Chapter 274: The Messenger, Catfish-flood-dragon
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
Water beads fell and filled the sky, followed by a long cry that sounded like a cow or a baby, but no way similar to a flood dragon. Slowly, Catfish-flood-dragon's body shrunk as she turned into her human form. Swaggering and reeling, she stepped onto a black cloud and flew straight towards Wu Qi, and while still off in a distance, she shouted at the top of her voice, "Brother Wu Qi, I've brought you a letter! Hehe, I've exchanged the official paper with a few dragon kings living in Great Eastern Ocean. Now, this ocean area 2.5 million miles in circumference is my territory!"
Wagging her big head complacently, Catfish-flood-dragon continued shouting excitedly, "You know what? This area was once the territory of that licentious three-headed sharks we killed earlier. Since he is dead, I'll now take over his territory, as this is a right and proper thing to do!"
Several thousand fiendish demons transformed from various different marine fishes and beasts were seen floating in the ocean below, each having a cultivation base from Xiantian to Nascent Soul realm. They were rubbing their fists and wiping their palms, rolling and rocking in the water, pushing waves in all directions and filling the air with water vapor. They looked eager to get in action, as they kept casting hostile glances over at the construction site for the new city, which was bustling with activity.
If any other ordinary human beings dared to have a construction site so near to the ocean, these fiendish demons would have long come ashore and eaten all the construction workers. However, since the person constructing the city here was a friend to the master of this ocean area, these fiendish demons could only drool while watching the construction workers running about on the shore. No one had the courage to leap out from the water.
Peering around, Catfish-flood-dragon finally saw Wu Qi standing on a faraway mountain peak. Hastily, she turned the cloud and flew straight towards him.
Meanwhile, riding on a cloud and coming with a fragrant scent, Princess Zhang Le had just come to Wu Qi. Very quickly she sprung and leaped into Wu Qi's arms, but as she just twisted her body a few times and was yet to act coquettishly, Catfish-flood-dragon had descended on her cloud while laughing foolishly. Then, she pulled out a letter from under her sleeve and handed over to Wu Qi, shook her head and said, "Horrible, horrible, really terrifying! Brother Wu Qi, blood is flowing over the ground like water, and dead bodies are scattered over the wilderness in Meng Mountains. Following you here to avoid the calamity was the wisest decision I've made! I'm so brilliant!"
Both Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le were taken aback. They did not receive any news from Ji City over the last two months, and now according to Catfish-flood-dragon, that place was shedding blood like water. It was clear that the war had entered a very violent stage. Wu Qi hurriedly ripped the envelope, pulled out the letter, and gave it a quick read.
On the letter was Lu Chengfeng's vigorous and forceful handwriting; every single stroke looked like some iron blade or silver hook. His cultivation base must have improved.
'Wu Qi, my brother, may this letter bring you peace.
How is the progress of the construction of the new city in Great Eastern Ocean's shore? Senior Catfish-flood-dragon is traveling to Great Eastern Ocean with an official paper prepared by Wanying Dragon King, as she is applying to be the master of an ocean area. If she manages to do it, it will be a great help to my brother's work there. Also, the only son of Wanying Dragon King, Lord Xiansheng, is moving to Great Eastern Ocean, bringing with him three hundred thousand aquatic soldiers. He wishes to stay right next to Catfish-flood-dragon and be her neighbor. With that, my brother, you've got yourself another great support.
Over the past few months, Ying Zheng did not show up. Under the lead of Great Qin's Crown Prince, Fu Su, and the Prince of Zui Huhai, a fierce battle broke out between Qin army, us the Great Yan, and Great Chu. A total of thirteen battles were fought continuously, which caused over one million casualties to Great Yan's elite armored soldiers. It is a horrifying situation. As Chengfeng is in charge of the rear service in West Field Headquarter, by just compiling the official announcement of the casualty and sending them to the families of those who fell in the war, it had made all of my assistants totally tired. In just a few days, one million soldiers fell in the war. It is indeed a cruel scene.
Fifteen days ago, under the command of Great Wei's senior general, Pang Juan, an army led by Wei Wuzu launched a surprise attack on the left flank of Great Qin's army. Then, three dynasties joined hands and attacked Qin army's field headquarter. The senior general of Great Chu, Xiang Yu, made his comeback. He led the mighty army of Xiang clan and attacked Great Qin's field headquarters violently. In less than no time, he slaughtered 108 of Great Qin's senior generals and 37 members of Great Qin's imperial clan. He also severely wounded Wang Jian, Meng Tian, and a few other famous generals, while the important ministers of Great Qin - Xu Fu and Li Si, were both injured by Xiang Yu.
