Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

Meanwhile, in Beishuo Prefecture.

Inside Linyue Pass, the garrison commander who had just surrendered the city to the imperial court was holding a banquet.

The green flag on the city wall had been torn down and replaced with the flag of the Great Yin army.

The general who took over the pass from the imperial court sat at the head of the table, while the general who surrendered the city smiled broadly and held a wine cup in both hands.

"Rest assured, my lord, I am familiar with all the cities of Beishuo."

"If the royal army grants me another 20,000 troops, I am willing to personally persuade them to surrender..."

Click!

Before he finished speaking, the blue bricks in the center of the hall suddenly cracked.

A verdant tree root emerged from the crack, initially no thicker than a hair, but in the blink of an eye, it swept across like a giant python, overturning all the tables, wine jars, and armored soldiers in the hall.

The general defending the city's territory changed his expression abruptly.

"What the hell is that?!"

He drew his sword and slashed; the blade fell, and the tree root snapped in two.

However, there was no sap in the broken opening; instead, countless tiny grass seeds flew out.

Grass seeds fell on his armor and immediately took root.

Tender shoots burrowed into the flesh through the gaps in the armor, and then emerged from between the mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.

The city's defenders had barely let out a half-scream when they were stretched into a blood-red, grotesque tree.

His face, which had not yet completely stiffened, was still hanging on the branch.

The hall was deathly silent.

Immediately afterwards, all the trees inside the pass began to shake at the same time.

Branches, leaves, vines, moss, and wild grasses gathered together.

In the abandoned training ground in the city, figures emerged from among the grass and trees.

They wore green rattan armor, held wooden spears, and although their faces were slightly stiff, their eyes were by no means empty.

They are not puppets that can only obey orders, but real soldiers made of grass and trees with intelligence!

The leading officer walked to the blood tree, plucked the general's seal still hanging on the branch, and glanced at the surrendered Northern Shuo soldiers kneeling around him.

"By the decree of Heaven."

"Anyone who surrenders a city to the enemy, betrays his comrades, or harms his own men shall be executed."

"Those who are coerced into joining the battle and are willing to lay down their arms will be forgiven for their past actions."

"Those who are unwilling to surrender may lay down their weapons and return home on their own."

"But anyone who dares to aid the imperial court in wreaking havoc in the Northern Frontier—will be executed without mercy!"

Clang!

A long sword fell to the ground.

Then came the second handle, and the third handle.

More and more soldiers from Beishuo threw down their weapons and knelt before the blue sky that had been lit up again.

The imperial general who took over Linyue Pass roared and tried to form a battle formation, but countless roots rose up simultaneously inside and outside the city walls.

Before the military formation could be fully formed, the newly erected imperial banners were uprooted.

The azure array patterns shattered inch by inch!

This is not an isolated case.

In the seven prefectures of Beishuo, in the cities occupied by the imperial court, even the grass and trees were turning into soldiers.

Ancient trees rose from the ground, blocking the retreat of the imperial army; thousands of vines burrowed into the earth's veins, tearing the newly erected Azure Sky Array Platform to pieces; and wild grasses gathered into grass and wood armies, which, under the guidance of the local surrendered troops, took over the city gates, granaries, and communication array.

Those aristocratic families who were wavering and had not yet truly pledged allegiance to the imperial court all closed their doors and handed over their official seals.

Those who had already killed the corrupt officials and voluntarily surrendered the city to claim credit were all dragged out from the depths of the mansion by these plants.

Some people die a quick and painless death, while others become new trees growing outside the city gates.

The scenery in Hanchuan Prefecture is quite different again.

The Hanchuan region is dotted with rivers and lakes. The area where the imperial court's 200,000-strong right flank army was stationed was originally a shallow, continuous stretch of water for hundreds of miles.

The reeds that had been flattened by the army regenerated from underwater the moment the sky brightened.

Reed leaves are like knives, lotus stems are like spears.

Hundreds of thousands of water plants entangled the warships, dragged down the pontoon bridges, and cut off the supply lines.

The river, which had been trampled underfoot by the army, was transformed in the blink of an eye into a gigantic blue maw that devoured soldiers and horses.

The reeds intertwined, forming the image of soldiers made of grass and wood, wearing straw raincoats and hats.

They traversed the water, first destroying the battlements, then cutting off the food supplies, and finally surrounding and killing the officers and soldiers in the army.

The reeds parted on both sides when those who were willing to lay down their weapons.

Anyone who dares to swing their knife will be dragged to the bottom of the river in the next instant.

The two groups of imperial immortals quickly took action.

In the vast northern sky, a mystical immortal summoned crimson heavenly fire, intending to burn down the mountains and forests within a thousand miles.

