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Chapter 309: Chapter 306: Great Victory
The emperor’s wrath leaves a million corpses on the battlefield and a river of blood for a thousand miles.
Gu Jinlai was not an emperor.
But holding dominion over Star State, Yellow State, and Jiangzhou State, with over a hundred million subjects under his control, his power was no less than that of the ancient emperors on Blue Star.
And given that this was a world where cultivators with immense power existed, once he was determined to wage war, a million dead was not mere hyperbole.
As it was now, there were definitely tens of thousands of corpses floating on the sea.
In order to force Lingxiao City into submission, the Eastern Sea Alliance Army had mobilized a hundred thousand troops, and as warship after warship was destroyed, more than half of these troops had become corpses.
If it were not for a large number of warships surrendering subsequently, less than one tenth of the troops might have survived.
This was the brutality of a naval battle.
Once a warship was destroyed, it often meant total annihilation of the crew.
...
At this moment, around three hundred Jiangzhou State warships scattered, approaching the much larger and more impressive warships on their periphery.
Then, groups of ten from the Demon God Guards and cultivators boarded the warships and swiftly took control.
Many of these warships had hundreds, or even several hundreds of warriors on them, including Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill Realm experts, but faced with the mere ten Demon God Guards or Lingxiao City cultivators, they dared not show the slightest hint of resistance.
Even the act of reaching for a weapon was out of the question.
Because of the sky.
In the sky, four Mystic Bird Fighting Machines chased down the scattering warships, while another four patrolled the sea still densely packed with more than eight hundred warships.
Should any warship dare to resist, the Railguns mounted beneath the Mystic Bird Fighting Machines would fire without hesitation, blasting the entire warship to dust and sending hundreds, or even thousands aboard to a watery grave.
They would not differentiate who on the ship truly wanted to resist and who had no choice but to submit.
Once hostilities commenced, they simply destroyed the warship.
Under such circumstances, the surrendered warships naturally became extremely docile.
Occasionally, a few Hugging Pill and even Refining God experts who couldn’t accept defeat didn’t even need to be dealt with by the Demon God Guards or the cultivators of Lingxiao City; the cultivators on the warships, eager to survive, had already taken matters into their own hands, binding and even killing those dissenting leaders.
As a result, the entire takeover process was almost eerily smooth.
Even the Demon God Guards themselves, who were prepared for a bloody battle to take Lizhou State, had not anticipated such an easy victory.
...
Fish Dragon City.
As the port of departure for the campaign against Lizhou State, the entire city was under martial law.
Tens of thousands of elite soldiers were stationed in the city.
They included the six thousand Demon God Guards originally assigned to Jiangzhou State.
At this time, five or six hours had passed since the fleet had set sail.
Yet the state of martial law in Fish Dragon City showed no signs of weakening.
If the Jiangzhou Navy were defeated, Fish Dragon City would undoubtedly be the first line of defense against Lizhou State’s invasion.
Thus, a huge number of soldiers gathered here, and Cheng Wanli, acting as a deputy, even called in forty Sword Heavy Cannons.
If Lizhou State’s Navy appeared outside Fish Dragon City’s port, at the very least, relying on the Sword Heavy Cannons with a range of dozens to nearly a hundred miles, Fish Dragon City would not be completely defenseless.
However, this tense atmosphere only lasted for half a day, soon to be shattered by an uncontrollable cheer coming from the direction of the command center.
Deliberately spread from above, the good news soon reached the entire Fish Dragon City.
"We won, we won, we’ve won!"
"Under the leadership of the great Governor Gu, our Jiangzhou troops have crushed the Eastern Sea Alliance Army! Sixty thousand enemies slain, eight hundred warships captured!"
"A great victory! An unprecedented victory! This is a triumph that will go down in the history of Jiangzhou State!"
All who received the news cheered from the bottom of their hearts.
Before Lingxiao City had arrived in Jiangzhou, prior to reaching Fish Dragon City, the atmosphere in the city was oppressive and stifling.
Many people did not even know why they were living, spending each day in a numb routine, unable to see any hope for the future.
But with the arrival of Lingxiao City, Fish Dragon City, and indeed the whole of Jiangzhou State, seemed to be liberated.
The people experienced unprecedented freedom, and for the first time learned that those aloof cultivator lords who killed were to be punished.
They realized that their wives and daughters, their property, were protected by the laws of Lingxiao City.
They found that even if they went to sue an official, there was a chance to win, unlike before when an entire family could either be sent to a psychiatric hospital without any further news, be sentenced to imprisonment as wanted criminals under various charges, or simply vanish without a trace.
This way of life made the citizens of Fish Dragon City, and those of Jiangzhou State, exceedingly supportive of Lingxiao City – not one in a hundred, not one in a thousand, wanted to return to the days under the rule of Dragon Sparrow Manor.
This was exactly why when Jiangzhou State set out to attack Lizhou State, they were able to easily muster over two hundred large merchant ships.
Now that there was word from the front lines of an unprecedentedly splendid victory for Lingxiao City, the whole of Fish Dragon City became a sea of joy, spontaneously celebrating the great triumph, celebrating this wonderful life that could continue.
This celebration lasted into the night...
Finally, a colossal fleet appeared in everyone’s sight.
This fleet had a thousand warships...
