The Book of Troubled Times

 Chapter 775 Prologue, Xuanwu who can’t be lazy

 When Qingqi headed north, he entered the Modong Grassland Corridor within a few days.

 At this time, it can be seen that the Han Dynasty has been intensively preparing for various wars in these days, and Timur has not done nothing. After all, it was a decisive battle intended by both sides, not a surprise attack by one side.

 Compared to the big man who was strengthening his body, Timur was doing the Seven Injury Fist.

According to the experience of the Batu herdsmen who led the way, all possible tribal settlements along the way were trampled, and everyone left their tents empty, and even the water sources were polluted.

 This also requires a long time to operate, and the Han army will not be given the opportunity to "eat on the enemy".

　　Xue Canghai was very disappointed.

Zhao Changhe and others looked at each other in confusion. It was difficult for them to figure out how such a large tribal population would be supplied and how nomadism would be carried out if it were concentrated in one place. If this took a little longer, would the entire grassland collapse on its own? Already…

So if everyone finds a place to stay now, can they just wait and see their own collapse?

The theory is fine, but one's side has a storage box that is cheating, and the other party may have some weird tricks. Today's war logic cannot be completely based on experience. If you fall into the old thinking, you will lose.

 As the distance between the two sides gets closer, the first round of "divine battle" has already begun when ordinary soldiers are unaware.

Zhao Changhe worked hard to hone his ability to observe the world in the underground sky. After getting rid of the assistance of the underground sky, the range of his overlooking eye also increased, far exceeding what he had just broken through. To say that it covers thousands of miles is a bit exaggerated, but it is only a "short", it's really not much different.

Suzaku has also been practicing these days to sense the surroundings through the ubiquitous fire element, but at the moment, her strength in the late stage of the first level of imperial realm, the range of what she can perceive is not as good as that of Zhao Changhe, who is only in the early to mid-stage. Moreover, she is perceiving, while Zhao Changhe is "seeing", which is a qualitative difference.

This plug-in from the back eye to the overlooking eye has become more and more important at this level than just looking behind the back in the early years. It is almost like feeling some of the effects of the second or even third level of imperial realm in advance. Not to mention anything else, it has great advantages for subsequent breakthroughs. After all, it has been previewed so much in advance.

The specific value for this war is that the range he can see is almost the same as the range of Temur, who is the peak of the first level of imperial realm. If Temur can see them, then he can also see Temur, in " There won't be any disadvantages in the "fog of war".

 and... direct collision.

 Late night. Zhao Changhe sat cross-legged in the military tent, his spiritual thoughts spreading unscrupulously, extending all the way to the northwest, trying to see what was happening in the distance.

Slowly, there is pressure on the edge of the expansion of spiritual consciousness, and a tingling feeling is faintly felt.

 Zhao Changhe's heart moved slightly.

It was Timur or Bo'er who was also observing. The edges of the two sides' spiritual thoughts met in the middle, and the edges of the two open circles touched.

Bo'er has fought before, and he can feel the difference, but this time the other party feels a bit strange... This is Timur.

This is the first confrontation between Zhao Changhe and Timur.

 “Ka~” The edge of the spiritual thought seemed to be split by some water wave, and both sides bounced back a little, each feeling a little tingling.

 What you see is where you are.

The next moment, two shadows appeared in the central night sky at the same time, looking at each other from a distance of only one foot.

Timur looked at the phantom of Zhao Changhe in front of him, and he had to say that he was still a little impressed: "Your Excellency Blood Shura is really able to surprise people everywhere... Not long after he broke through the imperial realm, the power of this soul is already close to that of this Khan. , it’s really surprising and admirable. No wonder all the challenges along the way come from this.”

Zhao Changhe smiled and responded like an old friend: "If you can't even do this, there is no need to fight this war. Speaking of which, I have always been unable to understand some things in the previous wars, and it is only now that I finally You know, when the Great Khan’s army came to Yanmen Pass, why didn’t he go to the city and break the pass by himself... It turns out that Lao Xia’s spiritual thoughts have been staring at you, and you didn’t dare.”

"That's right." Timur did not mince words: "Xia Longyuan is holding this Khan down, and our God is also waiting for Xia Longyuan to appear, and he does not dare to act too rashly. This is the restraint on the imperial realm, and it cannot be easily He will end up. There is a tacit understanding in the war between gods. As long as you don't end up, the victory or defeat of the ordinary war will still be within control. But once you end up, if something goes wrong, the consequences will not be the death of your body, but the family's. Destroy."

