196: The blood from the gourd mouth has dried up, and the emperor's sword points to Tai'an

Inside Hulu Pass, the smell of blood was so thick it was choking.

The once beautiful valley was now unrecognizable; the ground was covered with a thick layer of corpses, indistinguishable whether they belonged to the Great Tang or Liyang. Black blood converged into small streams, slowly flowing through the gaps between the bodies.

The slaughter was nearing its end.

Three hundred thousand Tiance Manor troops, like a pack of starving wolves, encircled and divided the completely shattered and disarmed Liyang remnants, then harvested their lives in the simplest, most efficient way.

There was no pity, no hesitation.

War was like this: kill or be killed.

"General, there's still a big one on that mountain over there," a blood-soaked Vice Commander ran up to Yuchi Gong, pointing to the highest peak in the distance.

On the peak, Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang still knelt there. His personal guards were all dead, leaving him alone, like a desperate stone statue.

Wine Sword Immortal's 'Wine God's Curse' sword strike not only annihilated Northern Liang's twenty thousand iron cavalry but also completely shattered all the ambition and courage of this Liyang Grand Marshal.

He was now a living dead man.

"Bring him over," Yuchi Gong wiped the blood from his face, his voice hoarse.

He looked at the Hell before him, his heart completely unmoved. As an old general who had followed Your Majesty through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he had seen such scenes many times.

Soon, several Tiance Manor soldiers brought the dazed Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang, throwing him before Yuchi Gong's horse.

"Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang," Yuchi Gong looked down at him, his eyes devoid of a victor's boastfulness, only a chilling coldness. "Do you have anything else to say?"

Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang slowly raised his head. His once resolute and extraordinary face was now covered in ashen despair. He looked at Yuchi Gong, then at the Great Tang soldiers around him with their indifferent eyes, and suddenly laughed, a laugh uglier than a cry.

"The victor is king, the loser is bandit. I have nothing to say," he murmured. "I'm just unwilling... I, Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang, schemed for half my life, only to lose so completely."

He didn't lose to Yuchi Gong, nor did he lose to the Great Tang's million-strong army.

He lost to that young Emperor far away in Chang'an, who had never shown his face, yet played everyone in the world in the palm of his hand.

He wanted to be the oriole, but he didn't realize that he wasn't even a praying mantis; from beginning to end, he was just a cicada targeted by a hunter.

"Take him away and keep him under good watch," Yuchi Gong waved his hand, too lazy to waste more words with him. "Your Majesty wants him alive."

Regarding this former Liyang military god, Yuchi Gong felt neither admiration nor hatred.

Each served their own master, that was all.

"Clean up the battlefield! Count the casualties!" Yuchi Gong's voice once again echoed throughout the valley. "In half an hour, the entire army will set off!"

"Our target, Taian City!"

"Yes!"

...Chang'an, Imperial Study.

Li Chengqian listened quietly to Li Junxian's report, his face devoid of any expression.

...In the battle of Hulu Pass, our army's strategy of luring the enemy was a complete success. Liyang's million elites led by Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang, along with the thirty thousand Northern Liang iron cavalry he colluded with, were all annihilated. Mount Longhu Heavenly Master Zhao Xuansu and three hundred sixty-five Cultivators were all cut down by Consort Nan with a single blade. Wine Sword Immortal took action, obliterating the remaining Northern Liang forces with 'Wine God's Curse'. In this campaign, Liyang's main force was completely lost, and its capital, Taian City, is wide open. General Yuchi Gong has already led the main army to the city gates.

Li Junxian's voice carried an uncontrollable excitement.

This battle was won too beautifully! Too exhilarating!

Using three hundred thousand troops as bait, turning the tables, and wiping out Liyang and Northern Liang's million soldiers, along with hundreds of top Cultivators, in one fell swoop!

What a feat! What audacity!

Under Heaven, besides this Your Majesty, who else would dare to play such a game? And who could afford to play it?

However, Li Chengqian's reaction was terrifyingly calm.

He merely tapped the armrest of the Dragon Throne, as if what he had just heard was not a world-shaking victory that would determine the fate of the realm, but a trivial matter.

"What are the casualties?" he asked.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, our Tiance Manor soldiers, in order to play out this act, suffered approximately thirty thousand casualties in the initial feigned defeat. Inside Hulu Pass, due to the aftershocks of the Nine Bend Yellow River Formation, nearly ten thousand soldiers were also affected, losing some of their Qi, but their lives are not in danger," Li Junxian immediately replied.

"Compensation must be sufficient. For the wounded, use the best Medicinal Pills to treat them. Tell them, My soldiers must not die or be injured in vain," Li Chengqian said indifferently.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"What about Grand Marshal Gu Jiantang?"

"He has been captured alive by General Yuchi Gong and is being escorted to Taian City."

"Mm." Li Chengqian nodded, stood up from the Dragon Throne, and walked to the giant map.

His gaze fell on the capital of Liyang, the dot marking Taian City.

"Pass My decree to Yuchi Gong," his voice was cold, devoid of emotion. "There's no need for rest, and no need to wait for follow-up armies."

"I want him to flatten Taian City within three days."

"I want the Zhao clan of Liyang to completely vanish from this world."

Li Junxian's heart leaped.

Flatten Taian City within three days?

This... this was too rushed.

Although Liyang's main force was lost, Taian City was, after all, the capital, with high walls and thick defenses. There were still hundreds of thousands of defenders and common people in the city. If they fought to the death, a desperate struggle, a forced assault would inevitably cost the Great Tang a considerable price.

"Your Majesty, is it... too hasty?" Li Junxian hesitated, but still bravely asked, "Taian City will fight like a cornered beast, and our soldiers have been fighting continuously, already exhausted. A forced assault at this time might lead to heavy casualties. It would be better to besiege the city for a month or so, wait until their food runs out and morale collapses, then we can subdue their army without fighting."

This was the most prudent military strategy.

But Li Chengqian never played by the rules of war.

"I cannot wait that long," Li Chengqian turned around and looked at Li Junxian, a light in his deep eyes that Li Junxian could not understand.

"I want to use the blood of the Liyang Zhao clan to tell everyone in this world: those who follow Me shall prosper, those who defy Me shall perish."

"I also want to use their lament of a fallen nation as My first offering to that 'Heavenly Demon'."

"Go and deliver the decree."

Li Chengqian waved his hand.

Li Junxian dared not ask more. He could feel that beneath Your Majesty's calm exterior, there was a furious Battle Intent capable of incinerating Heaven and Earth.

That Battle Intent was not directed at Liyang, nor at Northern Liang, but at some existence even more terrifying and unknown.

"Your subject obeys!"

Li Junxian bowed and withdrew.

Inside the Imperial Study, silence returned.

Li Chengqian once again turned his gaze to the map, a cold curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

"Liyang is just the appetizer."

"The real feast is yet to come."

He knew that with the demise of a million lives at Hulu Pass, that vast blood Qi and resentment had become the brightest lighthouse, completely exposed in the dark Void Realm.

That 'Heavenly Demon' lurking beneath the Demon Lock Tower, coveting this world, must have already smelled this delicious scent of blood.

Soon, it would be unable to resist, crawling out from its lair.

And that, was the true climax of this game of Dao.