Chapter 187: Recovering Lost Land
How could Wu Kunhu not be on guard against Xu Qiao when he made his move? He himself possessed about 20,000 soldiers. Even if their morale was low and their fighting spirit was lacking, they still had to take precautions against them!
Especially when Xu Qiao himself was a strong opponent!
And Wu Lie was an important chess piece for him to guard against Xu Qiao.
Because of this, Wu Lie had two deputy generals of the 9th Grade Earth Rank a.s.signed to him!
Although they were only cultivators who practiced only Earth Rank cultivation techniques, not on the same level as Xu Qiao, they had numbers on their side!
"Kill!"
Wu Lie entered the battlefield, but he was not as brainless as usual. Instead, he was commanding from behind.
Both sides clashed!
Human lives were akin to paper in this battle!
When Xu Qiao saw that Wu Lie had brought a large group of people, he glared fiercely at Yan Luoying, but he did not dare to enter alone!
He brought his men and charged towards Xu Longze. Compared to killing Yan Luoying, he was more concerned about Xu Longze"s life and death.
Two of his three sons were dead.
No matter what, this eldest son could not join the other two.
Xu Qiao was ferocious enough to parry against two 9th Grade Earth Ranks and Old Zhou as he advanced!
One against three, forcing a b.l.o.o.d.y path out.
He finally came to Xu Longze"s side.
He then protected Xu Longze as he charged out!
Seeing that Xu Qiao was about to escape, Wu Lie and Yan Luoying did not order anyone to stop him. Instead, they targeted the soldiers brought by Xu Qiao. While commanding the troops to fight against the barbarians, they killed these human soldiers first!
On the other end, Su Wen had already killed countless barbarians!
He charged into the Fire barbarian camp.
Puchi!
A tall barbarian soldier was mercilessly split apart by Su Wen!
Right now, his entire face was covered in blood.
He resembled a devil that crawled out from h.e.l.l.
Fear…
Su Wen felt very clearly…
Fear was filling the eyes of the barbarians surrounding him!
They were also sentient creatures after all, and they could feel fear.
"Run!"
It was unknown who shouted, but the group of barbarians actually retreated and fled!
A slight defeat would cause severe consequences on the battlefield!
A large number of Barbarians began to flee in all directions!
The two Barbarian Commanders who were fighting with Wu Kunhu had already discovered this situation. Unfortunately, they were unable to do anything!
The defeat of the barbarian troops came like a landslide, sudden and exponentially fast!
Moreover, the two of them were unable to defeat Wu Kunhu!
"Retreat!"
Jiluo Fu and Tamu Chuan retreated and fled!
Wu Kunhu however didn"t chase after the two of them! Their combat strengths were formidable, so even if he caught up to them, it would be difficult for him to kill them.
Instead, he also joined the formation to pursue and kill the stragglers.
In an instant, those normal barbarians felt as though they had fallen into their worst nightmare!
His incomparably violent battle prowess was much more terrifying than Su Wen"s.
With only a simple charge forward, severed limbs flew up in his wake.
Dozens of Barbarians died with just a round of his attacks.
The retreat soon devolved into an utter rout.
Wu Kunhu led his men and killed for several hours.
They only stopped when the sky started to brighten.
After all, the ordinary soldiers would not be able to withstand it.
In the wilderness, Su Wen panted heavily. He was already out of touch with the main group!
Or rather, the entire squad was somewhat out of touch with the main army.
He did not know how many people he had killed.
But without a doubt, he had killed to his heart"s content today.
Because beneath his feet lay a mult.i.tude of barbarian corpses!
Suddenly, Su Wen saw two figures!
Xu Qiao and Xu Longze, the father and son! There were only two of them left, and Xu Longze was also injured!
Indeed, enemies met on a narrow road.
When Xu Qiao saw Su Wen, he immediately left Xu Longze behind and rushed towards Su Wen.
"B*st*rd, accept your death!"
And it was precisely when enemies met, that their eyes became exceptionally red!
Xu Qiao thrust out his spear. The killing intent on the spear seemed to have taken substance!
"Nine Waves Return to Origin!"
Su Wen slashed with all his might as well!
Xu Qiao shouted, "Brat, you have some capabilities! Seven Kills Gather, Spear Like Dragon, The Furious Dragon a.s.saults!"
A dragon roared as it soared into the sky, and the black killing intent transformed into a dragon that charged straight at Su Wen with its mouth wide open!
In response, Su Wen"s aura rapidly surged as Holy Flames rose to cover his saber!
