The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 206, 221: You have 100,000 iron cavalry? We have the Divine Sword Prince!
Twin Dragons World, Grassland.

Ning Daoqi rode a stolen warhorse and galloped south.

The old Taoist priest's robes were disheveled, his hair was loose, and he looked quite disheveled.

Even more shockingly, there were traces of blood at the corners of his mouth, and he coughed occasionally.

As a grandmaster, he couldn't even control his breathing and coughed up blood, which shows how serious Ning Daoqi's injuries were.

The reason he suffered such a heavy blow was because he misjudged Bi Xuan's determination.

That night, he observed the celestial phenomena and discovered that a chilling military atmosphere was rising from the north, suggesting a large-scale invasion southward.

However, the secrets of heaven are profound and obscure. Even though Ning Daoqi's realm is extremely high, he dared not rashly affirm that his observations were accurate. Therefore, he personally went to the Great Grassland to find out the truth.

Then he discovered that the Turks were indeed gathering troops!

Not only did the Turkic Khaganate itself amass a large army, but many tribes that had submitted to the Turks, such as the Khitan and Shiwei, also received mobilization orders from the Turks, requiring each tribe to send its strongest and most capable cavalrymen, equipped with their own weapons, armor, and provisions, to join them in Jingzhou.

As for their target, the Turks did not hide it; it was aimed directly at the Tang Dynasty. They even proclaimed that they would conquer Chang'an, drink from the Wei River, and turn Guanzhong into the grasslands of the Great Turks!

The Turks promised that if they captured Chang'an, they would allow their tribes to plunder the city for three days, taking whatever wealth and women they wanted.

Upon hearing this promise, the morale of the various tribes on the grasslands soared, and they eagerly set out with their troops. Squads of elite cavalry, carrying carts and herding cattle and sheep, departed from their respective tribes and marched toward Jingzhou.

Even more frightening is that, according to information obtained by Ning Daoqi, Bi Xuan will personally lead the troops in this battle!
Upon learning this news, Ning Daoqi did not hesitate and went alone to find Bi Xuan to challenge him to a duel—Ning Daoqi had fought Bi Xuan once before, and the two were evenly matched at the time.

However, over the years, Ning Daoqi's Taoist skills have become increasingly profound, and his martial arts have also improved accordingly. Meanwhile, Bi Xuan has been too distracted by matters concerning the Turks. Even though Ning Daoqi is not good at killing, he is confident that if he goes all out, he can defeat Bi Xuan by a move or two.

Therefore, Master Ning wanted to gamble with Bi Xuan to force Bi Xuan to abandon this campaign.

Unexpectedly, Bi Xuan, who was never afraid of any challenge, did not accept his challenge this time.

"As a martial artist, I should have accepted Brother Ning's challenge. But as a Turk, this battle concerns the rise and fall, even the survival of our Turkic people. I dare not jeopardize the life and death of our Turkic people for my own selfish desires! Brother Ning, I'm sorry!"

Bi Xuan responded to Ning Daoqi's challenge with these words.

In the world of Twin Dragons, if a master is afraid to fight when facing a martial artist of similar level, their mind will be clouded and their progress in martial arts will be severely hampered.

However, Bi Xuan is now holding the "greater good" in his hands. For the sake of the greater good of the country, he is willing to put aside his personal honor and disgrace. This will not only have no impact on his own mind, but will also strengthen his determination and momentum to conquer the Tang Dynasty and kill Lu Chen.

Therefore, after rejecting Ning Daoqi's challenge, Bi Xuan unceremoniously dispatched three thousand Golden Wolf soldiers to surround and kill Ning Daoqi.

Bi Xuan used his aura to suppress and restrain Ning Daoqi from the outside, forcing Ning Daoqi to constantly devote most of his attention to guarding against his sudden attacks.

In the end, Ning Daoqi broke through the encirclement at the cost of being hit by Bi Xuan's sudden attack, and then headed south.

