The Xi Queen looked at the steel fortress and smiled.
Although she had boasted in front of An Lushan and the others, she was actually an extremely cautious person. Let alone the limit of four hundred feet Gao Shang had placed, the Xi Queen was standing more than seven thousand feet away. Even if Wang Chong personally took action, she had enough time to flee, let alone someone else.
Bang!
The Xi Queen’s smile was still hanging on her lips when a thunderous boom came from the fortress.
At the same time, a boundless energy appeared in everyone’s senses. It was so powerful that even ordinary soldiers could sense it.
Whoosh!
Wind began to howl, but this time, it was coming from the direction of the steel fortress and moving toward Youzhou.
“Not good!”
The Xi Queen paled, instantly sensing that her life was in grave danger. Her young and beautiful face instantly went as white as paper.
Driven by terror and instinct, the Xi Queen lunged to the side, but compared to that arrow unleashed by Chuluohou from within the fortress, she was far too slow.
Plush! An indistinct blur shot out of the skies, piercing through space and straight at the Xi Queen.
The Xi Queen dodged almost instinctively, but suddenly, she felt a piercing pain at her back, and the sound of an arrow penetrating through flesh entered her ears.
Chapter 2181 - Ice Bridge!
Chapter 2181: Ice Bridge!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Only now did the Xi Queen realize that when she was seeing the blur, the arrow that had created the blur had already struck her.
Dismay, shock, panic… countless emotions flitted through the Xi Queen’s eyes.
Bang!
A moment later, a terrifying energy erupted from the arrow in her chest.
“Aaaah!” The Xi Queen screamed out as she trembled, and she was carried away more than two hundred feet by the power of the arrow and slammed into the ground.
“Bastard!”
The Xi Queen bounced off the ground and got to her knees.
Her black hair was in disarray as she raised her head and glared at the fortress.
The lunge the Xi Queen had instinctively made out of fear had saved her life. The arrow that should have shot through her heart had missed by several inches and failed to take her life.
Now that she had survived, her savage Xi nature erupted.
“Since you dare to treat me this way, don’t blame me!”
There was a fierce gleam in the Xi Queen’s eyes. A moment later, she pressed her arms against the ground and grabbed.
Kaclack!
A wave of cold energy seemed to be drawn out of the earth, and as soldiers from both her side and the enemy side watched in shock, the Xi Queen began to exert an enormous pull, drawing in all the snow and cold air around the area of the alliance army and coalescing it into crystalline ice drills that shot out of the ground.
These ice drills rapidly expanded to lengths of three to four hundred feet.
As these ice drills crazily grew, they began to coil around each other as if they were alive. In short order, they had combined into a magnificent and broad ‘ice bridge’ that seemed straight out of a dream.
Everyone was struck dumb by this.
“Ice Element ability! I did not expect the Xi Queen to have such frightening Ice Element cultivation!”
Beneath the six banners, An Lushan’s eyes flew open in surprise, his lips trembling.
When it came to cultivating the Five Elements, they were easy to start but difficult to master.
The ability the Xi Queen had displayed marked her as not merely an Ice Element cultivator, but one who had reached the very apex and could be considered one of the strongest such experts in the world. This was a surprising harvest for An Lushan!
He had never envisioned this when first recruiting the Xi Queen.
Even the Khitan King was flabbergasted.
He had known the Xi Queen for a long time, but he had never seen her use her full abilities or unleash such frightening strength.
The arrow that Wang Chong had ordered to be loosed against her had apparently completely provoked her ire.
The sight of the crazed Xi Queen caused the Khitan King to shiver.
Cold air surged as the Stellar Energy in the Xi Queen’s body was rapidly consumed. But at this moment, she no longer cared. Although the war had yet to reach its most intense moment, she had been thoroughly enraged by Chuluohou’s arrow.
Kaclack!
The ice bridge extended with astonishing speed, and with a crisp crack, an ice bridge that was around six meters wide and one meter thick connected to the walls, followed by a second, a third, a fourth… In just a few short moments, a series of large ice bridges leading straight to the walls had appeared.
“Bastard! I’d like to see how you deal with this!”
The Xi Queen gnashed her teeth in hatred.
But despite her words, after creating the ice bridges, the Xi Queen immediately began to flee.
Her powers had been greatly reduced by this massive consumption of Stellar Energy, and she no longer had the ability to contend against a Great General.
Staying any longer meant certain death.
“What are you looking around for? Go!” the Xi Queen rebuked as she ran past a group of soldiers.
“You bastards, hurry up and receive me!”
Hearing this, several nearby generals began to ride toward the Xi Queen, and even the distant Khitan King yelled and began to ride over.
Bang!
In a flash of light, another heaven-shaking arrow blasted toward the Xi Queen.
But this time, with a thunderous crack, someone blocked Chuluohou’s arrow. It was none other than Great General Tiechi Bileli.
Tiechi Bileli was the Eastern Turkic Khaganate’s elite Great General, and even Zhang Shougui had had a hard time with him. He was more than capable of blocking this arrow.
