Chapter 396
Chapter 396
Lin Shang took a sip of wine with her meal. The wine she drank was quite a peculiar mix. A blend of grape wine, fruit wine, and rice wine, it was surprisingly palatable. The Old Demoness of the Snow Mountain, Lin Shang, spoke.
“The world is about to fall into great chaos again, which means good times are coming for us martial artists. You've all timed it quite well.”
Her dozen or so disciples put down their chopsticks and exclaimed in unison.
“Indeed!”
Lin Shang's sentiment was a familiar one, something heard time and again in such circles.
Huang Tong walked onto the deck and gazed out at the vast, open sea. As he looked east toward Raging Tide City, his brow remained deeply furrowed. The Heavenly Dao Society had paid a great price to bring the Old Demoness of the Snow Mountain to protect the Marquis of Xuanwu, and now they no longer had to worry about his assassination.
Just because the Old Demoness had lost every duel she’d fought in over a decade didn't mean she could be underestimated. In truth, her martial arts were formidable; she was just a sliver below the level of the six grandmasters. With her protection, not even a grandmaster could succeed in assassinating the Marquis of Xuanwu. However, her role was limited to protecting the Marquis; it was impossible to ask her to fight in the battle to defend Raging Tide City.
Personal combat skills were entirely different from the arts of war. Even if someone possessed personal combat skills as profound as the Sword King Li Qianqiu, their true energy would be nearly depleted after killing a hundred men. Once their internal energy was exhausted, even a grandmaster was helpless. On the battlefield, one always faced armies of thousands, even tens of thousands. Someone like Qiu Yao'er, who possessed both incredible personal skills and even more incredible battlefield prowess, was truly rare. In a one-on-one fight, ten Big Dummies would be no match for Li Qianqiu, but on the battlefield, Li Qianqiu was less useful than a single Big Dummy.
This time, the combined forces of the State of Wu and the Jiuhu numbered over thirty thousand, while the defenders of Raging Tide City—the Jin Clan and the Heavenly Dao Society—totaled no more than five or six thousand. Honestly, Huang Tong had no confidence they could win this battle. Raging Tide City was a place they absolutely could not afford to lose. If the Jin Clan lost Raging Tide City, they would face annihilation. And wouldn't the same be true for the Heavenly Dao Society? Raging Tide City had become the heart of the Heavenly Dao Society's eastern trade operations. The headquarters had invested an astronomical amount of money and resources into the city. Losing it would be an indescribably huge blow to the Society.
* * *
In Aruonana's settlement at the foot of the Great Snow Mountain of the Qiang Kingdom.
More and more Qiang warriors poured over the stone wall. Big Dummy and Aruonana led their three thousand men to fight back. Meanwhile, both Shen Lang and Sword King Li Qianqiu watched the scene, stunned. That couple, Big Dummy and Aruonana, were unbelievably strong. Big Dummy wasn't using his darksteel cudgel; instead, he wielded a tree trunk over ten meters long, swinging and sweeping with it like a madman. Aruonana used a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, two or three meters in length, and no one could get near her.
Just like with Aruonana, no one could approach Big Dummy either. He hadn't been practicing martial arts for long, so in a one-on-one duel, he probably couldn't defeat his wife. But on the battlefield, Big Dummy was practically invincible. Other martial arts masters would have run out of energy, but Big Dummy seemed to have a bottomless well of stamina. Most masters fought using internal energy and true energy, but Big Dummy fought with pure strength alone.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*
With each sweep of the ten-meter-long tree trunk, a dozen enemies were sent flying. Whether they wore armor or not, anyone struck by the trunk had their internal organs pulverized. Those who hit the ground weren't just dead; they were reduced to something like minced meat. Moreover, Big Dummy was clad in steel armor, so arrows were useless against him. He was a born, invincible warrior.
Sword King Li Qianqiu counted; in less than half a quarter-hour, Big Dummy had eliminated over two hundred men. It would likely take two masters of Li Qianqiu's caliber to kill that many enemies on a battlefield. Aruonana also belonged to the type who fought relying purely on strength. Though pregnant, she swung her great blade madly, cutting down hundreds.
Standing on high ground, Li Qianqiu watched the scene and sighed.
“What's the point of mastering martial arts?”
Shen Lang said nothing, and Thirteen couldn't help but glance at the Sword King.
‘Even the great Sword King is saying such things?’
Sword King Li Qianqiu did not join the battle. He had to conserve his precious true energy and would act only at a critical moment. Shen Lang had heard that Nan Po, under the Third Prince Ning Qi, was a mighty warrior similar to Big Dummy. But Nan Po was a war-crazed man who became like a madman on the battlefield, obsessed only with tearing his enemies apart. Whether it was grabbing an enemy's arms and ripping them upwards, their legs and ripping them downwards, or their head and tearing off their neck. Because of his bloodthirsty killing sprees, the Zhong Clan had disowned him and made him change his name, and later, Great Master Rantu had also cast him out and made him change his name.
Facing the valiant and invincible Big Dummy, the Qiang King Aruotai felt his head ache. Aruotai had seen Big Dummy many times, and though many had called him a peerless martial arts genius destined to become the world's greatest master, he had always dismissed him as nothing more than a simpleton with some brute strength. But now, only one thought filled his mind.
‘A person this formidable shouldn't exist in this world. He must die!’
