Chapter 982: Chapter 976: Withdraw The Troops
“Withdraw the troops.”
Led by Li Yunbing, the people of the Azure Cloud Prefecture stared coldly at Bi Shihu.
But in the end, Bi Shihu merely growled out these two words while gripping the railing of the spirit ship.
Veins bulged on Bi Shihu’s neck.
Ge Li, with his fiery temper, said unwillingly,
“Marshal, are we just going to let it go? This is our military merit; it’s the military merit earned with the lives of our immortal soldiers, won with such great difficulty!”
“Our three armies have lost over eight thousand men. We need the spoils of war, otherwise they…”
Ge Li’s facial muscles and teeth were trembling.
This Wu tribe had already plundered a massive number of cities and small sects in the GShadowfell Prefecture and Deston Prefecture; they carried a vast amount of spoils.
Among them was one item that even he, Ge Li, had coveted for a long time.
It had once been in the hands of a sect, but due to his status, he couldn’t just take it.
He had finally gotten the chance to obtain it legitimately as a spoil of war, only to have it snatched away by the people of Azure Cloud!
“Marshal, the Azure Cloud Prefecture has gone too far. Jiang Chenghuan has gone too far, I…”
Before Ge Li could finish his sentence, he felt a massive force sweep him aside. He sat blankly on the ground, looking at Bi Shihu.
“Are you awake now?” Bi Shihu looked around, especially staring for a long time at the face of the man who called himself “Jiang Chenghuan.”
He had heard of this man. For hundreds of years, aside from the Li Clan, the Azure Cloud Prefecture also had the Jiang family.
This Jiang Chenghuan had driven out the Wu tribe from the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
He could even coexist peacefully with the Li Clan in a situation where the Azure Cloud Prefecture was practically governed by the Li Clan’s absolute authority, and had even secured the position of Prefecture Lord, co-ruling the Azure Cloud Prefecture alongside the Li Clan.
Li Dalong of the Li Clan never bothered with the affairs of the Azure Cloud Prefecture; Jiang Chenghuan was the rightful Prefecture Lord of the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Under Jiang Chenghuan’s rule, the Azure Cloud Prefecture could be said to be prospering day by day.
Rumor had it that this man was a top-tier talent in military affairs, governance, and strategy.
The Azure Cloud Prefecture was not without disasters, foreign enemies, or covetous eyes, but in the end, they all had to face Jiang Chenghuan.
This man’s life was accompanied by one thing—conspiracy.
No one was willing to provoke Jiang Chenghuan, not even Void Refinement experts.
Jiang Chenghuan would resort to any means to achieve his goals; he had no bottom line.
The rumors of what Jiang Chenghuan had done to rule his family and govern the former Dale Prefecture were things even Bi Shihu found hard to speak of.
“Marshal!” Ge Li was still unwilling.
“Let’s go.” Bi Shihu let out a long breath.
Finally, he shot a wary glance at Jiang Chenghuan. After his anger faded, the hand that had just gripped the railing was trembling. He turned away.
“Why would he bother with the Li Clan’s affairs, why? Moreover, the aura on his body… Void Refinement!”
…….
“Oh, leaving already? Deserters are deserters, why pretend to be a victorious army?”
The Drunken Madman danced about wildly, even going so far as to bare half his buttocks and slap them toward Bi Shihu’s grand army.
Unfortunately, although Bi Shihu’s side was furious, they didn’t come to attack him, which greatly disappointed him.
Parched, he unhooked his wine gourd, took a swig, and exhaled a breath of alcohol.
“The trash talk I learned from Senior Martial Emperor hasn’t even unleashed ten percent of its power. Sigh.”
The people of the Azure Cloud Prefecture sneered.
Then, ignoring the departing army of Bi Shihu, they began to clean up the battlefield and inventory the spoils of war.
They felt neither joy nor disappointment; they merely collected the corpses in silence.
Generation after generation, the Azure Cloud Army had inherited the bravery from the great war against the Wu tribe back in the day.
Although there had been few wars over the past few centuries, they had never stopped training and cultivating.
More than half of the Azure Cloud Prefecture’s tax revenue was spent on training.
Li Yunbing stared at Bi Shihu’s departing troops and murmured, “They fled, that’s somewhat interesting. But how many times can you flee? Let me see where your bottom line is.”
Li Yunbing’s hair was mottled with white.
Taking another look at the battlefield on the ground, he pondered for a moment.
