At City No. 98, Zhao Xing and Long Xiao's Swordfish Airship landed swiftly.
"Swish~"
As soon as they landed, Zhao Xing immediately noticed that the plantation area in the southern part of the city had been completely ravaged. All the Earth Fire Lotus had been stripped away, leaving behind a scene of utter devastation.
The Shennong Officers and craftsmen in the city were visibly disheartened, their spirits severely low.
"Where is Che Shi Hai?" Zhao Xing grabbed one of the Shennong Officers and demanded.
"Lord Zhao? You're finally here..." The Ninth Rank Shennong Officer looked on the verge of tears.
"Stop crying! I asked where Che Shi Hai is!" Zhao Xing shouted.
"H-He's inside," the officer pointed towards the medical hall.
Swish~
Zhao Xing rushed into the medical hall.
Inside, Che Shi Hai was sitting with his left shoulder bandaged, Wang Ji was lying on a bed with a pale complexion, and Han Bing was seated in a corner. A military physician was currently treating Wang Ji with acupuncture.
Seeing Zhao Xing enter, Che Shi Hai immediately became agitated, but Han Bing's face remained gloomy.
"Boss…" Che Shi Hai began to speak.
"How long have they been gone?" Zhao Xing interrupted.
"Fifteen minutes."
"In which direction?"
"Northeast."
"How many people?"
"Over a thousand, maybe more."
"Che Shi Hai, immediately have the city sound the highest alert signal! Mobilize the entire city!" Zhao Xing commanded, cutting Che Shi Hai off again.
"Boss, they were…" Che Shi Hai started.
"Shut up! You were attacked, and there's no sign of a fight. You've completely disgraced me!" Zhao Xing yelled, his tone harsh. "Mobilize all five divisions. If you can't find the enemy, chop down some trees for me!"
"Y-Yes!" Che Shi Hai immediately left to carry out the order.
Han Bing, seeing Zhao Xing's intentions, warned, "That man is Qian Shougang, commander of Heilong Army under King Liang. We…"
"Who cares about the Heilong Army or who's in command?" Zhao Xing glared at Han Bing. "Remember this: City No. 98 was attacked by the enemy, the commander was injured, and our precious Earth Fire Lotus was stolen. Even if the Emperor himself comes, you say the same thing."
Han Bing, facing Zhao Xing's intense gaze, couldn't help but shiver. "I… I understand."
"How is Wang Ji's injury?" Zhao Xing asked.
The military physician, Yuan Yang, replied, "It's internal, but nothing too serious. He should recover in a few hours."
"Pull the needles out," Zhao Xing ordered. "Put Wang Ji on the city wall."
"Excuse me?" Yuan Yang looked confused.
"Why are you just standing there? Do as I say!" Zhao Xing snapped.
"Yes, sir," Yuan Yang immediately gestured for others to carry Wang Ji to the city wall.
After swiftly giving his orders, Zhao Xing stepped out of the medical hall. Outside, the city was already in chaos.
He glanced at the temple, which, like the city walls, was still only half-built.
Pulling Han Bing aside, Zhao Xing instructed, "Collect everyone's Mirage Pearls and Earth Mirror Devices. You know what to do."
Han Bing nodded.
Zhao Xing patted him on the shoulder, then leaped back onto the Swordfish Airship. "Wait here. I'm going to get revenge for all of you."
With that, the Swordfish Airship carrying Long Xiao's five hundred Xiaoqi Battalion soldiers took off in pursuit towards the northeast.
"Do you know who did this?" Long Xiao asked anxiously.
"I do. The enemy disguised themselves as a private army of King Liang, led by Qian Shougang, commander of the Heilong Army," Zhao Xing replied.
"What?! King Liang!" Long Xiao's eyes burned with rage. "Him again!"
The Shenwei Army had been disbanded years ago, and King Liang was the primary culprit behind it.
Back then, the Shenwei Army had nearly conquered a Cave-Heaven, and Yang An was set to be titled Marquis of Shenwei—even the title recommendation had been drafted.
But after offending King Liang, all their efforts were turned to ash. If not for Yang An taking the brunt of the blame, Long Xiao and the rest of the officers would have faced far more severe punishments than just demotion and exile.
If Long Xiao hated anyone the most, it wasn't the enemy generals from the Southern Barbarians—it was King Liang.
However, when facing King Liang, there was no way to seek justice. Back then, King Liang held sway over both military and political power at Nine Heavens Yingyuan Prefecture, deliberately trapping the Shenwei Army in a quagmire by issuing orders with strategic delays. This caused the army to fight on multiple fronts, leading to their downfall. King Liang then used this as a pretext for punishing them.
