EFB Chapter 157 Heading North to Capture the King
Chapter 157 Heading North to Capture the King
As the army marched toward the king's tent, someone threw out a large number of torches, which were then thrown into nearby tents.
In an instant, the area around the royal tent was engulfed in flames.
The people were crying out, and the barbarian warriors began to gather, but they were swept up by the crowd and could not regroup in a short time.
At this point, the advantages of the barbarian army could not be utilized.
The barbarian army served as soldiers during wartime and as civilians during peacetime.
When attacked without warning, they were unable to effectively rally together and were simply no match for a powerful army.
They were scattered in a short time and could only try their best to protect their families and get away from the periphery of the battlefield.
The 300,000-strong army was reduced to a disorganized mess.
The only troops available for battle are the tens of thousands of elite soldiers surrounding the royal tent.
Lu Yuan and his group pressed forward, and all those who stood in their way became victims beneath their iron hooves.
Eight Venerable Masters of Prajna Temple were guarding him.
The eight people, led by Xiao Ku who wielded a golden wheel and whose strength was at the Earth Immortal Realm, were all at the Dharma Aspect level, forming an array to protect each other.
He followed Lu Yuan and charged ahead.
Xiao Lie led his army, closely following in Lu Yuan's footsteps.
With the support of the formation, their defense, speed, and attack power were all greatly enhanced.
The power unleashed by 50,000 cavalrymen at the Refined Realm is unimaginable.
Hearing the commotion outside, Mangu Tun stepped out of his tent.
Its tall body resembles that of a lion.
A frenzy raged in his crimson eyes.
"Who told me that the Northern Barbarians were near Snow God Lake?" The rough voice was like a beast's roar.
After seeing that the people near the royal tent had all been scattered by the flood.
His face was ashen, as if frozen.
"I'll hold them off!" the fierce general Manliang roared.
He led the newly assembled 80,000 wolf riders to meet them, his cultivation level at the Earthly Immortal Realm.
Once the formation is deployed, the effects of the Wolf Rider Formation are applied to the elite troops.
In an instant, the army was shrouded in a blizzard, and within the hazy snow, a giant wolf materialized overhead, howling as it charged forward.
Then, they clashed with Lu Yuan's army in an instant.
This is a clash between two top elite forces on the mainland.
A thick mist of blood erupted as they collided.
Both sides suffered casualties.
On the ground, Lu Yuan wielded his Azure Dragon Crescent Blade. Having already reached the Divine Palace Realm, his breakthrough made him a match for experts in the Divine Power Realm.
His sword swept across, unleashing a fierce aura. No one could stop him, especially with the support of the military formation.
As the core of the entire formation, as long as the army remains intact, no one can harm him. Even if an Earth Immortal attacks, the attack power can be evenly distributed among the 50,000 troops behind him.
At this moment, the army and he were one.
Moreover, he has Xiao Ku, a powerful protector, by his side.
Above, the enormous figure formed by the hurricane resembled a demon god emerging from hell, wielding a Green Dragon Crescent Blade as it crashed down forward.
A fifth-grade formation is a level higher than a fourth-grade formation.
As the illusory blade fell, the surrounding spiritual energy and hurricane converged towards it.
They formed a hundred-foot-long giant blade, which smashed towards the giant wolf at the center of the Wolf Rider Formation.
This is a battle between two formations.
As the blade fell, the giant wolf raised its head, its massive claws meeting the blade's edge.
However, although a fifth-grade formation and a fourth-grade formation seem to differ by only one grade, they are like an insurmountable chasm.
"Buzz!"
When the battle blade fell, the giant wolf's claws were first cleaved, then its head and body.
They vanished from the army in an instant.
With their core formation breached, the Manliang army's formation collapsed instantly.
Without the support of the formation, they were trapped within the great formation, and with similar numbers, they were simply no match for it.
"Hiss hiss hiss!"
The sounds of sharp weapons piercing flesh rang out continuously.
As Lu Yuan's battle blades transformed into a continuous array of blades, they fell forward.