But even so! Both sides collided, and in a short moment, Su Wen"s Saber Qi was crushed by the dragon"s bite.
In the end, no matter how powerful or comprehensive the Nine Waves Return to Origin secret technique was, it was only at the Earth Rank. And what Xu Qiao had used was precisely the killer move that his family"s Seven Kills Army had.
Su Wen turned around quickly and activated Stellar Transposition in an attempt to dodge!
However, the spear Qi seemed to have a mind of its own as it twisted in the air and ruthlessly struck Su Wen.
Right at this moment of life and death, Holy Flames surged up in Su Wen"s eyes.
"Great Solar Supreme Policy, Raging Flames Mirage Body!"
In that instant, Su Wen seemed to have transformed into flickering flames as the black dragon phased through his body!
Su Wen was completely unscathed!
"How is this possible?!" The spectating Xu Longze couldn"t help but exclaim.
Xu Qiao"s spear had clearly struck Su Wen, but why was he completely fine?
This was something he could not understand at all.
Su Wen landed on the ground and looked at Xu Qiao with fear in his eyes.
This fellow was definitely the strongest opponent that Su Wen had ever fought.
Because he had a deep understanding of martial arts, Su Wen"s Nine Waves Return to Origin was nothing in front of him.
At this moment, it showed the inadequacy of his Earth Rank martial technique.
The upper limit was exposed.
It was fortunate that Su Wen had upgraded the Great Solar Supreme Policy and used this Raging Flames Mirage Body technique to withstand the attack.
Otherwise, he would have died on the spot!
Xu Qiao narrowed his eyes!
What happened just now?
Actually, it would be very easy for those manga fans to understand what had happened. To put it simply, Su Wen had elementalized the moment the attack was about to hit him.
The only difference was that this is derived from a martial skill, not a Devil Fruit.
A Heaven Rank martial technique was known to be able to ingest the power of rules. In some ways, it was somewhat similar to the unreasonable attributes of Devil Fruit.
However, this consumed a lot of Su Wen"s True Qi!
Su Wen, whose True Qi was already depleted, was left in an worse state than before.
There was not much True Qi flowing through his meridians anymore.
Su Wen knew that he had to pay a price if he wanted to survive.
He was already prepared to release the Great Solar River secret technique.
No matter what, being alive was the most important.
However, Su Wen was unwilling to give up.
As his cultivation level increased, the price Su Wen had to pay for burning his cultivation level also became heavier.
This was because one had to put in more time and effort for every Grade of cultivation in the later stages.
"Forget it! Forget it! Let"s leave it at that! It"s better than dying!"
"Great Solar…"
Just as Su Wen was about to activate his secret technique, Xu Qiao suddenly moved! He flew backward, grabbed Xu Longze, and quickly fled!
At this moment, a sonic boom rang out in the distance. Wu Kunhu had appeared!
In an instant, he had already rushed to Su Wen"s side.
Xu Qiao, at this moment, was already a black dot far away. Wu Kunhu did not chase after them, instead turning to Su Wen, "Are you alright?"
"I"m fine!" Su Wen shook his head.
Fortunately, he hadn"t activated the skill yet.
If he had just burnt his cultivation base and the other party ran away, he would have suffered a huge loss.
Wu Kunhu"s eyes were filled with admiration as he praised, "To be able to withstand one of Xu Qiao"s Seven Kills Ultimate Technique without dying is already very impressive."
Obviously, Wu Kunhu had already sensed their exchange over here.
Wu Kunhu looked at Su Wen and smiled. "That move was quite interesting. Even I have never seen it before."
Su Wen did not reply and instead asked curiously, "Uncle Wu, I thought you wanted me dead!"
Wu Kunhu could tell that he didn"t want to reveal the secret of his martial arts, but he could understand.
After all, there were many moves that existed. The more complex the skill, the harder it would be for someone to read through it.
He did not mind and turned to leave. As he walked, he said, "I do want you to die, but as a commander, I will not give up any of my soldiers! No matter who it is!"
A tall figure and a powerful back view.
With his manly words…
Su Wen couldn"t help but sigh. "What a handsome man. He"s even more heroic than me. Why don"t we trick Wu Lie into giving him the s.e.x Change Pill? Sister Muyu shouldn"t be angry, right? Wouldn"t it be great to have two mothers?"
Su Wen pursed his lips slightly as he glanced back in the direction Xu Qiao left.
The next time they met, he would not be so pa.s.sive anymore.
As long as this old b.a.s.t.a.r.d did not ascend to the Heaven Rank, Su Wen believed that his progress would definitely be faster than his!
