187: Chapter 187 Heavenly Punishment

Long live the Yan King! Long live the Yan King! Long live the Yan King!

Who knows who was the first to scream it out at the top of their lungs!

The next second, that long-suppressed, tsunami-like roar of wild cheering erupted like a volcano that had been building up for a thousand years!

Long live the Yan King! Long live the Yan King! Long live the Yan King!!!!!!

That terrifying wave of sound, powerful enough to change the color of mountains and rivers and move the heavens and earth, rose higher and higher, as if it would completely overturn the entire firmament!

Gao Feng slowly raised his right hand, and the deafening, tsunami-like roar came to an abrupt halt, instantly plunging the entire world into a dead silence where a falling needle could be heard!

He slowly pulled from his chest the proclamation denouncing the rebels, written in "weeping blood" by Crown Prince Ji Cheng, held that so-called "Crown Prince's Blood Edict" high, and with a voice filled with endless grief and monstrous Killing Intent, read it aloud word by word before the million soldiers and civilians!

With tears in his eyes, he recounted the monstrous crimes of the Blood Wolf King Ashina Gudulu, who had "regicided and usurped the throne"!

Filled with righteous indignation, he denounced the treacherous officials in the Divine Capital, whose corruption and incompetence had caused the beautiful land to fall into the hands of the barbarians, earning them eternal infamy!

Finally, his voice suddenly rose, and his terrifying roar, filled with endless dominance and monstrous Killing Intent, tore through the firmament like a bolt of black lightning!

Today, I, under the decree of the Crown Prince, raise a righteous army to quell the national crisis!

I take this oath here!

In this battle, if we do not crush the barbarians, I swear we shall not return!

In this battle, if we do not execute the national traitors, I swear we shall not return!

In this battle, if we do not restore a bright and clear world to our Great Qian Dynasty, I swear we shall not return!

Soldiers!

Follow me! March south!

Kill! Kill! Kill!

Every word from Gao Feng was like the fiercest war drum, striking hard at the hearts of every soldier in the Panshi Army!

The emotions of the 500,000 iron-blooded troops and the million spectators were completely ignited at this moment!

The hot blood in their chests was burning crazily!

They could no longer suppress the excitement and fanaticism in their hearts!

Follow the Crown Prince's decree! Quell the national crisis!

Follow the Crown Prince's decree! Quell the national crisis!

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

That tsunami-like roar of wild cheering erupted again, and the terrifying Killing Intent gathered from the collective will of a million soldiers and civilians even made the entire Yan King City tremble violently!

Gao Feng looked with satisfaction at the invincible army below, whose morale was bursting and whose Killing Intent was soaring, and he slowly drew the Emperor's sword from his waist and slashed it forward fiercely!

Transmit my royal order!

Order Su Yue, Luo Qin, Liu Chengfeng, Gu Changfeng, and Li Qingzhao to remain in the north, overseeing all military and political affairs in the rear!

Ensure that our army has no worries while marching south!

Order Grand Governor Du Wei to be the commander-in-chief of the Central Route Army, leading 200,000 troops, to exit Yanmen Pass and strike directly at the heart of the Central Plains!

Order General of Cavalry Ma Qianli to be the commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army, leading 150,000 troops, to exit Yunzhou, advance west along the Yellow River, and support the main force of the Central Route!

Order General of Chariots and Cavalry Zhao Yu to be the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army, leading 150,000 troops, to exit Liaoxi, march south along the coast of the Bohai Sea, and strike directly at the enemy's heart!

I will personally lead 3,000 Iron Guards to command the central army and join the expedition!

Entire army! Set off!

As Gao Feng's last word, filled with endless majesty, crashed down!

The 500,000 iron-blooded troops, already assembled and waiting, like three torrents of black iron capable of destroying the heavens and the earth, marched with heavy, uniform steps that seemed capable of shattering the earth, surging towards the south, towards that land of the Central Plains about to be completely swallowed by war and blood, launching the fiercest and most fatal crusade!

The night before the expedition, the moon was cool as water.

