Chapter 246: Waiting for a Long Time

Kong Donglai was looking troubled when a scout suddenly came to report: “A 200,000-strong army from Anyang is about to reach the border, and the situation is extremely critical.”

In an instant, Kong Donglai’s irritation was ignited. He grabbed the scout’s collar and demanded, “Speak slowly, explain it clearly to me!”

The scout’s face was pale—partly from exhaustion, but mostly from fear. At this moment, Kong Donglai’s expression was three parts ferocious and three parts irritable.

The scout trembled and quickly clarified the situation: Anyang was using trains to transport soldiers. They had departed from Anyang in the morning, and by noon, the 200,000-strong army had already reached the southern region of Anyang County. Now, they had only 50 miles of mountain roads left before reaching the border. Moreover, Anyang had not only transported soldiers but also a large number of cannons, many strange and sophisticated machines (such as machine guns), and an uncountable amount of ammunition.

By the time the scout obtained this information, the Anyang army had already advanced 20 miles. Based on the time calculation, the Anyang army was now nearing the border and reinforcing its defenses.

The scout suggested: immediately dispatch 1,000 elite soldiers at the Foundation Establishment stage to launch a surprise attack on the Anyang army, preventing them from reorganizing their forces. Then, the Nanyang County army could press forward and swallow the entire 200,000-strong Anyang army.

Kong Donglai listened quietly. His anger gradually subsided, and his rationality returned. After all, he was a warlord ruling over one region. Once he had calmed down slightly, he immediately issued an order: “Right General Chen Jin, take 1,500 Foundation Establishment cultivators along with 5,000 elite soldiers to harass the Anyang army. Remember, your mission is not to kill the enemy, but to disrupt them. Avoid direct confrontation as much as possible and preserve your strength.”

“Yes, sir!”

Chen Jin immediately left the command tent, leading 6,500 elite troops on their mission. This was not a full-scale attack but rather a harassment operation to prevent the enemy from organizing and deploying their forces properly. Chen Jin was confident in the plan.

Meanwhile, Kong Donglai continued questioning the scout: “Anyang has 200,000 troops? Impossible! Hasn’t Anyang always claimed to have only 100,000?”

“Sir, Anyang’s so-called 100,000 troops refer to their elite forces. In addition to them, Anyang has a ‘reserve force’ of approximately 300,000.”

“The combat strength of the reserves is roughly comparable to our regular soldiers. But Anyang… well… Anyang has firearms, cannons, and a vast array of so-called industrialized weapons. I’m afraid—”

“Enough, no need to say more. I understand.”

Kong Donglai finally released the scout and turned to his surroundings. “Prepare for battle. We have been conserving our strength for several days, while Anyang is just arriving. We must not give them any time to catch their breath. Move the army forward immediately!”

Kong Donglai was confident, as if he did not take the 200,000-strong Anyang army seriously. In reality, Nanyang County claimed to have a 300,000-strong force, but in truth, only 150,000 were actual soldiers. However, by Nanyang’s own standards, these were all elite troops. The rest were laborers and auxiliary forces.

150,000 elite troops against 50,000 elite Anyang soldiers—was this not an easy victory? Kong Donglai had already dismissed Anyang’s 150,000 reserve troops from his calculations.

Once Supreme Commander Nangong Zhi and Left General Kong Zhiying left to prepare for battle, Kong Donglai began making further strategic adjustments. In reality, Nanyang had a true standing army of 300,000, with an additional 100,000 hidden elites. However, at least 10,000 troops had to be stationed for defense and could not be mobilized.

But with the situation changing, some adjustments had to be made. As such, he decided to reallocate 50,000 troops from the 60,000 guarding the perimeter and integrate them into the main force advancing against Anyang. At the same time, he would secretly use the 100,000 hidden elite troops to monitor the border situation and assess the ambitions of their so-called ‘allies.’

Yes, this was the best approach. With an additional 50,000 troops, crushing Anyang would be effortless.

Furthermore, he needed to see if he could obtain some support or benefits from Jin State.

Kong Donglai was proud, and rightfully so. Although Nanyang County was only one county, it was nearly twice the size of Anyang County and had more than twice its population. The Kong family had ruled Nanyang for decades, establishing a strong military and social foundation—far beyond what Anyang could match.

“Anyang… Li Xian… You were the first to invade Nanyang. That was your mistake! And mistakes… will cost you dearly. Within a month, I will be at the gates of Anyang City! Everything—every piece of industrial infrastructure in Anyang—will belong to Nanyang!”

“Hmph! Yuan Family of Dongyuan County, Gao Bin of Songzhou County—you dare to hold me back at a time like this? I’ll remember this!”

After running through his plans once more, Kong Donglai felt increasingly confident. One order after another was issued, and all of Nanyang began mobilizing. Golden Core cultivators served as messengers, flying on their swords to relay commands.

All around, Supreme Commander Nangong Zhi and Left General Kong Zhiying were urgently organizing their forces, striving to reach the front lines as soon as possible. Nangong Zhi, in particular, had to balance the county’s defense, so he instructed the front-line troops to hold their position and focus on fortifying their defenses.

Further ahead, Right General Chen Jin led 6,500 elite soldiers in a rapid advance, using spell talismans without hesitation to speed up their march.

However, there was a key difference between Nanyang’s use of talismans and Anyang’s. Anyang’s low-grade talismans were mass-printed, making them cheap and abundant, so they used them liberally. Nanyang, on the other hand, still relied on traditional hand-drawn talismans, where even the lowest quality ones cost several taels of silver each.

