A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 57 Relying on the Battle of Magic, Five Hundred Princes

"We cannot simply retreat."

When the King of Yue and his men arrived at the riverbank and met up with General Yu's men, this was the first thing they said.

Despite his broken bones and the excruciating pain, his face was covered in cold sweat, yet he remained calm and composed, saying, "Master Jiuying said that when we were ambushed before, we encountered dozens of fierce soldiers who could transform into nine-foot-tall figures. Their skin was like that of a rhinoceros, and their appearance was vastly different from that of ordinary people. I'm afraid each of them possessed the courage to charge into battle."

"If they want to kill me, they will send out more and more people. If we only focus on retreating and they catch up with us, we will easily lose our composure and be routed."

When the King of Yue was making arrangements in Jiaozhou Prefecture, he encountered the seriously injured Jiu Ying. Not long after, he heard of Jiu He's death, which deepened his vigilance. He mobilized the Diwei Army not only to prevent Ma Qiang's counterattack, but also to deal with those strange and burly giants.

Unfortunately, that demon made too much of a splash when it first emerged from the Snake Valley. It was surrounded by tens of thousands of venomous snakes and pythons, who were there to protect it as it chose to devour people. It would choose the most outstanding people, those with high magical power to replenish their spirit, those with excellent martial arts skills to replenish their body, and those with high status and wealth to replenish their luck.

The demonic and greedy aura caused birds and beasts within a ten-mile radius to flee in terror, and it set its sights on the Yue King's army, arousing the alertness and restlessness of the spirit-wielding elephant soldiers.

After an uncontrollable skirmish, both sides were almost completely wiped out, with only their leaders remaining.

"Then should we form ranks and meet the enemy, stalling until reinforcements arrive?"

General Yu, who was standing beside him, had just finished replying when he added with some annoyance, "But I have no authority to mobilize other troops. Although I sent someone to inform the Commander-in-Chief this morning, based on my estimation of the order and the distance, it will take at least half an hour for them to arrive nearby."

The King of Yue said, "We must fight, but we can't set up our troops here. The jungle is dense and treacherous, making it difficult to defend ourselves. The riverbank is wide and offers no support. Are there any towns nearby?"

General Yu immediately replied, "Ten miles away..."

"Six miles away!"

With a splash, Guan Luoyang stepped ashore, interrupting General Yu.

He washed himself in the river, and the bloodstains on his hair and face were washed away, but his clothes were not so easy to clean.

The dark blue round-necked shirt, thoroughly soaked with blood and then washed, has now turned a color almost like ink.

General Yu asked, puzzled, "We brought a map. In all directions, within a six-mile radius, where are there any towns or cities?"

Guan Luoyang glanced at him, pressed his palm against his temple, and said, "You came from the main road, but when I chased you from Snake Valley, I saw a deserted town."

Qiu Shi chimed in from the side, "There was a major flood here a few years ago. A town was indeed submerged, and many people were swept away. The remaining people were relocated and never returned."

General Yu said, "But this kind of..."

But this abandoned town, which had been flooded and uninhabited for a long time, would not have very sturdy houses. Although they could be used as a base for troop deployment, how could they compare to the large town ten miles away?

Traveling an extra four miles would bring more comprehensive defenses and even allow the local people to assist in the resistance; in comparison, it's worthwhile.

He had barely begun to speak when the King of Yue raised his hand, signaling him to stop.

"These bandits are fierce and brave. What if the townspeople panic and flee, turning against the soldiers? Wouldn't that be counterproductive?"

The King of Yue, having chosen his target with a single sentence, said to Guan Luoyang, "There is no time to lose. Young Hero Guan, please lead the way."

General Yu's troops consisted of fifty-six cavalrymen in the lead, followed closely by infantry.

On the way, Qiu Shi and the others used magic to communicate with other groups of people who were searching in the jungle, and they gradually joined them.

Sure enough, there was an abandoned town six miles away.

Back when the floods were severe, the water level here could reach a person's chest, but several years have passed since then, and there are no signs of wetlands or swamps here now.

Weeds grew rampant on the ground, and sunlight shone on the dusty and muddy houses. Small grasses sprouted from the mud in the tiles, looking fresh and tender in the midday sun.

