"Excellent axe technique!" Xie Chou uttered three words in his ear. He was also a master axe user, but he was surprised to see the warrior praising him.
Jiang Liu looked closely and saw that the burly black man was riding a demonic horse, with red-armored guards wearing steel masks beside him. The one fighting him was also a general in the Eastern Navy. Jiang Liu saw the axe blade in his hand turn into a white light, and with a snap, the person in front of him was cut in two!
Then, with the axe blade facing upwards, he swung it up, slashing at the general with a flash of cold light. The movement was swift and decisive, without any hesitation.
Without pausing, the axe moved with fluid grace in his hands, rising above his head before tracing an arc and slashing horizontally!
With a whoosh, a white, chain-like beam of light shot out, splitting into an arc-shaped blade of light!
The head of the East Sea General flew up instantly!
With three moves, a general was killed, and the right wing quickly advanced, heading straight into the central camp of the East Sea army.
Just then, seeing the situation was critical, five of the East Sea officials stepped forward and, at the cost of their lives, activated a secret technique, transforming into half-human, half-demon divine messengers, and then charged straight at the central army of the Tang Dynasty.
Jiang Liu looked at the divine envoy flying in mid-air. Although its appearance was slightly different from the divine envoy of last night, it was generally similar, and its strength was naturally not weak. Yesterday, one divine envoy had forced him to use his trump card. With five people attacking at the same time, the situation was extremely dangerous. Jiang Liu immediately frowned and said, "To shoot a man, shoot his horse first; to capture a thief, capture his king first. It seems that these monkeys from the East Sea are not stupid. If the man in white is not handled well, this favorable situation will be in danger. The situation on the battlefield can change in an instant. Let's see if they can handle this decapitation operation!"
A hail of arrows struck, but it had no effect whatsoever on the divine messengers.
The man in white remained motionless, coldly watching the battlefield. Behind him, the sound of gears turning rang out, and a dozen or so giant arrows, each as thick as an arm, shot out with a whoosh.
In an instant, two of the five divine messengers fell to the ground and were then overwhelmed by the ground army.
The other three divine messengers rushed forward, but were once again met with resistance from the Qi cultivators. Lightning, flames, and ice instantly engulfed them.
The situation had already tilted in favor of the Tang Dynasty. Jiang Liu, Xie Chou, and Bai Lu looked at the battlefield where blood flowed like a river, and remained silent for a long time.
"The East China Sea Army has been defeated!"
The defeat was swift and devastating; no matter how powerful the East Sea God-Official became as a divine messenger, he could not change the outcome.
A half-human, half-tiger demon fled in panic from the army. The tiger demon, who was at the seventh level of the Refining Essence Qi stage, did not even have the courage to fight.
"It's the tiger demon Hu Shi from last night! He's coming towards us." Bai Lu had sharp eyes and spotted him in the chaotic army at a glance.
Xie Chou brandished his Baxia Axe and said sharply, "Master, shall we retreat or fight?"
"No need to wait for him to come, let's charge in!" Jiang Liu stretched his muscles and bones, which cracked. After most of the day, although his body was not fully healed, it had recovered to about 70-80% and he still had the strength to fight.
"Master, I don't have the strength to kill that corpse demon to avenge you, but I can use the power of the Tang Dynasty to protect Qianlong Temple... The corpse demon of White Bone Cave and the City God of Huaiyin City are nothing but withered bones in my eyes!" Jiang Liu thought to himself.
"I will follow the lead of the Lord!"
Xie Chou took the lead, charging forward like a mad bull.
Chapter 80 A Strong Army Provides a Good Foundation for Cultivation
"puff……"
The tiger demon's enormous head flew up, its eyes filled with disbelief, before crashing to the ground with a thud.
Holding the ferocious giant axe in his hand, Xie Chou stared at the approaching general with his bull-like eyes. In front of him, blood gushed from the tiger demon's neck, reaching a distance of three zhang.
"What kind of demon are you?" the burly man in the black tower asked sternly.
