If the sect's original trump card was not meant to be Huang Laojiu, then it was about time to invite out the true senior experts.
Faced with the crowd's anxious questioning,
Huang Laojiu merely revealed his pitch-black, hollow front teeth in a grin. "Wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer. Don't we still have Fellow Daoist Chen?"
"You mean Chen Sanshi?"
Cui Zichen's expression was grave. "Senior, you've seen it yourself—he's simply no match for Longqing. Not to mention the Six Ding Six Jia Grand Formation formed by a million troops outside the city. Even if we put all that aside, there's still the Dragon Abyss Sword, which no one here can deal with. At this point, the only way to ensure absolute safety is to request the upper sect to intervene!"
"Fellow Daoist Cui."
Huang Laojiu lifted his mottled gourd, looking somewhat awkward. "Recently, the sect discovered certain anomalies in the far south. There's a chance of a major harvest, but Yunding Palace is also getting involved. A large number of people have to be deployed there, which has left us short-handed, so there's only…"
"So no one else is coming?!"
Qian Qiren blurted out, then said even more urgently, "Shouldn't the Mang Mountain ancestral vein be the most important matter of all?!"
"Oh my, don't be anxious, don't be anxious."
Huang Laojiu consoled him. "This old man will say it again—wait a bit longer, just wait and see."
Cui Zichen and Qian Qiren exchanged a glance, the disappointment on their faces unmistakable.
Since Huang Laojiu had already spoken this way, there was clearly no point in pressing further.
But could it be that next…
They really were just going to wait here to die?!
On the other side.
Chen Sanshi was reorganizing the troops.
Fortunately, earlier, under Huang Laojiu's obstruction, the number of troops withdrawn from Zhengtong's side had not been too great. There were still 120,000 soldiers inside the city.
Adding to that the Guiyuan Sect cultivators who had returned, if they relied on the Black-Armored Xunwind Formation, they could still hold out for a period of time.
Moreover, he had received news.
After Ancestor Ling Kui of the Ling family failed in his pursuit of Prince Jin Cao Huan, he did not return to the Fei River. Instead, he continued leading cultivators in a carpet-style search throughout Songzhou.
They were searching for his family!
Back then, when he had arranged for Lan jie'er and the others to stay in Songzhou, he had put up many layers of cover. But if cultivators truly set their minds on finding them, they would eventually discover clues—it was only a matter of time.
The fate of his family
Had long since been deeply bound to Chen Sanshi himself. There was no way to cut it clean.
If this battle was won, then so be it.
But if it was lost—
Even if his wife and children fled to the very Edge of the World, in the end they would still be unable to escape death.
"Rumble—!"
As Chen Sanshi was deep in thought,
The fierce assault on the city-protecting formation outside the walls abruptly came to a halt.
This drew everyone up onto the city walls to see what was happening.
They saw—
The court's besieging troops parted to either side, like a black sea being split down the middle, opening up a passage.
A eunuch in a python-patterned robe carried a wooden tray, striding swiftly along that path, stopping only when he reached the base of the city wall.
"Your Highness Prince Jin!"
Chief Eunuch Huang Hong of the Directorate of Ceremonial Supervision spoke, his voice sharp and resonant. "His Majesty is benevolent. In consideration of the bond between father and son, he has already decided to pardon you of the death penalty!
"So Your Highness should quickly leave the city and accept surrender, bringing this farce to an end.
"If things truly come to the point of breaking through the city walls, blades and swords have no eyes. At that time, no one will be able to guarantee Your Highness's safety!"
"Eunuch!"
The Zhengtong Emperor did not appear. Instead, Minister of Revenue Shangguan Haichang stood atop the wall, pointing at the man below and hurling abuse. "There is only one emperor under Heaven, and that is the Zhengtong Emperor! Stop spreading demonic lies here—we swear to die before surrendering!"
At this point,
Those most afraid of defeat were precisely the aristocratic clans and sects that had invested themselves in the rebellion.
Anyone else might still have a path to survival.
Only they would have none.
"You traitors and rebels—do you really think hiding within a city-protecting formation makes you safe?"
Huang Hong's expression was not ferocious, yet his voice was incomparably cold. "For a thousand years, the reason my Great Sheng Dynasty has been regarded by all other states as the orthodox ruler of the Central Plains is not merely because our territory lies at the center of Shenzhou. More importantly, it is because the symbol of the human emperor—the Imperial Jade Seal—has always been in the hands of my Great Sheng Dynasty.
"Today, I will let you traitors and rebels see for yourselves
"What true
"Orthodoxy under Heaven
"Really is!"
