89: Chapter 89 Breaking Through the City Gate

"Fire the cannons!"

Liu Chengzhi channeled his internal energy and shouted. Three thousand cannons fired simultaneously at the gates of Kun Imperial City. The earth shook, and thick smoke enveloped the entire battlefield.

"What are you all doing? You can't even aim a cannon properly!"

Liu Chengzhi was an expert at using cannons by now. He could clearly feel that out of the three thousand shots, over a thousand had missed their mark, failing to maximize their power.

Fortunately, the towering wall of the Kun Kingdom was still blasted open, and Liu Chengzhi laughed heartily.

According to ancient records and rumors, even a Grandmaster would need to exert significant effort to breach the border wall of a major kingdom.

He had managed to blast the wall apart so easily; a Grandmaster was nothing special!

"What major kingdom? Pass down the order: keep firing all the way to the Kun Imperial City!"

After saying this, Liu Chengzhi led the army into the territory of the Kun Kingdom, the cannons firing non-stop. The weakness of the artillery formation was being approached by martial artists, so they had to ensure no martial artists existed within three kilometers.

Boom! Boom! Boom! As they kept firing, suddenly, mysterious bombs exploded within the ranks. The army of the Pi Kingdom was instantly thrown into chaos and carnage.

"What is going on?"

Liu Chengzhi was dumbfounded. But the next moment, he felt a pain in his chest. Before he knew it, a cannonball had appeared in his arms!

Liu Chengzhi: ??

Bang! Bang! Bang! Cannonballs landed one after another on his body, at his feet, and all around him! Boom! Boom! Boom! ...

On the walls of the Kun Kingdom, Li Potian, the Duke of the State and one of the three Grandmasters, watched together with Lu Qing. The ten thousand elite soldiers of the Pi Kingdom were standing in two directions, firing at each other!

"What immense lethality. This time, I owe it to Brother Lu's warning!"

Li Potian's expression was moved. Even a Grandmaster could not withstand a few hits from the power of these cannons!

If not for Lu Qing's timely warning to use the ancient kun script left by their ancestors to set up an illusion, the Pi Kingdom's army would have been split in two by the confusion of the illusion, viewing each other as enemies and firing away. With so many cannons firing into the Kun Kingdom, who knows how many citizens of the Kun Kingdom would have lost their lives!

"Sigh~" Looking at the severed limbs flying below, Lu Qing sighed. He had experienced hundreds of wars, big and small, in his life, but this was the first time he had seen such a battlefield, filled with severed limbs and flying flesh and blood everywhere!

All the corpses were pulverized into meat paste; it was hard to find a complete body.

"If you hadn't warned me, the citizens of our Kun Kingdom would have suffered the same fate!" Li Potian patted Lu Qing on the shoulder. "There is no need for sympathy."

"How could I sympathize with the enemy!"

Lu Qing shook his head. He was thinking that if such weapons were already like this, and that Li Jiao was still creating even more terrifying weapons, would the status of a Grandmaster change if such weapons were released?

"That is good!" Li Potian continued to watch the bombardment in the distance and looked toward the direction of the Qian Kingdom. "There is a show to watch!"

"Indeed!" Lu Qing also revealed a smile. Seeing the Qian Kingdom suffer was a welcome sight!

Three days later, the Qian Kingdom was attacked. An army was actually attacking the Qian Kingdom, and the weapons that army used were the siege weapons used by the former Rebel Army: cannons with immense power!

The Rebel Army was no longer around; they had long since been dispersed and integrated into the army of the Pi Kingdom.

The Pi Kingdom's army possessed a massive number of cannons. The territory of the Qian Kingdom had been expanding, and its national power was strong; they had never imagined that any country would dare to provoke them, so they had almost no defensive awareness.

Caught off guard by the cannons of the Pi Kingdom, they were decimated. One city was even razed to the ground, and two Grandmasters were killed on the spot by the Pi Kingdom's army.

