The Villain's Counterattack

Liaodong's attitude was tougher than Shibi Khan, Bi Xuan and Zhao Deyan had imagined. Mayi and Zhuojun were under full martial law, and all foreign trade was suspended. At the same time, Duke of Liao, Zhang Xutuo, personally led an army of 60,000 to launch a large-scale sweep of the grassland.

Relying on the defense lines of Mayi and Zhuojun, 60,000 cavalrymen swept across the grassland in a mighty force. Although the blood did not flow like a river wherever they passed, the impact on the Turkic tribes was absolutely huge.

They were not unreasonable; on the contrary, they were very reasonable. They immediately surrounded the tribe and then conducted a thorough investigation. They first invited acquaintances who frequently traded with Liaodong, treated them with courtesy, and conducted transactions on the spot, offering many preferential treatments. At the same time, they asked the children of the tribe for information about their elders. Anyone who had accompanied Shibi Khan on the expedition was immediately labeled an enemy.

As an enemy of Liaodong, your fate will certainly not be good. Unless an acquaintance who has been treated well by you before is willing to redeem you, your property will be confiscated and taken away, and all your cattle, sheep and horses will be taken away. Even your yurt and tent will not be left behind, and you will be taken as a captive and sent to Liaodong as a slave.

The Liaodong trade had a huge impact on the grassland. Not only the leaders and herdsmen of the nearby tribes, but even the grassland tribes such as the Mohe, Shiwei, Khitan, and Tiele came from far and wide to trade.

These grassland herdsmen who had personally participated in the Liaodong trade were all shocked by the power and wealth of Liaodong Prefecture, and even felt awe from the bottom of their hearts. Especially the grassland tribes within a hundred miles of Liaodong, they even gradually regarded themselves as people with connections to Liaodong in their hearts and took pride in it.

This time, Shibi Khan summoned the Turkic tribes to march south to Chang'an, and tribes within a hundred miles of Liaodong responded. With Liaodong as their backs, they lived a rich life and did not need to continue to live on the edge of a knife. Facts proved that their choice was correct. Liaodong sent out 60,000 troops, sweeping across a thousand miles and no one was able to defeat them. Even Zhao Deyan, who led his troops to the scene after hearing the news, was defeated by Yang Xuyan.

In the end, it was Wu Zun Bi Xuan who took action personally. The two men confronted each other for three days at a distance of a thousand meters, and neither of them took the initiative to attack. Until the Turkic side received news that Shibi Khan's army was defeated by the coalition forces of Luoyang, Dou Jiande and Liaodong in Xiazhou by a general with golden armor and mask.

The enemy used chariots to lead the way, followed closely by horse archers. They set up many traps and used Modao soldiers to cut off the retreat of the Turkic army, and in one fell swoop defeated the 100,000-strong Turkic army. More than half of them were killed or wounded, and less than 30% managed to escape. Shibi Khan was killed on the battlefield by the general with golden armor and mask. The coalition forces won a great victory, and the Turkic army was defeated thousands of miles away.

Lu Miaozi made the greatest contribution in this battle. The armored chariot he designed became famous in the first battle. The second was the mysterious general with golden armor and mask. This man was highly skilled in martial arts and extremely intelligent. Each of his one hundred guards was first-rate, including ten innate strongmen. He was accompanied by two masters, which made people suspect that this man was the Duke of Liao himself.

Dou Jiande also gained great fame from this battle. With only 10,000 infantry and two generals, he secured countless spoils of war, including 8,000 war horses and tens of thousands of cattle and sheep. It was a truly remarkable haul, but what made him happiest was the letter of appointment from the Sui imperial family. With this letter, the Liaodong army would not attack unless Dou Jiande took the initiative and was caught by the Duke of Liao.

However, at this time, Dou Jiande also fell into the same predicament as Xue Ju before. He was surrounded by either allies or powerful enemies that he could not defeat. He had reached a bottleneck and it was extremely difficult to break through.

In Luoyang, Wang Shichong and Yang Xiu were both too powerful to be defeated, and the moral high ground wouldn't allow him to offend them. To the northwest, Liang Shidu and Guo Zihe were in the rear. Their own strength wasn't particularly formidable, but the Turkic support forced him to be wary. While the coalition had defeated a hundred thousand strong Turkic troops and slain Shibi Khan, that had little to do with his own forces. The rumbling chariots, their incredible defenses designed to defeat cavalry, and their divine crossbows, with a range of three to five hundred steps, were simply not something he could contend with.

If we must say, Guanzhong Chang'an might be worth considering. Although Li Tang seemed powerful and occupied the geographical advantage of Guanzhong, not only was there great disunity internally, but the general with golden armor and mask took advantage of the situation to seize Tongguan, thus blocking the passage to Luoyang.

This move was extremely cruel and almost cut off Li Tang's hope of unifying the world. You must know that Guanzhong is not as fertile as the Qin and Han Dynasties. After so many years of destruction, it is no longer as fertile as it used to be. Relying solely on Guanzhong is not enough to support a powerful empire. It also has to face the threat of the Turks and the Turkic running dogs Liang Shidu and Guo Zihe at all times.

Previously, Li Tang controlled Guanzhong and could threaten Hebei and Heluo at any time through Tongguan. However, the fall of Tongguan brought more than just military disadvantages. The general with golden armor and mask even planned to cut off Guanzhong's trade with the outside world, which hit Li Tang hard.

