Chapter 27: The Assault of the Mighty Warrior

The new army in Tower City had been largely reorganized, and the situation within the Zheng Kingdom was gradually becoming clearer. During the establishment of the western expedition corridor, Qian Ye had swept away the remnants of the second prince’s forces, silencing those who doubted his might.

The other princes were no match for Nan Ruohuai, who held the royal guard. They suffered repeated defeats, with some dying and others fleeing. Only a handful of die-hard supporters remained. The perceptive knew that these princes’ days were numbered; even if they won a battle or two, it would be futile. Even if they managed to eliminate the entire royal guard, Qian Ye would turn around and destroy them.

With the situation now clear, resistance dwindled, and Qian Ye did not need to deploy many mercenaries to maintain control. He left three thousand men on Xudong Island and two thousand in Liao City, while the rest of the five thousand mercenaries were sent to Tower City. Meanwhile, Qian Ye also dispatched people back to the Neutral Lands to bring in another twenty thousand mercenaries and ordered Darkflame to recruit and train an additional fifty thousand new soldiers.

During this time, Qian Ye, besides handling military affairs, also trained day and night. His dawn origin force made rapid progress, and three days before the western expedition, Qian Ye had perfected all nine of his origin force vortices.

At this moment, he could see within himself that the origin force vortices appeared like a sea of golden light, with the origin force at its peak density, flowing and rotating slowly. The vortices were filled with countless golden particles, and golden flames burned fiercely above them.

Such origin force vortices had reached their limit. Even if he used the Song Clan’s ancient scroll to refine them, the condensed origin force would not be absorbed. Now, Qian Ye needed only to take a small step forward to cross the Divine General Threshold and achieve a great feat that few in the empire could accomplish.

However, just as he was about to break through, Qian Ye was astounded by a critical problem!

Due to the extremely pure nature of the dawn illumination in the origin force vortices, the golden liquid had become highly dense, with natural crystallization occurring. To further refine it, turning all the liquid into crystals, was far from easy. Despite his best efforts, Qian Ye could not compress the liquid to the point of crystallization.

In other words, relying on himself alone, he would never be able to break through the Divine General Threshold.

Discovering this, Qian Ye was stunned. Most cultivators worried about their origin force being impure, yet he found that too much purity could also have adverse effects.

After recovering from his shock, Qian Ye did not despair. In the past, due to his old injuries, he required several times the origin force of a normal person to advance each level. Back then, even ascending to the rank of war general seemed distant, yet he had overcome it. If he could not do it alone, he would find external opportunities.

News of Qian Ye’s imminent western expedition spread throughout the Zheng Kingdom. Reactions from the court officials varied, but the majority opposed it.

Over the past few days, led by the prime minister, the officials strongly urged Nan Ruohuai to find a way to stop Qian Ye’s western expedition. Their words grew so intense that it bordered on a verbal quarrel.

The prime minister argued that if Qian Ye succeeded in the western expedition, the Great Corridor would fall into his hands, blocking the Zheng Kingdom’s expansion. What future would there be?

Seeing the fervent officials below, Nan Ruohuai, sitting high on his throne, felt both angry and amused.

For decades, the Zheng Kingdom had faced mostly defeats against the dark races in the west, relying solely on the defense system of Tower City. The dark races had built their fortresses right outside the city, and the Zheng Kingdom had no hope of expansion. The city’s survival was thanks to Xu Jingxuan’s talents. If someone else had been in charge, the dark races would have flooded in like a tide.

Now, these officials were more afraid of Qian Ye gaining an advantage, not wanting others to have what they could not. This was their mindset.

Thinking of this, Nan Ruohuai calmly asked, “How should I stop him, then?”

The officials offered various strategies, including collaborating with the dark races to attack from both inside and out. They were truly willing to go to any lengths to eliminate Qian Ye.

Nan Ruohuai listened quietly until the officials ran out of steam, and then he said, “Your suggestions are all good. But who among you is willing to lead the troops and reclaim Tower City for me?”

Silence fell over the court.

Qian Ye, still in Tower City, was unaware of these intrigues in the Zheng Kingdom. The internal dynamics of the kingdom were not important to him.

On the day of the western expedition, Qian Ye did not hold any ceremony. He simply gave the order, and the assembled army departed according to the plan. As for morale, no speech could match the presence of floating warships in the sky.

In the middle region between the dark races and human fortresses, the area, long a battlefield, was virtually uninhabited. Only savage and cunning wild hunters roamed, seeking prey. However, in the face of Qian Ye’s aerial fleet, any wild hunter became the hunted. Seeing the massive shadows overhead, these hunters, whether human or dark race, could only hide and pray not to be discovered.

