Sever Heaven and Earth Connection: Battle of the Cultivators (I)

"Call out"

Zhao Chuanzong released the bowstring, and the arrow accurately struck the neck of a barbarian commander who was riding a horse ahead.

"Pfft—" The barbarian commander clutched his throat, blood gushing from between his fingers, and collapsed from his blue-maned horse to the ground. "Yu—"

Zhao Chuanzong felt his body suddenly become hot, his blood surge, and his previous fatigue vanished.

"He's reached the late stage of the Essence Gathering." Zhao Chuanzong was overjoyed.

He glanced around and, seeing no trace of the enemy, blew the eagle-head whistle around his neck and began to gather his men.

The clear whistle echoed in the sky, and soon more cavalrymen gathered from all directions.

"General." Adjutant Liu Er appeared beside Zhao Chuanzong. "How is the situation?" Zhao Chuanzong asked.

All the scouts sent north from West Field City were killed; none escaped. Liu Er laughed, "I think this fourth wave..."

Those eighty men should be the last spies in West Field City. They probably won't send any more scouts after that; they'll just stay put and defend the city.

"Hmm." Zhao Chuanzong nodded. "Judging from this, the forces in West Field City are not many, probably only a few dozen men, just like the intelligence we gathered before."

The number of scouts usually gives an estimate of the army's size. Zhao Chuanzong had previously captured prisoners and interrogated them, and had also led cavalry to intercept barbarian soldiers leaving the city West Field City. Now, he could roughly confirm the situation inside the city.

"Notify the Mechanism Master Zhang Wu to relay the intelligence back to the main army." "Yes, sir!"

On January 19th of the sixteenth year of Yuan Ding Era, Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, Long Xiao, and Chen Shijie issued the "River Crossing Operation Plan" to all armies.

After capturing West Field City, the Ten Suns Army Corps crossed the Sky Water River in three columns and headed southeast, passing through Orchid Bay, Pot Ferry Crossing, and Jiang Sheng before crossing the Canglan River again to join Li Hao's Wu Yao Army.

All heavy equipment, except for necessary food supplies and small carts, horses, and boats, must be discarded. The 30,000-strong force surrounding Wind Witch City must set off that very day.

Upon receiving the order, the generals of each army immediately organized their troops to retreat on January 19th, withdrawing from Wind Witch City, Sheep North, and Earth Horn in succession, and advancing towards West Field City and Sky Water River.

On January 23, the Azure Dragon Army was the first to arrive West Field City.

On January 24th, at dawn, Long Xiao led 5,000 men of the Azure Dragon Army to defeat the resistance of the garrison commander of West Field City and successfully occupied the West Field City.

Noon, 7:45.

"Da, da, da~"

Zhao Xing rode a horse and entered the city with Xia Jing, while Long Xiao was busy searching for supplies. As soon as they entered the city, they saw Long Xiao cursing and kicking a sack.

Zhao Xing and the others dismounted and approached Long Xiao: "What did you find? I heard the casualties were low, why are you still angry?"

"Damn it, we don't have any useful equipment, just food. It's ridiculous how poor we are." Long Xiao pointed to a pile of sacks on the ground. "After I finished attacking the city, I wanted to replenish my arrows, but I searched for a long time and couldn't find any armory."

"In the end, we only found about a hundred spare oxbows and scimitars in the barn, and they were all crudely made."

Xia Jing smiled and said, "The garrison commander of West Field City is a small tribal chief under the Golden Feather Royal Court. He has only 1,500 soldiers and 15 cultivators."

"How much military supplies do you expect from such a small town? They're lucky if they have any food at all. You haven't grasped Brother Zhao's fighting spirit. Isn't having food better?"

Long Xiao looked at Zhao Xing, who was looking at the post-war summary.

"Not bad." Zhao Xing closed the list. "West Field City was originally just a grain field; strictly speaking, it wasn't even a city. Even if we include all..."

The total population of the village is only a little over five thousand. They're lucky to get any food at all.

Long Xiao nodded. Since Zhao Xing said it was good, then it must be good.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? Get away!" "I need to see the general!"

