Chapter 78 - The Final Battle (II)
There is a saying in the book of war: the good of the good is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
When Xuan Mo informed everyone that they could legitimately use their mana to fight against the Demon Sovereign and his puppets, Fox Xiao Xian asked, "Teacher, can we use our mana to save more ordinary humans? Whether they are enemies or friends. Stop the killing and restore peace."
Fox Xiaxia and Shan Xiaohu followed suit. Right now, these humans' killing each other was foolish behavior in their eyes; it was just that everyone's position was different, and they had to treat human lives as grass, preferring to shed blood rather than live in peace. It was said that humans were the eldest of all spirits and that the goal of all demonic beasts' cultivation was to cultivate into human form, but this actual human being did not cherish this life of theirs.
"I've always envied humans, born as humans. Unlike me, who had to go through three lifetimes of tribulation on earth before I could shed my demonic aura, become a true human, and ascend to immortality; unlike Third Senior Brother, who stood on the pointed mountain and endured the winds, rain, frosts, snow, thunder, and lightning day in and day out; and unlike Fourth Brother who cultivated alone in the ice abyss. We all went through the pain of skinning and tearing down bones over a hundred years to get to where we are today. But they had to lose their precious lives merely because they wanted to fulfill an individual's selfish desires and wrong decisions. This is too unworthy." Fox Xiao Xian said.
"Right, if we can think of a way to eliminate the key few enemies so that everyone can surrender without a fight, we can reduce the number of unnecessary casualties. Only then will the ordinary people have a chance to survive and live a peaceful life." Fox Xiaxia said.
"Good! Let's do it then!" Ouyang Zhong said decisively.
And on the western city gate, Xuan Mo keenly observed Dongfang Chang's every move, and when a sharp and ear-piercing alarm came from the ringing arrows at the northern city gate, Dongfang Chang stood on top of his chariot, waving the command flag to line up his troops. Dongfang Chang had been familiar with military books since he was a young boy, and although he didn't know martial arts and had never really fought in a battle, he had practiced many times with his men on the sand table with his paper skills. In terms of strategy and ruthlessness, ZhangSun Zhi was simply out of his league.
On the one hand, Dongfang Chang sent his vanguard troops to form a conical formation, rhythmically forming a deterrent to the army of Zongcheng stationed in front of the western city gate; on the other hand, he sent his troops to form several flexible and mobile squads to run towards the black gold mine in Zongyu Mountain. Although the Zong City defenders stationed at the mine had made some deployments before, they had always had their fingers crossed, thinking that no matter which way the enemy army was, even if they wanted to hit the mine, it would be something that would happen after they attacked the next Zong City, so they never thought that they would come towards the mine right from the start.
"Could it be that his true purpose is not Zong City? Rather, it's the black gold mine in Zong Yu Mountain?" When Xuan Mo thought of this, he quickly leaped down. From the state of a military commander standing on the city wall, he instantly turned into a black wolf form. As he shook the fur on his body, he manifested countless wolf packs of dogs, forming a wolf-dog formation to prepare for the enemy. Xuan Mo issued an order in his heart: one part stayed behind to defend the city, and the other part quickly ran towards Zong Yu Mountain to track and intercept the small detachment sent by Dongfang Chang to probe what exactly they were up to. In addition, Xuan Mo separated 10% of his mana to report to the Heavenly Court, sending a message to report to his master, Erlang Shen.
Dongfang Chang's soldiers suddenly saw a multitude of enormous steppe wolves mixed in with the defenders of the vertical city in front of them, and all of a sudden, they panicked and wrapped their feet in fear. When it comes to formation, humans are far less potent than wolves. After all, the ability to surround their prey, feign an ambush, and stalk for days and nights before finally putting the other party to death is the innate ability of wolves. Plus, Xuan Mo followed Er Lang Shen to fight for tens of thousands of years, and Dongfang Chang's little pediatric military ability was unbearable.
But Xuan Mo didn't let his guard down. He ordered the wolves and the surrounding generals to form a crane wing formation, with the human soldiers and generals as the center and the wolves as the two flanks to outflank the enemy's array. The Nandu army's initial momentum was half scared back by a few wolves, but after seeing such a ferocious and strange formation, they all fell back and fled backward. How could people outrun the sturdy steppe wolves? Before they could run a few meters, the wolves viciously blocked them. An array of nearly a thousand men was all wiped out in such an instant.
