Chapter 552: King of the Western Extremity, Spear King of the Northern Frontier

"I am willing to use my status as a descendant of the imperial bloodline to seek the Dao of Tathagata Nirvana!"

Qin Qin Zihong's resolute voice echoed through the empty great hall.

The "Dao of Tathagata Nirvana" refers to cultivating the "Ten Seals of Tathagata" to the supreme realm.

Qin Qin Zihong's words did not merely mean shaving his head to become a monk; he intended to join the Mount Pudu Temple and become a core disciple!

The green lamp before the Buddha statue flickered, its gentle light reflecting upon the bowing Qin Qin Zihong.

Jing Jing Lian looked at the imperial prince before him with some surprise.

He had assumed the prince was merely a puppet-like figure, never expecting such a sudden turn of events.

"Born into the imperial family, to be able to participate in the struggle for the throne—he is truly no ordinary person."

Jing Jing Lian thought to himself.

He turned around, also facing the Buddha statue:

"Amitabha. Your Highness, your worldly ties are not yet severed; I fear it will be difficult for you to enter the gate of emptiness."

Qin Qin Zihong maintained his bowing posture: "It is said that one can become a Buddha the moment one puts down the butcher's knife. Now, I am willing to put down everything; I only ask that your temple accept me as a disciple!"

Jing Jing Lian actually had much more he could say, but he sensed Qin Qin Zihong's determination and decided not to waste any more breath:

"This matter is not for this old monk to decide. The Abbot is currently in seclusion. If Your Highness is sincere, please wait a few days for the Abbot to make the final decision."

Qin Qin Zihong had long anticipated this response and said without hesitation:

"In that case, I shall kneel here until the Abbot emerges from seclusion!"

Jing Jing Lian sighed: "Why must Your Highness be so aggressive?"

Qin Qin Zihong: "If not like this, how can I show my sincere heart toward the Buddha?"

Jing Jing Lian fell silent, standing in place, a strand of true power already transmitted through the air.

Although Jing Heng was in seclusion, it was not a "death seclusion," as he had to guard against the imperial court attacking at any time.

For any major event, Jing Jing Lian could contact him at any moment.

A moment later, a voice echoed in the great hall:

"Qin Qin Zihong, are you truly willing to enter my Buddha gate?"

This voice was not loud, yet it gave one a sense of vastness, as if the Buddha Dharma were boundless.

Qin Qin Zihong's body, prostrate on the ground, stiffened, and he immediately said loudly:

"This disciple is willing!"

"Amitabha."

Following this chant, the green lamp before the Buddha statue suddenly shone with brilliant light!

The 49th year of Emperor Hongguang, December 21st.

The Buddhist holy land, Mount Pudu Temple, suddenly announced a piece of news to the outside world:

"Great Lan Dynasty Imperial Prince Qin Qin Zihong, moved by the Buddha Dharma, has voluntarily joined Mount Pudu Temple to become a Buddhist disciple!"

Not long after the news spread, Qin Qin Zihong, now a Buddhist disciple, issued a manifesto:

"I am Qin Qin Zihong, son of the late Emperor, respectfully writing with blood and tears to inform the people of the world:

Alas! The great enterprise has collapsed, and the mountains and rivers are stained with blood. Though I am a wayward descendant of the imperial house, how can I bear to watch the ancestral temples gather dust?

Since the current Emperor ascended the throne, first two great desert nations breached the southern border, invading our lands and slaughtering the people!

Then the Grassland Royal Court openly declared war, with a million archers pressing upon the eastern border!

Furthermore, the northern barbarians have raised an army of a million, invading our borders once again!

With such occurrences, the nation is in turmoil, and the mountains and rivers are restless.

It is evident that the Emperor lacks virtue and is unworthy of bearing the weight of the Nine Tripods!

The Zheng Lan Hall is filled with jackals in official caps, and before the Golden Throne stand only demons in official robes. This is not my personal grievance alone, but the shared pain of the world!

