Chapter 34: War Erupts in Anxi

“Battle!”

With the command, two figures instantly collided.

“Boom!”

Blades clashed, waves of force churned the air.

Qin Wei’s Azure Dragon Saber Technique was bold and unrestrained—each swing cleaved out a ten-zhang-long arc of azure light, like a dragon soaring into the sky.

Aruba’s curved blade was as swift as lightning.

Combined with his divine power to control gales, his movements were ghostlike and unpredictable, yet every strike carried the weight of a mountain.

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

The clash of metal rang to the heavens.

The two battled from the center of the arena to its edge, then from the edge back to the center again.

Qin Wei brought down a heavy strike—cracking open a several-zhang-long fissure across the arena floor; Aruba swept his curved blade, raising a storm that hurled stones and dust like rain.

Dozens of exchanges passed, yet the two remained evenly matched.

High above on the platform, Jiang Zhaoming narrowed his eyes slightly and, through his divine sense, instructed Aruba to deliberately expose a flaw.

In that fleeting instant, Qin Wei seized the chance and unleashed the strongest strike of the Azure Dragon Saber Technique!

The saber light transformed into a colossal azure dragon, roaring as it lunged toward Aruba.

“Good! Come!”

Aruba roared, his curved blade meeting the attack—but at the final moment, he deliberately withdrew thirty percent of his strength.

“Boom!”

The explosion of energy shook the arena. Aruba was forced back seven steps before dropping to one knee, his curved blade buried deep in the stage.

He looked up and laughed. “A fine saber technique! I, Aruba, concede my defeat willingly!”

The crowd erupted in astonishment!

Qin Wei sheathed his saber and stood still, a flicker of doubt flashing in his eyes.

That strike just now—he had clearly felt the other man holding back…

On the high platform, Jiang Zhaoming clapped his hands and laughed heartily. “Excellent! From this day forth, the Queshe Army shall be part of my Anxi Prefecture!”

Aruba rose and clasped his fists, meeting Jiang Zhaoming’s gaze—no words were needed between them.

This grand play had finally reached its perfect conclusion, just as Jiang Zhaoming had scripted.

With the addition of twenty thousand elite Iron Cavalry, not only did the strength of Anxi Prefecture rise to new heights, but its morale also soared.

Before the first month even ended, Anxi Prefecture had already entered a state of war.

The Kuqa Army held their original positions, while most of the elite troops from the Luntai Army were redeployed—an armored torrent surging toward Yili County.

By the early spring of the second month, at Jiang Zhaoming’s command, the three armies of Luntai, the Prefectural City, and the Bandit-Subduing forces advanced together—three drawn swords aimed straight at Cangbei County.

Among them, the most eye-catching was the newly trained Wolf Cavalry of the Bandit-Subduing Army.

Two thousand five hundred Moon-Hidden Wolves bared their fangs and growled lowly, while forty Moon-Howling Wolves raised their heads and howled at the sky.

These giant wolves were as large as bulls and horses, with fangs like daggers and claws like hooks.

Though not as enduring as warhorses, they excelled in ferocity.

Amid their restless movements, one could see these beasts rear upright on the battlefield—tearing with foreclaws and biting with razor fangs—their lethality far surpassing that of ordinary cavalry.

Jiang Zhaoming had specially assigned them as infantry guards, experts in close-range slaughter—like a wall of flesh and steel capable of shredding enemy cavalry to pieces.

At the same time, the Black-Armored Iron Cavalry and the Queshe Army combined into a torrent of steel, galloping toward Beiting County.

The heavy cavalry of the Black-Armored Army advanced like a moving wall, while the light cavalry of the Queshe Army harried with bows and arrows—the perfect blend of might and agility.

With five armies marching simultaneously, Anxi Prefecture was shrouded in turbulence.

All powers turned their eyes toward them, wondering what storm this young Prince of Anxi would stir next.

Jiang Zhaoming, stationed in the Prefectural City, was far from idle.

With his transaction with Jiang Zhaode approaching, he personally oversaw the forging of weapons and armor, implementing an “assembly line” system in both Luntai and Kuqa Counties.

Artisans each took up their tasks—the rhythmic clang of hammers rang ceaselessly day and night.

Even more remarkable, as the lost territories were gradually reclaimed, the industries of each county began to diverge.