The soldiers immediately began to deploy their defenses, taking advantage of the terrain around the houses.

After General Yu's men dispersed, they moved quietly to the side of the King of Yue.

"Your Highness, after we finish fighting those bandits, while their attention is on the battlefield, Your Highness can be escorted by a few mages to leave first and rejoin the army as soon as possible."

Several monks around looked over with strange expressions.

The King of Yue coughed and said indifferently, "General, I'm afraid you underestimate those people. As soon as we leave, they will definitely notice and send out their best warriors to hunt us down."

"If we can't hold out here, will the general send troops to rescue us while we're fighting the bandits?"

General Yu thought about it again and realized that this approach had too many drawbacks.

He made this suggestion because he was really afraid that something might happen to the Prince of Yue by his side. Now that he was reminded of this, he blushed with embarrassment.

"This humble general is ashamed."

The King of Yue shook his head and said, "It's alright, you are also of sincere heart. But you must know that I am with you in this battle today."

"If Heaven is unkind, and I perish here with you all, our blood mingling; but if we hold firm and ultimately defeat the villains, I, the king, will drink with you all, offering gold, silver, silk, fine wine, and a glorious name to reward your hard work!"

His voice rose to a high level for the second half of his speech, and it could be heard far and wide, with many soldiers echoing in unison.

The monks had already found their own places. Some silently carved the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) on the ground to fix the long banner, while others used nearby materials, turning over some rotten wooden tables, making stoves out of soil, and sticking incense sticks on them.

Their faces were all very somber, and they looked even more solemn than the soldiers.

If they had known things would turn out this way, some people might not have come. Not every sorcerer enjoys fighting and killing. Back when the government summoned sorcerers from fifteen prefectures to help suppress the river bandits, most of them, who were usually only known for their feng shui, fortune-telling, medicine, and insect magic, could have declined to go.

But now that the King of Yue has revealed his identity, these people cannot possibly desert their posts for the sake of their reputation and the future development of their temples and sects.

Guan Luoyang had found a sunny spot, leaned against the wall, and was rubbing his head, hoping to get rid of the dizziness as soon as possible.

Qiu Shi, however, brought Daoist Jiu Ying over, pulled him into the dilapidated house, handed him something, and said, "Eat this."

"What is it?"

Guan Luoyang looked closely and said, "Is it the gall bladder of that giant python?"

"That's right. You probably didn't recognize it, but the original form of that monster was actually a male snake. Its head was as thick as its belly, and its scales had black and yellow patterns inside. This snake gall is the main ingredient for your medicinal bath."

Qiu Shi said, "I asked my master. The gallbladder of this kind of demon is hundreds or thousands of times more potent than that of ordinary snake gallbladders, and it is not poisonous."

Master Jiuying also said, "I heard that you can directly ingest the medicinal properties. After you swallow this snake gall, I will use the Supreme Refinement Chapter to protect you. Its effect may be comparable to a complete bone-refining medicinal bath in a short period of time."

When Master Jiuying said this, there was still a hint of uncertainty on his face.

After all, a complete bone-strengthening medicinal bath requires taking the midnight and noon hours of each day for fifteen consecutive days, steaming the person in the medicinal vat to allow the medicinal power to fully penetrate.

Concentrating such medicinal power in a short time would likely cause even a master of the second stage of martial arts training to be unable to absorb the benefits, and would instead be extremely harmful to the body.

But Qiu Shi told him about Guan Luoyang swallowing dozens of kilograms of medicinal herbs, which persuaded him to come and try it.

Guan Luoyang took the snake gall, which was almost half the size of his palm. He looked at it and thought it was a deep green like jade, with a crystal-clear feel to it.

Master Jiuying sighed: "With a formidable enemy at hand, now is definitely not the time to take medicine and practice your skills. However, this demon's snake gall is extraordinary; its potency dissipates quickly. It will only be effective if you take it now. There are advantages and disadvantages; you will have to decide for yourself."

Guan Luoyang asked, "After I eat it, will I be unable to fight for a short period of time?"

Master Jiuying said, "It mainly depends on your endurance, but for at least half an hour, you will be overwhelmed by the effects of the medicine and find it difficult to fight."