The unsuccessful expedition scared Dongfang Chang on the chariot into a cold sweat. He didn't expect that there would be a magician with high magical power sitting in Zongcheng, and not only were their spells far above his own, but their military strategy was even more profound. It seemed that simply relying only on the human army could no longer be defeated, and despite his great reluctance, there was no way back at this moment. Dongfang Chang silently summoned the Demon Lord in his mind; immediately afterward, he could feel a powerful force within him; he leaped up in the air and began to draw strength and essence from the people around him; very quickly, he became very tall and robust. While the generals under his command who had their essence sucked out of them were as if they were withered, and they all collapsed to the ground and died.
The Nandu army was already physically and mentally exhausted in the long run, and there were a lot of grievances and dissatisfaction underneath. At this moment, when everyone saw that the leader Dongfang Chang had turned into a demon that sucked people's essence, they were so scared that they fled, and people began to run like ants on a hot pan without any clue. The hundreds of thousands of people of the Nandu army became scattered like this.
Xuan Mo called Fox Xiao Xian in his heart, "Xiao Xian, come to the west city gate and quickly shoot Dongfang Chang, who has become a demon; I'll stall him first to prevent him from causing more harm." After saying that, he lunged towards Dongfang Chang in mid-air. The generals of the vertical city collaborated with the wolves to surround the routed Nandu army.
The demonic ruler parasitizing Dongfang Chang's body was continuing to suck the essence of the surrounding life without restraint greedily. Dongfang Chang was trying to achieve his own goals: to kill all of the Zhongming royal family and seize the kingship to establish himself as the emperor. The other one was to kill his enemy, Tuoba Zhe, and use his head on his head to honor the departed souls of his cousin, Zhao Qian'er, and the many Dongfang House soldiers who died in the battle.
But as a human being, his body could no longer eat the greed of the Demon Lord, and he had become a monster that was neither human nor a ghost. Dongfang Chang could not escape when he made the pact and disobeyed the Demon Lord's control. Every time the Demon Monarch awakened in his body, he would suck his essence, and now that he was about to be squeezed clean, the Demon Monarch began to use him as a means to suck the energy out of those around him.
At that moment, Dongfang Chang had two voices in his body: his little remaining conscience as a human being and the evil of the gradually stronger Demon Lord.
Dongfang Chang screamed and hissed in pain, he had become more and more unable to withstand it, and his sucking ability was getting bigger and bigger. Not only was it hard for the soldiers around him to escape from the poisonous hands, even the fleeing and even the guards of Zongcheng City and the wolves couldn't get close to it, and if they didn't pay attention, they would be sucked into a zombie. Even Xuan Mo, who had a mighty magical power to protect his body, was also hurt by the power of the Demon Monarch, but no matter what, he still bitterly insisted on fighting with the demonized Dongfang Chang.
The Demon Monarch had to have an entity to cling to continue repairing his mana, so he initially looked at Xuan Mo, an immortal body. He allowed Xuanmo to tear into Dongfang Chang's body, and realizing that Dongfang Chang's body was utterly useless, he quickly grew and expanded inside Dongfang Chang's body, and Dongfang Chang finally died with his skin bursting apart in a wail of pain. The Demon Lord, on the other hand, successfully captured Xuan Mo.
At this time, Fox Xiao Xian finally arrived at the West City Building. She saw the bruised Xuan Mo anxiously shouting, "Teacher!" Then she took down the golden bow behind her without saying a word and used ten percent of her magic power to shoot toward Dongfang Chang. But she didn't expect that the moment the arrow had been shot, the giant wolf Xuan Mo was occupied by the Demon Monarch and became the Demon Monarch's new puppet vessel.
Seeing that the mana arrow was about to hit Xuan Mo's body, Fox Xiao Xian cried out in horror, "Don't!" With his last remaining consciousness, Xuan Mo rebelled against the Demon Monarch's manipulation and transformed into his human body to actively embrace this golden arrow shot by Fox Xiao Xian. The magical power of the golden arrow and the talisman used for exorcism temporarily drove away and suppressed the Demon Monarch, parasitizing Xuan Mo's body. The Demon Monarch turned into black smoke and fled away.
