Taoist Myth: I am the last true immortal in the world

Chapter 861 Three Battles, Three Defeats
In the early spring of the third year of Xiande.

Because Li Gu had made no progress in Huainan, Chai Rong planned to appoint Li Chongjin as the commander of the Huainan Road campaign.

He personally led generals such as Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Hongyin to launch a proactive attack, preparing to take Huainan in one fell swoop.

From November of the second year of Xiande to the present, the battlefield situation has changed significantly.

First, Li Gu, Wang Yanchao, and others suffered heavy losses of troops when they were blocked by He Yanxi in Shouzhou, which put them at a disadvantage.

Later, upon learning that the Later Zhou emperor was personally leading the expedition, He Yanxi was transferred away.

Although He Yanxi was no longer stationed in Shouzhou City, the city was slow to be captured due to the loss of troops and the tenacious defense by Liu Renzhan, a famous general of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

In addition, Liu Yanzhen, a general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, rushed to Shouzhou and arrived at Laiyuan Town, which was about 200 miles away from the city. He then set off with hundreds of warships toward Zhengyang, intending to destroy the pontoon bridge built by the Later Zhou Dynasty in Zhengyang.

Given that the Later Zhou army was unfamiliar with naval warfare, Li Gu believed that if the Southern Tang army destroyed the Zhengyang pontoon bridge, they would be attacked from both sides. Therefore, he suggested that it was better to retreat to the pontoon bridge and wait for the arrival of Emperor Shizong of Zhou.

Since the Later Zhou dynasty lacked a navy at this time, the Southern Tang warships could sail up the Huai River directly to Zhengyang, potentially destroying or even occupying the Zhengyang pontoon bridge, thus blocking Emperor Shizong of Zhou and Li Chongjin on the north bank of the Huai River.

With the cooperation of Liu Renzhan, the military governor of Shouzhou, Liu Yanzhen, the commander of the Southern Tang northern expeditionary force that had arrived at the front line in Shouzhou, and Huangfu Hui, the reinforcement envoy, the tens of thousands of Southern Tang troops could calmly encircle and annihilate Li Gu's army in Zhengyang.

The war situation was very favorable to the Southern Tang.

At this time, Zhao Kuangyin, along with Chai Rong, had traveled south and arrived at Wokou.

The city is now guarded by He Yanxi, the military commander of the Southern Tang Dynasty who previously single-handedly blocked Li Gu's army.

Upon realizing that Chai Rong's personally led army was approaching the city, He Yanxi immediately used his magic to make the sky darken with clouds, create gusts of wind, and bring torrential rain. He intended to use this method to stop Chai Rong's advance!

With torrential rain pouring down outside, the Later Zhou army had no choice but to set up camp and temporarily halt their march.

In the tent.

Chai Rong, dressed in military uniform, sat at his desk, discussing the attack on Wokou with a group of generals and strategists.

He examined the map for a moment, then looked up at the crowd. “Our army needs to break through the vortex to rendezvous with the front-line troops. We have just arrived here and have already encountered He Yanxi, who once single-handedly held off tens of thousands of troops. Does anyone have any good suggestions?”

Li Chongjin, who was accompanying the army, said calmly, "Your Majesty, He Yanxi is skilled in sorcery, which is the key point. As long as we can break his sorcery, it should be easy to take the vortex."

Zhao Hongyin followed up, saying, "This rain came strangely; I suspect He Yanxi used sorcery."

"Yes."

"This sorcerer's left-handed skills are astonishing."

"If we cannot break the demonic spell, I fear our army will find it difficult to advance any further."

The other generals nodded in agreement with Li Chongjin and Zhao Hongyin's opinions.

After a moment of contemplation, Chai Rong said, "Ever since I learned that there were people in the Southern Tang army who knew sorcery, I have gathered many talented and extraordinary people. I will invite them over later to see if they can break He Yanxi's sorcery."

Zhao Kuangyin sat there without saying a word.

This time, he led a large group of deities and extraordinary individuals invited by Chen Yun.

Such as Chen Tuan, who is currently at the Earth Immortal level.

