Chapter 182: The Sword Stirs Up Smoke and Dust

 Li Hao whispered the secret of his battle flag to her.

Li Hongzhuang was taken aback. When she heard Li Hao's words, she paused, wondering if his sword techniques were embedded in the battle flag. This was akin to the realm of sketching formation arrays, something only the Imperial Astronomical Bureau could accomplish. How had Li Hao managed this?

She looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked via secret sound transmission.

But Li Hao didn't explain. He merely said, "We're already running out of time. Senior Hongzhuang, if you want to reinforce them, you should leave now. I'll give you fifty battle flags!"

Li Hongzhuang snapped back to reality and realized that there was no time to probe into Li Hao's secrets at this moment. This nephew of hers had too many mysteries about him, and his astonishing talent was inexplicable, leading her to conclude that he was a monstrous genius.

"I'm not leaving."

A figure stepped forward, revealing Li He.

He stared at Li Hao, aware of his current strength and how he was no match for Li Hao. Thus, in addition to reverence, his expression also carried a hint of sincerity as he said, "Young Master, at this critical juncture, Tianmenguan is also under attack by demons. Please allow me to accompany you this time."

The last time Tianmenguan was in peril, he had been knocked unconscious by a powerful Four Establishments cultivator and sent away from the pass. This incident had left him feeling conflicted—grateful for Li Hao's lifesaving decision but ashamed of his own failure to fulfill his duty.

"I am ordered to protect the Young Master. Even if I die, I will die in front of the Young Master."

Li He earnestly pleaded.

Li Hao was left speechless by the one-track-mindedness of Li's generals.

Li Hongzhuang glanced at him and thought of the recent intelligence from Tianmenguan. Her expression became complex as she knew she should stay and defend this place. However, with four Establishments present, along with Li Hao's own formidable strength, her brother, Li Hong, needed her more at the moment.

"Hao'er, let him stay. I can travel faster and more efficiently on my own." Li Hongzhuang quickly spoke up.

Li Hao considered her words and found them reasonable.

Li He's presence would be of little help beyond carrying the battle flags.

Immediately, Li He's soul left his body, soaring out with a whistle and landing on the city wall of Cang Cliff City. He gathered fifty of the hundred battle flags he had marked a hundred miles outside the pass and brought them back to the small courtyard.

Piled together, the fifty battle flags reached the height of several haystacks.

Li Hongzhuang covered the battle flags with her power of control and, after hearing Li Hao's instructions on their usage, she said to him, "I'm off. Be careful here."

She looked deeply at Li Hao, and with his nod, her figure soared into the sky, carrying the battle flags and speeding toward the interior of the country. She employed her object-controlling powers and raced forward at full speed.

From Tianmenguan to the Western Border battlefield, the distance was thirty thousand miles. Even reaching the second line of defense that Li Xuanli had mentioned would cover twenty thousand miles.

Using her object-controlling powers to travel at a speed of several dozen miles per breath, she could arrive quite quickly.

However, this was the limit of her speed during combat, and it couldn't be sustained for long. The more she exerted herself, the faster her energy would be depleted, leading to a rapid increase in exhaustion.

By the time she reached the battlefield, she would have exhausted most of her combat strength.

The entire Liang State was vast and expansive, with hundreds of cities scattered across its territory. Each city's domain spanned over a hundred miles, encompassing numerous towns and large swaths of wilderness, resulting in a diameter of ten thousand miles.

Even if she employed her unwaning power to rush over, she would be exhausted by the time she covered half the distance, as the unwaning power state couldn't be maintained for so long.

At this moment, Li Hongzhuang didn't hold back and unleashed her full speed, pushing herself to the limit.

Furthermore, by not having Li He accompany her, she aimed to unleash the full potential of her unwaning power.

With her energy unleashed, she could reach her maximum speed.

Li He, being only at the Unbreakable Realm, couldn't keep up with her pace.

...

After Li Hongzhuang left, Li Hao immediately summoned the Haotian Army and ordered the entire city to be locked down.

At the same time, he sent out signals warning of the demon threat, alerting any wandering warriors in the vicinity to either enter the city or find a place to hide.

Li Hao suddenly thought of something. If the Western Border had fallen, and demons dared to attack Tianmenguan, it was likely that the Eastern and Northern Borders had also suffered invasions.

