Embers of Sword

Chapter 717 Jiayong Pass (Thanks to Boss "Zheng1" for the patronage~)

Ci Jing tilted his head back and drank the last bit of wine in his gourd in one gulp, then slammed it heavily to the ground!
The battle of drinking poison has ended more than 60 years ago.

In recent years, he has been confined to the back mountain of Jin'ao Peak, where he has devoted himself to rigorous spiritual practice day and night.

For...

That is, one day, I will be able to avenge Venerable Lotus!
Now, he has finally waited for it!
The demon kingdom marches south, and the great war begins anew!
Just as Ci Jing was filled with heroic spirit and preparing to head north for a major battle.

A stream of sword energy suddenly shot out, rising from the ground within the small pavilion.

Xie Xuanyi once again traversed the void on his sword, leaving the back mountain directly.

"???"

Ci Jing was dumbfounded.

Before he could even trick Xie Xuanyi into guarding the mountain for him, the kid ran away!

“!@#￥…”

Ci Jing stared wide-eyed at the receding streak of sword energy, cursing angrily.

Is that human being?
That guy surnamed Xie is such a bastard!

At least say a few words, or at the very least put on a show of politeness!

They just ran away!

"Senior brother ran away already?!"

Jiang Miaoyin stared in surprise at the sword energy that vanished into the sky.

Immediately afterward, her expression turned strange, and a bad premonition arose in her heart.

Ci Jing needs to find people to guard the mountain.

Now that Senior Brother Xuan Yi is gone, isn't the only remaining candidate myself?
He had just "condensed the Dao" and his realm was not yet consolidated, but he was already capable of dealing with Yin Spirit Realm cultivators... It was reasonable for him to guard the mountain.

However, fighting has already broken out in the north.

Jiang Miaoyin had no interest in staying in the Sword Palace; she was still unaware of the situation in Qingzhou and the Jiang family.

"Take care, senior! Miaoyin will take her leave now!"

After saying that, Jiang Miaoyin quickly took advantage of Ci Jing's lack of reaction, used her qi to rise up, and followed closely behind Xie Xuanyi.

Although chronic diseases are not as sharp as serious illnesses.

However, the speed at which it traversed the void did not slow down much.

Jiang Miaoyin didn't dare to linger for even a moment and headed straight for Qingzhou!

"Etc., etc……"

By the time Ci Jing realized something was wrong, the back of Jin'ao Peak was already empty, returning to its desolate and deserted state.

"I'm really convinced!"

After being stunned and dumbfounded, the Vermilion Bird Demon looked at the shattered wine gourd on the ground, crossed her arms, and gritted her teeth in anger: "Truly worthy of being fellow disciples, even when running, you are equally fast!"

Of course, he also wanted to run away.

Although Zhao Tongtian wasn't there...

The guy inside the stone gate of Lotus Peak must be "watching" me.

Xie Xuanyi and Jiang Miaoyin were both that old man's prized disciples, so it's no big deal that they ran away.

If it were me running away, I'd probably have barely taken off when a giant hand would fall from the sky.

Think about this.

Ci Jing sighed deeply, then squatted down somewhat forlornly and began picking up the fragments of the wine gourd.

…… ……

The northern border, Jiayong Pass.

Before the year 60, the massive southward migration of the Demon Kingdom broke through this pass. Learning from past mistakes, Jiayong Pass is now heavily guarded by a large number of troops, and is personally led by the Xu family of Bingzhou. For the past few decades, Da Chu has seemed to be at peace, but the "internal strife" instigated by the Holy Empress has depleted too much of the northern border's strength.

Even though the library took immediate remedial measures, it was still unable to reverse the decline in a short period of time.

To see the big picture from small details.

Today, Jiayong Pass is like a dead land. Even with the Great Wall Formation in operation, it still cannot generate vital energy. The land is barren, making cultivation extremely difficult.

That night.

The beacon fires of Jiayong Pass burned eternally, and the head of the Xu family, clad in iron armor, stood atop the city wall, gazing into the distance.

"My lord."

The female venerable one arrived in a hurry, lowering her voice to say, "The third wave of demons is expected to arrive at the north of Jiayong Pass in about an hour... Scouts have already detected the 'demonic aura' from 120 li away!"

