Chapter 553: A Decisive Victory—Li Yangtian Pledges His Loyalty |
Year 13 of Great Xia, the third day of the first lunar month, shortly after nightfall.
North of Jinyang City, at the entrance to the Bone-Erosion Path.
Blazing firelight filled the area for over ten li in all directions. Cold air from all sides was frantically invading this place, clearly a phenomenon where the cold air, previously dispersed by the high temperatures, was now rushing back in.
Only, its rate of replenishment was extremely slow, so slow it was almost impossible to discern with the naked eye.
Fire in the Ice Abyss, if not continuously supplied with fuel, would quickly be eroded away by the cold air. But what kind of fire could disperse the cold air across a ten-li area, and when the cold air rushed back in, be so slow?
It was simply unheard of!
"Five-Element tribulation qi, this is the power of a Tribulation Body Realm expert! The Lord Leader's Sacred Cauldron can prevent those from Caiqiu from using Trickery, and Caiqiu's Golden Bone Furnace can also nullify our Trickery methods. But they have Tribulation Body Realm experts who can conjure such a massive fire out of thin air. If not for the Lord Leader having that fire-gold-water Triple-Element blood golden cicada Beast Emperor-Level Puppet, the outcome of this great battle would likely have been uncertain!"
Above the Bone-Erosion Path, Qiu Peng looked down at the devastated battlefield below and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Recalling the previous great battle, his pupils were filled with shock and awe.
Luo Yuan stood beside him, with Lin Kai and Li Yangtian positioned to the left and right. The expressions on the three men's faces were similar to his, clearly also reminiscing about the previous battle.
The entrance to the Bone-Erosion Path was only fifty meters wide. What could Caiqiu do even with two hundred thousand troops? This was the thought in the minds of everyone in Great Xia, including Qiu Peng, before the battle.
But once the great battle began, they realized how naive they had been!
Cai Qianshan and the eight Tribulation Body Realm experts attacked simultaneously. Even before the battle truly started, they directly blasted and collapsed the mountain walls on both sides of the Bone-Erosion Path entrance, forcibly widening the originally fifty-meter-wide entrance by nearly twenty times to almost a kilometer wide.
They saw clearly that even Lord Leader Xia Hong looked somewhat stunned at the time, clearly not expecting Caiqiu's method of breaking through the pass to be so simple, brutal, and utterly unexpected.
Qiu Peng subsequently mobilized a total of 160,000 troops from Xia City, sending half to Dongchuan City, with the other half arriving at Jinyang by the latter half of the night. Combined with the four armies of Yuwen Tao, Yuan Cheng, Luo Yuan, and Li Yangtian totaling 140,000 troops, plus the original 10,000 troops in Jinyang City, the number of Xia troops blocking the Bone-Erosion Path entrance reached a staggering 230,000.
Setting aside the relative strength of the forces, in terms of numbers alone, Great Xia surpassed Caiqiu. The defending side having more troops than the attacking side was enough to prove Lord Leader Xia Hong's emphasis on this battle.
The fifty-meter-wide entrance was expanded to a kilometer. Originally, the formation Caiqiu's army could deploy horizontally could fit at most less than a hundred men. Now, it could be expanded over tenfold, reaching a scale of a thousand men.
The key point was that Cai Qianshan and the others were still continuing to use brute force to widen the entrance. If they were allowed to continue, and the entrance was widened several more times, Great Xia's defensive advantage at the pass would be completely lost. How could Xia Hong just sit back and watch?
Therefore, the moment Cai Qianshan acted, Lord Leader Xia Hong immediately intervened.
Thinking of this, a faint trace of shame appeared on the faces of Qiu Peng and the other three.
They were completely unqualified to intervene in battles at the Tribulation Body Realm level. So, stopping Cai Qianshan and the other eight could only rely on Xia Hong and those fourteen Beast Emperor-Level Puppets. People like them could only participate in ground combat throughout the entire battle.
The aerial capability of the Sun Manifestation Level was a major weapon on the battlefield. Considering that Great Xia had far fewer Sun Manifestation Level experts than Caiqiu, as soon as the great battle began, the Xia troops immediately employed Airspace Lockdown measures.
However, this time, Caiqiu was also prepared.
