NOVPUB
Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Where Enemies Can Go, I Can Go Too
"Boom!"
Deafening roars exploded from the void.
Burning attacks of ultimate intensity collided, making it seem as if a heavy cruise missile had detonated at the center.
Fist force, True Qi, Gang Qi, wind pressure, high-frequency oscillations—all sorts of power converged in an instant, weaving and colliding together before erupting in full, forming a ring of visibly energetic shockwaves.
The instant the shockwave burst forth, it shattered the ground’s debris and flung it into the air, reducing the few trees and blades of grass to dust, which scattered dozens of meters away.
The terrifying fist force penetrated and burst forth; even though Gu Jinlai was clad in heavy armor and had deployed the Great Sun True Demon Body, he felt his entire body shake violently, his internal organs burning as if engulfed in fierce flames, and his unprotected arms were torn apart by spurting Gang Qi, leaving streaks of blood.
As for Zhang Luu...
Despite burning himself at the last moment, and his spirit seeming to reach sublimation, striking a blow beyond his limits, the gap in pure strength could not be bridged by will alone.
The horrifying power tore through his Gang Qi as easily as it would rotten wood, crushing the humerus, radius, and ulna of his arm, shattering the bones that supported the entire limb; the remaining huge force continued through his arm, slamming into his torso, piercing his chest, and turning his already torn internal organs into mush.
His body, too, was forced to its knees by the sheer force of the punch, bathed in blood.
"This strike, it’s that of a cultivator."
Gu Jinlai looked at him, retracted his fist, and spoke slowly.
"Cultivator..."
Zhang Luu couldn’t help but think back to the days when he first entered the world of Martial Arts, dedicating all his energy to Cultivation without rest, night and day.
When had he lost this pure heart?
Ah.
It was when he saw the Cultivation Techniques he yearned for day and night being discarded like tattered shoes by those children of privilege.
It was when his ten years of hard practice couldn’t match a few bottles of elixir for those children of privilege.
It was when he saw a Hugging Pill Master bow and apologize to an insignificant Qi Refinement individual from the Xie Family.
It was...
"The ways of the world are unfair..."
Zhang Luu’s eyes remained open as he breathed his last.
...
Monument Mountain.
More than a hundred of the Gu family were sweeping the battlefield.
Behind them, over two thousand people were gathered, each of them dispirited and uneasy.
Especially when their gazes swept over ten figures in heavy armor, wielding machine guns, their pupils would uncontrollably dilate, fear evident on their faces.
When Gu Jinlai returned, Gu Chifeng quickly stepped forward.
"Patriarch, you’re hurt!?"
He saw the shattered war armor and the remaining bloodstains on Gu Jinlai’s arm and felt alarmed.
"It’s nothing."
Gu Jinlai waved his hand dismissively, "How’s the battle?"
"The enemy numbered over three thousand one hundred in total. We slew over a thousand and captured two thousand, with dozens more scattered and fled."
Gu Chifeng paused as he spoke, "The escapees are mainly Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill Masters from the Heavenly Gang Sect and Meteor Star Guard. These individuals are skilled in movement techniques, and we, weighed down by heavy armor, could not catch up."
Gu Jinlai nodded.
Those Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill individuals determined to escape would indeed be hard for the likes of Gu Chifeng and others to chase.
After all, not everyone could directly perfect the Crossing the World movement technique like he had.
"One hundred and thirty people, two thousand captives."
Gu Jinlai looked toward the two thousand people gathered together.
Humans, truly a strange creature.
Like the two thousand captives before him.
Gu Chifeng didn’t even order them to remove their armor, yet they didn’t dare to make the slightest move, let alone rebel.
The earlier slaughter beneath Monument Mountain had thoroughly chilled these soldiers.
The scene of everyone being cut down like wheat by machine-gun fire is not something they wanted to experience a second time.
Especially now that they’ve lost the masters in Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill to rally them, Gu Chifeng and the others could exhaust all two thousand of them to death even just by using the kite-flying tactic with their Gatling guns.
