Chapter 1175: Marching Toward Zhuolu
Chapter 1175: Marching Toward Zhuolu
Qin Ye turned and cast his gaze toward the rest of the commanders in the tent, all of whom stepped forward in unison, volunteering to claim the remaining badge.
Around a dozen voices rang out in unison, and Qin Ye took a glance at everyone before sending the badge flying into Su Daji’s grasp.
Su Daji instantly shuddered as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning, then cast an incredulous gaze toward Qin Ye.
She had always been a high-ranking official, but she knew that once the education system was established in the Cathayan Underworld, more and more Abyssal Prefects would emerge during the coming centuries, and she would definitely be marginalized as a result.
After all, she had committed treason in the past, and that was a permanent blotch on her political resume.
Thus, never did she think that she would receive a badge. She and Qin Hui hadn’t said anything this entire time as they knew that they had no right to try and lay claim to something so important.
Who could’ve imagined that this badge would be assigned to them!
As soon as they returned to their sense, she and Qin Hui immediately fell to their knees before kowtowing onto the ground. “Your trust in us is not misplaced, Yanluo Qin! Even if we have to die 1,000 deaths, we’ll make sure to keep Resentment at bay!”
Not all Abyssal Prefects were made equal.
For example, vile beings like Su Daji and Qin Hui, who had to be restricted using the six paths of reincarnation, were far more powerful than the Abyssal Prefects among the 73 immortals. Over the past two decades, Su Daji and Qin Hui had also become more powerful, and with their Hungry Ghost Legion and Asura Legion, which combined to over 100,000 troops, coupled with the Wumu military formation, it certainly wasn’t impossible for them to keep Resentment at bay.
Qin Ye nodded in response. It was about time that he gave them an opportunity to redeem themselves.
He withdrew his gaze, then turned toward all of the commanders before bringing out the final badge.
“Even I do not know what the Myriad Soul Pagoda is like. Once it’s activated, it’s most likely the case that no one will be around to issue orders to all of you. You have an army of over 500,000 troops under your command, and all you have to do is one thing: keep the 73 immortals and all of the other enemies at bay, do you understand?”
The badge fell into Qin Changxin’s grasp, and accepted it with a deep breath, then cupped his fist in a salute alongside all of the other commanders. “Yes!”
……………………………………
Zhuolu.
In the present-day, this historic battlefield had become a basin, one that would be impossible to emerge from after entry. No one knew what had been buried here several thousand years ago. Everyone only knew that this was an extremely far place from Ruicheng County, so far away that no developers were willing to approach it.
It was a very large space, spanning over 50 kilometers in radius, but there was no greenery here at all, and it was completely barren.
The basin was surrounded by several mountain ranges with a small yet turbulent river flowing through it.
The mountain range on the left was like a coiled serpent, representing the Azure Dragon. The mountain range to the left resembled a prowling predator, representing the White Tiger. The upper mountain range spread open to either side, resembling the Vermillion Bird spreading its wings to take flight, while the mountain range in the rear was flat and smooth, much like the shell of the Xuanwu Turtle.
All of that, in addition to the fast-flowing river, made this an extremely perilous place in a fengshui context, and whatever was buried here would be condemned to a fate of suffering for eternity, but even a slight mishap could result in terrifying corpse mutations.
Standing atop a stone mountain was a short being with a head that resembled the skull of a crow, and two balls of netherfire burning in the eye sockets. The strange being was staring intently into the distance, where a gargantuan wall could be seen on the horizon.
This elderly being wasn’t very tall, but its arms were extraordinarily long, and even though it clearly had legs, it was walking on all fours. The enamel layer all over its entire body was riddled with countless tiny holes, and gusts of Yin wind were gushing into the holes in corkscrew form.
These were longears, the lowliest members of the 82 divisions under Chiyou’s command. If it weren’t for that, it wouldn’t have been sent here as a scout.
There were also several dozen more scouts behind the stone mountain, and they were staring intently at the passageway that led into this place.
The terrain here was very strange. From the outside, it appeared to be a basin, but on the inside, it was actually a highland.
In order to enter the basin from outside, there were only several mountain paths that could be taken, one of which ran through the center of this stone mountain.
The longear lowered its head to take a look, and it saw several hundred evil ghosts gathered roughly a kilometer behind the stone mountain. These were the elite members of the Nigu Division and the Xinglan Division, and they were releasing formidable netherfire and Yin energy. Anyone who passed through this place would immediately be met by a fierce assault from these beings.
However, they weren’t the most powerful forces here.
The longear cast its gaze further into the distance, where a fearsome Yin energy vortex could be seen. The enigmatic Many-faced God and all of the four ominous stars were in there, as well as the Myriad Soul Pagoda.
The longear heaved a silent sight.
They had already been defeated once at Zhuolu, were they going to be able to reverse the outcome of history here on this occasion?
The Jiuli Tribes were no longer as powerful as they had been in their heyday, but the main forces were still present! Even if they had to stain the entirety of Zhuolu with blood, they were determined to declare to the world that they had returned!
The sky was bright and clear.
It was 6 AM, and the sky was still filled with stars, but there was already a hint of golden light rising up on the horizon.
Gusts of wind swept through the area, occasionally sending rocks and stones rolling down from the mountain. The longear withdrew its gaze. It knew that even though the enemy hadn’t made a move on the previous day, an all-out battle could erupt at any moment during the next four days!
All of a sudden, the longear stiffened on the spot, having just caught sight of something out of the corners of its eyes.
It stood up straight with an incredulous expression, and an overwhelming sense of peril and foreboding suddenly welled up in its heart, sending every single cell of its body into overdrive. It could see that all of the scouts around it had stood up.
This was no illusion!
