Chapter 203: Taking Fire Dragon Pass, Military Merit Evaluation

As a formation base city, Crescent City was not designed with its own defenses in mind when it was first built. Its defensive standards were even lower than the methods Wang Ji employed in City No. 92. Engineer Wang at least knew to set up several anti-burrowing formations beneath the city walls! But Crescent City had none. Due to overconfidence in Fire Dragon Pass, Crescent City and the other cities within the pass were not equipped with anti-burrowing formations. There were some mechanisms, but these were not for anti-burrowing; they were used to draw power from the earth’s ley lines.

Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie had already prepared the firecracker placements yesterday. The only difficulty was being careful while burrowing. Fifth-tier firecrackers are highly flammable and explosive, and Crescent City is built on a fire ley line. Even a slight accident during infiltration could be fatal to their own team.

"Move out!" Chen Shijie commanded.

A hundred mages and stewards skilled in burrowing techniques departed, each carrying a large quantity of firecrackers towards Crescent City.

"Divine Movement Guard!" Zhao Xing pointed, and golden light enveloped a large quantity of firecrackers, sinking them underground. They then moved through the ground, carrying the firecrackers.

Crescent City was the size of 25 football fields. However, the actual area to be detonated wasn't that large. Destroying Bastard's City Lord's Mansion and the four judicial formations of Crescent City would be sufficient. The most crucial target was Bastard's City Lord's Mansion, because it was the core of Crescent City. The formation strongholds located at the four corners of Crescent City, if these four nodes were destroyed, the defensive formation of Crescent City and the southern section of Fire Dragon Pass would merely be severed and could still be repaired. But destroying the City Lord's Mansion would require a complete reconstruction, which, as Pang Guangyao mentioned, would take three to four months to re-establish.

This part could only be done by Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing. Why? Because others couldn't fully utilize the power of the firecrackers, and the formations beneath the City Lord's Mansion were relatively complex.

As the hundred individuals burrowed underground to the city's outskirts, Chen Shijie transmitted orders to everyone via the earth's ley lines. "All four groups are to retreat in one hour and detonate in seventy-five minutes! Regardless of whether the placements are complete in one hour, you must retreat! Understand?"

"Understood!"

Chen Shijie said, "The operation starts now!"

With that, the hundred individuals dispersed in various directions towards the city's foundations. Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie, meanwhile, continued their infiltration towards the central City Lord's Mansion. They carried the largest quantities, and the path they had to take was also more complex. As the core of the formation, the City Lord's Mansion rested on a fire ley line; those lacking strength truly couldn't infiltrate it.

Thirty minutes later, Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing stopped. "We've arrived. Ahead is the Blazing Fire Dragon Core Formation."

Within the ley line ahead, a dragon-shaped flame pulsed, its massive head gaping downwards. Countless streams of geothermal fire energy were drawn into the dragon's head, then converted by the formation and transported to the small fortresses surrounding Crescent City. These small fortresses around Crescent City acted as relay stations for the formation's energy. Ultimately, the energy converged at Fire Dragon Pass. That section of the pass was the most vulnerable part of the Flame Mountain Range, yet through the superposition of many complex formations, it had become the strongest pass.

"We'll split up. I'll start from the Zhen position, and you'll... uh, I'll place them from the southeast, and you from the southwest." Zhao Xing stopped halfway, realizing that Old Chen didn't know much about Gongjia formations, and immediately corrected himself.

"Don't underestimate me," Chen Shijie said. "Since I returned last time, I've diligently caught up on basic Gongjia formation knowledge. The Li position represents fire, and the Dui position represents marsh. Your instruction for me to start placing from the southwest—isn't the principle that the Li and Dui positions can maximize the firecrackers' power? And your placement from the Zhen position—aren't you trying to use the firecrackers' power to destroy the Blazing Fire Dragon Core Formation's diversion points, causing the geothermal fire to concentrate and ultimately self-detonate?"

"Amazing!" Zhao Xing gave a thumbs-up.

"What's so amazing? Who doesn't learn anymore? It's just a small matter," Chen Shijie said lightly. "While you were farming in Dongshang City, I wasn't idle either." Although he spoke casually, Chen Shijie secretly delighted in Zhao Xing's stunned expression. Burning the midnight oil for half a month, he finally managed to quietly impress this kid. It wasn't wasted effort!

Since Old Chen knew, it made things even more convenient. Zhao Xing carefully wrapped the firecrackers, controlling the Octagonal Underground Palace to approach. He and Chen Shijie each brought one hundred top-grade fifth-tier firecrackers, totaling one thousand four hundred sections. The power of fifth-tier firecrackers was calculated per section. The explosive power of a single section of a top-grade fifth-tier firecracker was enough to penetrate the defense of fifth-tier battle armor.

