CHAPTER 852: CHAPTER 862: SELF-RIGHTEOUS

"Your Majesty! I believe that Chu Feng likely hasn’t escaped far!" The speaker was none other than the Gray Wolf God General.

Having witnessed Chu Feng’s methods, the Gray Wolf God General felt only awe and respect for Chu Feng.

"Continue!" Panlong Heavenly Emperor’s mood was sour at the moment.

He had mobilized an impressive force, deploying the most elite Dragon Guard of Azure Dragon Heavenly Kingdom, a full three hundred thousand. Numerous Divine Generals were also dispatched.

Yet, despite their full effort to hunt down Chu Feng, they failed.

One can only say that Chu Feng’s fortune is remarkably unyielding.

This made Panlong Heavenly Emperor deeply uneasy, as if an invisible sword hung over his head. The stronger Chu Feng grew, the greater the pressure he felt.

"In recent days, Chu Feng had the capability to escape much further. Yet he’s led us in circles within the Dragon Slayer Pass area. I believe there are only two possibilities. First, he may be waiting for an opportunity to break through Dragon Slayer Pass and vanish without a trace."

"The second possibility is that he’s deliberately stalling us here, to create an opportunity for the remnants of the Vermilion Bird Heavenly Country to escape."

The Gray Wolf God General confidently ticked off his fingers, boldly speculating on Chu Feng’s intentions.

After hearing this, Panlong Heavenly Emperor showed a look of approval, "Hmm, the analysis is quite reasonable. Regardless of which it is, I won’t let him succeed."

"That escaped remnant army is nothing more than a rabble in my eyes. Leading the Dragon Guard, I can easily slaughter them all. The most important thing now is to kill Chu Feng."

In Panlong Heavenly Emperor’s eyes, the sixty thousand defeated troops led by Beixie National Master were insignificant.

They posed much less of a threat compared to Chu Feng.

"The Gray Wolf God General believes Chu Feng hasn’t escaped far, and I agree with this viewpoint. Deploy fifty thousand elite soldiers from the Dragon Guard for a carpet search of the area within a five-hundred-li radius around Dragon Slayer Pass."

"The rest will follow me back to Dragon Slayer Pass and await news."

Having stirred up a great war among various nations, Panlong Heavenly Emperor not only failed to make progress in a prolonged siege but was recently counterattacked by Chu Feng, losing much territory of Azure Dragon Heavenly Kingdom.

He’s quite vexed.

Furthermore, he must guard against the Vermilion Bird Emperor leading troops to attack Dragon Slayer Pass.

Having contended with the Vermilion Bird Emperor for many years, their conflict began when both were Crown Princes. Panlong Heavenly Emperor naturally understood the Vermilion Bird Emperor’s abilities and tactics.

Panlong Heavenly Emperor led a large army back to Dragon Slayer Pass, waiting for new priests or capable individuals to arrive.

Searching aimlessly for Chu Feng’s whereabouts, like a headless fly, was clearly not a good plan.

The two ministers capable of determining Chu Feng’s location were both killed by him, causing Panlong Heavenly Emperor’s pursuit to temporarily stall.

...

In the blink of an eye, five days passed. While Panlong Heavenly Emperor sought talented individuals, driven by his rich promises, quite a few people actually stepped forward to apply.

Unfortunately, after testing, it turned out that all those who came were some useless mediocrities.

These people, one by one, boasted without any real ability, far inferior to Ziyu and the slain priest.

Though Panlong Heavenly Emperor failed to find capable individuals, he did see the Vermilion Bird Emperor arrive.

Just on the fifth morning, before dawn, the sounds of battle cries rose outside Dragon Slayer Pass. The Vermilion Bird Emperor led an elite army to the battlefield, specifically calling out Panlong Heavenly Emperor for a duel.

After being challenged and taunted by the Vermilion Bird Emperor, Panlong Heavenly Emperor, already full of frustration, could hardly hold back.