In the Yan King's Residence, inside Gao Feng's bedchamber, the lights were still bright.

The sorrow of parting quietly permeated the air.

Luo Qin was silently packing Gao Feng's luggage, carefully folding each piece of freshly ironed undergarment and placing them into the trunk; her cold, clear eyes were filled with undisguisable worry and reluctance.

Su Yue sat to the side, by the candlelight, stitching up the black cloak for Gao Feng that had been torn by arrows in the great battle at Yanmen Pass, one stitch at a time.

Her movements were so focused, so gentle, as if she wanted to sew all her longing and blessings into this cloak.

And Li Qingzhao, who was known for her capability, was not as sentimental as they were.

She carried a thick stack of files and walked up to Gao Feng, her beautiful face filled with business-like seriousness.

Your Highness, this is the budget for the southern expedition that I prepared for you overnight, along with a detailed economic analysis report of the various prefectures along the way.

According to my estimates, the daily grain consumption for our 500,000-strong army on this southern expedition will be an astronomical figure.

Although we previously captured a large amount of supplies from Cao Meng, it can still only support us for three months.

Therefore, we must fight a quick war to achieve a quick decision, and sustain the war through war!

This report details the locations of grain depots, the distribution of wealthy households, and the locations of silver vaults in all major banks across the southern prefectures.

As long as we can take these places with thunderous speed, our logistical supply will be greatly relieved.

Gao Feng took the report, which emitted a faint scent of ink, and looking at the numbers that were incredibly clear and accurate down to the single digit, his heart was filled with infinite emotion and warmth.

With such wives, what more could a husband ask for?

He embraced his three beloved wives one by one and imprinted a deep, affectionate kiss on their foreheads.

Rest assured, wait for my return.

He did not say too many lingering words of love, only this simplest and firmest promise.

When he walked out of the bedchamber and came before the personal guard battalion that was already armored and armed, with Battle Intent soaring to the sky, all the tenderness and reluctance on him disappeared without a trace in an instant.

Replacing it was a coldness like ten thousand years of ice and a monstrous Killing Intent that would make even ghosts and gods tremble!

He leaped onto his horse, his gaze sweeping over those young faces filled with fanaticism and worship, sweeping over the fierce generals who were already prepared to set off, such as Du Wei, Wulu, Zhao Yu, Ma Qianli, and Xiang Hao.

He slowly raised his head and looked towards the distant south, and in those deep eyes like stars, burned a raging ambition capable of completely incinerating the entire world!

500,000 troops, this is almost all my assets. This battle must be won, not lost!

Crown Prince, Blood Wolf King, your chess game has been set; now, it is my turn, the player, to take the pieces.

I want to let this world see how unstoppable the military force of my Northern Territory is!

Set off!

With the order given, the thousands of troops moved like thunder!

That black "Yan King" flag, embroidered with a ferocious nine-clawed golden dragon, fluttered in the wind in the silent night sky, snapping loudly!

It would lead this invincible army of tigers and wolves to open up a brand new era belonging to Gao Feng!

The army set off, its momentum like a tide; the 500,000 iron-blooded troops divided into three routes, like three giant scythes capable of tearing apart the heavens and the earth, harvesting fiercely towards the heart of the already decayed Great Qian Dynasty!

The main force of the Central Route, personally led by Gao Feng, was even more like a red-hot blade cutting into a block of cold butter, sweeping away all obstacles and unstoppable!

Wherever the army passed, prefectures shook, and counties were all terrified!

Those so-called high officials who usually acted as tyrants and exploited the people, the moment they heard of the arrival of the "Yan King" flag, were all so scared that their livers and gallbladders split, and their souls fled their bodies!

The vast majority of them did not even make a symbolic resistance, but opened the city gates early, bathed and changed clothes, led all the civil and military officials in the city, and knelt tens of miles outside the city to respectfully welcome the arrival of the royal army.

For a time, the myth of "pacifying by a proclamation," which only existed in history books, actually became a living reality under the iron hooves of the Northern Territory army!

