I Can Strengthen Infinitely

Chapter 557: Chapter 321: Chang’an

Watching as the flames were about to strike the sword-bearing Daoist, suddenly a shadowy figure of deep violet appeared above the path of the flying flames, effortlessly blocking them.

Behind the shadow stood Huang Ting.

Though He Yongnian looked young, he was in fact a Daoist who had undergone possession, and his strength was the highest among the four.

Gazing at Huang Ting and the sword-bearing Daoists, He Yongnian shouted darkly, "The grand cause of the world belongs to Great Tang. You aid these rebels—this is defying heaven itself. There’s still time to repent."

Huang Ting replied indifferently, "Fellow Daoist, the world has changed—it is you who have yet to see through it."

"Absurd!" He Yongnian barked, and immediately raised his flute, intending to play another demonic melody.

Huang Ting never meant to give him this chance. Two ghostly purple arms suddenly appeared before Huang Ting, reaching straight for He Yongnian.

From the roots of those two arms, others sprang one by one—one split to two, two to four, four to eight...

At last, a whole forest of exotic purple claws formed, spreading to cover the sky, engulfing He Yongnian beneath.

He Yongnian’s face turned icy cold in that instant—this mysterious move of Huang Ting’s placed him under tremendous pressure.

No way to escape—this was He Yongnian’s instinctive thought.

He hurriedly flung out all his magical treasures and cast every magic he knew, but to his utter shock, none of it worked.

Boom!

The purple forest exploded onto the earth with a thundering roar.

Countless strange claws slowly vanished into the air, and at the epicenter, He Yongnian’s body was gone, leaving only a mess of flesh and blood on the ground.

With He Yongnian’s death, the flute’s influence was instantly dispelled. The affected sword-bearing Daoists all gradually regained composure.

"Many thanks, Master." The Daoists clasped their hands in gratitude.

"Think nothing of it," Huang Ting replied calmly with a shake of his head.

Watching him exterminate the helpers summoned by Fan Wan in the blink of an eye, the Yuan Huangzhong army fell into chaos. They had assumed that these four Daoists, each riding an exotic beast and bearing the manner of otherworldly masters, would be inscrutable in strength. With their help, the capture of Yangzhou Prefecture seemed certain.

None had anticipated that not even the time it took to burn an incense stick had passed before all four were dead.

"If we don’t counterattack now, when will we?" Huang Ting looked up and shouted to Sanhuang and his men atop the city walls.

They reacted swiftly, immediately deploying their troops, charging out of the city to attack Yuan Huangzhong’s main army.

With the reinforcements slain and aid cut off, morale of Yuan Huangzhong’s soldiers plummeted, while Sanhuang’s men rose in spirits instead.

It was now too late to sound the retreat—the golden gong. Helpless, Yuan Huangzhong could only force his men to face battle.

Yet Yuan Huangzhong’s elite soldiers, before true experts, proved worthless. Huang Ting and the Daoists didn’t even need to act—Fu Bo led the charge with his sword, cutting through Yuan Huangzhong’s army, sending them fleeing, abandoning arms and armor, utterly routed.

An expert of the Eighth Level of the Inner Power Realm could easily face ten thousand soldiers alone.

At Eighth Level of Inner Power Realm, such a master counts among the top of the whole Jianghu. Even though Yuan Huangzhong was a famed general of Great Tang, there was no such talent in his ranks.

He could never have imagined that among rebel forces could lurk so many experts. Had he known, Yuan Huangzhong surely would have called for aid from Great Tang ahead of time.

Watching the collapse of the Yuan Army, Sanhuang could not help but let out a sigh of relief. Without Qin Yuesheng’s earlier arrangements, his seat as King of Jiangnan might not have remained secure.

In just an incense stick’s time, Yuan Huangzhong’s forces were either dead, wounded, or captured. Yuan Huangzhong himself, along with his generals, were all taken prisoner and brought before Sanhuang.

Seeing that this beardless youth Sanhuang was commander of the army, Yuan Huangzhong’s heart filled with a bitter rage. But unable to fight back, and forced by his captors, he could only submit and kneel before Sanhuang in disgrace.

"You came on Great Tang’s behest to conquer me, but you should have foreseen such an end. Men, drag them out and behead them." Though young, Sanhuang had been trained by Qin Yuesheng for a long time, who purposely groomed him. The boy was no longer the child once captured and enslaved by river bandits.

"Traitor!" Yuan Huangzhong, a general who had fought across the land for Great Tang, felt no fear at the prospect of death. Yet for a soldier to die not on the battlefield, but by rebel hands, was a humiliation. So Yuan Huangzhong spat angry curses, taunting and provoking Sanhuang, goading him into single combat, to decide their fates blade to blade.

But Sanhuang wasn’t foolish—he would never accept such a challenge. In no time, Yuan Huangzhong and his subordinates were beheaded, losing their lives in Yangzhou Prefecture.

"My lord, now that Great Tang has begun their punitive expedition, and as we’ve already unified Jiangnan, there’s no need to linger and develop slowly any longer. The world is in chaos—my counsel is to march on the Central Plains at once, waging war to feed war." The one Qin Yuesheng had named as Sanhuang’s advisor, Du Xiaoqing, immediately stepped forth to suggest.

His proposal was met with instant agreement from all present. Sanhuang considered, then spoke: "The situation in the Central Plains is unclear. Send a vanguard ahead to scout the way. Once we seize several smaller cities and establish a foothold, we’ll gradually move our forces over, biting away at the Central Plains piece by piece."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

...

After several days of hard and fast travel, Qin Yuesheng had gradually penetrated deep into the Central Plains. At dawn on this day, that city known as the greatest under heaven—the imperial capital—finally came into view.