The Great Song Dynasty's Soul-Forging in Progress

Wang Zhonghua suddenly moved. Instead of retreating, he charged forward like a cheetah, each step landing on burning logs and corpses, smoke rising from his boots. He didn't advance in a straight line, but rather sprinted along a zigzag path—a footwork technique used by modern special forces to evade snipers!

Sha Tongtian clearly did not expect the other side to dare to charge forward. He fired three poisoned arrows in succession, but they all grazed Wang Zhonghua's body and embedded themselves deeply in the burning snow, raising plumes of poisonous smoke.

"You're courting death!" Enraged, Sha Tongtian threw away his longbow, drew two curved swords, and leaped off the ten-zhang-high cliff!

This is the moment we've been waiting for!

The instant Sha Tongtian landed, Wang Zhonghua suddenly changed direction, not to meet the attack head-on, but to charge towards the ice wall on one side of the canyon! "Snow Chant" slammed into the ice, using the momentum to propel himself upwards, completing an incredible flip in mid-air—

"Broken Army!"

This is the most domineering killing move in the "Eight Blades of Breaking the Edge," concentrating all the body's power into a single point. The blade light cascades like a waterfall, falls like a meteor, and cleaves straight at the top of Sha Tongtian's head!

Sha Tongtian raised his sword to meet the attack head-on, and with a loud clang, both curved swords were severed in two! He retreated in horror, but "Snow Chant" continued its momentum, slicing a deep, bone-revealing wound across his chest!

"Impossible!" Sha Tongtian stared in disbelief at the gushing blood on his face.

Wang Zhonghua landed, kneeling on one knee, panting heavily. The blow had almost drained him of his strength, and the wound on his left arm was bleeding profusely.

But Sha Tongtian was, after all, the leader of a branch of the Fire Worship Sect, and a top expert within the sect. His severe injuries only fueled his ferocity. He roared and charged forward, ignoring his wounds, his palms burning red like branding irons—this was the Fire Worship Sect's secret poison palm technique!

The poisonous palm was about to strike Wang Zhonghua's face—

"Be careful!"

Qin Tiedan, who had been holding on, suddenly sprang up and hurled the Iron Rod with his last ounce of strength! The iron rod, like a javelin, pierced Sha Tongtian's back with pinpoint accuracy!

Sha Tongtian froze, staring incredulously at the tip of the club protruding from his chest. He turned around with difficulty, trying to see who had delivered the fatal blow, but only saw Qin Tiedan slowly fall to the ground with a relieved smile.

"Iron Egg!" Wang Zhonghua's eyes widened in fury.

Sha Tongtian collapsed to the ground with a thud, dead. With their leader dead, the ambush troops on the cliff were thrown into chaos.

Wang Zhonghua picked up Qin Tiedan, the honest and simple man, who was already breathing very weakly.

"Brother...brother," Qin Tiedan forced a smile, "I...I didn't let you down, did I?"

Wang Zhonghua held his hand tightly, his voice choked with emotion: "No, you are my best brother."

Qin Tiedan closed his eyes contentedly, his breathing becoming slower and slower.

Wang Zhonghua gently set Qin Tiedan down and slowly stood up. He looked around—corpses lay strewn everywhere, blood flowed like rivers, and the vanguard battalion had suffered more than half its casualties. But every surviving soldier looked at him with unwavering eyes.

He raised "Snow Chant," its blade pointing towards the end of the canyon:

"Brothers, Junzhou is just ahead! Every drop of blood we shed today will be repaid a hundredfold by the Zoroastrians!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The surviving soldiers roared in fury.

Wang Zhonghua ordered some small trees to be broken off and made into a stretcher. He placed Qin Tiedan on the stretcher and covered him with a cloak—he absolutely refused to believe that his childhood friend, whose life seemed as hard as iron, would die.

"Tiedan, watch closely," he said softly, "we're going to take Junzhou now."

The setting sun, like blood, illuminated this wounded yet spirited team. They marched on towards Junzhou City, their steps heavy, yet their resolve unwavering.

Wang Zhonghua knew that this battle was far from over. But he also knew that from this day forward, he was no longer the time traveler trying to escape this era.

He was Wang Zhonghua, the military commander and general of the Song Dynasty, and the commander of these soldiers who were willing to die for him.

He completely accepted this identity.

The setting sun, like blood, stained every inch of scorched earth at the canyon's exit.

When Di Qing reined in his horse and stopped, and saw the scene before him, this veteran general, who had served in the army for thirty years and whose body was scarred enough to be used as a battle map, froze for a moment on his horse.

Amidst the scorched earth, Wang Zhonghua stood leaning on his knife.

The tip of the "Snow Chant" sword was pressed against the ground, its blade riddled with nicks and shards, and uncongealed black blood still flowed from its groove. Wang Zhonghua's battle robe was in tatters, and on his bare left arm, a deep, bone-revealing wound had torn open the flesh, blood dripping down his forearm and pooling at his feet. His face was covered in blood and soot, but his eyes shone like a wolf in the dark.