Li Tang now has only two choices. One is to storm Tongguan. However, the general with golden armor and mask not only has amazing martial arts and is invincible in charging into battle on the plains, but his defensive ability is also unmatched. With the help of Lu Miaozi, the world's best craftsman, he built Tongguan into an impregnable and unbreakable fortress.

Li Tang's situation changed from "I can hit you, but you can't hit me" to "I can't hit you, but you can hit me whenever you want". The situation was reversed in an instant.

Under the intimidation of Li Yuan, Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng immediately stopped their internal fighting and launched a large army to march straight to Tongguan. Shi Feixuan did not care about the safety of the temples around Chang'an and went to Tongguan in person to try to persuade the defenders to "abandon the dark and join the light."

Cihang Jingzhai bet on Li Shimin, essentially supporting the Li family. If the Li family failed, they would lose everything miserably. However, before she could enter Tongguan, she was stopped by the Yingui Sect's Saint Maiden, Kankan.

"Little nun, I've come to play with you again. My strength has been improving slowly recently, and I need to borrow your whetstone to hone my skills so that I can catch up with my master as soon as possible. I hope you can help me." Kana's jade-white little hands gestured as if picking up a flower, with an innocent smile on her face, but the words she said made Shi Feixuan grit her teeth and almost vomit blood.

The two exchanged words for a while. Shi Feixuan knew that she had been running around with Li Shimin during this period and had basically never practiced martial arts seriously. Her strength had not improved much compared to when she was in Luoyang. But it was different for the opposite side, Kankan. With the momentum of defeating her, it seemed that her strength had improved significantly.

In the martial arts competition, if you don't advance, you will retreat. The competition between Cihang Jingzhai and Yingui Sect is all-round. This time, I rushed to Tongguan as part of the struggle between Jingzhai and Yingui Sect for the world situation. Naturally, I cannot retreat, otherwise I will be at a disadvantage.

The Color and Void Sword slashed at the Sky Demon and Kankan easily gained the upper hand. As she herself said, she intercepted Master Feixuan this time not only to destroy the plan of Cihang Jingzhai on the orders of her master, but also to accumulate the advantage and improve her own energy and spirit so that she can practice better.

Yang Xuyan brought her not only more martial arts secrets, a broader vision, a higher realm, but also seven complete longevity true qi, which forcibly raised Kankan's true qi to a higher level. However, it takes time to adapt to the enhanced control. After the last public defeat of Shi Feixuan in Luoyang, her energy and spirit were greatly improved, and her strength was raised to the peak of the master.

Although they are all at the peak of Grandmaster, there are still differences in levels. When Kankan first reached the peak of Grandmaster, although she was not as good as Fan Qinghui, Liaokong, and the Four Great Saint Monks, she was no longer afraid of the likes of Chao Gongcuo and Badao Yueshan. Her strength was even above that of Tianjun Xiying. Even Anlong now can only be on par with her.

That's right, with the help of Yang Xuyan and Shi Zhixuan, An Long's strength has now reached the peak of the Grandmaster, which is enough to help the Evil King to rule Sichuan and Shu. Otherwise, he would not have abandoned the foundation of Sichuan and Shu and followed Yang Xuyan and Yang Guang around outside without worry.

"Clang~clang~clang~" The sword energy of the Sekong Sword in Shi Feixuan's hand was flying wildly. Kankan was amazed and kept pointing out her shortcomings. Finally, she felt that there was no challenge, so she simply retracted the Tianmo Shuangshuang and entangled with her with a five-foot white silk, and was still able to suppress her.

"Bang!" Kankan retracted the white silk in her hand, and slapped out with her slender jade hand. The Tianshan Zhemei Hand changed in a thousand ways, breaking through the Sekong Sword and hitting Shi Feixuan in the chest. Shi Feixuan spat out a mouthful of blood, and her body flew backwards for more than ten feet before she regrouped and stood her ground.

"Are you waiting for Ning Daoqi to show up?" Wan Wan chuckled. "I have good news for you. After the Luoyang War, my master was deeply moved by the encounter with two Grandmasters, the Wanderer Ning Daoqi and the Evil King Shi Zhixuan. Under the guidance of the Xiaoyao Sect's leader, he broke through his limitations and became a Grandmaster. He's currently discussing with Old Taoist Ning which is more sophisticated, the Heavenly Demonic Art or the Eight Strikes of Freehand Fighting. I'm afraid he won't be able to pay attention to you, a little nun, for a while."

"This is impossible!" Shi Feixuan was horrified upon hearing this. "Master Zhu has already lost his virginity, how could he possibly break through to the eighteenth level of the Heavenly Demonic Art?"

"Little nun, you know a lot about our Saint Sect's Dharma, but you only understand fragments. Losing one's virginity before achieving full mastery of the Heavenly Demon Dharma has far-reaching consequences, but there are solutions. Overcoming or killing the opponent can negate the effects." Kankan glanced deeply at Shi Feixuan and said, "My master lost her virginity to the Evil King. It's not that her strength can't be improved, but that no matter how much she improves, she can never surpass the Evil King. This is the true shackle of the Heavenly Demon Dharma's broken body."

Shi Feixuan was slightly stunned upon hearing this, and her expression suddenly changed drastically, "Master Zhu was able to break through to the Grandmaster level. It wasn't really a break through of shackles, but rather a breakthrough in the strength of the Evil King, which also raised the upper limit of the shackles?!"

Kankan chuckled and said, "Or perhaps it was precisely because of the Evil King's breakthrough that Master, the Yin Queen, also benefited, and was able to break through to the Grandmaster level more smoothly. It's a pity that the Heavenly Demonic Art was never completed, otherwise..."