Chapter 101: 1 Man, 1 Sword, 1 City Pass

Popular recommendation: In fact, many of the generals who led the Yuan troops south to attack the Song were originally Song people, such as Zhang Hongfan, the general leading the troops to attack Tongguan this time.

Although this man defected to the Yuan Court, he was a great general who could command the saddle, compose poems while drinking, and stir up the winds and clouds.

Historically, it was this man who led troops to break through Xiangyang City.

Inside the main camp, Zhang Hongfan, in silver helmet and silver armor, discussed with several subordinate generals in front of a map.

"Tongguan's terrain is dangerous and strategic, majestically occupying the vital hub of the Qin, Jin, and Yu provinces.

To its south lies the Qinling, to its north the Wei and Luo rivers converge at the Yellow River to embrace the pass and flow downward, and to the west it is near Huayue.

Surrounded by mountain after mountain, peak after peak, with deep valleys and sheer cliffs, and high mountains and narrow roads, it is a place that military strategists must fight for."

"I really don't know what the original defenders of Tongguan were doing, to have been broken by the Song army in a single day; they were truly useless!

In such a strategic place, even if you put a dog there, it could hold for three days."

A subordinate general on the left said: "General, my subordinates have scouted that this force is not the Song army, but the Ming Army.

Their leader, the Ming Venerable, is a supreme expert; every time they attack a city, he and the experts in his army must first sneak inside the pass.

His martial arts are godlike, capable of taking the head of an enemy general from among ten thousand troops; no one in the city can stop him, which is why they repeatedly break cities."

Zhang Hongfan frowned and said in a deep voice: "Nonsense!

The so-called godlike martial arts of the Ming Venerable are nothing but excuses from those defending generals."

"What kind of martial arts world people have we not seen? No matter how high their martial arts are, can they break our military formations? Now that our thirty thousand troops are advancing, regardless of whether they are Song soldiers or the Ming Venerable, we will slaughter them all."

"Yes!"

"The General is brave and divine, naturally not afraid of such demonic people."

"Pass the order down: camp and rest here for one night, and attack the city tomorrow."

Zhang Hongfan ordered the generals of each camp: "If the city is not broken by combined force within three days, all will be beheaded."

"Yes."

Everyone responded and retreated one by one.

At dawn the next day, Zhang Hongfan went to the foot of the city himself to supervise the various armies in moving earth and stone to fill the moats and trenches.

Above Tongguan, arrows, rolling logs, and flying stones fell like rain, and two subordinate generals retreated in fear.

Zhang Hongfan rode his horse and held his sword to personally behead them at the foot of the city, then dismounted to personally carry earth to fill the pits.

Seeing their commander act this way, the officers and soldiers of the Yuan army had their morale greatly boosted, and everyone charged forward fiercely.

Although the Ming Army on the city walls was brave, they could not withstand such a fierce attack from the Tatars.

On Tongguan, Liu Tinghuai, the Lion King, and others became increasingly anxious at the sight.

Many Ming Army generals were on the city wall, but Lu Li was nowhere to be seen.

Everyone fought to the death, hoping only to buy more time for Lu Li, Tang Liuyi, and the others.

Seeing that they could gradually no longer hold the city, the Tatars scrambled onto the walls like demons, killing everyone they saw; in a short while, they would be able to cut the gate locks and let the main force pour in.

Just at this moment, shouts of battle suddenly came from both sides and the rear of the Yuan army.

"They're here."

The eyes of the generals and soldiers on the pass suddenly lit up, while Zhang Hongfan and the Yuan Court generals were startled.

It turned out that the surrounding Qinling and Huashan terrain was unpredictable, making it easy to hide a thousand soldiers.

Lu Li, Tang Liuyi, and the Eagle King each led a team; the three teams hid outside the city, waiting for the siege to begin before attacking the Tatars from the surroundings simultaneously.

In fact, many generals thought the Song soldiers had long been scared, and now that the main force was pressing down, the other side would only dare to defend the city; they did not expect that Lu Li and the others had grander plans—not only to defend the city, but to win a great victory.

In Lu Li's view, the attacking side was always himself, never the other party.

In this battle, he would not only hold Tongguan but also annihilate the enemy entirely here!

Seeing this, the Yuan soldiers were immediately alarmed.

Only Zhang Hongfan shouted the order: "The enemy has no more than a thousand men, charge and kill them for me!"

Below Tongguan, the two sides collided violently.

Zhang Hongfan noticed that the leader of the team attacking from the rear wore a ferocious mask; it was the rumored Ming Venerable.

