Chapter 57: Divine General Tianwei

  Qin An had a name called Cheng Ji a long, long time ago.

  According to historical records, the ancestors of humanity, Fuxi and Nuwa, were born here, hence the name "Fuxi's hometown". Chengji has been an important town on the ancient Silk Road throughout history. The Battle of Street Pavilion during the Three Kingdoms period took place in the area now known as Longcheng. Many famous people have come from this place, including Flying General Li Guang, Former Qin King Fu Jian, and Poet Immortal Li Bai.

  The above-mentioned characters are just human ministers, and the following ones will be the mighty and powerful Li family of Chengji.

  Chengji is the ancestral home of Li, the largest surname in China. The descendants of Chengji Li have produced 25 emperors, 29 prime ministers, 52 generals, and over 510 nobles throughout history. There are also more than 20 influential literary figures, poets, painters, and musicians. Additionally, numerous officials such as governors, prefects, magistrates, scholars, and degree holders have emerged from the Chengji Li clan. Over 600 descendants of the Chengji Li clan have been recorded in official histories.

  Originally, out of the world's 6-7 billion people, there are over 100 million with the surname Li! It's unimaginable what a massive force this is! Imagine how many heroic spirits of the Li surname will be revived in the divine state!

  This force gathered together can be proud of any dynasty. If combined with Li Tang, who in the world can stop it?

  The origin of the Li family can be traced back to Li Chong, the seventh generation ancestor of Li Guang. Li Chong served as the governor of Longxi County during the pre-Qin period, marking the beginning of the Li family's connection with Longshan. Li Chong's grandson, Li Xin, was a great general of Qin and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Longxi. According to legend, Li Xin once resided in Chengji and was also buried there after his death. Following Li Xin, Li Guang's father, Li Shang, served as the magistrate of Chengji, where Li Guang was born.

  Moreover, since Li Guang's father Li Shang, the Li family had taken Chengdu as their base and rapidly flourished. By the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, they had become a prominent national clan. The so-called Guanzhong military aristocratic group, the Li family was one of its most prominent members, with many branches.

  The Zhaojun Li clan is the second largest branch of the Li surname, only after the Longxi Li clan. Zhaojun is one of the ancestral hometowns of the Li surname. The county seat of Zhaojun is located in present-day Zhao County, Hebei Province, and was established as a county during the Northern Wei dynasty. The founder of the Zhaojun Li clan was Li Mu, the second son of Qin Taifu Li Bi. Li Bi was the fourth brother of Li Chong, the founder of the Longxi Li clan. Li Mu was a famous military general during the Warring States period, serving as the Prime Minister of Zhao State and enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wu'an. He initially resided in Bai people (present-day Longyao, Xingtai), becoming the founder of the Zhaojun Li clan.

  It seems that there is another theory about Li Mu's identity, which is that he was a member of the Zhao royal family, with the surname Ying and the clan name Li. This is also correct, as it is recorded in books. In a certain sense, the imperial bloodline of the Tang Dynasty and the aristocratic bloodline of the Qin State are the same.

  The three forces that surrounded the ancient town of Longcheng were all from the Li family, and because of different eras, there were various disputes. Although they fought internally, they were very united in the face of external enemies. One branch was the 3,000-strong Pingzhou Army led by Li Xiangji, another was the 2,000-strong Yulin Army led by Li Gan, and the last branch was the 5,000-strong Western Liang Army led by Li Gao, the Martial Emperor of Western Liang.

  The original Longcheng surroundings were three Li's troops competing for hegemony, and now it is still the three heroes competing for hegemony. Han Sui's Xiliang eight divisions had 20,000 heads, after setting up a military camp in Jieting, they just confronted each other with the Li's troops; Now adding Dong Zhuo Gong Sun Ce's Qin army has also become three heroes competing for hegemony.

  At night, the Qin army set up camp, and Gongsun Zan led his personal cavalry to scout out the surrounding terrain. He found that this battle was really not easy to fight, as Longcheng was located at a transportation hub, surrounded by steep mountains on all sides.

  Long City is located between the three forks, and the central part has already been abandoned. The Li family is on the southwest road, at the foot of the mountain and in the middle of the mountain road, where they have set up a camp early, preparing for a long time, with abundant defensive materials, making it extremely difficult to attack. The road leading northwest is exactly where the ancient battlefield street pavilion is located, and one can imagine how treacherous this place is. Moreover, there is also Han Xi's army, which has more troops than itself, guarding the pass, a hard bone to crack.

  The Qin army was supposed to follow the highway directly to Chengji, but who would have thought that the mountain road was collapsing. It's unclear whether it was a quality issue or the work of the awakened vengeful spirits, so the Qin army diverted to Longcheng instead. Unexpectedly, this place turned out to be a dead end as well, and they were blocked here.

  At night, the whole army held a military meeting. Dong Zhuo and Gongsun Zan sat in the main seats, while the other generals stood on both sides. Li Ru was beside Dong Zhuo, and Chu Xiliang was beside Gongsun Zan.

  "Today, not only did General Gong Sun investigate the terrain, but I also sent someone to scout it out. For two thousand years from ancient times to now, there haven't been many changes here. In other words, this place is just like the terrain we had in our previous life, and it's very hard to fight!"

  "The situation is very unfavorable for our army, and the Li family's coalition with Han may have already formed an alliance. We're fine if we don't attack, but once we attack one side, the other will surely emerge from behind us!" Dong Zhuo was also worried, and Gongsun Zan was also worried.

  One of the reasons why the two men are having a headache is that they are currently trapped here, but there is no good way to get out of this predicament. The second reason is that the goals of the two have diverged, Dong Zhuo's goal is to open up the road to Tianshui Prefecture, advocating for the capture of Li's camp; Gongsun Zan wants to break through Han Sui and advance westward along the ancient street pavilion.

