bookbashuk Page 491
Page 491
It can be said that the late emperor passed away before completing his great undertaking.
After lying in bed for half a month, Xiao Sanxiao gradually recovered her strength and chose to leave without saying goodbye. It is estimated that she was afraid of being asked for advice by Chu Yang and really did not want to have her blood drawn.
The Zhonghua Pavilion was completely destroyed by Chu Yang's hilarious laughter and is currently under reconstruction. Unnamed, troubled by his reputation, has decided to find a new place to live in seclusion and has entrusted the Zhonghua Pavilion to Chu Yang to manage.
The world of Fengyun has entered a rare period of peace.
……
Soul Palace.
Fengyun Chuyang handed over the dragon vein, which had absorbed the fortune of the Central Plains, to Da Ming Chuyang.
The latter will take back its own world to continue absorbing fortune, and then use the Treasure Refining Technique to refine the dragon vein into its spine.
The power of the four auspicious beasts—dragon, phoenix, qilin, and black tortoise—is now only lacking in Chu Yang himself. During the half-month that Xiao Sanxiao was recuperating, everyone worked overtime to extract the blood of the black tortoise.
It's just finished now.
After refining the dragon turtle blood, the auspicious beast blood within Chu Yang's body reacted, with four different powers balancing each other like the four ultimate techniques of the chaotic world.
The ferocity hidden in the blood of the auspicious beast gradually subsided, and even a hint of holiness emerged.
The Four Auspicious Beasts will evolve into the Four Sacred Beasts.
This feedback to Yuan Wuzhen naturally resulted in another boost.
After refining the auspicious beast's blood, Da Ming Chu Yang, who had obtained the dragon vein from Feng Yun Chu Yang, returned to his own world.
The Ming Dynasty, thanks to the promotion of alchemy, has now unleashed an astonishing vitality.
From martial arts sects to ordinary people, everyone sees killing demons as a trend. No matter how talented you are, as long as you have demon flesh and blood, you can go to the government to exchange it for pills.
With the elixir, martial arts cultivation can progress by leaps and bounds, and even children from ordinary families without talent have the opportunity to stand out.
The era of everyone slaying demons has arrived.
The calamities within the Ming Dynasty were disappearing at an alarming rate. In addition, Qi Jiguang's army quelled the rebellion in the south, and the entire south gradually stabilized, giving the people the right to live.
If the problem of demons can be solved at the same time, then the Ming Dynasty will have no more worries, and people everywhere can live and work in peace and contentment.
Chu Yang was determined to completely eliminate the demons, but since he couldn't find the source, he could only deal with the demon race first.
Qi Jiguang's army had completed its weapon preparations, and the entire army was equipped with new firearms. The army was stationed at Wanglong City, facing Japan across the sea.
The demon race has also made moves, seemingly unwilling to sit idly by and wait for their doom, amassing a large number of demon soldiers at sea. Moreover, there are sea creatures stirring up trouble beneath the waves.
Qi Jiguang realized that the usual warships probably couldn't withstand such battles, and that brand-new warships were needed to deal with the demons and sea creatures.
Therefore, shipbuilding became a major undertaking.
Almost overnight, a shipyard appeared near Wanglong City.
Even with a shipyard, the artisans in the firearms battalion would find it difficult to build new large ships in a short period of time. Their expertise lay in firearms, and their shipbuilding skills were only at a passable level.
After thinking it over, Chu Yang decided to use elixirs as a reward to invite skilled craftsmen from all over the world to Wanglong City to build ships.
At this moment.
The demons on the Eastern Sea are seen as precious pills by countless people. Even if there are no pills as rewards, countless people would flock to them just to get a share of the spoils in this war!
The imperial edict was posted in major cities, causing a great stir. Any warrior who had ever hammered iron claimed to be a craftsman, and everyone was eager to prove their worth.
The once lowly professions suddenly became highly sought-after.
Besides artisans, formation masters are also among those invited. Like the new firearms, an excellent battlefield cannot be separated from the support of formations.
As a result, the sects on the mountain could no longer sit still and sent their disciples and formation masters down the mountain.
Chu Yang's killing of Mu Daoren in Qixia Town was witnessed by the elders of various sects. The effect of making an example of him was very good, and everyone cooperated with the imperial court's actions.
From the imperial court to the common people, everyone pooled their wisdom and efforts.
Regardless of the purpose, when the entire national strength of the Ming Dynasty is concentrated on one point, it generates an awe-inspiring and immense power.
Warships appeared on the sea like dumplings being dropped into boiling water. Many of these warships were built by Qi Jiguang's army using steel, based on blueprints provided by Chu Yang.
The warship contained many eye-catching steel behemoths.
For a moment, you might really think it was a modern warship.
The bustling shipbuilding project naturally couldn't be kept secret from the demon race across the sea.
They were both curious and apprehensive about the steel-clad warships; the unknown is what evokes fear the most.
At this juncture, it's too late for the demons to inquire further. They can only urge their northern companions to speed up their progress and try to put the Ming Dynasty in a difficult position.
