Chapter 886: King of the Western Extreme, King of the Northern Border Guns

"Willing to use my imperial bloodline to seek the Dao of Tathagata Nirvana!"

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

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

Qin Zihong's words were not merely about shaving his head to become a monk, but about joining the Pudu Temple to become a core disciple!

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

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 him to suddenly pull such a stunt.

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

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 is difficult to enter the gate of emptiness."

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

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

"This matter is not something this old monk can 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 Zihong had long anticipated that the other party would say this, and without hesitation, he said:

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

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

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

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

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

If there were any major events, Jing Lian could contact him at any moment.

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

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

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

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

"This disciple is willing!"

"Amitabha."

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

The 49th year of Hongguang, December 21st.

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

"The Great Lan Dynasty's Imperial Prince Qin Zihong, moved by the Dharma, voluntarily joins Pudu Temple to become a Buddhist disciple!"

Not long after the news spread, Qin Zihong, who had already become a Buddhist disciple, issued a manifesto:

"I am Qin Zihong, son of the late Emperor, respectfully writing this 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 sit and watch the ancestral temples gather dust?

Since the current Son of Heaven 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 bowmen pressing upon the eastern border!

Furthermore, the northern barbarians have raised a million troops, violating our borders once again!

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

It is evident that the Son of Heaven is without virtue and unworthy of bearing the weight of the Nine Tripods!

The halls of the Great Lan are filled with jackals in caps and tassels; the steps before the golden throne are crowded with monsters in official robes. This is not my own private grievance, but the shared pain of the entire world!

I observe the three realms as a burning house, grieving the bitter cycle of the six paths; only the Dharma can save the common people.

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

Let the Five Precepts replace the Five Punishments, and let compassion replace conquest.

I humbly pray that all Buddhas cast their light and Bodhisattvas offer their protection, so that the Asuras may cease their war and the Jambudvipa may find peace.

If there are those who remain obsessed and aid the tyrant, the Vajra pestle will show no mercy; if those who can turn back toward goodness, the water of the Eight Virtues shall wash away their sins.

I respectfully report this 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 swept away in a single day.

After Qin Zihong's manifesto was issued, apart from the Western Extreme Province, people everywhere in the other twenty-two provinces were secretly distributing leaflets or spreading the news through rumors.

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

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

The King of the Western Extreme!

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

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

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

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

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

The Third Imperial 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.

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

Back then, the Third Imperial Prince had utilized his own imperial bloodline and made extensive preparations in advance, coupled with being in the central hub of Lánlíng City, which allowed the Buddhists the opportunity to directly invade the national destiny with Buddhist destiny.

Now that the imperial court was on guard, and Qin Zihong was far away at Mount Pudu, plus the fact that Buddhist destiny had been damaged, it was impossible to replicate the scene from before.

But this move by Qin Zihong could still cause a very bad impact on the Great Lan Dynasty!

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

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

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

Yet, at this moment, the Great Lan Dynasty was surrounded by enemies, with war breaking out on three borders simultaneously.

To have to open another front in one's own heartland at this time was too much pressure!

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

Because the late Emperor had died for the state, the new monarch's enthronement ceremony had not yet been held due to the mourning period.

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 Zihong and the Buddhists also chose this day to establish their Buddhist nation.

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

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

He sighed, calling for Xuanchen, Zhou Xuanwo, Bai Meng, and the Commander of the Imperial Guard, Han Mu.

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

"Everyone."

Li Fei's gaze swept over 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 skins, and a bronze-colored figure tore through the curtain of rain, charging toward the soldiers holding rifles like a vicious wolf.

This soldier was also an experienced warrior; he calmly raised the Tiger-pattern rifle in his hand, 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 a bloody light, and the poisoned blade slashed across the soldier's gun-holding hand first.

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

At the same time, another border soldier's saber also 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 wildly at the wound to clamp the saber tight, while his other hand swung a large blade 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. mm caliber lead bullet accurately hitting the Northern Barbarian warrior's temple.

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

Heavy rain, jungle, chaotic battle.

More than fifty Northern border soldiers were locked in a fierce fight with over a hundred Northern Barbarian warriors!

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

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

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

But even so, facing a million-strong Northern Barbarian army, with the ten thousand border soldiers of the North, it was impossible to guard five major cities and twenty-one military towns, and to make the six-hundred-mile-long northern defense line as solid as a rock.

In fact, with the national strength of the Great Lan Dynasty, it was not that they could not afford more border soldiers.

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

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

Compared to maintaining a million-strong army, it is clearly more cost-effective to maintain a ten-thousand-strong Imperial Guard Army.

If the Green Frost Army were still in the Northern Territory, Qin Shixian would not even need to choose to defend; even when facing a million-strong army, he could split his forces and take the initiative to strike everywhere!

