A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 228 Two Sides Raise Troops, One Side Formulates a Plan

"It's the Dai brothers!"

Ling Zhen's face lit up with joy. He quickly walked around the table and said, "It's been five or six years since we last met in Bianliang. I've missed you very much."

Dai Zong laughed and said, "I heard that you have been given an important position by the court and have now joined forces with Chen Xizhen and Yun Tianbiao. Even the former treacherous minister Cai Jing and his ilk are no longer as powerful as your faction."

Ling Zhen shook his head and said, "Chen Daozi often said that I should stay in Bianliang City so that I would have the opportunity to show my skills. But later, they forbade me to experiment around Bianliang City to avoid disturbing the nobles, and they were unwilling to let me go too far from Bianliang, so I could only do some petty things."

"They have indeed bestowed upon us a great deal of gold, silver, treasures, beautiful women, and maids, but we can hardly smell the new gunpowder and cannons. Life is far less pleasant than it was back when we broke through the summer."

As he spoke, Ling Zhen picked up the blueprints on the table. "Now that they've finally let me out, I'm going to take this opportunity to test it out properly. It's perfect that you've come here, Brother Dai Zong. In the world, only you have the ability to move with such ease that you can chase after a shell that has already been fired and observe the various changes in the shell's flight. Come back and tell me about it."

Dai Zong's smile vanished, and he said in a grave voice, "Do you know who you're going to fight this time?"

Ling Zhen didn't take it seriously: "I heard they're a group of bandits who rule the mountains."

Dai Zong shook his head repeatedly, sighed, and said, "It seems you're still being kept in the dark."

Ling Zhen asked in confusion, "What do you mean by that, brother?"

"Come closer to my ear."

Dai Zong beckoned, and Ling Zhen, unsuspecting, leaned closer. Suddenly, he felt a numbness in the back of his neck and lost consciousness.

After knocking Ling Zhen unconscious with a heavy blow, Dai Zong silently apologized.

He dared not tell Ling Zhen the whole story of Liangshan right here.

Firstly, they were afraid that Ling Zhen would make some noise and be noticed by those outside. Secondly, since they were in the enemy camp, the longer they were delayed, the more likely something unexpected might happen.

Dai Zong hoisted Ling Zhen onto his shoulder, glanced back, and saw the dim light on the table and the complicated drawings. He couldn't help but have an idea, so he rolled up all the drawings and stuffed them into his arms.

He blew out another lamp, got a handful of lamp oil on his hands, and put the still-sparkling wick in his mouth.

"Since the Taoist priests trust me so much, and I have the opportunity, why not perform another extraordinary feat?"

When he came to scout during the day, Dai Zong paid attention and noted the location of the camp where gunpowder and shells were stored. When he arrived at the location, he only needed a spark and a handful of oil to blow out a flame, which would blast Yun Tianbiao's army into dust and leave them so frightened that they could not sleep all night.

He used his superhuman speed technique and instantly carried Ling Zhen to the front of the gunpowder tent.

But before Dai Zong could fool the surrounding guards and lift the tent flap, he saw the curtain move on its own without any wind, revealing gunpowder barrels piled up inside the tent, as well as many wooden boxes storing fuse shells.

Amidst hundreds of wooden boxes and barrels, a Taoist priest wearing a jade bamboo shoot crown and a white crane cloak was lazily reclining on a cloud bed, reading a book.

Lights were not allowed in the tents where gunpowder was stored. The Taoist priest was reading in the dark, his eyes shining brightly, as green as gemstones, with the light in his pupils being the clearest.

Dai Zong could see the Taoist priest with the bamboo-shaped crown raise his pupils and stare at him.

"not good!!!"

In the blink of an eye, as fleeting as a white horse galloping past a crack in the wall, Dai Zong unleashed his divine speed technique, retreating backward. The surrounding tents were instantly stretched into a blurry, grayish-white ribbon.

His sudden acceleration far exceeded the speed at which sound travels through the air, yet a clear, gentle voice shouted in his ear.

"Duh!"

A stalagmite fell from the sky, its bamboo-like texture clearly visible, resembling a freshly planted spring bamboo shoot. Yet, its delicate luster and pure white, elegant color made it seem as if it were carved from the finest mutton-fat jade.

The stalagmite was no more than seven inches long, with its pointed tip pointing downwards. Its rounded and blunt shape caused terrible destruction.

With just a thud, the ground was blasted into a cone-shaped crater no more than three feet in diameter but several feet deep.

The soil inside the deep pit was smoothed by the magical power within the stalagmite, becoming as smooth as a mirror, reflecting people's images.

A burning pain shot through Dai Zong's nose. When the stalagmite fell, it was not far from his nose bridge. Even though he escaped quickly, a small piece of skin was still scraped off the tip of his nose.