He hurriedly took two steps forward and caught up to Wu Kunhu.
"Uncle Wu… I killed over 20,000 people last night… Look at all this blood on me… how about my marriage to Sister Muyu…"
"Scram! You only killed 1,261 people."
Su Wen was indignant. "How would you know it"s 1261? I really killed more than 20,000 people last night. I"m almost exhausted from all the killing."
Wu Zehu laughed coldly and said, "As the initiator of the Blood Fiend Army Formation, I can determine the number of people killed based on the number of Blood Fiends gathered! You brat, you"ve killed 1,261! After returning to the capital, I"ll find you a Wind-Ripping Hou! As for the marriage, hehe…"
"You must have counted wrongly. I counted more than 20,000?"
"Uncle Wu, slow down. I really killed more than 20,000…"
Wu Kunhu snapped back in a stern voice, "I don"t have time to waste with you. I have to immediately set up an army to chase after them and recover the lost territory in one go. Otherwise, these barbarians will use the city as a foothold, and it"ll be difficult to recover the lost territory! At that time, who knows how many people will die!"
Su Wen shut his mouth.
He was clear about the priorities.
"I"m willing to be the vanguard!"
"Then quickly recover your True Qi!"
It was just as Wu Kunhu had said. Along the way, he led his men and ran madly, blowing the horn of counterattack!
Su Wen, Yan Luoying, and Wu Lie were included.
Wu Kunhu took the lead and forged out a path.
The other generals also forged out their own paths!
They split up to chase and recover the lost land.
Su Wen and the others arrived at a city. At this moment, the city gates were wide open.
There were no guards to be seen. In front of the city gate, there were only corpses lying around!
From their figures, one could tell… they were all humans!
Su Wen and the others rushed into the city.
As soon as they entered the city, they saw a barbarian holding a woman, who was crying and struggling.
However, she was being pinned to the ground by a powerful force!
The huge body of the Barbarian was thrusting, making people feel disgusted.
Puchi!
His head was chopped clean off!
Su Wen quickly covered the woman with his clothes.
His heart was filled with rage!
However, he knew that he did not have much time!
Some of these Barbarians were smart and had already sped up their escape. Those that remained were only those weak-willed b*st*rds who wanted to vent their anger after surviving a calamity!
Su Wen and the others rushed into the city and split into small teams to clean up the remaining barbarians.
The most detestable thing was that Su Wen actually discovered some humans taking advantage of the situation.
Taking the opportunity to plunder and rape!
It could only be said that the inferiority of creatures was the same regardless of whether they were barbarians or humans.
There were always some sc.u.m in every race.
All those who were discovered by Su Wen and the others were killed!
After clearing one city, he left some people behind and hurried to the next one.
This continued for several days in a row!
Under the hard work of Wu Kunhu, Su Wen, and the others, they finally managed to reclaim all the land they lost to the barbarians.
However, this did not mean that the matter was over. Wu Kunhu immediately commanded everyone to fortify their defenses. At the same time, the army started to gear up for war. During this time, he requested for disaster relief from Emperor Zhou.
Most of the things that the people in the Southern Border owned had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away by the barbarians.
These days, everyone was extremely busy.
Meanwhile, in the land of the Fire Barbarians!
Jiluo Fu and Tamu Chuan bowed before an elder.
This was the High Priest of the Fire Barbarians Tribe.
In this battle, almost half of the barbarian warriors had died.
The Fire Barbarians had suffered heavy losses.
As for the Xu father and son, they did not have any soldiers on them. But in order to survive, they could only return to the Fire Barbarians tribe.
It wasn"t as if there were no human in the Fire Barbarians Tribe. However, most of the humans here were slaves of the barbarians.
The priest sat on a chair, his face full of wrinkles. He looked extremely old, and his tall body had shrivelled over the years to become unusually thin.
He muttered, "I"ve already received news… You all said… that brat possesses the Golden Crow Sacred Flame… is this true?"
"Absolutely!"
Beside the High Priest was the current Fire Barbarian King, Mu Gu.
He was still very young, looking to be only in his forties.
He bowed and said, "Lord Priest, what should we do now?"
"We need to find a way to bring him back!" the High Priest growled. "It"s been hundreds of years since anyone awakened the Golden Crow"s bloodline in our Fire Tribe. No one has been able to control the Golden Crow"s sacred flame, no one has ever reached Heaven Rank! Bring him back, extract his blood, and pour it into your bodies to see if you can awaken your bloodline."
