Bang!

His arm swept horizontally, fist crashing into the White Emperor’s face. Amid exploding waves of energy, the White Emperor went tumbling through the air.

He wasn’t completely destabilized by the punch’s force—rotating mid-air, adjusting his posture, his four hooves plowed the ground as he slid back a short distance, steadying himself.

“Puh…”

The White Emperor spat out a bloodied fang. His eyes had just finished healing when he looked down at the broken tooth, then raised his head in disbelief to stare at the three-meter-tall human warrior.

The punch had left a stinging pain and caused minor external injuries—trivial wounds that a divine-demonic descendant with a powerful physical form could easily ignore.

But the shock in the White Emperor’s eyes surged like ocean waves:

“This is impossible. How can you possess such power?”

Typically, potential bursts could only bring momentary power increases, maintaining it even briefly was already difficult.

But in the White Emperor’s perception, Xu Qi An’s power had risen to a new level and stabilized.

What did this mean?

It was simply absurd!

A cultivator’s power accumulated step by step—Early Second Rank was Early Second Rank, there was no reason to grow stronger during battle. Where did this power come from?

It completely defied common sense.

The White Emperor had lived countless years, from ancient times until now, and had never seen anything so preposterous.

If power could be gained this way, what was the point of cultivation?

This youngster still hadn’t reached First Rank combat power, but compared to earlier, he had grown significantly stronger.

The White Emperor began to worry about where this enhancement would end.

Xu Qi An opened his fingers, his shattered finger bones rapidly healing, his blood-covered fist regenerating in an instant.

Seeing this, Luo Yu Heng relaxed in relief, her body going soft, feeling the exhaustion that comes after extreme tension.

I knew something was different about his state during the Xunzhou battle, growing stronger as he fought… A Su Luo’s heart eased.

Golden Lotus Daoist and Zhao Shou likewise relaxed their tense emotions—there was still hope for battle.

Golden Lotus Daoists especially felt complex emotions. During the Xunzhou battle, he had been busy refining the Black Lotus and hadn’t participated, lacking a deep understanding of Xu Qi An’s combat power.

Only today did he realize this young man’s battle prowess had reached such an outrageous level.

The Garuda Tree’s face was dark as water. What insight had Xu Qi An gained at Second Rank? It remained a mystery.

And a major uncertainty.

The only consolation was, as the White Emperor thought, a cultivator’s power accumulated step by step. This so-called growing stronger in battle must have a limit.

Most likely impossible to cross an entire rank.

As long as he remained below First Rank, the situation wasn’t too serious.

Xu Qi An gazed south, toward Yongzhou, took a deep breath, and smiled:

“My warm-up is finished. You three, can you still hold on?”

Hearing this, A Su Luo spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and sneered:

“Forget thirteen days—I could fight for a month!”

Zhao Shou laughed:

“If the Supervisor hadn’t expended most of the power of the Scholar’s Cap and Engraving Knife, this old man would have sent the Garuda Tree crawling back to the Western Regions by now.”

Golden Lotus Daoist glanced at him sideways, thinking these scholars who eat garlic daily had quite the big talk.

“Daoist avatars connect with heaven and earth’s spiritual power, our techniques deep as the sea, unafraid of prolonged battles.”

As peak warriors of the Nine Provinces, physical and spiritual energy were never concerns.

The only question was whether Xu Qi An could endure, and now it seemed this young man was more resilient than anyone had imagined.

The three’s confidence multiplied.

Xu Qi An looked south again—his second time gazing southward.

Academy Principal Zhao Shou spoke softly:

“You are Great Feng’s backbone, the soldiers’ faith. As long as you don’t fall, Great Feng’s belief won’t fall!”

Xu Qi An withdrew his gaze, releasing the heroic spirit in his chest:

“A man’s heart is iron until death, just watch me…”

He actively advanced toward the White Emperor like a fearless warrior.

Just watch me mend the sky’s breach with one hand.

…

In the Celestial Sect, amid cloud-wreathed immortal mountains.

