Chapter 728 487: Junior General's Might
[The Diagram Master suppresses and kills Yuan Wutian, obtaining one strand of Evil Qi of the Twelfth Realm]
Accompanied by the Transformation Diagram containing the Twelfth Realm Evil Qi, which had invisibly dispersed from the void, after Chen Ku collected Yuan Wutian's three treasures, his gaze lowered and fell upon the chaotic scene of the battle between the two armies in the distance.
He saw that the two armies, numbering fifty to sixty thousand elite warriors, were entirely engulfed in a chaotic melee. In mid-air, the air currents roared and howled, while Primordial Qi, Spiritual Energy, and Blood Qi frantically surged.
Blood mist exploded in clusters in the sky and on the ground.
Rain, snow, wind, frost, flying swords, flying knives, and magical treasures shuttled through the sky. Under the control of the great Qi Refiners, they harvested the lives of ordinary Martial Practitioner soldiers. Similarly, the top general Martial Practitioners of Ji Country's army executed sweeping and deadly techniques.
An old general's spear tore through the sky, shaking with formidable force, as a green lion roared beneath him, swiftly moving through the battlefield like mowing grass.
This old general was none other than the white-haired, bearded veteran Cao Ang, who had previously questioned Chen Ku's request to fight. In this charge and kill, he fully exposed his cultivation and combat power, revealing himself as a rare expert who had stepped into the Martial Path True Body level.
At the same time, Xiang Kunlun, having lost Tao Zhi as an opponent, became the absolute focal point on the battlefield. Wherever his Coiling Dragon Spear went, hundreds and thousands of dragon-shaped Gang Qi appeared, roaring, and shredded all the Qi Refiners in its path into fragments.
However, what caught Chen Ku's attention were not these generals with extraordinary combat power, but the mechanical giants, towering like city walls, made entirely of bronze. Their open-handed movements created booming Gang Wind with each strike.
Their bodies were equipped with cannon barrels spewing Divine Fire, resembling walking battlefield mechanical creations in human form.
"These mechanical creations look similar to those mechanical armies in the Hero King Realm, but larger. I wonder whose handiwork they are, and how those mechanical creations capable of flight and earth tunneling…"
Chen Ku felt his knowledge broaden.
But he wasn't idle himself; after all, the battlefield was the best place to harvest Evil Qi.
At the moment he suppressed and killed Yuan Wutian, countless Qi Refiners with ill intentions toward him emerged from the Transformation Diagram.
...
Boom!
After Xiang Kunlun's continuous slaughter, a blood-red river lay across the ground. A rough count revealed at least three to four hundred corpses.
At this moment, his Coiling Dragon Spear had locked onto a middle-aged man in purple who was using lightning speed to escape in mid-air. He recognized the man's identity.
When he was defending the city earlier, this man, acting as a vanguard, had attacked. Known as the Purple Lightning Venerable, a Qi Refiner of the Tenth Realm, adept at a Divine Skill called 'Purple Lightning Heavenly Thunder Saber', he was not his match.
The spear now spun tearing the void, directly targeting the Purple Lightning Venerable.
"Ah!" The Purple Lightning Venerable felt Xiang Kunlun's terrifying killing intent, his heart nearly bursting. He bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of heart essence blood onto several sheets of Purple Talisman Paper, causing them to burn instantaneously, drastically increasing his speed. His body enveloped in electric light seemed to vanish from Xiang Kunlun's spear as if visible to the naked eye.
"Damn it!" Xiang Kunlun gritted his teeth.
The greatest weakness of these Martial Arts Practitioners was that it was challenging to get close to Qi Refiners.
However...
Before he could clench his jaw for long, he saw a bead suddenly appear above the Purple Lightning Venerable who had only escaped Ten Li away, directly smashing down.
Crash!
The Purple Lightning Venerable was smashed into a pulp, body and Primordial Spirit both destroyed.
Xiang Kunlun turned his head and saw Chen Ku's figure soaring through the sky at a speed faster than the Purple Lightning Venerable, pulling the air into explosive sounds purely with his body's speed.
He helplessly growled, "Even the Purple Lightning Venerable you snatch to kill?"
But he was not alone in his frustration.
The white-haired old general Cao Yu was similarly locked in a fierce battle with a young female Taoist. His green snake spear moved like a flood dragon emerging from a cave, while the female Taoist unleashed thousands of magical treasures, hurling them at the old general in a barrage.
At this moment of irreconcilable water and fire.
Bang!
Chen Ku appeared directly beside the female Taoist, grabbed her by the head, and crushed it with his five fingers, shattering it in mid-air.
"I…" Cao Yu was stunned, about to shout at Chen Ku, he was about to take down the female Taoist.
