Trump Card and Contingency

The Xiongnu had dispatched three grandmasters to surround and kill Yang Ye, filling every defender at Anning Pass with a sliver of despair.

Those were three grandmaster-level experts. General Yang Ye faced three alone; he had no chance of victory.

"We've held on for nearly a month. Are we still going to fail to hold it?" General Polu Zhao Yong'an revealed a bitter smile.

Great Wei was not without powerful experts, nor did it lack grandmaster-level fighters.

Yet at Anning Pass, only Yang Ye, a single grandmaster, had remained behind to defend it to the death.

Everything stemmed from Great Wei's old emperor being frail and aged, while the princes fought for the throne and Yang Ye refused to take sides.

The defenders of Anning Pass had thus endured two and a half years of suppression.

Many resources had been secretly withheld by those princes. The Anning Army, originally meant to have fifty thousand men at full strength, had only thirty thousand.

And now, with the battle having reached this point and Anning Pass on the verge of falling, the imperial court still stood by and watched.

At this moment, the generals of Anning Pass were filled with resentment toward the imperial court.

"Men, kill these barbarian dogs! Kill one and break even; kill two and you've made a profit!" Sun Hao roared. He no longer held back, crazily fighting a Xiongnu Xiantian Martial Artist, determined to fight him to the death.

High in the sky, Yang Ye fought one against three. In the end, he was outmatched and retreated step by step.

The defenders of Anning Pass began a frenzied counterattack. With death already in their hearts, they killed as many as they could.

"Kill!"

The defenders of Anning Pass, fighting with their lives on the line, erupted with unimaginable killing power. Their reckless, life-for-life fighting style made many Xiongnu soldiers tremble in fear.

At this moment, Sheng Huai'an was like a demon king who had crawled out of hell amidst the Xiongnu forces. The Black Gold War Blade in his hand had drunk an unknown amount of Xiongnu blood.

His battle robe had long been dyed red. Around him, countless Xiongnu soldiers lay fallen in dense heaps.

Enemies below the Xiantian Realm were almost incapable of surviving even one exchange with him.

Ordinary soldiers could not withstand a single slash from him.

In less than a quarter of an hour, over a hundred Xiongnu enemies had already died beneath his blade.

Blood fiend aura billowed forth, reddening the blade light with peerless terror.

He was like a harvester of life. Wherever he passed, Xiongnu corpses were left behind.

Seeing how terrifying Sheng Huai'an was, not only the Xiongnu enemies but even Colonel Lin, Colonel Zhou, Martial Commandant, and the others were stunned.

When they saw even Houtian peak experts among the Xiongnu forces unable to block a single slash from Sheng Huai'an, their scalps went numb.

What kind of monster was this fellow? He had gone to the grasslands once, and when he returned, his strength had changed so drastically that heaven and earth had overturned.

He slaughtered Houtian martial artists like chickens and ducks. They were confident in themselves, but if they faced Sheng Huai'an, they would likely have no fate other than being cut down.

"What kind of freak is this guy? His strength has grown far too terrifyingly," Martial Commandant muttered.

Back then, Sheng Huai'an had merely been a minor soldier under his command.

Now, he probably could not even block one slash from Sheng Huai'an!

Watching Sheng Huai'an slaughter in every direction, heads rolling wherever he struck, the experts within the Xiongnu army could no longer sit still.

A Xiantian Martial Artist from the Xiongnu army charged onto the city wall to deal with Sheng Huai'an.

That Xiantian Martial Artist attacked tyrannically, directly slamming a palm toward him, intending to crush Sheng Huai'an to death.

Sheng Huai'an cut down a Houtian early-stage expert with one slash. Facing the palm strike from the Xiantian Martial Artist, he answered with a punch.

True essence surged forth. The fist imprint was like a blazing sun, carrying unmatched power as it collided fiercely with that palm.

"Boom!!"

The two powerful forces collided, erupting with a sound like thunderous war drums. Both men retreated five steps.

This was a collision of pure strength, cultivation, and physique.

This was how martial experts fought: blades and swords against enemies, fists striking flesh, a contest of pure power and strength.

Xiutu Yao looked at Sheng Huai'an in surprise. He had thought he could kill him with a single palm strike.

He had not expected Sheng Huai'an's strength to be so formidable, not the slightest bit weaker than his own. Even his physique and fleshly body were no inferior.

Such displays were absolutely not something a Houtian martial artist could possess.

Upon breaking into the Xiantian Realm, one could use Xiantian Martial True Essence to nourish the body, becoming many times stronger than the copper skin and iron bones of Houtian martial artists.

Yet Sheng Huai'an, with Houtian cultivation, could rival the Xiantian Realm. It left him utterly shocked.

"Sure enough, you're a monstrous genius. No wonder you kill Houtian martial artists so effortlessly," Xiutu Yao said flatly as he looked at Sheng Huai'an.

"But no matter how monstrous you are, before you've fully grown, you're still nothing more than a dead man."

Sheng Huai'an watched the other man with a grave expression. This man was a Xiantian Martial Artist, and not one who had only recently broken through. His cultivation was deep and profound.

Facing a Xiantian Martial Artist for real forced him to take the battle seriously.

The Xiantian and Houtian realms were an enormous dividing line, an insurmountable chasm.

Those capable of using the Houtian Realm to strike down the Xiantian Realm were exceedingly rare.

