Wife, you didn't really drug me, did you?

Chapter 593 Occupation of Xiangyang City

"Ah~"

The second-stage Fusion God's Qi pressed down on Zhao Pusheng, making him feel as if a mountain was pressing down on him. The power he had developed from his Shattered Dantian was now completely useless, and the difference in strength between them was quite obvious.

Zhao Pusheng stared at Chen Jie with bloodshot eyes and asked, "Is this the power of the second stage of the Fusion God realm?"

"What pure and powerful power!"

Zhao Pusheng looked at Chen Jie with envy in his eyes. He had cultivated diligently for thirty-four years, but he couldn't compare to a young man's few years of hard work. The gap between people was sometimes greater than the gap between a person and a pig.

In the past, Zhao Pusheng would have run away without looking back, but now he has nowhere to run. He only has one path to take: to fight to the end.

Since I have already made up my mind to die, I will no longer look back.

Thinking of this, he put his hands together and murmured, "Amitabha, Namo Ananda!"

As he chanted, golden light suddenly burst forth behind him, soaring into the sky. The next moment, boundless golden energy merged behind him and condensed into a huge phantom image of Buddha, none other than Venerable Ananda.

As a disciple of the Buddha, Ananda was also one of the most important venerable figures in Buddhism. At this moment, Ananda appeared in the world with compassionate eyes, looking down at the earth and looking at Chen Jie as if he were looking at a pitiful child.

Chen Jie then looked at Ananda in front of him. He was no longer too doubtful about Buddhist methods. He had seen many Buddhist methods before, especially during this voyage, when he even witnessed the true teachings of Bodhidharma.

As Chen Jie thought this, he looked at Ananda in front of him, and then at Zhao Pusheng, whose face was flushed. Judging from his flushed face, he knew that this man was at the end of his life, and this was a last burst of energy before death.

Thinking this, Chen Jie looked at Zhao Pusheng and said, "Prime Minister Zhao, if you stop now, I can still save your life. If you don't stop now, I'm afraid even a god can't save you!"

Chen Jie still wanted to save Zhao Pusheng, after all, he was Peng Yingyu's apprentice. Given his relationship with Peng Yingyu, he wanted to save him if he could.

At this moment, Chen Jie looked at Zhao Pusheng, but Zhao Pusheng showed no appreciation and said, "Hahaha, Chen Jiu Si, if I wanted to live, I wouldn't have stayed. Please tell my master that I have returned all my knowledge to him!"

After saying that, Zhao Pusheng roared, "Ananda, one strike!"

After saying this, Zhao Pusheng took the long sword in his hand and slashed at Chen Jie. He used all his strength in this slash, and at the same time mixed in the artistic conception of Ananda. Unconsciously, his realm rose to another level.

It actually increased to a level close to that of a first-stage Fusion God, and then suddenly slashed at Chen Jie.

He knew he couldn't kill Chen Jiu Si with this strike, and he knew he would have no chance of survival after it. But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. He just wanted to deliver this blow. Only in this way could he leave no regrets. He didn't want to leave any regrets.

"die!"

Zhao Pusheng roared, and the next moment his blade slashed through the sky. Clang!

At the same time, after he swung the knife, the single-edged sword in his right hand shattered instantly, breaking into pieces on the ground with a crack.

It burned out, and even the precious sword that had been with him for over thirty years burned out at that moment.

The blade flashed, illuminating all directions. At that moment, even the clouds in the sky seemed to be cleaved in two by this blade. Swish... Wherever the blade passed, a section of the city wall was sheared off. The solid city bricks were sliced ​​open like tofu under the influence of the blade.

This was Zhao Pusheng's strongest strike, the strongest strike of his life. At this moment, countless eyes turned to this side, and everyone fell silent.

As Chen Jie looked at the incoming blade, he was quite impressed. Although they were enemies, Chen Jie had to admit that Zhao Pusheng was definitely a man of honor and was absolutely qualified to be his opponent.

Seeing all this, Chen Jie reached out and met the incoming blade. The blade flashed, emitting an unsettling light, and its terrifying aura made it hard for everyone to breathe.

But as the blade approached Chen Jie, he effortlessly caught it with his hand.

A flash of light appeared, and everyone who saw this looked on in disbelief—catching a blade of light with bare hands!
Yes, Chen Jie caught the powerful blade light with his bare hands. Anyone present would have died under this blade light, but Chen Jiu Si dared to catch this terrifying blade light with his bare hands, without even releasing his martial arts illusion.

