Chapter 263: Liangzhou Peace

Liangzhou, one month ago.

With the arrival of reinforcements from all sides and the collapse of the demonic front line, most of the cities occupied by the demons in a rapid attack were quickly recovered.

Everywhere in Liangzhou, battle flags fluttered. To avoid too much harm to the people by the demons in some cities, Li Tiangang and Li Xuanli discussed extracting light cavalry teams from the main army, replacing them with Haotian battle flags, and heading to various cities to arrive one step ahead to deter them and scout the situation.

If the situation was not good, they would wait for the main army. If they could deter the demons in that city with the battle flags, they could take the first step to rescue the people inside.

After all, as long as they waited just one day longer, tens of thousands of people would become rations for the demons.

Therefore, in recovering territory and rescuing the people, the faster the speed, the better.

After the horn of this vast counterattack was blown, the many small and medium-sized demon forces that had followed the three major demon forces to attack, trying to pick up scraps and fish in troubled waters, were all panicked, not expecting the front line to collapse so rapidly.

Originally, having heard the many favorable intelligence reports from the Tianji Hall, they had thought the demons swallowing Liangzhou was a sure thing, ten out of ten, but the result had reversed.

For a time, the fearful memories branded in their blood by this ancient dynasty were remembered once again.

Many forces with old demons in their clans all chose to withdraw, taking advantage of the chaotic times in Liangzhou, making it difficult to be tracked.

If they were wanted, it would be difficult for them to survive outside the borders, having to hide and dodge forever.

"Why, why were we defeated so quickly?"

"Wasn't it said that the Longmen Great Elder would lead us to break through Liangzhou?"

Among the demons, many great demon kings roared in anger, questioning the bird demons of the Tianji Hall.

The bird demons of the Tianji Hall felt bitter in their hearts. As demons, they naturally leaned toward the three major forces, and furthermore, they had not revealed that the Taixu Realm Master had also personally arrived on the battlefield.

This belonged to the secrets of this war and could not be leaked, to avoid these demons who knew the intelligence being captured by humans and the humans finding out.

"According to front-line intelligence, the Longmen has already been defeated. For specific reasons, you need to pay blood jade to purchase it."

The Tianji Hall bird demons responded to all demon forces with the same script.

Regardless of whether the war was won or lost, the money their Tianji Hall earned would never be less.

This was also the reason why the Tianji Hall had little combat power on the surface, yet could rank among the top demon forces, on par with forces like the Longmen.

Some demons chose to flee for their lives, not bothering to investigate. After some time, this intelligence would naturally spread, and they would be able to hear about it for free by then.

But some demons were relatively wealthy and irritable. Although angry, they still chose to purchase immediately, and thus soon learned the detailed reasons from the Tianji Hall bird demons.

The Taixu Realm Master personally commanded, but a human young general emerged, descended upon the battlefield, and beheaded seven demon kings in succession. He was pursued by the Taixu Realm Master and the Longmen Great Elder, fleeing outside the borders of Liangzhou.

This news soon spread among the demons. The demons who had lived outside Heaven's Gate Pass for many years and migrated elsewhere heard this news. Although surprised, they didn't feel too unexpected; they had long heard of the prestige of that young general sitting at Heaven's Gate Pass.

But other demons outside the borders of Liangzhou were shocked. A peerless genius had actually been born among the humans again! Some old demons sighed, recalling the Cangzhou incident fifteen years ago.

It was also the young general who emerged, leading only a few thousand iron cavalry, and pacified it alone, defending a state.

Now, fifteen years later, another young general had emerged, seemingly a reincarnation of fate. This also seemed to indicate that the human race's luck had not declined, and there were still three guillotines hanging over the heads of their demons.

The demons were defeated, and upon hearing the name Haotian, they all fled in a panic.

This recovery operation did not consume much military strength, and with the arrival of the Great Yu Imperial Clan's army to reinforce and surround Liangzhou, many fleeing demons were wiped out.

The 500,000-strong Imperial Clan army that had come to reinforce now only did the cleanup work, so the fleeing demons faced the vast army's extermination, suffering heavy casualties. The few demons who escaped also had their races exterminated and their forces destroyed, leaving only scattered small demons to escape, leaving behind fear and memories filled with pain.

"Report, Your Highness!"

The vanguard scout returned, carrying the Hearing Hearing Yu Huang's flag, the black Yu character fluttering.