Each order might have seemed legal on the surface, but with subtle manipulation, it was enough to push the Shenwei Army into impossible situations.
Zhao Xing's voice remained calm. "I'll say it again: the enemy is disguised as King Liang's private army, just as we disguised ourselves as enemy generals to infiltrate Fire Dragon Pass."
Long Xiao realized the plan. "Right, it's the enemy!"
Zhao Xing nodded. "When we catch up with them, attack immediately. Don't give them a chance to speak. That commander claimed to be an inspector, but he wouldn't bring many men to City No. 98."
"And he's carrying our Earth Fire Lotus on his ship—that's stolen goods."
Long Xiao fiercely nodded. "Yes, exactly!"
When it came to strategic thinking, Zhao Xing's mind was always sharp.
Standing at the bow of the ship, Zhao Xing summoned a spiritual bridge that connected to the heavens and began searching for the traces left by the enemy warship in the Wind Layer.
Moments later, Zhao Xing spread out the map.
"Judging by the traces in the Wind Layer, the Black Dragon Warship isn't moving at full speed."
"We'll catch up to them in about two quarters of an hour."
"But we're close to the Northern String Territory, and there are six military cities nearby. If that man escapes into one of them, it will be difficult to take him down."
"If reinforcements from the Heilong Army arrive, it will be even harder to get our revenge."
Zhao Xing's finger traced over the six military cities on the map.
Finally, he came to a conclusion: "Long Xiao, we have, at most, two quarters of an hour to fight."
"Any longer, and things might change. So from the start, we must go all out."
"Understood," Long Xiao nodded.
"Meow!" Even the Mountain Cat, Long Aotian, lifted a paw, as if cheering them on.
Exactly fifteen minutes after Zhao Xing left...
"Boom!"
Liao Rulong arrived at City No. 98 with six warships.
"Han Bing, what happened?!" Chen Shijie asked. "Where's Zhao Xing?"
"Sir, we were attacked by a group of enemies disguised as the Southern Expedition Army!" Han Bing pointed at Wang Ji, lying on a stretcher. "The commander was injured, and Lord Zhao has gone after the enemy."
"Which direction?" Liao Rulong demanded.
"Northeast," Han Bing pointed.
"After them! Damn those bastards for daring to attack my city!" Liao Rulong roared.
Chen Shijie, however, noticed something off. He approached Han Bing and asked quietly, "What's really going on? Why isn't Wang Ji receiving treatment?"
Remembering Zhao Xing's instructions, Han Bing gritted his teeth. "Sir, we were indeed attacked by the enemy—a group disguised as the Heilong Army and claiming to be inspectors."
"Heilong Army?" Chen Shijie was taken aback.
"Alright, I understand," Chen Shijie said, fixing Han Bing with a sharp look. "Even if the Emperor himself comes, you stick to this story."
Just as Liao Rulong's forces left, Xia Jing arrived at City No. 98 with his own warship.
"What's going on? Zhao Xing said you were attacked?" Xia Jing leaped off the ship. "Why is Wang Ji still lying on the ground?"
Han Bing had no choice but to repeat the explanation that Zhao Xing had given.
Xia Jing, no fool, immediately realized the story had been carefully crafted—clearly, this was Zhao Xing's doing.
"I get it," Xia Jing nodded, then jumped back onto his warship, pulled out a map, and calculated the situation. After licking his lips, he grinned. "Well, well, brother, daring to mess with King Liang, you're the first to do it at the Seventh Rank. I, Xia Jing, will definitely back you up!"
"Xuanjia Army, heed my command! Full speed to the northeast!"
As Xia Jing departed, twelve more warships appeared, led by Li Que of the Zhenhai Army.
Someone had to stay behind to guard Fire Dragon Pass, and naturally, that duty fell to Jiang Ming.
Upon hearing that Zhao Xing had rallied forces, Jiang Ming had immediately contacted Li Que.
"Brother, I don't know what Zhao Xing's up to, but our Zhenhai Army can't just stand by. Fire Dragon Pass needs someone to watch over it. You just arrived, perfect time to prove yourself—go follow him into battle, and don't ask questions. You won't lose out."
Without hesitation, Li Que set out with his forces.
One of his subordinates, Chen Lu, had even been saved by Zhao Xing before. When Zhenhai Army's City No. 109 was breached and nearly wiped out, it was Zhao Xing's timely intervention that saved Chen Lu and his command from further disgrace.
So, out of gratitude—and because Li Que knew he needed to rely on Zhao Xing—he hurried to catch up.
"Who are you?" Han Bing asked, puzzled by the new arrival.
