The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 493 Breaking the Formation and a Great Victory

As the leader of the seventy-two warlords and the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Yuan Futong was naturally unwilling to fight against Yuan Hong, whose origins were unknown.

Firstly, their social status is unequal.

Soldiers against soldiers, against generals.

The commander rarely goes on the field to fight one-on-one.

Secondly, if they win, it's fine, but if they lose, morale will inevitably plummet.

Given Wen Zhong's boldness, he will definitely seize the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack.

The feudal lords' armies will most likely collapse completely.

Therefore, Yuan Futong ignored Yuan Hong's clamor, but his inaction did not represent his subordinates and generals.

He could endure the curses and humiliations from Yuan Hong, Jin Dasheng, and others.

Before Yuan Futong could give the order, a giant man, wielding a large axe, wearing iron armor, and standing at least two meters tall, appeared.

He strode out of the army formation and roared at Yuan Hong.

“Hey, I am from the Northern Hunting Tribe…”

Before the man could even say his name, Yuan Hong leaped into the air.

Using the "Shrinking Earth in the Abyss" technique, he instantly appeared beside him, taking one step per mile.

With a single blow, he shattered both the giant axe and the man himself with the fiery iron cudgel in his hand.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Yuan Hong was completely suppressed by Li Jingxiao.

But Yuan Hong could easily crush ordinary soldiers and officers.

Especially after Yuan Hong submitted to Li Jingxiao, Li Jingxiao not only instructed Yuan Hong in the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" but also...

He also taught him and the other six monsters from Meishan the Dream of the Red Chamber version of "Diving into the Abyss and Shrinking the Earth".

This version of "Shrinking the Abyss" for beginners is "One Step at a Time".

The expert can travel ten miles in one step.

The master travels a hundred miles in one step.

It's actually quite good for escaping.

However, when used for close-range combat, it directly increased Yuan Hong's fighting ability by at least 100%.

Moreover, although this guy's "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts" was incomplete.

But not only did he learn seventy-two transformations, he also became indestructible.

Ordinary people and common weapons and magical artifacts are completely ineffective against him.

Now that he has the ability to escape, Yuan Hong is not afraid at all, even if he goes all out.

After killing this general who was clearly a descendant of Chi You with a single blow, Yuan Hong raised his Wind and Fire Iron Cudgel and roared in the direction of the seventy-two allied armies.

This instantly caused the morale of the army to waver.

However, since Yuan Futong dared to rebel, he must have had capable men under his command.

Besides half of the troops being descendants of Chi You with bronze heads and iron foreheads, there were also many demons in the army.

Wen Zhong's task of quelling the rebellion in Beihai was far more difficult than he had imagined.

Wen Zhong's army not only failed to gain the upper hand, but was actually at a disadvantage.

In his letter to King Zhou, Wen Zhong said that the army must burn the Three Pure Ones talismans every night to suppress demons and protect the army camp.

His own mount, the Black Qilin, had seven pairs of worn-out horseshoes.

The dragon spirit within the twin whips in his hand had nearly dissipated after years of fierce battles.

Even Wen Zhong, the commander-in-chief and Grand Tutor of the Yin Shang Dynasty, had to ride a black Qilin and carry a pair of whips to the battlefield to kill the enemy.

It is evident that Yuan Futong had truly formidable subordinates.

If Wen Zhong had been replaced by another general from the Shang Dynasty, they would have suffered defeat after defeat, let alone quelled the rebellion.

After all, Wen Zhong's strength wasn't among the top in the Chan and Jie sects, but he was still a genuine Golden Immortal.

Moreover, by virtue of being a direct disciple of the third generation of the Jie Sect and the Grand Tutor of the Yin Shang Dynasty, he was able to attract many second and third generation disciples of the Jie Sect to help him.

This advantage was unique within the Shang Dynasty court.

On Yuan Futong's side, besides the descendants of Chi You and the demon race.

The domesticated dragon-bearded tiger could swallow an entire merchant army squad whole in one gulp.

