Chapter 1000: Waiting for Me to Stretch

Yu Xinlang of Wudi City, wielding his renowned sword Fú Jī, charged directly into the thousand elite cavalry of the Zhong family who had arrived as reinforcements. With a single strike, his swordplay was starkly different from his previous precise, instant kills. This time, it was grand and magnificent, its immense sword energy obscuring the sky and sun.

Wang Xianzhi, who rarely praised anyone, once privately remarked to the young girl Lü Pao'er with a smile, "Of the tens of thousands of martial artists in the East Sea, only Yu Xinlang stands out!" This clearly showed Wang Xianzhi's high expectations for Yu Xinlang.

Over forty elite Zhong family cavalrymen were instantly shredded by this fierce sword energy, their flesh and blood splattering everywhere in an extremely gruesome scene. One armored cavalryman, who should have died under the sword energy, suddenly leaped backward, precisely stepping on the heads of warhorses with each move. Agile as a hare or falcon, he moved as if on level ground, instantly creating a significant distance from the unstoppable Yu Xinlang. He finally landed between two continuing warhorses, casually raised an arm, snatched a fine iron spear from a Zhong family junior, and with a smile, looked up at the young swordsman who was closing in like a persistent shadow. This middle-aged man, clad in ordinary cavalry armor, thrust his spear forward. The spear lunged like a great dragon leaping from water, aimed straight at the Central Plains swordsman's heart.

Wang Xiu, the Spear Immortal and one of the Four Grandmasters of the Spring and Autumn period, left behind the "Great Arm Manual," stating clearly, "A spear thrust in a straight line, once launched, dispels ghosts and gods!"

Each time Yu Xinlang stepped on the heads of the Zhong family cavalry's warhorses, the horses' forelegs broke, raising a cloud of dust and completely disrupting the cavalry's formation. Facing the middle-aged cavalryman's rainbow-like spear thrust, his body suddenly dropped a few inches. He bent his head and waist, narrowly evading the spear's unparalleled tip, and thrust his own sword forward, equally straight.

This cavalryman, hidden among the Zhong family's private cavalry, was Zhong Liang, known as the second-ranked demonic master of Beiman. Faced with Yu Xinlang's direct, precise sword attack, he remained composed, withdrawing his spear without hesitation. Zhong Liang chose not to directly confront Wang Xianzhi's foremost disciple but adopted a defensive stance, blocking and circling within a small, precise radius. His defense was incredibly methodical, so even as Yu Xinlang's successive sword strikes, through their mere sword energy, slaughtered cavalrymen rushing past Zhong Liang's sides, Zhong Liang himself retreated calmly, fully displaying the demeanor of a grand master of spear arts.

Although Yu Xinlang's sword arts were profound, bearing a hint of a land immortal's aura and appearing aggressively, against an opponent of Zhong Liang's caliber who chose an almost rogue-like complete retreat, Yu Xinlang found it difficult to find an opening for a decisive strike. Moreover, Zhong Liang was originally recognized in the Beiman jianghu for mastering the strengths of many schools, forging them into one. He ultimately achieved a killing power in the Zhi Xuan realm that was no less than that of the Tianxiang realm. However, in the end, lacking an indestructible physique, Zhong Liang did not continue to solely pursue destructive power to reach the Tianxiang realm. Instead, he forged a new path in spear arts, focusing purely on defense rather than offense, striving to keep enemies at bay beyond his spear tip.

It is important to know that the Zhong family, besides being a prominent military lineage in Beiman, was also a unique, top-tier family of spear masters. The Zhong family children were known for their bravery; regardless of gender or age, all were skilled in combat, especially with the great spear. Young children were required to practice spear arts with white wax poles. After achieving initial proficiency, the entry requirement was to achieve "impenetrable defense," meaning a person holding a spear had to deflect all one hundred arrows fired from thirty paces by ten family cavalrymen circling them. After that, during a heavy rain, one had to wield the long spear in such a way that their clothes remained completely dry, which marked the attainment of grand mastery in spear arts. Therefore, the long-spear iron cavalry under Beiman Grand General Zhong Shentong, in terms of individual combat strength, significantly surpassed Dong Zhuo's private cavalry, Murong Baoding's Winter Thunder elite cavalry, or even the lesser Rouran iron cavalry. Unfortunately, the Zhong family had only managed to train fewer than two thousand iron cavalry over twenty years, and their limited numbers prevented them from creating a decisive advantage on the battlefield alone. The Beiman Empress, after witnessing a drill of the Zhong family iron cavalry years ago, exclaimed, "The Zhong family's sons, wielding iron spears and galloping on horseback, truly resemble my prairie eagles soaring across the plains!" Zhong Liang, the second master of the Zhong family, always known for his rebellious and unconventional ways across the plains, choosing spear arts as his martial foundation—a "return to roots"—to compensate for his martial weaknesses was unexpected, yet entirely logical.

