Chapter 925
The Repeating Heavy Crossbows Must All Be in Place!
Zheng Yi was still wearing that faded gray cotton robe, and he even held a small pair of orchid pruning shears in his hand. His steps were slow, but the moment he stepped onto the city wall, the turbulent spiritual energy around him seemed to encounter an invisible wall and instantly subsided.
"Sir!" Guo Tianyou knelt on the ground and wiped the blood from his face.
"You all step back." Zheng Yi's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of every soldier on guard.
He walked to the top of the battlements, raised his head, and looked down at Yin Feng Zhenren and Mo Ku, who seemed to be looking down on everything from mid-air like gods.
"Elder Mo, since you say the Domain Lord's edict is fake," Zheng Yi toyed with the small scissors in his hand, his eyes calm and without a ripple, "have you considered whether your head is enough for Tuoba Hong to chop off if it were real?"
When Mo Ku saw Zheng Yi appear, his heart trembled inexplicably, but relying on Yin Feng Zhenren by his side, he suppressed his fear and shouted sharply, "Stop playing tricks here! You demon, today is your death day! Senior Brother Yin Feng, it's him!"
Yin Feng Zhenren narrowed his eyes and sized up Zheng Yi. He could actually sense an extremely dangerous aura emanating from this seemingly ordinary mortal with no cultivation.
"Pretentious. I'd like to see just how capable you really are."
Yin Feng Zhenren snorted coldly, raising his bone staff once more, preparing to deliver a fatal blow.
Just then.
A deafening roar suddenly echoed from the southern horizon, far away from Hongyun City.
This roar was not the howl of a wild beast, but the furious howl of a person driven to the extreme.
The sound had barely appeared when it was still a hundred miles away. But in just a moment, the source of the sound seemed to have traversed the distance of space, directly shattering the clouds in the sky!
"Boom—!"
A blinding, blood-red sonic boom cloud exploded in the sky.
A figure of immense size, burning with a dark red aura that seemed almost tangible, descended from the sky like a meteorite crashing into the earth, carrying the power to destroy everything!
"Who gave you the audacity to say my imperial edict is fake?!"
A thunderous roar exploded in everyone's ears.
The figure showed no intention of slowing down, and slammed into the huge Qingyun Sect Master's spirit boat in the very center with an extremely tyrannical and unreasonable manner.
"Crack—Boom!!!"
The spirit boat, tens of feet long and incredibly sturdy, snapped in two the moment that figure stepped on it! Countless wood chips, fragments of the formation, and screaming Qingyun Sect disciples flew in all directions like exploding fireworks.
Mo Ku and Yin Feng Zhenren's expressions changed drastically. They exerted all their strength to activate their protective qi and barely managed to escape from the broken spirit boat, hovering in mid-air.
The figure stood on the broken wreckage of the ship's bow. His body fell down with the debris, but he simply pushed off into the air and shot into the sky like a cannonball, landing steadily in front of Mo Ku and Yin Feng Zhenren.
His dark purple robe billowed wildly in the gale, and his rugged face was filled with undisguised rage and murderous intent. He didn't even carry a weapon, but just by standing there, the terrifying aura of a seasoned battlefield veteran, crawling out of piles of corpses, caused the surrounding air to crackle under its weight.
Lord of Dingzhou, Tuoba Hong!
"Domain...Domain Lord?!" Mo Ku saw who it was and felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, even his voice changed.
He never expected that Tuoba Hong would personally come for the sake of Hongyun City, and so quickly! This speed definitely showed that he had burned his own life essence without regard to the cost!
Yin Feng Zhenren's face was also deathly pale. Although he was only a half-step Golden Core cultivator, in Dingzhou, who didn't know that Tuoba Hong was a mad dog not to be trifled with? This was the ruthless man who single-handedly fought his way in and out of the Hundred Thousand Mountains of Southern Xinjiang seven times!
"Lord Tuoba...it's a misunderstanding, all of this is a misunderstanding..." Yin Feng Zhenren forced a smile and cupped his hands, saying, "We are here on the orders of our sect to wipe out the demonic cultivators..."
"Go to hell with your misunderstanding!"
Tuoba Hong ignored his nonsense and suddenly stretched out his right hand with his five fingers spread wide.
In mid-air, the spiritual energy within a radius of hundreds of feet was instantly drained, and a huge blood-red handprint formed entirely of blood and qi appeared out of thin air, slamming down on Yin Feng Zhenren and Mo Ku like swatting a fly.
"you dare!"
Yin Feng Zhenren was both shocked and furious. He was, after all, a prominent figure in the Qingyun Sect, yet the other party attacked him without even saying a word.
