Receiving the Remnants

The wind and snow vanished under the power of the Cloud Qi Bomb.

The earth saw the light of day again, the sky was a vast expanse of blue, and the warm sun shone on the Beifeng City, just as it had since time immemorial.

The blood frozen solid and the bones lying on the brown ground tell the story of the war and death that had just taken place here.

After the snow clouds dissipated, the temperature briefly warmed up, and the blood ice on the ground began to melt, turning into nutrients that seeped into the soil.

The flowers and plants here should be quite lush and beautiful next year.

But most of the people here won't see what happens next year, because the war hasn't ended.

The massive Beifeng City, with its north wall collapsed, has now been transformed into a gigantic grinding wheel of flesh and blood, relentlessly devouring the lives of the living.

The Barbarian Tribe army was overwhelming, and the 300,000 border troops of the sect were making a final stand.

But the Barbarian Tribe attacks came wave after wave, stretching like the ocean tide.

As a common soldier with no background, Li Zixiang had been in this Northern Border for five years, having come from a martial arts school under the Spirit Water Palace.

Compared to those seasoned veterans who had spent more than ten or even decades in the Northern Border, his five years were not long, but they happened to coincide with the opportune time of the Barbarian Tribe invasion from the south.

War is both a danger and an opportunity.

When Li Zixiang first saw these tall, burly, and ferocious-looking aliens on the battlefield, he felt a natural fear. However, he gradually found his fear somewhat amusing.

These Barbarian Tribe are all show and no substance, the kind of soldiers from the Great Yan border army who would crumble at the slightest touch.

What a bunch of idiots.

They can't win a fight, yet they still insist on invading the Great Yan from the south. What kind of idiot are they?

Every time he went to the battlefield, he was able to gain a lot of military merits from this group of dark-skinned, big, and simple-minded men.

It gave him, who had no background or family connections, a chance to rise above others.

In just five years, he went from a foot soldier to a high-ranking official.

He wasn't a high-ranking officer in the army, but he had about fifty men under his command.

After deducting enough from his monthly salary for his own cultivation, he could also visit his old flame in the brothel. They had even made a pact that once he had saved enough money, he would redeem her from her servitude and have her give him a healthy baby boy.

But at this moment, all those hopes have vanished.

At the fourth watch of the night before last, the generals who had been ordering them to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements suddenly issued orders for them to immediately start fires and prepare to break camp.

Although he was puzzled, he did as instructed, because those generals had far more ideas than he, a roughneck.

And just as he had thought,

As dawn approaches

Those high-ranking generals once again used their magical powers to open the eyes of the heavens and dispel all the damned snow clouds in the sky.

The Barbarian Tribe surrounding the camp were now directly within their line of sight.

Very close.

It was about ten miles east of their camp.

Li Zixiang thought this would be a fierce battle, and he was even a little excited about it.

After all, these Barbarian Tribe all earned military merits. If he could accumulate more merits, he might be promoted to garrison commander next year.

As a former dockworker, this was something he never dared to dream of.

However, there is always a gap between ideals and reality.

The generals did not issue orders to prepare for battle, but rather to avoid the Barbarian Tribe army, form ranks, and break camp to enter the Beifeng.

This disappointed Li Zixiang was eager for military merit, because in clear weather, the Barbarian Tribe would never choose to confront their 300,000-strong army head-on unless they were courting death.

However, every loss has its gain, and soon the general's order excited Li Zixiang again.

As a border army under the Spirit Water Palace, Li Zixiang became the vanguard force entering the city.

The Barbarian Tribe will surely leave some troops guarding the Beifeng City. If he manages to breach the city walls, it will be a great achievement.

But unfortunately,

From the very beginning, the script for the battlefield seemed to spiral out of control.

Countless Barbarian Tribe catapults rained down on the vanguard's marching path, but this was no problem for the now-large army.

The soldiers resonated, and their surging Qi and Blood pulverized everything that flew in.

Moreover, the Barbarian Tribe are fearless.

Despite the clear weather, they dared to launch a large-scale pursuit of the army that had formed ranks and was breaking camp.

Countless Barbarian Tribe wolf riders charged directly into the well-prepared rear guard like moths to a flame.

War is imminent.

Li Zixiang thought the generals would order them to change their formation immediately.

The vanguard turned into the rearguard, deployed their troops, and arrayed themselves to deliver a crushing blow to these reckless barbarians.

However, the general chose to fight and retreat, and ordered his vanguard to capture Beifeng City as quickly as possible.

Military orders are absolute; no matter how much he didn't understand, Li Zixiang had no choice but to obey.

After several hours of fierce fighting, they successfully defeated the small number of the Barbarian Tribe troops entrenched on the city walls and captured the north city wall.

Thirty thousand elite vanguard troops entered the city to clear out the remaining Barbarian Tribe forces, while one hundred thousand central troops quickly cleared the city walls. The quartermaster rapidly deployed some simple defensive equipment on the city walls, preparing to receive the rear guard as they entered the city.

As time goes by,

As the vanguard among vanguards, Li Zixiang had become bloodthirsty in the city, with his brothers falling one after another beside him.

The blade of his spirit sword was dulled by the Barbarian Tribe's tough black skin, so he casually picked up the body of his dead comrade from the ground.

With the support of the military formation's Qi and Blood, even with only a sixth-rank cultivation level, he could not withstand each of his fifth-rank Soul Condensation.

With each strike, Li Zixiang lost count of how many Barbarian Tribe he had killed, but the black blood had completely stained his armor black.