But without the Green Frost Army, the Northern Territory border troops can only hold their cities and choose to defend to the death.

Under these circumstances, the Northern Territory defense line naturally has "loopholes" everywhere; many military towns have already been breached, and the Northern Barbarian army has passed through the Northern Territory defense line in the form of scattered troops to enter the rear!

In response, Qin Shixian's countermeasure is to likewise dispatch multiple elite teams to "hunt" the scattered Northern Barbarian troops within the borders of Beichuan Province.

With an absolute advantage in weaponry and equipment, at least in local battlefields, the Northern Territory border troops can completely fight many against few and achieve many impressive combat records.

At this moment, the dozens of Northern Territory border troops in this jungle are one such "hunter squad."

It is just that on the battlefield, the identities of hunter and prey are constantly shifting.

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

The Tiger-style rifles and Falcon Type-III revolvers produced by the Great Lan Dynasty have seen their failure rates rise significantly in the heavy rain!

And even if the Northern Barbarian warriors are just ordinary people, their physiques far exceed those of normal people.

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

"Prepare for melee combat!"

Lan Yu wiped the rainwater from his face and roared loudly.

He is the captain of this hunter squad and also a Body-Breaking realm martial artist.

The hunter squads selected from the border troops are all elites; although not every member is a martial artist, the team leader must at least be a Qi-Changing mid-stage martial master of strength.

That Lan Yu could become a hunter squad leader with a mere Body-Breaking realm cultivation base naturally has its unique reasons.

Crossed behind his back are two Tiger-style rifles, and he also carries a large saber.

In each hand, he holds a Bertening pistol.

These guns were produced five years ago by the Deni Kingdom on the Western Continent; their precision, stability, rate of fire, and magazine capacity all far exceed the revolvers commonly used in the military.

In this rainy weather, the rifles and revolvers used by the soldiers of the hunter squad all have more or less some problems.

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

He ordered everyone to prepare for melee combat, yet he himself had no intention of abandoning his guns at all.

While running in the heavy rain, he raised both guns to fire simultaneously.

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

The dense jungle, the torrential rain, and the dim light—none of these caused the slightest obstruction to Lan Yu.

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

Thirty paces away, as a tall Northern Barbarian warrior raised an axe to cleave a soldier at the waist, a 4. mm caliber bullet precisely drilled into the bone gap at the back of his neck.

Amidst the crisp sound of a cervical vertebra shattering, the barrel of Lan Yu's left-hand gun lifted slightly, and the second bullet passed through a 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 in the engagement had martial artists at the level of martial masters of strength, but in terms of killing efficiency, no one could compare to Lan Yu.

As a Body-Breaking realm martial artist, he managed to display the aura of a Dao-Foundation realm powerhouse!

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

A Northern Barbarian warrior over two meters tall, his entire body covered in green totems, strode toward Lan Yu.

As this Northern Barbarian warrior sprinted, his entire body was shrouded in a layer of green internal energy.

He is a martial master of strength; previously, to reduce consumption, he had not unleashed his internal energy, relying only on his formidable physique to kill.

Now, fully unleashing his internal energy, he charged like a fierce tiger in the forest, carrying a terrifying aura!

The opponent wove back and forth through the forest, leaving behind trails of afterimages; the rainwater falling on him was deflected away like arrows.

Lan Yu sensed this killing intent immediately and, without even looking, turned and fired a shot.

The first bullet struck sparks at the center of the Northern Barbarian warrior's brow and was deflected by his internal energy.

With an interval of less than 0. seconds, the second bullet followed, actually hitting the exact same spot!

Ripples appeared on the Northern Barbarian warrior's protective internal energy; feeling a trace of danger, he further unleashed his internal energy to accelerate his movement.

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

Lan Yu's expression was cold and stern; he held his guns at his sides with both hands, simultaneously exerting force with his feet to leap backward.

The charging Northern Barbarian warrior exerted force almost at the same time as him, leaping forward like a fierce tiger pouncing on its prey!

A fierce, violent wind carrying a thick, bloody stench rushed toward him. Lan Yu stared fixedly at the opponent's blurred figure, forcing himself not to blink, his wrists rotating to adjust the muzzles.

Just as the Northern Barbarian warrior's calloused palm was about to seize Lan Yu's throat, the third and fourth bullets, one after the other, spun and drilled into the impact point chiseled out by the first two bullets—

The third bullet completely shattered the opponent's protective internal energy, and the fourth bullet hit the center of the opponent's brow!

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

Splattered brains drew 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 snapped!

From the moment this Northern Barbarian warrior suddenly erupted to the moment he crossed over thirty meters to kill Lan Yu, it took only a little over a second—it could be called fast as lightning.

And within 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 impact point of every single shot was exactly the same!

One must know, he was not fighting an ordinary person, but a martial master of strength.

Such marksmanship can be called miraculous!

