Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 313, 322: Zhu Youzhen killed with a spear, a blood sacrifice for Huayin County.
"Impossible! Impossible!"

"That's my crane-controlling army, the crane-controlling army I painstakingly trained!"

"The Crane Control Army was built with human lives!"

After a moment of distraction, Zhu Youzhen looked at the figure that resembled a divine general, his face so distorted that those around him almost couldn't recognize him.

It's no wonder he was so shocked. Besides him, the other officers of the Crane Control Army around him also looked terrified and ferocious, like trapped beasts in a corner, all bark and no bite, just to cover up their inner fear.

How could a lone rider possibly contend with the strength of an army?
The scene just now almost completely overturned their common sense and shattered the arrogance and ferocity they had cultivated since joining the army.

The strength of a military formation lies in its ability to accumulate strength. A hundred Yellow Court warriors might not be a match for a seventh-realm martial artist, but a military formation of a hundred men is enough to allow them to contend with a Profound Gate martial artist.

Not to mention, Zhu Youzhen, who led them and was stationed in the central army, was also a martial artist of the seventh realm.

Both being at the seventh realm, Zhu Youzhen, with the support of the military formation, should have had the upper hand. However, Li Cunxiao killed him in one fell swoop!

"Commander, something's not right with this person."

The attendant beside Zhu Youzhen swallowed hard. Zhu Youzhen could hear the trembling in the other person's voice, and his heart tightened again.

Now it's not just about revenge anymore. If we can't kill Li Cunxiao, our men will likely be traumatized.

For ordinary soldiers, this means they are more likely to be defeated on the battlefield; and for pharmacists who have advanced by taking Blood Pills, it is an even greater hidden danger that increases the chance of them falling into demonic possession!

"Don't panic! Although we've lost a good portion of our men, haven't you noticed? These brothers are all at the Internal Organs Realm. Li Cunxiao is just using strength to fight the weak!"

"If he could really stand up to the army formation head-on, he would have charged in and beheaded me long ago! I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of!"

As Zhu Youzhen spoke, his whispers involuntarily turned into roars.

However, these words did have an effect. These Crane Control Army soldiers were all seasoned killers who had killed countless people. After finding a reason to comfort themselves, they quickly adjusted their mindset.

The crimson cranes had shrunk in size compared to before, but like a more tightly packed formation, they had become more solid and agile.

"It's a pity that I couldn't defeat these people in one fell swoop. If they had been depressed for a little longer, I could have taken the time to smash Zhu Youzhen to pieces."

Seeing that they had regrouped, Li Cunxiao couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

No matter how much one despises Zhu Youzhen's character, his years of experience in the military and his familiarity with battle are undeniable.

His combat prowess at the Xuan Guan realm is beyond doubt, but with the support of the military formation, Zhu Youzhen can no longer be regarded as an ordinary Xuan Guan martial artist.

"Don't panic. No matter how powerful Li Cunxiao is, he is still just one person. He just withstood the pressure of the Crane Control Army Formation and unleashed a burst of power. He must be exhausted now."

"Looking at it from another angle, killing those internal organ warriors will actually reduce the pressure on me to control the military formation, allowing me to achieve more precise control."

"The advantage is in our hands in this battle!"

Zhu Youzhen meticulously listed the advantages and disadvantages of both sides, regardless of whether they were objectively real or subjectively imagined. He presented the ten wins and ten losses, repeatedly encouraging himself, and gradually regained his composure.

He even thought to himself that now the enemy was fleeing and we were in pursuit, and time was on our side, so there was no need to rush.

As long as Li Cunxiao is kept here, he will eventually reveal a weakness. Even if I cannot capture or kill him myself, I will still win as long as he dies in the end.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhu Youzhen had already given up on his plan to take revenge himself. Unfortunately, reality does not change because of one's imagination.

Just as he was preparing for battle, Zhu Youzhen saw that Li Cunxiao's body was also filled with powerful true energy rising up.

On the left is the Crimson Heavenly King, and on the right is the Azure Immortal Venerable.

Layer upon layer of buildings lifted the spirit image, and the intertwined true essence transformed into glittering pure gold, which then poured into the Chihu spear and the golden-red Hun Tian Ling.

The Chihu and Chilong danced in turn, their terrifying eyes seemingly overlapping with Li Cunxiao's eyes, reflecting the fearful and ferocious expressions of the Konghe Army.

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!

A strike without any warning!
A strike as fast as lightning!
Everything was like a rehearsal of the bloody and tragic scene just now. Before Zhu Youzhen and the others could react, more than ten beams of true energy exploded in all directions of the military formation and in the sky!

Zhu Youzhen coughed up a mouthful of blood. The spiritual entity connected to the blood energy received feedback from the great formation, and his whole body felt like ore placed on an iron felt mat, instantly becoming numb.

Muscles and bones groaned from the unbearable strain, and the warhorse beneath him couldn't help but rear up, its once bright black eyes now bloodshot from the shock.

