Chapter 268 The Army Attacks the City_1
After sensing the unusual movement in his left palm, Gu Chen thought it was an illusion and didn't pay it any attention.
Not until he felt a series of throbs within the flesh of his left hand did Gu Chen really confirm that it was the high-grade divine weapon acting up.
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Before Gu Chen reached the Leaving the Mortal Stage, no matter how much he infused it with Great Sun Divine Gang, the high-grade divine weapon didn't react at all; he never expected that today it would actually begin to stir.
"What does this mean?" Gu Chen stood in place and felt for a long while before he finally understood.
"You want these two lower-grade divine weapons?" After sensing its intent, a hint of surprise flashed in Gu Chen's eyes.
At this moment, the silver spear and the bloodthirsty god claw he held in his hands began to tremble suddenly, as if trying to fly out of Gu Chen's grasp.
But in the end, these two lower-grade divine weapons couldn't escape Gu Chen's control without a martial artist to drive them.
"Well then, I'll give them to you."
After pondering for a moment, Gu Chen decided to give it a try. After all, this was a high-grade divine weapon. No matter how many lower-grade divine weapons he had, the boost to his strength would be very limited. If he could use a high-grade divine weapon against his enemies, his grasp on the situation in Yan State would increase significantly.
One must know that if a high-grade divine weapon were to erupt, even a martial arts grandmaster of the Innate Realm could not withstand it, which would lead to a tremendous increase in Gu Chen's strength.
However, to activate a high-grade divine weapon was far from easy given Gu Chen's current level of cultivation.
Gu Chen stretched out his left palm and grabbed the silver spear. Instantly, the spear in his hand trembled uncontrollably, and streams of silver light flowed into the depths of Gu Chen's palm, illuminating it with a crystalline clarity.
The luster on the surface of the silver spear dimmed visibly as well.
"Is this..." A hint of surprise crossed Gu Chen's face.
About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the silver spear turned completely dull and its surface was covered with cracks, with traces of rust appearing.
"Has it been destroyed?"
Gu Chen applied a slight force with his palm, and the silver spear immediately crumbled to dust, which was blown away by the wind and scattered.
With some amazement, Gu Chen looked at his own palm. He did not expect that the high-grade divine weapon hidden within his flesh would actually possess such a capability.
Clearly, it was the fist guard hidden within Gu Chen's flesh that had devoured the silver spear's divine strength and spirit, bolstering its own power.
Subsequently, Gu Chen did the same with the bloodthirsty god claw. Regardless of how the god claw shook, it could not break free and ended up like the silver spear, having all its power absorbed and turning into a cloud of dust that drifted away with the wind.
After absorbing the power of the two divine weapons, Gu Chen vaguely felt as though he could now tap into a fraction of power from the high-grade divine weapon deep within his left hand.
Gu Chen found it bizarre and pondered, "If it devours a large number of lower-grade divine weapons, could my strength also be greatly enhanced?"
But the next moment, Gu Chen couldn't help laughing at his own thought. Divine weapons were rare and invaluable; where could he acquire such a quantity of divine weapons for absorption?
No matter what, Gu Chen felt that the connection with the fist guard extending from his left palm seemed more active than before, no longer as dormant.
At that moment, Gu Chen suddenly looked towards the Blood Shadow Sword at his waist. The sword seemed to sense Gu Chen's thoughts, and its sword chants were incessant.
"Rest assured, I won't let it 'consume' you," Gu Chen said with a wry smile. The Blood Shadow Sword hadn't been with him for long, and naturally, Gu Chen wouldn't discard it lightly.
...
Yulong City.
After dealing with Wuying and the others, Gu Chen traveled continuously for five days and nights before he finally arrived at Yulong City.
On the morning of the sixth day, Gu Chen arrived at the back gate of Yulong City and found it guarded by soldiers, who looked vigilant. Clearly, the battle had already begun.
Gu Chen slightly furrowed his brow and, with a flash, vaulted over the city wall and directly entered the city lord's mansion of Yulong City.
