Chapter 874
Shen Changyuan
Guo Shouzhen, standing nearby, squinted and looked into the distance, his Adam's apple bobbing: "That old bastard Lu Tianxing is riding a Crimson Fire Dragon Steed, and the black iron halberd beside Li Chongyue weighs at least eight hundred jin... These two old monsters are personally leading their troops, it seems they are determined to flatten our Hongyun City."
Zheng Yi stood beside the highest arrow emplacement, his black robe fluttering in the morning breeze. He didn't speak, but simply watched as the army surged across the hills like a tide, approaching the city.
At the city gate below, the hastily conscripted city guards were already lined up. More than two thousand men, their armor of varying ages and their spears standing like a forest, could not hide the panic in their eyes. Only thirty-seven people from the cave dwelling tenants had come—mostly rogue cultivators or scions of small families, with very few willing to help. The rest either hid in their cave dwellings pretending to be dead or had already left the city the night before.
"Sir..." Guo Tianyou turned his head, his voice very low, "Can we... hold out?"
Zheng Yi finally spoke, his tone calm to the point of being almost indifferent: "We have to defend it even if we can't. Senior Shen's secluded cave is in the mountain valley north of the city. The Lu and Li families won't let it go. If we retreat one step, the cave complex will be gone; if we retreat another step, the entire Hongyun City will become an empty shell."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd on the city wall: "Now, no one can rely on others but on themselves."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a long howl suddenly came from afar.
The whistling sound was sharp and long, like an eagle tearing through the sky. Immediately afterward, the allied forces' front line split open, and a dark figure suddenly soared into the air—Lu Tianxing!
He stood in mid-air, his brocade robe billowing, his body surrounded by swirling, dark purple energy that surged like a dragon. In the blink of an eye, he had already reached five hundred feet away from the city wall. He stopped in mid-air, his gaze sharp as a knife, piercing directly at Zheng Yi.
"Dark Night!" Lu Tianxing's voice was filled with undisguised killing intent. "I'm giving you one last chance! Hand over all the caves in North Mountain, kneel down and kowtow three times, and I'll spare your life!"
The city walls were deathly silent.
Zheng Yi took a step forward, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears: "Elder Lu, your nephew Lu Yunfei died at my hands, and your son Lu Cheng'an also died at my hands. Now you're bringing three thousand people to their deaths... Does your Lu family have more people, or more lives?"
"You're courting death!" Lu Tianxing's hair and beard bristled, and he clenched his right fist.
boom--!
A giant, purplish-black palm materialized out of thin air, measuring ten zhang in diameter, and slammed down with a bloody, foul aura!
"Watch out!" Guo Shouzhen roared, forming hand seals as he prepared to meet the attack.
But Zheng Yi had already leaped out of the city wall.
His figure moved like a black streak of light, charging straight towards the giant palm. His right fist clenched, the Heavenly Gang Golden Core spun wildly, and a layer of golden flame, almost solidified, exploded from his palm.
"break!"
Fists and palms collided.
A muffled thunderclap seemed to explode between heaven and earth.
The golden and purplish-black lights clashed violently, unleashing a violent shockwave that swept in all directions. Dozens of blue bricks from the top layer of the city wall were instantly blown away and rained down on the city. Guo Tianyou and the others hurriedly channeled their inner energy to protect themselves, barely managing to avoid being directly blasted away by the shockwave.
The smoke and dust cleared.
Zheng Yi hovered in mid-air, his black robe torn in several places, and a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Lu Tianxing was also in bad shape; his right arm was trembling slightly, his palm was charred black, and his face was ashen.
"The Heavenly Gang Golden Core..." he gritted his teeth, "You actually managed to condense the Heavenly Gang Golden Core!"
Below, Li Chongyue sneered and brandished his halberd: "Lu Laosan, stop wasting your breath on him. If we don't raze Hongyun City to the ground today, what face will the Li family have left?"
Before he finished speaking, he sprang up, his black iron halberd drawing a dark crescent shape, thirty feet long, and slashed towards Zheng Yi with a piercing shriek that tore through the air!
