Jing Meng Hun’s voice sounded from afar. It was filled with grief and indignation.
Minister Chu – who was leading the Iron Cloud’s troops – suddenly chuckled and said, "It seems that King Level Expert Jing hasn’t realized it yet, but unfortunately... this aphrodisiac doesn’t have an antidote."
[It’s incurable?] Cheng Zi Ang’s whole body trembled.
Chu Yang laughed heartily. He then proclaimed in a loud voice, "Jing Meng Hun, I – King of h.e.l.l Chu – once told you that I will toy with you till you die! Do you believe it now? Are you happy now? Ha ha ha ha..."
Jing Meng Hun became furious and shouted back loudly, "King of h.e.l.l Chu! I would rather die! But, I will drag you down with me!"
He turned around and shouted loudly, "Chase!"
"Jing Meng Hun, follow me closely!" Chu Yang let out a big roar, "To death! Let’s have our armies engage in an upright and fair fight to death! I shall defeat you fair and square! And, I shall leave you convinced and ready to concede!"
[You’ve already tricked us into consuming so much aphrodisiacs. And now, everyone’s having erotic thoughts. How can there be a fair battle now?]
[And then, you go so far as to shamelessly say ‘upright and fair fight to death’? , ‘you will defeat me fair and square’? , ‘leave me convinced and ready to concede’?!]
"King of h.e.l.l Chu, you are shameless!!" Jing Meng Hun shouted out loud, "How can you be so shameless?!"
He ended up spouting blood from his mouth along with that shout.
Jing Meng Hun had gone wild with rage…
[I must first kill King of h.e.l.l Chu! Then, I will think of a plan for detoxification…]
Two hours pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye...
…
Wu Kuang Yun had finished tidying-up the battlefield in one day’s time. Tie Bu Tian had given the command, and that huge crater – which had appeared after the ma.s.sive explosion at the center of the array – had been filled.
There were corpses everywhere! They were innumerable and densely packed… 8 million soldiers had partic.i.p.ated in this war, but no more than 200,000 of them were left alive by now. And, even they were riddled with injuries, and were drawing their last breaths...
Wu Kuang Yun was commanding the army to dig pits at present. They were preparing to bury the corpses. The weather was so hot that many corpses had already started to rot in just one day. This could lead to the outbreak of an epidemic… and that wouldn’t be a pretty sight.
Therefore, burying the corpses was the top-priority at the moment. And, Wu Kuang Yun wouldn’t possibly dare to show the slightest negligence in this regard.
Suddenly, the noise of neighing horses and clamoring men sounded while the digging work was going on. A team of cavalry soldiers could be seen rus.h.i.+ng over from afar. Wu Kuang Yun was startled when he saw that the armors was of the cavalrymen were in a mess. The man at the forefront had disheveled hair, torn sleeves, and filthy black dirt all over his face. He appeared to be in an extremely distressed state. However, he was smiling for some reason. And, his smile was as bright as the sunlight. This man was none other than King of h.e.l.l Chu!
The carefully chosen elite troops of Iron Cloud were rallying behind King of h.e.l.l Chu!
Wu Kuang Yun was in a shock.
[This guy is in such a distressed state. But, why does he look so pleased with himself? Don’t tell me that he has destroyed the Golden Horse Riders Department?]
He was thinking of this scenario when he heard a loud and inconsolable bellow, "King of h.e.l.l Chu! Don’t run! Come to die!" Jing Meng Hun was leading the team of Golden Horse Riders Department, and was chasing wildly-after.
Wu Kuang Yun opened his mouth and eyes wide, [this guy is being chased. So, he’s actually running for his life! But… he still looks so proud of himself... he’s fu*king amazing...]
[But... why is he leading the Golden Horse Riders Department here?]
The time taken to describe the scene was much longer than the one it took for it to unfold. King of h.e.l.l Chu urged his horse to move around in a circle, and shouted, "Make formation!" The cavalry soldiers behind him immediately formed a military formation in spite of being in a tired and distressed state.
This was then followed by a majestic roar, "Prepare to face the enemy!"
Wu Kuang Yun curled his lips. He was already running towards his warhorse at lightning speed. [It’s a fu*king miracle that your soldiers are able to stand straight. But, you still want them to face the enemy? It seems I will have to move into action.]