For example, there are Yuan Chu and Junior Brother Yun, who are at the Human Immortal realm.

There are also those who did not attain immortality, such as the Dragon Girl Sanjiu and Mr. Geng.

Zhao Kuangyin believed that with so many talented and extraordinary people helping him, breaking He Yanxi's sorcery would not be a problem.

This made him deeply moved; indeed, having a good teacher is more important than anything else.

In fact, he had no idea that Chen Yun was secretly helping him with far more than just hiring these talented individuals to assist him.

It even caused a fox spirit to be reincarnated as Little Zhou Hou.

They planned to wait until Li Yu took office, and then use Xiao Zhouhou to bewitch and ruin the country's fate.

Of course, only Chen Yun knows about these things at the moment.

Not to mention the mortals in front of them, even those who were half-step into the Great Luo realm had not detected Chen Yun's whereabouts or his series of actions.

After discussing the matter for a while with his generals and advisors, Chai Rong finally decided on a strategy: first, to ask the talented people recruited from the common people to stop the strange rain, and then launch an attack on the vortex.

Once the decision was made, Chai Rong immediately sent someone to invite the "Special People Group" over.

Before long, Mr. Zhang, the leader of the "Extraordinary People Group," arrived.

Upon hearing Chai Rong's request, he agreed without hesitation.

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Zhang led a group of extraordinary individuals from the "Special People Group" to set up an altar and perform rituals.

There stood Mr. Zhang in the center of the altar, his hair disheveled, wielding a sword, and performing a series of ritualistic steps.

As Mr. Zhang activated his magic, the entire world inexplicably trembled, and the clouds and rain in the sky instantly vanished.

The generals and strategists of Later Zhou who witnessed this scene were all astonished and speechless, and they frantically praised Mr. Zhang's prowess.

"As expected of Mr. Zhang."

"Dafa is indeed amazing."

"As soon as Mr. Zhang took action, the torrential rain stopped immediately."

"Mr. Zhang is incredibly powerful!"

Mr. Zhang was very pleased by the enthusiastic praise from many generals.

After the heavy rain stopped, Chai Rong immediately followed the plan he had discussed with many generals and strategists, preparing to lure He Yanxi out and kill him before attacking Wokou. Otherwise, with the enemy stationed inside the city, even if more soldiers attacked, it would be in vain.

So, in the afternoon, a cannon fired at the gate, and Chai Rong personally led a group of generals on horseback towards the front, followed by several armies arranged in square formations, filling the open fields outside Wokou City.

Chai Rong gave a wink to the person next to him.

Mr. Zhang understood and immediately gestured with his lip towards a burly, unusual-looking man on his left.

The burly, strange man rode a mount that resembled a rooster, except that the rooster was much larger, even bigger than a typical warhorse.

He carried a long sword, spurred his mount to the front of the city, and called out loudly, "I have heard that there is a capable man named He Yanxi in Wokou City. I am Lu Cheng from the Northwest. I would like to learn from General He's skills!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than He Yanxi appeared on the city wall.

He looked down at Lu Cheng with an arrogant expression and said, "Although you are a body cultivator, your cultivation level is still a bit lacking. You are only a low-level mage and cannot possibly be my match. I advise you to leave quickly and avoid being harmed."

Lu Cheng laughed loudly, "Could it be that General He is afraid of me and therefore dares not accept the challenge?"

Both armies were watching. He Yanxi was a man of honor, and besides, he believed his cultivation was far superior to Lu Cheng's. So he sneered, "Since you've chosen your own death, then wait here under the city walls for a while. I will come and meet you right away."

Lu Cheng said, "We eagerly await your arrival!"

A moment later, the city gates opened.

He Yanxi rode out on a fiery red warhorse.

Behind him, five hundred cavalrymen, also dressed entirely in fiery red, followed closely.

As soon as the cavalrymen dressed in fiery red left the city, they scattered and stood at attention, spears in hand, gazing at Lu Cheng from afar.

He Yanxi spurred his warhorse forward slowly, pointing his eighteen-foot spear at me. "You reckless fool, you dare to provoke me? Fine, today I'll send you to the Western Paradise!"

