Chapter 374: Breakthrough: The Nation-Extinguishing Divine General Li Guanyi

The bronze tripod's howling grew increasingly violent.

The national fortune of the Tangut state was continuously transforming into Li Guanyi's own murderous aura.

This surge of Tangut national fortune.

Had begun the moment Li Guanyi set foot in Tangut's capital.

Back then, the flow of this aura was not yet strong enough for Li Guanyi to suppress it himself—but afterward, after rescuing civilians, burning cities to ashes, and battling the Wolf King,

The stimulation and transformation of Tangut's national fortune grew ever more intense.

Li Guanyi's Bai Hu manifestation had already swallowed the vast national fortune of Tangut.

Now he was both the one who waged war against Tangut's national fortune, the one who brought about its downfall.

Yet also the one who intercepted the Wolf King, indirectly destroying the vast armies and barbarian generals who sought to annex Tangut.

These two opposing forces of change caused the qi within Li Guanyi's Nine Provinces Ding to churn uncontrollably.

For warriors of the Military School among the Hundred Schools,

Toiling in seclusion pales beside stepping onto the battlefield; yet how could even battlefield experience compare to personally directing, driving, and completing a nation-destroying campaign?

One general's glory is built on ten thousand corpses.

Shutting oneself in to build a cart yields no great achievement.

The national fortune of a Western Regions hegemon state had been extinguished.

Without producing several famed generals, such a great nation's collapse would be an insult to its demise.

Li Guanyi felt his entire body's murderous aura shift—this was no longer the might of the Nine Provinces Ding, but pure Military School murderous aura cultivation. He clenched his fist; the Bai Hu's roar beside his ear was fierce, nothing like its former self.

Jiang Su had once been the same: after extinguishing a nation, she stepped into the Master realm, then surged forward like a breaking dam, shattering the eighth-tier accumulation barrier and entering the Grand Master realm of the ninth tier, ultimately achieving the legendary martial path.

"Never expected it would be the Military School's method that broke through first…"

Li Guanyi murmured to himself—he was now immersed in the overwhelming momentum of the Military School.

The state most universally acknowledged as impossible to confront head-on.

The Divine General in the midst of a nation-destroying war.

Li Guanyi's personal fortune converged, his murderous aura swirling; normally, this would require prolonged forging to transform and ascend—but the Nine Provinces Ding, by returning Tangut's national fortune as murderous qi, forcibly spared him the arduous cultivation process.

Now, with his fist clenched, the murderous aura was thick.

The Bai Hu manifestation had nearly become a tangible, real entity; Li Guanyi felt his foundation naturally transform—no technique required, no arduous breakthrough needed. As a Military School commander, having achieved such a feat, transformation and advancement came effortlessly.

Li Guanyi clenched his fist, sensed his own aura, fully unleashing his entire strength to perform the most basic Tiger Roar Bone-Forge Fist set, stretching his sinews and bones, using the nation-destroying murderous aura to temper his physique, making his internal qi increasingly rich and refined.

This most basic fist set of the Bai Hu Da Zong lineage, now wielded by him, was steady and composed, faintly bearing the bearing of a master; when he delivered the final punch, the Bai Hu manifestation nearly solidified into substance and let out a roar.

And the roar of the tiger perfectly matched the force of that punch.

Boom!!!

A terrifying Military School general's murderous aura erupted from Li Guanyi.

Then surged skyward.

In an instant, all sound around him vanished—complete silence. Li Guanyi paused, sensing his available murderous aura had grown far stronger; in Military School methods, he had surpassed his former martial body and reached a higher tier.

"Eighth tier…"

"The significance of a nation-destroying war for Military School warriors is truly immense."

Li Guanyi clenched his fist, feeling that terrifying nation-destroying murderous aura forged and fused with his own internal qi, refined together by the Bai Hu Da Zong Military School forging method provided by Xue Shen in the previous Mystical Realm, reaching a stronger, more dominant realm.

Eighth tier.

Among the people of this age, he was no longer merely peerless among his generation.

Neither the Wrathful Scale Dragon King Kou Yulie, who had ridden the great rivers of Jiangnan for half a lifetime, nor Ximen Hengrong, who in the northern borders of Chen had gathered disciples from nothing, spending his entire life building Motian Sect's legendary reputation—all remained stuck at this level.

And the husband of Xue Lao's eldest daughter, the Eighteenth-ranked Divine General on the Divine General List.

Qin Yulong, Grand Marshal of Ying, was also at this level.

