Chapter 65: Expedition to the North Cang
With the formation of the covenant, the three super forces on the continent finally launched their actions, and in a short period of time, a large number of rangers came quickly, and Tianhua Sect became very lively during this time, and with the arrival of a large number of rangers, the atmosphere here was also lively.
Most of the disciples sent to Beicang this time are high-level powerhouses of the Ning Yuan Realm and the Heavenly Vein Realm, and their strength is not bad, and only such a strong lineup can open a way out under the heavy encirclement of the Danyang Empire's army.
With the assembly of the mainland rangers, Li Dufeng began to lead the team of thousands of people carefully selected by Huazong to set off on this day, and the mainland rangers also sent a spirit realm powerhouse to lead the team.
The three-way army rode forward on the dragon horses specially bred by the sect, these long-horned dragon horses were full of hard spirit armor of the elders, and the thin bloodlines of the ancient dragon clans were possessed, and only super forces like Tianhua Sect and Shenjian Valley had the ability to raise them on a large scale, this kind of dragon horses traveled thousands of miles a day, and their speed was outstanding, and they were famous on the mainland.
This mission can be said to be elite, even Senior Sister Dai Mengli followed, and no newcomer disciple except Shi Xuan had such a confident invitation to fight.
The huge team of spirit masters was fierce, and the smoke and dust rolled up from the place where the march passed obscured the sky and the sun.
The spirit master's body is far beyond the reach of ordinary soldiers, and only they can withstand long-distance attacks, which ordinary soldiers simply can't do.
The three forces did not set off at the same time, but chose different paths, and met in the distant Beicang, Shi Xuan and his party traveled thousands of miles a day and traveled long distances.
The gallop of the dragon horse was unstoppable, and some people along the way had disappeared into the smoke and dust in the distance before they even saw their appearances, and many civilians had never seen such a fast dragon horse in their lives.
Shi Xuan also felt the pleasure of galloping horses, and he, Lin Zixu, Dai Mengli and other elite disciples led them to gallop to the north at the front of the team.
In the far north country, the terrain gradually became higher, because of the huge mountains in the north, the vast plateau is mostly nomadic race, the inhabitants here are rarely concepted by the state, they have a vast land, in these places, they are nomadic in the world, the four seas are their home, where there is a fat meadow they go there to graze.
The Central Plains has often been raided by their nomadic tribes in history, the Central Plains is rich in products, the country is rich and the people are safe, their nomadic race envies the products of the Central Plains, and every difficult season, they begin to carry out large-scale invasion and plunder.
The fierce folk customs of the North Cang have always been hated by the Central Plains countries, but the attacks organized by the Central Plains countries are meaningless to them, they are home all over the world, they can fight if they can fight, they can't beat the roll and cover the people and leave, and after your army retreats, they return here to continue to make trouble.
Danyang, Tianyang, Tianheng, Tianxing, Taiwei and other more than a dozen powerful Central Plains empires have been defeated by the fierce tribes of Beicang in history, and have paid a heavy price, the Central Plains countries have also joined hands to defend many times in history in order to resist the barbarian races of Beicang, and have played many major achievements, and many tribes in Beicang have also been repeatedly attacked by the military of the Central Plains countries, and suffered heavy losses, but the Beicang tribe that advocates force is like a small strong that cannot be killed, and it will be harassed every few years, and it is annoying.
Walking on the boundless plateau meadows, the fierce wind blew so that everyone's eyes could not be opened.
"Senior sister, this is the wild land of Beicang, it's really vast and boundless", Shi Xuan felt the exotic atmosphere.
"Little junior brother, be careful here, the nomadic barbarians here are very domineering, they are not friendly to us Central Plains people, you have to be a little more attentive when you meet them", Lin Zixu said.
"Yes, I heard my father say that a hundred years ago, many powerful tribes in Beicang once stood in an alliance, they envied the rich products of our Central Plains, and launched a comprehensive attack on us, at that time, the Danyang Empire had excellent relations with the surrounding four countries, and also organized a large-scale coalition to resist the barbarian invasion, at that time, Beicang was a nightmare for the Central Plains Empire," Dai Mengli said.
"Then why hasn't anyone talked about these barbarians all these years?" Shi Xuan asked.