Suddenly, a group of armored soldiers on the street made a commotion.

Zhao Xing looked over and saw a barbarian with wrinkled skin resembling fish gills being driven away by the Azure Dragon Army. "What's going on?"

Long Xiao glanced at it. "A scholar said he wanted to join us, and he even knows a little bit of the Great Zhou language. But I didn't agree. Shang Niu has come to me twice already; he really won't give up."

"Why don't you agree?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts," Long Xiao said matter-of-factly. "Although we do not kill barbarians, my Azure Dragon Army also does not want barbarians."

"Even if he's truly loyal, he's not very useful. Communication with him is difficult; he can't compare to our soldiers who have been trained for years. Having him would only be a hindrance."

"Your Azure Dragon Army is an elite force, we can do without it, but we can incorporate it into another army and use it."

Zhao Xing said, "You don't need to worry about them having any ulterior motives. These barbarians hate the people of the main court more than the people of the Great Zhou." "What kind of logic is that?" It was Long Xiao's turn to be surprised.

The natives of West Field City belong to the Kash Tribe, but the garrison you just drove off belonged to the Ox Tribe of the Golden Feather Royal Court. — Zhao Xing

He said, "Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts. This is more appropriate when applied to them. I looked at the records. Five years ago, West Field City still had more than 30,000 residents. Now there are only more than 5,000 left. What do you think happened?"

Long Xiao seemed to be deep in thought, but Zhao Xing waved his hand and ordered the armored soldiers to bring the barbarian over.

"General, General, my name is Wang Gang, and I am willing to serve the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty." This barbarian spoke the entire language of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Zhao Xing could tell from his name that it was a hastily chosen one, a very common name in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Although this person's skin is wrinkled, he is actually in his prime. It is just that this is his racial appearance. In fact, those are organs similar to fish gills.

"Zhu Gang, why do you want to join us?" Long Xiao asked curiously.

"General." Wang Gang cupped his hands in greeting. "Just by the fact that you did not kill anyone without armor or weapons after entering the city, you are worthy of my following."

Long Xiao couldn't understand it. Were the Southern Barbarian Royal Court's army even more terrifying to their own people? He had only refrained from killing civilians, yet that had become the reason for his support. It was truly bizarre.

"You were fighting the main court's regular troops before, and those regular troops still had some discipline." Zhao Xing said, "The West Field..."

The local rulers were a motley crew of barbarian soldiers who had little concept of a nation, only a tribal one. They obeyed the orders of the ruling court and fought as long as they completed their missions; they didn't care about the lives of the other tribes' barbarians.

"Yes, that's exactly it," Wang Gang said habitually. "Our Kash Tribe has been conscripted eight times in five years, until all the brave soldiers..."

"Once we're conscripted, we have no power to protect ourselves. The Ox Tribe came here last year and didn't treat us like family at all."

Five years ago, our Kash Tribe had several factions, but now we don't even have five thousand people left. In the meantime, we only fought two wars, losing over three thousand men. The rest of our tribesmen all died at the hands of what we considered our own people.

They demanded contributions from the Earth Court in the name of the Witch Moon God, but what have the Witch Moon God and the Earth Court actually given us?!

"General, I am willing to join the Great Zhou and guide you."

Zhao Xing nodded. "Alright, Wang Gang, since you speak the language of the Great Zhou and use the names of the Great Zhou, then you are a person of the Great Zhou."

However, I won't give you a formal position, but you can request food and weapons from the city at any time. If you can find five men, you'll be a squad leader; if you can find ten men to obey you, you'll be a platoon leader; if you can find a hundred men to obey you, you'll be a centurion!

"Thank you, General." Wang Gang said happily, "General, if I could recruit a thousand men, could I become a lieutenant general?" "You wish," Zhao Xing laughed, "Where are you going to find so many men?"

General, as the saying goes, it's hard to leave one's homeland. After the fall of West Field City, a small portion of the garrison and barbarian civilians fled, but the majority...

