A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 248 Sky-high Hand, Dragon and Tiger Without Heart

Twenty military ships, each a hundred feet long, resembled twenty hills, resting on the water.

Compared to the hundreds of small boats around, they seemed like fish in the water, numerous yet tiny, with boats capsizing and sinking into the water from time to time, bobbing up and down.

But whether it was the largest government warships or the hundreds of small boats, they were now filled with figures fighting. The imperial army's demonic soldiers, in black armor, mingled with the red-clad soldiers of Liangshan, and their shouts could be faintly heard even from eight hundred miles away.

Zhang Wanxian maintained the bridge woven from vines, and even more wooden roots, blocking the cannon muzzles on both sides of the ship, and squeezed into the cabin through the gaps around the cannons.

Among the government troops, the thousand sorcerers dressed in fine silk robes threw out countless paper talismans from their wide sleeves as if they were free.

Their magical cultivation and understanding of realms were far inferior to Zhang Wanxian's, but they were wealthy and powerful. Although the paper talismans were made of common yellow paper, they were actually made from precious wood, carefully pulped.

The ink used to write the talismans on the yellow paper was all made from refined minerals ground into fine sand and mixed.

Purple talismans can transform into lightning orbs, red talismans can summon fiery spears, silver talismans can unleash crescent-shaped blade energy, and black talismans can create all sorts of unpredictable illusions.

The grotesque and hideous demons, like the eighteen hells, were the kinds of creatures described in Taoist and Buddhist scriptures: long-tongued demons, the unjustly killed, water ghosts, headless demons, swollen corpses, and blue infants. They roamed in groups, biting and climbing wildly against the backdrop of the bridges formed by the intertwined roots of green leaves among the Liangshan soldiers.

A thousand enchanting fairies and witches, dancing in their finest veils, flew towards the ship where Zhang Wanxian was, accompanied by flashes of lightning and fire.

There are also many things that seem to have no beginning or end, yet evoke a sense of inexplicable fear, such as bloodshot eyes, carp with two bald human legs, horses with human faces, pulling gleaming carriages, fruit trees laden with the wrinkled heads of old people, and large monkeys dressed in official robes with vivid features, and so on.

These things, both real and illusory, yet capable of causing harm, were scattered across the warships and the water, hindering the Liangshan troops and buying time for the government soldiers.

Li Jun, the River Dragon, rode his tortoise-shell dragon across the water. When he encountered these strange illusions, the dragon roared repeatedly. Although he was able to break some of the illusions, he was always led astray.

"The seven emotions of the human heart can be used to create spells, causing extreme fear and giving rise to demonic nightmares. The magic you extract from the anxieties of ordinary people is entirely evil."

The cold, icy voice reached the ears of the sorcerers.

"People like you dare to call yourselves Daoist officials?!"

The Taoist priests, including Wang Tianba, Madam Jia, and Xu Qingniang, who were the leaders among the sorcerers, sensed a chilling killing intent and immediately activated their respective treasured magical artifacts.

Wang Tianba tossed out a jade pendant shaped like an eye, while the others held gourds in their hands and blew out lamps.

Suddenly, celestial songs resounded in the sky. Under the dark night sky, pure white celestial thunderclouds rolled and expanded, and the beautiful singing voices fell with thunderous sounds like the plucking of a pipa and the striking of a gong.

Hundreds and thousands of bright white lightning bolts burst forth from the sky, striking the eerie illusions. These lightning bolts twisted and turned, but they did not disappear in an instant; they could persist indefinitely.

This scene was as if the heavens had lowered a thousand silk ribbons to sweep away the dust. No matter how strange or illusory something was, after being swept away twice, it would scream and turn into black smoke and disappear.

Jade pendants, gourds, lamps, and other items were all affected by the electric shock, and cracks appeared on their own. Wang Tianba and the others were both injured and heartbroken, and their faces turned bright red.

"It's Lin Lingsu's Divine Firmament Thunderous Jade Book!"

Zhenhai Zhenren Li Cheng took out a mysterious yellow pendant and shouted, "Your magic weapons are useless. Come and help me shake this precious treasure!"

The so-called hanging flag is also a kind of flag, but it is decorated with folk tales, with pictures and words, so it is quite different from ordinary flags.

This black and yellow hanging ornament was originally the exclusive magic weapon of Gongsun Sheng's master, Luo Zhenren of Erxian Mountain. It is known as a treasure of pure yin and ultimate stillness. One side is black and the other is yellow. Each side is painted with the teachings of immortals. It is most good at restraining yang forces such as thunder and fire.

