Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 672 East China Sea, Seven Star Reef
Finally, on the day of the auction, millions of people gathered at the drill ground outside the Donghua Gate of the Imperial City.

The first Xuan Turtle was auctioned off after thousands of rounds of bidding, and amidst cheers from countless people, Yu Yuan Trading Company won it for 20 million taels of gold.

This Xuan Turtle is the leading demon of the Nine Rivers Alliance fleet.

Legend has it that when the Xuan Turtle floated on the Yangtze River and led the fleet out of the Imperial City Wharf, it exhaled clouds and smoke as vast as mountains, attracting thousands of people along the way to worship.

In such a situation, many wealthy merchants were filled with resentment and regret.

If I had known it was so powerful, I would have added another ten million taels of gold during the auction to acquire this Xuan Turtle.

The first Zhenhai Pillar was exchanged by the Zhentian Division for three secret treasures and five hundred taels of gold.

Originally, the Zhen Tian Division was not involved in the competition for the Zhenhai Pillar; the Ministry of Works' Refining Hall and other refining sects were vying for it fiercely.

Later, a Confucian scholar who was in charge of engraving the Demon-Suppressing Pillar of the Heavenly Guard opened the seal book and said that the engravings on it seemed to have some similarities with the Demon-Suppressing Pillar.

Ye Qingfeng, the deputy head of the Martial Defense Division, personally arrived at the scene and captured Zhenhai Pillar without any suspense.

Even the Ministry of Works' Refining Hall wasn't as extravagant as the Zhen Tian Division, which directly produced three secret treasures worth tens of millions.

Now, the entire imperial city is eagerly awaiting the auction of the second sea-suppressing pillar and the second Xuan Turtle.

Many powerful families and large merchants are pooling their funds and converging on the capital.

The resignation of the Minister of Revenue has already increased the price of the second black tortoise fivefold.

……

East China Sea.

Several days ago, a great demon in the East Sea made a strange move, and countless water demons gathered at Seven Star Reef, which is only three hundred miles from the border of the Eastern Wei Kingdom.

Within a thousand miles of waters surrounding Seven Star Reef, towering waves surge and eerie light pervades.

Tens of thousands of fishermen from the Eastern Wei Dynasty who were fishing in the surrounding waters were trapped.

Upon hearing the news, Marquis Qingyang, who was originally going to lead his army to the depths of the East China Sea for training, changed course and headed straight for Seven Star Reef.

Seven Star Reef.

The sky seemed to be soaked in ink, and the raging sea wind tore at the dark, leaden clouds.

Thunder rumbled and brewed across the low-hanging sky, but it couldn't drown out the even more raucous howls from the sea below.

The turbid waves, like a continuous range of dark mountains, crashed into the reefs, and the explosions were accompanied by a bloody storm of bones and flesh.

Across the vast coastal region, demonic energy coalesced into a tangible black mist that surged forth.

Within them, countless scarlet demonic eyes, like hellfire, greedily hunted the few remaining faint signs of life among the reefs.

Thousands of fishermen from the Eastern Wei Dynasty huddled on their wrecked fishing boats, their despair as cold as the seawater, seeping into their very bones.

"hold head high--!"

Just as the demonic tide was about to completely devour the last glimmer of human light, a dragon's roar, as powerful as tearing silk, with unparalleled majesty, shattered the deathly silence between heaven and sea!
"Boom--!"

Ten massive Zhenhai ships, as large as mountains, crushed the dark clouds and broke through the gale, descending fiercely over the Seven Star Reef like the hammers of the gods!

The Xuanwu cloud pattern on the hull lit up instantly, subtly matching the Nine Palaces constellation, echoing the distant sea-suppressing pillar.

A tremendous force surged down, instantly lowering the raging waves by several feet!

"By order of Marquis Qingyang! Suppress the demon! Save the people!"

The voice of Lu Tianshu, the head of the Demon Suppression Bureau, was like the sound of a bronze bell exploding, piercing through the howls of demons and the roar of wind, and resounding throughout the sea.

The Demon-Locking Tower on his shoulder, which had once awakened the spirit of the dragon, suddenly enlarged. The mysterious runes on the tower body vanished, transforming into thousands of golden scale chains, like a raging dragon entering the sea!
"Crack-!"

The chains moved with lightning speed, precisely entangling the most ferocious Vajra-realm Xuanjia Turtle Kings in the sea.

Once the golden scale chains touch the demon's body, the ancient demon-suppressing seals engraved on them burst forth with dazzling golden light, piercing into the gaps in the tortoise shell.

Instantly, the demon turtle let out a shrill and painful roar, and its demonic energy melted away rapidly, as if ice and snow were being exposed to the blazing sun.

At the same time, three powerful demons of the Demon Suppression Division, empowered by the tower's light, manifested their demonic forms and roared as they pounced on the flanks of the demon horde, their sharp claws and fangs tearing through the water demon formation. "Poisonous miasma transforms into lotus, cleanse!"

Bodhi, the chief physician of the Secret Medicine Department, stepped into the void, with the bronze poison cauldron beneath him humming and spinning.

With his withered hands forming hand seals, the originally terrifying purplish-black poisonous miasma, under his exquisite control, transformed into enormous purple-gold lotus platforms that shimmered with pure light!

