Chapter 171 - 156: The War Begins

"Such an annoying fellow indeed!" Lin Fang muttered to himself.

Having encountered such a character right after arriving in Luzhou in the North, this matter was a bit tricky to handle, but he was resolute in his heart, determined to teach that fellow a lesson should the opportunity arise.

At the same time, inside the main tent of the Celestial River Naval Forces, Yin Qi was meditating with his eyes closed when he suddenly felt a premonition and knew that the contingency he left on the Heavenly General had been activated.

With this development, those guys were likely in great danger.

He couldn’t help frowning, for this matter was of great importance to him, tied to his future prospects. It was precisely for this reason that he sent his own confidant, only to nearly succeed before failing miserably.

"I want to see who has messed up my plans!" Ice-cold mockery surfaced on Yin Qi’s face as he wished to flay a thousand cuts on whoever dared to ruin his plans.

Of course, another purpose of finding this person was for the divine seal. He could achieve perfect merit this time if he managed to retrieve the divine seal.

Using a secret technique covertly, he began to check the messages sent back by the Heavenly General.

However, the divine providence was chaotic, and though a vision finally emerged, it was blurry. Yet, the dazzling Buddha’s Light and the fervent chanting of the believers that surrounded it couldn’t be faked.

"The Buddhist Sect?" A trace of disbelief flickered in Yin Qi’s eyes.

The Buddhist Sect should be focused on the ’Journey to the West’ matter at the moment, when did they extend their reach to Luzhou in the North? He found it hard to believe, but the Buddha’s Light and the chanting from earlier couldn’t be faked, generated only by those who truly devoted themselves to the Buddhist Sect.

The thought of the Buddhist Sect having sent undercover agents to Luzhou in the North without his notice made Yin Qi’s scalp tingle with apprehension.

He felt as if he could already foresee a storm sweeping across the Three Realms headed his way, a storm that would likely result in widespread suffering and anguish. The image of such a scenario made him involuntarily shrink his neck, not daring to think further.

Now that his plan to seize the divine seal might have been exposed, if it reached the Jade Emperor, he probably couldn’t escape the consequences. Just the thought of the Supreme’s methods sent shivers down his spine.

"The best course of action now is to quickly achieve a great feat, then come forward to admit my guilt, and see if I can receive the Jade Emperor’s forgiveness."

At this thought, Yin Qi became despondent, wondering how his well-planned rise to glory had morphed into the current predicament.

After a moment of lament, he decided not to wait any longer. It was time to start exterminating the Demon Clan of Luzhou in the North. Now that the Buddhist Sect was lurking, any further delay could lead to chaos.

"Convey my command—the army will mobilize, punish the disloyal, and eradicate the monsters!" Yin Qi stood up, resolute, and called the messenger inside to loudly issue the order.

At that moment, his presence was as deep as an abyss, standing in the middle of the great tent exuding the majesty of a Marshal.

The sound of war drums rose from the Treasure Ship, as countless Heavenly Soldiers and Generals quickly formed ranks, ready for battle, and the sky-darkening Treasure Ships began to move slowly, casting shadows that could cover the land.

Countless little demons were hiding in the mountains and forests, looking up in terror at the huge ship passing overhead, their hearts filled with fear. This was the might of the Heavenly Court. Over countless years, an uncountable number of monsters had died beneath these Treasure Ships, which could be said to be stained with the blood of the Demon Clan.

Yin Qi, holding a long halberd, stood at the bow of the ship, gazing into the distance at the mountaintops ahead. That was his first target, a creature that called itself the Black Demon King, reportedly a Scorpion Spirit, and seemed to have once held office in the Demon Court.

"These guys are still treacherous at heart." Yin Qi detested these demons born from the Demon Court deeply. Day in and day out, they dreamed of reviving the Demon Court; among all the places in Luzhou in the North, it was these monsters who caused the most trouble.

On a nearby mountaintop, a dark-faced, iron-clad giant of a man was listening to the reports from his subordinates.

"Hmph, such arrogance, to come knocking at our door so brazenly, as if our Demon Clan has no one capable of standing up to them!" the giant said in a cold voice.

"It’s said that this Marshal Tianpeng is not very strong; his position stems from being a confidant of the Jade Emperor rather than from merit," chimed in a small, furry-faced demon by his side.

"Bai Military Advisor, what do the nearby Demon Kings think?"

"My lord can rest assured, none of them are fools. If we fall here, the Heavenly Court will likely target them next, hence they’ve all agreed to your proposal," Bai Military Advisor said confidently.

"Good, that greenhorn on the other side wants to use us as a stepping stone, but I won’t allow it. This time I will make sure he loses a few teeth," the dark-faced giant said with a fierce smile.

"Inform our minions to let the leading ship pass, we’ll start our attack from the middle."

Order after order was given, and all the little demons in the mountain began to move. Having fought with the Heavenly Court many times, they had grown accustomed to such a life and showed no trace of fear on their faces.

Lin Fang was hidden in the nearby woods, watching the numb expressions of the small demons, he sighed deeply. Years of defeat had drained the demons of spirit, but their deep-seated hatred did not allow them to back down, resulting in their numb demeanor.

His gaze fixed on the passing Treasure Ship in the sky, he was determined to stir up a significant incident.

Above in the sky, a scout reported to Yin Qi, "Marshal, there are little monsters spying on us!"

"No matter, a bunch of cowards. Once we kill the Black Demon King, they’ll be as insignificant as chickens and dogs. Tell the generals, whoever takes the head of the Black Demon King, I will commend his efforts to His Majesty," Yin Qi declared with a laugh.

The sound of war drums echoed through the sky, and the magnificent Treasure Ship charged toward the high mountain. A sharp whistle pierced their ears as countless heads emerged from the forests and rocks.

Dressed in ragged clothes, none of them wore decent armor, and their weapons were a motley collection. But at that moment, their eyes blazed with fire, the fire of hatred.

Countless ropes flew out from the cliffs on all sides, landing on the Treasure Ship. A throng of heads moved about as the monsters began to climb up these slender ropes.

"Quick, cut these ropes!" a Heavenly General shouted.

No sooner had he spoken than he drew his Treasure Blade and slashed at the ropes, but whatever material they were made of, the blade couldn’t cut through.

At the same time, huge boulders were occasionally hurled from the tops of the surrounding mountains, with monsters hiding on them.

Landing on the ship aboard the boulders, they didn’t hesitate to start fighting frantically. These elite soldiers, who had crawled out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood and witnessed countless deaths, were the strongest warriors.

And those winged monsters also sprang into action at this time. Each one armed with a bow, they flitted through the sky, firing volleys of arrows to disrupt the Heavenly Court’s formation.

Years of battle had long since enabled them to devise a viable combat strategy.