Numerous Taoist officials and sorcerers unleashed their magical power, pouring it into the Xuanhuang banner. The banner fluttered, and the air rippled with pale green waves of emerald hue, clashing with the lightning in the sky.

Lin Lingsu single-handedly subdued over a thousand sorcerers, and none of them were able to disturb Zhang Wanxian's spellcasting anymore. Gradually, bridges were built connecting the twenty large ships.

More and more cabins were blocked by tree roots, which added many obstacles to the soldiers' attempts to break out. They could only keep waving their swords and guns and charging upwards in the narrow and cramped space.

Once they finally reach the deck, they will face a devastating blow from the swift and agile Liangshan soldiers.

This place has become like a large land battlefield floating on the water.

However, with 100,000 elite demonic soldiers, and all officers at all levels being highly skilled warriors, this force was simply too enormous.

Even if Guan Luoyang managed to deplete the ammunition of their strongest Dragon King Cannon, negate the one-time war equipment such as the Flying Tower War Chariots they had hastily manufactured, and use his private soldiers to stir up a riot, he managed to make 20,000 officers and soldiers suffer the consequences of their own actions and fall into a coma.

The remaining elite demonic soldiers are still an extremely tough nut to crack.

Lu Da, Lin Chong, Wu Song and the others have all boarded the ship. Even Dai Zong has taken two small daggers and is using his superhuman speed to move back and forth. Every time he appears, a soldier is stabbed in the back by him. His efficiency is surprisingly high.

In this battle, Li Ying, who was usually in charge of logistics, even took up his gun and charged out. Five throwing knives were on his back, whistling through the air. Ordinary soldiers would fall if they were grazed, or be injured if they were touched.

However, every now and then a few junior officers would manage to hold them off, and then more elite troops would surround them.

Guan Sheng and his men had also gone into battle to protect their soldiers. As a result, the fierce generals fought one-on-one, and the battle was evenly matched.

The fighting between the soldiers was like dragging each other deeper into a quagmire, causing the situation to reach a stalemate for the time being.

"There's still a chance!"

At this moment, General Feng Hui, who was born with innate abilities, finally got a chance to catch his breath. His burning, tense nerves became active again. "Since I can still hold on, there is still a chance..."

It wasn't an opportunity for a decisive victory, but rather an opportunity to retreat.

As Chen Xizhen often mentioned, the imperial court's military strength was strong enough. Even if this extreme strength was achieved through methods that were almost like draining the pond to catch all the fish or killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, it was still a real and substantial power.

As long as the imperial generals can retreat with the remaining troops, no matter which prefecture in the Eastern Circuit of Jingdong they retreat to, they can make a comeback with the support of the government.

The key to a smooth retreat lies in the contest between top experts, and in whether Guan Luoyang can be forced to back down.

Feng took out a box sealed with vermilion lacquer and wax. In two or three bites, his steel-white teeth crushed the box as if it were tofu, and he swallowed the box and the pills inside.

The medicinal power of the dozens of pills was digested by the peristalsis of his intestines, and a sound like a millstone being pulled, or like muffled thunder, came from inside his stomach.

The highly condensed demonic energy, like black flames, burned on his body surface. With each step he took backward, the deck was instantly scorched with deep dents.

boom!!!!

Feng Hui's figure shot out, his whole body like a giant black fire blade, attacking Fang La.

At this moment, Wang Laozhi also formed a hand seal, conjuring nine colorless fire pillars out of thin air. Each pillar was about three feet in diameter and about five feet in height, and they were distributed around Fang La, slowly pressing and closing in on him.

Fang La adopted a defensive posture. The movements of the sun and moon were infinite. The moon phase was illusory. Everything that came near him would quickly come to a standstill with a light, floating wave of his hand. Although the pressure increased dramatically, he still defended himself flawlessly.

"Mr. Dongwei, go help Daozi!"

Feng Hui's figure emerged from the black fire giant blade, moving closely around the nine colorless fire pillars, unleashing streams of dark, churning blade energy like a raging lion.

His sword energy slammed into those colorless pillars of fire, and the clash between immortals and demons immediately triggered a series of explosions.

Without hesitation, Wang Laozhi leaped straight up to the mountaintop.

Guan Luoyang was the chief leader of Liangshan. It seemed that people like Zhang Wanxian and Fang La also obeyed his orders. His presence was like an invisible banner on this battlefield.

If we can defeat him and severely damage him, that would be the most powerful counterattack against Liangshan.

Tang Meng, Zhen Dayi, and other officers and generals rushed over to rescue Feng Hui and engaged in a fierce battle with Fang La.

