Chapter 11: The Decisive Battle in the State of Wei - Section 21: Unsurpassed Prestige (Part 3)

"Why are you just standing there! Fight—fight!" Bu Jingxian slew several men in quick succession, kicking over a few more rows, and shouted with soaring battle intent. He only felt that these Wei soldiers were standing foolishly and far too sparsely, wasting his astonishing power and making the killing far too slow.

Little did he expect that this shout would draw the attention of the various experts locked in fierce combat in the distance. For a moment, Ling Luo and July alike all stopped in shock, staring with wide eyes at the hundred-zhang earth fissure that had nearly stretched out to them...

At the same time, outside Mount Dishan Pass, the massive Wei army remained arrayed in formation awaiting orders, many of them anxious about the situation inside.

Suddenly hearing Bu Jingxian's shout, none of them had any idea what was happening.

Zheng Linran assumed that the Northern Lord had already reached the end of his tether, hence the out-of-control, desperate roar of a dying struggle. After waiting for a moment, a Wei soldier who had been observing from a high vantage point returned to relay orders, shouting all the way as he reported the situation inside Mount Dishan Pass.

"Immortal Marquis battles the elite Wei experts, including Wei Wuquan, completely alone in the air without a single sign of defeat... The Martial Sovereign fights off the encirclement of over a thousand Wei experts single-handedly yet continues to slaughter countless foes... The Northern Lord stamps the earth four times, each step splitting the ground by a hundred zhang, striking terror into the hearts of the Wei soldiers who stand paralyzed like wooden chickens..."

Upon hearing this, the Zheng soldiers raised their voices in resounding cheers to boost morale, the sound shaking the very firmament for a time.

Hearing the news from within the camp, Zheng Linran found it hard to believe. No matter what, there were only three of them, and the Wei experts were no mere names of empty repute, backed by numerous formidable formations renowned throughout the world. She was not surprised that July and Ling Luo had yet to be taken down; with their cultivation, the two of them were bound to hold out for a while. However, the Northern Lord had obvious flaws—with insufficient internal energy and heavily outnumbered, he logically should not have lasted long.

It would have been one thing if he hadn't died in battle yet, but to actually be able to shatter a hundred zhang of earth with a single step? She simply could not believe it no matter what.

Let alone the Northern Lord, Zheng Linran believed that even Qiu Ye, or even her own master Zheng Feixian, did not possess such unimaginable martial power!

'I once heard the Marquis of Faith say that the Northern Lord is unfathomably deep. Could he truly be this formidable...' Remembering the wager she had made openly with Bu Jingxian before he set out, Zheng Linran harbored a faint anxiety that she might ultimately lose. Elder Dongxue saw through her thoughts and hurriedly leaned in to console her in a low voice, "Why should the Sect Master worry so much? No matter how divine and valiant the Northern Lord is, prolonged combat without sufficient recovery will inevitably lead to excessive blood loss. There is simply no way he can hold out for three days."

"Naturally, I know this." Zheng Linran's heart settled slightly, knowing that although Dongxue's martial arts were inferior to Qiu Ye's, her insight was second to none.

The fierce battle at Mount Dishan Pass weighed heavily on the hearts of the army outside the fortress city. Although the capital of Zheng knew nothing of the situation at Mount Dishan Pass, let alone that a rare and ferocious battle was underway at this very moment, there were those within the capital who constantly worried about the state of Mount Dishan Pass, and even more so about the condition of the Marquis of Faith, Ling Luo.

Yue Fei of General Yue's mansion was precisely such a person.

Back at the Divine Martial Arena, Yue Fei had delivered an outstanding performance, winning the admiration of countless martial practitioners across the world, which led the King of Zheng to bestow a marriage between the Crown Prince and Yue Fei. Nearly all the disciples on the summit of Mount Beiling knew that Yue Fei harbored deep affection for Senior Brother Ling Luo, but falling blossoms had intentional feelings while flowing water was heartless. When the King of Zheng bestowed the marriage back then, Yue Fei had hesitated, but she knew full well that a royal decree could not be defied, nor could she disregard the lives of hundreds of her family members for the sake of one-sided emotions.

At that time, she had sought help with her eyes from Ling Luo, hoping that if he felt even the slightest bit moved by her affection, he could step forward and speak for her so that the King of Zheng would rescind the mandate. But what she received was a disappointing response. Yue Fei understood deeply that her Senior Brother's heart was tied to the Princess, and she could not blame him for it. In utter despair at the time, she obeyed the royal decree and agreed to marry the Crown Prince.

