Chapter 568: Jiang Su Falls in Battle!

Sword Qi surged skyward, vast and resplendent, dazzling to behold; Jiang Su's armor was torn open with a savage fissure, blood spurting out.

The sword weapon pierced straight through this War God's body.

The War God's martial body was incomparably formidable, even stronger than the other Martial Dao legends; over the past several hundred years, it had in fact only been broken through twice.

The first of those was precisely the battle when Master Jiankuang stepped up into the Martial Dao legend realm.

At this moment, the sword intent hidden within the wooden sword Longtu even, to a certain extent, echoed the lingering traces of Master Jiankuang Murong Longtu's sword intent left within Jiang Su's body, causing Jiang Su to feel wave after wave of stinging pain.

Facing such a killing blow, Jiang Su's state of mind remained as steady as Pinghu, without a single ripple—no retreat, no evasion—merely tightening his grip on the divine weapon Annihilation, advancing instead of retreating.

The War God said not a word, only fought with all his might.

Annihilation, wrapped in the aura of a Martial Dao legend, smashed down viciously toward Li Guanyi.

Wound for wound.

At worst, die together!

The two men's auras trembled and erupted in unison.

Then they broke apart; Li Guanyi's shoulder armor directly burst apart into powder, and the body of one who had surpassed the Overlord realm was actually wounded as well, blood flowing down ceaselessly—but the price War God Jiang Su paid was far greater.

His abdomen was pierced straight through by the Master Jiankuang's divine weapon.

The Martial Dao legend power within Li Guanyi had drawn out the sword intent of the wooden sword Longtu; the Master Jiankuang's sword Qi circulated, and the wounds left behind—even for War God Jiang Su—could not heal swiftly, blood flowing down without cease.

And in another place, the exposed Gao Xiang's brows were fierce and sharp.

A trace of lamentation flickered in the depths of his eyes.

He possessed the aura of a Martial Dao legend, but at the peak of the Nine Heavens Grandmaster realm, if he wished to threaten the era's foremost Divine General, the Martial Dao legend Qin Huang—let alone Qin Huang in the state of leading his great army and sweeping across the world—only those four words would suffice: 【strike unexpectedly】.

He gripped his divine weapon, intending to continue restraining his aura and concealing himself within the baleful Qi of the army, but at this very moment, strands of silver flowing light coiled themselves around his divine weapon.

Gao Xiang looked at the wisps and strands of silver light wrapped around his arm.

These rays of light rose up toward the sky.

They directly exposed this top-tier Divine General, whose hidden state alone was enough to threaten a Martial Dao legend; within Qin Huang's great army, the silver-haired man's eyes were faintly bloodshot, his palm extended, five fingers slowly closing—

In the martial world, a Martial Dao legend.

Given time, an Array Master whose upper limit was sufficient to rival Master Jiankuang and War God.

Over twenty days.

Bit by bit, peeling away layer by layer, the preparation was aimed squarely at Divine General Gao Xiang.

On the face of the Array Master Whale-Catcher, who had not rested like this for over twenty days, a dangerous smile appeared: "Found you, you mongrel bastard!"

Open card—

At this stage, there were no other choices left; the sovereigns of both sides had already stepped onto the battlefield, the world's top ten Divine Generals each galloped at the different corners of this realm, a million-strong army fought simultaneously—this was a fight to the death.

War God Jiang Su drove the divine spear Annihilation into the ground, raised his hand, and pressed it against his abdomen.

Fortune burned, transforming into golden flames.

He had forcibly absorbed the nation's fortune into his body earlier, and only thus could he further elevate himself to slaughter on equal terms with Qin Huang in his current state.

These golden flames melted and warped the divine armor upon his body, causing flesh and blood to twist beneath the flames of fortune; through this resolute and tragic method, the wound Li Guanyi had just opened with that sword was healed.

The blood stopped flowing; War God Jiang Su looked at Li Guanyi.

Gripping the divine spear Annihilation, he launched a death-defying attack against Qin Huang.

What more was there to say?

Fight then! Throw caution to the wind! Decide life and death! Compete for the deer together!

"Come!!!"

……………………

Yet several days prior.

The battle-halberd chopped down violently; the weapon in Qin Yulong's hand was shaken loose by Yue Qianfeng's force, his Hukou splitting open and bleeding; under the assault of the opposing army, he retreated again and again, ultimately unable to hold his ground.

But his fighting spirit did not vanish; his eyes were split with rage, and he still intended to draw his backup weapon and continue the fight.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of something tearing through the air.

