Dust billowed, the earth shook and the light of armors shone.
Far away, a black army was approaching slowly with a steely killing intent. A single look at the dense crowd would reveal that there were millions of people!
What was even more frightening was that the army was made up of a few million cultivators!
Those marching on the ground were Qi Refinement Warriors.
Those riding on mounts were Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
Above the army, there were even spirit vessels traveling through the air.
A few cultivators stood on the deck and looked down at the masses against the winds.
Those that could board the spirit vessels were all Golden Cores!
This was the allied army of the three dynasties.
Led by the princes of the three dynasties, this was an army that consisted fully of cultivators!
No vassal state they passed could defend against them!
Moreover, there were even a number of Nascent Souls that held the fort within the allied army; it was just that they rarely showed themselves.
Right at the very end of the allied army, a dilapidated city that was bloodstained and billowed with smoke could be vaguely seen.
Jian An City of Yan Country was already reduced to ruins.
Corpses were strewn all over the city and there were rivers of blood!
The City Lord of Jian An City did not surrender and stood to fight.
As such, when the city was beached, the prince of the Great Xia Dynasty ordered to slaughter every single last person in the city with no survivors!
The cities would be slaughtered if they did not surrender!
Along the way, the allied army trampled over countless cities, leaving nothing but mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
This was an apocalyptic disaster for the citizens and living beings of the world!
Even if there were mortals that were indignant and struggled or grumbled, nothing changed.
Some of them chose to escape.
However, how difficult was it to escape?
How could mortals escape the pursuit of cultivators with their fragile bodies.
Even if they were lucky enough to escape the hunt of the cultivators, how long could those mortals survive in this chaotic era where there were bandits and hoodlums all around?
If they hid in the forests, even beasts that were not sentient would most likely be able to kill them, let alone spirit beasts and demons.
Their fates were sealed.
The allied army crossed Cang Lang Mountain Range that was not far away and soon, the same fate would befall Ping Yang Town.
The princes of the Great Shang, Xia and You Dynasties were gathered on the largest and most majestic spirit vessel, surrounded by Golden Core guards.
The defense was tight!
The three of them were in a leisure chat with their wine glasses raised merrily.
The prince of Great Xia was fat and when he smiled, his eyes narrowed into a thin slit. They shone with a gold glint as he said lustfully, “I heard from a secret report that Ji Yaoxue’s in Cang Lang City right now. As long as we cross that valley in front and another few small towns, we’ll arrive at Cang Lang City!”
“Fufu, you’re moved, Brother Si?” The prince of Great Shang was a refined man who asked with a fake smile.
“Heh!”
The prince of Great Xia laughed. “Ji Yaoxue can be considered as a peerless beauty and it won’t be too much to say that she’s the number one beauty of our four dynasties of the North Region. Who wouldn’t want a taste of that?”
“What’s even rarer is that she’s the Empress of Great Zhou. If I can make her submit, the feeling would be…” The prince of Great You’s body was robust and he sneered and smacked his lips.
The prince of Great Shang smiled gently. “I’m not going to fight with you two. However, I heard that Ji Yaoxue has a younger sister who is also a beauty. She does interest me instead.”
“Hahahaha!”
The three of them exchanged glances and laughed merrily.
“Although, Ji Yaoxue might not stay in Cang Lang City. If she continues retreating, we’ll still have to chase her for quite a bit.” The prince of Great Xia said darkly.
“No,”
The prince of Great Shang said calmly, “She is stubborn by nature. If not for the fact that she was injured previously and chose to retreat because the eldest prince of Great Zhou took control temporarily, there is no way the Great Zhou Dynasty would choose to give up on so much of their territory.”
“But now, I heard that she’s already awake. Given her character, she will definitely stand by Cang Lang City and defend it steadfastly!”
“That’s for the best!” The prince of Great You clapped and laughed.
The prince of Great Zhou remarked with a smile, “In my opinion, the imperial court of Great Zhou is already in a mess. Even if Ji Yaoxue is awake, the eldest prince of Great Zhou will not want to relinquish his position so easily!”
“Hehe, there’s no guarantee that they won’t end up in internal strife. At that time, we’ll be able to reap the rewards without even interfering! We’ll capture the Empress of Great Zhou alive and continue heading North to charge right into their nest!”
“Awesome!”
“Let’s drink!”
The three princes sat on the deck under the starry night and chatted with vigor.
Suddenly, the troops at the front slowed down.
“Hmm?”
The prince of Great You frowned gently.
Not long after, a Golden Core streaked through the air. The moment he descended on the deck, he knelt on one knee.
“Princes, we have already arrived at Cang Lang Mountain Range! It’s late at night now and beasts wander the valley dangerously. Should we proceed and cross it or make a detour?”
The prince of Great You rose and shouted, “Of course we cross it! Our allied army is mighty and invincible! How can a mere Cang Lang Mountain Range stand in our way!”
“Go on,”
The prince of Great Xia waved his arm. “This mountain range isn’t some ancient forest. At the most, there are only some Golden Core spirit demons. There aren’t even any fiend demons. What are you afraid of?”
The prince of Great Shang chuckled as well. “General Sun, you are indeed a little too cautious.”
“If we cross a mountain range as such alone in the night, there’s a chance we might get ambushed by the demons. However, given our mighty force, the demon beasts will want nothing more than to hide far away. What threat can there be?”
“Understood,”
General Sun nodded and turned to leave. He floated in midair and bellowed, “Continue forward!”
Bang! Boom! Boom!
The army moved together with a terrifying might!
Although the allied army had a few million troops, it was also nothing compared to the Cang Lang Mountain Range which spanned hundreds of kilometers.
Not far behind the three princes, a skinny old man opened his eyes and gazed at the dark forest before them.
It was as though there was an ancient ferocious beast laying in ambush with its mouth wide open awaiting the group of them to send themselves to him!
The feeling arrived and disappeared almost instantaneously, like an impulse.
The skinny old man frowned slightly and shrugged it off. He then closed his eyes and returned to meditation.
The valley meandered around with ancient trees. Due to the low visibility, the army proceeded at a slow speed.
However, the allied army did not encounter any danger along the way!
The surroundings were quiet.
Everything went silent!
Not long after, the allied army had already crossed more than half of the Cang Lang Mountain Range.
All the troops let down their guard.
The prince of Great You burst into laughter. “Indeed, it’s as you had expected! All the beasts in this mountain range are too afraid to even appear! Hahaha!”
“Something isn’t right!”
Suddenly, a voice sounded not far away.
The skinny old man had a grim expression and his glabella flashed, spreading his spirit consciousness slowly. “It’s way too quiet! It’s so quiet that it’s sinister!”
Even if the demon beasts of the Cang Lang Mountain Range were frightened into hiding, there was no way they wouldn’t have encountered a single demon beast the entire way!
It was as though… all the creatures had hid themselves a long time ago!
The surrounding air suddenly turned stale.
There was a deep killing intent shrouding the dark, sinister forest!
Pshew!
All of a sudden!
The sound of a sharp blade tearing through the air echoed.
Immediately, there was a boom!
The bow of the spirit vessel seemed to have been struck by something and exploded right in front of everyone!
The massive spirit vessel broke into parts and among the dozens of Golden Cores, some of them died on the spot!