Longzang

Chapter 1062 Response
A line of Ji Kingdom swordsmen and shield bearers advanced first, approaching the Qingming fortifications. Once they were within firing range, a sudden burst of gunfire erupted from the Qingming defensive line, mowing down the approaching Ji Kingdom soldiers in droves, as swiftly as a sickle cutting grass!

Xiao Jingyuan's pupils contracted sharply, and his expression turned stern.

He had already tested it and found that the Qingming musket was extremely powerful, but its range was very short. Its accuracy and power would drop significantly beyond ten zhang. Therefore, the tactic he had previously devised was to advance to twenty zhang before starting a full-speed charge.

However, he did not expect that Qingming had changed to a new gun, which now fired serrated flying swords with amazing accuracy and power, which felled the swordsmen and shieldmen one by one from a hundred feet away.

In the blink of an eye, the swordsmen and shieldmen were killed or wounded in large numbers. The Daoji captain in the team had no choice but to rush to the front to block the flying swords and protect his soldiers as they retreated.

The first wave of attacks was repelled after only advancing within a hundred feet, leaving thousands of corpses on the battlefield.

Xiao Jingyuan frowned, deep in thought, pondering a countermeasure, when suddenly the roof of a bunker in the Qingming formation opened, revealing a light infantry cannon, which began firing at full speed. The shells landed on the Ji Kingdom's army formation, blowing the densely packed soldiers into the air in swarms.

Ji Jun clearly lacked experience in dealing with artillery, and the generals all stood with their hands behind their backs, looking down from above, and none of them made a move to intercept him.

As a result, the million-strong army formation, stretching for more than ten miles, was thrown into chaos by a mere dozen or so infantry cannons.

Seeing the situation was dire, Xiao Jingyuan personally drew his bow and fired seven arrows at once, targeting different infantry and artillery positions. The arrows were as swift as lightning, landing on the artillery positions as soon as they left the bowstring, then exploding into a ring of frost, instantly freezing more than a dozen artillerymen on the position into ice sculptures, and destroying the artillery pieces as well.

With Xiao Jingyuan's demonstration, the generals knew how to respond, and each displayed their unique abilities, bombarding various bunkers and strongholds. However, even with hundreds of Dharma Images unleashing hundreds of spells, or powerful bows and crossbows imbued with magic, they could only destroy a few dozen bunkers and kill a thousand people.

Only then did everyone realize that the Azure Fortress was exceptionally sturdy; it took a full-force attack from a Dharma Avatar to break open the top, while a slightly weaker one would need two or three blows.

The Qingming troops were scattered along the long, deep defensive line, their military aura barely visible, thus having very limited effect on weakening the Daoist magic. However, Wei Yuan had already developed another defensive strategy: simply put, if military aura was insufficient, cement would suffice.

Even a Dharma Aspect spell would have to put in some effort to break through a three-finger-thick steel plate, and a Dao Foundation's ranged attacks are nothing more than a tickle against steel and concrete fortifications. Therefore, Wei Yuan used building materials to deplete his opponent's Dao power.

Seeing how solid Qingming's defensive fortifications were, and with at least several thousand bunkers in sight, Xiao Jingyuan's expression turned grave, sensing something was amiss. However, with the Embroidered Uniform Guard's chief eunuch standing right behind him, staring intently at him, he had no choice but to wave his command flag and dispatch his heavy infantry with giant shields.

These heavily armored shield bearers all possessed the cultivation level of the third stage of Body Forging. Their giant shields could withstand the bombardment of muskets, and were Xiao Jingyuan's trump card specially prepared for Qingming.

Xiao Jingyuan specifically ordered the heavy shield bearers to charge from a distance of one hundred feet, followed by light cavalry, and then swordsmen and axemen.

As expected, Qingming's flying sword spear couldn't penetrate the giant shield, and the shield-bearing infantry charged into the fifty-zhang range. But at that moment, a series of sharp whistles rang out in the air, and a large number of curved-fire cannon shells flew out from the trenches, crashing down on the front line of the position. The heavy shield infantry were immediately blown off balance and scattered.

Meanwhile, several miles behind, several artillery positions removed their camouflage, revealing their real heavy artillery!
These large-caliber shells roared in, creating a death barrier in front of the position, blasting the following light cavalry and infantry into a rout. The violent explosions struck Ji Jun's heart, and some who were close by were even deafened by the shockwaves, their ears bleeding. Those who were not killed were left deafened.

Xiao Jingyuan's eyes twitched at the sight, and with a wave of his hand, dozens of cannonballs exploded in mid-air. Only then did the generals of Ji Kingdom realize what was happening and rush to intercept them.