Jiang Liu rode forward and said in a humble yet assertive manner, "Jiang Liu of Qianlong Mountain, along with his disciples Xie Chou and Bai Lu, are willing to lend the general a helping hand!"
"Hidden Dragon Mountain?!" The burly man in the black tower did not relax, even though Xie Chou had killed a formidable enemy, a tiger demon.
If this tiger demon were to fight desperately, it could easily kill a hundred or so elite soldiers.
"If the general is worried, we can be the vanguard! The general can lead the army to support us."
Jiang Liu laughed, holding an ordinary large gun he had obtained on the battlefield. He shook it at the defeated East Sea army, causing it to burst into bloom.
"I will kill that Eastern Sea God!"
General Black Tower pointed at the divine messenger who was slaughtering Tang soldiers, his hair standing on end in fury.
"Alright, I'll help the general kill him! Da Niu, let's join forces and slay that half-demon messenger!" Jiang Liu felt the fragments of the Nine Cauldrons in his arms, pointing his spear at the sky. Giving the general face, and absorbing merit himself, why not?
"How dare I disobey!" Xie Chou's eyes burned with determination. He had just acquired a divine weapon and was eager to test its power. He had just beheaded the tiger demon with a single blow, not only by surprise but also by the might of the divine weapon. Furthermore, he had not yet used the two great divine abilities contained within the Baxia Axe, which he could now put to good use.
Xie Chou took a deep breath, and his body instantly swelled to more than twice its original size. He was already a giant of more than two meters, and this release of his supernatural power contained a hint of "following the laws of heaven and earth".
"I hate that the sky has no handle, I hate that the earth has no ring, I could uproot mountains with my strength!"
General Black Tower narrowed his eyes, and even his demonic horse was startled and couldn't help but take a step back.
Xie Chou strode towards the divine envoy, Jiang Liu close behind. Meanwhile, General Black Tower calmed his demonic horse, pointed his giant axe at the divine envoy in the sky, and roared, "Great Demon Army, heed my command! Slay this wretch!"
After saying that, nearly a hundred guards around him roared in unison and rushed towards the divine envoy.
Jiang Liu sat on his horse, his eyes fixed on the divine messenger who was still hunting down soldiers.
A deafening thunderclap resounded, a bolt of lightning struck the divine messenger.
After a brief period of paralysis, the divine messenger grinned and pounced, its bony hand blade flashing like lightning as it struck.
Xie Chou stomped on the ground and launched himself out like a cannonball, bringing his giant axe down with a powerful chop. With this chop, the "Power of Baxia" was instantly activated. He already possessed unparalleled strength capable of uprooting mountains, and with the addition of this pure power technique, the force of his chop almost doubled.
"Death!"
Xie Chou roared, a flash of blood, and with a single axe stroke, he cleaved the arm of the divine envoy, whose defense and regenerative abilities were astonishing, in two. Jiang Liu unleashed lightning again, blasting the divine envoy's back open. Xie Chou pressed his advantage, his giant axe crashing down, and colorful internal organs scattered everywhere. No matter how strong one's vitality and regenerative abilities were, such an injury meant certain death.
Xie Chou crashed to the ground, his feet sinking deep into the earth, causing the ground to tremble three times.
"happy!"
Jiang Liu's lips twitched, and he thought to himself, "Damn it." As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and with this magical weapon in hand, his strength instantly doubled!
Upon seeing this, General Black Tower, who was following closely behind, was overjoyed. This East Sea priest was extremely powerful; killing one of him meant that at least a thousand Tang soldiers would be saved.
"Thank you both for killing this scoundrel! I, Tie Niu, have no way to repay you, but I will certainly repay you handsomely after the great battle!"
Jiang Liu sensed the changes in the Nine Cauldrons fragments in his arms, a slight smile appearing on his lips as a small cluster of fluorescent light merged into them. Looking at the East Sea army on the battlefield, these mortals naturally had no merit, but the defeated demon army was a piece of meat to be made.
"General, our target is that... Do you dare?"
