Chapter 46: Though Ten Million People Oppose Me, I Shall Go!

Watching the rebel army preparing to retreat deeper into the vast forest, the figures cloaked in black bore vastly different expressions upon their faces.

Three hundred years ago, the demonic Qing court, adhering to the policy of 'storing the blades in armories and releasing the horses to the southern mountains,' led hundreds of thousands of imperial troops and masters of the royal court to wash the Central Plains martial world in blood with lightning speed, forcibly suppressing the martial fortune of the land.

Yet, the martial fortune of the Central Plains was not severed by this act; on the contrary, the unextinguished fortune would lash back every several decades to a century.

Those who bore this martial fortune were the chosen ones of destiny.

Once the previous chosen ones were thoroughly investigated and identified, they were all eliminated silently and without a trace.

They had never imagined that after so many years, the martial fortune of the Central Plains would actually hatch an ultimate child of destiny bearing the exact name from the Grand Ancestor's prophecy.

Although the figures wished for nothing more than to strike and kill Li Chang'an immediately, they all wisely chose to watch from afar, making no superfluous movements.

—The chosen one of destiny possessed the protection of heaven.

To kill him, one must first break his fortune; otherwise, killing him would be in vain, only making the next backlash of fortune even more terrifying.

The higher one's realm, the less one could act according to one's whims.

Every single movement had to conform to the laws of heaven and earth.

That withered, night-owl-like figure rolled its turbid eyes, slowly sweeping them over Li Chang'an, licked its wood-like lips, and spoke: "Such a young Martial King; I wonder if he can bring us some long-lost surprises?"

If anyone had been present at this moment, they would have discovered with horror that among these black-cloaked figures, the one on the left possessed the wings of a bird, the one on the right had hunched hands covered in feathers and bone spurs, while the one in the middle had skin resembling withered trees all over his body...

Seen from afar, none of them looked human.

Instead, they resembled mutated monsters, hideous and terrifying.

...

After the hundreds of thousands of imperial troops arrived at Sanhuang County, they began to gradually sweep through the vast forests where the rebel army was known to frequent.

In the past, due to a shortage of manpower, the court's army was often harassed by the rebels during searches.

But now, with the court's massive army pressing down upon the border, it was difficult for the rebels to engage in guerrilla warfare as before; they could only organize large forces to clash head-on, or simply flee deeper into the wilderness.

However, even if the rebel army avoided the brunt of the attack.

The court's army always seemed to possess divine sight; no matter how the rebels fled, the encirclement led by the grand army could accurately wrap around them.

In the beginning, the rebel army could still dash left and right to escape the encirclement.

But through one campaign of encirclement and suppression after another, the rebel army was finally caught red-handed.

Feeling the army closing in from all directions, Li Chang'an's face grew cold and grim, and he could faintly feel a needle-like pricking sensation upon his skin.

Yet when he calmed his mind to sense it carefully, he detected nothing amiss.

This filled Li Chang'an's heart with a sense of vigilance.

At his current realm, clear hearing, bright vision, and sharp perception were merely the most basic physical abilities; that martial intuition, almost etched into his very bones, was the truly incredible supernatural power.

Even if he were surrounded by thousands of troops and horses this time, with his strength, he could force his way out and flee at any moment.

His body should not be producing a pricking sensation to warn him.

The only thing that could make him feel this way was an extremely dangerous master of martial arts!

But since he could not detect where the crisis originated even after careful perception, Li Chang'an did not dwell on it further, though his heart grew slightly heavier.

"Very well, I too have waited for this day for a long time!"

Although Li Chang'an did not know exactly how many people the demonic Qing court had dispatched this time, he could roughly guess that this would likely be the desperate, life-and-death battle that would decide his ultimate fate!

Without any prelude, without any exchange of pleasantries, a battle that could be called the focus of the world began under the eerie silence of both sides.

Li Chang'an stood alone at the highest point of the stockade.

Gazing into the distance at the court's army drawing closer and closer to the stockade, he called out in a loud voice: "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky shall rise, and everyone under heaven shall enjoy peace!"

After saying this, he suddenly fell silent for a moment, then turned his head to glance at the Taiping rebel army behind him, who bore various expressions, and spoke: "Everyone, prepare to launch a surprise attack at any moment. Once the enemy forces scatter, you may fight your way out from the west and head straight into Dongting. From then on, the sky is high for the fish to leap, and the ocean is wide for the birds to fly!"

Upon hearing the command.

The Taiping rebel army in the city, who had long been waiting in battle array, instinctively echoed the call.

But before long, after the soldiers in the army chewed over the meaning within the command, they could not help but fall into a state of confusion.

What did it mean to launch a surprise attack after the enemy scattered?

The court had assembled the most elite troops from several surrounding provinces; they had clearly come here to annihilate them, so how could they easily retreat without significant results?

The soldiers harbored doubts in their hearts, but they did not ask further, assuming that Li Chang'an had made other arrangements.

Only Lv Changning, Wang Su, Xiong Er, and Li San—the cheap disciple who had followed him ever since Li Family Village—knew the true meaning of Li Chang'an's command.

The rebel army currently possessed no more than fifty thousand soldiers with actual combat capability at a full count; the rest were merely farmers shouting and waving flags, useful only for boosting morale.

Should they truly enter the battlefield, they could not even serve as cannon fodder.

Under such a disparity in combat strength, there was simply no possibility of resisting the court's grand army.

The only sliver of survival lay in escaping the court's pursuit and encirclement, entering Dongting—known as the land of fish and rice—along the route Li Chang'an had charted.

As for how to break through the heavy encirclement?

Li Chang'an quickly provided the answer to everyone!

—Only to be seen holding a long blade, he actually charged out alone toward the thousands of troops and horses outside the dense forest!

The Taiping Army: "!!?"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Including the numerous Central Plains martial artists of the martial world who had joined the Taiping Army over the past two years out of admiration for Li Chang'an's reputation, all of them widened their eyes involuntarily at this moment.

And only the old Taoist Wang Su, who understood Li Chang'an best, revealed an expression that said "as expected."

His thoughts were incredibly complex.

Two years ago, Li Chang'an had captured three county seats single-handedly, shocking the world.

It was precisely after that battle that the world came to know the name of the 'Taiping Army,' and learned that there was actually such an audacious and reckless person among the martial artists of the Central Plains.

Two years later, facing the hundreds of thousands of elite troops dispatched by the demonic Qing court, Li Chang'an still faced them with one man and one blade, charging forward alone.

—Though thousands of people stand against me, I shall go forward!

No matter what his actual strength was, this level of courage alone was worthy of admiration.

Gazing at that lonely yet magnificent silhouette.

All the rebel soldiers in the stockade involuntarily gripped their weapons tightly.

In their eyes shone a light called admiration!

Some martial artists felt their blood boiling; they pushed away the drum-beating soldiers on the beacon tower, and while beating the drums to cheer him on, they roared: "The Taiping Immortal Master, divinely brave and invincible!"

"The Taiping Immortal Master, divinely brave and invincible!"

"The Taiping Immortal Master, divinely brave and invincible!"

More and more people joined the roar, and the entire stockade was a sea of boiling fervor!

Only a few people like Wang Su and Lv Changning felt their minds trembling violently, filled with both tension and loss; they knew that once Li Chang'an went on this journey, they might never meet again in this lifetime.

...