The First Sage of Military Strategists

"The Dragon Devouring Armor can transform the enemy's power into its own. This armor did not show such a wonderful property before. It seems that someone helped him repair this supreme armor. Hmm, it is most likely the leader of the Mo family." Seeing this, many thoughts flashed through Han Qing's mind.

With a thought, the undying evil spirit dissipated on its own.

He could sense that Xiang Ying was using the Manglong Devouring Heaven Armor to absorb the power of the Undying Yin Spirit. In other words, the Undying Yin Spirit posed no threat to Xiang Ying's life, and continuing to maintain this spell was a futile effort.

As soon as Xiang Ying saw the undying Yin spirit dissipate, he flashed forward and charged towards Han Qing with his spear.

A faint light appeared beside Han Qing, and the Eight Puppet Demons emerged from it, transforming into a streak of light that rushed straight toward Xiang Ying.

The man and the puppet engaged in another fierce battle. During the previous battle in Tongzhou, the Eight Directions Puppet was able to suppress Xiang Ying, but this time, the situation was reversed, and Xiang Ying was actually able to suppress the Eight Directions Puppet.

"As expected of ancient battle armor, it has given Xiang Ying such a strong boost in combat power." Han Qing sighed inwardly.

His armor suddenly transformed into specks of starlight that drifted away from his body, then abruptly transformed into a current of starlight that flew towards the Eight Directions Puppet and merged with it.

After refining and subduing the Yuanjing Star Armor, Han Qing could control it at will, using it to empower himself, his puppets, and even others.

In that instant, the situation reversed, and the Eight Directions Puppet's combat power increased dramatically after receiving the armor's assistance.

The two figures engaged in a fierce battle in the air, the loud bangs echoing throughout the heavens and earth.

Every time the two clashed, it would unleash a storm that caused mountains to collapse.

Li Dangfeng, who was watching from the sidelines, was terrified. Only at this moment did he realize more clearly how big the gap was between his strength and that of Han Qing and Xiang Ying.

"Two monsters, why am I so unlucky?" Li Dangfeng sighed.

Bang!
The spearhead of the Manglong Spear clashed fiercely with the Eight Directions Puppet once again. Xiang Ying was blasted away and forced to retreat a distance before bursting into laughter.

"Han Qing, if it weren't for this puppet blocking my way, how could you be my match? But it doesn't matter, with the Dragon Devouring Armor, I will grow stronger with each battle, and this puppet can't protect you!"

As Xiang Ying spoke, she charged forward once again, engaging in fierce combat with the Eight Directions Puppet.

Two figures flashed and clashed incessantly in the air, the aftershocks sweeping across the heavens and earth like a storm, extremely intense.

Han Qing could also sense that Xiang Ying was indeed getting stronger with each battle. The Manglong Devouring Heaven Armor absorbed the power of the Eight Directions Puppet in every clash and then fed it back to Xiang Ying.

He didn't know if there was an upper limit to this absorption and conversion. If there was no upper limit, then if they continued to fight like this, Xiang Ying's combat power would become stronger and stronger, and he would become more and more difficult to deal with.

However, Han Qing was prepared. He had a premonition that this situation would occur from the beginning, so he secretly used the Sun True Realm Secret Technique immediately.

At this moment, a golden lotus was slowly rotating in his palm, shining brightly.

At that moment, Xiang Ying suddenly changed his move, striking the Eight Directions Puppet with his spear and sending it flying. At the same time, he whirled around, raised his spear, and charged straight at Han Qing.

He sensed a surge of magical power emanating from Han Qing, which made him quite uneasy.

Although he said that Han Qing's only reliance was this Eight Directions Puppet, he did not dare to underestimate Han Qing, who was now a Saint of the Golden Body Realm.

"die!"

With a thought flashing through his mind, Xiang Ying thrust the spearhead at Han Qing's brow once more, his face contorted in a ferocious expression as he let out a low growl.

Han Qing activated the Yin-Yang Incantation Seal to meet the attack, colliding violently with the massive dragon spear.