Immediately, he led the Dragon Guard out of the pass, launching a fierce battle against the Vermilion Bird Country’s army.

Both sides led their most elite forces, thus no decisive victory was reached despite the fierce fighting.

Unlike before.

This time, even after Azure Dragon Heavenly Kingdom sounded the retreat and withdrew its army within the pass, the Vermilion Bird Emperor continued to pursue relentlessly.

The Vermilion Bird Country’s troops persistently attacked Dragon Slayer Pass without rest.

They were determined not to stop until the pass was breached.

...

Meanwhile, Beixie National Master led sixty thousand defeated troops, heading straight for the Azure Dragon Imperial City, Azure Dragon City.

Unexpectedly, Azure Dragon City was far harder to attack than expected.

The city activated its City Protection Array, and the garrison lounged with their legs crossed atop the tall, sturdy walls, looking down at the Vermilion Bird Country’s army attacking. They chatted and laughed, completely dismissive of the Vermilion Bird Country’s sixty thousand troops.

Burdened with Chu Feng’s heavy trust, Beixie National Master attacked the city for days without any progress.

Azure Dragon Heavenly Kingdom was wealthy.

This city being the imperial capital, its reserves of Spirit Stones must be astonishing.

At this rate, even after a month or two of attacks, progress seemed unlikely.

In desperation, Beixie National Master resorted to the most shameless tactic.

He captured numerous civilians and townspeople from around Azure Dragon City, forcing them to lead the charge in attacking the city.

This tactic was called "ant swarm city attack."

It was extremely despicable but also highly effective.

Many of these captured civilians had familial or friendly ties with the city’s garrison. Some were the parents, siblings, or friends of the soldiers.

Seeing them, the garrison naturally hesitated to act.

Using this shameless method, along with the desperate assault by nearly four hundred experts of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, they accidentally coerced local information about a secret passage one night.

Through the secret passage, they infiltrated Vermilion Bird City and astonishingly succeeded in taking control of the Eastern City Gate.

After opening the gate, they ushered the sixty thousand troops of Vermilion Bird Country inside the city.

Thus began a monumental battle.

Within Azure Dragon City, the garrison numbered about two hundred thousand. Among them, at most around ten thousand had strong combat capability. The rest were the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.

For the sake of defeating Vermilion Bird Heavenly Country, Panlong Heavenly Emperor provoked this great war, exhausting the nation’s resources for militaristic ambitions.

Rather than leaving every house empty.

At least the defense of various inner cities within Azure Dragon Heavenly Kingdom was severely lacking.

Only weak soldiers were left to guard.

Beixie National Master was undoubtedly a distinguished general, adept in commanding troops and waging war. Under his command, and through the valiant efforts of the sixty thousand troops, they incredibly managed to capture Azure Dragon City’s outer city.

Perhaps, these sixty thousand troops also fully understood their plight.

Trapped within Azure Dragon Heavenly Kingdom, with blocked escape routes.

They had only this one chance for survival.

If they couldn’t capture Azure Dragon City, death would be their only path.

Shortly after Beixie National Master captured the outer city of Azure Dragon City, Chu Feng also arrived.

Contrary to Panlong Heavenly Emperor’s speculation, Chu Feng hadn’t stayed near Dragon Slayer Pass intending to stall the enemy army.

Judging the timing to be about right.

Furthermore, with his Talismanic Elixirs almost depleted, he worried about Panlong Heavenly Emperor setting up another Soldier Formation, lying in wait for him. Ready for Chu Feng to walk into the trap.

He had managed to survive the last time.

That was because he happened to be in the forest, cleverly using a fire attack to break the enemy’s Soldier Formation.

Not every time would be so fortunate.

Controlled by Chu Feng, the Sword Shadow Worm killed Ziyu, then he fled directly in the direction of Azure Dragon Imperial City, intending to regroup with Beixie National Master and others.