Chapter 556: New Year, New King, New World

December 28th, 5:00 AM.

Li Tianyu led ten thousand Barbarian-Killing Army soldiers to leave the Killing Barbarian City.

But not to go north to fight the Northern Barbarian army outside the city, but to go south to Beichuan Province.

Earlier, Qin Shixian only sent ten thousand elite border soldiers to form hundreds of hunter squads to hunt and kill barbarian soldiers within Beichuan Province.

But as more and more barbarian soldiers entered Beichuan Province, the defense of Beichuan Province became increasingly difficult.

If the Northern border defense line is seen as a river channel, and the million-strong Northern Barbarian army is seen as a river.

Then the five major cities like Killing Barbarian City and Polu City are five small mountains on the river channel, blocking the river channel, forcing the river to split, making the flow downstream become extremely small.

And in Beichuan Province behind the five small mountains, although it is not flat, there are no major obstacles in the terrain, at most it can be considered a ditch full of pits and bumps.

Under these circumstances, the border soldiers sent to Beichuan Province are like bags of cement thrown into the river.

They can hinder the flow of the river, but they can't completely cut off the river.

At this time, the Barbarian-Killing Army composed of ten thousand martial artists entering Beichuan Province can be described as sending charcoal in snow!

Actually, Qin Shixian wanted to use this Barbarian-Killing Army from the beginning, but because the commander of the Barbarian-Killing Army was Li Fei, he didn't issue an order directly.

This Northern border Provincial Military Commander was unwilling to offend people by mobilizing Li Fei's direct troops without authorization.

The current Li Fei was no longer the Marquis of Jing'an who needed to rely on a gold medal to make the Prince of Cheng retreat back then.

And Li Fei letting Li Tianyu take ten thousand Barbarian-Killing Army soldiers to Beichuan Province actually had his own selfishness.

First, Li Tianyu was eager to fight, and he couldn't keep her off the battlefield forever. Compared to the front line, the rear was definitely much safer.

Second, what he was going to do next was very risky, and sending Li Tianyu away could avoid the other party worrying.

The number of people entering Beichuan Province from the Northern Barbarians would only increase, and even with the ten thousand Imperial Guards coming to reinforce, they couldn't completely guard Beichuan Province.

So the Northern border soldiers had to withdraw more people.

When Li Fei left Polu City, Qin Shixian had already drawn ten thousand border soldiers from Polu City to Beichuan Province.

Although the Northern Barbarian army defeated by Li Fei only suffered more than eight thousand casualties, the military morale had already scattered, and it was unlikely to organize a large army to threaten Polu City in a short time, which was the reason why Qin Shixian dared to divide his forces.

Next, every time Li Fei defeated a Northern Barbarian army, he could "liberate" more troops.

Making the pressure on Beichuan Province in the rear smaller, allowing more people to be spared from the looting of barbarian soldiers, and allowing soldiers like Lan Yu and the others to have fewer sacrifices!

On this day, Li Fei waited from dawn until dusk.

Then he left the Killing Barbarian City alone.

The setting sun was like blood, reflecting the frozen earth into red.

In the Killing Barbarian City, more than twenty thousand border soldiers all fired their guns toward the sky, seeing the Great General off—

A golden robe killed into a camp of one hundred thousand people!

The wind and snow roared, the ice earth cracked, and the earth trembled!

With the example of Polu City, this time the Northern Barbarian army reacted quickly and clearly made targeted deployments:

Arrays were set up in advance everywhere in the camp, mainly used for siege and space sealing.

Sorcerers were distributed everywhere to ensure that when Li Fei appeared in a certain area, there were enough sorcerers to cast spells on all the soldiers in that area.

The barbarian soldiers surrounding Li Fei were also arranged in formations in advance, not crowded together messily, but scattered as much as possible, so that Li Fei couldn't kill many people with one move.

Such things all made Li Fei's killing efficiency lower and his consumption greater...

More than two hours later, the last ray of daylight disappeared on the horizon.

On the frozen earth, corpses were everywhere, and blood flowed into rivers.

The bloody smell rose to the sky.

