There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Gorge pass.

It was built along the edge of the Sanchuan Gorge a hundred miles east of Shangjing City. The southernmost end was connected to the Nong River, and a military camp stretching for five miles was built on the north bank of the Nong River.

This majestic pass has almost no weaknesses when facing threats from the east, at least in conventional warfare. To the south is the turbulent Nong River, and to the north are mountains that stretch for hundreds of kilometers, where there are even more majestic mountain and river passes.

This time, Emperor Jiande personally led the army to fight. He not only dispatched two battalions of 100,000 imperial guards, but also assembled 100,000 palace soldiers from Beiyuan Road to enter Qingpu Road from the outskirts of Shanhe Pass to attack the rebels from both sides in order to prevent them from escaping from Shangbei Port.

July 16th.

On the morning of the second day after Emperor Jiande arrived at Xiaguan, he held a simple sacrificial ceremony inside Xiaguan, and then personally went to the city gate of Xiaguan under the protection of civil and military officials. Today, the army will take the initiative to attack and sweep the rebel camp in front of Xiaguan.

In order to demonstrate the majesty of the royal family, under the command of hundreds of officials, a ten-foot-high throne was built outside the city wall early in the morning, and fluttering dragon flags were hung all over the city wall.

Wei Xian, the general of Xiaguan, was in great glory today. In order to commend him for his contribution in defending the city for days and to make today's cleanup battle more special, the emperor promoted him to the governor of Qingpu Road and the title of assistant minister of the Ministry of War at dawn.

When the emperor ascended the city wall surrounded by civil and military officials, 100,000 soldiers immediately shouted "Long live the emperor" three times under the guidance of someone with ulterior motives.

Emperor Jiande was in high spirits at the moment. When he heard the soldiers' shouts, he felt a surge of excitement from his soul to his body, as if all the depression accumulated in the palace was swept away at this moment.

When the emperor ascended his throne so that all the soldiers could see him, the army assembled at the city gate suddenly burst into a strong desire to fight.

"Lord Wei, get the soldiers moving."

The emperor suppressed his excitement, looked at Wei Xian who was wearing heavy armor, and gave his order.

Wei Xian's heart was even more excited. He seemed to see the scene when he was conferred a title of nobility. After the emperor's edict was issued, he immediately went out to receive the order, then walked to the top of the city wall, took the command flag from his adjutant, and issued an order to advance to the army assembled under the city wall.

There were less than 10,000 people left in the rebel camp opposite. Their order was to stay there, but due to the incompetence of the garrison commander, he failed to send out scouts in time to investigate the situation at the gorge pass. He only reacted when the heavy troops at the gorge pass were assembled.

It was too late for anything now, even escape was impossible. In order to prepare for this grand show, Wei Xian had cut off the rebels' retreat last night.

And there will be no prisoners until the very end of this battle.

The rebels' only option is to fight to the death, and perhaps they can hold out until the final surrender.

It was precisely because of this that the rebels showed extremely strong combat effectiveness from the very beginning, blocking a heavily armed brigade of the Imperial Guards' vanguard at the gate of the city for an hour, preventing them from advancing.

Later, the cavalry on both wings secretly used the "power pill" to blast a gap and rushed into the castle, which prevented the battle from being too ugly.

Just when all the officials and the emperor thought victory was assured, an arrow flashing with green light suddenly shot out from the rebel camp. It streaked through the air at a speed that ordinary people could not catch. When it was about to hit the city wall, several star gods who had cultivated the ability to create barriers constructed a purple-green barrier that surrounded the entire city wall.

However, the arrow flashing with green light directly penetrated the barrier and hit the pillar in front of the city wall with a ding sound. The pillar was directly pierced by the arrow.

The frightened officials and the emperor just breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the arrows nailed into the pillars forming circle after circle of magic arrays. As the magic arrays were formed, a biting chill spread out.

"Sir, save me!"

The emperor felt the breath of death and shouted at the top of his voice. The "sir" he was referring to was a second-level earth vein cultivator who was following him and protecting him.

As he shouted, he turned around to look for the figure of the Earth Vein Monk, but he could not see him.

"Your Majesty, please leave!"

A minister grabbed the emperor's wrist and pulled him down from the throne. When he was about to push the emperor away, his body was instantly frozen by ice crystals.

Another minister was quick-witted and pushed the emperor away when the ice crystals were about to engulf the emperor, but he himself was frozen by the cold.

The loyal minister appeared, but was killed in the blink of an eye. Next it was the emperor's turn, but the other civil and military officials around him were in chaos, and no one was willing to risk their life to save him.

At the critical moment, a light green light curtain fell from the void to protect the emperor in the middle, but the light curtain only flashed by, and with the sudden pressure between heaven and earth, the light curtain disappeared.

At this moment, another arrow from the rebel camp flew across the sky and landed right in front of the emperor. The same magic circle was quickly deployed, and the emperor and the officials around him turned into ice sculptures in an instant!