With Ning Daoqi's cultivation level, even if he is seriously injured, once he breaks through the encirclement, ordinary experts will not be able to catch up with him.

Only Bi Xuan has the ability to hunt him down.

However, Ning Daoqi is a Grandmaster. If he is forced into a desperate counterattack, Bi Xuan will have to pay a heavy price to take Ning Daoqi's life.

There was also Lu Chen in the Central Plains, whom Bi Xuan regarded as the number one threat that he would eliminate even at a heavy cost.

As for Ning Daoqi, although his martial arts skills are high, he is just a Taoist hermit who does not understand battle formations and is not much of a threat.

Moreover, this injury will take a year and a half to fully recover, so in Bi Xuan's view, Ning Daoqi is no longer a threat.

Therefore, Bi Xuan did not pursue Ning Daoqi, allowing him to escape. He only sent a message to Jieli, instructing him to send an envoy to Chang'an to question Ning Daoqi.

Since Ning Daoqi has already discovered the matter of gathering troops, let's add fuel to the fire and create some chaos for the Li Tang!

So when Ning Daoqi returned to Guanzhong wounded, bringing news that the Turks had amassed a large army and that the Martial Venerable Bi Xuan was about to personally lead an army to attack the Tang Dynasty, the Tang court and the public were in a state of shock and panic, and then the Turkic envoy arrived again.

……

Chang'an, Taiji Palace, Taiji Hall.

Emperor Li Yuan of Tang sat on his throne, with his court officials lined up in the hall. In the center was an arrogant Turkic envoy, who was spouting nonsense and spitting as he spoke.

"Hand over Lu Chen! Or hand over Lu Chen's head!"

The Turkic envoy looked down at Li Yuan, whose face was ashen, and sneered:
"If Lu Chen's head has not been delivered to my Great Turkic Khanate in half a month... then you can expect His Excellency to personally lead 200,000 iron cavalry to sweep across Guanzhong and flatten Chang'an!"

"presumptuous!"

"Bold maniac!"

"court death!"

Several hot-tempered civil and military officials angrily rebuked him, wishing they could kill the Turkic envoy on the spot.

"My lords, please calm down!"

Li Yuan suppressed his anger, stopped his ministers, and then said to the envoy:
"The envoy should return to the inn to rest first, and we will discuss this further before giving the envoy a reply."

The Turkic envoy snorted coldly and looked around the hall:

"Remember, you only have half a month!"

……

Although Li Yuan ordered the news to be kept secret, the Turkic envoy had already spread the word when he arrived. Therefore, the news that if the head of "Divine Sword Prince" Lu Chen was not handed over half a month later, then Martial Venerable Bi Xuan would personally lead 200,000 iron cavalry to sweep through Guanzhong and flatten Chang'an had already spread like wildfire in Chang'an in less than a day.

In Chang'an, people were filled with anxiety, and there were even signs of chaos.

The Tang Dynasty of today is not yet the glorious Tang Dynasty that commands respect across the world and receives tribute from all nations; it is merely a separatist force that has just pacified Guanzhong.

With the Tang Dynasty's current strength, it simply cannot withstand a full-scale attack from the Turks.

If Martial Venerable Bi Xuan really leads his troops to invade, sweeping through Guanzhong and flattening Chang'an, it would not be just empty talk.

Under the threat of 200,000 cavalry, many people, along with their families, wanted to flee Chang'an.

Some aristocratic families were even secretly preparing letters to contact the Turks.

Many ministers, though not daring to publicly advise Li Yuan to agree to the Turks' demands during court assemblies, privately sought to see Li Yuan after the court session, hoping to persuade him to accept the Turks' terms.

In fact, Li Yuan initially wanted to agree as well.

As a typical political animal, Li Yuan could fawn over Lu Chen because of his power, and he could also betray Lu Chen because of the threats from Bi Xuan and the Turks.

But the problem is...