"That's because these tribes have not recovered from the war a hundred years ago, their invasion was violently retaliated against by the Central Plains Empire, many tribes suffered heavy casualties, and now the alliance has fallen apart and there is no longer the scenery of a hundred years ago, and there is no longer the ability to threaten the Central Plains Empire, especially the Danyang Empire has been working hard for many years to govern the country, and now the various tribes in Beicang are watching with their tails between their legs, and now the war in the Central Plains is starting again, it is estimated that in the near future, they will take the opportunity to go south", Lin Zixu knows a lot.
On the grassland, Shi Xuan often saw thousands of cattle and horses galloping in the distance of the grassland, and he also saw some barbarian tribes, but as spirit masters, they had no fear, nor were they afraid of them coming to provoke.
Compared with the verdant dripping of the southern countries, the grasslands in the north are very monotonous, especially in this winter season, the grasslands are withered, and there are depressions everywhere, and sometimes some fierce spirit beasts are created, and they are also hunted by everyone for a hearty dinner.
Shi Xuan also discovered the peculiarity of these barbarians, they also have spirit masters, but they are very different from the practice of the Central Plains, they are more in pursuit of strength and believe in ancient gods, every year there will be many huge sacrifice scenes, they slaughter many fat animals to sacrifice, praying for the blessing of the gods.
Shi Xuan also discovered a rare profession, beast tamers, they have an ancient tradition, through a unique method to tame powerful spirit beasts as a tool for their battle, it is terrifying to think about, a powerful beast tamer drives multiple powerful spirit beasts to fight, and the strength is arrogant.
As the son of Orion, Shi Xuan had also tamed weak beasts, but he had no way to tame so many powerful high-level spirit beasts.
"Senior Sister, the beast tamers we met just now, how did they control so many powerful spirit beasts," Shi Xuan asked.
"This is the characteristic of Beicang, our southern region is rich in spirit masters, they are rich in animal tamers here, they also have an ancient heritage, their talent allows them to communicate with spirit beasts, and even use secret methods to enslave powerful beasts to work for themselves, a spirit master can only consider themselves unlucky when they meet them", Dai Mengli said.
"It seems that there are no wonders in the world", Shi Xuan sighed.
"This is nothing, there are too many strange professions on the mainland, they are completely different from our ordinary spirit masters, the exercises are weird, and the killing opportunities are infinite, you have to be careful in the future", Lin Zixu said.
"In addition to the many spirit masters, what other professions do you have, Senior Brother Lin?" Shi Xuan asked curiously.
"That's a lot, for example, our nemesis Moon Worship Sect, you have also seen it, they are not ordinary spirit masters, to be precise, their core disciples are astrologers, they rely on divination and sacrifice to the gods to gain power, extremely strange; , Lin Zixu said a lot of strange professions at once, and Shi Xuan also felt incredible.
"Don't forget, there is an even more terrifying species in this world than them—the Ancient Spirit Beast Family," Dai Mengli said.
"Yes, the ancient books describe that in ancient times, the human race was just an ordinary member of the ten thousand races, and finally counterattacked and became the master of the continent, thousands of ancient races have become the dust of history, and the human race has been able to develop and grow, and the ancestors of the human race have made unimaginable efforts to create this era for us, but unfortunately there are still some despicable people who continue to provoke internal disputes among the human race", Lin Zixu said.
Shi Xuan's mind also came to the ancient alien races he saw in the many ruins, they were hideous and terrifying, their strength was strong, and countless Terran ancestors united to defeat them.
The seal of the Fire Spirit Realm is now loosened again, and if it cannot be sealed again in the future, and the elements of the Fire Spirit Realm enter this world again, then the human race will once again face the danger of extinction.
"I have also seen some strange extraterrestrial races in ancient books, and they are extremely strange and different from the creatures in this world," Shi Xuan said.
"I've heard what you've said, but it's too old, and we haven't seen it with our own eyes," Dai Mengli said.
"Could it be that there are still extraterritorial beings in this world, and what is it like to be extraterritorial?" Shi Xuan couldn't imagine.
"This can only be explored when it becomes strong in the future."
