Green Mountain
Chapter 328 - 268, Climb Chonglou

Chapter 328: 268, Climb Chonglou

The long-ringing bell was heavy and hurried, like the Yellow River flowing ceaselessly from east to west.

Chen Ji stood in the courtyard listening to the bell, then abruptly turned his head towards the distance, just to see one flag after another of the border army slowly falling on the ramparts, as if the city itself was collapsing.

He waited for the bell rings, wanting to hear how many times it would chime this occasion.

But after a long wait, the bell continued to ring without stop, becoming more and more urgent!

A chill ran through Chen Ji’s heart, and he climbed up to the roof along the eaves. Standing on the ridge, he looked towards the city gates, only to see the previously shut gates were now wide open, with the yellow earth and scorched mountains visible at a glance outside.

In the next moment, countless black Iron Cavalry appeared on the horizon, like innumerable black long knives emerging from a forest.

The one leading was clad in Heavy Armor, astride a majestic warhorse. He held aloft a black banner that fluttered in the wind, appearing like a triumphant General.

Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategy Army!

Chen Ji’s heart sank to the abyss, never expecting the moment of Open Door and surrendering the city to arrive so swiftly.

He looked around and climbed to a higher building, wanting to see the situation more clearly.

In the sandstorm, the black Iron Cavalry approached like a torrential flood, eventually rushing into the city without restraint.

The border army soldiers discarding their long spears and broadswords, shed their bamboo armor by the sides of the road. As agreed, should Hu Junxian hand over Guyuan City, the Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategy Army would not massacre the city, and the passageway to Ning Dynasty’s Heartland Taiyuan Prefecture would cease to exist.

Chen Ji silently observed for a long time. Hu Junxian ultimately chose to tarnish his own posthumous reputation to save the people of Guyuan... He must hurry back to the Dragon Gate Inn to gather Xiao Man, Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, and leave with the Crown Prince and the Yulin Army.

But just as Chen Ji was about to leap down from the rooftop, an unexpected change occurred.

The General holding the black banner halted his horse and waved the flag single-handedly before pointing it towards Guyuan City and shouting, "Kill!"

A Vice General of the border army tried to block him, waving his hands and shouting something, but the General holding the banner charged past without care.

The banner’s sharp tip mercilessly pierced through the body of the border army’s Vice General, and the Jing Dynasty General lifted the corpse with the banner and waved it in the sky, spinning in place on his horse like a boast: "White bones cover the fields, blood stains the earth for thousands of miles!"

The rest of the Jing Dynasty Iron Cavalry beat their Heavy Armor with their hands, producing a rumbling noise: "White bones cover the fields, blood stains the earth for thousands of miles!"

In an instant, all the Heavenly Strategy Army Iron Cavalry raised their long spears and charged toward the unarmed border army soldiers.

The last will of the former Jing Dynasty King was true, the Heavenly Strategy Army intended to break their word and massacre the city!

Guyuan was finished!

Watching as the border army fell in swathes, someone among the Jing Dynasty Iron Cavalry blew a resounding horn.

The horn sounded arrogantly, and more and more Jing Dynasty Iron Cavalry charged into Guyuan City.

Chained together, the Heavenly Strategy Army passed through Guyuan’s earthen homes, the iron chains toppling houses as if they were rotten wood, burying the inhabitants under the rubble.

Some civilians escaped from their homes, only to be caught up by the Heavenly Strategy Army’s Iron Cavalry and impaled with a spear!

Chen Ji looked around. Where was Bai Long? Where was Hu Junxian? Where were the Firearms?

...

...

At that moment, hurried footsteps came from Taohuai Square below, and Chen Ji looked down from the rooftop to see over ten Herbal Medicine Hall clerks who had previously been deceived to Duoku Fang now brandishing their knives and charging murderously.

Someone looked up and saw Chen Ji on the rooftop, immediately raising their Broadsword and pointing, "The kid’s on the roof, kill him!"

Chen Ji furrowed his brow and quickly leaped back into the courtyard.

He reached into the box, swiftly touching each ginseng. The long-swirling Ice Flow surged out from his Dantian, turning each ginseng into sparkling, clear Crystal Beads, which Wu Yun ingested voraciously in the box.

The enormous Ice Flow that he had obtained from Prince Jing, Princess Consort Jing, and Consort Yun, which he had been unable to dissipate, at last found its use... It was the first time Chen Ji had obtained so much ginseng!

A grand and majestic Molten Flow reverberated back, igniting a stove within him.

One after another, it was as if a starry river hung upside-down inside him had been lit, and Chen Ji’s blood itself seemed ablaze! The power rose like gushing mist, billowing, billowing, billowing!

Within Chen Ji’s body, it was as if a multitude of stars were hidden, burning hot, scorching!

With a thunderous crash, someone split open the door of the grain and oil shop with a knife, "He’s in there, don’t let him get away!"

But from the midst of the shattered wood, Chen Ji had already approached his adversary.

An Herbal Medicine Hall clerk swung down with a knife, which Chen Ji ducked under by crouching, then punched the attacker on the inside of the knee.

With a crack, the clerk’s left leg twisted unnaturally, and his body fell towards the left. Before he even hit the ground, Chen Ji struck another punch on his Taiyang acupoint.