After Cai Qianshan breached the pass, as Caiqiu soldiers surged out like a tide, a giant golden furnace, ten meters in diameter and approximately twenty meters tall, also slowly advanced from the rear.
That furnace emitted flames over ten meters high, constantly spewing silvery-white, billowing thick smoke. Wherever the smoke reached, all Trickery methods of everyone from Great Xia also became ineffective.
The Lord Leader's Sacred Cauldron could prohibit everyone except the people of Xia from using Trickery methods. Having suffered losses at Jinyang City during the night of the first day of the lunar month, Caiqiu had clearly taken precautions and thus brought out this Golden Bone Furnace.
However, the Lord Leader seemed quite familiar with this furnace. The name "Golden Bone Furnace" was also something Qiu Peng and the other three had just heard from Xia Hong's mouth.
Great Xia had the Sacred Cauldron; Caiqiu brought out the Golden Bone Furnace. Soldiers of both armies could not use Trickery methods. Logically, this should have leveled the playing field, leaving only a contest of pure strength.
But Great Xia's rise had been short, and the people of Xia didn't master many Trickery methods to begin with. Even if they truly engaged in a Trickery contest with Caiqiu, they simply couldn't compare.
However, while Great Xia lacked Trickery, they had the Five-Element spirit pills derived from the Trickery methods of Dajue Temple's five great Masters.
Setting aside the Soul-Separating Pill, there was the Golden Body Pill that enhanced skin membrane defense, the Forbidden Sky Pills that prohibited aerial capability, and after Great Xia's alliance with Beishuo, the Pure Cold Pills that allowed people to ignore pain. These three types of pills had nothing to do with Trickery.
Of course, Caiqiu also had pills, and the effects of their pills were in no way inferior to Great Xia's three types.
In short, with kings facing kings, generals facing generals, and soldiers facing soldiers, divided into three tiers, the battle ultimately commenced at the entrance of the Bone-Erosion Path!
Cai Qianshan, likely due to confidence in his army's strength, acted quite arrogantly. After only widening the Bone-Erosion Path entrance to about a kilometer, he boldly ordered the army to charge.
Compared to the previous fifty-meter width, a kilometer was naturally quite large. But to be honest, what was a kilometer for an army of two hundred thousand?
Even if each person only required half a meter of space, a kilometer width could at most allow Caiqiu's army to deploy 2,000 men horizontally. With so few men, dreaming of breaking through the Xia troops' defense in one wave was pure fantasy.
However, Caiqiu's strength was truly shocking!
Hundreds of Sun Manifestation Level experts attacked simultaneously. Even after the Xia troops exhausted all their Divine Machine Crossbows and arrows, they only held them off for less than a quarter of an hour. Once these long-range weapons were depleted, close-quarters combat naturally followed.
It must be said that the overall strength of Caiqiu's army was indeed superior to that of the Xia troops. But the number of participating troops from both sides at the pass entrance was massive, and since the Xia troops were on the defensive, this was enough to offset that gap.
If the two sides were merely engaged in a straightforward army confrontation, Qiu Peng was certain that Caiqiu would have absolutely no chance of breaking through the pass entrance, not even for a short time.
However, Caiqiu had far too many Sun Manifestation Level experts, and Cai Qianshan's determination for this southern campaign was shockingly great. This could be seen from the behavior of those Sun Manifestation Level experts, who were willing to sacrifice their lives to break through the pass for the army.
Caiqiu's hundreds of Sun Manifestation Level experts exerted their strength simultaneously, leading the army in a fierce assault. During the two hours from dawn, they managed to break through the pass entrance a total of six times. The last and most dangerous time, at least over fifty thousand Caiqiu troops had surged out.
If not for Yuwen Tao's prior deployment the previous night, mobilizing all the Digging Realm cultivators from the nearest several regions around Jinyang City, gathering 150,000 Digging Realm cultivators who, at the final moment, took sunlight pills and rushed to reinforce in time, the outcome of tonight's great battle would definitely not be as it appeared now.
The last time, about half an hour ago, the fifty thousand Caiqiu troops that had surged out were forcefully beaten back by the Xia troops.
