Rainy night.
Yuzhou.
Battlefield.
Weapons of war.
Torrential rain poured down like the Milky Way spilling from the heavens, accompanied by roaring thunder as it drenched the thick earthen land. In barely half an hour, the ground had been turned into a quagmire of mud.
Crackling purplish-red, demonic lightning split the night sky. Within the clouds, countless stars radiated a piercing white glow, bathing the ancient Central Plains battlefield in bizarre, eerie hues.
The heavy steel mechanism formed by a million soldiers creaked into motion, operating with ponderous slowness as the formations gradually shifted backward.
On the opposite bank, atop the surface of the Luojian River—a tributary of the Miao River—a light cavalry unit braved the wind and rain, charging forward at full speed.
According to the court's original plan, the moment the rebel cavalry reached the shore, the army would immediately be commanded to turn its spears and launch a counterattack.
Yet under such ominous phenomena, during the withdrawal, rumors spread uncontrollably like a plague.
"Why are we retreating?"
A million troops had already arrayed themselves along the riverbank. No matter how many enemies there were, what was there to fear? Why retreat at all? Could it be that the celestial anomaly truly was Heaven's punishment, or had something unexpected occurred at the very front, forcing a rapid withdrawal?
The soldiers craned their necks and looked about, but ordinary eyesight had its limits. Coupled with the vicious weather, how could anyone possibly see what was happening several miles—or even dozens of miles—away on a stormy night like this?
All these factors compounded, stretching their nerves to the breaking point. They desperately wanted to know the current situation and what would happen next.
Da-da-da—
Accompanied by the splashing of hooves trampling puddles and sludge, a Fire-Blazing Horse burst through the curtain of rain, carrying rolling purple incense qi as it reached the rear of the central army.
Lü Ji gripped a Fangtian halberd in his hand, his expression stern yet anxious. He reined in his horse before the soldiers, his deep gaze sweeping across them one by one. After gathering his qi and blood, he suddenly spoke, his voice booming like a great bell and resounding across every corner of the battlefield:
"Our army… has been defeated! Our army has been defeated!"
"Our army has been defeated!"
Almost simultaneously, those four words rang out across different sections of the million-strong army. Wave after wave of sound surged forth, drowning out all other noise.
"General Wu!!!"
Third Senior Brother Nie Yuan's armor was in disarray, his face smeared with blood. Half-slumped weakly over his horse's back, he cried out toward a capital army lieutenant general ahead, his voice breaking with sobs. "Our army has been defeated! We've suffered a crushing defeat!"
"Defeated?!" General Wu was shocked out of his wits. "Is that true?!"
"Retreat, retreat now!" Nie Yuan shouted with bloodshot eyes. "Chen Sanshi has led 200,000 Qing Kingdom troops straight at us! They have a second-rank grand formation laid out by Yunding Palace, and its power surpasses even the Six Ding Six Jia Formation. The front lines can't hold any longer. If we don't retreat now, it'll be too late!"
Boom—!
This devastating news crashed into the soldiers' hearts alongside rolling thunder, shattering the taut nerves that had been stretched to their limits.
No wonder we're retreating!
So it turns out—
The front has been defeated!
"The ill omen has come true!"
"Our army has been defeated!!!"
"Run!"
"Chen Sanshi is about to kill his way here!"
Panic erupted explosively.
If the million-strong army had originally been a massive yet precise steel machine operating in orderly fashion, then at this moment, several of its gears suddenly seized up. That failure triggered a vast chain reaction, until—complete collapse!
The soldiers had already been uneasy due to the celestial anomaly and the talk of "Heaven's punishment." Combined with their inability to verify the situation at the front and seeing only the order to retreat, the notion of "total defeat" was firmly cemented in their minds.
A million troops was indeed a vast number, but that did not mean they were all elite. The majority consisted of regional garrison soldiers or hastily conscripted recruits, pieced together temporarily. Only less than thirty percent were true capital elites.
And within that less-than-thirty-percent elite force were the Black Turtle, White Tiger, and Heavenly Lion battalions. As they discarded armor and fled in all directions, they allowed their panic-stricken warhorses to charge about wildly, causing trampling and chaos that completely disrupted the footing of the Six Ding Six Jia Formation.
They were like festering wounds on a giant's body. Once decay appeared, it could no longer be stopped—only spreading endlessly. One battalion, two battalions, fifty thousand, a hundred thousand—the army plunged into boundless chaos.
