allendalepharm Chapter 187 The Emperor's Attention, Close Combat
Chapter 187 The Emperor's Attention, Close Combat
Chapter 187 The Emperor's Attention, Close Combat
Recalling the Blood God Cult's awe-inspiring living warships, Zhao Cheng's heart grew heavy.
Even the Qian Dynasty, which used elixirs to create demons and thus earned the title "Demon Qian," seemed much more normal compared to the Blood God Sect.
'No, I shouldn't underestimate myself like that. I was reborn from the future, and I have access to all sorts of new military formations and elixirs they're developing. With these, plus my foresight, I might just be able to defeat these demons and monsters.' Thinking of this, Zhao Cheng regained his confidence, radiating youthful vigor.
The two walked side by side when Dugu Sheng suddenly sent him a telepathic message:
"Someone's following us. Should I go and take him out?"
"No, that person is most likely a spy for the Western Depot or the Zhenwu Guard. Cooperate with me and leak the information about the Blood God Cult so that the Great Qian can prepare to deal with it," Zhao Cheng replied telepathically.
"Are you trying to trip up the Blood God Cult?"
"right."
Because he withdrew too early, Zhao Cheng had no idea which faction had won the final victory.
But as far as he knew from his previous life, among the seven major powers, the Blood God Sect, the Great Qian Dynasty, and the mysterious Umbrella Corporation should be in the same tier, with the Golden Wolf, Miao Jiang, and the Five Sects ranking behind them.
These forces are putting too much pressure on him; it would be best if they could be made to fight amongst themselves.
So, as planned, the two "inadvertently" leaked some information about the Blood God Cult, which was overheard by the imperial spies behind them.
Then, they pretended to spot their pursuers, shook off the spies, and disguised themselves to leave the city.
"I have retrieved the treasure buried in my home. Next, we will head straight for Qizhou to build our power."
After leaving the city, on the official road, Zhao Cheng gazed at Xunyin City behind him, his thoughts in turmoil.
"Boy, look, it's blood mist again. I didn't expect the Blood God Cult to act so quickly."
Dugu Sheng's eyesight was much better than his, and he easily saw a thin mist of blood drifting from the other side of the mountain in the far distance, almost dyeing the entire mountain red.
In Xunyin City, thanks to a tip from an informant, the local government was the first to discover the blood mist.
The soldiers quickly imposed martial law on the entire city and closed the city gates.
Those spies disguised as merchants and peddlers no longer hid; one by one, they removed their disguises and revealed their true identities.
They were either from the Zhenwu Guard or the Western Depot's secret police. After their identities were exposed, the local powerful families and martial arts figures were all shocked, fearing that they had given the enemy leverage over them.
"I am Li Jin, commander of the Zhenwu Division, and I am now in charge of this city."
In the city lord's mansion, Li Jin held the Zhenwu Division's thousand-household token, and before him stood a servile official.
Li Jin didn't even ask the official's name before replacing him and taking over the entire Xunyin.
After the spy used the sacrificial method obtained from the Golden Wolf to deliver the intelligence to the Jingcheng Town Martial Division, the entire court's attention turned to Xunyin City.
Not only the Zhenwu Division, but it is said that even the current emperor is paying attention to this matter.
Before long, the imperial court dispatched a veteran Divine罡 Realm expert, who had been stuck at the Grandmaster level for a long time, to be stationed in Xunyin City.
Almost immediately after receiving the order, he flew at full speed on his sword to Jingzhou, and in less than a day, he traversed several states and arrived at Xunyin City.
After that, he didn't even rest. He hurriedly swallowed a few pills and took over the command of the city's defense.
He didn't know what the Blood God Cult was; he only knew that Emperor Qian valued this matter immensely.
They even gave him a precious pill, which was said to be able to temporarily break through from the Divine Gang Realm to the Grandmaster Realm.
"Notify the local powerful families and noble clans to send men to assist in the defense of the city. If they refuse, I, the commander, will confiscate their property first."
"Also, gather together all sorts of people from the martial arts world and let them contribute their remaining energy."
Li Jin issued orders methodically, and soon all available resources in Xunyin City were mobilized by him.
"Distribute these pills, one for each soldier, and have them take them before the battle."
Some soldiers took his pills and quickly went to distribute them.
These elixirs are called "Mangniu Dan" and are the latest achievement of the Daqian Danding Division.
Once ingested, it grants a person power comparable to that of the Condensation Realm.
Even worse, some may experience a "monsterization" reaction, transforming into a half-bull, half-human monster.
These kinds of demons are generally stronger, but once they become demonized, they become mentally unstable, bloodthirsty, and unable to return to their original form.
And this is just one of the achievements of the Dan Ding Division.
This organization, which originated from the Food Cult and has absorbed a large number of pharmacists, has developed more than ten kinds of pills, some of which can cause people to undergo demonization to varying degrees.
It is said that the imperial court is already considering using demon soldiers to form an army.
"That's all I can do."
Li Jin stood atop the city wall, gazing at the approaching blood mist, where he could vaguely make out tall figures.
The sound of footsteps reached the city wall, and the soldiers guarding the city turned pale upon hearing it.
Even on a march, their footsteps were so orderly; the newcomers must be extraordinary. "This is... the Blood Sea Demon Army?" Li Jin's expression was solemn; for some reason, he had a sense of unease.
