Chapter 29: Three Hundred Years' Number One General

"General Hong?" The He family father and son exchanged glances. "Did General Hong die before Zhong Shengguang?"

"Zhong Shengguang had many fierce generals under his command, but if you were to name the best on the battlefield, it would undoubtedly be General Hong." Sun Fuping's thoughts drifted back as he spoke of the legendary general. "For the next two decades, the Iron Legion of Panlong City was almost entirely built by him. The will I obtained from a Panlong City resident mentioned that he was a divine strategist, dominating the battlefield, and took on most of Zhong Shengguang's burden."

"Well, did you know that after twelve years of defending the city, Zhong Shengguang was already covered in injuries and found it difficult to continue? As the saying goes, 'a general dies in a hundred battles'; a will of iron alone is far from enough, one also needs a body of steel."

"I've heard of that. It's said that General Hong once led a few dozen men on a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines. Unexpectedly, they encountered two thousand Xianyou enemy troops. So, a few dozen fought against two thousand. Most of his followers were killed, but General Hong fought with increasing ferocity, actually turning the tide and sending the enemy scattering in disarray. He achieved the legendary feat of a few men pursuing two thousand. I wonder if he entered a 'Tyrant Body' state..." The mention of this term made everyone frown, and He Lingchuan quickly coughed. "Anyway, reinforcements eventually arrived, and Panlong City won a great victory. The legends of General Hong are so numerous in Blackwater City that I couldn't finish telling them to you in three days and three nights."

He exaggerated, but people loved such grand and stirring stories.

"That was the Battle of Heisong Pass." Sun Fuping nodded. "Do you know which year that happened?"

"Not entirely sure." He Chunhua thought for a moment. "It seems it was after Xiluo and Xianyou's negotiations broke down and Panlong City was besieged again?"

"It was in the autumn of the very same year that the State of Xianyou resumed war with Xiluo, the Panlong Wilderness once again became an exclave, and Panlong City became an isolated fortress!" Sun Fuping said slowly. "The wording in the will is also very interesting; it describes General Hong as 'emerging from nowhere' to resist the enemy tides from all four directions and stabilize the morale of the Panlong army!"

As he spoke, He Lingchuan chimed in, dutifully playing the role of an attentive listener: "Indeed. How could such an unparalleled powerhouse, a savior of Panlong City, have no prior presence, only to 'emerge from nowhere' at this particular moment?"

He was as familiar with the legends of General Hong as any Blackwater City resident. However, legends are just that, and with most historical data missing, who would truly scrutinize the details of events that happened over a century ago?

Nian Songyu picked up the conversation: "The Grand Marshal, after reviewing historical records, believes that Zhong Shengguang's appeasement of the gods came first, followed by General Hong's sudden emergence. These two events must be connected."

He Chunhua: "So, besides the Grand Flask, the gods' assistance was actually embodied in General Hong?"

To bestow two types of assistance at once, this deity was indeed very generous.

"At least he was a very important part of it," Sun Fuping continued. "The personal guard's will also mentioned that General Hong left Panlong City twice: once to Xiluo, and once he actually reached the State of Xianyou! The guard deeply regretted not accompanying him, as he would have had the chance to be stationed in his homeland instead of being buried in the wilderness."

The He family father and son were greatly surprised: "General Hong actually returned to Xiluo?"

"Didn't you say Panlong City was besieged and isolated?" He Lingchuan clicked his tongue. "He could even go to Xianyou... Hmm, what did he go to Xianyou for?"

"That's unclear," Nian Songyu shrugged. "The information we have doesn't mention when he went, when he returned, or what exactly he did."

"Even if he was the greatest general in three hundred years, his actions were beyond imagination. Perhaps he was an incredibly powerful sorcerer, augmented by the collective fortune of the entire Panlong Wilderness." Sun Fuping exhaled slowly. "However, I'm more inclined to believe that General Hong was no longer human, but a demigod!"

"A demigod?" He Chunhua gasped. "You mean, a divine descent!"

"Precisely, a divine descent!"

Governor He, usually composed and steady, was now both astonished and bewildered, but he quickly composed himself:

"There have only been three historically documented cases of divine descent from ancient times to the present." However, General Hong's achievements were so extraordinary that attributing them to a deity seemed more acceptable. "It's said that the requirements for a divine descent are extremely stringent; otherwise, there wouldn't be so few recorded instances."

He Lingchuan immediately searched for the term "divine descent" in the original body's memories, but after a long search, he only found vague impressions. It was said that deities existed three feet above one's head, but in reality, gods resided outside this realm and could not directly descend into it.

Although their true forms could not come, under extremely limited conditions, they could possess a human body through "divine descent" to act, thus indirectly entering the mortal world.

Individuals who accepted a "divine descent" were also known as demigods.

"Hmm, deities usually don't interfere in mortal affairs, but there are always exceptions," Sun Fuping said. "In the spring of the thirty-second year of defending Panlong City, Xianyou and Baling assembled five vassal states to launch a joint attack. They also sought aid from the northern demon nation, securing six hundred demon soldiers. Together, they initiated an unprecedented assault on Panlong City. The battle was reportedly so fierce that it 'leveled mountains'; the entire Yin Dou Mountain on the northern side was razed to the ground."

"In that battle, all six hundred demon soldiers, along with their two leading demon generals, were killed. Of the five Grand National Preceptors dispatched by the seven nations, three died and one was severely wounded. The casualties among the soldiers were immense; it's said that for five years after this great war, eight out of ten fertile fields in the State of Xianyou lay barren, as there weren't enough young able-bodied men left to cultivate the land."

Nian Songyu sighed, "Even the State of Xianyou, which was on the winning side of the offensive, couldn't withstand such losses. Within a few years after the great battle of Panlong City, civil unrest erupted, leading to its fragmentation into several small states, and the conflict continues to this day."

"The will mentioned that General Hong perished in that monumental battle. Three days after his death, Panlong City fell, and Zhong Shengguang committed suicide."

"So that's how it was." He Chunhua couldn't help but sigh. "What a pity."

It was a pity that hundreds of thousands of loyal souls were buried in the Panlong Wilderness, yet they ultimately could not defy fate.

"Not just a pity, but terrifying," He Lingchuan also sighed. "The army that even seven nations almost couldn't defeat has now become the valiant souls we must face. Speaking of which, no matter how powerful the Great Wind Army was, it couldn't have achieved its feats without the Grand Flask. Yet, Panlong City eventually fell. Did the Grand Flask fail?"

"That's unclear," Sun Fuping spread his hands. "There are no records anywhere. It's already quite difficult for us to deduce the above information from the limited resources we have; it's like looking at a leopard through a tube, seeing only a single spot. The full truth, I'm afraid, may never be known."

Nian Songyu stood up and stretched. "Let's get some rest. From tomorrow, we might not get any peaceful sleep."

The meeting concluded.

The He father and son shared a small cabin.

The room was tiny, barely able to fit two small beds. When the two large men lay down, their legs almost couldn't stretch out.

However, the bedding was surprisingly dry, which He Lingchuan speculated was due to the extreme dryness of the desert. There was some sand on the ground, but no irritating small creatures.