At the same time, seven more figures took to the air from the allied forces—five late-stage Mahayana cultivators and two peak cultivators—all locking onto Zheng Yi.
"Sir!" Guo Tianyou's eyes widened in horror.
Zheng Yi suddenly laughed.
He raised his left hand, and a golden light flashed in his palm, forming a three-foot-long Heavenly Dipper Sword out of thin air. The sword was not an illusion, but almost tangible, with golden flames flowing around it and its sharpness fully revealed.
"Good timing."
With a swift movement, he advanced instead of retreating, transforming into a golden meteor that crashed straight into the encirclement of the seven!
clang!clang!clang!
Golden swords clashed with black halberds, spirit knives, and black hammers, sparks flying everywhere.
With each clash, the golden protective flames surrounding Zheng Yi would dim a little, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Below on the city wall, Guo Shouzhen's face was deathly pale: "He... he's fighting eight against one!"
“No,” Guo Xiong stared at the sky and suddenly whispered, “He’s stalling for time… He’s waiting for Senior Shen!”
But the question is—Senior Shen, how much longer will it take?
At this moment, the situation on the battlefield is completely out of control.
Lu Tianxing and Li Chongyue, both at their peak, attacked simultaneously, flanking Zheng Yi from the left and right. The other six late-stage Mahayana cultivators spread out, blocking all of Zheng Yi's escape routes. Blade flashes, sword shadows, palm strikes, and spear auras intertwined to form an impenetrable net of death.
Zheng Yi's left shoulder was slashed open by a blade of energy, and blood instantly stained half of his sleeve.
He grunted, flicked his Heavenly Gang Sword backhand, forcing Li Chongyue back, and at the same time struck out with his right palm, a golden palm print meeting Lu Tianxing's purplish-black demonic palm head-on.
Boom!
The two of them backed away at the same time.
Zheng Yi retreated thirty zhang, crashing into a corner of the city wall, and knelt halfway down in the pile of rubble, his chest heaving violently.
Lu Tianxing was also in bad shape, coughing up three mouthfuls of black blood in succession, his face as pale as paper.
"Kill him!" he roared. "Whoever takes Dark Night's head will be rewarded with 100,000 top-grade spirit stones!"
These words greatly boosted the morale of the allied forces.
At the city gate, the cultivators, who had been unable to contain themselves any longer, surged forward like a tide. The city guards managed to hold them off, but were forced to retreat step by step. The stench of blood quickly filled the air, mingled with screams, the sounds of weapons breaking, and bones shattering.
Guo Tianyou charged down the city wall with his sword drawn, roaring with bloodshot eyes, "Stop them! Stop them even if you die!"
It was unstoppable.
The allied forces were too numerous and had superior individual combat strength. The city guards were hastily assembled, poorly trained, and their armor was incomplete. Faced with the ferocious enemy, dozens of gaps quickly appeared in their defensive line.
A troop of black-armored cavalry charged straight through the east gate, their iron hooves trampling over corpses as they stormed into the street. Shops collapsed, and civilians screamed and scattered in all directions; some were impaled by spears, while others were crushed into a bloody pulp by the horses' hooves.
Fires have already risen in the direction of the city lord's mansion.
Guo Shouzhen stood at the breach in the city wall, slashing down two charging cultivators with his sword, but was pierced through the left rib by a third man's spear. He groaned, fell to one knee, and blood flowed down the shaft of his spear.
"Fifth Uncle!" Guo Tianyou's eyes were red as he rushed over to support him.
"Never mind me..." Guo Shouzhen gasped for breath, "Go...go to Beishan...tell Senior Shen...quickly..."
Before he could finish speaking, another throwing knife came flying from the side.
Guo Tianyou hurriedly swung his sword to block, but he was a beat too slow.
The throwing knife grazed Guo Shouzhen's neck, drawing a spurt of blood.
"Ah—!" Guo Tianyou's eyes widened in horror.
In mid-air, Zheng Yi's situation was even worse.