Within a single day, dozens of cities in the Qian Kingdom were captured, with countless casualties!

After this news spread, all nations were shocked! They had not expected that there would be a country with such courage, daring to confront the national prestige of a major kingdom. Were they tired of living?

"I don't think so!" Some martial artists who had witnessed the power of the cannons had a different view. "It is easy for cannons to kill a Grandmaster. I think even a Grandmaster would not fare well!"

"Heh, heh~~" Martial artists backed by Grandmaster factions sneered. Grandmasters fought too rarely; even many masters had never seen a Grandmaster take action in their entire lives, so they did not understand what kind of power a Grandmaster truly possessed.

Sure enough, after the Pi Kingdom consecutively broke through dozens of the Qian Kingdom's cities, it enraged the Qian Kingdom. A Grandmaster emerged from the Imperial Palace carrying a weapon, and within three hours, the entire Pi Kingdom army within the Qian Kingdom's territory was wiped out!

"Is that it?" Emperor Qian was so angry he laughed. With this level of strength, how did they have the courage to violate the national prestige of his Great Qian Kingdom?

"Tell Elder Sun to wipe out the royal family of the Pi Kingdom!" Emperor Qian arranged for guards to deliver the message, ordering the Grandmaster who had taken action to destroy the Pi Kingdom.

To have ten cities broken by a small country; if they didn't get their face back, the Great Qian Kingdom would become a laughingstock in the future.

The next day, before Grandmaster Sun of the Qian Kingdom could set off, a piece of news shocked him! A city wall of the Xuan Kingdom had been blasted down! Many people of the Xuan Kingdom had died.

"This, this..." Grandmaster Sun was dumbfounded, and Emperor Qian was also stunned. The Xuan Kingdom—even their Great Qian Kingdom did not dare to offend it lightly.

Was the Empress of the Pi Kingdom crazy!? Challenging two of the world's major kingdoms in a row!

Soon, Emperor Qian also learned that the Kun Kingdom had also encountered an attack from the Pi Kingdom's artillery unit, but the spies in the Kun Kingdom had not seen or heard any major commotion.

The artillery unit attacking the Kun Kingdom had been wiped out by the Kun Kingdom without even causing a splash!

"We and the Xuan Kingdom, both major kingdoms, suffered huge losses, yet they didn't even make a sound. Could it be the ancient kun script immortal arts mentioned in the records!"

Emperor Qian's gaze was deep. Although the Kun Kingdom had fallen to the point where only three Grandmasters remained, the reason he had long hesitated to fight a decisive battle with the Kun Kingdom was his fear of the heritage passed down by the Kun Kingdom.

Both were ancient kingdoms with a millennium of heritage. He had some understanding of the power that the Kun Kingdom once possessed. According to the records, the ancient kun script immortal arts of the Kun Kingdom could trap even an immortal. The strength of the evil dragon from a thousand years ago was terrifying, and no one could contend with it; it was the ancient kun script immortal arts of the Kun Kingdom that held the evil dragon, ultimately preventing the disaster of extinction.

Their Great Qian Kingdom's heritage was unparalleled in offense, but it was countered by the Kun Kingdom's heritage. If they revealed their heritage, it would very likely become a weapon for the Kun Kingdom.

However, for a thousand years, the records of the Qian Kingdom had never seen the Kun Kingdom use the ancient kun script immortal arts. He guessed that the immortal arts of the Kun Kingdom might have been lost!

But now, he had guessed wrong.

The artillery unit of the Pi Kingdom had a wide attack range and made a huge commotion; the city of the Xuan Kingdom had even become ruins, while the Kun Kingdom had suffered absolutely nothing.

It was definitely the ancient kun script immortal arts. In the records, once caught in the ancient kun script immortal arts, one's consciousness would become blurred, their mind would become deranged, and they would be unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.