It is precisely by relying on such marksmanship that Lan Yu was able to become the leader of this hunter squad.

He even has a nickname among the Northern Territory border troops—the Gun King!

With a crack, the redwood tree, as thick as a bowl, that Lan Yu collided with shattered instantly.

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

If not for his martial artist physique, this single impact could have cost him his life.

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

The two Bertening pistols he uses were meticulously tuned and modified by a master, enhancing the continuity and precision of his shooting.

This is the key to his ability to survive in the hands of a martial master of strength.

Just now, if even one of his bullets had deviated slightly in its impact point, he would have been the one to die!

Having walked before the gates of hell, Lan Yu remained expressionless, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and continued to throw himself into the battle.

Thirty-some minutes later, relying on Lan Yu's efficient killing, this battle finally ended with the victory of the hunter squad; the Northern Barbarians were routed after leaving behind over fifty corpses.

"Treat the wounded, watch out for finishing off the enemies!"

Lan Yu's voice was hoarse as he shouted loudly in the rain.

Over an hour later, more than twenty border troops, carrying over a dozen wounded, relocated under a cliff to shelter from the rain.

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

A veteran with a face full of whiskers approached Lan Yu and said in a hoarse voice.

Lan Yu, having just finished a victorious battle, had a somewhat gloomy expression as he looked at the veteran:

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

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

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

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

Lan Yu and the others have been in Beichuan Province for five days; having fought continuously for five days and engaged in over a dozen battles, large and small, the elixirs they carried with them were almost exhausted.

Although there are still Qi-Changing stage martial masters in the team, everyone knows that handing the elixirs to Lan Yu so he can continue to display his extraordinary abilities is the choice with the greatest return.

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

It is precisely because of such extraordinary abilities that he chose to practice his marksmanship diligently, eventually becoming the Gun King of the Northern Territory border troops.

"These are all the elixirs you can use."

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

"Damn it, these don't last long at all."

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

"You tell me, once this war starts, how many elixirs does the entire Northern Territory consume in a day?"

Old Zhang shook his head: "The ghosts only know. Fighting a war is just burning money, damn it! Fortunately, the Northern Barbarians are much poorer than us; even if they have more people, they definitely won't be able to outlast us in the end."

Although half of their brothers were casualties, Old Zhang's brow was still filled with confidence in victory!

"Right, the Northern Barbarians are in poor mountains and treacherous 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.

This is something Lan Yu and the others do not understand very well.

But the Northern Barbarians have raised a million troops this time, yet they are completely dispersed, attacking on multiple fronts.

It is like a million ants dispersed in a city; even if a top powerhouse can crush a large patch of ants with one foot, can they really crush all one million in the city? (Note 1)

But if one does not go to intercept these ants, the foundation of one's own city will be slowly corroded by these ants, resulting in heavy losses.

One can only rely on ants to deal with ants.

This requires competing on the combat effectiveness of grassroots soldiers.

And logistics is undoubtedly the most important of priorities.

The hunter squad where Lan Yu and the others are located rarely has Dao-Foundation realm powerhouses stationed with them.

It is not that the Northern Territory border troops cannot produce so many Dao-Foundation realm experts, but that Dao-Foundation realm martial artists require a greater quantity of elixirs, have higher requirements for logistical supplies, and are more suitable for hard-fought battles or city defense, rather than long-term guerrilla warfare.

If, while fighting, the implants run out of energy and a dignified Dao-Foundation realm powerhouse is surrounded and killed by a group of ordinary soldiers, that would be too much of a loss!

By the same logic, further up, although a Martial Dao Master can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, if they fight for a long time, even with special divine abilities for recovery, they still cannot hold out and require high-quality elixirs to replenish their energy.

Therefore, in this large-scale guerrilla war, neither the Northern Barbarians nor the Great Lan Dynasty have committed mid-to-high-level powerhouses.

A sharpshooter like Lan Yu can actually play a significant role in this kind of guerrilla warfare.

"I heard the Western Continent delegation brought new types of weapons that allow rifles to fire continuously like machine guns, and they are lightweight, highly accurate, and have a fast rate of fire."

Lan Yu suddenly brought this up, his face full of envy:

"Damn it, if someone got me one of those guns, I could even kill someone in the Dao Foundation Establishment realm!"

Old Zhang, who was to the side, did not think Lan Yu was bragging; instead, he nodded:

"Indeed, if we could each 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, to the grasslands, or to the two desert nations?"

Old Zhang was stunned, and his expression changed instantly:

"They... surely wouldn'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 Border Gun King leaned against the damp rock wall, looked up at the sky, and became lost in thought.

The heavy rain was still falling, and billions of raindrops were smashing into the earth with an unstoppable force.

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

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

Besides the "snowball tactic," I think I have also written about another use for ordinary soldiers in this book, which is skirmisher warfare~

(End of this chapter)