Chapter 254: The Eastern Battle, Part 2

“Faster, even faster! If we can reach Xiandai River tonight, each person will be rewarded with 50 taels of gold!” Nangong Zhi gritted his teeth as he offered such a generous reward, solely to motivate the soldiers to march quickly.

However, the soldiers’ morale seemed unchanged!

Is 50 taels of gold a lot? Of course, it’s not a small amount. Fifty taels of gold is equivalent to 500 taels of silver or 500,000 copper coins! But with Anyang as a role model ahead, fifty taels of gold no longer seemed impressive.

Rumors spread within the army:

A: “What’s the use of gold? Look at the soldiers of Anyang—each of them has a full set of magical armor. I heard that even the Foundation Establishment cultivators in Anyang all use magical treasures. That must cost thousands of ‘fifty taels of gold’!”

B: “Why rush there just to die? Anyang has magical treasures, flying swords, machine guns, cannons, and even airplanes. What do we have?”

C: “Shh… keep your voice down. I just did the math—fifty taels of gold per person means a total of 5 million taels of gold for our 100,000 troops! Is that even possible? I heard that Nanyang County’s entire tax revenue last year, even after squeezing every last coin, was just over 2 million taels of gold.”

D: “If we all die, then they won’t have to pay us anything.”

Everyone turned their heads together: “Damn, that makes sense!”

Up ahead, Nangong Zhi felt a headache coming on, but he was powerless. This was war—once confidence was lost, a military’s morale would “plunge like a waterfall, rushing to the sea with no return.” Listening to the increasingly outrageous rumors, Nangong Zhi had no choice but to give them a new hope: “We’ll raid Anyang’s treasury! It is said to hold tens of millions of taels of gold!”

Finally, the soldiers were blinded by greed, and the rumors temporarily subsided.

Meanwhile, in Quwo, the administrative center of Dongyuan County, inside the city lord’s mansion, Yuan Yong wore a face full of worry. His eldest son, Yuan Cai, was serving the First Prince as a general in Guangling County. His second son, Yuan Zhao, had been driven back to the imperial capital by Li Xian and was now accompanying the Second Prince—who was an emperor in name only—counting ants in the palace, reportedly struggling to even get enough food.

Now, the Yuan family’s stronghold, Dongyuan County, was in an even more critical state. Yuan Yong had never expected the situation to deteriorate so badly. Three days ago, ten factions besieged Anyang. Three days later, Anyang’s five armies launched an offensive to the east, seized control of Xiandai River, and completely cut off Dongyuan County from Luliang County.

Dongyuan County originally had only 200,000 elite soldiers—not counting laborers.

Now, 100,000 troops were in the north, being besieged, reportedly suffering thousands or even tens of thousands of casualties daily, barely holding on.

As he was drowning in anxiety, a messenger suddenly arrived, announcing that an envoy from Nanyang County had brought a letter.

“Quickly, invite them in!” Yuan Yong’s eyes lit up. A message at this time had to be good news! Sure enough, as soon as he opened the letter, Yuan Yong smiled. “Nanyang County is sending 100,000 elite troops to reinforce us!”

But as he continued reading, his mood began to sink. The letter from Nanyang County was very detailed: it explained that Songzhou County was unreliable and had retreated without a fight, that Anyang was extremely powerful, and that Nanyang County had already lost 250,000 troops (slightly exaggerated). Finally, the tone shifted, stating that they could, at best, hold onto Dongyuan County—Luliang County was essentially lost because Anyang was simply too strong.

After a long silence, Yuan Yong finally smiled. “No matter what, we finally have an opportunity. Yuan Jinjiang, listen to my command! Lead 100,000 troops north to attack Yan Zhengqing’s 30,000 elite soldiers. Don’t aim to break through the blockade—just ensure that Yan Zhengqing and Anyang’s forces don’t have the strength to intercept Nanyang County’s 100,000 troops, so they can reach Xiandai River smoothly.

Once the two armies—200,000 strong—cross the river, we will engage Anyang in a decisive battle.”

“Yes!” Yuan Jinjiang responded and turned to leave. (The name Yuan Jinjiang first appeared in Chapter 62, when the now-dead Kong Donghua used it as a lie.)

Yuan Jinjiang’s military talent was at best that of an average general, comparable to Chang Lin or Wang Jian. Compared to strategists like Beichen Yuqing, Yan Zhengqing, or Nangong Zhi, he was naturally inferior. But the advantage of family generals was their reliability—they could execute Yuan Yong’s strategies without hesitation. And for a general, that was enough.

The Yuan family’s last 100,000 elite troops—its final reserve force—set off at full speed under Yuan Jinjiang’s command. To move faster, they didn’t recruit laborers or take time for additional conscription. Each soldier carried three days’ worth of rations, and they set out immediately. More supplies would be transported gradually.

That said, for cultivators, even those at the Qi Refining stage, going without food for three days was no big deal. The only issue was that if they engaged in high-intensity combat for prolonged periods, they would need to replenish their energy.