Within a short month, Gao Feng's Central Route Army had taken thirteen prefectures, and its military force pointed directly at the eastern gateway of the Central Plains, which was also the world-famous prosperous land—Qingzhou!

Qingzhou City, located at a strategic point in the Central Plains, with high walls and deep moats, was a place that military strategists must contend for.

Its governor, Wang Jing, was a world-famous "Confucian general." It is said that this person was not only well-read in poetry and books but also deeply understood the way of being an official, enjoyed great popularity in Qingzhou, and had a good reputation.

When Gao Feng's army arrived at the city walls, everyone thought they would encounter the most stubborn resistance since the southern expedition began.

However, unexpectedly to everyone, the Qingzhou governor Wang Jing was even more "sensible" than any official of any previous prefecture.

He not only sent an envoy at the first opportunity to submit a letter of unconditional surrender to Gao Feng, but also opened the city gates on all four sides, laid a ten-mile-long bright red carpet on the main road in the city, and organized tens of thousands of "commoners" to hold flowers and ribbons, lining the streets to welcome the arrival of the royal army!

The deafening cheers of "Respectfully welcome His Highness the Yan King" and "Long live the Yan King" were even more fanatical and louder than in the Yan King City!

Inside the central army tent, the generals of the Panshi Army looked at this dramatic scene before them, all feeling a sense of uplifted spirits and shared pride.

Hahaha! Your Highness is truly destined by Heaven! Before the fight even started, that so-called Confucian general of Qingzhou was scared out of his wits and opened the city to surrender!

Yes! In my opinion, we don't even need to fight to the Divine Capital; just based on Your Highness's supreme prestige, it is enough to make those clowns surrender at the mere sight of us!

Listening to the generals' words full of pride and flattery, a faint smile also appeared on Gao Feng's face.

Although he always felt that this matter was going a bit too smoothly, the intelligence returned by "Heavenly Net" showed that there were indeed no signs of large-scale troop movements in Qingzhou City, and everything seemed so normal.

Perhaps, he was overthinking it.

In the face of absolute power, any conspiracy or trickery is just a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Thinking of this, Gao Feng no longer hesitated; he waved his hand and gave the order to enter the city.

Pass the order! The army will rest in place, and I will personally lead 3,000 Iron Guard personal troops to accept Wang Jing's surrender!

As you command!

Soon, Gao Feng changed into a black royal robe with dragon patterns that looked more majestic, and surrounded by a group of personal guards, riding that extraordinary steed "Snow-Treading Black Horse," he slowly headed towards the open gates of Qingzhou City.

Outside the city gate, Qingzhou Governor Wang Jing had long since led hundreds of Qingzhou officials, kneeling on the ground and pressing their foreheads against the earth, their posture as respectful as could be.

"Sinful subject Wang Jing, leading all the officials of Qingzhou, respectfully welcomes Your Highness, the Yan King! May Your Highness live for a thousand years! A thousand years! A thousand, thousand years!"

Gao Feng looked down from his horse at Wang Jing, who was kneeling before him. He simply nodded indifferently and said in a majestic voice, "Governor Wang, rise. Since you have been able to comply with the mandate of Heaven and turn from darkness to light, this King naturally will not treat you poorly."

"Thank you for your heavenly grace, Your Highness!" Wang Jing was so moved that tears streamed down his old face. He scrambled up from the ground, trembling, and obsequiously took hold of Gao Feng's horse reins, leading the army into the city.

Both sides of the street were packed with "enthusiastic" Qingzhou commoners. They waved colorful ribbons in their hands and tossed prepared flower petals into the sky. The deafening cheers rose wave after wave, creating a false prosperity of peace and the adoration of the masses.

Gao Feng rode on his horse with a calm expression, but the faint sense of unease in his heart grew increasingly intense.

Just as Gao Feng's brow furrowed tighter and the warning bells in his heart rang wildly, at the very moment he was about to order a retreat!

A sudden change occurred!

The Qingzhou Governor Wang Jing, who had been obsequiously holding his horse's reins, suddenly revealed a twisted smile full of endless resentment and madness on his face, which had previously been filled with flattery and respect!

