Free Web NovelChapter 330: Chapter 124: Clash of Water and Fire; Hidden Schemes in the North
As he walked higher, those who once knew him intimately became gradually unfamiliar.
"The heights are cold and lonely."
He sighed softly and threw the elixir fish back.
Stood up again.
The monk had disappeared too.
The place was empty, with only him alone.
The unequal power in the new world has determined that the pinnacle of the power pyramid is never the sovereign.
And now, this is not simply a story of "Divine Martial Monarch defending the nation" or "Li Xuan escorting relatives northward."
This is... a contest for the position of a nation’s ruler.
This struggle is no longer like the "nine dragons contending for succession" because... since the rise of the extraordinary, the sovereign is nothing but a puppet.
...
...
In the third year of Heaven’s Blessing, the third year of Zhao She’s reign.
At the border of Yunzhou, the Great Yong army was pressing against the border.
The weather was scorching and the border was burning hot.
Unexpectedly, Great Yin’s Yunzhou soldiers showed unity, with no signs of passive resistance from senior to junior officers, orders were strict and decisive.
And the Great Yong was the same.
Both sides had firm "will," the military spirit was stable.
How could the army led by evil spirits and Bear Puppets not be resolute?
Therefore... Wutong Pass at the northernmost of Yunzhou became a meat grinder.
However, although Wutong Pass was a good terrain of "one-man hold against ten thousand," there were bypass trails and the city behind.
Now in summer, it’s not long until autumn.
The wheat was almost ripe.
Which invader wouldn’t want to bypass and seize the city behind?
Thus, the battle turned into a two-sided war.
One side was the fight at the front checkpoint, the other was the rear battle involving secret martial artists, elite warriors, bear puppets, and secret martial artists.
Great Yin couldn’t afford to lose on either side, losing would endanger the frontline.
The invaders couldn’t hold on for long, as the supply of army provisions and manpower transport carried a huge daily burden...
The frontline was a meat grinder.
The rear was another kind of tragedy.
Bear Puppets, ordinary people can reach the level of a Triple Cultivator Secret Martial Artist.
Even someone like Princess Consort De could achieve it.
But to rely on cultivation to become a Triple Cultivator Secret Martial Artist was extremely difficult.
Besides, the one sent into the army by the Bear Demon wasn’t just the Bear Puppets of Triple Cultivator Secret Martial tradition, akin to demonic form, demon intent were... not few.
Thus, Great Yin was fundamentally unable to fight, relying solely on ice jade weapons.
But ice jade weapons were ineffective against Demon Intent.
And weapons are lifeless, while Bear Puppets are alive, to kill a Bear Puppet, it must be surrounded at the right moment.
And during the battle, problems were emerging more and more.
For example, Great Yin’s soldiers were crying out in agony one moment over the death of their elite warriors and lamenting their fate, but the next moment they turned terrified as their elite warrior, clearly chopped in half, got back up...
The two severed halves were rotten flesh, then they joined and were perfectly fine.
The same on the opposite side, the elite warrior looked incredibly strong, after great difficulty surrounding and killing, but upon looking again, the warrior’s skin wrinkled, revealing black fur underneath.
The soldiers felt like going mad.
And the scales of war were slowly tilting towards Great Yong.
...
...
August eighth.
In the palace, Zhao She indulged in pleasures, skipping morning court meetings, and upon receiving urgent reports from the north, he merely glanced at them, delaying all requests for increased troop support.
The sovereign is a puppet, but this puppet is very important.
Zhao She himself is a Bear Puppet, why would he assist outsiders?
No matter how many complaints from below, no matter how many died outside, he was indifferent.
Just numbers.
Just food.
But today, amidst his pleasures, he harbored expectations.
He met behind the screen the secret spy faction he had recently established, and from today’s report by the spies, he learned that the Divine Martial Monarch had not appeared, that most of the Divine Martial Monarch’s family still resided in the manor, he couldn’t help but murmur, "This person named Divine Martial, has disappointed my anticipation."
The spy, oblivious to the intricacies, merely followed by observing and saying, "Isn’t that right? What Divine Martial Monarch, that’s clearly a shrinking monarch. The streets are talking about it. When trouble arises, he knows only to flee with his family, now the manor entrance has been littered with lots of dog feces and splattered with pig dung. Yet, he still hasn’t shown up..."
Zhao She waved his hand, saying, "Go, just say I’ve always been waiting for the Divine Martial Monarch to lead troops northward for support."
"Yes, Your Majesty." After the spy bowed and took leave, he exited the palace through the small gate.
After walking a few steps, he suddenly saw the sky turn red.
The clouds north of the royal city were ablaze.
Burning brilliantly, intensely, like a piece of heaven-covering red feather.
The scene was spectacular, but the hues were not meant for mere mortal observation.
In an instant, the fire descended from the sky, swiftly fell, setting ablaze the houses outside the royal city.
The residents outside the city were ordinary folk.
Those with connections had long moved to live in the inner city, hadn’t they?
But in a flash, the fire surged like deep-sea waves, crashing heavily into the inner city.
The entire city, ablaze!
A young man in white held a small cage standing atop the hill outside the city, the red light within the cage had vanished, transforming into a sea of fire in the distance.
He gazed coldly at the scene in the royal city.
He was waiting for two people.
One was the Buddha, wondering how he would extinguish this overwhelming fire poison.
The other was the Divine Martial Monarch...
Events connected one after another, the Bear Demon had placed Li Xuan at a very high stance, for he had thwarted Feng Xiongyi, disrupted his plan to seize troops, led several family members quietly and rapidly away, and as for those evil spirits... it was hard to say they were unrelated to him.
For this reason, he didn’t want a direct confrontation with Li Xuan.
If he must, he would gather a teammate to test the waters first.