Seeing the other party's arrogance, Lu Cheng was furious and snorted coldly, "You, He Yanxi, how dare you be so arrogant! I'll see how I take your life!"

After speaking, he spurred his rooster mount and pounced on He Yanxi like a gust of wind.

He Yanxi immediately parried with his spear and engaged in a duel with his opponent.

clang!
A deafening roar resounded.

It turned out that Lu Cheng's blade had struck He Yanxi's spear shaft hard, producing a metallic clang. He Yanxi felt a tremendous force transmitted from the spear, causing his arms to go numb.

Only then did he realize just how powerful the physical strength of this body cultivator named Lu Cheng truly was.

He Yanxi's expression changed, and he didn't dare to take the second move head-on. He opened his mouth and exhaled, and a ball of black qi gushed out of his mouth, directly spraying onto Lu Cheng's face.

Na Lu Cheng didn't expect his opponent to unleash such a powerful move right away. Caught off guard, he was directly hit by the black energy.

He let out a scream and fell off his mount.

He Yanxi gave the other party no chance to react, directly stabbing Lu Cheng in the throat with his spear, then hoisting the corpse high and throwing it forcefully towards the army led by Chai Rong.

Lu Cheng's body was immediately thrown three to five zhang away.

He Yanxi, riding on horseback, looked arrogantly at Chai Rong, Li Chongjin, Zhao Kuangyin and others, "What surprises will my personal campaign as the Emperor of the Great Zhou bring? It turns out that the talented people I invited are no match for me."

Upon hearing this, Chai Rong's face turned ugly.

Generals Li Chongjin and Zhao Hongyin couldn't help but frown.

And the tens of thousands of troops behind them were all looking at each other in bewilderment.

The Later Zhou army could not accept Lu Cheng's swift death in battle, which undoubtedly affected morale.

Or rather, no one expected Lu Cheng to be so pathetic, actually being stabbed to death by He Yanxi in a single round.

If we had to say who among those present remained composed, it would probably be Zhao Kuangyin and the people behind him, including Chen Tuan, Yuan Chu, and the Dragon Girl Sanjiu.

Suppressing his anger, Chai Rong looked at Mr. Zhang beside him again.

Mr. Zhang also seemed to have not expected Lu Cheng to be defeated so quickly.

His original intention was to let the other party go up and test how powerful He Yanxi really was, and then decide how to deal with him.

He Yanxi has only shown that he spews out a cloud of black energy from his mouth; he has not revealed any other methods.

This left Mr. Zhang feeling uncertain, unsure of who among the "Extraordinary People Group" could be their opponent.

After hesitating for a moment, Mr. Zhang decided to send a more powerful fellow Daoist to challenge him.

He said to a gaunt, strange-looking man on his left, "Wang Ning, go and meet this fellow."

Wang Ning, exuding an aura of yin energy, responded in a hoarse voice, "Good."

He didn't have a mount at all; he just carried a magical artifact that resembled a feather duster, soared into the air, and landed in front of He Yanxi.

Wang Ning slightly raised his head to look up at He Yanxi, who was riding on his warhorse, and said, "There's no need for us to waste words. Today, it's either you who dies or I who perish!"

After saying that, he immediately picked up a feather duster.

The feather duster immediately rose into the air, releasing thousands of eerie streams of air that shot forward.

He Yanxi had no intention of dodging at all. Instead, he spurred his horse, picked up his spear, and charged towards Wang Ning.

In an instant, thousands of streams of air struck He Yanxi and his warhorse.

Unexpectedly, He Yanxi burst forth with golden light, which not only enveloped himself but also protected his warhorse, directly dispersing the airflow.

Wang Ning was shocked and tried to use his flying technique to escape.

Unexpectedly, He Yanxi seemed to have anticipated the other party's actions, and threw the spear in his hand forward, shouting, "Go!"

The spear instantly transformed into a golden light, piercing directly through Wang Ning's body.

Pfft!
Wang Ning fell to the ground from mid-air, kicking up a cloud of dust, but he was already dead beyond any doubt.

In a short while, He Yanxi had killed Lu Cheng and Wang Ning, two talented individuals invited by Chai Rong!
Chai Rong's face turned ashen.