The northern barbarians could only be slaughtered at their mercy.
A look of defiance flashed in Man Liang's eyes, and he leaped high into the air.
He unleashed his supernatural powers.
At this moment, his arms swelled up at an alarming speed, shimmering with a golden luster.
This is his supernatural power, the Vajra Arm.
After using it, the arms are blessed by the divine, and the strength increases tenfold.
The spiked club in his hand emitted a golden shadow dozens of feet long, which slammed towards Lu Yuan, intending to kill Lu Yuan and destroy the formation with absolute power.
Although the hope was slim, it was his only chance.
And just as they were about to take action.
At the same time, several other figures also took to the air.
Among them was the chieftain of the Shengman tribe. Mangu Tun Divine Power was also unleashed, condensing a huge, golden lion's head in the air, resembling a hill, with its gaping maw seemingly capable of devouring everything.
The high priest of the barbarians also used his supernatural powers, uttering strange and unfamiliar musical notes.
A large number of flying insects swarmed towards the army.
Densely packed, blotting out the sky and the sun.
The three Earth Immortals attacked simultaneously, their supernatural powers becoming exceptionally strong under the enhancement of their Dharma forms, seemingly capable of destroying the heavens and the earth.
It obscured the sky above the army.
Xiao Ku's expression changed, and he threw the golden wheel in his hand into the air, revealing a Vajra Dharma image behind him.
Holding a golden wheel, he prepared to defend himself.
At the same time, he said in a solemn voice, "Your Highness, retreat quickly! The barbarian experts have unleashed their power; we cannot withstand them."
The other seven Venerable Ones placed their palms on Xiao Ku's back.
In an instant, the Vajra image became even brighter, and the golden light intensified.
However, they also knew that they couldn't hold out for long. If they were facing two ordinary Earth Immortals, they would have no problem.
But the three people in front of them were all top-tier Earth Immortal experts.
Especially Mangu Tun, whose supernatural powers are domineering, could swallow a city in one gulp if he were to unleash them.
Xiao Ku's array could only block him at best.
Moreover, the high priest, who is usually away, is also here now.
Moreover, Man Liang's strength seems to have increased as well.
Some attempts to block it are impossible.
"Sizzle!"
In just a short time, the Vajra Body showed signs of being corroded by thousands of flying insects.
At the same time, the lion's huge mouth also bit down on the shoulder.
Although King Kong was trying his best to resist, he was still finding it difficult to hold on.
However, Lu Yuan did not retreat an inch. He dared to come because he was confident.
Looking at Xiao Ku, he grinned and said, "Venerable One, have you ever witnessed the true power of a military formation? Today, I will show you why a renowned general can overpower an Earth Immortal."
When Lu Yuan was speaking.
He gripped the Green Dragon Crescent Blade tightly in his hand, and then his entire body dismounted from the warhorse and soared into the air.
At this moment, his figure seemed to merge with the towering general within the storm behind him.
The dark dragon armor gleamed slightly.
Then, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade slashed at the Vajra Arm that Man Liang had conjured. At this moment, in everyone's eyes, a pair of huge, golden arms in the sky, holding maces dozens of feet long, smashed down on the back of the Angry Vajra.
Golden blood flowed.
The Green Dragon Crescent Blade descended from the sky, and the towering phantom in the army formation cleaved the blade with invincible power.
A thunderous sound seemed to echo from the sky.
It fell down.
"Kara!"
Manliang's arms, forged from supernatural powers, were shattered with a single strike.
"what!"
He let out a scream.
His true form crashed to the ground, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Controlling the array spirit, this guy is a near-famous general. When did such a figure appear in the Northern Barbarians?"
Ordinary generals can condense the spirit of the formation above the formation.
In the context of the battlefield, this is already quite remarkable, as it can provide a significant boost to the army.
Lu Yuan can control the array spirits, which is something that a near-famous general can do.
There are few such figures in the world, and it is said that there is only one in the Northern Barbarians.