A voice was screaming frantically at it in its mind as right in front of the eyes of all of the scouts, an opening had appeared on the vast skeletal wall on the horizon.
In that instant, it was as if time had fallen completely still.
Inside the vortex of Yin energy, the inner demon abruptly raised its head before casting its gaze toward the Thousand Tribulation Wall. “Have they broken through it already? As expected of the most powerful underworlds in history…”
Envy also raised his head, and in the blink of an eye, all of the Yin energy in his entire body began to surge and churn violently, while vengeful spirits formed by Yin energy drifted out of his orifices incessantly.
Come! Let us put an end to this millennia-long vendetta once and for all!
Lust’s blood-red eyes sprang open amid a clump of disheveled hair, and he cast his gaze toward the Thousand Tribulation Wall, then slowly crouched down, lowering his center of gravity as if he were a leopard about to pounce on its prey.
Is it finally about to begin?
This was perhaps going to be the final battle between gods and demons in this nation, and he couldn’t wait to reverse the defeat they had suffered thousands of years ago.
All of the demonic ghostly immortals and 73 immortals had detected the change in the Thousand Tribulation Wall. It was far too apparent, like an ink blotch on a pristine sheet of white paper. As the crack continued to widen further and further, wisps of pure black Yin energy that represented Hell began to seep through.
More and more cracks began to appear, and they were widening rapidly. After no more than a minute, the entire wall was already riddled with cracks, and so much black Yin energy had seeped through that half of the sky had turned pitch-black.
Everyone was looking on and waiting with bated breath. It was clear that the instant that the Thousand Tribulation Wall fell would be the instant that this historic battle began.
Right around the minute mark, the Thousand Tribulation Wall finally collapsed, unable to hold itself upright any longer. Immediately thereafter, hundreds of inky-black insects crawled through, frantically gnawing away at the Thousand Tribulation Wall, which was still collapsing at an alarming speed.
However, no one paid any heed to this.
Even as massive sections of the wall collapsed one after another, no one took a single glance at it.
Everyone’s attention was focused on the hundreds of thousands of Yin soldiers standing behind the wall. They were gathered in an orderly formation with a vast wall of Yin energy from the four Yama-Kings in front of them, presenting a breathtaking and formidable sight to behold.
Fierce gusts of wind suddenly began to sweep through the area, causing the flags of Hell carried by the Yin soldiers to flap incessantly.
Amid the tense and bloodthirsty atmosphere, Qin Ye slowly reached out a hand. He was standing at the forefront of the army, and boundless Yin energy gathered around him, following which an inky-black longsword suddenly appeared in his grasp.
He gently grabbed onto the hilt of the sword, then pointed its tip directly at Zhuolu.
The scouts at the forefront finally realized what was happening, and they screamed in terror as they rushed back as quickly as they could. Behind them, the armies of the Nigu Division and the Xinglan Division were already crouching down onto the ground, preparing to charge ahead.
This was a moment in history that was going to be eternally remembered, a battle that would put an end to a conflict that had been raging for as long as the human race had existed.
In the next instant, Yin energy erupted violently, and a burst of loud buzzing rang out over the ground as Qin Ye sped toward Zhuolu on his own like a lone eagle soaring over the desert!
This was like an injection of stimulants directly into the souls of all of the underworld emissaries, causing their adrenalin to spike through the roof. At the same time, the thunderous sound of pounding war drums rang out, and Zhao Yun pointed his spear directly forward as he commanded, “Charge!”
“Charge!!!”
“Long live, Hell!”
Zhao Yun’s order was met by countless war cries, and heaven and earth trembled as the army of over 600,000 Yin soldiers charged ahead as a single unit!
The tens of thousands of skeletal warhorses at the forefront lowered their heads in unison, and the heavy cavalry they were carrying on their backs formed the first wave.
All of the warhorses were charging close beside one another in rows, forming impenetrable walls that galloped ahead like unstoppable juggernauts.
With hundreds of thousands of Yin soldiers charging forward at once, the entire earth was quaking and groaning violently. The formidable army was bulldozing straight through all landmarks in their path, and their eyes were set on one thing and one thing only: Zhuolu!
As the ground began to quake and rumble, the inner demon’s eyes abruptly sprang open, and it was suddenly struck by a sense of foreboding.
It had failed to anticipate that Hell’s army would be so uniform and well organized. The collective killing intent and unstoppable momentum of Hell’s advancing army was significantly boosting their morale while denting the morale of the opposing army and striking fear directly into their hearts.
The Battle of Zhuolu had taken place at far too early a point in history, at a time when military formations didn’t exist. Thus, they had never seen such a massive army advance in such a uniform fashion, and it felt as if they were facing a force of nature, striking them with a sense of powerlessness and despair.
They were accustomed to a far more primitive style of battle, which were essentially massive, chaotic melees without any formation or organization to speak of, and they had never faced a well-trained army that was armed to the teeth, such as the one they were facing now.
This army had slowly developed year after year alongside the advancement of Hell. Their discipline and fearlessness had been forged through countless battles, and it was upon those experiences that they built their unshakeable confidence and unwavering resolve.
“Stop them!” the inner demon yelled frantically. Chiyou’s army had never undergone any formal training, and the inner demon knew that if Hell’s army were allowed to charge into the ranks of Chiyou’s forces, they would be like tigers rushing into a sheep’s stable, instantly plunging the entirety of Chiyou’s army into chaos and disarray!
Even without that frantic cry from the inner demon, Resentment had already sensed that something was wrong, and he immediately charged forward with bloodshot eyes.
“Charge!” His thunderous voice rang out across the entirety of Zhuolu as he roared, “Anyone who retreats will be executed on the spot!”