With his current strength, to move without a trace was something few could detect.
Upon arriving at the city lord's mansion, Gu Chen found a palace with more than a dozen auras, so he approached the palace and pushed the door open and walked in.
"Who is it?!"
Inside the palace, a Metropolitan Procurator's Earth-level commander stood up when he saw the door being pushed open abruptly, his entire demeanor wary.
"Brother Gu?"
At this moment, a man dressed in a gown, exuding an air of scholarship, exclaimed in surprise, recognizing Gu Chen.
Dressed in dark clothing, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, and handsome, chiseled features, Gu Chen walked in and nodded to Wang Shuyu, who had recognized him.
Then, Gu Chen's gaze swept over and he saw two graceful figures. It was LiuLuo and Zi Qing, who had crossed paths with him at the Yao Platform gathering.
Upon seeing Gu Chen, the two women also nodded lightly at him as a greeting, their beautiful eyes filled with astonishment.
Seeing the two women, Gu Chen knew that it must have been the deputy leader of the Jing Tian Department, Qin Wu, who had asked the Yao Platform Sect to come and aid Yan State.
This showed that the Jing Tian Department in Tiandu was indeed stretched thin.
What surprised Gu Chen was that the Wang family was also here, presumably out of consideration for Wang Jiuzhi.
"Are you really Gu Chen?" The Yan State's Metropolitan Procurator's Earth-level commander frowned, eyeing Gu Chen with some confusion.
It was no wonder he was puzzled, for his understanding of Gu Chen was that he only had the cultivation of the Returning to True Stage, but the person standing in front of him now was emitting such an oppressive sensation from his physical body that even he, a man who had undergone five blood exchanges, felt a surge of palpitations.
Could Gu Chen really be this powerful?
"Lord Yan, this person is indeed Brother Gu, without a doubt," Wang Shuyu of the Wang family confirmed by the side, as Wang Shuhang also nodded in agreement.
LiuLuo and Zi Qing, the two women, also lightly parted their vermillion lips to vouch for Gu Chen's identity, saying, "It is indeed Lord Gu Chen."
Although Gu Chen had changed greatly compared to when they met at the Yao Platform gathering, the two women still recognized him at a glance.
In the grand hall, counting the Earth-level Commander from the Yan State's Jing Tian Department, there were a total of three martial arts Masters, and at this moment they all watched Gu Chen with vigilant expressions.
Because only they could faintly sense the strong pressure emanating from Gu Chen.
"You've broken through to a Master?" the Earth-level Commander of the Yan State Jing Tian Department, Yanrong, asked with furrowed brows.
"What?! Brother Gu, you've broken through to a Master?" Before Gu Chen could speak, Wang Shuhang from the Wang family had already cried out in astonishment.
Wang Shuyu frowned, looking somewhat displeased at his own brother, and Wang Shuhang realized his gaffe and quickly sat back down in his seat.
Even LiuLuo and Zi Qing, seated nearby, had a thick surprise gleaming in their bright, crystalline eyes.
The last time they saw Gu Chen, not to mention being a Master, he had only just broken through to the Vajra Stage not long ago, and his power was somewhat lacking compared to LiuLuo's.
But unexpectedly, in such a short time, not even a year, Gu Chen had already achieved the status of a Master, which was a world of difference from before.
No wonder Yanrong was skeptical.
"Indeed," Gu Chen slightly nodded. He did not wish to dwell on this question with them, and he asked, "What is the current situation in Yulong City?"
His expression was somewhat grave, for the Barbarian Tribes' army's presence here meant that Yongxue City had likely met with disaster.
Considering that Song Yu, Wang Yan, and a group of Metropolitan Procurators who followed him to Tiandu were still stationed there.
Once it was confirmed that Gu Chen was not an impostor, Yanrong began to explain the current situation to Gu Chen.
It turned out that not long ago, Jing Tian Department sensed that two Innate Realm Masters from the Holy Shadows Sect and the Black Sky Sect had emerged from seclusion, preparing to attack Yongxue City. As a result, the Commander of the Yan State Jing Tian Department, along with a contingent of troops, rushed to Yongxue City, leaving only Yanrong and a small force behind in Yulong City.