As he spoke, he abruptly lifted the orange-yellow brocade covering the tray, revealing a square jade seal, four inches on each side, crowned with five coiling dragons. In an instant, golden light blazed forth, transforming into a golden meteor that shot into the sky, rising until it hovered above the very top of the Six Ding Six Jia Grand Formation.
Divine, majestic golden radiance surged in waves. Under its impact, hearts and souls trembled. Its resplendence was supreme, impossible to gaze upon directly!
From the top of the jade seal, the five true dragons spewed profound radiance. Layer upon layer of divine golden light poured down toward the bamboo-green Black-Armored Xunwind Formation below, like a torrential golden rain. Each streak that fell caused the city-protecting formation to shudder violently, as though it might become riddled with holes at any moment.
Many of the formation grunts on the city wall could barely keep their footing. Some clung to the wall, others used their weapons as crutches, only just managing not to collapse.
"The jade seal suppresses Heaven and Earth. Your turtle shell won't last much longer."
Huang Hong finally adopted a tone of earnest persuasion as he advised, "I'll give you one last day to consider.
"One day from now, if you still refuse to leave the city and surrender, then we will seal off Kunyang City completely. When that happens, not a single one of you will be allowed to leave!"
The Imperial Jade Seal, also known as the Nation-Stabilizing Imperial Seal.
"So this is the thing that allows Longqing to resist the Heaven-and-Earth Seal?"
Qian Qiren even felt an impulse to flee out and seize the treasure. But the other side had deliberately kept the jade seal at a great distance from the city. Moreover, such a supreme treasure was certainly bound deeply to its owner. Harboring reckless thoughts would be no different from courting death.
"This old man has truly broadened his horizons on this trip."
Huang Laojiu clicked his tongue in amazement. "In a land where spiritual energy is exhausted, such supreme treasures are appearing one after another."
"Rumble—!"
"Huang, Senior!"
"The formation is breaking!"
From not far away,
came a cultivator's terrified shout.
One could see that on the southeastern side of the city-protecting formation, a horrifying裂缝裂开 under the pressure of the Imperial Jade Seal!
"Hey!"
Seeing this, Huang Laojiu stomped his foot and instantly arrived at the裂缝, pulling the wine gourd from his waist and beginning to cast spells to repair it.
"Senior Huang!"
"The formation is damaged!"
No sooner had he finished dealing with that side than another hole opened up elsewhere.
He drove his donkey cart through the air, darting back and forth, patching things up everywhere. In the end, he gritted his teeth and took out two middle-grade spirit stones to recharge the formation. Only then did he barely manage to stabilize the situation.
But under the bombardment of the Imperial Jade Seal, spiritual energy was still being consumed at an unbelievable speed.
"What a sin!"
Huang Laojiu's mentality wavered so badly that his entire body was trembling.
He staggered over to the man in white robes and asked, "Fellow Daoist Chen, once your injuries have healed, will you be able to break through to the mid-stage of the True Force Realm as soon as possible?"
Chen Sanshi tacitly acquiesced.
"Then what are we waiting for? This old man will help you heal!"
From Huang Laojiu's wine gourd drifted once more specks of emerald-green light, like fireflies on a midsummer night.
Chen Sanshi could sense that this was a kind of supreme wood-aspect spiritual power—exceptionally gentle, and certainly of great benefit for healing injuries.
But he did not dare accept it, nor could he allow a stranger's mana to enter his meridians at will.
Cultivators' methods were too bizarre. No one knew whether hidden dangers might be left behind.
After being refused, Huang Laojiu looked somewhat awkward, revealing a harmless, embarrassed smile. "This old man was presumptuous.
"Then how about taking some pills instead?
"The pills I'm giving you this time are just ordinary first-tier healing pills."
Chen Sanshi took the still-sealed porcelain bottle. As a first-tier alchemist himself, he could recognize the most basic pills. "Thank you, Senior Huang."
After that, Huang Laojiu practically took out everything he could to help.
As for these items, Chen Sanshi accepted those he could confirm were harmless, and temporarily set aside those he could not identify.
This person…
Was very anxious.
Anxious for Chen Sanshi's injuries to heal, for him to break through to the mid-stage of the True Force Realm, and then go deal with Cao Kai.
Of course, everyone was now in the same boat. One prospered, all prospered; one fell, all fell. Helping each other was only natural.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, once you break through to the mid-stage of the True Force Realm, how do you plan to deal with the Dragon Abyss Sword? And how will you break the Six Ding Six Jia Grand Formation formed by a million troops?"
