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“Drawing the sun’s bow to slay the azure wolf, adorned with stars and moon for another year.”

“Through a hundred tribulations, life and death, never turning back, in this world, to transcend the mortal and reach the absolute peak!”

——Chen Pu, “Suddenly Hearing of Master’s Passing on September 7th”

The short poem penned by Chen Pu, Dean of Evening Drum Academy, in that year, can roughly describe the difficulty of the Dao path, one in ten thousand.

In this vast present world, spanning ancient and modern times, how many peerless talents have fallen before achieving success? And in the end, how many truly stand at the culmination of that transcendent Dao path?

To attain enlightenment and derive the Dao is to become one.

The so-called True Person, the so-called Teacher of Heaven and Earth!

Their honor and nobility far surpass those of ordinary rulers. Their might and grace cannot even be described by the word “god.”

The Supervisor of the Great Qi’s Qin Tian Jian is named Ruan Qu.

It is said that the “world is like a bitter sea, navigated by one’s own body,” hence his name.

This individual stands at the zenith of present-world star divination, undoubtedly a grandmaster of the path of fate. If the starry dome were a board and the stars the pieces, few others could compete with him in this game, looking out upon the world.

And now, he has entered the fray!

Step by step, he emerged from the east of Lian Jiang, stepping to the west bank, from atop the Rong Chong tower carriage, stepping into the sky above the Jiang Yin Plain battlefield. His Daoist robe fluttered in the high heavens, like rolling clouds of stars.

With just a single raise of his hand—

The clear sky abruptly darkened.

What evil of soldiery, what clouds of smoke, what sunlight, what a battlefield of two hundred and ten thousand souls battling…

The daytime dome of the sky was peeled back, and the curtain of the night sky was pulled down by his single hand.

His excessively youthful face bore almost no expression.

But where he stood, the mountains and rivers trembled for him. The heavens and the earth, suspended above, felt his presence.

Thus, night covered day.

Thus, the starry dome descended upon the world.

Wherever the eye could see, the night sky lit up with star after star.

Beautiful! Profound! Mysterious!

Countless stars, in the high dome, formed an incredibly complex and magnificent boundless star chart.

All the stars, named and unnamed, were no longer stingy with their light.

The ancient starry dome seemed to be pulled down by his single hand, bowing low to the human world.

And then… the stars of the nine heavens fell!

This is a scene many will never forget.

Those stars hanging in the middle of the night curtain burst one after another.

Starlight, like a cascading spear-like waterfall!

Forever rushing towards the earth!

An instant from high heaven to the human world, completely obliterating any time for reaction!

Who can describe this grand scene?

Who can describe a single part of it?

If not personally experienced, one cannot comprehend this absolute might!

With one raised hand, day became night; with one wave, stars fell from the nine heavens.

In such an instant, starlight, like pillars, penetrated heaven and earth, forming a forest.

The entire Jiang Yin Plain, even including Tong Yang City still far in the distance, was struck by starlight!

This was true world-ending power!

The commander of the Great Xia Town Country Army, Upper General Long Jiao, stood in the middle of the army array at this moment, his face stained with blood and dirt, astride his horse.

The remaining more than forty thousand Town Country Army soldiers were gathered around his war banner.

But he made no reaction.

Any reaction he made at this moment would have been too late!

With a hundred thousand Town Country Army soldiers in neat formation, their ranks arrayed, he could still contend with a True Monarch. At this moment, the army was more than half dead in battle, the soldiers’ evil almost exhausted, relying on him, Long Jiao, even if he burned his body and soul, there was no power to turn the tide.

So, in such a moment, he could only look up at the sky, he could only look up at the starry sky.

Truly beautiful, he thought.

It had been a very long time since he had looked up at the starry sky.

As a Great Xia Upper General, the holder of the Town Country Army, he had long since lost the power of confusion, and even more so, the freedom of fantasy.

In this face-to-face confrontation with Li Zhengyan, he felt he had poured out everything, all the power he could contribute to the country, he had already contributed… except for still being alive and not having died in battle.