At this moment, the terrifying blade light was like a naughty child in front of Chen Jie, who simply pressed it down with one hand and squeezed it hard!
Bang!
With a crisp sound, the mischievous blade of light was crushed.

Silence, deathly silence.

Chen Jie's move absolutely shocked everyone present, and this was also Chen Jie's purpose. Although rule by force is not long-lasting, force is the best weapon to make everyone obedient and listen to you.

Otherwise, no one will listen to what you say. But if you are strong enough, others will listen to you. It is also the fastest way to make the enemy reason with you.

Chen Jie understood the principle of winning people over with virtue. He believed that only by training his back muscles to be knotted together to form the character "德" (virtue) could he gain the trust of others. He thought that even Confucius could not support him.

When Chen Jie crushed the blade's edge with his bare hands—a blade that ordinary people could neither dodge nor avoid—everyone fell silent.

They stared wide-eyed at Chen Jie, genuinely terrified at that moment, because they had no idea just how strong the person before them was—it was an unfathomable strength!

The second transformation of the Fusion God is just a concept. Many people don't know how powerful the second transformation of the Fusion God is, just like many people don't know how much a million really is. In his previous life, Chen Jie watched videos online, and the people in them would look down on people who had a million in savings at the age of thirty. But when a million in cash was actually placed in front of them, they would definitely have a clear understanding.

At this moment, Chen Jie blatantly revealed a small portion of his power as a second-stage Molten God, which was enough to instill fear in these people.

The fact that Chen Jie did not use his full strength was even more frightening. After all, it is enough to deter villains if one can see that he is very strong, but if he only uses a small part of his strength, it is enough to intimidate everyone.

Chen Jie easily crushed the attack that Zhao Pusheng had risked his life to shoot.

Zhao Pusheng looked at Chen Jie, his eyes filled with shock as he stared at the blade that had been easily crushed. He was speechless with astonishment.

“Is the gap so big?”

Zhao Pusheng said something unwillingly, then knelt down on the ground with a thud and collapsed.

His eyes were filled with resentment. Chen Jie looked at him like this, slowly walked over, and squatted down beside him. Blood was constantly seeping from his mouth, and it was clear that he wouldn't survive. Chen Jie asked, "Do you have any last words?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Pusheng chuckled and said, "Cough cough... Heh, my life has been worthwhile, heh heh..." With that laugh, Zhao Pusheng stopped breathing. It was clear that he died with a deep sense of resentment, but that was fate. Resentment was useless; that was destiny!

Chen Jie sighed as he watched Zhao Pusheng stop breathing. The struggles in the martial world were cruel, leaving no room for luck.

Especially in this chaotic world of martial arts, a time of great strife, everyone is merely a pawn in this world. If you don't advance, you fall behind. If Chen Jiu Si hadn't done something extraordinary and quickly reached his current level of strength, he might have been the one who died in the Battle of Huangzhou Prefecture, instead of Mr. Iron Sword.

This is destiny!
Chen Jie was about to get up when he turned around and saw another long sword in Zhao Pusheng's hand. Zhao Pusheng was a dual-wielding swordsman, with two swords on his left and right, called the Mother-Child Blade. The long sword had been broken in the battle, leaving only a short sword.

The mother-and-child blades, one long and one short, with the long blade representing the male and the short blade representing the female, and the short blade representing the female, complement each other perfectly, which is the advantage of these mother-and-child blades.

Chen Jie looked at the broken longsword, then at the still intact shortsword, and picked up both swords. After all, this was Old Peng's apprentice, and giving him these swords was a way to keep them as a memento.

Thinking this, Chen Jie sheathed his sword, turned around and looked at the soldiers on both sides who were still struggling. At this moment, Chen Jie gathered his inner energy and shouted: "Zhao Pusheng is dead. Those who surrender will not be killed, and those who resist will be killed without mercy!"

"No mercy..."

As Chen Jie's voice echoed across the entire battlefield, the battlefield fell silent. The Xiangyang city defenders, who were not particularly enthusiastic about resisting to begin with, completely stopped resisting, and the soldiers on the city walls immediately laid down their weapons.

Meanwhile, the soldiers inside the city opened the gates to welcome the Huangzhou Prefecture army into the city. As the Huangzhou Prefecture soldiers entered the city one after another, the city lord's flag was soon hung on the city wall.

Zhang Dingbian and his men rushed into Xiangyang City and immediately took control of all the soldiers and government departments within the city.