His left arm had been slashed with a deep, bone-revealing wound; his Heavenly罡 (Heavenly罡) protective barrier was almost shattered, and the golden flames had dimmed to the point of being almost transparent. Lu Tianxing and Li Chongyue seized the opportunity and both launched a sudden attack.
"It's over!" Lu Tianxing grinned maliciously, his hands forming a seal. The purplish-black energy condensed in front of him into a roaring giant python, which opened its mouth to bite Zheng Yi's head.
At the same time, Li Chongyue swept his halberd horizontally, the blade tearing through the air and creating a black crescent arc, aiming straight for Zheng Yi to be cut in half at the waist!
Life or death hangs in the balance.
Zheng Yi suddenly raised his head, a resolute glint flashing in his eyes.
He suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the Heavenly Gang Sword.
"Om-!"
The golden sword trembled violently, emitting a clear and melodious sword cry. In the next instant, the entire sword burst forth with dazzling golden light, its blade growing to a full ten feet long, its tip pointing straight at the sky.
"Heavenly Gang - Slash!"
He gripped the sword with both hands and slashed down with all his might.
In an instant, a golden sword beam tens of feet long tore through the sky, like a sword that split the heavens and the earth!
Lu Tianxing's expression changed, and Li Chongyue's pupils contracted sharply.
Both of them fought back with all their might.
boom!!!
The sword's edge collided with the purplish-black python and the black crescent moon. The three immense forces converged, unleashing a devastating roar.
The shockwave spread out in a circle, and half of the city wall collapsed instantly, with dust obscuring the sky.
Wait until the smoke and dust dissipate slightly.
Lu Tianxing knelt amidst the ruins, his right arm severed at the elbow, a large section of his chest caved in, and blood gushing out.
Li Chongyue fared even worse; he was smashed into the city wall, with only his upper body exposed. His black halberd was broken into three pieces, and blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs gushed from his mouth.
Of the remaining six late-stage Mahayana cultivators, two were instantly cut in half at the waist by the sword's edge, while the other four were critically injured and barely clinging to life.
Zheng Yi hung suspended in mid-air, covered in blood, his black robe almost a rag. His right arm hung limply at his sides, the Heavenly Gang Sword vanished as golden light, and he swayed precariously.
Below, the city was engulfed in flames.
The sounds of crying, fighting, and collapsing buildings mingled together.
Guo Tianyou knelt beside Guo Shouzhen, covered in blood, his voice hoarse: "Sir...we...are we really not going to be able to hold on any longer..."
Zheng Yi landed slowly, knelt on one knee, supported himself with his left hand on the ground, and gasped for breath.
He raised his head and looked towards the north of the city.
There, the mountain valley remained quiet.
There was no spiritual energy fluctuation coming from the direction of the cave complex.
Senior Shen... hasn't come out of seclusion yet.
The wind blew, stirring up clouds of ashes.
On the city wall, a broken Guo family flag was torn down by the wind and fluttered slowly in the pool of blood.
In the distance, Lu Tianxing struggled to his feet, blood gushing from his severed arm, yet he let out a maniacal laugh like an owl: "Dark Night...you're finished...even if you kill my entire army...Hongyun City...is finished!"
Zheng Yi did not answer.
He simply straightened up slowly and looked at the burning city.
Then, he raised his only remaining movable left hand, and a faint golden sword once again materialized in his palm.
Though the sword light had dimmed, it remained sharp.
"It's not over yet." His voice was hoarse, but every word was clear. "As long as I'm still standing... it's not over yet."
The words fell.
Despite his severe injuries, he once again walked step by step toward the still-surging enemy army.
The night was as dark as spilled ink, so thick it couldn't be dissolved.
The north gate of Hongyun City was already smashed to pieces, with broken gate panels stuck askew in the mud like teeth shattered by a giant's kick. The torchlight flickered in the pool of blood, making every face look grotesque and twisted. The air was filled with the stench of rust, burnt wood, and the sweet, pungent smell of trampled human intestines, which wafted into the nostrils with every gust of wind, making one want to vomit but unable to.
