Chapter 572: Victory
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Shang army was in the south.
After several times of probing and skirmishing with the enemy on the plains, Prince Pan had finally managed to force the King of Dongyi to activate his main host. The final battle had begun.
There was a total of 20000 men on the battlefield and as they clashed, they became a fluid black mass.
'We have 10000 of the Shang Dynasty's finest soldiers on one side and 60000 to 70000 scruffy barbarians on the other. Prince Pan does indeed have a good grasp of the art of war…'
A green hurricane revolved around Fang Yuan as he floated high up in the air and looked down at the battle taking place beneath him.
The 3rd sword of the Creation Sword Array that he had created was not the Sundering Thunder Sword, but the Modest Wind Sword!
Fang Yuan had digested the secret manual for the 8 Gates Sword Array a long time ago. Thus, he only used the modus of the sword array to expound on the art of creation and did not bother to follow the original procedure.
In fact, he had even greater ambitions!
"Dream masters become many times more powerful after recasting their foundations...according to my estimations, a dream soldier master of the 2nd sword now is similar in prowess to a dream soldier master of the 3rd or 4th sword from the past! In that case, the level of the 4th sword might be comparable to that of the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage?"
The levels of the 4th sword and 7th sword were the bottlenecks of the Illusionary Divine stage. Overcoming them would allow one to enter into a whole new world.
Hence, Fang Guan had chosen to create the Modest Wind Sword as his 3rd sword. His 4th sword, which was in the midst of restoration, was the previous Earth Sword!
Thus, as he neared the 4th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage and the four classical elements of earth, fire, wind, water gathered, he would be able to exert the higher abilities of an Illusionary Divine of the 7th Tier and form the Chaos Sword Array!
"The new path of dream masters is definitely stronger and more overbearing than before!"
Fang Yuan based his cultivation method on his personal experiences. He incorporated the research findings of dream masters from every school and targeted Original Energy. After Fang Yuan made his deductions, the arrows pointed at something horrifying!
"If we go on, the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage will be similar to the Sage state from before...what would happen if we go beyond that?"
Fang Yuan was filled with renewed confidence in the future of the path of dream masters.
"Attack!"
Tens of thousands of Dongyi men roared and charged towards the Shang army.
They were physically large and had savage looks on their faces, giving them the appearance of ferocious beasts.
As the battle progressed, the aura of the Dongyi army rose into the air and took the form of a hydra.
"The hydra probably represents the disunity among the Dongyi tribes. It seems that the Dongyi army has some hidden problems of their own…"
Fang Yuan looked to the other side of the battlefield and saw that the Black Bird figure hovering above the Shang army had spread its wings and was several times larger than the hydra. At that point in time, the Black Bird was pecking at the snakeheads viciously. Fang Yuan smiled lightly.
"We have a winner!"
Unity makes strength, strife wastes!
The organisation of the Dongyi army was never as good as that of the Shang army. The quality of their weapons and armour was a joke. They only thing that they could be proud of was the individual courage of the Dongyi soldiers.
It was a pity that individual qualities were insignificant in the face of war!
"Archers, fire!"
Prince Pan raised his sword and yelled at his men.
"Swish! Swish!"
Dozens of archers loosed their arrows towards the skies in unison. The arrows rose then fell like a wave of locusts upon the Dongyi army.
"Poof! Poof!"
There were explosions of bloody mists as the frontline warriors of the Dongyi army became human porcupines.
"Chariots! Move!"
Prince Pan issued another order and the thousands of Shang chariots led by thousands of frisky war horses began to rumble across the plains. From afar, it looked like a dark mass was spreading across the plains and decimating everything in its path!
"Over there!"
Er stood on one of the chariots and egged the charioteer on. He wielded his dagger-axe like he was a windmill and roared.
"Attack!"
"Bang!"
The speeding chariot mowed down all the Dongyi soldiers standing in its path without resistance, leaving a trail of screaming men and crushed body parts in its wake.
"Die!"
Er brandished his dagger-axe and tore open the defences of the Dongyi army. He became an arrow that pierced its way into the heart of the Dongyi army formation.
"Hmm? Is that the King of Dongyi?"
As Er butchered his way through the Dongyi soldiers, he caught sight of a retinue with a burly man at its head. He flew a flag adorned with feathers of five colours behind him.
"The royal flag? The King of Dongyi?"
Er could feel the warm blood surging through his veins as he yelled.
"Traitor! Don't even think about running away!"
Er began to fight his way up to the retinue.
"The King of Dongyi...will surely die today!"
Fang Yuan observed the scene quietly as he rested among the clouds. He could feel the War God Chi beginning to act.
Although the War God Chi had suffered a great deal, he retained his influence among the Dongyi tribes. Even though this King of Dongyi had unified all the tribes and had reduced the power of the tribal leaders, priests remained influential among the Dongyi people.
At this point, it was the priests who were secretly holding the King of Dongyi back and slowing down his retinue so that Er and his men could reach him.
"Die, you false king!"
Er's charioteer had been shot down by arrows and he had to take over the reins of the chariot. His mind whirred as he charged at the royal flag.
"Ding! Ding!"
