Siege

"Hehe! Junior Brother Jingyuan, you worry too much."

Gu Han shook his head and smiled when he heard this.

"Though Patriarchs Jue Ming and Liao Kong are immensely powerful, they are not invincible. Moreover, when two armies clash, individual strength can almost be disregarded. Even if A Yanda could hold off a thousand alone, what use would that be before an army of hundreds of thousands, or even several hundred thousand?

"Therefore, in my opinion, King Ming Zhu Hong may not necessarily lose. And even if he does lose, so what?

"As the saying goes, when soldiers come, generals block them; when water comes, earth dams it. Even when we martial artists encounter hardships and perils, we must swim against the current and use our own fists to blast open a great road leading to heaven."

Divine light blazed in Gu Han's eyes, and an aura of domineering contempt for all beneath heaven rose naturally from him.

This was not arrogance, but confidence.

In terms of martial cultivation, he had only just broken through into the Blood Tempering and Organ Refining realms. In this world, he was hardly worth mentioning, and countless people stood at higher realms than he did.

But realm was realm, and strength was strength. Though he had only recently entered Blood Tempering and Organ Refining, his formidable body and surging blood and qi told him at every moment that his strength was no weaker than that of any invincible master at the Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi.

It could be said that although Gu Han was not truly invincible in this world, he was absolutely among the top three. So long as he did not encounter A Yanda, the lord of the Great Barbarian Kingdom, Gu Han had the confidence that he would lose to no one!

"Haha! Senior Brother, what lofty spirit! This junior brother is ashamed of himself, far beneath you! It seems your breakthrough into Blood Tempering has truly increased your strength enormously, far beyond my imagination!"

Seeing Gu Han's confident expression, Jingyuan laughed as well and praised him.

He knew that his senior brother had always been a low-key man, far steadier than himself.

Just as back then, when his senior brother had cultivated for three years and already rivaled a Blood Tempering expert, he had still endured Wang Lang's provocation without acting. Had Jingyuan not faced a life-threatening crisis, his senior brother would likely have continued lurking in concealment. This showed the depth of his temperament.

Yet now, after returning from seclusion, his senior brother was acting completely out of character and speaking such grand, ambitious words. His increase in strength was likely even greater than Jingyuan had imagined.

Could it be that I was wrong just now? Could Senior Brother's current strength rival that of an expert at the Minor Accomplishment of Internal Qi?

Jingyuan boldly guessed in his heart, deciding that Gu Han's strength should be around the Minor Accomplishment of Internal Qi. As for rivaling someone at the Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi, he did not dare to imagine it.

Just after Gu Han emerged from seclusion, at the border of Fangnan Prefecture in the Great Yan Kingdom, countless densely packed troops were slowly advancing toward Starfall City in Fangnan Prefecture.

Starfall City was a city located at the border between Fangnan Prefecture and Yunhai Prefecture of Great Yan. It had received its name because a star from beyond the heavens had fallen there a thousand years ago.

More than a decade ago, it had merely been an ordinary city. But now, it had long become King Ming Zhu Hong's first—and most important—line of defense for guarding Fangnan Prefecture. Not only had its walls been raised threefold, even their thickness had been reinforced to more than three feet. It sprawled upon the earth like a primordial beast.

"Stop!"

A loud shout rang out from the army outside the city.

At the front of the army, a man clad in golden armor, with a flat nose, square mouth, dark and ugly features, and hair covering his body so thickly that he resembled a wild beast, shouted.

This man was A Yanda, the Barbarian King of the Great Barbarian Kingdom, an unparalleled prodigy who had surpassed the Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi.

Thud! Thud!

The moment A Yanda's voice fell, orderly footsteps rang out at once. The army immediately halted, operating with the meticulous precision of the finest machine.

"Wang Zhongyi, go challenge them!"