The men are still hiding in the underground cave, among whom are eight able-bodied men. True Self planned to wait until the enemy left before coming out."Wang Gang cupped his hands and said, "However, seeing the general's benevolence, I risked my life to come out and contact the general."

"Wang Gang, as I just said, if you can gather this many people, you'll be rewarded with an Official Rank. However, if you want to secure a future for your people, it all depends on your performance."

"Yes, General, I'll go and bring them over right away." Wang Gang understood Zhao Xing's meaning: to receive the same treatment, they would have to rely on their merits. However, this was still better than continuing to be ruled by the other barbarian generals.

Over the course of five years Kash Tribe has come to see the true colors of the royal court, which has reached the point where they are willing to accept anyone as long as they are not ruled by the royal court.

Zhao Xing waved his hand and sent a team of people to push the grain cart and follow Wang Gang.

Wang Gang left, Long Xiao reprimanded the two commanders who were searching the city. "What are you two doing? You didn't even know there were eight hundred barbarian soldiers hiding?"

The commander searching the city was also quite aggrieved; the people weren't even inside the city, but hiding in caves outside. How could they be found so quickly? "Don't be so harsh on them," Zhao Xing said. "If such a small group is determined to hide in caves, they know the terrain well, and it will be very difficult for you to find them."

"Brother Xia, have the scouts we sent out to explore Tianshui City returned yet?" "Not yet." Xia Jing shook his head.

"Order the Divine Might Army and the Black Armor Army to enter the city to rest, cook, and quickly recover their strength," Zhao Xing said. "In Heavenly Timing at most, we will go to attack Tianshui City."

"Yes."

In the early morning of January 25th, the Divine Might Army and Black Armor Army, led by the command headquarters, received bad news in West Field City.

Liao Rulong and Wang Ji's Tigron Army and Blazing Sun Army were ambushed by Zang He, the commander of the Nine Hells Army, in the Yellow Ridge and Zhang Mountain area.

The Zhenhai chariots led by Chen Shijie, Zhao Zheng, Tu Li, and Han Bing were intercepted by Hou Sen, the commander of the Nine Nether chariots, at Two Road Bay. Apart from Zhao Xing and Xia Jing's group, which fared relatively well, the other two groups encountered difficulties from the very beginning of the river-crossing plan.

bother.

The original plan was to meet in the West Field City and Great Water River area in the early morning of the 25th, but the other two groups still hadn't arrived by the evening of the 25th.

Zang He and Hou Sen were commanders from the Nine Hells Army Corps.

Commander Youyun, the commander of the Nine Hells Army responsible for encircling and suppressing Xia Jing's troops, discovered on January 20th that the Great Zhou army in Wind Witch City had fled. He then dispatched Zang He and Hou Sen, each leading an advance force of over 800 men, to intercept the Ten Suns Army Corps crossing the river.

Both of Old Chen's and Liao Rulong's works feature characters from one side who rise to prominence.

The eight white people led by Zang He and Hou Sen were all cultivators, but ninety percent of them were at the Essence Gathering Realm, and most of them were martial artists, with very few mages.

It was simply unrealistic to expect 800 men to wipe out both sides, so the only hope was to slow down the march of the fleeing Great Zhou troops.

Seeing that Chen Shijie and Liao Rulong's troops were marching in neat formations and advancing and retreating in an orderly manner, and that they were all elite soldiers, Zanghe and Hou Sen dared not dismount to fight on foot.

They could only throw a few Firecracker Bamboo and spells on the flying boat.

Once the Firecracker Bamboo were finished, their energy was almost depleted, and they had to return. The airship needed resupply, and so did the people.

Zanghe and Hou Sen had traveled quickly to Wind Witch City by flying boat, so they couldn't carry many large-scale weapons. Therefore, this pursuit only slowed down the march of Chen Shijie and Liao Rulong's troops and did not gain any advantage. Neither side even lost many people.

It wasn't until the 26th, at Xia Niu, that Zhao Xing of West Field City received news that the two forces had temporarily repelled the pursuing troops, Zang He and Hou Sen...