That stalagmite was just the beginning.

Dai Zong's figure moved erratically and unpredictably through the military camp, fleeing towards the outside of the tent. In each direction he fled, a seven-inch-long stalagmite would inevitably fall down.

He deliberately flew over the large tent where the soldiers were gathered, hoping that the Taoist official would hesitate to act, but to his surprise, the Taoist in the bamboo hat did not care about the lives of these soldiers at all.

The seven-inch stalagmite fell as usual, destroying the main tent. Countless soldiers perished beneath it.

In the blink of an eye, nearly twenty cone-shaped pits had appeared in the military camp.

At this moment, the patrolling and guarding soldiers heard the strange noise and realized something was wrong.

But they couldn't see Dai Zong's figure at all, nor could they see the seven-inch stalagmite. They thought that someone had attacked the camp with stones or cannons in those deep pits, so they all blew their iron whistles and made a commotion.

Inside the main tent, Yun Tianbiao, who had been studying late into the night by lamplight, put down his book, sat down on the table, and got up.

His green brocade battle robe fluttered, and with a single thought, the demonic energy within the entire military camp surged and condensed into a visible cloud of smoke and mist.

As Dai Zong was retreating hastily, he suddenly realized that all around him, as far as the eye could see, was swirling turbid mist. Apart from the hazy gray-white fog, he could not see any normal scenery. His body felt a hundred times heavier, and his speed decreased drastically.

In the center of the military camp, a Dharma image formed from the imperial dynasty's fortune manifested, its eyes radiating divine light as it overlooked the entire camp.

This enormous aura of destiny was clad in ferocious armor, and its facial features were identical to Yun Tianbiao's. Its long black beard hung down to its chest and abdomen. Its eyes were Yun Tianbiao's eyes at this moment, and it immediately saw where Dai Zong was. It raised its giant hand and pressed down from a distance.

Unable to break free from the immense pressure of the palm, the wick he was holding in his mouth was blown to ashes. With great difficulty, he reached for the hilt of the sword behind his back, but he was too weak to draw it.

I regret being so greedy for credit!

The immense power was within reach; the giant hand of that aura-manifested dharma form even possessed palm prints and fingerprints, its skin texture dark yet solid, occupying Dai Zong's entire field of vision.

When disaster struck, Dai Zong's hand suddenly moved.

It wasn't him who was moving, but the sword. The sword controlled his hand, and even his entire body.

Even with someone on his left shoulder, he still drew his sword with remarkable ease, unleashing a heavy, deep blue blade of energy.

That sword strike—no, that slash—was so heavy it defies description!

The blade aura shattered the giant palm of the Qi Luck Dharma Image, drawing all the surrounding turbid mist and fog onto the trajectory of the blade aura, gathering it like a bunch of gray-white grapes hanging on both sides of the blade aura, before exploding.

The surrounding scenery suddenly opened up, and all the pressure was swept away.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Dai Zong escaped from the military camp and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The Taoist with the bamboo shoot crown appeared outside the military camp, glanced at it from afar, and said in a low voice, "The Divine Horse Swiftness Technique was originally just a minor trick of unorthodox methods. To be able to cultivate it to such a level that is close to riding the wind and controlling qi, and shrinking the earth to an inch, must be Dai Zong."

"But compared to that strike, Dai Zong is insignificant." Yun Tianbiao walked up from behind, a hint of surprise still on his face, and extended his right palm.

Looking down, the Taoist priest saw that after the slash had shattered the palm of the Qi Luck Dharma Image, it had actually left a thin wound on Yun Tianbiao's hand, from which a little blood was seeping out.

In an instant, the wound had healed.

Yun Tianbiao said, "Liangshan has Lin Lingsu, that mysterious red-clad army, and such a highly skilled martial artist. Now they've even taken Ling Zhen away. It seems we can't delay any longer."

"We will prepare food at midnight tomorrow and then march on Liangshan."

………………

On the shore of Liangshan, Guan Luoyang was gazing at the scenery in the marshland, his left hand behind his waist, seemingly leisurely and taking a break from his busy schedule, but in fact he was silently practicing the Heavenly Demon Heart Sutra.

After obtaining the "Nine Earths Reversal Scripture," he first studied it once using the technique of "Silent Listening to the Mortal World," quickly grasping some of its essence. Then, he practiced this technique alongside the Heavenly Demon Art.

The Heavenly Demon Art clearly states its profound demonic nature in its general principles. Guan Luoyang had previously learned it through the Great Sky-Piercing Slash, and although his sword techniques were domineering, his understanding of the demonic nature of the art was not yet deep.

Recently, he began to explore other parts of the Heavenly Demon Art, and his demonic nature—or rather, his ferocious nature of survival of the fittest and endless predation—gradually began to emerge.