"Traitor Gao Feng! Today is your death day!"

He let out a shrill roar that did not sound human, suddenly pulling a prepared red signal arrow from his robe and firing it fiercely into the sky!

"Whoosh—!"

That shrill sound of tearing through the air was like a horn blown by the Grim Reaper!

The next second!

The tens of thousands of "commoners" who were originally "lining the streets to welcome" him instantly shed all their disguises, replaced by a bestial madness and bloodlust!

They ripped open their outer garments, revealing the black tight-fitting outfits they had already been wearing underneath!

From those seemingly harmless flower baskets and cargo carriers, they drew out terrifying crossbows that were already cocked, gleaming with a chilling, poisonous, deep-blue light!

"Fire!"

Upon the order!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Tens of thousands of poisoned crossbow bolts, like a storm of death blown from Hell, rained down from both sides of the street, from the closed windows of the pavilions, from the towering rooftops, and from all directions, shooting wildly toward Gao Feng and his three thousand Iron Guard elite soldiers who were trapped in the center of the long street!

That dense rain of arrows instantly obscured the entire sky!

"Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!"

A series of dull sounds of sharp blades entering flesh, accompanied by shrill screams, erupted loudly!

Although Gao Feng's Iron Guard elite soldiers were all battle-hardened veterans, and their armor was crafted from tempered steel meticulously forged by the Hundred Crafts Institute!

However, under this saturated attack that was like a violent rainstorm with no blind spots, they still suffered heavy casualties in an instant!

Countless elite soldiers didn't even have a chance to react before they were shot into hedgehogs by the poisoned crossbow bolts, falling into pools of blood along with their horses amidst mournful cries!

"Protect the Prince!"

"Form up! Quickly form up!"

The surviving elite soldiers let out tragic roars as they rushed desperately in front of Gao Feng, using their own flesh and blood, along with the shields in their hands, to build a precarious Great Wall of steel for their King!

However, this was only the beginning!

Just as the rain of arrows paused for a moment, hundreds of figures with strange movement techniques and cold auras emerged silently from the shadows on both sides of the street like ghosts!

In each of their hands, they held a specially made longbow gleaming with a deadly, chilling light!

Each of their gazes was like that of the calmest hunter, locked firmly onto Gao Feng, who was heavily protected in the very center!

They were true master archers!

Their target was only one: Gao Feng!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Another few hundred more tricky and lethal armor-piercing arrows, carrying a sharp whistle that tore through the air, shot with terrifying speed—almost like teleportation—precisely toward the vital points all over Gao Feng's body!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Gao Feng's reaction was extremely fast. The Emperor Sword in his hand danced into an impenetrable curtain of blades, knocking away the vast majority of the arrows aimed at him!

But there were still a few arrows at angles too tricky that passed through his blade curtain and slammed fiercely into his body!

If not for the dual protection he was wearing, layered with the Heavenly Silkworm Treasure Armor and the Dragon Scale Treasure Armor, he would have likely been pierced through on the spot!

Even so, the terrifying force contained within the arrows still shook him, causing his Qi and blood to surge and his arms to go numb!

"I was careless! In the end, I underestimated the heroes of this world. 'Pacify with a single edict'? How could there be such an easy thing in this world! This world truly has no pushovers!"

A flash of annoyance and cold Killing Intent crossed Gao Feng's eyes. Watching the loyal guards falling one by one to protect him, his heart, which was as hard as iron, was completely ignited at this moment by an unprecedented, monstrous rage!

"Who exactly are you?!"

Gao Feng let out a terrifying roar filled with endless majesty and chilling Killing Intent. His voice boomed like rolling thunder, exploding across the entire Qingzhou City!

"Hahaha! Traitor Gao Feng! At death's door, and you still ask who we are?" Qingzhou Governor Wang Jing, who had already retreated to a safe distance, let out a wild laugh filled with endless satisfaction!

"Listen well! We are 'Heavenly Punishment'! We are the sword of the Heavenly Dao sent by Heaven to punish you rebellious subjects!"