Li Chongjin and Zhao Hongyin, among other generals, also looked grim.

The soldiers behind them also showed signs of fear, as if they were frightened by He Yanxi.

Mr. Zhang was even more embarrassed. He took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, it seems that I have to personally take the field to defeat this General He Yanxi."

Chai Rong nodded to him and said politely, "Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Zhang."

Mr. Zhang modestly stepped forward, riding a sika deer.

Before long, he arrived at He Yanxi's side, about four or five zhang away, and said from a distance, "General He, you are a mid-level mage, while I am a high-level mage. If you want to live, I advise you to surrender obediently to avoid suffering physical pain."

"Haha, hahaha." He Yanxi laughed loudly, pointing at the spear he had just summoned from afar, "You scoundrel, don't be so arrogant. Although your cultivation level is higher than mine, we haven't fought before, so who knows who will win? I don't kill nameless ghosts under my spear. State your name."

Mr. Zhang said calmly, "I am a Qi cultivator from Zhongnan Mountain. I was fortunate enough to work as a long-term laborer under the tutelage of the Xuantan Patriarch for several years. I accidentally acquired some magical arts, which I call Zhang Luo."

"So you are a disciple of Marshal Zhengyi Xuantan. My apologies." He Yanxi's attitude was much better. "Although you are from a prestigious family, I will not hold back on the battlefield today. Fellow Daoist, please be careful."

Mr. Zhang waved his hand and said, "It's alright, go ahead and attack."

He remained motionless on the sika deer, seemingly without any desire to attack.

He Yanxi knew that the other party's cultivation level far exceeded his own, so he dared not be negligent and rode his horse to charge directly.

Mr. Zhang didn't move at all; he simply waved his sleeve, and a tremendous force swept over He Yanxi and his horse, knocking them to the ground.

Immediately, he reached out and pulled He Yanxi towards him, saying softly, "Even if I say you're no match for me, fine. I won't kill you today, I'll just capture you and bring you back to my camp to be handed over to..."

As they were speaking, He Yanxi had already been brought in front of Mr. Zhang.

Suddenly, two beams of golden light shot out from He Yanxi's eyes and struck Mr. Zhang's forehead directly.

Mr. Zhang's head was immediately pierced by the bullet, leaving two holes about the thickness of a thumb.

Fortunately, he had a secret method to save his life and was not killed, but he still screamed in pain and quickly released He Yanxi. Then he patted the sika deer and transformed into a long rainbow, returning to Chai Rong's side.

He fell off his mount in an instant, his face ashen, and said, "Your Majesty, I have been struck by the other party's evil magic and need to rest for a few days."

After saying that, he sat down cross-legged on the spot, seemingly practicing internal energy to heal his injuries.

Chai Rong's face at this moment was beyond just looking unpleasant; it was so dark it was almost green, showing just how furious he was.

When Li Chongjin and Zhao Hongyin saw Chai Rong's expression, their hearts skipped a beat.

They certainly knew why Chai Rong was so angry.

They were nothing more than a group of extraordinary people hired at great expense, all of whom were utterly useless.

Not only could they not deal with He Yanxi, but they also affected morale on the battlefield.

It's definitely not the right time to engage in duels, let alone launch an attack.

After all, they had suffered three defeats in three battles, and their morale had been completely shattered by those supernatural beings.

If we force an offensive again, we will likely suffer a crushing defeat.

Chai Rong took a deep breath and immediately ordered, "Let's go back for now..."

Before he could finish speaking, a voice suddenly came from the side, "Your Majesty, I request permission to fight!"

Ok?
He Yanxi is so fierce, yet people still volunteer to fight him?

Didn't you see that the other side just won three battles in a row, killing Mr. Zhang, Wang Ning, Lu Cheng and other extraordinary people without leaving a single piece of armor?
Everyone was incredulous and turned to look in the direction of the voice, wanting to see which warrior dared to volunteer for the battle.

The next moment, everyone saw who had volunteered.

That's right, it was Zhao Kuangyin, who hadn't uttered a single word until now!

(End of this chapter)