All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 507 - 121: Supplies Cut Off

Chapter 507: Chapter 121: Supplies Cut Off

Virtuous King shared all the information related to Bitter Silence with An Jing and others because he saw the true purpose of the True Demon Sect, which was to attempt to restore part of the formidable power of Bitter Silence and then use that power to seize control of Frost Calamity, the Tribulation Soldier located in the heart of the Extreme North Icefield.

Of course, for the True Demon Sect, there are many difficulties to overcome halfway through the plan.

Whether it’s the "restricted areas" set up by the Dust Li Five Sects around the Extreme North Icefield or the grand hunt conducted by the Dragon Clan of the Northern Sea every five years, and the elite forces the Dust Li Five Sects have dispatched to clear the way to the ice field’s center, all are for the purpose of re-sealing the Frost Calamity.

Even if Bitter Silence truly resurrects, having lost all its power, it would find itself helpless in this situation, not to mention that if it wanted to win the resurrection contest, it would at least need to deal with An Jing’s side first.

Virtuous King naturally hoped to resolve the matter from the start, but he was more aware of King Jing’s downfall; although the True Demon Sect could not surface overtly, its power was indeed formidable, backed by numerous Exalted Great Heavenly Demons hidden behind, capable of stirring storms throughout the entire Embracing the Void region.

His careless action, without proper preparation, could likely make him the second Town King to fall in this region of Hanhai within these tens of years.

As for the prudence shown by the Virtuous King, An Jing considered his own encounter with the "Heavenly Demon Decay" when exterminating the Great Hui and found it very reasonable.

At the least, the "Heavenly Demon Decay" and that "Heavenly Demon Questioning Heart," these two Exalted Great Heavenly Demons who had already broken out of their seals were waiting in the shadows—if the Virtuous King really arrogantly came forward and rashly exposed himself, he might very likely be assaulted by the Heavenly Demons and other forces, tragically perishing.

This is exactly what Embracing the Void is like.

Various powerful figures either dwell in the heavens or lurk in the shadows, while in the mortal world, the armies and sect disciples of various forces act as executors of the will of these powerful figures, replacing them in carrying out inconvenient scheming.

The current situation is also very clear—Dust Li Iron Cavalry has occupied Yujiang, which actually proves that they will not launch an attack in the short term; they will rest and recover vitality, and after stabilizing the Earth Vein of Yujiang, they will start their assault.

During this time, An Jing, under the guise of secluding himself for Artifact Refining, continues to collect martial preparation resources in Tianyuan Realm, purchasing drones, rocket launchers, and various types of ammunition.

Since a battle might start at any moment in Embracing the Void, to avoid missing the start of the war, An Jing does not stay for a full three days after crossing to Tianyuan Realm but only keeps a less than one-day presence, placing orders with Huo Qing and Nian Quan before immediately returning to the Void, waiting for a day’s cooldown before crossing again to collect goods.

The good news is, the warehouse in Chonggang Town has been unsealed.

As the current frontier of exploration and a freight hub, trade here is incredibly convenient. The various types of martial equipment An Jing bought are piled up in the warehouse, ready to be sorted and taken away easily.

And with this convenience, everyone in Linjiang City was astounded to realize that their Lord An was a genius in Artifact Refining!

In just a few days, An Jing had produced numerous terrifyingly powerful Magic Artifacts. These Artifacts, originally from the hands of the Heavenly Mechanism Master Mingguang Dust of the Bright Mirror Sect, could unleash destructive power comparable to a strike from a Martial Meridian Grandmaster, requiring a tremendous amount of Spirit Stones as a drive (actually used for trades), but definitely worth the value!

Of course, An Jing wasn’t really refining Artifacts; he was merely replacing warheads and adjusting settings in the workshop—although it could indeed be considered a form of practice, it wasn’t quite Artifact Refining.

But others didn’t know that!

"Soldier Master..."

While performing hard labor, Iron Li’s Scout Kuo Yunlv, who was captured by An Jing, saw the might of the rocket artillery—at the moment the flames from the warheads swept across an entire wilderness, the massive craters were as large as an entire city block. Although it lacked focus, the sheer destructive power

he couldn’t help but mutter to himself: "Apart from the Soldier Master’s Divine Mandate, what other Fate Pattern could instantaneously produce so many terrifying Magical Soldiers?"

His words spread among the other captives, and then quickly among the guards.

Sometimes the words of the enemy are more credible than those of one’s own people, as at least the enemy does not randomly boast of achievements and abilities.

"Indeed, it is the Soldier Master!"

In a short time, everyone in Linjiang City, along with those relatives and friends who had already been suspecting, suddenly realized—for example, Chenyinzi had always been pondering when his eldest disciple Mingguang Dust became a Master Tianji; now it seems, perhaps it was to cover up An Jing’s Soldier Master Fate Pattern!

However, he would not expose this matter; maybe Mingguang Dust really was a Heavenly Mechanism Master.

And upon realizing this, An Jing found it indeed useful: "This Fate Pattern can explain both my Gold Fiend and Fire Evil, and even my future Five Elements Star Life—Five Weapons Five Elements indeed."