However, he has already led a large army to the border of the Mangu tribe to take command.
How could this place exist? And even a near-master general couldn't possibly defeat him in a single blow.
After all, he was quite powerful among the Earth Immortals.
Unless the opponent's formation is of a very high level.
However, this also has limitations on cultivation level. Considering that Lu Yuan is only at the Divine Palace Realm, with the physical body at this level, he simply cannot control a very powerful array soul.
However, unbeknownst to him, Lu Yuan's physical strength had already been refined to the point where it was as hard as iron.
In fact, this is also why he dared to launch a surprise attack on the barbarians.
After cleaving the barbarian in two with a single strike.
Lu Yuan spun his blade, and the array spirit quickly aligned the blade with the giant lion head that Man Gu Tun had conjured.
The blade slashed down without pausing.
"Bang!"
With the support of the military formation, the golden lion's head was severed.
Mangu Tun's body crashed to the ground, his face pale. He looked at the general who resembled a demon god, hidden in the hurricane, and his eyes showed fear.
"A fifth-grade military formation, what a grand scheme! As far as I know, the Northern Barbarians don't have such advanced formations. Who exactly are you?" he asked.
Lu Yuan did not respond. Although the array spirit formed by the 50,000 beast riders was powerful, even Lu Yuan was somewhat overloaded after unleashing two consecutive attacks.
After all, the number of people is too small. If it were an army of 300,000, defeating two Earth Immortals would be very easy.
Now, even using two full moves to defeat two Earth Immortals is the limit; he's struggling to even speak.
After all, this time, the entire army's strength has been gathered together.
Then, the huge blade pressed down on Mangu Tun's body.
At the same time, he exhaled a stream of Geng metal energy, which directly snapped the large banner in the camp.
The camp was in even greater chaos.
Without the suppression of Mangu Tun and Manliang, Xiao Ku is now beating the Shengman priest.
Xiao Lie didn't dare to hesitate. He swung out the sealing chains in his hand and locked Man Gu Tun and Man Liang's collarbones, dragging them into the group.
Lu Yuan did not linger in the fight. After seeing that Man Gu Tun had been captured, he knew that his objective had been achieved.
He shouted to the army, "Retreat!"
After he finished speaking, the army turned their horses around and headed away into the distance.
This world is different from ordinary ancient times. After the emperor was captured, the entire court basically fell apart, because the emperor was the strongest force.
It is simply impossible for anyone else to inherit it rashly.
As long as we capture Mangu Tun, the Shengman will be swallowed up sooner or later.
With the support of their battle formation, the army moved at a very fast speed.
In the blink of an eye, they disappeared near the royal tent.
When we stopped again, it was already daylight.
Mangu Tun lay on the ground covered in blood, having been dragged along by the army the entire way.
If it weren't for his Earth Immortal cultivation and powerful physical body, he would probably have died on the battlefield long ago, but even so, he was already severely injured.
He stared at Lu Yuan, but there was nothing he could do.
Manliang wasn't having an easy time either, but this guy was pretty tough.
He kept uttering foul language.
Finally, Xiao Lie stuffed a stone directly into his mouth.
At this moment, even Xiao Ku, who was usually not very talkative, had a smile on his lips: "I didn't expect that we would actually do it."
Capturing Mangu Tun is of great significance to the Northern Barbarians.
This almost represents the fact that the barbarians have fallen into the hands of the northern barbarians.
"Your Highness is incredibly insightful. When we return, we'll be heroes of the court. It's so much more fun fighting alongside Your Highness, haha!" Xiao Lie said excitedly.
Capturing the king in the north is something everyone in the world wants to do, but so far only Lu Yuan has accomplished it.
As assistants, they too will gain worldwide fame this time.
Putting everything else aside, his name will definitely be recorded in history.
Lu Yuan showed no excitement. He took out his wine flask, took a small sip, and said in a low voice, "The imperial court is still unaware of the situation here, isn't it?"
"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to say yet," Xiao Lie quickly replied.
