White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 90 Heading North to Shenzhou
When the two met again, they would never have imagined it would be like this: the two disciples of the Xuanmen sect would meet in the lair of demons.

Ning Jue recalled the past and said in a low voice, "Perhaps what the teachers said was true."

We have been bewitched by this formless illusion without even realizing it.

"Back then, the voice of a true dragon echoed from Yunze Mountain. When I ventured deep into the mountain, I encountered this formless being."

"Now that you mention it, I also encountered this formless being when the evil dragon of Zhangyang wreaked havoc. Years have passed, and we're both trapped here, possessed by demons," Hua Yi sighed.
"Though life is unpredictable, I fear that from now on we will never be able to escape the clutches of this demon."

"Hehe, since the past is the past, there's no need for us to dwell on it anymore."

"Let these demons run rampant, let us guard our true selves. Where is not a sacred mountain? Where is not a spiritual land?" Ning Jue was magnanimous and did not become dejected because of this.

Upon hearing this, Hua Yi silently raised his long, black, sharp claws and looked at them before saying, "I hope so."

……

In May, the scorching sun and sweltering heat make insects and snakes unbearable.

Outside the mountains, in the city of Zhangyang, banners filled the sky. Standing atop the city wall, Zhangyang County Magistrate Qiao Yunsheng looked down at the thousands of troops below, and the fear in his heart dissipated considerably.

Beside him, Li Xiangzhi smiled and said, "Guardian, I will be leading a large army on an expedition. Everything in the city will depend on you!"

"Rest assured, Master! I will take good care of the city, engage in farming and mulberry planting, and provide the Master's army with money, food, and other necessities," Qiao Yunsheng replied, bowing and clasping his hands in greeting.

He has already been dragged onto the pirate ship; if Li Xiangzhi's army is defeated, he will surely die.

But if Li Xiangzhi's northern expedition succeeds and he seizes thousands of miles of land, his future prospects might be better than being a county magistrate.

At the center of the army, the top of the main banner was made of white brocade with a black bird painted on it, its entire body covered in black feathers.

The Great Zhao Dynasty used the Vermilion Bird and Phoenix Banner as its emblem, calling upon all birds in the land. Li Xiang's uprising was not intended to overthrow the Great Zhao Dynasty, therefore he still used the bird banner as his leader.

The mighty army marched north, startling birds into flight, causing beasts to flee, and demons to hide.

Half a month later, a large army pressed in on the outskirts of Xi County.

When the county magistrate heard that a large army of unknown origin was attacking, he was so frightened that he fell to the ground. After regaining his senses, he climbed up the city wall with the help of his clerk and looked at the army with both shock and fear.

He had no choice but to muster his courage and shout, "Who is the general below the city? The imperial court has not sent any official documents to this county."

"Woo~"

The deep sound of horns rang out, and rows of tall flags spread to both sides, revealing a high platform that appeared in the army like a stage.

Li Xiangzhi, dressed in a white robe with his long hair loose and disheveled, replied in a voice: "We are followers of the Wuxiang Shangjiao!"

Now, by the decree of the God of No Form, I shall travel north to the capital to cleanse the emperor's inner circle! In the court, wicked officials are in power, the young emperor is imprisoned in a secluded palace, and the people of the world are oppressed.

We, acting on the divine decree, have executed the usurper and urged the Empress to return to court to the Emperor! You officials, quickly open the city gates and make way, or you will anger the gods and be punished by heaven, your lives lost forever!

On the city wall, the elderly magistrate, over fifty years old, couldn't help but ask the clerks and military leaders on either side: "What is this Wuxiang Shangjiao? How can such a heretical and wicked folk religion gather thousands of people?"

"My lord, I have heard that a small folk school has recently sprung up in Zhangyang County, but I never expected it to be so large."

"It seems that Zhangyang County has already fallen! Your Excellency, should we defend or surrender?" the clerk asked in a low voice.

"Surrender? Hmph, you can surrender all you want, sir." Commander Yu sneered from the side, "But the county magistrate and I are both officials appointed by the imperial court, and our families and relatives are all far away. If we surrender, confiscating our property and exile would be the least of our worries. We could easily be accused of treason and betraying the country, and our entire family would be executed!"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Zhu panicked. "But where are our soldiers in the city? We only have a hundred or so constables from the county government, not even enough to fill the two city gates, north and south. How can we possibly be a match for this army?"

"Your Excellency, do not panic. These soldiers are weak and frail, mostly a mob that has been cobbled together! We will defend the city and ask the local gentry to send some brave men to fight them off. After a few battles, when people die and blood is shed, these rabble will naturally back down."

"If we can hold out for ten days or half a month, the imperial court will naturally send troops to our aid. At that time, you and I will be rewarded for our service in defending the city, and there is a good chance that we will be promoted and ennobled in the future!" said Commander Yu with a confident and self-assured look.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Zhu remembered that Commander Yu was, after all, a former subordinate of General Zhenyuan, and would certainly have more foresight in military strategy than he, a mere scholar. So he nodded and said, "Very well! In that case, I will entrust the important task of defending the city to Commander Yu!"

