Chapter 711 - The Finale (1)

Chapter 711 - The Finale (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

When the Yu Family army at Swallow County witnessed such a sight, they were angered to the point they almost went crazy!

Originally, when the Yu Family army saw those remnant troops rushing over, they were elated over having reinforcements. Despite the incoming troops being dispersed and out of formation, they were still reinforcements after all! Furthermore, with the forces of the Ling and Yu Family being almost equal, the extra reinforcements would tip the scales in their favor!

The general of the outer edge did not dare to delay and immediately arranged for how to position these fresh reinforcements. According to normal circumstances, these reinforcements would first group up into formation a couple of miles away and only charge when the general in charge gave the orders.

However, the Yu Family army never expected that their 'reinforcements' would rush over immediately in a complete mess. Furthermore, the majority of them ignored the commands of the generals and charged over from all different directions. There were a few who had even run into the anti-cavalry barriers and smashed themselves to death.

Furthermore, the traps of the Yu Family were extremely delicate and not a single one of these delicate traps went to waste. Just like dumplings being placed into the boiling water, miserable shrieks sounded and their shrieks were even worse than those at the front lines! If they were to regroup and wait for their orders, how would such a tragedy happen?

While the traps of the Yu Family were extremely dense, it wasn't sufficient to contain the full 200,000 soldiers. The traps were very quickly filled up with their own friendly forces. Furthermore, after filling up the traps, they did not stop there and continued charging towards the defense line of their friendly forces. After that, they did not slow down and charged towards the middle of their friendly forces. Could it be that they were the Ling Family army disguised in the uniforms of their friendly forces?!

This was not all. Following behind them was Xiao FengYang's army of the Divine Prefecture Empire. Witnessing the chaotic scene before him, Xiao FengYang let out a sneer and ordered immediately, "Force our way in! Kill a path out to the main camp of the Yu Family army! We will meet up with the three marshals at the marshal tent of the Yu Family!"

Regardless of how powerful the Yu Family army was, at this moment, it was no different from fresh meat on the chopping board to Xiao FengYang!

This piece of meat that could be easily dealt with would allow countless individuals to prosper and lead a glorious life!

More than forty cavalry charged forward in a triangular formation and charged straight into the Yu Family camp like a red hot blade through butter!

At the forefront of the triangular formation was the First Pavilion Head, Ling Jian. At this moment, he was holding onto the Seven Star Azure Dragon Blade that Ling Tian used to sweep through the 500,000 man army in the past! With a wave of his arm, a dozen of human heads flew into the air and all the weapons of the Yu Family army were shattered the moment they came into contact with the Seven Star Azure Dragon Blade! Clad in black and atop a black horse, Ling Jian charged into the crowd like a bolt of black lightning. Not a single person was capable of blocking him for even a single instant!

Behind him were the forty or more elite assassins of the First Pavilion trained by Ling Tian who took the surname Ling. They each held onto a large blade in their hands and in the face of these more than forty individuals, the sea of soldiers seemed completely helpless. They formed the sharpest arrowhead for Xiao FengYang's troops and this triangular formation of theirs was like an unbreakable spear that opened up a large path in the Yu Family army!

Blood flowed like a river, heads rolled all around, and dismembered limbs littered the ground! After the appearance of these death reapers, there was a portion of the Divine Prefecture Empire soldiers who no longer had a chance to even take action. They could only raise their blades and chase behind with their faces red as though they were running a marathon.

A marathon whose road was dyed red by blood!

Ever since his last experience with Ling Tian, this bloodthirsty Ling Jian had been yearning to experience it all over again. With the opportunity to do so today, the Seven Star Azure Dragon Blade in his hands waved down mercilessly. Recalling the scene of Ling Tian charging forward and swallowing the large army, Ling Jian exploded forth with excitement and let out a roar!

No one would have expected that this was Ling Tian's so-called final battle! This was his so-called trump card!

The all-out attack of a million soldiers at the front line was no more than a super large decoy that Ling Tian had purposely created. His true killing blow was hidden within XiMen Sa and Xiao FengYang!

He used a million soldiers to tangle with the main forces of the Yu Family, creating small skirmishes every day to ensure that they weren't able to have any peace. On the other side, XiMen Sa retreated as he fought Xiao FengYang, creating multiple 'accidents' along the way, creating an extremely pathetic and messy defeated force to inch towards the Yu Family's camp!