Ever since then, she could no longer participate in military affairs. The dignified fiancée of the Crown Prince of Zheng could not slaughter enemies, and the Yue household would no longer allow her to engage in her past pursuits.

After Ling Luo led the troops on the punitive expedition against Wei, her emotions gradually grew restless, constantly worrying about the war against Wei and Ling Luo's safety. What she found even harder to accept was the reality of becoming a caged bird. Yue Fei had loved martial arts since childhood; after pleading endlessly, she had finally been sent to Mount Beiling to learn the arts. Through bitter cultivation, though she harbored no ambition to become a second Zheng Feixian, she was certainly unwilling to have her skills buried within the deep palace halls, nor could she abandon her hard-earned abilities to learn how to be a delicate woman.

These complex emotions made it increasingly difficult for her to maintain peace of mind. On this day, when she suddenly learned that the Crown Prince had persuaded the King of Zheng to immediately dispatch envoys to Mount Dishan Pass to read out the decree of a ceasefire, she could no longer patiently remain at home.

Yue Fei knew that although the King of Zheng had agreed to a ceasefire, in his heart he still hoped that Ling Luo could lead the army to annihilate Wei in a single stroke, which was why he had delayed sending the envoys with the decree. Now, with the Crown Prince having somehow persuaded the King of Zheng, the envoy bearing the decree had likely already departed days ago by the time Ling Luo learned of the situation.

Yue Fei understood profoundly that this campaign was of monumental importance. If Ling Luo could annihilate Wei, his prestige would undoubtedly soar like the midday sun, and no one would ever say again that he only rose to prominence because of the Princess. The defenders of Mount Dishan Pass numbered only three hundred thousand, whereas the allied forces of Zheng and the Divine Soul army exceeded one million eight hundred thousand. The civil officials at court understood nothing of military affairs, nor did they care about them. Failing to take Mount Dishan Pass would inevitably become a handle for others to attack him in the future, claiming that the Marquis of Faith was nothing special, unable to even conquer a fortress defended by a mere thirty thousand men with an army of one million five hundred thousand.

Ever since the Divine Martial Arena tournament, the Crown Prince had frequently visited General Yue's mansion, but Yue Fei did not know how to force a smile and treated the Crown Prince with considerable coldness. Later, the Crown Prince heard from someone that Yue Fei had always been infatuated with Ling Luo, and the two princes whom Ling Luo had previously offended on account of Zheng Linran began to fan the flames from the sidelines.

It actually stirred the Crown Prince to jealousy and hatred. Upon learning of the front-line war situation, he acted completely out of character by actively interacting with the Wei envoys, promising to find a way to persuade the King of Zheng. The Crown Prince intentionally meddled and sought an opportunity to strike down Ling Luo. Fearing that word would leak, he requested experts from the Feixian Sect to help guard the capital gates to prevent anyone from transmitting messages.

As luck would have it, a maidservant in the Crown Prince's palace had originally originated from General Yue's mansion before being sent into the palace, but she always remained grateful for General Yue's nurturing grace. After Yue Fei left Mount Beiling and returned to the capital of Zheng, she still cherished the affection between mistress and servant from their childhood days and sought her out to talk. Consequently, the maidservant viewed Yue Fei as family, and knowing that Yue Fei was unwilling to be wedded to the Crown Prince, she shared the information she had deliberately overheard with her.

Princess Tianlai was not in the capital of Zheng, and the Left Chancellor had gone to the Northern Frontier to guard against the Black Wolf army and the state of Zhou.

Yue Fei knew that if she continued to stay at home, no one else would be able to break through the Crown Prince's obstruction and deliver the news to Mount Dishan Pass in time.

That very night, under the cover of darkness, she executed the Void-Riding Wind technique to fly out of General Yue's mansion, soaring across the city walls of Zheng capital all the way, drifting out of the city like a shooting star. When intercepted by the Feixian Sect experts, those people knew her status was extraordinary and dared not resort to force; moreover, they could not easily capture Yue Fei, so they could only watch helplessly as she flew far away, rushing anxiously back to report to the Crown Prince.