What did it matter if they hadn’t removed their armor?
Their Iron Armor couldn’t block the Gatling guns’ "Thunder" barrage.
"Patriarch, among these captives, there’s a special individual."
"Oh?"
Gu Jinlai looked toward the crowd.
Soon, Gu Luochen brought forward a middle-aged man.
Upon seeing the middle-aged man for the first time, Gu Jinlai already sensed something.
Spirituality.
Overflowing spirituality.
"Patriarch."
Gu Luochen bowed with respect.
Gu Jinlai nodded, turning his attention to the middle-aged man, who had been sizing up the "Thunder" Gatling guns.
"Heavenly Master?"
"The third-class Heavenly Master Zhou Mingshi pays his respects to Master Gu."
The middle-aged man hastily bowed deeply in respect.
He looked towards Gu Jinlai with a mix of fear and reverence.
However, when he got closer and observed Gu Jinlai carefully for a moment, he seemed to notice something and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"The Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method? But the spirit produced by this Visualization Method is so pure and blazingly intense?"
Gu Jinlai did not intend to explain and asked directly, "Heavenly Gang Sect or Zhang Luu?"
"I..." Zhou Mingshi suppressed his curiosity, hesitated for a moment, then responded truthfully, "Star Master Zhang once saved my life, so for the past three years, I’ve been serving Star Master Zhang."
After saying this, he bowed deeply, "The Spiritual Artifacts refined by Master Gu have broadened my horizons for the first time; I now understand that Spiritual Artifacts can possess such Divine Power. If Master Gu trusts me, I am willing to serve under Master Gu, at your beck and call."
That quickly, he switched allegiance?
He was indeed very conscious of his situation.
Gu Jinlai glanced at him.
Like most Heavenly Masters... this one...
Though not fragile, his physical strength was at most equivalent to that of an elite soldier.
That is to say, at the level of Body Refining.
"First, take him back to Lingxiao City for accommodation."
Gu Jinlai instructed.
"Yes."
Gu Luochen nodded.
After he took the person away, Gu Chifeng asked, "Patriarch, what are our next steps?"
"These two thousand elite soldiers, they were transferred from Yuanhua City, weren’t they?"
Gu Jinlai said, "If I am not mistaken, Yuanhua City’s military force consists of two thousand elite soldiers and four thousand soldiers, while in the cultivation world, Heavenly Gang Sect dominates alone. These Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill Masters... Heavenly Gang Sect accounts for more than two hundred and sixty people. They shouldn’t have many True Disciples left to keep watch..."
"Heavenly Gang Sect has twenty-nine Hugging Pill Elders, one hundred and four protectors or core true inheritors, and two hundred and ninety-six stewards and True Disciples. Currently, they’ve lost more than two hundred and sixty people at Monument Mountain, leaving only one hundred and fifty. Considering they still need people to station the counties, Yuanhua City’s Heavenly Gang Sect only has less than a hundred masters left,"
Gu Chifeng reported.
"Heavenly Gang Sect responded so eagerly to Su Wen’s call, seeking revenge for Su Tong is only one of the reasons. The key is that they want to use this opportunity to take over Lingxiao City and become the master of Lingxiao City."
Gu Jinlai lifted his head and looked westward, "It’s just that I didn’t expect them to be utterly defeated by our battle, nearly annihilated."
"Does the Patriarch mean..."
Gu Chifeng’s eyes lit up.
"The prisoners will be supervised by Gu Chaoyang. These are all ready-made elites,"
said Gu Jinlai as he looked at Gu Chifeng, "Are we still capable of fighting?"
"We can fight!"
Gu Chifeng responded loudly.
They had hardly expended any effort in this great battle.
A burst of tat-tat-tat from ten "Thunder" machine guns, and more than three thousand elite soldiers quickly collapsed.
He had never fought such an effortless battle.
