Longzang

Chapter 362 How to Continue the Predestined Bond

The envoy slunk away, and Li Zhi led several generals into the council hall.

Looking at the disheveled cultivators of Taichu Palace, Li Zhi gave a wry smile and said, "I burned two substitute puppets before I realized something terrible had happened here, so I brought troops over to check. It seems that under the Great Curse of Karma, none of you are having an easy time either. My brother Wei… he…"

Li Zhi abruptly stopped speaking.

Standing on the main peak, he could gradually sense the deathly stillness in the Azure Netherworld, where less than one-tenth of the realm's power remained.

This means the Realm Lord has completely severed ties with the Realm Stone. The Realm Stone has gone into hibernation, and after some time, the Realm will slowly regress, eventually returning to its most basic state. For Qingming, the Realm will shrink to about a hundred miles.

Li Zhi's voice suddenly choked with emotion. Now a realm lord himself, he naturally knew what this sign meant. Wei Yuan had fallen.

Li Zhi didn't hide anything, wiping away his tears and gritting his teeth, he said, "My brother left so suddenly, he probably didn't leave any words. But as far as I know, even if it meant feeding Qingming to the dogs, my brother would never want it to fall into the hands of the Xu family! There's nothing I can do to help him, but we have to fight this battle with the Xu family first!"

All the cultivators replied, "That's how it should be!"

"Alright!" Li Zhi turned to a Dharma Aspect cultivator behind him and said, "Go back to the realm now and send another five thousand light cavalry over! Be quick!"

"There are only two thousand guards in that realm."

"Never mind all that for now. I'll go back after this battle is over."

The Dharma Aspect cultivator nodded, turned and left, disappearing in an instant.

Li Zhi said, "I have brought 20,000 elite troops this time, plus 5,000 light cavalry to follow, for a total of 25,000. I'll presume to say that I have some experience in military command, so I'll command this battle. What do you say?"

The cultivators of Taichu Palace discussed it and had no objections.

In the last major battle with the Xu family, everyone witnessed Li Zhi's military prowess. Although he was not as prominent as Wei Yuan, he was still able to achieve victory against overwhelming odds. With 5,000 light cavalry, he defeated an enemy force several times larger than himself, broke through a large camp, and captured tens of thousands of laborers.

In terms of leading troops into battle, all the cultivators knew they were inferior to Li Zhi. Warfare wasn't a contest of magic; it wasn't simply a matter of having higher cultivation levels.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Li Zhi asked Cui Yu, "How many soldiers are there in the territory now, and what are their types?"

Over the past few days, despite his weakened state, Cui Yu traversed the entire territory, assessing the losses and available troops. Had Li Zhi not come, he had originally planned to lead his troops in a decisive battle against the Xu family.

Cui Yu then said, "Under the Great Curse of Cause and Effect, more than 50,000 people died in the realm. Although the Body Forging cultivators were better able to resist, they also had a deeper bond with the realm lord, so the casualties were heavy, with 8,000 dying. Originally, two towns' elite troops totaling 10,000 were just trained, but now only 7,000 remain. The realm's standing army, which had trained 20,000, now has 16,000 remaining. The remaining peasant soldiers, 1,000, died."

Li Zhi was stunned: "So many people died?! The bonds between them were so deep?!"

Li Zhi believed that his military leadership, which balanced leniency with strictness, followed the right path. Although his elite troops had served him longer than these men had served Wei Yuan, he asked himself honestly, if the karmic curse were to fall upon him, how many people would be implicated and die?
Li Zhi felt that there probably wasn't even a hundred.

How did Wei Yuan, this barbarian, manage to win the hearts of so many people?
Li Zhi composed himself, spread a map on the table, and began to deploy his forces: "Although the Xu family's army is large, they suffered heavy losses of their elite troops last time, and many government troops were mixed in, so they are large but not elite. I expect them to be slow to move and difficult to mobilize, so this time we will use Xuanwei San as a stronghold, deploy heavy troops for defense, and withstand their first few waves of attacks. My Southern Qi elite troops will be deployed on the flanks. When the time comes, we will first use light cavalry to cut off their supply lines, and then use elite troops to attack them from the flanks and rear. We should have a chance of victory."

Zhu Xiu couldn't think of a better method for the time being, so Li Zhi began to deploy the remaining troops on the battlefield one by one according to their strength and configuration.

