The Reversal of Heaven Begins with The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

A vast and powerful spiritual force, as solid as a mountain, instantly transformed into an invisible hand, grabbing Uesugi Tora from mid-air.

"what?!"

Uesugi Torato felt a sudden tightness all over his body, as if he were being bound by an invisible giant python, and his entire body was lifted into the air.

He struggled fiercely, his powerful muscles bulging, and his ninth-grade true energy erupted, but it was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, unable to shake the invisible restraints in the slightest.

Lin Mu slightly clenched his five fingers.

"Ugh—!"

Overwhelmed by the excruciating pain, Uesugi Tora couldn't help but let out a painful howl.

He felt an incomparably terrifying force coming from all directions, as if it wanted to crush him to pieces.

His bones creaked under the strain, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"I...I was wrong...Please, sir...let me go!"

Uesugi Tora forced out a plea for mercy through gritted teeth, his face devoid of any arrogance, replaced only by horror and fear.

It turns out the rumors were true.

Lin Mu is truly a grandmaster, and his methods are extremely bizarre. Even now, he still doesn't know how Lin Mu did it.

The feeling was as if an invisible giant hand was squeezing him in the palm of its hand, and he was like an ant that could be crushed by the other party at any moment!

A Grandmaster, truly terrifying!

The surrounding courtiers also changed color.

They didn't know how powerful the Grandmaster was, but they knew how powerful Uesugi Tora was.

A great general of Northern Qi, a ninth-rank martial arts expert, he is capable of taking on a thousand cavalrymen single-handedly. Among the ninth-rank martial artists in Northern Qi, he is second only to Lang Tao and Haitang Duoduo.

Such a person, in front of Lin Mu, was as insignificant as an ant.

If Lin Mu wanted to kill them, wouldn't it be as easy as turning his hand?

Most officials immediately fell silent, lowered their heads tremblingly, and acted like quails.

Only a few loyal generals to Uesugi Torata bravely stepped forward: "Your Majesty, have mercy! General Hayashi, please calm down! General Uesugi acted impulsively; his crime does not warrant death!"

Zhan Doudou spoke up at the right moment, her voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor: "General Lin, Shangshan Hu is ignorant and fearless. Don't take it to heart. Since he has already admitted his mistake, let him off the hook."

"Since Your Majesty has pleaded for him, I will spare him this time."

With a thought, Lin Mu caused the invisible force to vanish abruptly.

"boom!"

Uesugi Tora fell to the ground from mid-air, panting heavily, his gaze towards Lin Mu filled with horror and lingering fear.

At the same time, he completely dismissed the idea that Lin Mu was an undercover agent in Nanqing.

If such a powerful being truly intended to harm Northern Qi, why would he lower himself to become a Grand General?

They could easily break through the army's lines, storm the palace, and do whatever they wanted!

[Perhaps they reached some secret agreement with His Majesty! With the help of a Grandmaster, we're sure to crush the Southern Qing army this time, and perhaps... we can even rescue my adoptive father.]

Thinking of his adoptive father, Sean, who had been imprisoned by Nanqing for many years, a complex light flashed in Shangshan Hu's eyes. He struggled to his feet, knelt on one knee before Lin Mu, clasped his hands in a fist and said in a deep voice, "This humble general...is convinced! Thank you, General, for sparing my life!"

……

Inside the Imperial Study of the Southern Qing Palace.

"What?! Lin Mu went to Northern Qi and became the Grand General Protector of the Nation?!"

Emperor Qing slammed the military report in his hand onto the imperial desk with a loud bang.

His chest heaved, and his eyes burned with fury.

"You scoundrel! He is a citizen of my Qing Kingdom, yet instead of repaying the Emperor's grace, he has betrayed his country and turned against his country. He is utterly shameless!"

This time, Emperor Qing was truly enraged.

He never expected that Lin Mu, this guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, would act so unpredictably and suddenly betray him!

This completely disrupted his entire plan.

He had originally recalled Chen Pingping, Ye Liuyun, and Fei Jie, who had just returned, and laid a trap to eliminate this uncontrollable grandmaster.

Before the plan could even begin, Lin Mu went straight to Northern Qi and even turned his guns against Qing Kingdom. He's utterly despicable!

After his initial anger subsided, Emperor Qing quickly calmed down, tapping his fingers on the dragon desk, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

Now that the arrow is on the bowstring, it must be released.

Going to war with Northern Qi was not only his personal wish, but also the common wish of the entire ruling class and military of Qing.

With a million soldiers stationed on the border, consuming countless provisions every day, if not for expanding territory and plundering cities, are they just kept for show?

Those who are strong will bully the weak!

This is an immutable law between nations!

If you don't suppress weak countries when you are powerful, they will turn around and suppress you when they become powerful.

The current problem is, how do we deal with Lin Mu?

Only a Grandmaster can defeat a Grandmaster.

After pondering for a long time, a cold glint flashed in Emperor Qing's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Issue an imperial decree! Order Ye Liuyun to accompany the army north to contain Lin Mu."

"Furthermore, Fan Xian is hereby appointed as the military supervisor and will accompany the troops!"

"Your Majesty, Fan Xian is merely..."

The eunuch Hou, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but remind him.

"I know!"

Emperor Qing said coldly, "But the people behind him will go too."

He believed that Wu Zhu would never let Fan Xian face danger alone.

Fan Xian going to the front lines is equivalent to Wu Zhu going to the front lines.

Moreover, Chen Pingping and Fan Jian would have to exert all their efforts because Fan Xian was on the front lines.

In addition, Emperor Qing walked to the window, looked towards the northern horizon, and gazed into the distance.