Two weapons bored through the battlefield, striking heavily against his armor.

Their sharp, cold gleam sliced open the armor.

But it was not a tearing, killing force—rather, a force that was vast yet gentle, sent outward—

Chen Baxian's ultimate technique!

Mountain-Crushing!

Boom!!!

Layer upon layer of force, like the collapse of mountain ranges, surged forward; Qin Yulong saw two riders burst out from Yue Qianfeng's flanks—it was Chen Wenmian and Xiao Wuliang, both Eight Heavens Divine Generals.

Two long spears pressed against Qin Yulong's abdomen.

This famed general, who had stubbornly held on for so long through sheer reliance on his formation and the terrain, finally could hold on no longer; his spirit wavered, and he was forcibly shoved off his warhorse, crashing heavily to the ground. He struggled to rise, but Yue Qianfeng had already caught up to him.

Qin Yulong's strategy of stubborn defense had succeeded.

But the momentum had reached this point; no matter how hard he strove to hold his ground, being pierced through was only a matter of time.

At this stage, this world's tenth-ranked Divine General was, after all, no match for Yue Qianfeng.

Yue Qianfeng clenched his fist and punched straight at Qin Yulong's head; Qin Yulong, already pushed to his absolute limit, saw stars before his eyes and finally crashed heavily backward, completely unconscious.

Yue Qianfeng carelessly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looked at Qin Yulong with a measure of admiration, and said in a low voice: "What a tough man, stubbornly holding out for this long—but the timing is about right…"

They tidied up the battlefield here, then chose to send out the prepared signal; fireworks crafted by Mohist mechanical arts shot up into the sky and exploded in the air. A moment later, violent waves churned across the surface of the Dajiang.

Yue Qianfeng stood solemnly here; as the wind blew past, this fierce general's breathing transformed the stinging pain in his body into a sense of exhilarating release. Looking far into the distance, where water met sky, a banner pointed at the heavens, appearing here.

Warship after warship broke through the water and waves, arriving amid thunderous roars.

A Flood Dragon Dharma Aspect coiled in the air, letting out wave after wave of chilling dragon roars.

At the highest point, a broad-shouldered old man burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, Brother Yue, the speed of your handling here is a bit slow!"

General Yue Qianfeng said: "Behind Qin Yulong is his homeland and country. Facing such a great army, completely crushing them within these ten-plus days is already fast — it all remains within Mr. Pojun and Your Majesty's calculations."

The enormous warship stopped on the Jianghe not far away.

Dragon King of Wrathful Scales, Kou Yulie, said: "Then, we shall follow Mr. Pojun's strategy."

His expression was calm and still; he sighed deeply:

"An old man's Wu Gong like this is of no benefit on a battlefield of this scale. I had thought that in such a great battle, we could only serve as logistics. Who would have expected that so-called tyrant Jiang Yuan would actually open up water routes and build canals!"

"Though not very wide, by taking advantage of the water routes, we can combine the encirclement of a great army!"

"That works too!"

The Dragon King of Wrathful Scales burst into laughter. A Seven Heavens Grandmaster general led the water-route great army forward, departing from the Jiangnan waterways, entering Ying's canals, and swiftly reaching the heartland.

……………………

On the battlefield, Jiang Su already knew there was no other choice this time — only a desperate fight. The two great armies tore and slaughtered into each other; the sound of hooves, the sound of blades and swords hacking, the sound of roars, transformed into a tide surging and roaring.

The winds and clouds of the world swept in; conflicts converged, layer upon layer falling here.

Jiang Su used his qi fortune as flame, burning his own wounds, making them briefly heal and stop bleeding. This would inevitably cause his injuries to grow far heavier afterward, but he no longer cared about the future.

Only this death-fight!

Qin Huang's battle-halberd cleaved down violently, colliding with Jiang Su's divine spear Annihilation. Divine Archer Gao Xiang loosed an arrow, but its edge was worn down by the formation arrays the Whale Angler had prepared over these twenty-plus days.

Each time, Gao Xiang's arrow would shatter much of the Whale Angler's prepared formations.

But he himself was also locked onto.

Both sides were madly trading pieces.

All to buy time for the outcome of Jiang Su and Li Guanyi's clash.

Boom!!!

The Annihilation spear fell; Divine General Gao Xiang's arrow spun and shot forth — but at this moment, a spear was hurled viciously from the side, slamming into the arrow already weakened by the Whale Angler's formations.

Gao Xiang's pupils contracted sharply; he turned his head to look.

At the western side of this vast battlefield.