Yu Xinlang gazed deeply at the continually retreating Zhong Liang, then suddenly retracted Fú Jī. Zhong Liang stopped in response, laughing heartily, "Finally remembered to reinforce Lou Huang? Don't rush, first ask if the iron spear in my hand agrees!" Zhong Liang, holding his spear, locked his Qi tightly onto Yu Xinlang, for the first time truly taking on a combative stance. He then raised an arm and made a gesture; the Zhong family cavalry on both flanks, who had been continuously charging forward, suddenly halted in formation. Elite cavalry who stopped their advance lined up behind Zhong Liang. Simultaneously, over three hundred Beiman riders, originally at the rear, dismounted and surged forward from the gaps in the cavalry formation. These included elite Spiderweb assassins, Beiman jianghu masters, and even venerable guest retainers nurtured by the Zhong family for years. Without exception, all of them, including Zhong Liang, fixed their gaze on Yu Xinlang, who held Fú Jī diagonally.

The three hundred quickly formed a massive encirclement, desperately surrounding Yu Xinlang, who wore a Liangdao at his waist and held a long sword. Zhong Liang stood his ground, spear in hand. Seeing over thirty people rush forward to encircle the sword genius from the shores of Liyang's East Sea, he smiled nonchalantly, "Yu Xinlang, outnumbering you is a last resort. Though my Zhong family sons fear no death in battle, this is a battlefield, not the jianghu. I hope you'll understand!"

This battlefield was eerily similar, a carbon copy, of the one where Murong Baoding and Li Fengshou held their ground! Yu Xinlang unexpectedly inverted his grip on Fú Jī. With just two fingers of his left hand together, forming a sword, his lips moved slightly. Sword energy surged within Yu Xinlang's left sleeve, overflowing. Those thirty experts, resolved to die, whether they were running frantically or leaping high forward, were almost simultaneously impaled on the spot by surges of sword energy that erupted from the ground without warning. Not only that, but with Yu Xinlang as the center, streams of sword energy suddenly erupted from the earth, magnificent like geysers! Such a phenomenon truly resembled thunder rising from level ground! For ten, twenty, and thirty zhang around, mighty sword energy soared into the sky. After the thirty Beiman experts specifically targeted by Yu Xinlang perished, over sixty more, who either couldn't evade in time or happened to run into the next surge of sword energy, also died with their eyes wide open. Besides the vast majority of Beiman individuals who luckily avoided the sword energy, only a handful of true top masters could actually withstand it head-on. Zhong Liang, naturally, was the most at ease. He simply lifted his long spear and brought it down heavily, crushing the sword energy that had erupted from the ground beside him.

Zhong Liang was in no hurry at all; Yu Xinlang should have been the one in a hurry. Lou Huang, on his last legs, facing the continuous charge of over three thousand cavalry alone—what could he do but die? By the time the Zhong family's vanguard cavalry joined the battle, Lou Huang would likely be meeting his master, who had once made the jianghu bow for sixty years. Zhong Liang only needed to hold Yu Xinlang back at the critical moment. If Yu Xinlang could be captured alive, that would be best. He did not believe that his nephew, Zhong Tan, who carried the heavy hopes for the family's prosperity, had died in Miyun Pass. He was most likely imprisoned by Beiliang, quite possibly within Jubei City. Not only did Zhong Liang have high hopes for Zhong Tan, whose personality was similar to his own, but the entire Zhong family needed Zhong Tan alive. Otherwise, the Zhong family's twenty years of painstaking planning and strategizing would all be in vain. Even if he and his elder brother Zhong Shentong achieved unparalleled military merits in the future, what good would it do without an heir? Zhong Liang hoped to use Yu Xinlang, or someone else, to exchange for a chance for Zhong Tan to return to the family alive.