The one-hundred-thousand-strong Northern Barbarian army had already been killed by Li Fei by more than ten thousand!

Although it hadn't reached the thirty percent casualty rate required by Boerhu, the psychological endurance of the generals in the army had almost reached its limit.

Those who died were the sons of their tribes; even if they were cold-blooded, watching their own tribesmen rush to die one after another, their will would also waver.

And fighting continuously for more than two hours, resisting the interference of various spells, the attacks of hundreds of Tuodu warriors, and the interference of large arrays, killing more than ten thousand people.

Even for a powerhouse at the peak, the loss must be significant!

"His power probably doesn't have much left."

Holding such a thought, the Northern Barbarian generals in the camp couldn't sit still anymore and chose to make a move—

Giants and giant beasts appeared in the camp one after another.

The military formation of the Northern Barbarians was launched!

The upper limit of the Great Lan Dynasty's military formation could be at the peak level, but the upper limit of the Northern Barbarians' military formation could only reach the level of a martial arts master.

The gap between the two sides could be described as clouds and mud!

However, if the quality wasn't enough, quantity would make up for it.

This time the Northern Barbarian nine tribes joined forces, and each tribe launched more than one-fifth of the population of the tribe, and all kinds of trump cards were taken out.

In this army outside the Killing Barbarian City, there were more than a dozen military formations in total.

More than a dozen military formations plus more than a dozen Ba-Du powerhouses in the army joined forces; they had a chance to behead a top powerhouse with huge consumption!

But—

They still couldn't break Li Fei's defense, and still couldn't block Li Fei's attack.

The power Li Fei displayed had no slight attenuation!

After Li Fei broke through seven military formations and beheaded five Ba-Du powerhouses, the powerhouses of the Northern Barbarians collapsed:

"He is a devil!"

"Can't be killed! Simply can't be killed!"

"Retreat! Retreat quickly—"

Thus, a major collapse reappeared outside the Killing Barbarian City.

Li Fei didn't stop, continuing to chase and kill!

It wasn't until late at night that he returned to the Killing Barbarian City with a thick bloody smell.

In this battle, the casualties of the Northern Barbarian army exceeded fourteen thousand!

The remaining people, the military heart had already collapsed, and the siege of the Killing Barbarian City was lifted.

The military intelligence of the Killing Barbarian City was also spread out at the first moment, and Li Fei also received the military intelligence of the other major cities:

Just when he went out of the city to attack that one-hundred-thousand-strong Northern Barbarian army, eight Northern Barbarian top powerhouses led a group of Ba-Du powerhouses to attack Moyuncheng!

Moyuncheng was one of the five major cities of the Northern border, and the previously public intelligence was that one thousand Imperial Guards of the Barbarian-Killing Army were stationed here.

Relying only on these one thousand Imperial Guards, plus the large array in the city, they definitely couldn't block the attack of the group of Northern Barbarian powerhouses.

However, at the critical moment, True Person Xuan Chen appeared.

He was in the realm of the peak of the Great Perfection of Tiangang and Disha, only one step away from a True Monarch.

He was also a true disciple of the Daoist school, and the spells he practiced and the life-bound magic treasures he refined were all top-notch.

Plus the Shangqing Sect was known as the number one in Daoist arrays, most skilled in setting up arrays and controlling arrays.

So Xuan Chen alone, plus the assistance of one thousand Imperial Guards and the remaining powerhouses in the city, steadily blocked the attack of the Northern Barbarian powerhouses.

Relying on the large array, Moyuncheng could hold on for a day or two, which was completely no problem.

Without waiting for other powerhouses of the Great Lan Dynasty to go to rescue, the Northern Barbarian powerhouses only attacked for more than an hour and then retreated.

That night, this group of Northern Barbarian powerhouses appeared in Yulong City hundreds of miles away, attacking the city again!

According to the intelligence beforehand, there were no Imperial Guards stationed in Yulong City.

When the Northern Barbarian powerhouses attacked, the top True Person He Yuxi, who belonged to the Military Intelligence Bureau, appeared.

However, she was only in the Disha Realm, far worse than Xuan Chen.

Not long after the war began, the large array was in jeopardy.

