Chapter 91: Pre-battle Mobilization

Great Yuan Dynasty Capital, Qianjing.

This thousand-year-old city, crouched in the heart of the Great Yuan Dynasty, was usually a Holy Land looked up to by countless Cultivators and Mortals.

However, today, the vast plains extending south from the capital were filled with a suffocating murderous aura.

"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The dull sound of war drums rolled across the earth like spring thunder.

Looking out, a dark, profound torrent was slowly spreading across the plains.

That was an elite army of one hundred thousand, composed of the Great Yuan Dynasty's world-renowned "Imperial Guard" and the "Divine Strategy Army."

This army of one hundred thousand was not made of ordinary soldiers; even the most basic foot soldier was a Martial Artist in the Late Stage of the Body Refining Realm, while squad leaders and platoon leaders all possessed Body Tempering cultivation!

As for the lieutenants and commanding generals, they were all Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The army was arrayed, their blood and Qi like rainbows. The spirit and energy of one hundred thousand men converged, faintly condensing into a thousand-foot-tall Black Tortoise military soul in the Void Realm, radiating pressure as heavy as a mountain.

At the very front of the one hundred thousand-strong army was a golden war chariot pulled by eight snow-white, single-horned Dragons.

On the war chariot, the Great General of the Great Yuan Dynasty, Meng Zhan, held the broadsword at his waist, his tiger eyes filled with might. He wore heavy dragon-scale armor, and his tyrannical cultivation at the Late Stage of the Purple Mansion Realm was undisguised, intimidating all directions.

Ten miles opposite the army was another black mass of forces.

The Divine Sword Sect's warship was arrayed, and below it were the "Jianghu" people covering the mountains and plains. Among these Jianghu people were Loose Cultivator families who had been intimidated by Chu Chang's bloody methods and forced to submit, desperados who sought to get a share of the spoils after hearing about the destruction of Dayuan City, and remnants of Sects that had been oppressed and persecuted by the Great Yuan Dynasty for many years.

Although they numbered only tens of thousands and their Formation was chaotic, they had the advantage of having licked blood from the edge of a blade, and their eyes flashed with cruelty and greed.

"Where is Chu Chang?! Come out and die!"

Great General Meng Zhan suddenly drew the broadsword at his waist and pointed it at the sky.

Boom!

The one hundred thousand troops struck their shields with their weapons in unison, erupting with a collective roar: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The sound shook the area for a hundred miles, and the violent blast of air instantly tore the floating clouds in the sky to shreds. Under the pressure of such military might, many of the Jianghu Loose Cultivators turned pale and subconsciously backed away.

"A bunch of rabble, daring to offend the divine might of my Great Yuan Dynasty?" A look of disdain appeared on Meng Zhan's face.

However, the moment his voice fell, a dark figure slowly drifted down from the warship at the very front of the Divine Sword Sect.

Chu Chang walked through the air, and with every step he took, a faint gray ripple spread through the Void Realm.

Behind him, fourteen Puppets clad in black armor, radiating cold Death Qi, followed like ghosts.

Sect Master Lin Wuwen, Sect Master Tie Kuangtu, Dayuan City Lord, Great Elder Zhao Wuji… these Purple Mansion experts who once shook their respective regions now stood in neat Formation behind Chu Chang, their eyes burning with black demonic fire, coldly watching the one hundred thousand troops below.

"Meng Zhan."

Chu Chang looked down at the Great General on the golden war chariot, his voice calm without a ripple: "If you lead this army of one hundred thousand to lay down your armor and return to your fields, I can spare your life. If not, today, this plain outside the capital will be the burial ground for one hundred thousand Great Yuan Dynasty soldiers."

"Arrogant!"

Meng Zhan laughed in extreme anger: "I would like to see how your dead Puppets can block my one hundred thousand iron cavalry's Black Tortoise Heaven-Breaking Formation!"

He swung his broadsword down fiercely, his voice like thunder:

"All troops, hear my order! Form up, charge!"

"Roar!"

Following Meng Zhan's order, the thousand-foot Black Tortoise military soul above the one hundred thousand troops let out an angry roar.

"Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!"

The earth shook. One hundred thousand iron-clad soldiers launched a charge simultaneously, their speed increasing until they turned into an unstoppable black torrent, sweeping towards Chu Chang's side with the force of a landslide.

"Kill! Destroy these imperial lackeys and seize the capital's treasury!"

Among the Jianghu people, some desperados, tempted by heavy profits, also turned red-eyed, waving various strange weapons and rushing up with roars.

The distance between the two sides closed in an instant, like two surging tides colliding violently on the plains outside the capital!

Rumble!

