We bear people have power

This streak of azure light flew menacingly toward Zhan Yun. This person seemed utterly unfazed by the identity Zhan Yun represented, and before even getting close, unleashed a vast expanse of dark clouds toward the person on Zhan Yun.

These jet-black clouds transformed into countless characters in the clerical script, forming the phrase: "Is it not pleasant to learn and practice what you have learned?"

This sage's words were like cannonballs, striking directly into the crowd above the battle clouds.

“Confucianism also has cultivators?” Zhang Yuanshan was a little surprised.

However, he was not flustered. He drew his sword from his waist and with a single stroke, he cleaved the text in front of him in two.

A blue light carried a scholar dressed in blue robes to the top of the battle clouds.

"Despicable villain, waging war without declaring war! To win a victory by such means is utterly shameless!" the scholar righteously denounced.

"Huh? Are you out of your mind? Thousands of you are traveling all the way to Sickle Hammer City, are you going there to find a blind date?" Zhang Yuanshan asked curiously.

The scholar in blue was taken aback for a moment, then argued, "The army will definitely issue a formal declaration of war once they arrive at Sickle Hammer City."

Zhang Yuanshan said helplessly, "I thought it was some formidable enemy, but it turns out he's just an idiot. I'm pressed for time, so I'm not going to waste any more time talking to you!"

The tip of Zhang Yuanshan's sword crackled with lightning, which then rapidly spread throughout his body. Countless bolts of lightning swirled around him, making him appear as if a thunder god had descended to earth.

The surging magical power transformed into tangible pressure, firmly locking onto the scholar in blue robes.

"This...a Foundation Establishment stage sword cultivator!" The scholar in blue robes stared in shock at what he was seeing.

Sword cultivators are recognized as the strongest in combat, and every move they make is aimed at killing their enemies. Their ultimate goal is to break through all techniques with a single sword strike.

Faced with Zhang Yuanshan's terrifying aura, even this scholar in blue robes, a fellow Foundation Establishment cultivator, felt a little intimidated. He swept his ink-black robes, transforming them into sentences from the Analects, like a tortoise shell protecting himself.

“Choosing to block a swordsman’s sword technique head-on, you really have something wrong with your brain,” Zhang Yuanshan laughed.

Zhang Yuanshan's eyes narrowed, and the once clear sky instantly turned gray, as if all the light in the world was converging on the electric light emanating from his body.

"Nine Heavens Mystic Lightning, transformed into divine thunder, its majestic heavenly might, drawn forth with the sword!"

After slowly reciting this sentence, the long sword in Zhang Yuanshan's hand had completely transformed into a dazzling bolt of lightning, which then instantly turned into a roaring thunderbolt that completely engulfed the scholar in blue.

In mid-air, the air pierced by lightning retained a strange, fresh scent, and a turbulent passage lingered for a long time.

As the lightning subsided, the scholar in blue robes was charred black and smoking, then fell limply to the ground.

Zhang Yuanshan used his sword to guide the critically wounded scholar onto the battle cloud.

"Keep an eye on this guy. We might be able to squeeze some money out of his sect. Foundation Establishment cultivators are quite valuable," Zhang Yuanshan instructed.

Turning his head, Zhang Yuanshan muttered to himself, "Why did the City Bishop have to shout out the incantation for his Divine Sword Thunder Control Technique? I didn't feel any increase in power."

However, of course no one heard these words. As long as Guan Bo, who was thousands of miles away, sneezed, he would know who was talking about him.

As the battle clouds dispersed, Zhang Yuanshan flew tirelessly toward the next battlefield.

In this world's war, it seems no one knows much about the air force. But that's normal, since the celestial soldiers' daily routine is fighting monsters.

These monsters, capable of riding the clouds and wind, will frequently fly over and stab you in the face with their spiked clubs, or the more powerful ones will simply kill you instantly from a great distance. Under such circumstances, who has the mind to develop any air-to-ground combat modes?

Basically, you just pile people up, and once you've piled them up, the demon king is killed, and the remaining lesser demons are easily harvested.

As for dealing with mortals?

This joke isn't funny at all.

When the heavenly soldiers and generals descended, no mortal dared to fight back; they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Therefore, Zhang Yuanshan's tactic of riding on war clouds and leading thousands of men as bombers can be said to be unprecedented and pioneered a new era.

If historical records were accurate, Zhang Yuanshan would likely be hailed as the ancestor of the Air Force and remembered for eternity.

However, the current situation is that Zhang Yuanshan will probably live several times longer than the people who write history books.

The miserable Ronglu Kingdom army was rendered dumbfounded by three thousand exploding wooden balls in a single encounter.

This weapon, which appeared for the first time in a war between mortals, proved itself with the loss of more than five thousand lives in its very first appearance.

Having never witnessed the devastation of firearms, these thousands of people formed an extremely dense formation, which amplified the bombing's effectiveness several times over.

As for the survivors, Zhang Yuanshan didn't bother with them. He simply sent a message to Sickle Hammer City, ordering the enforcement team to send people to clean up the mess. Anyway, the remaining people were either dead or seriously injured, or terrified, so there wouldn't be any problems.

This is a completely unequal war, both in terms of intelligence and actual combat strength. How could a mere 50,000 mortal troops, even with cultivators present, possibly defeat 3,000 air force soldiers?

Even assuming all 50,000 people are cultivators with the ability to escape by flying, Sickle Hammer City still cannot lose. This is because Sickle Hammer City's protective mountain formation is composed of hundreds of flying swords of the Heavenly Treasure level.

Even if the Monkey King himself came, he would have to think twice. With only 50,000 men, the sword formation wouldn't even leave any survivors.

It could be said that the defeat of the five-nation coalition was sealed from the very beginning of this war. It was precisely because Zhang Yuanshan held so many trump cards that he decided to take the initiative. Otherwise, if they had fought on their own doorstep, even breaking a single paving stone would have caused that protective city lord days of heartache.

The higher-ups of Sicklehammer City are currently busy with matters concerning Lingxiu, and Zhang Yuanshan naturally doesn't want to cause them any more trouble. Let a mere 50,000 people die where they can't even see the city walls.

Zhan Yun flew at an extremely fast speed, at least ten times faster than a horse running on the ground, and in no time he had made a round trip on several trade routes.

Zhang Yuanshan also tested the effects of various talismans from his elevated position.

Explosive talismans are the most effective. Even if they don't kill anyone, the explosion is enough to throw the army's horses into chaos, or even drive the soldiers insane. An army of tens of thousands could be brought to a standstill by a hundred wooden balls in succession.

The slightly gentler bombardment and immobilization talismans, such as the Thunder Talisman, are far less effective than the Explosive Talisman due to their smaller coverage area and lower sound level.

All this intelligence was recorded and compiled into a detailed war summary, which was then sent to the arsenal for adjustments by the technical personnel responsible for developing the war equipment.

Such an efficient experimental research method could only have been devised by Guan Bo, a time traveler. However, this hands-off manager only proposed such a concept; the actual implementation still fell to Nie Shuhuan, who was more like a time traveler than a non-time traveler himself.

However, Nie Shuhuan is currently in Fangcun Mountain, shaking his head at the Bodhi Patriarch who is earnestly advising him.