<h4>Chapter 429: The Definitive War (1)</h4>
The Yin spirits within the city walls hadn’t even had the opportunity to look up.
Because if they did, they would have discovered the spell arrays that had appeared right above the four city walls.
They appeared with mysterious runic symbols that emanated hellish ck Yin energy. The spell arrays rotated slowly, but the shockwave apanying its appearance immediately blew away all Yin spirits within a fifty meter radius.
A split secondter--
Whoosh!
It was like a majestic meteor shower.
As the spell array continued to spin, it began to pour out spots of sparkling white light, almost as though constetions of the milky way were being created from nothingness. Qin Ye, Arthis and the remaining 20,000 Yin soldiers watched the massive screen of Yin energy with bated breaths and clenched fists.
There’s no room for mistakes… We absolutely have to win this war!
There was an unprecedented urgency stirring in the depths of Qin Ye’s heart, far beyond any that he had ever experienced before. His heart was practically leaping out of his chest, and his breaths grew ragged. The palms of his hand were alsopletely soaked through with sweat. Incidentally, Arthis was experiencing the exact same thing.
This was a war that would determine the fate of the nation. Nobody wanted to leave something like that to pure chance and luck.
Limbo. All the Yin spirits, whether within or without Shanhai Pass, stared at the massive spell arrays above the city walls with their jaws agape. Two secondster, the panic-stricken Yin spirits screamed in terror and began to scatter in all directions as quickly as they could!
From afar, it looked no different from a sun suddenly exploding on itself as the bits and pieces forming the whole splintered in all directions.
“My… god…” One of the ghostly citizens trembled as he stared at the sky, before shrieking at the top of his voice, “Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!! Oh god!!! Someone dares to attack hell…”
Shk!
But a stray arrow soon plunged straight through his head. Unfortunately, the ghostly citizens soon discovered something far more startling.
The wide roads in the city that they all knew too well was now filled with countless skeletal war horses that were rushing out like a tidal wave. Endless Yin soldiers followed closely behind the charge of the cavalry with their spears and shields raised menacingly in the air. Then, thest to follow were the archers. Banners of war flew high everywhere across the city. It was as though someone had trampled on an anthill, and the entire swarm of ants were pouring out from hiding right now!
Boom, boom, boom! The entire ground shook to the beat of their march.
“These are… the banners of all of our forces…” The ghostly citizens retreated from the main roads as they retreated to the sides. Those who recognized the gs eximed in horror, before fleeing back to the safety of their own homes where they took shelter from the chaos that ensued.
War…
War had begun! This was a real and proper war! A war of the underworlds! A war that was taking ce under the mortal realm!
“By Hell’s Dictum, all rabble shall disperse!!!” The Qufu Yin soldiers yelled at the top of their voices. The ghostly citizens who weren’t able to escape from the main roads in time were instantly decimated with a single sh. In fact… this wasn’t the only road on which the exact same scene was panning out. In fact, all four inner city gates of Shanhai Pass had earlier opened at the exact same time, making room for the march of fourrge armies as they rushed straight for the outer city walls.
Meanwhile, the ballistae and cannons located on the inner city walls slowly began to charge up with Yin energy. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, almost as if the entire colossal city was baring its fangs the moment it was attacked!
Come…
Even broken jade is more precious than a piece of ceramic tile!
…………………………………………………….
West outer city walls.
All the Shanhai Pass Yin soldiers stationed here were frozen in horror as the massive spell array blossomed with starbursts right in front of their very eyes.
Theirmander was a soldier dressed in modern military uniform, and he knew full well that this was no starburst. Rather… they were all spots ofhermes!
Enemy attack… It’s an enemy attack!! He turned around and bellowed, “Stop them!! They’re dead meat as soon as our reinforcements arrive!”
Boom!! But before he could even finish speaking, a vast shockwave of Yin energy blossomed from the westerly walls, and a valiant figure rushed straight out like a bolt of lightning. The long spear in her arm flourished with Yin energy like a blooming flower as it flew straight towards the enemymander’s head!
“You’re courting death!!” The Qufumander yelled at the top of his voice as he drew his sword to confront the enemymander.
Sparks flew. A split secondter, a miserable scream rang out. One partynded stably, while the other copsed limply onto the ground. The rest of the Qufu Yin soldiers who were standing behind the enemy femalemander stood frozen in ce as they watched their ownmander turn into a clump ofherme that soon dissipated into the sky.
Dead?
Shanhai Pass was an immenselyrge city, and there were easily tens of thousands of troops guarding the walls that stood hundreds of meters wide from end to end. Countless Yin soldiers surrounded the enemy femalemander and her troops like a watertight barrel, but none of them dared to make a single move.