However, after crushing the head of this Tenth Realm female Qi Refiner with ease, Chen Ku's figure disappeared, chasing after another Qi Refiner in the distance.
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It seemed as if this Tenth Realm female Qi Refiner was nothing more than a fly he casually crushed along the way.
In fact, Chen Ku's strength indeed warranted such an appraisal.
He no longer regarded Twelfth Realm cultivators, let alone Tenth Realm Primordial Spirits, with the Drought God Air Domain shrinking space and relying on his Huntian Skill's ability to absorb Yin Yang Five Elements Power, every encounter with Qi Refiners below the Twelfth Realm resulted in instant kills.
Thus, this was the scene that Xie Xuanji and others stationed at the rear saw from afar at the city gate.
Wherever the young warrior appeared, his mere presence meant instant death for the Qi Refiners, whether their heads were crushed or their bodies exploded, followed by a drift of yellow sand as the youth moved on to slaughter the next opponent.
Resembling the world's foremost assassin emerging from the sands.
"Is this... the strength of the foremost scholar of Divine Martial Mountain?"
"The Imperial Court truly hasn't wasted this year in vain! The Emperor's granting him the title of Longyuan Major General is indeed fitting!" Some responsible for logistics were thoroughly convinced by the achievements Chen Ku forged upfront.
Xie Xuanji's eyes flashed with brilliant light: "Longyuan Major General, named after Longyuan—I thought it was an empty title from the court. After this battle, he is like the true heir of Longyuan."
An overwhelming pursuit unfolded, under Chen Ku's targeted assassinations, many of the top experts in the enemy formations fell, and the remaining basic Qi Refiners faced a massacre like grass cutting under the pursuit of Xiang Kunlun, Cao Yu, and the young officers from Divine Martial Mountain.
Ji Country's army had pursued over several dozens of li, killing more than thirty thousand Qi Refiners. They were about to annihilate them all when they heard the sound of gold from the direction of the gate.
It commanded the army not to pursue further.
Eventually, everyone returned triumphantly, bringing back over thirty thousand Qi Refiner heads and various storage bags, full to the brim back into the city.
"Strategist, this time Yuan Wutian Division's Qi Refiners were utterly defeated by us, a victory like never before, why didn't you let us finish them off entirely, but instead ordered us to halt the pursuit?" Xiang Kunlun asked Xie Xuanji with confusion and dissatisfaction as he returned to the city carrying his great halberd.
Xie Xuanji responded slowly: "With seventy percent of the enemy defeated, it's already a great victory. Pursuing further might encounter reinforcement from Beiyuan's alliance army. Currently, Beiyuan's invasion of our Daji has mobilized many sects and holy lands within their country. Intelligence isn't clear, we can't go too deep into enemy territory."
As he spoke, he looked at Chen Ku.
Even more cautious.
"Especially with Junior General's might today, it should have been reported via Communication Jade Scrolls or similar means by those Qi Refiners after killing Yuan Wutian. This performance is absolutely the second major threat after Marshal Li to Beiyuan's current Niangzi Pass defenses. There must be no slip-up."
His caution was very necessary. The court spent a year cultivating this Longyuan Major General, who indeed possesses astonishing combat power and potential. At eighteen, able to perform like this, reminiscent of the revival of the Champion Marquis.
If he pursued too far and got ambushed by some old Fourteenth Realm enemy, who forcibly attacked across space, even if he ended himself, he couldn't withstand such guilt and loss.
Xiang Kunlun and other generals understood the meaning.
They looked at the armored youth ahead.
And remained silent.
No matter what opinions they had before and on the battlefield, after the battle, they had to admit that this Longyuan Major General truly descended into Guzi Pass like a beacon in the dark.
Too young, too powerful, too astonishing!
Even though they didn't express it, their hearts were solidly convinced.
"Today's battle repelled the invading enemy Yuan Wutian Division from Three Star Cave, beheading over thirty-six thousand enemy Qi Refiners, ranking among the top ten impressive achievements in the past two years of resistance against Beiyuan, and as for the primary merit, I believe there is no second choice in your hearts." Xie Xuanji looked at a group of generals and said, "This person is none other than our Junior General!"
Instantly, armies within the city, regardless of age, all knelt on one knee, fiercely striking their weapons and shields, shouting:
"Junior General is mighty!"
"Junior General is mighty!"
The momentum of mountains and seas shook within the pass.
The students within Divine Martial Mountain had experienced a similar situation during the major exam day, but at the battlefield, truly feeling the fervent shouts of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, still felt deeply shaken, excited, and proud.
This was the prestige of their fellow scholar from the same term.
Chen Ku listened to the soldiers' cheers, murmuring to himself:
"On the first day, established prestige, much faster than I anticipated, thanks to Yuan Wutian who delivered himself."