The divine horseman Kang Jie, riding on his wind and fire wheels, released a copper brick from his hand, aiming it at the back of Fang La's head.

He boasted that his speed surpassed even Dai Zong's. Although they had never actually competed, his skill in placing copper bricks was something Dai Zong did not possess.

The copper brick was propelled by the wind and fire wheels' incredible speed, further enhanced by Kang Jie's hand speed, making it so fast that even its shadow couldn't keep up.

Unfortunately, just as the copper brick was about to hit Fang La on the back of the head, the upright and honest leader in white robes turned his face and took a breath.

With each long breath, the copper brick got closer to Fang La's face, but its speed slowed down, and its force rapidly diminished. A layer of white frost even gradually formed on the surface of the copper brick.

When the entire copper brick was sealed by frost and completely still in the air, Fang La finally finished inhaling and began to exhale.

The copper brick trembled violently, the frost vanished, and the entire brick glowed red-hot before flying away.

Kang Jie dodged at full speed, but the copper brick still grazed his shoulder. With a scream, his entire right arm was severed from his body and flew into the air, the severed area charred black.

The generals roared incessantly, swallowed the medicine boxes in unison, and charged towards Fang La from all directions.

Fang La swiftly parried the attacks, his hands and swords flashing. Whether it was the heavy unicorn bronze figure or the light chained spear, the moment it touched his hand, he pushed it away and smashed it onto someone else's weapon.

Despite being wounded one after another, with blood spurting out, they fought on relentlessly. Eventually, some of the turbid energy blades, which had condensed into tangible forms, left small wounds on Fang La's robes and arms.

"A true warrior indeed!"

He praised Feng Hui, Tang Meng, and the others, and exclaimed, "It's a pity you couldn't distinguish right from wrong, standing in the line of duty between human karma and the will of Heaven, and you entrusted yourselves to the wrong people..."

The wind around Fang La became incredibly sharp, countless tiny particles of air accelerated violently, and dust and debris exploded outwards. In that instant, the shadows of the surrounding generals faded to almost disappear.

"Do you really think that just Chen and Wang, by freeing up Wang Laozhi's hands, can defeat the person at the mountaintop?!"

The clash between the Sun-Eyed Great Bright Seal and the generals caused the large ship they were on to explode from its bow.

Half of the hull peeled off and collapsed, and the remaining cabins also tilted violently.

Amidst the roar, Chen Xizhen and Wang Laozhi arrived at the top of Liangshan Mountain one after the other.

Chen Xizhen's flying sword went first, its sometimes-invisible body soaring through the air. Not only did it leave no shadow on the ground, but the air itself seemed undisturbed by anything, and everything was calm and still.

But the extremely sharp sword tip, capable of slaying demons and gods, had already reached Guan Luoyang.

Half an inch between the eyebrows, the tip of the sword gleams.

The last time Guan Luoyang stormed into the military parade ground in Quancheng, he suffered countless deep wounds on his fingers and palms in order to resist this Celestial Master's Flying Sword.

This time, however, he showed no sign of making a big fuss or going to make a big show of things.

A faint metallic sound rang out, a "ding".

The Celestial Master's Flying Sword was already held between Guan Luoyang's right index and middle fingers.

With a thought, Chen Xizhen's Celestial Master Flying Sword transformed into pure, formless energy. The flying sword dissipated and disappeared from its hilt, and he followed the sword, seizing the opportunity to kill with his magic sword.

Unexpectedly, the hilt of the Celestial Master's Flying Sword disappeared, but the small section of the sword from where Guan Luoyang held it with two fingers to the tip could not be dispersed.

Guan Luoyang flipped his fingers and drew circles forward, as if he had pulled the sword back out of thin air.

The invisible energy coalesced into a form, and the incredibly soft sword wrapped around his fingers in circles as he trembled.

Guan Luoyang flicked his finger with the flying sword, thrusting it forward and striking Chen Xizhen's magic sword.

bite!!!!!!!!!

The sound of swords echoing continuously resounded from the top of the cliff.

The surrounding wildflowers and grasses stood tall towards the sky, their surfaces seemingly shimmering with a metallic sheen, trembling slightly, revealing their sharp edges.

But at the very moment of its greatest brilliance, the vegetation could not withstand it and was completely shattered.

Chen Xizhen's magic sword could not advance an inch, and his face showed an expression of incredulous shock.

How could anyone possibly withstand the Celestial Master's Flying Sword? The Celestial Master was a figure who successfully ascended to immortality!

But he immediately realized the reason.