 Zhao Changhe nodded: "Teach me."

“Then today, Your Excellency Blood Shura, as the new Night Emperor, can also be regarded as the patron saint of your big men, why did you personally lead the crowd here?”

"Because I'm not as awesome as Lao Xia. If I don't come here in person, I won't be able to defeat...it won't have any deterrent effect." Zhao Changhe smiled: "What's more, you know very well that now that gods and demons are awakening everywhere, the rules of the past have been changed. It’s getting more and more broken and we need new rules.”

Timur said calmly: "What are your new rules?"

"How can we allow others to snore on the side of the bed?" Zhao Changhe said lightly: "I don't want to contain any gods, I just want them not to exist."

Timur was startled and laughed loudly: "Okay, okay. Xia Longyuan doesn't even dare to attack the temple directly, but you are more arrogant than him."

"Because Lao Xia only has himself." Zhao Changhe said calmly: "Although Zhao is not talented, he has endless mountains and rivers behind him."

Following Timur's laughter and Zhao Changhe's response, ripples seemed to appear in the air, colliding with each other, each shaking slightly.

Zhao Changhe suffered a slight loss, and his spiritual thoughts shrank back a little, but only a little, not much difference.

The two phantoms both frowned and reacted in pain at the same time. This direct collision of souls was very uncomfortable and extremely fragile and easily injured.

 Both parties had their own concerns and did not continue to test. They quickly and tacitly recovered their spiritual consciousness and returned to each other.

 Zhao Changhe opened his eyes.

Yue Hongling sat cross-legged opposite him and asked, "Have you been in contact?"

Zhao Changhe nodded: "This simple contact test is probably a wake-up call for both parties... We don't dare to play with this kind of external expansion of spiritual consciousness... When we get closer, we can reach the point where your spiritual consciousness can touch it." If he comes over, he will be beaten by our whole family. Similarly, if I poke around, I don’t know if Bo’e is also in the army, and he will be beaten too. It’s best if we all play less.”

Yue Hongling said: "So it's either what I've thought about before, no one dares to explore spiritual thoughts randomly, and everything returns to the conventional war logic of goshawks and scouts; or it's to directly launch a battle against the realm and separate it from the battle between mortals?"

"almost…"

As a knight who usually walks alone, Yue Hongling didn't quite understand the logic of the war here. She couldn't help but ask: "But the outcome of the actual battle of Yujing can determine everything, so what is the point of such a mortal war that wastes people and money?"

"It would be okay if the victory of the Yujing battle can be determined immediately, but judging from previous experience, it is extremely difficult to kill a Yujing. The greater probability is that it will lead to a stalemate, or be trapped in the secret realm. During that period, hundreds of thousands of Huqi Going south, China is in ruins. What’s the point of coming out if we win? The war between you and me is first of all to protect China. We deal with the enemy’s defenses, while the generals and soldiers need to deal with the Hu cavalry. It’s just a different division of labor.”

Yue Hongling nodded slightly: "Yes."

Zhao Changhe added: "Actually, if the mountains and rivers are broken, we will also lose the battle to control the realm. Part of my strength and my love's Sanniang's strength are bolstered by the energy of the mountains and rivers and the power of faith. Once the mountains and rivers are in chaos and the faith Although Bengdai will not regress as much as Lao Xia, his strength is definitely not as good as it is now. Lao Xia is nothing more than an extreme example, but many things can be referenced. This is the only difference between you and us. "

"Actually, I have some, too. If that happens, I'm afraid there will be problems with my sword heart... My sword intention is greatly affected by you."

"Well…"

Yue Hongling asked again: "Is the same thing true for God Hu?"

"I don't know if he will be affected by the failure of the mortal war, but I can be sure that if he wants to go further, he must win the war." Zhao Changhe said: "As far as we know, apart from Jiuyou, this system only wants to In addition to those who cause trouble, most of them, such as the Emperor of the Sea, the Buddha, the Immortal God, etc., all need human energy and faith. This situation will be more like a religious war, with human beings competing for luck. This is also what Lao Xia Shang The reason why Beihu often went south at that time was that the secular forces would cause the cultivation of both sides to decline."

Yue Hongling stopped asking these questions and asked instead: "How strong is Timur?"

Zhao Changhe said: "In terms of spiritual consciousness alone, I am half a step behind him. But in terms of spiritual consciousness, I am already a strong point in cheating... If we really fight, the gap should be bigger, but there is no level gap. Can fight."