He’s seriously dead? A single sh, and he was reduced to nothing buthermes?
Killed in a single blow?
Several lessermanders stepped forward in ce of their now-deceased mainmander and spoke with great trembling, “W-who are you?!”
Mu Guiying stood her ground valiantly with a long spear in hand. Her hair was swept to the side along with her majestic cloak, and she hardly exhibited any traits one traditionally would associate with women. Instead, she exuded a ferocious aura of an apex predator, waiting to strike.
Whoosh… She raised her spear and pointed its tip at the lessermanders who had stepped forward, and they immediately cowered and even retreated several steps back.
This was the overbearing valiance of thousands. The notion of instantly disposing of a Hellguard-ssmander was simply too shocking, and every single one of the Qufu Yin soldiers who had witnessed this sight couldn’t help but feel awed and fearful of the valiantdy general that was Mu Guiying.
“Mu Guiying, Emissary of Hell.” Mu Guiying swept her gaze frommander tomander, “I wasmanded to y the impertinent. Evildoers shall be purged, but those who surrender shall be spared!”
Buzz… As soon as she said this, a multitude ofhermes erupted in the sky behind her. The transmission of Hell’s forces was finallyplete. At once, all 20,000 troops roared in unison, “By Hell’s Dictum, all rabble shall disperse!”
Spear to spear, and sword to sword. Hell’s forces were surrounded on all sides, and yet… not a single one of Qufu’s Yin soldiers dared to make a single move.
This very moment exemplified the gap in military literacy of both factions.
70% of Hell’s forces were in fact Yang Jiye’s soldiers. They have been trained day and night back in the Felipinas, so much so that they had internalized everything they were to do in the event of war. In fact, not a single one of them could properly be called uninitiated when it came to doing battle in the first ce.
But Shanhai Pass waspletely different. They didn’t have the support of famous, reputable generals of ancient times, and they were forced to train their own soldiers from scratch. To make matters worse, the true elites among their midst were all deployed to the coastal areas to deal with the daolord’s approach. Furthermore, none of them had experienced proper warfare before. At best, they would only have scouted out the regions and taken down a Yin beast or two as prized trophies for their lords and generals.
But how could a Hunter-ss Yin beast possibly resist the march of an army in the first ce? Even a sea of Yin spirits could achieve the same effects!
Beyond that, the Yin soldiers of Qufu had never experienced proper warfareprising the mighty sh of forces numbering tens of thousands at once.
Thus, none of them responded. None of them even knew remotely what the appropriate response should be.
They werepletely stunned. But Mu Guiying clearly wasn’t having any of that. Three secondster, she erupted with a furious cry, “CHARGE!!!”
The tip of her spear gleamed coldly, and then, a dazzling dance of spear strikes flourished.
She rushed forward in an instant, taking the lead as she dove headlong into the enemy lines. She raised her spear high, and then mmed it down onto the ground with mighty devastation!
BOOM!!!
A massive gully instantly appeared right above the city walls, spreading tens of meters with an ear-splitting crack. It was almost as though the entire enemy formation had been split into two by her powerful strike, and dust and debris scattered everywhere. Simultaneously, the 20,000-strong army behind her roared with fury and poured forth towards the enemy lines like raging waters!
“Victory to Hell!!! Charge!!!”
“Resist them… Fight back!!!” The lessermanders of the Qufu army felt a chill run down their spine as they desperately shouted, “We must hold on! Reinforcements will be arriving here shortly!!”
They could already see the wave of Yin soldiers rushing out from the inner city gates.
The front lines of the Qufu Yin soldiers wanted nothing more than to retreat. Whether military discipline, morale or fighting spirit, they had already been utterly defeated. The great difference between war veterans and greenhorns was as apparent as it got. Unfortunately…
They were obstructed by the ranks of their ownrades that stood behind them. The backlines pushed forward, propping up the entire formation of troops. Unfortunately, this also meant that the front lines had absolutely no room for retreat!
A terrifying disy of Yin energy erupted from the forces that bore down onto them. In that very instant, Hell’s forces appeared no different from an avnche roaring down the sides of Mount Tai. The battle-hardened veterans rushed valiantly ahead like a roaring tiger, disying without reservation their terrifying murderous intent. Trembling with fear, Qufu’s Yin soldiers instinctively picked up their long spears and held it up feebly. Yet, they found themselves unable to even muster the slightest of peeps.
Unfortunately, their worst nightmare was only just beginning.
When Hell’s forces were only ten meters away from the frontlines of the Qufu Yin soldiers, their formation suddenly staggered slightly, allowing an entire row of a hundred ck Armored Troops to surface onto the frontlines of the charge unhurriedly and in unison. Then, they drew their weapons.
ck Armored Troops of the Tang Dynasty!
Buzz!!
