Old Enemies

The citizens poured out in droves, looking haggard, their faces smeared with dust, filled with fear and agitation.

"You lied to us! You said you found the Thunder Mines buried by the evil bandits!"

"My mother, my father, my whole family... they’re all dead, oh oh..."

"You bastards! If you couldn't do it, you should have let us out of the city early. Now my whole family has been crushed to death by stones, how am I supposed to live? Give us justice!"

"Open the city gates! Open the city gates now!"

Countless red torches suddenly illuminated the entire city. The citizens' faces were fierce; one hand gripped a torch, the other held a weapon.

Their expressions seemed to say: "If you don't agree, don't blame us for risking our lives to the end."

"We have fallen into a passive position. The citizens, unaware of the truth, have sided with the enemy; now we are being opposed by our own people," Zhao Yuanhuo said in a low voice.

Yao Long shared Zhao Yuanhuo’s thoughts, both admiring the opponent’s tactics, even though they were the enemy.

The enemy understood the psychological shifts of others very well. Once his hand was played, no one knew how terrifying it would be. Compared to someone who starts by pointing a gun at you, you would surely fear someone holding a gun but not knowing when they will fire even more.

It was the fear of the unknown, and everyone feared things they couldn't predict.

But afterward, Guo Nuan, with his divine calculations, had broken the opponent’s situation with a simple method, pulling the citizens' psychology back from the brink of chaos to calm.

At the same time, he had set a psychological trap; as long as the opponent panicked, they would surely make a mistake and fall into Guo Nuan’s snare.

Unfortunately, Guo Nuan was talented, but the opponent was equally so. The opponent decided to use that gun to shoot someone, once again throwing the citizens into panic.

"The enemy is no ordinary person; he not only didn't fall into the trap but made us fall into his," Guo Nuan said unexpectedly, startling Zhao Yuanhuo and Yao Long.

"What do you mean? Guo Nuan, were you also outmaneuvered by someone?" Yao Long couldn't believe it.

"I am no god; I also have moments of failure. They must be people extremely well-versed in human psychology to act this way. Think about it: the citizens were quiet before because we deceived them; now that they’ve found out they were lied to, do you think they will trust us again?" Guo Nuan sighed.

Zhao Yuanhuo was horrified. Indeed, it was like a volcano; the first time the lava didn't erupt, but that didn't mean it wouldn't the next time. The anger accumulated at the bottom of the heart was deeper, and when it finally exploded, it would be even greater.

"What should we do?" Yao Long looked to Guo Nuan, looking to the method from the most brilliant mind of Lian Zheng.

Normally, Yao Long wouldn't rely on others, but with Guo Nuan, it was different. Just by interacting with him for long enough, you would realize you had become dependent on him without knowing when it happened. Guo Nuan was too smart; any difficulty in his hands became simpler than ever.

"A long road tests a horse’s strength; losing one round doesn't mean losing the whole game. The current solution? Simple: do what you are best at," Guo Nuan smiled.

"You mean? Haha, I understand, I understand now!" Yao Long beat his chest and laughed loudly, his sturdy legs like pillars stomping hard as he jumped from the City Lord's Manor to the ground.

"Ah!" The protesting citizens were momentarily terrified by the sudden event, seeing only a man in massive iron armor stepping out from a large crater in the ground.

"Citizens of Yujian City, listen! I am the General of Lian Zheng, one of the Nine Fire Dragons, Yao Long! Your safety from now on will be guaranteed by me!" Yao Long roared, his heroic aura billowing and spreading throughout Yujian City.

Red fire flared up, and the series of torches in the citizens' hands seemed to resonate, as if subjects were paying homage to an Emperor.

"One of the Nine Fire Dragons, Zhao Yuanhuo!" Zhao Yuanhuo’s Fire Spiritual Wings expanded, the wings of flame covering a patch of the sky.

"Divine beings! Divine beings have come to save us!" The citizens began to kneel and bow, praying sincerely.

"This is the lowest class, the life of mortals? Just by being at the Martial Body Realm like me, they call us divine beings. If it were a Guiyi martial artist, I don't know what they would do. Truly piteous," Zhao Yuanhuo thought.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The Sacrificial Thunder exploded again like startling thunder, the vibration making everyone’s heads ring as if struck by a large hammer.

"Terrifying, truly terrifying!"

"I don't want to die here!"

Zuo Tian had men detonate the Sacrificial Thunder while keeping an eye on Yao Long’s group, feeling a bit of trepidation in his heart. The opponent’s aura was truly strong, not inferior to his own.

"Quickly set the formation! The Rotating Fireless Formation, cover the entire city for me!" Zuo Tian shouted.

"Understood!" A group of people in black cloaks with covered faces responded in unison.

They turned into black shadows moving at extreme speed, surrounding Yujian City. Yao Long’s heart suddenly jumped; he let out a furious roar, creating a small crater from where he stood as he launched himself like a rocket toward one of the Immortal Sect people.

"Not good, he’s spotted me!" That Immortal Sect Daoist was overwhelmed by Yao Long’s murderous aura and was a bit flustered. His wrist flicked, and a flying sword appeared in the air to block the long saber.