In other places, to blow up the City Lord's Mansion, relying solely on these fourteen hundred sections of firecrackers would be slightly insufficient. This was because their current infiltration depth was quite deep, more than two hundred meters below the surface. Furthermore, the City Lord's Mansion had a solid foundation, so merely blowing it up wouldn't be enough. But this was Crescent City, itself built on a powder keg. The fifth-tier firecrackers just needed to ignite this powder keg.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhao Xing sent a message asking: "Are you done?"

"Almost," Chen Shijie replied, not as fast. "Help me check if there are any errors or omissions."

"Alright." As soon as Zhao Xing finished his task, he immediately came to double-check Chen Shijie's firecracker placements.

Another fifteen minutes passed, approaching the agreed retreat time. Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie cross-checked twice. After confirming there were no issues, they immediately began to retreat. After they left, only the firecrackers remained buried underground, enveloped in golden light. All the operatives knew this technique because it wasn't a spell; it was simply attaching vital energy to the firecrackers to envelop them. Anyone at the eighth rank could achieve this level of vital energy control. After forty-five minutes, the golden light would automatically dissipate. Without the vital energy wrapping, the firecrackers would quickly explode in the scorching underground.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie were the first to reach the underground outside the city. The rest of the personnel gradually returned to their positions. Another fifteen minutes passed, and all one hundred operatives were accounted for, with no accidents.

"Retreat!" Chen Shijie immediately ordered. There were only fifteen minutes until detonation; they needed to get far away, or they would be affected.

In the City Lord's Mansion, Bastard awoke from a dream. The two Fire Demoness beauties beside him awoke as well. "What's wrong, my Lord?"

Bastard clutched his head and said, "I just had a nightmare; I dreamed I died." As a sixth-rank martial artist practicing Heavenly Star and Earthly Fiend Body Tempering, Bastard's seven corporeal souls were already very strong. With the seven corporeal souls nurturing the soul of destiny, the soul of destiny could frequently commune with the celestial and earthly souls, granting some premonitory senses. These senses were generally related to 'rebirth' and 'karma'. Therefore, the higher the rank of a martial artist, the harder it was to ambush them, as their vigilance would be extremely high.

"How could that be? We're within Fire Dragon Pass..."

"Silence!" Bastard irritably pushed the beauty away, quickly dressed, and pushed open the door. "Guards!"

"City Lord!" Two guards immediately ran to the door.

"Go find Engineer Hop. I need to go underground to check something." Bastard pondered and decided to patrol the underground area. "Also, send someone to check the pass walls for any enemy attacks."

"Yes, sir."

Soon, a unique-looking Fire Demon appeared, carrying a mechanical box on his back and limping on one horn. "Esteemed City Lord Bastard, you called for me?"

"Hop, come with me to inspect the underground formations," Bastard said. "See if there are any issues."

"This..." Hop was stunned. Why would Bastard suddenly think of such a thing? Had he discovered something?

"What's wrong?"

"Lord City Lord, it's just... just some minor issues," Hop's face stiffened.

Bastard noticed Hop's hesitation and immediately barked, "What is it? Speak quickly!" Under Bastard's interrogation, Hop had no choice but to reveal the truth. During routine maintenance last month, he had removed several defensive formations, including the anti-burrowing ones. He had also cut corners, replacing the base materials for sixteen types of formations with inferior ones. In short, the fellow was corrupt. Thinking he had been found out by Bastard, he immediately confessed.

"You... you scoundrel!" Bastard's unease intensified. He grabbed Hop by the neck and snarled, "Take people down to inspect immediately and make all necessary repairs! You scoundrels! The Geothermal Fire Lotus was stolen last month, and you still dare to be so careless!"

Hop agreed verbally but inwardly dismissed it. What did the Geothermal Fire Lotus theft have to do with him? Weren't you also playing around all day? Nevertheless, he quickly called for men and, leading Bastard, descended into the underground through a special passage.

Shortly after descending, Bastard's unease intensified. But upon reaching the location, this feeling of dread reached its peak!

"Huh? What's that?"

Once underground, Bastard immediately saw the faint golden glows hovering next to the underground formations. The people around Hop also looked over. At this sight, Hop's soul nearly leaped out of him. "Th-that's..." Hop was too terrified to speak, his limbs weak.

Bastard grabbed Hop, "You scoundrel, explain yourself!"

