My Cultivation Starting from Archery-Chapter 710 - 224: Striving for the World_2

"Now, with the city's provisions exhausted, I give you one last half day. If you do not open the city gates and surrender, you will have no choice but to await being trampled by a hundred thousand Iron Cavalry!"

The ultimatum was issued.

Then came Xu Wencai and others taking turns to persuade them to surrender, invoking "comradeship" and "why the haste to turn on one another."

The soldiers defending the city within all wore solemn expressions on their faces.

By noon, the sound of the war drums rose, mixing with the Heavenly Thunder. The dim Heavenly Dome occasionally lit up with flashes of lightning, illuminating the Rebel Army's formations arrayed outside the city, inevitably striking fear into the hearts and making the atmosphere all the more tense and oppressive.

There, a rider in a white robe on a White Horse led a Vanguard Army of two thousand, ready to take the lead and personally storm and scale the city walls first.

"Humming roar—"

It was at this moment that the sound of Liangzhou City gates opening mixed with the roaring thunder as the towering figure in vermilion armor, wearing crown feathers and wielding the Heavenly Halberd, Lu Ji rode out on a fiery red warhorse, alone, slowly emerging from the city.

"A servant of three masters?!"

"Release the fifth one!"

Wang Zhi and others within the military formation were about to draw their swords on the spot.

But Chen Sansi at the very front raised his arm, signaling them to stand down, and then rode forth alone to meet him.

In the pouring rain, under the thunder and lightning.

One person in a white robe on a White Horse.

One person in vermilion armor on a red horse.

Only seven steps apart, they faced each other from a distance.

"Junior brother."

Lu Ji began to speak, so only both of them could hear, "Must it be this way?"

Chen Sansi replied indifferently, "It must be this way."

"You cannot win."

Lu Ji said sternly, "Behind the court is the Immortal Sect, and the Immortal Sect will soon hire 'Formation Masters' and other Immortal Masters as well as Martial Arts Family warriors of the True Power Realm. His Majesty is also about to succeed in Foundation Establishment. You cannot win this fight. It's not too late to stop now, with me here, no one will have to die."

"I am a hunter."

Chen Sansi answered calmly, "An arrow shot can never return."

"It seems you won't shed tears until you see the coffin, then..."

Lu Ji paused, then his voice suddenly rose, "Let me see how capable you really are then!

"Chen Sansi!"

In an instant.

His voice echoed between heaven and earth, shaking the rain curtain, and all the hundred thousand onlookers could hear it clearly.

"You're right!

"We all hail from Beiliang, there is no need for us to slaughter each other!

"In that case, why not make a gentleman's agreement between us, how about that?!"

A gentleman's agreement?

"Sansi, don't listen to the servant of three masters!"

Wang Zhi and others called out in warning.

"Eldest brother."

Chen Sansi faced him, "Please, continue."

"You and I, let us decide the winner right here, regardless of life and death, without the interference of a third party."

Lu Ji's robust call resonated through heaven and earth:

"If I win, you'll degrade your own ranks, your military power, and send your wife and children to the Capital City, then hand over the Dragon Scripture, and put an end to this chaos!"

"If I lose, I'll withdraw my troops voluntarily and hand over Liangzhou City to you! How about it?!"

"Junior brother, you mustn't do this!"

Cheng Wei and the others were persuading him earnestly.

"The Shanshi family cultivates evil techniques; who knows what traps they have set for you!"

"..."

However.

Everyone only heard the White Robe agree, his voice echoing and resonating: "Good! Agreed!"

The rain was falling even harder now.

In the waterfall-like rain that obscured everyone's vision, people could only vaguely hear the sound of warhorses neighing like dragon roars and dimly see the purple light climbing continuously, transforming into twisted dragon and elephant figures before a fire dragon suddenly appeared through the curtain of water, its scorching flames vaporizing the rainwater and creating a dense fog as it collided head-on with the Incense Fire Dragon.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Across the cloud-filled Heavenly Dome, lightning struck again, the Longdan Bright Silver Spear and the Heavenly Halberd clashed repeatedly, their deafening sounds mixed with thunder, shaking heaven and earth.

On the 8th day of October, in the 76th year of Longqing.

The White Robe, Chen Sansi, and the red-armored Ji, fought for thirty-six rounds outside Liangzhou City. In the thirty-seventh round, the White Robe's spear pierced through Ji's chest and knocked him off his horse, emerging victoriously.

The White Robe was henceforth recognized as the Gun God True Inheritor of the Elephant Sect, without dispute.

The next day.

Both parties kept their promises.

The Black Tortoise, the White Tiger, and the Heavenly Lion Three Camps, led by Nie Yuan, withdrew from Liangzhou City.

From then on.

The White Robe occupied Liangzhou City, securing his position in both You and Liang states, commanding an army of one hundred thousand, always preparing to march south to cleanse the court's side.

...

The continuous downpour finally ceased after several days.

The Black Tortoise and other Camp Soldiers retreated in an orderly fashion along the muddy, uneven official road, filled with puddles.

Third Brother Nie Yuan drew back the curtain of the carriage: "Big brother, how are you?"

Bare-chested inside the carriage, Ji sat with his legs crossed, looking pale. He was currently biting on a bandage, wrapping it around himself, with the wound located below his left chest, barely half an inch away from the heart.

"Speaking of spear technique, junior brother has already shown signs of barely surpassing our master." Nie Yuan remarked with a sigh, "But his strike was too ruthless. Big brother, you never wanted his life!"

Suddenly, Ji spoke up: "Do you think, why the wound is precisely half an inch off the mark?"

"..."

Nie Yuan fell silent for a moment: "Big brother, junior brother is a monster, not human, no one under the heavens can compare to junior brother's talent in martial arts, not even master at his time, so you don't need to feel dejected."

"A loss is a loss," Ji said with a wry, resigned laugh. "It seems that master didn't choose the wrong person."

As they talked.

His pupils suddenly shone with a purple light, as if he turned into another person for a moment, and then, with one hand on his crown, his face twisted in pain.

"Is it that evil spirit again?!"

Seeing this, Nie Yuan said with a worried expression: "Big brother, you mustn't practice the Evil God Path anymore! That sinister presence disturbs your mind day and night; if this continues, you will succumb to the evil eventually!"

"It's already too late."

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the symptoms gradually subsided, and Ji spoke with a sense of release: "From the moment I established communication with it, it was already too late. There is no turning back on the Evil God Path."