Just when they were about to arrive, Ling Tian was afraid that Yu ManLou might notice his intentions and so ordered Shen RuHu and the other marshals to launch an all-out attack.

XiMen Sa didn't let Ling Tian down and had grasped the opportunity well! Together with the remnant soldiers that they had gathered along the way, the defeated Yu Family soldiers numbered around 300,000. To both empires, this was a force that wasn't to be underestimated! If they couldn't be wiped out, it would be a latent threat in the future!

While it would be impossible for these defeated troops to continue battling, the destructive force of such an army in hiding isn't to be underestimated! However, when it was a matter of life and death, their so-called military order and discipline were completely useless. Everyone was only concerned about running for their lives and had no choice but to clench their teeth and run towards their friendly forces.

Are the traps on the outer edges of your defensive line extremely intricate? I shall use your own army to fill up your traps!

The most advantageous factor was Ling Tian's arrangement of Ling Jian and the others to be in Xiao FengYang's army. These super experts who killed to the point they were numb formed the sharpest arrowhead for Xiao FengYang's army. Following behind the defeated troops, they charged straight into the main camp of the Yu Family army! This was where the true strength of the Yu Family was that would determine the outcome of the battle.

Of course, without the million-man army working together with them, it would be useless regardless of how courageous Ling Jian was. After all, human strength was limited and regardless of how powerful one was, it was impossible for one to truly fight a thousand or a million. However, the intricate coordination between the Divine Prefecture army had disrupted the tempo of the Yu Family army.

The layers of Ling Tian's plans were extremely detailed and intricately linked. As long as one part of his plan went wrong, this well-designed plan of his would fail immediately. Perhaps it was intentional or not, but every member of the plan was actually able to work together flawlessly!

The heavens are aiding me!

Ling Jian burst out into laughter as the smell of blood in his nose excited him. His horse sprinted towards the place where the enemy was the densest like a dragon and he completely ignored the incoming arrows. Before the arrows could even reach him they were blasted away by his dense inner qi!

With a wave of his blade, 17 human heads rolled onto the ground. Raising the reins of his horse, Ling Jian's horse flew over the corpses which had yet to collapse. With another flash of white light, another ten or more human heads rolled like watermelons. Ling Jian was covered entirely in blood at this moment and even his face was completely red. He was just like a demon who had charged out from a sea of blood!

As the countless Yu Family soldiers witnessed this frightening scene, their legs turned to jelly and they were thoroughly frightened. Many had even let out a shriek and wanted to turn around to escape. However, with their friendly forces densely packed behind them, where could they escape to?

Ling Jian ignored all the escaping troops and continued killing a path of blood.

A crisp roar sounded in front and a figure appeared on the flagpole of the Yu Family. He had a snow-white beard and was clad in gold robes; he was a gold jade level expert! He stood atop the flagpole without moving an inch and let out a roar, "First Pavilion Head, do you dare to fight with me?!"

He was the law enforcement elder of the Yu Family and one of their hidden experts. While their Yu Family was surrounded by enemies on all sides, he could easily tell that the greatest threat to their Yu Family army was the forty or so experts in front of him!

If he wasn't able to stop them now, their entire army would be fragmented at the very end! At that time, there would be no turning back!

Ling Jian rolled his eyes and after glancing at the bearded expert, he ignored the bearded expert and continued brandishing his blade! His intent was obvious. Fight me if you want! I am extremely busy and don't have the time for you.

That bearded expert let out a long roar and flew off from the flagpole as though he was stepping on air. With a swoosh sound, he stepped on the shoulders of the Yu Family soldiers and flew towards Ling Jian.

Ling Jian didn't even blink and he continued to urge his horse forward. His current mission wasn't to fight the experts of the Yu Family! His current mission was to kill a blood path through this million men army! His mission was to thoroughly destroy the morale of the army! While the army was currently in a mess, it was still far from their morale being thoroughly destroyed!

After all, this was a million-man army. There weren't just a few hundred or a few thousand soldiers! It would be impossible to destroy the entire army without paying a certain price!

The Yu Family expert flew above Ling Jian and hollered, "Spineless rat! To think that you are called the number one assassin in the world! Eat my sword!"

Ling Jian tightened his knees and his horse sprinted forward. Ling Jian didn't wait for his arrival and had chosen to speed up and continue his massacre instead.