I look upon the three realms as a burning house, grieving for the suffering of the six paths; only the Buddha Dharma can save the common people.

I am willing to use my imperial bloodline and my Buddhist status to establish a Buddha Kingdom in the Western Extremity on January 1st of next year!

To replace the five punishments with the five precepts, and to replace conquest with compassion.

I humbly pray that all Buddhas cast their light and Bodhisattvas protect us, so that the Asuras may cease their wars and the Jambudvipa may find peace.

If there are those who remain obsessed and aid the tyrant, the Vajra Pestle shall show no mercy; if those who can turn back toward goodness, the waters of the eight virtues shall wash away their sins.

I respectfully inform you with tears of blood, may heaven and earth bear witness!"

Although the imperial court ordered the sealing of all temples within the country and the arrest of all Buddhist practitioners, the Buddhist faith has deep roots spanning a thousand years and cannot be wiped out in a single day.

After Qin Qin Zihong's manifesto was issued, outside of the Western Extremity Province, people everywhere in the other twenty-two provinces secretly distributed leaflets or spread the news through rumors.

Soon, the whole world knew that a new nation was about to emerge within the Great Lan Dynasty!

On January 1st of next year, Qin Qin Zihong would be at Mount Pudu Temple, where the Buddha of the current age would personally crown him as—

King of the Western Extremity!

In an instant, the world was shaken, and the court and the public were in an uproar.

When Li Fei saw the manifesto written by Qin Qin Zihong, he had just caught up with the Northern Expedition Army.

He had first escorted Li Lei and the others to Lanling City, handing over the captured Ruan Chen to the Military Intelligence Bureau for interrogation.

Afterward, he took the two imperial retainers, Zhou Zhou Xuanwo and Bai Meng, to pursue the Northern Expedition Army that had already departed.

Li Fei could imagine what a massive sensation Qin Qin Zihong's manifesto would cause!

The Third Prince's cooperation with the Buddhists was like seeking skin from a tiger, but at least it was still a struggle between imperial power and religious power.

It preserved the hope of eventually suppressing the Buddhists in the future.

Now that the First Prince, Qin Qin Zihong, had joined the Buddhist faith and established a nation as a disciple of Mount Pudu Temple, this completely placed imperial power under religious power!

Back then, the Third Prince had utilized his imperial bloodline and made extensive preparations beforehand, combined with being in the hub of Lanling City, which allowed the Buddhists to seize the opportunity to directly invade the national destiny with Buddhist destiny.

Now, the imperial court was prepared, and Qin Qin Zihong was far away at Mount Pudu Mountain; furthermore, with the Buddhist destiny damaged, it was impossible to replicate the scene from back then.

However, Qin Qin Zihong's move could still cause a very negative impact on the Great Lan Dynasty!

Li Fei had previously told the Emperor to wait three years and not be in a hurry to take revenge on the Buddhists.

But now that the Buddhists were supporting Qin Qin Zihong in establishing a Buddha Kingdom, this was simply unbearable!

The imperial court had to make a powerful counterattack; otherwise, the hearts of the people would be unstable, and Qin Qin Ziheng's throne would be equally unstable!

Yet, the Great Lan Dynasty was currently facing enemies on all sides, with wars breaking out on three borders simultaneously.

To start another front in their own heartland at this time placed too much pressure on them!

Qin Qin Zihong and the Buddhists had indeed chosen a good time.

Because the late Emperor had died for the country, and they were observing mourning for him, the new Emperor's enthronement ceremony had not yet been held.

Qin Qin Ziheng was planning to hold the enthronement ceremony on January 1st of next year, the first day of the Yuanxing era.

As it turned out, Qin Qin Zihong and the Buddhists also chose this day to establish the Buddha Kingdom.

Li Fei could imagine how furious the Emperor would be upon learning of this!

The face of the Great Lan Dynasty was simply being trampled into the dirt!