When the two sets of techniques were used together, the Heavenly Demon Heart Method actually guided the Nine Earths Opening Change Scripture's technique route to become distorted, causing the Nine Earths Opening Change Scripture to change several times. In the end, it completely conformed to the main theme of the Heavenly Demon Technique and became part of the Heavenly Demon Heart Method.

It was like a battle between wild beasts in the wilderness. After killing its opponent, the victorious beast suddenly stood upright and used the opponent's corpse as an ornament on its own body, which was truly terrifying.

In the long run, this kind of evil technique is certainly not a good thing.

However, judging from the recent changes, Guan Luoyang took advantage of this opportunity to take a small step beyond the peak of four stars and truly enter the realm of five stars.

The Nine Earths Divination Scripture, which focuses on the earth's energy and mineral veins, was absorbed by the Heavenly Demon Art, which allowed it to further enhance the meaning of the gravity shift in the "Great Sky-Piercing Slash".

The reeds on the riverbank were lush and the mist was rising. Guan Luoyang suddenly felt something and raised his hand to deliver a feinting strike.

The Wuwei Divine Sword, far away in the military camp in Quancheng, resonated with him, controlling Dai Zong's body and unleashing that strike.

Guan Luoyang returned to his camp, summoned his generals, and said, "Dai Zong has been exposed in Quancheng. Regardless of whether he succeeded or not, he has certainly alerted the enemy. The troops in Quancheng will probably attack soon."

Li Ying said, "Let's go and prepare our troops for battle."

"No, I'm not prepared to continue treating this place as a battlefield."

Guan Luoyang said, "Now you're assigning Li Jun and Gongsun Sheng to each lead a thousand men to manage the navy, Lu Da, Wu Song, Shi Xiu, Lei Heng, and Zhu Tong to each lead a thousand infantrymen, Lin Chong and Du Qian to each lead a thousand cavalrymen, and Li Ying to lead two thousand men to be in charge of supplies and provisions, right?"

Li Ying and the others nodded.

"Alright, Li Ying, you stay here. Leave all the supplies at Liangshan and prepare enough dry rations and water for the other soldiers for a day and a night."

Guan Luoyang gave the order, "Everyone else, travel light. Once Dai Zong returns and the food supplies are ready, we will set off."

Just then, a figure flashed outside; Dai Zong had returned.

He carried a man on one shoulder and a sword in the other. The armor on his legs was smoking. He was so tired that he was drenched in sweat, which soaked his boots and left wet footprints on the ground.

The crowd quickly helped him up, put Ling Zhen aside, and fed Dai Zong several bowls of warm water.

"The general who came to aid Quancheng was Grand Commandant Yun Tianbiao, and the head of the accompanying Taoist officials was Liu Yongxi, one of the four great Taoist officials of Bianliang, the Pure Cool Dharma Realm Guide and Immortal Bamboo Shoot Crown."

Dai Zong said, panting, "These two are extraordinary. Not only are their cultivations superb, but they also have good fortune and can condense a Dharma image. However, it seems that because they are so confident and came in such a hurry, they did not bring many reinforcements. In Quancheng, the total number of troops is now about 15,000, mostly infantry."

Guan Luoyang retrieved the Wuwei Divine Sword, carefully examined the blade, and said, "I have a general idea of ​​Yun Tianbiao's cultivation level, but what do you know about this Liu Yongxi?"

Gongsun Sheng said, "This Liu Yongxi was only a hair's breadth away from becoming an indestructible golden elixir in his early years. However, he later entered the court as an official, and I don't know if he has fallen into the demonic path. But now that he can be on par with Chen Xizhen, Wang Laozhi, and Liu Hunkang, he must have magical power that is no less than that of a golden elixir cultivator."

Guan Luoyang frowned: "So you mean we're going to treat her almost like an unharmed Lin Lingsu?"

He thought to himself: This is yet another person who has stepped into the five-star level.

Guan Luoyang possesses extraordinary combat awareness, is aided by divine armor, and has access to a high-level technique like the Heavenly Demon Art. Even when he first arrived in this world, he could probably hold his own against Lin Lingsu, who was invincible and unable to use treasures.

However, Liu Yongxi, as one of the four great officials, must have some magical weapons of his own. It would be troublesome to rely on the other Liangshan members to fight against him.

The small amount of combat life fibers would have a negligible effect on Lin Chong and his companions, unless they cut off a large piece of the divine armor, but that would be a loss.

Li Kaixian then spoke up, saying, "Yun Tianbiao and Liu Yongxi are both arrogant people. I have a plan that will allow the chief to fight calmly. Kill one of them first, then kill the other."

Everyone quickly said, "Tell us quickly."

Li Kaixian scanned the assembled heroes and said, "But this plan requires a brave and valiant man who would remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him."

(End of this chapter)