In the desolate land of the northern cang, at night they camped on the spot, the bonfire rose, during the day they hunted a lot of spirit beasts, at the moment the barbecue was fragrant, Shi Xuan and his party were enjoying the delicious food, talking about the future, such a day, even after many years, Shi Xuan is also endless.
As they continued to go deeper, the sky became deeper and deeper, and the clouds were terrifyingly low, as if they were about to collapse, giving people a feeling of oppression.
Here you can already see the distant horizon, the mountains towering, and they are about to reach the Beicang Mountains.
"Let's camp in front of us, our speed has reached the limit, the transport forces of the four empires, the Divine Sword Valley and the rangers should be coming to meet soon, we must strengthen our vigilance during this time, carefully observe the transport convoy of the Danyang Empire, once we find their traces, we will immediately attack with all our strength", Li Dufeng said to all the disciples.
At the same time, inside the Danyang Empire, a mysterious force secretly dispatched, and they quickly sneaked out of the Danyang Empire from the fiefdom of the Shadow Moon King and headed towards the Northern Cang.
The Shadow Moon King's eyeliner in the court has long been well understood, he has carefully planned the plan, he sent elite troops to try to ambush the empire's transport convoy in the Northern Cangland, he wants to be the yellow finch behind the praying mantis.
Zhang Tiancheng said to the Shadow Moon King: "Our troops have penetrated deep into the Northern Cang, and the eyes of the Imperial Military Department have provided us with information, and I think they will definitely gain a lot in the future."
"Jiang Bingkun, this old thief, he doesn't know who he made a wedding dress for until he dies, I will give him a big surprise when the time comes", the Shadow Moon King looked into the distance with deep eyes.
"The only thing I'm worried about in this operation is that kid," Mr. Zhang said.
"Jiang Yuheng, he has already taken the poison of the old man's witch Gu, and his mind is firmly controlled by me, he will be an excellent hunter", the Shadow Moon King was full of smiles on his face.
"General, is that witchcraft reliable?" Zhang Tiancheng doubted.
"You don't know anything about the art of witchcraft, this is the famous wizard I saved in the continent back then, he specially left me the treasure in order to thank me, you have also seen with your own eyes, that stubborn kid in front of the witch Gu painful appearance, the second Gu can only be lifted by the wizard of Qingda, even the most powerful elixir master is helpless", the Shadow Moon King Gui Yunhai has made a lot of effort to recover Jiang Yuheng, but Jiang Yuheng does not eat it softly and hard, and swears to die and refuses to serve him.
After trying many unimaginable punishments, Jiang Yuheng was still stubborn like a donkey, which made Gui Yunhai extremely angry, and almost executed him on the spot, if it weren't for the witch Gu given to him by the wizard, he would have lost his patience long ago.
The poison of the witch Gu eats the heart and breaks the soul, once it enters the body, there is no cure, only the powerful wizard can get rid of it through a special sacrificial ceremony, Jiang Yuheng became crazy under the destruction of the witch Gu, and even his consciousness became nothing, and now he is just a living walking corpse, Gui Yunhai asked his disciples to use the unique witchcraft controller This powerful man to carry out the interception mission of Beicang for him.
At this moment, Jiang Yuheng has long since lost the previous Yushu Linfeng, his whole body is emaciated, his face is pale, his eyes are blurred, he has no autonomous consciousness, there are several powerful spirit masters in the army who use the soul bell to control his actions, he has become a humanoid puppet, and at this moment they are heading towards Beicang.
"Congratulations to the general on getting a powerful assistant, who will continue to fight for you in the future until all roads are cleared for you," Zhang Tiancheng complimented.
"In the future, let him kill Jiang Bingkun with his own hands, I don't know what Jiang Bingkun's face will be when the time comes, it makes people happy to think about it, Jiang Bingkun has put on my Shadow Moon family's old accounts, I will settle it with him one by one", Gui Yunhai said.
Shi Xuan and the other advance troops of the Tianhua Sect had already set up camp near the entrance of the Beicang Mountain Range, and they sent spies to secretly investigate the intelligence of the Danyang Empire's transport troops, while waiting for the arrival of other reinforcements.
In the camp, everyone was anxiously waiting for news, and at this time, the spies reported: "A transport guard from the Danyang Empire is about to enter the Beicang Mountain Range from our ambush circle."