"My Great Xia Imperial Dynasty has been passed down for a thousand years, bestowing grace upon the four seas! You rebellious subjects are called vassal kings, but in reality, you are traitors to the nation! You carve out territories, disrespect the royal order, and cause chaos throughout the world, leaving the people in misery! Today, we of 'Heavenly Punishment' shall act on behalf of Heaven and use your head to pay tribute to the spirits of the past emperors of Great Xia!"

Wang Jing's voice was filled with an almost paranoid fanaticism and loyalty to the former dynasty!

Heavenly Punishment!

Remnants of the former dynasty!

A flash of realization crossed Gao Feng's eyes. He finally understood what kind of madmen he had provoked!

These were desperate outlaws who would stop at nothing for that ethereal "great cause of restoring the nation"!

And at this very moment, the terrifying killing formation was activated once again!

This time, it was not just the overwhelming rain of poisoned crossbow bolts. Under the precise sniping of those hundreds of master archers, there were also black iron spheres falling from the sky, emitting a pungent sulfurous odor!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deafening explosions erupted loudly on the narrow long street!

The terrifying shockwave of the explosions and the shrapnel flying in all directions instantly tore the already precarious shield formation of the Panshi Army to pieces!

"Ah—!"

Shrill screams rose one after another. In this earth-shattering, terrifying explosion, another large group of the remaining few hundred Iron Guard elite soldiers fell!

"Your Highness! Run! We will cut a bloody path for you!" An Iron Guard commander, covered in blood with one arm severed, let out a tragic roar. With his last bit of strength, he threw his broken blade at the high-and-mighty Wang Jing, and was then pierced through the chest by several crossbow bolts on the spot!

"Run? Today, none of you are leaving!" A cruel smile appeared on Wang Jing's face. "To deal with you, we of 'Heavenly Punishment' spent ten whole years of painstaking effort to set up this 'Ten Directions Absolute Killing Formation' in Qingzhou City! Once this formation is opened, even if an Eighth-Rank Martial Saint were to arrive in person, they wouldn't dream of walking out alive! Gao Feng, just obediently accept your death!"

Watching those loyal guards die tragically before his eyes, Gao Feng's eyes instantly turned red!

An indescribably terrifying Killing Intent, like a tangible blood-red storm, erupted violently from his body!

"Want to kill me? Just with you bunch of hiding, cowardly rats?!"

Gao Feng let out a terrifying roar like an ancient Vicious Beast, and in his deep eyes, two points of incredibly eerie golden light suddenly ignited!

Eye of Delusion Breaking, activate!

In an instant, the whole world looked different in his eyes!

The seemingly chaotic rain of arrows and the irregular explosions became clear trajectories formed by pure energy in his eyes!

He could clearly see that within this massive killing formation, there were countless energy threads invisible to the naked eye, tightly connecting every building, every mechanism, and even every assassin on both sides of the street!

And the final convergence point of all the energy threads was right at the end of the long street, at that seemingly ordinary giant stone lion!

That was the location of the formation eye for this "Ten Directions Absolute Killing Formation"!

However, the moment he discerned the secret of the formation eye, a piercing, bone-chilling pain suddenly surged from his eyes, and two lines of hot blood slowly flowed down from the corners of his eyes!

This was the price that must be paid for forcibly peering into the secrets of Heaven!

Gao Feng let out a muffled groan. Without the slightest hesitation, he pushed the Myriad Tribulations Indestructible Body Cultivation Technique within his body to its limit!

"Hum—!"

A terrifying hum, as if coming from the ancient primordial era, rang out!

A brilliant golden divine light erupted violently from his body, and golden runes filled with profound and mysterious auras flowed crazily across his skin!

At this moment, he seemed to have transformed into an ancient War God cast from pure gold, filled with an unyielding and indestructible aura!

"Break for me!"

Gao Feng let out an earth-shattering roar. Ignoring the rain of arrows and explosions attacking him like a violent storm, he transformed into a golden lightning bolt and, with an unreasonable and savage posture, launched the most violent death charge toward that giant stone lion at the end of the long street!