If even the commander-in-chief Zhu Youzhen was like this, let alone the other soldiers of the Konghe Army whose level of understanding was far lower than his and who were also given special attention by Li Cunxiao.

Those at the Yellow Court Realm could still scream in agony, but the remaining few Visceral Realm warriors simply leaned on their weapons and knelt on the ground along with their warhorses, their chests heaving like broken bellows.

"No, Commander, we can't hold them off, the brothers can't."

The ferocity they had just unleashed crumbled once more under this terrifying blow. Several of their higher-ranking followers had completely lost their will to fight, looking at their commander with pleading eyes, hoping that he would give the order to retreat.

"Commander, we're not being disloyal to you, but that thing isn't even human! If we stay, our brothers will only be throwing their lives away."

"Damn it! Fighting is the only way to survive; running away means certain death!"

Zhu Youzhen appeared to be insane, but in reality, he was the most lucid of all.

Looking at the winding red dragon and the dragon-tiger not far away, he turned his gaze back to them, and almost screamed out:

"Quickly regroup!"

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!

The attack arrived faster than his words, and everything was engulfed in the exploding light and shadow.

The crimson crane cried out in anguish, desperately flapping its wings, but in the end, it was like a caged bird, surrounded by a dense, crimson net.

"I'm not fighting anymore! I'm not fighting anymore!"

"Spare your life! Spare your life!"

"Commander, please save us!"

"."

The wailing and howling reached his ears, and Li Cunxiao's tightly clenched lips finally relaxed, a slight smile appearing on his face.

A head-on confrontation with an army formation is certainly not a wise move, but an army formation is ultimately composed of people.

As human beings, we experience emotional fluctuations. We may feel excited and elated by the imminent achievement, or fall into confusion and bewilderment due to the terror of the enemy.

Soldiers in different states have varying degrees of difficulty in forming battle formations, and the results can be vastly different. This is a realization he gained from his experience commanding Daoist soldiers.

So from the moment he was bitten by Zhu Youzhen, he was already thinking about how to break the enemy's morale.

The final result was not unexpected.

With the Pure Heaven Eye, even seemingly immovable military formations will still reveal various flaws. This is why he was able to kill a large portion of the Crane Control Army in one go at the beginning by unleashing his power.

Now that he has succeeded, Li Cunxiao is not careless and continues to follow the strategy of first eliminating his allies.

Puffs of blood mist exploded, severed limbs flew into the air, and screams filled the air.

Zhu Youzhen trembled all over, gripping the knife, his gaze following his subordinate's dying screams, scanning back and forth like a madman, but he could only see a fleeting afterimage.

My feet felt like they were made of lead. I dared not urge my horse forward, nor did I dare turn around and run away. I just listened as the surroundings gradually quieted down.

tread.

The boots stomped through the mud, and when pulled up, they separated from the sticky blood plasma, making a sound that sent shivers down your spine.

"Got you!" Zhu Youzhen suddenly spurred the horse's flanks, but instead of galloping away as expected, he lost his balance and tumbled off the horse.

Only then did he notice that the horse beneath him had pink blood foam in its mouth and its abdominal bones were deformed. It had actually been crushed to death by the true energy that had leaked out in his nervousness!
"Li Cunxiao, it's me!"

A cold, sharp blade pierced through his chest from behind, revealing the tip of a Xuan Chi spear that spewed frost-like blades.

The powerful true energy surged in like a torrent, instantly sealing off his acupoints and meridians.

Under the backlash of blood and true essence, Zhu Youzhen was unable to control his injuries. Blood pillars exploded directly from his seven orifices, causing him to scream in agony.

Li Cunxiao rode a nine-headed green lion, holding a spear over ten feet long in one hand. Although he was carrying a grown man, he gave the impression of casually carrying a tattered rag.

"Trash, with such meager skills, you dare to speak so arrogantly?"

Despite his bold words, his face was actually quite pale.

To be honest, it hasn't even been a minute since the fight started.

He unleashed dozens of attacks in a short period of time, all of them full-force strikes. Even for Li Cunxiao in his current state, this was not something he could easily accomplish.

Fortunately, they had the help of the seventh-tier nine-headed blue lion; otherwise, it would not have been so easy to defeat this army of a hundred elite cavalrymen in such a short time.

"Li Cunxiao, if you... hehe, kill me, Father... Father won't!"

Blood rushed into his throat, making his voice intermittent, like that of a drowning person.

Zhu Youzhen desperately mobilized his qi and blood and true essence, trying to stabilize his injuries while gripping the spearhead with both hands and tilting his head back as if he wanted to say something.

"Stop talking nonsense and die."

The true essence, as radiant as the sun, surged into the Xuan Chi spear, converging inwards with the bending of the arm, then bursting forth again in the trembling arc of the spear shaft, as if a Chi tiger had leaped out of a mustard seed, expanding—

Bang!
Zhu Youzhen was instantly blown apart by the gunshot, turning into countless fragments that rained down on the yellow earth like a storm, and also struck the hoofprints of a line of horses that had come to a sudden stop, leaving three finger-sized dents.

"died?!"