Qin Yulong was over ten years older than Li Guanyi, but when this famed general was Li Guanyi's age, the world was largely at peace—there was no such turbulence as now, no surging waves of Western Regions hegemon states rising and falling.

Li Guanyi was pondering his transformation.

Sensing the differences in his cultivation body and methods.

His solo combat skills may not have improved much, but his ability to command formations, maneuver across the battlefield, and dominate with sweeping authority had become far more refined.

The Wolf King…

Li Guanyi clenched his fist, fell silent for a long while, thinking of that peerlessly dominant Divine General—the current fourth-ranked Divine General. Even with the murderous aura from extinguishing Tangut, he had reached the eighth tier, but the Wolf King had already returned to his main force.

The Wolf King, with his hundred thousand troops and famed generals at his side.

Even if Li Guanyi reached the eighth tier, joined by the seventh-tier peak Fire Qilin, he still would not be the Wolf King's match.

For Divine Generals on the Divine General List, whether they commanded troops, how many, and the quality of their armies, all greatly affected their combat capabilities.

Thus, the Wolf King, commanding fifty thousand armored White Wolf Cavalry, could force Li Guanyi to rely on the momentum of "The Death of the Tangut King" merely to divert him.

Yet Li Guanyi, commanding seven thousand "Beiwei," could suppress the Wolf King, who led only several thousand White Wolf Cavalry.

"Even if I advance further along the Military School path,"

"To defeat the Wolf King, with Xiao Wuliang guarding his flank and his vast army behind him, it is still not enough…"

Li Guanyi fell silent—he and the Fire Qilin together could balance Xiao Wuliang and the Wolf King's generals, but what was lacking was…

"An army…"

"Even if Chen and Ying each sent ten thousand troops, led by famed generals, and even if they had no ulterior motives, no strategic calculations for their own nations, and joined us to fight the Wolf King, we'd still have at most four hundred thousand troops."

"The disparity in manpower is so vast."

Li Guanyi was already a famed general.

He knew exactly what this outcome would be.

Fight?

What the hell are you hitting for!

Even if everyone was united and of one heart and mind, they still couldn't defeat him—let alone the allied forces of Ying and Chen states, who, under their strategy against Yu Langwang, must surely have a Juan Sect document hidden away, detailing how to deal with Li Guanyi.

"If Yu Langwang is defeated, will my Anxi City be next?"

"For some reason, I've caught a whiff of 'when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold.'"

Li Guanyi muttered to himself.

Suddenly sensing a faint familiar aura, Li Guanyi turned and saw the Whale Fisher, his silver hair glinting, standing before him; the Whale Fisher's eyes were slightly cold as he scanned the surroundings and said calmly, "There's an Eighth Heaven aura."

Li Guanyi said, "Oh, Master, rest assured."

"No assassins."

"I've just broken through."

The Whale Fisher nodded. "Oh, I see."

"Then it's not much of a—"

"Huh?!"

The Whale Fisher's gaze froze on Li Guanyi, perceiving the grand, domineering martial aura radiating from him.

The Whale Fisher: "…………"

After a long silence, he slowly nodded, face unchanged, and said:

"I see."

"A divine general under the tide of a nation's fall."

"Truly as rumored—impossible to intercept, momentum like a raging torrent."

"You're almost on par with me."

Li Guanyi said, "Master, of course, is naturally gifted beyond compare."

The Whale Fisher said, "Harnessing the martial aura of a nation's fall is a legitimate path—but it is exceedingly difficult."

"To draw strength from the martial aura of a fallen great power—must be a supreme hegemon of the world—to aid one's own cultivation; in the west, the central plains, the steppes, over a thousand years, those who 'cheat' like you in martial cultivation are exceedingly rare."

"In truth, your kind of 'cheating' is far, far harder than normal cultivation; martial aura values combat above all, and in this turbulent age, rising through struggle is far easier to achieve great deeds."

"Good. Very good."

The Whale Fisher expressed approval and admiration.

Since returning from Wang Cheng of the Tangut Kingdom, the Whale Fisher had seemed like a different person.

He held Li Guanyi in high regard.

It made Li Guanyi feel uneasy.

"Hah, Master, don't say that—you're far more gifted than I am."

"Cough, cough, old…, cough, cough, I mean, I am like this, but you—you're passably decent, passably good, about seven-tenths as good as me."

"No, no, not at all."

Li Guanyi and the Whale Fisher exchanged pleasantries.

