Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

As expected, Jiang Chengdao personally led the Xuanwu heavy cavalry and slaughtered the Chu King's 30,000-strong vanguard force in less than a quarter of an hour.

It's unclear whether it was because the enemy's vanguard general was too weak, but in the face of the Xuanwu Guard, which was empowered by the power of the Holy Path, and the new army, which consisted entirely of half-cultivators, the 50,000 elite troops armed to the teeth had little power to resist.

The battlefield was devastating, with more than 20,000 gruesome corpses lying on the ground.

Jiang Chengdao looked around and saw that the enemy's vanguard had completely collapsed, with only a few scattered battles still taking place.

The Xuanwu Guard suffered only about 500 casualties.

Such an astonishing casualty ratio clearly proves that this was an unequal war.

However, Jiang Chengdao, covered in blood, felt no relief whatsoever.

The reason is simple: the rebels are behaving very strangely.

Even though he knew he was no match for him and that a forced attack would only be suicide, the other party still did it, as if he had come specifically to die.

However, they were wearing heavy armor inlaid with high-grade spirit stones, and their armor was also etched with spiritual energy circuits, making them formidable in combat. Such excellent equipment should not be wasted.

Something unusual is bound to happen; such illogical behavior is very likely the result of some conspiracy.

He just couldn't think of it right away.

Meanwhile, on the city wall of Luyang, Lu Chen and Jiang Chengdao shared the same thought: the other side must be plotting something under the guise of this suicidal attack.

Because of this concern, he couldn't be happy even if he annihilated the enemy's vanguard.

Chai Hongyu didn't think much of it.

It wasn't that she wasn't smart enough, or that she wasn't sensitive enough to the battlefield; rather, all her energy was focused on Lu Chen at that moment, her attention not wavering for even a second, and she was completely absorbed in watching Lu Chen.

Lu Chen was aware of Chai Hongyu's unusual behavior, but he didn't pay it any mind.

Some things are beyond her ability to change no matter how hard she tries.

On the other side, after defeating the vanguard of the Chu King's army, Cang Yue wanted to lead the new army to pursue the victory, but Jiang Chengdao shook his head at her.

"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"

Upon hearing the order to retreat, Cang Yue did not hesitate or argue, and immediately obeyed.

In the distance, watching Jiang Chengdao lead the Xuanwu Guards back to Luyang City, Xuan Ping sneered.

"It's too late to retreat now!"

As he spoke, he suddenly drew the long sword from his waist, raised it high, and pointed it at the sky.

"start!"

Boom! ! !

A strange energy shot out from the tip of the sword and disappeared into the sky in an instant.

The next second, a blood-red lightning bolt suddenly fell from the sky, striking the ravaged battlefield directly.

puff!

With a series of soft sounds, the corpses of all the fallen soldiers on the battlefield, which was already a river of blood, suddenly floated up. Countless pieces of flesh and blood gathered together and then turned into a dark red torrent that rushed down rapidly to the surrounding area.

At the same time, as the crimson lightning struck, the once clear sky suddenly began to swirl, quickly turning extremely dark, and eventually the entire sky transformed into a giant spiral that continued to spread upwards.

Such a bizarre celestial phenomenon, along with the rapidly spreading torrent of blood, instantly attracted everyone's attention.

Jiang Chengdao's expression hardened, and Fu Xian's instructions before leaving instantly flashed through his mind.

Heading east, perhaps?

He murmured something, then his eyes suddenly narrowed. "All troops, speed up! Return to the city as soon as possible!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

All the Xuanwu Guards spurred their horses, and the horses, in pain, instantly increased their speed. In an instant, tens of thousands of Xuanwu Guards transformed into a black arrow, advancing towards Lu Yangcheng at an extremely fast speed.

Meanwhile, Lu Chen, who had been paying close attention to the battlefield, saw the scene of the soldiers' corpses congealing their flesh and blood and instantly realized why the enemy had been wasting military resources attacking Luyang all this time.

"I see. Everything needed for the great formation is placed on the soldiers. When the soldiers die in battle, their corpses are used to set up the formation."

"if it is like this"

As he murmured, he strode forward, walked to the parapet, and gazed at the moat below.

As if to confirm his guess, the already murky moat suddenly boiled and quickly turned dark red.

Immediately afterwards, torrents of crimson blood rose rapidly from the moat, spreading quickly to the surrounding area. Upon contact with the ground, they formed ancient red runes.

Countless incantations converged according to a certain pattern, quickly transforming into magic circles radiating red light.

Upon seeing this, Lu Chen's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

"They actually used human lives, human flesh and blood, as the foundation of the great formation. What a vicious method!"

Chai Hongyu, standing to the side, stared intently at the crimson magic array that had begun to operate continuously on the ground, as if trying to discern something from the array.

At this moment, a black figure suddenly leaped up, jumped into the air, and finally landed straight down not far in front of Lu Chen.

"Huaiyu".

A familiar, slightly weary voice rang out.

"The surrounding space is sealed off, so ordinary teleportation spells cannot be activated. Moreover, the magic array that the rebels set up at such a great cost is probably not so simple. Be careful."

Lu Chen looked solemnly at Jiang Chengdao, who had dismounted from the Shadowless Horse, and nodded slightly to him.

"That crimson array doesn't seem to be complete yet. Does Your Highness have a way to interrupt their spellcasting?"

Jiang Chengdao shook his head.

"I tried it on the way back, but I couldn't do it."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen was not surprised. If the formation could be broken so easily, the Chu King's army would not be willing to pay the price of tens of thousands of elite troops.

Lu Chen pondered for a moment, then said, "Your Highness, the enemy's target is likely you. Can you lead the army alone to break through the enemy's blockade and leave Luyang?"

Jiang Chengdao thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."

The brief response conveyed a strong sense of confidence.
Hearing this, Lu Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately afterwards, he opened his mouth, preparing to remind Jiang Chengdao that if things became unmanageable later, he must protect himself and break through the encirclement.

However, before he could finish speaking, the ground suddenly trembled violently.

But the blood-red torrent formed from the flesh and blood of tens of thousands of soldiers had vanished, transformed into incredibly complex ancient incantations, and the magic array formed by these incantations had now been fully activated.

A terrifying flow of spiritual energy coursed through all the magic arrays, its almost tangible power causing spatial tremors that shook the entire city of Luyang violently.

If the city wall hadn't been reinforced with steel and cement, and hadn't been made using many secret methods, it probably would have cracked long ago.

After the first wave of spatial tremors subsided, Chai Hongyu finally saw clearly how the magic arrays below operated.

Upon recognizing the magic arrays, her face turned deathly pale almost instantly.

"No, this is bad! It's the Immortal Slaughtering Formation!!" (End of Chapter)