"I'm Li Que of the Zhenhai Army. Which direction did Zhao Xing head?"
"Northeast."
Shoosh~ Li Que quickly boarded his ship and sped northeast.
Watching the rapid succession of reinforcements, Han Bing couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his palms.
Goodness, three waves of reinforcements had already arrived.
This was almost the scale of the assault on Fire Dragon Pass.
Did they really think they could cross Zhao Xing and escape?
Let them die! Han Bing, expressionless, was seething with fury inside.
"W-Water…" On the stretcher, Wang Ji awoke from his unconscious state, his lips cracked and dry.
Han Bing was about to offer him some water.
But Yuan Yang, recalling Zhao Xing's orders, promptly knocked Wang Ji out with a swift chop to the neck.
Han Bing: "…"
Wang Ji: "…"
Meanwhile, in the Wind Layer, aboard the Black Dragon Warship…
"Sir, we've finished counting the Earth Fire Lotus."
"Report."
"We have five hundred mature Fifth-Rank Earth Fire Lotus, and about two thousand seedlings and seeds."
Qian Shougang scoffed. "Hmph, that Shenwei Army may be good for nothing else, but they sure know how to farm."
"Indeed, with these in hand, we can outfit our Heilong Army with new fire-resistant gear," his subordinate agreed.
"Good? They're worthless!" Qian Shougang barked. "I had to send my men personally to get what we needed. These people are all just as stubborn as Yang An!"
"You're absolutely right, sir," the subordinate said, trembling.
"Dismissed," Qian Shougang waved them away.
He didn't consider the day's events worth worrying about. After all, he had personally witnessed the dissolution of the Shenwei Army years ago.
Back then, Yang An had been equally stubborn, refusing to obey King Liang's orders, even going so far as to cast a dissenting vote when King Liang first took charge of Nine Heavens Yingyuan Prefecture. It was sheer foolishness.
The result? The Shenwei Army was dissolved, and instead of being granted the title of Marquis of Shenwei, Yang An was left with nothing more than the rank of County Marquis.
Qian Shougang had watched as the former commander of the Shenwei Army resigned, leaving his troops to walk away in shame.
That scene was forever etched in his mind.
The fact that the court later re-established the Shenwei Army meant nothing to Qian Shougang. The fact that they had recently captured Fire Dragon Pass? Just luck.
Not long ago, Qian Shougang had sent someone to request the Earth Fire Lotus, but hadn't even been granted an audience with Liao Rulong.
Clearly, they didn't take him seriously—or King Liang, for that matter.
"These people need to be beaten before they understand their place," Qian Shougang thought, recalling the moment when Wang Ji had tried to resist. He sneered in disdain.
Zhao Xing had estimated it would take two quarters of an hour to catch up to the Black Dragon Warship, but in less time than that, he already saw the warship's shadow on the horizon.
Unlike the Netherflame Warship, the Black Dragon Warship had strong surveillance capabilities and immediately detected the Swordfish Airship trailing them.
"Sir, there's a ship behind us, flying the Shenwei Army banner," the subordinate quickly reported.
"Oh?" Qian Shougang raised an eyebrow. "The Shenwei Army is chasing us? How many?"
"Just one Swordfish Airship, with an estimated five hundred people aboard, according to the energy sensing array."
"Stop the ship," Qian Shougang ordered, a look of contempt on his face. "I want to see what they plan to do."
The Black Dragon Warship actually slowed down and came to a stop.
Zhao Xing was puzzled. How could someone who had stolen their goods not flee as fast as possible? Why were they waiting?
"This person is either extremely arrogant or incredibly stupid," Zhao Xing thought.
What he didn't know was that Qian Shougang had a psychological edge over the Shenwei Army.
Against other powerful armies like the Tiger Jiao Army, Qian Shougang might have shown some respect.
But against the Shenwei Army, Qian Shougang had no such qualms.
"He even deactivated the warship's defensive barrier?" Zhao Xing smirked. "He's seeking his own death."
Qian Shougang had his warship stop on a mountain ridge and deactivated its barriers, hoisting the Heilong Army flag and standing arrogantly on the deck.
Eight smaller ships were deployed, forming a perimeter to surround the Swordfish Airship.
As the Swordfish Airship descended, Qian Shougang stood atop the ridge, looking down, and shouted, "I am…"
Swish~
Before he could finish, Long Xiao unleashed his golden sword.
The blade shot from the Swordfish Airship, heading straight for Qian Shougang's head.
"What?! Such insolence!" Qian Shougang was furious. They were treating him like a mere barbarian.
The Shenwei Army had won one battle and now thought they could behave so arrogantly?
