Chapter 795
Shennong Staff VS Xuanyuan Sword
When the huge wave arrived, the retreat call had only been half-sounded.
The two fleets had just turned their ships around, the sails were not yet fully unfurled, and the oarsmen had only just begun to row.
Then the circular wall of water arrived—not a wave, but a wall, ten zhang high and of unknown thickness, with the back waves pushing the front waves, lashing at the turning ship formation like a whip.
The vanguard of the Han army had just given the order to "retreat at full speed."
She stood on the remaining half of the "Qingluan" ship's deck, watching helplessly as the wall of water pushed towards Luoxingdun.
At first it was just a white line on the horizon, but three breaths later it turned into a tsunami that blotted out the sky.
The water wall carried fragments of rocks shattered during the battle—the Falling Star Reef rocks, crushed to dust by the two men's palm strikes, now mixed in with the water, becoming the deadliest barrage of bullets.
"Hold on—" She only managed to shout two words.
The water wall struck the left flank of the fleet.
The twenty "Azure Scale Ships" in the front row were lifted up like paper boats.
It didn't capsize; it "thrown" the entire boat out of the water, causing it to tumble and roll in the air, the hull making a series of teeth-grinding cracking sounds under the water pressure. Then it crashed back into the water, not intact, but disintegrating completely.
The deck, cabins, and masts disintegrated in mid-air, turning into countless fragments.
The water wall continued to advance.
Golden Swallow gritted her teeth and used all her strength to release her protective aura. Immediately afterwards, a giant golden swallow flew into the sky to meet the towering waves.
She wanted to withstand the terrifying shockwave and waves all by herself.
With a deafening roar, the water surged violently into the giant golden swallow in the air. Boom! The golden swallow was instantly destroyed by the giant wave. In the aftershocks of the battle between two fifth-stage Furnace Gods, a Furnace Realm expert like the golden swallow was simply unable to withstand it.
The water surged through Jin Yanzi's protective aura like a hammer blow to her back. She heard the sound of her ribs breaking, and blood gushed from her mouth and nose. But even more terrifying were the "things" in the water—pebbles that spun at incredible speeds, grazing her blue scales and sending sparks flying. A fist-sized rock struck her left shoulder, shattering her armor and breaking her bones instantly.
"General!" The guards cried out and rushed to protect her, but the next second they were swept away by an undercurrent and disappeared into the murky water.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Dingbian immediately roared, "All troops, form ranks! Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation, activate!"
Under Zhang Dingbian's command, the entire army immediately formed the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation. The next moment, the military formation of 200,000 troops was activated, and the army's military aura formed a huge protective shield on the outside to resist the towering waves that were coming.
This reduced the casualties of the Han army.
Zhu Chongba's army also suffered the same attack.
The Zhenhai was turning at full speed, attempting to avoid a head-on impact. But the wall of water was too wide and too fast. When Xu Da saw the white wall of death hurtling towards him, he only had time to shout, "Down you go!"
The wall of water crashed into the hull of the ship.
The entire "Zhenhai" was pushed sideways, not backward, but sideways—like a stone kicked by a giant, sliding a hundred feet away. The ship groaned in agony, the port side completely collapsed, and the river water rushed in. The soldiers on deck were swept off the ship like fallen leaves in the autumn wind, their screams swallowed by the sound of the water.
Xu Da was thrown to the side of the ship, his sword flying from his waist. He reached out to grab it, but grasped only air. Just as he was about to fall into the lake, a strong hand grabbed his wrist—it was Chang Yuchun. This fierce general used his long spear to pierce the deck, securing himself, and held Xu Da tightly with one hand.
"Second brother, hold on tight!"
The two men clung to the side of the capsized boat, beneath them the raging, boiling waves. And the second and third waves were coming in quick succession from the direction of Luoxingdun.
The entire Poyang Lake has become a raging sea.
Nearly 400,000 troops were as insignificant as ants before the might of heaven and earth. The order to retreat had become a joke. All they could do now was grab onto whatever they could and pray that they would live until the waves subsided.
With Chang Yuchun's help, Xu Da finally stopped and immediately shouted, "Don't panic! Activate the formation! Activate the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation!"
Xu Da roared, and the army immediately formed ranks. With the activation of the formation, the entire army barely managed to withstand the wind and waves.
At this moment, the entire Poyang Lake stirred up, as if boiling over during the battle between the two.