Seated atop a blood-red steed, A Yanda held a Halberd in his hand. He appeared imposing, mighty, and solemn. Once the army stopped, he gave the order in the Barbarian Tribe language to a general beside him clad in silver armor.

"Yes, honored King!"

Wang Zhongyi respectfully bowed and nodded, his somewhat aged face full of servile flattery.

Now, after more than a decade of time's erosion, his body was no longer as sturdy as it had once been. Half the hair atop his head had turned stark white, and even his waist had become somewhat bent, giving him the air of a hero at the curtain call.

Yet when he stepped forward again and cursed Prince Ming atop the city walls, his voice remained thunderous under the support of his powerful Inner Qi.

"Zhu Hong, you brat, listen well! The divine arts of our Barbarian King cover the world, and his talent shocks the ages and dazzles the present! Not only did he create a miraculous cultivation method back then, making the armies of our Great Barbarian Kingdom valiant and invincible, victorious in every battle, but he himself has now broken through the Great Accomplishment of Internal Qi and reached the half-step Legendary Realm, making him invincible beneath heaven!

"Zhu Hong, if you know what is good for you, stop resisting stubbornly and surrender your weapons at once! If you do, the Barbarian King may yet spare your life in consideration of your being a rare talent. Otherwise, when the army of our Man Kingdom breaches this city another day, you will all be smashed to pieces!"

Wang Zhongyi cursed sternly, his voice as steady and powerful as great bells and grand chimes. Though separated from the city walls by several hundred meters, his words remained perfectly clear, as though whispered directly into their ears.

"Pah! Wang Zhongyi, you traitorous scoundrel who sold out his country! You are a descendant of Great Yan, yet not only did you fail to defend the land of Great Yan against the invasion of foreign tribes, you shamelessly abandoned your clan and forsook your ancestors, immediately surrendering under A Yanda after your defeat that year and helping him slaughter countless citizens of Great Yan.

"A creature like you, who forgets his roots and fears death while clinging to life—what face do you have to meet the people of the world? And after you die, what face will you have to meet your ancestors beneath the Nine Springs? Dog thief, take one of my arrows!"

As soon as Wang Zhongyi finished speaking, a general beside King Ming Zhu Hong, clad in gilded armor and appearing to be around thirty, cursed through gritted teeth. Then he nocked an arrow, drew his bow, and viciously shot at Wang Zhongyi's face.

Whoosh!

A piercing sound split the air. The silver-white arrow, forged from pure steel and empowered by the gilded general's incomparably potent Inner Qi, tore through the boundless air like a cannonball, trailing a faint white wave of air. In less than half a breath, it crossed several hundred meters and struck directly toward Wang Zhongyi's face.

"Ha! Break!"

Facing this ferocious incoming arrow, Wang Zhongyi did not dare be careless. Inner Qi erupted from his entire body, and he brought down his saber in a vertical slash. With the move "Splitting Mount Hua," his blade met the long arrow, the two shedding force against each other like the tip of a needle against a wheat awn.

Until at last, with a clang,

Wang Zhongyi's saber flew upward, and his body shook violently, killing the prized horse beneath him alive from the shock. Then, with a "wah," he spat out a great mouthful of blood before barely managing to knock the arrow to the ground.

"What an Xu Yuan! Worthy indeed of being one of the invincible generals beneath Prince Ming, known alongside Chang Jian as the Twin Kings. He is truly formidable! Great King, since Zhu Wu is unwilling to surrender, let us attack directly!"

With blood in his mouth, Wang Zhongyi knelt on one knee and spoke to A Yanda, the Barbarian King mounted upon the blood-red steed, in the Barbarian Tribe language.

"Mm. Since that is the case, then..."

Kill!

At the front of the army, upon hearing this, A Yanda swung his Halberd. His beard and hair bristled, like the fierce Zhang Fei of the Three Kingdoms reborn. His dense blood and qi and Inner Qi surged into the heavens, shaking the nine skies and the earth!