Chapter 375: Zhongshan Breaks the Formation

"I can't afford the cost of your help!" Zhongshan said bluntly.

Seeing through Zhongshan's intentions, Haomeili's expression turned cold. With a cold snort, she turned and left.

The bronze battle island emerged from the mountainous forest area and slowly flew northward, as if inspecting the land that now belonged to the Da Lou Kingdom.

Upon arriving at the frontline, the floating island gradually descended. Everyone gathered around Zhongshan, looking towards the distant battlefield.

It was a secluded valley, surrounded by a large number of armies. At the mouth of the valley, all the soldiers had their Pogang arrows ready, waiting for the commander's order to release them all at once into the valley.

Inside the valley, nearly three thousand defeated soldiers looked disheveled, their faces filled with panic and disbelief.

Defeated? They were defeated so suddenly and inexplicably?

Outside the valley, atop the mountains, Yinglan stood on a rock and addressed the valley below, "I'll give you ten breaths of time. If you don't surrender and come out, you'll face ten thousand Pogang arrows! I, Wei Yinglan, have never failed to keep my word. Ten breaths—it's your last chance to think. Once these ten breaths pass, there will be no mercy!"

Yinglan's tone was ominous, adding more pressure to the three thousand defeated soldiers in the valley.

"One."

"Two."

...

"Seven."

At this moment, Yinglan suddenly noticed the bronze battle island in the distance. She paused slightly, then her face lit up with surprise. She stopped counting!

Yinglan's decision to stop counting sent a chill through the hearts of the defeated soldiers below.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot, I surrender!" a surrendering voice suddenly echoed from the valley.

"I surrender too!"

... The sounds of surrender were endless, and all the defeated soldiers in the valley collapsed psychologically. They all surrendered.

Yinglan unexpectedly glanced at the valley and instructed a lieutenant beside her, "Go, gather those prisoners, and report back to me later!"

"Yes!" The lieutenant immediately responded.

Ignoring the valley below, Yinglan eagerly flew up into the sky towards the distance.

"Your Majesty, you've arrived just in time!" Yinglan exclaimed with delight as she landed on the floating island.

"Oh?" Zhongshan looked puzzled.

"This is the last of the Yin Yue Dynasty's three main legions, the Third Legion. I just used a tactic to scatter their forces and trap their legion commander in the valley," Yinglan explained casually.

"Good!" Zhongshan smiled.

Hearing Zhongshan's praise, Yinglan's face immediately lit up with joy.

"Queens," Yinglan called out to Bao'er and Qianyou.

Bao'er smiled kindly, while Qianyou blushed slightly but nodded.

"Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live!" The soldiers below quickly recognized the origin of the floating island and immediately knelt down in homage.

Zhongshan walked to the edge of the floating island and looked down.

"Soldiers, you've worked hard!" Zhongshan called out.

"Not hard at all!" the soldiers shouted excitedly.

At the forefront was the enemy commander, bound in special materials like a dumpling.

"Is this the commander of the Third Legion of the Yin Yue Dynasty?" Zhongshan sneered disdainfully.

The legion commander held his head high, showing an air of indifference.

"Release his bindings!" Zhongshan ordered.

"Yes!" The people below immediately untied the ropes from the legion commander.

The legion commander looked slightly puzzled. Did they think they could buy me off?

"Don't think you can buy me off. I am a man of the Yin Yue Dynasty in life and in death. If it weren't for my subordinates' betrayal, I would never have ended up like this," the legion commander said arrogantly.

"To be so foolish and still think I'd buy you off? Haha, you're quite humorous! I'll spare your life to let you go back and tell Liu Dao, tell him that the consequences of past actions are now upon him. Clean your neck in Jinling City and wait for me to come for my debt!" Zhongshan sneered.

Zhongshan's tone was deliberate, but for some reason, after hearing it, the legion commander shivered all over. He looked at Zhongshan with some fear, turned around swiftly, and flew away quickly.

In the Yin Yue Dynasty, Jinling City, in Liu Dao's study.

"Bang~~~" Liu Dao angrily knocked over the incense burner. Several trusted ministers stood before him, along with a general who bowed his head and was reporting, the same Third Legion commander who had just returned from the frontline.

"The three legions? In one month? All defeated? Completely annihilated? One point five million men, just standing there motionless, and you let them be killed for a month. Do you still have the face to say you did your best?" Liu Dao stared angrily at the legion commander.

"Your Majesty, I am the only one who returned. The commanders of the First and Second Legions both died in action. That Wei Yinglan is too cunning with her troops. Every time she emerged from where our scouts had confirmed there were no troops, we've been on the run since fighting her. She never engages us directly," the Third Legion commander said with a bitter face.

Taking a deep breath, Liu Dao finally calmed down.

