Longzang

Chapter 931 The Perilous Western Regions
Inside the two tanks sat dozens of gunners, each covered in talismans.

The tank commander observed the battle situation ahead, waved his hand downwards, and a gunner waiting in line walked to the gun position, turned the muzzle slightly to the right, then turned it back, glanced at the note posted next to the gun position, and shouted loudly: "This shot was fired by Chen Acai from Xichuan!"

With a deafening roar, a shell ablaze with karmic flames flew out, filling another gap. Chen Acai fired another shot, and the gunner shoved a silver plaque made of celestial silver into his hand, saying, "Alright, go rest in the back vehicle. Next!"

The next gunner took his position, fired two shots, and then left the tank to rest in the transport vehicle at the rear. Several beautiful disciples from the medical clinic were stationed in the transport vehicle, along with gentle caregivers, while a cultivator held a roster and checked names one by one.

"...Chen Acai, retired and recuperating for one year, is granted one hundred Qingyuan coins. In addition, he may choose from the following three options..."

Chen Acai raised his hand immediately: "I choose to study!"

The officer glanced at him and said, "Smart!"

The two tanks fired continuously, with a gunner rotating every two shots. The gunners strictly followed the procedures, manually aiming before each shot. Once aimed, they adjusted the aim as Chen Acai had done, then back to the correct position. The karmic consequences of any fire caused by the cannon fire were mostly borne by these gunners.

The Karmic Cannon only fires from the flanks, making the deaths appear extremely gruesome, but the actual number of fatalities is not high. If each gunner fires only two shots, the karmic backlash will weaken them for about a year. Besides recuperation and a reward, they have three options during this year: enter the academy, join the military academy, or undergo body strengthening.

As a result, there were so many applicants for gunner positions that a rigorous selection process had to be implemented to choose only one hundred.

In just half an hour, the Song army completely collapsed and fled in all directions. The beautiful woman in palace attire was furious and unleashed bursts of true fire, instantly killing hundreds of deserters. However, the army's defeat was inevitable. Whenever the rear guard stopped, they were pushed down by those behind them, and then countless feet trampled over them until they were silenced.

A long trail of blood appeared on the ground, and the five thousand armored soldiers of Qingming trampled through it like a torrent of steel, turning the blood trail into a road mixed with blood and mud.

The 50,000-strong Song-Cui army was pursued for ten miles by 5,000 Qingming armored soldiers, suffering countless casualties. In the end, less than 10,000 escaped the battlefield.

Seeing Feng Chutang pull out the third talisman, Cui Chengxiao finally realized he was doomed. He waved his hand, scattering frost that instantly froze hundreds of Qingming's front-line soldiers. Then, pulling up the beautiful woman in palace attire, he was about to leave when he suddenly heard Zhang Sheng say from afar, "Are we just leaving like this? How about we settle this with a life-or-death battle?"

Choi Sung-hyo ignored him and tried to leave.

He was now terrified of Zhang Sheng. This man's methods were endless, each more ruthless than the last, leaving no room for retreat. The only way now was to return to the city first, seek help from his clan, and then figure out how to handle the aftermath and how to deal with the Immortal Ancestor's accusations. And to get through this ordeal, the beautiful woman in palace attire in his possession was the key.

However, upon hearing Zhang Sheng's words, the beautiful woman in palace attire broke free from Cui Zhengxiao's grasp, turned around, and exclaimed, "How are you going to hit me?"

Zhang Sheng pointed at her and said, "Of course it's you and me, one-on-one, a life-or-death battle! What, you're not scared, are you?"

The beautiful woman in palace attire had eyes that seemed to spit fire as she gritted her teeth and said, "You mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dares to be so arrogant! I think you're tired of living! Fine, I'll fight you, and today I'll tear that face off of yours!"

"Today?" Zhang Sheng smiled faintly and said, "It would be too unfair to you to fight today. We'll set a three-month timeframe. During these three months, you should prepare well. If you need to go into seclusion, then go into seclusion. If you need to buy magic weapons, then go and face your death in three months."

Before the beautiful woman in palace attire could say anything, Cui Chengxiao said, "It's a deal!" He then forcibly took her away, leaving the fleeing troops scattered across the mountains and fields to Qingming.

As she fled, the beautiful woman in palace attire angrily said, "I am a fully realized being, why not fight me today?"

Cui Chengxiao said, "This person is extremely treacherous and cunning. He suddenly challenged us to a duel, so he must have a celestial artifact! You are currently unarmed, and a hasty duel could lead to unforeseen consequences. The Immortal Ancestor has a celestial artifact that is perfect for this battle. You might as well go back and ask for it. You can be certain of victory in the duel three months from now!"

The beautiful woman in palace attire asked, "You mean that magical artifact that can capture souls?"

Cui Chengxiao nodded: "Qingming's development is so rapid, and the weapons they use are extremely strange and completely illogical. There must be a great secret behind it. But no matter what their secret is, as long as we can capture Zhang Sheng's soul, the secret will be ours!"

"It's Lian'er's! Are you still thinking of getting benefits for your two bastard children? You'd better not forget how the supplies for the Yujing passes came about!"

"How could I forget? The best things must be left for Lian'er," Cui Chengxiao said humbly.

The beautiful woman in palace attire finally relented, then gritted her teeth and said, "Once I get Zhang Sheng's soul, I will definitely put it into a woman's body and let hundreds or thousands of people taste it. Only then can I quell the hatred in my heart!"

