The atmosphere...was like a cold storage, the moment when King Chu Jiang spoke, the temperature around naturally began to plummet.

Sparrow Bee looked down and didn’t look at the other party, and the other party didn’t continue to say anything provocative, but both seemed to implicitly understand certain things...

"Those bastards...deserve to die!" Sparrow Bee gritted his teeth.

"Whether they deserve to die or not isn’t for us to decide." King Chu Jiang sighed, and at that moment, he no longer bore the domineering air of the Ghost King, instead seeming more like a forlorn old man.

"In today’s world...it’s already quite good to be alive and well-fed. Actually, you shouldn’t have come out; the place where you were sealed has good mountains and rivers. What’s bad about staying there? Why bother to wade into these muddy waters?"

"So...are they really coming?" Sparrow Bee’s eyes suddenly lit up, "The reshuffle plan?"

"What do you think?" King Chu Jiang said coldly, "Those people above have waited for so long, and it’s almost time to reap the harvest, how could they miss it?"

"Harvesting, huh..." Sparrow Bee looked up at the sky above the Ghost Temple, his gaze penetrating the stone ceiling as if staring at something worth noting in the starry sky, "Above there...it’s ridiculous...Perhaps those self-important players don’t even know now, who really controls the resources. .."

"Shut up!!" King Chu Jiang’s face instantly became frigid.

Sparrow Bee paused for a moment, didn’t continue speaking, and just stared blankly at the sky.

After a long time, he finally said, "Bro, I’m not content..."

It was also a long time before King Chu Jiang turned the ice-cold into a sigh, "It’s always been the same, we...have never been free. Why aren’t you content?"

"Yes..." Sparrow Bee looked up, not knowing what he was thinking, and simply said indifferently, "Why aren’t I content..."

-------------------------------

At midnight, the siege began. The battle was not particularly brutal, but it was enough to make the commanding officers on the city gate’s heart tremble with fear.

The soldiers from Jiangnan were extremely powerful, most of them at the First Rank; fortunate was the Tiannan Pass, built high enough, with its walls smeared with some sort of demon’s material making them slippery, impossible to grip.

Otherwise, those tiger-like warriors would have stormed up in just a few steps!

Even so, the wall, considered the world’s strongest, still couldn’t stop those soldiers from getting close. After all, they were First Rank Warriors. In the past, even within the Great Jin Dynasty, First Rank Warriors were equivalent to major generals!

They used a special device that allowed them to leap ten Zhang high, equipped with sharp tools to pierce the city walls, then leveraging that to leap again, usually only needing two more leaps to reach the wall.

If not for the deadly insect chasms on both sides of the mountain, those monstrous soldiers wouldn’t even need to make a frontal assault on this pass, they could simply climb over from the cliffs on either side.

"Throw spears!!" The commanding officer on the city wall bellowed frantically.

The Southern Barbarian Spearmen were quite famous, and the enhanced soldiers throwing long spears from a height were even more terrifying than cannonballs, especially as they fell with the wind.

In a situation where the climbers couldn’t leverage on the wall, once hit by the long spears, they could only be knocked down.

Given the inertia from over twenty Zhang up, even a First Rank Warrior’s qi and blood would be unstable. If hit in a vital spot by accident, they might fall to their demise.

Although this possibility was relatively small, the other side’s spearmen were numerous enough.

After several rounds of assault, at least a hundred soldiers had fallen to their deaths below the wall.

Tian Heng watched from a distance with immense anguish!

Chen Qing also felt the pain, but he was helpless; to force the other side to use their second blessing, he had to apply high pressure to make them determined.

Ao Zhen frowned while watching from the side, but like Chen Qing, he held back from making a move.

In such a large military operation, the opponents would certainly have masters in place, waiting for them to make a move. The hidden ancient forces would surely wait for their actions. Both Ao Zhen and Chen Qing understood that they must not act rashly.

Among the Transcendents, without knowing the position of the opponent, charging in against the odds was extremely dangerous, even for two people with the ability to fly.

Being airborne made one a target; if there were formidable figures lurking in the shadows, a fatal blow was not out of the question.

And indeed, on the first day, Chen Qing had probed out that there were masters hidden within Tiannan Pass.

Several high-intensity techniques were absorbed directly into the city walls; without giving it a second thought, Chen Qing knew that the Old Dragon Lady was among them!

