fifth form

Chapter 3145 Dilapidated
Wuzhou Fortress was a border garrison camp, and some of the troops stationed at Yanmen Pass were stationed in this fortress.

This place is not simply a wall; it has become a large living area for soldiers, with blacksmith shops, meat and wine shops, and brothels where risky businesses are also found everywhere.

Sitting atop the high tower of the Wuzhou Fortress General's Camp, where he issued orders, Zhang Xuezhou stared blankly at the distant layout.

The terrain he used to be able to memorize with a glance was now somewhat blurry, and a red light kept flashing before his eyes.

The ten-ingredient tonic pills could not sustain his mental strength; they could only keep his mental trauma from worsening.

To heal injuries in this world, you need to drink Nine Treasures Wine. To return to the real world, you can use X432, X864, or the Heavenly General's potion.

Medicine has always been more advanced in this world than in reality, but now the tables have turned, and Zhang Xuezhou finds it hard to complain about his current situation.

"After being treated by Li Jiao, Mother has regained consciousness, but her symptoms are more severe than Tian Fen's. Li Jiao has also fallen into a coma. Right now, only you are somewhat conscious!"

The voices behind him made the new emperor less anxious, and he also wanted to figure out the reason for the difference in their symptoms.

“I’ve had my head damaged once, so my symptoms might be a little different from others,” Zhang Xuezhou whispered. “You could try asking Daojun for the antidote. West Kunlun is where all the world’s spiritual essence gathers; the antidote might exist there!”

Zhang Xuezhou was well aware of the new emperor's intentions.

Zhang Xuezhou did not use a definitive tone when informing the patient of the medical plan.

On the one hand, he wasn't confident he could succeed; on the other hand, there were no cases of cultivators who could not die from Zhongdaojun's flying daggers, and even the effects of Nine Treasures Wine could vary from person to person, so Zhang Xuezhou couldn't guarantee its efficacy.

"I wonder if Li Guang and Master Li have caught up with Daojun?"

Zhang Xuezhou and Tian Fen, both skilled in leaping and bounding, were stabbed; Cheng Bushi, the most agile military general in the court, was injured; and even the most swift cultivators were unable to make a move.

Li Guang excelled at stealth and archery.

Li Guang's speed and agility surpassed that of ordinary cultivators, but he was no match for a great demon like the Nine-Headed Lion.

Li Shaojun, however, is physically injured and unable to fight, so his strength is limited and expectations should not be too high.

The new emperor was not optimistic about the outcome of the speculation. He paced back and forth on the high building, and occasionally looked towards the entrance of Wuzhou Fortress City.

While waiting for the outcome of Li Guang and his men's pursuit, he was also waiting for the result of the clash after the large army was mobilized.

The Han Dynasty has indeed deployed 300,000 troops. If the legion responsible for the fourth wave of interception can block them, the legions of the first three waves of ambush can meet them head-on.

If Li Guang's success rate in chasing down Dao Jun was only 10%, his chances of winning in a legion clash were at least 60%.

Although it may seem that only a few people on their side have been injured, the Great Han Dynasty is not a country that relies solely on a single cultivator. Even if the emperor dies, it will not collapse. However, the Dao Lord is the pillar supporting the Xiong Kingdom. If he is injured or defeated, it will have a huge impact.

Silence finally fell over the high-rise building.

Zhang Xuezhou used most of his mental energy to extinguish the sharpness of the flying knife, and he still seemed somewhat drowsy.

In the dim light, Zhang Xuezhou also heard the new emperor's disappointed roar, which later turned into uncontrollable rage.

"what happened?"

Zhang Xuezhou stretched and strolled leisurely into the high-rise building.

"The troops from Wuzhou Pass failed to catch up with the Xiong Kingdom's army. They were about two miles apart and exchanged fire, but neither could catch up!"

Zhang Xuezhou asked around, and the person who responded to him was Gongsun He from the Imperial Stud.

The two had met before, and Gongsun He was happy to respond to Zhang Xuezhou, simply explaining the situation.

“How could we not catch up? Don’t we still have a fourth group blocking our way?” Zhang Xuezhou asked in a low voice.

"The cleanup legion has the fewest members!"