At the very front.
Emperor Longqing and the others sensed the abnormality immediately.
"How could this happen?!" Shan Liangcheng snapped back to his senses after a brief moment of shock. Keeping his composure under pressure, he hurriedly commanded, "Quickly! Tell them we haven't been defeated! Everyone stabilize the formations and kill your way back! Don't panic—absolutely do not panic!"
However, no matter how powerful cultivators were at flying through the heavens and traversing the earth, faced with such overwhelming numbers, it was impossible to quell the disorder in a short time.
After only a few shouted commands, out of the combined 600,000 troops of the central and rear armies, at least more than half had already fallen into chaos.
"What's going on?!" the Prince of Qin demanded loudly. "Who's shouting that we've been defeated?!"
"Your Highness!"
"It s-seems to be General Lü Ji!"
"What?!" The Prince of Qin grabbed the lieutenant general by his armor and hauled him up. "Impossible! Has Lü Ji gone mad?!"
"He hasn't," Shan Liangcheng said grimly, seeing the truth clearly now. "Your General Lü is most likely a mole planted among us by that Chen fellow."
"Ah—!" Enraged, the Prince of Qin threw back his head and roared, "A turncoat of four surnames! A turncoat of four surnames!!!"
"All our efforts wasted… all our efforts wasted—!"
Gazing at the irreparable chaos before him, Shan Liangcheng could no longer suppress the fury in his heart. He nearly shouted as he demanded, "What were you thinking?!
"In the upper ranks of the army, the most taboo thing is the presence of enemy infiltrators—not even one can be tolerated!
"And yet you—
"You actually planted nearly 50,000 of them inside the grand formation I personally laid out!"
"How could this be? How could this be—"
The Prince of Qi could not wrap his head around it and muttered to himself, "Among the Grand Commander's household, shouldn't Lü Ji be the one who hates Chen Sanshi the most?!
"He was a proper senior brother, following Sun Xiangzong since childhood, yet he never obtained a technique beyond Martial Saint before his death.
"Chen Sanshi, on the other hand, had only entered the sect for a few years and already seized all the inheritances and resources. He even stripped Lü Ji of his military authority in Northern Liang and nearly took his life.
"Judging by Lü Ji's temperament, even if he didn't kill that man, there was absolutely no way he would ever serve him like a dog!
"And then there's Nie Yuan—
"At Chibi back then, if he hadn't fought to the death to protect me, I would have died at the hands of Chen the Hunter long ago.
"These two senior brothers—h-how could they possibly be Chen Sanshi's people?!"
Upon the immortal crane, compared to the fury and agitation of the others, Emperor Longqing's emotions showed little fluctuation. He merely closed his eyes slowly, no one knowing what thoughts stirred in his heart.
At length.
He let out a cold laugh, dragging out his tone as he restrained his emotions and said, "The farmer and the snake, Dongguo and the wolf. Everything they had was given by me, yet now they all turn against me, all rebel against me. What more must I do to satisfy these treacherous ministers and traitors?
"Enough—
"Zizhan, oh Zizhan, if your spirit still lingers in the heavens, you cannot blame me for failing to look after your descendants. All of this—
"—they have brought upon themselves."
"Your Majesty, there is still a chance."
After analyzing the situation, Shan Liangcheng issued a new deployment. "The rear may be in chaos, but at the front we still have around 200,000 troops maintaining order.
"And Chen Sanshi, at the end of the day, has only several tens of thousands at most.
"The front can still proceed according to the original plan.
"As for me, I will take several senior brothers with me to execute the two traitors, Lü and Nie, and do everything possible to salvage the situation."
With that, he mounted his flying sword and headed toward the chaotic rear.
Emperor Longqing and Ling Kui remained stationed at the front.
The Prince of Qin drew his longsword and raised his arm, shouting loudly. Fixing his gaze on the white-robed rider on the white horse, the instant the opponent set foot on the shore, he brought his sword down and roared, "Kill!!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The war drums thundered.
The already-prepared Six Ding Six Jia Formation erupted with all manner of spiritual light, empowering the foremost 200,000 troops. At the same time, pillars of heaven flew in from the distant direction of Kunyang, carrying surging spiritual energy as they plunged down violently, embedding themselves deep into the earth. They echoed with the soldiers, forming layers of golden light barriers, like beast-trapping snares descending from the sky, determined to trap the rebels within.
