Xuan Yue gradually drew closer, and the corpses on the ground came into clearer view. As he passed through them, the amusement and contempt originally present in his eyes vanished completely!
As a general who had survived countless battlefields, he could learn a great deal from corpses.
At the very least, the most obvious impression was that the Xunfeng Tribe had essentially been subjected to a one-sided kill. That much could be seen from the wounds on the corpses.
Most had been killed with a single strike, while the rest had suffered severed limbs.
Excellent weapons and rigorous training!
They were inferior to the Black Cavalry, but the appearance of such a cavalry force in Dan Prefecture was certainly not good news for him!
The people of Dan Prefecture were fierce by nature, and their physical constitutions were already formidable. If such training and elite troops equipment were added to that...
He knew perfectly well what that represented!
“General, that person is...”
Deputy general Chun Xu had just finished speaking when Xuan Yue interrupted him. “Pass on my order! Remain where you are!”
The Ten Thousand Black Cavalry behind him immediately halted. Their movements were perfectly synchronized—this was a true elite troops cavalry force!
The Black Cavalry’s grim eyes continuously swept over the Wolf Cavalry opposite them!
As he studied the Wolf Cavalry, the Wolf Cavalry was likewise observing the Black Cavalry.
In the past, the Black Cavalry had been a disaster to them, demons capable of breaking through the grasslands. But now, they seemed... nothing special!
The two cavalry forces silently confronted each other, less than a hundred paces apart. Many of the Wolf Cavalry still found it difficult to suppress the tension in their hearts!
However, when they saw the figure casually sitting on the mound ahead, their hearts somehow settled down.
Neither side made a sound during the standoff. The only noise was the grand banner above Li Zhen, snapping loudly in the wind!
Xuan Yue dismounted, his saber hanging at his waist, and approached a short distance from Li Zhen. He had noticed Li Zhen’s figure long ago, but had not recognized him!
Now he could see clearly!
“Chancellor Li, I truly underestimated you. I never expected you to transform a Barbarian tribe into this state in such a short time!”
Xuan Yue stood straight as he stared at Li Zhen.
Aside from Li Zhen, there was no one else who could have transformed the Shuoyan Tribe into this!
However, he was very curious. Where had Li Zhen obtained those weapons and suits of armor? And previously, the other man had seemed to understand nothing about military affairs.
Could he have been pretending all along?
After thinking it over, that seemed the most likely possibility. Otherwise, there was no way to explain it.
“Chancellor? Stop calling me that. This King is now the Great King of the Great Zhen Royal Court, not the chancellor of your Great Yu!” Li Zhen rose and dusted off his hands, then calmly looked toward Xuan Yue.
He had met Xuan Yue before, but they were not familiar with each other. Or rather, the entire military command of Great Yu had held only an ordinary attitude toward him.
The reason for that was Shao Xuxue.
That goddess of the military ranks of Great Yu.
“The chancellor is joking. You presumably know why Your Inferior General has come this time. An imperial edict cannot be disobeyed, so please accompany Your Inferior General on a trip. The lands of the foreign race are filled with people who know nothing of propriety.
Remaining here will only cause the chancellor to pick up their bad habits!”
Xuan Yue watched Li Zhen with a frown.
Meeting again after so many years, Li Zhen was completely different from the impression he had once given Xuan Yue. His entire body radiated a faint killing aura, along with traces of a kingly and domineering bearing.
If he had not met Li Zhen before, he would truly have wondered whether the person before him was really that chancellor of Great Yu.
“How presumptuous! Insulting...”
Shuoyan Hexu had just begun angrily speaking when Li Zhen interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
“Xuan Yue, enough with the formalities. Let’s be more direct. You dislike me, and I am not particularly pleased with you either.
There is no returning to Great Yu. Since I established the Great Zhen Royal Court, you should know what I intend to do!
Go back and tell Shao Xuxue and Shao Xuji that my relationship with them ends here. From this day onward, we have no connection whatsoever!”
I am solely the Great King of the Great Zhen Royal Court, and no longer the chancellor of Great Yu!”
Li Zhen spoke calmly with his hands clasped behind his back.