He sighed and called for Xuan Chen, Zhou Zhou Xuanwo, Bai Meng, and the Commander of the Forbidden Army, Han Mu.

These four were the highest-ranking individuals in this Northern Expedition Army, besides himself, the Grand General of the Northern Expedition.

"Everyone."

Li Fei's gaze swept across the four people present in turn:

"I have a plan."

Deafening gunfire hissed in the jungle.

Rotting leaves were crushed by large feet wrapped in animal skin; a bronze-colored figure tore through the curtain of rain like a vicious wolf, charging toward the soldiers holding guns.

This soldier was also an experienced warrior; he calmly raised the Tiger-style rifle in his hands, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

Click!

The bullet jammed.

"Damn it!"

The soldier hurriedly reached for the revolver at his waist, but the Northern Barbarian warrior charging at him was less than ten meters away.

The rock python tattoo on the Northern Barbarian warrior's forehead glowed with blood-red light, and a poisoned blade slashed across the soldier's gun-holding hand first.

Following a scream, a palm holding a revolver flew into the air, and then the blade pierced into the soldier's heart!

At the same time, another border soldier's combat knife pierced into the chest of a Northern Barbarian warrior.

But this Northern Barbarian warrior, wearing a necklace of white teeth, actually gripped the blade with one hand, his strong muscles twisting crazily at the wound to clamp the knife tight, while his other hand swung a large saber to slash at his opponent!

Bang!

At the critical moment, the roar of a rifle came from over ten meters away; a border soldier raised his gun and completed the shot, the 6.5mm lead bullet accurately hitting the Northern Barbarian warrior's temple.

As the Northern Barbarian warrior fell, the sound of bowstrings vibrating rang out in the rotting air, and several arrows tore through the rain curtain, pinning the soldier who was pulling the bolt into a twitching hedgehog.

Heavy rain, jungle, chaotic battle.

Over fifty Northern Frontier border soldiers were locked in a slaughter with over a hundred Northern Barbarian warriors!

This was behind the Northern Frontier defense line, in a jungle near a town in Beichuan Province.

With the Northern Barbarian army invading, the Prince of Cheng, Qin Qin Shixian, who was the Provincial Military Commander of the Northern Frontier, abandoned the three occupied Northern Barbarian territories and consolidated his forces to defend.

These three territories had no tall city walls or arrays to rely on, and in a situation where they were at an absolute disadvantage in numbers, Qin Qin Shixian's choice was very decisive.

But even so, facing the million-strong Northern Barbarian army, with the ten thousand Northern Frontier border soldiers, to defend five large cities and twenty-one military towns, and to make the six-hundred-mile Northern Frontier defense line as solid as gold, was impossible.

Actually, given the national strength of the Great Lan Dynasty, it was not that they couldn't afford to raise more border soldiers.

It was just that, firstly, after the Mingxin Reform, the border soldiers' weapons were upgraded, so a large number of border soldiers were cut.

Secondly, the imperial court tilted most of its resources toward the Imperial Guard Army.

Compared to raising a million-strong army, it was clearly more cost-effective to raise a ten-thousand-level Imperial Guard Army.

If the Qing Shuang Army were still on the Northern Frontier, Qin Qin Shixian wouldn't even need to choose defense; even facing a million-strong army, he could split his forces and take the initiative to attack everywhere!

But without the Qing Shuang Army, the Northern Frontier border soldiers could only hold the cities and choose to defend to the death.

In this situation, the Northern Frontier defense line naturally had "loopholes" everywhere; many military towns had already been breached, and the Northern Barbarian army, in the form of scattered soldiers, had crossed the Northern Frontier defense line from various places and entered the rear!

Regarding this, Qin Qin Shixian's response was to also send out multiple elite teams to "hunt" the scattered Northern Barbarian soldiers within Beichuan Province.