Lu Yuan nodded: "Well, let's not say anything for now. If the imperial court finds out, other dynasties will inevitably get the news as well, which will be detrimental to our next plan."
"What plan?" Xiao Lie asked.
He was a little confused. Wasn't the plan to capture the barbarian king and then go back? Why was there another plan?
Lu Yuan said calmly, "If we capture the emperor of the Shengman and take him back now, several courts and local warlords will quickly become wary of us Northern Barbarians. Although we can bring the Shengman to surrender, it will be impossible to suppress the Guman in the short term."
Therefore, we should take this opportunity to bring the ancient barbarian king back to Qin as well. At that time, the various regional warlords will realize that the situation is hopeless, and if they know what's good for them, they will inevitably return to the court.
And it's even more impossible for others to get their hands on it.
The three barbarian tribes were unified, and the Qin Dynasty was restored.
"Who in the world would dare to underestimate us?" Lu Yuan said.
Xiao Lie and the group of young generals were all filled with enthusiasm. Although the battle just now had left them feeling nauseous, they knew that Lu Yuan was telling the truth.
"But, but His Majesty did not order an attack on the ancient barbarians," Xiao Lie said softly.
She was a little afraid to look at Lu Yuan.
"When a general is in the field, he may not obey orders. This is an opportunity. The main force of the Ancient Barbarians has been dispatched to the border to confront Xiao Xiong. Moreover, as far as I know, they have also sent a portion of the Ancient Barbarian Blood Cavalry to support the Wild Barbarians."
They are currently besieging us on the border of the ancient barbarians, so there aren't many troops or even many experts in the ancient barbarian king's tent right now.
Actually, the most important thing is that after the Barbarian King was captured, he must have been surrounded by a large army on his way back, and we probably won't be able to get out easily.
"Am I right, Mangu Tun?" Lu Yuan's voice was not loud.
This caused Mangu Tun's expression to change: "You, how did you know?"
"Hehe, because of this." As Lu Yuan spoke, he took out a letter, which was written by the Ancient Barbarian King to Man Gu Tun.
After Lu Yuan confiscated his storage ring.
The letter was, of course, read.
Mangu Tun lowered his head and remained silent, but despair could be seen in his eyes.
"What King Qin said makes sense. Let's go to the Ancient Barbarians and bring their king back with us." Xiao Ku was the first to agree.
This powerful Earth Immortal, second only to Xiao Gu within the sect, spoke up.
Xiao Lie nodded: "I will listen to the King of Qin."
However, as he spoke, he said with a wry smile, "A message came from the imperial court, asking how things are going."
"Don't go back yet, to avoid the risk of leaking information. Let's attack the Ancient Barbarians directly. I'll take the blame if anything goes wrong," Lu Yuan said.
Xiao Lie didn't hesitate, rubbing his hands together and saying, "Alright, we'll listen to the Prince."
He took out a map while speaking.
The depiction above clearly shows the territories of the Shengman and Guman tribes.
Xiao Lie pointed to a narrow path and said, "Starting from here, we can rotate our warhorses and reach the ancient barbarian king's camp in five days."
Lu Yuan nodded: "Tell the brothers to rest for an hour, and then set off."
Their warhorses are among the best in the Northern Barbarian lands.
This is most suitable for this kind of blitzkrieg.
In the past, no one had ever dared to do this, so it simply couldn't achieve the desired effect.
Lu Yuan's bold playing style is now so unpredictable that it's impossible for anyone to adapt.
Gu Man certainly never imagined that Lu Yuan would dare to do this after he had already wiped out Man Gu Tun.
In fact, this is also why the Shengman and Guman tribes did not have cities.
If they possess a city, the effectiveness of such a blitzkrieg would be greatly reduced.
After all, siege warfare is no easy task.
Without several times the number of troops, it's impossible to break through.
As the army began to rest, the barbarian tribes were in complete chaos.
However, there were still some clever people who managed to keep the news under wraps.