At the moment of impact, dazzling Spell light and rain of blood exploded simultaneously.

The Imperial Guard's coordination was extremely tacit; the heavy shield bearers in the front row, under the blessing of runes, were like a wall of bronze and iron, while the spearmen and archers in the rear ruthlessly reaped the lives of the Jianghu Loose Cultivators. Although the Loose Cultivators had impressive individual combat power, in the face of such a military charge, personal martial prowess appeared extremely insignificant, and their vanguard defense line was instantly torn apart, suffering heavy casualties.

"Hmph, a rabble." Meng Zhan sneered.

However, before his smile could widen, it froze completely on his face.

Because Chu Chang's Puppet army had moved.

"Boom!"

Fourteen black meteors fell from the sky, crashing directly into the center of the army where the Black Tortoise military soul's defense was tightest.

The Dayuan City Lord Puppet had practiced earth-attribute Cultivation Technique while alive. After becoming a Puppet, his Physical Body was tempered by Geng Metal Earth Sha, becoming heavier than ten thousand jun.

The moment he landed on the ground, the earth within a radius of two hundred zhang collapsed instantly, and over a hundred elite Imperial Guard soldiers were turned into meat paste by the terrifying gravitational wave before they could even scream.

"Die!"

Sect Master Tie Kuangtu's Puppet was even more violent. He rushed directly into the heavy cavalry Formation of the Divine Strategy Army, grabbed the necks of two Dragons with both hands, and swung them violently!

The two heavy Dragons, weighing several thousand catties and clad in heavy armor, whistled and spun in the air, smashing dozens of surrounding cavalrymen away. He was like a human-shaped meat grinder; wherever he passed, people and horses overturned, and flesh and blood flew.

"Prodigy, die!"

Seeing this, three Divine Strategy Army Golden Core Stage lieutenants roared and formed the Three Talents Formation. Three Magic Treasure spears transformed into three golden Dragons, stabbing directly at Sect Master Tie Kuangtu's heart.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The three spears stabbed fiercely into Sect Master Tie Kuangtu's chest, but only erupted in a series of dazzling sparks. The spear tips, comparable to Medium Grade Magic Treasures, failed to even pierce Sect Master Tie Kuangtu's skin, leaving only three white marks on his black armor.

"This… what kind of monster is this?!" The lieutenant was terrified.

Demon fire flashed in Sect Master Tie Kuangtu's hollow eyes. His hands reached out like lightning, grabbing the necks of two lieutenants and squeezing hard.

Bang! Bang!

Two blood flowers exploded in mid-air.

The remaining lieutenant was so scared that his soul flew away and his spirit scattered. He turned to flee, but was casually struck by a Netherworld Cold Flame from the passing Great Elder Zhao Wuji Puppet, instantly freezing into an ice sculpture, and then turned into debris under the trampling of the iron-clad torrent.

"Damn it! That Purple Mansion Peak Puppet is coming over!"

Meng Zhan stood on the golden war chariot, his face extremely ugly.

Only to see Sect Master Lin Wuwen's figure moving like lightning, dragging a Qi path several miles long through the ten thousand troops, heading straight for the golden war chariot. Any soldier blocking his path would be instantly corroded and vaporized the moment they touched the layer of Chaos Devilish Qi on his body, unable to block him in the slightest.

"Archers! Fire! Aim the Immortal-Slaying Divine Crossbow at him for me!" Meng Zhan shouted sharply.

Dozens of huge divine crossbows made of hundred-year ironwood erupted with dazzling light under the infusion of True Essence.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The black iron crossbow bolts, as thick as a child's arm, shrieked as they tore through the air, shooting violently towards Sect Master Lin Wuwen. These crossbow bolts were engraved with armor-piercing and explosive runes, enough to severely injure a Purple Mansion Realm expert.

However, Sect Master Lin Wuwen just expressionlessly raised his right hand and pressed it gently into the Void Realm.

[Heavenly Demon Force Field!]

A gravitational black hole evolved from pure Chaos True Essence appeared out of thin air. Those black iron crossbow bolts, capable of shooting through mountains, suddenly slowed down the moment they entered the force field range, and then twisted and snapped under the terrifying gravitational pull, falling weakly to the ground.

"What?!"

Meng Zhan's pupils shrank.

"Work together to drive the military soul, kill him!"

The one hundred thousand troops simultaneously operated their Cultivation Techniques at this moment, pouring a steady stream of blood and Qi into the Black Tortoise military soul in the Void Realm. That huge Black Tortoise seemed to come alive; it raised its huge hooves, carrying the terrifying pressure of tearing the Void Realm, and struck down fiercely towards Sect Master Lin Wuwen.