This must be the reason for the Pi Kingdom's artillery unit; they could not distinguish the truth from the falsehood of the Kun Kingdom's city they saw, and they were wiped out without causing a single sound.

"Stop targeting the Kun Kingdom; focus our energy on dealing with the spirit beasts!" Emperor Qian muttered. The plan to destroy the Kun Kingdom needed to be considered in the long term; for now, it was better to first incite the war between the spirit beasts.

"There are still too few martial artists!" Emperor Qian sighed. The national power of the Great Qian Kingdom was strong, but compared to the whole world, it was still far from enough. They didn't even have enough strength to drag the spirit beasts into the war.

The Xuan Kingdom, as the most powerful country recognized in the world, was currently under attack. A city had even been blasted to ruins, with over a thousand casualties. This was the most tragic event to occur in the Xuan Kingdom in recent decades.

The response of the Xuan Kingdom was equally swift. A Grandmaster took action and, with thunderous means, annihilated the army that had attacked the Xuan Kingdom. Afterward, that Grandmaster headed in the direction of the Pi Kingdom.

At the border of the Pi Kingdom, two Grandmasters were already present.

One was tall, with armor covered in blade marks emitting a thick aura of baleful energy: the Great General of the Kun Kingdom, Grandmaster Li Potian.

The other had white hair, white eyebrows, and a white beard, yet his complexion was ruddy, and he had no wrinkles. His eyes were incomparably sharp, as if they could slice open the sky. This was a Supreme Elder of the Sword Sect of the Qian Kingdom, surnamed Sun.

Battles involving Grandmasters were already rare, and there were no records of battles even rumored about this Grandmaster Sun.

However, Grandmaster Sun came from the Sword Sect, which was skilled in the way of offense; his strength was bound to be immeasurable!

At this moment, the two Grandmasters stared at each other coldly, the atmosphere tense, as if they were about to fight at any moment!

"To have your cities consecutively broken by an unknown small country, and still boast of being a major kingdom—in terms of shamelessness, our Great Kun is inferior."

Li Potian spoke. This time, the Kun Kingdom had zero losses, while the Qian Kingdom had over a hundred thousand casualties and cities destroyed, which gave him a chance to mock the Qian Kingdom.

Grandmaster Sun's gaze was cold. Hearing Li Potian's words, his expression did not change, and he said indifferently, "Heh, heh~~ Hiding in your nest for decades without daring to show your head, and now that you have come out, are you not afraid of ending up like that person back then, falling at the border of the Kun Kingdom, unable to return your bones to your hometown!"

Decades ago, the Kun Kingdom had four Grandmasters. One of them had died outside after leaving the territory of the Kun Kingdom and encountering an ambush.

Although the Qian Kingdom did not admit that they had attacked, everyone knew that it was the Qian Kingdom that had done it.

Grandmaster Sun mentioned this matter not to kill Li Potian, but simply to intimidate him, disturb his mind, and regain the face he had lost from being mocked.

"I walk upright and sit straight; having stepped out of the Kun Kingdom, why should I fear some petty scoundrels!"

Li Potian said calmly. A piece of jade in his bosom emitted a warm, gentle luster, and the ancient kun script carved on it was ready to awaken at any moment. Feeling the movement of the ancient kun script in his bosom, Li Potian felt at ease.

Ever since King Lu Hu completed the inheritance of their Kun Kingdom's ancient kun script, they had disturbed the resting places of many of the Kun Kingdom's sages from a thousand years ago. The trump cards left behind by those sages could now be used because the inheritance was complete.

Stepping out of the Kun Kingdom, he carried a supreme treasure. Although it did not have much lethality, it was sufficient for self-preservation.

If that Grandmaster back then had possessed this treasure, he would not have been ambushed and killed!

Li Potian sighed in his heart and couldn't be bothered to say anything more. Instead, it was Grandmaster Sun, looking at the calm and composed Li Potian, who felt suspicious and uncertain in his heart.