"How many soldiers and horses do they have?" asked Li Dufeng.
"Uncle Qiyu, there are at least more than 2,000 soldiers and horses in the empire, transporting a large number of grain and grass materials," the spy said.
"Uncle Shi, should we make a move?" Lin Zixu asked.
"This is their supply convoy, if they intercept it now, it will definitely disturb the guards in Beicang Mountain, and we will start an operation when they transport the spirit saltpeter, and the focus of our operation this time is the spirit salter ore," Li Dufeng said.
"Let them go into the mountains, don't startle the snakes," Lin Zixu said.
"Yes, brother", the spies continued to ambush.
"Report", and another spy came to report.
"Say," Li Dufeng said.
"We spotted a group of centaurs sneaking up on the perimeter," the scout said.
"Have you ever found out who it is?" asked Li Dufeng.
"It's impossible to see from a distance, but I guess it's from a barbarian tribe," said the spy.
"Keep exploring, be sure to investigate clearly, don't startle the snake," Li said.
"Senior Uncle Li, what do these barbarians want to do? Could it be that they also want to intervene when they discover the spirit saltpeter of the empire?" Dai Mengli was puzzled.
"The news of the empire is well hidden, these barbarians probably don't have such news yet, I guess they are here for grain and grass, the Danyang Empire's repeated transportation of grain and grass must have alarmed their tribe, and now it is the day when the barbarians lack food and clothing, they have come out to hunt", Li Dufeng guessed.
"If they come to intercept the Imperial grain and grass, will they startle the grass and snakes?" Lin Zixu asked.
"It's okay, if the barbarians sell it, they will disguise our identity, and believe me that these barbarians can't get any bargain," Li Dufeng said.
Soon, more than 2,000 grain and grass troops and horses passed through the ambush position of Tianhua Sect, but Tianhua Sect did not stop them and let them leave. Towards the front, the sound of a galloping horse came.
"Be on guard, there is an enemy approaching", someone in the Danyang Imperial Army noticed that a large number of barbarians were approaching.
At this time, they were selected to clearly see about seven or eight hundred fierce barbarians riding huge brown wolves, wearing animal skin coats and killing fiercely, and their crowd was mixed with many fierce beasts, most of them were second- and third-order spirit beasts, including brown wolves, tigers, lions and other fierce grassland beasts.
"It's a barbarian tribe, all ready to fight," the general shouted, and the rest of the soldiers flashed their spears and shields to protect the grain and grass behind them, and stretched out their spears to resist their charge.
These barbarians were not afraid of death, shouted strange slogans, and began to attack the national army in Danyang.
The Danyang Empire's army was well-trained, and they were specially trained to deal with barbarians, and the two sides launched a savage fight.
The barbarian warriors were extremely brave and fierce in battle, and their brutal strength knocked some soldiers with shields into the air, and died tragically on the spot, but the well-trained soldiers quickly formed a formation, relying on strong cooperation also made them pay a heavy price, many barbarians did not have flexible command, only brutally charged, causing them to die on the sharp spear.
The fierce beast tamer commanded many ferocious beasts to break through the defenses, and the ordinary soldiers were paralyzed with fright at the sight of these fierce beasts, and many died tragically under the sharp teeth of the beasts.
This battle dragged on for a long time, both sides lost many horses, although the barbarians were arrogant but lacked effective tactics, they were soon strangled and defeated by the imperial troops who were proficient in military formations, leaving a lot of corpses on the ground, including Danyang Imperial soldiers, barbarian raiders, and beasts, and finally hundreds of barbarians fled in embarrassment after suffering a big loss, leaving a mess in a place.
The Imperial troops were no better off there, at least losing seven or eight hundred elite soldiers, but fortunately they kept food and grass, otherwise he would not be able to communicate with Shadow Tiger Yao Jingcheng.
"Send a herald into the mine immediately to ask for troop support and inform General Yao Jingcheng of our damage," ordered the general in charge of transportation.
"Yes", soon a herald went to the mountains to ask for support from the Imperial troops, and after a long time, an elite Imperial army came to support, and no one dared to plunder along the way.