Cui Yu and the other leading cultivators had memorized the formation diagram and were preparing to deploy it when suddenly a cultivator rushed in in a panic, saying, "Something terrible has happened! All the Xu family's envoys have been killed!"

All the cultivators were taken aback. Cui Yu asked, "What happened? Who killed him?"

"It's me." Bao Yun walked in as the door opened.

Cui Yu could hardly believe his eyes and asked, "Why are you here? Did your family allow you to come out?"

Bao Yun said, "There is a price to pay."

Cui Yu understood and stopped asking questions.

Li Zhi looked at his former rival from the unified examination, his expression complex. He sighed, "When two countries are at war, envoys are not to be killed. He's just a lowly Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even if you kill the entire delegation, what difference will it make?"

Bao Yun said, "I will kill the entire delegation!"

Li Zhi was stunned and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Bao Yun approached the map, examined the defense layout, and asked Li Zhi, "Is this your strategy?"

"Yes."

"This plan won't work; the outcome is evenly matched."

Bao Yun's words were anything but polite, which annoyed Li Zhi. However, looking at Bao Yun's slightly tired face, he suddenly saw a surge of immense sorrow beneath her calm exterior.

Bao Yun calmly said, "You don't mind if I take the lead, do you?"

Li Zhi hesitated for a moment, but finally shrugged, indicating that it was up to him.

Bao Yun asked Cui Yu about the remaining troops in the realm, then went to the map, removed the original markings, and said, "I will kill the entire delegation, have their bodies hung at the edge of the realm, and send their heads to all the cities in the realm, so that everyone knows one thing: this is a life-or-death feud, it is either the enemy or us who die, there is no room for compromise."

Li Zhi opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.

Bao Yun pointed ahead of the Xu family army and said, "Set up a defensive line here, with Senior Brother Cui leading five thousand men to hold it, forming a defensive triangle with Xuanwei San. These five thousand men don't need to be too strong or too weak, just average. When only two thousand remain, you can retreat. But before retreating back here, no more than five hundred can survive." Cui Yu was taken aback and said, "Are we being sent to our deaths?"

“It’s not about going to your death, it’s about dying in battle.” Bao Yun’s voice was very calm.

"With Senior Brother Cui's desperate fight and these people's feigned defeat to lure the enemy, the Xu family will definitely think that the border region is at its end and all its elite forces have been wiped out, and they will definitely drive straight in. As long as they chase for a few dozen miles, the Xu family's army will definitely be in complete disarray. You only need to lead 50,000 people here, that will be enough."

Bao Yun was referring to a flat valley surrounded by some small hills, which could be used for an ambush.

Bao Yun divided the Xu family's youths into two groups, left and right, to ambush them. They would then attack the Xu family's main force from both sides once they entered the ambush.

Finally, Bao Yun said to Li Zhi, "When the time comes, Brother Li, lead your elite Southern Qi troops and charge into the area where the Xu family's private army and the government army are engaged. Don't worry about anything else along the way, just head straight for their rear. Then establish defenses at the edge of the border to prevent the Xu family's army from escaping. Five thousand light cavalry will then flank around from the rear and cut off their supply lines, but you must make sure they see the cavalry's movements."

Li Zhi nodded.

"Then take your positions, and the decisive battle will take place the day after tomorrow!"

When the Xu family commander received news that the entire delegation had been killed and their headless corpses were displayed, he was furious and led his army straight in. He then encountered Cui Yu, who had built a fortified position outside Xuanwei.

Despite the vast disparity in troop strength, the two sides fought for nearly a full day. All the cultivators from the Taichu Palace participated in the battle, and although there was only one Dharma Aspect cultivator, Old Daoist Chuhe, he severely injured three Dharma Aspect elders from the Xu family.

As dusk approached, Cui Yu, also severely wounded, was forced to lead his remaining troops in retreat. By then, the enemy had already left behind 30,000 corpses on the battlefield!
After the battle, the Xu family commander retrieved four thousand corpses of boundary warriors from the battlefield. Eighty percent of the defending troops led by Cui Yu perished in this battle.

The commander of Xu's army was also terrified. He ordered a grand funeral for all the Qingming warriors and personally led the main force to pursue Cui Yu, heading straight for the core of the territory. As night fell, the vanguard entered the ambush area, the central army was still ten miles away, and the rearguard was fifty miles away.