Zheng Yi knelt at the breach in the collapsed city wall, his left hand supporting him on the ground, his fingers filled with rubble and his own blood. His right arm hung limply, unable to be raised, and the Heavenly Protection Body was reduced to a thin layer of golden light, like a candle flame that could be extinguished at any moment.
Opposite him, Lu Tianxing stood upright, leaning on a broken sword. His severed arm was haphazardly wrapped with strips of cloth, and blood was still seeping out. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of blood-stained teeth: "Dark Night... how much longer can you stand here? Hold on for another quarter of an hour, and I'll personally twist your head off and use it as a chamber pot!"
Not far away, Li Chongyue was dragged from the ruins, his chest caved in and several ribs broken. Blood and foam clung to his lips as he spoke: "...Don't waste your breath on him...All troops, charge...flatten...flatten this dog city..."
The remaining two thousand or so allied troops were already bloodthirsty. Cavalry in front, infantry behind, surged into the city like a black tide once again. The city guards had less than four hundred men left. Guo Tianyou stood at the forefront, holding a bloodstained longsword. His armor was torn in three places, and his left leg was so badly cut that he could barely stand.
"Tianyou, go back..." Guo Shouzhen leaned against the broken wall, his voice weak as a candle in the wind, "Don't die here... at least... let Mingxuan know... the Guo family... still has descendants..."
Guo Tianyou's eyes were red-rimmed, and his teeth were clenched so tightly they were grinding: "Fifth Uncle... I won't back down... Whoever dies today... I will bite off a piece of the Lu family's flesh!"
Before he could finish speaking, a warhorse charged forward with a neigh, and the black-armored knight on its back thrust his lance straight at Guo Tianyou's back.
Zheng Yi's pupils suddenly contracted.
He gritted his teeth and forcefully activated the last of his Heavenly Gang Golden Elixir. A flash of golden light appeared in his left hand, condensing into the last Heavenly Gang Small Sword, only one foot long, which he then threw out.
laugh--!
The small sword pierced the knight's throat with precision, its golden tail blazing as it sank into the horse's neck. The warhorse neighed in agony, collapsing to the ground with its rider on the ground, creating a large cloud of blood and gore.
But this throw almost drained Zheng Yi of his last bit of strength.
His vision went black, and he slammed one knee heavily to the ground. A sweet, metallic taste rose in his throat, which he swallowed back down.
"Sir!" Guo Tianyou staggered over, trying to help him up, but Zheng Yi raised his hand to block him.
"Don't come any closer..." Zheng Yi's voice was hoarse, "...protect...the intersection of Beishan Road...Senior Shen...is almost here..."
"But you—"
"Get out!" Zheng Yi suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "That's an order!"
Guo Tianyou's lips trembled, but he finally gritted his teeth, turned around, dragged his long sword, and led the last few dozen city guards who could still move, charging desperately towards the North Mountain.
Lu Tianxing grinned maliciously: "Trying to run? Too late!"
He raised his hand and waved, and dozens of cultivators behind him simultaneously took to the air, their swords flashing and shadows covering the remnant army.
Just then—
Rumble rumble rumble...
It's not thunder.
It was an earthquake.
The entire city of Hongyun seemed to have been violently struck from the ground by some colossal object. Large sections of the bluestone pavement cracked, and the remnants of the city walls crumbled down like pieces of paper. Horses reared up and neighed in panic, and the allied forces' formation instantly fell into chaos.
Everyone, including Lu Tianxing and the seriously injured Li Chongyue, subconsciously looked up towards the direction of Beishan.
In the mountain valley.
The once deathly quiet peak cave was now wreathed in countless arcs of bluish-white lightning, as if the entire mountaintop were being swallowed by a sea of thunder. Gale-force winds whipped up flying rocks, and spiritual energy gathered at a visible speed, forming a vortex a hundred feet in diameter.
At the very center of the vortex, a figure slowly rose.
White clothes.
Long hair.
His face was aged, but his eyes were as clear as a young man's.
Shen Changyuan. (End of Chapter)