Every soldier of the Town Country Army, from top to bottom, had also fought to the exhaustion of everything, just to cause heavy casualties to the Chase Wind Army.

Of the hundred thousand soldiers in this Town Country Army, more than fifty thousand had already died in battle, with over forty thousand still alive… every single one, was a soldier he had trained.

Such good soldiers…

These years he had lived entirely in the military camp, drilling and exercising, never daring to be slack. The soldiers’ clothing, food, and shelter, he cared for as if they were his own flesh and blood.

Every day in these years, he hoped this day would not come. Every day in these years, he waited for this battle.

These soldiers are all good; they were not lazy in ordinary times, not cowardly in desperate times, they fought and killed with the nine divisions of Great Qi to the very last!

Great Xia supported two armies with the power of the entire country, and now was the time he could say that every soldier in the Town Country Army deserved their hometown folks.

Together from dawn to dusk, they filled the border with their flesh and blood.

In such an instant, he thought of many, many things.

Perhaps only in such a moment could he vaguely remember that he was also a “person.” Though a True Person of the present world, he was also one of the multitude of beings.

He too would have moments of vulnerability.

He too… felt powerless.

Just like falling into a deep abyss, with only one oil-soaked long rope in hand. No matter how hard one struggles, how desperately one tries, it is only a slow slide down.

He wanted so much to do more, to grasp more, to hold on tighter.

But at this moment, he could only watch.

And then he saw, within the boundless night curtain, a back clearly imprinted.

A person, not burly, not tall enough, only giving off an ancient feeling.

He faced the stars, and the stars seemed to kneel before him.

He stood beneath the night sky, his black martial attire like cast iron, unmoved by the wind.

Great Xia’s Martial King, Si Jiao!

Above his head were the falling stars of the nine heavens, and opposite him was the True Monarch Ruan Qu.

And he too, simply raised one hand!

Also like Ruan Qu, that serene reach.

A palm reversed, lifting the high dome.

That boundless night curtain, for some reason, lay at his feet; that great army, which had just ceased fighting, seemed to stand in the high heavens.

People vaguely saw the heavens as the ground, and the mud as the heavens.

The original heaven and earth were all within his grasp.

With this one palm pushed upward, he overturned the human world!

Jiang Yin Plain was still Jiang Yin Plain, and the warriors were still those warriors.

Heaven was still heaven, and ground was still ground.

But all the starlight across the sky had already rolled back, the countless stars dimmed one by one, and night was beaten back to clear sky!!

Dawn light filled ten thousand miles, splashing across the plain.

A great wind rolled the remnants of banners, a magnificent picture of the grand intention of mountains and rivers!

This man, Si Jiao, why is he called “Martial King”?

Defending the border with martial power, supporting the state and its people!

This man’s strength would absolutely not decline because of the country’s situation. This man’s momentum, by itself, could swallow ten thousand miles.

Facing such a formidable one, Ruan Qu only took a step forward.

An ink-jade hairpin bound his long hair, and a complex star chart spread out with his boots. With one foot stepping down, the heavens closed, the ground rose, and the four directions stood tall. In an instant, a four-square star prison cage formed in the high dome, banishing both Si Jiao and himself within.

The star prison cage disappeared in an instant, reappearing only as a flash of starlight in the extremely distant sky!

The two True Monarchs exchanged only one move in front of the people, but what was left behind were the surging waves in the hearts of the onlookers that long refused to dissipate.

The two enlightenment-derived powerhouses, after battling to overturn heaven and earth, had already gone to an unknown location to continue their fight.

But the battle on Jiang Yin Plain was still not over!

Or rather, the most crucial moment was yet to come.

Li Zhengyan collected his troops, moving south towards Jiang Yin Plain, while simultaneously withdrawing from the battlefield, still maintaining pressure in the direction of Tong Yang City.

As long as Long Jiao’s Town Country Army revealed the slightest opportunity during their withdrawal, the Chase Wind Army would immediately rush past!

And Long Jiao indeed embodied the ability of a Great Xia Upper General, leading the heavily casualties-ridden Town Country Army back to Tong Yang City in a steady and orderly fashion, without exposing any flaws.

