Chapter 1: The Fierce Battle of Yao City

  After leaving the city, Cai Yan rode his horse, muttering to himself. Heaven was especially kind to him, and after walking two or three kilometers, it suddenly started raining heavily, with white mist everywhere, and he couldn't help but get soaked through.

  "Damn it! Are you also going to annoy me?" Cai Yan angrily pointed at the sky and scolded.

  "Boom!... Rumble!" A thunderclap suddenly echoed in the sky, as if responding to his discontent.

  Cai Yan shrunk his neck and drove the horse to hurry forward, if heaven really got angry and struck him with a slap, he would be finished.

  At night, Cai Yan also passed through the rain zone and returned to the Imperial Capital. The clothes on his body had been dried by him using his internal energy, so he wouldn't feel uncomfortable. He then hastily requested an audience with Emperor Huang Tian.

  Hao Tian Emperor listened to Cai Yan's report in the study, pacing back and forth without a word. Chu Wei did not give an order, so Cai Yan dared not leave. As he waited with some anxiety, Chu Wei sighed and said: "It seems that the Jin Yuan army is hiding in Yao City. Meng Fan actually has a problem."

  Cai Yan was perplexed, his face showing a look of doubt, but he didn't dare open his mouth to ask, nor did he have the qualifications to ask.

  Chu Wei turned around and saw him, saying to himself: "You don't understand? You can't understand either, because you're an insider."

  "Think carefully, would Meng Fan beat you for no reason? With his temperament, would he give you gold? ... That's someone instructing from behind." Chu Wei explained with a serious tone, and Cai Yan listened attentively.

  "Pass on My Order! Let the Tianyuan Wangwei Longpai army surround Yao City!" Chu Wei shouted at the gate.

  "Yes!" The guard outside received the order and left.

  "Tomorrow, bring Qi Anwei to Yaoke City to capture Meng Fan. I want to see what he has to say!" Chu Wei turned around and calmly said to Cai Yan.

  "Understood!" Cai Yan responded with a single word and retreated to gather his men. He still needed to get some rest early.

  The next day, at dawn, Chu Wei's order was transmitted to Wang Weilong. Wang Weilong looked at the imperial edict in his hand and his body trembled with fear, because he had been searching for twenty days and still hadn't found out where Jin Yuanbing had gone, but now the imperial edict told him that he was in Yucheng, how could it not make him fearful? This was the result of the people below deceiving him, and also the result of his own lack of vigilance and failure to personally supervise.

  Wang Weilong ordered Liu Jin to return and besiege Huoyue City, while also dispatching a 50,000-strong army in two routes to encircle Yaocheng.

  Yaocheng was also surrounded, because Leiming and others were worried that the scouts they sent out would be caught and forced to confess, so they only sent a few scouts to guard the road far away. Liu Jin's hands had always been lacking in top-notch masters, he sent a few of the best Haotian masters to clear out the scouts.

  The next morning, the army surrounded Yao City. Leiming and others had discovered the Huatian Army when it approached Yao City and knew that their movements had been exposed, so they were already prepared to respond.

  Lei Meng and others stood on the city wall, looking at the dense army of Huan Tian surrounding the city under the sunlight. He frowned and said: "General Meng, do you know who these people are?"

  Meng Fan narrowed his eyes and saw that among the Haotian Army, a few people stood out from the crowd. The leader was short and stout, with a worried expression: "It's Liu Jin! We're in trouble!"

  "What's going on here?" Lei Meng and others also recognized that the person who came was the commander who ambushed them in the mountain forest, but didn't say it out loud.

  "I heard that this person is well-versed in the art of war and has many skilled fighters by his side. Our scouts are probably being eliminated by those skilled fighters." Meng Fan desperately tried to recall the little information he knew.

  Yang Tian smiled and said, "We've already fought him in the mountains outside of Huanyue, and indeed he's a formidable opponent who has killed us several times. However, when our elite troops charged out, he actually ran away."

  Luoyang Tian and others heard Yang Tian's brief account, and couldn't help but fall into sorrowful memories. Meng Fan was shocked to hear this, never expecting that they had actually managed to escape from Liu Jin's hands, and previously didn't reveal even a hint of it.

  "Meng Fan! Get out here!" Liu Jin shouted loudly, "The Emperor has treated you kindly, why are you colluding with the enemy?" Originally puzzled as to why Liu Jin didn't attack Jin Yuan but instead came to besiege Yao City, after hearing this sentence, his doubts were slightly alleviated and he felt a bit more at ease, thinking that it wasn't a rebellion.