*Clang!*

The Daoist spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, knocked back by the saber’s massive force, crashing through countless obstacles, only feeling a sharp pain in his shoulder.

"I alone am enough to hold this position; the rest of you quickly go to the prison to assist!" Yao Long shouted.

"Understood!" Zhao Yuanhuo nodded, no longer caring about the outside, his Fire Spiritual Wings trailing a streak of fire across the sky, as brilliant as a firework.

"Weak!" Yao Long sneered, raising his long saber and lunging at the Daoist, determined not to stop until he was dead.

The Daoist bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood, his entire body’s Spiritual Power suddenly becoming inexhaustible. He controlled the flying sword to support himself, his hands forming a hand seal as the flying sword turned into countless silver afterimages to counterattack.

Yao Long’s muscles tensed, his thick saber intent knocking away the flying sword. But the flying sword was not easily defeated; it fell to the ground and then unexpectedly changed direction, slashing at Yao Long’s neck from behind.

"Die!" The Daoist glared, his Spiritual Power becoming even more violent as the flying sword struck Yao Long’s neck.

*Clang!*

The sound of metal clashing rang out, sparks flying. A layer of True Essence armor floated behind Yao Long’s neck. Yao Long smirked, his Fire True Essence exploding, the red fire clinging to the ground and spreading toward the Daoist.

"Soldiers, follow me, kill them all!" Yao Long waved his hand and shouted. Behind him, the infantry surged forward, the sound of their thunderous footsteps shaking the ground.

The army was like a Tiger-Wolf Force, valiant and battle-hardened, but the leader was not a tiger, but a Fire Dragon.

"Damn it, we only have twenty people, not enough to deal with them. If we had the help of the Wujian Immortal Sect people, we wouldn't be struggling like this," Zuo Tian cursed inwardly.

"Hold on for a while, I’m almost finished with the formation!" Zuo Tian said quickly.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Countless flying swords flew out, cutting off the infantry’s path, but the number of infantry was too great, and they were valiant and unafraid of death; soon the flying swords could no longer cause trouble.

"Finished, the Teleportation Formation has been established!" Zuo Tian shouted in joy, his hand quickly installing four Spirit Stones in the four directions of the Spirit Formation.

The light began to activate, the beams of light constantly intertwining, and soon black-clothed figures appeared within the curtain of light.

"It’s the secret Teleportation Formation of the Immortal Sect," Guo Nuan recognized the origin and said with a frown.

In that case, as long as the energy of the Spirit Stones on the other side of the Teleportation Formation was sufficient, reinforcements would be continuously brought in.

"No, the opponent’s Teleportation Formation is a temporary setup; the number of people teleported will not exceed one hundred," Guo Nuan thought.

"Correct, it is indeed a Teleportation Formation. You are still as brilliant as ever, Mr. Guo Nuan." A voice came from behind; Ma Hou removed his black cloak, his voice familiar as if they had known each other.

"General Ma Hou, I didn't expect it to be you. No wonder I found this scheme so familiar; it turns out it was yours, or rather, yours and Jing Zhe’s," Guo Nuan said, shaking his head.

"How shameful, to have Mr. Guo Nuan guess everything in one word. But I wonder, did you guess that I would personally come to meet you?" Ma Hou smiled, the aura of a general who had once slaughtered ten thousand troops on the battlefield manifesting.

Guo Nuan’s sideburns were blown back by the aura. Before him now was not just a man smiling simply, but a general riding a warhorse, holding a Fangtian Painted Halberd pointing straight at the enemy.

The strategist devises plans, a divine being on the battlefield.

The general is a god of slaughter, the harvester of countless lives.

The general is strong, but not necessarily able to kill the opponent’s strategist, but the strategist is the opposite.

However, if these two were placed face-to-face, the strategist would be unable to resist.

"General Ma Hou, in the old days on the battlefield, I represented Lian Zheng, and I don't know how many times I clashed with you and Jing Zhe. Jing Zhe was brilliant, you were valiant; we were evenly matched, never once escaping that outcome," Guo Nuan looked at Ma Hou calmly, without a hint of fear.

"But this time will be different. I will represent Lord Jing Zhe to end our endless war. It’s over, Guo Nuan. You abandoned the battlefield, abandoned your comrades, and ignored the war. Despite the King’s anger, you were determined to retire into the arms of a beauty, creating a worldly paradise called Guo Bamboo Forest," Ma Hou said coldly, his Fangtian Painted Halberd pointing straight.

"You don't know what Guo Bamboo Forest means to me," Guo Nuan smiled faintly.

"Regardless of what your Guo Bamboo Forest is, your war with Dai Li ends here!" With those words, Ma Hou gripped the Fangtian Painted Halberd, his sharp Metal-attribute True Essence striking toward Guo Nuan.

The Fangtian Painted Halberd was larger than a human head, obscuring Guo Nuan’s entire face.

Suddenly, the Fangtian Painted Halberd sliced Guo Nuan’s body in half, but his body turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished.

"An illusion!" Ma Hou was shocked.

"You know nothing of Guo Bamboo Forest," Guo Nuan appeared from the void, speaking calmly.

"You also know nothing of me. In the past ten years, I haven't just been sitting still as you think."