At the critical moment, Cai Qianshan even temporarily broke away from Lord Leader Xia Hong with several Tribulation Body Realm experts, descended, and unleashed a great fire, attempting to use the raging flames to salvage the failing Caiqiu army. But in the end, it was neutralized by the massive water column spat out by that Triple-Element Beast Emperor blood golden cicada in Lord Leader Xia Hong's possession.
At this point, the Caiqiu army could only accept the reality of defeat and retreat!
"The Lord Leader is likely quite seriously injured. That giant water column spat out by the blood golden cicada at the end was almost beaten back by Cai Qianshan's Golden Body. I saw with my own eyes the Lord Leader spitting blood. Yuwen Tao and Yuan Cheng are probably protecting him and assisting his recovery right now."
Hearing Qiu Peng's words, Luo Yuan and Lin Kai's expressions grew slightly tense.
Li Yangtian, who had recently joined Great Xia, didn't react much, only shaking his head and saying softly, "Only Department Head Yuan followed the Lord Leader back to Jinyang. I saw the Lord Leader giving some instructions to Department Head Yu Wen at the end. Department Head Yu Wen headed in the direction of the valley interior."
Upon hearing this, a trace of amusement flashed across the faces of Qiu Peng and the other two.
The great battle at dawn was too intense. All three were leading troops in ground combat and had no time to pay attention to the situation of the aerial battle. Moreover, they couldn't intervene in the battle between the Lord Leader and Cai Qianshan's group of Tribulation Body Realm experts anyway. After all, having lost their aerial capability at the time, what could they do even if they saw it?
Li Yangtian had been observing the aerial battle throughout, clearly because, having recently joined Great Xia, he was being extra cautious, which is why he did so.
"Brother Li, how is our Lord Leader's strength?"
After all, he had just defected to Great Xia; how could one demand such loyalty from him?
Qiu Peng didn't blame Li Yangtian for this, but turned to look at him, asking with a hint of teasing.
Li Yangtian had naturally noticed the looks in the three men's eyes, knowing that his previous words had exposed his earlier cautious thoughts. He wasn't worried. After lowering his head in thought for a moment, a look of shock appeared in his eyes, then his expression gradually turned devout. He cupped his hands towards Qiu Peng and said, "The Lord Leader is truly a Transcendent Being. To be able to join the Lord Leader's command and become a member of Great Xia is the fortune of three lifetimes for Li!"
After all, Great Xia's opponents this time were two feudal towns. It was absolutely impossible for Li Yangtian to claim he had no thoughts whatsoever beforehand.
He could help Great Xia eliminate Long Mingyuan without bloodshed and capture Longgu Town City, so naturally he could also help the two feudal towns deal with Great Xia. Li Yangtian didn't think his behavior was wrong. He helped Great Xia because he saw no hope in Longgu Town City. If he saw no hope in Great Xia, with his flexible approach, he could naturally also pledge allegiance to the two feudal towns.
But after the recent great battle, his thinking had completely changed.
As soon as night fell, the battle losses had already been tallied.
In this battle, regarding Xia troop soldiers, a total of 18,000 were killed in action, while 23,000 enemies were slain. Additionally, over 5,000 Caiqiu soldiers were captured. Regarding top-tier combatants, Great Xia lost 9 Sun Manifestation Level experts, while Caiqiu lost 33. Even Lord Leader Xia Hong personally killed a Tribulation Body Realm expert!
Merely the word "victory" was insufficient to describe the Xia troops' achievement in this great battle. A great victory, even a complete victory, was more fitting.
This wasn't some town-level warfare. Great Xia's opponent in this battle was Caiqiu, one of the Four Feudatories of Mo'ao Chuan.
Two hundred thousand troops were certainly not Caiqiu's full strength, but were the 230,000 Xia troops mobilized last night Great Xia's full strength either?
Great Xia possessed the strength to confront a feudal town head-on!
If this notion was something Li Yangtian fully formed only after the great battle ended, leading to his decision to completely pledge allegiance to Great Xia, then during the battle itself, when he witnessed with his own eyes Cai Qianshan's giant palm strike landing on Xia Hong's body, only for Xia Hong to retreat a few hundred meters with no serious harm, he had already extinguished all those improper, cautious thoughts.
Therefore, at this moment, when Qiu Peng asked this question with a hint of teasing, he would give such a solemn and devout answer.
