Several black-robed figures watched the Rebel Army preparing to move deeper into the dense forest, their expressions varied.
Three hundred years ago, the Yaoqing Imperial Court enacted a policy of "sheathing the sword and grazing the horse," leading an army of hundreds of thousands and experts from the Royal Court to bloodily purge the Central Plains Martial Arts in a lightning-fast assault, forcefully suppressing the destiny of the Central Plains Martial Dao.
But the Martial Dao’s destiny in the Central Plains was not severed. On the contrary, the unextinguished destiny would lash back every few decades, or once a century.
The ones who carried this Martial Dao destiny were those chosen by fate.
After the previous few chosen by fate were discovered, they were all silently eliminated.
They never expected that after so many years, the destiny of the Central Plains Martial Dao would finally bring forth an ultimate chosen one—one whose name matched the Great Ancestor’s prophecy.
Although they were itching to kill Li Chang’an on the spot, they all wisely chose to observe from a distance and made no other moves.
Those chosen by fate possess Heaven’s blessing.
To kill such a person, one must first sever their destiny. Otherwise, the act is futile and will only make the next backlash of destiny even more terrifying.
The higher one’s realm, the less one can act on a whim.
Every single move must align with the Laws of Heaven and Earth.
The gaunt, Night Owl-like figure’s murky eyes slowly swept over Li Chang’an. It licked its lips, which were as dry as dead wood, and said, "Such a young Martial King. I wonder if he can provide us with a long-awaited surprise?"
If anyone else had been present, they would have been horrified to discover that among these black-robed figures, the one on the left had avian wings, the one on the right was hunched over with hands covered in feathers and bone spurs, and the one in the center had skin like the bark of a dead tree...
From a distance, none of them looked human.
They looked more like grotesque, mutated monsters—fearsome and horrifying.
...
After an army of hundreds of thousands arrived at Sanhuang County, they began to systematically sweep the nearby forests where the Rebel Army was known to operate.
In the past, due to a lack of manpower, the Imperial Court’s forces were often harassed by the Rebel Army during their search operations.
But now, with the Imperial Army pressing in, it was difficult for the Rebel Army to engage in the same guerrilla tactics as before. Their only options were to gather their forces for a head-on confrontation or retreat deeper into the forest.
However, even when the Rebel Army tried to avoid a direct confrontation, it was as if the Imperial Army had a god’s-eye view. No matter how they fled, the advancing encirclement would accurately trap them.
At first, the Rebel Army was still able to break through the encirclement here and there.
But after one encirclement after another, the Rebel Army was finally cornered.
As he sensed the army closing in from all directions, Li Chang’an’s expression grew grim. He felt a faint, needle-like stinging on his skin.
But when he calmed himself to sense it more carefully, he couldn’t detect anything amiss.
This put Li Chang’an on high alert.
At his realm, sharp senses were just a basic physical ability. The truly incredible superpower was his Martial Dao intuition, an instinct practically etched into his very bones.
Even besieged by a massive army, he could rely on his strength to break through and escape at any time.
’So, their numbers alone shouldn’t be enough to trigger this kind of warning from my body.’
’The only thing capable of making me feel this way is an overwhelmingly dangerous Martial Dao expert!’
But since he couldn’t pinpoint the source of the danger, Li Chang’an didn’t dwell on it, though his heart grew a little heavier.
"So be it. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time!"
Although Li Chang’an didn’t know exactly how many men the Yaoqing Imperial Court had dispatched, he could guess that this might be the do-or-die battle that would decide his ultimate fate.
Without any prelude, without any exchange of words, a battle that would draw the eyes of the world began in the eerie silence between the two sides.
Li Chang’an stood alone at the highest point of the stockade.
His eyes fixed on the Imperial Court’s army drawing ever closer to the stockade, and he shouted, "The Blue Sky is dead, the Yellow Sky shall rise, and the world will finally know Taiping!"
After saying this, he paused in silence for a moment before turning to look at the Taiping Uprising Army behind him, their faces a mixture of expressions. "Everyone, be ready to charge," he ordered. "Once the enemy routs, break out from the west and head straight for Dongting. From there, you will be as free as a bird in the sky or a fish in the sea!"
Upon hearing the command, the Taiping Uprising Army, who were already in formation within the stockade, let out a reflexive cheer.
But it wasn’t long before the soldiers began to mull over his words, and a wave of confusion spread through their ranks.
’What did he mean, "charge after the enemy routs"?’
The Imperial Court had gathered the most elite forces from several surrounding provinces. They were clearly here to annihilate them, so why would they retreat without a decisive victory?
The soldiers were filled with doubt, but none of them voiced their questions, assuming Li Chang’an had another part to his plan.
Only Lü Changning, Wang Su, Xiong Er, and his nominal disciple Li San—who had followed him ever since Li Family Village—understood the true meaning behind Li Chang’an’s order.
The Rebel Army, at the absolute most, had no more than fifty thousand combat-ready soldiers. The rest were farmers who could only wave flags and shout, serving only to bolster their numbers.
On a real battlefield, they wouldn’t even qualify as cannon fodder.
With such a massive disparity in strength, there was no chance of resisting the Imperial Army.
Their only sliver of hope for survival was to break free from the Imperial Court’s encirclement and follow the route Li Chang’an had planned into Dongting, the so-called "land of fish and rice."
As for how they would break through the encirclement?
Li Chang’an soon gave them all the answer.
Brandishing his long saber, he charged out alone, straight toward the massive army beyond the forest!
The Taiping Army: "!!?"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
This included the many Jianghu Martial Artists from the Central Plains who had joined the Taiping Army in the last two years out of admiration for Li Chang’an’s reputation. At this moment, every one of them stared with wide, unbelieving eyes.
Only the old Daoist Wang Su, who knew Li Chang’an best, wore an expression that said, ’Of course, he would.’
His emotions were incredibly complex.
Two years ago, Li Chang’an had single-handedly conquered three county seats, shaking the world.
It was after that battle that the world learned the name "Taiping Army" and discovered that such an audacious, wantonly reckless person existed among the Martial Artists of the Central Plains.
Two years later, facing an elite army hundreds of thousands strong dispatched by the Yaoqing Imperial Court, Li Chang’an was still just one man with one blade, charging forward alone to meet them.
Though thousands upon thousands stood against him, still he advanced.
Regardless of his actual strength, such courage alone was worthy of admiration.
Watching that lonely yet magnificent figure.
Inside the stockade, all the Rebel Army soldiers instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons.
Their eyes gleamed with a light called awe.
One Martial Artist, his blood boiling with excitement, pushed aside the drummer on the beacon tower. Beating the drum to rally the troops, he roared, "Taiping Immortal Master, divinely valiant and invincible!"
"Taiping Immortal Master, divinely valiant and invincible!"
"Taiping Immortal Master, divinely valiant and invincible!"
More and more people took up the roar, and the entire stockade erupted in a fervent uproar.
Only a few, like Wang Su and Lü Changning, trembled in mind and spirit. They felt a mixture of tension and bewilderment, knowing that once Li Chang’an left, it was unlikely they would ever see him again in this life.
...