The commoners of Kuqa and Luntai abandoned their barren farmlands to work in the mines and foundries.

Jiang Zhaoming then ordered Yili County to continuously supply grain and provisions, ensuring that the craftsmen had no worries of hunger.

Under such reform, the weapon and armor output of the two counties doubled!

Amidst the shifting winds of Anxi, the flames of war first ignited in Beiting County.

The heavy cavalry of the Black-Armored Army and the light cavalry of the Queshe Army struck like two unmatched blades, piercing deep into Beiting’s heartlands.

Wherever their iron hooves passed, grass waves surged and smoke filled the skies.

This elite force soon joined with the Beiting Army, launching a thunderous assault against the rebels entrenched there.

Beiting County stretched for a thousand li, lush with water and grass—an ideal place for raising horses and training soldiers.

The rebels had long entrenched themselves here, forming cavalry units that could come and go like the wind.

However, when faced with the sweeping storm of the Black-Armored Army’s heavy cavalry and the Queshe Army’s mounted archers, they finally realized—

The proud cavalry they so boasted of were nothing but paper tigers before this army!

At that moment, deep within the vast grasslands, a city made of colossal yurts stood out prominently.

This was the stronghold of one of the three major rebel forces in Beiting—the “Aduo Army.”

For years, the Aduo Army had rampaged across the plains with twenty thousand cavalry, pillaging and slaughtering, turning the steppe into a living hell.

But today, this once-boisterous city was shrouded in deathly silence.

“Report!”

A scout stumbled into the main tent. “Chief, our outer sentry riders… have all been wiped out!”

The Aduo Army’s leader, a fierce cultivator of the Divine Power Realm, shot to his feet and flung open the tent flap.

The sight before him made his pupils constrict sharply—at the horizon, a dark tide of cavalry surged like a living storm.

The light riders of the Queshe Army circled from afar, their arrows raining like locusts; the heavy Black-Armored Cavalry arrayed in front, their armor glinting coldly beneath the setting sun.

Worse still—the entire Aduo Army was already surrounded!

Looking back, his once twenty thousand cavalry had been reduced to half, every face pale as ash.

The soldiers who had fought beside him for years now stared out with fear in their eyes.

“Chief, we…” The vice-commander’s voice trembled.

“Silence!”

The leader roared, his eyes burning with killing intent.

He ripped his curved blade from its sheath, pointing it toward the heavens. “Men! Better to die fighting than sit and await death! Follow me—slaughter these Great Zhou dogs!”

Before his voice faded, his warhorse reared and charged forward.

The remnants of his army, seeing this, bellowed in rage and followed.

The chief’s furious roar echoed across the plains, his remaining riders crying out like cornered wolves in their final frenzy.

They raised their curved blades high, warhorses screaming beneath them, forming a wedge-shaped assault formation that crashed fiercely against the iron wall of the Black-Armored Army!

“Men, kill!”

The earth trembled, the thunder of hooves roared.

The Aduo cavalry drove their warhorses madly forward, hoping to break through the Black-Armored line with flesh and blood.

Yet what awaited them was a silent, mountain-like wall of steel.

The Black Armor charged—unstoppable, annihilating all before them.

Cheng Yaojin stood at the front, eyes cold as steel.

He slowly raised his hand. Behind him, the Black-Armored Cavalry lowered their Mo Blades, their edges glinting with a deadly chill.

“Black-Armored Army—charge!”

“Boom!”

At his command, the heavy cavalry surged forth like a torrent of iron!

The two forces collided with a deafening roar—and in an instant, flesh and blood flew!

The Aduo riders watched in terror as their curved blades struck the Black-Armored soldiers’ heavy armor, producing nothing but sparks—unable to pierce through at all.

Meanwhile, the Mo Blades of the Black-Armored soldiers were like the scythes of death—each thrust piercing through multiple foes!

“Pshh!”

One Aduo rider was skewered through the chest, flung several zhang through the air before crashing heavily into the ranks behind him.

“Crunch!”

Another rider’s horse had its spine shattered beneath the iron hooves of the Black-Armored Cavalry—both man and beast crushed into pulp beneath the onrushing tide!

In just one clash, the Aduo Army’s formation was completely torn apart!

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