The others, however, began to scream: "Oh heavens, those are fifth-tier firecrackers! So many of them, and they're about to detonate! Run!"

"What?!" Bastard turned to look. Just then, the first golden light cluster extinguished. "Boom!" A powerful explosion immediately shattered the surrounding rocks. "Whoosh," the dragon's head that absorbed geothermal fire was instantly blown open at one corner. Then came the second, third, fourth... thousands of golden lights extinguished. "Boom, boom, boom!"

A searing light burst before Bastard's eyes. Afterwards, his consciousness completely plunged into darkness.

Pang Guangyao stood in the forest, observing Crescent City from afar. He knew little about stewards and had no idea what these special products and Great Zhou's firecrackers were. He only knew that 'Xia Jing' had gone to Crescent City with a hundred men, while the main army remained here. "Isn't he a bit overconfident? Just a hundred men to take Crescent City? To prevent leaks, shouldn't all three thousand have attacked together to minimize the spread of rumors? Is he really Xia Jing?" Pang Guangyao was filled with doubts.

But just then, 'Xia Jing' returned with his men.

"Prince..." Pang Guangyao couldn't help but ask.

"All forces, retreat! Retreat!" Chen Shijie roared!

But at that moment, the ground began to shake. "Rumble!" "Rumble, rumble!" "Rustle, rustle, rustle," the trees in the forest also trembled continuously. The ground began to shake violently. Pang Guangyao watched as the earth in the distance arched into a small hill. "Crack, crack, crack," not far away, a crack several kilometers long suddenly appeared.

"What's happening?" Pang Guangyao's heart skipped a beat. He quickly flew up. Immediately after, he witnessed a scene he would never forget.

"Boom!" Crescent City in the distance, the entire city flew into the air! Yes, it flew up. It suddenly rose hundreds of meters! Like a city ablaze in fire! The entire city flew hundreds of meters into the sky in an instant, and then Pang Guangyao watched with his own eyes as it disintegrated and completely vanished in another instant. It completely vanished, leaving not a single trace! Only then did a dazzling light erupt from the former location of Crescent City. The searing light even made Pang Guangyao instinctively raise his hand to shield his eyes. A shockwave visibly swept outwards in all directions. A mushroom cloud rose, and the earth seemed to boil, the ground's soil sweeping outwards like ocean waves.

"What?!" Pang Guangyao was startled, immediately retreating and ascending higher.

"Boom!" Only after a shockwave swept through the forest did Pang Guangyao finally hear a deafening roar. "Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!" "Rumble!" "Crackle, pop!" Pang Guangyao now saw the forest below him being swept away by the shockwave. The shockwave carried flames, and in an instant, the forest ignited. Burning, exploding, and commanding sounds mixed together.

Pang Guangyao numbly followed 'Xia Jing' in retreat. The vanguard camp had three assembled makeshift airships, each capable of carrying a thousand people. At this moment, the three airships swayed precariously in the wind, like candles in a gale. They hadn't flown far before crashing heavily to the ground again. Fortunately, the distance was now sufficient, and the shockwave's power had significantly weakened. The airships did not disintegrate.

Pang Guangyao flew to 'Xia Jing's' side and shouted loudly, "Prince, what on earth happened! Crescent City, how... how is it gone?"

Zhao Xing looked at the vanished Crescent City in the distance. He had been panicking a moment ago, but now calmly said, "As you can see, we naturally blew it up."

"Blew it up?" Pang Guangyao couldn't comprehend Zhao Xing's words at all. How could a mechanical city covering tens of thousands of acres be blown up?

Chen Shijie, meanwhile, looked ahead with lingering fear. "Damn it, we'll have to test the use of firecrackers in different terrains more thoroughly in the future. This amount was too much." The effect of the firecrackers this time was exceptionally good! First, all the firecrackers cultivated by Zhao Xing were fifth-tier, and their overall quality was superior to what Chen Shijie had used before, mostly being top-grade or supreme-grade fifth-tier firecrackers, with only a small portion being medium or low-grade. Second, Crescent City was located on a fire ley line and was itself drawing geothermal fire energy. Third, due to the shoddy work of Hop and others, the power of the firecrackers was not impeded by the city's own defensive formations, allowing it to be fully unleashed.

Erring on the side of caution, Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing had overestimated Crescent City's strength when devising their plan. That's why they prepared so many firecrackers. The combination of these factors resulted in the current outcome. Crescent City, along with dozens of surrounding fortresses, completely vanished in this explosion. Not to mention people, even the stones melted. If they hadn't run fast and noticed something was wrong, some of their own might have perished in the explosion.