  The current Qin army cannot be dispersed, and dispersing it would not benefit anyone. Gong Sun Zan understood that he and Dong Zhuo had to have one of them give up their persistence. Here, Dong Zhuo's military rank was higher than his own, and his strength was stronger than his own. If they were to disperse, the weaker side would be at a disadvantage.

  This military meeting required Dong Zhuo to express his support for Gongsun Zan, but Gongsun Zan did not indicate a division of troops on the spot, which was already the greatest support. Obviously, this result was unsatisfactory to Dong Zhuo, who sent Li Ru to visit Chu Shao at night.

  "My lord knows what Lord Dong is concerned about. Before the enemy in front of us is defeated, my army will not be divided from the Pingxi Army! Please go back and inform Lord Dong to rest assured and wait. Tomorrow at dawn, my lord will definitely give Lord Dong an answer."

  "General Gong Sun is a man of his word, and Li can sleep soundly tonight. Li will no longer disturb Mr. Chu, and takes his leave." After Li left, Chu Mengmeng tidied up her appearance and went to find Gong Sun Ce.

  Inside Gong Sun Ce's large tent, a strong smell of alcohol wafted about. Chu Mengmeng hadn't even arrived yet, but she could already smell it from outside the tent, and couldn't help but furrow her brow. The guard standing watch outside the tent was just about to enter and make his report when Chu Mengmeng reached out to stop him.

  He hadn't taken two steps when a figure rushed out of the big tent and fell to the ground at Chu Mengmeng's feet, starting to vomit. Chu Mengmeng quickly jumped back, and after the man finished vomiting, he pinched his nose and took a look, only to find it was Liu Wei.

  Liu Wei stood up, his face covered in mud, his eyes blurry with drink: "Today was just you, that guy Gong Sun couldn't be gotten drunk no matter what tonight, and with you, the four of us will definitely be able to get him drunk!"

  "Drinking is supposed to be a joyful thing, but with you, I only feel pain." Chu Mengmeng said, turned around and walked away from Liu Wei, entering the big tent.

  Liu Wei sucked in a breath of cold air, and with a silly grin, he spoke to the empty space in front of him: "How do you know my pain? You don't! Gong Sun Ce's mansion is like a park, I've been through thick and thin with him, but only have one-tenth of what he has. Not even a woman looks up to me, and when I finally get back home, she gives me the cold shoulder! Alas... it's hard to live!"

  Liu Wei was indeed very depressed, and when he returned to Xianyang, he was severely scolded by the woman he loved. No matter how much reason he had in front of her, he was still a soft egg that couldn't be explained. He couldn't sleep in his own mansion, so he went to find Guo Liang in the middle of the night and barely made it through the night.

  As soon as he thought about it, he felt wronged. He had been out risking his life, and might have died at any moment. But when he got back, he still had to suffer the scolding of a woman who ate her own food and wore her own clothes - what right did she have to scold him?

  Although he thought so, once he stood in front of Tian Tian, he softened from the inside out, from top to bottom. That's why it was so painful, everyone in the big account hadn't gotten drunk yet, but he had already gotten drunk.

  Gongsun Ce saw Chu Mengmeng coming in, chewing on peanuts and lying on the felt blanket, asking: "Is Li Ru's side urging him tightly?"

  "There's nothing, just that he explained and left early." Chu Mengmeng saw that everyone in the tent was sober and clear-headed. It was strange how Liu Wei got drunk to such an extent, and she looked at others with puzzlement.

  Kuo Liang smiled and poured red wine for himself and Chu Mengmeng, saying slowly: "We drink red, that guy insisted on drinking white. As a result, we had just gotten started when he retreated in defeat."

  "Is it because of this reason?" Chu Mengmeng didn't think Liu Wei would be so unreasonable.

  "Haha, that kid's home life is unstable. The woman he likes, without distinguishing between right and wrong, scolded him harshly, not even letting him into the house. Those two days in Xianyang were spent overnight at my place, it was quite miserable." Gong Sun Ce drained his cup of wine in one gulp, then stretched out his hand to Guo Liang, asking him to refill it for him.

  "That's a self-righteous foolish woman, it's rare for such an extreme person to survive in this day and age." Chu Mengmeng heard the general idea and judged the woman's temperament.

  Guo Liang nodded repeatedly in admiration of his own military advisor's prowess after witnessing Tian Xian's abilities.

  At night, Gongsun Zhan entered his dream and reappeared in the starry sky of consciousness. As long as he fell into deep sleep, he would come to the starry sky of consciousness. This place was changing from time to time, compared with before, it had only become a little bigger.

  Moreover, there was also a small forest, where Daji was holding a fine sword and trimming branches. Gong Sun Ce blinked and floated to Daji's back, stretching out his nose to sniff carefully.

  "It has no flavor, you're just deceiving yourself." Daji didn't turn her head back, Gong Sun Ce had done this sniffing more than once, she was already used to it.

  "Sister's body has a faint freshness, smelling it can calm the mind."

  "Little brother, you've been drinking again, but have you run into some trouble?"

  Gongsun Zhan was just about to tell Daiji about today's encounter when he suddenly felt that numbness on his back again. Gongsun Zhan was overjoyed and turned his head to see a Divine General's Soul Pearl flying out of his back, exploding into powder in mid-air.

  Then, a stream of starlight converged on the explosion site, forming a silver, translucent sphere. Gong Sun Zhan knew that another divine being was about to awaken, and this time it should be even stronger than Gao Shun, because this silver sphere was much larger than Gao Shun's.

  "Hahaha! I, Ma Mengqi, am back!" A loud laughter came from the silver light sphere, and then a young man slightly taller than Gong Sun Ce stood up, looking around.