This Northern Great Wall is the most massive military defense project since the founding of the Great Chu Kingdom, stretching eight thousand miles from east to west with nearly a hundred passes and nodes of varying sizes. However, this Northern Great Wall is not part of the "national line." Hundreds of years ago, the Northern Prefecture of Great Chu bordered the Southern Region of the Demon Kingdom, with a thousand-mile-long snow-capped mountain range running through it. This area is a natural barrier, almost uninhabitable for ordinary people. In recent years, Great Chu has never built a city or stationed troops in this region. The reason is simple... Great Chu needs a buffer zone. In such a formidable area, even if a city were successfully built, it would be difficult to withstand the onslaught of demonic tides. Those awakened, transformed demons do not usually roam the surrounding areas, but with just a little guidance and a little essence blood given to the "beasts" in the snow-capped mountains, they can advance to the level of a human Qi Refiner.

Cultivation in the demon realm is much more difficult than in the human realm, but they possess the "bloodline" inheritance!
This is why the last battle against poison was so difficult... The beast tide of the demon kingdom is almost endless. Any Venerable One can descend and, in a short time, use the secret technique of essence blood to guide hundreds of Qi-refining ferocious beasts!
These ferocious beasts will not defect!
"One hundred and twenty li?!"

Xu Qi's expression immediately turned serious.

Three hundred li north of Jiayong Pass was a buffer zone, so the iron cavalry in the city would not wait until the enemy was at the gates before they could fight.

half year ago.

The first wave of demonic forces surged through Jiayong Pass.

It was truly a blessing from heaven for the Great Chu. After the Empress Dowager's downfall, the garrison commanders who had been imprisoned in the capital were gradually reinstated and returned to the Northern Commandery, resuming the old system of stationing officials for patrols. It was precisely because of this that the first demonic tide was detected in advance. The iron cavalry of Jiayong Pass laid an ambush two hundred miles away. After a day and a night of fierce encirclement and suppression, they finally nipped the relatively small demonic tide of only a thousand or so in the bud, and sent a warning signal to the capital. Less than three days later, Xu Qi arrived and took charge of personally overseeing Jiayong Pass, after which a hundred days of peace ensued.

100 days.

The Black Scale Guards' investigation into the demon tide at Jiayong Pass has just yielded results.

This surge of demons is most likely the work of a certain "Yin God Venerable"... and doesn't seem like a joint southward invasion by the demon kingdoms.

Just as everyone instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, a massive demonic tide swept down from the front, severely impacting the western defense line of the Northern Wall and compressing the buffer zone by half. Only then did the officials stationed in the North realize that the seemingly unintentional small demonic tide that had formed at Jiayong Pass a hundred days prior was no accident!
The Demon Kingdom is preparing to recreate the "Battle of Drinking Poison" from back then!
The second wave of demonic energy was extremely fierce!

Jiayong Pass suffered an extremely heavy blow during that surprise attack. The two demon clan venerables joined forces and almost shattered the city wall formation!
If Shulou hadn't been transferred in advance to have the Xu family stationed at this pass...

Jiayong Pass may have been breached.

This current "demon tide" is the third southward assault.

This distance of 120 miles is already quite dangerous, given the increasingly powerful and varied attacks from the demon kingdom...

This third wave of demonic forces might even involve a Yang God Realm expert!
"This demon tide is very dangerous."

Xu Qi said in a deep voice, "We must not let our guard down. What are the arrangements for the library?"

"The Yang God closest to Jiayong Pass is Lord Yuwen Bo, the Palace Master of Qiantian Palace..."

The female spirit hurriedly replied, "I have already sent a message, and Lord Yuwen will arrive soon."

"it is good!"

"Notify the array masters that they can now use spirit stones to activate all the large arrays previously laid on the iron wall of 'Jiayong Pass'—"

Xu Qi lowered his voice: "Dispatch the iron cavalry and crossbowmen, and follow me out of the pass!"

……

……

(PS: 1. Happy National Day everyone~ 2. Thank you to "Zheng1" for the donation. Please check the message and reply~)

(End of this chapter)