"In the city thirty miles ahead, the demons there have abandoned the city and fled. Now there is an army taking over, calling on the remaining guards and people in the city to treat the wounded."

The vanguard scout dismounted and reported quickly.

In front of him was a red-scaled flood dragon, over ten feet long, standing on its back was a young man wearing golden divine armor, his cloak fluttering in the wind.

Being able to be called Your Highness showed his extraordinary status.

The "Yan" character on his chest armor revealed his identity. He was not unfamiliar to the imperial court and noble families; he was precisely one of the few among the dozens of imperial princes with great fame, the Thirteenth Prince, Jiang Yan.

Young and promising, he had long since achieved great military exploits and fame. It was said that he was extremely brave. If it weren't for his imperial clan background, he would at least have been enfeoffed as a Marquis.

At this moment, Jiang Yan listened to the vanguard scout's words and frowned slightly: "I heard there was a great demon king sitting there. How many troops did they use to force it back without making a sound?"

"I heard, not a single soldier or a single casualty."

The vanguard scout lowered his head respectfully and recounted the detailed situation.

Jiang Yan listened, and a look of surprise appeared in his sword-browed, star-eyed gaze, which then turned into coldness:

"Hmph, Haotian battle flag? To actually be able to deter a great demon king with just a battle flag, it's simply ridiculous!"

"Is the flag of the late emperor of our Great Yu Imperial Clan not as deterrent as that Haotian battle flag? These demons, it seems the Emperor has been too benevolent to them these years!"

"Pass the order!"

His expression was cold: "Kill all demons seen along the way, leave none behind. Capture the great demon kings alive. Once Liangzhou is pacified, I want to build a high sacrificial altar to refine the great demons to shock all the demons in the world!"

"Let these demons know what the end will be for invading the territory of our Great Yu Divine Dynasty!"

With the arrival of the Imperial Clan army, forces from other great states also rushed to Liangzhou to reinforce the battlefield.

Some of these forces were noble family disciples, some were Jianghu sects, and others were local armies from various states. Hearing that Liangzhou was in trouble, they reinforced from all sides.

It was just that each great state had a vast territory of seventy or eighty thousand to over a hundred thousand miles. If the army didn't use some secret military items to accelerate the march, reinforcements often took some time.

By the time forces from all sides arrived, the cleanup of the Liangzhou battlefield was already nearing its end. This battle, from the demons launching the attack to its pacification, took less than ten days in total.

What remained was to clean up the demons hiding in various places within the territory. Some of these demons fled to towns and other places to hide, waiting for the wind to pass before continuing to harm the people.

After all, this defense line had been broken, and no one knew how many demons had poured in. The area of the entire Liangzhou was also large, requiring careful scouting.

"Old Seven, just interrogated the Tianji Hall bird demon. Hao'er attracted those three demon kings to the Mo River defended by Fourth Uncle."

Li Xuanli's eyes showed a glimmer of hope: "Perhaps, with Fourth Uncle's help, Hao'er might not be in trouble. Fourth Uncle is still very experienced with the situation of that Mo River."

Li Tiangang breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "With Fourth Uncle there, relying on the Mo River to escape, there is hope. Is that demon king now guarding outside the Mo River?"

"Also went in." "Since that is the case, this is rare intelligence. We can catch a turtle in a jar!"

Li Tiangang's eyes lit up slightly.

Li Xuanli nodded: "But that Candle Zhu Huoshen is a half-step Taiping Dao Realm. If we want to hunt him, I fear we need to invite Second Uncle over. And that's not enough; we also need the other Dinghai Divine Needles of the Divine General Mansion to strike together. If we could invite that old lady from the Xia family..."

He paused for a moment, then shook his head. That old lady had sat in the Xia family for many years and had never easily left, so he feared she would not strike because of this matter.

"How about inviting the Buddha Lord?" Li Xuanli pondered.

Li Tiangang's eyes narrowed slightly: "The Buddha Lord might not strike. Perhaps he will only send a Bodhisattva to deal with it. You should have been able to see through the Liangzhou matter this time!"

Li Xuanli thought of Lin Wujing and some rumors, and nodded slightly:

"But the True Person of the Gan Dao Palace will not easily leave the palace. This rare opportunity in a thousand years, we can't let him escape, right?"

"Ask the Imperial Clan to come forward. Let them call for it. I heard that the two princes Jiang Yan and Jiang Chong have both come. Discuss with them. If they can call for other powerhouses like the Sword Saint to join the siege, and then invite that Imperial Guard Commander, that Candle Zhu Huoshen will surely die!"