“Drunken Madman, take some men. Bi Shihu’s people left in such a hurry that they didn’t even dare to collect the corpses of their own men. Let’s help him out and collect the corpses.”
“Help them collect corpses? Do they even deserve it?”
The Drunken Madman’s eyes widened, but his expression soon relaxed.
He heard a voice transmission in his ear:
“Strip the clothes off the soldiers of Bi Shihu’s army. Use your Spiritual arts to remove their bones and flesh, and stuff their human skin with dirt.
There should still be some survivors among them; heal their injuries, carve the emblem of a fierce army of tigers and wolves onto their bodies, gouge out their eyes so they cannot see, and summon snakes and rats to drag their corpses back to Bi Shihu’s military camp.”
“Senior Dream Demon.”
Following Li Yunbing’s call, the eyes of an old woman in the cloudy sky lit up. “Please speak, my Lord.”
“Bi Shihu’s army is stationed in Sunfall City.
There is a Body Integration mighty figure guarding it, so we cannot touch Sunfall City, but we can target the cultivators outside the three major cities.
Bi Shihu’s grand army has been campaigning, and only ninety thousand remain.
They are all veterans of a hundred battles and cannot be underestimated, but they will definitely need to replenish their troops.”
Li Yunbing’s eyes were filled with ruthless gloom.
“I ask you to manipulate dreams to make cultivators enlist, but upon joining the army, they will go mad and kill indiscriminately. Senior, can you do this?”
“Quite troublesome, but interesting.” The hunchbacked Dream Demon leaned on her walking stick, her face full of gratification, as if she had finally found the right organization.
“Senior Tianye.”
“Speak, Yunbing boy.” Old Ancestor Tianye could be considered a veteran of the Azure Cloud Prefecture who had accompanied Li Yunbing, sharing life and death with him up to this day.
“Outside, call me Jiang Chenghuan,” Li Yunbing said.
“You are skilled at summoning ghosts and restraining souls.
Please capture the souls of the Wu tribe and have them wander outside Sunfall City every night, weeping and complaining about the cruel methods of Bi Shihu’s army, how they torture the Wu tribesmen and take pleasure in toying with them.”
“Hahaha, when the time comes, the Wu tribe will be furious and treat Bi Shihu as their mortal enemy!”
Old Ancestor Tianye let out a loud laugh.
Li Yunbing’s gaze grew even colder.
“Xuan Ji, Wu Yazi, the two of you go find the people from the Ministry of War. Find what they want among the spoils of this battle and gift it to them.
Have them make a trip to Sunfall City and praise Bi Shihu in front of the Spear Saint, the Body Integration mighty figure of Sunfall City.
Make the Spear Saint hand over military authority and the command of Sunfall City to Bi Shihu, claiming that other than Bi Shihu, there is no one else capable in Sunfall City.”
“This…” Xuan Ji scratched his head.
Wu Yazi let out a cold sneer.
“By doing this, the Spear Saint will suspect whether Bi Shihu’s achievements are overshadowing his superiors and if he has grown arrogant.
Prefecture Lord Jiang is setting him up to fail through excessive praise.
Coupled with the incidents happening within Bi Shihu’s army and the external hatred from the Wu tribe, the Spear Saint will inevitably seize the opportunity to take his life!”
“Wu Yazi, you… When did you become so smart?”
Xuan Ji and Wu Yazi were both later geniuses from the two major sects of the Azure Cloud Prefecture. The two of them often competed with each other.
Back in the day, Wu Yazi was someone who had weathered many tribulations and preferred to let his fists do the talking.
Now, seeing Wu Yazi instantly see through the scheme, Xuan Ji suspiciously flew up to him, attempting to use Spiritual arts to probe Wu Yazi’s Spirit Soul.
“Get lost.” Wu Yazi impatiently slapped Xuan Ji’s hand away.
“Do you think I’m a brute like you? Only knowing how to hide in the sect cultivating, a master at scamming people?”
There was also a hint of pride in Wu Yazi’s eyes.
Over the past century of teaching his three disciples who had surpassed their master, not only had he taught them a solid foundation, but he had also learned quite a lot from them.
The only regret was that ever since he took in Li Xinnian, Su Chen, and Nangong Qingya as his three disciples, he had traveled all over the Azure Cloud Prefecture and could no longer find disciples as outstanding as them.
Having finished his arrangements.
Li Yunbing looked toward the Shadowfell Prefecture.
