Origin Paradise!

The 30,000-strong garrison of Licheng was assembling, led by a handsome and imposing figure, accompanied by the renowned Northern Wei martial arts master, the Five Treasures Monk.

Generally speaking, renowned elders are all fourth-level sub-heroes.

"Your Majesty, General Hou has already said so." The governor of Licheng said anxiously, "Only if you remain firmly in Licheng can he calmly defend Dengfeng. The defeat in Dongyang has created an extremely urgent situation, and a single move could affect the whole situation."

"My mind is made up, so there's no need for further explanation." The Prince of Northern Wei cracked his whip, his face hardened, but inwardly he sighed.

While General Hou is a capable commander, he is completely ignorant of court politics. With the army surrounded on its southward march, the emperor and the military commander are bound to be watching closely. If I do not express my opinion now, and Dengfeng falls and the supreme commander Hou Yanshan dies in battle, then it is self-evident who will bear the responsibility for the disparate defeat on the Qingzhou battlefield.

Just for failing to save someone in distress, one will never be able to recover in this lifetime, and will lose all prestige in the military.

He risked everything to come to Licheng for military merit, but in the end he achieved nothing and was blamed. The Northern Wei prince could not accept this. According to the situation in Southern Liang, he would inevitably be out of the succession race in the future, and his plan backfired.

However, if Hou Yanshan could cooperate with the Licheng army to launch a pincer attack from both inside and outside, it would be an unparalleled feat of turning the tide.

"Send troops!" shouted the Prince of Northern Wei.

The entire 30,000-strong army of Licheng was mobilized, equipped with three days' worth of rations. Armored soldiers stood in rows, and iron cavalry surrounded them. They arrived in Dengfeng in less than half a day, and the decisive battle was to begin at dawn.

At 3:45 AM, the Licheng army arrived at Gange Plain.

Surrounded by flat plains, the Northern Wei prince followed the advice of his commander, avoiding the rugged mountains and deep valleys where ambushes could easily be set up. Even if it meant taking a slightly longer route, he would never take a shortcut. This commander had been guarding the frontier for many years and his experience in leading troops was worthy of respect.

Suddenly, a report came from the vanguard that someone had broken out of Dengfeng City.

The Northern Wei prince looked grave and immediately summoned five elite Tiange cavalrymen, their bodies covered in blood.

"Your Majesty, the General has sent an urgent letter. At 9 PM today, we went out of the city to harass the Qingzhou army, but we did not see the Skeleton Dragon Cavalry break through the gate. It seems there is something amiss." Tian Ge's elite cavalry said with difficulty, "The General requests Your Majesty to hold Licheng firmly and not come out. He has his own way of obtaining food."

The Northern Wei prince was speechless; he was almost there.

Rumble!

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves was approaching from afar.

In an instant, everyone in the central army changed color. The governor gritted his teeth. The various generals and battalions of the Licheng army had been his headquarters for many years. He had directly seized the command of the prince and really did not want to die here.

"Line up to meet the enemy!"

"Line up to meet the enemy!"

"The personal guards will protect the Prince!"

……

The moonlight night falls.

Under the moonlight, the outline of the Licheng army's formation was faintly visible. In the front ranks, the Licheng commander seemed to smell an unsettling dust.

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves exploded in my ears.

From the air, the skeletal dragon riders were divided into five thousand-household squads, attacking from several directions.

The five thousand iron cavalry, having taken the armor originally belonging to the Vanguard Battalion, are now fully equipped with Grade B Yang Steel Armor, long spears, grappling hooks, and bows and arrows.

Most importantly, after ten years of rigorous training in the Blessed Land of Gluttony, these vicious guards have mastered superb combat skills. Since their orders come from a single person, there is naturally no room for cheating or shirking responsibility.

The five thousand-household squads did not charge directly, but instead circled around the enemy's battle formation, drawing their bows and nocking arrows.

In the darkness of night, a fierce guard drew a powerful arrow from his quiver and fired it with practiced speed, the sharp sound of the wind seeming to cleave the tranquil night before him.

call out!

An arrow flew through the air and struck a centurion clad in heavy armor. The force of the arrow exploded, tearing through the armor. The violent spiraling impact shredded flesh and blood, and the centurion's upper body vanished without a trace.

Whoosh whoosh!

The entire army fired rapidly, unleashing a volley of arrows.

The soldiers on the outer perimeter of Licheng fell like wheat being harvested.

After ten years of rigorous training day and night, he could hit the bullseye every time within three hundred paces.

The governor of Licheng was shocked. He clearly realized that this was a powerful army that could rank among the top three in the world.

Five thousand men, elites of the second realm, all equipped with second-grade armor and lances, each a sharpshooter selected from the army's elite soldiers, their arrows incredibly powerful. Most importantly, they could launch attacks in units of small flags, as if they required no command at all.

Once the Skeleton Dragon Riders surrounded the enemy, they immediately split into fifty centurions, each maintaining suppression while hunting down enemy mid-level generals.