"Rest assured, sir! I will certainly live up to your expectations!" Commander Yu replied repeatedly, then stood up and shouted, "You rebels below the city, you disregard the laws of the court and gather a crowd to start a riot, you deserve to be beheaded!"

If we retreat now, we might receive a lighter sentence! Don't believe the lies of this heretical sorcerer! Our Great Zhao Dynasty has never bestowed any title upon any formless god!

His words made the soldiers below feel uneasy, after all, no one is unafraid of death.

Li Xiangzhi sneered:

"The God of No Form is the god of heaven and earth. How could he be ordained because of your words? All followers, heed my command and attack the city immediately!"

The war drums roared, and the music and drums resounded from all directions. The black and white banners fluttered in the wind, and the believers rushed forward.

When Yu Juntou saw the army coming to attack, he did not panic. He just stood on the city wall and gave orders. The three shifts of yamen runners and the soldiers performed their duties. They fired cold arrows, poured out gold liquid, dropped rocks and rolling logs, and knocked down the soldiers who climbed up the cloud ladder.

Although Magistrate Zhu had no outstanding talents, he was a reliable official. In recent years, there had been many wars and unrest in various places, and even though he had embezzled money, he did not cut corners in the repair of the city walls.

Therefore, the city walls and gates of Xicheng were quite thick, with high walls and wide ramparts, making it difficult to breach for a time.

Seeing the constant casualties among the cultists attacking the city, and realizing that morale was already low, Li Xiangzhi knew that he could no longer launch a full-scale assault.

So he simply waved his flag and sounded the retreat.

Seeing that the city gates had been secured, Yu Jun, the commander on the city wall, seized the opportunity to demoralize the troops, saying, "You wicked devils, why don't you retreat immediately! In just three to five days, our imperial army will come to your aid, and then you won't be able to leave even if you want to!"

Li Xiangzhi sneered, "How ridiculous! We are protected by the God of No Form. Do you really think a mere city wall can stop us?"

"Guards, ascend the platform and begin the ritual! We beseech the God of No Form to unleash divine punishment!"

After he finished speaking, nine people appeared, their faces painted with white masks, their heads covered with black-patterned ghost masks, and their bodies dressed in plain white robes.

A strange melody suddenly began, and nine people surrounded Li Xiangzhi, bowing down in a half-dance, half-sacrifice manner.

Li Xiangzhi rose from the midst of the Nine Sacrifices and shouted loudly:
"We respectfully request the God of No Form to unleash divine punishment!"

Following the main force, the trusted confidants who had been prepared lit the fires upon hearing the commotion. All nine cannons were ignited simultaneously, and deafening roars resounded. Nine enormous red orbs of light flew dozens of feet into the sky, their fiery glow illuminating the eyes of the defenders on the city walls of Xicheng, and the intense heat spread out with a thunderous roar.

As if the earth were shaking, nine bursts of fire exploded on the city wall, blasting several breaches and terrifying the defending soldiers and civilians, who fled in panic. The common people had no idea about gunpowder or cannons; even if they knew about fireworks and firecrackers, those were nothing compared to the power of such an explosion.

In an instant, many people in the city were so frightened that they knelt down and cried out to the gods for forgiveness!

Many of these people were followers of the God of No Form, whom Li Xiangzhi had sent into the city in advance to spread the word about the God of No Form to the people.

Outside the city, shouts of battle filled the air, while inside, panic gripped the city. Even though Yu Juntou was a skilled military strategist, the city walls had been breached and morale was low, leaving him helpless.

The thousands of soldiers charged towards the city walls in one fell swoop and captured the ancient city in less than two hours.

Yu Juntou could only blend into the crowd of civilians and flee in all directions.

He was filled with shock. How could this sorcerer possess the imperial court's top-secret gunpowder manufacturing method? Moreover, there were only a dozen or so cannons of this kind in Luoyang alone. How could this sorcerer have them?

Before he could figure it out, Yu Juntou saw the followers coming to search in the distance and could only run away in a panic.

But just as he was leaving, he noticed that black crows had appeared out of nowhere on the corpses outside the city. They were glossy black and had rather strange bodies. They flapped their wings and flew south.

"Could it be... that this formless god is a great demon?"

On Mount Wanxiang, Hua Yi, who was cultivating, suddenly raised his head. He looked at the black crows flying from the northern sky, each one a phantom formed from death energy.

"Where did this fiend come from to kill so many people?"

He thought it to himself, but dared not say it aloud, lest he anger this demon and be forced to do something immoral.

Inside the White Bone Cave, one after another, phantom black crows flew into the thick fog and darkness, merging into Bai Wuxiang's body on the stone platform.

Within the 206 bones of his body, demonic power was surging wildly, at a speed incomparable to the demonic power he had acquired through years of arduous cultivation.

If Bai Wuxiang hadn't already possessed profound wisdom, he might have also become addicted to the thrill of his rapidly increasing cultivation level, and might even have gone so far as to personally descend the mountain to kill and obtain death energy in pursuit of an even faster cultivation speed.