With an absolute advantage in weapons and equipment, at least in local battlefields, the Northern Frontier border soldiers could completely fight many against few and achieve many beautiful battle results.

At this moment, the dozens of Northern Frontier border soldiers in this jungle were one such "hunter squad."

It was just that on the battlefield, the identities of hunter and prey were constantly changing.

A complex terrain, combined with a sudden heavy rain, caused the weapon advantage of this hunter squad to plummet.

The Tiger-style rifles and Hunter-type Type 3 revolvers produced by the Great Lan Dynasty had a significantly increased failure rate in the heavy rain!

And the Northern Barbarian warriors, even if they were just ordinary people, had physiques far exceeding ordinary people.

Once the weapon advantage was gone, the hunter squad was in great danger.

"Prepare for close-quarters combat!"

Lan Yu wiped the rain from his face and shouted loudly.

He was the captain of this hunter squad and also a martial artist at the Po Ti (Body-Breaking) realm.

The hunter squads selected from the border soldiers were all elites; although not everyone was a martial artist, the leader at least had to be a martial artist of the Qi-refining level at the mid-Qi-changing stage.

Lan Yu, with his mere Po Ti realm cultivation, could become the leader of a hunter squad, naturally having his own unique qualities.

He had two Tiger-style rifles crossed on his back and also carried a large saber.

In each hand, he held a Bertening pistol.

This gun was produced five years ago by the Deni Kingdom in the Western Continent; its precision, stability, rate of fire, and magazine capacity far exceeded the revolvers commonly used in the army.

In this heavy rain, the rifles and revolvers used by the soldiers of the hunter squad all had some problems to varying degrees.

However, the two Bertening pistols in Lan Yu's hands would not have problems.

He ordered everyone to prepare for close-quarters combat, but he himself had no intention of abandoning his guns.

He ran through the heavy rain while simultaneously raising both guns to fire.

Gunshots rang out continuously, and almost every bullet could kill an enemy!

The dense jungle, the torrential rain, and the dim light caused no obstruction to Lan Yu at all.

His eyes emitted a faint ghostly light, his gaze calm and sharp, like a falcon catching prey in the dark night.

Thirty paces away, a tall Northern Barbarian warrior was raising an axe to cut a soldier in half when a 4.4mm caliber bullet accurately drilled into the bone gap at the back of his neck.

Amidst the crisp sound of the cervical spine bursting, Lan Yu's left gun barrel raised slightly, and the second bullet passed through the gap in the branches, blasting a blood mist from the throat of an archer behind him.

Not a single shot missed; every shot was fatal!

Both sides of the battle had martial artists of the Qi-refining level, but in terms of killing efficiency, no one could compare to Lan Yu.

As a Po Ti realm martial artist, he had forcefully killed with the momentum of a Dao Ji (Dao-Foundation) realm powerhouse!

His actions soon attracted the attention of the Northern Barbarian powerhouses.

A Northern Barbarian martial artist over two meters tall, covered in blue totems, strode toward Lan Yu.

As this Northern Barbarian martial artist sprinted, his entire body was shrouded in a layer of blue internal energy.

He was a martial artist of the Qi-refining level; previously, to reduce consumption, he had not unleashed his internal energy, relying only on his powerful physique to kill.

Now, fully unleashing his internal energy, he was like a vicious tiger in the forest, killing with terrifying momentum!

The opponent's body shuttled back and forth in the forest, leaving behind trails of afterimages; the rain falling on him was bounced off like arrows.

Lan Yu sensed this killing intent immediately and turned to fire a shot without even looking.

The first bullet struck sparks at the center of the Northern Barbarian martial artist's brow, being bounced off by his internal energy.

With an interval of less than 0.5 seconds, the second bullet followed, hitting the exact same spot!

The Northern Barbarian martial artist's protective internal energy rippled; he sensed a trace of danger and further unleashed his internal energy, accelerating his movement speed.

The distance of over thirty meters was covered in the blink of an eye.