Fifteen minutes later, five rounds of fire were launched simultaneously.

More than 10,000 Northern Wei soldiers died under the arrow barrage, which could normally be considered harassment. The deaths came so quickly and tragically that the Licheng army did not even have time to collapse.

"Kill me!"

The commander, his eyes blazing with fury, disregarded the Northern Wei imperial family and summoned eight hundred of his personal guards to charge into battle. Under the moonlight, a handsome man in a red robe stood alone, with no one around him.

"Prince Yong, prepare to die!"

Jiang He looked up and saw eight hundred riders charging towards him.

With him out of command, the hunting speed of the Fiend Guards noticeably decreased, but all they needed to do next was to crash into their formation.

Jiang He's eyes were calm as a black knife gradually condensed in his palm like flowing water before being swept out horizontally.

The silvery-white blade, like a thin line tens of meters long, swept across the ground, shattering countless wild grasses into dust and leaving faint cracks and scars in the space.

The blade sliced ​​through the warlord's horse, then cleaved his waist and abdomen. Eight hundred riders were separated, their bodies strewn across the field, blood pooling like a deep pool. Radiance and darkness madly annihilated all life.

Jiang He turned his head. Because the Skeleton Dragon Cavalry did not give the enemy a chance to escape, the Licheng Army, under the command of the Northern Wei royal family, formed a four-layered battle formation with shield bearers interlacing, which barely managed to block the fierce arrows.

"Is nobody going to do anything about me?"

In fact, since his arrival, he has been restricted by a large number of military strategists and sorcerers in every war, but the enemy does not seem to be aware of his existence at present.

Boom!

The day the Divine Hunt began, a deafening roar, even louder than five thousand horses' hooves, echoed across the Gange Plain, accompanied by billowing winds.

Suddenly, a deep pit tens of meters in diameter appeared in the ground, and Jiang He transformed into a streak of bright red light and shot straight out.

The Licheng army was arrayed like a forest, with spears like dense thorns and shield walls like towering mountains. But the crimson light was like a sword cleaving the sea. When it broke through the first line, the extremely violent force transformed into an impact, instantly splitting the shield mountain. Shattered armor and mangled flesh spilled wildly to both sides, like blood-red waves.

The first step: smash it to pieces.

The light flowed for a moment, and then the arrows from the Licheng army rained down, but were all shattered by the powerful tornado just before they hit their mark.

The blades flashed like lightning, a hundred strikes cleaved the ground, turning two thousand people into countless fragments. An unprecedented storm of blade energy descended, wantonly annihilating everything in its path.

The second wave, tearing apart.

The crimson streak charged straight ahead, and wherever the fist struck, armor shattered, and bursts of blood-red fireworks bloomed. As the last of his elite iron cavalrymen were completely destroyed, the Northern Wei prince collapsed to the ground in despair, only to be crushed and obliterated by the streak of light.

The third and fourth lines were breached.

When Jiang He stopped, blood was dripping from the corners of his crimson robe. He wiped the bits of flesh from his face. He had just exhausted his energy after cutting through 8,200 armor, but he still had one-tenth of his stamina left.

The Skeleton Dragon Riders received orders to tighten the encirclement and quickly dismember the Licheng army until they were completely annihilated.

The battle lasted for an hour and then came to an end.

On Jiang He's body, the silkworm patterns converged and grew into patterns of nine dragons and nine elephants, which were then sublimated and finally gave rise to a lifelike celestial dragon with golden scales and silver mane, so much so that golden auspicious clouds surrounded its body.

"The power of the Heavenly Dragon".

[Hint: You have awakened the power of strength]

Jiang He clenched his fist, a violent force surging within him.

After being supplemented and perfected by ten thousand years of martial arts, the Divine Silkworm Scripture can theoretically be cultivated to the pinnacle of the Immortal level, namely the power of the Nine Heavens Dragon. However, to generate authority, it still needs to accumulate martial arts.

"In the world of vying for supremacy, slaying 33750 people is the Nine Dragons and Nine Elephants, also known as the Heavenly Dragon. Because it requires military spirit, the method of obtaining it is limited to war, but death row inmates can also be used."

Amidst the corpses scattered on the ground, the Five Treasures Monk, clad in the Xuanming Robe, lay on the ground feigning death. He opened his left eye a crack and, seeing the skeletal dragon riders busy cleaning up the battlefield, couldn't help but quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

boom!

A golden light swept in, followed by auspicious clouds.

Extreme speed and power converged into a single, powerful punch, which slammed into the back of the Five Treasures Monk.

The entire battlefield trembled violently. In the crater a hundred meters in diameter, rocks shattered into sand. The Five Treasures Monk was pierced through the back of his body. The power of the Heavenly Dragon preserved his material while obliterating his soul.