Seeing Lu Li ride over, as the two armies engaged, his body suddenly leaped out, actually vaulting over the horses and the soldiers' heads.

The long sword in his hand was like a long dragon; at the dragon-head of the sword light, the cold gleam was bone-chilling, and even from far away, he felt a trace of fear.

Wherever he passed, the Yuan soldiers were slashed to death by his sword, blood gushing out to form a blood-colored dragon body.

He was like a sword god charging through mid-air, wantonly reaping the lives of the Yuan soldiers.

The tragic charge of the two armies was like a solid wall, yet it was torn open by Lu Li.

"How can this be? How can there be such a brave person in the world?"

"Heavy shields!"

"Stop this man for me!"

"Fire arrows!"

"Regardless of friend or foe, shoot this man dead!"

A crowd of dark, heavy shield-bearers moved in an instant; two rows of man-high heavy shields pressed forward like the city wall of Tongguan.

Lu Li charged over with one man and one sword, while opposite him was a black wall of steel.

And in the sky behind this black wall, a rain of arrows shot over.

"Heavy shields and arrow rain, is it?"

Lu Li chuckled.

What of heavy shields? What of arrow rain? Back in Haozhou City, facing Tang Liuyi's heavy armored soldiers, Lu Li had held back because he wanted to recruit them.

But now, he had no need to hold back.

Lu Li held his long sword, and the aura radiating from the sword was like a ten-thousand-foot mountain.

He urged his own cultivation art, not only pouring the True Qi he had cultivated into his Sword Qi, but also unleashing his Sword Intent to mobilize a sliver of the world's momentum.

Suddenly, a majestic aura erupted from Lu Li's body; standing there alone, he was like a towering, lofty mountain.

A low Sword Song suddenly filled Tongguan, drowning out all the shouts of battle.

The next moment, the heaven-piercing Sword Qi instantly transformed into an unrivaled beam of sword light and slashed out.

Boom!

The sword light swirled, colliding with two rows of heavy shields; sparks flew everywhere, and the black iron armor suddenly shattered!

The heavy shields in the hands of the heavy infantry were actually severed by Lu Li's sword; the thick and tall shields were cut into two by his single strike, and the armor of that squad of heavy infantry also cracked apart.

The group of soldiers still maintained their defensive posture with shields held high, but their eyes were already lifeless, and blood flowed from their mouths and noses inside their armor.

With that one strike, Lu Li had slaughtered the Yuan Army's heavy infantry battalion!

And the sky-filling rain of arrows was also instantly cleared away by this sword strike.

On the battlefield of life-and-death struggle, there was a strangely quiet moment.

Whether it was the Yuan Army generals like Zhang Hongfan or the Eagle King and others guarding Tongguan, all were dumbfounded; the gazes they turned toward Lu Li were filled with awe.

The next moment, the awe in these people's eyes turned into fear and fanaticism, respectively.

The hearts of the Yuan soldiers were filled with fear, while all the Ming Army soldiers felt their blood burning.

"Follow the Venerable Master and charge!"

"Kill!"

Lu Li, having slashed out with his sword, transformed into an afterimage and charged toward Zhang Hongfan's commander's flag.

Amidst the ten thousand troops, blades and swords were everywhere and arrows filled the sky, yet Lu Li moved as if in an empty land.

The sword light transformed into a long dragon, piercing toward Zhang Hongfan.

Seeing there was no way to avoid it, Zhang Hongfan had no choice but to hold his iron spear, channeling all his strength and killing intent into the weapon, and thrusting it out with all his might.

This strike was like ten thousand horses charging together; he was worthy of being a great general who galloped across the battlefield, and his martial arts were by no means inferior to the top experts of the current age.

But under Lu Li's sword, it could only end with the spear broken and the man dead.

Everyone saw the blinding sword light, and the next moment they saw that the famous general of a generation, Zhang Hongfan, had already been beheaded.

Lu Li looked up at the commander's flag nearby, let out a sudden shout, and then slashed down with his sword.

The commander's flag fell in response to the sound.

On the other side, the thirty thousand-plus Tartar soldiers on the battlefield fell into immediate chaos.

"The commander's flag has fallen!"

"What is happening? The Ming Venerable actually managed to break ten thousand troops alone and kill Commander Zhang!"

Once the commander's flag fell, the morale of the Yuan Army instantly plummeted to the bottom.

Beside Lu Li, several generals were also dumbfounded.

Only now did they finally believe the rumors that the Ming Venerable's martial arts were godlike and unrivaled.