With a golden arrow stuck in his chest, Xuan Mo fell heavily from mid-air. Fox Xiao Xian flew to Xuan Mo's side and caught him, holding him in her arms and calling loudly, ''Teacher! Teacher! Teacher, I'm sorry, I'm sorry ..." and then burst into tears in a hurry, "I'll take you to my fourth brother. His medical skills are superior. He will be able to heal you."
Xuan Mo smiled momentarily, gently wiping Fox Xiao Xian's cheeks tenderly, and said, "Don't cry! Good boy! Cang Cang ah! Don't cry. It's not your fault. I taught you the art of archery, and you learned it well. Teacher is very pleased. Don't mind me. The Demon Lord isn't dead yet. He's just escaped. Keep an eye on Zong Yu Mountain. The Demon Lord's real target is the black gold in Zong Yu Mountain. The current Demon Monarch is just a wisp of Yuan Shen. His real body was suppressed in Yinghai by his master, Erlang Shen, 500 years ago. I didn't expect him to leave a backhanded plan, stealing the Immortal Binding Lock and hiding a wisp of the Yuan Shen. You quickly go and gather people to stop him. I'm afraid that he will awaken from the depths of the Yinghai Sea, and if the Demon Monarch shows up, there will be a catastrophe on this earth that destroys the heavens and the earth." After saying that, Xuan Mo could not hold on any longer. His flesh gradually collapsed, and in the end, what remained in Fox Xiao Xian's arms was only an alchemy furnace in the shape of a puppy, and those wolves that were visualized by Xuan Mo's fur gradually disappeared, and his flesh turned into golden smoke that drifted into the sky with the wind.
Xuan Mo's unexpected departure distressed Fox Xiao Xian and the others. Fox Xiao Xian put the Alchemy Furnace into her carry-on pocket, then redistributed their respective duties with several senior brothers and Ouyang Zhong. The West Gate was supervised by Fox Xiao Xian, who sat down to avoid enemy counterattacks. At the same time, she also had to allocate a portion of her mana to track and survey the situation on Zong Yu Mountain. Wei Kongji continued to face the Dingling army at the north gate. Shan Xiaohu was still stationed at the south entrance, and Fox Xiaoxia transformed into a gigantic golden eagle at the east gate. He was battling the bloodthirsty crows controlled by Tuoba Zhe in the sky. On the other hand, Ouyang Zhong switched his duties to organize and protect the people in the city to hurry and hide in the holes in the ground dug before escaping the attack.
After everything was arranged, Ouyang Zhong transformed into a dragon and flew to the sky to cooperate with Fox Xiaxia to fight those crows. The Yue Bian army outside the south city gate, which was already not very obedient to the crazy Chang Sun Deacon, saw the black dragon in the sky and became even more convinced that Ouyang Zhong was the real Dragon Prince and that this madman in front of them was just a fake king. So before the defenders of Zongcheng City officially started fighting with them, several vice generals of ZhangSun Zhi winked at each other and accomplished a coup on top of the battlefield.
They fiercely pulled ZhangSun Zhi off the chariot, and ZhangSun Zhi shouted, "Protect the - driving -! Protecting the imperial chariot! Do you still dare to plot a rebellion? I am the king of Yue Bian, the future king of Zongcheng, and the whole world is mine!"
"Oligarch, Oligarch, you will continue to be widowed! You impostor!" Thus, the head general of Yue Billet's army was beheaded in public at the hands of one of their own, and then several tens of thousands of Yue Billet's army just surrendered to the Zongcheng defenders and in turn turned around to help the Zongcheng defenders to go and besiege the Nandu's army that was fleeing in all directions. Zongcheng had finally solved two threats with almost no bloodshed.