He roared, and the bone staff in his hand burst forth with a dazzling green light, transforming into a massive white bone shield that blocked his path. Mo Ku also quickly summoned all his defensive magical artifacts, hiding tightly behind Yin Feng Zhenren.
"Bang—Crack!"
The crimson handprint struck the bone shield, remaining frozen for less than half a second. The bone shield, which could withstand even the full-force attack of an ordinary early-stage Golden Core cultivator, shattered instantly into a shower of bone dust.
The crimson handprint, its momentum undiminished, slammed heavily onto the two men's protective aura.
"puff!"
Yin Feng Zhenren and Mo Ku simultaneously coughed up a mouthful of blood, their bodies plummeting straight down from the sky like kites with broken strings, creating two bottomless craters in the wasteland outside Hongyun City.
The remaining Qingyun Sect disciples in the sky were all terrified.
They stared at the imposing man standing in mid-air like a demon god, their grip on their flying swords trembling. Escape? Who would dare escape from Tuoba Hong?
Tuoba Hong lowered his head and coldly surveyed the large pit below, his voice as sharp as ice shards in the dead of winter.
"My imperial edict, written in black and white and stamped with the official seal. You say it's fake? Fine. Then today I'll show you whether the sky over Dingzhou truly belongs to the Qing or the Tuoba!"
The smoke and dust in the large pit dissipated.
Yin Feng Zhenren crawled out of the ground with disheveled hair. His treasured bone staff was broken into three pieces, and half of his body was broken. Mo Ku was in even worse shape, barely alive, lying on the ground convulsing like a dead dog.
"Tuoba Hong! You...you actually dared to lay such a cruel hand on an elder of the Qingyun Sect!" Yin Feng Zhenren gritted his teeth, staring venomously at Tuoba Hong in mid-air. "Aren't you afraid that the wrath of the Qingyun Sect will burn your Domain Lord's Mansion to the ground?!"
"Using the Qingyun Sect to intimidate me?"
Tuoba Hong sneered, his figure flashing as he instantly appeared before Yin Feng Zhenren. So fast was Yin Feng Zhenren that he didn't even blink; a thick, iron-like hand had already gripped his neck, lifting him up like a chicken. "Go back and tell your sect leader who's cowering in the mountains, too afraid to come out," Tuoba Hong said, staring into Yin Feng Zhenren's eyes, enunciating each word clearly, "Hongyun City is my vital trading hub. Zheng Yi is my honored guest. That road they're building is the lifeline of my Dingzhou!"
"If anyone dares to touch a single brick in Hongyun City, I'll send an army of 100,000 to trample Qingyun Mountain!"
Tuoba Hong suddenly flung his hand, slamming Yin Feng Zhenren hard against a nearby boulder. The boulder shattered, and Yin Feng Zhenren coughed up another mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs, before finally losing consciousness.
This place was deathly silent.
The only sounds were the howling wind sweeping across the wasteland and the suppressed, rapid breathing of the Qingyun Sect disciples in the sky.
Tuoba Hong dusted off his hands, turned around, and looked up at the city walls of Hongyun City.
On the city wall, Guo Tianyou, Zhao Sanhuai, Han Wuhen, and all the guards were stunned. Although they knew the Domain Lord was a ruthless person, none of them expected that this big shot would be so violent.
Only Zheng Yi remained standing there calmly, still holding the small pair of scissors in his hand.
Tuoba Hong looked at Zheng Yi, and the rage on his face instantly disappeared. He even reached out to straighten his clothes, which had become a little messy from the fight.
"Mr. Zheng." Tuoba Hong stood at the foot of the city wall, grinning at Zheng Yi on the city wall, revealing a set of white teeth. His tone was as casual as if he had just helped an old friend chase away a few thugs on the street.
"I'm a little late, but I hope I didn't miss the auspicious time for the road construction to start in the city?"
Zheng Yi looked at the domineering middle-aged man below the city wall, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
He casually tossed the scissors onto the nearby stack of walls.
“The Domain Lord has arrived at just the right time,” Zheng Yi said calmly. “The weeds on this roadbed can be cleared away by the Domain Lord’s hand.”
Tuoba Hong laughed heartily, his voice echoing across the surrounding area.
He turned his head and looked at the Qingyun Sect disciples wailing all over the ground and the two spirit boats still trembling in the sky. His eyes instantly turned cold and ruthless.
"Take these two pieces of trash and get back to your Qingyun Mountain! Tell your sect leader that you smashed the walls of Hongyun City today and compensated the soldiers here. I will personally go to the Qingyun Sect another day to collect this debt, interest and all!"