"Half a quarter of an hour, endurance..."

Guan Luoyang felt his temples throbbing and his eyes were still blurry and burning.

If he plays in his current condition, he will likely create many openings for himself.

With a blink of an eye, Guan Luoyang made his decision: "It's just a matter of time; I'll fight against it."

Qiu Shi warned, "Don't chew it. The bitterness of the snake gall might be unbearable for your body. Just swallow it whole."

Guan Luoyang nodded, adjusted his posture, and swallowed the snake gall in one gulp. His Adam's apple bobbed as the gall entered his stomach with a gurgling sound, as if it had been squeezed out.

Suddenly, a bitter taste that burned my stomach rose up.

Guan Luoyang's expression suddenly changed.

"Damn! How can anything in the world taste this bad?!"

Although he had been warned, Guan Luoyang still couldn't hold back when he actually experienced it.

This was completely unexpected.

His dizzy mind was instantly cleared, and he even felt that every strand of his hair was bitter.

Only by clenching his teeth, sitting on the ground, pressing his abdomen, and curling up could Guan Luoyang ensure that he wouldn't vomit everything up.

He noticed his stomach starting to cramp, and the Azure Bird's vital energy was stimulated, surging and flowing along his chest and ribs, coming into contact with the burning pain in his stomach.

The bitterness subsided, but a continuous flow of heat began to be drawn out by the Azure Bird's vital energy, like a boiling tide, expanding and pounding through his entire body from his stomach.

At the opportune moment, Daoist Jiu Ying began chanting incantations, his four fingers joined together, occasionally poking at various acupoints on Guan Luoyang's back. He walked around Guan Luoyang's body, his shoes crushing the weeds in the dilapidated house, leaving traces like talismans.

The magical power was activated, and through the laws of the talisman, it merged with the energy of nature.

The weedy ground and the entire dilapidated house seemed to be connected as one, transforming into a medicine furnace.

Qiu Shi's body was pushed out of the dilapidated house, and the broken wooden door automatically pulled shut, shaking off a layer of dust.

Tiny dust particles swirled in the sunlight, and the ground began to tremble slightly.

This time, the source of the tremor was in the distance.

Qiu Shi turned his head and saw hundreds of cloaked figures rushing towards him from a hundred feet outside the town.

As they ran, their bodies swelled, and with each step they took, they grew a head taller than before, their cloaks being torn off and blown away.

When these people transformed into colossal figures nine feet tall, all that remained of them was some highly elastic leather protecting their waists, hips, and limb joints, while large areas of their bluish-gray skin were exposed.

Shields the size of an average person's entire torso were pulled out from behind them.

The charge launched by hundreds of humans resembled a large herd of bison migrating or a running elephant, raising large amounts of dust from the ground, like a long yellow dragon rushing towards them.

The King of Yue was sitting in a chair, resting against a withered door frame, when he saw this scene. He lost his composure and crushed the rotten wood in his hand.

"There are so many..."

The number of these nine-foot giants was much greater than he had anticipated. Without the Diwei Army, even if all 5,600 soldiers from the three surrounding prefectures gathered, they would have to pay an extremely heavy price to contend with them.

Such a force could easily seize a prefecture through direct assault.

The tremors of the ground grew closer, and the soldiers guarding the front lines of the town launched a preemptive attack in a heart-stopping moment.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

The sound of gunpowder exploding instantly drowned out the sound of the nine-foot giant running wildly.

The more than 500 men that General Yu brought were originally only to welcome the King of Yue, so they naturally did not bring many heavy firearms. Most of the gunpowder pouches that the elephants carried were trampled and damaged when they were entangled with the snakes, and were soaked by the dirty blood river water.

Only about thirty mother-and-child cannons, which were still in good condition and easy to transport, were brought to this abandoned town.

Fortunately, according to the regulations of the Jiaozhi army, each hundred-man squad, excluding cavalry, was required to have ten musketeers, twenty crossbowmen, thirty shield and knife soldiers, and forty spearmen.

These musketeers practiced loading and firing cannons regularly. Although they were not as skilled as the artillerymen, they could at least use the cannons.