Huang Laojiu paused, his hoarse voice continuing, "This old man truly doesn't have many spirit stones left!"
Chen Sanshi did not answer. Instead, he cast his gaze toward the battlefield.
But the moment he looked—
His heart sank!
The Imperial Jade Seal…
Was obscuring the secrets of Heaven and concealing the celestial phenomena!
In other words, the mysterious qi Chen Sanshi had painstakingly left on Prince Qin and the others earlier was being suppressed by the Imperial Jade Seal and would no longer take effect.
This meant…
There was no hope of victory!
In an instant, it was as if a mountain collapsed in his mind.
That was them—defeated, collapsing like a landslide!
No matter what churned in his heart, Chen Sanshi's expression remained calm. He called out, "Xu Wencai, the map!"
A few breaths later, a map of the Fei River basin, including Yuzhou and Songzhou, was spread out before his eyes.
"My lord, this is…?"
Xu Wencai sensed that something was amiss, but did not dare ask too much. Matters involving immortals and the arcane were beyond his ability to interfere.
Chen Sanshi scanned the map, carrying out hundreds upon thousands of deductions in his mind, until at last he found the only sliver of life on this Central Plains battlefield.
Bagong Mountain!
To annihilate a million-strong army head-on was practically impossible.
So to win this battle, he only needed to "rout" them, not "exterminate" them.
To rout them, he would need to rely on overwhelming momentum and the Heavenly Book formations.
Yet now, the Imperial Jade Seal suppressed mysterious qi.
Even if Chen Sanshi risked everything to charge out again and leave mysterious qi behind, it would likely be useless.
To counter one supreme treasure, naturally, there was only one option—
Use another supreme treasure.
The Mystic Pearl itself!
On the decisive day, Chen Sanshi would have to personally hold the Mystic Pearl and lead the charge straight into the enemy formation to seize a chance. With layers of Heavenly Gates blocking the front, it was naturally impossible to break through head-on.
That left only one path. While preserving Kunyang City, he would withdraw from the Fei River, detour east to the Bagong Mountain region, break through Yongjia Prefecture, and cross the Luojian tributary of the Fei River to reach his objective.
In summary, he could no longer stay behind to defend the city. Instead, he had to abandon it and wage a mobile campaign across roughly 1,500 kilometers.
"Xu Wencai."
Chen Sanshi lifted his gaze from the map. "Once this round of the enemy's siege pauses, summon all the city's generals, cultivators, and officials to the imperial residence where His Majesty is staying. I have an important matter to announce."
This wave of attacks lasted until around midnight, when the enemy forces finally withdrew.
Inside the main hall of the imperial residence.
The Zhengtong Emperor, Cao Huan, sat in the seat of honor. Civil and military officials, as well as the Guiyuan Sect cultivators, were all gathered there.
"Brother Chen."
The haggard Cao Huan spoke with a hint of anticipation. "You've gathered everyone here—do you have some strategy to break the enemy that you wish to announce?"
"Exactly."
Chen Sanshi spoke with ringing conviction. "A million-strong army—in this minister's eyes—is nothing more than clay chickens and ceramic dogs. One touch, and they will collapse!"
At this moment, regardless of how great the odds truly were,
he had to present absolute confidence in order to earn everyone's trust and cooperation.
"Is that truly so?!"
Cao Huan's face lit up with joy. "Brother, speak quickly!"
Chen Sanshi succinctly laid out the stakes and the logic, then concluded, "Fellow Daoists and colleagues, all you need do is wait quietly inside the city for a few days. When I lead the army back, that will be the moment the enemy collapses."
As his words fell, the hall sank into a brief silence.
"I understand."
Shangguan Haichang stepped forward and said, "Lord Chen intends to leave all of us behind in the city while he abandons the city and withdraws alone?"
"It is not a withdrawal,"
Chen Sanshi said heavily, meeting the crowd's suspicious gazes. "It is to fetch reinforcements!"
"Fetch reinforcements?!"
"From where?"
"From Yunding Palace."
"Yunding Palace?!"
The ministers erupted into discussion.
Not long ago, Shan Liangcheng had used this very connection to sow discord.
Yet at this moment, it instead made everyone believe that the man in white truly had the ability to bring in Yunding Palace's reinforcements.
"Lord Chen,"
Shangguan Haichang probed, "after you leave, you won't simply never return, will you?"
"There is absolutely no such possibility."
Xu Wencai stepped out and said firmly, "Our Northern Liang core forces are all here. How could the Grand Commander possibly abandon us?