General Black Tower looked along the large spear in Jiang Liu's hand, his eyes narrowing again. It was composed of more than a dozen monsters that had already taken human form.
This group of monsters frantically slaughtered the surrounding Tang soldiers, trying to escape the battlefield and flee. Moreover, they were incredibly powerful, almost invincible, and could only be slowly worn down by sheer numbers.
"From the day I became a warrior of the Great Tang, I was prepared to die on the battlefield! What have I not dared to do! I will die wrapped in a horse's hide... the Great Demon Army... fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death!"
With a large army in command, Xie Chou acted without restraint, wielding a blood-red giant axe and slaughtering his way through the surrounding area.
Jiang Liu was also mixed in with the demon army, his spear moving forward and backward like a dragon traversing through the clouds, constantly reaping lives.
In ancient battlefields, spear techniques were used in conjunction with cavalry charges, enabling one to defeat a hundred enemies. In martial arts, whether it's Xingyi, Taiji, or Bajiquan, the skill of wielding the spear is a crucial element. Jiang Liu, a master of fist techniques, would naturally possess equally formidable spear skills.
The battle raged until sunset, the blood-red setting sun painting the earth crimson, and screams could be heard from near and far.
Jiang Liu stood on horseback in the middle of the battlefield, where all the demonic beasts were killed and their inner cores were picked out by Xie Chou.
"Using the might of the Tang army to slay demons, what a wonderful way to cultivate! Everyone says that the Six Doors are a good place for cultivation, and it's certainly true!"
Jiang Liu planted his spear on the ground, looking at the thousands of fallen Tang soldiers, and couldn't help but sigh, "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand!"
"Two brave warriors!" General Black Tower rode over and said, "My name is Cheng Tieniu, you two can call me Tieniu. I am the garrison commander of Jiangyin City. After this battle, the East Sea Allied Forces were severely weakened. You two brave warriors helped our Great Tang kill one divine official, seventeen demon soldiers, and countless bandits... Such a great achievement, Tieniu dares not claim it all for himself..."
Xie Chou laughed and said, "You dark-skinned man are quite sincere, but whether you want to stay or not, you should ask the abbot!"
Jiang Liu glanced at the sky; the dark-skinned man's invitation suited him perfectly. He nodded and said, "Very well, I'll stay overnight in your camp. Of course, these military merits are useless to us; you can take them all!"
Cheng Tieniu shook his head and said, "I can't accept such a reward. I, Tieniu, will tell you exactly what I'm capable of and what I've accomplished, and no one will have anything to say about it!"
"He's an upright and honorable man!"
Jiang Liu pulled the spear from the ground and followed Cheng Tieniu's demon army away from the battlefield.
Judging from the equipment and strength of these so-called Great Demon Army, they are no weaker than the army encountered before entering Jinling City, and their equipment is even better. With such personal guards and a demonic horse as his mount, how could this General Cheng Tieniu be an ordinary person?
Jiang Liu thought to himself, "If I want to revitalize Qianlong Temple, I have no choice but to deal with the Tang Dynasty. This Cheng Tieniu is a breakthrough point!"
Chapter 81 Fellow Travelers
The Great Demon Army was extremely well-equipped; their armor and weapons were of mortal quality, and it would take at least a hundred spirit stones to forge these hundred or so riders.
This is a huge fortune even for Qi cultivators, let alone ordinary people.
Jiang Liu chatted with Cheng Tieniu along the way and got a general idea of the man's identity.
The eldest son of Cheng Yaojin, a founding general of the Tang Dynasty, one of the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion, and the former Demon King of the Great Demon Kingdom! He entered the Dao through martial arts and has already reached the third level of refining essence into qi. His axe skills are superb, which he learned from his father Cheng Yaojin's three-axe technique.
Soon, as darkness fell, the army began to set up camp. Jiang Liu and his group had fought the divine envoy and the tiger-wolf demon the previous night, and were still seriously injured. Today, they had fought another great battle, and were already exhausted. This was also the reason why Jiang Liu stayed behind. Through internal examination, he found that his internal organs were damaged to varying degrees, like a fine porcelain piece covered with fine cracks. If he were to encounter a powerful enemy, he would hardly have the strength to fight.