Er was assailed by Dongyi archers and blowgunmen but the arrows and darts simply ignited sparks as they bounced harmlessly off his body.
"That is...the power of the gods!"
"This man is under the protection of the War God Chi. We cannot fight him!"
Although personal guards of the King of Dongyi were soldiers from the Jiuxiong Division, they began to panic when faced with this incredible sight. The priests only exacerbated their fears with their pessimistic utterings.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
As Er charged forward, he threw a spear at the mount of the King of Dongyi.
"Smack!"
Er's own war horse could no longer keep up with the dizzying pace at which it was running at and collapsed onto the ground. Er's chariot was smashed into smithereens as well.
Er did not seem to mind as he rolled on the ground before breaking into a run towards the King of Dongyi with a halberd in his hand.
"Protect the King!"
Dozens of Dongyi soldiers pounced onto Er and all kinds of weapons and poisonous arrows fell upon his body.
"Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!"
The weapons all broke upon contact. The arrows and darts all fell away harmlessly.
Er was going on a rampage as he sent several men flying off his back. Before long, he had arrived before the King of Dongyi.
"Die, you barbarian!"
"Smack!"
Suddenly, there were brilliant flashes of colourful lights. Er was thrown to the ground forcefully and trapped by a large net that had appeared out of the blue.
"Nuwa!!!"
Fang Yuan could hear the frustrated roars of the War God Chi from where he was.
A layer of blood-red clouds materialised in the sky.
Seeing that things had taken an abrupt turn, the King of Dongyi took the opportunity to jump onto a getaway horse.
"Die!"
Er's eyes bulged in anger as he saw the barbarian king making his escape. Using all his strength, Er managed to tear the net apart and hurled the halberd at the King of Dongyi.
"Swoosh!"
The halberd flew through the air in a flash of black and ran through the back of the Dongyi King before passing out from his chest and running deep into the ground in front of him.
"Bump!"
The horse ran for a distance before the dead body of the barbarian king fell off its back.
"The King...is dead?!"
The warriors of the Jiuxiong Division looked stunned. They could not believe their eyes.
The soldiers from the other tribes were more decisive.
Seeing that the King of Dongyi had fallen and egged on by the priests, the Dongyi soldiers simply abandoned the weapons and fled. Some of them even surrendered to the Shang army.
A wave of panic spread throughout the Dongyi army and before long, the battlefield had descended into a rout for the barbarians.
"The defeat of an army is like the collapse of a mountain…"
Fang Yuan went over to the War God Chi and they faced the colourful lights shimmering before them together.
"Nuwa...how dare you interfere in the affairs of my people!"
The War God Chi roared with indignance. Nuwa had tested his limits by aiding the King of Dongyi several times.
The colourful lights suddenly condensed into an elegantly dressed woman who was extremely beautiful and had a snake tail in the place of legs.
"Is this the goddess Nuwa?"
Fang Yuan looked at her with a dazed expression.
Legend has it that while the Tai God had created heaven and earth, Nuwa was the creator of life!
The status of a goddess like her exceeded those of the Sages among dream masters or even the Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi from before the Battle of the Jade Capital!
Nuwa did not speak but she took a hard look at Fang Yuan.
Colourful lights flashed across her eyes.
"Buzz!"
The colourful lights suddenly dissipated and the goddess disappeared along with them.
"Hmm?"
Fang Yuan found it slightly strange. He had been prepared to face Nuwa together with the War God Chi and yet the goddess had simply walked away. It was as if she had appeared just to take a look at Fang Yuan.
"She actually refrained from making her move!"
Fang Yuan stared pensively into the real dream world where he was in the process of creating the Earth Sword.
"Hmph! I had wanted her to make her move!"
The War God Chi huffed coldly in disdain.
Several thoughts whirred through Fang Yuan's mind.
'That's right...Nuwa might be more powerful than the Sages but she lacks the freedom enjoyed by the Sages among dream masters in the Da Qian world. This is because she is being worshipped throughout the world and is a goddess formed from the combined powers of heaven and earth. She could even be considered the most closely related entity to the incarnation of dao itself!'
The Tai God was the incarnation of the heavenly dao.
Although Nuwa possessed human traits, she was also a representative of the heavenly dao and her actions were thus restrained by it!
The higher the level of the being, the greater the constraints placed on them!
This was why Nuwa was speechless when she had been called out by the War God Chi for intervening in Dongyi affairs.
If she had disregarded the rules and fought them, she would most likely lose her current elevated status and become demoted to a common deity! This explained why the War God Chi did not fear retaliation from Nuwa.
"It seems that the battle of Shangyi is going to become very troublesome…"
Fang Yuan could not help but let out a long sigh.
"I agree."
The War God Chi had become solemn.
"Nuwa was more than capable of allowing the King of Dongyi to escape. She could even help the Dongyi army to win this battle...however, the heavenly will has decreed a Shang victory for this encounter and Nuwa does not have the power to go against it. We might have the upper hand for now but when the heavenly will finally favours her side, you will never meet any other deity with powers as terrifying as hers!"
'Well, in fact, I must have seen it all before. She is probably on the level of the Superior Wu Zun and Qian Huanyi!'
Fang Yuan frowned as he settled into a thoughtful silence.