Chapter 422: Master's Might

Despite the countless Red-Robed soldiers surrounding them, there was almost no sound other than their perfectly uniform footsteps. All the soldiers looked at Prince Liang and his entourage with resolute and cold expressions.

Prince Liang's expression subtly shifted. With his discerning eye, he could clearly see this was an elite, battle-hardened army, tempered by blood and fire. The Great Zhou Dynasty had enjoyed peace for many years, with no wars for a long time, and he wondered how Duke Mingyue had managed to train them to such a standard.

Despite his admiration, he quickly composed himself and said coldly, "What, are you planning to assassinate an imperial envoy? Are you openly rebelling?"

"Don't try to intimidate us with such titles!" Qin Wanru retorted angrily. "A thousand years ago, when our Chu family was founded, we established the principle of never abandoning or giving up. A'Zu is our Chu family's son-in-law; how can we allow you to arrest him for such a ridiculous reason?"

Prince Liang turned to the silent Chu Zhongtian. "Duke Mingyue, is this your intention too?"

Chu Zhongtian replied calmly, "Indeed. While our Chu family has always avoided trouble, we will not allow ourselves to be bullied."

Qin Wanru cast an astonished glance at her husband. Her husband was usually good-natured, and she had been worried he might be hesitant at such a moment, but she hadn't expected him to stand so resolutely by her side.

Chu Zhongtian's face was as grim as still water. Clearly, he also found the reason for this incident absurd. Coupled with his previous imprisonment, even the most docile person would lose their temper, let alone a dignified duke.

If he didn't seize this opportunity to deliver a painful blow to those attempting to interfere with the Chu family, there was no telling what other messy schemes might follow.

"Good, very good!" Prince Liang let out a laugh, then his face turned cold. "If this were a dozen years ago, I might have been wary of you. But back then, you were severely injured and your cultivation level plummeted. Now you're merely an eighth-rank cultivator. What right do you have to speak like this in front of me!"

Chu Zhongtian said coldly, "The Chu family has never relied on individual prowess; instead, we believe in the strength of unity. As for whether we have the right, Your Highness will know once you try."

"Self-deception! Such talk is simply laughable!" Prince Liang sneered.

At that moment, General Liu Yao, the Guard General, quickly approached Prince Liang and whispered, "Your Highness, be careful. These Red-Robed soldiers are not easy to deal with."

Clearly, his previous defeat had left him with lingering fears.

"Then I truly must try!" Despite his words, Prince Liang lunged directly at Chu Zhongtian, clearly unwilling to let his Imperial Guards engage the Red-Robed Army in direct combat.

Firstly, he hadn't brought many soldiers, and even with General Liu Yao's Imperial Guards, their numbers were far fewer than the Red-Robed Army.

Secondly, if a large-scale battle erupted between the two armies, the situation would spiral beyond his control, and the news could never be completely suppressed.

Although the Chu family would undoubtedly be finished, other local magnates would surely feel a sense of shared dread. If the Censorate were to impeach him afterwards, he would be powerless.

Therefore, it was better for him to act personally. He could initiate or cease the fight as he wished, maintaining full control.

Ideally, he would follow the strategy of "catching the ringleader first" and simply apprehend Chu Zhongtian to end everything.

Seeing Chu Zhongtian meet him with a direct palm strike, he sneered inwardly. His opponent's current cultivation was similar to Sang Hong's, and since Sang Hong had just been severely wounded by his palm, Chu Zhongtian would be no exception.

However, as their palms met, his heart sank. He sensed that his opponent was using a soft, yielding force, not directly clashing with him.

Chu Zhongtian, using the recoil from the palm strike, rapidly retreated. In the blink of an eye, he was back within the Red-Robed Army's formation.

Clearly, his many years of military experience had made him anticipate a sudden attack from the start, so he was fully prepared.

Seeing himself outmaneuvered, Prince Liang grew immensely frustrated. He continued his pursuit, hoping to snatch Chu Zhongtian from the Red-Robed Army formation before he could firmly establish himself.

However, the Red-Robed Army was well-trained and already prepared. Countless arrows, imbued with blue light, shot towards him.