The footsteps grew clearer, and the blood mist drew ever closer.
A wall of fog, taller than the city wall, loomed overhead. The scene was quite awe-inspiring, and some soldiers even trembled uncontrollably.
At a certain moment, the blood mist paused for a moment, and then, like a runaway horse, it surged toward Xunyin City at a speed far exceeding that of the past.
The footsteps paused, and Li Jin's eyes widened suddenly as he roared, "Fire! Fire!"
Acting on instinct before conscious thought, all the soldiers guarding the city followed his orders and, based on experience, shot arrows at the blood mist.
Arrows pierced the mist one by one, but no sound came back—no shouts of battle, no screams of agony—as if they had been completely swallowed up by the blood mist.
After three volleys, the blood mist remained silent. Just as it was about to make contact with the city wall, Li Jin suddenly raised his hand and stopped the rain of arrows.
"Everyone, take the pills and prepare to engage the enemy."
The soldiers took the Mangniudan, drew their swords, and were then engulfed by a blood mist.
The blood mist began to erode Xunyin City. Everyone inside felt that the air had become much thicker, and every movement was hindered by the blood mist.
The temperature plummeted, and the icy blood mist began to rob them of their body heat and their lives.
Only the civilians who stayed indoors didn't notice anything amiss; the blood mist bypassed them and targeted only the soldiers.
"In future battles against the Blood God Cult, we must first prevent their blood mist from crossing our borders; otherwise, our army will inevitably suffer losses." Li Jin stared intently at the area below the city wall, still shrouded in blood mist. Suddenly, his unease reached its peak.
"Grab onto something nearby to keep your balance!"
He roared, his true energy attaching to the soles of his shoes, firmly adhering to the city wall.
The next moment, the city wall shook as if it had been struck by some heavy object.
A deafening roar, like a tearing scream, reverberated through our ears.
"What... what's going on?" Before Li Jin could react, he heard the soldier next to him shout:
"Commander Li, the left side of the city wall has collapsed!"
Li Jin suddenly turned his head and was shocked to see a large gap in the city wall not far to his left.
The wall on that side was almost completely broken, and several soldiers, their fates unknown, were buried under the pile of bricks and stones.
Before he could give any instructions, the city wall shook again, followed by another loud bang.
"The right side, the right side of the city wall has also collapsed."
The soldiers were terrified; they had never encountered anything like this before.
The deafening roar continued, and the once solid and reliable city walls appeared unexpectedly fragile, collapsing in sections.
"Everyone, retreat back to the city and defend!"
Li Jin shouted loudly, grabbed two soldiers next to him, and jumped off the city wall.
The soldiers defending the city withdrew from the city walls and retreated back into the city.
Bang!
The city gate shattered, and the sound of hurried footsteps echoed once more.
"Is it finally time for close combat?"
Li Jin gathered his true energy, his sword ready to strike at any moment.
However, what he encountered was not the close combat he had expected, but rather round iron balls.
Without the city wall to block it, the iron ball was able to fall directly from the air.
His expression changed as he recognized these as the things that had just blasted down the city wall.
The iron balls seemed to have eyes, hitting their positions with pinpoint accuracy, and many soldiers who failed to dodge in time were killed on the spot.
Then, the explosion they had anticipated did not occur; the iron balls simply rotated gently.
"What is this thing?" Li Jin frowned, and was about to take out his sword to test it when he saw a horrifying scene.
Those iron balls actually had eyes.
Iron balls extended spider-like legs, and on their abdomens grew a scarlet eye.
As soon as these monsters appeared, they pounced on the surrounding soldiers. Their eyes split open, forming mouthparts, and their eight legs hugged the soldiers' heads tightly. A soft tube extended from their mouthparts and was shoved into the soldiers' mouths.
Li Jin couldn't stand it any longer, so he unleashed a sword strike, splitting the sword energy and instantly killing a large number of facehuggers in the surrounding area.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"Uh, I should be fine, but my stomach feels a little bloated," a soldier said.
He nodded without asking any further questions, because the enemy had already attacked.
Like iron hooves pounding on stone bricks, a large number of heavy footsteps suddenly approached.
Li Jin's eyelids twitched, and he raised his hand and swung his sword, which collided with a battle axe that came cleaving in.
Heavy, very heavy.
He maintained this posture for less than a quarter of an hour before Li Jin flicked his longsword, turned his body to the side, and changed the direction of his sword. The blade was close to the axe blade as he thrust it toward the arm holding the axe.
According to his calculations, if the attacker did not want to be stabbed by this sword, he would have to withdraw his axe and defend himself.
However, to his surprise, the newcomer seemed to be caught off guard and allowed his sword to pierce his arm.
Ding.
Upon hearing the crisp sound, Li Jin's expression changed, and he quickly sheathed his sword and took several steps back.
If he wasn't mistaken, his sword strike hadn't even broken through the enemy's defenses.
The battle axe was slowly retracted, and a burly figure parted the blood mist, appearing in Li Jin's eyes.
His tall stature exuded a strong sense of oppression, while the red and black armor with brass trim added a touch of heroic spirit to his appearance.
However, the brass skull decorations at the joints twisted his temperament toward savagery, making him appear quite cruel.