Confident in his strength, being a Primary Sixth Rank warrior with his Heavenly Astral Realm cultivation perfected, Qian Shougang reached out to grab the flying sword with his bare hands.
"Sizzle~"
As the sword neared, Qian Shougang's expression shifted. He quickly changed his move from a grab to a block, his arm guard extending to form a small shield.
"Clang!" The sword struck the shield with immense force, sending Qian Shougang flying back, his wrist already fractured from the impact.
In that instant, his wrist snapped, and he was hurled backward, crashing into the warship behind him.
Swish~ The golden sword grazed the edge of the shield and continued its trajectory toward Qian Shougang's throat.
"Pfft!" The golden sword embedded itself into the warship, but Qian Shougang was no longer there.
His shoulder bore a bloody gash, having barely dodged the fatal strike in the nick of time.
A lock of hair fell, and only then did Qian Shougang realize just how close to death he had come.
"Y-You dare…" Qian Shougang was both furious and terrified. He drew his war blade and pointed it forward. "Attack! Kill them!"
"Xiaoqi Battalion, form the Killing Sword Formation!" Long Xiao ordered, his first two attacks having wounded but not killed Qian Shougang.
Five hundred elite soldiers shouted in unison, their blood energy surging into the sky, condensing into a massive golden-red sword.
Boom!
The Blood Energy Formation unleashed a shockwave that sent the eight surrounding ships flying.
Long Xiao's Xiaoqi Battalion, his personal guard of five hundred soldiers, had trained with him for years and had reached the Fifth Level Formation.
Long Xiao was a sword cultivator, and all five hundred of his men were swordsmen as well.
At this moment, the five hundred and one of them moved as one.
Long Xiao's aura swelled to unprecedented levels, instantly surpassing Qian Shougang.
"Black Dragon Guards, form up!" Qian Shougang roared in response to Long Xiao's rising power.
But just then, a dense fog began to envelop the area, shrouding the eight ships in a thick, poisonous miasma.
It was Zhao Xing's Five Elements Mist Concealment—Miasma!
Not only did the fog blind the Black Dragon Guards, but it also poisoned them instantly.
But that wasn't all.
A sinister wind blew across the battlefield, sweeping over the Black Dragon Guards as they disembarked from the warship.
Though eight hundred soldiers had initially disembarked from the warship, the Yin Wind Fiend Zhao Xing had summoned now made them unsteady on their feet, trembling uncontrollably.
"It's a Military Shennong!"
"Be careful!"
"Use Reviving Wind!"
"Strike with Heavenly Thunder Slash!"
"Deploy Golden Rock Piercing Strike!"
Nine Seventh Rank Military Shennong aboard the Black Dragon Warship quickly responded to Zhao Xing's onslaught. As they received the command, they immediately entered battle mode, casting their spells to counter Zhao Xing's techniques.
But they were already too late.
Zhao Xing had cast his third high-level technique.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Suddenly, dark blue and black orbs erupted from the ground beneath the warship, striking the nine Seventh Rank Military Shennong with precision.
It was Zhao Xing's third advanced technique—Earth Fiend Thunder.
"Boom~"
The protective armor of the nine Shennong officers flickered, dampening the explosive force of the technique.
Six of them were blasted into the air, instantly killed by the devastating impact.
The remaining three barely withstood the blow, but the blast left them dazed and disoriented, their spells misfiring, even harming their own troops.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Xing had single-handedly suppressed the Black Dragon Warship's strongest officers.
This resulted in chaos among the ranks of Qian Shougang's men. The thousand Black Dragon Guards Qian Shougang had brought were now struggling to respond to their commander's orders. Out of the full force, only about two hundred men were able to form a Blood Energy Formation to support him.
Though Qian Shougang was arrogant and vile, his power wasn't to be underestimated. He quickly formed a Fifth-Level Formation, a formidable technique by any standard.
However, due to Zhao Xing's disruption, Qian Shougang had fewer men at his command, and his formation was incomplete.
Before Qian Shougang could stabilize his battle formation, Long Xiao's soldiers, the Xiaoqi Battalion, had already completed their Killing Sword Formation and were charging forward.
"Boom!"
The Black Dragon Guard's protective formation, which conjured a spectral black dragon, was instantly split in two by Long Xiao's golden sword.
The Black Dragon Formation disintegrated at once!
"Ahh—!"
"Splurt!"
"My hand!"
As the formation collapsed, the distributed damage inflicted by the Blood Energy Formation was reflected back onto the Black Dragon Guards. Some had their limbs severed, others lost their legs, and some were even sliced clean through the torso.
Qian Shougang, the core of the formation, bore the brunt of the collapse. A gruesome gash tore from his right shoulder to his left waist.