Cold light flickered in Li Tiangang's eyes.

"Okay."

Li Xuanli nodded.

With the end of the Liangzhou rebellion and the return of peace, the Imperial Clan, in conjunction with the Liangzhou Army and the Divine General Mansion, built a high sacrificial altar in the state, using nine Three Imperishable Realm great demons to sacrifice to heaven.

It was called sacrificing to the spirits of the people of Liangzhou, but in reality, it was a deterrent to the demons.

This news soon spread in all directions, making the demons outside the borders even more terrified.

After the demon sacrifice ended, messages were sent in all directions.

Xia Family.

In a simple courtyard, an old woman was raising poultry, feeding chickens and ducks.

"Zuo Zuo."

The old woman took out a handful of rice and threw it in front of a few little yellow chickens, letting them peck at the rice.

The little yellow chickens pecked at the rice obediently, eating with relish.

Suddenly, the small courtyard door was pushed open, and a middle-aged woman wearing patched clothing walked in, holding a letter in her hand.

She looked simple, with a gray wooden hairpin, but under her coarse hemp-like sleeves was skin as white as mutton-fat jade, appearing as if it could be broken by a blow.

The old woman was sitting on a reclining chair, rocking gently, looking at the little yellow chickens pecking at the rice with satisfaction, her face kind.

When the middle-aged woman walked closer, she looked up, her gaze naturally falling on the letter in the other's hand, the smile on her face fading slightly.

"Madam, it is a letter from the Li Clan."

The middle-aged woman said softly and respectfully.

The old woman raised her hand to take it, reading it slowly. After a long while, she gently closed the letter and muttered: "Now that the national fortune is declining, these old fellows are all restless."

"Madam, are we going?"

The middle-aged woman was cautious, speaking in a light voice: "This is indeed a rare opportunity in a thousand years. If that Candle Zhu Huoshen has a Dao Domain, he should not perish in the Mo River. Waiting for him to come out is the perfect time for a hunt."

The old woman placed the letter behind the reclining chair and grabbed another handful of rice, throwing it to the little yellow chickens at her feet: "The Tianji Hall should have already passed this intelligence to other demon forces. Although demons fight and disagree with each other, they also understand the principle of the lips being gone, the teeth being cold."

"The Ancient Demon Palace and the Taixu Realm are at odds, so they likely won't reinforce, but the Gluttony Valley, the Longmen, and the Holy Palace will all send people over."

"That is both an opportunity and a trap."

Speaking of this, she gently kicked one of the little yellow chickens with her foot and laughed low: "Don't be too greedy, leave some for them."

The largest little yellow chicken was kicked to the side, feeling somewhat aggrieved, and had to shrink toward the middle-aged woman's feet.

The middle-aged woman moved her feet slightly before saying: "Madam, then your meaning is, we should observe the situation for now?"

"Wait."

The old woman said softly.

Wang Family.

In a palace-like hall, three figures gathered here.

"Just received another letter from the Li Clan. Liangzhou has already pacified the rebellion."

One of the men, with a burly figure and a majestic face, said in a low voice: "Previously, Li Tiangang sent out eight-direction order flags to ask for help. Our Wang family was too far away, and by the time we reinforced, it was estimated to be over, so we didn't respond. If we don't express something this time, I fear we will be gossiped about."

"Hmph, so what if they gossip? These demon matters have nothing to do with us. We already divided our Wang family's troops to them. Isn't that enough?" Another thin, bony middle-aged man said coldly.

"Those are things of the past, don't mention them again."

An elderly man sitting above said in a low voice: "Grudges and grievances are all past smoke and clouds, impossible to investigate clearly."

"Now the situation of the Great Yu Divine Dynasty, demons lurking is a small matter, the Mo River problem is becoming more and more serious."

"Zhendong is currently impacting that ten thousand merit points, and I don't know what special changes will happen after reaching ten thousand."

Speaking of this, he sighed, his brow filled with worry, yet also carrying a bit of expectation.

"There should be some changes. Our Wang family's challenges and research on the Mo River over the years show that this merit list is by no means a mere name."

The majestic-faced middle-aged man on the right said: "The 98th-generation ancestor's merit exceeded ten thousand back then, and it was recorded that he seemed to have received an extra opportunity to defy fate, his luck was prosperous, which led to our Wang family producing talents in large numbers over the years."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 264 =====

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