The Yin-Yang Curse Seal was once again knocked away. As the opponent's strength grew, the drawbacks of the Yin-Yang Curse Seal became apparent. Its power did not increase significantly with the improvement of Han Qing's own realm and strength, so it was no longer as invincible as when he dealt with the Incense Realm Saint.

Of course, its power was not weak either; when the Manglong Spear was thrust into it, its power dropped by a large margin.

Han Qing suddenly slashed out with his sword, splitting the Manglong Spear in two, and then flipped his palm, causing a dazzling golden lotus to bloom.

"seal up!"

Caught off guard, Xiang Ying was suddenly enveloped by the golden lotus, and his armor lost all connection with his body in an instant.

"Oh no! This is the True Realm of the Sun!" Xiang Ying's expression changed drastically.

The True Realm of the Sun can seal all things. If an illusory object is placed within it, it will gradually be transformed from illusory to real. The mystery within is beyond description.

Han Qing had been waiting for this moment. The True Realm of the Sun could temporarily disable magical artifacts, including battle armor.

He suddenly waved the Sun and Moon Tide Fan, and the radiance of the sun and moon engulfed Xiang Ying.

After entering the Golden Body Realm, the power he unleashed with his magic weapon was more than ten times greater than before.

Even with his supreme martial bones and powerful physique, Xiang Ying was caught up in the moment, and the intertwining of ice and fire was too much for him to bear, leaving wounds and cracks all over his body.

The Dragon Devouring Armor, which should have been a close-fitting protective item, was separated from its main body due to being sealed.

Han Qing seized the opportunity and suddenly activated the Boundless Stele. A faint light appeared, and it suddenly transformed into a vortex that directly devoured the Dragon Devouring Armor.

While Xiang Ying was amidst the ebb and flow of the sun and moon, he suddenly realized that the connection between him and the Manglong Devouring Sky Armor was rapidly weakening, and he was instantly filled with rage.

"you dare!"

"Jia, come here!"

After the initial humiliation, Xiang Ying did not die in the radiance of the sun and moon tides. He endured the pain all over his body, suddenly activated his magic, and a massive amount of magic power surged from between his eyebrows, turning into a torrent that poured into the Manglong Devouring Heaven Armor, and began to fight with Han Qing.

Han Qing could sense that after Xiang Ying strongly summoned the armor, a power suddenly surged within it, and it struggled violently in the vortex of ghostly light.

Just then, the armor was about to break free of its restraints and return to Xiang Ying's body.

At the critical moment, the Eight Directions Puppet suddenly appeared from behind Xiang Ying and threw a punch.

Xiang Ying hurriedly turned around and raised his gun to block. He threw a punch, and the force of the punch was like a mountain crashing and a tsunami crashing down. In just a moment, he was sent flying.

Xiang Ying's call to the Manglong Devouring Heaven Armor was interrupted in the north. With a flash of ghostly light, he was directly swallowed into the Boundless Monument.

"I never imagined that the True Realm of the Sun, combined with the Boundless Monument, could have such a wonderful use, allowing one to forcibly seize a treasure from another's possession," Han Qingxin thought to himself.

The Boundless Monument itself has the effect of capturing other people's magical treasures, but if the magical treasure is in the hands of the opponent, the success rate of directly seizing it is very low.

However, the appearance of the True Realm of the Sun compensated for this shortcoming, as it could temporarily suppress a magical artifact, creating conditions for the Boundless Monument to capture it.

Xiang Ying was blasted away and crashed onto a nearby hill, causing a huge earthquake, a landslide, and a cloud of dust.

Li Dangfeng, watching from the side, was terrified, a great fear rising in his heart.

"How can he be so strong?"

"Isn't this supposed to be the strongest of the younger generation? How come he's all show and no substance? He was defeated so easily, and even his armor was taken away."

He was terrified and turned to flee into the distance. If he waited any longer, and Han Qing finished off Xiang Ying and had time to deal with him, he would be the next one to suffer.

