151: Chapter 151 The Power of the Gods

Inside the central command tent, the atmosphere was so suffocating that it made it hard to breathe.

The Azure Wolf King Ashina Kuotai sat quietly on his tiger-skin throne, his face so dark it could drip water.

Before him knelt a row of trembling Ten Thousand Household Commanders and Chieftains.

“Who can tell me what on earth is going on?!”

His voice was soft, yet it carried the terrifying calm before a storm.

“We are known as the fiercest wolf pack on the prairie! We possess one hundred thousand invincible Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry!”

“But what about now?!”

He slammed his hand onto the table, and the massive desk made of ironwood was shattered to pieces by his palm!

“We haven't even seen the main force of the enemy! Yet we have inexplicably lost nearly twenty thousand warriors!”

“We have been running around like headless flies on this damned scorched earth for three whole months! And we haven't even taken one decent city!”

“Can any of you tell me! How on earth is this war supposed to be fought?!”

There was dead silence inside the royal tent; no one dared to speak.

And what could they say?

Say that Gao Feng was too cunning?

Say that his army was too tenacious?

Say that the iron lumps he invented that could explode were too terrifying?

Before the enraged Azure Wolf King, these would only become excuses for their incompetence.

After a long while, the prairie strategist who had been following Ashina Kuotai the whole time slowly stepped forward and said in a hoarse voice:

“Great Shanyu, things have reached this point, we cannot drag this out any longer.”

“Winter is coming. Our rations can only last for another month at most. If we cannot capture a large city to serve as our winter stronghold before winter truly arrives...”

He did not continue, but everyone present understood what he meant.

The remaining eighty thousand soldiers would mostly freeze or starve to death on this cold, scorched earth!

Ashina Kuotai naturally understood this principle as well.

He slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the raging anger in his heart.

He knew he had been impulsive; he had underestimated that young opponent.

His pride as the prairie hegemon had cost him a heavy price.

But now was not the time for regret; he had to make the most correct decision in the shortest possible time!

He opened his eyes suddenly, his gaze, sharp as a hawk, landing on the massive military map.

Finally, it fixed on the huge red dot representing the capital of You Province.

—Ji City!

“Pass my royal order!”

His voice was cold and decisive!

“Abandon all pointless searches!”

“The entire army, surround it!”

“The target—”

“Ji City!”

He wanted to win in one stroke!

He wanted to use all his remaining strength to crack open the heart of You Province!

If he could take Ji City, then the entire You Province would be in his grasp!

Not only could he solve all supply problems, but he could also trap that rat-like, detestable Gao Feng in this tomb he had created himself!

...

“My Lord, the Azure Wolf King has finally lost his patience.”

Ji City, Governor's Mansion, inside the study.

Xu Changqing handed intelligence sent back via the highest-level encryption of the 'Sky Net' to Gao Feng.

Gao Feng took the intelligence, scanned it at a glance, and a smile of expectation appeared on his face.

“Surrounding Ji City? He actually has some guts to burn his bridges.”

He slowly stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the city already shrouded in the clouds of war.

He knew that this guerrilla war, this war of attrition that had lasted for nearly a year, was about to reach its climax.

An epic siege battle surrounding Ji City was about to be staged!

“Pass the order.”

His voice was calm, yet it carried a murderous Aura as if a storm were about to descend.

“All units executing guerrilla missions outside, immediately pull back to Ji City!”

“All reserve units in the rear, move to Ji City immediately and enter designated defensive positions!”

“Tell all the citizens in the city that the final battle is coming.”

“Let them prepare to welcome our final victory!”

...

Three days later, outside the East Gate of Ji City.

A black wave rolled in from the horizon.

Banners blocked the sun!

Killing Intent soared to the sky!

The eighty thousand Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry main force was out in full strength!

The dense army tents looked like a boundless black forest, stretching for tens of miles outside Ji City!

The terrifying Evil Qi condensed from mountains of corpses and seas of blood even caused the clouds in the sky to change color!

The entire Ji City trembled under this suffocating pressure.

However, there was no panic or chaos in the city.

On the tall and sturdy city walls, the Panshi Army soldiers stood ready.

There was no fear on their faces; there was only the hatred carved into their bones and the determination to fight to the death!

Countless citizens in the city organized themselves spontaneously.

They donated the last of their food from home.

They transported buckets of boiling water and molten gold juice up to the ramparts.

They supported the army guarding their home in the simplest of ways.

The military and civilians were one!

United as one!

At this moment, the entire Ji City had become an armed fortress!

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The desolate and dull sound of war drums rang out from the Heavenly Wolf Army camp.

The siege had begun.