At this moment, the people living by the lake saw that Poyang Lake, which was usually calm and still, suddenly began to boil like the sea, and even surged onto the embankment. This was a scene that was not seen for a hundred years!
At this point, some superstitious elderly people had already led the villagers to kneel by the water.
They say it's because the Dragon King of Poyang Lake is angry that he caused such a commotion.
However, some people who knew the truth, seeing the terrifying ripples in the lake, thought to themselves that it must be those two extremely powerful experts at the fifth level of the Fusion God realm who had started fighting.
At this moment, in Hongdu Water Village, Ma Xiuying stood on the city wall of Hongdu, looking at the surging Poyang Lake. The waves crashed against the city wall with a loud splash. The personal guard behind her said, "Madam, the waves are too big here. Let's go back."
Ma Xiuying shook her head and said, "I'll wait here for Chongba to come back!"
Also on the dike in Jiujiang Prefecture, Su Yunjin stood on the turbulent shore, and Yin Hongmei behind her said, "Madam, the waves are too big, let's go back and wait."
Su Yunjin said, "No, I will wait here, waiting for my husband!"
This battle touched the hearts of so many people, but these two women were the most unfortunate, destined to lose their husbands and everything they had in their lives!
Rumble...
Thunder rumbled muffledly from behind the clouds. At that moment, on Mount Wudang, Zhang Sanfeng slowly opened his eyes, looked at the sea of clouds, and said, "They've clashed! They've clashed!"
Upon hearing Zhang Sanfeng's words, the disciple who was meditating below immediately asked, "Are they Chen Jiu Si and Zhu Chong Ba?"
Zhang Sanfeng nodded and said, "After the battle for the Human Emperor, we Han people will once again rise as emperors among men!"
After saying this, Zhang Sanfeng took a deep breath and said, "I have been waiting for this day for over a hundred years!"
"It's about time this day came!"
Zhang Sanfeng looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with excitement. He had finally waited for this day when he could see hope.
Meanwhile, in Dadu, the Living Buddha Phagpa secluded himself at home, meditating on life and death!
What's meant to come will come, and what's meant to be avoided can't be avoided. The only thing we can do now is to improve ourselves as much as possible to prepare for the upcoming Northern Expedition of the Southern Army!
Welcoming the soon-to-be-emerging human emperor—this is destiny, and destiny is unchangeable!
Since that's the case, all we can do is try our best to improve ourselves and prepare for that final battle!
Amitabha!
The Battle of Poyang Lake captivated the hearts of everyone in the world. This battle was crucial to the future of the entire Han people, so countless eyes were focused on Poyang Lake.
Meanwhile, on the main peak of Luoxingdun in Poyang Lake, Chen Jie and Zhu Chongba had already exchanged blows several times. Each round was a clash between the two against the laws of heaven and earth. The waters near Luoxingdun had been completely cleared, and the surface of the nearby rivers was covered with dead river fish.
On the island of Luoxingdun, all the birds that lived there were frightened and flew away, while the beasts hid in caves and trembled with fear. To them, Chen Jie and Zhu Chongba were like gods.
Bang!
The two exchanged another palm strike. At this moment, Zhu Chongba waved his hand, knocking Chen Jie away, and said, "Chen Jiu Si, the warm-up is almost over. It's time to get serious. I heard you found the weapon of the Shennong Emperor, the Shennong Staff. Why don't you take it out and let me see it?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "That suits me perfectly, bring the cane!"
Chen Jie raised his hand and made a grasping motion in the air.
The instant his right hand clenched, the "four seasons" of the entire sky abruptly stopped—the spring in the east ceased to spread, the flames in the south ceased to rage, the thick earth in the west ceased to settle, and the black ice in the north ceased to expand. It was as if an invisible hand had seized the pulse of heaven and earth.
Then, a staff "grew" out of his hand.
It wasn't an illusion, nor a summoning; it was true "growth"—from nothingness, a tender sprout emerged, quickly branching out, unfurling leaves, growing taller, and lignifying. In the blink of an eye, the verdant sprout transformed into a three-foot-long, entirely verdant green staff, topped with a mushroom!
Shennong's Staff!
Chen Jie gripped the wooden staff, and his entire aura suddenly changed. He was no longer just a martial artist who possessed the Four Seasons Celestial Phenomenon Technique, but had gained an ancient, vast, compassionate, and majestic "divinity."