Zhong Liang, with a complicated mood, suddenly looked around for no reason, as if searching for something. He was very curious. As a top grandmaster with outstanding attainments in the Zhi Xuan realm, he could feel a massive, suffocating invisible aura, yet he couldn't detect the slightest trace of its origin. He only knew that Tuoba Pusa had dragged the young vassal king into a truly perilous battlefield, one that ordinary mortals could not even perceive, a place even Zhong Liang himself could not see. After this battle, the casualties of Beiman's siege infantry would undoubtedly be unimaginable, potentially even affecting their future southern conquest of the Central Plains. Because of those eighteen individuals, it was likely that the Southern Dynasty infantry, who had accumulated resources for twenty years, would be depleted long before Jubei City could be breached. At that point, the prairie cavalry would have to dismount and fight, and casualties would only increase. Both Liang and Beiman knew perfectly well that the number of Southern Dynasty infantry was crucial to Jubei City's defense. This was also the root cause of the eighteen fighting to the death without retreating. It was also why Beiman quickly deployed so many elite cavalry units, and why Spiderweb assassins and jianghu masters were deployed in full force. Eliminating one more Southern Dynasty border infantryman skilled in urban combat would give Beiliang's Jubei City an extra chance. Zhong Liang, usually unyielding in spirit, found himself unusually bewildered at this moment. How had this war escalated to such a tragic, mutually destructive point? Should the million iron cavalry of the prairie have targeted Beiliang in the first first place?

In the heart of Beiman, Deng Mao, standing with his back to the grand banner, held a broken spear that was originally less than two feet long. It had now become an even more aptly named broken spear, with only a one-foot-long spearhead remaining. However, one of Xuanyuan Qingfeng's sleeves was also shredded, and her arm, as fair as mutton-fat jade, bore a shocking gash from which blood flowed incessantly. Deng Mao had consistently prevented the purple-clad figure from approaching within fifty paces of the Beiman Crown Prince, but his palms were also bloody and mangled, so he certainly couldn't be said to have the upper hand.

However, Helian Wuwei, the Commissioner of Xihe Prefecture, Wang Yong, the Commissioner of Baoping Prefecture, and the Crown Princess, all three had already arrived beside Yelü Hongcai, facing a formidable foe and ensuring that the Crown Prince would not be openly slain under the grand banner by that madwoman. Regardless of the Emperor's stance on his son's life or death, a commander dying under the protection of his own army was, after all, an unprecedentedly ridiculous and appalling event. In a standoff between two armies, for an unparalleled warrior to claim the head of a general was an absurd outcome that should only appear in folk tales and romanticized novels. Although Helian Wuwei was not known across the grasslands as a martial grandmaster, but rather for his strict military discipline, and Wang Yong was rumored never to have fought in the jianghu or on the battlefield, the fact that these two cavalrymen were positioned to the left and right of the Beiman Crown Prince indicated their considerable strength. After all, the Crown Princess, whose pseudonym was "Han Gu" from the Chess-Sword Music Academy, was rumored to be one of the few top experts second only to Hong Jingyan, Huang Baozhuang, Grandmaster Bronze Man, and Jian Qi Jin Huang Qing within her sect. At this moment, she merely kept her horse to Wang Yong's right.

Even facing such a lineup, Xuanyuan Qingfeng of Dàxuěpíng still showed no intention of retreating! Incomprehensible. Commissioner Wang Yong of Baoping Prefecture, a jurisdiction similar to Liyang's Guangling Road, gently shook his head. This woman truly lacked understanding of the situation. It was one thing to be overshadowed by the young vassal king, but unexpectedly, this woman truly thought she was a soft target to be easily manipulated. Yelü Hongcai decided to use her to win over a group of prairie aristocrats with unique eccentricities, and he smiled sinisterly, "Deng Mao, remember to spare her life!"