However, Han Qing was constantly distracted by Li Dangfeng. Putting aside the feud between the two, Li Dangfeng had the backing of the Great Shun Emperor, who had lived for over eight hundred years and was a truly formidable figure recorded in history books. He must know many historical secrets, and Han Qing was extremely interested in this man.

By capturing Li Dangfeng, we can use him as a stepping stone to have a chance to get in touch with the Great Shun Emperor in the future.

Before the thought even crossed his mind, Han Qing had already made his move. He shouted at Li Dangfeng and unleashed the spell "Myriad Wonders of Buddhist Sounds".

The sound waves surged like a tide. Li Dangfeng, flying in the air, was suddenly struck, letting out a scream as he plummeted to the ground.

However, while he was still in mid-air, a Yin-Yang curse seal flew over and suddenly transformed into a large handprint, which slammed into Li Dangfeng's body.

The difference in their cultivation levels, coupled with Han Qing's possession of numerous secret techniques and powerful magical treasures, resulted in a significant gap in their combat strength.

Bang!
Li Dangfeng was powerless to resist. His body was instantly blasted apart, and his soul left his body, flying away into the distance with a look of terror on his face.

Another slap followed, and Li Dangfeng's soul was directly shattered, turning into a gust of wind that swept across the world, with strands of magical thoughts scattering in all directions.

However, the life force of the saints in the third realm of incense offering is extremely tenacious. Although their bodies are blown apart and their souls are scattered, they will not truly die.

These strands of spiritual thought quickly converged again, attempting to re-condense into Li Dangfeng's soul. As for his body, as long as his soul remained, there were ways to reshape it, or he could simply possess another body.

Han Qing had no intention of letting Li Dangfeng go. On one hand, he activated the Boundless Stele, which emitted a ghostly light that frantically devoured the scattered magical thoughts. On the other hand, he unleashed the True Realm of the Sun.

In just a few breaths, strands of spiritual energy converged to form Li Dangfeng's soul, but it was even weaker than before.

Because Han Qing collected a total of 8,000 Dharma thoughts into the Boundless Stele, in total, Han Qing took away more than 20,000 Dharma thoughts from Li Dangfeng.

Thus, Li Dangfeng only had less than a third of his peak Dharma power left, and with his strength completely destroyed, his combat power was naturally reduced to less than one-tenth.

He looked at Han Qing with a mixture of fear and resentment in his eyes.

This kind of injury is serious. Without extremely precious natural treasures or the help of a benefactor, it would take at least ten to eight years to recover.

At that moment, a golden lotus slowly took shape in Han Qing's hand, rotating and radiating golden light.

He originally intended to use the True Realm of the Sun to seal Li Dangfeng, but seeing the other party's appearance, he felt it was unnecessary.

The Yin-Yang Incantation Seal transformed into a giant handprint of colorful light that suddenly flew forward, grabbing Li Dangfeng's soul directly in its palm. The latter struggled desperately, but was completely unable to break free.

Han Qing then turned around and threw the golden lotus in his hand toward Xiang Ying, who was still fighting fiercely with the Eight Directions Puppet not far away.

After losing the Dragon Devouring Armor, Xiang Ying's combat power dropped drastically, and he was no match for the Eight Directions Puppet wearing the Yuan Crystal Star Armor.

With just his fists and feet, Bafang Kui forced Xiang Ying into a series of defeats.

The Eight Directions Puppet perfectly embodies the meaning of "a heavy sword has no edge, and great skill lies in simplicity."

When strength, speed, and defense are all at a certain level, one can easily defeat opponents without needing any fancy moves or complicated spells.

Another punch sent Xiang Ying flying once more, a series of cracking sounds echoing from his chest as countless bones broke.

This is because of Xiang Ying; if Li Dangfeng had taken such a punch, his body would have been blown to pieces.