"Moreover, the origins of the Artifacts in Tianyuan Realm are also clear now, all relics from the past Dao Courtyard’s world, just inquire about the Divine Mandate development!"

As for Virtuous King, he had guessed this much earlier in Kanming City, and now he is even more convinced of his thinking: "The struggles of Frost Calamity, indeed, are for the Soldier Master to face."

"Those of the True Demon Sect probably don’t know this yet... Ha, they are going to suffer a big loss!"

Meanwhile, as An Jing was fully upgrading military preparations, on the side of Yujiang City, the Iron Cavalry was also in motion.

The three cities surrounding Broken Blade Mountain are located in the northern mountain range near the upper stream of Yujiang, Linjiang City between the southern mountain range and the downstream hills and forests of Yujiang, and Yinbi City situated between Broken Blade Mountain on the east and a large marsh in Yinbi Mountain.

Hang Mofeng, leading the Martial Army, was stationed in the middle reaches of Yujiang near Broken Blade Mountain, a location of a former major town that the Martial Army transformed into a strong hold; connected to Linjiang City by Earth Pulse Qi, forming a wedge formation capable of dispatching troops at any moment to intercept the Iron Cavalry intent on penetrating deep into Broken Blade Mountain.

Both forces were thus deadlocked at this location; neither side could afford to initiate an attack against the other—that would be a suicidal act.

However, just as An Jing initially targeted the Iron Cavalry’s supply, the Iron Li people are not fools either. Having taken Yujiang City and built a stronghold, they immediately deployed cavalry to encircle and eliminate the merchant groups in Linjiang City.

During the Frost Calamity, neither side could be self-sufficient in food. Leveraging the high mobility of Martial Artists to cut off enemy supplies is a requisite act from any competent commander.

Faced with this, An Jing had no countermeasure. Against the swiftly moving Iron Li Iron Cavalry, all he could do was deploy Puppetry, using Linjiang City as a hub to construct various fortifications and towers, which could only serve to guard against stealth attacks but not affect enemy tactics.

Within just a few days, Linjiang City also lost external food supplies. Fortunately, due to the prior arrangements of Linlang Commerce Chamber, Linjiang City had stockpiled a large amount of food, which could last for several months.

Not to mention, An Jing’s side was by no means kind.

On a blizzardy night with snow blinding the view, to the north of Yujiang City, warriors of Linjiang City led by Iron Kite and An Qianshan, a spy, launched a surprise attack on an Iron Li supply relay point. Six Martial Artists coldly targeted all the enemy warriors.

Having prepared in advance, they completed the setup of the rocket launcher crates, the crudely wooden launch platforms were disposable but entirely sufficient for their use.

An onslaught of rockets carrying fierce flames delivered a heavy blow to all the guarding Iron Li warriors on the perimeter of the supply point. They were not unaware of the rockets, but the range of these terrifying Otherworld weapons loaded with explosives far exceeded their expectations of Magic Artifact arrows.

Just the first wave of attack resulted in the deaths of eight Iron Li warriors under the rocket bombardment, and after the first round of bombing, two of the six warriors continued to operate the rocket launchers, while the remaining four charged into the already fire-engulfed and chaotic enemy camp at the forefront.

This reserved Iron Li squad composed of real elites, although nearly all high-ranking officers and warriors were assassinated, the remaining martial disciples and ordinary soldiers took up crossbows to shoot.

But the warriors of Linjiang City only appeared to be in heavy armor; in fact, they were wearing bulletproof ponchos from Tianyuan Realm, impervious to ordinary arrows other than those made of Mysterious Iron, which would simply bounce off their ponchos.

They agilely leapt forward, wielding their weapons like a crimson whirlwind, tearing apart the remaining Iron Li soldiers before setting the entire relay point ablaze and departing swiftly.

This scenario unfolded in many places. Some were Iron Li attacks on Da Chen merchant groups, some were Linjiang City warriors ambushing Iron Li supply lines. The swift Iron Cavalry was nearly impossible to intercept, and likewise, Linjiang City’s drone-guided warrior squads appeared and vanished unpredictably.

In response, the commander of the Iron Cavalry could only enhance the defense of their supply lines, but such lengthy supply chains inevitably had vulnerabilities.

Moreover, even if the Linjiang squads failed in their raids, they would scatter extensive landmines at the site, obstructing supply transport.

This was certainly problematic—the land would become a minefield, impassable even for Da Chen’s side, but at this stage of the war, there was no time to consider the aftermath.

Thus, the two major forces remained in a stand-off, centering around the midstream area of Yujiang, while all additional forces were engaged in sabotaging each other’s supply lines. As time moved on and winter approached, the severity of Frost Calamity intensified.

The Linjiang City side was still managing; An Jing could occasionally bring in some food from unknown sources, but the patience of the Iron Cavalry side was gradually wearing thin.

"If this continues, we will be forced to engage Da Chen’s Martial Army in open battle."

Han Hao sternly said to the emissary of the True Demon Sect: "My army excels at ambushes, and although we can manage a frontal attack, the losses would be substantial—you’ve nurtured that Divine Repository Ice Dragon, having it ingest Earth Pulse Qi for months, can’t it even make one move?"