Even though among them were about two hundred makeshift merchant ships, that wasn’t the point.
The point was that these two hundred merchant ships were actually escorting a large number of Third-Level, Second-Level, and even four well-preserved First-Level warships, brazenly sailing past the port outside Fish Dragon City, heading for a water fort only a dozen miles away.
Looking at those battle ships with sails that blotted out the sky, everyone witnessing this cheered loudly.
The Eastern Sea Alliance Army was crushed, severely wounded.
In contrast, Lingxiao City, now in possession of this fleet of a thousand warships, would henceforth dominate the Eastern Sea, with no force able to stop them.
The benefit of this change was that trade would be reactivated.
Fish Dragon City, somewhat desolate during this period, would also become prosperous once again.
It was truly a double blessing.
...
Fish Dragon City Water Fort
This water fort wasn’t very large.
Dragon Sparrow Manor had never intended to seriously develop a navy; this water fort was more symbolic than practical.
Even though Xin Tianqi had recently intended to increase the scale of the navy, accommodating a thousand warships at once still made the water fort somewhat crowded.
At this moment, in the central plaza of the water fort, a large number of captives were being guarded by the elite summoned from Dragon Roar City.
Gu Jinlai also specifically summoned a team of three thousand Demon God Guards to watch over the captives.
With sixty-six Divinity Transformation Cultivators being Single Killed by the eight Mystic Bird Fighting Machines, including Star Lord Xin among the Eight Great Primordial Spirit Monarchs, these captives were already headless dragons.
Moreover, to ensure that the captives from Lizhou State had no more power to resist, Gu Jinlai also performed Single Kills on a large number of Refining God Immortals.
It wasn’t as thorough as the eradication of Divinity Transformation Cultivators, but it was reduced by a good eight or nine out of ten.
The remainder, also eight or nine out of ten, fell prey to sea beasts.
Compared with fierce beasts, the much larger sea beasts were even more terrifying.
The combat power of sea beasts in the Eastern Sea was already on par with Great Demons, and there were even sea beasts in the deep sea that rivaled Demon Kings.
Moreover, a cultivator’s power in the sea reduced greatly, such that even a Peak Monarch couldn’t take on a sea beast that was only equivalent to a Lower Demon King Level within the sea.
...
"Patriarch, the forty thousand captives have been arranged for guarding. They have already lost all their morale after your battle and wouldn’t dare make any rash moves,"
After arranging things, Gu Xiliu found Gu Jinlai to report.
"Good,"
Gu Jinlai nodded slightly: "Although we have achieved a glorious victory in this sea battle, the problem with Lizhou State has not been completely resolved. The fight is not over."
He stated bluntly, "Have someone take over those four First-level Warships immediately and take four thousand men. We are going to Lizhou."
"Yes,"
Gu Xiliu responded energetically.
After Gu Xiliu left to arrange the personnel, Gu Jinlai’s gaze fell on Xin Tianqi, "Star Lord Xin, you needn’t go to the battle of Lizhou. We need someone here to oversee the situation."
Xin Tianqi, thinking of the astonishing combat power of the eight Mystic Bird Fighting Machines, nodded his head.
Not a single Primordial Spirit Monarch from the Eastern Sea had escaped; all were annihilated under the pursuit of the Mystic Bird Fighting Machines under Gu Jinlai’s control.
Now in the Eastern Sea, there were only five Primordial Spirit Monarchs left.
With these eight Mystic Bird Fighting Machines, taking care of just five Monarchs was more than enough.
Furthermore...
He glanced at people like Fang Linghai, Lu Zhanxian, and You Quan Ancestor standing behind Gu Jinlai.
Without him needing to speak, Fang Linghai, eager to show his stance, already stepped forward, smiling, "Lizhou State is left with nothing but remnants and defeated soldiers now. If Governor Gu trusts us, we are willing to go to Lizhou on behalf of Governor Gu to capture in one fell swoop those culprits who dared to invade Jiangzhou State and attack the Demon God Guards, to be dealt with by Governor Gu."
"That’s right, rest well, Governor Gu. With us here, we won’t let a single culprit who has committed offences in Jiangzhou get away with it," You Quan Ancestor added with a smile.
Lu Zhanxian, upon hearing their words, felt somewhat embarrassed...
But looking at one Mystic Bird Fighting Machine after another descending slowly from the edge of the sky, some shames seemed to count for little.
He quickly followed suit, "Lizhou State Governor Lei Jie is a top-tier Monarch, with sword control technique and secret techniques that are hardly inferior to Huo Yuqing. If he possesses a Quasi-Dao Artifact level flying sword and powerful Spirit Armor, the combat power he can unleash is likely comparable to a Peak Monarch. Among us, I’m the only one who has the surety to kill him."
Gu Jinlai, observing several people making their statements, smiled slightly, "I appreciate the sentiment, but subduing top-tier Monarch Lei Jie indeed requires some effort. Lest he escapes and becomes the one that got away, I’ll go there personally."
Lastly, he added, "However, apart from the six major forces in Lizhou State, the Eastern Sea Alliance Army also included nine major islands. Although I have killed the Island Masters one by one, there are still some Refining Gods, and even Divinity Transformation Cultivators left. I will need you to run this errand with my Demon God Guards."
The Monarchs listened and bowed simultaneously, "We shall follow Governor Gu’s command."