If the injury he sustained earlier was minor, this one was life-threatening. Blood poured from his wound, weakening him severely.
In battles between experts, one misstep often determined life or death.
"Stop! S-Stop! I am…" Qian Shougang stammered, terrified.
Facing Long Xiao and his advancing soldiers, he could feel death rapidly closing in.
But before he could finish his plea, his heart seized as if it were being crushed by an invisible hand.
"Splurt!" Qian Shougang coughed up blood, glaring in the direction of the attack.
It was Zhao Xing's fourth advanced technique—Soaring Serpent Transformation!
Under normal circumstances, the Black Dragon Guards' formation would have prevented Zhao Xing's attack from penetrating Qian Shougang's internal defenses. But with the formation shattered, Zhao Xing's technique pierced through his Astral Qi defense, violently disrupting the flow of Five Elemental Qi inside Qian Shougang's body. This was the eerie power of high-level transformation techniques.
Even with all this, Qian Shougang wasn't dead yet. As a Primary Sixth Rank warrior, his body was tempered by both Earth Fiend Qi and Heavenly Astral Qi, making him incredibly resilient.
Desperately clinging to life, Qian Shougang absorbed the remnants of the Black Dragon Formation, drawing on the life force of his remaining two hundred soldiers to heal himself.
In the blink of an eye, all two hundred soldiers perished, their life energy drained to fuel Qian Shougang's recovery. His gruesome wound healed partially, and his Astral Qi roared back to life. With newfound strength, Qian Shougang fled, leaving his men behind.
As he soared through the air, he pulled out a Thousand-Mile Transmission Token, frantically transmitting his position to the Heilong Army's base, calling for immediate reinforcements.
"You handle the soldiers. I'm going after him. Leave no one alive," Zhao Xing instructed, his voice cold as he materialized from the surrounding mist, his Tengyun Boots glowing as he pursued the injured Qian Shougang.
Long Xiao nodded, his sword shifting direction as he and his five hundred Xiaoqi Battalion soldiers began clearing out the remaining Black Dragon Guards.
Though Qian Shougang was powerful, he was now a mere shadow of his former self. Even though he had absorbed the Black Dragon Guards' life energy, his injuries had grown worse with each passing moment as he fled.
It only took Zhao Xing three minutes to catch up.
"You! Who are you?! Why are you trying to kill me?!" Qian Shougang shouted, disbelief and desperation lacing his voice.
"Do you not know the answer?" Zhao Xing sneered.
"You want to kill me… just because I requisitioned your supplies?" Qian Shougang's voice trembled, unable to accept that this was happening. Even now, he found it hard to believe that Zhao Xing was trying to kill him over something so seemingly trivial.
He was a Primary Sixth Rank warrior, after all!
Zhao Xing laughed coldly. "You think you can stall for time? You've underestimated me."
"See those clouds up there?" Zhao Xing pointed to the sky.
"I'll be generous and let you know—your reinforcements are already on their way. They're about five kilometers out."
"The fastest among them should reach you in… forty-five breaths."
Qian Shougang's eyes lit up with hope. Forty-five breaths. All he had to do was hold out for forty-five breaths, and he would be saved.
Zhao Xing casually flung a spell at him, watching as Qian Shougang's determination to survive surged.
But then Zhao Xing smiled faintly.
"Unfortunately for you, they won't be able to find you. They won't even be able to see you."
"Because this place, this cloud and fog you're standing in… is my domain!"
As he spoke, the sky began to drizzle.
"Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip!"
Thousands of raindrops rained down, converging into countless threads that pelted Qian Shougang relentlessly. He raised his war blade, swinging it wildly in a desperate attempt to fend off the rain.
But Zhao Xing's Rain Technique wasn't something that could be repelled so easily.
With each raindrop, Qian Shougang's will to fight drained further. His injuries worsened, and the fire of his life began to flicker and dim.
In the face of inevitable death, Qian Shougang finally broke down, begging for his life from the very Shenwei Army commander he had once looked down upon.
"I-I'm sorry! Please, spare me…"
"It's alright," Zhao Xing's voice echoed softly through the mist. "In your next life, be more careful."
As soon as the words left his lips, a single raindrop pierced Qian Shougang's skull, ending his life instantly.
With a thud, Qian Shougang's lifeless body fell to the ground, riddled with holes from the relentless rain.
His eyes remained wide open, filled with disbelief and regret, as his head hit the earth. Above, the reinforcement ships appeared on the horizon, but it was too late. Qian Shougang had already drawn his final breath.
The clouds dissipated as his body lay still, his death an undeniable testament to the price of underestimating Zhao Xing.