Previously, Zhang Hongfan did not believe this rumor, but now he had been cut down from his horse by Lu Li.

"How can such martial arts be resisted?"

"How can this battle still be fought?"

Everyone's hearts were filled with doubt; they had already been terrified by Lu Li.

There were still over a dozen generals among the Yuan Army surrounding Lu Li, each holding a weapon, but at this moment, not one of them harbored the thought of opposing him.

Atop Tongguan, the Lion King shouted loudly: "The Tartar commander is dead!"

"The central army's great flag has been cut down by the Ming Venerable!"

"All soldiers, follow me and charge!"

The Ming Army suddenly charged over, their faces stained with blood, roaring: "Kill all the Tartars!"

"The Tartar commander is dead!"

"Kill!"

The gates of Tongguan were thrown wide open, and the Ming Army charged in from all directions.

The remaining Yuan soldiers had long since grown timid and had no heart to fight further.

The thirty-thousand-strong Tartar army was thoroughly defeated by eight thousand Ming soldiers.

In an instant, the Yuan Army had collapsed.

The Ming Army won a great victory, seizing all of the Yuan Army's provisions and military supplies.

All the Tartars among the Yuan Army were taken to the walls of Tongguan and beheaded to serve as a warning, numbering several thousand.

Among them, any Song generals who did not surrender were beheaded, regardless of their family background.

After this battle ended, battle reports were sent to the Yuan Court and the Song Court; both sides were shocked.

It is said that the Yuan Court's sharp spirit was blunted, and the image of being unrivaled that they had built up over the years was suddenly shattered; how could they let it go? They immediately gathered an army of one hundred thousand to attack Tongguan in seven waves, but because the numbers on both sides were too great this time, everyone only defended and did not attack.

Even with Lu Li's courage to face ten thousand, there was no way to charge head-on into an army of one hundred thousand.

It was too difficult.

The war in Tongguan lasted for several months without stopping, yet the city gates were never breached even once.

Whenever the Yuan Army was about to breach Tongguan, Lu Li would don light armor, hold his long sword, and ascend the city tower.

He turned the tide when it was collapsing and propped up the building when it was about to fall.

One man guarded the pass, one sword held off ten thousand troops.

Besides this, Tang Liuyi and others led small groups of troops to roam outside, like annoying sparrows, constantly harassing and nibbling away at the Yuan Army.

These small groups of troops were not greedy for victory, adhering to the sixteen-character principle given by Lu Li.

"The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue."

The Tatars had never seen such tactics, and were made so annoyed and exhausted by the Ming Army that they were worn out.

By using points to influence the lines, because the great battle at Tongguan Pass concentrated a significant portion of the Yuan troops' strength, the pressure on the Yuan-Song battle lines in places like Xiangyang was reduced quite a bit.

During this period, Guo Jing even wrote a letter to Lu Li.

It turned out that during the autumn harvest, he heard the Tatars were going to head south again, so he returned to Xiangyang once more.

Only this time, the war situation in Xiangyang was not as tight as in previous years.

Upon investigating, he learned that the Ming Venerable guarding Tongguan was actually the youth from the Huashan Sword Debate that day, and he could not help but feel deeply moved in his heart.

When the bitter cold of winter arrived that year, the Yuan troops suffered another defeat.

With no other options, they had no choice but to retreat for the time being.

Everyone knew that after this retreat, the Yuan troops would need at least ten years of rest and recuperation before they could attack again.

During this period of guarding the pass, Li Tong and the others sent people to pacify the people of Wan, Lu, and Yu, and also dispatched the Five Dispersed People to the south of the Yangtze River in the Song territory to desperately promote the image of the Ming Venerable.

Ever since the Tatars invaded the Central Plains, the common people around the battle lines had lived lives worse than pigs or dogs, trembling with fear every day.

However, Lu Li held Tongguan alone and even slaughtered the Tatar troops into a state of collapse, making him the savior and avenger for the people of these regions.

Coupled with Li Tong's pacification, the reverence the people of these regions held for the Ming Army had already far surpassed that for the Song.

Even the common people in the luxurious lands of Jiangnan grew increasingly respectful of the image of the Ming Venerable, Lu Li.

And under the influence of Guo Jing, the martial arts community's view of the Ming Cult also changed significantly, not at all viewing the Ming Cult as demonic as in the era of the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

Meanwhile, Liu Tinghuai also proposed sending people to the southern Song to complain, saying only that everyone was resisting the Tatars with extreme difficulty.

Many officials within the Song court were content to remain in the southern regions and had long hoped that someone could block the fierce Tatars for them.