This thought also lingered deep within Bai Wuxiang's heart. Even though he outwardly resembled a human, his nature as a demon spirit was indelible.

All he could do was stay true to himself and stick to his own path, instead of following the demonic path laid out for him by those wise men and immortals.

With a mere thought, he could conjure up bewitching demons to incite self-proclaimed heroes across the land, causing them to rebel and plunge the world into turmoil.

In the final years of a dynasty where human life was cheap, the amount of death energy that Bai Wuxiang could consume would be terrifying.

Although Li Xiangzhi's Wuxiang Shangjiao was indeed like this, it was someone with ulterior motives who used his name, rather than Bai Wuxiang actively causing chaos in the world.

A black crow flew out from Wanxiang Mountain and headed north.

Bai Wuxiang's companion, the black crow, flew to the human world. It perched on the banner that blotted out the sky, silently watching the black crow banner head north.

By September, the Black Crow Banner had already been planted outside Shencheng, the capital of Shenzhou.

In just six months, the army of the Wuxiang Sect marched north, conquering cities and fortresses with their incomparably sharp gunpowder techniques, and was invincible.

Along the way, it naturally attracted countless talented people to join it. After being tempered by blood and fire, the Wuxiang Sect had a force of 10,000 elite soldiers and more than 100,000 troops in three routes.

The name of Wuxiang Shangjiao and Li Xiangzhi finally spread throughout the world, alarming the kings, nobles and generals in Luoyang in the north, and frightening the empress dowager who was ruling from behind the curtain for three days without sleep.

Shenzhou is considered part of the Central Plains, with countless fertile fields. Every year, its taxes and grain are highly valued by the imperial court.

But now such a huge mess has occurred!
In haste, the imperial court issued an order to dispatch troops to quell the rebellion.

Several armies joined forces, numbering 300,000, and prepared provisions to march south and quell the rebellion.

But to everyone's surprise, a snowfall in October plunged the entire Nanzhao Kingdom into complete chaos!
The severe snowstorm blocked roads and closed mountains, forcing the Da Yuan tribesmen to once again march south and plunder the northern states. The army sent to quell the rebellion could only protect Luodu, while other troops were dispatched to various states to resist the Da Yuan invasion.

The imperial court was powerless to quell the rebellion in Shenzhou and could only leave the city to hold out until the following spring.

The early onset of winter, more than a month earlier than usual, brought Li Xiangzhi a sense of relief, and he couldn't help but feel grateful for God's protection.

In the grand hall, Li Xiangzhi sat at the head of the table, while dozens of soldiers sat on either side below him.

Apart from the eleven sworn brothers he initially swore brotherhood with, the remaining twenty-odd generals were all promoted through their outstanding military achievements.

Sitting on the lower left, Liu Dazhu was clad in armor, with eyes like an eagle's. After half a year of fighting and several brushes with death, he had long since transformed into a general with extraordinary presence.

He cupped his hands in greeting and said happily, "Congratulations, Master! This autumn snowfall has prevented the imperial army from attacking, giving us a chance to rest and recuperate over the winter!"

“Indeed, we seem to have made great strides this year, but due to the rapid pace of our offensive, we have not been able to eliminate the scattered remnants of defeated troops in many places.” Li Xiangzhi nodded in agreement, “With these months of rest and reorganization, all the troops and generals must intensify their training. Next spring, we will surely have a fierce battle!”

A young general below couldn't help but ask, "Bishop, are we not going to attack Shencheng? Why don't we take this city in one fell swoop and then we can occupy the entire Shenzhou!"

"Shanghai is an old city with hundreds of years of history. It has been through several generations. The city walls are high and deep. Moreover, it relies on the natural barrier of the Chunmin River. The divine fire technique is also restrained."

The city is well-stocked with food and soldiers, and has a renowned general in command. If we were to launch a surprise attack, we would likely suffer heavy losses.

"It would be better to besiege them, using small-scale battles and attacks to train our troops, prioritizing psychological warfare. By next spring, when their food supplies and troops are exhausted, we can easily take them. This is the best strategy."

A voice spoke eloquently, and everyone looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a general with a kind face, who was in his thirties.

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangzhi nodded and smiled, "Such knowledge and discerning eyes. You must not be a commoner. May I ask what school of learning you possess?"

The man cupped his hands and smiled, saying, "This humble general has only studied for a few years, and none of my ancestors were any great figures."

Upon hearing this, Liu Dazhu smiled and said, "I wonder which army's top talent this is?"

The honest-looking man solemnly replied, "This humble general is Xu Tianbai, commander of the Western Route Army."

"Xu Tianbai, what a spirited name!" Li Xiangzhi praised. "Since none of your ancestors were famous, you might just be the first truly remarkable person in your family!"

Above the main hall's crossbeam, the black crow looked up at the person's head. The black and yellow aura was bright and righteous, like a tiger's head, awe-inspiring and dignified. Startled, the black crow cried out and fled.

(End of this chapter)