Chapter 319: Retribution
"The emperor decrees, "As the emperor, all lands are mine and everyone is under me! As spirits, you should respect the dragon energy! Hence, I specially command both of you, Qi Lake Dragon God and Golden Court Dragon God, to immediately assist Xuan Zhen Sect to banish the evil gods’ temples!"
The head of Xuan Zhen Sect looked at Fang Yuan and read the imperial decree out loud. He raised the decree and smirked at Fang Yuan, "So how... are you going to oppose the decree?"
"He thinks I am a tool? He wants me to clear the evil gods and the demons but doesn’t provide any returns for me? Furthermore, he wants me to submit under Xuan Zhen Sect, does he thinks I am a fool?" Fang Yuan thought.
Fang Yuan could not contain his laughter after hearing such and guffawed out loud.
"How dare you disobey the imperial decree! Die!"
Xuan Zhen and his daoists immediately hollered.
"Roar!"
The roar of a dragon could be vaguely heard. Streaks of green and violet energy gathered in the imperial decree and formed the shape of a golden green dragon. Its might was daunting.
It was the people dao true dragon energy, it could overpower all kinds of power!
Such an energy even made Fang Yuan’s god dao divine light dimmed a little.
"Cast arrays!"
Xuan Zhen and his daoists were allowed to cast their arrays as the ban was lifted. Their power was uninhibited and they formed an array surrounding Fang Yuan, trapping him inside.
"Humans will rise as per the heavenly trend while demons will fall! Demon, you shall be suppressed!"
The elderly daoist was very solemn. He then loudly chanted, "The 33rd head of Xuan Zhen Sect invites the fate energy of our rare treasures and ancestors to assist!"
"Woong, woooong!"
After a flash of black light, a small stone pagoda appeared on his right palm.
The pagoda had seven layers, it was carved from black stones and delicately designed. Each side of the pagoda shined mysteriously and was inscribed with runes. It could suppress fate energy!
"Demon Suppressing Pagoda?"
Fang Yuan drooped his eyelids, "You all have even brought out this item! Aren’t you all afraid your sect’s foundation will be damaged and your sect will then perish?"
That item was Xuan Zhen Sect’s secret weapon, it was a rare treasure that could suppress fate energy!
The moment they brought out this item, it meant that they were willing to use their all for Fang Yuan to die.
"We are boosted by the dragon energy and the Demon Suppressing Pagoda, which are also complemented by the 4 Emblems Spirit Locking Array! Whereas, you have gone against the orders and lost your crustacean army, you have no chance of defeating us!"
The Divine Predictor Elder sneered, "Isolate! Seal off! Start!"
Xuan Zhen immediately threw the Demon Suppressing Pagoda.
The Demon Suppressing Pagoda magnified when it reached the peak of the array. It radiated brightly from all sides, streaks of light formed into chains and entered the array as it went for Fang Yuan.
"Oh!"
Fang Yuan’s body quivered for a moment. Inside the array, he felt his energy from Qi Lake was isolated away.
The dragon energy suppressed his divine position, the Demon Suppressing Pagoda targeted its body, while the 4 Emblems Spirit Locking Array sealed off his heavenly energy and energy from Qi Lake!
"Should I inflict retribution?"
Fang Yuan mumbled to himself; he had a greater understanding of fate energy.
People dao were strong on their own and self-reliant, whatever Fang Yuan did previously was a form of support! However, once he crossed a threshold, he would immediately be attacked!
Of course, such a predicament was also due to Xu Ting’s character and Xuan Zhen Sect’s influence. However, these were already trifle reasons.
Nevertheless, as he kept to the baseline and planned beforehand, he would not suffer great losses! He might even survive!
"But... how can I make this the way I want it to be!" Fang Yuan thought.
With such a thought, his gaze turned piercingly cold, "I will not use this opportunity to save my life, I will fully use it to inflict retribution! Anyway, my main reason for coming to this realm this time was to reap as much as I can, why should I care about what happens afterwards!"
"Quickly!"
Although the Divine Predictor Elder and the head of Xuan Zhen Sect did not know what the Dragon God was thinking of, they felt uneasy and hollered to hurry up.
"Haha... it’s too late!"
Fang Yuan’s eyes burnt like fire and green energy from his head formed into a beam of clear light, causing the array to falter as the beam seeped out. He sent a command through it, "Fate energy, return! Quick!"
"Kaboom!"
Suddenly, the sky darkened. Lightning flashed and thunder roared!
...
Xinfeng Prefecture.
Xinfeng Prefecture was Baili Xuandu’s hometown. At that moment, Xu Ting’s 10,000-strong army stormed into the prefecture. Numerous district towns surrendered before the battle even started, their power was fearsome.
Inside a tent at the military camp.
"Your Majesty, two more districts have surrendered to us!"
"Your Majesty, numerous generals in Xinfeng Army have secretly contacted me! They are willing to surrender!
...
Good news kept coming up continuously, however, that was normal as Wu Country held the biggest power.
As Baili Xuan still stubbornly held on to six remote prefectures, he slowly lost his followers.
"Great! With this two prefectures conquered, the capital of Xinfeng Prefecture would be a piece of cake!"
Xu Ting was overjoyed.
The capital was Baili Xuandu’s nucleus area, the moment it was conquered, Baili Xuandu would have no chance of rising back to power.
"Pass down my command... reward the whole army with meat! With the soldiers full, our strength is even greater and we will annihilate Xinfeng army!"
"Very wise, your Majesty!"
The officials below greatly respected Xu Ting and were elated, they worshipped him at once.
"Kill them!"
Suddenly, the trotting noise of a horse and shouts could be heard from the northwestern side of the military camp.
"Reporting!"
