Chapter 512: Failure and Success, the Death of Yang Jian |
Whoosh...
Xia Chuan had always possessed a clear understanding of his own capabilities.
He had only broken through to the Sun Manifestation Level in October of the year before last. Although he had Jade Bones aptitude, his cultivation was still only at the early stage. Over the past two years, including various miscellaneous improvements, his base strength had already reached 9 Jun.
With early-stage Sun Manifestation cultivation and 9 Jun of strength, factoring in his Sacred Mark and martial arts, the maximum combat power he could personally unleash could exceed 15 Jun.
Why say "personally"? That was because he still had his greatest reliance—the legacy of the Wood Puppet Abomination, the giant blade puppet forged at the cost of vast amounts of silver and precious materials.
The secret art of puppetry emphasized using the small to drive the large, using one's own limited strength combined with mechanical mechanisms to drive a puppet, thereby unleashing even greater power.
Over the years of researching and developing puppets, coupled with his increasingly comprehensive acceptance of the Wood Puppet Abomination's legacy, Xia Chuan had gained a deeper understanding of his own puppet arts.
The conductivity of the transparent silk threads allowed him to drive a weight up to twice his own strength. In other words, regardless of the puppet's material or forging method, its final weight could only be controlled at around 24 Jun.
A 24-Jun heavy object, even if no additional force was applied, just moving it slightly would create a startling commotion. Let alone the fact that the blade puppet, controlled by the silk threads, was extremely agile and razor-sharp.
It had been a full fourteen years since he accidentally obtained the Wood Puppet Abomination's legacy back at Rogge Camp.
Xia Chuan was very clear that, in terms of aptitude, he could not compare to his eldest brother.
Therefore, the Wood Puppet Abomination's legacy was probably the only means he had to close the gap with his eldest brother. How could he not value it?
A sixty-five percent power amplification was the result of his fourteen years of relentless, day-and-night, diligent practice of the puppet-controlling art!
Thus, the strongest power he could currently unleash was 25 Jun.
But then again, 25 Jun of power was still far from enough to influence the current battlefield. Setting aside everything else, just Yang Jian's strength alone surpassed his by a margin. If factoring in the Blood Evasion Art, in a one-on-one duel, he would most likely be no match for Yang Jian.
Moreover, the strongest person in Beishuo at the moment might no longer be Yang Jian. The Yang Clan's eldest brother, Yang Zun, from Chencang, had most likely already returned. According to the Four Feudatories' Heaven Ranking, the Southern Wildlands Spear Demon, Yang Zun, had already possessed 41 Jun of strength several years ago. His current strength would only be greater.
Precisely because of this sober self-awareness, Xia Chuan was very clear that his greatest reliance in this current great battle was the Xia troops.
To be precise, it was the five thousand Cloud Python Army soldiers, the one thousand Dragon Garrison Captains, and the first and second battalions—totaling ten thousand men. In other words, all of Great Xia's designated elite forces.
From the very beginning of the battle, he had positioned himself within the center of the military formation. Using the blade puppet to entangle Yang Jian, preventing him from causing too much impact on their own soldiers, while simultaneously relying on the blade puppet's massive size to provide assistance for their own troops.
The facts proved his approach was absolutely correct.
Yang Jian was entangled. The elite Xia troops advanced irresistibly, using absolute strength to crush the twenty-five thousand Beishuo defenders of Baimu City. Then, launching a pincer attack with the ten thousand troops brought by Lu Yang from the front and rear, Beishuo's disastrous defeat was already a foregone conclusion.
The remaining several thousand Beishuo elites were completely sealed off. The fifteen thousand Beishuo Town Garrison Army soldiers on the outskirts were also pinned outside the city gates. The battlefield was simply too vast; some who were lucky enough and clever enough could escape from the edges and corners. The vast majority of Beishuo soldiers, however, had only one path—death.
In the largest-scale battle ever recorded in the Mo'ao southern foothills region, the Xia troops achieved an absolute victory with a crushing momentum. Carrying this great victory, his heart surged with excitement, and his emotions inevitably swelled considerably.