The events of the past had already drifted away with the wind.
“Hahahahaha, Li Zhen, you have certainly become more straightforward! I also admire your abilities, for you actually managed to transform the militia of a tribe into what they are today.
But don’t you think you can accomplish anything with just these people? Become a king? How laughable!”
Xuan Yue stopped pretending. His face was filled with wild laughter.
Li Zhen shook his head and raised his hand, gently gripping the Overlord Spear.
“Are kings, nobles, chancellors, and generals born to their stations? I, Li Zhen, was once able to pacify the realm for Great Yu. Now, I can also rely on these twenty thousand men to sweep across all of Dan Prefecture!
My confidence does not come from them, but from myself!”
As Li Zhen’s voice fell, an overwhelming ambition erupted from him. At the same time, a powerful surge of True Qi exploded, whipping up dust and wind.
Xuan Yue’s expression changed drastically.
This was...
“Li Zhen, you have actually been concealing your strength all this time! You know martial arts!”
His voice gradually rose.
The aura emanating from Li Zhen was no weaker than his own—in fact, it was even stronger!
The shock this gave him was far greater than that brought by the ten thousand wolf cavalry.
“Know martial arts? Not only do I, I am stronger than you! Xuan Yue, if you don’t want to leave, then don’t!”
After Li Zhen spoke, he placed two fingers between his lips, and a long, melodious signal rang out.
Behind the Black Cavalry, billowing dust rose like a massive dragon.
A silver torrent surged forth from within it.
“Great Zhen!”
“Great Zhen!”
“Great Zhen!”
Shuoyan Hexu immediately raised the grand banner and shouted excitedly.
These were precisely the other ten thousand wolf cavalry whom Li Zhen had sent people to summon.
Xuan Yue’s brows knitted into a deep furrow.
There was another ten thousand!
“Shuoyan Xiong leads the ten thousand wolf cavalry to protect the Great King!”
The silver-armored man charged at the forefront, his voice soaring into the heavens.
The situation instantly reversed. Twenty thousand Wolf Cavalry surrounded the Black Cavalry from both the front and rear.
Chun Xu’s expression showed panic.
Being attacked from both front and rear was highly disadvantageous for the Black Cavalry.
Especially in that instant, the Wolf Cavalry’s momentum surged to another level, and he faintly sensed an oppressive force.
“Hahahahaha, Xuan Yue, may I ask what advantage you still have before me now?”
Li Zhen stood proudly with the spear in hand, his eyes filled with amusement.
“Zhen—”
“Zhen—”
“Zhen—”
That sky-shaking battle intent caused the warhorses beneath the Black Cavalry to hesitate restlessly.
“Li! Zhen!”
Xuan Yue’s face turned livid.
He could never have imagined this scene, not even in his dreams.
Li Zhen approached Xuan Yue with a faint smile and reached out to pat him on the shoulder.
“Even ants may shake the heavens, let alone I, Li Zhen, who am a heaven-blessed prodigy! Do you think this is the end? There is something even more spectacular!” After speaking, Li Zhen reversed his grip on the Overlord Spear and urged the True Qi within his body to its peak.
He picked a direction and instantly hurled the Overlord Spear.
Golden radiance flashed, and the Overlord Spear disappeared into the vast sky.
For roughly two seconds, there was silence.
The ground began to tremble.
This trembling was even more violent than before, and made everyone’s hearts pound even harder.
Li Zhen turned Xuan Yue’s head around.
In their pupils, they saw a roaring ferocious beast surging wildly toward them.
Of course, the ferocious beast was merely an illusion created by their eyes. In reality, three thousand Iron Pagoda Heavy Cavalry were slowly advancing with heart-shaking footsteps, every one of them wielding a hammer.
Their oppressive presence was overwhelming!
Whether Black Cavalry or Wolf Cavalry, all of them revealed fear beneath the might of these riders.
Xuan Yue’s pupils trembled violently.
What a terrifying army!
From the horses to the armor, he had never seen anything like it.
The iron armor nearly covered them down to the ground.
Steel Behemoths!
He took a deep look at Li Zhen beside him. So these were all the forces he had concealed...
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