Xuanyuan Qingfeng coldly glanced at the triumphant Beiman Crown Prince, a mocking smile playing on her lips. Logically, a Crown Prince should be more precious than a Crown Prince, yet whether it was Liyang or Beiman, why were they all such worthless characters? Deng Mao stated in a deep voice, "Xuanyuan Qingfeng, I will leave you the chance to commit suicide." Deng Mao, the Broken Spear, did not deliberately lower his voice. Yelü Hongcai was immediately enraged upon hearing this, but due to his secretive and forbearing nature, he did not voice his reprimand. However, in the Crown Prince's mind, Deng Mao, like his patron Yelü Dongchuang, had to die. Xuanyuan Qingfeng burst into laughter, as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world. After her laughter subsided, she asked, "Do I, Xuanyuan Qingfeng, need anyone's pity?!" At this moment, although Xuanyuan Qingfeng appeared composed, the light shining from her beautiful eyes was hard not to be deeply impressed by. Obsessive, mad, ruthless! Deng Tai'a, Tuoba Pusa, even Xu Fengnian who was of a similar "generation" in the jianghu, or the deceased Li Chungang and Wang Xianzhi—these grandmasters of martial arts ratings—would never, at any time or place, display such an extreme demeanor as Xuanyuan Qingfeng. This absolutely could not be explained solely by the purple-clad woman of Huishan being female. Because Luoyang in white, Lin Ya of Wudi City, and Cuihua of the Wu Family Sword Mound would not be so sinister, extremist, or seemingly possessed.

Xuanyuan Qingfeng slowly raised her injured arm, letting blood drip from between her fingers onto the yellow sand. Her eyes were turning crimson. "Deng Mao, do you truly think you're that bastard Xu?!" From her arm, wisps of thick, blood-scented crimson energy emerged, substantial as if real, forming a stark contrast with her smooth, translucent, snow-white arm. These overflowing energies swirled around, like small crimson snakes coiling and flicking their tongues. If one spoke of the most unreasonable Zhi Xuan realm master killing a Tianxiang realm master in the world, the foremost would be Renmao Han Shengxuan. At this moment, the eerie phenomenon of red snakes coiling around Xuanyuan Qingfeng's hand was clearly identical to the famed ultimate technique of the former chief eunuch of Liyang! Moreover, compared to Han Shengxuan, Xuanyuan Qingfeng was even more ruthless, pushing the boundaries further by nurturing this power with her very essence blood. This unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated act of madness was tantamount to nurturing a flood dragon within her body! Using her body's acupoints as a cage, first transforming a snake into a flood dragon, then using her meridians as a river to achieve the ultimate goal of the great flood dragon traversing rivers to become a true dragon. Unlike the other Beiman individuals who were unaware and underestimated the gravity, Deng Mao, having experienced the Central Plains jianghu, understood the inside story and couldn't help but exclaim, "What a lunatic."

Deng Mao lowered his gaze to his broken spear, sighed, his expression strange—a mix of regret and helplessness. Looking up, his eyes hardened, and he said in a deep voice, "Having fought all the way here, your momentum is already insufficient! Yet you still dare to stubbornly fight to the death. You are seeking death! Then don't blame me if I don't care about you becoming a plaything for prairie nobles in the future." Xuanyuan Qingfeng closed her eyes, her aura unusually introverted, like a snowball being continuously squeezed and compacted during a heavy snowfall. Deng Mao, too, returned to his fundamental state, his immense aura disappearing. Clearly, both had simultaneously chosen to decide life or death in a single move.

Behind Deng Mao, Wang Yong's lips curled upwards. Seeing Xuanyuan Qingfeng so arrogant as to believe she could kill Deng Mao in one move, the Commissioner of Baoping Prefecture was completely at ease. This female alliance leader from the Liyang jianghu truly didn't know her place. What a pity for her profound fortune. Had she forgotten what Luoyang had warned the King of Beiliang earlier? Wang Yong and Deng Mao weren't close friends, but they had once had a sparring match that stopped short of full combat. Of course, Wang Yong was certainly no match for Deng Mao. However, Wang Yong had always maintained extremely discreet clandestine ties with the Yelü family, so he knew Deng Mao well. This unorthodox Beiman grandmaster, in terms of combat power, might not be as good as Hong Jingyan, or Luoyang in white, and his defense might even be inferior to Murong Baoding, and his destructive power not as great as the demon Zhong Liang. It seemed he possessed the Tianxiang realm cultivation without any outstanding specialties. It was difficult for ordinary people to imagine why, after Hong Jingyan first appeared on the martial arts ranking list, there was the strange comment, "Ashamed to be after Murong Baoding, embarrassed to be before Deng Mao." But Wang Yong knew clearly that Deng Mao had cultivated his vital energy and intent with that broken spear for twenty years. When he discarded the spear, sacrificing his life's cultivation, he could kill a land immortal from the Tianxiang realm! And Xuanyuan Qingfeng was only a step away from becoming a land immortal. Deng Mao killing her was perfectly appropriate!