At the same time, troops were dispatched to guard the landlords and gentry in Xiangyang City, and notices were posted to reassure the people of Xiangyang City that the Huangzhou army would not commit any offenses against the city, and that the people should rest assured.

After the proclamation to reassure the people was posted, the entire city of Xiangyang was unusually quiet. Not a single person caused trouble, and everyone maintained sufficient restraint. In some places, people even cheered happily, finally free from these damned days.

The people spontaneously took to the streets to reward the army, and a city-wide celebration was held to welcome the royal army into the city.

The soldiers of Huangzhou Prefecture were all rigorously trained. At this moment, they marched into the city with neat and powerful steps. Seeing this scene, the people discussed among themselves, looking at the well-organized army.

"Look, this is what a royal army should look like! This is what a royal army should look like!"

The Huangzhou army perfectly matched the people's image of a royal army. Every soldier in the Huangzhou army was dressed in neat uniforms, and they all looked radiant. In this era of food shortages, the Huangzhou soldiers could eat white flour buns and meat every day. Such food made them quite strong and healthy, in contrast to the disheveled, thin, and malnourished soldiers of Xiangyang.

That's a completely different nature.

Moreover, the soldiers of Huangzhou Prefecture were renowned for their strict discipline. The common people had long heard that the soldiers of Huangzhou Prefecture were disciplined, but at first they did not believe it. In this era, what good army was there? As the saying goes, bandits are like combs, soldiers are like hairpins. Soldiers in this era were more terrifying than bandits.

However, Huangzhou Prefecture was different. After Chen Jie's many years of management, Huangzhou Prefecture's reputation spread far and wide. Therefore, when Huangzhou Prefecture's troops entered the city, the people were quite happy to see it happen. However, there were also some timid people who hid at home and dared not go out on the street, and this was the majority.

After all, in the eyes of ordinary people, rumors are just rumors, and the only way to know the truth is to see it in person.

When Chen Jie entered the city, he had already strictly emphasized military discipline, and anyone who dared to violate military law would be executed without mercy.

Zhang Dingbian and his men immediately relayed the message and carried it out strictly, and the soldiers marched into Xiangyang City.

At this moment, Chen Jie led Du Xiong and the others to the Tianyuan Empire's royal palace in Xiangyang City. This was the Tianyuan Empire's royal palace, and reaching this point meant the demise of the Tianyuan Empire.

Just as Chen Jie reached the door, he immediately saw a group of eunuchs walking with small, quick steps coming out, followed by a group of palace maids. They all knelt down in front of Chen Jie's horse.

"Greetings, Lord City Lord."

Everyone lay prostrate on the ground. Chen Jie's gaze swept over them, and he saw the leader. He asked, "Who are you?"

"Reporting to the city lord, we servants are all personal attendants of the false emperor Xu Shouhui."

Chen Jie looked at them and asked, "Um, how many people are there in total?"

Upon hearing this, the leader said, "Reporting to the city lord, there are a total of twenty-four government offices in the royal city, including twelve supervisory offices, four departments, and eight bureaus, with a total of two thousand five hundred people."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie's gaze sharpened, and he said, "What a grand display! Twenty-four government offices, do they really think they're emperors? More than two thousand people serving them."

Chen Jie asked, "How many of these two thousand people are palace maids, and how many are eunuchs?"

The head eunuch said, "Reporting to Your Excellency, there are approximately 1,500 palace maids and about 1,000 eunuchs!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie thought to himself, "Xu Shouhui has really committed a terrible sin. Of the more than a thousand eunuchs, and considering that their skills were not yet fully developed, only about two-thirds of them would survive. Of those, about a third, nearly five hundred, would die from infection."

"Xu Shouhui is a beast."

Du Xiong, who was listening nearby, also cursed and swore. Chen Jie, after hearing this, turned to Jin Yanzi and said, "Have Hu Weiyong bring his team here immediately. The government affairs in Xiangyang are in a mess and need him to handle them."

"Yes, City Lord."

Jin Yanzi replied, and then Chen Jie looked at the eunuch in front of him and asked, "What's your name?"

"This servant is Ji Shun."

Chen Jie nodded slightly and said, "Go down and issue a warrant for the arrest of the exact number of people. Don't miss anyone. Then tell them that the false emperor Xu Shouhui has been defeated and they are free. Those who want to go home can go home immediately. Huangzhou Prefecture will provide them with travel expenses. As for those who don't want to go home..."

"Lord of the City! Ji Shun has a request!"

As Chen Jie was thinking, he saw Ji Shun suddenly kneel down.

(End of this chapter)