Forty thousand youths charged out from both flanks, advancing slowly with guns drawn, the muzzle flashes illuminating the entire battlefield as if it were daytime. The Xu family's vanguard suffered heavy casualties the moment the battle began, and the main force subsequently collapsed.

Under the pressure of Xu Jin's 40,000 youths, the defeated vanguard rushed towards the central army. At this moment, Li Zhi led the elite troops of Southern Qi to break out and tore the enemy army in two.

This invincible elite force showed no reluctance to fight and charged straight back. The Xu family army knew their retreat was about to be cut off, and the onslaught of fleeing soldiers plunged them into chaos. Many took advantage of the darkness to escape.

At this moment, Wei Yuan's 7,000 elite troops and Li Zhi's 5,000 light cavalry emerged from the left and right, encircling and attacking along the way, leaving the enemy's corpses strewn across the field.

Above the sky, a plump Taoist priest, seeing the army below in defeat, was enraged and brandished his magic weapon.

At this moment, a calm voice rang out from the side: "It's best if we don't interfere in the affairs of the younger generation."

The Taoist priest abruptly turned his head and saw a refined-looking cultivator in silver robes looking at him with a half-smile. The Taoist priest's expression suddenly turned serious, and he said, "Baomanshan! Your family and I are originally one. You wouldn't have sided with the Taichu Palace, would you?"

Bao Manshan chuckled and said, "You flatter me. It's just that the younger generation in the family has a strong conviction, and we elders can't bear to see her path blocked."

"My Xu family members below have suffered heavy casualties, so I have no choice but to intervene."

Bao Manshan said with a half-smile, "I think it's better not to. If it affects Yun'er's Dao heart, it will be difficult to handle. Anyway, the young people of your Xu family are worthless. They can just die and be reborn, right?"

The chubby Taoist priest became agitated and said, "I will only save members of my Xu family; it will not affect the path of your descendants' cultivation."

Bao Manshan's face suddenly darkened, and he said coldly, "Brother Taotie, if fewer of your subordinates die, it will affect Yun'er's path to immortality! Have I made myself clear enough? Or is it that because I haven't made a move much in the past two years, even you dare to disrespect me?"

The plump Taoist's expression shifted, but seeing the growing murderous intent in Bao Manshan's eyes, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "The Immortal Ancestor will demand an explanation for this matter!"

Bao Manshan laughed loudly and said, "Then we'd better ask our ancestor to come sooner. In ten years, when the second Immortal Lord of my Bao family is born, things won't be as easy to talk to as they are now!"

The plump Taoist priest snorted and turned to leave.

Bao Manshan shook his head and sighed, "In the end, he was still too timid. He ran away so fast! Fellow Daoist Zhu, come out."

The woman in red appeared from the void and said, "He is suspicious by nature, so he will definitely doubt the possibility of you and me joining forces. It is normal for him to run away."

Bao Manshan looked the woman in red up and down, then suddenly said, "With the Great Curse of Karma descending, you definitely can't escape. I'm very curious now, just how badly are you injured?"

Zhu Yuanjin said, "Why don't you try it and see?"

Bao Manshan seemed eager to try, but ultimately didn't make a move. Then, just then, a sharp shout rang out from behind Zhu Yuanjin: "I'll give it a try!"

The Taotie had returned, quietly slipping away to the vicinity. He attacked with all his might, unleashing a deadly move!
A flash of light appeared in the sky, followed by a spray of blood across the heavens!
A long trail of blood shot out from behind Taotie Zhenjun as he vanished in an instant, his painful roars echoing like thunder.

Zhu Yuanjin tucked a gleaming dagger into his sleeve.

Bao Manshan chuckled and shook his head, saying, "This guy is indeed not very smart. Doesn't he realize that you could sit in the Broken Realm for so long without any means to deceive the heavens? It's not impossible for you to deceive the Great Curse of Cause and Effect."

"I must thank you for your cooperation, fellow Daoist."

Bao Manshan looked down and said, "I'm only doing this for Yun'er. After this, her connection with you will be over."

"As it should be."

Bao Manshan suddenly smiled and said, "If that kid Wei Yuan is still alive, tell him that if he wants to rekindle this past relationship, he should come to the Bao family. At least I won't make things difficult for him here."

(End of this chapter)