"Should we try striking with techniques again, my lord?" Tian Heng couldn’t help but say, "Attacking with soldiers like this is really..."

Chen Qing shook his head, "The Heaven Devourer Art is the nemesis of high-intensity elemental techniques. As long as that woman is inside, my techniques will never succeed in taking down Tiannan Pass."

Ao Zhen had no other choice either. She specialized in martial arts, and although she had the Dragon Clan’s talent for techniques, she was not very adept at releasing them externally. At this moment, Chen Qing also felt that his forces were indeed lacking a long-range firepower troop.

"Let’s withdraw the troops for now..." Glancing at the sky that was getting lighter, Chen Qing finally gave the order.

Tian Heng let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly commanded his subordinates to sound the retreat!

Chen Qing then looked toward the majestic Tiannan Pass, his eyes reddening with desire.

It was indeed a naturally defensible pass.

The Southern Wilderness’s terrain was defined by long borderlines of mountain ranges on both sides, beset with fearsome insect nests and miasmas, sealing off another ancient force.

Ordinary soldiers, not yet transcendent, couldn’t possibly cross either side.

Tiannan was the only passageway between the Southern Wilderness and the Central Plains.

That was why Great Jin had spared no expense to construct this pass, using a precious material capable of absorbing energy from techniques—the Sky Metal Stone!

Such a substance, in combination with any defensive technique, could achieve an incredibly high defensive effect, let alone paired with the nearly invincible Heaven Devourer Art of the Celestial Serpent Palace...

The more he thought about it, the more Chen Qing felt that he must seize this pass.

Once taken, and with a high-grade Gate Deity in place, the south would be secure, allowing him to focus on competing for resources in the north.

Otherwise, facing enemies from both north and south, he could only adopt a conservative development strategy.

But with the descent of the ancients, his own foundations were shallow, and to compete with players of deep heritage, conservatism meant a slow death!

"Let the soldiers rest well. Tomorrow at noon, we’ll resume the siege!"

Tian Heng was taken aback but eventually responded, "Yes!"

------------------------------

"They won’t be here for another three days?"

Inside Tiannan Pass, Meng Yan’s eyes turned bloodshot as he read the message: "You Azland never intended to send troops from the start, did you?"

At that moment, the envoy from Azland couldn’t help but retort, "Look at what you’re suggesting, General.

It was you who didn’t let us come to the frontline immediately at the beginning; now you complain that we are slow.

What now? You thought Central Plains was easy prey and excluded us when it suited you, and now you complain about our speed? "

The envoy’s words turned the faces of several Southern Barbarian generals ashen, but for a moment, they did not know how to respond as they had indeed intentionally alienated Azland. Now they were asking for their urgent support at the frontline, which really was unreasonable.

Meng Yan took a deep breath, "We did go too far before. But now we are all in the same boat. If Jiangnan takes down Tiannan Pass, plotting for the Central Plains will become much harder for us!"

Seeing the general’s tone soften for the first time in many days, the envoy stood up straight, yet his words were not too harsh, "Please rest assured, General.

Our sovereign has already sent troops at the first notice.

But as you know, Azland is quite far from here, and it is impossible to arrive in a short time. "

"Within these three days, then. Can you assure we’ll definitely make it?" Meng Yan asked sternly.

"The sovereign said if it’s within three days, we’ll certainly arrive within three days!"

"Good..." Meng Yan nodded, "Then I ask you to start submitting requests to your superiors today for a second blessing in three days."

Hearing this, the other national generals hesitated, "Do we really need to do that?"

"If not, do you think we can hold out until the third day?" Meng Yan said coldly, "Look at the state of our soldiers. Do you think they can hold out for three more days?"

Everyone fell silent. It was difficult for the enemy to assault from outside, but they were hardly faring any better inside.

Third Rank warriors armed with spears had to be in sufficient numbers to ensure that the fearsome enemy army couldn’t break through.

Otherwise, if they managed to take the ramparts even once, judging by the strength shown by the opposition, it would be a one-sided slaughter!

So while the enemy dared to withdraw and rest, their own soldiers could only remain on standby around the clock.

You never knew when the enemy might attack, and once they did, not a single one of the six thousand soldiers could be missing!

Under such high pressure, time dragged on excruciatingly. Three days... that was basically the limit. Without a second blessing, they probably wouldn’t last until reinforcements arrived!!

Table of Contents