Upon seeing this, Wei Yuan immediately ordered the heavy artillery to fire three more rounds of ammunition. He wanted to see whether Qingming had more shells or Ji Guo's high-level cultivator had more magic power.

In the eyes of the generals of Ji, the bombardment was endless.

The heavy artillery positions were too far away for the Dharma Aspects' magic to reach, and Yu Jing, wary of the evil sun, dared not act rashly, resulting in a stalemate. However, many shells still escaped, causing heavy casualties among the charging Ji army, who fled back before the retreat signal was given.

A small group of heavily armored shield-bearers successfully broke into the Qingming position. They initially thought their heavy shields, swords, and axes were the kings of close combat, but the Qingming heavy infantry that charged out immediately proved them wrong with shotguns. Unfortunately, Ji Jun's corpse was no longer able to comprehend this truth.

In the first round of attacks, Ji Jun left behind more than 30,000 corpses.

Even across the vast battlefront, tens of thousands of corpses lay scattered across the mountains and fields, a truly horrifying sight. Tens of thousands more lay groaning in pain, yet Ji Jun dared not offer aid. At this moment, Qingming continued its artillery bombardment, with shells constantly falling on the battlefield.

After two unsuccessful attacks, the morale of the Ji army had plummeted. Xiao Jingyuan glanced at the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander before ordering a retreat back to camp.

As night fell, Xiao Jingyuan summoned all the generals of the army to rack their brains for a way to defeat the enemy. Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Ji army were awakened countless times, each time they had just fallen asleep when they were jolted awake by a huge explosion.

Throughout the night, Wei Yuan kept launching missiles at Ji Jun's camp, just like the old days when he used missiles to deplete the magic power of the great witch of the Wu tribe.

But things are different now. Qingming has now annexed the Red Sand Oasis, and its gunpowder production is sufficient. There is no longer a need to use empty missiles, which forces Ji Junfa to find a way to intercept every missile.

However, a large number of missiles still broke through the interception and landed in the camp. Each missile that fell took the lives of hundreds of soldiers.

After one night, Ji Jun withdrew his main camp twenty li away, bringing the distance between him and the front line of Guantun to seventy li. However, for missiles with a range of a thousand li, the extra twenty li was of no use. They were still bombarded all night, and the entire Ji army was exhausted.

Wei Yuan then used divination again in the central army camp and discovered that Ji Jun's two backup forces remained in place, without making a move. It seemed that those two legions were not intended to deal with him.

As for the million-strong army of the Ji Kingdom opposite them, if the immortal had no backup plan, Wei Yuan would already consider them his for the taking. On the flat terrain of the Ji Kingdom, even light cavalry would not be able to escape the pursuit of the heavily armed mobile forces.

Two consecutive nights of relentless missile bombardment have left the Ji army exhausted from top to bottom. Xiao Jingyuan has already submitted a memorial requesting the urgent dispatch of a group of Dharma Masters to the front lines; it is of utmost urgency.

On the morning of the third day, the imperial edict arrived at the army camp along with more than a hundred conscripted Dharma Masters. Xiao Jingyuan opened the edict and saw only a few words on it: "General offensive tomorrow."

Xiao Jingyuan read it several times before finally saying, under the complicated gaze of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Supervisor, "Your subject accepts the decree."

The following night was spent manufacturing weapons and organizing attack echelons.

Xiao Jingyuan chose to launch a simultaneous attack from both the north and south ends. As soon as it was light, the soldiers, who had eaten and drunk their fill and had some marching wine, charged toward the Qingming position with red eyes!
When Ji Jun launched his general offensive, Wei Yuan no longer held back and revealed seven heavy artillery positions, with a total of a thousand heavy cannons bombarding the positions simultaneously, creating an absolute death zone in front of the positions. Under the intense artillery fire, not a single Ji Jun could break through!

Xiao Jingyuan's face turned ashen, but the Embroidered Uniform Guard Supervisor remained calm and composed. Just then, a fiery red gourd suddenly appeared in the air, pouring out more than a dozen bullets. Several bullets landed on the heavy artillery positions, several landed on the Qingming positions on the main attack direction, and two landed in the newly built Guantun County town.

The mist thickened, and countless gray-clad Dao soldiers surged forth from it, charging in all directions. In the blink of an eye, a million Dao soldiers appeared on the Azure Nether battlefield, creating chaos, and the heavy artillery fell silent.

The army of Ji State seized the opportunity to advance and break through into the enemy's territory.

Just then, a gentle, deep, and melodious voice suddenly resounded throughout the world: "All dharmas in the world should be viewed in this way..."

(End of this chapter)