The mother-and-child cannon is divided into a mother cannon and a child cannon. The mother cannon is 5 feet 3 inches long and weighs 95 pounds. The cannon body is thinner at the front and thicker at the back, with a bottom like an inverted hat, five hoops, and cannon ears on both sides.

The gun has an open-shaped propellant chamber on its rear side, which can hold the cannon.

The cannon is like a hollow cylinder, weighing eight catties, containing two ounces and two mace of gunpowder and five ounces of iron pellets.

Each mother cannon is equipped with five daughter cannons. Multiple people take turns loading ammunition. When needed, the daughter cannons are loaded onto the mother cannon and fired. The rate of fire is much faster than that of ordinary cannons.

Each shot fired sprayed out a large number of tiny projectiles, covering such a wide area that it was almost impossible for anyone to avoid them.

When dozens of cannons fired in succession, like a torrential rain of bullets, they knocked down the charging giants row by row.

But the remaining giants continued their charge.

What's even more terrifying is that most of those who were knocked down by the bullets managed to get back up, albeit unsteadily.

It is clear that many bullets are embedded in their flesh, but as long as they are not directly hit in vital areas such as the face or eyes, the wounds in other places do not bleed much.

Master Jindeng carried an oil lamp, surrounded by several monks of similar status, who served as his assistants.

"Crisis is opportunity, very good, very good! In this kind of battle, today is the time for this old monk to make a name for himself."

Master Jin Deng felt nervous and excited. With the help of several monks around him, he raised the oil lamp and blew it into the sky.

The green, poisonous flame suddenly swelled, then returned to its bean-sized form.

But suddenly, green flames ignited on the arrowheads of the archers in the front rows.

General Yu shouted at the same time, "Shoot!"

Round after round of arrows carrying poisonous fire were fired, many of which were blocked by shields. Even when they landed on the bodies of some nine-foot giants, the arrowheads could not pierce their skin.

However, if someone has already been wounded by artillery fire and has broken skin, then as soon as those poisoned rockets touch the skin, the sparks will travel several feet along the skin like venomous snakes, seeking out gaps to penetrate.

When smoke emerged from the eyes of the nine-foot giant, it proved that the poisonous fire had burned through his body, severing his heart meridian. His running figure immediately collapsed to the ground.

This barrage of poison rockets burned dozens of nine-foot giants to death, and the actual battle losses were actually slightly greater than those caused by the previous artillery attack.

But after being bombarded by cannons and arrows, the nine-foot giant had already rushed outside the formation and was within arm's reach.

One after another, the mother cannons were overturned by them, and many archers did not have time to dodge.

But after they broke through the artillery and archer lines, they entered the town and found it filled with dilapidated houses, completely deserted.

Suddenly, the sky turned red, and meteorites began to fall, striking the nine-foot giants.

Numerous nine-foot giants charged into the battle from the north, while on the western side of the town, a few dilapidated wooden tables were set up as an altar on the rooftops.

Six feng shui masters, dressed as monks, Taoists, and laymen, stood here, overlooking the battlefield, and joined forces to cast spells.

One of the old scholars, wearing a square turban, exclaimed, "I imitated the old story of Emperor Guangwu of Han, using celestial fire and meteors to bombard the enemy formation. It was a deceptive act, and should have killed at least several dozen people. How come these people are unaffected by the illusion?!"

Master Gaodian stood on the roof ridge, the hemp cloth wrapped around his staff emitting smoke and even showing signs of burning.

He looked at his family's centuries-old treasure with heartache and said, "Blinding these people's vision has caused far greater losses than expected. What methods did they use to create such a monster?"

On the battlefield, numerous soldiers wielding long spears are active.

While these nine-foot giants were blind, they thrust their spears into their groin and anus, and some even tried to stab them in the eyes.

But the toughness of these giants' bodies was excessive. Some spears that were thrust into the groin would only penetrate halfway before being clamped in. In pain, the nine-foot giants would swing their shields and kill the spearmen.

Only a few centurions and General Yu could kill someone with a single blow.

Grand Master Yanglian, Master Yuanyuan, and others were also directly active on the battlefield.

