Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 1065 Fairy Yunyao

Zhang Yuan's divine sense had already swept over the jade slip containing the "reliable intelligence".

The content is crude and riddled with errors.

"Eclipse" Demon Army? I've never heard of that designation before.

The route through Ghost Howl Abyss was simply not passable for an army of 200,000.

As for "the Heavenly Palace reinforcements will arrive soon"...

Zhang Yuan sneered inwardly.

Xuanwu, you finally couldn't sit still any longer.

Using the name of the Heavenly Palace, they actually carried out a scheme to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

This "Eclipse" demon army is completely fictitious.

The Heavenly Palace reinforcements are nothing but a mirage.

There was only one objective: to lure me, Zhang Yuan, and my 100,000 newly trained and formidable troops away from the vortex of Tianyuan City and into a desperate situation.

Completely eradicate.

Seeing Zhang Yuan's silence, the envoy assumed he was afraid and urged him on with a forced smile.

"General Zhang, the military situation is urgent. Please muster your troops and set off immediately. Do not disappoint His Excellency's high expectations."

Zhang Yuan looked up.

His gaze swept calmly over the envoy's face, which held a hint of smugness.

Finally, it landed at the location of "Abyss Barrier" on the map.

His palm slowly caressed that area on the map.

Feeling the magnetic pulse from the depths of that land transmitted by the Zhenyue Token.

A bolder, more decisive plan instantly took shape in his mind.

This was the place he was meant to go.

"This humble general... obeys the order."

Zhang Yuan's voice was steady and powerful, without the slightest hint of emotion.

He turned around and gave orders to Yue Qing and the generals in the tent.

"Gather your troops! Target: Soul-Severing Valley!"

"Rush to the aid of the Abyss Barrier!"

The envoy smiled with satisfaction.

Yue Qing and the others looked at Zhang Yuan in astonishment, only to see that familiar, calm light, so capable of strategizing, shine in his eyes once again.

They understood.

The general is not going to his death.

General, you're using a counter-strategy.

……

Two hundred thousand troops, their banners fluttering in the wind.

Under the "supervision" of the "Golden Feather Guard Envoys," they marched out of the Black Stone Forest camp in a grand procession.

Heading northwest towards the Valley of Broken Souls.

The marching route was strictly in accordance with the orders, carried out in a grand and undisguised manner.

Every step he took resounded loudly.

Every flag flutters in the wind.

Even the campsites along the march were deliberately left with numerous traces.

It was as if they were afraid the demon army wouldn't know where they had gone.

The envoy, who was with the army, watched all this and chuckled to himself.

They really are a bunch of brutes.

They couldn't even see such an obvious trap.

Just wait for the entire army to be wiped out.

North of Black Wind Gorge lies Soul-Severing Valley.

Yue Qing reined in his horse and stood at the mouth of the valley, looking at the towering black cliffs on both sides, a chill spreading through his heart.

The terrain here is even more treacherous than described in the intelligence.

It is surrounded by sheer cliffs on three sides, with only one narrow passage for entry and exit.

The valley floor is no more than a hundred feet wide, with towering cliffs on both sides, covered with jagged rocks. You could easily kill someone by throwing a stone down there.

There are also scattered magnetic turbulence at the bottom of the valley, which can interfere with the operation of the star source force.

"A true Valley of Broken Souls," he murmured to himself.

Behind them, an army of 200,000 was entering the valley in turn.

The armor clanged, and the banners fluttered.

Following Zhang Yuan's orders, the marching speed was deliberately slowed down, and the formation was stretched out. The people in front had already entered the center of the valley, while the people behind were still lined up in a long queue outside the valley entrance.

The commotion was so great that it could be heard for miles around.

Yue Qing looked up at the cliffs on both sides.

His gaze was as sharp as a hawk's.

There, a dark shadow was moving in the shadows.

It wasn't the shadow of the rock.

They are an ambush force. An ambush force of the demon army.

"General, there's movement above the cliff!" a scout whispered.

Yue Qing raised his hand to stop him from speaking.

"I know."

A slight smile played at the corners of his lips.

"Let them watch."

Meanwhile, in the central command tent of the demon army in Tianyuan City.

In the void before Blood Butcher, a pitch-black magic mirror floated.

The mirror clearly showed the movements of the Shaking Mountain Army within the Broken Soul Valley.