[Hint: Your Immortal-level Sinister Poison has been upgraded to LV30]

"Nine-section whip, Xuanming robe, peach staff, vermilion ring, small mountain seal, Five Treasures Monk of the Northern Wei Dynasty."

Jiang He picked up the five epic-level items one by one. For him, these were no longer of much interest, but the other party was very wealthy.

Gluttonous Black Light refined the four spoils of war, leaving only the Small Mountain Seal as the Yong King's seal that he carried with him. Jiang He then took out Aya's huge white snake skin. Under the impetus of Gluttony, the surging extraordinary factors merged into the crimson robe, causing the color to gradually turn white.

[Name: White Fairy Robe]

[Category: Armor]

[Quality: Epic]

[Effect ①: Immortal-grade Fortitude/Toughness]

[Effect ②: Increases all attribute effects by 120%]

[Note: Produced by BingeEating]

Jiang He didn't care about the color of his long robe at the moment and immediately began to refine it. A moment later, on the battlefield where the Licheng army was wiped out, the hundreds of losses of the Skeleton Dragon Cavalry were replenished. Six thousand evil demon soldiers got up and began to pick up the weapons scattered on the ground to arm themselves.

"The Ganges Army and the Skeleton Dragon Riders, return to Dengfeng City."

"clear."

In an instant, the mountains and seas roared across the Gan Ge Plain.

Chapter 566 Battle of Qingzhou

September 20th, the 20th year of Yongqing, night.

The Qingzhou army launched an attack on Dengfeng City.

The night was as dark as thick ink. The crackling of torches occasionally broke out from the top of Dengfeng City. The orange-red flames illuminated the densely packed Qingzhou soldiers on the siege ladders. The ear-piercing sound of iron hooks scraping against the city wall mixed with roars, as if countless evil spirits were climbing.

"Fire the arrows!" General Hou shouted.

In an instant, the dark figures lurking behind the battlements rose simultaneously, and more than a thousand sharp arrows coated with pine resin rained down from the sky. When the arrows hit the ground, they ignited a sea of ​​fire, and scalding hot liquid poured from the barbican, drenching the ladders and soldiers. The smell of burnt metal and blood rose straight to the sky.

At the top of the ladder, a garrison officer at the peak of the third realm leaped onto the city wall, his scimitar flashing with a cold light, and more than a dozen heads flew off.

Several skilled fighters from the Northern Wei Jianghu Camp immediately surrounded the man, thrusting their iron spears at his throat. However, they were instead entangled in the spear shafts by the man's chains and pulled off the city wall. The men tumbled through the air and crashed heavily onto the spikes of the siege tower, splattering blood everywhere.

After an hour of fierce fighting, the Qingzhou army left behind more than four thousand corpses and temporarily halted their retreat.

General Hou stood on the city wall, his blade stained with blood. Although he had no cultivation, he had fought many battles and knew some martial arts. He had just killed three enemy soldiers, which greatly boosted morale.

“I have received a secret report that the commander’s Wuhuan cavalry is about to cross the river and hold out for seven days. You will all be meritorious officials.”

"The general is mighty!"

"The general is mighty!"

Cheers rose and fell. As was customary, the gold and silver treasures that General Hou had earned for his merits would all be distributed in the name of the emperor's reward. It might be possible to hide it once or twice, but it happened every time, and even the common soldiers knew the truth.

Unfortunately, General Hou was not as relaxed as he had imagined. He leaned against the wall with both hands, his face grave.

Currently, the overall direction of the Northern Wei Dynasty is to consolidate the front lines, accelerate reforms, and achieve unity between various grassland clans and local forces in Jiangbei through continuous integration and assimilation.

If successful, the two forces will unleash a tremendous amount of power, significantly boosting the strength of the Northern Wei state.

However, the inevitable rejection and resistance also meant contradictions, and the fundamental purpose of this southward war was to reduce the resistance to change through military victory.

"From the moment of defeat at Dongyang, there will be no more reinforcements." General Hou sighed deeply, his face filled with helplessness.

The total war violated national policy, and the local wars had already ended in defeat. The failure in political objectives rendered the war meaningless. The best option was to retreat to Licheng, but it was too far from Dongyang. The defeated army could not withstand the pursuit of the Skeleton Dragon Riders.

"But there is always a way out. If we remain calm and wait for the right moment, there will always be a glimmer of hope." General Hou was determined. Even when he was just a junior officer, he eventually made it through.

Click!

Under the smoke and fire, the plaster on the wall beside them peeled off, revealing the hideous and terrifying thorns inside.

The stinging pain caused General Hou's face to gradually turn pale.

He recalled the military reports from the attack on Dongyang City: Prince Yong led eight hundred cavalry to capture Dengfeng City, but had to withdraw due to insufficient troops.

But looking at the present, it's clear that he's not lacking the will but the strength, but rather firmly believes he can win, and has left a trap here.

Following Gui Man, General Hou became the second person to discover that thorns had seeped into the wall.

"All troops assemble! Breakout from the north city!"