Heavenly Abyss's Iron Discipline Won the People; the Fortune Cauldron Took on a Dragon's Form
Nine Rivers Pass.
This enormous fortress towered over the northern bank of an eight-hundred-li stretch of turbulent river. More than a natural military stronghold, it was a flourishing hub of the Central Plains, home to over a million permanent residents and bustling with merchants.
Yet at that moment, suffocating panic shrouded the entire magnificent pass.
The main streets stood deserted. Every restaurant, inn, and shop on either side had shut its doors, and even the heavy window shutters had been nailed firmly closed.
Countless commoners huddled in dim lofts, clutching weeping children as they trembled and peered outside through the cracks. The low-level rogue cultivators looked ashen, gripping their Storage Bags as they waited in despair for the impending tragedy.
In the twilight chaos of the Great Zhou Immortal Dynasty's ten-thousand-year reign, government soldiers were bandits, and rebel armies were locusts.
To the people of any city, "the gates thrown open, the enemy entering" usually meant days and nights of burning, slaughter, and plunder, of heads falling and sects being wiped out.
Thud, thud, thud.
Heavy, synchronized footsteps finally rang out along Nine Rivers Pass's main thoroughfare, as though even the earth's pulse resonated with them.
Three hundred thousand armored, heavily armed soldiers of the Qingzhou Suppression Army, their killing intent soaring skyward, marched slowly into the pass in orderly square formations under Shen Feiyu and the other Golden Core and Purple Abode experts. Their discipline was absolute, almost chilling.
In a corner beside the gate, a little beggar hiding in the ruins of a temple shook with hunger and accidentally dropped a dried-out black bowl. It struck the ground with a sharp crack.
Whoosh!
A Foundation Establishment Realm officer marching at the army's head instinctively gripped his sword and turned. His cold, battle-tempered eyes instantly frightened the little beggar