Chapter 678: Troops at the City Gates

Chapter 678: The Enemy at the Gates

Zhao Changhe wearily drove his black steed to a random small island, leaning against a reef to take medicine and rest.

The golden light in the sky still lingered, and Zhao Changhe looked up, his expression somewhat peculiar.

This time, the Chaos Chronicle’s bias was utterly blatant.

He had been wounded in both battles, especially this one, where he could barely move—he had only scared off Feng Yin through intimidation. Given the current state of both sides, it couldn’t even be called a “victory.” If the enemy turned back, he’d have to rely on the Dragon Sparrow and the Star River to save him. Yet the Chaos Chronicle didn’t mention a word of this, instead crafting an image of him driving away gods and demons with majestic might, even adding the absurd line “no less than the Xia Emperor,” pure cringe.

This was what Blindy called “help.” Zhao Changhe needed to strike a decisive blow and intimidate others—only this way could he achieve it. Otherwise, how would anyone know he had driven off a demon “unscathed”?

From now on, he might truly gain a period of peace, at least making those who merely coveted the Heavenly Book think twice.

On the other hand, this announcement was full of malice toward Huangyang and Feng Yin, and others would likely target them.

Feng Yin’s claim of “having nothing of value” was nonsense. According to the laws of secret realm formation, if he could hide somewhere to survive, he must have a treasure protecting him. So Huangyang and Feng Yin definitely had treasures—now they were the ones bearing the guilt of possessing valuables.

The demons hid in their lairs precisely because of these troubles. Their wounds weren’t fully healed, their confidence was low, and none wanted to be exposed by the Chaos Chronicle and targeted. Now that both were known to be injured, endless trouble would follow.

Zhao Changhe didn’t know why Blindy was so helpful. As she had said before, even if someone else took all the Heavenly Books, she would just go with that person—whether Zhao Changhe lived or died wasn’t that important. Was this help just to ruin these demons? Well, she had hinted at this before, always stirring trouble in the shadows—the most venomous of women.

Of course, setting aside the biased wording, Blindy herself had to release this new announcement.

In theory, the Chaos Chronicle only reported matches that changed the rankings. These ancient demons weren’t on the list, so wins or losses wouldn’t cause changes, making them unreportable. But that clearly didn’t fit the changing times—why should these demons remain outside the rankings?

When circumstances change, preparations must adapt. The Chaos Chronicle indeed needed an update, incorporating these people into the ranking calculations.

But this update was very difficult—how to assign them ranks?

In theory, their cultivation levels would place them in the top three of the Heavenly Ranking. At worst, the entire Heavenly Ranking would be filled with demons, and everyone else would be relegated to the Earthly Ranking.

But could cultivation represent combat strength? The Chaos Chronicle had always ranked by battle achievements precisely because cultivation didn’t represent everything—actual combat skill was more important, and only through fighting could one determine who was stronger. Now that these demons were emerging one by one, they couldn’t just estimate their positions—this wasn’t the Hidden Dragon Ranking, which could assess potential.

Now they had “lost” to Zhao Changhe, who was second on the Earthly Ranking. So should the two Imperial Realm cultivators be placed third and fourth on the Earthly Ranking? That was ridiculous. Even if they were ranked that way, who would be third and who fourth?

It couldn’t be ranked.

So they could only “reschedule the ranking,” waiting for more demons to appear and more samples of their battles with others on the list before roughly reordering.

Zhao Changhe roughly understood the situation and still said, “Regardless, thanks. This bias is very important to me… Otherwise, I couldn’t withstand the endless covetousness and would be unable to do anything.”

Blindy was silent.

Zhao Changhe said, “You once said you only honestly reflect the facts of the Heavenly Dao, at most playing with wording. I believed that. This time, it’s gone beyond wordplay and has become contrary to the facts. It shouldn’t be that you lied to me before, but that you can now customize the rules to some extent, right?”

Blindy said, “I can’t customize them either. Rules are rules. I’m still just playing with wording. In the big picture, you did win—it’s just a matter of slant.”

“Tsk… journalism…”

“You have the leisure to worry about how I write the book? Aren’t you concerned about the battle over there?”