The air crackled and popped with tension.
And this was the final scene that the frontlines of Qufu’s army saw.
It was in and simple, and yet the cold gleam of the ck Armored Troops’ concerted sh instantly decimated the frontlines of all who stood in their way, reducing them to nothing more than wisps ofhermes and clouds of Yin energy. The ck Armored Troops marched in front like reapers of souls with no emotions whatsoever. Every location that they passed waspletely reduced to dust.
Dozens of Yin spirits fell with every swing of their des. Qufu’s soldiers were arrayed with a seemingly watertight formation, and yet not a single one could resist the firm approach of the ck Armored Troops. Within moments, Hell’s forces had already pushed Qufu’s soldiers back by hundreds of meters!
They were unstoppable!
This was the might of the true forces of Hell!
One sh, and the skies were filled with countless spots ofhermes. Another sh, and thehermes would be reduced into a cloud of Yin energy. They marched on with a ferocious tempo, never stopping and never slowing. On the other hand, the morale of Qufu’s frontline forces instantly fell to rock bottom. Every single one of them desperately fought to retreat from the frontlines - This is war… This ispletely different from our expectations!
But their heads were sliced cleanly off their shoulders as soon as they turned back. At some point in time, another group of Yin soldiers dressed in Tang Dynasty armor had arrived right behind the dwindling Qufu forces.
And the man who stood right in the middle of these Tang Dynasty reinforcements was a man dressed like a Tang Dynasty official. However, it was not Lai Junchen.
He didn’t say a single word. Instead, he simply gazed coldly at a location that was three hundred meters away, where the ck Armored Troops were still advancing like demon gods descending into the mortal realm. It had only been a few short moments since the arrival of the enemy invaders, and yet the segment of the city walls that were hundreds of meters wide had already transformed into an advancing moat of sorts due to the hundred or so ck Armored Troops interspersed between the regr forces of Hell. They were practically invincible!
This is the bona fide army of Hell… And these are the fabled ck Armored Troops!! The man screamed in horror in his heart. The ck Armored Troops were practically the pride of all who lived during the great Tang Dynasty. He was all too familiar with what their existence represented. Naturally, he couldn’t keep his lips from quivering slightly.
There were over a dozen Hellguard-ss Yin spirits and over fifty Hunter-ss Yin spirits standing right behind him, zing with battle intent at this very moment.
Apart from that, there were a multitude of Yin soldiers dressed in ck armor that was formed up in ranks right behind what appeared to be themander of these reinforcements.
These Yin soldiers stretched on for a hundred meters or so. At a nce, one would be able to tell that there were easily 30,000 Yin soldiers gathered up atop the city walls with an air of sobriety about them. However, not a single one of them marched ahead.
Rather, they were unable to march ahead.
The city walls that once used to look far too wide to them were now way too narrow for their current purposes.
At least, it wasn’t wide enough for tens of thousands of troops to sh against each other.
They must be stopped!
If we allow this to go on any longer, then everything that Qufu is built on is bound to copse bit by bit like a shattering mirror.
But… how am I supposed to go about doing that?!
After a long time, he gnashed his teeth, “Onwards… And hold them off! All who dare retreat shall be executed for treason!”
“Yes!!!” Seven Hellguards bellowed back, leading their own army of soldiers forward like another wave in the ocean to reinforce the crumbling line of defense ahead of them.
The shield-bearers marched in front like a wall of shields that stretched on for hundreds of meters. Countless spears peeked out from the gaps between the shields, followed by archers who soon ignited their arrows withhermes.
Everyone was poised to strike!
The archers at the backlines had their arrows trained on Mu Guiying’s forces. Once Qufu’s frontline forces crumbledpletely, what awaited them was going to be an all-epassing counterattack.
Qufu’s reactions weren’t slow, especially given the fact that none of them had ever anticipated someone breaching the outer walls and entering the city in the first ce!
After all, Qufu’s Shanhai Pass was supposed to be an unbreakable fortress!
Then, as soon as the army marched out, the Tang Dynastymander turned around and whispered through gnashed teeth, “Prepare the Mohist Mechanical Beast.”
“Mr Li!!” The rest of the Hellguards couldn’t help but gasp in horror, “But there are still tens of thousands of our own forces on the city walls!”
“Do you not understand what I’ve just said?!!” Mr Li bellowed back with great rage, and thehermes in his eyes immediately turned red, “We cannot let them enter the inner city at any cost! Qufu has fifty-six years of history right now. So long as we can stand firm, we’d undoubtedly be the next hell!!”
“Go! Prepare the Mohist Mechanical Beast!” His seven apertures were billowing with Yin energy by now, “I don’t want to see a single living creature on this city wall when I’m done… not even a single ghost!”