A great battle was on the verge of breaking out.
The soldiers under Xie Nandu’s command had already arrived early at Yixian Tide, standing in strict formation, waiting for the order from above. The moment it was given, they would charge forward without regard for life or death.
In these past few days, Xie Nandu’s prestige in the army had risen to an unsurpassable height. Not to mention the soldiers who had already fought and won battles with her, even those who had never done so, at this very moment, did not for a second doubt their commander. Xie Nandu’s central command tent stood on the summit of a low hill. There should have been a tall mountain there, but during the last great battle, the two Emperors had not held back. The few tall mountains that once existed had been shattered, and the survival of this low hill could only be called luck.
Before the tent stretched a long line of white stones piled together. From a distance, it looked just like a surging line of tide.
That was the origin of the name Yixian Tide. But because the terrain before Yixian Tide was far from level, it had always been a place easy to defend yet hard to attack. In the many wars between Great Liang and the demon race, Great Liang rarely chose to assault this location. After all, one misstep, and this place would become a meat grinder where countless lives would be lost.
So, whether it was during the time when Xiao Hezheng served as Great General, or even earlier, not a single Northern Frontier Great General had chosen to force an attack here. Every time there was a great war with the demons, Great Liang almost always chose to bypass this place. The demons naturally came to believe that Great Liang dared not strike at it.
It had become an unspoken consensus between both sides.
But Xie Nandu had never cared about such so-called consensus. Since she was the one leading the army now, what she had to do was precisely the things her predecessors dared not do, or had never done.
“General Yuan, send men up from this side. Whatever obstacles they encounter, ignore them. They must reach this position within a quarter of an hour.”
Inside the command tent, Xie Nandu looked at the sand table before her and began calmly laying out the order of attack. The generals whose names were called showed faces full of excitement, while those whose names were not called looked on with eager anticipation.After a few brief sentences, Xie Nandu lifted her head and glanced around at the generals in the tent. She said evenly, “This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. On ordinary days when we fight the demons, we always avoid this place, deliberately or not. Why do we avoid it? Isn’t it because of fear in our hearts?" "In the past, I could understand such fear. But from today on, I want that fear to vanish in this great battle. We must let the demons know that we have never feared them. If we are truly to fight them, the outcome may seem uncertain."
At this point, Xie Nandu paused, then shook her head and said, “Not uncertain, the outcome is that we will defeat them.”
“The demon race is terrifying. But the more they are thought terrifying, the more they will always be terrifying.”
Xie Nandu narrowed her eyes and said softly, “Every story must turn its page. I have no wish to keep adding meaningless footnotes to an old story.”
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A great battle erupted as expected. At Yixian Tide, after a brief moment of silence, the sounds of slaughter quickly drowned everything out. Soldiers from both sides had already begun their charge, and between heaven and earth, the air was filled with the sound of weapons tearing into flesh.
Xie Nandu walked out from the command tent and stood there, watching this battle that she herself had personally set into motion. Her expression remained calm, betraying no emotion.
She knew many would die afterward, but such a thing was unavoidable. As long as the demon race and the human race stood opposed, this kind of scene would continue, again and again.
What she was doing now was to ensure that such things would not continue to happen in the future. With a swift and decisive strike, Xie Nandu wanted, within a few years or perhaps a dozen years, to resolve the human race’s most troublesome problem once and for all. To anyone else, such a thought might seem delusional, but Xie Nandu’s resolve was unshakable, and no one could change it.
On a low hill in the distance, another young woman stood there, looking toward the distant scene at Yixian Tide. She frowned slightly, but quickly restrained her emotions.
Among the entire demon race, Xie Nandu’s intention to come to Yixian Tide was perhaps something only she had discerned early on.
Though she would not fight while sick, that did not mean she was unable to perceive the flow of battle. At the very least, she could calculate the direction of the battlefield. She knew that young woman with nine lifeblood flying swords would ultimately choose Yixian Tide.
Since she had seen through the other’s intent, Autumn casually laid down a trap in response. Within this trap, Xie Nandu seemed the most important figure, but in truth, she was only bait.
The true fish to be hooked was that young martial artist.
He was perhaps the greatest threat to the demon race at present, a threat even Xie Nandu could not compare to.
Thus the trap was simple: use Xie Nandu as bait to reel in Chen Chao, that giant fish.
If Autumn succeeded, both Xie Nandu and Chen Chao would be eliminated here. For the demon race, the two greatest threats among the younger generation would be completely wiped away. One could say that after this battle, the world would finally find peace.
Such temptation was immense for the entire demon race. Otherwise, even Autumn would not have been willing to undertake such a task.
After all, for this princess of the demon race, very few things in the world could stir her heart.
If it were not Chen Chao and Xie Nandu on the other side, anyone else would have been meaningless.
In the blink of an eye, the two sides had already clashed. Soldiers merged into one another, making it impossible to distinguish friend from foe.
Autumn flicked her fingers, and inexplicably, a droplet of water appeared in midair. With the snap of her fingers, that droplet shot forth like an arrow, striking and shattering a stone of moderate size with a resounding hum.
At the same moment that sound rang out, several figures suddenly rose behind Xie Nandu, leaving streaks of black in the sky as they tore upward, crashing against the heavens.
They rushed toward the command tent on the distant low hill.
Like several black rainbows, they split heaven and earth into multiple sections in an instant.
And the final target of these black rainbows was, without a doubt, that young woman.
The woman who had never stepped into Nepenthe, yet was now capable of influencing the momentum of the world.
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......
Xie Nandu now stood before the command tent, watching the black streaks across the sky, feeling the immense demonic qi sweep past, her expression unreadable.
As if she had long known this would happen.
Just as the black streaks tore through the sky, an extremely dazzling sword light suddenly appeared, illuminating the world!
The sword light carried endless killing intent, bringing a boundlessly sharp intent. It appeared from somewhere in the sky, instantly cutting open a section of the heavens. Countless colors shimmered within that one strike, blindingly brilliant.
The black streaks soon collided with the overwhelming sword light. At the moment they met, a burst of radiant brilliance erupted.
With that one sword rising from the earth, the black shadows slowed their forward momentum.
A voice drifted through the air, casual and unconstrained.
“How shameless! All of you have been cultivating for countless years, all called great demons, yet you still dare to attack my Little Junior Sister.”
Before the words even fell, a mighty river of sword qi appeared in midair. The sword qi surged in all directions, its terrifying sword intent dominating heaven and earth. A blue-clad figure gradually appeared before everyone.
He wore a blue robe and held a flying sword. With each casual swing, the sound of cicadas filled the sky.
Sword Immortal Liu Banbi, his companion sword Embracing Cicada.
Many years ago, he had been a scholar. One day, he found that the teachings of the sages in books seemed reasonable. But when applied to the human race or Great Liang, they made little sense.
So he discarded his sages' books and chose instead to cultivate the sword and kill demons.
By now, he had become a sword immortal with a fearsome reputation across the desolate north.
One sword cut through a black aura. Watching the sword qi continue its sweep, Liu Banbi narrowed his eyes slightly and said with a smile, “The sword is not yet dull. Isn't it just a few great demons? Perfect for nurturing the sword.”