"Personally ending a Great Wei monstrous genius may prove to be quite an accomplishment." Xiutu Yao raised his fist and charged toward Sheng Huai'an.

True essence surged around his fist, blood energy coiling about it. At the Xiantian Realm, true essence could leave the body and wield immense might.

Sheng Huai'an swung the Black Gold War Blade in a slash. Blood fiend aura rolled forth—blood fiend aura he had gathered by cultivating the Blood Fiend Saber Technique and killing enemies.

"Bang!!"

Fist and blade collided. Sheng Huai'an was forced back two steps. A Xiantian Martial Artist's true essence was powerful and terrifying indeed.

The true essence within his body had yet to transform into Xiantian true essence. Sheng Huai'an could only rely on his peerlessly powerful physique and immense strength to fight him.

"Kill!!"

"Swear to kill the enemy!"

"Die together with these barbarian dogs!"

"As long as the city stands, we stand! If the city falls, we fall!"

"Protect our homes and defend our nation..."

The city wall was a scene of utter carnage. Defenders constantly perished together with their enemies.

The defenders of Anning Pass held death in their hearts as they blocked the enemy atop the walls.

But there were simply too many enemies. The defenders died without cease, falling beneath Xiongnu blades.

The Commandery Soldiers and County Soldiers who had arrived as reinforcements were nowhere near the Xiongnu enemy troops in strength.

When peace became a habit, people lost their sense of danger.

The soldiers of Anning Pass were simply not comparable to those Commandery Soldiers and County Soldiers.

Yet the defenders of Anning Pass had been worn down too severely. Facing the surging Xiongnu assault, the defenders on the city wall retreated step by step.

Twenty thousand Xiongnu troops pressed forward, with an endless stream of soldiers continuing to advance behind them. They intended to breach the pass in one stroke and bathe Anning Pass in blood.

Hearing the cries of battle from the city walls, the people inside the city looked toward them.

They knew that the war had reached its most brutal moment.

Once the city fell and Anning Pass was crushed beneath the iron cavalry, no one would survive.

"Mother, your son has been unfilial. Your son is going to kill the enemy." A man knelt and bowed to his mother, then picked up the blade from his home and headed for the city wall to fight.

"When the nest is overturned, can any egg remain intact? Brothers, come with me and kill the enemy!" A small gang leader led a group of rough men up the city wall without hesitation.

"When the defenders are all gone, it'll be our turn." A blacksmith picked up the war blade he had just forged and headed toward the city wall.

"Wife, take the children and hide in the cellar. Take good care of them." A man spoke to the mother and daughter before him.

"Father!"

His two children stared blankly at him, but the man still resolutely raised his blade and headed for the city wall.

Throughout the city, strong young men and martial men who knew some boxing and kicking techniques all headed toward the city wall.

They too possessed love for their homes and nation. They too could raise blades and kill the enemy.

High in the sky, Yang Ye retreated step by step. Facing three grandmasters, he struggled immensely.

"Die, Yang Ye!" A black-robed Xiongnu grandmaster struck a palm toward Yang Ye's back.

The other two grandmasters also unleashed their trump cards, preparing to surround and kill Yang Ye.

"Old Wang, if you don't make a move now, I'm fucking dead!" Yang Ye suddenly shouted.

"Ah, Old Yang, you can't hold on anymore? I thought you wouldn't need me to act." A voice rang out from within the city.

The three grandmasters surrounding Yang Ye all paused abruptly. There was another helper?

The next moment, a figure stepped out from the city and flew through the air, swift as a phantom.

Wang Xuan's dark black robes fluttered without wind. His long hair drifted freely, and a short beard rested on his chin, making him look like an exceptionally elegant middle-aged man.

"Stop showing off. If you don't act soon, I'll be done for." Yang Ye knocked back one Xiongnu grandmaster with a spear strike, then turned and exchanged a palm strike with another.

"They can't kill you!" Wang Xuan said, then swung his fist at a Xiongnu grandmaster.

"Grandmaster!"

"A grandmaster-level expert! Hahaha..."

"We have grandmaster-level reinforcements too!"

Seeing a grandmaster-level expert suddenly appear, the defending generals all burst into joyous laughter.

"Yang Ye, I never expected you to have prepared a backup plan and invited powerful reinforcements." A Xiongnu grandmaster looked at Wang Xuan, his expression ugly.

"I knew long ago that you wouldn't give up. How could I not keep a card up my sleeve?" Yang Ye smiled.

"Old Wang, hold back two of them. I'll kill this one first." Yang Ye gripped the Overlord Spear and charged at a Xiongnu grandmaster.

"Hey, hey, hey! That wasn't the price we agreed on! I only agreed to hold back one Xiongnu grandmaster for you!" Wang Xuan could not help shouting.

Yang Ye ignored him. His ferocious might erupted as he swore to kill one Xiongnu grandmaster.

With a grandmaster-level expert suddenly joining the fight, the morale of the Anning Pass defenders greatly stabilized.

"Damn it! Didn't they say Anning Pass had no reinforcements? What are those scouts good for? Why is there still a grandmaster-level expert inside Anning Pass?" Within the Xiongnu army, the Left Virtuous King roared in furious rage at the sight of the newly appeared grandmaster.

He had just seen hope of breaching the pass, but now the appearance of another grandmaster-level expert had shattered that hope once more.