Celestial Lord Ice Yi and Daoist Xuan Cheng, one riding a celestial crane, and one flying by sword, arrived at the majestic Celestial Lord Hall atop the cliff.

The white-haired Celestial Lord sat cross-legged on a lotus platform, body hunched, head lowered.

“Greetings, Celestial Lord!”

The two Yang Spirit Daoists maintained expressionless faces as they performed the Daoist greeting.

“I have foreseen the Holy Maiden’s death tribulation. Go to Yongzhou, and bring those two back while you’re there.”

The Celestial Lord’s voice echoed in the hall.

Celestial Lord Ice Yi and Daoist Xuan Cheng exchanged glances, speaking in emotionless voices:

“Yes, Celestial Lord!”

The Celestial Lord’s ethereal, dispassionate voice echoed again:

“The Great Tribulation approaches. After the Heaven-Human struggle, the Celestial Sect will seal its mountains, cutting off contact with the outside world. Before then, you must not participate in mortal affairs, and must not attract karma.

“Otherwise, you will be expelled from the Celestial Sect.”

Ice Yi and Xuan Cheng knew the Celestial Lord was warning them not to interfere in the Central Plains conflict for any person or matter.

Last time while searching for Li Ling Su in Yongzhou, they had fallen for Xu Qi An’s scheme, forced to help him fight against the Buddhist Vajra.

“Disciples understand!”

The two Yang Spirit cultivators withdrew from the Celestial Lord Hall.

…

Xunzhou, Governor’s Mansion.

An armored soldier holding intelligence reports strode quickly into the main hall, bowing:

“Administrative Commissioner, urgent military intelligence.”

Yang Gong was discussing matters with his advisors. Hearing this, he nodded:

“Present it.”

After handing over the intelligence, the soldier immediately withdrew—his duty was only to deliver messages, not listen in.

Yang Gong opened the wax-sealed intelligence and read carefully. He set down the report without expression, saying:

“Second Young Master sends word that Yunzhou rebel forces are amassing in force, preparing to assault Xunzhou!”

The advisors’ expressions changed slightly, knowing this day had finally come.

Many things happened during this period.

The fighting between both armies on the defensive line centered on Xunzhou had been exceptionally fierce. Between field battles and siege warfare, the total number of engagements large and small exceeded a hundred.

All of Yongzhou had become like a meat grinder, with tens of thousands of lives scattered to ash.

And in this series of brutal campaigns, Xu New Year’s fame had soared. Leading his cavalry across battlefields, achieving victory after victory, he had routed the Yunzhou mounted scouts, establishing brilliant military achievements.

The “Righteous Army” cooperating with him had likewise played a huge role.

It could be said they have made enormous contributions to Xunzhou’s defense until today.

But the day before yesterday, when Li Miao Zhen and others attempted to infiltrate the Yunzhou camp to burn their granaries, they fell into Qi Guang Bo’s carefully arranged trap.

Fortunately, these “Righteous Army” leaders were highly skilled and fought their way out. Though severely wounded, none had died.

Yang Gong didn’t know the specific details, but he knew dealing with Yang Qian Huan’s transmission techniques wasn’t difficult—Yunzhou’s rebel forces also had ritual practitioners, and Xu Ping Feng must have left artifacts to counter transmission techniques.

“Lord Yang, Yunzhou’s forces come fiercely. This battle will not be easy.”

An advisor sighed.

The current situation was that after days of fierce fighting, the defensive line had been beaten to pieces. Now only Xunzhou remained. For Yunzhou forces to sweep north and swallow Yongzhou City, they had to remove the nail that was Xunzhou.

Yang Gong turned slightly, looking north.

“The real danger isn’t us, but Constable Xu and the Imperial Mentor. As long as they don’t fall, we’ll defend Yongzhou to the death.”

Yang Gong spoke heavily: “Pass down orders—prepare for battle!”

Li Mu Bai and others looked north.

They could all die, everyone could die, but as long as the tribulation battle in the north didn’t fail, Great Feng had hope.

There stood Great Feng’s backbone, the soldiers’ faith.