As he thought of the Eastern Border, he frowned slightly, having never paid attention to the situation there and having no intention to do so.

The Northern Border was too far from their current location, almost on the opposite side of Liang State, spanning over ten thousand miles. Reinforcements from there wouldn't arrive anytime soon.

"The defense lines will retract. If the Eastern and Northern Borders have fallen, they should also fall back to the second line of defense. News of the border's collapse should have spread throughout Liang State by now. If those aristocratic families want to survive, they should also send reinforcements."

"Moreover, with such chaos, the royal army should also be on its way."

"As long as we hold the second line of defense and buy some time, it should be enough."

"But if there's a Demon King in the Western Border, there might be others in the other regions as well. As the defense lines retract, the demon forces will also gather, and the pressure might be just as great, if not greater."

Li Hao's eyes flickered, and he took a deep breath. The fifty battle flags he had given Li Hongzhuang might not be enough.

He summoned another Master who served as a senior officer in the Haotian Army. Li Hao gathered twenty more battle flags and instructed the Master to ride a fast horse, carrying the flags to reinforce the Western Border defense line.

The master accepted the order and rode out of the pass on a red-blooded horse.

Li Hao ordered the scouts to investigate the situation outside the pass to identify the type and number of demons approaching.

"Didn't we teach them a lesson last time? Since the Tianji Temple knows my strength, they still dare to invade, so there must be at least four Demon Kings..."

Li Hao's expression turned solemn as he anticipated another fierce battle ahead.

"Young General..."

Xu Zhuan, who was nearby, trembled as he heard these startling developments, feeling the bloodthirsty aura of the border soldiers for the first time.

Li Hao issued a series of commands, and soon, the courtyard became empty.

Hearing Xu Zhuan's voice, Li Hao turned to him and smiled, "Senior Xu, don't worry. Tianmenguan will be fine."

After saying that, he returned to the table and said, "We still have time to finish this game of chess."

Xu Zhuan was stunned, looking at the calm youth before him. He suddenly felt ashamed.

Although he wasn't a warrior, he had lived for seventy years, yet he was less composed than this young man.

"Then I shall accompany the Young General to finish this game."

Xu Zhuan took a deep breath and calmed his thoughts.

At the same time, outside Tianmenguan.

In the wild, seven hundred miles away, where giant trees reached for the sky.

A vast horde of demons swept forward like a tidal wave, led by four great demons at the Three Unbreakables Realm.

"That brat from Tianmenguan, who destroyed our lair and desecrated our ancestral land, I wonder if he can still hold his ground now!"

"Let's attack Tianmenguan once that kid leaves. We can make some contributions and claim a piece of territory for ourselves in the future."

These leading demon monarchs were the same ones who had been swept out of the pass by Li Hao earlier.

With the prompt from Tianji Temple, they had left beforehand, hiding themselves and thus avoiding danger.

However, their old lair had been destroyed, and now flags were planted there, preventing them from approaching.

"Seniors, General Hao Tian hasn't returned yet. Six days ago, he went to Tianji Tower. Even if he only comprehended for a day, it would still take him until tomorrow to return if he rushed back."

A bird demon from Tianji Temple flew over, bringing this intelligence.

When Li Hao left the pass, he had hidden his tracks, so Tianji Temple couldn't detect him either. They could only guess his whereabouts based on the guides from Tianji Tower.

Now, they had mobilized the Tianji Temple intelligence point in Yongzhou to help investigate the situation outside Tianji Tower.

But Tianji Tower was also well-versed in intelligence gathering, and Tianji Temple had been established by imitating Tianji Tower in the first place. So, they didn't dare get too close to Tianji City, and Li Hao's whereabouts could only be speculated.

"Hmph, that figure on the wall is probably just an illusion, similar to our demon techniques, meant to scare people."

A Great Immortal Demon monarch coldly snorted. Although cultivation techniques for creating illusions were rare, they had seen quite a few, and most of these illusions could only possess a fraction of the original body's combat strength, a tenth being considered excellent.

"Should we take this chance to attack while he's still away?"

A demon monarch suggested.

After some discussion, they quickly made a decision and ordered their massive army to advance at full speed.

Soon, the scouts detected the demons' movements and relayed the information back.

"Report!"

The shout rang out, rushing into the bamboo fence courtyard.