The so-called Dragon Beard Tiger is a kind of monster that looks a bit like a tiger and a bit like a dragon.

It is enormous in size and throws huge rocks when it strikes.

It's somewhat like a self-propelled catapult.

There was another leader who was born during the time of Shao Hao and cultivated for a thousand years, but whose name was not recorded on the "Investiture of the Gods".

He simply called himself 'Dragon Beard Tiger'.

They adopted the name of their tribe as their own.

Or they could use their own name as the name of their tribe.

This is very common in this era.

After his death, Longxuhu was posthumously honored as the "Nine Ugly Stars".

While he was alive, he was tricked by Shen Gongbao into believing that eating a piece of Jiang Ziya's flesh would grant him immortality.

Unfortunately, when Longxuhu went to cause trouble for Jiang Ziya, Jiang Ziya was carrying the Apricot Yellow Banner.

This apricot-yellow flag is one of the five innate flags, transformed from the lotus leaf of the innate blue lotus.

It is a genuine innate treasure, a protective item of the Primordial Celestial Venerable.

How could a monster like the Dragon Beard Tiger, who has only cultivated for a thousand years, possibly shake such a treasure?
Seeing that he couldn't win, Long Xuhu simply knelt down and surrendered, and surprisingly became Jiang Ziya's apprentice.

I don't know if this guy is a simpleton or excessively shrewd.
-
Seeing Yuan Hong constantly provoking the two armies, Yuan Futong, a member of the rebel army, finally felt his anger flare up.

He looked at one of his generals beside him.

The man hesitated for a moment before nodding.

He rode a huge black tiger, tightened his grip on the tiger-headed spear, and went into battle.

Seeing that someone on their side had finally come out to fight, the rebels immediately shouted and cheered loudly.

However, when facing a close-combat master like Yuan Hong, no matter how skilled the generals on the battlefield are, it's all in vain.

The moment the two clashed, it was a one-sided battle where the opponent gained the upper hand.

However, in terms of martial arts skills, the difference between the two is not significant.

However, Yuan Hong's Wind and Fire Iron Cudgel weighed 7200 jin (approximately 360 catties), and with one blow, even the Black Tiger felt his limbs weaken.

Moreover, Yuan Hong possessed the ability to be indestructible, so he was completely unafraid of his opponent's weapons.

This battle was impossible to fight. After only seven or eight rounds, Yuan Hong smashed the general's head with a single blow.

Immediately, Yuan Hong jumped onto the black tiger, intending to forcibly tame it as a mount.

But the black tiger wouldn't allow it. Before the black tiger could jump around a few times, Yuan Hong punched it on the head.

The beast was immediately stunned and disoriented, then Yuan Hong used a powerful downward strike to pin it to the ground.

Once the ferocious beast recovered, it realized that if it didn't behave, it would die.

After hesitating for a moment, it ultimately lacked the courage to be buried alive with its former master.

He could only obediently nod to Yuan Hong, revealing a submissive look in his eyes.

Yuan Hong was overjoyed, as this was the first mount he had tamed.

Moreover, having never been on the battlefield before, I didn't know that every general commanding troops would have a powerful mount.

So, ever since Yuan Hong entered the camp of the Yin Shang army, he has been thinking about where to get a powerful and majestic mount.

Now, this black tiger not only looks majestic, but it's also a whole size bigger than Wen Zhong's black unicorn.

In his excitement, he raised the fiery iron rod in his hand and roared provocatively at the rebels once again.

Surprisingly, no one in the rebel army dared to fight this time.

Yuan Futong was furious.

However, Nezha, Ao Bing, Wen Zhong, the four generals of the Mo family, Deng Jiugong, Deng Chanyu, and others in the Yin Shang army on the other side were naturally overjoyed.

Jin Dasheng and the other six monsters kept cheering for Yuan Hong.

The merit of beheading enemy generals on the battlefield is already considerable, but if Yuan Hong could kill so many rebel soldiers that none dared to fight him, then the merit would be even greater.

After the war, Yuan Hong might be promoted to general for his merits.