He seemed to already see the grand scene of the various towns of the southern foothills bowing in submission upon his eldest brother Xia Hong's return. With his emotions inflated, he, who was controlling the blade puppet, inevitably became somewhat reckless.
The Beishuo Army still had some discipline after all. After the Yang brothers, Yang Jian and Yang Fa, shouted the order to retreat, almost all soldiers, including those at the Sun Manifestation Level, turned and charged towards the south—the direction of Baimu City's gates.
With no Sun Manifestation Level experts blocking the way, the Scarlet-Silver Blade Puppet directly became the most terrifying presence on the entire battlefield. Every downward slash of its blade could almost take the lives of five or six Beishuo soldiers. Being in a pursuit situation, Xia Chuan even felt this killing efficiency was too slow. As the esteemed Department Chancellor of Great Xia, military merits naturally held little significance for him. Victory or defeat on the battlefield was his greatest achievement.
Therefore, he did not control the blade puppet to kill enemies. Instead, he made the blade puppet leap high, continuously blocking and dividing the retreating, fleeing Beishuo soldiers, splitting them into small, separate battlefields for the following Xia troops to deal with.
He immersed himself in this atmosphere of galloping freely across the battlefield, carving out over ten small battlefields, even pursuing all the way to the very center of the Beishuo chaotic troops.
It was precisely when he penetrated deep into the center that he once again raised the blade puppet, attempting to create another divided battlefield. At that moment, an ordinary Beishuo soldier wearing Hundred-Forged Silver Armor and holding a long spear moved towards him.
Hundred-Forged Silver Armor meant he was a Beishuo Army soldier, but with only 9 Zong of strength...
Rather than saying the soldier actively approached, it was more accurate to say he was caught up by the blade puppet. Xia Chuan saw through the other's strength at a glance and paid it no mind. His little finger gave a slight hook, and the blade puppet's left arm immediately tilted, swinging its blade fiercely towards the direction the soldier was approaching.
It was this very swing that made Xia Chuan's heart suddenly clench, a flash of fear appearing in his pupils.
Why was this?
Because that soldier, facing the blade puppet's left arm, did not make an instinctive dodging motion. Instead, he raised the black long spear in his hand, suddenly looked up, rose into the air, and charged straight towards Xia Chuan's face.
Flight?
This was no ordinary Beishuo foot soldier, but a genuine, bona fide Sun Manifestation Level expert!
Someone was hiding within the Beishuo army, wanting to kill him.
Whoosh...
A crimson spear tip cut across the sky, stretching over a hundred meters. The fear in Xia Chuan's pupils suddenly materialized. Immediately after, his hands violently pulled the silk threads. The originally charging Scarlet-Silver Blade Puppet immediately turned its head and rushed towards his body.
However, the speed of that crimson spear tip was too fast.
Frighteningly fast, earth-shatteringly fast...
The deafening clamor of the battlefield seemed to completely freeze in that instant. Between heaven and earth, it was as if only that crimson spear tip remained.
Well, perhaps not entirely...
Because at the same time that crimson spear tip rose, an intense black staff radiance also rose from outside Baimu City's northern gate.
Whoosh!
Interestingly, the black staff radiance and the crimson spear tip did not appear one after the other in the blink of an eye; they rose on the battlefield almost simultaneously.
"Department Chancellor!"
"Third Brother..."
The stronger one's strength, the faster their perception and reaction naturally were.
On Great Xia's side, besides the six generals Liu Yuan, Yue Feng, and others, there was also Xu Ning, the Battlefield Messenger. The seven Sun Manifestation Level experts immediately focused their gazes on the crimson spear tip. Realizing there was a hidden killing move targeting the Department Chancellor within the Beishuo army, their faces were filled with horror. They cried out in alarm and swiftly moved towards Xia Chuan.
On Beishuo's side, Town Lord Yang Fa and the other five Sun Manifestation Level experts also realized there was a hidden killing move targeting Yang Jian within the Xia army. Their faces were equally filled with horror, and they also cried out in alarm as they moved towards Yang Jian.
Setting aside others' thoughts for the moment, at this very moment, Yang Jian's face was full of terror. Ever since he heard his second brother Yang Fa's loud warning shout, he had already realized he was in danger.