"The chance to break the enemy lies right before our eyes.
"Your Majesty, everyone—do not miss this opportunity!"
The assembled officials argued back and forth.
In the end, Cao Huan used his physical discomfort and need for rest as an excuse to leave the hall, bringing several trusted ministers with him to deliberate in private.
"My dear ministers, what do you think?"
"Once Chen Sanshi leaves alone, there is absolutely no way he will come back!"
"We all believe he can bring in reinforcements, but whether those reinforcements would save us is another matter entirely!"
"Exactly."
"In my view, this is Chen Sanshi finally revealing his fox tail."
"This is the stratagem of 'the snipe and the clam fight, while the fisherman reaps the benefit'!"
"Chen Sanshi plans to use the Immortal Emperor's hand to eliminate us, then lead Yunding Palace to pick up the spoils!"
"But his core troops are still inside the city—surely not?"
"What do you mean 'surely not'? It's only half! The other half of the Northern Liang Army is spread across the various prefectures!"
"When one general's merit is achieved, ten thousand bones are laid bare—he's capable of it!"
"Immortal Master Qian," the Zhengtong Emperor Cao Huan asked, "what is your opinion?"
"To be frank," Qian Qiren said, "on Heavenly Water Isle, Yunding Palace and our Guiyuan Sect have never been on good terms. Over the past thousands of years, there have been countless frictions and disputes large and small.
"Earlier, Senior Huang mentioned that our sect has recently been competing with Yunding Palace for resources. It is highly unlikely they would come to help us."
"Do not fall for Chen Sanshi's treacherous scheme!"
"Only if he stays inside the city and lives and dies with us can it prove that he is truly of one heart with us!"
"Mm."
The Zhengtong Emperor Cao Huan nodded slightly. "My ministers speak with reason!"
After reaching a decision, they returned to the hall.
Cao Huan spoke slowly. "Brother, it is not that I do not trust you. It is simply that once you leave, there will be no great general left in the city. If the Former Emperor and Ling Kui join forces to attack, I fear we will be unable to withstand them."
"Your Majesty's words are mistaken,"
Chen Sanshi said. "Kunyang has a second-tier formation. Even if only Senior Huang remains, it can still hold for some time."
"This…"
Cao Huan pondered briefly. "I still feel it is too risky. How about this—why don't you stay in Kunyang City and directly have Yunding Palace and the Qing Kingdom send troops to aid us?"
"Exactly."
"Why must Lord Chen leave? Could it be that the people of Yunding Palace do not know the road?"
Chen Sanshi said solemnly, "This matter is of utmost importance. Not even a single day can be delayed. I ask Your Majesty to think again!"
"Think again—yes, it should indeed be reconsidered."
Cao Huan nodded. "Very well. Let me think for two days before giving an answer."
"Your Majesty?"
Chen Sanshi cautioned, "After tomorrow, Chang'an will use a grand formation to seal Kunyang completely. At that point, leaving will be troublesome."
"Then we won't leave!"
Cao Huan rose abruptly, his surface manner courteous but in truth perfunctory. "I will stay here and live and die together with you, Brother."
Chen Sanshi drew a deep breath of icy air through his nose, maintaining a calm expression. In the corner of his vision, crimson-robed officials whispered among themselves, Guiyuan Sect cultivators wore guarded expressions, and the air was thick with suspicion and wariness.
Factional strife in court during ordinary times was one thing.
But at a moment of life and death, they were still engaging in intrigue and calculation.
Such conduct was destined to accomplish nothing great!
Petty men were not worth plotting with.
In the end, Shangguan Haichang added, "Kunyang cannot be without the King of Northern Liang for even a single day. Otherwise, I fear we will have no choice but to abandon the city and flee!"
It sounded like praise for the man in white, but in truth, it was a threat.
The implication was clear.
If you leave without permission, then we will leave as well and abandon the city to flee!
Chen Sanshi swept a calm glance at the man, did not respond, turned around, and strode out. He quickly left the government office, entered the darkness, and directly rode his sword into the air, flying beyond the bounds of Kunyang City.
"Was that the King of Northern Liang?"
"No doubt about it—it was the Grand Commander."
"Where is the Grand Commander going?"
"Hurry, hurry and report it!"
Songzhou.
Luyi Village.
This place was separated from the battlefield of Yuzhou by only the Fei River. Yet because of its extremely remote location, nestled between two mountains, it had been spared from the ravages of war.
It was the season of spring plowing.