The clerk’s head smashed into the ground with the sound of bones shattering; his skull was smashed to pieces.

The more than ten helpers outside the door instinctively retreated two steps, human bones are hard, and only an Innate Official of the Innate Realm could achieve splitting bones with bare hands!

One of them steadied his mind: "Form the formation, even an Innate has to be killed!"

As the words fell, the employees of Yuancao Hall paired up, the more than ten people formed the Plum Blossom Formation, with every two people as a petal, rotating and attacking Chen Ji.

Chen Ji retreated step by step; how could these people in front of him be mere herbal hall errand boys, they were clearly experienced soldiers of the Jing Dynasty, clad in heavy armor, wielding sharp weapons.

As Chen Ji retreated, he observed with a cold eye; these soldiers’ skills were far beyond ordinary people, but they had not yet reached the Innate level. At this moment, the stove fires in his body were almost fully ignited, seven hundred and eighteen... seven hundred and nineteen...

Enough to break the formation!

In the moment he turned to face the attack, the seven hundred and twentieth stove fire inside his body finally lit up brightly. Chen Ji’s body reached an unprecedented peak, as if he could kill a cow with a single punch.

However, just as Chen Ji was about to make contact with the Sword Formation, the stove fires inside him suddenly extinguished simultaneously.

The world went silent, heaven and earth became still, followed by the cracking sounds intermingling between muscles and bones.

In an instant, destruction, and in another, rebirth.

Chen Ji had never felt so weak before, becoming an ordinary person once more.

The approaching Sword Formation was like a meat grinder, originally he intended to use his technique to break through by killing two men to disrupt this Plum Blossom Formation, but his punch was much slower than before, completely unable to break the formation!

What’s going on?

Why did he lose strength after igniting all the stove fires in his body?

Chen Ji hurriedly retreated, stumbling, the Sword Formation almost swept past his abdomen, slicing a long slit in the robe below his ribs.

During his retreat, his bones crackled like thunder, causing the helpers from Yuancao Hall within the Sword Formation to be filled with shock and uncertainty: "Ascending Chonglou?"

The next moment, a sharp pain emanated from Chen Ji’s ribs, as if something was growing out. While retreating, he lifted the torn fabric to check, and below the ribs, a black tiger stripe-like pattern had grown out, ferocious and intimidating.

This tiger stripe grew from the spine, spreading all the way to the abdomen, as if cutting through the skin and bones, with all the scorching heat of the stove fires converging there.

In a rush, Chen Ji dodged a knife, clumsily rolled to the other side of the Sword Formation.

Wait a second.

As Wu Yun continued to devour the Crystal Beads, the first stove fire, once again, ignited...

The second, the third... the ninety-ninth!

The previously lost realm returned, even stronger than before!

So, for the Mountain Lord to cultivate, is it necessary to light up the stove fires throughout his body time and time again, growing tiger-like stripes to store the power within?

But Chen Ji couldn’t figure out how to harness the power in the stripes; it was as if the molten flow of the stove fires had been locked inside, solidifying into black rock.

No, that’s not right, the previously dormant sword seed suddenly burrowed into the stripes, endlessly roaming within them.

Before Chen Ji could understand what was happening, in the Sword Formation, a helper, seeing Chen Ji struggling, loudly said: "Daring to Ascend Chonglou at this time, take his life while he is weak!"

Chen Ji, with a disheveled appearance, shouted: "Wu Yun, eat quickly!"

One after another, the stove fires reignited, returning the strength Chen Ji had just lost back into his body, not much yet... but enough!

In the blink of an eye, as two knives from inside the Plum Blossom Saber Formation snipped towards him from left and right, Chen Ji lightly leaped, his toes touching the blades as they came cutting, allowing him to vault over everyone’s heads, and landed squarely in the ’flower bud’ of the Plum Blossom Saber Formation.

The edges of the Saber Formation faced outward, with no defense on the inside, Chen Ji lifted his foot and kicked someone’s waist, there was a crack, and the person whose spine was kicked flew out, creating a gap in the Saber Formation!

The helpers of Yuancao Hall were filled with uncertainty, how could an Innate Official who had just Ascended Chonglou suddenly regain his cultivation to this extent?

Unheard of!

Someone swung a broadsword down at him, but before it could fall, Chen Ji caught the man’s wrist and struck towards another person.

Like a puppet with its strings pulled by Chen Ji, the one whose wrist was caught only felt a subtle force coming from it. The broadswords collided, and the other person’s heavy Broadsword broke on impact.

That person’s pupils contracted, the sword broke just like that? What was that subtle skill on the wrist a moment ago, how could this youngster use a subtle skill through his own wrist to break another’s sword?

"You..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Ji grabbed his wrist, suddenly reversed his grip, and slashed; the helper cut his own throat as if by his own volition, blood spraying.

All of a sudden, Chen Ji seemed to remember something, loudly instructed: "Wu Yun wait, don’t eat for now!"

After Wu Yun swallowed a Crystal Bead, with its mouth bulging, it lifted its confused head from the box to look at Chen Ji, alternating between quickly eating and not eating, should it eat or not?

In thought, the bead in its mouth turned into Molten Flow and entered its body, Chen Ji grunted, and concurrently the stove fires in his body extinguished, as the second black stripe grew out from his spine!