  Meng Fan was embarrassed and didn't know how to respond, because he always felt a bit guilty in his heart. Lei Ming gestured for Yang Tian to step forward, and Yang Tian opened his mouth wide, shouting loudly: "The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit! You just lost to us a month ago, what are you yelling about!"

  The whole army was in an uproar, and no one had expected that Liu Jin could possibly lose to Jin Yuan. Liu Jin's face turned red with rage as he heard the doubts and discussions among his troops, and he shouted: "You little thief, if you have the ability, come down and fight me!"

  "You think I'm stupid? You have 70,000 to 80,000 men surrounding the city, and you want me to go down alone and fight with you?" Yang Tian refused to back down.

  Lei Ming hastily stopped Yang Tian and said, "That's an exaggeration. We have fewer troops. If we continue to talk about it, I'm afraid the morale of the army will be unstable." Luoyang Tian, Mr. Wen, and Huang Chu nodded frequently upon hearing this.

  "This battle can only be won by capturing the enemy general, otherwise, all is lost!" Lei Ming made a decisive statement. After scanning the determined faces of the crowd, he continued: "Later, Yang Tian, Meng Fan and Jie Cheng will follow me to make a foray into the Haotian Army, Lin Chong and Zhang Shan will join the vanguard camp. General Luo will grasp the overall situation and wait for an opportunity to strike!"

  "Yes!" they chorused.

  "Yang Tian, go and provoke Liu Jin into a fight! We'll follow afterwards!" Lei Meng said to Yang Tian.

  "Alright, I'll go right away, General Lei!" Yang Tian had some reservations about Lei Meng's inconsistency.

  "Go away, what a nuisance!" Lei Meng glared at Yang Tian.

  Yang Tian lightly shrugged his shoulders, then turned around and shouted towards the Haotian Army outside the city: "I'm here! Which one is Liu Jin's old dog? Come quickly to send yourself to death!" He first looked left and right, then jumped down from the city wall with a loud shout.

  "Wow!" General Hao Tian saw a little monk in a hemp robe flying down from the high city wall, and there was another burst of noise. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the falling figure, and when they saw him land lightly on the ground, their eyes turned to Liu Jin again.

  Liu Jin was provoked by a child, although he was annoyed in his heart, but as a general, he could not be swayed by anger. He was an excellent commander and would not make such small mistakes. His face turned red, and the anger in his chest burst out: "The whole army launches a strong attack, tramples down the city of Yucheng!" Strong troops against weak travelers, giant elephants against small chickens, just crush them and you can win without any strategy!

  Many of the heavenly soldiers, though disdainful in their hearts, still charged forward with spears in hand, carrying long ladders as they advanced. If they didn't charge forward, they would be pushed down by those behind them and meet their demise...

  Shouting to kill the heavens, Yang Tian was very calm and collected as he looked at the surging tide of soldiers below the city, cursing in his heart: "Dead Lei Ming, just bring me some bones to deal with!..."

  "Whooshing" sounds filled the air as arrows flew down from the city walls, wounding and killing many of the Heavenly Soldiers. Before long, a swarm of dark arrow silhouettes shot out from the Heavenly Army, causing another round of anguished cries to erupt on the city walls.

  Yang Tian drew a few long arrows, and the Haotian army tide came like ants covering the sky. He used the Xixing sword to pierce through one wave after another, finally falling into a war of attrition, with Haotian soldiers dying in large numbers around him.

  Lei Ming saw Liu Jin leading a few experts to launch a sneak attack on Yang Tian, and he quickly summoned Meng Fan and Luo Jie to jump down the city wall to provide support. This drew countless flying arrows, which did not hit the three of them but instead struck many of the Hua Tian soldiers who were climbing the walls.

  The three of them knocked down the heavenly soldiers who came pouncing on them like chopping melons and cutting vegetables, and soon reunited with Yang Tian. Yang Tian complained: "What's the point of slaughtering like this?!"

  Although the surroundings were filled with cries of killing and wailing, his clear voice still penetrated clearly into everyone's ears. The surrounding Heavenly Soldiers couldn't help but quietly retreat to another place, Meng Fan and Luo Jie also stared blankly, only such a powerful person dared to shout so loudly.

  "Be careful!" Lei Meng saw that Yang Tian was distracted by his conversation, and three powerful warriors from the Imperial Court charged towards him with swords drawn.

  Yang Tian saw three swift figures rushing over, and with a burst of energy, he retreated backwards. He managed to dodge the three people, but there was another figure that was even faster, who launched a surprise attack on Yang Tian's chest. Yang Tian raised his knife to counterattack, but unexpectedly, his opponent deflected his knife to the right, leaving him wide open. In a state of panic, he raised his left palm to meet the incoming fist.