As expected. On the battlefield, after a magnificent display of wind, clouds, and thunder, the two stood still, locked in a standoff. Deng Mao's broken spear was impaled in the purple-clad figure's abdomen. Although it hadn't passed through her body, it was clearly a fatal wound. Deng Mao allowed Xuanyuan Qingfeng's five fingers to press on his forehead; her fingertips were equally deeply embedded in Deng Mao's scalp! Deng Mao's hands hung low, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth. He smiled with difficulty, seemingly asking "How?" Xuanyuan Qingfeng forced down the blood in her throat and retorted, "So what?" Deng Mao was already too weak to speak, but the purple-clad woman of Huishan could still utter words. The winner was immediately clear! However, on this battlefield where only the purple-clad figure stood alone, just over eighty paces from the great Beiman banner, determining the victor did not necessarily mean determining who would live or die by right.

Helian Wuwei made no move, but two riders beside the Beiman Crown Prince had already surged forward. One was Wang Yong, the Commissioner of Baoping Prefecture, wielding an iron spear, and the other was the Beiman Crown Princess, who drew a long sword and whose pseudonym was "Han Gu"! Both wanted to quickly kill Xuanyuan Qingfeng on the battlefield to eliminate future trouble. Clearly, no one took Yelü Hongcai's "order" seriously. In fact, after seeing this scene, the Beiman Crown Prince also abandoned the idea of sparing the purple-clad woman of Huishan's life. This Central Plains woman was simply too terrifying!

Xuanyuan Qingfeng withdrew her fingers, and Deng Mao slumped to the ground, falling at her feet, just as countless men in the Central Plains jianghu had knelt before her. She closed her eyes, listening to the hurried drum-like hooves. A strong wind blew, her sleeves fluttered, and she remained as graceful as an immortal. In that moment, Xuanyuan Qingfeng remembered a certain person holding an oiled-paper umbrella in the heavy rain at Guniu Ridge. She remembered the Xiamawei Inn in the capital, looking together at the snowman piled in the courtyard, and someone speaking of what dreams were, with a hint of inexplicable sadness. She slowly fell backward. She was a little tired.

A sudden phenomenon! In an inconspicuous part of this battlefield deep within the Beiman army, a petite figure mysteriously burst forth from the ground! She ran low, swift as lightning, almost moving beneath the bellies of the Beiman warhorses. In just a few blinks of an eye, she reached the side of Xuanyuan Qingfeng's battlefield, then vanished instantly. The Beiman Crown Princess, sensing a strong crisis, abruptly reined in her horse and stopped. Her eyes wide, she, who was already behind the Commissioner of Baoping Prefecture, looked incredulous. In her sight, Wang Yong was still charging forward, spear in hand, unstoppable. But on the horse's back behind him, at some unknown moment, a young girl was crouching. This commissioner, wielding illustrious authority over a prefecture, was pierced through the chest by a hand blade! After drawing out her hand blade, the girl assassin glanced back at the Beiman Crown Princess, who was chilling to the bone. After a seeming chuckle, she vanished again. The next moment, she happened to be hoisting Xuanyuan Qingfeng, who was falling to the ground, onto her back. After a brief moment of stunned bewilderment, the Crown Princess, disregarding propriety, furiously screamed at the surrounding cavalry with a distorted face, "Stop the assassin!"

