alone they showed a trend of retreating.

Under this situation.

Gu Xuan's followers finally fully awoke from their shocked state; without him needing to shout, all the inner attendants, palace guards, and newly attached Forbidden Army soldiers followed Gu Xuan's steps forward.

"Kill!"

These people added up to several thousand; though a motley crew, in numbers they exceeded the Eastern Garden Forbidden Army, and their aura was even more fierce.

Gu Xuan simply did not pay attention to the movement behind him, not even glancing once.

For this scene had long been roughly within his expectations.

He knew that as long as he displayed this peerless mighty power, plus his own naturally supreme status, those people would naturally know what to do.

This is the so-called "winning-ology"; as long as everyone believes following you can win, then even if you want to lose it's very hard!

And not only that.

These years, the Great Zhou royal house has truly been desolate for too long.

And the Great Zhou Dynasty has been dark and weak for a long time; one need only look — the borderlands, Western Capital Luocheng and other places have long become hells of alien race burning, killing, raping, and plundering.

For the current Great Zhou human race, they truly yearn too desperately for a heroic lord to appear, to lead everyone back to the former heroic spirit!

And at this moment.

That Zhou King His Majesty before their eyes, like a god, sweeping all before him, matching a thousand men alone — isn't he the hope in everyone's heart?!

"Kill!"

These nearly ten thousand men, led by Gu Xuan, roared in unison, their voices shaking the entire capital city!

Without doubt, this is an extremely shocking scene; even the powerful Eastern Garden Forbidden Army opposite, and even Sima Shang and everyone inside the residence, all felt a supreme battle intent and killing intent!

Gu Xuan charged horizontally forward again, the great halberd sweeping across, sweeping away over ten stubborn Forbidden Army soldiers, their bodies severed horizontally, armor, viscera, and fresh blood scattered across the ground.

"Those who surrender will be spared death; those who counter-attack the Sima Clan will have merit!"

Gu Xuan let out another loud roar, like spring thunder rumbling, and like a true dragon, vibrating in the ears of all Eastern Garden Forbidden Army soldiers.

This time, he used a secret art from the Great Zhou Divine King Formula, empowering his roar.

Such a godly brave scene caused the remaining Forbidden Army soldiers to have no fighting spirit left.

Clatter, in a moment, who knows how many soldiers knelt before their sovereign, choosing to surrender and follow.

Boom, the main gate of the General's Mansion was completely smashed open.

Without any suspense, Sima Shang's five hundred death warriors, the so-called Iron Armored Guards, could not block the attack of the several thousand Forbidden Army led by Gu Xuan; in just a few breaths they were slaughtered to the last.

And Sima Shang, though tall and stalwart, martial arts extraordinary, once a fierce general who could charge into battle, these years indulging in court politics, his true combat power has long since wasted away considerably.

Without any suspense, without waiting for Gu Xuan to personally act, a few fierce men who stood out from the Forbidden Army captured him, and like a dead dog he was dragged before Gu Xuan.

Other Sima Family members also none escaped; these people once powerful for a time, naturally made many enemies, now fallen from power, naturally beaten like drowning dogs.

From then on, the powerful minister Sima Family was destroyed in one morning.

And accompanied by all soldiers in the capital city shouting long live, Gu Xuan ultimately grasped the East, West, South, North, and Central Five Great Forbidden Armies!

(Chapter End)