He can't do it!
Four of the eight great masters of the Demonic Sect, along with Chao Gongcuo and other well-known experts, attacked one person with eighteen people, but Lu Chen cut them down like vegetables, leaving only Chao Gongcuo to escape by chance. Where could Li Yuan find a more luxurious lineup?
As for mobilizing a large army to encircle and kill them...

How about learning about indestructible metal?
Two massive bronze hammers, each weighing over 370 jin, could crush men and horses wherever they went.
Li Yuan was initially terrified and even considered giving in to the Turks' demands and betraying Lu Chen.

But after careful consideration, he realized he seemed to have no other choice. Refusing the Turks might mean death.

Betraying Lu Chen will surely lead to death!
While I was hesitating and struggling with my decision.

A eunuch came to report:
"Your Majesty, the Prince of Qin has returned to court! He requests an audience with Your Majesty!"

"My son Shimin has returned?"

Li Yuan was overjoyed:

"Quickly, summon Shimin to see me!"

When Li Shimin rushed back to Chang'an, still wearing his battle robes, he strode in, exchanged courtly greetings with Li Yuan, and before Li Yuan could speak, Li Shimin declared:

“Father, the Turks’ demands must not be granted! After I pacified Western Qin, I gained the allegiance of the fierce general Zhai Changsun and two thousand elite cavalrymen from Western Qin. Together with my own force of one thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalrymen, we now have three thousand iron cavalrymen! I am willing to lead these three thousand iron cavalrymen to fight the Turks to the death!”

Li Yuan was startled and exclaimed:
"The Turks have an army of 200,000!"

Li Shimin said:

"There are definitely not two hundred thousand! Father has dealt with the Turks for many years, how could he not know their strengths and weaknesses? If he really brings out two hundred thousand cavalry, I'm afraid half of them will be ordinary herdsmen who don't even have a leather armor!"

Li Yuan frowned and said:
"Everyone on the grasslands is a soldier; even ordinary herders can ride horses and shoot arrows."

Li Shimin was confident:
"It's just to boost morale and win battles when things are going well. Since Martial Venerable Bi Xuan is personally leading the troops, he certainly won't bring such weak soldiers. Besides, since the Turks have given them half a month and claimed they will send troops after half a month, then judging from the time, they don't have enough time to gather 200,000 troops. In my estimation, they can only gather a maximum of 100,000 elite troops."

Li Yuan smiled bitterly:

"You want to use three thousand cavalry to fight against one hundred thousand elite Turks? Or one hundred thousand elite cavalry personally led by Martial Venerable Bi Xuan?"

Li Shimin chuckled:
"Your son wouldn't dare be so arrogant. But... don't we still have the Divine Sword Prince?"

……

Fujulou Restaurant in Chang'an West Market.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, who came to Chang'an to investigate the "Yang Gong Treasure House," were wearing human skin masks and disguised as two unremarkable middle-aged men. They were sitting in a private room on the third floor, enjoying the signature dishes of the No. 1 restaurant in the West Market while listening to the discussions of the diners in the restaurant.

"The King of Qin has returned to Chang'an! It is said that he will personally lead the army to repel the Turkic army!"

How many soldiers does the King of Qin have?

"A full three thousand Xuanjia!"

"...Are you kidding me?"

"Back then, Zhang Liao could defeat 100,000 with only 800 men, and even 3,000 Xuanjia soldiers were not enough for the King of Qin!"

"Heh. One is a weak force of 100,000 from Jiangdong led by Sun Quan, and the other is 200,000 Turkic cavalry personally led by the Martial Venerable Bi Xuan. Do you think they can be compared?"

"The people from the Prince of Qin's residence said that the Prince of Qin himself concluded that the Turks could not possibly have 200,000 troops; at least half of them would be needed!"

"Even at half price, that's still 100,000... Come to think of it, shouldn't the Tang Dynasty be able to muster 200,000 troops?"

"It is possible to gather 200,000 troops, but most of such a mobilized army can only be used to defend the city. Don't even think about fighting the Turkic cavalry in the open field. As for the elite infantry who can fight the Turks in the open field, they have just finished fighting against Western Qin with the King of Qin and have not had time to rest properly. If they march back quickly, even if they can make it back in time, they will become exhausted soldiers and just send their heads to the Turks for nothing."