The bleak, desolate, murderous long-howl of the Grey Wolf pierced the sky.

The Divine Martial King, the Wolf King's army formation, appeared once more upon this battlefield. Chen Wenmian held his father's weapon at a slant; beside him was his father's beloved general, his own teacher. He gazed at the battlefield ahead and drew a deep breath.

'Father, Mother, I have come here.'

Clad in heavy armor, wielding a spear, majestic and murderous, he emerged from among the Night Gallop cavalry, charging across the Western Regions. The last strength of Divine Martial Wang Chen Fubi, inheriting Chen Fubi's dying will, walking his own path.

The long-handled double-bladed battle-saber in Chen Wenmian's hands tore open the troubled times.

Chen Wenmian locked onto the God of War Jiang Su and roared:

"Jiang Su, do you recognize this blade!"

Silver armor, white robes — Chen Wenmian's army, the Grey Wolf Guard heavy cavalry, set foot upon the battlefield!

Behind, the chilling sound of hooves; the cry of the Jin Chida roc pierced the heavens. This enormous dharma image swept across the vast battlefield, its golden blaze seeming to push aside that lead-grey baleful aura. The Yue army banner appeared at the northern edge of the battlefield.

Yue Pengwu chose to come to punish Jiang Su.

This no-longer-young famed general's Liquan Divine Spear pointed forward.

The end of the troubled times; the flourishing age of peace.

Famous from youth, roaming the world — the most magnificent battle of his life had finally arrived. Beside him were Dou De, those wandering heroes of the jianghu, those common folk. He looked ahead and spoke.

"Charge the formation!"

The Yue Family Army heavy cavalry set foot upon the battlefield, sealing off the rear of Ying's army.

With Yue Pengwu as the core and Generals Ling Pingyang as support.

The Beiwei Army began to break through the rear encirclement!

Yue Pengwu's forces broke through Ying's northern army and began advancing toward Jiang Su!

Almost at the same time.

The Taiping Army's banners appeared on the northeastern side.

Yan Xuanji, General Yuan Shitong, and Xue Tianxing appeared at one side of the battlefield.

Master Wen Qingyu's strategy: detaching fifty thousand troops, borrowing the speed of the Grand Canal and Dragon King of Wrathful Scales' fleet's water transport, to reach the battlefield.

The Taiping Army began to advance.

Pinning down Ying's army on the northeastern side.

Ashina led the reorganized Iron Futu and appeared upon the battlefield.

The Western Regions Army began to advance!

Ye Chongdao and Ye Buyi led the Night Gallop cavalry, appearing upon the battlefield.

The Night Gallop cavalry began to advance!

Zhou Liu's camp, led by Zhou Xianping — heavy-armor hook-scythe spear infantry — appeared on the western side of the battlefield.

The heavy-armor hook-scythe spear legion began to advance!

Duan Qingyu appeared at one side of the battlefield; the Southwestern Army crossed mountains and rivers, emerging on the deadly flank, breaking into the battlefield!

This final battle is the strongest battle in the several thousand years of recorded history.

The battlefield of this battle is the entire world — vast beyond measure.

Every battlefield, every thing at every place is dynamic; every change at any point triggers shifts in the war situation elsewhere. Link by link, they converge together, only then can they transform into the outcome of the final battlefield.

Yet such a vast battlefield, such a multitude of intelligence changes — all of it fell into a pair of purple eyes. Pojun gazed at the geomancy map; those red lines upon each local battlefield began to converge, finally gathering at the center between north and south.

Pojun lifted a chess piece and gently set it down.

He exhaled like smoke and said:

"General."

And at the center, Yuan Zhi held his sword; the place where he stood was an entire great camp. Si Wei, Master Siming, and the Whale-Angling Guest were all present. The earth beneath his feet was densely inscribed with countless formation patterns, transforming left and right into the Eight Gates.

The famed generals of the world served as the guardians of the Eight Gates; an army of a million, the famed generals of the world, eight hundred years of glory, three hundred years of turmoil—all converged upon a single point.

The Pojun star was the core; Yuan Zhi was the formation's eye.

Yue Pengwu, General Yue Qianfeng, Chen Wenmian, Duan Qingyu, the Taiping Army, the Southwest Army, the Western Regions Allied Forces, and the newly risen Tie Futu served as the Eight Gates; the remaining generals galloped and coordinated. An army of a million, with Qin Huang as the core—truly, with none before and none to come—

The wandering swordsman Yuan Zhi gripped the sword hilt with both hands and raised the sword high.