Shi Xuan and other Tianhua Sect disciples were fortunate enough to witness the ferocious battles of these barbarians, and they also saw the mystery of the imperial army array.
"These barbarians are really powerful, one of them is enough to deal with two imperial soldiers," Shi Xuan said.
"These barbarians have not been educated at all, they retain a huge wildness, they haunt these wild places all year round, they sleep in the open air, and the people are fierce, and you must be careful in the future," Li Dufeng reminded.
As the imperial army entered the deep mountains, the next day, Shi Xuan and the others waited for the transport troops from the Divine Sword Valley and the Continental Ranger and the four major empires, and they hid near the Beicang Mountain Range one after another, waiting for their transport troops to arrive.
Shi Xuan also encountered again, Yin Qianxi and Han Yunyi and others, now their group of people can be regarded as huge, because they are all powerful spirit masters, even in the face of the secular army of 50,000, they can fight their way out of the encirclement, this is the strength of the spirit master, even in the military formation, one can be ten.
The winter wind whistling across the land, the deep withered grass swaying in patches under the ravages of the strong wind, and the starry bonfires lit up on the grasslands in the distance, these are the barbarians living on the grasslands.
They were chosen to ambush here this time, not daring to slack off in the slightest, none of them dared to raise the flames, in order to avoid being detected by the imperial army, they could only spend the cold night, the spirit master was physically strong, these cold winds could not help them, but the transport troops of the four empires were frozen by the cold wind and it was difficult to resist.
The mysterious raiders from the Valley of the Shadowmoon are also disguised, lying in ambush on the middle of the northern canopy, ready to be the yellow finch behind them, they have accurate intelligence, know when the Empire's transport troops will depart, and know the route well.
"General, the spies in front of us have reported that the transportation of grain and grass in the empire has been invaded by the barbarian tribes in this area, and they have suffered heavy casualties, and now they have received the support of the Shadow Tiger troops and have begun to enter the deep mountains of the Northern Cang", in the camp of the Shadow Moon raiders, there are spies reporting the military situation.
"Probe, and report as soon as you find an Imperial horse," the general said.
"According to the speed, these military horses will definitely return in two days, and then it will be the time for us to show our talents," said a staff officer.
"It's better to be careful, this is the territory of the barbarian tribe, they are warlike and ferocious, they are not easy to provoke, we must investigate carefully, otherwise the mission will fail, and we will not be able to account to the Shadow Moon King", the general said.
At this moment, the Shadow Moon troops are all dressed like bandits, and in order to avoid being recognized by the imperial troops, they are all dressed in disguise, and even the weapons they use are purchased from other places, and they dare not leak any clues.
In the camp deep in the mountains, the Imperial Shadow Tiger slapped the table angrily and said: "Hateful barbarian tribe, we have always used well water to not interfere with river water, you actually dare to break ground on Tai Sui's head", Yao Jingcheng looked at the transport troops with heavy losses.
"The general is angry, these barbarians have also suffered huge losses and have not benefited, the grain, grass and ordnance have also been delivered in good condition, and they are also a group of blind guys, they understand that our imperial army is mighty this time, and they dare not make a mistake if they want to", someone said.
"If it weren't for Lao Tzu's military affairs, the commander would definitely kill their tribe without leaving a piece of armor and completely sweep away this area," Yao Jingcheng said domineeringly.
"When the troops are repatriated, let the Imperial send guards to strangle them, and they will never dare to take food in the future," said the military advisor.
"You immediately write a letter to His Majesty the Emperor and ask him to send a guard to quell the barbarian tribes and clear the transportation routes," Yao Jingcheng said.
"I'll do it."
At this moment, countless miserable miners were toiling under the watchful eye of a large number of soldiers, many of whom were skinny and bone-lining, and many young people were tormented by heavy labor.
In the midst of many toils, a young girl is wielding a pickaxe to dig ore, she is much thinner than before, but as a spiritual master, these labors are also an alternative practice for her, and she has lived with these laborers in the days since she left her brother, and has seen too much suffering.
A person can only become strong when he experiences hardship, Han Yunxi has been following behind her brother before, she has obeyed her brother since she was a child, and has been living under her brother's wings, and now she is slowly learning to be independent.