Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 658 Martial Arts Performance
The Taihu PhD, who had rushed back specifically for this occasion, threw his fan aside, utterly dumbfounded.

The king summoned it back to distribute weapons, and it assumed it had acquired more divine weapons to arm several generals and key personnel. After all, Bao'an Hall had so many monsters and enemies, and had collected quite a few magical treasures.

I never expected them to be standard-issue weapons; at first glance, there must be at least several thousand of them.

Moreover, each piece is of excellent quality, has a long history, and exudes a chilling aura and a strong ghostly presence.

Is this an attempt to rebel in the human world, or has it colluded with some powerful force?

Even the famous demon kings of Dongting Lake couldn't get their hands on this much good equipment.

Xu Xuan nodded. As expected of the fish demon who followed Fan Li and was enlightened, its wisdom was even greater.

You should know that although the name of the Sword Pool in Wu in the mortal world sounds nice, it is essentially a royal tomb. Grave robbing will damage one's virtue and fortune, and will not end well.

For details, you can refer to Zhang Hua, who wanders around the underworld, a typical negative example.

Therefore, these weapons are genuine products crafted by Helu over a thousand years, and are not burial objects.

All were forged from the Yin Iron of the Underworld, their blades glowing with eerie phosphorescent light, and their tips dripping with the cold dew of the Yellow Springs. There was the "Soul-Severing Blade," which, upon striking a demon's body, would instantly scatter its three souls; there was the "Soul-Locking Fork," which pierced flesh and blood, leaving its seven souls with no chance of escape; and there was the "Yin Wind Crossbow," whose arrows were fired silently, leaving those struck feeling as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

It's a pity that when they destroyed the City of the Dead, they didn't think of all this. Under the Three Calamities, it was all destroyed. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been wonderful if the equipment of hundreds of thousands of Black Mountain soldiers had also fallen into their clutches?

At this moment, Xiaoqing waved the command flag and, with the help of Yu Bai and several generals, began distributing weapons.

"Wow, the change in standard equipment really makes a difference!"

Although the original Taihu demon soldiers were well-trained, their equipment was mixed; some carried harpoons, some held wooden sticks, and some even threw stones at people.

But these aren't water demons anymore! They're clearly the regular army of the underworld!

Thanks to my friend Helu for the weapon.

After the distribution was complete, Xiao Qing put her hands on her hips and shouted, "Listen up! You have received your weapons today, so you must practice diligently and not let down this king's high expectations!"

"promise!"

The demons responded with a thunderous roar, their voices shaking Taihu Lake and causing ripples to spread across its surface.

After distributing the weapons, Xu Xuan prepared to leave. The battle between Taihu Lake and Dongting Lake was the main storyline at the moment, but the battle between the demons and monsters in Sichuan was also gaining momentum, and the bait battle of the Yin-Yang Dharma King in the underworld was also underway simultaneously.

Even with his psychological resilience, he felt immense pressure. One wrong step could lead to complete failure, leaving very little room for error.

If it weren't for his special soul, he would never have been able to handle so many things.

At this moment, Yu Bai's eyes darted around, and he realized that with Gui Da not around and no one hindering his performance, it was the perfect time to claim credit.

"Your Majesty!"

"Since being incorporated into the army, our Taihu demon soldiers have been training day and night without ever slacking off."

"Now, with the support of the underworld weapons, they are even more powerful."

"How about we hold a martial arts competition on Taihu Lake to show you the results?"

There are many ways and opportunities to curry favor with Xiaoqing, but opportunities to curry favor with the mastermind Xu Xuan are truly rare.

Yu Bai knew very well who was in charge of Baoan Hall, and naturally seized the opportunity that came his way.

And you know what? This little suggestion really hit Xiaoqing right in the heart, allowing her to display her authority in front of the scholar and monk.
His eyes lit up and he immediately looked at Xu Xuan, his tone filled with anticipation: "Ahem, Hall Master Xu, the conquest of Dongting is imminent, why not inspect the troops and see if my Taihu demon soldiers are up to the task?"

Xu Xuan looked at her expectant eyes, smiled helplessly, and nodded in agreement. At dawn the next day, before the mist had dissipated over Taihu Lake, Xiao Qing stood on the crest of a wave, holding a "command flag," and waved it left and right, "Form ranks!"

