9: A powerful talisman, and a cultivator suddenly appears.

At this moment, Wang Liu was covered in blood.

Several broken arrows were embedded in his heavy iron armor, and his face was so smeared with blood and sweat that his features were indistinguishable, save for a pair of eyes that were blood-red, flashing with a beast-like ferocity.

The hundred-man squad he led was already on its fourth charge against this section of the western wall of Guanghe Commandery city.

The previous three attempts had been stubbornly repelled by the defenders, leaving the ground covered in corpses.

Now, only a dozen or so men remained behind him, every one of them injured and panting like oxen.

"Damn it! The government army's rolling stones are too brutal!"

A man with a scar on his face spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, gnashing his teeth as he looked at the top of the wall.

Just now, a stone the size of a millstone had crashed down, instantly crushing two brothers from their squad into meat paste.

Wang Liu wiped the blood from his face, staring fixedly at that section of the wall.

"What's there to fear!"

Wang Liu's voice was hoarse but carried an unquestionable ferocity. "Follow me for one more charge. I have a Muscleman Immortal Talisman!"

"May the huang tian supreme god protect us!"

He no longer waited for the remaining skirmishers. Grabbing a heavy iron-bound wooden shield by his feet to protect his head and holding a notched ring-pommel saber in his other hand, he let out a low growl like a crazed rhinoceros and charged once more toward the scaling ladder at the base of the wall.

"Cover him!"

Seeing this, the scarred man's eyes also turned red. He led the remaining men close behind, firing crossbows upward at the wall in an attempt to suppress the defenders.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Logs and stones crashed against the wooden shield with dull, heavy thuds, numbing Wang Liu's arm. However, relying on his incredible physical strength, he braced the shield and climbed the ladder step by step.

Arrows clattered against the shield, and occasionally, a stray one grazed his body, drawing a trail of blood, but he seemed not to notice.

He was getting closer and closer to the battlements!

He could already clearly see the faces of the defenders, distorted by fear and slaughter, and the cold glint of the blades and spears in their hands.

At that moment, he suddenly pulled a neatly folded yellow paper from his breast, covered in strange runes drawn with cinnabar—

This was the "Yellow Turban Muscleman Talisman" personally bestowed upon him by a messenger earlier for his bravery in battle!

This was an immortal item drawn by the Cult Leader himself.

It could grant a person immense strength for a short time and make them unafraid of death!

"Huang Tian protects my body, Muscleman grant me strength!"

Wang Liu bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed essence blood onto the Talisman.

Boom!

The Talisman ignited without fire, turning into a streak of earthy-yellow light that instantly merged into Wang Liu's body!

An indescribable, violent power erupted from his limbs and bones like a volcanic eruption.

In an instant, his muscles bulged, veins popped, and his already burly frame seemed to expand further, while a faint earthy-yellow luster shimmered on the surface of his skin!

"Ugh-ah—!"

Wang Liu let out a roar that didn't sound human, the sound shaking the surrounding fields!

He actually discarded the heavy wooden shield entirely, kicked off hard, leaped several dozen feet through the air, and landed directly on the city wall.

"Demon! He's a demon!"

"The Yellow Heaven Cult demons are coming up again!!"

Seeing the faint yellow light and the inhuman Aura on Wang Liu, the defenders began to scream in panic.

They had seen such scenes many times over the past few days; almost every time, it caused chaos and nearly led to the city falling.

At this moment, Wang Liu's eyes were blood-red, his reason almost completely consumed by the power of the Talisman, leaving only the most primitive instinct for slaughter.

"Die! Die! Die!"

The ring-pommel saber turned into a whirlwind of death; wherever it passed, severed limbs and broken arms flew.

Among the ordinary soldiers, no one was his match for even a single exchange.

Where the blade passed, men and armor alike were split straight through, and blood sprayed into the air!

He was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, forcibly carving out an open space on the wall!

"Stop him! Quickly, stop him!"

"He can only last for fifteen minutes!"

The defending general shouted hoarsely, mobilizing spearmen and shield-bearers to surround him.

Every time such a monster appeared in the Yellow Heaven Army, they could only display their power for fifteen minutes, after which the person would become listless and weak.

They had discovered this pattern long ago.

If they held on, they could hold the city!

But this time, they had miscalculated.

Wang Liu was already born with Divine Power and was peerless in battle; with the Muscleman Talisman activated, his strength, speed, and reactions far exceeded those of ordinary men.

He didn't dodge at all, charging straight into the thrusting spears.

Swish~~

A crimson blade light flashed, and several spearheads were sliced off cleanly.

Then, he threw his body into the spear formation, using saber slashes, elbow strikes, and shoulder rams to tear through the defenders' carefully organized formation in the most barbaric way!

The gap was opened just like that!

"centurion Wang has taken the wall!"

"Brothers! Charge up! Long live the Yellow Heaven!"

"Long live!!!"

Seeing this, the morale of the Yellow Heaven Army below the wall soared!

Like a bursting flood, they surged frantically onto the city wall through the gap Wang Liu had opened!

The defenders' line was finally torn open by a fatal breach... As the last rays of the setting sun dyed Guanghe Commandery city a blood-red color, at the highest point of the wall, the tattered Black Bird Royal Flag of the Yu Kingdom was cut down, and a massive "Yellow Heaven" Grand Banner slowly rose amidst countless frenzied cheers.

As for Wang Liu, he was now half-lying in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

The earthy-yellow light on his body had completely faded, and his skin had turned an unnatural, deathly white, like a corpse drained of blood.

The side effects of the Talisman were only now beginning to manifest.

"The city fell just like that?"

On the deck of an ordinary river Tower Ship in the middle of the river, Yu Xuzi witnessed the fall of the city with his own eyes.

However, he still had some doubts in his heart... the city fell too easily.

Not a single Cultivator of the Yellow Heaven Cult had acted, and their Cult Leader hadn't even shown his face; was a personal expedition even necessary?

"Do they really intend to cross the river in one fell swoop?"

Yu Xuzi's gaze fell upon the Yu Kingdom navy vessels constantly patrolling the river, and he shook his head imperceptibly.

The Canglan River was the greatest river in the world!

The river surface here alone was over ten miles wide, and the depth was unknown.

Without a large-scale navy, how could the Yellow Heaven Army possibly cross?

However, at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

Whew——————!!!

A sharp, piercing sound of something breaking through the air tore through the silence of the dusk without warning.

This sound did not come from the ground, but rather from... high up in the heavens!

Arriving at high speed from the distant horizon!

"What is that noise?"

Yu Xuzi's pupils suddenly contracted, and he abruptly looked up!

In the northern sky, a brilliantly blazing red sword light, over ten zhang long, violently crashed through the pale yellow sea of sunset clouds, heading toward the cheering commandery city.

Wherever it passed, the clouds dissipated.

It left a wide vacuum trail in mid-air.

The next instant.

Boom!!!!!

An earth-shattering explosion suddenly erupted; the towering city gate tower collapsed with a crash, and the ground trembled violently!