That Yu Family expert was angered to the point he began to tremble. Just when he was about to give chase, five or six figures surrounding him in mid-air and gleaming sword lights shot over toward him! The sword qi shot through the air with a loud shrill and pairs of cold eyes glared at him!

The expert could not help but be startled!

Not a single one of these experts were pushovers. Their killing intent shot towards the air and their auras were extremely stable. Every single one of them was a powerful expert! The bearded expert could not help but regret greatly!

Even if he had to face any one of these experts alone, he would have to pay a huge price to emerge victorious. However, to think that there were six of them surrounding him at this moment! Furthermore, there were another thirty or more of them beneath his feet!

At this moment, this gold jade expert had even wanted to throw his sword away to escape! However, it was already too late. After finally meeting an expert for them to 'play' with, how would they let him off so easily? They immediately pounced forward like hungry wolves.

Ling Seventeen's shoulder was blood red and Ling Dian's shirt was torn apart to reveal the golden armor hidden underneath it. Six figures then lightly landed back on their horses' backs like swallows.

That gold jade expert pointed at Ling Dian with despair in his eyes. With a sudden bang, his figure exploded in mid-air. By the time his limbs landed on the ground, Ling Chi and the others had already sped off on their horses.

This gold jade expert had truly died such a miserable death. With his martial arts, he could be considered to be a rare expert in the world. Even if Ling Jian wanted to take him down, Ling Jian would have to expend a great deal of effort! With the six famous assassins attacking in unison, even if Yu ManLou was here, he would certainly have to avoid their combined attack!

He attacked with great ferocity but was diced up into pieces in a single exchange!

Ling Jian's blade was waving around madly and his eyes had already turned red from all the killing. He had long lost count of how many he killed and how many weapons he had destroyed. Despite the Seven Star Azure Dragon Blade being forged from Black Iron, it was already covered with countless small nicks. Currently, Ling Jian was no longer waving around a large blade but was waving around a large saw!

Behind them, whenever they saw something flammable, they immediately set it on fire and left a billowing cloud of smoke behind them!

At this moment, the sky was already bright!

At the very front, Shen RuHu's marshal flag was fluttering proudly in the wind like the sail of a ship being majestically pushed forward by the wind! Ling Jian who had successfully broken through the million-man army burst out into laughter and welcomed Shen RuHu's arrival. All the Yu Family soldiers between the two of them had immediately scattered like frightened rats.

Shen RuHu burst out into laughter as well and held out his bloodstained right hand. He shook Ling Jian's hand firmly and both their armies had finally met in the middle of the enemy's camp!

From afar, the Yu Family's flag suddenly collapsed and the endless Yu Family soldiers scattered in all directions pathetically!

The army was defeated!

The situation was set!

Within the imperial palace in Bright Jade City, Yu ManLou had just finished reading the urgent battle report and the teacup in his hands slipped out of his hands. With a crashing sound, the teacup smashed into smithereens. Yu ManLou's usually scholarly appearance seemed to have aged a great deal in that instant and his back slouched greatly. His usually stable hands began to tremble and the slip of paper in his hand drifted down.

Yu ManTang by the side was greatly puzzled. Bending down to pick up the slip of paper, he could not help but fall into shock!

With four different marshals leading the 1,300,000 men army of the Divine Prefecture Empire, they swept up the remaining Yu Family army from four different directions. As though they were dicing vegetables, their forces marched towards Bright Jade City!

Three days later, the remnants of the Yu Family army were cleaned up!

Five days later, more than a million soldiers surrounded the entire Bright Jade City!

It was obvious that the Yu Family was already defeated!

On the other side, news of victory had also been sent to the imperial palace of the Divine Prefecture Empire.

Ling Tian who was currently in a meeting stood up abruptly. Ignoring everyone who wanted to stop him, he immediately ordered for his imperial troops to be gathered. He was about to take action personally to ensure success in a single stroke!

While Ling Tian was the one who personally came up with the plans, even he never imagined that it would go smoothly. In just a couple of days, the entire army had surrounded Bright Jade City. If that was the case, Yu ManLou would be forced to take action and make his final stand! At that time, his sinister evil martial art would cause Ling Jian and the others casualties or even fatalities! To protect him, Ling Jian and the others would definitely force Yu ManLou to fight them before he could arrive! Ling Tian knew that this was something that Ling Jian would certainly do!