Guan Luoyang did not restrain the Celestial Master Flying Sword, but rather erased the sword intent imprint that Chen Xizhen had left in the Celestial Master Flying Sword.

In that brief moment of contact, before Chen Xizhen could even be alerted, the mark he left on the flying sword had already been erased.

The Celestial Master's Flying Sword no longer belonged to him, so it could no longer gather or disperse according to Chen Xizhen's mood.

On the contrary, this sword is now flowing into Guan Luoyang's body...!

The only word to describe it is loss.

The flying sword wrapped around Guan Luoyang's fingers transformed into pure primordial energy according to his will, seeping into his body through his pores.

Chen Xizhen's eyes were bloodshot with rage. Behind him, a colorless fire dragon soared up, its aura wild and arrogant, breaking through the clouds as it arrived.

Guan Luoyang flicked his fingertip forward, sending Chen Xizhen flying three feet away, and then turned his palm to meet the fire dragon.

He has fought Wang Laozhi more times than he has fought Chen Xizhen. In the past, each fight was a hard-fought battle with no fancy moves or fundamental clashes. This time, both sides habitually continued the tradition from the previous two fights.

The blue lightning cloud surged, and dragons flew out from it. The two dragons collided, and the unparalleled heat directly ripped off a layer of land on the mountain peak, and ashes scattered like snow.

The remaining rocks were also charred black and cracked under the high temperature.

Wang Laozhi tumbled down from the air, his expression changing slightly.

Chen Xizhen flicked his wrist and said in a deep voice, "So you were hiding some of your strength last time!"

"You can't say that. To be more precise, after fighting with you guys that day, I came up with a new trick."

Guan Luoyang extended a hand, his eyes blazing with undisguised killing intent. "I'll name it, 'Sky-Piercing Sun-Playing Grand Capture'!"

His voice was louder with each syllable than the last. When he began to utter his signature move, it was like a series of thunderclaps. The last few words were so powerful that people could no longer make out the meaning of each syllable.

As he said before, he didn't actually like to plan games slowly, but in order to reduce the casualties of Liangshan and to swallow more government soldiers, he restrained his desire to fight with all his might every time he designed a way to make the opponent fall into a trap.

Finally, the end was over, and now he no longer needed to restrain himself.

The ultimate effort aimed at killing someone.

If this move doesn't kill you, you might actually seriously injure me!

Come on, there's no refusing, let's fight!

The Great Heavenly Blade Intent imbued Guan Luoyang's every finger with a distorted gravitational field, making each of his fingers equivalent to a full-force strike from before.

The cliff collapsed first, but all the shattered boulders had not yet fallen.

Chen Xizhen and Wang Laozhi attacked simultaneously.

The two of them couldn't tell who Guan Luoyang's attack was aimed at, because they were both affected by gravity, as if they were trapped in a heretical environment with constantly changing light.

All the scenery before my eyes has lost its original appearance, leaving only a myriad of ever-changing, colorful hues.

Chen Xizhen refused to show despair in his eyes. His hair was disheveled as he uttered his Dao Heart, which was a pill formed from countless golden characters. The Dao Heart landed on the magic sword, unleashing the most brilliant sword strike of his life.

The highest achievement is to establish virtue, the next is to establish merit, and the next is to establish words.

His Daoist ambition was to achieve the fame and glory of a deity ruling the court. He was already close to succeeding. Throughout history, even the direct descendants of the Celestial Masters had never been so close to success.

If we can just get through a few more decades peacefully, and wait for the Heavenly Emperor to leave, the Taiqing Heavenly Heart Theory can be completely perfected.

But why, why, when not many ordinary people have actually died, and when they are not completely unable to survive, why do they rise up in rebellion? Why does such an enemy suddenly appear?

I refuse to accept this! This is not the way of the world! I can make a comeback!

Everyone saw the cliff at the top of Liangshan Mountain collapse, and a golden light slashed out diagonally, cutting off the adjacent peak as well.

In an instant!

The clamor of the battlefield was muffled by the sounds of an anthill.

Amidst the anxious fighting and waiting of many, Wang Laozhi fell from the sky.

Then, pieces of gravel fell one by one.

When the stones fell, Guan Luoyang's figure, floating in mid-air, was fully revealed.

The person who drew the sword had already been twisted and collapsed by his hand, his body shattered like smoke, carrying with him a body full of ambition, wicked thoughts and sins, leaving only a purple crystal heart in his hand.

click!

Guan Luoyang's disgust remained undiminished, and he crushed the heart in his hand.

This also shattered the last vestige of hope for the officers and soldiers to retreat, and set the tone for a complete victory.

(End of this chapter)