Life and death in a life-and-death struggle, fighting with one's life on the line.
The flowers of blood spread across the hills and plains.
On the ever-changing battlefield, life and death were decided in the blink of an eye.
Screams, battle cries, and the rumbling of war drums.
The stench of blood, the scent of slaughter—both the bravest and the most cowardly had turned red-eyed.
Jiang Wang flew back to the battlefield, and this was the sight that greeted him.
Even though he was already a cultivator of the Tenglong Realm, capable of walking through the void, he did not dare to rush into the battlefield rashly.
On a battlefield with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, even a few extraordinary cultivators could hardly make any difference.
A single clash could extinguish countless lives.
Such a vast battlefield had no safe zone whatsoever; one could be swept into the fray with the slightest inattention. Jiang Wang could only retreat again and again, keeping his distance.
"This is the Qi Ninth Army," Jiang Yan said with some emotion from within the Palace of Heaven.
On the battlefield, the Autumn Kill Army was almost crushing their opponents, rolling back and forth.
"The Yang Army is also truly tenacious. Perhaps this is the will to fight for one's homeland," Jiang Wang said, then casually asked, "Does the White Bone deity also pay attention to the current situation of the nations in the mortal world?"
Jiang Yan replied almost instantly, "To become a deity of the mortal world and usher in the Age of White Bone, how could he not keep an eye on the great powers of today?"
"I see."
Jiang Wang fell silent after this.
He retreated again and again, avoiding again and again, maintaining a considerable distance from the battlefield and striving not to be drawn into the maelstrom of killing energy.
But at this moment, his vision suddenly brightened.
Because he had already spotted Chong Xuan Sheng.
Even on a fiercely contested battlefield, a Chong Xuan Sheng as fat as this was quite conspicuous.
The fatty was leading the five thousand soldiers under his direct command, charging with great composure. He continuously smashed through enemy lines, then swiftly withdrew.
The battlefield was no place to gamble with luck; gambling with one's life on the battlefield could cost one at any moment, because death was the most common thing here.
Jiang Wang had been approaching the battlefield following the direction of Chong Xuan Sheng's army, and now he did not hesitate. He leaped into the air, activating the Flame Meteor, and descended into the Yang Army's line that was blocking Chong Xuan Sheng's formation.
Mid-air, the Sea of Flame Flowers had already spread.
On the battlefield, he pushed the Sea of Flame Flowers to its limit, covering a full hundred-zhang radius. Within the battlefield, he carved out a small battlefield of his own where flowers bloomed one after another.
Under the relentless onslaught of the soldiers' killing energy, the Sea of Flame Flowers only lasted for a brief moment.
But it was enough to momentarily disorient the Yang Army soldiers within a hundred-zhang radius.
What kind of person was Chong Xuan Sheng?
The moment he saw the flowers bloom, he knew Jiang Wang had returned. Without a word, he took the lead, charging at the forefront: "The enemy is in disarray! Follow me and break their formation!"
Shi Si, clad in full armor, silently guarded his flank.
Behind them were five thousand soldiers of the Autumn Kill Army, each brimming with murderous intent.
This was the first time Jiang Wang had seen Shi Si's weapon.
Silent as she was, she wielded a pitch-black greatsword. With both hands, she cut down enemies and horses alike wherever they stood. In her wake, men and horses tumbled, bodies split in two.
When Jiang Wang landed, he was in the midst of the enemy formation.
The Sea of Flame Flowers had collapsed as soon as it was deployed, and he naturally found himself surrounded.
Fortunately, just as his sword light erupted, Chong Xuan Sheng and Shi Si were already leading their troops in a charge.
With coordinated attacks from both sides, and the three sharp blades—Jiang Wang, Chong Xuan Sheng, and Shi Si—crisscrossing, a single charge broke through this section of the line!
"I have broken the formation!" Chong Xuan Sheng shouted, ripping off the enemy general's head.
The five thousand soldiers under his command roared in unison: "Formation broken!"
The Yang Army soldiers in this area were naturally terrified. On an ordinary battlefield, such panic would spread easily, causing a large-scale rout. On the battlefield, fear was more terrible and more contagious than any plague.
However, in a very short time, another fresh force intervened, quickly rallying the fleeing Yang Army soldiers and forming the next line of defense.
This response was too timely!
On such a complex battlefield, to have such precise coordination in this specific localized battle proved the commanding ability of the Yang Army's commander-in-chief.
The Qi Army's blade was sharp and its edge keen, but the Yang Army was like the tide—one wave receded, and another rose.
The Yang Kingdom's army, amidst this constant rout and regrouping, with losses beyond count... held fast against the Autumn Kill Army's assault.
And the soul figures of both sides, as if by tacit agreement, remained silent, stepping outside the chessboard to observe coldly.
The enormous casualties were merely cold numbers, allowing them to assess the situation without affecting their emotions.
Yang Jiande left the battlefield to the veteran Ji Cheng, while he fixed his gaze solely on Chong Xuan Chuliang.
From the very beginning, when the Qi Army locked the borders, he had always made killing Chong Xuan Chuliang the key to breaking the deadlock, maintaining this goal with unwavering resolve.
It was precisely because he had worked with and interacted with Chong Xuan Chuliang that he understood, more than others, how terrifying Chong Xuan Chuliang could be.
Conversely, the same held true.
It was precisely because Chong Xuan Chuliang was the commander of the Autumn Kill Army that he maintained sufficient vigilance toward Yang Jiande.
He, Chong Xuan Chuliang, had the courage to face anyone under heaven, but he would never give Yang Jiande a chance to turn the tables.
The two sides faced each other from afar, while life and death below played out like a game of chess.
...
At this point, Jiang Wang had not fully grasped the situation while outside the battlefield, but now that he was inside the formation, he felt the tenacious resilience of the Yang Army.
This was a war of defense on the Yang Kingdom's own soil, and with Yang Jiande leading in person, such fighting spirit was not hard to understand.
However... the immense gap in strength could not be bridged by fighting spirit alone.
The main reason the Yang Army could maintain this situation was the superb command art of their leading general.
Teetering on the brink, yet never collapsing.
Chong Xuan Sheng commanded the formation and once again withdrew before the Yang Army's line.
Without a confirmed opportunity, he did not rush to break through the enemy formation, but instead acted like a constant chisel, charging again and again, withdrawing, then charging once more, each time chipping away at the Yang Army's defenses.
This was also the military strategy formulated by Chong Xuan Chuliang before the battle.
However, the Yang Army's tenacity had indeed exceeded his imagination.
It could be said that among the generals of the Autumn Kill Army, aside from Chong Xuan Chuliang, no one could have imagined that the Yang Army could achieve such a feat.
Even though Chong Xuan Chuliang had repeatedly emphasized the need to respect the opponent, the deep-seated contempt was still hard to erase.
Returning to this localized battlefield.
With the addition of Jiang Wang's combat strength to the formation, Chong Xuan Sheng felt significantly more at ease. As a result, certain thoughts began to stir uncontrollably in his mind.
He scanned his surroundings, then grabbed Jiang Wang in the formation and whispered in his ear, "Did you see that old general? Under that sky-blue banner!"
Jiang Wang looked as instructed and indeed saw from a distance, within the enemy formation, on a high platform, a massive sky-blue banner bearing the Yang character "Ji" in fierce, talon-like script.
And beneath this sky-blue battle banner stood a white-haired old general.
"That is Ji Cheng. Of the former Tianxiong Ji clan! Their family's archery once rivaled the Stone Gate Li clan's."
Chong Xuan Sheng was full of ambition: "If we can kill him, there will be no one left in the Yang Army worth fearing!"