One of the bodyguards quickly reported, "2,000 cavalry soldiers were spotted 3 miles outside the military camp! They seem to be charging towards us!"
"2,000 cavalry soldiers? That’s almost Baili Xuandu’s entire strength!"
The officials were astonished. However, Xu Ting remained still and commanded, "This Baili Xuandu loves to employ sly tricks, however..... the good always triumphs over the evil! Send down my command, each battalion stay at where they are and prepare for battle! Anyone who steps out of the military camp will be killed, regardless if he is a general or a soldier!"
"Also, disarm and detain all the newly surrendered soldiers, in case they were pretending to surrender!"
"Yes, your Majesty!"
After Xu Ting’s commands were relayed, the whole military camp became quiet. Some of the battalions that had some commotion calmed down at once.
"Very wise, your Majesty!"
Some of the generals were very convinced and immediately went out to deploy the defences.
Such an attack was meant to confuse the unprepared troops. However, now that the 10,000 men strong army was not reacting, the 2,000 men strong cavalry could at most attack a few tents before their whole cavalry would be annihilated. Unless another few tens of thousands of cavalry soldiers came over, there stood no chance of defeating this securely defended military camp. They were basically courting death.
To Xu Ting, Baili Xuandu was his wit’s end, it was his desperate last attempt.
"Your Highness, look..."
On a hill outside the military camp, the Divine Demon Queen looked at the scene with a few of her foxes.
After the camp was on guard, they saw the 2,000 men strong cavalry let out a roar and charged forward fearlessly instead of retreating.
"Baili Xuandu had already lost his dragon energy, this is his last attempt! If it doesn’t succeed, he will die for his cause!"
The Divine Demon Queen’s face turned grim and said, "I will cast an array and use the 10,000 Demon Blood Sacrifice to obtain the help!"
"Your Highness!"
The demons were absolutely dismayed.
The 10,000 Demon Blood Sacrifice spell was a taboo amongst demons, it could not be frivolously used. The user would definitely suffer from severe rebound and retribution, with the Divine Demon Queen’s current health, she would definitely die!
"I am not doing it to help the humans, but for the demons!"
The Divine Demon Queen sighed and continued, "Us demons are experiencing a downfall; I am finally clear of the heavenly trend. The rise of humans cannot be stopped, whatever we have done merely added fuel to the fire... the heavens makes a fool out of demons!"
As she lectured, her expression turned even more sorrowful, "But, I rather suffer beyond redemption than let the humans have an easy life... This Xu Ting has one of the strongest dragon energy amongst the humans, if he is defeated, the chaos would continue at least ten years. This will give enough time for us demons to survive and relocate far away! I have already decided, say no more!"
"Your Highness!"
Numerous demons wailed bitterly.
The Divine Demon Queen’s face was expressionless, she cast an array and sprinkled some of her vital blood on it.
"I have already collected the resentment of 10,000 demons from Chu Country’s capital, now I just need a lead... which is me! After this battle, whether victory or defeat, you all shall quickly retreat. Bring the young ones and escape to a faraway land..."
She sighed and stepped into the array.
Flaming!
Immediately, blood red flames mixed with horrifying streaks of black vapour soared and engulfed the Divine Demon Queen.
Under the cries of the many demons, a blood red beam of light shot up the sky.
In an instant, dark clouds loomed and a raging tempest brewed.
"Huuuuuuu! Hruuuuuuuu!"
The strong gale howled and swept along sands and stones. The wind was blowing from the northwest and brought along numerous dark clouds which covered the entire sky.
Baili Xuandu was immediately delighted, "Heaven is helping me! Charge!"
"Kill them all!"
2,000 cavalry soldiers charged into the military camp with a strong might and a massacre erupted. Whereas the opposing Wu army was blinded by the sandstorm and panic-stricken, they immediately fell apart!
"Demonic Wind! Demonic Wind!"
Inside the main tent, Xu Ting’s face turned red and spat out blood as he saw the tempest.
After he spat out that mouthful of blood, his heart felt empty at once. It was as though he had lost something of extreme importance.
"Reporting! Baili Xuandu’s army is aided by the raging tempest, our troops are in chaos!"
"Reporting! The northern camp is falling, they seem to be calling for help! They are charging towards our main body of soldiers, General An Jie is currently trying to suppress them!"
"Your Majesty..."
One of his bodyguards came forward and asked, "Should the generals accompany your Majesty to retreat?"
"No way!’
Xu Ting clenched his teeth, "I am the heart of this army, I will never retreat! We will be defeated once I retreat! Send down my command, it is still the same, each battalion stays at where they are! Concentrate on fighting the opponents!"
He thought clearly, even if they had the help of the Demonic Wind, his troops would at most be confounded for at most a while. Afterwards, they would be back to their usual form and be able to defeat the cavalry.
However, Xu Ting had not realised, at the corner of the tent, Kong Luo kept his head down and was in an emotional turmoil. It seemed that he had activated a certain talisman.
"I am not close to Xu Ting, once Xuan Zhen Sect returns to power, I will definitely be killed! Although I am not close to him anymore, he still puts me at his side, he is testing my loyalty! Now, let’s see what Baili Xuandu can do!" Kong Luo thought.
Kong Luo wiped his face with his sleeve, and it was as though his eyes burnt with fire.
"Kill!"
Suddenly, the shouts came closer and closer. It was as though the enemies had eyes that could see through, they were charging directly to the emperor’s tent!
"Impossible... how could they be so accurate?"
Xu Ting walked out of his tent. When he saw the shadows of the cavalry and the flames, he almost fell to the ground.
Inside the military camp, all the tents were similar and it was like a maze. How could they easily recognise which tent Xu Ting was in?
However, the enemies had accomplished such! His stubbornness to leave was now a joke!!!