Leaving behind only—corpses covering the plain.

Human corpses, horse corpses.

Enemy corpses, comrades’ corpses…

Jiang Wang, having exhausted the power of his blood-red pupils, patrolled the battlefield for a long time, and finally, seeing the still frost-cold Li Fengyao, couldn’t help but feel somewhat happy, then found Li Longchuan, and his heart relaxed.

In front of the Spring Die Army, Chen Zeqing sat alone in a wooden wheelchair, his gaze fixed on the distance, still expressionless.

An old blanket covered his legs.

Behind him, Wang Yiwu held the banner for him.

If Great Xia still had the determination this time and dared to call the Shen Wu Army out of the city, then the Spring Die Army would welcome them and fight them.

Spring is the first of the four seasons to die, and when it strikes, it targets the strongest army.

At this moment, the hundred thousand Spring Die Army were silent, only the war banner rustled in the wind!

And atop the Rong Chong tower carriage, guarded by a ten-thousand-man army, Cao Ji ordered without hesitation: “Bring out all the Shoot Moon Crossbows, go fifty li west of the Lian Jiang bank, and fire on Tong Yang City!”

The flag officer rode off at a gallop, shouting the order.

Among the great army, one giant crossbow cart after another was driven out by the efforts of draft beasts.

These carts were about ten *zhang* high, connected by two axles, driven by eight wheels, with the cart as the frame and a windlass to draw the string. The iron-cast crossbow arrows were fourteen *zhang* long, and engraved with array patterns!

Two draft beasts were needed to pull in front to maintain high-speed movement.

Driving over the ice surface, crossing the river bank, the cart wheels rolled on Jiang Yin Plain!

The Broken Star Crossbow, inherited from the Yang Country era by the masters of the Near Sea Islands Yang Valley and improved over generations, was fast and powerful. One crossbow bolt was almost like a full-force strike from four outer towers. Mounted atop Blazing Sun Flying Boats, they could shoot continuously like broken stars, causing sea creatures in the maze world to lose courage at the mere sound.

And the Great Qi craftsman Gong Sun Ge, on the basis of the old Yang remains, completely forged a new path, manufacturing an extremely powerful heavy crossbow cart, naming it “Shoot Moon.”

This cart was slow to shoot, consumed a lot, and was expensive to make… it had too many shortcomings.

But it had one advantage that was enough—

Its power was terrifying.

One strike from the Shoot Moon, almost like a god descending!

This time, during the expedition to attack Xia, only thirty Shoot Moon Crossbows accompanied the army, and at this moment, all of them were pushed out, pushed across the ice-sealed Lian Jiang, and set up on Jiang Yin Plain.

At this moment, on Tong Yang City, strong individuals of Great Xia gathered like clouds. If Thorn Boats were sent to attack the city, they would be easily destroyed.

But the Shoot Moon Crossbow, with its extremely long range, was different. Guarded by the great army, there was almost no worry of a sudden strong attack by the Xia army to break through.

Both sides on the plain were in a race against time.

Almost as soon as the Town Country Army’s front foot withdrew into the city, the back foot of the Shoot Moon Crossbow carts had already reached their destination.

The tendons of the stone ox demonic beast were wound up, tightening gradually under the turning of the windlass, emitting a groaning sound that was difficult to bear.

The order officer only pointed the small flag forward, shouting: “Fire!”

The winding suddenly loosened, and the windlass reversed wildly.

A steel crossbow arrow, one *zhang* in diameter and fourteen *zhang* long, directly pierced the sky! The huge recoil caused the crossbow cart itself to sink several feet!

Once that black steel crossbow arrow soared, it instantly absorbed all the heaven and earth vital energy in its path, the sharp vital energy around it turning into chaotic flow, making the crossbow arrow faster and faster, more and more urgent, roaring like a tornado, and finally, only a flash—

Penetrating the vast Jiang Yin Plain, striking directly into the majestic city silhouette at the edge of vision!