And his six siblings would also receive official positions, and from then on they would no longer be monsters without origin or background. Yuan Hong provoked and cursed for a while, but seeing that no one in the rebel army came out to fight.

He felt a surge of pride, but also looked down on the rebels.

Riding a black tiger and wielding his fiery iron cudgel, he charged towards the rebel army.

This greatly surprised not only the rebels, but also Wen Zhong and other generals and soldiers of the Yin Shang dynasty.

He thought to himself that this guy was really reckless.

But Yuan Hong dared to charge into battle alone because he had enough confidence.

Anyway, he wasn't afraid of being attacked with knives and guns, and the iron rod in his hand weighed 7200 jin.

Ordinary rebels and officers would die if they were touched by this weapon, and would be wounded if they were grazed by it.

Yuan Hong actually managed to break through the rebel army's front lines and head straight for the central army banner where Yuan Futong and dozens of other warlords were located.

Jin Dasheng and the other six also roared and transformed into gusts of black wind, chasing after Yuan Hong and attacking him.

Yuan Hong was alright; he only killed people with a steel rod.

But Jin Dasheng and his six companions either breathed fire or used poisonous fog.

In particular, the Chang Hao and Wu Long sisters, each time they spew out large swaths of poisonous mist, injure a large number of people.

This was before the two of them used the Purple Gold Green Gourd; otherwise, the destructive power would have been even greater.

In an instant, the rebel army's front and central forces were thrown into chaos.

Seeing this, Wen Zhong was not about to let such a good opportunity slip by.

Immediately, he ordered the four generals of the Demon Clan, Deng Jiugong and his daughter Deng Yuchan, to lead an army of 2 to charge into the enemy lines.

Of the remaining 30,000 troops, 20,000 were sent to advance from the left and right flanks to drive away the rebels.

Once the rebel vanguard and central army lose their courage and turn to flee, the rebels will undoubtedly be defeated in this battle.

In less than half an hour, the situation unfolded exactly as Wen Zhong had predicted, with the rebel vanguard completely thrown into chaos.

Wen Zhong immediately led 1 troops in a charge, protected by Nezha and Ao Bing.

Now the rebels had lost all morale and confidence to resist.

The entire army was immediately defeated.

Unfortunately, Yuan Futong and dozens of other lords managed to escape, mostly thanks to the cover provided by numerous generals and demons.

In particular, the two great demons, dressed in golden armor and silver helmets, could only hold off Yuan Hong when they joined forces, but they also gave Yuan Futong and the other lords time to escape.

Enraged, Yuan Hong chased the two men for hundreds of miles.

Seeing that they had chased the enemy to the icy plains of the North Sea, where they could vaguely see many demons waiting to meet them, they reluctantly retreated.

The army pursued them relentlessly until dusk, at which point Wen Zhong finally ordered his men to bring back the pursuing troops one by one.

This battle caused the rebel army to retreat for over a hundred miles.

They killed 7,000 rebels and captured at least 20,000.

It was a resounding victory.

But Wen Zhong didn't have time to take care of the prisoners.

Moreover, the Shang dynasty had a history of massacring slaves and prisoners.

During ordinary sacrificial rites, anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand slaves would be killed.

They were used as offerings to ancestors.

In this respect, not to mention Li Jingxiao, it's no wonder that Laozi disliked the Yin Shang dynasty.

When Laozi attained sainthood, although he did not establish a religion, he still took it upon himself to educate the human race.

In Laozi's eyes, the more prosperous the human race was, the more secure his position would be.

Therefore, humans can kill, but they cannot kill on a large scale, as a routine, or repeatedly.

In the novel *Investiture of the Gods*, the leader of the Chan Sect is Yuanshi Tianzun, and the Grand Master is Laozi.

Unlike in the primordial world, Laozi did not establish a humanistic religion.

Instead, he was a leader of the Chan Sect, along with Yuanshi Tianzun.

Therefore, it is perfectly normal for the Chan sect to dislike the Yin-Shang dynasty.
-
Half of the seventy-two allied armies were descendants of Chi You.