Above the clouds above Zhenyang Mountain, Wang Ping sighed and looked towards the north at Kaiyun who was standing on a golden lotus. The latter immediately smiled and performed a one-handed Buddhist salute towards him.

"What do you want to do?" Wang Ping opened his lips slightly, and Yu Lian's aura became violent, forming circles of water spirit magic around Wang Ping.

"This is God's will, fellow Taoist, you must not go against it!"

When Kaiyun answered, Rongyang, Zhigong and Ao Bing appeared in the sky at the same time.

Wang Ping sneered, "Fellow Daoist, do you like to confuse right and wrong? If this is God's will, then God is too arbitrary." When he said this, he looked at Ao Bing who rushed over, "The disciples of Qianmu Temple will continue to investigate this matter, and whoever they find will be dealt with. Do you dare to respond?"

Ao Bing immediately clasped his fists and responded, "Zhongzhou affairs are the responsibility of Qianmu Temple. I have no objection."

After he said that, he bowed to the others with a smile, then turned into a stream of light and disappeared into the sky. Then Kaiyun also bowed and turned to leave.

Lord Rongyang and Taoist Zhigong flashed and landed beside Wang Ping. Lord Rongyang asked, "Are you angry over such a small matter?"

Wang Ping stretched out his left hand, and Yu Lian, who was lying beside him, shrank immediately and wrapped around his arm. He gently stroked Yu Lian's little head and said, "It's just a show. Have you forgotten that I am practicing the Taiyan Talisman? Is there anything else in this world that can avoid my prying eyes in advance?"

“What’s the point of this play?”

“The point is that I want to act!”

After Wang Ping said this, he invited Rong Yang and Zhi Gong, "Come to my dojo for a drink?"

Rong Yang immediately forgot what happened just now and agreed without any hesitation: "Okay, I just finished the wine you gave me."

Zhigong nodded with a slight smile.

A quarter of an hour later.

There was some laughter in Wang Ping's deserted courtyard on the top of the mountain. Wang Ping, Rong Yang and Zhi Gong sat casually under a huge spiritual tree, enjoying fine wine and fresh fruits. Yu Lian lay on the branch and looked at them quietly.

After drinking a jar of wine, Lord Rongyang started talking about the fights between the various factions long ago. Zhigong occasionally interjected a word or two, and Wang Ping could only listen. While listening, he used the "Dongtian Mirror" to observe the rebels who retreated to Mingjiang Prefecture.

At this moment, drops of sticky blood were dripping from the armchair in the main seat of the hall of Mingjiang Mansion. On the armchair was a headless corpse stained with blood, and on the eight-immortal table next to it was a head dripping with blood.

It’s Zhao Liuyi.

Yuan Qin has already taken action, and it was his personal soldiers who did the action.

But no one was happy about it at this time. Yuan Qin was walking back and forth in the middle of the hall. At the entrance of the hall, there was a young general wearing leather armor. He came to report the latest battle situation in Xiaguan.

Emperor Jiande and all the officials around him died in the battle at Xiaguan Pass, causing chaos in the imperial guards and the garrison at Xiaguan Pass. Now even if they had Zhao Liuyi's head, they didn't know who to send it to, and the matter couldn't be delayed, otherwise they would be attacked by other leaders of the rebel army!

Sun Qiang sat in the front seat on the left, staring at the head on the Eight Immortals Table in a daze.

The silence lasted for a long time. Suddenly, a young general at the end of the right seat stood up. He wanted to kick the general who reported the news at the door, but he raised his leg and then retracted it. Then, as if to vent his anger, he scolded: "Why didn't you report it earlier? Even twenty breaths earlier!"

"Did you pee on the road? If you don't have time to pee..."

"Okay!"

Yuan Qin scolded the young general. He was not a person who would shirk responsibility when something went wrong. Then he swept his eyes over everyone present, and finally stopped on the Taoist priest sitting in the first seat on the right.

"Master, what do you think we should do now?"

The man was wearing a grey Taoist robe, with a jade crown on his head tying his silver hair together. He held a whisk in his right hand and maintained a Taoist one-handed salute with his left hand.

Hearing Yuan Qin's question, he thought for a moment and said, "First, conceal the news of the king's death, then summon all the leaders in the name of the king to discuss important matters, and then those who are dissatisfied..."

At the end he stopped abruptly, shook his head and said "sin" twice.

Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps came in, and soon a northern man wearing chain mail appeared at the door. He was stunned when he saw the head on the Eight Immortals Table.

"What's the matter?"

This is Sun Qiang scolding.

Because the person who appeared at the door was one of his centurions.

"That's good, Brigade Commander!"