Even though the rear had fallen into chaos due to the white-robed scheme, on paper the clash between the two armies at the riverbank still favored the court.
200,000 against 20,000!
Those behind could not clearly see the situation at the front, but they could tell that the enemy numbers were not many.
Thus, even though the celestial anomaly had unsettled their hearts, they were still able to barely maintain formation, advancing forward like walls of bronze and iron.
If one were to look down from the sky, the disparity would be striking—the number of rebel cavalry disembarking from the pontoon bridge was minuscule compared to the 200,000 troops in formation.
If the 200,000-strong army were a pitch-black sea, then the mere 20,000 rebels were but a slender stream. Once it collided with the vast ocean, it would surely be swallowed whole.
This grim military formation ahead—
Chen Sanshi and his subordinates could see it just as clearly.
As he ran, Sima Yao transformed into something nearly beast-like, his speed astonishing as he clung tightly behind the white horse.
Gripping his long blade and staring at the impregnable formation ahead, only four words echoed in his mind: striking a stone with an egg. Yet with matters having come to this point, there was no other choice but to fight to the death.
The first wave of cavalry charged onto land, while the massive enemy formation, coordinated by 81 heavenly pillars, launched its own assault. Like a steel chariot of overwhelming force, it crushed forward toward the "mantis" ahead, as though the instant the two collided, the rebels would be ground into dust.
But at that very moment—
From within the massed troops, a single white horse suddenly accelerated and broke away from the formation. Its speed was terrifying, quickly opening a vast distance.
Under the torrential rain, the court army's field of vision no longer held the rebel formation, but only a lone figure, tearing through the rain curtain and charging straight ahead without hesitation!
One rider taking the lead!
As he galloped, thousands upon thousands of spiritual energies erupted, blooming with dazzling brilliance in the darkness. Charging toward the enemy, he was like a meteor streaking across the sky, crashing into a crouching colossus!
The court soldiers vaguely felt that the white robe resonated in some inexplicable way with the myriad stars filling the night sky.
"The old dynasty is dead; a new court shall rise!"
The white-robed rider spoke from atop his horse. His deep, domineering voice shattered the raindrops, causing golden spears and blades to tremble and ring, making eardrums throb and minds buzz.
"The Great Sheng Dynasty's fate has been exhausted!
"I am Chen Sanshi of Poyang. Today, by Heaven's mandate, I bring Heaven's punishment to reap the life of Great Sheng—"
"All who block my path act against Heaven itself—those who defy the Heavenly Mandate shall be slain without mercy!!!"
"Chen the Hunter!"
The Prince of Qin stood atop the cloud tower, his face twisted as he roared, "Stop spewing nonsense and playing with words here!
"Today, on the banks of the Luo Stream, this will be your burial ground! After you die, your eldest son will be enslaved, and all your wives and concubines will be sent to the Bureau of Music, to be enjoyed by all under Heaven!"
Between Heaven and Earth, the storm intensified once more.
"The old dynasty is dead; a new court shall rise. The common people aid me at this very moment—"
As thunder roared, Chen Sanshi raised the Mysterious Pearl high above his head. Waves of profound qi, condensed from the strength of the common people, surged forth from within it. His voice struck the ground like a hammer, deafening and thunderous:
"The Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions Circumferential Star Formation—rise!!!"
The moment the word "rise" rang out, formation flags that had long lain dormant erupted from the ground in all directions around the ancient battlefield.
These flags had been deployed in advance by Chen Sanshi at the very beginning of the Miao River campaign. Now, all of them soared into the air, wrapped in profound qi.
Their positions and arrangement mirrored the stellar river in the heavens, with the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions complete and intact, surging like a mighty river that encompassed the court's million-strong army within.
The myriad stars above the night sky awakened one by one at that instant, dazzling white light flickering brilliantly, like countless frostbound suns.
"Form up!"
Chen Sanshi shouted the order. Behind him, the 20,000 cavalry swiftly shifted their positions, vast amounts of profound qi swirling above them as they followed distantly behind the white horse.
From the perspective of the formation's layout, the formation flags spanning several hundred miles represented the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions in the sky, while this cavalry force belonged to none of them—an abrupt, uninvited presence.
And this scene, too, aligned perfectly with the celestial signs.
At the edge of the abyss-like night sky, a blood-red radiance suddenly flared, staining even the distant earth in an eerie crimson glow.