These people were defeated and driven to the southern wilderness and the northern sea, and their only thought was to fight their way back into the Central Plains.

Therefore, the probability of persuading them to surrender is very small.

They also lived among the witch and demon races, and many descendants of Chi You did not even acknowledge themselves as human.

For Wen Zhong, it would be better to kill them all.

This would also save a lot of food and fodder from feeding the 20,000 rebels.

That evening, Wen Zhong threw a grand banquet, praising Yuan Hong and his seven siblings to the skies.

They were also given chests and chests of gold and silver as a reward.

This almost made Yuan Hong and the others bow down in reverence.

Fortunately, Nezha and Ao Bing were assigned by Wen Zhong to be his personal guards, and they stood right next to Wen Zhong.

Otherwise, Yuan Hong and the others might actually have fallen at Wen Zhong's feet while drunk.

The reason Nezha and Ao Bing became Wen Zhong's personal guards was simply because Wen Zhong was worried that they might encounter danger.

These two brothers look only seven or eight years old; they're still children.

One of them looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, so Wen Zhong and the others naturally didn't believe that the two brothers had any great abilities.

In reality, Nezha and Ao Bing had only been learning their skills for a little over two years, less than three years.

Indeed, he is far inferior to Nezha, who served as the vanguard after the start of the Investiture of the Gods war.

However, the "Great Celestial Immortal Technique" truly lives up to its reputation as Sun Wukong's innate divine skill.

Nezha became an immortal in just over a year, but now this kid has risen from a human immortal to the peak of a celestial immortal.

Who knows, one day he might suddenly ascend to the level of a Xuanxian and catch up with his eldest brother Jinzha and second brother Muzha.

Since Wen Zhong was worried that Nezha and Ao Bing were not skilled enough, he naturally wouldn't arrange for the two brothers to be the vanguard.

That's why they arranged for someone to keep an eye on things by their side.

So while it may seem like Nezha and Ao Bing are protecting Wen Zhong, it is actually Wen Zhong who is protecting the two brothers.

However, judging from Nezha's abundance of magical treasures, Ao Bing, the third prince of the Dragon Palace, also possesses quite a few magical treasures.

This made Wen Zhong look at the two brothers with new respect, and he felt that the two should achieve great things in the future.

The banquet had only been going on for a little over an hour when Wen Zhong ordered the drinks to be removed.

The four generals of the Demon Clan, the Deng family father and daughter, and more than a dozen disciples of the Intercepting Sect spontaneously clasped their fists in salute to Wen Zhong and left the command tent.

Once everyone had left, Wen Zhong began to explain.

On the main battlefield, the Shang army was actually more powerful than the rebels.

But at night, demons and monsters would attack the camp every three to five or seven or eight days.

At its peak, demons even attacked the camp every night.

It's already quite remarkable that ordinary soldiers and officers wouldn't turn around and run away in fright when they see these ghosts and monsters.

Asking them to deal with ghosts, spirits, and monsters is indeed putting them in a difficult position.

Therefore, the army became even more tense and vigilant at night.

In the event of an attack, they can only rely on the Three Pure Ones Talisman to suppress demons and monsters.

Even if Wen Zhong and the disciples of the Jie Sect were capable of killing these demons, they would eventually find themselves struggling to keep up over time.

After all, releasing Taoist magic and supernatural powers consumes a lot of magical energy.

But Nezha, Ao Bing, and the Seven Monsters of Meishan couldn't help but show a delighted expression upon hearing this.

They exchanged a glance, and Nezha quickly nodded, then took the initiative to ask for more details.

When Wen Zhong said that if demons and monsters attacked the camp at night, their numbers would be countless.

Nezha's face showed no fear whatsoever; instead, a delighted smile appeared on his face.

He bowed to Wen Zhong, who seemed somewhat surprised, and said, "Reporting to the Grand Tutor, my master is most averse to demons and monsters causing chaos in the world."

Whenever we encounter them, we just kill them all.

If what the Grand Tutor says is true, my master will certainly be happy to assist him.

(End of this chapter)