In the sky, the remaining Qingyun Sect disciples, as if granted a pardon, scrambled down their flying swords and dragged the unconscious Yin Feng Zhenren and the half-crippled Mo Ku onto the remaining two spirit boats like dead dogs. Then, they urged the spirit boats on and fled frantically towards the Qingyun Mountains like stray dogs running for their lives.
They came in full force, but left in a sorry state.
A seemingly devastating catastrophe that threatened to destroy the city and its inhabitants came to an end in such an extremely violent and dramatic manner.
The city gate slowly opened.
Zheng Yi, along with Guo Tianyou, Han Wuhen, and others, walked out of the city gate and met Tuoba Hong.
"Thank you for your help, Lord Domain Master." Zheng Yi bowed slightly.
"Stop with the pleasantries." Tuoba Hong grabbed Zheng Yi's shoulder, completely unconcerned about his coarse cotton robe. "When I was in Dingzhou Prefecture, I heard that these old bastards didn't recognize my imperial edict and were even mobilizing troops. I even smashed my wine bowl back then. Damn it, they dare to touch my purse? Do they think my sword is dull?"
Han Wuhen stood by with a forced smile, his chubby face full of relief at surviving the ordeal: "Lord of the Domain, your divine might is unparalleled! That attack just now truly shocked me so much that my jaw dropped. You didn't see the old thief Mo Ku's face; it was even more disgusting than if he had eaten a dead rat!"
"Han Fatty, stop flattering me." Tuoba Hong glared at him. "I saw it from the sky just now. Although your city protection formation is mysterious, the spirit stones buried under the city wall are almost burned dry, aren't they? Road construction is important, but the threshold for preventing thieves needs to be raised even higher."
“The Domain Lord is right.” Zheng Yi nodded. “Therefore, we need to discuss another big deal with the Domain Lord this time.”
"Oh?" Tuoba Hong's eyes lit up. "What do you need to fix this time?"
"Not repair, buy." Zheng Yi pointed in the direction where the Qingyun Sect had fled. "I want to buy those rusty, obsolete military armor-piercing crossbows piled up in the corner of the Dingzhou armory. I want as many as there are. The price will be double the market price."
Tuoba Hong was stunned.
Military armor-piercing ballistae, though heavy weapons for ordinary people, are strictly prohibited from being privately possessed in places like Dingzhou. If there are enough of them, and they are arranged in formation, they are powerful weapons that even Golden Core cultivators dare not charge into.
He looked at Zheng Yi, his gaze gradually becoming deep.
"Brother Zheng, are you planning to turn Hongyun City into a porcupine covered in thorns by buying so many powerful weapons?"
"No." Zheng Yi looked at him calmly. "I want to make sure that when the Qingyun Sect sends people down the mountain in the future, they will not only have to consider your opinion, Lord, but also have to count how many lives they brought with them to fill the pit in this city wall."
Looking at this perpetually calm and collected young man, Tuoba Hong felt a sudden chill, but this chill quickly turned into intense excitement.
"Good! That's great!" Tuoba Hong slapped Zheng Yi on the shoulder. "Let's go! Let's go into the city! Today we'll drink the wine of your Hongyun City, and while we're at it, we'll settle this deadly deal right here at the dinner table!"
In the open-air armory on the south side of Hongyun City, scorching sparks sprayed wildly in the dim night sky like a reversed meteor shower.
Dozens of blast furnaces, each taller than a person, stood in a row, their furnaces churning with blindingly reddish-brown molten iron. Hundreds of shirtless blacksmiths, covered in grease and sweat, were wielding sledgehammers, frantically hammering away at the newly formed, massive mechanical parts on their anvils.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The heavy, violent clanging of metal striking metal sounded like muffled war drums, causing the fine pebbles on the ground to vibrate and tremble. A strong, acrid smell of burnt metal, rust, and the salty, metallic tang of sweat filled the air.
Guo Tianyou was shirtless, his muscular chest drenched in sweat. He held a freshly quenched iron crossbow string winch, still emitting wisps of white steam, and slammed it twice against a nearby stone block.
"Click! Click!"
The bluestone block was smashed with two deep white marks, but the winch didn't even deform in the slightest.
"These blueprints from the Dingzhou armory, combined with this material mixed with refined copper, make formidable weapons!" Guo Tianyou grinned, casually tossing the heavy winch weighing several dozen kilograms to a centurion beside him. "Take this and install it on the armor-piercing ballista at position C on the city wall! Tell the men below to hurry; all twelve repeating heavy crossbows on the south wall must be in place before dawn!" (End of Chapter)