After all, Xiang Ying was a martial arts master. Although he had not opened all 100 acupoints, he still had more than 70 acupoints, which was comparable to Han Qing's. He also had the Supreme Martial Bone, and his physical defense had reached an extremely astonishing level.

The reason he was beaten so badly was not because he was too weak, but because the Eight Directions Puppet combined with the Yuan Crystal Star Armor was too powerful.

Although the Eight Directions Puppet cannot fully utilize the Yuanxing Star Armor's greatest advantage—its self-healing ability—the armor's own combat power boost is enough to widen the gap between it and Xiang Ying.

As Xiang Ying plummeted toward the earth, the golden lotus struck his body squarely.

The golden lotus bloomed, and Xiang Ying was immediately enveloped and sealed.

...

not far away.

On a small hill.

Darkness surged like a tide, enveloping the hill and the surrounding forest.

Geng Buxiu, along with several elders, stood atop the hill observing the great battle.

This is the outer perimeter of Mangshan. The fighting between the two sides is so loud that it will naturally alert Geng Buxiu.

Geng Buxiu initially thought of helping Han Qing, since Han Qing was a distinguished guest of the Black Sparrow Alliance, while Xiang Ying was irrelevant.

Unexpectedly, Han Qing's combat strength was incredibly strong. In less than a quarter of an hour, Li Dangfeng and Xiang Ying were reduced to a half-dead state.

"Isn't Xiang Ying supposed to be the strongest of the younger generation?"

"Hmm, the intelligence was wrong. Han Qing is the strongest; I think he's the true leader of the humanitarian movement."

"What terrifying martial arts talent! To have such combat power at such a young age and to master so many spells is truly astonishing."

...

Several elders of the Black Sparrow Alliance were also whispering among themselves, their evaluation of Han Qing rising even higher.

"Will Xiang Ying die at Han Qing's hands?" someone suddenly asked.

“No, this person’s luck hasn’t run out yet.” Geng Buxiu shook his head. When martial arts reach a certain level, one can see one’s fate by observing one’s aura and predict the general trend of the world.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the situation changed. The golden lotus suddenly exploded, turning into specks of golden light that scattered between heaven and earth. A giant gray-scaled dragon, exuding a vast and desolate aura, suddenly rushed out, grabbing Xiang Ying with one hand, and soared towards the highest point of the sky.

"Huh? You want to leave?"
Han Qing suddenly waved the Sun and Moon Tide Fan, and the radiance of the sun and moon surged out from the front of the fan, turning into a wave of light that rushed straight towards the giant dragon. At the same time, the Eight Directions Puppet also made a move, throwing a punch from a distance. A vast martial arts intent surged from the fist, turning into a white pillar of energy that shot straight into the sky.

Han Qing reacted quickly, but unexpectedly a door of light suddenly appeared in front of the dragon's shadow. He entered it and vanished without a trace.

The soaring radiance of the sun and moon and the white pillar of energy formed from the true meaning of martial arts missed their target.

"Hmm?" Han Qing frowned. He hadn't expected Xiang Ying to have such a trump card. "What is that giant dragon phantom? Could it be the Wild Dragon Spear?"

As he asked the question, the elders of the Black Sparrow Alliance, who were hiding in the shadows not far away, also let out a series of soft exclamations.

Geng Buxiu stroked his beard and directly revealed the true nature of the giant dragon phantom.

"That giant dragon was indeed transformed from the Manglong Spear. That divine spear contains the Manglong Emperor's inheritance and a mysterious power that will be activated to protect its master in times of crisis. It also has the ability to traverse space. I saw it very clearly. This heroic mission should not be lost."

"Heaven is unfair! Xiang Ying's life in the first half of his life was too smooth. He had so many trump cards up his sleeve. No wonder he developed such an arrogant personality," one person sighed.

"Hmm? Another powerful figure has arrived. Mangshan is quite lively today." Geng Buxiu's words interrupted the conversation of the many elders around him, and their gazes all turned to the distance.

Da da da!
Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves rang out, followed by the echoing neighing of warhorses. (End of Chapter)