The reason was that ordinary Xia soldier foot soldier who was very close to Gu Tianxiong showed not the slightest intention of dodging when faced with his spear thrust.
Not only did he not dodge, the little soldier even raised the pitch-black, gleaming ten-foot iron staff in his hand and brought it down towards Yang Jian's head.
This was no ordinary soldier...
"To think we had the same idea, wanting to kill someone right in front of me..."
Just as this thought rose in his mind, Yang Jian suddenly heard the voice of that Xia army soldier. Hearing the other's extremely familiar and slightly contemptuous tone, his pupils abruptly contracted. The terror on his face instantly transformed into intense horror.
"Xia Hong is here!"
Bang...
He gritted his teeth, and his body suddenly erupted with a burst of blood mist.
"Having lurked for so long, it just wouldn't do to let you escape now!"
Xia Hong had been mixed in with Lu Yang's troops, so he was currently facing north. As he suddenly leaped up to assassinate Yang Jian, he happened to see the crimson spear tip targeting Xia Chuan two to three hundred meters away.
The timing was just that coincidental!
Whoosh...
A powerful light suddenly shot from Xia Hong's left eye, but the black Coiling Dragon staff in his hand did not slow in the slightest, directly piercing through the blood mist.
The staff radiance passed through the skin membrane, then flesh, blood, and bones. A clear sensation transmitted through his palm. Knowing he had succeeded, Xia Hong's face was filled with calm composure.
He had meticulously planned to infiltrate Lu Yang's army precisely for this moment. If he let Yang Jian escape again, that would be truly unacceptable.
Now, to speak of the other side of things. At the same time Xia Hong succeeded...
Xia Chuan, facing the ultimate killing trap, was also struggling for survival at his limit.
Although he reacted extremely quickly, pulling the silk threads to draw the blade puppet towards himself, the speed of that crimson spear tip still far exceeded his expectations.
Fortunately, the blade puppet's size was sufficiently large. When the spear tip arrived, the blade puppet's head just happened to block the space in front of Xia Chuan.
To be precise, it blocked the space directly between Xia Chuan and that crimson spear tip.
Whoosh...
"No less than 50 Jun. This person's strength is at least twice mine or more!"
The airflow driven by the spear tip cut his cheeks, also making Xia Chuan instantly realize the strength of the assassin. His pupils trembled violently, and his palms flipped rapidly.
The Scarlet-Silver Blade Puppet was humanoid, with a head and four limbs. But unlike a normal person, its face had no facial features, only a pitch-black, mouth-like circular hole.
Xia Chuan's blade puppet had been reforged many times, but some of the most basic designs followed the original version. As early as the year of Great Xia's first martial assembly, during his first confrontation with Yuwen Tao, the blade puppet's face already had this hole.
He had just never used it, so almost no one knew what exactly was hidden inside that hole on the blade puppet's face.
Whoosh...
The crimson spear tip finally arrived.
But the moment it arrived, Xia Chuan's hands suddenly exerted force, pulling back. From within the black hole on the blade puppet's face, a pitch-black large blade abruptly extended.
The blade puppet's body length was five zhang, with its head accounting for one-fifth of the body, roughly over three meters in diameter. That black hole occupied half of the head, about one point six meters in diameter.
That black blade was exaggerated.
When it first extended out from the black hole, its size wasn't much different from an ordinary large blade—just over a meter long, seven or eight centimeters wide.
But it was surrounded by large amounts of black energy. After extending out, it rapidly expanded and enlarged, instantly transforming into a terrifying black giant blade over ten zhang long and one zhang wide.
Clang...
With such a massive black blade, what could it not block?
That crimson spear tip was, of course, blocked by the black blade without any suspense.
Blade and spear collided mid-air, scraping out an earth-shattering loud noise. A powerful shockwave, with the point of collision as its core, suddenly spread out.
Hum...
Within a radius of over a hundred meters, all surrounding soldiers were instantly blasted away. The dozen or so soldiers closest to the collision point, whether from Great Xia or Beishuo, had their armor shattered. As they flew backward, they vomited blood incessantly. A few of the unluckiest even died on the spot.
"Block me, die!"