This Li Potian looked very confident; could it be that he was carrying a heavy weapon?

Not long after, the Grandmaster from the Xuan Kingdom arrived. This was a middle-aged man wearing a Taoist robe, with an extraordinary temperament and a mysterious, unfathomable air.

Daoist Qingmu of the Xuan Kingdom!

"Everyone is here, so let us go in!" Grandmaster Sun said. He had been the first to arrive at the Pi Kingdom, and after learning that the Kun Kingdom and the Xuan Kingdom had also encountered attacks, he had specifically stopped and waited.

Because he knew that these two kingdoms would also counterattack the Pi Kingdom.

It is said that the Pi Kingdom royal family is already extinct, with only the Empress remaining, and the number of civil and military officials is also small. If he were to go in and wipe them all out, the Kun Kingdom and Xuan Kingdom would have no way to vent their anger.

Grandmaster Sun did not care about the Kun Kingdom, but rather the Xuan Kingdom. As both are major powers, even if they are at odds, they have not yet openly broken ties.

This bit of face must be given.

"What's the rush!" Li Potian stopped the two of them. "There are still people who haven't arrived!"

"Who else?" The two Grandmasters stopped in their tracks.

"The Northern Man Kingdom!" Li Potian pointed in the direction of the Man Kingdom.

"How do you know that?" Grandmaster Sun looked Li Potian up and down again. In recent years, the Kun Kingdom's territory and national strength have been declining, so how is their intelligence network more effective than his Great Qian Kingdom and the Xuan Kingdom?

"Don't worry about that!" Li Potian spread his hands. "Just tell me whether you're going to wait for the Man Kingdom or not!"

Although the Man Kingdom's history is not as long as theirs, by relying on the Crimson Molten Beasts of the Cold Sea, the people of the Man Kingdom are strong and robust, and there are many martial artists, so it can be considered a millennium-old major power!

Furthermore, even Grandmasters need the flesh and blood of the Crimson Molten Beasts, so doing the Man Kingdom a favor costs nothing.

What they didn't understand was: why did the Pi Kingdom provoke the Man Kingdom?

It wasn't that the Man Kingdom was stronger than them, but rather that the Man Kingdom was too far away, and the journey was dangerous. Why attack them? What was the benefit?

"To plunder the spiritual items of major powers, of course!"

Li Potian gave a disdainful smile. These countries had deep foundations and numerous treasures, and they wanted to plunder them by relying on their cannons.

"Are they relying solely on those cannons?" Daoist Qingmu looked at the Pi Kingdom's city walls ahead. "Do they have any other hidden foundations?"

"You are being overly cautious. Can a small nation possibly have foundations as deep as our millennium-old ones?"

Grandmaster Sun sneered, not taking the Pi Kingdom seriously at all. He didn't believe the Pi Kingdom had any powerful trump cards. The only reason they dared to provoke major powers was because they had been cut off from information from the world for too long, were ignorant of the power of Grandmasters, and did not understand the foundations of major powers!

Daoist Qingmu and Li Potian nodded in agreement; this was also what they thought.

Subsequently, the three of them waited on the spot, and on the afternoon of the next day, the Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom arrived.

"Everyone is here, let's go!"

The four Grandmasters headed into the territory of the Pi Kingdom. The border was vast, the Pi Kingdom's military forces were too scattered, and information transmission was slow. By the time they noticed the four Grandmasters entering the country, the shadows of the four Grandmasters were already long gone.

The four Grandmasters did not hide their tracks, simply barging into the Pi Kingdom openly; there was nothing that could stop their advance.

Very soon, the four Grandmasters arrived at the Pi Imperial City.

At this moment, the city walls surrounding the Pi Imperial City were packed with cannons, dense and filled with firepower, and a large number of martial artists were stationed there.

"This thing again!"

The Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom's eyes flashed with a fierce light. This thing called a cannon had caused their Man Kingdom to suffer heavy losses, not just in casualties and city losses, but also in the loss of a large number of Crimson Molten Fish.