Grandmaster Banya's eyes were filled with envy.
‘Why hasn't such a peerless genius appeared in our Scarlet Rock Palace? Although our palace doesn't accept male disciples, for a genius like this, we could break a rule or two. We could even marry all our disciples to him.’
It seemed Zhong Chuke might finally be freed from his nickname, "The Last." Kunan Duta of the Great Calamity Temple had the same thought as King Aruotai.
‘A person this formidable shouldn't exist. This bastard deserves to die!’
Kunan Duta said.
“Grandmaster Banya, how about you kill that tall simpleton?”
Grandmaster Banya replied coldly.
“He is one who will make the martial arts of the East flourish. If I were to kill him, would I not be inviting heavenly retribution?”
Her target was Li Qianqiu, but she could also be persuaded to kill Shen Lang. Even from a distance, she could smell the scent of scum wafting from him. But she would never lay a hand on Big Dummy.
The battle entered a tense, nerve-wracking phase. Since not many of the Qiang warriors had made it over the stone wall yet, Big Dummy and Aruonana's three thousand men were able to hold them back completely, even gaining the upper hand.
*Thud, thud, thud.*
The ground shook as King Aruotai's soldiers frantically battered the stone wall. Two thousand warrior monks of the High Priest used a massive log as a battering ram, desperately striking the wall. After a full quarter-hour, the five-li-long stone wall finally gave way, collapsing with a tremendous roar. The Qiang King's tens of thousands of troops surged into the valley like a tidal wave, and the tide of battle was about to turn.
Shen Lang shouted loudly.
“Big Dummy, cover the rear! Retreat!”
At Shen Lang's command, Aruonana and Shen Lang's three-thousand-strong allied force quickly fell back. Big Dummy, Aruonana, Hamnu, and other steel-clad warriors covered the rear to allow their allies to withdraw.
King Aruotai roared.
“Charge! Charge! Kill them all!”
Just then.
*Rumble…*
Dozens of flames erupted. As they retreated, Shen Lang and Aruonana's forces set fire to all the piles of grass and tents. Unfortunately, since it was summer, the grass was relatively green and damp, so it didn't catch fire easily. The tents, however, burned well. Moreover, because the damp grass piles were set ablaze, they produced thick smoke. In an instant, the valley filled with dense smoke, and flames shot high into the sky. No matter how brave the Qiang warriors were, they weren't about to charge into a sea of fire. The reckless warriors who had just rushed in were engulfed in flames, their ghost-like wails painting a gruesome scene. The wall of fire instantly separated the two armies.
* * *
Behind the wall of fire, Shen Lang gave a loud command.
“We abandon all warhorses, put on thick clothes, and with ample provisions, we ascend the Great Snow Mountain.”
It was summer, so the foothills of the Great Snow Mountain were covered in lush vegetation, but from the mid-slopes upward, snow began to appear, growing thicker and whiter toward the summit. The snow on the Great Snow Mountain hadn't melted in a hundred years; its depth was immeasurable.
Aruonana said.
“Climb the Great Snow Mountain? There's nothing up there. We'll starve to death.”
Shen Lang said.
“Don't worry. We won't.”
Aruonana continued.
“We'll freeze to death.”
“We won't.”
“Fine, I'll trust the scum's words for once. But the Great Snow Mountain is so vast. Where are we going?”
“To the Great Calamity Palace!”
Shen Lang took out a map, on which a specific point was prominently marked. The Great Calamity Palace was the largest complex of buildings in the east, built by the Great Calamity Temple on the snow mountain. It not only had palaces but also a plaza that could accommodate tens of thousands of worshipers. Moreover, in its heyday, the Great Calamity Temple had mobilized a massive workforce to carve a six-foot-wide road along the mountain, leading all the way to the Great Calamity Palace at the summit.
The great war twenty-some years ago had left the Great Calamity Palace half in ruins. Even so, the Great Calamity Temple was now trying to restore the palace, seeking to re-establish its power at any moment. Even King Aruotai intended to repair the Great Calamity Palace and use it as his royal palace or a temporary residence. The Great Calamity Palace of old had been truly magnificent, leaving an unforgettable memory in the minds of countless people.
As a stepping stone for their return to the eastern world, the Great Calamity Temple had supported Su Nan with a force of seven thousand warrior monks. But Aruotai and Kunan Duta weren't the only ones with their eyes on the Great Calamity Palace; Shen Lang was targeting it as well. Two or three months ago, when Shen Lang had decided to make Aruonana the new Qiang King, he had already chosen the Great Calamity Palace as the site for the final battle. No! In fact, it wasn't to be a battlefield, but the burial ground for King Aruotai and his tens of thousands of Qiang soldiers. Shen Lang hadn't found any saltpeter in this world, so he had only been able to produce a very small amount of gunpowder. At most, it was enough for a single use in battle. But it was enough to subdue the enemy with minimal effort.
Shen Lang pointed to the Great Calamity Palace on the map and said.
“I have laid an inescapable net here. When the Qiang King's army arrives, we will annihilate them with ease!”
Aruonana said.
“So far, all your bluffs and boasts have come true, so I'll listen to you this time as well!”
Following Shen Lang's orders, the three-thousand-strong allied force marched along the six-foot-wide road, heading toward the Great Calamity Palace on the Great Snow Mountain.