195: The emperor's backhand, the oriole behind

He lunged to the railing, only to see his adoptive father's gaunt figure rapidly disappear into the clouds.

Finally, it was swallowed by the surging waves below.

A generation's schemer, the towering pillar of Northern Liang, thus met his end.

He used his own life to play one last game for Northern Liang.

A gamble that staked the entire world.

He schemed against Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang.

He schemed against Zhao Xuansu.

He schemed against Li Chengqian.

He even schemed against his own daughter and his own death.

He thought he was the player on the fifth level.

He thought he was the mantis stalking the cicada, with the oriole behind.

But he never knew, even until his death.

On this chessboard, there was another player, standing on the atmospheric layer.

When that earth-shattering saber strike fell at Hulu Pass.

When the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry appeared behind Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang.

Far away in Chang'an, in the Imperial Study, Li Chengqian simply placed a black chess piece in the corner of the board.

"General."

His voice was calm and cold.

On the white piece he had captured, a single character was clearly engraved.

"Shan."

Above the mountains of Hulu Pass.

Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang was trapped in an unprecedented predicament.

In front of him was the Grand Tang Tiance Manor, which had reformed its formation and was glaring menacingly.

Behind him were the thirty thousand Northern Liang Iron Cavalry that had suddenly emerged from underground.

To his left and right were the remaining soldiers of Liyang, whose courage had been shattered by the aftershocks of the Nine Bend Yellow River Formation and were now in disarray.

A net was cast, making escape impossible.

He was like a trapped beast surrounded by countless hunters.

"Kill!"

Yuan Zuo Zong, the adopted son most valued by Xu Xiao, the King of Northern Liang, was now seeing red.

Each swing of his spear inevitably took the lives of several Liyang personal guards.

His goal was singular.

Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang!

As long as Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang was killed, Liyang's million-strong army would be leaderless and completely collapse.

At that time, it would be a feast for the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry and the Grand Tang Tiance Manor to reap military achievements!

"Protect the Marshal!"

Although Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang's personal guards were filled with fear, they still faithfully stood in front of him, using their flesh and blood to build a final line of defense for him.

However, in the face of the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry's overwhelming charge.

Their resistance seemed so pale and powerless.

The defense line was torn apart layer by layer.

Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang was getting closer and closer to the cold spear tip.

"It's over..."

Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang's heart turned cold.

He was unwilling!

He had schemed for half his life, endured for half his life!

He was on the verge of reaching the Peak of power and ruling the world!

Yet, he never expected to die here in such a suffocating manner!

To die from the betrayal of his own people and allies!

"Li Yishan!"

"Li Chengqian!"

Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang looked up to the sky and let out a roar filled with endless malice.

"Even as a ghost, I will not spare you!"

He raised the long sword in his hand, preparing for a final desperate struggle.

However, at this moment.

Another unexpected event occurred!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A series of sharp whistling sounds came from the sky.

Everyone subconsciously looked up.

They saw thousands of huge crossbow bolts, gleaming with metallic cold light, pouring down like a cloud of death from the thousand-zhang high cliffs on both sides of Hulu Pass!

Each of these crossbow bolts was as thick as an adult's arm and over ten feet long.

They were covered with dense runes.

Exuding a terrifying aura capable of piercing through anything!

"It's the Armor-Piercing Divine Crossbow!"

"The Grand Tang's Armor-Piercing Divine Crossbow!"

Someone recognized this most terrifying Sharp Weapon of war in the Grand Tang army and let out a desperate cry.

This was a great killer specifically designed to deal with heavily armored cavalry and Cultivators!

One arrow was enough to pierce through a three-inch thick steel plate!

"Not good! Retreat quickly!"

Yuan Zuo Zong's expression changed drastically.

Without thinking, he immediately turned his horse around, wanting to lead the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry out of this death-covered area.

However, it was already too late.

The arrow rain fell.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

A series of ear-splitting sounds of flesh tearing.

Those Northern Liang Iron Cavalry, who had just been so imposing and arrogant, instantly fell in swathes like wheat being cut down.

Their excellent armor, which was strong enough to resist sword and axe blows, was as fragile as a thin piece of paper in front of the Armor-Piercing Divine Crossbow.

Countless riders, both men and horses, were firmly pinned to the ground by the huge crossbow bolts.