Thus, when Nanyang claimed to be using talismans “without hesitation,” it simply meant using a few extra. Unlike Anyang, they could not afford to use them as if they were worthless scraps of paper.

At last, they still had speed. In the blink of an eye, they covered nearly twenty miles of mountain roads and could already see the newly built border fortress of Anyang. But wait, something was wrong!

General Chen Jin of Nanyang Commandery’s right army widened his eyes in shock. About three miles ahead, more than 2,000 elite Anyang soldiers had already formed ranks, waiting. At the forefront of the An Yang army formation, General Yang Yishan of Anyang leaned on his longsword (a magic flying sword), looking coldly and mockingly at the rapidly advancing Nanyang troops.

Yang Yishan watched as the Nanyang soldiers quickly crossed the hills ahead and said loudly, “Friends from Nanyang county, you’re too slow. We’ve been waiting for quite some time. Hmm, let me see… We’ve been waiting for you for 12 minutes—about a quarter of an hour.”

Chen Jin was completely caught off guard. He never expected Anyang to take the initiative and engage in battle outside their fortress—shouldn’t they still be organizing their army? This didn’t make sense!

After speaking, Yang Yishan laughed heartily and suddenly raised his longsword. At the same time, more than 2,000 elite Anyang soldiers behind him raised their sniper rifles with a loud clatter and launched an attack from a distance of three miles.

Seeing this, Chen Jin roared, “Dodge! Advance in a serpentine pattern!”

After several battles, everyone had gained a sufficient understanding of firearms. Flying swords could change direction mid-flight, but firearms could not, meaning their attacks could be dodged in advance.

However, in large-scale warfare like this, individual dodging made no difference to the overall situation. If one bullet missed the first person, it could still hit the second.

As a result, in just a short moment, over 1,000 of the 6,500 elite soldiers from Nanyang Commandery were hit. Fortunately, since most were cultivators and the attack distance was relatively far, many managed to block the bullets, though their faces turned slightly pale.

Chen Jin roared again, “Spread out! Advance rapidly in a serpentine formation! Don’t worry about energy consumption! Those with defensive artifacts or talismans, take the front! Those without, use your True Essence shields to protect yourselves!

Hurry! Hurry! As long as we break through the enemy, we’ll be safe!”

Chen Jin was, after all, the right general and had some battle experience. By spreading out over the hills and advancing in an unpredictable serpentine pattern, the casualties were significantly reduced. The three-mile distance was not far, and soon Nanyang county’s troops reached within a hundred-zhang radius. At this range, some Foundation Establishment experts could already launch flying sword attacks.

But at that moment, the more than 2,000 elite Anyang soldiers neatly put down their rifles and summoned their flying swords, charging forward aggressively. As soon as they activated their True Essence, their cultivation levels could no longer be concealed. The overwhelming momentum of over 2,000 Foundation Establishment cultivators surged like a tidal wave.

“Hell, over 2,000 Foundation Establishment cultivators!” A junior Foundation Establishment cultivator from Anyang turned pale with fright.

Nanyang county also had 1,500 Foundation Establishment cultivators this time, but only three to five of them were at the forefront.

At the rear, General Chen Jin narrowed his eyes again. However, seeing that Anyang only had 2,000 soldiers while his side still had 1,500 Foundation Establishment cultivators and over 5,000 elite troops (despite some losses), he believed they had a chance to win. Moreover, since Anyang’s experts had voluntarily abandoned their firearms in favor of traditional combat, Chen Jin felt even more confident—without the power of industry, Anyang was nothing but a paper tiger!

With this thought, Chen Jin charged to the front and flew straight toward Yang Yishan.

Yang Yishan was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, while Chen Jin was at the Golden Core stage, making it seem like a dangerous situation for the Anyang general. However, just as Chen Jin reached Yang Yishan, a dozen guards swiftly surrounded him. Each one raised their flying swords, their blades glowing with unpredictable light and radiating dazzling spiritual energy.

“A-All of them… are magic treasures!” Chen Jin’s eyes widened in shock. The scene before him was beyond comprehension—every single one of Yang Yishan’s guards wielded magic treasures. They also wore full sets of high-grade magical armor and held talismans in their hands.

While Chen Jin was still in shock, Yang Yishan launched his attack. A swarm of flying swords, a barrage of talismans, and a tide of magical spells descended upon him like an overwhelming tsunami.

Though Chen Jin was a Golden Core cultivator, he lacked magic treasures and was unable to fend off so many attacks at once. In just the first wave, he was wounded—his thigh failed to block an incoming flying sword and was pierced through.

Amid Chen Jin’s shock and even fear, screams suddenly erupted from all around:

“Ah! They all have magic treasures…!”

“No! No! I surrender…!”

“Ahhh! My hand…!”

“The centurion is dead… Run…!”

As the screams echoed, explosions suddenly erupted across the battlefield. The sound resembled cannon fire, but the power seemed weaker. However, with each explosion, screams followed, and then came the sounds of relentless slaughter.

Taking advantage of a brief moment to turn around and defend himself, Chen Jin caught a glimpse of an Anyang soldier tossing an egg-sized object into the air. The object flew out and exploded mid-air. Each explosion devastated an area of three to four zhang, filling the air with the cries of Nanyang county’s soldiers.

As the Nanyang soldiers wailed in agony, several flying swords slashed through them in rapid succession. Lives were reaped like cutting melons and chopping vegetables—this was a massacre.

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