After he responded to Sun Qiang, he tactfully knelt on one leg in front of Yuan Qin, clasped his fists and said, "The garrison commander of the Gorge Pass, Wei Xian, sent a fast horse to say that he is willing to surrender the Gorge Pass and bring his 30,000 soldiers to join us!"

As soon as he said this, no one cared about his recklessness anymore. There was silence in the hall at first, and then everyone, including the Taoist priest, jumped up from their seats.

"What did you say? Say it again!"

Yuan Qin's voice was a little excited, which made his words very sharp.

The centurion repeated it again.

Then Yuan Qin began to walk back and forth in the center of the hall, saying as he walked: "Yes, that's right. The emperor died in the Gorge Pass, and Wei Xian will probably be exterminated along with his entire clan. The only way out is to cooperate with us!"

"What should we do now? Taking over the Gorge Pass will open up the road to Shangjing City!"

"You think too much. With so few of us, we will be chopped into pieces by those gods before we even reach Shangjing City!"

There are still people who remain rational, even though Zhongzhou's artifacts are very tempting.

At this time, the Taoist priest in gray robe said: "If we really have the possibility to get to the capital, Linshui Prefecture may be willing to help us!"

Yuan Qin's eyes lit up when he heard that. He turned to look at the Taoist priest in gray robes. His eyes seemed to be looking at his beloved thing. His inner desire and greed emerged instantly. Then he asked, "Does the Taoist priest really have a solution?"

"Don't worry, if you make up your mind, I will go to Linshui Mansion immediately, and there will be a result within ten days!"

The Taoist priest in gray robe had a proud look on his face.

Yuan Qin tried hard to calm the excitement in his heart, and in a blink of an eye he made a decision. He clasped his fists and said, "Then I'll leave it to you, Taoist Priest."

"You're welcome. Without further ado, I'll do it right away!"

The Taoist priest in gray robe clasped his fists again, then quickly walked out of the hall and turned into a stream of light and flew away at a low altitude.

A middle-aged general with a warm face said, "Sir, if we allow the monks from Linshui Prefecture to join us, the Dao Palace will have a reason to attack us. Should we first ask the attitude of the Dao Palace stationed at Qingpu Road?"

This question was like a bucket of cold water poured down Yuan Qin's head, instantly sobering him up. He turned his head and looked at the middle-aged general who was speaking, and said, "You are right, you should do it immediately. No, wait until I finish dealing with things here and then go with you."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Sun Qiang and said, "Immediately summon all the generals to come here to discuss matters in the name of the king, and then send reliable people to surround the government office. From now on, only people are allowed to enter but not leave!"

"Yes!"

When Sun Qiang clasped his fists to receive the order, Yuan Qin hurriedly walked out of the hall, and his confidants who had been waiting outside the hall for a long time immediately followed him to the backyard.

At this time, Wang Ping also cut off his consciousness and told Rong Yang and Zhi Gong who were chatting nearby about this matter.

"How do you plan to get Daogong to reply to them?"

After listening to Wang Ping's story, Lord Rongyang asked a key question.

Wang Ping stretched out his left hand and pointed lightly. A Go board immediately appeared beside him. He placed a piece on the board and said, "Linshui Prefecture has been run by Ao Bing for a long time. I don't know how Daoist Ao Hong is doing. If Ao Bing really wants to play Go with me in Zhongzhou, why don't I accompany him?"

Zhi Gong stood up and walked to the opposite side of the chessboard and sat down. He picked up the white piece and put it down, saying, "So that's why you let them surround and kill the emperor?"

Wang Ping did not answer Zhigong immediately, because at this moment a light screen panel popped up in front of him, showing that the progress bar of fusing the 'Heaven-Covering Talisman' had increased a little, reaching (49/100).

"We just want to see who makes the move on this chessboard!"

Yu Lian responded to Zhi Gong in Wang Ping's tone, which made the others laugh.

Wang Ping reached out and gently stroked Yu Lian's head and said, "Compared to the situation in Zhongzhou, Daoist Fellow Ao Hong's escape is more beneficial to us!"

As he spoke, he placed a piece.

Zhi Gong followed suit and responded: "But Zhongzhou cannot be lost!"

Before Wang Ping could reply, Lord Rongyang put down the wine jar in his hand and said with a smile, "Don't worry, the situation in Zhongzhou is not so easy to lose. The Queen Mother in the harem is the real stabilizer, and the rebels in Qingpu Road are not necessarily controlled by Mr. Juren, right, Fellow Daoist Changqing?"

Wang Ping smiled but said nothing when he heard this.

Zhi Gong nodded thoughtfully, looked at Wang Ping seriously, and said, "So the Dao Palace on Qingpu Road will continue to stand idly by?"

Wang Ping looked at the chessboard and replied, "The Dao Palace will never sit idly by and watch what happens in the Central Plains. We will file a case first. As for how to investigate, it depends on how the situation develops. Now that they have given us a reason to take action, there is no need for us to waste it, right?" (End of this chapter)