"Indeed, we'll have to use less in the future," Zhao Xing echoed. This time, it directly cured their fear of insufficient firepower. In the future, it would be necessary to allocate quantities precisely.

"Prince, who... who exactly are you?" Pang Guangyao couldn't help but ask. He looked at Zhao Xing as if he were a demon. A single gesture, and Crescent City was gone; this filled Pang Guangyao with fear. What kind of person had he followed?

"Given the circumstances, there's no need for me to keep it from you," Zhao Xing clapped his hands and stood up. "The person standing before you is Zhao Xing, Ninth Section Captain of the Great Zhou's Divine Might Army, under Deputy Commander Liao Rulong of the Divine Might Army's Ninth Column, serving in the Ninth Section Battalion."

"Divine Might Army?" Pang Guangyao was dumbfounded. He had indeed gotten on the wrong "vehicle"!

"However, I didn't lie to you about one thing: Xia Jing and I do have a connection. He is my sworn brother-in-arms. We trained together in the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, and this time, our two armies are fighting side by side. What I promised you is equivalent to what Xia Jing promised you. Was the minotaur who delivered the letter to you named Ye Chongxian?"

Pang Guangyao nodded. He indeed knew Ye Chongxian's true name.

"There you have it," Zhao Xing said, looking at the lightning in the sky's gales layer, a faint smile on his face. He walked over and patted Pang Guangyao's shoulder. "General Pang, our army will soon break through the pass. Whether you can solidify your title as a Great Zhou general depends on yourself."

On September 16th, the Divine Might Army, Black Armored Army, and Garrison Army approached Fire Dragon Pass. It was initially believed that these Great Zhou armies were coming to their deaths. But at that moment, from the southern section of Fire Dragon Pass, a heaven-shaking explosion suddenly erupted. All formations suddenly became ineffective for eight hours!

Liao Rulong's unit, driving Dragon-Head Warships, directly broke through the pass. Five thousand men ascended the thousand-meter-high Fire Dragon Pass. The defending commander Yue Haisheng hurriedly ascended the wall to oversee the battle, leading ten thousand barbarian soldiers to try and repel the enemy, and ordering men to quickly repair the formations inside and outside the pass. The two sides fiercely battled for less than thirty minutes. Immediately afterwards, the formations in the Northern Mountain Pass and the Pass Mouth section successively failed. The effect of the entire pass's grand defensive formation was reduced to its lowest point in nearly two hundred years.

Hundreds of Garrison Army warships sailed unimpeded above Fire Dragon Pass. Netherflame Warships, Three-Leaf Warships, Dragon-Head Warships... God-Slaying Crossbows, Spirit-Breaking Ballistas, Spirit-Restoring Shield Carriages, Heavy Water Catapults, Sky Net Deployment Formations... the pinnacle of Great Zhou's engineering, intensely bombarded the pass's grand defensive formation. The barrier became dim, and in a brief instant, the Fire Dragon Pass's grand defensive formation was completely rendered ineffective.

Wen Shaoyang's Halberd Guard Battalion and the Black Armored Army's Dragon Rider Battalion followed closely behind Liao Rulong's unit, ascending the pass one after another. Seeing the grim situation, Yue Haisheng led his remaining forces to escape Fire Dragon Pass. The nearly twenty-kilometer long Fire Dragon Pass now raised the Great Zhou's banner. Due to the disparity in numbers and martial strength, in just a single afternoon, this formidable pass, which had stood for over a thousand years, was declared broken.

On September 16th and 17th, these two days were entirely dedicated to the Great Zhou's three armies reaping military merits. After the formidable pass was broken, the Fire Demon race's defending forces became walking military merits. In terms of both numbers and strength, they simply couldn't compare to the Great Zhou's armies.

"Splat!" A purple finger pierced through the head of a seventh-rank barbarian general, and electric light charred his entire body. "Thump!" The seventh-rank barbarian general, still clutching his long spear, immediately plummeted to the ground. "Hup! Ho!"

On the ground, a square formation of soldiers wielding three-meter-long halberds moved swiftly below. As the corpse fell from two hundred meters high and reached a hundred meters, it was suddenly torn apart by a thousand-meter-long blood-red halberd in the air, turning into dust.

"That's Lin Ze, a captain under Wen Shaoyang." "The Halberd Guard Battalion, composed entirely of eighth-rank martial artists, with their Qi and Blood Battle Formation, and halberds like a forest," Zhao Xing said, having just finished pursuing a barbarian soldier, as he saw the Halberd Guard Battalion below. A hundred meters above the Halberd Guard formation, besides a blood-red halberd, two hundred meters higher still was a phantom image of a military banner.