Outside the window of the room, the silver-haired girl sat quietly, holding a steamed bun, gazing at the sky, her face expressionless, her eyes clear and devoid of emotion, saying:

"Idiot."

She lowered her head and took a bite.

Chew. Chew.

The sky was distant; another year was about to pass.

Yuan Zhi and many strategists had discussed for days and each had spoken separately with envoys from Chen and Ying states; Yuan Zhi handled the Ying state envoy delegation, while the Chen state side was dealt with personally by Lan Wendu, still black-eyed and swollen-faced.

It was said it had originally been Yan Daiqing.

But the Chen state subtly hinted, requesting a replacement.

Their stance was very firm.

In the end, it was nearly openly stated: a strong request to change the contact person.

They refused to negotiate with Yan Daiqing.

Thus, Lan Wendu, bearing two black-and-purple eyes like those of a Iron-Eating Beast, replaced Yan Daiqing—who had already gained a "great reputation"—to take the lead; it was said the negotiations went very smoothly.

And rumors spread that loud thuds against pillars had come from Yan Daiqing's room.

Mr. Yuan Zhi, of course, possessed grace and gentleness; especially after his brilliant performance in the Jiangnan battle, where he had merely used the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array to lock down Jiangnan, and at just twenty-seven or twenty-eight, ranked fifty-sixth on the List of Famous Generals—enough to shake the world.

Why wasn't Po Jun the one to appear?

Just as Yan Daiqing was to Chen state.

Po Jun, who had caused Ying state's strategic failure, refused to appear before these people; Ying state found Yuan Zhi refreshingly carefree, with the bearing of a scholar, while Chen state opened conversation with Lan Wendu about the incident of Yan Daiqing having beaten him black and blue.

They found this strategist, beaten black and blue, grinning helplessly,

genuinely mild and harmless.

They couldn't help but feel a touch more contempt for such a pitiful appearance.

Chen state envoy Lan Wendu said, "Even though Mr. Yan Daiqing has great merit, he shouldn't treat you this way."

Lan Wendu sighed, saying, "Perhaps I accidentally angered him?"

Lan Wendu was surprised: "Was it something serious?"

Lan Wendu replied, "Just a little thing, trivial matters."

"And a bit of money."

Two "little things."

Lan Wendu couldn't help but look down on him inwardly, thinking Yan Daiqing was clearly overrated—just because of some trivial matters, he'd gone and punched his colleague into this state.

Truly lacking in broad-mindedness.

Not gentlemanly at all.

It's just a little money—really worth it?

A gentleman loves wealth, but not to the point of turning his eyes red.

Through mutual teasing of Master Yan Daiqing, Wen He and Lan Wendu got along pleasantly.

Yu Langwang's momentum was overwhelming; the entire Anxi City was in a state of tightened defense, while forming alliances with Chen and Ying states—all proceeding in orderly fashion. Li Guanyi intensified his seclusion, rapidly mastering the military arts of the Eighth Heaven under Xue Shen's guidance in the Mystical Realm.

It's not enough to merely break through your cultivation base by harnessing military martial energy.

The Eighth Heaven, though not as profound as the transcendence from Sixth to Seventh Heaven, nor as famed as the Ninth Heaven Grand Master, still involves many transformations, changes, and techniques that must be learned and mastered slowly.

Li Guanyi once again brought up Xue Shen and the Mystical Realm's array with the Whale Fisher, asking:

"Could the elder reverse yin and yang to make Xue Shen's spiritual reflection fight once more?"

The Whale Fisher said: "... Very difficult."

This arrogant, invincible genius spoke plainly: "I heard that five hundred years ago, Xue Shen and Duke Chen of Chen State fought their final, mortal battle. Duke Chen Baxian used his own life as fuel, through that death-struggle, hoping to push Xue Shen one step beyond the legend of martial arts."

"But unfortunately, Xue Shen turned back."

"Because in his generation, Yao Guang had no daughter with my daughter's miraculous talent, and her lifespan was short. With peace enduring for so long, even Duke Chen was dead. Xue Shen found such a realm dull."

"In the end, he chose not to transcend, but to grow old alongside that generation's Yao Guang."

"What now exists within the array is merely the lingering spiritual intent of Xue Shen from the past—similar to a dharma form. Leaving a reflection in water is simple; but pulling that reflection out of the water is exceedingly difficult."

"No, it's outright impossible by any normal logic."

"Even the Mo Juzi of the Mohist School can craft mechanical puppets."