Zhao Changhe looked inward for a moment and shook his head with some difficulty: “I must immediately focus on recovering a bit, or if Feng Yin comes back, I’m dead. As for the battle over there…”

He paused and smiled slightly: “I believe in Yangyang.”

Blindy felt like vomiting.

…

Zhao Changhe’s battle had lasted from night until dawn. Over such a long time, the progress of the battle over there had already fast-forwarded beyond recognition.

Earlier, while Zhao Changhe was fighting desperately with Huangyang, Wan Dongliu had encountered the Wang family army trying to take over the city on the road. The two sides’ mental preparations were on completely different levels. The Wang army suffered an undeniable defeat, and Wan Dongliu drove his forces straight to Lanling. The defending general abandoned the city and fled; before dawn, Lanling had changed hands.

This was the last barrier south of Langya—ahead lay the Wang family’s lair.

Even earlier, Cui Yuanyong had been digesting surrendered troops in Juancheng and then advanced eastward. Everywhere he passed, cities surrendered at the sight of his forces. By the time the battle here began, Cui Yuanyong had already reached Weishan Lake.

Speed was paramount in war. Neither Cui Yuanyong nor Wan Dongliu had time to slowly reorganize and digest their forces—no one knew what tricks the Hu, Li, or Yang families might pull. Everyone agreed that the sooner this battle was over, the better; a few days’ delay could spell disaster.

So while Zhao Changhe hid to heal, that evening, Cui Yuanyong’s vanguard joined forces with Wan Dongliu, their blades pointed straight at Langya.

Only a few days had passed since Cui Yuanyong and Zhao Changhe left Qinghe. In those few days, the Wang family’s seemingly strong army had surrendered or fled, their seemingly solid defensive depth had crumbled like dry weeds, and their Langya lair had become the front line, collapsing faster than Yuan Shu.

It all started with that arrow across the river, completely shattering the logic of war.

Along the way, there had been almost no resistance—it was mostly a forced march rather than actual fighting.

By the time the enemy was at the gates, Wang Daozhong still didn’t understand how it had all happened. He had many troops and capable generals, backed by demons—how had it become as if they didn’t exist? The enemy seemed like tourists, charging straight to his city.

But Langya was different from the surrounding areas. This was the Wang family’s stronghold, and it wouldn’t collapse at the first touch like other places. Moreover, it was winter, and everyone knew that attacking a city in such weather was extremely unfavorable.

“No need to panic. We still have tens of thousands of troops in the city. In this snowy winter, water poured on the walls turns to ice—who can attack?” Wang Daozhong’s face was ashen, but he encouraged his generals in the meeting hall: “Ever since my elder brother and Li Gongsi died in the capital, we’ve formed an offensive and defensive alliance with the other families. If we hold out for a few days, they will surely act! The Four Symbols Sect’s control of the capital may not be stable—the capital is actually quite empty. The longer this drags on, the more problems they’ll have!”

Guichen, seated as a guest, nodded: “Cui Yuanyong and Wan Dongliu have advanced recklessly—this is no way to fight a war. My Taiyi Sect will do everything to help defend the city. If we hold out a few days, they will show signs of fatigue and collapse without a fight.”

Wang Daozhong sighed in relief. It was indeed worth the Wang family’s respect for Guichen—a highly respected figure on the Earthly Ranking speaking up at this moment was a godsend. He deliberately played along and asked, “What about Zhao Changhe’s battle with the demons…”

Guichen said leisurely, “I don’t know what’s going on with this Chaos Chronicle announcement… But Zhao Changhe fought two demons in a row—he can’t be unscathed. At least in the short term, there’s no need to worry about him joining the battle. Also, I see that you, Daozhong, have also reached the Third Secret Vault?”

Wang Daozhong thought, ‘I was waiting for you to say that,’ and immediately stroked his beard with a smile: “Indeed, I broke through by luck a few days ago.”

“Actually, Zhao Changhe is only at that level. He must have relied on something else to defeat the demons—it can’t be repeated. Even if he does join the battle, we may not fear him.” Guichen laughed. “If he can’t join, then there’s even less to say. With just Cui Yuanyong, Wan Dongliu, and Xue Canghai—how can they possibly break in?”

With this back-and-forth, the gloom in the meeting hall truly dissipated. The Wang family members all cheered, “If that’s the case, let’s make sure Cui Yuanyong never returns!”