After changing into a long robe to conceal his face, Emperor Qing secretly contacted the temple's envoy through the mysterious high priest of Nanqing, requesting the temple to take action against Lin Mu.

Grandmasters are not allowed to participate in battles; this is an unspoken rule.

Since Lin Mu broke the rules first, he must bear the backlash from those rules!

……

A few days later, the iron cavalry of Nanqing brazenly knocked on the gate!

Beacon fires were lit in the border town overnight, and the black smoke, like the horn of death, was relayed to the capital city.

Military reports, delivered with utmost urgency, flew into the palace like snowflakes.

The Qing army was powerful, with the veteran general Qin Ye as its commander-in-chief, Ye Zhong as its deputy commander, and the Divine Arrow Battalion led by Yan Xiaoyi as its vanguard.

Ye Liuyun and Fan Xian, though unwilling, were unable to disobey the imperial order and followed the central army.

To protect Fan Xian, Chen Pingping's Black Riders and Fan Jian's Red Riders were deployed in full force, with the help of various experts from the Overwatch Council, making it an extremely powerful operation.

Before the pass, dark clouds loomed over the city, threatening to crush it.

The mighty army of Nanqing stood in formation, covering the mountains and plains, their swords and spears like a forest, reflecting a cold, icy light. Their soaring killing intent startled even the birds into flight.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The heavy war drums rang out like thunder, each beat like a giant hammer, striking the hearts of the Northern Qi defenders, turning their faces pale, sweating their palms, and making them grip their weapons tightly.

On the wall, the "Lin" banner, hastily made overnight, stood side by side with the Northern Qi imperial banner, fluttering in the chilling wind as if responding to the Southern Qing's provocation.

In the midst of this suffocating standoff, the heavy door creaked open a crack.

A lone rider rode out slowly.

Behind him, Uesugi Tora's thousands of elite cavalrymen stopped inside the gate, no longer advancing. Their eyes were all focused on the lone rider's back, filled with awe and anticipation.

The man on horseback wore a set of streamlined black armor unlike anything he had ever seen before, and his face was covered by a pale gold mask, revealing only a pair of deep, cold eyes that indifferently gazed at the hundreds of thousands of troops in front of him.

He held a twelve-foot-long halberd in his hand, its shape ancient and simple, its body dark red, as if it had been stained with countless drops of blood!

Simply by holding it, the halberd hummed without wind, emanating a chilling aura and a palpable killing intent, causing the warhorses of the Southern Qing army in the distance to neigh restlessly.

Lin Mu regarded the forest of spears and halberds and the sea of ​​enemy troops in front of him as nothing. He gently spurred his horse, and the warhorse began to trot. Then it gradually accelerated, making it seem as if he was a single man and a single horseman, about to surround hundreds of thousands of people on the other side!

"Gudu..."

In the ranks of the Nanqing vanguard, many soldiers subconsciously swallowed, their palms sweating profusely.

"He... he came all by himself?"

"It's Lin Mu! That grandmaster who defected to Northern Qi!"

"Hmph, so what if he's a Grandmaster? There are so many of us, we can overwhelm him. I refuse to believe he can kill us all before he runs out of true energy!"

"That's right! Our Southern Qing also has Grandmaster Ye Liuyun! What's there to be afraid of!"

Even so, an indescribable tension still permeated the entire Nanqing army from top to bottom.

Although in theory a sheer number of people can wear down a Grandmaster, who can guarantee that they won't be the one killed?

Especially the soldiers of the vanguard battalion, looking at that lone figure charging in, seemed to see death approaching!

Fan Xian, positioned in the central army and heavily protected, was equally nervous, his palms sweating.

This was the first time in his life he had ever been to such a vast battlefield. He was both excited and, more than anything, apprehensive.

He was afraid that Lin Mu would get carried away with the killing and head straight for the central army from among the thousands of troops, taking him, his "fellow villager," with him in the process.

Fan Xian could never see through Lin Mu, only knowing that the other party was ridiculously strong, and even his Uncle Wu Zhu admitted that he was no match for him.

If it weren't for Emperor Qing's strict order, Fan Xian would never have wanted to get involved in this mess.

"Archers prepare!"

Commander Qin Ye's calm voice resonated throughout the front lines through his inner energy.

He was a veteran of countless battles, and though he was alarmed, he remained calm. He knew the terror of a Grandmaster, but he also firmly believed in the power of a million-strong army.

Lin Mu's warhorse grew faster and faster, like a black arrow, shooting straight at the Nanqing army formation.

They quickly entered the maximum range of the Nanqing archers.

"Fire arrows!"

At Qin Ye's command, the command flag was waved.

In an instant, a barrage of arrows was unleashed!

The dense barrage of arrows, like a swarm of locusts or a dark cloud of death, swept over the lone knight with a mournful howl, blotting out the sky.

Such a dense rain of arrows would make it difficult for even a ninth-rank master to escape unscathed.

However, Lin Mu seemed oblivious to the rain of arrows, his gaze still fixed on the "Qin" banner in the center of the army.

He simply swung the halberd in his hand casually.

But the next moment——

"Buzz!"

A massive, solid crescent-shaped bolt of lightning suddenly detached from the halberd blade!

It tore through the air, emitting a ghostly shriek, and silently swept across a distance of hundreds of steps at a speed that was difficult to detect with the naked eye!

Wherever that terrifying crescent-shaped lightning bolt passed, the dense rain of arrows seemed to be swallowed and shattered by an invisible force, turning into countless wood chips and iron dust that scattered in a flurry!

This is not over yet!

The lightning bolt continued its relentless advance, crashing violently into the shield-bearing ranks at the forefront of the Southern Qing army formation.

"Pfft——!"

"Crack——!"

The sound was so loud it made your teeth ache, and bones cracked.