Chapter 1496: East Wind Rises

The wind by the river was quite boisterous.

When Xin Yi arrived with wine and meat to find He Lingchuan, he saw him still hunched over his desk.

"Smells good," He Lingchuan said, taking two sniffs. "Did they butcher a pig in camp?"

"A wild boar we caught in the grass by the river, weighing around four hundred pounds," Xin Yi replied. "I added some herbs, so the stew isn't as gamey." The piece of stewed pork in his hand was enormous, at least three pounds, tied with a grass rope.

The other piece was a pig lung. "I've loved eating this since I was young," he said. "But my family won't touch it; they find offal too dirty."

He Lingchuan pulled out a piece of oiled paper for the pork, casually drew his dagger, and quickly cut the meat into portions.

Cooking on the front line was unceremonious; this meat had simply been boiled for half an hour with some salt and herbs to remove gamey odors. It couldn't compare to the meticulously prepared delicacies of a restaurant chef.

But Xin Yi had somehow acquired some mashed garlic and chili salt. A smear and a dip made the flavor more exciting and less monotonous.

As He Lingchuan ate heartily, Xin Yi leaned down to look at the scroll on his desk:

"Bai Mo Ji? Isn't that the Bega commander on the other side?"

"Yes," He Lingchuan confirmed. "With a major battle imminent, don't we need to know our enemy?"

"What have you found out?"

He Lingchuan casually pushed the documents toward him. "What do you think?"

"It's too thin, just one page?" Xin Yi's spiritual sense was powerful; he scanned it and essentially finished reading. "Oh, from a prestigious family?"

"No," he corrected himself. "He's the descendant of a renowned general!"

Bai Mo Ji, twenty-nine this year, was also a young general in Bega. His father, Bai Zheng, and his grandfather, Bai Lin Yu, were both renowned Bega generals, and father and son belonged to the same martial lineage.

However, over twenty years ago, both men fell on the Abyss Nation battlefield, less than a month apart.

It was said that both battles were incredibly fierce, and Bai Zheng sacrificed himself to turn the tide for the Bega army, securing their final victory.

He Lingchuan reminded him, "He's also a top student from Wu Cheng Hall!"

Bai Mo Ji, Bai Zheng's only son, graduated from Wu Cheng Hall with excellent grades and was promoted twice within ten years.

The famous Wu Cheng Hall was a military academy specially established in Lingxu City, with extremely high standards, only accepting children of prominent families.

He Lingchuan had only visited the Imperial Academy in Lingxu City. Wu Cheng Hall was not a place just anyone could enter, but he had connections with several students from there. In their conversations, they invariably prided themselves on their Wu Cheng Hall background, even looking down on most students from the Lingxu Imperial Academy because it was a mix of good and bad.

Generals like Hong Cheng Luan and Yu Ze Cheng, although not originally from Lingxu City, had all undergone short-term advanced training at Wu Cheng Hall, a process known as 'gilding.' After completing it, they could add another impressive line to their resumes.

This Bai Mo Ji didn't need gilding; he was a legitimate graduate of Wu Cheng Hall, an official top student.

Nearly a year ago, he was dispatched by the Bega Demon Emperor to the Xiluo Kingdom, where he successfully helped the new Xiluo king quell a rebellion and suppress an uprising, after which he remained stationed within Xiluo.

In the current standoff on the Jin Tao front, he had actually led his army directly from the Xiluo Kingdom to this location, arriving earlier than He Lingchuan had anticipated.

The information on the paper was sparse, but that was about it.

Given the haste, it was quite good that He Lingchuan had managed to obtain this much information.

"When the two great generals of the Bai family fell, Bai Mo Ji was only a few years old, the sole heir of the family," Xin Yi mused, stroking his chin. "I've heard of most famous Bega generals, but not this one."

"Then have you heard of Lu Wushuang or Fu Shanlie?"

"I've heard of Fu Shanlie, but the first one is from Qing Palace, right? Not considered a general."

"Who cannot be a general?" He Lingchuan chuckled. "They just lack an opportunity. It's not easy to make a name for yourself in Bega. They have over five hundred miscellaneous generals. Everyone says they have generals like clouds, but perhaps less than twenty percent are truly renowned."

"Less than that, indeed," Xin Yi agreed. "A large country, a long history."

"But Bai Mo Ji just suppressed a rebellion in Xiluo and was then transferred here—" Xin Yi pondered. "It seems the Demon Emperor's deployment method is based on proximity, and perhaps the Jin Tao front wasn't initially given much importance."

"That's good news," He Lingchuan smiled. "We'll find out after a battle or two."

A few Bega soldiers went missing by the river, and Bega requested permission to send people to search the opposite bank. Yuheng City flatly refused.

Bai Mo Ji requested again, and Yuheng City refused again.

This went on several times.

Thus, the battle on the Jin Tao front officially commenced on a dark and stormy night.

That night, an east wind picked up again, whipping up waves and rustling the vegetation. Under the cover of darkness and strong winds, the Xiluo and Bega armies sailed across the river. They used their primal energy to suppress the waves, ensuring their boats could travel safely.

Before they had even crossed half the river, gongs sounded an alarm on the west bank of the great river—the sentries had detected Bega's unusual movements.

The three cities, supporting each other, immediately dispatched troops from their camps.

Yuheng City had been raising the riverbanks and reinforcing the dams. Even during the high-water season, there was still about a twenty-foot drop from the embankment to the water surface. As soon as the Bega army arrived, they immediately cast several large-scale earth wall spells to flatten this height difference, allowing their troops to climb directly up.

