The Villain's Counterattack

As the Duke of Liao led his army back to Liaodong, the 5,000-strong Goguryeo army abandoned their camp and baggage without firing a single arrow or sword, and fled in panic back to Pyongyang, where they hid.

Seeing the Liaodong navy marching towards the Yalu River in a mighty force, the King of Goguryeo hurriedly sent an envoy, claiming that this was a misunderstanding and was willing to offer generous gifts to the Duke of Liao to ask for forgiveness.

The Duke of Liao claimed that as long as Master Yijian Fu Cailin remained, the Liaodong army would not enter Pyongyang. This meant that, aside from Pyongyang, the entire Goguryeo region was essentially unrestricted. The only person he cared about in the entire Goguryeo region was Master Yijian Fu Cailin; everyone else, including the Goguryeo king, was completely unworthy of mention.

The King of Goguryeo gritted his teeth, admitted his mistake, and paid a large amount of gifts to allow the Duke of Liao to withdraw his troops. It was only for a two-day naval training that the Duke of Liao easily extorted two years of taxes from Goguryeo, and also tore off the King of Goguryeo's face and trampled it underfoot.

The King of Goguryeo obviously did not dare to argue with Yang Xuyan, so he could only turn his anger towards Fu Cailin. However, this reclusive Goguryeo master also had the capital to ignore the King of Goguryeo, which made the King of Goguryeo more angry, but he could not find any other outlet. He fell ill and the country was in chaos.

Let's not talk about the affairs of the small country Goguryeo, just talking about this series of wars, Li Mi's entry into Chang'an did not bring more benefits to Li Tang, but made the situation in Chang'an more complicated. After the defeat of the Wagang generals, only a few such as Wang Bodang, Wei Zheng, Xu Shiji, Shen Luoyan and others followed Li Mi to surrender to Li Tang, and the other generals either surrendered to Wang Shichong or Kou Zhong.

Even because of Zhai Jiaojiao, many old Wagang men were more inclined to join Kou Zhong. After all, the one who really defeated Li Mi was not Wang Shichong, but Kou Zhong, a young man with unlimited potential.

Li Mi, a master of the Demonic Sect, was ultimately not fit to be a ruler. After his defeat in Chang'an, he was not reused. Although he seemed to be of noble status, he was not even as good as his subordinates Wang Bodang and Xu Shiji. At least they were generals and had the opportunity to go on expeditions and make achievements, while he was imprisoned and could not see any light at all.

Not only could he himself see no hope, but the entire Li Tang was also in trouble. Unless he possessed absolutely powerful strength, it would be extremely difficult to break the impasse. No matter how he looked around, he could not afford to offend anyone except Dou Jiande.

Perhaps it was not that Liang Shidu and his ilk could not be defeated, but that they could not afford to offend him. After all, the Turks were behind them, and the Turks would not allow Li Tang to kill their lackeys and servants.

As the world situation changed drastically, the forces in the martial arts world also underwent earth-shaking changes. The most obvious was the rise of the Demon Sect and the decline of the Buddhist Sect. Following the Evil King Shi Zhixuan, the Yin Queen Zhu Yuyan broke through to the Grandmaster level, and the influence she brought was even greater than that of the Evil King's breakthrough to the Grandmaster level.

The Evil King married Bi Xiuxin, a direct disciple of Cihang Jingzhai, early on, and gave birth to Shi Qingxuan, the goddess of flute music. Since then, he has been in a semi-retired state (actually he devoted himself to the Sui Dynasty under the pseudonym Pei Ju), and his influence in the world is not great. His disciple Hou Xibai is even more indifferent to worldly affairs and is only interested in love. It is only secretly spread that the Taoist Master Bu Tian is serving the Sui Emperor, but not many people know whether it is true or not.

One thing is certain, however: Shi Zhixuan had little impact on Buddhism, and was even subtly restrained by Cihang Jingzhai. However, Yin Queen Zhu Yuyan was different. As the leader of the Yin Gui Sect, the foremost sect in the demonic realm, she had always been a frontline leader against Buddhism. Having now broken through to the Grandmaster level, she immediately challenged the wandering figure Ning Daoqi. Although she was outmatched, she did not retreat, and her reputation soared.