Zhu Yougui suddenly pulled on the reins with such force that the horse beneath him stumbled.

The two hundred Red Raven soldiers behind him looked at the yellow earth within a hundred meters, soaked in blood and flesh, and reacted just like him, as if they had seen a ghost. The sounds of drawing swords and gasping for breath filled the air.

"Zhu Yougui?"

A murderous glint flashed in Li Cunxiao's eyes, but he ignored it. He flicked the tail of the Xuanchi Spear at the rear of the nine-headed green lion, and his whole body transformed into a streak of light and sped away once again.

After being empowered by the divine weapon, his speed reached a terrifying level, and he disappeared from Zhu Yougui and the others' sight in the blink of an eye.

"Your Highness, shall we continue the pursuit?"

The adjutant standing nearby, seeing Li Cunxiao leave, spoke these words, but for some reason, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"There's no need to pursue them. Although the Second Young Master died a tragic death, the most important thing right now is to take down Louguandao."

"When Father ascends to the throne, no one, no matter who it is, will be able to escape the reckoning."

Zhu Yougui suppressed his shock and remained calm on the surface. After he spoke, everyone in the Red Raven Army nodded in agreement.

Those close to him, seeing the blood, gore, and flesh scattered on the ground, even showed smiles.

With Zhu Youzhen dead, among the King's adult sons, only the eldest son was capable of shouldering the great responsibility.

At that time, relying on his merit in supporting the emperor, even someone of humble origins could easily obtain a marquisate.

Since the man was already dead, the group did not linger. They dismounted, picked up some broken clothes and bones, and took them back as a cenotaph for the second young master.

As they were leaving, only Zhu Yougui couldn't help but look back, and seeing the bloodstains on the ground, a strange chill rose in his heart.

Li Cunxiao definitely did it on purpose.

He had the strength to kill Zhu Youzhen and the Crane Control Army, but he did not act immediately. Instead, he pretended to be defeated and fled here, leaving the area that a grandmaster could protect, before making his move.

With a single move, the ground was littered with corpses, none spared. His ruthlessness and cunning were evident.

"Whether letting such an enemy go is a blessing or a curse is unknown."

Zhu Yougui had mixed feelings, but he did not regret his decision to retreat.

Logically speaking, Zhu Youzhen was the son of the Prince of Liang, and since he died at the hands of outsiders, he should have taken down the perpetrators to resolve the matter properly.

At first, Zhu Yougui did intend to do so, but as his true energy began to flow, his intuition warned him that something unpredictable would happen once he took action.

"A son of a wealthy family should not sit under a dangerous roof. Even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance, one should not risk one's life."

"Zhu Yougui acted recklessly and brought about his own demise. I should take this as a warning."

"However, as expected, my father did not leave any true essence to protect this bastard. Indeed, from beginning to end, only I am capable of inheriting the throne."

His lips involuntarily curled up, but when he saw the continuous banners outside Louguandao, his expression turned sorrowful again.

"Your Highness, why is it only you who has returned?"

Yang Shihou noticed this and spurred his horse forward. Zhu Yougui moved his lips and whispered something.

The former was initially startled, but then calmed down. After glancing at the prince a few more times, the two of them were drawn to the commotion on the horizon.

In just a short while, the four peaks and four sides of the Louguan Temple were already covered in scorched earth.

Only the central Liangyi Peak was shrouded and surrounded by a huge black and white banner.

On the semi-circular protective shield formed by the black and white energies, the mouth of the Acquired Bag opened, like a vast net, constantly spewing out blood light, gradually eroding the brilliance of the Yin-Yang Banner.

Zhu Quanzhong's phantom materialized from the void. Upon seeing it, the two quickly dismounted and bowed with their hands clasped.

"Father"

"The King"

"These evil Taoists are hiding in their magical treasures, avoiding battle. It seems they're determined to wear me down."

"The Louguan Taoist sect is a large and powerful family. Even if they give up their millennia-old heritage, they can probably delay the inevitable for six or seven days."

"Your Majesty, this expedition was launched hastily, and the supplies for the army are insufficient. In addition, the One-Eyed Dragon in the north is watching us closely. We cannot afford to wait this long."

“I know, so the only way at present is to sacrifice Huayin County to the Heavenly Bag. In this way, we can greatly shorten the time to break through Louguan Dao.”

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!" Yang Shihou's expression changed drastically.

"Huayin County is close to the capital and is a major county with a population of over 400,000. Even killing 10,000 people would shake the world and cause widespread panic!"

"If all the blood is sacrificed, I fear that everyone will live in fear and dare not come to serve the king."

"It doesn't matter," Zhu Quanzhong interrupted Yang Shihou, showing no intention of discussing it further.

"To achieve extraordinary success, one must do extraordinary things. Huayin is nothing but a small town. Once we enter the capital, those powerful families who outwardly obey but inwardly defy us will all die."

"I'll only give you three days. In three days, I need to fill my Daytime Bag with the power of blood sacrifice."

"Three days from now, I will reduce Louguan Dao to ashes!"

(End of this chapter)