The deep-toned bell tolled heavily and urgently, like the Yellow River ceaselessly flowing from east to west.

Inside the grain and oil shop, Chen Ji stood in the courtyard and heard the bell. He abruptly turned to look into the distance, just in time to see the border army’s banners slowly toppling from the battlements, as if the city itself were crumbling with them.

He waited for the bell, wanting to hear how many times it would toll this time. But after a long wait, the bell never stopped, growing more and more urgent!

Chen Ji’s heart tightened. He climbed onto the roof, clinging to the eaves. Standing on the ridge, he gazed towards the city gate, only to see that the previously tightly closed gate had opened at some point, revealing the yellow earth and scorched mountains outside.

The next moment, countless black armored cavalry appeared on the horizon. The leader, clad in heavy armor, held a fluttering black banner in one hand, astride a magnificent warhorse.

The Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategist Army!

Chen Ji’s heart sank to rock bottom; he hadn’t expected the moment of opening the gates and surrendering the city to come so quickly. He looked around, found a taller building, and climbed it, wanting to see more clearly.

In the wind and sand, he saw the black armored cavalry approaching like a torrent, charging recklessly into the city.

The border army stood on both sides of the road, dropping their halberds and broadswords, removing their rattan armor, and silently watching the Heavenly Strategist Army approach, who sat astride their horses, looking down upon them.

Chen Ji watched in silence for a long time. He had to get back to Dragon Gate Inn as quickly as possible to meet Xiao Man, Zhang Xia, and Zhang Zheng, and get them away from the Crown Prince and the Imperial Guards.

But just as Chen Ji was about to leap off the roof, an unexpected change occurred.

The general holding the black banner reined in his horse and stood still. He shook the banner with one hand, then pointed it towards Guyuan City: “Kill!”

A border army lieutenant general stepped in front of the banner, waving his hands and shouting something, but the general holding the banner ignored him and charged forward.

The long, sharp tip of the banner brutally pierced the border army lieutenant general’s body. The Jing Dynasty general used the banner to hoist the corpse into the air and waved it, then made his horse spin in place as if showing off: “Bones blanket the fields, a thousand miles of scorched earth!”

The Jing Dynasty cavalry pounded their heavy chest armor, making a thunderous sound: “Bones blanket the fields, a thousand miles of scorched earth!”

In an instant, all the Heavenly Strategist Army cavalry raised their long spears and charged at the disarmed border army.

The former Jing Dynasty king’s dying wish was true: the Heavenly Strategist Army intended to break their word and massacre the city!

Guyuan was finished!

The Heavenly Strategist Army cavalry rampaged through the city, and in mere moments, split into eight black torrents, sweeping towards Guyuan’s inner regions.

The general who had held the banner earlier, leading over a hundred cavalrymen, guided his horse up the stone steps to the city tower, surveying the entire city.

Some Heavenly Strategist Army soldiers quickly climbed to the ridge of the highest building in the city, holding command flags.

The general on the city tower waved his banner, and the order was relayed by flag officers on various buildings; with such a wide field of view, the command could be transmitted to every corner in an instant.

The eight black torrents moved according to the flag signals, perfectly synchronized, inflicting a crushing defeat on the border army!

Watching the border army fall in swathes, someone among the Jing Dynasty cavalry blew a loud horn. The horn’s blast was domineering, and more and more Jing Dynasty cavalry surged into Guyuan City.

The Heavenly Strategist Army cavalry were dragging iron chains between them; as they passed Guyuan’s mud houses, the chains swept through, effortlessly toppling civilian homes one after another, burying the common folk beneath the rubble.

Some common folk escaped from their houses but were caught by the Heavenly Strategist Army cavalry and stabbed to death with a single spear!

Heavenly Strategist Army archers held fire whistles in their mouths, drew oilcloth-wrapped arrows from their quivers, and ignited them with the whistles.

They recklessly shot their arrows, setting fire to everything visible, herding everyone in Guyuan City towards a single direction, like sheep.

This was to gather everyone together and exterminate them all!

Chen Ji looked around. Where was White Dragon?

Where was Hu Junxian?

Where were the firearms?

Wasn’t there a plan? Why was the Heavenly Strategist Army slaughtering people like cutting grass, yet there was still no movement?

At this moment, rapid footsteps sounded from Taohuai Lane. Chen Ji looked down from the rooftop and saw, startlingly, over ten Yuan Herbal Hall apprentices, who had earlier been tricked into going to Duoku Lane, approaching with drawn knives.

Someone looked up and saw Chen Ji on the roof, immediately raised his broadsword, and pointed: “That brat’s on the roof, kill him!”

Chen Ji frowned and quickly jumped back into the courtyard.

He reached into the box, swiftly caressing each ginseng root. The ice flow that had long lingered in his Dantian poured forth, and each ginseng root transformed into a crystalline bead. Black Cloud gulped them down greedily in the box.

The massive ice flow previously obtained from Prince Jing, Consort Jing, and Consort Yun had remained undissipated; now it finally had a chance!

A grand and mighty molten flow fed back, igniting the furnace fires within him.

One lamp, then another, as if an inverted river of stars was lit within him; Chen Ji’s blood felt like it was catching fire!

With a crash, someone hacked open the grain and oil shop’s door and roared: “He’s inside, don’t let him get away!”