Qiu Peng was the Department Head of the Camp Supply Department among Great Xia's Eight Departments and also one of Lord Leader Xia Hong's closest confidants. Expressing loyalty to him was essentially expressing loyalty to Lord Leader Xia Hong and to Great Xia.
"Brother Li's ability to forsake darkness for light has also brought the Lord Leader great joy. However, with a great battle imminent, the Lord Leader has no time to summon you alone. Rest assured, Brother Li. Once we repel these two feudatories and secure the Southern Foothills, the Lord Leader will surely bestow heavy rewards!"
Qiu Peng could naturally discern that Li Yangtian was expressing loyalty to Xia Hong. He immediately smiled and helped him up. To be honest, the entire matter of Li Yangtian's defection to Great Xia was planned by the Department Chancellor. Lord Leader Xia Hong had no prior knowledge of it at all.
Of course, he couldn't possibly say this out loud.
Looking at the nearly cleared battlefield below, Qiu Peng was about to continue speaking, but before he could open his mouth, a strong gust of wind swiftly approached from the direction of the Bone-Erosion Path.
"Yuwen Yong?"
The newcomer was the general of the Second Battalion of the Jinyang allied army, Yuwen Tao's elder brother, Yuwen Yong.
Recalling Li Yangtian's earlier statement that Yuwen Tao had headed towards the inner part of the Bone-Erosion Path, Qiu Peng immediately guessed that Yuwen Yong must have gone with Yuwen Tao and was now back to deliver a message.
"Department Head Qiu, Lord Yuwen sent me back to deliver a message. He said for you to immediately select one hundred thousand troops and enter the Bone-Erosion Path. The rebel army in Evergreen Valley has already begun to move. The Caiqiu army hasn't reached the exit yet, but they have already abandoned their Equipment and Supplies and increased their marching speed. They probably received news from the rebels in advance and are worried we might pursue them from behind."
Sure enough, with an urgent expression, Yuwen Yong quickly spoke as soon as he approached, delivering a series of messages.
Qiu Peng's expression suddenly changed dramatically, his face revealing ecstatic joy. He immediately turned to look at Lin Kai behind him and said, "Speed is crucial in war. Lin Kai, you go to Jinyang City first to inform the Lord Leader. I, along with Luo Yuan and Li Yangtian, will select one hundred thousand troops and immediately enter the Bone-Erosion Path."
"Alright, I'll go right away!"
Lin Kai nodded and immediately turned to fly towards Jinyang City.
Xia Hong had been injured in the previous great battle and returned to Jinyang City to recover after the battle ended. Although the overall commander was currently Yuwen Tao, the situation still needed to be reported to Xia Hong.
The rebel army in Caiqiu's Evergreen Valley was orchestrated by Yuwen Tao himself. Early in their initial meeting, Yuwen Tao had briefed all the higher-ups, including them, on all the details, so Qiu Peng was fully aware.
"The strength of the Evergreen Valley rebel army is very poor. According to what Department Head Yu Wen said earlier, having two hundred thousand men would be impressive, and the vast majority are at the Digging Realm. Now that night has just fallen, they are probably moving to block the northern exit of the Bone-Erosion Path. We need to speed up. If we're late, the rebel army might be wiped out!"
"Abandoning their Equipment and Supplies... Cai Qianshan must have lost his mind. His Caiqiu still has at least one hundred and fifty thousand troops. Even though they suffered a defeat and morale is low, they fear that ragtag rebel army from Evergreen Valley..."
Hearing Luo Yuan's words, Qiu Peng was momentarily stunned. Then, exchanging a look with Luo Yuan, both saw excitement in each other's eyes.
Great Xia already had considerable understanding of Evergreen Valley. The place was too barren, the population quality poor, with hardly any Warmth Realm cultivators. Moreover, what threat could such a hastily assembled rebel army pose to the Caiqiu army?
For the Caiqiu army to abandon their Equipment and Supplies, it was either an act of extreme panic due to last night's defeat, or something major had happened, forcing them to speed up their return.
"Chencang, has made its move!"
Qiu Peng pondered silently for a moment, said nothing more, and directly led Luo Yuan and Li Yangtian down to select troops and prepare to advance into the Bone-Erosion Path.