But we see:

To the east—three thousand shrimp soldiers, armed with water-dividing spikes, formed a “Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation.” The spikes provoked the waves, and the water droplets condensed into ice blades that whizzed through the air!

To the west—five thousand crab generals, carrying black iron shields, formed the "Black Tortoise Coiling Mountain Formation." The shields, with their shimmering dark patterns, separated the lake water, revealing a dry road!
To the south—eight hundred catfish demons swung their soul-locking chains, making a clattering sound. The chains, like serpentine snakes, were used to bind the enemy's feet and drag them to the bottom of the water!
The north side—is the most terrifying! Two thousand turtle soldiers carry Netherworld Cannons on their backs, spewing out emerald green ghost fire from the cannons, causing a ten-zhang-high column of ghastly green waves to erupt from the center of the lake!

Central—Three thousand elite troops form a sword formation, recreating the fierce fighting spirit of the Wu-Yue rivalry of yesteryear!

Xiaoqing watched with great interest, then took out a "Gathering Yin Drum" and struck it loudly.

"Ouch——"

"Roar!"

A series of roars suddenly echoed from the seventy-two peaks of Taihu Lake.

On the eastern cliff, three hundred gray-haired jackal demons stood in a cone formation, their claws digging at the ground and their fangs bared. On the western cliff, five hundred striped tiger demons formed a square formation, their tails whipping the air with a crackling sound. In the dense forest to the south, seven hundred black bear monsters stood upright, their paws pounding their chests, causing rocks to tumble down. In the canyon to the north, more than a thousand wild boar demons stood with their tusks raised, white breath escaping from their nostrils, their hooves pounding deep pits into the ground.

Most astonishingly, these ferocious beasts, which used to tear each other apart, now stood obediently according to their rank. Jackals led the way, tigers and leopards were in the middle, bears brought up the rear, and even the most irritable wild boar demons obediently sheathed their tusks. At the head of each group stood a demon general clad in leather armor, whose command flag echoed Xiao Qing's Yin-gathering drum.

Xu Xuan stood atop the Yuwang Temple, gazing out at the vast army, and nodded in satisfaction. This combined land and naval force was well-equipped and highly trained, a far cry from the ragtag bunch of the past.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three loud drumbeats suddenly resounded, and green flames shot up three zhang (approximately 10 meters) high from the lake's surface. All the land demons roared in unison, the sound waves causing the tiles of the Yuwang Temple on the western mountain to rattle.

Seeing this, Xiaoqing laughed heartily and slammed her drumstick heavily into the lake. With a "boom," all the green flames disappeared into the water, and the roars of the demons ceased abruptly. The entire Taihu Lake instantly became eerily quiet, with only the hum of the night wind whistling through the blades.

"Excellent!" Xu Xuan couldn't help but clap his hands in praise. This technique of gathering yin energy to control demons has already mastered three-tenths of the true essence of the military training.

As expected of a little monster who studied military strategy from the very beginning, he saw many similarities between "Wei Liao Zi" and "Sun Tzu's Art of War" in his work.

A feeling of relief welled up from the bottom of my heart, just like when parents see their children succeed.

But then the little monster did something completely unrelated to military strategy.

Clang!
Gan Jiang and Mo Xie were drawn from their swords.

"The azure blade cleaves the waves, startling the dragon's roar; the banner unfurls amidst the wind and clouds, suppressing the nine heavens!"

"With swords pointing eight hundred miles towards Dongting Lake, we dare to make even the Heavenly Officials break their battle robes!"

The sword light, dozens of feet long, shimmered on the lake surface amidst the resounding verses.

He displayed supernatural powers and unleashed his skills, stirring up the winds and waves of Taihu Lake. His sword flashed like a rainbow, stirring up the winds and clouds of Taihu Lake, frightening several generals into trembling fear, their souls nearly leaving their bodies; turtles, tortoises, and alligators all shrank their necks, and fish, shrimp, and crabs all hid their heads.

This is to intimidate all demons, and to put on a martial arts demonstration in front of the three armies.

To put it simply, he was so arrogant that thousands of demons below were forced to become spectators, the kind of spectators who had no choice but to applaud.

Xu Xuan covered his eyes with his hand. You really are something else.

Amidst the roar of the waves of Taihu Lake, the prelude to the conquest of Dongting Lake is slowly unfolding.

(End of this chapter)