The sky had only just begun to brighten, but the villagers had already started their day's labor. The more diligent ones were already out in the fields. Even the lazier ones hummed rustic mountain tunes as they walked toward their plots. Birds circled everywhere, providing accompaniment. In such a chaotic world, the scene appeared unexpectedly peaceful, like a paradise removed from the world.
"Cluck cluck!"
"Woof! Woof woof!"
That peace was shattered by a burst of chicken squawks.
It seemed some wild beast had invaded the village. Wherever it passed, chickens flew and dogs jumped, leaving neither people nor livestock in peace.
The disturbance drew closer and closer to Chen Sanshi, until a rooster, frantic with fear, flew out of the village entrance. Only then did it become clear that what chased it was no flood or ferocious beast, but a half-grown child no more than a few years old.
"Bang!"
Chen Duhe lunged forward like a tiger pouncing, finally pinning a big yellow dog beneath him. No matter how the dog struggled, it could not move.
The Howling Gold Beast cheered at his side, celebrating the victory.
Suddenly, Chen Duhe felt as though a mountain had descended from the sky, blotting out the sunlight between Heaven and Earth. Everything darkened.
He slowly lifted his head and saw a familiar figure.
"Dad?!"
Chen Duhe panicked. The yellow dog beneath him finally broke free, yelping as it fled.
"Take me to see your mother,"
Chen Sanshi said.
Not long after, the family gathered inside a fenced garden at the corner of the village.
"General,"
Ningxiang, dressed as a village woman, spoke first. "You came just in time. Recently, cultivators from the Shengyun Sect have been searching village by village nearby. It won't be long before they find this place. We can't stay here any longer."
A remote village suddenly housing so many outsiders—no matter how much cover they used, paper could not wrap fire forever.
Zhaozhao had already packed the bundles and asked solemnly, "Are we going to be hidden in the mountains again?"
"No."
Chen Sanshi gently shook his head, his voice low. "We won't hide anymore."
In truth, there was no place left to hide.
Ling Kui was clearly determined to kill his family to avenge the Ling clan.
Even if they dug deep underground and hid in tunnels, they would still be nowhere to conceal themselves before cultivators.
"Duhe,"
Chen Sanshi lowered his head and looked at his eldest son. "You said before that you had guts?"
"Kings and nobles aren't born with guts—I have guts!"
Chen Duhe repeated his earlier words.
"Good. Then this time, let me see whether you truly have guts."
Inside Kunyang City.
"Chen Sanshi has fled!"
Inside the government office.
Upon receiving the news, Shangguan Haichang hurried into the hall to report.
"What?!"
Hearing this, everyone present, including the Zhengtong Emperor, was utterly shocked.
"Damn it!"
Qian Qiren closed his eyes and said angrily, "This man must have seen that the situation was hopeless and defected to Yunding Palace!"
"What reinforcements?!"
"Now that he's gone, he's surely waiting for us to die off and exhaust ourselves before coming out to reap the benefits!"
"Withdraw, Your Majesty!"
"Withdraw! By dusk today, Chang'an will seal the city with a grand formation. If we don't withdraw now, it will be too late!"
Amid the chaos, the Zhengtong Emperor issued orders to withdraw while personally leading the civil and military officials up onto the city wall, preparing to announce the complete abandonment of the city.
"Senior Huang!"
Cui Zichen said, "Please withdraw the formation and leave with us."
Given the current situation, only by relying on the protection of a second-tier formation master would they have any chance of retreating to other cities north of the Fei River.
Of course, this process would inevitably cost a great number of troops.
That much, the soldiers understood all too well. They were…
Being abandoned!
Coupled with the enemy generals' intermittent shouts of a "countdown" outside the city, panic spread to an extreme within Kunyang.
Some soldiers even lost all sense of direction, crushing and trampling one another on the stairways up the walls, on the verge of discarding their armor and collapsing into total rout!
But just at this moment, a resounding voice echoed throughout Kunyang.
"You more than 100,000 men spend all day cowering in fear, devoid of fighting spirit and blood courage—are you truly inferior even to the women and children of my Chen family?!"
A flying boat appeared above the city wall.
A figure in white robes stood against the wind. Behind him were five women—one wearing a black-and-gold long dress, dignified and composed; one clad in red, heroic and imposing; the remaining three each possessed their own distinct grace.
Though all five were women, none showed the slightest fear upon arriving at the battlefield.
More than that, after a four-year-old child jumped down from the flying boat, he had already begun selecting weapons along the city wall.
"Everyone!"
Sun Li's clear, cold voice rang out. "The entire Chen clan is here. We swear to live and die together with Kunyang City—sharing life and death alike!"