Blood stained the entire mountain path red.

Screams and wails echoed through the sky.

With just one volley.

More than a third of the thirty thousand Northern Liang Iron Cavalry were killed or wounded!

This sudden and shocking turn of events stunned everyone present.

Whether it was Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang or Yuan Zuo Zong.

Even the Grand Tang Tiance Manor soldiers who were harvesting the remnants of the Liyang army in the valley below were stunned.

They didn't know where these Armor-Piercing Divine Crossbows had come from.

The cliffs on both sides of Hulu Pass were a thousand zhang high and extremely steep, making it impossible to climb!

Did they fall from the sky?

Just as everyone was shocked and puzzled.

A lazy voice, tinged with a hint of drunkenness, leisurely drifted down from the cliff.

"Tsk tsk tsk, so this is the famous Northern Liang Iron Cavalry?"

"Doesn't look like much."

"Not even enough for this old Daoist to pick his teeth with."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice.

They saw an old Daoist priest, dressed in a tattered Daoist robe and with a wine gourd hanging from his waist, sitting on a huge green immortal sword at the misty cliff Peak.

He was drinking wine while watching the scene of Purgatory below with great interest.

Behind him stood nearly a thousand Tiance Manor "instructors," similarly standing on swords and dressed in Grand Tang military uniforms.

Each of them held a giant military crossbow with a terrifyingly ferocious design.

It was the Wine Sword Immortal and the "Immortal Slayers" squad he led!

They had been ambushed here long ago!

"You... you all..."

Yuan Zuo Zong looked at the Grand Tang Cultivators on the cliff, who seemed to have descended from the heavens, and couldn't utter a single word.

All that remained in his heart was endless coldness and despair.

He finally understood.

What mantis stalks cicada, oriole behind.

From beginning to end, it was just a joke.

All of them, whether Liyang or Northern Liang.

Were merely chess pieces that the young Emperor, who sat high on the Dragon Throne in Chang'an, could discard at will!

He was the true oriole!

No!

He was not the oriole!

He was the hunter who had laid out the entire net!

"Haha... Hahahahaha!"

Understanding all of this, Yuan Zuo Zong suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.

His laughter was filled with self-mockery and sorrow.

"Li Yishan, oh Li Yishan!"

"You schemed your entire life!"

"Yet in the end, you were still schemed against!"

"We all lost!"

"Lost completely!"

He laughed until tears streamed down his face.

Then, he turned his horse around and glanced at the surviving Northern Liang Iron Cavalry.

A look of determination flashed in his eyes.

"Brothers of Northern Liang!"

"We've been deceived!"

"Today, we are destined to die here!"

"But!"

"Even if we die, we must die like Northern Liang men!"

"Charge with me!"

Yuan Zuo Zong raised the long spear in his hand and pointed it towards the old Daoist priest drinking on the cliff.

"Kill—!"

He let out a tragic roar.

Leading the remaining less than twenty thousand Northern Liang Iron Cavalry, he launched a final suicidal charge towards the cliff that was impossible to scale!

They wanted to end their lives in the most proud way of the Northern Liang people.

Looking at the fearless Northern Liang Iron Cavalry.

A hint of approval flashed in the Wine Sword Immortal's eyes on the cliff.

"Not bad, they are true men."

"It's just a pity they followed the wrong master."

He shook his head and raised the wine gourd in his hand.

"Alright."

"This old Daoist will personally send you off."

"Consider it worthy of your bravery."

He pulled out the stopper of the gourd and aimed its mouth downwards.

"Watch carefully."

"This move is called..."

"Wine! God! Incantation!"

"Wine! God! Incantation!"

The Wine Sword Immortal's voice, tinged with a hint of drunkenness, echoed throughout the entire Hulu Pass.

As if ancient gods were chanting a poem of world destruction.

He abruptly inverted the wine gourd in his hand.

A drop of crystal-clear golden liquid, seemingly containing the entire starry sky, slowly dripped from the mouth of the gourd.

The moment that drop of golden wine left the gourd's mouth, it transformed into a towering torrent!

Within the torrent, an ancient Wine God's phantom, a hundred zhang tall, clad in golden armor, and wielding a giant sword, slowly condensed into form!

The Wine God's face was majestic, his eyes like the sun and moon.