Lan Yu's expression was cold and stern; he held both guns at his ribs while exerting force with his feet, his body leaping backward.

The charging Northern Barbarian martial artist exerted force almost at the same time as him, leaping forward like a fierce tiger pouncing to kill!

A fierce wind carrying a thick, bloody smell rushed toward him; Lan Yu stared fixedly at the opponent's blurred figure, enduring the urge not to blink, his wrists turning to adjust the muzzles.

Just as the Northern Barbarian martial artist's calloused palm was about to grip Lan Yu's throat, the third and fourth bullets, one after the other, spiraled into the point chiseled out by the first two bullets—

The third bullet completely broke through the opponent's protective internal energy, and the fourth bullet hit the opponent's brow!

The muffled sound of the bullet penetrating the skin mixed with the crisp sound of the skull shattering; the martial artist's final momentum carried Lan Yu into a redwood tree behind him.

Splattered brains pulled out sticky silver threads between the two; Lan Yu's face flushed red, and he was only a hair's breadth away from having his neck twisted!

From the moment this Northern Barbarian martial artist suddenly erupted to the moment he crossed over thirty meters to kill Lan Yu, it took only a second or so, which could be described as fast as lightning.

And in that second or so, while the opponent was maintaining high-speed movement and his own body had lost its balance, Lan Yu fired four shots in a row, and the landing point of every shot was exactly the same!

One must know, he was not fighting an ordinary person, but a martial artist of the Qi-refining level.

Such marksmanship could be described as miraculous!

It was precisely because of such marksmanship that Lan Yu could become the leader of this hunter squad.

He also had a nickname in the Northern Frontier border soldiers—Spear King!

With a crack, the redwood tree as thick as a bowl that Lan Yu hit snapped.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling as if the spine on his back had also snapped.

If not for the physique of a martial artist, this impact alone could have cost him his life.

Lan Yu took less than half a second to change new magazines for his two Bertening pistols.

The two Bertening pistols he used had been meticulously tuned and modified by a master, enhancing the continuity and precision of the shooting.

This was the key to his survival in the hands of a martial artist of the Qi-refining level.

Just now, if any one of his bullets had been slightly off, he would have been the one to die!

Having walked through the gates of hell, Lan Yu's expression remained unchanged; he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and continued to engage in the battle.

Over thirty minutes later, relying on Lan Yu's efficient slaughter, this battle finally ended with the victory of the hunter squad; after the Northern Barbarians left behind over fifty corpses, they were routed.

"Treat the wounded, pay attention to finishing off the enemies!"

Lan Yu shouted loudly in the rain with a hoarse voice.

Over an hour later, over twenty border soldiers carried over a dozen wounded to take shelter from the rain under a cliff.

"We've lost nearly half our men, and our elixirs and ammunition are almost used up. We need to rest and reorganize; we can't keep fighting."

An old soldier with a face full of whiskers approached Lan Yu and said in a hoarse voice.

Lan Yu, who had just won a battle, had a somewhat gloomy expression; he looked at the old soldier:

"Old Zhang, have the brothers pool together the remaining elixirs, pick out the ones I can use, and give them all to me."

The old soldier named Old Zhang nodded, having no objections to this.

Before martial artists become Grandmasters, they cannot directly absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from the outside world; replenishing energy can only rely on eating food and taking elixirs.

Eating food is too inefficient; elixirs that replenish energy for implants are essential supplies on the battlefield.

Lan Yu and the others had entered Beichuan Province for five days; fighting continuously for five days, they had fought over a dozen battles, large and small, and the elixirs they carried were almost exhausted.

Although there were still martial artists of the Qi-changing stage in the team, everyone knew that handing the elixirs to Lan Yu so he could continue to unleash his extraordinary abilities was the choice with the greatest return.

Lan Yu had two extraordinary abilities: one could enhance dynamic vision and neural reaction speed, and the other could sense danger.