"My array art can embed this mystic stone within it, linking inside and outside, allowing Xue Shen within the array to control external puppets and manifest countless transformations and applications."

"But what could continuously supply life force and power, so that a mechanical puppet could carry the operations of a once-top-tier divine general?"

Li Guanyi felt a tinge of regret and disappointment.

After all, though his faction lacked no top strategists, it was severely lacking in top-tier battlefield generals. Even if he exhausted himself and teamed up with the Fire Qilin to hold back Yu Langwang, there would still be other divine generals as opponents in the future.

The Ying State's divine general corps made Li Guanyi's scalp prickle.

Moreover, if Xue Shen returned and charged across the battlefield against that domineering, haughty old Yu Langwang, they'd have three more chances of victory.

But as the Whale Fisher said, even if Xue Shen left behind a reflection through the array, using that reflection to recreate the divine general's former might was like trying to scoop the moon from water or pluck flowers from a mirror—impossible.

Yet at this moment, Li Guanyi noticed Master Siming's expression flicker.

Master Siming hesitated, pondered.

His face changed slightly, as if struck by thought.

Suddenly, he twisted his features.

Li Guanyi and the Whale Fisher turned to look. Li Guanyi asked, "Elder, do you have an idea?" Master Siming hesitated, then chuckled awkwardly: "I mean, just a hypothetical, you understand? Hypothetical?"

"If it's merely life force, maybe it's not entirely absent."

"Do you remember that thing?"

"Didn't Zhang Ziyong, the Green Robe Guest, lose his horse last year?"

"But I threw his arm into a volcano."

Master Siming's lips twitched: "Zhang Ziyong's spirit was extinguished, but I'm not sure if the life force in his arm still lingers. And under Zhang Ziyong's death, even if there was life force left, it couldn't last forever."

"But if you're asking what could create a puppet capable of sustaining an ancient legendary general's battlefield prowess for a certain time, isn't it only the pursuit of immortality—the 【Martial Legend】?"

The Whale Fisher's expression froze, then his eyes lit up.

Master Siming realized he'd sparked the Whale Fisher's interest and waved his hands frantically: "I—I'm just an old man spouting nonsense, ah ha ha, nothing, nothing."

"Ah, I just saw my turtle flying in the sky!"

"I'll go check on him now, ha ha, you two keep talking."

Master Siming, turtle escape!

But the Whale Fisher reached out and grabbed him. After long thought, his interest deepened. He took the mystic stone of the array from Li Guanyi and said: "The Xue Shen within this array is like a reflection of the past Xue Shen in a mirror."

"But if you place another mirror opposite it, wouldn't there also be a reflection in that mirror?"

"Could you use the reflection to control the puppet and recreate the divine general's maneuvers?"

"Fascinating, fascinating, truly fascinating."

"Hahaha, the art of arrays truly holds boundless wonders. Boy, wait here. With my speed, I won't be late to Saibei—I'll return with Master Siming within a month."

"Zhang Ziyong's arm of the Martial Legend, combined with the reflection of the first divine general five hundred years ago—complete an unprecedented great array. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!"

The Whale Fisher seized Master Siming.

The old Black Tortoise seemed to laugh loudly.

Master Siming glared and grabbed the old Black Tortoise.

Thus, "with family and household in tow," they were all dragged away.

During this time, Yu Langwang's momentum surged, and other forces formed alliances.

The entire Western Region displayed an eerie calm, as if no war existed—as if the prior troop movements and cities burning in flame were but a dream. Yet all who could see sensed the immense, oppressive pressure of a storm gathering before the wind.

The alliance negotiations never ceased day by day.

Strategists and generals continuously debated, analyzed, and judged the grand situation; the entire Anxi City entered a silent, grim bustle.

The Whale Fisher personally refined the current Anxi army's battle array.

Fan Qing and Yuan Zhi were implementing this new style of military formation.

Li Guanyi listened as Po Jun and others explained the outcomes to him.

The situation in the Western Region meant far more to Li Guanyi than it did to Chen State or Ying State.

Po Jun was discussing military momentum with the generals. Li Guanyi's gaze shot out through the window beside him. It was December; the Western Region's winter was bitterly cold, dry and frigid, the sky impossibly high, heavy with steel-gray leaden hues, mountains looming.

Several light, dry snowfalls had passed.

The mountains within sight were all blanketed in thick layers of white frost, the most extensive mountain range spreading across the Western Regions and the steppes; when spring arrived, the snow atop the highest peaks in the deepest deserts and steppes would melt and surge down along the slopes.