This streak of blood-red light came from the southwest, rapidly approaching the Miao River battlefield.
"A baleful star!"
"Look quickly!"
Such an extraordinary phenomenon was clearly visible to everyone.
"A broom star!"
"A thief star!"
Various names spilled from the mouths of tens of thousands of soldiers.
"When a baleful star descends, Heaven's punishment must follow!"
"What an ill omen—what an ill omen!"
In midair.
Emperor Longqing, his dao robe billowing as he stood atop the immortal crane, took in the scene before him. His mind raced through all the formations recorded in the Heavenly Book of Strange Troops, until he finally found the corresponding description and understood what the white-robed figure intended to do.
From beginning to end, he had not been standing idle. At this moment, he immediately summoned the Nation-Stabilizing Imperial Seal into his hand, attempting to sever the connection between the stars filling the sky and the formation flags on the ground—but he failed.
On the white-robed figure was another supreme treasure, one that resisted the suppression of the Nation-Stabilizing Imperial Seal and sustained the operation of the formation.
It was precisely the paired artifact of the Heavenly Book that Chen Sanshi had obtained from the Red Brows Army's leader, Liang Jinian, after the Four Crossings of Hongze in Mingzhou!
Deception, long concealed!
"Stop him, now!"
After the failure.
Without the slightest hesitation, Emperor Longqing flicked his sleeve. The immortal crane beneath him let out a piercing cry, beating its wings and bursting forth with godlike speed as it dove toward the ground.
Unfortunately—
The army had retreated twenty miles not long ago, and they were positioned in the middle of the central army. They were a full forty-plus miles from the riverbank. How could they possibly make it in time?
Emperor Longqing could only watch helplessly as the white-robed figure completed the final ritual of the formation, the clangorous sound echoing across the wilderness.
"The Great Wilderness—Starfall!!!"
Among the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Upper Enclosure referred to the Supreme Palace Enclosure. At its center lay the "Yellow Emperor's Pivot" and the "Azure Emperor's Spiritual Majesty of the East," among other seats of the Five Emperors, representing the fate of the realm and the fortune of the reigning Son of Heaven.
The baleful star, like a blood-red moon from beyond the heavens, carried an all-encompassing radiance as it crashed into the Five Emperor Seats of the Supreme Palace Enclosure.
The five imperial stars went dark all at once.
In that instant.
Emperor Longqing, Cao Kai, felt as though something indescribable within him had been severed by an unfathomable force, leaving him hollow and vacant for several breaths.
Then, before the eyes of countless onlookers, this celestial visitor—meant only to pass swiftly by—unexpectedly halted, hovering above the Fei River. Its eerie crimson radiance intensified, like a red sun suspended in the sky.
Upon the thick earth below, formation flags responded to one another. The profound qi infused within them transformed into strands of earthly threads that shot skyward, tightly binding the red sun and preventing it from departing Heaven and Earth, until its trajectory was corrected and it was guided to fall toward the Fei River.
Heaven—
collapsed!
A crimson sun fell from the sky, growing larger and larger in the eyes of millions, until it filled their entire vision!
Starfall upon the Great Wilderness—Heaven's punishment descends!
When it was still about 10,000 zhang from the ground, the crimson sun detonated violently, shattering into countless blood-colored stars that accelerated downward.
Rainy night. Miao River. Battlefield. Blades of war.
Dense clusters of eerie stars, trailing dazzling red tails, plummeted to the ground, transforming into a vast red meteor shower.
Even though these stars had split off from the crimson sun, each one still blotted out the sky, massive as a mountain!
As the earth shook and mountains trembled, the first blood-red mountain slammed into the ground, followed by the second, the third—
Until Heaven and Earth shattered, and even the gods were annihilated!
"Rumble, rumble—"
Shattered stars crashed down one after another, and towering pillars collapsed in succession. Vast sinkholes opened across the wilderness, growing ever more numerous, as countless court soldiers were crushed into pulp beneath the grinding descent of the stars.
Armor shattered, warhorses wailed, bloody mud sprayed everywhere, iron halberds snapped—
"Heaven's punishment!"
"Heaven's punishment has truly arrived!"
"The Great Sheng Dynasty's fate is exhausted!"
"This is Heaven punishing us!"
A baleful star passing through the heavens was something seen perhaps once in a century.
But crimson stars raining down from the sky was something unheard of since time immemorial.