  A surge of energy shot up to his chest, and Yang Tian's left chest hurt. He spat out a mouthful of blood from his throat with a "pu" sound, and he also flew backward in sync, caught by Lei Meng who was pushed forward one step.

  Lei Ming swiftly applied a few quick jabs to Yang Tian's left chest, followed by several swift strokes on his left arm. He then quickly told Yang Tian, "Later, use the Stellar Absorption Technique to absorb it!"

  "Haha ~ how's the taste!" A cold laugh came, Lei Meng raised his head to take a look, it turned out to be Liu Jin, didn't expect his martial arts to be so strong, even Yang Tian was easily injured.

  "I'll take care of him!" Lei Meng blocked Yang Tian who was about to move forward, "You and Meng Fan, Jie Cheng deal with the other masters!"

  "Be careful!" Yang Tian didn't dare to be arrogant anymore, took a step back and formed a triangular formation with Meng Fan and Luo Jie.

  The people around seemed to know that a master was about to duel and they all squeezed outwards to give space to the two.

  "Hmm..." A sudden gust of wind came from nowhere and swirled around Lei Meng and Liu Jin, kicking up a small whirlwind of dust.

  The dust scattered, and Lei Meng, with his back to the Tang knife, rushed forward to meet Liu Jin. With his left hand, he blocked the incoming straight fist, just as he was about to grab the arm with a reverse wrist motion, another fist came flying towards his right face. Lei Meng's right hand once again supported it, and he lifted his right leg to kick the incoming foot, then jumped back.

  This person's moves are very fast and treacherous, difficult to deal with. After retreating, Lei Ming quickly analyzed the situation.

  Just as he was thinking about how to fight, Liu Jin rushed up again and struck his face with his right hand. How hateful! He's using that move again! Lei Meng gritted his teeth in anger, you use force, I'll use softness! Lei Meng took a step forward with his left foot, grasped the incoming wrist with his right palm, and was about to twist it down when Liu Jin also rolled up his forearm, and his right hand couldn't grasp it. The two of them passed each other by mistake.

  The opponent was hard to deal with, and Lei Meng hummed a low snort. He swept his eyes around and saw that Yang Tian and the other two were also entangled in battle, while on the city wall, there were people climbing all over it, tangled up in a mess. His heart couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

  A swift battle with mutual injuries, I won't resort to using the Star Absorbing Technique to defeat you! Leiming gritted his teeth in anger, he couldn't afford to drag out the fight.

  With both feet firmly planted, he took a deep breath and concentrated his energy. Seeing Liu Jin's powerful and heavy blow coming straight at him, Lei Ming raised his left palm to meet it head-on.

  Fists touched, a faint smile appeared on Liu's face. Lei Meng felt a surge of energy rushing towards him from his left hand, and he quickly activated the Xīng Xīng Fǎ to guide the energy towards his right arm. As it passed through his chest, he felt a tearing pain. Lei Meng gritted his teeth and took a step forward with his right foot. The accumulated energy merged with the surge, causing his right arm to swell. He quickly released the energy and struck Liu's left chest with a loud crash.

  Liu Jin's left hand blocked horizontally, and all that could be heard was a "slap" sound. His left forearm stuck to his chest, and then his body quickly shifted to the right side. Fresh blood and flesh splattered everywhere, his left shoulder shattered, his left arm fell off, and his body flew backward.

  Lei Meng's internal energy surged in his chest, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a "whoosh". His body shook. When he looked up, he saw Liu Jin gritting his teeth and using his right hand to press on his left chest. Several Heavenly Swordsmen stood guard around him, their swords at the ready. Lei Meng wanted to counterattack, but found it hard to muster his energy.

  "Fall back!" Liu Jin shouted, and six powerful warriors from the Hua Tian sect immediately formed a protective circle around him as they retreated from the sea of soldiers.

  Yang Tian and the three others rushed to Lei Meng's side, looking at the severed arm on the ground, a moment of silence. The surrounding Haotian soldiers did not dare to approach, but there was nowhere to retreat, only encircling the empty space from afar, with many corpses and severed arms on the ground...

  Lei Meng took advantage of the opportunity to adjust his breath, hummed softly, spat out a small mouthful of blood, and let out a sigh: "Luckily... I almost died here."

  "It's Liu Jin's fault! Look at that severed arm..." Yang Tian rolled his eyes and pointed at the severed limb, shouting.

  Before long, the Haotian army sent a signal to retreat, and the surrounding Haotian soldiers retreated like a tide, leaving behind bodies stained with blood.