The terrifying aura of destruction emanating from him even caused the space of the entire Hulu Pass to violently twist and shatter!

"Wha... what is this?!"

Below, everyone who witnessed this scene, whether the remnants of Liyang, the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry, or even the Grand Tang Tiance Manor soldiers, were completely awestruck by this miraculous sight.

Their minds went blank.

They even lost the ability to think.

Yuan Zuo Zong's fearless charge also stopped.

He stared blankly at the towering Wine God's phantom in the sky.

The absolute suppression from a higher life-form left him without the strength to even grip the long spear in his hand.

He finally understood.

They were not facing Mortals at all.

But a group of true gods and demons!

"Slash!"

In the sky, the Wine God's phantom slowly raised the golden giant sword in his hand.

Then, he gently swung the sword downwards at the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry, who were launching a suicidal charge!

That sword strike had no earth-shattering momentum.

It was just a simple slash.

But in the trajectory of that falling sword.

Space silently annihilated.

Time quietly stood still.

Everything transformed into the most primitive Void Realm.

Yuan Zuo Zong and the nearly twenty thousand Northern Liang Iron Cavalry behind him didn't even let out a single cry of agony.

Their bodies, along with their warhorses, their armor, and their weapons, silently disintegrated and vanished under the golden sword light.

Finally, they turned into dust filling the sky.

As if they had never existed in this world.

One sword, annihilated twenty thousand Iron Cavalry!

This was the power of the Wine God Incantation!

This was the true strength of the Wine Sword Immortal!

The entire Hulu Pass fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone was terrified by this scene that surpassed the limits of their imagination.

On the mountain Peak, Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang's legs gave way, and he fell to his knees with a thud.

His face no longer held any unwillingness or malice.

Only endless fear and despair remained.

He finally understood.

What power struggles, what schemes, what a million-strong army, ruling the world... in front of such god-like power, all were just laughable jokes.

He lost.

Lost completely.

Without even a sliver of a chance to turn the tide.

"Sigh..."

On the cliff, the Wine Sword Immortal looked at the now empty mountain path below and let out a soft sigh.

He put away his wine gourd, and the towering Wine God's phantom also vanished into thin air.

"What a pity, such good appetizers."

He shook his head, seemingly still unsatisfied.

Then, his gaze fell upon the completely collapsed remnants of the Liyang army below, and on Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang, who was kneeling on the ground, utterly dejected.

"Yuchi Gong."

He spoke indifferently.

"The rest is up to you."

"Yes, Lord Wine Sword Immortal!"

Inside the valley, Yuchi Gong recovered from his endless shock.

He respectfully bowed towards the cliff.

Then, he turned around and looked at the Liyang soldiers who had completely lost their will to resist.

He raised the water-ground black gold whip in his hand.

A sinister smile appeared on his dark face.

"Sons of Tiance Manor!"

"Your Majesty's feast has begun!"

"Kill!"

With a furious roar.

The three hundred thousand Tiance Manor army surged out like tigers released from their cages.

Launching a final general assault on the remaining Liyang soldiers, who had become lambs to the slaughter!

The sounds of battle cries, screams, and clashing weapons once again resounded throughout Hulu Pass.

Only this time.

It was no longer an evenly matched struggle.

But a thorough and one-sided slaughter!

Blood stained every inch of land in the valley.

Corpses piled up like mountains.

Hulu Pass, once a beautiful scenic spot, had completely transformed into a veritable Hell on Earth, a bloodbath of Asuras.

And the instigator of this bloody feast.

The young Emperor, who sat high on the Dragon Throne in Chang'an.

Was now slowly rising from the Imperial Study.

He walked to the window and pushed it open.

Looking at the clear, cloudless sky.

His face was devoid of any expression.

As if the millions of lives that had just perished in Hulu Pass were merely a cold number in his eyes.

"The sacrifices are enough."

He muttered to himself.

His gaze seemed to penetrate the endless Void Realm.

Seeing a certain terrifying existence, hidden deep within the Laws of heaven and earth, stirring restlessly.

"Next, it's your turn."

"Heavenly Demon."

Li Chengqian's lips curved into a cold and maniacal smile.

This war, which swept across the world, was never his goal.

But merely a beginning.

A prelude used to draw out his true enemy.

His true game of chess.

Has only just begun!