The entrance to the Great Corridor began to tremble as the cannon fire shook the mountains and the earth. Stone castles crumbled, and small fortresses were engulfed in flames from the falling shells. The defenders, fleeing in panic, were met by low-flying gunboats and mercenaries who had landed ahead of time.

Though the number of paratroopers was small, they were particularly fierce, with overwhelming firepower. A small unit of a hundred or so men could suppress the defenses of a fortress with five to six hundred defenders.

Trapped, many dark races unleashed their ferocity, charging at the mercenaries. They had always looked down on humans, believing that the Zheng Kingdom’s soldiers were weak and cowardly. A single charge, they thought, would crush them.

But they did not know that standing before them were not the Zheng Kingdom’s troops, but Qian Ye’s Darkflame mercenaries.

The fierce firepower mowed down most of the dark warriors mid-charge. The werewolves, proud of their short-range sprint, were no match for the storm of metal. Many werewolves fell, riddled with bullet holes.

Of the five hundred dark warriors, only a hundred or so made it to the lines. Undeterred, they became even more excited, entering a bloodthirsty state. In their experience, once they breached the human defenses, a dozen dark warriors could defeat a hundred human soldiers. Close combat was always the domain of the werewolves.

Though the werewolves broke through the lines, the mercenaries remained calm, discarding their origin guns and drawing blades, leaping forward to meet them.

The remaining dark warriors found themselves facing a wall of metal. Their swords and claws could not penetrate the mercenaries’ heavy armor, and in return, the mercenaries’ strength was beyond imagination, almost cleaving a werewolf in half with a single blow.

By the end of the counterattack, only a dozen or so dark warriors remained standing. They lasted only a few seconds more before being slain in the mercenaries’ second wave.

Similar scenes played out across the front lines of the Great Corridor. Qian Ye’s forces continued to advance, destroying castles, intercepting fleeing enemies, and dismantling the outer forts of the two major fortresses. The coordination between the fleet, transport ships, and ground mercenaries was seamless, steadily eroding the dark race’s forces.

The assault was so swift that by the time the wolves in the fortresses realized what was happening, most of the outer forts and castles had already fallen, with tens of thousands of dark warriors either dead or captured.

Orders from the fortress commanders came too late. Organizing an effective counterattack on the spot was impossible, and the only option was to recall the forces from the outer positions. However, under the full interception of the Darkflame fleet, only half managed to retreat successfully.

By nightfall, the first day’s assault was over. When the generals reported the results, Qian Ye was invigorated.

The battle had cleared over forty outer forts, annihilating fifteen thousand dark race troops, with six thousand captured. Most of the prisoners were werewolves, with a few spiders and blood races.

This reduced the two major fortresses’ garrisons to around twenty thousand, significantly lowering the difficulty of the assault.

When Xu Jingxuan came to see Qian Ye, he looked exhausted, but his spirit was high. He brought the defense plans of the two fortresses and presented his strategy.

His plan was detailed and comprehensive, considering the fleet’s advantages. According to his calculations, the assault on the fortresses would cost two to three thousand lives.

While such casualties were acceptable for such a large fortress, Qian Ye pointed to the main cannon and asked, “You’re focusing on this?”

“Yes, my lord. Based on our intelligence, only your cruiser’s firepower can destroy this main cannon while withstanding its attacks. Simultaneously, we need to suppress the other turrets in the city to prevent them from concentrating fire on the cruiser.”

Qian Ye nodded. “I will take care of this turret. Revise the plan.”

“My lord, you…?”

“Carry out the plan.”

“Yes!” Xu Jingxuan rushed off, anxious yet excited, finally able to see Qian Ye in action.

What Qian Ye meant, in tactical terms, was a strong force breakthrough. While theoretically, a strong force determined the outcome, in actual combat, such a move was not common, especially at the start. Especially against a fixed position, it was difficult to predict the danger level. Any mishap could collapse the entire battle.

Xu Jingxuan, though knowing Qian Ye’s prowess, was still shocked by the idea of a lone infiltration to destroy the main cannon. Even Liu Zhongyuan, if alive, would not attempt it.

The next morning, as the sun illuminated the earth, the Darkflame fleet ascended, like a dark cloud, towards the Wolf Tooth Fortress.

As soon as the fleet arrived over the fortress, Qian Ye leaped from the cruiser, heading straight for the main cannon.

Inside the fortress, the prepared main cannon roared, spewing a blinding fireball at Qian Ye!

In his true vision, a thick line of dark origin force surged toward him. Despite the excellent aim, hitting such a small and sudden target, Qian Ye vanished from his spot, the fireball striking empty space and continuing upward, hitting a fleeing gunboat and shattering its rear.