He gently tapped his wooden staff on the ground. The moment the tip touched the crimson jade platform, it cracked. Not shattered, but "grown"—countless plants surged forth from the crack. Not an illusion, but real plants: vines, thorns, poisonous weeds, lingzhi mushrooms, ginseng… some bloomed with blood-red flowers, some bore black fruit, some emitted an alluring sweet fragrance, and some emitted deadly poison.
In the blink of an eye, the entire Crimson Jade Platform transformed into a primeval forest, and every plant in this forest was under Chen Jie's control.
"Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs to distinguish between medicinal poisons." Chen Jie pointed his wooden staff forward, and the plants in the forest simultaneously "came to life," surging towards Zhu Chongba like a tide. "Today, I, Chen, will use this array of hundreds of herbs to meet the successor of Xuanyuan."
Zhu Chongba remained calm as he watched the surging tide of plants.
He raised his right hand, palm up. A golden light appeared in his palm. The golden light was initially only the size of a pinhead, but it quickly expanded, stretched, and shaped—transforming into the phantom of a sword.
The sword is three feet and three inches long. One side of the blade is engraved with the sun, moon, and stars, while the other side depicts mountains, rivers, and vegetation. One side of the hilt is inscribed with techniques of farming and animal husbandry, while the other side displays strategies for unifying the world. On the guard are two small, ancient seal characters, though blurred, that anyone could easily recognize—
Xuanyuan.
This is a "sacred artifact of humanity" that has been hidden deep within the bloodline of humankind for five thousand years.
Zhu Chongba gripped the hilt of the sword.
The moment he grasped it, the jungle "growing" beneath his feet suddenly froze. Not frozen, but suppressed by some higher level of "order"—these plants could grow, but had to grow "orderly"; they could attack, but had to attack "rationally." The "creation" power of the Shennong Staff was fundamentally restrained by the "order" power of the Xuanyuan Sword.
"Shennong created all things, and Xuanyuan established the rule over the nine provinces." Zhu Chongba held his sword horizontally to his chest, and the engravings of "mountains, rivers, plants, and trees" on the sword lit up one after another. "Although creation is wonderful, it still needs the restraint of order. Chen Jiu Si, even if you have the Shennong Staff, how much of its power can you unleash?"
As soon as he finished speaking, his sword was drawn.
There was no sword energy, no sword light, just a simple horizontal thrust.
But this thrust wasn't aimed at Chen Jie; it was aimed at the Shennong Staff, at the emerald green light within the staff that represented the "origin of creation."
III. Clash of Staff and Sword
Chen Jie's expression changed slightly.
He could sense that Zhu Chongba's sword strike wasn't targeting his body or his inner energy, but rather the "core" of the Shennong Staff in his hand—that emerald light representing the origin of creation. This sword strike, seemingly ordinary, actually contained the supreme sword principles of "severing cause and effect" and "destroying the origin."
"Well done!" Chen Jie advanced instead of retreating, pointing his Shennong staff forward, the emerald light at the tip of the staff suddenly shining brightly.
The tip of the staff points at the tip of the sword.
There was no loud noise, no shockwave, only a soft "crack" sound, like glass shattering.
Centered on the point where the staff and sword clashed, everything within a radius of ten feet suddenly "faded".
It's not that it turns black and white, but that it loses its "attributes"—the red jade platform is no longer crimson, turning into the most primitive stone; the wildly growing plants no longer possess medicinal or toxic properties, becoming the most ordinary weeds; even the air has lost the distinction between "active" and "inert," becoming pure gas.
This is a collision between "creation" and "order." Two equally supreme and equally fundamental forces are canceling and neutralizing each other, stripping away all "additional attributes" and returning to the most primitive state.
Chen Jie and Zhu Chongba retreated simultaneously.
Chen Jie took three steps back, and the emerald light on the Shennong Staff in his hand dimmed by three-tenths. Some of the miniature mountain and geographical patterns on the staff began to blur and disappear.
Zhu Chongba took two steps back, the phantom of the Xuanyuan Sword in his hand trembled slightly, and some of the "mountains, rivers, grass and trees" engravings on the sword became dim.
Round 1, a draw.
But in their eyes, an even more intense fighting spirit ignited.
Chen Jie no longer held back. He gripped the staff with both hands, raised it high above his head, and the emerald light at the tip of the staff suddenly split into four colors—blue, red, yellow, and white, four points of light.
"The seasons cycle, and nature is ever-changing—spring is born!"