Yuan Jinjiang led his elite vanguard force to cover 300 miles in just half a day, reaching Xiandai River and choosing a section defended by Yan Zhengqing.

There were two reasons for choosing this section:

Firstly, The ironclad warships blocking another part of the river were too formidable. Five ironclad ships defended a 50-kilometer stretch, covering the entire river and the surrounding five to six kilometers with artillery fire. At close range, the warships’ machine guns and cannons had already left a lasting impression on Dongyuan County’s forces.

Secondly, Yan Zhengqing’s 30,000 troops were defending a 300-mile riverbank—on average, only seven men per ten-foot section. The defense was incredibly thin, making it easy to break through by concentrating their forces. Compared to the warships, this section seemed far less fortified—at least on the surface.

But if the right strategies are used, such as “feinting in the east while attacking in the west” or “luring the tiger away from the mountain,” crossing the river would be much easier.

After careful consideration, Yuan Jinjiang decided to divide his forces into two groups. One group of 30,000 soldiers would launch a feigned attack to draw the enemy’s attention, while the main force of 70,000 would wait for the right opportunity to cross the Xiandai River and strike the Anyang army from behind once the feigned attack had sufficiently distracted them.

Although Yuan Yong had only instructed Yuan Jinjiang to hold back Yan Zhenqing’s main forces, adopting an offensive strategy instead of purely defending was a key principle of warfare.

However, while the plan was good, reality was brutal!

As soon as he arrived at the banks of the Xiandai River, Yuan Jinjiang sensed the presence of the “Heaven-Sealing and Earth-Locking Grand Formation.” The greatest feature of this formation was that it completely depleted all spiritual energy within its range!

In other words, no matter how powerful a cultivator was—even at the Nascent Soul stage—once inside the formation, they would be forced to walk on foot. Even flying swords could only be used as mere blades for chopping wood. All battle techniques, spells, and combat methods that relied on spiritual energy would become completely ineffective!

Within this area, cultivators could only fight like ordinary martial artists. While magical weapons and artifacts could still be activated using their internal true essence, the consumption rate was extremely high. Once their true essence was exhausted, cultivators would be left with only their bare fists.

The Heaven-Sealing and Earth-Locking Grand Formation was particularly well-suited for defensive positions along rivers, especially for a turtle-shell style defense. However, it required spirit stones as formation nodes. Though the formation was powerful, its energy consumption was equally massive. A single spirit stone could only cover one mile for one day. To seal off more than 300 miles of the frontline, over 300 spirit stones would be needed daily!

This was an astronomical expense.

“Brutal!” Yuan Jinjiang took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his shock.

Across the Xiandai River, Yuan Jinjiang and the Anyang soldiers on the opposite bank stared at each other. He could almost hear the taunting laughter from across the river—after all, as a Golden Core stage cultivator, Yuan Jinjiang had exceptionally keen hearing and vision.

He attempted to launch a few low-level spells across the river, but the moment they reached the riverbank, they dissipated into nothingness. This was the effect of the Heaven-Sealing and Earth-Locking Grand Formation—it gradually drained away the power of anything connected to spiritual energy, whether magical treasures or spells.

Of course, because this instance of the formation covered such a vast area, its strength was somewhat diluted. At most, it could only fully suppress cultivators in the early Foundation Establishment stage. Those at the mid-stage or higher could still force their way through using their internal true essence.

However, in an entire army, how many Foundation Establishment cultivators could there be?

Moreover, Anyang also had its own experts, and every soldier carried firearms. Sending a handful of Foundation Establishment cultivators to charge through would be like throwing meat buns to a pack of dogs—purely sending them to their deaths.

After surveying several sections of the river, Yuan Jinjiang finally sighed and gave the order: “Set up camp here!”

Yuan Jinjiang’s orders were not to force a river crossing but to contain Anyang’s main forces and prevent them from advancing south. He was also to wait for reinforcements from Nanyang County.

Once their forces combined, 200,000 elite troops would launch a multi-pronged assault, overwhelming the enemy defenses in one decisive strike.

Passive waiting was not a good option—it would delay the battle and cause massive casualties among the 100,000 elite troops under Yuan Zhong in the north. However, at this moment, there was no other choice.

But Yuan Jinjiang was a general, not a fool. He would not just sit and wait.

Instead, he continuously sent scouts to investigate, launched probing attacks, and even organized long-range strikes. Even if he couldn’t fully assess the enemy’s strength, he aimed to at least weaken the formation’s power as much as possible.

Thus, across the river, Yuan Jinjiang and Yan Zhenqing began their confrontation.

Yuan Jinjiang’s forces had powerful crossbows, elite archers, and a handful of Golden Core and mid-to-late Foundation Establishment experts launching relentless attacks.

Meanwhile, Yan Zhenqing’s side had cannons and sniper rifles, responding with equally ferocious firepower.

Yuan Jinjiang was waiting for reinforcements from Nanyang County.

Yan Zhenqing, on the other hand, was waiting for Anyang’s military reinforcements.

For Yan Zhenqing, prolonging the blockade of the river was just as beneficial as it was for Yuan Jinjiang to wait for support.

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