After seeing that the southern city gate was free of worries, Shan Xiaohu quickly cast a spell to summon wind and rain. He wanted to assist his senior brother in the sky in eradicating those pesky crows along with Ouyang Zhong. Soon, the initially clear sky was covered with dark clouds, and during the blistering wind and rain, the demonic spells on the crows gradually weakened. In a burst of lightning and thunder released by Ouyang Zhong, many crows fell, their big heads facing downwards. People were at first very frightened and curious to gather around this black mass that fell, afraid of pecking and hurting people again. The bolder ones poked the thing with a lance before realizing it was nothing but colossal origami paper, not any real crows.
Shan Xiaohu shouted to Fox Xiaxia in the sky, "Senior brother! These crows aren't real. They're made of paper~."
Hearing this, Fox Xiaxia transformed from a golden eagle to his human body. Since they're made of paper, I'll give them another trim. He swiftly swung his Clear Wind Dual Blades up and down in the sky. Many huge, bloodthirsty crows were cut into shreds, and as the rain dampened the paper, they fell off in droves.
Fox Xiao Xian felt this method was still too slow, so she transformed into a golden-red Firefox and flew into the sky. From her mouth, she spits fire, burning the crows to ashes.
After the crows were either rained on, struck by lightning, torn apart, or burned by fire, there were very few left, except for one that wasn't too big and hurriedly fled towards the Dingling section of the north city gate. When he flew to the north city gate, he saw Wei Kongji in the middle of the battle and rushed straight over, wanting to find a mat for his back even if he died. But after all, General Wei had been in many battles, and although he had no magical powers, he had excellent martial arts skills. He sensed the crow flying towards him, so without saying a word, he picked up a lance and threw it at the crow with all his strength. The crow couldn't dodge, but it was instantly pierced through the heart and fell heavily under the city tower.
The crowd gathered around to look, but there was no one else but King Tuoba Zhe of Dingling. He was spitting blood and convulsing; no one was sad and grieving for him, and even his Dingling ministry's men didn't have the slightest bit of sadness and regret. In the tradition of the Dingling tribe, it was always the weakest and the strongest, and since this Dingling king died, it could only be said that he was useless, and then some other more powerful person would become the Dingling king. Dingling originally is not a solid tribe, but countless small tribes formed an alliance, usually forced by Tuoba Zhe's lure, left the grassland home, not far from the miles to Zongcheng City, to seize what "black gold," which is something who do not know even more have not seen, for themselves and their clansmen, what is the use of it is also not clear. For such a strange reason, long-distance running, physical and mental fatigue, death, and injury.
Although the other sons of Tuoba Zhe do not like and do not care much about the youngest brother, Tuoba Xian saw his father turn into a crow and eat his youngest son, and everyone was scared to death. The other clans had long been thinking of returning home. So, just when the battle was in full swing, Tuoba Zhe was killed by Wei Kongji with a shot, and everyone clapped their hands. The Dingling tribal alliance also fell apart, and many tribes directly turned their direction and migrated to the north.
Watching the division that arose within the enemy, General Wei did not pursue the fleeing Dingling tribes any further but imposed a siege on the remnants that remained behind to fight. Soon, the main battlefield at the northern city gate was cleared.
Fox Xiaxia, who was always on guard at the east city gate, after destroying many crows and seeing that the battle around the vertical city gradually subsided, his heart was delighted. He again transformed into a Haidongqing, flying into the air to freely flip up and down to express his heart's pleasure. And just as he was joyfully flying with the wind, something far to the east, as far as the eye could see, rapidly moving towards his side. His sharp eyes could see anything within a hundred miles, and that quickly moving object seemed like a mountain range and a city wall. This mountain range and city wall were only moving because Fox Xiaxia couldn't figure it out. And without much time, a huge roar came from that wall.
The dark clouds, thunder, and lightning just now were collected back by the practice of Shan Xiaohu and Ouyang Zhongdu, and the sky returned to a burst of clear sunshine. Fox Xiaxia's eyesight could be utilized to its most effect, and he finally saw that it was not a mountain or a wall but a wave higher than a mountain rushing towards the east of Zongcheng. Alarmed, Fox Xiaxia hurriedly turned into a large bell, sending out a loud alarm that could be heard dozens of miles away. While ringing the bell for warning, Fox Xiaxia hissed and shouted at the top of her voice, "Alarm! Alarm! There is heavy water to the east! Everyone run!"