The Jurchens fought against the demon race for a long time, but ultimately suffered a crushing defeat due to their lack of combined battle formations. Nearly two-thirds of their people perished in battle, and the remaining survivors were all transformed into demons.
After becoming a demon, one's life and fortune are controlled by the demon race, making one their vassal and subject to their control.
The remaining Jurchen people thought that was the end of it, but they did not expect that the demon race would force them to attack the city the day after the transformation was completed.
Attack the Xuanbing City, a strategic city on the northern border of the Ming Dynasty!
Including the elderly, children, and women, a massive 100,000 people gathered and headed to the border of the Ming Dynasty.
Upon receiving the news, Chu Yang dispatched two Grandmasters, Zhuge Zhengwo and Gu Santong, to reinforce Wanli Xuanbing City, primarily to deal with the demon king entrenched in the north.
Guo Bujing volunteered to go along.
Chu Yang had refused him many times before, but he was adamant in his stance, so he had no choice but to agree.
Because the Divine Marquis's Mansion was responsible for matters concerning demons and monsters, it could not be acted lightly, so the three of them led a portion of the Six Doors' personnel northward.
A few days later, Zheng Dongliu broke through his cultivation barrier, successfully eliminating his inner demons, and advanced to the Grandmaster realm with the help of the pills given to him by Chu Yang.
Just then, the Six Doors and the Divine Marquis's Mansion were leaderless, so Chu Yang ordered Zheng Dongliu to take charge of the three major agencies, stabilize the Central Plains, and manage the overall situation.
At the same time, news of a demon attacking the northern border spread, and many martial arts practitioners immediately joined forces to go north to kill the demons, becoming another new force.
Ten days later, the demon army drove the Jiannu tribe to the walls of Wanli Xuanbing City and launched a fierce attack on the border.
Thousands of demon-slaying crossbows were lined up on the city wall. Li Chengliang ignored the cries of the Jiannu people below and coldly ordered an attack.
Crossbow bolts rained down like a storm!
The crossbow bolts, powerful enough to pierce the bodies of great demons, exerted terrifying force among the crowd, often piercing through several people with a single bolt!
Suddenly, strings of blood gourds hung on the snow.
Like a canvas stained with blood...
The battle at Wanli Xuanbing City has begun, and the warships at Wanglong City are ready, with hundreds of thousands of troops poised to set sail.
Inheriting the glorious tradition of the Zhu family, Chu Yang decided to personally lead the expedition.
Since Zhuge Zhengwo and the others were not in the capital, no one cared about him.
In addition to the hundreds of warships of the imperial court, several prestigious sects also secretly built a few ships each, which would probably amount to dozens of ships in total.
Once they were lined up at sea, the scene was extremely grand.
Chu Yang's dragon boat was in the center, like stars surrounding the moon.
The demon race was not to be outdone and assembled a large army to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.
The two sides met in the waters near Japan and engaged in a fierce battle.
The demon race's warships were relatively outdated and difficult to approach under the fierce firepower of the human race's warships, putting them in a passive and defensive position in the early stages of the war.
Seeing that they had an absolute advantage, the dozens of warships belonging to the Jianghu sects broke away from the main force and approached the demon warships.
Money moves people's hearts.
Every demon corpse is a valuable treasure, and they feel it's more worthwhile to salvage the situation rather than have it torn apart by artillery fire.
This group of martial arts practitioners seemed certain that Chu Yang would not fire upon them.
After all, they had recently helped the imperial court build so many warships.
Dozens of warships were able to approach the demon race's warships at top speed with a clear conscience.
On the deck of the dragon boat, both Chu Yang and Qi Jiguang witnessed this scene.
Seeing this, Qi Jiguang said worriedly, "Your Majesty, shouldn't we remind them to come back? The demon race clearly has a backup plan."
"It's alright." Chu Yang waved his hand and said, "Even if we tell them, they won't listen. Look at those people, they can't see anything else, not even their own lives."
Qi Jiguang sighed, "But letting them die here would be a huge blow to morale and would be detrimental to the upcoming battles."
"We'll provide them with some support, and how many of them will make it back alive is up to fate."
Chu Yang nodded.
At that moment, an anomaly occurred.
Suddenly, the sea surface resembled boiling water, with countless bubbles rising from the seabed. Then, everyone witnessed a scene that sent chills down their spines.
The area beneath the warship was teeming with countless figures!
Upon seeing this, some of the more timid female disciples immediately screamed. Their shrill cries seemed to be some kind of signal, causing chaos not only on the warships but also underwater.
One after another, dark figures burst out from the seabed, leaping straight onto the deck and revealing their ugly and ferocious true forms.
Sea monsters are incredibly diverse and far more bizarre than land monsters. Among them, humanoid sea monsters are few and far between, and without exception, they are all royalty.
The sea creatures, riding sea beasts, rammed the warship. The violent shaking caused those standing on the edge of the deck to fall into the sea, instantly turning the surface of the water crimson. Scattered limbs floated on the surface and were quickly swallowed by the sea beasts.