The Crimson Molten Fish were what the people of the Man Kingdom relied on for survival. This weapon called a cannon would just fire indiscriminately, causing a large number of Crimson Molten Fish to die. This year, he didn't know how many people would die because of the severe cold!

"I'll go first!"

The Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom walked toward the imperial city. He was over two meters tall, and one of his arms was as thick as an ordinary person's waist, looking extremely oppressive.

"Hehe~~ There are exactly four city gates, one for each of us!"

Daoist Qingmu said with a chuckle, and the other two Grandmasters nodded in agreement, dispersing, one for each city gate!

"They all failed!"

The Empress clenched her fists tightly. Not a single person from the army that went out to attack the major powers had returned, and there hadn't even been a message. Instead, four Grandmasters had come knocking.

Had her elite army been completely wiped out? Was it done by Grandmasters?

"Impossible!"

The Empress could not accept it; Grandmasters couldn't be this strong. It must be a conspiracy.

"Blast them to death!"

On every side of the imperial city's walls, there were hundreds of thousands of cannons, and the dense artillery fire was enough to cover every inch of land. If the enemy dared to approach, they would have no chance to dodge!

Boom, boom, boom!

As this Grandmaster approached, countless artillery shots were fired, and dense shells covered the sky.

"Hmph!"

The Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom snorted coldly. His bronze-colored skin turned red, and red waves of energy spread out. He took large strides forward. Facing the dense shells, he raised his palm and slapped at the shells in front of him.

Boom!

Fire and smoke spread, but the burly figure inside did not slow down. Facing the dense shells, he simply used his hands to swat away the obstacles in front of him.

It seemed that there were too many shells, and the Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom became annoyed. He stopped blocking them entirely and, bearing the countless artillery fire, walked to the foot of the Pi City!

At the same time, the other three Grandmasters also encountered blanket artillery attacks. Grandmaster Sun of the Qian Kingdom drew his sword directly, and with a slash of sword qi, all the shells exploded in mid-air, and he just walked to the foot of the city like that.

Daoist Qingmu of the Xuan Kingdom had his true energy shroud a hundred meters around him, and all incoming attacks were halted a hundred meters away; he also walked to the foot of the city wall.

Li Potian of the Kun Kingdom walked swaggeringly. Although he was not very proficient in the artistic conception of Kun, he was still a Grandmaster, and preventing these people from seeing through him was effortless!

The soldiers on the city walls were still nervously monitoring the distance, waiting for the enemy to approach before opening fire!

The four Grandmasters, each in their own way, easily walked to the foot of the four city gates.

The Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom leaped into the high air, then swooped down towards the ground, his fist aimed at the earth!

Rumble! The earth shattered, the foundation of the towering city wall fell apart, wobbled, and then, with a crunching sound, collapsed with a thunderous crash!

"This~" The Empress in the imperial palace felt her body go limp and collapsed powerlessly to the ground. Behind her, the officials were pale-faced. The performance of the Man Kingdom's Grandmaster filled them with despair; this was simply not something that human power could contend with.

At the same time, at the other three city gates, Daoist Qingmu of the Xuan Kingdom did not harm anyone; after pushing the city gate open, he walked towards the imperial palace.

Grandmaster Sun of the Qian Kingdom cut the city wall in two with one sword strike, and a large number of soldiers also died under his sword. Looking at the cannons one by one, Grandmaster Sun's eyes flickered slightly; after pausing for a moment, he continued on his way.

At the last city gate, all the soldiers were still holding their posts, while Li Potian had already entered the city and was approaching the imperial palace.

In the end, the four Grandmasters arrived outside the imperial palace at almost the same time.

The Pi Kingdom's strongest means had already been crushed, and there was no longer any power to resist!

The four Grandmasters entered the imperial palace; the civil and military officials, as well as the Empress, who wanted to hide or escape, simply did not have time.