With their commander fleeing, Song and Cui's army suffered a crushing defeat, only knowing how to run away. But how could two legs outrun troop transport ships and carts? Zhang Sheng commanded his troops to split into two groups, flanking from both sides, and caught most of the fleeing soldiers, capturing seven or eight thousand in one go.

As for the few thousand who ran particularly fast, Zhang Sheng didn't deliberately chase after them. Fear needs a sufficient number of people to spread; once these people returned, they would become sources of fear themselves.

In Song Cui New City, the city lord's mansion finally succumbed to the bombardment and collapsed with a deafening roar. In that instant, He Zhiyou suddenly produced a small knife, slashing across a hundred feet to strike the masked bandit. But the bandit neither dodged nor evaded, catching the knife in his hand!

The knife trembled violently. The old man tried his best to pull it back, but the cultivator held on tightly, and a trickle of blood slowly flowed from his palm.

He Zhiyou's eyes widened instantly, almost letting out a gasp in shock. This flying blade was also a Spirit Treasure of the Realm, even if its quality was somewhat inferior, it was still a genuine Spirit Treasure. This cultivator had caught it bare-handed, and it had only managed a small cut. Wasn't this Dharma Body capable of rivaling a Spirit Treasure?!
The masked monk reached up with another hand, gripped the dagger with both hands, and twisted it with force!
The knife struggled violently, even letting out a mournful cry, but it was no match for the cultivator's terrifying physical body, and snapped in two with a crack!

He Zhiyou suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, no longer caring about anything else. A dense forest appeared around him, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, a veritable paradise on earth. With this appearance, his escape speed suddenly doubled, and in an instant he was over a thousand feet away.

But before he could retract his mental image, the masked cultivator suddenly threw a woven doll into it. Where the doll landed, everything within a radius of several dozen feet strangely flattened into a two-dimensional plane. Then, the doll sliced ​​through the image with a sword, tore off a piece, and ate it.

He Zhiyou suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, like being pricked by a needle, and almost fell off the sky. He was terrified and hurriedly flew up again, but in the short time that he was delayed, a giant scorpion carrying a cauldron appeared out of nowhere and spat out a mouthful of venom into his mental world, instantly scorching a large area of ​​spiritual plants.

Two more points of light appeared from nowhere, incredibly agile, leaping hundreds of times in an instant; one was a weasel, the other a cat. Each leap was a pounce, annihilating the spirits in the mental world one by one.

He was so shocked that his soul almost broke. The spirits in his mental world were all jungle creatures, naturally good at hiding. How could they be picked out so accurately? It was simply illogical! Just then, his divine sense suddenly saw a small bird flying in the air, its eyes seemingly able to see through everything.

He Zhiyou no longer had time to examine whether the little bird was abnormal. He endured the tearing pain and flew away in an instant, leaving the city lord's mansion to Qingming.

Having escaped a thousand miles away in the blink of an eye, He Zhiyou breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, a wave of lingering fear washed over him, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

Only now did he realize the dangers and horrors of the Western Regions. A casual duel there could lead to encounters with cultivators capable of withstanding spiritual treasures with their bare bodies. Then there were the evil creatures that could destroy and erode one's mental world. Normally, even a single one of these evil creatures was rare, but in the Western Regions, they appeared in droves!
Although He Zhiyou is already a Yujing, while these sinister and evil creatures are only at the Dharma Aspect level or below, they are naturally able to restrain the world of the mind. This is like a strong mortal man, no matter how strong he is, he will still flee in panic when he encounters a wasp.

A white flag was raised atop the city gate of the lord's mansion. The defending Song soldiers had suffered heavy casualties and clearly lacked the courage to fight to the death.

Inside the city lord's mansion, a young master, with the desperate protection of several guards, broke through the encirclement and attempted to escape. But the moment he took to the air, he was met with a barrage of attacks from various celestial beings: the Heavenly Demon, the Great Sun Immortal Orchid Pagoda, the Crimson Scorpion Mountain Ape, the Spirit Bird, the Treasure Rat… It was like using a whole basket of sledgehammers to crack a nut!

Before the young master could struggle, he fainted and fell into the arms of the masked monk.

……

When Cui Chengxiao and the beautiful woman in palace attire returned, they were stunned by the devastation. They immediately rushed into the city lord's mansion, which was already half destroyed, and then scanned it with their divine senses. They found the young master lying peacefully in his room, and only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.

A beautiful woman in palace attire pushed open the door and entered the room, saying, "Thank goodness, I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried..."

She stopped abruptly mid-sentence, only to see the young master lying in bed, facing the inside, seemingly trembling slightly. His exposed shoulder was slender and fair, with skin as smooth as jade, making it appear as if he were naked!
……

Outside the city, the bandits headed back, carefully removing and folding their clothes. These uniforms were becoming increasingly necessary, and only the truly elite soldiers in the army could obtain them. Bandit positions were limited, and most were taken by the war machine of the new city; therefore, for the Qingming warriors, being able to serve as bandits was a great honor, even more glorious than joining the Great Tang Ninth Army.

Several cultivators stood in the air, watching the large band of bandits return to their secret camp. One of the cultivators in the center removed her mask, casually tossing her long, flowing hair—it was Ji Liuli. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction, and she laughed, "I love playing with these psychopathic little virgins!"

A cultivator beside him also removed his mask, revealing a face that was only slightly less handsome—it was Xu Henshui. He snorted and said, "When it comes to being monstrous, who can compare to you?"

Ji Liuli chuckled and said, "Haven't dealt with you in a while, and you're already missing my methods, huh? Why don't you summon your Fairy Linglan and have her dance?"

Xu Henshui's face instantly turned bright red, but he dared not speak out in anger.

(End of this chapter)