"If this does not work, I"ll rear this person and choose a woman for him to mate with. Let him sire a child and see if his bloodline can be awakened…"
Upon hearing his words, Mu Gu frowned slightly and said, "High Priest, I"m afraid it won"t be easy. Our Fire Barbarians Tribe has suffered heavy losses in this battle. That Wu Kunhu"s combat strength is formidable, and Emperor Zhou has sent an army to guard the borders. I"m afraid it won"t be a good idea to provoke him! Moreover, according to Su Wen, he"s the son of Prime Minister of Great Zhou, Su Changqing. If we touch him…"
"Hmph! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Su Changqing!" At the mention of Su Changqing, the High Priest seemed to recall something bad and could not help but curse.
The High Priest said in a low voice, "No matter what, we have to bring this person back. Since we can"t send an army there, we have to think of a way… even if we have to pay a price. Aren"t there two generals who capitulated to our side? Bring them here! I want to question them!"
Not long after, the Xu father and son were brought over.
The High Priest smiled. "Welcome to the Fire Barbarians. From now on, we"re all family."
The current Xu Qiao was powerful and was very useful to the Fire Barbarians.
No matter what he thought, the High Priest still gave the Xu father and son sufficient respect.
The Fire Barbarian King Mu Gu also smiled, "In the future, if Brother Xu has any questions in my Fire Barbarian Tribe, feel free to come find me."
There was great respect shown. For a moment, Xu Qiao was touched.
They quickly exchanged pleasantries.
Immediately after, the High Priest smiled and said, "I called you guys here mainly to find out about that Su Wen. What exactly is going on? He can actually activate our Fire Tribe"s Golden Crow Sacred Flame. This is extremely important to our Fire Tribe. Please tell us what you know about Su Wen."
Without another word, Xu Qiao told him everything he knew about Su Wen.
After listening to Xu Qiao"s narration, the high priest frowned and said, "This Su Wen, according to what you said, he was originally a hedonistic son of rich parents. He only started to rise after he was betrothed. Furthermore, you"ve never seen him activate the Golden Crow Sacred Flame before?"
Xu Qiao said in a deep voice, "That"s right! That Su Wen and my son once fought for more than two hours in the Immortals" Abode Pavilion of the Great Zhou Capital. My son was eventually defeated. Later on, my son Longcheng mentioned this matter and only said that he used a Yang attribute cultivation technique. However, Su Wen didn"t activate the Golden Crow Sacred Flame at that time!"
Mu Gu said doubtfully, "In that case, perhaps Su Wen wasn"t born with the ability to activate the Golden Crow Sacred Flame."
Upon hearing this, Tamu Chuan could not take it anymore.
This was information that he had specially "paid attention and dug out"!
He had already lost the battle, how could he lose this bit of credit?
However, he didn"t dare to refute Mu Gu, so he looked at Xu Qiao and said, "That might not be the case. After all, this isn"t a life and death battle. When Su Wen fought with Jiuji Zhen that day, he didn"t use any holy flames either. Perhaps your son wasn"t a match for him in the first place and he was just playing with your son?"
In fact, the information he had obtained might not be wrong.
But when Xu Qiao heard this, he got really angry!
Thinking about Xu Longcheng, the whole affair only started because Su Wen peed on him that day. From then on, the conflict between the Xu family and the Su family broke out!
No! It was the beginning of the Su family"s plot against the Xu family!
And now he was being looked down upon.
Xu Qiao"s face turned ashen. "My third son is a prodigy. It"s already not easy for Su Wen to win, so how could he even play around?"
Tamu Chuan curled his lips and looked at Xu Longze behind him. "I think your son is just average!"
Xu Longze was enraged. "My third brother"s talent far surpa.s.ses mine!"
Seeing that Tamu Chuan wanted to argue further, the High Priest coldly interjected, "Enough!"
Everyone shut their mouths. Xu Qiao secretly glanced at Tamu Chuan. The two of them had fought many times before, and it could be said to be fifty-fifty! But now, Xu Qiao was even more displeased with him.
The High Priest said in a deep voice, "It doesn"t matter if he is born to be able to use it or had mastered it. No matter what, he can now activate the Golden Crow Sacred Flame. Even if it"s just this, we have to think of a way to bring it back to our Fire Barbarians Tribe!"
"According to the information we have, that fellow is a lecherous fellow who squanders money like dirt. He"s very protective of his own people, and his combat ability is also very strong." The High Priest rubbed his brows. Even after he finished speaking, he felt a headache coming on.
It was especially difficult for the Barbarians to enter the Great Zhou Dynasty. After all, their figures would attract attention wherever they went.
Although it was not impossible, the Fire Barbarians definitely could not do it with their abilities.