However, the ones rushing toward the walls of Ji City first were not the elite Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, but a group of 'cannon fodder' who were tattered, pale, and desperate.

They were surrendered soldiers and innocent citizens captured by the Heavenly Wolf Army in Suzhou Province, tens of thousands of them!

Behind them were Heavenly Wolf supervisors holding gleaming scimitars.

“Charge! Charge for me!”

“Anyone who retreats, execute them!”

Under the threat of death, these poor cannon fodder could only emit wails of despair, carrying simple ladders, surging toward the tall Ji City walls like a tide.

Ashina Kuotai clearly wanted to use this most cruel and shameless human wave tactic to consume the defenders' arrows and stamina.

On the wall, Gao Feng looked at the human tide surging like ants, his face cold.

Beside him, Du Wei's eyes were already red, veins bulging.

“My Lord! These animals! They are actually using our own countrymen as cannon fodder!”

“Give the order! My Lord! Let me lead men out! Fight them to the death!”

“Fight?” Gao Feng glanced at him coldly, “Fight with what? With your passion?”

“War is not a dinner party. Mercy is the greatest cruelty to one's own people.”

He slowly raised his right hand.

“Order the archers to prepare.”

“But remember, only shoot the enemies climbing the ladders. As for those just crying below, ignore them.”

Although his heart was hard as iron, he still retained a sliver of humanity in the end.

“Yes!”

Following Gao Feng's order, ten thousand arrows were fired from the city wall!

The dense rain of arrows, like Death's sigh, instantly enveloped the cannon fodder who were struggling to climb the ladders.

Screams rose one after another.

Countless figures fell from the high ladders.

However, those behind, driven by the supervisors, continued to climb numbly, using their lives to pave a path to victory for the invaders behind them.

For an entire morning, the Heavenly Wolf Army drove the cannon fodder to launch several rounds of crazy charges.

Below the walls of Ji City, corpses were already piled like mountains, and blood flowed like a river.

The defenders' arrows were mostly consumed, and the soldiers' stamina began to drop significantly.

Inside the Heavenly Wolf Army's main tent, Ashina Kuotai looked at the walls of Ji City, which were crumbling but still standing, a cruel sneer appearing on his face.

“That's enough.”

“Pass the order! Let those pieces of trash retreat.”

“It's time for our real warriors to take the stage!”

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The war drums changed abruptly, becoming high-pitched and impassioned!

That was the signal that the Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry was about to launch a general assault!

Tens of thousands of Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, who had been ready to go, roared, and like a floodgate opening, launched a tidal charge toward Ji City!

This time, they had learned the lesson from the Three-Forked Crossing and did not perform stupid frontal charges.

Instead, they pushed out hundreds of giant siege towers made of giant wood and heavy catapults capable of throwing giant stones!

They wanted to use absolute mechanical advantage to crush this damned city!

“My Lord! They've brought out the big stuff!” Du Wei said with a grave expression as he looked at the siege towers that resembled moving fortresses.

“As expected.”

Gao Feng's face remained calm; he just slowly raised the black command flag in his hand.

“Since they like to play big, we will play even bigger with them!”

“Order the Divine Mechanism Battalion!”

“Let our 'Explosive Shells' send a big gift to the guests who have come from afar!!!”

“Yes!”

Following Gao Feng's order, hundreds of giant catapults behind the wall simultaneously emitted a terrifying hum that set teeth on edge!

Hundreds of watermelon-sized black iron balls were hurled high into the sky!

They drew beautiful parabolas and landed accurately into the dense crowd of the charging Heavenly Wolf Army!

“What is that?!”

A Heavenly Wolf Chieftain looked at the black iron ball falling from the sky, a trace of confusion on his face.

However, the next second, his confusion turned into eternal fear!

“Boom!!!”

An 'Explosive Shell' detonated not far from him!

The terrifying explosion instantly tore a dozen Heavenly Wolf cavalrymen and their horses to pieces!

And the countless venom-laced iron sand and steel balls flying in all directions were like Death's scythe, instantly clearing a large area of dozens of zhang!

The Heavenly Wolf soldiers hit by shrapnel screamed in voices that did not sound human!

Their bodies rotted and blackened rapidly under the erosion of the deadly poison, dying slowly in endless pain!

This was simply a heavenly punishment from the Nine Nether Hell!

“Boom!”

“Boom-boom!!!”

Following that were the chain explosions of hundreds of 'Explosive Shells' landing simultaneously, and the entire battlefield seemed to be enveloped by this apocalyptic scene!

Fire lit up the sky!

Thick smoke rolled!

Severed limbs and broken armor flew everywhere!