Sensing the terrifying impact force contained within the whistling arrows, he dared not charge forward. He quickly rotated his hands slowly downwards from above his head, and a transparent sphere enveloped him.

The arrows struck the transparent sphere, stirring up layers of watery ripples, but they failed to penetrate the seemingly thin membrane.

As more and more arrows became embedded in the sphere, Prince Liang let out a loud shout. The sphere's membrane, encasing the arrows, abruptly reflected them back.

Within the Red-Robed Army formation, Chu Zhongtian's expression subtly changed. He hastily ordered, "Raise shields!"

The Red-Robed soldiers all raised their shields, and soon, a series of ethereal blue shield images formed in mid-air. Merging together, they resembled a massive tortoise shell suspended in the sky.

The rapidly flying arrows were all blocked.

Liu Yao, standing nearby, secretly sneered. He himself had been rendered helpless by this very move earlier. No matter how high one's cultivation, when the enemy's formation disperses and distributes the force among all soldiers, it is easily handled.

Human psychology is indeed peculiar. Had he not failed earlier, he would now wish for Prince Liang to achieve a complete victory. But since he had already suffered defeat, he now preferred for the other side to also lose, ideally even more miserably.

Furthermore, Prince Liang had never been on good terms with the Liu family, so Liu Yao was naturally pleased to see him stumble.

Prince Liang's face remained unperturbed. He floated in mid-air, his arms spread wide, and his palms slowly rose, as if cradling something heavy.

Faintly, a rotating transparent sphere appeared in each of his palms. When they first appeared, their rotation was very slow, but once materialized, their speed suddenly accelerated, quickly growing to the size of a lead shot.

He then hurled the two spheres directly towards the Red-Robed Army formation.

The transparent spheres collided with the light-blue tortoise shell in mid-air with a thunderous boom. A wave of air spread out, and the blue tortoise shell shook, its flowing blue light flickering erratically. Many soldiers below vomited a mouthful of fresh blood, clearly having sustained significant internal injuries from the shock.

Liu Yao, observing from the side, had a subtle change in expression. Earlier, his full-strength strike had been received by the Red-Robed Army as if nothing had happened. Could the difference between himself and Prince Liang really be this great?

At that moment, other soldiers in the Red-Robed Army formation quickly took over the shields of their injured comrades, rotating them out to rest. The blue tortoise shell in mid-air became stable once more.

A flicker of surprise appeared in Prince Liang's eyes. He once again condensed two transparent spheres and hurled them down.

With another thunderous boom, the blue tortoise shell shook again, but it remained unyielding.

"Let's see how many times you can withstand this!" Prince Liang also lost his temper and once again condensed transparent spheres.

However, he was, after all, a Grandmaster. He did not impulsively throw them out all at once as before. Instead, he continuously flew through the air, bombarding the army formation below while searching for any potential openings they might reveal.

While an army can achieve victory through formations and numerical superiority, it is not without weaknesses. The enhancement from formations, after all, cannot compare to the versatility of individual power. The more people involved, the higher the demand for coordination, and thus the more prone to revealing weaknesses.

A disciplined army like the Red-Robed Army could already be considered one of the strongest in the world, but facing continuous attacks from various angles, they would eventually reveal openings.

Such an opening need not be large; just one instance would be enough for a true master to seize.

He moved through the air, leaving afterimages, continuously bombarding the Red-Robed Army's formation from various angles, attempting to create an opportunity to disrupt their order.

Because of his extreme speed, when he moved to a new position, the afterimage from his previous location had not yet vanished. To onlookers, it seemed as if his figures filled the sky, bombarding the Red-Robed Army's formation from all directions.

The Red-Robed Army was desperately struggling to resist, like a small boat in a raging sea. Although they dodged the danger of capsizing again and again, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before they were swallowed by the waves.

"Is this the power of a Grandmaster?" The commotion on the Chu family's side attracted many curious onlookers, and upon seeing this scene, everyone's faces turned pale.

At that moment, Chu Zhongtian's voice slowly rang out from within the Red-Robed Army formation: "Raise the battle flag, beat the war drums!"