"Just a woman, and she's managed to rout all of you? Hmph. Also, Emperor Da Lou led the troops in person? Coming to collect a debt from me? Do you even remember what he looks like?" Liu Dao stared at the Third Legion commander.

"Yes!" The Third Legion commander responded quickly and swiftly used magic to create a projection of Zhongshan in front of him.

"Is this him?" Liu Dao's pupils contracted.

That grasshopper? The grasshopper that could be crushed by a single finger in the past?

Mr. Shi, who was on the side, saw the projection of Zhongshan and furrowed his brows slightly but said nothing.

"Your Majesty, it's him!" a trusted aide of Liu Dao's said.

"Indeed, it's him. I never expected that a momentary negligence would make him my great enemy," Liu Dao frowned.

"Do you have any good strategies?" Liu Dao asked.

"Your Majesty!" Du Xiu immediately stepped forward.

"Duke Du, please speak," Liu Dao said.

"Your Majesty, in the Great Awakening Temple in Jinling City, there's a person whom Your Majesty does not favor. He has been clinging to Your Majesty under the pretext of assisting. Hasn't Your Majesty been wanting to get rid of him for a long time?" Du Xiu smiled.

"Let the Luohan Grand Formation of Golden Light attack the army of the Da Lou Kingdom, causing mutual destruction?" Liu Dao's eyes lit up.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Du Xiu smiled.

Emperor Zhongshan led the expedition personally, and wherever Yinglan's army went, they were invincible.

It had been fifteen days since Zhongshan had let the enemy commander go.

The army slowly advanced towards the north.

As they passed through a forested area, suddenly, maple leaves began to fall from the sky.

Endless maple leaves fell from the sky, more and more, until in a moment, the environment around the bronze battle island and the army below were completely replaced by an environment of falling maple leaves.

Chapter 375: Breaking the Formation of Zhongshan

Leaf by leaf, seemingly ordinary maple leaves fell from the sky. They possessed no magical power, yet they covered the surroundings from all directions, causing the world to appear faintly visible to onlookers, who could only glimpse the nearby scenery through gaps in the leaves. In the blink of an eye, they could no longer distinguish east from west.

Maple leaves filled every direction!

On the bronze battle island, everyone prepared to act, but Zhongshan halted them with a gentle wave of his hand.

"The Arhat Formation?" Zhongshan sneered.

"Do you, venerable one, recognize the Arhat Formation?" Amidst the environment filled with maple leaves, a booming bell-like voice suddenly resounded.

"It's said that the true Arhat Formation contains thousands of dragon-like creatures and myriad Buddhas filling the sky. What you have here looks like a heap of dry grass," Zhongshan chuckled.

"Dry grass can be dragons, and dry grass can be Buddhas. A mind without distractions is dry grass; a mind with evil thoughts is a Buddha," the booming bell-like voice echoed from all sides.

"Purporting to be Buddhas, exterminating us demons? What grandiosity! Let's see what your Buddhas are capable of," Zhongshan said coldly.

After Zhongshan finished speaking, he tilted his head slightly towards the sky.

"Boom~~~"

As Zhongshan tilted his head skyward, there was a thunderous explosion in the sky. Endless brilliance burst forth, piercing through the gaps in the maple leaves and dazzling everyone's eyes.

"Boom~~~"

"Boom~~~"

In the high sky, suddenly, lightning flashed, and endless thunder poured down. However, this lightning wasn't crashing toward the ground below but seemed to take on a life of its own, wildly moving through the sky and earth in all directions like thousands of dragons of lightning. They moved at terrifying speed, burning up any maple leaf they touched in an instant.

The maple leaves rapidly decreased in number.

"Thunder Dragon Illusion World, are you from the Eternal Realm?" A surprised voice came again from the remnants of the maple leaves.

"The Eternal Realm? Great monk, you've got it wrong!" Zhongshan laughed and, as he finished speaking, stared fiercely.

"Rumble~~~ Rumble~~~"

Amidst the rumbling, all the thunder dragons simultaneously charged toward one direction. Suddenly, they exploded in that direction as if the previous thousand thunder dragons were dancing wildly. However, they weren't trying to burn the maple leaves but seemed to be searching for the core of the Arhat Formation.

"Boom~~~"

As if the sun exploded, a huge light burst from the collision of lightning in that direction. Simultaneously, the airflow generated by this powerful collision blew away all the maple leaves in that direction, revealing a bald-headed monk inside a protective shield.

The monk's eyes showed disbelief. Although he had blocked Zhongshan's attack, he couldn't believe that Zhongshan could find him. How could he possibly locate him within the Arhat Formation? It was impossible!

"Your Majesty, shall I use my formation?" Yinglan immediately asked.

"No need. Let the Eight-Gate Golden Locks stay behind. This kind of broken formation doesn't deserve the might of the Eight-Gate Golden Locks," Zhongshan sneered.

(To be continued)