Afterward, the imperial retainer Bai Meng made a move.

The intelligence Li Fei received was just this.

When he received the intelligence, Yulong City was still fighting.

Bai Meng was only one small realm higher than He Yuxi; even if the two joined forces to control the large array to defend, it would still be very strenuous to resist so many Northern Barbarian powerhouses.

However, Li Fei had no intention of setting out to support.

He was taking elixirs in the room, continuing to urge the growth of 【Lie Shan Jia】.

More than two hours later, the latest intelligence came:

The group of Northern Barbarian powerhouses had not retreated, until the imperial retainer Zhou Xuanwo arrived, and three top powerhouses joined forces to control the large array to defend, these Northern Barbarian powerhouses then retreated.

After reading the intelligence, Li Fei's expression was calm.

Obviously, the Northern Barbarians were testing the layout of the Great Lan Dynasty.

Li Fei dared to slaughter the army so unscrupulously alone, and there must be powerhouses responding behind him.

If there were no sufficient powerhouses guarding the other cities, they would take the opportunity to break through a major city.

Now, although no major city was broken, they forced out two trump cards of the Great Lan Dynasty, exposing two imperial retainers.

And the closest to Yulong City was Baisong City, so the Northern Barbarians could definitely infer that Zhou Xuanwo rushed over from Baisong City.

In this way, the distribution of combat strength of the five Northern border cities was basically "open cards."

Of course, the Great Lan Dynasty side could also play an "empty city strategy."

After all, top powerhouses hiding their figures and flying in the air were very difficult to be discovered.

It was just that the risk of doing this was very high, and the consequences of any major city being broken were very serious!

Besides this, they could also do as they did today, temporarily letting powerhouses rush to rescue from other places.

If top powerhouses erupted with full force, the fastest flight speed could break the speed of sound.

A straight-line distance of two or three hundred kilometers could be reached in more than ten minutes.

But unless they possessed flight-type supernatural powers, flying at full speed consumed a lot of energy.

Just like someone who could usually run 3000 meters, if you let him sprint 400 meters at full speed, he would definitely be exhausted.

If they really rushed to support from other places at full speed, their state upon arrival would be very poor.

If they weren't careful, they might turn into sending their heads thousands of miles away.

So how to make trade-offs in this game was a test of the commander's mentality.

The 49th year of Hongguang, December 31st.

This was the last day of this year, and also the last day of the Hongguang era.

The ten-thousand-strong Northern Expedition Army had already arrived in Beichuan Province, and five thousand Imperial Guards entered several major cities to be stationed respectively.

The strength of the Northern border defense line was once again enhanced.

Good news from the Northern border came frequently, and after it was sent back to Lanling City, the whole city celebrated for the Marquis of Jing'an!

Li Fei's two great battles, fighting back a fifty-thousand-strong army and a one-hundred-thousand-strong army alone, made the people of Lanling City so excited they couldn't sleep!

The atmosphere in the imperial court also had a great change.

Before setting out, Li Fei fought seven alone, defeating the seven Western Continent Dukes.

This had already given the civil and military officials great confidence, and the most critical thing was that it made the attitude of the Grand Secretary Ye Zean begin to waver.

After the news of Li Fei's two unprecedented great victories outside Polu City and Killing Barbarian City came back, a portion of the "peace-seeking" officials also changed their minds.

And the attitudes of these court officials could directly affect the combat strength of the various armies thousands of miles away!

When these officials changed from "peace-seeking" to "war-seeking," the attitudes of those who served as generals in the Imperial Guard, border soldiers, and even Imperial Guard armies in their families would also change accordingly.

Now in the imperial court, the war-seeking faction had already gained the upper hand, so the battles in the southern border and eastern border also became active and proactive.

Many soldiers went from being conservative at the beginning to now considering how to establish military merit.

It could be said that Li Fei single-handedly reversed the general trend!

He not only influenced the Northern border front but also influenced the southern border and eastern border fronts!

Imperial Palace.

Imperial Study.

The new Emperor Qin Ziheng was reading the military intelligence from the front line.