"That's the Divine Might Army's War Soul Military Banner," Zhao Xing said, looking at the banner. "This War Soul Military Banner is similar to my Seasonal Command Medallion. However, my Seasonal Command Medallion replaces the heavenly and earthly seasonal qi, while this War Soul Military Banner forms a War Soul Domain. Under the coverage of this military banner, all martial artists' willpower and souls of destiny are greatly enhanced. With enhanced willpower and souls of destiny, their combat power also increases, keeping them in peak condition at all times. However, the true amplification comes from the battle formation below."

Zhao Xing took a closer look at the Halberd Guard formation led by Lin Ze. This blood-red halberd was entirely formed from condensed Qi and blood. It was as if invisible light pillars connected the thousand eighth-rank halberd guards below. The largest blood-red light pillar enveloped Lin Ze. "When the Halberd Guards' Qi and Blood Battle Formation is fully formed, Lin Ze, a true seventh-rank captain, gains the combat power of a true sixth-rank. Furthermore, Lin Ze doesn't need to issue commands through other means; his combat intent is instantly transmitted to the minds of the thousand halberd guards. One thousand one hundred people, acting as one! Any soldier injured can recover through the blood-red halberd, as injuries are evenly distributed. Vital energy recovery is similar; the blood-red halberd continuously draws vital energy from the surroundings, even from life itself." Zhao Xing felt his Qi and blood surge, and a pulling force came from below, prompting him to ascend slightly.

"Lin Ze's Halberd Guard Battalion has trained its battle formation to the fifth level. The blood-red halberd can break through ten thousand spells. If I were to encounter such a battle formation, aside from the Soaring Serpent Transformation, a high-tier technique that has reached the sixth revolution, which might affect him, no other high-tier techniques could possibly gravely injure him. Moreover, my mind would be assaulted by the martial will of his thousand men." "A battle formation trained to the fifth level is highly effective against magic-wielding teams," Zhao Xing mused.

At this moment, the Halberd Guard formation was pursuing a group of Fire Demon mages. Occasionally, a team of mages would attempt to retaliate with spells. However, any spell entering the War Soul Military Banner's range would first be weakened by thirty percent. Subsequently, it would be further weakened by seventy percent by the 'blood-red halberd' in the sky. When it reached the Halberd Guard formation, it would be practically harmless. This was Wen Shaoyang's most elite Halberd Guard Battalion, a fifth-level Qi and Blood Battle Formation, which required long-term training to achieve. All soldiers had to cultivate identical cultivation methods and martial arts to reach this effect, becoming one with their commander. Zhao Xing hadn't seen such an elite Halberd Guard Battalion in a long time.

"Zhao Xing, what are you spacing out for!" A familiar voice called out. Zhao Xing turned his head to see Xia Jing, riding a flying dragon. His Black Armored Dragon Rider Battalion was also in pursuit of fleeing soldiers.

"Why aren't you seizing military merit now? What are you waiting for?" Xia Jing said. "Hurry and decapitate them. The three armies have activated their Judicial Yin God patrols and Mirage Orb records. No head severed now will go uncounted."

"Got it!" Zhao Xing smiled and immediately ascended on a cloud, giving chase in one direction.

On September 19th, after the fall of Fire Dragon Pass, the pursuit of the barbarian soldiers came to an end. There were only tens of thousands of them to begin with, not enough for all of Great Zhou's forces to kill. Zhao Xing also participated in this military merit hunt. However, there was an unwritten rule in the army that high-ranking generals would not compete for merit with lower-ranking soldiers during such times. During this period of free pursuit, which was purely for accumulating merit, as a seventh-rank official, Zhao Xing had to kill seventh-rank enemies, unless he was surrounded by a group of eighth-rank enemies and forced to. Otherwise, if all the military merit went to the high-ranking generals and the lower-ranking soldiers got none, it would be too unfair.

The evening of September 20th.

The Battle of Fire Dragon Pass concluded, and the news spread, shaking the entire Barbarian Suppression War Zone. No one had expected the eastern front, long considered the least likely to achieve a breakthrough, to yield such significant results. Fire Dragon Pass, which had stood for a thousand years, was actually destroyed by the Divine Might Army. The news, like wind, quickly swept across the entire war zone. Its impact began to ferment in various places, not only within Great Zhou but even in the Golden Feather Royal Court.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, Wen Shaoyang, Liao Rulong, Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, and others gathered in a castle within Fire Dragon Pass, because the military merit assessment from the War Realm had arrived.