The situation for Buddhism at this time was not good. It seemed as if countless "Li Gongzifan" had appeared throughout the world, seeking to enrich themselves by destroying and plundering Buddhist temples. Unfortunately, Buddhist temples were scattered across the land, making them easy targets. Even the sacred Jingnian Zen Monastery would be destroyed, let alone other ordinary temples. Even if they had top-notch or even innately skilled masters, Buddhism could not compete with the entire Central Plains.

There are no great masters in Buddhism. The Four Holy Monks and Master Liaokong are the strongest fighting force on the surface. However, not only are they already old, but two of the Four Holy Monks are accompanying the Buddhist disciples on the journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures and are not in the Central Plains at all. It is impossible to repeat the story of the Four Holy Monks besieging and hunting down the Evil King. It is probably difficult for only two holy monks to accomplish the task. After all, the Queen of Yin is no match for the Evil King, and she has many masters under her command.

Not to mention others, just the Yingui Sect's Saint Maiden, Kankan, together with Zhu Yuyan, can compete with the lone man Ning Daoqi, which is a clear example.

With her outstanding performance, Xianxian defeated Shi Feixuan, the most outstanding disciple in the history of Cihang Jingzhai. As a result, the Demon Sect became more rampant. Lin Shihong, Qian Duguan and others rose to prominence, and the Buddhist sect in the Central Plains was suppressed and suffered heavy losses.

At this time, news came that Xi Ying, the Heavenly Lord who had fled to the Western Regions after being hunted by Song Que, the Heavenly Sword, had just returned to the martial world with the great achievement of Purple Qi Tianluo, but was beaten head-on by Yue Shan, the Tyrant Sword, and fled from Tuguhun in a miserable state.

He did not rush to the Central Plains, but hid in Chengdu Prefecture in Sichuan. He originally planned to join forces with Bian Bufu, but after asking around, he found out that Bian Bufu had been beheaded by Ba Fenghan and given to Princess Dongming as a gift. So he had to find You Niaojuan. After all, Sichuan was not a safe place, and he and Anlong actually had some conflicts.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling fought from the north to the south, and even established their own forces in Yangzhou. Suddenly, they heard that the four major bandits had invaded Pegasus Ranch again, and this time the cannibal king Zhu Can was involved, which made them quite annoyed.

Before the beauty ranch owner's request for help arrived, the master's men had already delivered an order. The Xiaoyao Sect's guest priest Lu Miaozi was willing to exchange more detailed information about Yang Gong's treasure house for their efforts to strangle the four major bandits and protect the safety of Pegasus Ranch.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were overjoyed. They had extremely complicated feelings about Yang Gong's treasure. It not only represented a huge fortune, but also represented the feelings between them and Fu Junchuo. Although they knew that Fu Junchuo was not dead but was imprisoned by his master Xiaoyaozi in an unknown place, and they would see him again in the future when the Sui Dynasty was pacified, they could never forget the kindness Fu Junchuo had shown them.

When the Young Marshal's army was dispatched in large numbers to help Pegasus Ranch, Zhu Can plotted to deal with Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling. The original four-way game between Pegasus Ranch, the four major bandits, Zhu Can, and the Young Marshal's army was suddenly interrupted by a fifth force: Li Tang Tiance Mansion!

However, Li Tang fell into a dilemma because Yang Guang, the general with golden armor and mask, forcibly seized Tongguan. But Li Shimin was no ordinary man. He came up with a unique idea to break the impasse, which was to jump out of Chang'an in Guanzhong and rebuild his foundation in the Central Plains like Kou Zhong, and then attack from both sides to retake Tongguan in one fell swoop.

At that time, it would not only break the predicament of Li Tang, but also greatly increase the success rate of unifying the world. Shi Feixuan was even more excited about this and expressed strong support, even at the cost of sending out Buddhist soldiers.

Li Shimin didn't have many targets to choose from, and starting from scratch was clearly impossible. The best target was the Dongming Sect, given their connections. However, while the Dongming Sect was involved in the arms trade, it wasn't directly affiliated with a particular faction, and was isolated overseas with few cavalry or infantry. So Li Shimin set his sights on Pegasus Ranch. Li Xiuning and Shang Xiuxun were old friends, and upon hearing that the four bandits were planning to harm Pegasus Ranch, they were overjoyed, secretly realizing their opportunity had arrived.

For a time, Pegasus Ranch became the center of the world, attracting the attention of countless people. Fang Zetao, the owner of Duba Villa and an ally of Pegasus Ranch, had to revisit the old place and became the vanguard general under Li Shimin, fighting on the front line.