However, what happened next… left Wu Kuang Yun in complete shock!
He saw the two armies – each in a similarly distressed state – lined-up in formations to face each other. Then, the troops on both sides suddenly charged towards each other.
However, the riders of the Golden Horse Riders Department suddenly began to collapse one after another on the way itself. In fact, some people were still das.h.i.+ng forward when their noses and ears suddenly started to rot and fall. Then, their arms fell to the ground with ‘squish’ sounds...
Even the warhorses of the Golden Horse Riders Department collapsed one after another, and turned into piles of rotten meat!
Wu Kuang Yun rubbed his eyes, [Fu*k! What’s going on? These men were alive and kicking a moment ago! So, how did they suddenly turn into corpses more rotten than the one that have been lying in the battlefield for a day? Could it be… that these were originally corpses that were rotting on the horsebacks for a long time?]
[But, how can the corpses... make sounds?]
Chu Yang proudly smiled, [d.a.m.n, it’s already past the time-limit of five hours! Why haven’t you all died yet?]
The over 20,000 people of the Golden Horse Riders Department suddenly crashed down with a loud cras.h.i.+ng noise, and instantly turned into decomposed meat alongside most of their horses! Chu Yang’s troops – who were already tired-enough to be rendered incapable of lifting their weapons – didn’t need to use their weapons in the end. Jing Meng Hun’s troops simply collapsed on their own, and that too in a bizarre manner...
Jing Meng Hun turned around to look, and his entire body trembled. He faced upwards, and yelled out. This was a horrifying spectacle. And, he couldn’t help but think that he-himself was affected by the same poison. He felt like dying from the grief that had started to plague his heart the very next instant!
"King of h.e.l.l Chu! What poison is this?" Jing Meng Hun’s entire body was trembling. He could already feel his skin itch; it had started to fester-up...
"Jing Meng Hun... this poison is derived from the flood dragons which had appeared after you had burned the mountain..." Chu Yang laughed loudly, "Also, many thanks to you for seriously injuring those flood dragons. I wouldn’t have been able to obtain their inner cores if it weren’t for you. Now, you can say that I’ve avenged them by using their cores to poison your body! Moreover, this also serves as a revenge for the people whose livelihood was destroyed by the destruction of mountain forest!"
Chu Yang sneered, "Jing Meng Hun, you tell me… isn’t this retribution?"
Jing Meng Hun was dumbstruck!
The ‘thud’ sounds had been coming incessantly from behind him over this short period of time. There were about 24,000 people of the Golden Horse Riders Department at the start of this chase. But, Jing Meng Hun was the only one left alive by now!
Furthermore, his warhorse had begun to rot, and had slowly turned into mush... So, Jing Meng Hun was now standing on the ground…
He raised his arm, and saw the slow emergence of yellow spots. Then, these spots turned into water-stains filled with pus, and eventually decomposed and turning into big holes... Jing Meng Hun wore a miserable smile, faced upwards, and let out a loud roar, "Retribution! Retribution!"
He put out his hand. Only the bones remained in place of his fingers. He used his bony fingers to draw out his long sword. And then, he slit his own throat! His tall and burly body then slowly fell down on the ground with a loud thud. And then, his entire body turned into a pile of rotten meat!
Chu Yang heaved a sigh of relief.
He saw people turning into piles of rotten meat one after another, and couldn’t help a cold feeling in his heart. [This l.u.s.t poison... is very potent and scary!]
He suddenly recalled that he-himself had been poisoned by this poison. [If not for… perhaps I would’ve also turned into a pile of rotten meat!]
He couldn’t stop his facial muscle from twitching. He turned his head towards Tie Bu Tian’s tent; it was located in the back… and, an extremely complicated look appeared in his eyes!
Wu Kuang Yun and his cavalry soldiers were approaching fast. They felt that they were watching a dream-like scene as they galloped along the way. Everyone was rubbing their eyes, [what the h.e.l.l is going on?]
[More than 20,000 people! The most elite army on the entire continent!]
[And… they suddenly vanished into thin air… just like that? Even a Ninth Grade King Level Expert – who was also the chief of the Golden Horse Riders Department – also committed suicide in utter desperation… but, he still turned into rotten meat without exception!]