That Beishuo foot soldier who had assassinated Xia Chuan suddenly looked up, revealing a middle-aged face seventy percent similar to Yang Jian's. However, he appeared younger, and his eyes held even more arrogance and confidence.
With an angry roar, his hands suddenly exerted force, pressing down on the black blade. The long spear actually slid along the blade's edge, once again heading straight for the space between Xia Chuan's eyebrows.
"Yang Zun has returned from Chencang!"
Whoosh...
After this thought flashed through Xia Chuan's mind, his pupils were filled with terror. But he suddenly noticed something, and the terror in his pupils instantly vanished, replaced only by wild joy and excitement.
It was a strong light, a beam of light that was fast to the extreme.
That strong light pierced through the air, arriving behind Yang Zun in an instant.
Yang Zun, who had been advancing irresistibly, clearly sensed it too. His pupils contracted sharply. The originally unstoppable black long spear suddenly retracted. His body used the momentum to flip and evade, narrowly avoiding that beam of strong light by a hair's breadth.
Clang...
The strong light ultimately struck two Beishuo soldiers in the distance.
Those two soldiers, hit by the strong light, didn't even let out a cry. Their faces had just shown panic when their bodies directly cracked, turning into a pile of fragments.
"Third Brother!"
Failed...
The thought of the assassination's failure surfaced in Yang Zun's mind. His expression instantly turned extremely ugly. But before he could fully regain his composure, a cry of alarm came from behind, making his body shudder violently.
It was the voice of his second brother, Yang Fa.
Third Brother, what happened to Third Brother...
Yang Zun turned his head to look behind. When he clearly saw the scene below Baimu City, his eyes nearly burst with rage, his pupils filled with shock, fury, and madness.
His third brother, Yang Jian, was being held aloft by a Xia army soldier using a long staff.
That long staff had pierced through his third brother Yang Jian's head, hoisting his entire body in mid-air. There wasn't a trace of life left in Yang Jian's pupils; he was clearly already dead.
His assassination attempt on Xia Chuan had failed, while Great Xia's assassination of his third brother had succeeded!
"Ah..."
Yang Zun let out a furious roar, his pupils bulging wide, his fists instantly clenching so tight they drew blood.
He no longer concealed anything. The peak Sun Manifestation Level strength was fully unleashed. The temperature within a radius of several miles suddenly soared. The originally pitch-black long spear was abruptly wrapped in a layer of bloody light. His body vanished suddenly, charging straight towards his third brother Yang Jian—to be precise, towards that soldier who was holding his third brother Yang Jian's corpse aloft—rushing fiercely forward.
Among the three Yang brothers, why did the third and eldest brothers resemble each other the most?
Because Yang Jian and Yang Zun were born of the same mother, while the second brother, Yang Fa, was born from their father and another woman. Although the three brothers were harmonious, to be honest, whether in terms of blood relation or closeness of relationship, Yang Zun and his third brother Yang Jian were undoubtedly closer.
According to the rules of seniority and order among the nine towns of the southern foothills, since he had gone to Chencang, the one who should have taken charge of Beishuo on his behalf should have been the second brother, Yang Fa. Yet, it was the third brother, Yang Jian. This fact alone spoke volumes.
"Killed my third brother, killed my third brother... I want your life, I want your life..."
Although he had been rooted in Chencang for many years, Yang Zun's feelings for his younger brother ran extremely deep. He was very clear that his third brother Yang Jian's aptitude was no worse than his own, and he had always wanted to develop in Chencang. Yet, for the sake of allowing his eldest brother to cultivate in peace, he obediently remained in the southern foothills region, taking charge of Beishuo on his behalf.
For many years, he had always felt a sense of indebtedness towards his third brother, Yang Jian.
Upon returning to Beishuo this time, he was filled with excitement, thinking of unifying the southern foothills and then letting his third brother become the uncrowned king of the entire southern foothills. This would also serve as compensation for his third brother's hard work and great contributions over the previous years. Yet, who could have imagined that Yang Jian would die so inexplicably right before his eyes...
Looking at his third brother's corpse, Yang Zun's pupils were filled with a bloody hue. The entire person plunged completely into madness.