A cyan light detached from the tip of the staff, soaring into the air and transforming into the phantom of Jumang, the god of spring. This time, however, Jumang held a cyan wooden staff—a "projection of spring" from Shennong's staff. Jumang pointed the staff downwards, and the crimson jade platform beneath Zhu Chongba's feet suddenly "came to life." Not with plants, but with the platform itself "growing"—the stones wriggled and deformed, transforming into countless stone spikes, spears, and beasts, piercing Zhu Chongba from all directions.
"Summer is long!"
A crimson point of light flew out, transforming into Zhurong. The miniature sun held in the hands of this summer god now merged with the "Summer Projection" of Shennong's staff, increasing its temperature tenfold. The sun fell, not smashing, but "melting"—in its path, even space itself was burned away, leaving a charred, long-lasting, unhealable mark.
"autumn harvest!"
The yellow light transformed into Houtu. This Autumn God pressed his palms into the void, and the gravity around Zhu Chongba increased a thousandfold! Not only that, but there was also a strange "absorbing" force—not absorbing his internal energy, but absorbing his "presence." It was as if it wanted to peel him away from the "present" point in time and throw him into the turbulent flow of time.
"Winter hibernation!"
The white light transformed into Xuanming. This Winter Goddess didn't even attack; she simply stood there quietly. But where she stood, the flow of time slowed down ten thousand times. Any movement or counterattack by Zhu Chongba would be dragged out into a long, harmless process by this ten-thousand-fold slowed time before it even touched Xuanming.
The four seasons appear together, the four gods work together, and the creation essence of Shennong's staff is also borrowed.
This is a decisive situation.
Zhu Chongba took a deep breath.
He gripped the sword with both hands, holding the Xuanyuan Sword upright in front of him, the tip pointing to the sky and the hilt to the ground. The posture was simple, but when he did it, the entire world seemed to fall silent.
It's not the stillness of sound, but the stillness of "concept".
Restless, growing, burning, frozen, chaotic... everything returns to "order" the instant this sword is raised.
"Xuanyuan established the dynasty, and the hearts of all peoples turned to him—" Zhu Chongba's voice was no longer his own, but the voices of countless human ancestors overlapping together, including the elderly, the middle-aged, women and children, soldiers and farmers, "The mountains and rivers and the state!"
The sword moved.
It's not a stab, not a slash, it's "fixation".
The Xuanyuan Sword was gently extended forward, its tip touching a certain point in the void. That point was the "node" where the powers of the four gods of spring, summer, autumn, and winter converged, the "pivot" of the changing seasons and the unpredictable nature of creation.
The instant the sword tip touches the node—
The azure wooden staff of Jumang, the god of spring, broke inch by inch. It wasn't that it was cut off, but that "order" wouldn't allow it to exist—the staff's "growth" violated the natural law of "spring's timely birth," and thus it was stripped of its foundation of existence by order.
The miniature sun of Zhurong, the god of summer, suddenly went out. Not because it was extinguished by water, but because "order" did not allow it to burn—the sun's "burning" violated the law of "the proper length of summer," and thus the order removed it from the source of its burning.
The gravitational field of Houtu, the Goddess of Autumn, dissipated instantly. It wasn't canceled out, but rather "order" didn't allow it to be abnormal—the "abnormality" of gravity violated the common sense of "orderly autumn harvest," and was therefore corrected by order to return to normal.
The time field of the Winter God Xuanming shattered with a deafening roar. Not shattered by force, but because "order" did not allow it to become disordered—the "disorder" of time violated the ironclad law of "winter's hibernation," and thus was brought back to its proper course by order.
One sword, and the four seasons are settled.
The four phantom images of the gods trembled in unison, then began to fade, blur, and dissipate. They were not defeated, but rather, they lost the support of the Shennong Staff's source of creation, making them unable to maintain themselves in this world locked by "order."
Chen Jie grunted, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. The four-colored lights at the tip of the Shennong Staff in his hand had all gone out, leaving only the central emerald green light, which had dimmed like a candle in the wind.
"What a magnificent Xuanyuan Sword that established the dynasty..." He stared at the Xuanyuan Sword in Zhu Chongba's hand, and for the first time, his eyes revealed not only solemnity but also apprehension.
It wasn't without reason that Shennong was defeated by Xuanyuan in the Battle of Banquan!
Zhu Chongba slowly sheathed his sword, and the engravings on the blade lit up again, even more brilliantly than before.
At this moment, Zhu Chongba looked at Chen Jie and said, "Even Shennong's power of creation is nothing more than this, Chen Jiu Si. If this is all the power you have, today is your death day!" (End of this chapter)