With victory and defeat decided, logically speaking, a war between nations is not a war aimed at destroying the nation. After the outcome is decided, the next step is to negotiate the issue of reparations.

But the current situation made the Grandmasters from the four major powers feel depressed.

"Sigh!" Daoist Qingmu shook his head. The Empress was just an ordinary Grandmaster. After checking, he could tell that the Empress had never eaten anything good since she was young, which also reflected the poverty of this country. It could basically be concluded that there wasn't even a single spiritual item.

The other three Grandmasters understood what Daoist Qingmu meant; the Pi Kingdom was truly poor, and it was impossible for them to have any good things.

"A Grandmaster, provoking my Man Kingdom, relying on those firecrackers?"

The Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom was furious and smashed up the Pi Imperial Palace on the spot, smashing the ground until it was pitted and uneven. He wanted to see if there were any treasures buried underground, but the final result was still disappointing!

"Bad luck!" After saying this, the Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom left in a bad mood!

Daoist Qingmu shook his head. The Pi Kingdom's royal family was all dead, with only one Empress left; he couldn't vent his anger on the common people.

"Leave this person to me to handle!" Grandmaster Sun of the Qian Kingdom pointed at the Empress. He had ideas about those guns and cannons.

"Greedy!" Li Potian muttered. This old ghost's intention to master the technology of cannon production was very obvious.

"Daoist Qingmu, what do you think?"

The Qian Kingdom's ambition to annex the world was known to everyone. They had an advantage in terms of Grandmasters; the only disadvantage was that their mid-level strength was too low. If they were allowed to master cannons and guns, the world would truly be thrown into chaos!

Li Potian was eager to make a move, wanting to join forces with Daoist Qingmu to deal with this old ghost.

"Hmm~" Grandmaster Sun couldn't help but grip the long sword in his hand, his eyes fixed on the two of them respectively.

Daoist Qingmu looked at Li Potian, then looked at Grandmaster Sun, and finally shook his head, breaking the stiff atmosphere.

"Hehe~~ I'll go over there and take a look."

Daoist Qingmu sighed in his heart. The possibility of killing Grandmaster Sun was too low, so he decided not to make a move.

As for the Qian Kingdom wanting to master the technology of cannon production, there was nothing he could do. There were so many cannons that they couldn't be destroyed completely. Even if he killed the Empress now, they could still take the cannons back and study them slowly; sooner or later, they would be able to build cannons. This could not be stopped.

Therefore, Daoist Qingmu walked to the other side and squatted in front of a shell to study it. Since he couldn't stop it, he would just study it too. As long as his technology was better than the Qian Kingdom's, the Qian Kingdom wouldn't be able to stir up trouble!

"Hmph!" The atmosphere eased, and Grandmaster Sun swept a cold gaze at Li Potian, then took the Empress to another corner.

"Tch!" Li Potian was a bit disappointed and curled his lips. Li Potian left quietly. Not long after walking, he stopped in his tracks.

On a rock to the side, a tiger was setting up a grill to roast a rabbit, and a person was helping out nearby.

"It didn't end up in a fight!" Li Potian said helplessly.

"Roar~" (I've already seen what I wanted to see.) Lu Hu said. Of the four Grandmasters, except for the one from the Man Kingdom, the other three all possessed Earthly Immortal-level exotic treasures.

He had originally thought about letting Li Potian fight them to test them, but after observing them at close range, he realized that it was easy to sense.

The one from the Qian Kingdom had a sharp aura inside his body.

The one from the Xuan Kingdom felt very heavy, as if he was carrying something on his back.

"Roar~" (Millennium-old major powers have their foundations!) Lu Hu said. As far as it looks now, only the Grandmaster of the Man Kingdom is suspected of having fewer foundations!

And then there's that Empress, who really didn't have a single trump card, yet directly challenged major powers.

(Sorry, I'm working at the factory, I don't want to write, I'm tired!)