However, right when the alliance army of three dynasties almost broke into Qin army's field headquarters, Great Zhao's iron cavalry suddenly made their debut, as they launched a sudden attack from the back of the alliance army. The defense of Meng Fortress and Meng City were both broken through by them, while in cooperation with Qin's army, Great Zhao's emperor, Zhao Sheng, personally led the army of Ground Shattering Iron Armored Rhino Cavalry and launched a brutal assault at the alliance's line. Together with him came Great Zhao's valiant generals, such as Zhao She, Zhao Kuo, Lian Po, Li Mu, along with civilian officials such as Lin Xiangru, Gongsun Long, Mao Sui, Su Dai, and many others. Each of them possessed a shocking cultivation base, and when Great Qin and Great Zhao joined hands, they put forth a combined power that was no weaker than the alliance army of three dynasties.
Also, Su Dai is actually Great Yan's Imperial Advisor, Su Qin's elder brother. He is an expert in the knowledge of geography, the art of divination, concealed weapons, and mechanics. The root cause that led to the fall of Meng City was Su Dai, as he pointed his finger at the ground and made it crumble, and broke through the defensive formation of the city. I was working in Meng City at that moment, and fortunately, with the many talismans you, my brother, gave to me, and the teleportation formation that you secretly built inside the Mayor Mansion, I managed to bring my subordinates and assistants to flee on time. Thus, I manged to escape from the enemy's hand.
The war between five dynasties has caused the casualty of over ten thousand soldiers every day. With a single strike from an Earth Immortal of Nascent Soul realm, several tens of thousands of iron-armored soldiers would shatter to pieces. Meng Mountains has become an ocean of blood, a hell on earth. The cruelty and viciousness of the war between the five dynasties is unprecedented. I had a nightmare once, in which I saw hills made of corpses and ocean filled with blood. Yet, even that scene cannot be used to describe a small part of the battlefield in Meng Mountains now.
Ten days ago, Great Qin dispatched an army, who was joined by Great Zhao's Ground Shattering Iron Armored Rhino Cavalry. They split into ten flanks and drove into Great Yan's territory. Great Yan, Great Chu, and Great Wei immediately dispatched their armies, pursuing and intercepting the alliance army of Qin and Zhao. But, a total of 127 cities had already been broken through by the enemies. Great Yan's imperial court was hit by the storm, rumors began spreading across the ordinary people, while the prices of commodities rose significantly. Especially the price for food, cooking oil, salt, and some other basic necessities, their prices skyrocketed to at least one hundred times than before.
To cope with the critical situation, His Majesty sent Left Prime Minister, Prince of Wenxin, Lu Buwei, back urgently to Ji City, so he could calm the imperial court, take control of the state affairs, then assemble and distribute goods and materials throughout the entire Great Yan's territory so as to stabilize the prices of the commodities. Lu Buwei has an absolute power now in Ji City. My brother, please do not come back here now. If you must, please have Princess Zhang Le come back together with you. Although Lu Buwei is unscrupulous, he dares not to assault a member of Great Yan's imperial clan openly."
When Princess Zhang Le read these words, she could not help but twitch her lips and said, "Lu Buwei? How dare he?"
Wu Qi smiled, pinched her ear, and gave it a gentle twist as he said, "Zi Xuan, since Lu Buwei is residing in Ji City now, I'll need your protection soon."
He then flipped the first page and continued reading. The development of the war situation in Meng Mountains was truly beyond his expectation. Although it was already quite surprising that Great Wei secretly tied up with Great Yan and Great Chu, formed an alliance army and launched a sudden attack at Great Qin, but since when did Great Zhao collude with Great Qin? Upon reading the familiar names in the letter, such as Zhao Sheng, Lian Po, Lin Xiangru, and many others, Wu Qi immediately felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
He really wondered how Lu Chengfeng managed to flee from Meng City when faced with so many formidable foes. Fortunately, before Wu Qi left, he had secretly built many small teleportation formations, serving as retreating routes during an emergency. Or else, with Great Zhao's army appeared in such a bizarre manner, perhaps none of the officials in Meng City could escape from being killed.
He sighed, the continued reading the letter.
Using roughly one thousand words, Lu Chengfeng described how horrifying the war situation was. As many cultivators had participated in the war, the combat mode between armies had become totally unpredictable. An army of one hundred thousand soldiers could appear any time before a city located several thousands of miles away. There was no difference between frontline or defensive line. There was no main direction of attack, as wherever the cultivators could arrive, there would be a new teleportation formation emerging at any time. Then, an army of several tens of thousands of soldiers would appear immediately.
Cultivators were fighting and slaughtering each other, while armies and armies were raging combats with each other. Relying on cultivators and teleportation formations, natural chasms such as great rivers or lofty mountains had become mere decorations. Attacking and controlling of teleportation formations had become the main theme of the war.