Amidst the fluttering of his red monk's robes, Grand Master Yanglian struck a nine-foot-tall giant with three consecutive fiery lotus seals. Finally, flames erupted from the giant's seven orifices and rose to the top of his head.

But after the nine-foot giant fell, the fire on his head continued to burn fiercely for a while.

"There is clearly yin energy, but the joints can move freely. It is not a corpse monster. In fact, there is a bit of true yang energy in the yin energy, which is why it can burn for so long."

Grand Master Yanglian scanned the area up and down and then noticed that there were several lines of incantations engraved on the nine-foot-tall giant's body, from his chin down his throat to his upper abdomen. However, the incantations were so similar in color to the giant's dark blue skin that they were difficult to distinguish.

Those incantations, like the tracks of insects crawling, seemed to be a mixture of Sanskrit and Chinese, but they were not without errors and omissions. One could only guess their meaning from a few characters.

"Dong Tianwang's grandson?"

Dong Tianwang, also known as Fu Dong Tianwang or Chong Tian Shenwang, is said to have lived in Wenlang Kingdom during the Yin-Shang period, according to local myths and legends in Southeast Asia. He was born three years ago but could not speak or sit up.

However, when the king was recruiting warriors, his appetite suddenly increased dramatically. In just one day and one night, he grew from an infant into a giant, capable of defeating an entire army of the Shang Dynasty single-handedly.

"To carve out territory and divide land, and to claim kingship through bravery!"

A woman's voice came from inside.

Grand Master Yanglian looked up, his gaze passing through the battlefield, and saw that more than fifty feet away, the female owl Hua Mi was leading a group of sorcerers closer.

"These five hundred descendants of the Heavenly Prince are destined to inherit the ancient destiny, to separate Jiaozhi, and to usher in a new king."

Grand Master Yanglian twitched his beard, his hands behind his back constantly calculating, and said disdainfully, "King Dong is nothing but a vague legend. These nine-foot giants, although their skin, flesh, and bones have all been altered, are ultimately not born that way. How could they possibly escape my eyes?"

"After they transformed into nine-foot-tall bodies, their heads grew larger, but their brains did not. They merely used a bit of primordial energy from within the yin to fill the gaps, thus preventing their brains from being shaken out. How dare they call themselves divine descendants with such evil magic?"

Hua Mi's expression changed slightly, and she darted forward, sword in hand, to thrust straight at him.

Yang Lian stepped forward to meet the attack, shouting, "Disrupt the balance of the two energies in their minds!"

Qiu Shi, Qiu Di, and others, as well as Master Jin Deng, Lady A Ze, Master Xu Luo, and others, all heard this voice.

Everyone rushed to the feng shui altar on the roof, which was slightly to the west.

If one wants to operate subtle and ingenious feng shui illusions, shielding the five senses, then of course it's not the case that the more people there are, the better.

However, if the goal is simply to disrupt the yin energy in the giant's brain, these sorcerers only need to channel their magic power onto the feng shui platform and release it.

Apart from Yang Lian and Jiu Ying, all the monks gathered around the house.

The colorful paper clothes rustled in the wind, and the old man with the bald head also came to the bottom of the house, swinging the small axe from his sleeve.

The axe blade embedded itself in a pillar in the back wall of the house, cutting only an inch in.

But when he pulled the axe out, the cracking sound echoed continuously throughout the entire house from that spot.

The moment everyone realized something was wrong, the entire house collapsed, and the feng shui altar was destroyed.

In the northern part of the town, a total of over a thousand people from both sides are engaged in a fierce battle.

Suddenly, the many nine-foot giants regained their sight, their eyes bloodshot, and they began to smash their shields wildly.

In an instant, most of the five hundred soldiers were killed.

Blood splattered, lives were lost, walls collapsed, houses crumbled, and broken tiles flew everywhere.

Old Man Huangtou's eyesight was failing and his vision was declining; in fact, he could no longer see many things clearly.

I simply relied on my senses, listening to the screams and cries from near and far, and feeling the atmosphere of the moment.

He sighed and raised the small axe in his hand a second time.

The axe fell, the old man's eyes widened, and a murderous aura filled the air.

(End of this chapter)