They led their men back to Wind Witch City to resupply and rest, maintain the airship, treat the wounded, and await the arrival of the next large vehicle.

After shaking off their pursuers, the two units reached their designated encampment at dusk.

On January 27th, the Divine Might Army, the Black Armor Army, the Blazing Sun Army, and the Tigron Army, totaling over 8,000 men, launched a three-pronged attack on Tianshui City, Eighth Grade Witch City.

Chen Shijie's Sea Pacifying Army, along with some reserve troops, remained in Qiantan and West Field City to guard against Zang He and Hou Sen's vanguard.

The Divine Might Army attacked from the east of Tianshui City, and the first force to be deployed was the chariot unit.

The original chariots were pulled by exotic beasts, or were driven by Magic Array and core energy Yuan Crystal, and could fly in the sky and walk on the ground.

But things are different now. The Mechanism Master have regained their strength can only restore some of the power of magical mechanisms when they create chariots, so the chariots can only move on the ground.

Just like a flying boat can't stay in the sky for long, because this world is different everywhere.

The chariots inside the restricted area also have a different design than before, somewhat resembling a combination of an oval chariot and a battering ram.

The siege chariots used by the Divine Might Army were all made by Wang Ji. It resembled the carriage of a horse-drawn carriage, but instead of horses, it had a spiral ram that was about three meters long.

The roof of the vehicle is a sail.

A total of 120 siege chariots crashed into the eastern city wall of Tianshui City.

The carriage's external structure has three layers of protection: a layer of leather soaked in animal hides, a layer of sheet metal, and a combination of hardwood.

Three layers of protection safeguard the fragile core of the Magic Array.

Within the forbidden zone of the Sever Heaven and Earth, the mechanisms crafted by the Mechanism Master are extremely fragile and prone to malfunction because the available materials are too weak. Furthermore, they will fail if the craftsman moves too far away from the Mechanism Master.

There was no other way but to Guardian Art circle this way. Whoosh

A sudden gust of wind swept across the battlefield, whipping the sails of the chariots and propelling them forward. The chariots were tracked, allowing them to traverse trenches.

Since there are not many cultivators, each member of the Divine Might Army needs to use Wind Art to blow the sails of more than three chariots.

Zhao Xing possessed the strength of a perfect Eighth Grade Spirit Bridge Realm. He was also casting a spell to create wind, controlling thirty chariots to crash into the local city wall.

With sails billowing, the chariot slowly moved toward the city below.

"Blow! Blow it back right now!" "Don't let these ghostly things get close!"

On the eastern city wall of Tianshui City, a red-skinned barbarian general brandished his longsword and roared madly. The sorcerer on the city wall also began to blow a strong wind, blowing it out of the city.

There's no way around it; if it doesn't block the World Breaking War Chariot, this thing can destroy the structure of the Magic Array city wall as long as it gets close to it. "Whoosh whoosh~"

Two completely different winds began to blow wildly in front of the city on the east side.

The chariots' sails billowed eastward and westward, a back-and-forth tug-of-war that quickly led to a stalemate. The 120 chariots, still over 100 meters from the city wall, had mostly slowed to a crawl. But soon, 20 chariots broke the deadlock.

Zhao Xing controlled the Astral Wind, causing twenty World Breaking War Chariot to move. The sorcerer who was competing with him immediately changed his expression.

"Commander, there are experts on the other side, I can't hold them off," three sorcerers immediately reported.

"Damn it! How tall can they be? Hold them off!" "Yes, yes..."

However, the facts cannot be changed by individual will.

Even though Zhao Xing is at the Eighth Grade Spirit Bridge Realm, the wind he wields is much stronger than those of others at the same level.

Furthermore, thanks to the Cloud-Soaring Vine, Zhao Xing was able to open the Pure Origin Soil, which could only be opened by those at the Fifth Grade, and continuously absorb spiritual energy from it.

Therefore, he hardly needs to worry about consuming resources; he's basically always at full health.

Whether it's other sorcerers or windwalkers, in high-intensity combat, they can only cast spells for three to five minutes before needing to stop and recover their energy. For low-level cultivators, casting spells at full power consumes a great deal of energy.