No one knew why this young girl appeared on the battlefield, not even the young vassal king of Beiliang. Xu Fengnian only knew that she had promised him she would never fight on the battlefield outside Jubei City, and that if the battle turned unfavorable, she would take the young great cat out of the city and go to Xishu, with its vast bamboo seas. No one knew how she could have stayed hidden underground for so long. Or why she could lurk with such precision near the Beiman grand banner. Previously, within Jubei City's vassal territory, everyone only knew of an extremely interesting and peculiar little girl who liked to hang upside down outside the young king's study window or sit on the eaves in a daze. The new King of Beiliang never restrained her; even during council meetings, the girl would seemingly sit bored on the rafters. Thus, she learned the general troop deployment of the Beiman army, quietly committing it to memory. Then she quietly disappeared from Jubei City, her whereabouts unknown. Her name was Jia Jiajia, and Xu Fengnian liked to call her "Hehe Girl." She had killed Wang Mingyin and Liu Haoshi. She had also intercepted Wang Xianzhi on his way to Liang, repeatedly stopping him all the way to the Beiliang border, refusing to yield. Today, she had killed another Beiman Commissioner.

Xuanyuan Qingfeng, feeling the slender, warm back, whispered, "Don't mind me." The girl, running headlong towards Jubei City, hardened her small face and softly said, "Don't die. If you die, he will be very lonely. He said that among all men and women in the world, you resemble him the most." Xuanyuan Qingfeng, her abdomen still bleeding profusely, laughed weakly. Struggling to open her eyes, she looked at the sky and murmured, "Is that so?" With all of Beiman's top masters rushing to their respective battlefields, and particularly with no deliberate targeting or deep encirclement, this agile girl, swift as a cunning rabbit, could have very likely returned safely to Jubei even if she had to pass through half of the Beiman army, as long as she didn't linger in combat.

However, when she needed to carry Xuanyuan Qingfeng out of the battlefield, and also dodge countless arrows during their retreat, especially to prevent the woman on her back from being hit by stray arrows, she found herself in extremely perilous situations. So even though Luoyang and Xu Ying in the central army almost immediately came to their aid, the girl still stumbled and nearly fell before continuing her dash forward. It turned out an arrow had pierced straight through the girl's calf. Blood soaked through. The girl seemed oblivious.

She finally carefully placed Xuanyuan Qingfeng at the base of Jubei City's wall, then returned again, successively entering the Beiman army lines, bringing back Sui Xiegu and Cheng Baishuang. Under the escort of the blind female zither player Xue Songguan, she also brought back Wei Miao and Chai Qingshan. She had retrieved four bodies. And amidst the chaotic army, she retrieved two more bodies that Mao Shulang had desperately protected: Ji Liuan from Southern Xinjiang and Yu Xingrui from Mount Wudang. These two grandmasters died back to back. Mao Shulang, covered in blood and having lost an limb, laughed loudly as the girl left, "Little girl, you don't need to bother with this old man's corpse afterwards!" The last body was that of Lou Huang, the swordsman from Wudi City.

Within tens of zhang around Yu Xinlang, no one survived. This chief disciple of Wudi City sat cross-legged on the horrific battlefield, retrieving the renowned sword "Shu Dao" for his junior brother who lay in a pool of blood. Lou Huang, having been struck in the chest by a Beiman cavalryman, clutched the long sword. Before dying, he said with a smile, "I didn't kill as many as you did, so I still couldn't make you call me senior brother." Yu Xinlang, having been hit by Zhong Liang's spear and enduring several knife wounds from Beiman assassins to his arm, forced a smile and called out, "Senior brother!" Lou Huang seemed to have heard the address at the moment of his death, and gently nodded. When the limping girl arrived, Yu Xinlang looked up, his eyes misty with tears, and softly said, "Thank you for your trouble." The girl shook her head. After Yu Xinlang fastened the ancient sword Shu Dao to his waist, she carried the body back towards Jubei City. To her and Yu Xinlang's right, Xu Yanbing was forcibly dragging Wu Liuding and his sword attendant Cuihua out of the battlefield, tossing them towards Jubei City's wall. Then Xu Yanbing finally turned and walked towards the iron spear stuck in the ground. Yu Xinlang, his back to the girl, drew the Shu Dao sword that had just been sheathed. Now holding it with both hands, he looked into the distance. Zhong Liang, whose palm had been severed by a single sword stroke, was being desperately rescued by his family's assassins and was fleeing towards the heart of the Beiman army. Yu Xinlang, wielding two swords alone, advanced slowly.