The Heavenly Wolf Army's charging formation, which originally possessed such a majestic Aura, was instantly blown to pieces and shattered!

It was their first time witnessing such a terrifying weapon, akin to "Divine Punishment"!

Their morale collapsed instantly!

"Demons! This is a Demonic Technique!"

"Run! The Heavenly God has abandoned us!"

"Ah! Save me!"

Countless soldiers of the Tianlang Tribe let out terrified screams, abandoning their armor and weapons, turning their horses around, and fleeing madly toward the rear!

Not even the royal command of Ashina Kuotai could stop this landslide-like, catastrophic rout!

Conventional siege tactics were declared completely ineffective; the Heavenly Wolf Army paid a heavy price of nearly ten thousand lives, yet they hadn't even touched the walls of Ji City.

This plunged Ashina Kuotai into an unprecedented state of rage and madness.

He knew that if they continued to drag this out, his army would collapse before the city fell.

He had to play his final trump card!

That night, in the deepest part of the Heavenly Wolf Army camp, inside a massive tent constructed from black animal hides.

Several Shaman priests, dressed in black robes with eerie runes painted on their faces, were conducting a bloody and evil sacrificial ritual.

They bound dozens of captured Dagan commoners alive to the altar, then used obsidian daggers to slice open their chests and extract their still-beating hearts.

They muttered, chanting ancient and evil incantations.

As the ritual proceeded, wisps of invisible black mist rose from the dead bodies, converging in the air into a nauseating, massive black cloud.

Within that black cloud, it seemed as if countless painful, resentful spirits were wailing and struggling.

"Go! My great God of Plague and Weakness!"

The head Shaman let out a hoarse roar!

The massive black cloud, as if receiving a command, instantly transformed into an invisible beam of light and drifted toward the distant Ji City!

They intended to use this most insidious and bizarre power of curses to disintegrate the defenses of Ji City from the inside!

Soon, eerie things began to happen within Ji City.

Some of the soldiers who had been full of vigor began to feel inexplicably weak and dizzy, followed by persistent high fevers, vomiting, and diarrhea.

In just half a day, hundreds of soldiers had inexplicably fallen ill!

And this number continued to rise!

The military doctors were helpless, and panic began to spread through the city.

"My Lord! It's bad! A large-scale plague has broken out in the city!"

Liu Chengfeng rushed into Gao Feng's study with an anxious look on his face.

"A plague?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Feng furrowed his brows tightly.

He immediately rushed to the wounded soldier camp.

When he saw those soldiers lying on their beds with blackened faces and withered breath, a flash of cold Killing Intent crossed his eyes!

"This is not a plague," he said slowly.

"This is a curse!"

He could clearly feel that a cold and evil, bizarre energy was coiled within the bodies of these soldiers!

This energy was constantly devouring their life force!

"Shaman priests... Hmph, a bunch of clowns playing at being gods!"

Gao Feng let out a cold snort. Without the slightest hesitation, he took a step, and his figure instantly appeared on the central city tower of Ji City!

He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes slightly.

Then, he released his massive power of Qi and blood, which had long reached the Peak of the fifth stage, without any reservation!

"Boom—!!!"

A scorching and majestic dark golden Qi and blood, like a blazing sun, erupted from his body!

It instantly soared into the sky, dyeing the entire sky above Ji City a brilliant gold!

That terrifying Qi and blood, supreme in Yang and hardness, was like a real sun hanging high above the city, radiating endless light and heat!

Those invisible, cursed powers that had originally shrouded the dark corners of the city, under the illumination of this golden Qi and blood—which acted like a purifying light—seemed to have met their nemesis!

They let out silent, shrill screams, and then, like snow under the sun, rapidly melted and disintegrated!

Cleanly and completely!

And those soldiers who had been lying on their beds at death's door, under the nourishment of this golden Qi and blood, had the cold energy within their bodies rapidly dispelled.

Their complexions began to regain a rosy hue at a visible speed, and their breathing gradually became steady and strong.

In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, all the soldiers afflicted by the curse had miraculously recovered!

At this moment, the entire Ji City erupted in cheers!

Countless soldiers and civilians looked at the figure sitting cross-legged on the city tower like a god, and one after another, they knelt on the ground to worship!

"A miracle! This is a miracle!"

"Lord Governor is a Heavenly God descended to earth! He has come to save us!"

"With Lord Governor here! We will definitely win!"

At this moment, the hearts of the people were united to an unprecedented Peak!

Meanwhile, far away in the Heavenly Wolf Army camp, those few Shaman priests were struck as if by lightning at the same time!

"Pfft!"

They violently spat out a mouthful of black blood!

Their entire bodies instantly wilted, as if all their vitality and spirit had been drained away!