Everyone was a scholar; who would want to go and fight the Tatars? Plus, with the public sentiment leaning that way, the Song court very readily provided Lu Li and the others with material support.

Although there were some military officers who were single-mindedly devoted to serving the country, without the Emperor's nod, there was still nothing they could do.

And half of these funds were taken out by Li Tong to, in turn, bribe the officials of the Song court.

They not only wanted money, but also people.

They wanted people with talent, people with learning, and people with all kinds of skills.

With these people suggesting things around the Emperor every day, there were also many talents skilled in governance and warfare, and even folk artisans came to the Ming territory.

And strangely, Wan, Lu, and Yu had always been the territory of the 'Ming', and the title of Marquis that the Emperor originally wanted to give Lu Li was also dissuaded by a crowd of 'bribed officials', and in the end, it was never issued.

In other words, the Ming Army currently had no official status from the Song court; it was an independent force.

The final result was that the Song Emperor still considered Lu Li's territory as his own subsidiary force in his heart, treating Lu Li only as a fierce general under his command, and continuously provided material aid.

But in the eyes of the people of these three regions, a new country had already been established.

The material support the Southern Song gave them did not look like condolences; it looked more like annual tribute.

In any case, the Song Dynasty was also very skilled at giving annual tribute to other countries, and the common people were already used to it.

Overall, the relationship between Lu Li and the Song court was now very ambiguous.

Could you say the two sides had separated? Not really, but in fact, it could also be considered independent.

Because the management of these three regions was already completely autonomous, and even many systems were already completely different from those of the Song.

Lu Li could not help but sigh that scholars like Li Tong and Liu Tinghuai had truly dark hearts.

They were just like a scumbag, keeping the Song court on a string.

The relationship between Lu Li and the Song court could be described as equivocal, but the relationship with the Yuan Court was very clear.

Mortal enemies!

All the bureaucrats and soldiers of the Yuan Court wished they could kill Lu Li and eat his flesh.

Regarding this, Lu Li did not care at all.

If you really have the ability, then come!

Because Lu Li often wore a ferocious mask on the battlefield, the Yuan Tatar soldiers all called Lu Li the 'Shura who walked out of Sumuhake'.

Hearing this title, Lu Li could not help but be stunned.

He was clearly a good youth who disliked fighting, so how did he become inseparable from Shura? During the time of the Smiling Proud Wanderer, he was called the Asura Sword, and upon arriving in this world, he was also called 'Shura'.

Even the Sword Spirit awakened within the Tianxuan Continent was named Seven Sword Asura.

Fate is truly wondrous.

But Lu Li still hoped that people could see through his cold exterior to understand his gentle heart; after all, the methods of a Shura were merely means he adopted to complete his missions.

He was a gentle person too~ After this great battle at Tongguan, a long-lost peace arrived, and the remaining matters were all about governance and development.

Lu Li felt that his current force could seemingly complete the first stage of the mission for this world, and subsequently, he used the excuse of closed-door cultivation to leave Tongguan and set off for the Shaolin Temple.

As mentioned before, Lu Li intended to read all the martial arts in the world and create a supreme technique of his own.

And the martial arts world said that all martial arts in the world originated from Shaolin; in almost any martial arts novel, the Shaolin Sect was always the leader of the righteous path.

If nothing else, the most famous were the Seventy-two Ultimate Arts, so how could Lu Li let these monks go? At the foot of Songshan, Lu Li was riding a poor horse, walking along with a clip-clop sound.

He wore an iron sword casually at his waist, held a flask of Peach Blossom Brew in his hand, and took a sip from time to time.

The taste of the Peach Blossom Brew was very good, the alcohol content was very light, and it was more like a beverage.

After successive battles, Lu Li took off his armor and strolled through the mountain forests, feeling his mood greatly refreshed.

Facing the beautiful mountains and forests, Lu Li could not help but let out a long whistle.

The sound of the whistle was high and clear, piercing the clouds and echoing through the mountain forests; after one sound, Lu Li felt much more relaxed.

"Good, I was wondering who was shouting, so it was you."

Just at this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind Lu Li.

Lu Li turned his head to look and saw a young girl of eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing pale yellow clothes.

She was riding a green donkey and was slowly coming along the mountain path.

Lu Li recognized this person; she was the second daughter of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, nicknamed the 'Little Eastern Heretic', Guo Xiang.

Meeting an old friend is naturally a joyous occasion; the two of them chatted with smiles, then headed up to Shaolin together.

----Author's Note---- Seeking a wave of recommendation votes and monthly votes~