The power of this blow had faintly reached the threshold of the Early Stage of the Nascent Soul!

In the Void Realm behind Sect Master Lin Wuwen, Chu Chang's Divine Sense moved slightly.

"Taiyin and Taiyang, Creation is infinite."

Chu Chang, through the Divine Seal, infused a trace of Chaos Origin power into Sect Master Lin Wuwen's body.

In Sect Master Lin Wuwen's hollow eyes, two brilliant rays of gold and silver suddenly erupted. He slowly retracted his right fist to his waist, and then, facing the falling Black Tortoise giant claw, punched out!

Boom!

A punch was thrown, and the heavens and earth lost their color.

A huge Taiji pattern evolved in front of Sect Master Lin Wuwen's fist, Yang fire and Yin ice intertwined and rotated, turning into a destructive storm.

The two terrifying forces collided violently in mid-air.

After holding on for only half a breath, the Black Tortoise giant claw, condensed from the blood and Qi of one hundred thousand troops, crumbled inch by inch under the grinding of the Taiji pattern. Immediately after, the destructive storm spread along the arm, completely grinding the entire thousand-foot Black Tortoise military soul into nothingness.

"Pfft!"

The military soul was forcibly broken, and the one hundred thousand troops forming the military Formation below were struck by lightning at the same time, vomiting blood in unison, and their aura withered instantly.

The military Formation was broken.

"The whole army… defeated?"

Meng Zhan looked at the army paralyzed on the ground, having lost all Battle Intent, his eyes full of despair and disbelief.

The Great Yuan Dynasty's most elite one hundred thousand troops, combined with the military soul Formation, couldn't even defend against one of the opponent's moves? What kind of Prodigy is this Chu Chang?

"Great General Meng, now, it's your turn."

Sect Master Lin Wuwen's voice sounded as if it came from the Nine Hells, and in an instant, he had arrived in front of the war chariot.

"I am the pillar of the Great Yuan Dynasty, how can I stretch my neck to be slaughtered! Kill!"

Meng Zhan knew there was no hope of survival, and a flash of resolute madness appeared in his eyes. He burned his Golden Core and Divine Soul, flames of blood-red Qi ignited all over his body, and the broadsword in his hand turned into a hundred-foot-long sword beam, slashing towards Sect Master Lin Wuwen.

Sect Master Lin Wuwen's figure did not move, he just raised his left hand covered in demonic patterns and forcibly grabbed the falling hundred-foot sword beam.

Crack!

The seemingly invincible sword beam was crushed by Sect Master Lin Wuwen's palm. Immediately after, Sect Master Lin Wuwen's right hand formed a claw, piercing through Meng Zhan's heavy dragon-scale armor as if reaching into a bag, grabbed his Golden Core directly, and then squeezed hard.

Boom!

The Great Yuan Dynasty's famous general, Meng Zhan, had his Divine Soul completely destroyed on the spot.

"General Meng is dead! Run!"

"Devils! They are devils!"

With the Great General dead, the remaining tens of thousands of troops completely collapsed, abandoning their armor and fleeing in all directions in a sorry state. And those Jianghu people who had originally been suppressed, seeing this, were greatly encouraged, shouting and rushing up to beat the falling dog, frantically harvesting the spoils of war.

The entire plain outside the capital had turned into a Hell on earth, flowing with rivers of blood.

Chu Chang had stood on the warship from beginning to end, coldly watching everything happening below.

He had no pity for the fallen Loose Cultivators and Imperial Guard soldiers. The world of Cultivation was a world where people ate people; since they had chosen the wrong side, they had to be prepared to pay the price.

"Let's go."

Chu Chang ordered lightly.

The warship started again, slowly crossing the bloody battlefield and arriving before the closed, towering city gate of Qianjing.

At this time, on the walls of Qianjing, all the garrison troops looked at the fourteen Heavenly Demon Puppets walking slowly through the pool of blood, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

"Activate the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder National Protection Formation!"

From within the city, the angry roar of the Great Yuan Dynasty Emperor, Qianyuanzi, came with a trace of panic.

Hum!

A huge light shield covering the entire capital, transformed from countless golden thunders, shot into the sky. Nine huge thunder dragons roamed and roared on the surface of the light shield, radiating an aura of destroying all things.

This grand defensive Formation was the last reliance of the Great Yuan Dynasty's royal family.

Chu Chang stood outside the city, the duanchen ancient sword in his hand emitting an unprecedented violent tremor, as if calling out to the vast and ancient power beneath the city.

"Great Yuan Dynasty's royal family, do you think this turtle shell can protect you?"

Chu Chang looked at the golden thunder light shield, his eyes gradually becoming cold and profound.