"How is this possible?!"

The head Shaman looked toward the direction of Ji City in horror, his eyes filled with unbelievable fear!

"That... what kind of power is that?!"

"It was actually able to instantly break our 'Flesh and Blood Plague' great curse!"

"That is not the power of a Mortal!"

"That is the power of a Heavenly God!"

...

Inside the central royal tent, Ashina Kuotai looked at those few Shaman priests, who were collapsed on the ground as if drained of their vitality, his face darkening to the extreme.

In his eyes, as sharp as a hawk's, a trace of an emotion called "wavering" appeared for the first time.

Explosive Shells, Ground-Stepping Mines, impenetrable heavy armored infantry, and that terrifying existence capable of dispelling curses like a god...

This Gao Feng, this young opponent, was refreshing his understanding and overturning his common sense again and again.

He felt as if he were not fighting a Mortal or a warlord, but engaged in a hopeless gamble against a bottomless, unfathomable dark abyss.

"Great Chieftain..." the grassland strategist said again, his voice dry, "Let's... retreat."

"Before the harsh winter fully descends, we still have a chance to retreat to the grasslands. As long as we can preserve our vital strength, we can make a comeback next spring!"

Retreat?

Hearing these two words, Ashina Kuotai's body jolted.

He was the Azure Wolf King of the grasslands! He was the peerless hero leading the Tianlang Tribe back to glory!

He could accept failure, but he could absolutely not accept running away with his tail between his legs like a stray dog!

His pride would not allow it!

The honor of the Tianlang Tribe would not allow it even more!

"No."

He slowly stood up, his sturdy body casting a massive shadow like a demon god under the flickering firelight.

"We have not lost yet."

His voice was hoarse, but carried an unquestionable madness and determination.

"Since all schemes and tricks are ineffective against him, then we will use the most ancient and direct method of our grasslands to end this war!"

He grabbed the ferocious scimitar hanging on the wall—the one that had accompanied him for decades and tasted the blood of countless strong men—and strode out of the tent.

"Pass my royal order!"

His roar echoed throughout the silent Heavenly Wolf Army camp!

"Sound the 'Death-Defying War Drums', the highest level of our Tianlang Tribe!"

"Tell that Southern Dynasty coward called Gao Feng!"

"I! Ashina Kuotai! The Azure Wolf King of the grasslands! Hereby challenge him to a duel before the armies!"

"If he is a man, he should get out here and fight me to the death!"

He wanted to use this most primitive and barbaric method to regain his own dignity and that of the entire Tianlang Tribe!

He wanted to use a satisfying beheading battle to completely destroy the will to resist of all the defenders in that damned city!

He believed in his own supreme martial Dao, which had long since reached the Transcendent realm!

"Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!"

A burst of urgent and violent war drum sounds, like a raging storm, erupted from the Heavenly Wolf Army camp outside the city!

Those were not siege drums; they were a sound of death-defying, filled with blood and madness, as if they were about to tear the entire world apart!

On the city walls, all the soldiers of the Panshi Army had their expressions change in shock at the sudden sound of the drums.

Immediately after, they saw the Heavenly Wolf Army camp slowly open.

The Azure Wolf King Ashina Kuotai, clad in ferocious black wolf king battle armor and holding a blood-colored scimitar, rode out from the camp alone on horseback.

Behind him were eighty thousand Heavenly Wolf Iron Cavalry, arranged in a neat and murderous formation.

They were no longer carrying any siege equipment; they just stood there quietly, watching their king, who was like a god, with a gaze of near-fanatical worship.

"Gao Feng!!!"

Ashina Kuotai reined in his warhorse and stopped in the vast, no-man's land in front of the two armies.

He raised the scimitar in his hand, pointing directly at the city tower of Ji City, and let out a heaven-shaking roar, his voice filled with terrifying True Qi!

"You Southern Dynasty coward who only dares to hide behind women and schemes!"

"Do you dare to come out and fight me, Ashina Kuotai, in an honorable duel to the death?!"

His voice, like rolling thunder, spread across the entire battlefield and was clearly heard by every soldier and civilian in the city.

"My Lord! You must not!"

Du Wei was the first to step forward, advising him with an anxious look, "This is the barbarian's provocation! You are a person of great importance, how can you fight a brute like him in a duel?!"

"That's right, My Lord!" Liu Chengfeng also said with a solemn expression, "Ashina Kuotai has been famous for decades and is recognized as the number one expert on the grasslands! His strength is unfathomable! This battle is too risky! We only need to hold the city, and within half a month, they will inevitably collapse without a fight!"

"No need to persuade me further."

However, Gao Feng just waved his hand lightly.