In the past, the opponents encountered by Panlong City and Yuheng City mostly relied on human wave attacks or siege engines. They had never encountered such audacious tactics. Activating those array artifacts would consume vast amounts of profound crystals; the expenditure every minute was astronomical—even for the current Panlong City.

He Lingchuan, however, had foresight.

He had visited Lingxu City and knew it was an incredibly wealthy place. Even the seven floating islands above Lingxu City were, in themselves, a colossal set of magical artifacts!

For the "Jinghong Crossing" teleportation array between the floating islands to function normally, it consumed a minimum of five hundred pounds of profound crystals daily.

This showed that Bega was always lavish with its spending; why would they be stingy on the battlefield?

He Lingchuan had just experienced at King Yao's birthday celebration how exhilarating it was to overwhelm opponents with money in combat, hadn't he?

Therefore, he knew from the start that the Bega army would leverage their financial power, at least in the early stages of the war.

Competing in wealth was also a form of combat, a battle.

However, Yuheng City couldn't match such an extravagant display of wealth. So, when Wen Daolun built the embankment, he had an extra foresight, constructing a sluice gate hidden by several rows of large trees, various long grasses, and bamboo groves in front. Now, seeing the Bega army halfway across the river, with their vanguard using their divine abilities to raise walls and climb the slope, he immediately ordered the gate opened to release the water!

It was the high-water season, and as soon as the gate opened, it was as if a thousand troops and ten thousand horses had been unleashed. River waves crashed along the bank, and mist and dust flew everywhere!

The immediate vicinity became impossible to see clearly.

Nian Zanli had used this tactic before to drown Zhao Pan's army at the Han River, but he hadn't controlled the Green Vial properly, resulting in both armies being swept away by the river.

That scene was replayed in the Panlong world, and amid screams, the Xiluo army was scattered into disarray.

But within the Bega army, transparent, faintly blue glowing spherical shields lit up.

Water-repelling barriers!

Curses immediately erupted from the Yuheng army on the riverbank.

These Bega people, their equipment and defenses are too well-equipped!

The rushing river water made the blue light shields sway precariously—these were water-repelling barriers, but the river's power was astonishing, and the barriers couldn't completely negate the external force. However, the arrays produced by Bega were indeed of superior quality, still resisting the torrent of water.

He Lingchuan's command followed immediately: "Activate the siege crossbows! Target the blue light points!"

The siege crossbows on the watchtowers and auxiliary city walls immediately turned, aiming at the blue light points within the Bega array formations—this was the weakness of the water-repelling barriers. The greater the water pressure they endured, the more noticeably the array artifacts glowed, making them bright targets in the eyes of the enemies positioned above.

The first time He Lingchuan entered the Panlong Illusion, he had operated these siege crossbows on the south gate of Panlong City, using them to strike Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu. These specially designed giant crossbows had a long range, great power, and wide area of effect; they exploded upon impact and also had armor-piercing capabilities.

The Bega army's primal energy was truly formidable; the explosive siege crossbows caused far less immediate physical harm to them compared to the Xiluo army. But He Lingchuan activated these large crossbows primarily to strike the water-repelling barrier arrays.

The first volley of thirty siege crossbow bolts flew out, causing explosions throughout the enemy formation. Several blue light points were immediately blasted away.

Large array artifacts typically have a certain degree of fault tolerance; for example, a set of nine water-repelling array artifacts could maintain the barrier as long as six of them were functioning correctly.

The problem was, they weren't all fully deployed when they first appeared.

How often did water-repelling barriers get used? They usually just gathered dust in warehouses. With how many sets of magical artifacts the Bega army brought with them, why would these be the meticulously maintained ones?

They were originally backup arrays, and even during pre-battle inspections, lazy soldiers would only check if they were still functional.

Now, under the chaotic bombardment of the siege crossbows, three blue light shields were instantly breached!

Each barrier could cover a square formation of roughly four hundred people.

As soon as a barrier broke, the surging water immediately arrived, instantly sweeping away over a thousand people.

A cheer erupted from the bank.

"That's more like it! How satisfying!"

Before the cheers subsided, He Lingchuan ordered again: "Second volley, commence!"

The next round of siege crossbow bolts launched, taking out another two or three light shields.

This time, however, a small portion of the Bega troops had learned their lesson and sought nearby shields for cover.

Orders also spread throughout the Bega army.

Bai Mo Ji's reaction was swift; the remaining array artifacts began to contract, merge, and regroup. After two thousand men had been swept away, the water-repelling barriers became stable again.

With the surging river behind them and the horn of attack already sounded, the combined Bega and Xiluo forces had no choice but to push forward. The sooner they reached the shore, the sooner they would be safe!

On the bank, the Yuheng army stood ready, fully equipped with their scythe-shields.

They used specially made long scythe-spears, each forty feet long. While ordinary scythe-spears had only one grappling hook, these had a dozen or so welded firmly onto both sides of the spear shaft, arranged irregularly!

The tips of the grappling hooks also had curved barbs, like a giant bear's claws. These long scythe-spears required four or five soldiers to lift and wield together, thrusting forcefully at the enemy in front, then hooking them back with equal force.

Even if an enemy evaded the initial impact, as long as they remained within the scythe-spear's reach, they would likely still be hooked back.

Those dozen or so grappling hooks would firmly trap the enemy, making escape impossible. The Yuheng soldiers could then calmly swing their blades, stabbing them to death one by one.