Thus, Ling Tian was extremely anxious! He hated the fact that he couldn't grow a pair of wings to rush to Bright Jade City!

As the empress, Ling Chen needed to hold down the fort in Sky Bearing. The imperial consort Li Xue put on her silver armor and white robes, and accompanied Ling Tian out into battle! After losing him in her previous life and finally being reunited, Li Xue would not allow anything to happen to Ling Tian! Even if it was only a mere possibility, she wouldn't allow it! Thus, Li Xue would follow Ling Tian no matter what! She was confident that her presence together with Ling Tian was much safer than even Justice's presence!

Because…

She could use her life and exchange it for Ling Tian's survival!

Yu BingYan's face was pale as she looked at Ling Tian with pleading eyes filled with tears. Among all the ladies, the one who felt the worse at this moment was undoubtedly Yu BingYan! Her husband was currently fighting her family on the battlefield! Yu BingYan felt as though her heart was being run through by knives!

Ling Tian got off his horse and walked over to Yu BingYan. Stretching out his arms, he held her tightly in his embrace for a long time before saying softly, "Don't worry, I know what to do! I will not harm Father-in-law or Third Uncle! If I can, I will definitely try to preserve as many members of the Yu Family as possible!"

Yu BingYan nodded lightly in Ling Tian's embrace before she lifted her head and looked at Ling Tian with teary eyes. "Tian'ge, I am already the daughter-in-law of the Ling Family and will not think about anything else. Even if… I only want you to return safely! I only want you to be safe!!"

Ling Tian fell into a daze for a short while before whispering to Yu BingYan, "Wait for my return. My BingYan has to get ready to give birth to a son for me."

Yu BingYan's face flushed red immediately. Roaring with laughter, Ling Tian got on his horse and his horse sped up immediately, disappearing into the horizon like an arrow!

Li Xue followed closely behind Ling Tian and the flag of the Divine Prefecture Empire fluttered proudly in the wind. Three thousand cavalry then galloped off like a black stream!

Ling Tian wasn't wrong with his guess! After surrounding Bright Jade City, the four armies of the Divine Prefecture Empire gathered together and set up camp. At noon today, Ling Jian had anxiously demanded that the entire army lay siege to the city! Even if they had to massacre the entire city and sacrifice their soldiers, Ling Jian wasn't willing to wait any longer! With news being sent by eagles, it would reach Ling Tian extremely quickly and Ling Tian would definitely rush over. However, Ling Jian wanted to get rid of Yu ManLou before Ling Tian could arrive. Even if he had to use his life in exchange for Yu ManLou's life!

His idea had been immediately rejected by Shen RuHu and the other generals! Ling Tian had already given a strict order. If the Yu Family army was defeated, they were to surround Bright Jade City without attacking and not a single person was allowed to take action without orders! Those who defied this order shall be executed! Especially for Ling Jian, he must not be allowed to issue any orders!

This was the first time in his life that Ling Jian dared to disobey Ling Tian's orders. Not only Ling Jian, even Ling Chi, Ling Feng, and the others were also the same. They all seemed extremely eager to siege Bright Jade City as though they couldn't wait for another second. They had even suggested that it would be better if everything could be settled before the emperor arrives. At that time, wouldn't it be a great merit as well? Why did they have to trouble the emperor to take action personally?

Only Ling Jian and the others with the surname Ling knew about Yu ManLou's mysterious demonic martial art. This demonic martial art of his was frightening enough to harm Ling Tian's life! This was something that their emperor should not be allowed to face!

With regards to Ling Jian's suggestion, Xiao FengYang and the others who weren't aware of Yu ManLou's demonic martial art were also tempted. However, because of Ling Tian's strict orders, none of them dared to agree.

Just when everyone was stuck in a stalemate, the flaps to the tent opened and an individual walked into the tent with a smile. Xiao FengYang was shocked!

The person who came was XiMen Sa!

Seeing Xiao FengYang's expression, Ling Jian burst out into laughter. He then placed his arms around XiMen Sa's shoulders and introduced XiMen Sa to everyone else. Only then did Xiao FengYang find out that this pillar of the Yu Family army, the genius who was on par with Ling Tian in the eyes of the world, was actually one of Ling Jian's brothers: Ling Thirty!