In the very center of the Beiman vanguard, Luoyang, her white robes already stained crimson with blood, had persuaded Xu Ying to return to Jubei City and finally stood there alone. Mao Shulang, the one-armed man who had continuously charged forward, also died after killing seven hundred people in one furious assault. He died with his body incomplete. He had no burial place. Below the city wall, the bodies carried away from the battlefield by Jia Jiajia were placed into hanging baskets, allowing them to return to Jubei City even in death.

Outside Jubei City, there were originally eighteen grandmasters. Cheng Baishuang, Sui Xiegu, Wei Miao, Chai Qingshan, Yu Xingrui, Ji Liuan, Lou Huang, Mao Shulang. All eight had died. Beiman's three infantry formations, each of ten thousand men, had already been completely annihilated. The more than ten thousand cavalry on both flanks suffered heavy casualties. Spiderweb assassins and various jianghu masters, no fewer than two thousand died in battle. The scattered elite cavalry units of a thousand men each, who had intercepted the Central Plains grandmasters, combined with the elite infantry known as "Prairie Gold," resulted in a total death count of ten thousand! Over two thousand catapults and the great crossbow array had become mere ornaments.

Xuanyuan Qingfeng sat on the ground, leaning against the city wall. She had already pulled out the broken spearhead herself, pressing her hand against the wound, her expression indifferent. Wu Liuding, the Sword Crown of the Wu Family Sword Mound, whose internal organs were injured, covered his mouth tightly, blood seeping through his fingers. He couldn't help but weep. His sword attendant, Cuihua, had been struck across the cheek with a saber while saving him, yet when she met his gaze, her eyes remained gentle. Xue Songguan, her face morbidly pale, held her ancient guqin. Her ten fingers were mangled and bloody, the guqin's strings were all broken, and her internal qi was completely depleted, not a trace left. Xu Ying in red robes, with a deep bloody gash across her back, crouched down, gently helping Hehe Girl bandage her wound. The girl, her face full of stubbornness, raised her arm, bit her lip, and fiercely wiped away her tears. She couldn't see him. Because she knew that the battlefield of two, unseen by anyone else, was an even more brutal one.

Outside Jubei City. Yu Xinlang continued forward. Xu Yanbing and Luoyang, meanwhile, continued to block the advance of Beiman's two subsequent infantry formations. Over Jubei City, or more precisely, the entire sky of the northwest frontier, the cloud seas, regardless of their height, size, or distance, vanished in an instant. Anyone who looked up could see a vast, boundless ripple above them, spreading out in all directions. The Beiliang border army inside Jubei City and the Beiman army outside were like fish gathered at the bottom of a lake, looking up at the rippling, mirror-like surface. A cloudless sky for ten thousand li!

Then, as if two massive stones had been hurled into the lake, they pierced the surface and plummeted straight to the bottom! Two figures simultaneously crashed to the ground. The earth trembled! The magnificent golden-yellow figure landed amidst the Beiman army. The white figure landed before Jubei City's gate. The two figures, who had just descended from the sky, clashed almost simultaneously! One from north to south! One from south to north! The previous ethereal struggle for destiny occurred in the transcendent realm in the sky. Beiman's Military God held a complete advantage. The young vassal king's destiny was almost entirely depleted by the remaining Heavenly Dao contained within Li Fengshou. But in the end, Xu Fengnian bravely shattered that world and returned to the mortal realm. So what followed was an unrestricted battle in the mortal realm!

When the two long rainbows collided in the midst of the Beiman army, the force was so immense that hundreds of nearby cavalry were instantly flung backward, dying instantly, man and horse, before even hitting the ground. The golden-yellow, robust figure slid directly backward, retreating hundreds of zhang! The white rainbow, on the other hand, slammed backward into Jubei City's wall, bracing his elbows against the surface, refusing to let his back hit the wall! Neither side paused to catch their breath. Instead, they collided violently again along the same straight line, moving even faster than their initial retreat. This time, the collision point was slightly further south, causing hundreds more Beiman cavalry to be caught in the crossfire, men and horses alike sent flying! The Beiman army completely halted its southward advance, out of fear. Even though nearly half of the eighteen grandmasters outside Jubei City had died, and half of the remaining half had completely lost their combat effectiveness, every single Beiman barbarian stood frozen in shock after witnessing this terrifying and awe-inspiring scene with their own eyes.