Another person invoked the Heavenly Seal, forcibly recalling the power over the earth veins of each city.

On the other side of Hanchuan, sword light also cleaved the long river, and mysterious ice froze the hundred-mile stretch of water.

They are immortals.

No amount of ordinary grass and trees can stop them.

But at the very moment the four auras of the Mystic Immortals rose, the sky over the two states suddenly sank an inch.

It wasn't a fall.

Rather, the entire blue sky was watching them!

The mountains and rivers of Beishuo trembled.

The seven cities, countless plants and trees, the blood of the defending soldiers, and the hearts of hundreds of millions of people reunited, all intertwined under the sky to form a towering figure.

It was a divine general clad in blue armor and wielding a long spear.

The faces are blurred, yet they seem to embody the shared image of generations of soldiers and civilians in Beishuo who guard the border.

Azure Sky Spirit - Northern Northern Divine General!

With a single strike of his halberd, the celestial fire that stretched for miles was instantly extinguished.

The Heavenly Seal, which sought to reclaim the power over the earth's veins, was driven into the mountain by a single spear thrust.

The two immortals groaned simultaneously, as they were forcefully pressed back into a corner of the sky by the mountains and rivers of Beishuo.

In Hanchuan, the vast rivers and lakes and the wishes of all living beings coalesced into a divine official holding a large blue seal and standing on the long river.

The great seal pressed down, the black ice shattered, and the broken rivers flowed back together.

No matter how those two immortals act, the surrounding mountains and rivers will bear the consequences for the spirit of the state.

If you cut open one river, ten rivers will flow in; if you destroy one body, it will be rebuilt among countless plants and trees.

This is the spirit of Qingtian Prefecture.

They are not Xuanxian who have cultivated independently, nor can they leave this state.

But on this land beneath our feet, they are the embodiment of the mountains and rivers of a state, the fortune of a state, and the thoughts of all the people of a state!

Both of the state spirits possessed the combat power of a Xuanxian (mysterious immortal).

Moreover, in their respective home turf, they are far more troublesome than ordinary Xuanxian!

The four immortals sent by the imperial court were all suppressed.

The fallen cities were recaptured one by one by the soldiers and the local garrison that had returned to their side.

When those traitors who surrendered the city were hung outside the city gates, and when the people discovered that the righteous government had not been defeated but had already taken root in every inch of the land beneath their feet, their previously wavering hearts were calmed down again.

No! Even more determined than before the great war!

Wishes rose into the sky, and the previously pale blue sky brightened again. The gaps torn by the Azure Sky Banner quickly healed, and the color became even deeper than before.

Outside the city of Hexi Prefecture.

Yin Daoheng was waving his military tally, ordering his legion, which was imbued with the spirit of the army, to hold their ground to the death.

Suddenly, a blue light descended upon his head.

The blue sky, which had been somewhat pale due to the loss of cities on both flanks, recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A bluish aura swept across the sky, gradually pushing back the azure clouds that the imperial army had painstakingly drawn in.

The auras of the ten Qingtian Daoists surged dramatically.

The waves of vegetation are becoming increasingly turbulent.

The broken military spirits had barely raised their heads when countless cracks reappeared on their bodies.

The color drained completely from Yin Daoheng's face.

"impossible……"

If the two wings win, the blue sky will only grow weaker.

How could they be stronger than before the war started?

Perhaps Gu Changjin is just putting on a brave face.

Perhaps Beishuo and Hanchuan haven't truly...

hum!

The first crimson telegram struck the central army.

"Grand Commander! The vegetation of Beishuo has formed an army, and the lost territories such as Linyue Pass have been recaptured. Two immortals are being suppressed by a blue-armored divine general. Please send reinforcements immediately!"

Before he could finish speaking, a second jade talisman for help arrived.

"The Hanchuan supply route has been completely cut off, and all the Azure Sky Array Platforms have been destroyed! A Celestial Official of the Profound Immortal level has emerged within the state, and our army is now trapped in the Thousand-Mile River Marsh!"

The third one, the fourth one!

The city fell, supplies ran out, the army collapsed, and even the grass and trees became soldiers!

Battle reports and urgent messages for help arrived at Yin Daoheng almost simultaneously.

In the last message mirror, the left-wing commander's face was covered in blood, and behind him were dense, green branches and leaves that blotted out the sky.

"Grand Commander, Northern Shu is not without garrison troops!"

"Instead, the mountains, rivers, grass, and trees of Beishuo... are all their soldiers!"

The water mirror shattered with a crash.

Yin Daoheng stood frozen in place, the military tally in his hand slowly drooping down.