Clearly there was good news from all three fronts, but his expression appeared somewhat heavy, and his eyes were a bit gloomy.

"Your Majesty."

The Imperial Eunuch Feng Cheng held a wooden box with both hands and arrived outside the Imperial Study, "The new dragon robe has been sent, do you want to try it on now?"

Tomorrow was the new Emperor's enthronement ceremony, everything was new, naturally including the new dragon robe.

Qin Ziheng looked outside the door, somewhat absent-minded:

"No need."

Feng Cheng glanced at him and retreated without changing his expression.

Qin Ziheng put down the memorial in his hand and let out a deep breath.

In the Imperial Study, this Emperor who was about to hold the enthronement ceremony and officially open the era belonging to himself sat until late at night.

The Lanling City at dawn was shrouded in golden morning light, and the nine-fold palace was dyed amber by the morning light.

Altar of Heaven.

The Black-Armored Imperial Guard stood solemnly holding halberds, the Golden Guard held the nine-stream dragon flags to form an honor guard, and the officials of the Internal Affairs Cabinet's Ritual Department set up five-colored jade ritual vessels on the white jade steps.

Today, it is the first year of Yuanxing, January 1st!

The Emperor will hold the enthronement ceremony at the Altar of Heaven.

When the morning bell broke the thin mist over the imperial city, the twelve city gates of the imperial city opened wide.

The bronze bells played Shao music, and hundreds of palace maids scattered cinnabar and gold foil on the imperial road.

In the square outside the twelve city gates, more than one hundred thousand people had long gathered, kneeling on the ground one after another.

The civil and military officials lined up to enter the square where the Altar of Heaven was located.

The new Emperor Qin Ziheng wore the twelve-pattern Xuan Duan crown suit, stepped onto the Tongtian Imperial Road, and the jade streamers rang lightly in front of his forehead.

Behind him, on the left and right, were the Grand Secretary Ye Zean and the Military Intelligence Grand Marshal Wen Ren Zheng respectively.

The enthronement ceremony officially began!

At the same time, in the Western Extremity Province thousands of miles away, Pudu Mountain.

More than one hundred thousand believers had gathered at the foot of the mountain a few days ago.

In Pudu Temple, tens of thousands of monks performed their duties, standing in their respective positions, chanting scriptures in unison.

Qin Zihong stood on the square outside the main hall of Pudu Temple, looking up at the golden waterfall flowing on the glazed tiles.

He looked at the steps in front, and as the chanting resounded through heaven and earth, golden lotuses bloomed one after another on the jade steps.

Today, it is the day the Western Extremity Kingdom was established, and also the day he was crowned King!

"The time has come."

A voice entered Qin Zihong's ears.

He took a deep breath and stepped toward the steps in front.

On both sides of the steps stood monks, all true disciples of Pudu Temple.

Accompanied by the chanting like a sea tide, Qin Zihong stepped on golden lotuses, climbed the steps step by step, and walked into the main hall.

In the main hall, before the solemn Buddha statue, the contemporary Buddha Buddha Buddha Jingheng, wearing a golden cassock, was facing the green lamp before the Buddha.

Beside him, the former "King of Li," Qin Mingli, looked at Qin Zihong with an expressionless face.

Qin Zihong's heart trembled, and he soon remained calm, stepping into the main hall.

Buddha Buddha Jingheng turned around and looked at Qin Zihong with compassion.

In a trance, the Buddha image of this Buddha seemed to appear from the void, the thousand-hand image holding the sun wheel and the moon wheel, level with the sky!

"Crown you with Buddha fire."

The grand voice resounded in Qin Zihong's heart.

The cry of Garuda rang out, and the golden-winged bird brought red flames, turning into the twelve-stream crown on Qin Zihong's head.

When he came back to his senses, he heard thunderous cheers coming from under the mountain.

This was the cheering of ten thousand people!

On the first day of the New Year, Qin Zihong was officially crowned the new King.

The Buddha Kingdom was established!

Qin Zihong turned to look outside the main hall and opened his arms.

He knew that after today, the pattern of the whole world would change—

The wills of two countries collided like lava, and thousands of miles away, they completely erupted!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 557 =====