Yue Hongling nodded and whispered to herself with some sigh: "No. 1 on the heavenly list."

Yes, no matter how many blind men are causing trouble in the rankings between Timur and Bo'e, Timur is number one on the Heavenly Ranking, and the number one person in the world "certified by Heaven" among the ancient gods and demons. This is a ranking with endless aura. The number one on the human list is regarded as the king of men. The number one on the earth list is often regarded as the dividing line between humans and gods. What about the number one on that day?

Even if the value of this ranking is reduced due to the common appearance of gods and demons, in the hearts of most people, it is still a position that people dare not look directly at. Even if Zhao Changhe looks at the terrifying blind man every day, for the "Heaven Ranking" The four words "first" cannot be ignored.

Perhaps in Yue Hongling's eyes, the battle with the number one on the Tianban Ranking is more meaningful than war.

"Back to business." Zhao Changhe said with a smile: "Now that Timur thinks that if he repels my observation, there will inevitably be some movement. Did you see anything about the sword energy that was previously buried in their sacred mountain and royal court?"

Yue Hongling shook her head with some regret: "The range was too small, and the location was hidden, so basically nothing was gained. I even felt that the sword energy I had buried in advance was a complete waste of effort."

Zhao Changhe smiled and said: "Be prepared for a rainy day, why bother. No matter how much preparation we have made, it may not all be used. Judging from the situation where Timur and I have collided, the distance between us has become closer, which shows that our previous The judgment is correct, at least Timur himself is really coming in our direction."

“That means that we will encounter harassment in the direction of General Huangfu, and this so-called harassment may not be based on martial ethics.”

 …

 It’s not that it’s possible not to practice martial ethics, it’s that it’s inevitable.

When today's war tacit understanding has almost collapsed, and in the era of "the collapse of rituals and the collapse of music", Zhao Changhe has already thought that when the God of Immortality is restored, the world will be full of gods and killings... Then when He has not fully recovered, he will not be able to cause chaos in China. , at least the entire Beihu area that can be descended by God, whether it is desert or grassland, is much wider than Zhao Changhe's area.

 Divine descent is the most indefensible harassment, and it should not be used on ordinary soldiers.

Without the support of the underground sky, Zhao Changhe would not be able to support him from thousands of miles away.

Huangfu Yongxian led the group to cross the Gobi Desert. Under the guidance of experienced guides, they traveled northward along the Gobi Desert in an orderly manner.

 It is said that crossing the desert is scary, but in fact it is not that outrageous. Many places are not deserts, and you can even run horses in the Gobi. Of course, it is impossible to march straight into the grasslands like the eastern front. The march is relatively slow. After so many days, we have only just entered the Gobi.

Although there was blowing sand and wind, the weather was not hot, and generally sandstorms and the like would not occur at this time, so it was relatively easy to march.

But Huangfu Yongxian rode his horse slowly, and gradually he felt that the fine sand that was blowing on his face began to grow in size, and then the dust rolled up all over the sky, sweeping over the sky and covering the land like waves, as if he was in a roaring sea.

Tens of thousands of troops stared dumbfounded at the violent scene ahead, unable to even turn around and run away.

 The old herdsmen of Batu tribe shouted in horror: "No! This is impossible! There should not be a sandstorm at this time of year!"

Another herdsman quickly knelt on the ground and prostrated himself: "This is divine punishment, this is divine punishment... As expected, Changshengtian was offended, and Changshengtian forgives us..."

 “Boom!” No **** responded to their prayers and begging for mercy, and the sand and dust rolled up in front of them in an instant.

The power of heaven and earth is simply not something that mortals can resist. No matter how many people there are, it is useless. Even Huangfu Yongxian of Dibang is useless.

However, the expected sandstorm burial did not come.

The soldiers raised their heads in shock, and saw that the dry Gobi desert was suddenly surrounded by water, as if it was enveloped by an invisible water curtain, and not even a grain of sand could invade it.

The phantom shadow of a giant turtle shrouded all directions, and everyone seemed to be moving forward under the protection of the giant turtle.

What's more, some people saw that within the area covered by the giant turtle, green grass began to sprout on the edge of the Gobi, and it seemed that it was gradually turning the place into an oasis.

The missionary work of the Sixiang Cult in the past half year is no joke, especially Huangfu Qing, who has used his identity as Huangfu Yongxian's daughter to secretly preach in the Yanmen garrison for a long time over the years. Now there are not many Sixiang Cultists in the army. He exclaimed in ecstasy: "This is the protection of our Emperor Xuanwu! Who is God Hu?"