"With the Heavenly Gang Sect masters and these two thousand elites gone, how much defensive power does Yuanhua City have left?"
Gu Jinlai gave an order, "Go, tally the bullets and equipment. If there’s a shortage, make a trip back to Lingxiao City to resupply. Taking advantage of Yuanhua City’s vulnerable state, we’ll strike in one battle."
Even though his side didn’t have a single Divinity Transformation Cultivator and owning two cities was a bit beyond their current reach,
But to decline heaven-sent opportunities could lead to disaster.
Yuanhua City, let’s take it first and worry later.
"We still have plenty of bullets in reserve, we only need the Patriarch’s order to re-enter the battlefield,"
Gu Chifeng responded, his emotion surging.
"Good, in war, speed is of the essence. Relay the order, advance towards Yuanhua City,"
Gu Jinlai reiterated with emphasis, "If the enemy can come to our door, so can we go to theirs." 𝓃𝓸𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
...
Lingxiao City.
Gu Chaoyang, Nian Buwang, Gu Lingsha, and others anxiously guarded the city.
The Patriarch had led one hundred and thirty-one people to ambush the Heavenly Gang Sect and Meteor Star Guard, which included several hundred Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill Masters, as well as nearly three thousand elite soldiers.
Even though he had great confidence in the "Thunder" machine guns, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
After all...
The numerical disparity was too large.
It’s like before the atomic bomb existed in the world; no one knew that a bomb that only required one pilot to drop could destroy a city and cause hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries.
Fortunately, this unease did not last long, as three riders came galloping swiftly.
The one leading was a member of the Gu family, Gu Yunxin.
An expert who had condensed a Middle Level demon body.
But since the "Thunder" machine guns were limited, he was not one of the ten gunbearers.
"Quick, lower the hanging basket and let them in!"
Gu Chaoyang quickly gave the order.
Gu Yunxin had no intention of entering the city; instead, he shouted glad tidings from below, "A great victory! The Patriarch led us, one hundred and thirty-one people, and utterly defeated the invading enemy force of three thousand one hundred plus. Beheaded are Refining God Three Venerables, a thousand enemy leaders killed and two thousand captured! We won a complete victory!"
"We won!"
Upon hearing the news, Gu Chaoyang was momentarily stunned.
Immediately after, he, Nian Buwang, Gu Lingsha, and others’ eyes simultaneously brimmed with joy.
"The leading three Refining Gods... are Su Bieli, Su Fangzheng, and Zhang Luu!? They are all dead?"
"Good! Good! Good! This is fabulous!"
"We won! We won! The Patriarch is mighty!"
It wasn’t just them, many of the Gu family disciples on the city walls couldn’t help but shout with joy.
After delivering the good news, Gu Yunxin tossed an item up to the city walls, "The Patriarch commands, Nian Buwang to lead two thousand men, one thousand to take charge of the prisoners, and the other thousand have another task."
Gu Chaoyang caught the item passed by Gu Yunxin, nodding, "I shall arrange it immediately."
"I’ll round up the men right now."
Nian Buwang had also heard Gu Yunxin’s shout, responding with excitement, "This is wonderful, now our Gu family truly has a foothold."
"And the Purgatory Sect too."
Gu Chaoyang remarked.
"Strike a decisive blow to prevent a hundred more from coming. Since so many masters from Heavenly Gang Sect and Meteor Star Guard failed to destroy us, the Purgatory Sect will surely act cautiously, perhaps even halting their advance."
Nian Buwang was very optimistic and added, "The family has been hoping to send more men to assist us. Do you think we should inform them of our situation here? If the reinforcements from the family arrive, our pressure will be greatly reduced."
"The family..."
Gu Chaoyang pondered for a moment and then nodded, "They should indeed move to Lingxiao City, but the specifics will be decided after the Patriarch’s return."
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(Suddenly forgot, at the beginning of the month I can request for your monthly votes, haven’t you already used all your monthly votes have you?)