To avoid spreading the news, since if the news of Mangu Tun's arrest got out, the entire Shengman region would probably be in complete chaos.
Therefore, not many people have received this news.
After resting for an hour and eating something, Lu Yuan and his group headed straight towards the ancient barbarian tribe.
For the next period of time, they stayed at night and slept during the day.
Moreover, all the sound transmission stones were completely blocked.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Lu Yuan led his army to the outside of the ancient barbarian king's tent, just as he had guessed.
At this time, there were not many troops left outside the royal tent of the ancient barbarian tribe.
Only tens of thousands of people were stationed there; the rest had gone out.
Even among the experts, only the Ancient Barbarian King remains.
Having just received the scout's report, Lu Yuan smiled and looked at Man Gu, whose eyes were bloodshot and whose mouth was stuffed with a stone, and said, "It seems that you have a good relationship with the Gu Man."
A lot of people were mobilized to support you, but you didn't leave many people on your side at all.
Don't worry, we'll be reunited soon.
Mangu struggled, trying to break free of his restraints.
However, after his collarbone was sealed, he was unable to unleash his full power.
It could only writhe its body like a maggot.
"Why bother? The three barbarians are originally one family. If we unite and rebuild the Great Qin, that is the right path. As long as you cooperate, there may be a way out," Lu Yuan said calmly.
Mangu Tun, however, continued to glare at Lu Yuan with a furious expression.
However, it's clear that she's not as resistant as she was before.
At the same time, inside the Northern Barbarian Imperial Palace, Xiao Shi couldn't help but show worry on her face. Xiao Hua lowered her head and didn't speak, her hands clenched tightly, her knuckles turning white.
"Is there still no news of the army?" Xiao asked in a deep voice.
His voice trembled slightly.
Xiao Gu nodded solemnly: "There is no news. I only heard that a major battle seemed to have taken place near the Shengman King's tent, and then there was no news. Everything in the Shengman territory has been sealed off recently."
There has been no news from either the King of Qin or Xiao Lie.
Xiao waved her hand helplessly: "Continue the investigation. We must get to the bottom of this."
"Yes, sir!"
Xiao Gu responded and then withdrew.
Li Qing and the others also came out of the main hall.
At this moment, when only the mother and daughter remained in the arena, Xiao Hua stood up and said, "Mother, I will personally lead an army to the border of the barbarians to meet Brother Yuan."
At that moment, her eyes radiated an unyielding determination.
Madam Xiao looked at her and said, "No, we don't know what's going on inside the Shengman tribe right now. It would be too dangerous for you to go there rashly."
"Mother, let me go. I won't be at peace if I don't go," Xiao Hua insisted.
"Wait a little longer, wait a few more days. If there is still no news, your mother will accompany you," Madam Xiao said. She had made up her mind that if Lu Yuan was really in trouble, she would lead the beast riders to rescue him.
Inside the Yong Emperor's palace, the Yong Emperor glanced at the latest battle report: "Still no news of barbarian attacks?"
"No, the Northern Barbarians are too far away from us, and we haven't arranged for anyone there. However, the message from the Northern Barbarians is that we haven't heard from Lu Yuan for several days," the eunuch below said softly.
Emperor Yong smirked: "Hehe, the Northern Barbarians were too trusting of Lu Yuan. In my Great Yong, he is just a border general, yet the Northern Barbarian Empress directly bestowed upon him the title of King. This time, they have lost both their wife and their army."
The loss of 50,000 beastmen, while not a devastating blow, is still a significant blow to the Northern Barbarians in their current state.
After speaking, he waved his hand to signal the eunuch to leave.
Upon receiving the report, the Azure Emperor of Dongyi offered no further comment, only a cold glint in his eyes and a deepening contempt. He then looked at those around him and asked, "Has the prodigy who reached the pinnacle still not been found?"
"No, it's as if it evaporated; there's been no news at all," the eunuch replied softly.
The Azure Emperor waved his hand, signaling the other party to step back, and then said nothing more.