The two beams of light collided again and again, faster than the previous thunderous impacts. Those unfortunate Beiman troops situated on that straight line, which extended from Jubei City all the way to the rear of the four hundred thousand strong army, only managed to scatter frantically to the sides after more than twenty such collisions! Along this straight line, regardless of whether you were a Tianxiang realm master, if you blocked their path, you would surely die instantly! Countless Beiman infantry and cavalry, countless centurions and chiliarchs, countless Southern Dynasty generals and Northern Court nobles, died inexplicably. Later generations of martial grandmasters once remarked from the bottom of their hearts: "The battle outside Jubei City can probably only be compared to a battle between two Lü Zǔs. Since there is only one Lü Zǔ in the world, a battle between these two has not been seen in a thousand years!"

The next collision, even more astonishing in its force, produced a ripple of qi that even ordinary soldiers could see with their naked eyes. This time, the golden-yellow figure almost exited the battlefield of the main army entirely! Beiman's Military God paused briefly, then stepped forward, one step at a time, his roar and footsteps like booming thunder: "Xu Fengnian! I will break every meridian in your body and destroy all your acupoints!" Tuoba Pusa was clearly enraged. He lunged forward, charging directly at Xu Fengnian, who had moved simultaneously below Jubei City. This time, it was Xu Fengnian himself who was embedded in Jubei City's wall. Everyone could finally clearly see Tuoba Pusa's towering figure: eighteen golden flood dragons, thick as bowls, rapidly circling his body. He scoffed loudly, "Let's see how many pounds of blood you have left to boil into qi!" Xu Fengnian, in white robes, dropped back down below the city. His entire body was free of dust and, indeed, showed no trace of blood!

On the drum-beating platform atop Jubei City's wall, the drumming never ceased for a moment. Jiang Ni, who kept drumming, had a face full of tears. She simply didn't dare to look at Xu Fengnian. She suddenly cried out, "Beiliang, harsh and desolate, a million households scattered, how many iron-clad bones lie withered! Come, come, see who is the butcher of the living realm! Come, come, listen to who beats the beautiful drum!" With his back to Jubei City, and to the remaining Central Plains grandmasters below the wall, the young man, who had long since torn off his vassal king's dragon robe, stood barefoot outside the city. Hearing the voice from atop the wall, he said hoarsely, "Don't worry, I will never lose!"

Xu Fengnian tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and roared, "Deng Tai'a!" From the distant sky came a laugh, "I am already outside the Heavenly Gate; you may fight without restraint." Deng Tai'a, the Peach Blossom Sword God, had ascended step by step, wielding his sword alone, reaching beyond the Heavenly Gate! Deng Tai'a hovered in the air, his arms and sword held horizontally, and smilingly asked, "I ask the immortals in heaven, who dares to come to this mortal realm?!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Fengnian gently exhaled, as if releasing all the pent-up frustration of Beiliang's three hundred thousand iron cavalry and twenty full years of accumulated grievances from his chest. He smiled, muttering to himself, "Then I shall truly become invincible in the mortal realm for once!" The white-clad figure's face showed utmost delight, as if a great burden had been lifted. "Allow me to temporarily disregard how many wisps of war smoke rise from the Central Plains, disregard the outcome of the border wars between the two nations, disregard any curses from the Liyang imperial court, disregard how formidable your million cavalry of Beiman are, and disregard how many famous stone tablets there are on Qingliang Mountain... Allow me, Xu Fengnian, to be Xu Fengnian, just this once."

Xu Fengnian laughed heartily, "Heaven and Earth, and the Human Realm! Let me, Xu Fengnian, stretch myself!" The young man truly stretched himself out grandly. A giant, snow-white python, seemingly both tangible and intangible, suddenly appeared. This massive creature, like a mountain range, coiled itself around Jubei City, manifesting behind the young man. Its python head extended beyond the majestic Jubei City and let out an earth-shattering roar towards the entire northern prairie!