　　　The people in Batu tribe were dumbfounded, and even other non-believers in the army were also stunned.

As Zhao Changhe said, today’s wars are fundamentally religious and divine wars, which have deviated from the template of earlier ethnic conflicts. This conflict of miracles between the two sides was beyond the conventional understanding of the soldiers, and it also changed the common sense and pattern of the entire war.

 Looking up, a stream of light came from the northeast and seemed to be bombarding the shadow of the giant turtle.

A soft whip rolled leisurely, like a snake winding around, binding the stream of light into the void layer by layer.

 The stream of light flashed out, revealing the shadow of a **** with a solemn expression: "Xuanwu..."

Sanniang slowly came out of the void, smiling and saying: "Honored God, you are well."

The two of them had met once before. When the Immortal God was beaten to pieces by Xia Longyuan overseas, Sanniang was the one who witnessed the entire process.

 But it seems that being safe does not only refer to this time...

Although Sanniang did not inherit any memory of ancient Xuanwu, her inheritance of Xuanwu skills and knowledge was relatively complete. Both ancient Xuanwu and the Immortal God were active in the north, and there were many battles.

"Huh..." The God of Immortality said lightly: "Xuanwu was so calm and resolute in ancient times. Although he and I were enemies of each other, we still admired him very much in our hearts. Unfortunately, the times have changed and our old friend has passed away. Nowadays, there is no such thing as a ghost or a snake **** who shows off his coquettishness and serves the gods with his body. I think my old friend Jiuquanxia may not want to recognize his false claim to replace Xuanwu. At least I... don't recognize him."

Sanniang didn't care about being scolded for "showing off", but instead smiled lazily: "I just like to serve my man, do you care... Don't make it look like you are familiar with Xuanwu, our Four Symbol Sect's inheritance is still quite good Completely, do you want to hear what Xuanwu said about you?"

The God of Immortality said calmly: "I don't think Xuanwu will say anything bad about me if I'm a jealous enemy."

Sanniang smiled and said: "That's right, he didn't have anything bad to say about you. He also said that you have a lot of bones and can be regarded as a man. However, your horizons are too small, like wild monkeys in the mountains. They only know that when a group of monkeys fight, he and you are the enemy." I always feel like I’m a bit out of place.”

Eternal God: "...It's a pity that the era collapsed, but it was he who thought he had vision who died, and I am alive."

Sanniang shook her head: "Xuanwu is just a meaning, a summary of a civilization system. As civilization continues, Xuanwu will be there, and it doesn't need your approval. On the contrary, if you die, will the immortality be there? They even Without a specific image, the only thing most people can rely on in their imagination is an axe, which is so ridiculous. What’s even more ridiculous is that the ax is not yours... you are just someone else’s **** without knowing it.”

The God of Immortality didn't bother to talk to her about this at all: "For the wild monkeys in the mountains in your eyes, there are not so many and nothing. We can only recognize the winners and losers. I don't have a soul here now, so you might as well take a look. I don’t know who is being ridiculous if the woman who thinks she is the inheritor of Xuanwu can’t even defeat my split soul.”

Sanniang smiled slightly: "When you only dare to use the soul to come out...you have already lost."

 “Boom!” Thunder and lightning suddenly broke out in the sky.

The day turned into night, and thunder swept across the sky.

The shadow of the black turtle skyrocketed, and violent thunder and lightning struck the turtle shell, not even a trace could be seen.

A graceful and plump figure shuttled like a snake among the thunder in the sky. The long whip in his hand was suddenly thrown away, as if a horizontal purple lightning suddenly appeared in the thunder, and it crackled towards the phantoms of gods and demons in the air.

 Huangfu Yongxian looked up, his calm face expressionless.

Although he did not expect that the Northern Expedition would actually start with the battle between the Immortal God and Xuanwu, he understood what Xuanwu said.

 The soul is separated, indicating that the main body is doing more important things. At least it shows that my daughter's previous prediction was correct, and the real main battlefield is in the east.

"We seem to be looked down upon." Huangfu Yongxian turned to Cui Yuanyong beside him and smiled: "It's dark now and the ground is full of wind and sand. Are you afraid?"

 Cui Yuanyong said "poof": "Whoever is afraid of is the grandson!"

"Okay." Huangfu Yongxian waved his whip and pointed: "They think this can slow us down. I am not convinced. The whole army will continue to advance and reach the royal court within three days!"

 (End of this chapter)