His face was deathly pale, his eyes burning like fire.

Flames were reflected in his eyes, and the galloping world and battlefield mirrored within them.

In his eyes, famed generals one after another galloped across different battlefields according to the Pojun star's stratagem—heroic spirit, lofty ambition, hatred, peerless skill, that original ideal, that primal fury, ten thousand myriad people, transformed into the two characters: Taiping.

The Pojun chess piece fell, clinking.

And in the eyes of that murderous wandering swordsman, resolve.

The long sword pierced into the formation's eye.

Let us be the ones to end this age of chaos; let us be the ones to open a new era.

He opened his mouth, his voice hoarse as smoke.

"Eight Gates Golden Lock—"

"Open the formation!!!"

Boom!!!

Long spears and battle-halberds clashed heavily against one another; the exploding shockwave surged like a dragon. Jiang Su's abdomen—the stinging sensation—grew ever clearer. At this moment, the God of War finally felt the sensation of weakness once more—

It was not his personal Wu Gong.

He still possessed resolve, still remained an unmatched legend of the martial Dao, but the augmentation from the army's momentum was constantly diminishing, and so the power he could unleash also began to plummet.

In this age of chaos, a divine general who led a great army was the strongest existence.

Even a legend of the martial Dao would not be his match.

But when the army's momentum was lost, when the augmentation of the military formation was gone—even a top-tier commander like the God of War no longer possessed that edge and spirit. He suddenly realized that he was, in fact, panting.

He was panting?

Had this body that had campaigned across the realm for three hundred years also grown old?

Jiang Su had no choice but to slow his breathing slightly. When he raised his head and looked out, everywhere he saw were crimson Fire Qilin cloud-patterned military banners. These banners reflected in his eyes, burning like flames, sparks one by one, setting the entire realm ablaze.

Upon them were inscribed characters of ink-black.

【Taiping】!

【Chen】 【Yue】 【Yue】 【Ye】 【Zhou】 【Li】……

Crimson Fire Qilin cloud-patterned great standards seemed to be set ablaze everywhere; they galloped in different directions across the battlefield. This fierce fire soared skyward, causing even Jiang Su to become somewhat lost in thought.

Everything seemed to be a replay of that year's Western Regions battle—only back then, Li Guanyi, who was merely Qin Wu Hou, commanded only ordinary troops beneath his banner, and the Fire Qilin Army of that time was far from as elite as at this moment.

Yet now, every single one composing this cutting battle formation was a famed general of the realm.

Even Gao Xiang, facing the containment led by Yue Pengwu and the other generals, could finally no longer continue to provide support to Jiang Su, and fell into an extremely wretched situation. The entire Ying army was now closed in upon by the Qin coalition, torn apart piece by piece, trapped in different sectors.

The battle formation had been severed.

The momentum was lost.

But the war drums beat on and on, urging one forward.

A famed general like Jiang Su, upon reaching this step, already knew that his and Jiang Wanxiang's great ambition had ultimately failed—just as, back then, when they swept away those who had passed, after they themselves grew old and decayed, they too would ultimately fail.

What followed was a decisive battle doomed to fail.

But even so!

Even knowing the outcome!

How could one not fight to the very end?

Knowing full well the outcome and still fighting to the last—is that not also a joy?

Grand Tutor Jiang Su laughed aloud. He reached out, seized the great cloak atop his armor, and violently flung it away, then went to right the tottering Azure Dragon-patterned great standard. When all four directions were crimson Fire Qilin banners, this single Azure Dragon-patterned great standard still danced wildly.

This was Ying's great banner, and also Ying's final national fortune.

Jiang Su gripped this great standard in his hand.

Gripped it tightly in his hand.

And so this Azure Dragon great standard still stood in lonely, stubborn solemnity at the center of the battlefield.

This powerful, domineering, invincible, and unscrupulous, filthy, ugly divine general who had propped up this nation for hundreds of years gripped the divine spear Silence, and the cold, murderous aura upon his body erupted skyward.

Jiang Wanxiang's dream had ended.

The Grand Tutor died along with the end of this dream.

But the God of War Jiang Su appeared once more here, to hasten toward the ending of this life. He galloped forward; the other generals of the Fire Qilin Army, honoring the military command, did not move forward to intercept the God of War, so as to avoid unnecessary sacrifice while strategically holding the advantage.

Li Guanyi personally advanced to intercept Jiang Su.

Jiang Su let out a long howl; the divine spear Silence in his hand radiated unmatched sharpness.