Just as these vanguard troops were about to reach the South City and completely recapture Beifeng City, a deafening roar, like an earth dragon turning over, exploded behind them.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The earth-shattering roar caused the ground throughout Beifeng City to tremble, and almost everyone turned to look in the direction from which the sound came.

Amidst the astonished gazes of all the border troops,

The massive Beifeng Wall that had stood before the Barbarian Tribe for millennia collapsed.

The mountain collapsed and the earth split open, with rocks flying everywhere, and the dust and smoke rising from the collapse shrouded half of Beifeng City.

What terrified all the lower-ranking officers was that the connection between their small military formations and their commander-in-chief was severed at this time.

The morale of the troops, which had been soaring, began to waver at this moment.

The collapsed giant wall blocked the more than 100,000 rearguard troops who were preparing to enter the city from outside. The loss of contact with the commander-in-chief caused the super-large army of 300,000 border troops to fall into fighting independently.

The originally orderly battle began to descend into chaos, and the balance of power began to shift at this moment.

An hour later, Li Zixiang successfully climbed the South City and looked back into the city.

Beneath a clear blue sky lies the sprawling, Beifeng city of Beifeng.

The screams of his comrades could still be faintly heard from the South City wall.

It collapsed

"Li Tou."

"Li Tou."

"Li Tou!"

A shout from beside him startled Li Zixiang from his reverie, and he subconsciously glanced around.

The surrounding area was no longer the giant city of Beifeng, but a vast white Snow Plain. The snow falling from the sky almost completely obscured their vision. A dozen soldiers wrapped in coats sat quietly around them, resting. Next to the tree where he sat, a young man dressed in ordinary border army armor stood.

Looking up at the person who had arrived, Li Zixiang forced a smile:

"Li Xia, what's wrong?"

The newcomer was a young man who was not yet twenty years old and had just graduated from the martial arts school this year and come to this Northern Border.

Li Xia pulled his winter coat tighter around himself and said in a low voice:

"Chief Li, General Hou just sent word that we will be arriving at Houting County soon, and he wants us to prepare to break camp and advance."

Li Zixiang silent for a moment, glanced back at the demoralized soldiers around him, and asked, "Have we... escaped the harassment of those Barbarian Tribe wolf riders?"

A smile appeared on Li Xia's youthful face, "Yes, General Hou said that Marquis of Martial Achievement's reinforcements have arrived in the Houting County area, and the Barbarian Tribe probably won't dare to pursue them too far."

Upon hearing this, Li Zixiang felt a slight sense of relief, a genuine smile curving his lips.

"That's good, that's good."

Four days have passed since the major defeat at Beifeng. The various armies have broken out separately, with the Barbarian Tribe tribes in hot pursuit.

At first, the clear weather allowed them to fight and retreat, but this weather only lasted for two days before a blizzard struck again. Their remaining force of less than 20,000 men was then targeted by a Barbarian Tribe Snow Plain wolf cavalry unit.

Two days of pursuit left them with the bodies of thousands of their brothers scattered across the Snow Plain.

Of his fifty brothers, only about ten remain.

Fortunately, they arrived at Houting County, and they were finally safe.

Upon learning of the Marquis Pavilion's impending arrival, the army's previously low morale finally began to recover, and a glimmer of hope appeared in the bewildered eyes of the rank-and-file soldiers.

Food, weapons, and safety can all be guaranteed there.

Driven by this belief, they marched for two hours and finally arrived at the foot of Houting County.

But the situation upon arrival was somewhat different from Li Zixiang imagined.

There was no hot water, hot food, or warm rooms; even the tall and heavy city gates of Houting County showed no sign of opening.

Li Zixiang assumed the garrison had mistaken them for the Barbarian Tribe and quickly walked to the front of the military column.

He saw General Hou and that young female general from another military unit standing beneath the city wall.

The two of them were looking up, seemingly talking to someone on the city wall, but they were probably using telepathy, so their conversation was completely inaudible.

In contrast,

Two figures dressed in red stood atop the Marquis Pavilion wall, their indifferent gazes looking down upon the remaining soldiers who had fled here with all their might.

Time ticked by, but the city gates showed no sign of opening. Some highly skilled cultivators in the army even saw, through the wind and snow, that the defensive weapons on the city walls were already quietly aimed at them.

At this time,

A gentle, refined male voice, amplified by the Source Qi, traveled from the city walls to the ears of every soldier below:

"General Hou, General Luo, if you agree to this condition, we will immediately open the city gates to welcome your army. I don't have much patience; a quarter of an hour should be enough for you to consider."

condition?

Upon Li Zixiang's eyes widened in confusion as he glanced at the two generals in front of the battle lines.

But the faces of the two generals, one male and one female, were so dark they could drip water.

In contrast, the soldiers had begun to whisper among themselves, and the remnant army, whose morale had been gradually stabilizing, began to fall into chaos at this moment.

Puzzled, Li Zixiang circulated his internal Cultivation Method and looked up at the two figures on the city wall.

The man on the city wall seemed to sense something, his smiling gaze sweeping over, but he quickly turned away flippantly.

Xu Yuan withdrew his gaze, pulled his coat tighter around himself, and asked, half-jokingly:

"Qingyan, aren't the conditions you're offering a bit too much?"

Li Qingyan's red lips curled up, she was in a very good mood, chuckled, and rolled her eyes at the man beside her:

"Is it over once all the Sumeru Ring and military supplies have been handed over?"

Xu Yuan exhaled a puff of white mist, glanced at the remaining soldiers below, and said in a low voice:

"Yesterday, we received news from Yuan Hao that he has gradually taken in about 30,000 defeated soldiers. In total, we can probably take in about 70,000 to 80,000 remnants for reorganization. It feels really good to get something for nothing, tsk tsk."