Two hundred thousand troops are slowly entering the pocket.

"Hahaha..." Blood Butcher laughed loudly, his voice shaking the surrounding area, "Zhang Yuan, Zhang Yuan, you've finally met your match!"

Minggu emerged from the shadows, a chilling smile spreading across his withered face.

“That ‘reliable intelligence’ was done flawlessly.”

"The seal of the Heavenly Palace Military Affairs Office, the envoy personally arranged by Lord Xuanwu, even if Zhang Yuan is shrewd, he could not have imagined that this was a trap from beginning to end."

"He thought he was going to 'ambush and ambush' them."

Little did they know, he was the prey being hunted.

Blood Butcher stood up and walked to the sand table.

On the sand table, the demon army's markings around the Valley of Broken Souls are densely packed.

In addition to the ambushes on the cliffs inside the valley, there are three mobile demonic armies on the outer perimeter, totaling 500,000, forming a double encirclement.

"Once all 200,000 of the Shaking Mountain Army have entered the valley, we'll seal off both the entrance and the end. The magnetic turbulence will disrupt their communications and formations, and from our high ground, we'll unleash a barrage of arrows." Blood Butcher's fingers traced across the sand table. "Within three days, this remnant army will run out of ammunition and food, and be completely annihilated!"

Minggu nodded: "If Zhang Yuan were to lead the team personally, things might change. But according to the messenger's report, Zhang Yuan did not accompany the army; he is still 'in charge of military affairs' at the Black Stone Forest camp."

"Foolish!" Blood Butcher sneered. "A mere brat thinks he's infallible just because he won a few matches by luck? This time, he won't even have a chance to regret it!"

Outside the tent, cheers from the demon army rose and fell.

In their view, the battle has already been won.

……

Black Stone Forest Camp, late at night.

Inside the central command tent, the lamplight was dim.

There was a person standing in front of Zhang Yuan.

This man was tall and strong, with a face like a red date, thick eyebrows and tiger-like eyes, and a short beard under his chin that stood up like steel needles.

He wore a worn-out black battle robe, and a sheathless ancient sword hung at his waist. The blade was as black as ink, with faint lightning patterns flowing around it.

His aura was as deep and profound as an abyss.

Half-step Venerable Realm.

This man was named Lei Potian. He was originally the deputy commander of the Golden Feather Guard of the Heavenly Palace. A hundred years ago, he was dissatisfied with Venerable Xuanwu's framing of Fairy Yunyao. He rebuked him in court and was stripped of his military post and exiled to the borderlands.

Zhang Yuan encountered him by chance during his patrol, treated him with sincerity, and used the power of the Chaotic Star Source to help him unblock the old injuries that had accumulated over many years.

Lei Potian was grateful for their kindness and was willing to serve as a soldier under their command.

He is now Zhang Yuan's sharpest hidden sword.

"General Lei," Zhang Yuan said.

"Your subordinate is here." Lei Potian clasped his hands in a fist salute, his voice like muffled thunder.

"I'll have to trouble you to make the trip tonight."

Zhang Yuan got up, walked to the sand table, and pointed to a heavily marked spot.

Deep within the abyss's fortifications lies a desolate and impenetrable prison.

"I need you to take some men to rescue someone."

"Fairy Yunyao".

Lei Potian's pupils suddenly contracted.

"……who?"

“Fairy Yunyao,” Zhang Yuan repeated, looking at him calmly, “was imprisoned by Xuanwu a hundred years ago. Do you know her?”

Lei Potian's breathing became rapid.

More than just acquaintances.

He was once the commander of Yun Yao Fairy's guards and had secretly admired her for many years.

When she was framed, he desperately wrote a petition, which resulted in him being stripped of his official position and exiled to the remote borderlands.

For a century, he tried countless times to sneak into the Abyss Barrier to rescue people, but the barriers were too many to overcome, and he could not enter alone.

"General..." Lei Potian's voice trembled slightly, "You...you're telling the truth?"

"Really." Zhang Yuan nodded. "I need you to lead the rescue team."

"why me?"

"Because you are a half-step Venerable, the person with the highest cultivation level under my command."

"Because you are most familiar with the terrain of the Netherworld Prison, and you once entered the Abyss Barrier, so you know the distribution of the restrictions there."

"Also because—" Zhang Yuan paused, "you wanted to save her more than anyone else." (End of Chapter)