Zhu Yuanzhang: My second son is invincible!

On the city wall, Cui Yonghao witnessed this scene and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Walking...walking on the sea, is this the immortal art of the Ming Dynasty?!"

Zhu Hui stopped when he was about a hundred feet away from the city wall.

He looked up at the pale red light shield, then at the city wall, and then turned and waved to the back, saying, "Wife, back up a bit further!"

Guanyin's servant made the small boat retreat another twenty zhang.

Zhu Li was finally satisfied and pressed his right hand onto the tattoo on his left arm.

A dark red light flowed across his arm, and a bronze giant axe appeared out of thin air in his hand.

The axe was seven feet long, with a ferocious beast face pattern carved on its surface. The blade gleamed with a cold light, as if it could devour light.

Xingtian Axe.

On the city wall, Cui Yonghao's legs went weak: "What...what is he doing with that axe? Is he going to chop down the city wall? Are you kidding me? This is a three-zhang-thick stone wall, and there's a protective array..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Zhu Hui held the axe with both hands and raised it above his head.

His movements were simple and unadorned, just like when he was chopping wood in the mountains.

Then, it chops down.

There was no earth-shattering sound, no dazzling light.

Only an invisible wave spread forward from the axe blade.

The pale red protective shield of the city burst with a "pop," like a soap bubble.

Three shaman priests simultaneously coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground, their bone staffs breaking.

The city wall...did not collapse.

Cui Yonghao was stunned for a moment, then shouted with joy, "It's blocked! The city's protective formation has blocked it!"

But the next second, he saw something strange.

The city wall did not collapse, but the Han River behind it... has dried up.

To be precise, it's the section at the mouth of the Han River where the river has been split open in the middle, creating a gap a hundred feet wide. The water is still flowing on both sides, but the riverbed in the middle is exposed, revealing the mud, sand, fish, and shrimp at the bottom.

One axe stroke, and the river is severed.

It didn't split the city wall; it swept directly over the top of the city wall and cut off the river behind it.

The city wall didn't collapse because Zhu Li didn't intend to break it down; he was afraid the flying bricks would hit his wife.

But the aftershocks of that axe blow still caused the city wall to shake violently, with bricks falling off in a flurry.

Cui Yonghao plopped down on the ground, his crotch getting wet.

Half of the Goryeo soldiers on the city wall knelt down, and the other half threw down their weapons and ran into the city.

"A monster...this is a monster..."

Zhu Hui put away his axe, scratched his head, and said, "I think I used too much force... Uncle Xu said to just split the city gate, but I split the river in two."

On the small boat behind, Guanyin Nu's mouth was agape, and she couldn't close it for a long time.

She knew her husband was powerful, but... could he split a river in two?

This was beyond her understanding of what "powerful" meant.

On the flagship, Xu Da and Lan Yu were also stunned.

Lan Yu swallowed hard and said, "General Xu... if His Highness's axe had been used to strike Yingtian, wouldn't it have cleaved the Forbidden City in two?"

Xu Da paused for a moment and then said, "It should... be able to split the entire Zhongshan Mountain."

"Then what will we be needed for in future wars?" Lan Yu said with a wry smile.

"What we need to do is clean up the mess after His Highness finishes his attack." Xu Da quickly accepted the reality.

Xu Da gave the order directly.

"Airships bombard the breach in the city wall! Landing troops, advance!"

The order has been issued.

The psionic cannons of thirty-six airships fired simultaneously, and colorful energy beams slammed into the already crumbling city walls.

The city wall finally gave way and a section of it collapsed with a crash.

Five thousand warships, and landing craft rushed toward the shore like arrows released from a bow.

The Goryeo garrison had collapsed and encountered almost no decent resistance.

An hour later, Zhenhai Fort changed hands.

When Cui Yonghao was captured alive and brought before Zhu Li, he was still muttering to himself.

"The river is cut off... the river is cut off..."

Zhu Hui looked at him and asked innocently, "Where is your king? I want to talk to him."

Startled, Cui Yonghao knelt down and kowtowed, pleading, "Your Highness, spare my life! The King... the King is in the capital!"

"How do I get to Wangjing?" Zhu Li asked.