Behind them, the remaining soldiers supported each other in twos and threes. Some had severed arms, their empty sleeves fluttering in the wind; some had faces burned beyond recognition, yet they still grinned; some leaned on their comrades' shoulders, their chests heaving violently, each breath frothing with blood. But their eyes, like Wang Zhonghua's, held no joy at surviving, only the lingering flames of war.

Di Qing's Adam's apple bobbed, but he remained silent.

Zhang Biao followed behind him. This man, usually the most talkative, opened his mouth but found himself speechless. He had fought many battles, seen dead bodies, and witnessed rivers of blood. But he had never seen anything like this—a troop of wounded soldiers, half-dead, standing there, their backs straighter than when they arrived.

"I..." Zhang Biao finally found his voice, but it was so hoarse it sounded unlike his own. "If only I had soldiers like this back in Yanzhou..."

He couldn't continue.

Another lieutenant, Li Xin, silently dismounted, removed his helmet, and bowed deeply to the remaining soldiers. His personal guards were stunned for a moment, then knelt down on one knee in unison.

No one speaks.

Only the setting sun cast long shadows on everyone.

"I have successfully completed my mission; the canyon is now open." Wang Zhonghua's voice was hoarse, but every word was firm and resounding.

Just then, a fast horse broke through the rear guard, and an old man tumbled off the saddle, his white hair disheveled. It was none other than Liu Jueming, who had been traveling day and night to get here!

"General Wang! Commander Di!" The old man's voice was hoarse, and he could barely stand. "Xin Yi... she was framed by Chen Shimei and imprisoned! Old Qin was framed for selling official positions and imprisoned, and that child Tie Hua... went to the capital alone to appeal to the emperor!"

"What?!" Wang Zhonghua was struck dumb, grabbing Liu Jueming's arms abruptly. "What did you say, Doctor? What happened to Grandpa Qin and Xin Yi? Tie Hua, she..."

"Chen Shimei imprisoned Xinyi and Lao Qin on trumped-up charges," Liu Jueming said, tears streaming down his face. "Tiehua escaped Chen Shimei's plot, and to save them, she carried the evidence and traveled alone north. This journey... must have been fraught with danger and traps at every turn!"

Wang Zhonghua felt dizzy and disoriented. The exhaustion from days of hard fighting was intertwined with this sudden bad news. He staggered backward and spat out a mouthful of blood!

"Chen Shimei—!" he roared to the sky, his voice like that of a wounded beast, "I swear to kill you! I will make you, you hypocrite, utterly disgraced and infamous for eternity!!! May you be struck down by heaven and earth if you break this oath!!!"

"Zhonghua!" Di Qing grabbed him and steadied him. "Calm down!"

Ouyang Xiu had also arrived at the front lines at some point. The usually calm and collected old man now had a grim expression: "That Chen Shimei! The soldiers on the front lines are fighting bloody battles, and he's stabbing them in the back! This matter must not be tolerated!"

Wang Zhonghua's eyes were bloodshot, and he trembled all over: "Commander Di! Lord Ouyang! Please allow me to lead the troops back to reinforce immediately! I want to kill that beast with my own hands!"

"Foolish!" Di Qing shouted sternly, "Going back now would be dereliction of duty! It would give Chen Shimei a perfect excuse to punish you!"

Ouyang Xiu pressed down on Wang Zhonghua's shoulder, his gaze piercing: "Young friend, the more critical the moment, the more you must remain calm. Chen Shimei's move is aimed at undermining your foundation, destroying your family's fortune, framing you unjustly, and demoralizing our army. Now that Tiehua has entered the capital, she must have her own plans. What you need to do now is to take Junzhou as quickly as possible, return to the capital with the glory of a great victory, and then who will dare to touch you? The better we fight, the safer Qin Tiehua and Liu Xinyi will be!"

Generals like Zhang Biao earnestly persuaded him.

Duan Gong, Lü Maoyi, and other retainers also knelt down, pleading, "General, please reconsider!"

Wang Zhonghua gasped for breath, looking at his brothers-in-arms beside him, then at Qin Tiedan on the stretcher, his fate uncertain. He finally calmed down. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were filled with a chilling killing intent.

"Fine... fine, Chen Shimei... Since that's the case, I'll use this merit of destroying the sect to exchange for his head!"

At this moment, Liu Jueming had already walked quickly to Qin Tiedan's stretcher. He flashed his silver needles, sealing several vital acupoints, and then took a crimson pill from his medicine pouch and fed it to Qin Tiedan.

"Although Tie Dan's injuries are severe, his heart meridian is not severed. I will use acupuncture to stimulate his acupoints, and supplement it with the Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Pill, which may save his life. However... he will need to rest for a hundred days."

Wang Zhonghua gripped Liu Jueming's hand tightly: "Divine Doctor, I'm entrusting Tiedan to you!"

He turned and looked north, his gaze seemingly piercing through mountains and rivers, reaching all the way to Bianjing.

"Uncle Qin, Tiehua, Xinyi, please wait a little longer." He murmured to himself, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, "Once I trample Junzhou, I will make Chen Shimei... pay for his blood debt!"

The setting sun, like blood, illuminated this wounded yet spirited team. They marched on towards Junzhou City, their steps heavy, yet their resolve unwavering.

Wang Zhonghua knew that from this moment on, his feud with Chen Shimei was irreconcilable.