But Zhao Xing could stay here in the wind forever, until the land turned to dust. Click-clack-clack~

Twenty chariots quickly approached the city walls and then encountered their second challenge—the moat. "Splash!"

The water in the moat surged out in large quantities, forming waves that blocked the way.

Seeing this, Zhao Xing had no choice but to activate his cheat code again. "Cloudcalling!"

The Devouring Cloud Art was unleashed, and clusters of sun-like clouds drifted above the moat, rapidly absorbing its water. "What?!"

As the water level in the moat rapidly receded, the barbarian general on the eastern city wall nearly popped his eyes out. "Could there be Fifth Grade Military Sima Nong on the other side? How can his cloud formation be so powerful?"

"No wonder the commander of the Nine Hells Army wants to annihilate this army. Can we, the Sky Water River, really hold out?" The barbarian general guarding the city began to panic.

His gaze began to sweep over the twenty airships moored in the inner city.

Within the Earth Passage expanse of the land, due to limitations in materials and other reasons, only medium-sized airships are possible at most. Warships are nonexistent. A barbarian general of his caliber would at most use a small airship, which could only carry five to twenty people and had a limited height, not exceeding a thousand meters.

He also had to take the Mechanism Master who built him with him, otherwise he wouldn't be able to fly very far.

"The enemy is determined to take this city to cross the river. They've surrounded it from three sides. I don't know how many of them there are. We only have six thousand people in the city. Can we hold them off?" The barbarian deputy general began to have other ideas.

But out of fear and faith in the Nine Nether God, he suppressed his fear and issued commands.

"Fire archers, prepare!" "Fire!"

The barbarian general watched as his own sorcerer began casting a spell, riding the wind forward, primarily aimed at the sails of the World Breaking War Chariot.

But this was of no use, because the sail material that Wang Ji made had a very high ignition point, and ordinary fire simply couldn't ignite it.

The fire spell could work, but the problem was that Zhao Xing was also casting Wind Art, so the fire couldn't reach him at all; it would just bounce back and hurt his own people.

Tianshui City is currently under attack from three sides, and the number of cultivators assigned to each side is simply insufficient. Apart from those who have already obtained the [Heaven and Earth Guardian], the spells of the rest are only effective within the city.

Thump!

A sound of something hitting the wall startled the barbarian general. He looked up at the city wall and saw the ram of a chariot already touching the wall and beginning to gleam.

What he didn't know was that Zhao Xing on the other side had already begun to consider whether to give up the attack.

Because the situation reported from the other two sides was not good, if the casualties were too heavy, or if the conflict dragged on for too long, and the pursuing Nine Hells Army from the three sides caught up with them, then the trouble would be huge.

Then they would have to fight with their backs to the river, which went against his original intention of guerrilla warfare. "Messenger, ask Xia Jing in the west how long it will take to take him down?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Yes!" The messenger, Mechanism Master of the Limitless Compass School, closed his eyes and quickly replied to Zhao Xing. "Sir, General Xia said that it will take at least four hours to break through in the west."

"What about General Liao's north side?" "Two hours."

Zhao Xing did some calculations and realized he was the luckiest; the eastern side, where he was commanding, was the weakest point in the enemy's defenses.

Twenty World Breaking War Chariot have now begun breaching the city wall's Magic Array, so the reinforcement speed is significantly slower than the rate of breaching.

After about 45 minutes, the eastern city wall will be exposed and defended. Once the city wall's Magic Array fails, the difficulty of the attack will be greatly reduced.

Under the command of the Divine Might Army, there is a mechanical artillery battalion that, within the forbidden zone of the Sever Heaven and Earth, can be considered a formidable weapon.

Ever since Zhao Xing suggested to Ji Che that the Six Ministries suppress their cultivation levels during meetings, some of the most powerful weapons from the Absolute Earth Passage have been put on the research agenda.

For example, Wang Ji of the Divine Might Army created a mechanism called the "Divine Might Cannon." Its materials were very ordinary and had nothing to do with magic, but its power was astonishing.