Didn't the word 'Sa' also mean thirty? No wonder he felt that XiMen Sa didn't live up to his reputation during the battle. Only then did Xiao FengYang find out that XiMen Sa was aiding him on the sly! No wonder his victory was such an easy one.

Thinking about that, Xiao FengYang could not help but feel his heart chill at Ling Tian's scheme. He had placed such a spectacular hidden chess piece so many years ago. The moment it appeared, it turned the entire situation around! His planning and patience were truly stunning!

After introducing XiMen Sa to the others, Ling Jian immediately gave Ling Thirty a huge mission: Convince the captured generals of the Yu Family to surrender! Ling Thirty immediately agreed without hesitation. With Ling Thirty's reputation of 'Marshal XiMen Sa', it wouldn't be too difficult for him to convince a couple of his former subordinates to surrender!

With that problem taken care of, Ling Jian tried to use every method up his sleeves to force the marshals to order an attack. He tried threatening, enticing, and used whatever methods that should and shouldn't be used. However, the four marshals still insisted on their stand and refused to order an attack. Ling Jian was infuriated to the point he wanted to draw his sword and place it on their necks!

All of a sudden, an idea came to his mind and with a chuckle, he took out a jade pendant. Lifting it up high, he ordered, "With the identity of an imperial envoy army supervisor, I order the four marshals to attack Bright Jade City immediately!"

He waved the jade pendant around and the words 'As though the emperor is present' were carved out on the pendant.

Xiao FengYang and the others looked at each other helplessly. While a general wasn't restricted by orders on the outside, Ling Jian did indeed have the identity of army supervisor and they could only helplessly agree to his orders.

A miserable attack and defense battle was begun. After Ling Jian issued the first order, the attack had never stopped. At every moment, there would be soldiers crazily attacking the city.

However, with a thousand years of accumulation and the Bright Jade City being the former capital of Northern Wei, how would it be so simple to bring down the city? In the entire world, Bright Jade City could be considered one of the most sturdy cities. With just the number of experts living within the city, it wasn't a force that could be easily dealt with!

In the past two days, the attack had never stopped. Ling Jian, Ling Chi, and the others had even tried to infiltrate the city and attempt to assassinate Yu ManLou. However, they would always end up being forced out by the numerous experts of the Yu Family.

Everyone knew that it was already over for the Yu Family and it was only a matter of time before Bright Jade City fell. However, the Yu Family had displayed the determination to fight the Ling Family to the end. Under such miserable circumstances, they refused to admit defeat!

Occasionally, Yu ManLou would appear on top of the city gate with a tranquil appearance as he looked down at the endless troops. In Yu ManLou's heart, while the First Pavilion Head was a peerless expert, it wasn't worth it for him to take action personally!

While his demonic martial art was a 'one hit one kill' technique, he had to pay a huge price whenever he used it. He had to ensure that he would only use it when it was necessary and on the most dangerous person!

Currently, Yu ManLou only had a single target: Ling Tian!

Ling Tian! You wiped out all of my hope and forced my Yu Family into such desperate straits! This enmity and hatred shall never be forgiven! Even if I am unable to obtain the world and become the ruler of the entire world, you, Ling Tian, should not dream of doing so! I will definitely, definitely, definitely, pull you down into hell with me!

Ling Jian stood at the very front and roared with all his strength, "Charge! Charge for me! Kill!"

Ling Chi appeared behind him stealthily and said, "Brother Jian, even after all we have done, Yu ManLou is still hiding like a tortoise. I am afraid that we cannot allow this to carry on. Yu ManLou wants to wait until young noble arrives before taking action. But if young noble arrives, things would be bad! Yu ManLou's demonic martial art is truly too frightening! Why not we gather all of our brothers and infiltrate Bright Jade City in the night. We shall stake victory and defeat in a single mission!"

Ling Jian's eyes glowed and after musing over it for a long while, he clenched his teeth and said, "Alright! We shall do that! We must not allow Yu ManLou to have the chance to fight with young noble! We can take this risk but young noble must not!"

Ling Chi fell silent for a while before saying, "Brother Jian, but if we do so, some of our brothers will be injured or dead. If young noble blames us after that…"

Ling Jian waved his hands and cut Ling Chi off, "Our lives were given by young noble. So what if we are killed or injured? Let all of our brothers prepare! We shall take Yu ManLou's head tonight! No one is to fight with me. I will personally take action to kill Yu ManLou!"