It became the largest river in all under heaven.

This great river and stream originated deep within the Western Regions and the steppes, racing onward until it emptied into the sea, branching widely along its course, its turbulent waters linking the Western Regions, the southwest, and parts of Chen's territory, finally flowing through Jiangnan before reaching the sea.

The core strategy of Li Guanyi's forces was to use the empire's finest treasure-ships to travel directly between the Western Regions and Jiangnan along this waterway, leveraging Tai Ping Gong's authority to consolidate the southwestern factions, moving troops swiftly along the rivers, and seizing every city they passed through, holding them firmly.

With this momentum, great success could be achieved.

It would allow rapid troop movement via waterways, expanding control over city after city.

Once the Western Regions were secured and connected, it would be like biting off all the Chen cities along both banks of the river, tearing them away alongside Ying, ultimately entering the next strategic phase: 【Two Divisions of All Under Heaven】.

But if Yu Langwang seized the Western Regions, this strategy would collapse entirely.

Without full control of the waterways, we would lose our high mobility, lose the depth of the Western Regions, and be left with only the fertile lands of Jiangnan—then it would be nearly impossible to ascend further.

The generals were still debating: some argued for holding firm, believing that Yu Langwang's current momentum would inevitably collapse and scatter; others said the former khans of the Western Regions' tribes were now raising armies, preparing to punish the rebels, and had already sworn their oaths.

Li Guanyi approved their strategies, but felt they were insufficient.

The generals' choices.

They could not be wrong.

Li Guanyi's thoughts grew ever clearer; suddenly he spoke:

"We cannot hold."

"We cannot wait for Yu Langwang to collapse on his own."

The voice of Po Jun fell silent; all the strategists and generals turned their gaze to Li Guanyi, who looked steadily at them and said softly: "If you merely seek to cling to a corner of the land, content to be a warlord who proclaims himself king, then perhaps it is acceptable."

"But if you seek to pacify all under heaven, you cannot settle for this."

Li Guanyi lifted his eyes; before him, the generals' strategies, each one's assessment and plan for the Western Regions, were like strands of rope, entwined and coiled among the rival states, across all under heaven.

The situation, the momentum, the alliances, the tactics, Chen, Ying.

Chaotic, how utterly tangled!

Suddenly, Li Guanyi drew his sword; its blade gleamed fiercely as he slashed down upon the table piled high with Juan Sect documents—instantly, the table shattered and split apart, the scrolls flying upward in a storm, a chilling aura of slaughter rising to the heavens.

The generals' pupils contracted sharply; Li Guanyi said:

"There is no other path before us."

"We must win—utterly, completely, triumphantly!"

"Not by wearing down Yu Langwang."

"Only by directly defeating Yu Langwang—even swallowing his momentum—can we truly seize the Western Regions and prevent Chen and Ying from re-conquering and crushing us. If you harbor the ambition to pacify all under heaven, there is only one choice now."

Li Guanyi raised his sword, its blade pointing straight ahead, its reflection showing the generals on either side: "Defeat Yu Langwang. Devour his legacy."

"Then surpass him utterly. Step over him."

"And march toward all under heaven!"

This was a choice utterly unlike that of Yu Langwang's son—a choice that seemed unwise, yet the generals' hearts surged with excitement; only Po Jun cried: "Lord, Yu Langwang commands a million troops—how can you possibly stand against him?!"

Li Guanyi said: "'Borrow troops.'"

Po Jun said: "Borrow troops?"

Li Guanyi said: "Yu Langwang has the troops of the Western Regions—we can have them too…"

"There is still a force we have not yet won over."

Li Guanyi's finger landed on the map of the Western Regions, at a place far distant: "Earlier you said the khans of the Western Regions' tribes have gathered at their sacred mountain, Mount Juxu, raising armies to punish the rebels."

Hao Yuan Xia said: "Lord, they are forming an alliance to choose the supreme khan among them, then march against the rebels… only those with the legitimate title of Western Regions khan may join. You…"

Li Guanyi said: "Legitimate? Who says I lack it?"

"They want legitimacy—I will give them legitimacy."

Hao Yuan Xia froze.

He was about to speak again when he saw Li Guanyi extend his hand, palm up, cradling an object: a dark-golden seal, the Golden Tiger King Seal.

Tuyuhun · Golden Tiger King Seal.

Hao Yuan Xia's pupils contracted; all the generals in the room fell into deathly silence, their breaths heavy.

Li Guanyi's voice was calm:

"Is this enough?"

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