“Pass down the order: collect the heads of the Wu tribesmen. I want a million Wu tribe heads mounted on spikes along the border between Deston Prefecture and Shadowfell Prefecture.”
“The fighting in Deston Prefecture has been too mild. I want them to fight a true battle to the death.”
“I want to get justice for my niece, the lives of every single one of them.”
[Your clan has achieved a great victory on the Cloudsummit City battlefield in Deston Prefecture.
At the cost of three casualties in the Azure Cloud Army, you have annihilated thirty thousand enemies and defeated a Wu tribe grand army of one hundred thousand, obtaining a massive amount of spoils of war.]
[Obtained Grade 4 Spiritual Item: Profound Yin Possession Soil.
When taken into the body and integrated with the Spirit Soul, it can be refined through the Spirit Soul to create an avatar.
The avatar possesses a physique of profound Yin earth attributes and cultivates alongside the main body.]
That night.
Li Yunbing sat on the ruins of Cloudsummit City, watching the Azure Cloud Army execute his orders.
In his hand, he held a clump of black soil floating three inches above his palm like a disc. The black soil exuded a rich spiritual energy.
“Profound Yin Possession Soil, a physique of profound Yin earth attributes. A good treasure; it almost fell into Bi Shihu’s hands.”
Holding the treasure in his hand, normally, he would send it back to the clan or give it to the younger generation of the Jiang family.
Regarding the Profound Yin Possession Soil, he pondered for a moment before refining it into his Soul Sea.
He only felt a mass of clay gradually appear within his Soul Sea.
The profound Yin earth attribute physique was quite a good constitution; it was born with a single Earth Spiritual Root.
The clay figure in his Soul Sea sensed an Earth-attribute Earth-grade cultivation method known to Li Yunbing and began to circulate its meridians.
Within a short while, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered towards the clay figure, allowing it to cross the threshold and become a cultivator.
“Coupled with my cultivation experience, within a hundred years, this Soul Sea avatar will be able to cultivate to my realm.”
Li Yunbing suddenly looked entranced. “From now on, I will go back to being my Li Yunbing, and you will be Jiang Chenghuan.”
The clay figure’s spiritual consciousness was gradually merging. With a thought from Li Yunbing, it gradually transformed into the appearance of Jiang Chenghuan.
A sword appeared in Li Yunbing’s hand.
This sword was a mix of blood-red and silver.
The blood-red color, like flowing blood, seemed blended into the silver blade, emitting a bewitching luster under the night sky.
The longsword seemingly hadn’t sensed the aura of a Li Clan member from Li Yunbing and trembled, struggling in his hand.
Li Yunbing’s body rippled with Spiritual power, gradually changing its appearance back to that majestic middle-aged man from the Thunder Fire Demon Cave all those years ago; only his mottled hair remained unchanged.
A spirit tablet bearing the character “Li” floated into the air. The longsword seemingly sensed this and lay quietly in Li Yunbing’s hand.
[Top-Grade Dharma Treasure: Wu-Slaughtering Sword]
[Formed by the collision of the artifact spirits of the Blood-Drinking Sword and the Spirit-Devouring Sword after their master’s death. It possesses the combined traits of both swords.
Having drunk blood for many years, the longsword is gradually transforming. With sufficient vitality and Grade 3 spiritual materials, it can refine itself, possessing a certain probability of becoming a Spirit Treasure.
By absorbing the vitality of enemies, it can replenish its own Spiritual power, or accumulate Spiritual power to unleash the Void Refinement level strike, “Wrath of the Four Divine Beasts.”]
After arriving in Deston Prefecture, Li Yunbing had made a trip to the Shadowfell Prefecture Border Pass and also saw Tianyi, who was guarding the tomb.
He was not a sword cultivator. Compared to a sword, the High-Grade Dharma Treasure “Hidden Void Needles” gifted to him by his eldest brother was more useful. However, this sword had ultimately fallen into his hands, constantly accompanying him.
“Blood-Robed Wu-Slaughtering Sword, you were too open and aboveboard. They bullied you for your loyalty, bullied you for your fierce bravery.”
“All my life, I wanted to be that kind of person. They killed you, and they also killed the ‘me’ in my dreams.”
The night wind blew.
Li Yunbing raised his head to look at the bright moon in the sky.
Tears shimmered in his eyes, and only a long sigh drifted toward the Shadowfell Prefecture Border Pass.
—
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