At this moment, the 200,000 troops at the front collapsed completely, dragging with them the hundreds of thousands of soldiers already in chaos at the rear.
A million-strong army—
collapsed like a landslide!
Before Heaven's punishment, what use was mortal resistance?!
Court soldiers threw away their armor and fled in panic. With their overwhelming numbers and dense formations, the chaos spiraled out of control, soldiers crushing and trampling one another. The carnage reached a level beyond description.
"Kill!"
Just as the baleful star struck the ground, the 20,000 light cavalry led by the white-robed figure completed their river crossing and charged straight into the densely packed, disordered enemy ranks ahead.
At the same time—
Kunyang.
"Boom—!"
Under the reinforcement of the Six Ding Six Jia Formation, the ancient city of Kunyang could no longer hold. More than half of its walls collapsed with a thunderous crash, the gates shattered and fell, and increasing numbers of court troops poured into the city after passing through the thick-earth barrier.
The Northern Liang army and the orthodox faction's soldiers could no longer hold them back.
"The city has fallen!"
"We can't hold anymore!"
Just as they were driven into utter despair, the situation abruptly changed.
The thick-earth barrier surrounding the city withdrew, and pillar after pillar shot up from the ground, flying toward the direction of Bagong Mountain.
"What—what's happening?!"
"It's Commander Chen!"
"They've diverted the barrier to deal with the Commander!"
"Wait—look!"
Immediately afterward.
Before the eyes of the city's defenders, the baleful star was seen crashing into the Five Emperor Seats, then suddenly changing direction and shattering apart, countless fragments smashing indiscriminately into the court's million-strong army.
"Our army has been defeated!"
The court soldiers who had been attacking the city heard those four words spreading like a plague, and at the same time witnessed the terrifying, millennia-rare Heaven's punishment of the Great Wilderness Starfall.
This time, they saw it clearly—their comrades in the rear had truly been utterly defeated!
In the direction of Bagong Mountain were His Majesty the Emperor, Ancestor Ling Kui, and a force of six to seven hundred thousand troops. If even they had collapsed so quickly, how far could these soldiers attacking the city be from death?!
"Run!"
"Run—now!!!"
Countless court soldiers scrambled and stumbled as they retreated from the city. Many who were halfway up siege ladders panicked and leapt down from heights of several meters, with untold numbers injured or killed in the fall.
"We've won!"
"Our army has won!"
"We've definitely won!"
Seeing this scene, the city's defenders—who had already fallen into despair—once again surged with boundless fighting spirit.
Xu Wencai gazed at the distant baleful star and finally understood why his lord had been so concerned on that day when he observed the heavens.
It turned out that from that moment on, the grand design of the Miao River had already been laid!
Seizing the fleeting opportunity, he hurried up onto the city wall and brought his feather fan down sharply.
"The enemy is in full rout—this is the moment to press our victory! All armies, heed my command: sally forth and pursue!"
"Soldiers! Heaven has not abandoned Great Sheng!"
The zhengtong emperor, Cao Huan, wept openly. Forcing his exhausted body to its limit, he waved his battle saber and shouted, "Kill!
"Kill—kill our way to a bright and righteous world!"
"Kill!"
"Kill—!"
The earth-shaking cries of slaughter resounded as the remaining 80,000-plus soldiers in the city roared and surged out through the gates, charging onto the vast, boundless battlefield.
Above Kunyang.
Including Huang Laojiu, the cultivators of the Guiyuan Sect also witnessed the entire process.
"This—this…"
Qian Qiren was dumbfounded. "Using a military formation to draw down stars to strike the enemy—what kind of supreme power could accomplish such a feat?!
"How did Chen Sanshi do it?
"What exactly is the treasure he's holding?!"
"Magnificent—truly magnificent."
Huang Laojiu praised without restraint. "If this old man had not witnessed such a grand spectacle with his own eyes today, I truly would have lived these hundreds of years in vain!"
Lived in vain for hundreds of years?
Cui Zichen sensed something amiss.
But there was no time to ask now.
"Quick!"
"Since we've won, and Yunding Palace hasn't intervened, this is exactly the right moment for us to act!"
"Indeed!"
"It's time to lend them a hand!"
"Move!"
The cultivators of the Guiyuan Sect took to the air and joined the battlefield.
The outcome of the Battle of the Miao River was decided—the balance of offense and defense had completely reversed!