Then… they had to pay the price!
"All of you, think carefully about what to do. In a few days, we will discuss a solution!"
As everyone dispersed, Xu Qiao sighed.
At the end of the day, they were in the Barbarians" territory, so they might not be interested in what he had to offer.
However, there was no turning back now.
Su Wen did not know that his Holy Flames had already become the target for the Fire Berserkers.
At this moment, he begin his lucky draw.
[Ding-dong. The host has received a secret technique: Generals" Qi Body Refining!]
[For a general, refining one"s body with Qi also helps to guide the fate energy of their soldiers. By condensing the Qi around one"s body, one can also strengthen their cultivation speed.]
Su Wen raised his brows in recognition and surprise!
This was good stuff.
Especially the people around him. Yan Luoying and Wu Lie were both generals, as well as his good-for-nothing elder brother. Wouldn"t it be nice to give them each a copy?
As for himself… never mind. He did not have any plans to be a general yet. Furthermore, he did not know how effective this thing was.
Furthermore, Su Wen was very satisfied with the rate at which his cultivation base was improving.
[Ding-dong. The host has received the secret technique, Dragon Qi Infusion!]
[When a pract.i.tioner becomes the ruler of a country, or a descendant of the royal family, or a leader of a clan, they can obtain the destiny of the people. The stronger the power of the nation, the stronger the destiny. They can transform it into Dragon Qi and wrap it around themselves, which can strengthen their cultivation speed.]
Su Wen looked at the thing in his hand with a twisted expression.
This thing… unless he wanted to rebel, it was practically useless.
As for offering it to the royal family?
Hehe, it was not within the scope of consideration.
Who knew what effect this thing had? If it was really effective, maybe the emperor would choose to silence him to bury the secret. Wouldn"t that be a loss?
He had drawn two secret techniques in one go.
Although they were all non-tiered items and he did not know how effective they were, Su Wen was still very satisfied.
After thinking for a moment, Su Wen took out the Army Formation he obtained way back.
After drawing it the last time, Su Wen threw it away without even looking at the effects of the formation.
After benefitting from the Army Formation used by Wu Kunhu, he wanted to see what effect this thing had. After all, Yan Luoying had joined the army, so she might be able to use it.
[Breaking Ranks Army Formation: The goal of breaking through the enemy"s ranks is to create a scenario where death is the only escape!]
(TL Note: This is the Trap Formation that he drew back in the first few chapters. Changing its name to Breaking Ranks Formation instead as the original term was not accurate.)
[Number limit: 800.]
[Fixed effect: The commander"s prestige will increase and he will force soldiers to battle. His physique will increase by 30% and his True Qi will increase by 15%. The soldiers will have an inherent effect of being deathly loyal. Deathly Loyal: The soldiers will be more loyal to the commander. The longer they follow the commander, the more loyal they will be to the commander until they are willing to die for him.]
[Advancement effect: Shout the command of the army! All soldiers in the forced faction will be able to advance with indomitable will. They will disregard their own life and death and will fight to the death without retreating. True Qi strength increases by 25%, Strength and Speed increases by 20%. Lasts for six hours.]
After reading it, Su Wen touched his chin.
This thing seemed a little ordinary…
After all, Su Wen had experienced Wu Kunhu"s army formation before.
He felt that while this Breaking Ranks Army Formation was effective in charging forward, it was not beneficial for long battles. The benefits were that it would increase one"s combat strength and also contained a fearless buff.
But the number limit was too small!
In Su Wen"s opinion, this thing"s biggest weakness was that there were too few people.
If Su Wen didn"t remember wrongly, when Wu Kunhu led his army to charge forward, the entire army was enveloped by his formation!
But Breaking Ranks Army Formation only allowed 800 people!
However, after some thought, Su Wen understood that the greatest advantage of this trap was its fixed effect!
Once the effect of loyalty was formed, the 800 people would be fully obedient to their leader.
To put it bluntly, even the current Wu Kunhu or the Xu Qiao from back then, despite their authority and prestige…
If they were to rebel the soldiers would follow them because of their prestige and do something they were unwilling to do.
But it was hard to say where their thoughts truly lay.
Why did Xu Qiao"s army collapse so quickly?
This was because many people were forced to follow Xu Qiao. However, they did not know what to do and simply blindly followed him.
Once there was a chance, escaping and surrendering could be done at any time.
However, if they were deathly loyal, they wouldn"t even frown even if their heads were chopped off!
Coupled with the acceleration effect of training, one would soon be able to train a group of loyal soldiers who were extremely strong and loyal!