"Where are the troops in the north?"

"Both Liang Shidu and Liu Wuzhou are mobilizing large armies, intending to march south, while the troops in the north are unable to move..."

"That's it! Without enough troops to fight the Turks in open battle, even if we can hold Chang'an, Guanzhong will be trampled into scorched earth by the Turkic cavalry!"

"Who can argue with that? What's the point of defending a city if the countryside and villages are all burned, killed, looted, and ravaged by the Turkic cavalry?"

"Will the Tang Dynasty... be destroyed as a result?"

Suddenly someone said in a loud voice:
"Stop talking such discouraging words! The King of Qin is a skilled and courageous general, and his three thousand elite soldiers have a great future ahead of them!"

"The Turks had 100,000 elite cavalry."

"We have the Divine Sword Prince! The Divine Sword Prince possesses unparalleled bravery. Back in Nanyang, he single-handedly slew Zhu Can and routed the Garuda army with his sword. In the Battle of Mangshan, he charged into battle, leading two thousand cavalrymen to decisively defeat Li Mi's forty thousand main force. This time, with the Divine Sword Prince joining forces with the King of Qin, three thousand Xuanjia warriors will easily defeat one hundred thousand elite cavalry!"

"But Martial Lord Bi Xuan..."

"So what if Martial Venerable Bi Xuan? We have the Divine Sword Prince! If Bi Xuan dares to come, we'll make sure he doesn't leave alive!"

Lu Chen's reputation was indeed quite resounding.

Li Shimin, who had just pacified Western Qin, was also riding high on his success.

The alliance of powerful forces can give people a lot of confidence. At least at this moment, the diners in the restaurant, although still worried because of the prestige of Martial Venerable Bi Xuan, are not as fearful and uneasy as before.

Seeing that Lu Chen's name alone could reassure people, Kou Zhong was not only greatly envious, but also said to Xu Ziling:

"If one day I could be as powerful as Brother Lu, I would be content for the rest of my life."

Xu Ziling said:
"You'll have a lot of work to do then. At least you can't be like Brother Lu, who can withstand even a heavy blow from a master like Li Mi with his throat."

They had witnessed Lu Chen kill Li Mi in battle and knew best that Lu Chen's "indestructible body" was not a rumor, but a genuine superhuman strength.

Such a physique, when used on the battlefield, makes one a war master who is "invincible" and a killing god, literally "unrivaled by ten thousand men".

Therefore, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were more confident than the people of Chang'an, believing that Lu Chen's actions might actually be able to stop Bi Xuan and his 100,000 Turkic cavalry.

Of course, Kou Xu still couldn't imagine defeating the Turkic army.

After all, that's Martial Venerable Bi Xuan!

Just then, someone shouted:
"Look, isn't that the Divine Sword Prince down there?"

This statement came out.

Diners on the third floor got up one after another, some opening the windows, others rushing to the terrace to look down.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's private seats happened to be by the window. The two got up and walked to the window. Looking down, they saw a handsome and tall young man in black robes riding a tall horse, passing by on the street below.

The young man was accompanied by five riders.

The two riders flanking him were quite familiar to the people of Chang'an.

The rider to the left of the black-robed youth was a petite and exquisite girl dressed in a black outfit with a red silk overcoat, a long sword at her waist, and a face as cold as ice. She was none other than Dugu Feng, the eldest daughter of the Dugu clan, who was obsessed with martial arts and often challenged masters in the marketplace.

The rider to the right of the young man, dressed in fiery red riding attire with a dark black belt around his waist, was bright, dashing, and elegant. He was none other than Princess Pingyang of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xiuning, who once led tens of thousands of troops and dominated Guanzhong!
The three riders in the back row were also women, all with their faces covered by heavy veils, making it impossible to see their features.

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(End of this chapter)