However, by the time they arrived, Yongxue City was nearly overtaken, the Xuan Iron Army had suffered heavy casualties, and twelve thousand Barbarian Tribes soldiers had infiltrated Yan State, heading straight for Yulong City with a clear target.
This was the third day of fighting against the twelve thousand Barbarian Tribes soldiers, and the faces of everyone were barely concealing their exhaustion, each carrying more than a few serious injuries.
"The Xuan Iron Army suffered heavy casualties?"
After listening to Yanrong's account, Gu Chen's expression darkened to the extreme, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
If the Xuan Iron Army had suffered heavy casualties, what about Song Yu and Wang Yan, along with the group of Metropolitan Procurators? How were they faring?
With this thought in mind, Gu Chen's fists suddenly clenched tight, and a terrifying aura unwittingly seeped from him, bearing down like a great mountain upon the hearts of everyone present.
Witnessing such strength in Gu Chen, Yanrong, the Master of the Wang family at the Rebirth Stage, and the middle-aged woman from the Yao Platform Sect all had their expressions shaken.
Most of Da Xia's forces are currently tied up at Yongxue City; Yulong City was only left with the three of them as Masters to hold the fort, and with limited military force, it was extremely difficult to defend against the assault of the twelve thousand strong Barbarian Tribes army.
To have held out until now, they had already given it their all, and the losses were not small.
But now, with the appearance of the extremely powerful Gu Chen, they suddenly felt that Yulong City might still have a glimmer of hope for survival.
Just then, Gu Chen asked in a cold voice, "What about the Marquis of Pingxi? Where is he?"
At the mention of Marquis of Pingxi, everyone looked at each other in confusion.
Yanrong spoke up, saying, "On that day, upon awakening, the Marquis of Pingxi, worried about the border and the Xuan Iron Army, rushed to Yongxue City with the Commander."
"Worried about the border?" Gu Chen's eyes flashed with a cold sharpness. He knew that the twelve thousand Barbarian Tribes soldiers entering Yan State must be related to the Marquis of Pingxi, and there was a high likelihood that Lin Zhan, following the Marquis's orders, had intentionally suffered defeat, allowing this vast army to press forward into Yan State.
If the twelve thousand Barbarian Tribes were to break through Yulong City, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Having figured all this out, Gu Chen could not help but feel a thread of worry; with tempests brewing, Yulong City was under siege by twelve thousand Barbarian Tribes soldiers, and Yongxue City faced the combined internal and external threats of the Marquis of Pingxi, the Barbarian Tribes, and two major demonic sects—it would be an extremely difficult battle.
Furthermore, it was likely that the Duke of the Liang State, leading an army of two hundred thousand, had already reached Yongxue City.
Now, the battlefield in Yan State was split into two, and Gu Chen could not be in two places at once.
During his journey to Yulong City, Gu Chen had already attempted to send intelligence to both Yongxue City and Yulong City, but it seemed that Yulong City had not received any information.
Therefore, it was natural to assume that the same was true for Yongxue City, which was in the midst of chaos.
"Woo!"
At that moment, the sound of a war horn suddenly echoed from the city gates.
"The Barbarian Tribes are coming!"
Upon hearing the horn, Yanrong and the others sprang to their feet, their gazes turning simultaneously towards Gu Chen.
Somewhat subconsciously, having felt Gu Chen's impressive power, they began to see him as their pillar, instinctively ready to follow his orders.
"Barbarian Tribes, your timing couldn't be better!"
Gu Chen's eyes were cold and detached; he intended to eliminate these twelve thousand Barbarian Tribes soldiers as quickly as possible, then make a direct journey to Yongxue City.
"Marquis of Pingxi, I will slay you!"
At that moment, as he thought of the Marquis of Pingxi, Gu Chen's expression turned as cold and intimidating as millennia-old glacial ice.