Chapter 478: The Fall of the Fortress of Resilience. Supreme Cloud's Route
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The intense flame that erupted drew a line of heat and separated both armies onto different parts of the field.
The top of the Fortress of Resilience exploded into a tumultuous roar. Those were the maddened cheers of the men who were sending their comrades off.
"Brothers, did you see that? You have not died in vain! These hundreds of thousands of the men from the Dongxuan army are all your sacrificial offerings! These are the tributes sent to you all by us brothers! Your journey to the underworld will not be lonely, you will have your enemies with you!"
Wang Dingguo howled into the sky, hot tears rolling down his face while Qiu Jianhan's lips trembled as he teared up as well.
"You have gone to war today, and it doesn't matter if you have died – alive, you are a man of Yutang; dead, you are Yutang's soul! If there is the next lifetime, let us be warriors, brave like the tigers, once again! Let us strengthen Yutang's core and be Yutang's soldiers once more!"
"Brothers, all of you were great! I, Qiu Jianhan, have no regrets fighting with all of you in this lifetime! It is a matter of pride for me to die beside you. It shall be a glorious end!"
"I hope to see you all waiting for me. When this old man gives Han Sanhe another harsh blow at the west gate, I shall finally be reunited with all of you!"
"The path to the underworld lined by enemies and comrades... how can you be without a leader?"
"Millions of lion-hearted souls continue to linger. Let us fall into formation in the Yellow Spring; wait for this old man's drum before we kill all of Dongxuan souls!"
Qiu Jianhan then hollered at the top of his voice, "Retreat! Draw back at full speed!"
Wang Dingguo followed with a drawn-out howl.
Countless Yutang soldiers drew back from the top of the fort like a receding tide. Qiu Jianhan mounted his horse with a graceful flip and without looking back, he cried, "Leave the fort!"
Behind him, the flames burned brightly as it soared thousands of feet into the sky. The Fortress of Resilience was already in ruins, as the outermost wall was reduced to white ash.
The Fortress of Resilience, known as the impregnable stronghold for dozens of years across the world, no longer lived up to its name. Just like that, the legend ceased to exist.
Amidst the flicker of flames, the struggle of the hundreds of thousands of Dongxuan soldiers grew weaker, leaving only the crackling sound of the fire devouring what had been left behind. One torch, a humongous fire that had been planned for days, had buried hundreds of thousands of Dongxuan's militants under a mound of rubble.
Yutang's soldiers on the other side had drawn back from the top of the fort with incredible speed. They were like wraiths as they left speedily, one after another. In just an extremely short period of time, there was not a single soul left in the Fortress of Resilience; it had become an empty fort.
Qiu Jianhan led the last fifty thousand men out of the stronghold; there were obviously very many people, but they moved silently. Even the fluttering flags were carried in an orderly manner.
Normally, a lot of soldiers would have carried the military flags with puffed chests, but there was no one standing beside him. There should have been hundreds or even thousands under a single military flag, but now, there was only one person left, carrying a torn flag while advancing proudly. It was as if his brothers had never left, that they were still marching in formation and were quietly moving forward with him.
The flag bearer himself was still here and the flag was still here. How could the brothers who stood with him under this flag not be here as well?
Such flags and their bearers were a usual sight among the troops coming out of the fort.
A soldier raised his flag high. His chest was bleeding, his injury severe, but he was still walking forward with a raised chin and puffed chest as if he did not even realize his wound was there. His brothers walking beside him wanted to help, but they were rebuffed with a glare – my brothers, only I can carry our flag! It represents the fact that our battalion is still here, and this is only true if I am the one carrying it. There's no need for others to help!
Footsteps and galloping hooves rang throughout the bare Fortress of Resilience, the sounds echoing loudly in the empty air. It was as if there were still millions of patriotic Yutang souls who were leaving the fortress uniformly in their formations to await the battle of life and death under the engulfing night fog.
…
Han Sanhe's face turned red as blood flowed straight to his head, a wave of vertigo washing over him. He watched, dumbfounded at the massive fire that had suddenly devoured everything and everyone in sight.
Splat!
He spat out a mouthful of blood, clearly in agony. "Qiu Jianhan, how vicious you are!"
No one, Han Sanhe included, had thought that the thirty thousand Yutang warriors who charged down the fort to retaliate against the enemy at the very last moment was actually Qiu Jianhan's tactic to lure the enemy into a counterattack!
He had used tens of thousands of patriotic Yutang souls as bait, as a chance to allow Dongxuan the ease of mind to attack. Yet, he had also sacrificed a hundred and eighty thousand Dongxuan elites in the process!