The two clashed in deadly combat upon the battlefield.

The sound of weapons colliding was like Lei Ting, rolling across the entire battlefield, sweeping past these three hundred years of chaos, sweeping past the more than ten years of confrontation and warring slaughter between Qin Huang and Jiang Su.

In the heavens, the martial murderous qi surged layer upon layer, transforming into layers of cloud seas spreading upward. Jiang Su's army soul and Dharma Aspect took the form of a golden-armored divine being; Qin Huang's five Dharma Aspects transformed into divine dragons, and the two sides clashed fiercely together.

Above the heavens, the Dharma Aspects fought; upon the battlefield, the divine generals fought to the death!

But Jiang Su, having lost the augmentation of military momentum and national strength, clearly felt his own weakening with every clash and collision.

Jiang Su's breathing grew rapid. He cast aside everything else; he knew the ending before him was death in battle, but what of it? The scent of blood came through the air, the sound of blades and swords colliding came, the sound of great shouts came.

Forward, brandishing his weapon.

Continuing like this.

His gaze held fast; in a daze he saw one familiar face after another walking toward him, then departing, while only victory remained eternal. Suddenly, he seemed to see a young man wearing a golden face-helm.

Then this young man dispersed, and Qin Huang appeared. Jiang Su roared in fury; at last he shed the composure he had shown before, and instead became a war-general will ablaze with flame, his long spear Annihilation thrusting toward Qin Huang to kill.

The Annihilation Divine Spear pierced into Qin Huang's body, yet did not pierce through.

At the same moment, the weapon in Qin Huang's hands had already come crashing down heavily.

The armor split apart, flesh and blood were torn, and in the instant the bursting shockwave spread, every sound seemed to drift away from him. Jiang Su's every thought froze; the long spear Annihilation could advance no further.

The battlefield seemed to turn to silence.

Or perhaps it was only that this body could no longer hear the sounds of the battlefield.

Fresh blood surged out, falling onto the battlefield.

Qin Huang's eyes glared wide; upon that youthful face there was resolve, and there was killing intent as well.

It was for the vengeance of his parents.

It was for the hatred of Yu Langwang's beheading.

Or perhaps, for the peace of this vast world?

Jiang Su slowly lowered his head, looking at the war-halberd that had nearly split him from shoulder to waist, his very innards almost cleaved open. His vision blurred, then slowly scattered, and he only said softly:

"Heh…………"

"Well fought, Qin Huang."

Three hundred years of campaigns, three hundred years of turmoil—even as every old friend departed one by one, the God of War Grand Tutor, who had pressed forward in his own way without cease, his gaze slowly returned to darkness.

Boom!!!

The golden-armored divine figure's Dharma Aspect in the heavens froze.

Then, beneath the gaze of these thousands of troops and ten thousand horses, it slowly crumbled, falling apart piece by piece, scattering into the void. The God of War Jiang Su's body swayed, then toppled backward; the sky and the earth overturned.

And so the great banner with the azure dragon pattern seemed to plummet to the ground.

Three hundred years of campaigns…

Had ended.

Your Majesty.

Our dream, too, has ended.

Ying · God of War Jiang Su, slain in formation by Qin Huang.

Upon the battlefield, Jiang Su, who had exerted himself to the utmost, his body burned, the fortune of the realm turning back upon him. He had commanded the fortune of an entire nation, and now at the moment of his death, that fortune transformed into raging flames; as he fell, his body turned to flying ash and was obliterated—dying without an intact corpse, with no place left to bury him.

The world; the battlefield.

There was no burial ground more fitting for a military God of War.

Li Guanyi gasped in great breaths; while gasping, his chest and abdomen both felt stabbing pain. He slowly straightened his body, looked at that final azure-dragon-patterned great banner, and then gripped the divine weapon.

The war-halberd shrieked fiercely, then swept sideways in a slash.

Upon the blade's edge flowed a rich, bright stream of light; it cut through this great banner—this three-hundred-year span of national fortune, the persistence of generations of sovereigns—and the great banner of the last nation besides Qin itself was severed.

The azure dragon that had shrouded the heavens for over three hundred years fell.

The Fire Qilin's war-halberd pointed at the heavens, and Li Guanyi shouted loudly:

"Jiang Su is dead!"

The seventeenth day of the seventh month of the fourth year of Qin Huang.

A grueling battle that had lasted only twenty-seven days.

Qin Huang Li Guanyi personally slew the God of War Jiang Su—the final battle of the three-hundred-plus years of turmoil.

And with this, the curtain fell.

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