Xu Zhuan had just picked up a black chess piece when he almost fumbled it. He hurriedly looked up.

Li Hao paused, his eyes narrowing slightly, indicating for the scout to report.

"Reporting, General. We've detected the movements of the demons outside the pass. There are approximately 50,000 of them, including two Great Immortal Demon monarchs. The strength of the remaining demons is unknown."

Li Hao raised his eyebrows slightly.

Fifty thousand?

That's all?

If a Demon King were leading them, he definitely wouldn't bring only 50,000 troops unless he was trying to conceal his movements, lull the enemy into a false sense of security, or launch a swift attack.

But for a swift attack, a Demon King alone would suffice. The smaller the movement, the faster the speed, and there would be no need for a large demon army that could easily alert the enemy.

After all, the collective might of 50,000 demons was not even enough for a Demon King to warm up his palms.

"Keep investigating and report back." Li Hao said.

"Yes."

The scout left.

Li Hao turned back, spotting a vacant spot for a black chess piece on the board, and smiled as he placed a white piece there.

"Young General..." Xu Zhuan swallowed nervously.

Li Hao smiled faintly and said, "Senior Xu, don't worry. Tianmenguan will be fine. With the inner formation array in place and me here, even if we wanted to escape now, it would be too late. It's better to make peace with the situation and finish this game."

Xu Zhuan was taken aback, then he thought about it and realized it was true. It was definitely too late to leave the city now. If Tianmenguan fell, the demons would rush in immediately, and how could they outrun demons with their carriages?

He calmed his mind, took a sip of tea, and sat upright in the perilous city. His thoughts seemed to become clearer, and he dared to be bolder, carefully considering his next move.

As the demon tide approached, scouts continuously delivered reports to Li Hao.

The demon tide was getting closer and closer.

A hundred miles outside the pass.

The demon tide saw the flags scattered in various places, and the four Three Unbreakables Demon monarchs all changed their expressions, feeling like they were in a nightmare, then becoming angry and ashamed.

"Pass the order to avoid these battle flags at all costs. Don't touch them!"

The Demon monarchs issued their command.

The vast demon tide, like a sweeping wave, suddenly dispersed and slowed down.

"I'll protect these battle flags to prevent any reckless demons from touching them." One of the Three Unbreakables Demon monarchs said as he released his power to cover the flags, preventing any accidental contact.

The demon tide continued to advance, soon reaching Tianmenguan.

At this moment, the soldiers on the Tianmenguan wall were already on high alert.

Facing the surging demon tide, the soldiers of the Haotian Army and the Bloodshed Army all looked grave.

At the same time, the news reached Li Hao's ears.

"They're already here?"

Li Hao narrowed his eyes slightly. Whether there was a Demon King hiding among the demon tide would be revealed with a single test.

"Qianqian."

Li Hao called out softly.

Ren Qianqian had already stopped cultivating because the continuous military reports made her restless and unable to concentrate.

Hearing Li Hao's call, she immediately understood his intention, turned around, and ran into the house to retrieve Li Hao's sword from its sheath.

This sword sheath was crafted by Wanqi Tower when they thrice forged the Dragon Rising Sword for Li Hao, and it was used to store his sword during peacetime.

Ren Qianqian opened the sword sheath, and with a 'Zing' sound, the Dragon Rising Sword unsheathed, its snowy radiance reflecting in her eyes, transforming into a golden light that resembled a swimming dragon. It flew above the small courtyard and then toward the outside of Cang Cliff City.

The entire Cang Cliff City was only sixty li in diameter, considered a medium-sized city, but Li Hao's control range was a hundred li.

On the streets, many of the young geniuses from the aristocratic families and various states who had come to Cang Cliff City stood on the streets, rushing toward the city wall.

Hearing that demons were attacking the city, they were not afraid but instead felt a strange excitement.

Usually, they had to travel far and wide to hunt down demons, but now, a demon tide was right before their eyes.

Just as they were rushing toward the city wall, a golden light suddenly flew over everyone's heads, carrying a terrifying pressure and killing intent.

That golden light was like a dragon's roar and a tiger's growl as it flew toward the outside of the city.

"What is that?"

"It looks like a sword!"

"Quick, let's go and see!"

The crowd was astonished, and they hurriedly chased after the golden sword light, rushing forward.