Even Han Sanhe could hardly have expected this strategy – he had considered the possibility, just like Zhan Ge, that Qiu Jianhan might have kept a certain amount of kerosene to prepare for the worst, but he would never have guessed that Qiu Jianhan, who loved his soldiers like his own, would choose the most unexpected and unconventional path!
Zhan Ge, who saw the terrible decimation, felt chilled to the core. If they had swapped positions, he would never have been able to execute such a hopeless tactic!
The tens of thousands of their own were battling fearlessly up front while the men at the back were continuously pouring kerosene. One massive fire was all it took to reduce the enemy and their comrades into ash! It was an extremely cruel strategy – it was vicious, just like what Han Sanhe had said.
"Since Qiu Jianhan had become a marshal, this is the most drastic action he has taken!"
Han Sanhe spat out another mouthful of blood, hints of defeat tinging his expression. However, his agitated emotions eventually bled away. He murmured softly while wiping the blood at his mouth away gently with the sleeves of his robe.
There was only firm respect in his eyes, without a single hint of resentment.
"I've always thought that, compared to me, Qiu Jianhan was lacking when it came to warfare. I had always believed that he could never be as ruthless as I was. He was less brutal and heartless."
"I never would have expected that at the very last moment, Qiu Jianhan would teach me a lesson! This old man is ashamed."
Han Sanhe closed his eyes softly and said, "I see now that it's not that Qiu Jianhan isn't savage nor is he incapable of resentment. All this while, there hasn't been anyone who could force him to the edge…"
"Take a recess for now. Retreat!"
Han Sanhe bellowed his orders, "When the fire weakens, the Fortress of Resilience will be ours. Since Qiu Jianhan has done what he did, it states clearly that he no longer cares about the Fortress of Resilience! Instead, we have to be prepared; when we get out of the Fortress of Resilience, we'll have to be ready to welcome an all-out attack from Qiu Jianhan!"
…
Yun Yang was experiencing a severe case of pins and needles.
Right now, he was already less than three hundred miles away from the Fortress of Resilience.
Unfortunately, he could barely move an inch forward.
Several days had passed from the promised time he had stated in the letter brought by the village youths. In fact, he had been stuck here for several days.
In front of the mountain, a multitude of corpses littered the ground; there were thousands of them.
There were more than a hundred excellent cultivators who had hidden in the mountain; any one of them was expert among experts! Anyone who passed by this place would be killed, whether they were martial artists to assist in the frontline, citizens intending to enlist the military or passersby to trade.
The experts would rather kill everyone in sight than miss out on one.
Yun Yang had tried going around from several other directions, but he had been blocked all those times, without exception.
His injuries had healed completely by now; other than being slightly weak, he was generally alright. However, he could not cross, even with his heaven realm cultivation base; he had even been injured a few times, almost getting himself killed in the forest.
It didn't matter whether he switched directions to confuse and distract, or if he charged forward in a direct manner; nothing worked! The lurking enemies were like a nail impaled in the forest.
Yun Yang knew who they were. The leaders were the Four Seasons Tower's Four Venerable Lords! The experts that followed them were all the Four Seasons Tower's top notch professionals as well. It was like they had a premonition, somehow leading them to set up a death trap within this lush forest.
They could not be sure which one of the passersby was Supreme Cloud, so what they did was to ensure no one could cross the area. Even a lone bird would not be allowed to fly through the vicinity. It was these people who had obstructed Yun Yang and kept him locked down here.
He knew that time was running out and that the Fortress of Resilience could barely hold out, but he was right here, ruthlessly stopped. Yun Yang's heart was in his mouth.
If he turned and advanced on another path, he would need to go over dozens of mountains and around the north before charging over from there… However, this would mean at least another half a month and more, even with the fastest noble steed under him! If he were to be delayed by another half a month, everything would have been over by then.
Yun Yang had thought of breaking through under a disguise, but he was unable to conjure what was needed to pull it off. It was as if the enemy did not even intend to be particular with who they stopped - they would just put an end to everyone and everything that moved.
Divine senses controlled the perimeter for hundreds of miles, a clear expression that strangers were prohibited while trespassers had only death to look forward to.
The Four Seasons Tower must have deployed a significant number of experts to achieve such an amazing effect, but what shocked Yun Yang the most was the number of Spirituality Restraining Formations in the surrounding forests. All of it pointed to one clear message – they were targeting the Nine Supremes!