Thirty Shoot Moon Crossbows launched simultaneously, almost like thirty god-descended powerhouses striking Tong Yang City simultaneously.

What kind of concept is this?

At this moment, although strong individuals gathered on Tong Yang City, if they wanted to resist it, they would also be exhausted from running.

And how could human power long hold against the consumption of machinery power?

Suddenly, a dragon’s roar rose.

Fierce firelight instantly rose outside Tong Yang City, the instant blaze instead resembling fireworks burning the city. But within the firelight, nine great dragons extended their claws and pulled at the sky, their momentum dominating the eight directions. Some burned with fire, some struck with claws, some swept with their tails, actually completely blocking the offensive of these thirty Shoot Moon Crossbows.

Great Xia’s hastily constructed great array protecting the city, the Nine Dragons Leave Fire Array, opened!

It was also the core of Great Xia’s northeastern defense line in this great war against Qi.

Once this array opened, it indeed showed its effectiveness; the Shoot Moon Crossbows were fundamentally unable to penetrate it.

The so-called crowd forming a city, a golden city with a boiling moat, the efforts of several tens of thousands of Great Xia soldiers and people in these past few days were indeed not easy to destroy.

But Cao Ji, still on the east bank of Lian Jiang, standing atop the Rong Chong tower carriage, gazed at this scene without the slightest tremor. He only said: “Bring the flag!”

A pole of the Purple Micro Midheaven Great Emperor Flag was presented to his hand by the flag officer.

He actually personally erected this large flag, constantly issuing orders: “Order Chen Zeqing’s division to press forward! Order Chen Fu’s division to prepare to clear the battlefield! Order Xie Huai’an’s division to put on armor!”

This time, during the expedition to attack Xia, Cao Ji had brought a total of only three country flags of this specification.

One pole stood atop Sword Edge Mountain, serving as the first stable base for the Qi army in Xia territory.

One pole was now erected in his palm.

One more pole, waiting to be erected in the middle of Gui Yi City, piercing Great Xia’s ancestral temple!

This time, he raised this flag high, stirring up wind and clouds atop the Rong Chong tower carriage.

And then the large flag tilted forward, pointing remotely at Tong Yang City!

At this moment, what people saw was the main commander of the attack on Xia, Cao Ji, pointing the flag at Tong Yang, his momentum like an angry sea.

At this moment, what people could not see…

Was that all the “Purple Extreme Conquest” banners, from Linzi in Qi Country to Fengjie Fu in Xia Country, which had come all the way, all flying up!

Who could have imagined?

Qi Country’s “Purple Extreme Conquest” not only constructed a stable supply line but also a “conquest path”!

This was a secret killing move Great Qi Empire had hidden for several decades!

And since Cao Ji entered Xia, every step he took was incomparably precise, meticulously completing all pre-arranged links.

If a high-level person were to observe the *qi*, they would see that on this map of the present world, the vast country situation belonging to the overlord of the eastern domain instantly surged forth.

The terrifying country situation of Great Qi Empire, at this moment, along the “conquest path” constructed by the “Purple Extreme Conquest,” surged forward madly!

Mobilizing the country situation from the distant eastern domain to bombard Xia Country in the southern domain, the loss caused during the bombardment process was already unimaginable.

But with the entire Fengjie Fu border as a base, with that pole of the Purple Micro Midheaven Great Emperor Flag on Sword Edge Mountain as support, with the momentum of the attack-Xia main commander Cao Ji, carrying the continuous great victories of a hundred thousand Qi army, erecting the country flag as a guide—

This ten-thousand-li Purple Extreme Dragon… had already broken through!

Not only within Xia Country’s border?

From Linzi to Gui Yi, all the land in between was completely shaken by this dragon’s roar.

Above the heavens and below the earth, everything that passed through was subdued by its majesty.

Everything that had come along this path had originally already been subdued by Great Qi’s country situation!

The ten-thousand-li extending Purple Extreme Dragon, following Cao Ji’s large flag pointing west, instantly crashed upon the great array protecting Tong Yang City.

Those nine Leave Fire Dragons let out a living creature-like, painful wail, instantly all collapsing!