Even so, the physique of a Qi cultivator has already surpassed that of an ordinary person, and having also consumed healing pills, as long as there are no more consecutive battles, the body will eventually recover.
As they rode back to camp, observing from afar, they sensed the strict discipline and menacing aura of the military camp.
Jiang Liu followed the army to the right wing camp, where Cheng Tieniu, as the garrison commander of Jiangyin City, led three hundred Great Demon Army soldiers and nearly ten thousand local soldiers to guard the right wing. After the group settled down, they heard the bugle call to eat.
After a fierce battle, they were already starving. Although the East Sea army had been routed, with over ten thousand killed, they were not defeated. With the Ghost King's assistance, the night was far more dangerous than the day. This was why the army did not pursue their victory at night!
When an army is on a campaign, the food is simple, but it is rich in oil and fat, and the portions are plentiful.
Jiang Liu wandered among the various military tents. It was his first time entering a military camp, and he was naturally incredibly curious. An army's strength depends on its logistics; without adequate supplies, even the strongest army will become vulnerable over time. The staple food in the camp was steaming hot, large, fluffy steamed buns, unlimited. For side dishes, each group (fifty men) had a large iron pot filled with glistening braised pork. Although the meat's composition was unknown and its cleanliness questionable, it was very oily and strongly flavored, with each person limited to two spoonfuls.
Next to the iron pot were two large buckets. One bucket contained hot and sour soup, which was the best way to cut through the greasiness. The other bucket contained a light green liquid, which, upon closer inspection, was tea made by digging up various wild vegetables, washing them, adding salt, and then boiling them.
After looking around, I found that whether it was the weaker soldiers, the elite guards of the Great Demon Army, or Cheng Tieniu, they all had the same food. There was no difference in their diet, and no special treatment was given to those who were generals.
Jiang Liu didn't mind, but the meat had a strong, unpleasant odor and was difficult to swallow. It was probably a hodgepodge of horse, beef, and mutton, mixed together without being bled beforehand, resulting in an extremely strong flavor and very rough preparation; he could even find pieces of fur still attached to the hide…
This meat was definitely inedible. Jiang Liu searched through his storage space and took out some ready-made beef, braised eggs, and sausages that he had put in the "Dragon and Snake" world from a corner. He even found a bottle of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. This was food he had stored up for emergencies.
Next, the food was naturally devoured. Cheng Tieniu picked up a steamed bun, scooped up the oil from the bottom of the jar of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, leaving it clean. Then, wiping the oil from his mouth, he said, "Daoist Master, Warrior Xie, I'll take you to see Old Li. He's the commander-in-chief; you should still meet him..."
The "Old Li" he mentioned was named Li Jian, the son of Li Jing and Zhang Chuchen, the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust. He was the white-clad commander who commanded the army that Jiang Liu saw.
Inside the central command tent, besides the white-clad commander Li Jian, there were other outsiders present, and more than one at that!
Following Cheng Tieniu into the main tent, all eyes turned to him. Jiang Liu glanced around; in the center of the command seat sat a man in his thirties, with a black beard, sword-like eyebrows, and an extraordinary air. He sat there with absolute composure, as if everyone, and even the surrounding environment, had to revolve around him!
Jiang Liu clicked his tongue in amazement. This commander, Li Jian, was actually a Qi Refiner, and a remarkably skilled one at that, already possessing the superior level of Refining Essence into Qi. Furthermore, his high position and command of tens of thousands of troops imbued him with an aura of power and prestige, his imposing military might radiating in all directions, giving the impression of conquering everything! Such domineering aura was so overwhelming that even the seven Qi Refiners beside him could only stand in his way!
Looking around, seven Qi cultivators sat cross-legged on the futons on both sides of the tent: an old man with white hair, a handsome young man, and a graceful woman.