…

Yunzhou Military Camp.

Inside the command tent, Qi Guang Bo stood before a sand table, placing small red and blue flags in different positions.

Each blue flag representing Great Feng’s forces had corresponding red flags containing them. Looking carefully, one would see that Xunzhou was completely isolated.

At least for the short term, no reinforcements would appear.

Before the battle began, blue pieces representing Great Feng’s defensive forces had been inserted along the defensive line, forming a horn formation with Xunzhou, supporting each other.

Now those flags had been removed one by one—some forces destroyed, others scattered into guerrilla warfare and raids.

Of course, Yunzhou’s forces had also suffered heavy losses, losing one-third of their troops, including eight thousand elite core forces.

Elite troops were different from irregular forces—each loss was irreplaceable, all precious to Yunzhou.

“The trap is set. Next, it’s time to meet the world-famous Purple Yang Resident.”

Qi Guang Bo surveyed the sand table, gaze steady.

This prodigal son who neglected proper duties, who despised literature and scorned martial arts, yet was uniquely passionate about military command—this madman whom Xu Ping Feng had chosen years ago—shared his terrifying strategic vision.

In commanding armies, clever schemes always took second place to leadership ability and strategic vision—these were a commander’s essential qualities.

Why was Wei Yuan acclaimed as the God of War?

Not for his cultivation, not for his strategies, but for his ability to command hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops, his ability to survey the entire battlefield.

When both sides had similar troop numbers and transcendent experts, such a fearsome commander could easily determine victory or defeat.

Qi Guang Bo was, in Xu Ping Feng’s experience, second only to Wei Yuan in military talent, surpassing even Jing Guo’s ruler, Xia Hou Yu Shu.

“General, that Xu Xin Nian seems to have detection artifacts. If he discovers your arrangements beforehand, what then?”

Yang Chuan Nan frowned.

Ge Wen Xuan smiled:

“Our main force hasn’t gathered yet, hasn’t marched on Xunzhou—he can’t detect it. Even with detection artifacts, they can’t monitor constantly. As for now, detected or not, we’ll reach the city walls before noon.

“By the time Great Feng’s forces notice, it will be too late.”

Another commander spoke heavily:

“The cavalry led by Xu Xin Nian is extremely powerful, with the Celestial Sect’s Holy Son and Daughter assisting. If they return to reinforce Xunzhou City, they’ll cause us significant trouble.”

Qi Guang Bo smiled slightly:

“Don’t worry about them. Others will handle it.”

…

Desolate mountains bordered desolate plains.

Xu Xin Nian led seven thousand troops, camping by a river at the mountain’s foot.

The cavalry automatically washed their horses’ noses, and cleaned their hands, feet, and faces, while infantry stacked stone stoves, and brought out iron pots, preparing to boil water to refill depleted water skins.

“Rest for two-quarters of an hour, then immediately return to reinforce Xunzhou City.”

Xu Xin Nian turned to give Miao You Fang instructions, then looked to Li Miao Zhen beside him, speaking softly:

“Are you sure your wounds aren’t a problem?”

Li Miao Zhen’s face was somewhat pale. She shook her head slightly:

“It’s fine. With the pills Yang Qian Huan left me, I’ll recover in three days. These small injuries don’t affect my combat power—Daoist power comes from the primordial spirit.”

Her injuries were from the ambush two days ago.

At that time, Yunzhou forces had ambushed them with many experts, including Fourth Rank cultivators, while Yang Qian Huan’s transmission formations were countered by high-level formations of the same system, making them difficult to use.

They had only fought their way out thanks to Master Heng Yuan’s Vajra Divine Technique bearing most of the damage.

Thus Master Heng Yuan was the most severely wounded.

Among the Heaven’s Society members, only Chu Yuan Zhen and Li Miao Zhen’s injuries were considered light.

The latter had taken Li Ling Su and Heng Yuan to Yongzhou City to recover.

Flying Swallow Heroine had merged her private forces with Second Young Master Xu’s troops, accompanying him on the campaign.

Sometimes they say character determines fate—this was exactly why.