"Three hundred li north along the Han River is..." Choi Young-ho said in a trembling voice.

"Okay, you lead the way," Zhu Hui said casually, as if asking someone to lead the way to visit a neighbor.

Guanyin Nu walked over and whispered, "Husband, the capital of Goryeo is surely heavily guarded, and there's also the Grand Preceptor Li Xuanming. We..."

"It's nothing, just a swing of my axe." Zhu Hui grinned.

Looking at her husband's honest smile, and then at the dried-up Han River in the distance, Guanyin Nu suddenly felt... it really was just a matter of an axe.

That afternoon, the army rested at Zhenhaibao.

Xu Da tallied up the spoils of war.

Eight hundred enemy soldiers were killed and twenty-three thousand were captured. Our own casualties were zero.

Yes, zero casualties.

Because there was never any fighting, the city walls were breached by Zhu Li, and the defending troops surrendered on their own.

"This battle was...really easy to fight," Lan Yu remarked, looking at the mountain of captured supplies.

"Pass down the order: set up camp on the spot, and tomorrow advance north along the Han River, heading straight for the capital," Xu Da ordered.

As night fell, Zhu Hui and Guanyin Nu ate in their makeshift command tent.

The meal was simple: dry rations and hot water, but Guanyinnu added some dried meat he had brought from the grasslands and cooked a pot of meat soup.

"Wife, your cooking is really good." Zhu Li took a big gulp of soup.

"Husband, are you tired today?" Guanyinnu asked.

"I'm not tired, I only swung the axe once," Zhu Hui said, shaking his head.

"Husband, how much strength did you use when you split the river today?" she couldn't help but ask.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Hui said, "Ten percent! My elder brother said that when fighting abroad, we should use no more than fifty percent, otherwise we'll change the terrain."

Guanyin Nu's hand trembled, and the knife almost fell to the ground.

With just a fraction of their strength, they could cleave a river in two.

With 50% of your strength... could you split a mountain range in two?

She dared not imagine what would happen if she used all her strength.

"Husband, what exactly is your realm?" Guanyin Nu asked softly.

"Realm? What realm?" Zhu Li looked bewildered.

"They refer to cultivation stages, such as the five stages of Qi Induction, Spirit Condensation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Dao Integration!"

"Oh, that? I don't know, I've never practiced it," Zhu Li said honestly.

"Then your power..."

"I was born with it; I've had it since I was little," Zhu Li said matter-of-factly.

Guanyin Nu remained silent.

Looking at her simple and honest husband, she suddenly felt that perhaps he really was a war god sent by heaven to the Ming Dynasty.

Outside the tent, the sound of soldiers patrolling could be heard.

Further away, the sound of waves crashing against the shore could be heard.

The winter nights in Goryeo are very cold.

But inside the commander's tent, it was very warm.

……

Meanwhile, Wang Jing.

King Yi Seong-gye of Goryeo was furious in the palace.

"Useless! All useless! Thirty thousand defenders couldn't even hold out for a day! That good-for-nothing Cui Yonghao actually surrendered!"

Below, civil and military officials knelt on the ground.

Grand Preceptor Li Xuanming stood beside the throne, his expression grave: "Your Majesty, that King Wu... is probably more terrifying than we imagined. To cleave a river in two with a single axe strike—that's already a peak Nascent Soul Realm, or even a Dao Integration Realm technique."

"He's only at the Dao Integration Realm!" Lee Seong-gye didn't believe it.

"Cultivation level has nothing to do with age. The Central Plains Taoist sect has records of a natural-born saint in ancient times who was born with great supernatural powers. Your Majesty, I suggest... that we negotiate peace."

Li Xuanming paused for a moment before speaking.

"Negotiations? Is it too late to negotiate now?!" Yi Seong-gye roared.

"As long as we offer enough sincerity, perhaps..." Before Li Xuanming could finish speaking, a guard tumbled in.

"Report... The Ming army's vanguard has reached Kaesong! The Kaesong garrison commander... Kaesong has surrendered!"

Kaesong is only eighty li away from the capital.

Yi Seong-gye collapsed onto the throne.

It’s over.