Gongsun He whispered. Wang Hui was the most important military general in the Empress Dowager's faction. The Empress Dowager orchestrated the ambush at Mayi, but Wang Hui was the one who actually carried it out.

"Lord Wang Hui is the type to wage ambush warfare; he can't fight a direct battle!"

Zhang Xuezhou only snapped out of his daze when Gongsun He added a sentence.

If Li Guang were in charge of the fourth wave to cover the rear, there would be a 70% chance that he would charge head-on after discovering the change in the battle situation, and he would have to complete the encirclement even if it meant losing 10,000 or 20,000 men.

However, the Han Dynasty's generals were mostly city-defense commanders, and these generals tended to seek stability, making it almost impossible to get them to launch an offensive.

Wang Hui was neither a general like Li Guang who charged into battle, nor a conservative, city-defending figure like Cheng Bushi; rather, he was somewhere in between.

If he had the upper hand, Wang Hui would surely rise up, but he couldn't bring himself to charge forward when he was at a disadvantage, even knowing that the Xiong Kingdom's army was retreating and that the Han army was chasing after them.

"This is like letting a tiger return to the mountain. If we don't fight them to the death, they will definitely come back with a vengeance, and the price we pay in the future will be even higher!"

The new emperor, his face contorted with rage, threw the fake Crimson Sky Sword he had retrieved onto the ground.

Compared to the Han Dynasty's accumulation of less than a hundred years, the knowledge of a cultivator like Daojun, who has lived for a thousand years, is immeasurable.

Their injuries are difficult to heal, but Daojun's body is likely to recover from its injuries.

If we fail to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the escape of the three holy land masters to wage war, the Fiend Kingdom will inevitably make a comeback in the future.

Once these henchmen who assist the holy lands in committing evil are eliminated, the lords of these holy lands will become isolated great cultivators, making it much more difficult for them to wreak havoc everywhere.

The new emperor hated Wang Hui and others for being useless, but he hated even more that he couldn't use the real Crimson Sky Sword.

If he had been wielding the Crimson Sky Sword at the time, the probability of Daojun being killed would have been extremely high.

The concepts of trauma and killing are completely different. If Daojun dies, the internal strife caused by the disunity of the people in the Yedi River Holy Land will be unstoppable, which will also trigger a power struggle among the various tribes of the Xiong Kingdom.

This would further enhance the reputation of the powerful Han Dynasty, making many people afraid to provoke it.

The biggest goal was not achieved due to the limitations of human capability, and the next best goal was missed because of the general's conservative mindset.

The new emperor felt like his head was about to explode.

It was a terrible ambush, but it did create two tremendous opportunities, though neither of them were truly seized.

They were just one step away from success.

If Daojun were to return with renewed vigor, the new emperor was certain that the opponent would not be able to afford to be careless again, nor would he kill two sides and four people with a single strike; instead, he would simply eliminate the opponent outright.

If this kind of behavior is repeated several times, no one can withstand such an operation.

Moreover, these people also possess the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique. Although the new emperor has successively defeated the incarnations of Daojun and Zhujiuyin, and Dong Zhongshu can cut them with wind techniques, the talismans that the new emperor has used are not something that can be easily produced. He has truly staked everything in the fight. Few people possess Dong Zhongshu's level of wind techniques.

Once the new emperor figured out all of this, he became more anxious, and the trauma suffered by the Empress Dowager and others only exacerbated his emotions.

The Empress Dowager's body was tainted with evil energy, and she constantly transferred power. The Empress Dowager's body was injured, and the same thing would inevitably happen.

No one could rightfully restrain the new emperor anymore, but after taking over everything, the new emperor found that he did not have the happiness and freedom he had imagined.

Even after becoming an emperor with absolute authority in the court, he was still trapped in various connections.

Previously, the Empress Dowager and the Grand Empress Dowager had shielded this connection, making the new emperor feel that there was only an endless struggle for power. But now that he is facing it personally, he has discovered that this constraint has not been severed, but is more dangerous and deadly than before.

"To hold out is to wait for death; I cannot follow in my father's footsteps!"

With Daojun's revenge looming overhead, the new emperor did not want to repeat Emperor Jing's experience of encountering Zhujiuyin.

He needs radical talent and radical reforms to overturn the old rules of keeping a low profile, only then can a new beginning be possible.