It was precisely because of such extraordinary abilities that he chose to practice marksmanship bitterly, eventually becoming the Spear King of the Northern Frontier border soldiers.

"These are the only elixirs you can use."

Old Zhang soon returned and handed Lan Yu three bottles of elixirs.

"Damn it, these are too inefficient."

Lan Yu cursed while opening a bottle of elixirs and pouring them into his mouth:

"You say, once this war starts, how many elixirs does the entire Northern Frontier consume in a day?"

Old Zhang shook his head: "God knows. Fighting a war is just burning money! Fortunately, the Northern Barbarians are much poorer than us; even if they have many people, if they drag it out to the end, they definitely won't be able to outlast us."

Although half of their brothers had been killed or wounded, Old Zhang's brow was still full of confidence in victory!

"Right, the Northern Barbarians have poor mountains and evil waters; they don't have a fart's worth of money."

Lan Yu also nodded in agreement.

In war, at the top level, what is compared is the powerhouses of both sides.

Lan Yu and the others didn't know much about this.

But this time, the Northern Barbarians raised an army of a million, yet they were completely scattered, attacking on multiple fronts.

It was like scattering a million ants in a city; even if a top powerhouse could stomp a large group of ants to death with one foot, could they stomp all million ants in the city to death? (Note 1)

But if they didn't stop these ants, the foundation of their own city would be slowly corroded by these ants, resulting in heavy losses.

They could only rely on ants to deal with ants.

This required comparing the combat effectiveness of the grassroots soldiers.

And logistics was undoubtedly the most important of the most important.

The hunter squad Lan Yu and the others were in rarely had Dao Ji realm powerhouses sitting in command.

It wasn't that the Northern Frontier border soldiers couldn't produce so many Dao Ji realm powerhouses, but that Dao Ji realm martial artists required a larger amount of elixirs and had higher requirements for logistical support, making them more suitable for tough battles or defensive battles, rather than long-term guerrilla warfare.

If they fought and fought, and the implant ran out of energy, and a dignified Dao Ji realm powerhouse was surrounded and killed by a group of ordinary soldiers, that would be too much of a loss!

By the same token, further up, although martial arts Grandmasters could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, if they fought for a long time, even if they had special supernatural powers for recovery, they still couldn't hold on and needed high-quality elixirs to replenish energy.

Therefore, in this large-scale guerrilla war, neither the Northern Barbarians nor the Great Lan Dynasty had invested powerhouses at the middle and high levels.

Sharpshooters like Lan Yu could play a great role in this kind of guerrilla war.

"I heard the Western Continent mission brought new types of weapons that allow rifles to fire continuously like machine guns, and they are light in weight, high in precision, and fast in rate of fire."

Lan Yu suddenly chatted about this, full of envy:

"Damn it, if someone got me one of these guns, I could even kill a Dao Ji realm powerhouse!"

Old Zhang on the side didn't think Lan Yu was bragging, but nodded instead:

"Indeed, if we could all have one such weapon, how could so many people have died in today's battle?"

Lan Yu suddenly thought of something: "Old Zhang, do you think those countries in the Western Continent would sell their weapons to the Northern Barbarians, sell them to the Grassland, sell them to the two great desert nations?"

Old Zhang was startled, and his face changed immediately:

"Shouldn't, right?"

"Damn it!"

Lan Yu couldn't help but curse.

He knew that if this guess were true, then he and his brothers might all die in this war!

This Northern Frontier Spear King leaned against the wet rock wall, looking up at the sky, lost in thought.

The heavy rain was still falling, billions of raindrops carrying an unstoppable momentum, smashing onto the earth.

And the war would not stop because of the death of a group of ants.

Note 1: Actually, before writing this book, I often saw some readers complaining that in a world where great power belongs to oneself, ordinary soldiers are not needed at all.

Besides the "rolling snowball tactic," I think this book also shows another use for ordinary soldiers, which is scattered-soldier warfare~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 553 =====