“Bastard!”
The Xi Queen, though she had escaped this calamity, had turned ghastly white from fear, and she continued to flee like a frightened bird.
“Woman, it seems you’re quite nimble!”
Within the steel fortress, on the roof of a prominent metal building, Chuluohou slowly put down the Demon God Bow, a sharp light in his eyes.
All levels of the Tongluo Tribe venerated the idea of the true man and would not strike women. Though the Xi Queen was a woman, Chuluohou had ultimately been rather hesitant. Otherwise, the Xi Queen might not have been able to escape.
As for the ice bridges, Chuluohou wasn’t concerned. Anyone who thought that they could break through the steel fortress with just these few ice bridges was just dreaming.
The only problem was that the Xi Queen had sealed off the kerosene, truly creating a problem.
“General, how was it?” A voice interrupted Chuluohou’s thoughts, and as he turned to the speaker, he saw a small and thin figure jumping across the rooftops toward him. It was none other than Wang Chong’s close aide, Zhang Que.
“I have disappointed His Highness. If not for a small error, Chuluohou would have been able to kill the Xi Queen!”
Chuluohou bowed, a hint of shame in his eyes.
Orders were as weighty as mountains, and a subordinate’s most important duty was to carry out orders. Wang Chong had given him the Demon God Bow, but he had failed to kill the Xi Queen. Regardless of whether or not Tiechi Bileli intervened, this was a stone-cold fact.
“Haha, General does not need to be concerned. His Highness expected this. A single Xi Queen cannot influence the overall situation. His Highness has planned everything. General should quickly go back and make your report!”
Zhang Que chuckled, seemingly unconcerned.
Chuluohou couldn’t help but be taken aback by this reply.
But Chuluohou quickly understood. The King of Foreign Lands was the War Saint, renowned for his foresight an
d stratagems. There was little doubt that he had already known what would happen when he gave the Demon God Bow to Chuluohou to deal with the Xi Queen.
Everything was part of his calculations.
His first priority was to not affect the King of Foreign Lands’ other plans.
“Yes, Chuluohou will go to report!”
Chuluohou quickly jumped down from the building.
……
“Kill!”
In the distance, alliance soldiers cheered at the sight of the wide and resplendent path the Xi Queen had created.
Compared to ropes and siege ladders, this method was much faster. More importantly, with this broad path, even cavalry could charge up the walls.
“Everyone, charge!”
An Eastern Turkic general raised his scimitar and led the charge up the ice bridge. He was cautious at first, worried that the ice bridges would be too fragile, but when his horse trod onto the ice, he found it to be incredibly thick and firm, even giving off a faint metallic echo.
“Wonderful!”
The general was energized and immediately spurred his horse into a charge, shooting toward the walls like an arrow from a bow.
The ice bridges were far sturdier than anticipated, even serving as extra ‘shields’ that protected the alliance army as it charged up to the walls.
Even the threat of the ballistae were reduced this way!
“Brothers, kill!”
Tens of thousands of cavalry followed the general in charging up the ice bridges.
Seven-thousand-some feet seemed like a vast distance, but for cavalry charging at full speed, it was a matter of only a few seconds.
Behind the cavalry, the earth rumbled as the Goguryeon, Khitan, Xi, and Youzhou soldiers bellowed and charged across the ice bridges.
Clang!
A long and heavy sword flashed as it hacked at the part of the ice bridge connected to the wall. But even when swung with full force, the sword was only able to leave a crack on the ice bridge, and the impact caused the sword to bounce back. The armored Tang soldiers on the walls who had wanted to hack away at the ice bridges instantly paled.
The Xi Queen’s ice bridges were far more frightening than they had anticipated.
“Take up formation! Prepare for battle!”
A thunderous roar resounded through the world.
A general on the wall swiftly began to issue orders.
Cavalry moved extremely fast, and cutting down the ice bridges took more time and energy than they had.
Rumble! A few moments later, the alliance army arrived, and the two armies began to fiercely battle on the ice bridges.
Neigh!
With resounding neighs, the cavalry charged onto the walls, and several city defense soldiers were caught off guard and were thrown off the walls by the impact.
Bangbangbang!
As the cavalry entered the battle, the walls instantly fell into turmoil.
“Take up formation!”
With a bellowed order, the Tang army began to shift back into their formidable formations.
There were six men to each unit, and all of their energies were fused together, making them like a steel plate.
Bang!
Another horseman charged over, but this time, he faced six sharp and heavy swords.
Chapter 2182 - : Phase Two of the Plan!
Chapter 2182: Phase Two of the Plan!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Right after reaching the walls, the horseman was cut into pieces, and his corpse was carried by his inertia over the walls.
The city defense division’s rigorous training immediately showed its effect, and it took only a few moments until order was restored to the walls.
More soldiers charged across the ice bridges, and large numbers of people died on both sides as the armies battled.
But Wang Chong had specifically trained his one hundred thousand soldiers for city defense, so even with the Xi Queen’s ice bridges, it was difficult to break through them.
