"Kill!"
The million-strong army of the Blood Sun Dynasty, hastily assembled, comprised only a minority of true, iron-blooded soldiers. Yet, their desperate roars echoed as if they were victorious legions emerging from a sea of blood, charging madly towards the Vermilion Bird Legion.
They had no retreat!
A single step back meant the ruin of their nation and the death of their families!
The Vermilion Bird Legion showed no mercy. These common folk of the Blood Sun Dynasty, by picking up arms and stepping onto the battlefield, had become enemies. Enemies were to be purged with blood!
The fifty thousand strong Vermilion Bird army launched their charge. Countless soldiers of the Blood Sun Dynasty, relying on their weapons, flailed wildly in panic, their spears flashing as they desperately parried the Han's锋芒.
Among them were members of various sects. Compared to ordinary civilians, they adapted more quickly. Having been men of the martial world, accustomed to fighting and killing amidst storms, they possessed stout hearts!
The armies barely clashed before the entire Blood Sun Dynasty force began to waver. Facing the disciplined Vermilion Bird Legion, forged through countless battles, these hastily gathered rabble were no match.
Blood rained down like a meteor shower, turning the defense line, stretching for dozens of miles, into a sea of gore. The fifty thousand strong Vermilion Bird Legion advanced steadily, pushing the Blood Sun Dynasty army back several miles.
What was once a vast expanse of green grass was now a muddy ground stained red. Blood seeped into the earth, and shattered corpses, trampled into pulp, lay everywhere. Mountains of cadavers, their bodies covering miles, littered the land!
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The more they were suppressed, the more soldiers fell, and the fiercer the cries of the Blood Sun Dynasty soldiers became. They roared with madness, unable to win through combat, but unwilling to lose in spirit!
Wave after wave of Blood Sun Dynasty soldiers fell. From within the military camps and fortresses, more soldiers emerged, rushing into the fray, vowing to intercept the Vermilion Bird Legion outside the capital.
"Our nation is in peril, we shall not retreat, even unto death!"
"Our nation is in peril, we shall not retreat, even unto death!"
"Our nation is in peril, we shall not retreat, even unto death!"
...
"Die!"
A furious roar erupted from within the Blood Sun Dynasty fortress. A figure, like a streak of purple light, shot through the sky, unleashing a punch that sounded like the heavens collapsing.
The moment the roar was heard, Gan Ning, positioned at the rear of the Vermilion Bird Legion, exploded forth. At the start of this battle, all the powerful cultivators of the Rong Tian realm remained seated, with Lu Kang commanding the Vermilion Bird Legion.
Gan Ning stood in mid-air, a treasure bow instantly in his hand. This bow had been drawn only a few times since he began his campaigns. Each time he shot down a villainous general, the Vermilion Bird statue etched onto the bow would deepen in color, burning with the fierce Southern Bright Flame, growing ever more vigorous.
Zhang Liao, Xu Chu, and Gan Ning had remained unseen initially, partly to temper the army, and partly to swiftly eliminate any Rong Tian realm experts from the enemy forces the moment they appeared, thereby minimizing casualties.
After all, they were still unaware of the true depth of the Blood Sun Dynasty's power!
"Boom!"
The instant Gan Ning's left hand grasped the treasure bow, the Vermilion Bird statues on the bow instantly turned crimson. Accompanied by a high-pitched cry, a three-foot-sized Vermilion Bird soul took shape.
His right hand drew the bowstring, and a fiery red arrow instantly condensed. The three-foot-sized Vermilion Bird soul merged into the arrow. He let out a mighty shout, his entire body tensing, his right arm swelling to twice its normal size.
"Squeak~~"
His right hand began to draw the bow, and terrifying Yuan Li poured into the treasure bow. The bow was drawn to its limit, and he instantly released the string.
"Whoosh!!"
The void warped in an instant. The arrow streaked through the air like a piercing lightning bolt, tearing through the very fabric of space. The transparent air opened like a curtain, splitting in two.
"Rumble!"
The martial artist who had just stepped forward halted, clad in a purple python robe. His cultivation level was at the peak of the second layer of the Rong Tian realm, his blood aura even stronger than that of Marquis Lie Feng.
"Rumble!!"
A powerful pressure descended, as if myriad divine mountains had appeared. The entire battlefield fell silent. The soldiers of the Blood Sun Dynasty strained to lift their heads. They saw only a brilliant light, nothing more.
The man in the purple python robe’s eyes widened in terror as he looked at the arrow rain in the sky. Since the battle began, only martial artists below the Tian Wu realm had engaged in combat. The Rong Tian realm experts on their side had been searching for the aura of the enemy commanders. High-level duels were often decided in an instant.
This arrow rain had caught him completely by surprise. The moment he took a step, the arrow rain was already across the battlefield.
He had stepped out, unleashing a punch, and in doing so, had sent himself to the executioner's block. His face turned deathly pale. The terrifying arrow rain had reached him from a hundred paces away.
He passed through the arrow rain and saw the figure standing at its end. His eyes instantly went blind as an arrow directly struck his forehead.
He was sent flying back a hundred paces before exploding into pieces in mid-air!
The entire battlefield fell into a suffocating silence. Hundreds of thousands of Blood Sun Dynasty soldiers hesitated, fear gripping their hearts in the face of such destructive power.
Gan Ning stood in mid-air, motionless, his unparalleled aura pressing down upon the battlefield. The martial artists of the Blood Sun Dynasty in the Tian Wu realm all bent their knees, as if burdened by divine mountains weighing millions of pounds.
"Hmph!"
Suddenly, a cold snort echoed from the depths of the Blood Sun Dynasty fortress, completely shattering Gan Ning's supreme pressure.
"Swish!"
Zhang Liao and Xu Chu instantly took to the air, stopping on either side of Gan Ning.
From the depths of the fortress emerged two elders. One, clad in a golden imperial robe with a blood-colored cloak, held a golden seal in his hand.
The other was clad in a purple python robe, appearing even older than the old emperor. His face was deeply lined with wrinkles, and his hands were empty.
"Old Emperor!!"
"Marquis of Zhenguo!!"
Some of the elder martial artists of the Blood Sun Dynasty cried out in despair. These two had announced their abdication and passing in the second year of the current Blood Sun Emperor's reign!
Zhang Liao observed the two figures. Their cultivation levels were clearly visible. The old emperor was at the fifth layer of the Rong Tian realm, and the Marquis of Zhenguo at the third. This was likely the true foundation of the Blood Sun Dynasty. With the Han's Vermilion Bird Legion advancing, they were nearing the Blood Sun Dynasty's capital. Having learned from the precedent set by the Great Cloud Dynasty, the Blood Sun Dynasty had no reason to seal off their capital as a lone city.
"Citizens of the Blood Sun Dynasty, our dynasty stands at the precipice of life and death! This battle is one of a hundred deaths with no regrets! I, your Emperor, stand with you all. Together, we shall slay the Han and protect our homeland!"
"Kill without mercy!"