By the time the Crown Prince of Zheng learned of this, the two princes were also present. Seeing the Crown Prince's face turn ashen, his hands trembling with rage while forcibly restraining himself from erupting, one of the princes stood up and said, "Tianlai truly misplaced her trust in that Ling Luo! Relying on the backing of the Left Chancellor, not only is he secretly carrying on an illicit relationship with Sect Master Zheng Linran of the Feixian Sect, but he has also bewitched the Crown Prince's fiancée. Young and utterly inexperienced, he actually dared to command a million-strong army on the coattails of the Left Chancellor. Initially, he gained some military merit purely by luck, but now, commanding a million-plus masses, he cannot even conquer a mere Mount Dishan Pass defended by a mere thirty thousand remnant troops! This clearly shows that the man is nothing more than a brute, utterly devoid of the ability to command troops!"

Another prince, seeing that the Crown Prince did not stop him, immediately stepped closer and chimed in, "The Marquis of Faith fears that the war will expose his incompetence and bring down the King's wrath, so he deliberately stalls for time and urges the King to delay the departure of the decree-bearing envoy. For his own selfish gains, the Marquis of Faith completely disregards the lives of the common people of Zheng. How can he not know how much money and grain a million-strong army consumes every day? Father Wang trusted the Marquis of Faith blindly because of the Left Chancellor. If the Crown Prince still harbors benevolence and fails to punish such an incompetent wretch who puts personal gain above public duty, our state of Zheng is going to be ruined in the hands of the Marquis of Faith!"

Having said this, seeing the Crown Prince grow even more enraged and thinking their provocation had succeeded, they suddenly saw the Crown Prince heave a heavy sigh and asked in bewildered concern, "Your Highness?"

They watched as the Crown Prince rose and paced back and forth in the room before finally stopping, gazing at his two brothers and saying, "Father Wang has been suffering from frequent headaches lately, and it is truly improper to trouble him with the matters concerning the Marquis of Faith. Furthermore, Father Wang will absolutely never punish the Marquis of Faith. Even if it were merely unfavorable combat, let alone adding several degrees of crime, Father Wang would never agree to punish the Marquis of Faith!"

After saying this, the Crown Prince sighed to himself, feeling that to be the exalted Crown Prince yet still suffer the humiliation of a mere Marquis of Faith was truly a ludicrous and absurd affair.

Just as the three brothers were at their wits' end, a servant from the Crown Prince's palace rushed over in a flurry, burst into the room, threw himself to the floor in prostration, and cried out in deep grief, "The King has passed away—"

Amidst a chorus of mourning throughout the capital of Zheng, the Crown Prince ascended the throne.

The King of Zheng had died in his sleep, and the entire nation of Zheng went into mourning. Fortunately, the King of Zheng had left behind a posthumous edict early on, allowing the Crown Prince to ascend the throne smoothly, with none of the royal brothers capable of contending with him. Upon receiving the carrier falcon message, the Left Chancellor hurried back to the capital of Zheng without stopping for breath, arranging all funeral matters in accordance with the late King's posthumous decree.

The sudden death of the King of Zheng caught the upper echelons of the state of Zheng off guard. The Crown Prince had initially feared upheaval in the situation, but unexpectedly, the Left Chancellor rushed back in time. With his wholehearted assistance, the entire period up to the conclusion of the succession ceremony passed without a ripple.

Just after the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne, when both civil and military officials of Zheng assumed the Left Chancellor would be rewarded, the new King's two brothers took the lead, followed by seven or eight officials, jointly submitting a memorial accusing the Marquis of Faith, Ling Luo, of incompetent troop command and failing to capture cities for a prolonged period, thereby wasting funds and grain in vain. Others went so far as to accuse Ling Luo of falsely claiming he could not take Mount Dishan Pass, while actually using the pretext to embezzle military funds and grain, and accepting bribes from Wei to intentionally slacken in battle.

In the imperial court, while surprised, the civil and military officials all realized that the new King intended to suppress the power of the Ling family at court. Remembering how the new King had bypassed rewarding the Left Chancellor and instead ordered him to hastily return to Northern Frontier City under the pretext of national defense, they became even more acutely aware of the new King's determination on this matter. Those civil and military officials who did not belong to the Left Chancellor's faction hurriedly went with the wind and joined in condemning the Marquis of Faith, Ling Luo, while certain neutral officials maintained silence.

The King of Zheng took all the fierce arguments and defenses raised by the officials of the Left Chancellor's faction to heart and observed them with his eyes.

Yue Fei, who had hastily flown out of the city toward Mount Dishan Pass in Wei before the rapid series of events in the capital of Zheng took place, knew nothing of this. Her only thought was to reach Ling Luo before the envoy, giving him sufficient time to cope with the changes. Therefore, she spared no vast amount of internal energy along the way, employing the Void-Riding Wind technique to fly across the terrain. By the time she finally reached Wei, it had taken her three full days.