Moreover…
Bang!
With a massive boom, a ballista bolt wrapped in destructive energy shot through an ice bridge, leaving a large hole in that sturdy bridge and sending ice shards flying.
All the ballistae had changed targets and begun to fire on the ice bridges.
As An Lushan listened to the war cries from the distance, he slightly frowned.
“It’s no good! This isn’t enough to break the steel fortress!”
The Xi Queen had managed to deal with the kerosene, but it still seemed that breaking through the walls and opening the gate was a distant goal.
Wang Chong was far more prepared than he had anticipated. With this defense line, Wang Chong could defend against him until the end of time.
Wang Chong could wait, but An Lushan could not. The alliance army had lost almost four hundred thousand soldiers, while Wang Chong’s losses had been rather limited.
If they could not break this stalemate, the alliance’s morale would suffer a heavy blow.
An Lushan turned to Gao Shang and said, “Gao Shang, it seems that we have to execute the second phase of the plan!”
“Mm!”
Gao Shang nodded. He had also not anticipated that the second phase would have to be used so soon after the battle had begun.
But it truly did seem like there was no way of ending this impasse, other than activating the second phase.
“But if we do this, we will be in an extremely passive position. After all, the enemy generals have yet to make their move,” Gao Shang worriedly said.
According to Gao Shang’s plan, the battle needed to reach the stage where the generals on both sides had entered the fray, and only then would they begin seeking out the right time to activate the second phase. But the Great Tang’s defenses were simply too strong, and the generals on both sides had yet to take action.
“There’s nothing to be done!”
An Lushan’s eyes flashed with resolve.
He turned to the Divine Works Elder and said, “Divine Works Elder, I must trouble you for this!”
“Haha, it’s fine as long as you’ve thought it over. Venerable Genesis Supreme has already said that once the battle begins, everyone, including me, will obey your commands!”
The Divine Works Elder proudly laughed, seemingly unconcerned.
“But I must tell you that there are only three of the item that you want, which represents the entirety of the organization’s stockpile. If you fail, you will not get a second chance!
“In addition, firing it requires a long charging period. You will need to wait a while before it actually fires!”
“Mm!”
An Lushan merely grunted and said no more.
The Divine Works Elder faintly smiled and quickly departed.
At the front, the battle continued and the losses continued to climb.
The alliance army was suffering far more losses than the Great Tang.
Kaclack!
On the eastern side of the fortress, one of the tough ice bridges that spanned several thousand feet finally collapsed under the continuous ballista fire, and countless alliance soldiers screamed as they fell.
“It’s about time!”
Within the steel fortress, Wang Chong glanced outside the walls. As he listened to the din of battle, a faint and profound smile appeared on his lips.
“What’s wrong?”
Tongluo Great General Abusi had been observing the battle, but when he heard Wang Chong’s words, he immediately turned his head.
“If my guess is right, they should be making their move right about now!”
Wang Chong softly chuckled.
“What?”
Abusi’s face froze in surprise.
“Your Highness means that An Lushan has some hidden move?”
Wang Chong waved his sleeve and lightly said, “This isn’t enough to break the walls. An Lushan should understand this, and if this is the e
xtent of his plans, then I’ve greatly overestimated him!”
Someone who the men in black had assigned as their spokesperson, who had been chosen by the World Consciousness as the Child of the World, naturally couldn’t be this incapable.
Wang Chong was keenly aware that An Lushan had more strength than he was showing right now.
Whoosh!
At this moment, an eagle shot into the steel fortress like an arrow, and a few moments later, a messenger rushed over to Wang Chong.
“Your Highness, a report from General Xue. Please inspect it!
“In addition, the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian has sent word that everything is ready, and they can carry out Your Highness’s command at any time!”
The messenger got down on one knee and offered up the letter he had just received with both hands.
Wang Chong took the letter from the messenger, and after glancing at it, he smiled.
“Everything is ready! All that is lacking is the east wind! An Lushan, you’re the only one left. Let me see what makes you dare to rebel and attempt to destroy the Great Tang!”
Wang Chong placed his hands behind his back, his expression unfathomable as he looked north toward the alliance army.
“Hurry up! You pieces of trash, hurry up! Did you not hear Milord’s order?”
“If you end up delaying Milord, all of you will be executed!”
As time slowly passed, furious curses could be heard from the rear of the army.
In a vacant area, several hundred men in black had split up into ten-some groups. From the sky, they appeared to be drawing something.
These were clearly massive formations.
In front of these men in black, a man who appeared to be leading them flailed a black whip that was more than one hundred feet long.
Clap!
A whip cracked on the body of a man in black who was moving a little too slowly, the thorns on the whip tearing open his robes and leaving a bloody wound. Not even Stellar Energy had been able to stop this whip.
The man in black instantly shivered in pain and gasped, letting out a pained groan.
“Hurry!”
“Hurry!”
“It’s your turn now! Start pouring in Stellar Energy!”
The leader of these men in black pointed his whip at the thousands of alliance soldiers who had been waiting on the side.
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