Meanwhile, those powerful gears of war produced by Mo Sect, especially the formidable Mo City that could unleash incredible offensive powers, had become a nightmare of Great Qin and Great Zhao's armies. Every front where Mo City went, countless Great Qin and Great Zhao's soldiers would be slaughtered and turned into ashes. Even cultivators of Nascent Divinity realm dared not to stand up against any attacks that came from Mo City.
And right when Lu Chengfeng was composing this letter, some strange occurrences suddenly happened at the ancient immortal's ruin located at the border between Great Wei and Great Zhao. A crack suddenly opened up on the very strict restrictive and defensive mechanism deployed by the ancient immortals, and a great amount of excellent quality immortal aura leaked from the crack. A flying sword of lower-grade spirit item flew out from it as well, and was obtained by a lucky Human Immortal from Great Wei, who happened to keep guard near the ruin.
Because of this sudden strange occurrence, the top men from all five dynasties had shifted their attention to the ruins. Great Qin's Prince of Zui, Huhai, Great Zhao's emperor, Zhao Sheng, and many others had led large groups of experts and cultivators, rushing into the depths of He Mountains, which were located at the border between Great Wei and Great Zhao. At the same time, they were preparing to fight for the magical treasures that were unearthed from the ruin.
At the same time, Great Yan, Great Chu, and Great Wei had dispatched many of their elites, and led by the emperors from three dynasties, they too rushed and plunged into the He Mountains.
Because of the ruins, the army from the five dynasties had ceased any of their major scale military operations, as most of their senior elites were attracted by the ancient immortal's ruins and had rushed over to the He Mountains. Expectedly, another fierce struggle was going to happen right inside He Mountains soon, and compared to the battles between several millions of soldiers, it would only be many times more horrifying.
Mo City had also been dispatched over to the He Mountains. This gear of war from Mo Sect with powerful defensive strength and incredible offensive strength had become the greatest weapon for the alliance army, as even the alliance headquarter was placed right inside Mo City now.
After he finished reading the letter, Wu Qi shoved it into Black Dragon Spirit Ring. "An ancient immortal's ruin! Zi Xuan!" exclaimed Wu Qi. Even a random treasure that flew out from it was a lower-grade spirit item? A treasure that gave birth to its own item spirit could only be called a spirit item! For cultivators, even if it were just a lower-grade spirit item, it still worthed much more than an upper-grade magical treasure. Once an item spirit was subdued, it would protect its master and attack the enemies on its own, while no magical treasure could have this kind of an ability.
Princess Zhang Le's eyes were flickering brightly, as she waved her fists excitedly and screamed, "Let's go there as well! All the treasures... Hmm, maybe a part of the treasures will be ours!" Jumping up and down joyfully she laughed and said, "Those three thousand lady officials will handle everything concerning the construction of the new city, and this place is protected by one hundred thousand imperial soldiers. Oh, and Catfish-flood-dragon's aquatic demons, so everything should be fine. Zi Xuan is going to fight for those immortal's treasures. Zi Xuan wants those immortal's treasures!"
Princess Zhang Le's eyes were kindled with flame, and Wu Qi too felt itchy to seal some loot for himself, while Catfish-flood-dragon just blinked her eyes indifferently, looking at both of them with a foolish expression on her face. She did not have any significant impression of anything like the ruins of ancient immortals. Regardless it was a spirit treasure or spirit item, she did not usually use them, as she always used pure muscle strength to fight her opponents.
As Wu Qi was about to discuss with Princess Zhang Le about their trip to the ancient immortal's ruin, all of a sudden, a loud boom was heard coming from the far eastern horizon. A large round-shaped cloud was seen spreading out quickly, and a white trail of cloud came straight out from it, shooting straight towards Wu Qi's direction.
Then, behind the white cloud trail came shooting out a large sheet of colorful light, from which, countless colorful flower petals burst out and smashed onto the white cloud trail, causing it to look shaky and unsteady.
"This is..." Wu Qi was stunned.
A pressure, at least stronger than the combination of ten Wanying Dragon Kings, blanketed the sky and came pressing down on them. Although there was still a distance of several thousand of miles between them, the pressure had already made Wu Qi and the people around him to pant ceaselessly. Strangely, those ordinary mortals who were in the middle of working did not sense anything at all, but all the people with the cultivation base of Xiantian realm and above, be it the lady officials from inner court or the eunuchs of the imperial army, felt as if there was a huge rock pressing down onto their chest. It was so heavy that it made them barely breathe.
"Immortal pressure!" With much difficulty, words spewed out from between Wu Qi's tightly clenched teeth.