The Nine Nether God dispatched three armies of cultivators—Youyun, Canghe, and Hou Sen— comprising many people from three sides (excluding a small local army).

There was a reason for coming to besiege the Ten Suns Army Corps; this army was far more effective at killing the Southern Barbarians armies than any other army in the Earth Passage land.

Because Zhao Xing used the Ten Suns Army Corps as a pilot project, which was also the earliest army to practice with the Earth Passage as a hypothetical enemy.

"Tell Xia Jing and Liao Rulong that if they cannot capture Great Water City within two hours, they must retreat immediately and cross the river in another direction," Zhao Xing Xingchao shouted to the messenger.

"Yes!"

As time passed, nine of the World Breaking War Chariot were destroyed one after another, but the light on the city wall grew weaker and weaker. Finally, after a quarter of an hour, the city wall became completely dark, every brick turned a dull gray, and the city wall barrier disappeared, losing its luster!

"Finally broken!" Zhao Xing breathed a long sigh of relief. If it were anywhere else, the Magic Array of such a Seventh Grade Witch City would only be at the intermediate level and could be broken easily.

But breaking through it here is extremely slow. "Artillery Battalion One, fire!" Boom!

Explosions began on and inside the city walls, sending flames soaring and creating deafening noises that instantly boosted morale.

"Firebearer battalion one, battalion two, fire!"

"Zhao Chuanzong, load the God-Breaking Crossbow Void-Piercing Flying Boat it and Void-Piercing Flying Boat off! Prepare to kill Seventh Grade- rank enemies!" "Vanguard Camp, prepare to advance..."

As he was giving the order, Zhao Chuanzong suddenly tugged at Zhao Xing.

Zhao Chuanzong was a centurion of the cavalry, ineffective in siege warfare, so he served as the deputy to his elder brother Zhao Xing. "Why are you pulling me into this?"

Zhao Chuanzong hesitated, "Brother, the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat is for you, not for fighting. General Xia said it can only be used to help you break through the encirclement..."

Within the Sever Heaven and Earth, the flying boat's energy core became Yuan Crystal, but it also became a fragile item. If it were to attack a city, it would likely be destroyed.

The Ten Suns Army Corps didn't have many small flying boats; the entire army only had about fifty, and only four medium-sized ones—the Sky-Piercing Void-Piercing Flying Boat.

Small airships are only capable of short-distance, low-altitude flight, while medium-sized Void-Piercing Flying Boat can fly long distances.

"Damn it! Call me Grand Minister of Agriculture!" Zhao Xing shoved Zhao Chuanzong aside. "Who's more important, the Grand Minister of Agriculture or General Xia Jing? Listen to my orders, take off! I never intended to escape alone!"

Zhao Xing's voice was loud and clear, and everyone could see and hear it.

In reality, Old Master Zhao knew that this thing was just a psychological comfort. Even with this thing, it would be difficult to escape the Nine Nether God' massive sweep, otherwise he would have fled back to the Great Zhou long ago.

He would never have thought of running to the Fifth Grade if he didn't reach the maximum level (Fifth Grade) in the Sever Heaven and Earth, then he wouldn't be afraid.

If he were to reach the Fifth Grade, he would have many more tricks up his sleeve. Little did people know that Liu Tianning was already known as invincible among his peers when he was at the Fifth Grade, and that challenging opponents of higher ranks was as easy as eating and drinking.

Once you reach the Fifth Grade, Old Master Zhao will be able to summon a very powerful Straw Man Clone, provided, of course, that you survive this wave of sweeping attacks.

Tianshui City has fallen; he can't let these "leveling-up experience points" escape. Simply killing ordinary barbarian soldiers isn't enough. "Yes!" Zhao Chuanzong gritted his teeth and said, "The general has ordered that the God-Breaking Crossbow onto the flying boats, including the Void-Piercing Flying Boat!"

"Kill!" "Charge!"

One hour after the battle began, the eastern side of Tianshui City fell. The western and southern sides followed suit two hours later.

After Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, Long Xiao and other experts climbed the city wall, they immediately opened up the situation, gained a foothold on the city wall, and once they recovered their strength, they blasted open the city gate.

After the city fell, it became street fighting. Once inside the city, the battle turned into a war between low-level cultivators. Tianshui City was Seventh Grade Witch City. Once inside, the members of the Ten Suns Army Corps would recover their cultivation level to at most the Seventh Grade.

The most difficult part was breaching the city, which would result in many deaths. On the night of January 28th, Tianshui City was completely captured.

"How many people have had their strength restored?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Originally there were 350 men, but after taking Tianshui City, the number reached 880," Xia Jing said.

"Tianshui City has more cultivators than us, but thankfully none of them are experts. They are far inferior to those in Wind Witch City, and also weaker than the pursuers behind us," Chen Shijie said.

"What about casualties?"

"Many people died," Xia Jing said. "Luckily, we captured the city, otherwise the number would have been more than three times."

Witch City is very important because as long as the soldiers don't die immediately, they can receive maximum treatment after the city falls and they enter. Their resistance will also recover as their level increases, turning serious injuries into minor injuries and minor injuries into minor injuries.

"We need to rest quickly, treat the wounded, and get the boats across the river. We can only stay here for two more days at most," Zhao Xing said.

It took them about Heavenly Timing to travel from Wind Witch City to West Field City. The advance of an army of tens of thousands of people was relatively slow, but this was still considered fast.

Tens of thousands of pursuers are now behind them, and they don't have much time to rest and cross the Sky Water River.

On February 1st, the army gradually crossed the swift Sky Water River.

On the night of February 2nd, Zhao Xing once again split the Ten Suns Army Corps, this time not just three routes, but six. Xia Jing, Liao Rulong, Zhao Zheng, Long Xiao, and Chen Shijie each led one route, while the boats crossing the river were hidden in Three Tree Bay.

Xia Jing and the others were puzzled. "We won't need these boats when we cross the Canglan River to the north, so why not destroy them?"

Zhao Xing glanced at the soldiers on the hidden ship and pondered, "Let's keep them here for now, just in case."

On February 5th, a group led by the Youyun Commander of the Nine Nether Chariots, along with two groups led by Canghe and Hou Sen, arrived in Tianshui City.

"Commander-in-Chief, the valiant Lord Xia Jing and his men have crossed the river. They are marching very fast, as if they knew we were besieging them."

"So what if they know?" Hou Sen said coldly. "Across the river to the south, in any direction, there are ambushes. How long can they hold out, running so lightly equipped?"

"As the encirclement gets smaller, our speed of reinforcement will increase. We were a step too slow this time, and it will be difficult for them to replenish our supplies next time they attack the city."

Hou Sen is right. "Youyun Commander looked at the map. "As long as we keep an eye on them, we'll eventually lead them into a dead end, and then they'll have nowhere to escape."

In the wild, cultivators cannot obtain supplies. The higher their level of cultivation, the more they need to eat. Once the army is wiped out, it is difficult for a single person to enter the city.

They were screened repeatedly; the animals either got caught and killed, or starved to death in the wild. Flying through the air? That would make them even easier to catch.

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief! A major discovery!" Suddenly, a guard rushed in excitedly, saying. "Youyun's face was covered in purple markings, making her appear somewhat alluring."

We just received news that among the Great Zhou delegation crossing the river, the highest-ranking Great Zhou official not only includes the valiant Lord Xia Jing, but also the long-lost Grand Minister of Agriculture, Zhao Xing!

"What?!" Youyun Commander jumped to his feet, staring intently at his personal guards. "Are you sure the news is true?"

"It is true. Our people devoured a wandering soul of the Great Zhou and witnessed Zhao Xing and Xia Jing entering West Field City. They also saw him in Heaven River City."

"Hahahaha!" Youyun Commander burst into laughter. "I never expected to stumble upon such a great achievement." Regarding Zhao Xing, Ji Che offered his subordinates the following terms: anyone with definite information would be promoted two ranks and granted a marquisate. Bring him back.