But amidst the splintering wood, Chen Ji had already appeared before him.

The Yuan Herbal Hall apprentice swung his knife down, but Chen Ji ducked, avoiding the blade, and punched the inside of the opponent’s knee.

With a crack, the apprentice’s left leg twisted unnaturally, and his body fell to the left. Before he could hit the ground, Chen Ji delivered another punch to his temple.

The apprentice’s head slammed onto the ground; a sound of cracking bones came, his skull shattered into fragments.

The more than ten apprentices outside the door subconsciously took two steps back. Breaking bones with bare hands… this was an Innate Realm official!

One of them composed himself: “Form a formation! We’ll kill even an Innate!”

As his words fell, the Yuan Herbal Hall apprentices paired up, the more than ten people forming a plum blossom formation, each pair a petal, rotating as they attacked Chen Ji.

Chen Ji retreated step by step. These people before him were no longer just herbal hall apprentices; they were clearly battle-hardened, heavily armed Jing Dynasty soldiers.

At this moment, almost all the furnace fires in his body were ignited: seven hundred eighteen lamps… seven hundred nineteen lamps…

Enough to break the formation!

Just as he turned to face them, the seven hundred twentieth furnace fire within him finally lit up, as if the last piece of a puzzle had been added, or a crescent moon had become a full moon.

Completion!

However, just as Chen Ji was about to engage with the plum blossom blade formation, all the furnace fires within him extinguished simultaneously.

The world fell silent, heaven and earth equally still, followed by crackling sounds from his muscles and bones.

One moment destruction, the next moment reshaping.

Chen Ji felt as if his strength was suddenly drained from his body by an immense force, and he became an ordinary person again.

The blade formation before him advanced like a meat grinder. He had intended to pierce a point to break the surface, killing two men first to disrupt the plum blossom formation, but his punches were much slower than before, completely unable to break the formation!

What was happening?

Why would he lose his strength after igniting all the furnace fires in his body?

Chen Ji hastily retreated. The blade formation swept past, almost grazing his abdomen, tearing a long slit in his robe beneath his ribs.

Stumbling, his muscles and bones thundered throughout his body, causing the Yuan Herbal Hall apprentices in the blade formation to look at him with uncertainty and surprise: “Ascending the Heavy Tower?”

A sharp pain shot through Chen Ji’s ribs, as if something was aggressively growing there.

He retreated while lifting the torn fabric to check; beneath his ribs, a black, tiger-stripe-like pattern had grown, fierce and grotesque.

This tiger stripe grew from his spine, extending all the way to his abdomen, as if a knife had cut open skin and bone, and all the burning heat of the furnace fires converged there.

Chen Ji hastily dodged a blade and clumsily rolled to the other side of the blade formation.

Wait.

As Black Cloud continued to devour the crystalline beads, the first furnace fire reignited…

The second, the third… the ninety-ninth!

His previously lost cultivation realm returned all at once, and was even stronger!

So, the Mountain Lord cultivation was to repeatedly ignite all the furnace fires in one’s body, and grow tiger-like stripes to store the power within them?

But Chen Ji couldn’t find a way to access the power within the stripes; it was as if the molten flow of the furnace fires was locked inside, cooled and solidified into black mountain rock.

No, that’s not right. The sword seed, which had been dormant all this time, suddenly burrowed into the stripes and swam around continuously within them.

Before Chen Ji could figure it out, within the blade formation, an apprentice snarled: “Daring to ascend the Heavy Tower at a time like this? Strike him while he’s weak, take his life!”

Chen Ji, looking disheveled, shouted: “Black Cloud, eat quickly!”

One furnace fire after another reignited, and Chen Ji’s recently lost strength returned to his body; though still not much… it was enough!

In a flash, two blades from the plum blossom formation came sweeping in from left and right. Chen Ji lightly leaped, tapping the incoming blade with his toe, and surprisingly soared over everyone’s heads, landing squarely in the “pistil” of the plum blossom blade formation.

With a crack.

Chen Ji lifted his leg and kicked one person in the waist; the kicked person’s spine snapped, and he flew sideways, forcefully creating a gap in the blade formation!

The Yuan Herbal Hall apprentices were filled with surprise and uncertainty. How could an Innate Realm official, who had just “Ascended the Heavy Tower,” recover to this state in an instant? Unheard of!

One person raised his knife and chopped down, but before the blade could fall, Chen Ji had already grabbed his wrist and swung him towards another person.

The person whose wrist Chen Ji held was like a puppet on strings; he felt a clever force transmit through his wrist, the two knives clashed, and the heavy broadsword in the other person’s hand snapped.

This person’s pupils contracted. The knife just broke like that?

“You…”

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Ji had already gripped his wrist and made a backhand swipe; the apprentice’s neck was slit as if he had cut his own throat, and blood spurted out!

Chen Ji suddenly remembered something and shouted: “Black Cloud, wait, don’t eat yet!”

After Black Cloud swallowed a mouthful of crystalline beads, its mouth full, it dazedly lifted its head from the wooden box and looked at Chen Ji. “Eat quickly” one moment, “don’t eat yet” the next; should it eat or not?

As it pondered, the beads in its mouth had already transformed into molten flow and entered its body. Chen Ji let out a muffled groan; the furnace fires in his body once again extinguished simultaneously, and a second black stripe grew out from his spine!