Everyone was petrified.
This decisive battle had finally come to an end! But, this bizarre and terrifying spectacle had forever branded itself in the hearts of all.
Chu Yang rested for a while. Then, he quickly left for that lake. He needed to retrieve the inner cores of flood dragons, [Fu*k! These things are too virulent. I must lock them inside my Nine Tribulations s.p.a.ce ah...]
Tie Bu Tian, Tie Long Cheng, and Wu Kuang Yun were discussing the means to deal with the aftermath of this war.
Great Zhao’s 6 million soldiers had been wiped out in their entirety. And, Iron Cloud had 4 million soldiers in the beginning. But, only 300,000 of them remained! No one would’ve ever expected such an outcome beforehand.
The ten tiger and dragon generals of Great Zhao had also perished in the war!
The elites of Great Zhao’s Golden Horse Riders Department had been poisoned to death under a treacherous plan formulated by King of h.e.l.l Chu!
Diwu Qing Rou was missing.
Great Zhao had been reduced to a ‘tiger without teeth’ after the war! There was indeed another nation called ‘Limitless Nation’. However, it had been reduced to ruins by Diwu Qing Rou prior to the war between Great Zhao and Iron Cloud. Therefore, Limitless Nation was barely managing to maintain its feeble existence. It was no longer self-sufficient as it once used to be. So, Iron Cloud was taking the footsteps towards unifying the world. And, it would be able to go all-out with no obstacles in the way. The mission to unify the Lower Three Heavens would inevitably go smoothly since everyone else was bound to obey!
It was only a matter of time before this outcome would manifest.
However, Tie Bu Tian was still depressed in her heart. In fact, there wasn’t the slightest trace of joy in her heart. She saw that scene of post-war devastation, and heaved a long sigh.
The breeze blew throughout the night. The moon was bright, yet the stars were spa.r.s.e in the sky.
Tie Bu Tian and Wu Qian Qian were slowly walking towards the summit. There was residual smell of blood in the air even though this brutal war had already ended.
"This war was very disastrous. And, it has caused heavy losses!" Wu Qian Qian pondered for a moment. She then continued, "You can unify the world now. But, it will probably take several years for this loss of strength to be fully restored. Moreover, it was even more devastating for the common people. It’s hard to say how many families lost their backbones… many lost their sons and fathers... sigh!"
Tie Bu Tian’s countenance turned serious as she looked up at the starry sky, and softly spoke, "This world is… full of helplessness!" She paused for quite some time, and then continued slowly, "I shall grant amnesty to the entire world after I’ve unified it. I shall re-formulate the style of governance, and only employ talented individuals...
"As far as the common people are concerned… I will exempt them from paying taxes for three years. Afterwards, I will add three-and-a-half years of taxes to recover the nation’s wealth..." Tie Bu Tian was somewhat at a loss as she continued, "I had become the crown prince of Iron Cloud a while ago, but I never expected that the task of unifying the world would fall into my hands. And, now that I’m about to do it… it just feels like a dream…"
Wu Qian Qian remained silent.
Tie Bu Tian was silent for a while. She looked at the s.h.i.+ning stars in the sky, and then recited in a sad tone, "The war leaves its weapons useless, and armor’s steel become decorations. The hero who controls the world… dreams to see soldiers and swords no more…!
"Chu Yang has claimed great credit for himself in this war to rule over the world." Tie Bu Tian continued in a melancholic manner. She was obviously thinking that Chu Yang would soon leave.
Wu Qian Qian also sighed. She then spoke-up in a somewhat mischievous manner, "That’s your man. It can be said that your man gave this world to you as a gift."
"My man..." The traces of deep attachment and tender feelings flashed in Tie Bu Tian’s eyes.
Suddenly, the loud voice of a guard sounded from afar, "Who are you?"
"It’s me!" it was Chu Yang’s voice.
"Chu Yang is back." Wu Qian Qian’s eyes lit up, "He waited until now to visit... what’s he been up to?"
Tie Bu Tian’s eyes flashed as she gently said, "Remember what I told you... " She had faintly guessed the purpose behind Chu Yang’s visit.