The Grand Minister of Agriculture, upon being promoted five ranks, is granted the title of Duke of a Commandery!

The Southern Barbarians value this highly as well. As long as Youyun Commander has definite information, he can be promoted in cultivation afterward. If he captures or kills Zhao Xing, he will even have the opportunity to be personally taught by Witch Moon God!

"I want to kill Zhao Xing!" This was the first reaction of the Youyun Commander, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

Although he had recovered to the Sixth Rank, Zhao Xing had probably recovered to the Seventh Grade as well. In the vast wilderness, how could he possibly find anyone by himself?

There's a risk of things going wrong, after all, Zhao Xing's past record of challenging opponents of higher levels is well-known. Even a Fifth Grade Nine Nether God couldn't be found by him alone, so we still have to rely on a large army.

"Immediately report to the Nine Nether God! These three parties alone are not enough; we need to create a large encirclement, the more people the better."

Youyun immediately realized that he couldn't keep this victory to himself, so he decided to take the benefits he could see first.

Meanwhile, through layers of communication, news that Zhao Xing was still alive secretly reached the capital. "We have received news from the Grand Minister of Agriculture!" Ji Piao reports.

"Are you sure?" Ji Che, sitting on the throne, looked excited. "Don't let it be another imposter, making me happy for nothing."

"This time it is absolutely true, written by the Grand Minister of Agriculture, and it has been verified by secret communications within the Military Realm," Ji said. "However, the front lines have also brought bad news: the Nine Nether God have concentrated more than forty armies and are conducting a large-scale sweep of Azure Moon Prefecture and He Prefecture in the central part of the Southern Barbarians lands."

"The Grand Minister of Agriculture is currently in the northeast of Ripple Union Prefecture, surrounded by the Nine Nether God."

Ji Che fell silent. This news was truly terrible. He had just received news of his elder brother, only to discover that his brother was in danger.

"Immediately issue an order to Rahu Lord, instructing him to spare no effort in bringing Zhao Xing back. I reiterate, spare no effort! Even if the battle is delayed by decades, even if all ten Imperial Guards are wiped out, it doesn't matter!"

"Yes." Ji Si nodded.

Ji Che looked out into the distant sky and murmured to himself, "Big brother, you must hold on."

On February 7, three days after leaving the area south of the Sky Water River, Zhao Xing's Ten Suns Army Corps began attacking Min City, Union Water City, and Feather Dark City in Ripple Union Prefecture as planned.

Once these three cities are breached, and after crossing two more lines of defense, there will be a chance to join forces with Dong Ze's Divine Abode Army.

Two of the lines of defense were rather sparse, after all, the Nine Nether God had mobilized so many people, so many places were short-handed.

However, after three days of fighting, they failed to capture any of the cities of Min City, Union Water City, or Feather Dark City. Instead, enemy reinforcements were on their way.

"Brother Zhao, the situation is not good. If we can't capture one within three days, we'll be surrounded," Xia Jing worriedly.

They now have a dozen or so cultivators, including about ten at the Seventh Grade, but with this level of strength, they won't last long in the encirclement of the vast enemy army.

As the encirclement shrinks, their window of opportunity to attack the city will become shorter and shorter.

"Let's stop fighting." Zhao Xing looked at the map for a while, shook his head and said, "Continuing to fight will only lead to certain death. Tell Old Chen and Lao Liao's troops to start retreating."

"Where to retreat to?" Xia Jing asked.

"Let's cross the Great Water River again and Whirlwind City," Zhao Xing said.

"What?" Xia Jing, somewhat bewildered. "How do we get back? We're surrounded on all seven sides by enemy forces. We still have to return to Yuan."

North of the mansion?

"The most dangerous place is the safest place. We just crossed the river, and the enemy certainly didn't expect us to break out of an encirclement and then crawl back in," Zhao Xing said. "So our goal is to attack their weak river defenses before they can completely encircle us, and then return to the north of Ripple Union Prefecture, and we need to be quick about it."

(There's more to come!)