The lotus platform spun and fell into the sea surrounding the trapped fishermen. The demons it touched instantly had their scales rot and their flesh dissolved. Even their demon souls were purified amidst their wails. However, the fishermen, who were in the heart of the lotus, only felt a warm breeze on their bodies, and the suffocating demonic energy was cleared away!
"Blood Spider Guards, weave the Heavenly Spider Web, protect us!"

Eight hundred black-robed Blood Spider Guards emerged from the waves, their waists adorned with blood-red demonic spiders that spewed out tough, poisonous silk, instantly forming a crisscrossing spiderweb shield around the fishermen, blocking the scattered demonic creatures charging from the outside.

"The celestial constellations, settle!"

The chief of the Spirit Array Division, Xuan, stood on the back of the Golden-Winged Roc, his white hair dancing wildly.

The octagonal star-fixing compass in his hand had already transformed into a stream of light and merged into the formation, his voice resounding for miles: "Gouchen! Tianlang! Yaoguang!—Take your positions!"

Five hundred Golden-Winged Riders and three thousand Thunder-Winged Tiger Riders instantly transformed into streaks of light and hovered according to the celestial positions!

Each knight held a banner that blazed fiercely, and the magnificent starlight mixed with lightning was drawn down, weaving into a huge net of light covering dozens of miles of sea above Seven Star Reef!
Where the net of light fell, the surging waves were forcibly calmed down. The rushing water demons were as if they had crashed into an invisible swamp. Their demonic power was suppressed by the star power, and their movements suddenly became sluggish!
The deputy commander roared, and three thousand thunder-winged tigers cried out in unison. The lightning spewed from their mouths intertwined into beams, like a giant spear of divine punishment, which slammed into the most densely packed area of ​​the demon tide, instantly clearing a large area of ​​the sea!

"How can you say we have no clothes?!"

"We are comrades in arms!"

A deafening battle song suddenly erupted!
The 50,000-strong Black Armor New Army was no longer filled with the trepidation they had when they first stepped into the East China Sea.

The blood and fire tempering of their trials in the East Sea, the pioneering spirit of the Zhen Tian Si experts, and the Marquis's figure behind them like a pillar stabilizing the sea, have already forged their spines as straight as spears and ignited their fighting spirit!

Under the stern commands of the five commanders of the Imperial Guard, the 50,000 soldiers, with the tacit understanding honed through countless battles, instantly dispersed into smaller units and then regrouped into formation.

A massive phantom of a mountain and river battle formation solidified on the sea surface.

Mountains are our shield, rivers are our spearhead!
The front-line soldiers relied on the rocky positions they had hastily established on the beach, with their shields, decorated with black tortoise patterns, pieced together to form a wall.

Behind them, long spears stood like a forest. Under the command of Xue Dingyue and Jin Yuelin, they roared and thrust out and retracted in the rhythm of their daily drills. Each thrust took the lives of several water demons that were suppressed by the star array and weakened by the poisonous miasma!

The crossbowmen's positions were located on high ground, and the crossbow bolts shimmered with the light of "armor-piercing" and "explosive flame" talismans specially made by the Ministry of Works. The rain of arrows poured down, accurately covering the demon horde that was charging into the formation, and constantly blasting through the demons' defenses.

The elite commando team, led by fierce generals like Captain Qi Zhantang, plunged into the enemy's heart like a red-hot dagger.

"Charge with me!"

Qi Zhantang's Xuanlin Armor was covered with a blue light enhanced by the Spirit Array Division, and the Zhenhai Halberd in his hand burned with raging anger and murderous aura.

Behind them, a hundred equally valiant veterans formed a wedge formation and actually broke through the defensive line composed of several Grandmaster-level crab demons, heading straight for a rocky island that trapped hundreds of fishermen!

Among them was Zhao Dahu, a new recruit. He gripped the familiar spear in his hand, feeling the power of his bloodline connected to the army formation. The fear in his chest had long since turned into a roar.

The spear tip pointed out, flashing with cold light, and accurately pierced the eye socket of a bone-eating fish demon!

The timid boy of the past is now a qualified soldier.

Seven Star Reef.

Fifty thousand new soldiers and one hundred thousand sword cultivators formed layers of formations and were fighting against the surging water demons.

Amidst the layers of islands and reefs, hundreds of fishing boats of various sizes carried thousands of fishermen from the Eastern Wei Dynasty, who trembled and knelt in worship.

"Heavens above... The Dragon King of Zhenhai has appeared!"

"My lord, your soldiers are truly like dragons that can calm the seas!"

"These are soldiers from the Great Qin. The Emperor of Eastern Wei doesn't care whether we live or die, but it was Marquis Qingyang who brought people to rescue us..."

……

"Ten thousand swords rise, swords wash the vast ocean!"

Pei Lie, the elder of the Nine Yang Sword Sect, held nothing back any longer, and all the resentment and surging fighting spirit he had been suppressing in his chest turned into a long roar!

One hundred thousand natal swords soared into the sky once again, but this time, the sword light was no longer just dazzling, but carried the weight, killing power and sharpness honed by the East Sea!

The River of Sword Intent is no longer an imposing force overhead, but a true torrent of demon-slaying power!
Guided by the sword techniques of top sword cultivators such as Pei Lie and Nie Duanqiu, they were no longer individual rain of light fighting separately, but transformed into several enormous sword dragons!
(End of this chapter)