The Nine Cauldrons

Book 8 Chapter 47 Changing the Battle Situation

Mu Yunji took out a folded map from his bosom. Then he unfolded it and placed it on the ground. “Mister Teng, please look at this!”

Teng Qingshan and Li Jun looked at the map carefully.

“The map of the Ox-Head Mountains?” With one glance, Teng Qingshan recognized the map.

“The Fiery Gilt Steel Canyon is here,” Mu Yunji said as he pointed at a location on the map. “The Fiery Gilt Steel Canyon faces eastward and westward. Two hills are located towards the north and south of the canyon. The northern hill has an altitude of 80 Zhang and a continuous ridgeline of 400 Zhang, while the southern hill has an altitude of around 30 Zhang and continuous ridgeline over 300 Zhang. This means the Fiery Gilt Steel Valley has two entrances in the east and the west.”

Teng Qingshan nodded and asked, “Yunji, what do you need me to do?”

“Mister, please look here!” Mu Yunji pointed at the eastern entrance of the canyon and said, “Now, the Taitan Clan, the Yan Clan, and the Xiahou Clan are all approaching this side. According to my calculations, there must be many armies advancing into the canyon from the east. They will climb up the northern hill from the interior of the canyon!”

If someone wanted to do so, they could climb up the northern hill from the interior or the exterior of the canyon.

However, in terms of difficulty, the mountain wall at the interior of the valley was extremely precipitous and exceedingly difficult to climb. The outer side of the northern hill had a certain degree of slope, which made it less difficult to climb. In the past, Teng Qingshan had guarded the northern hill, preventing the soldiers of the Yan Clan and Xiahou Clan to climb up from the outer region.

“Mister Teng, I need you to push a great number of boulders off the top of the northern hill! It’s to block this area!” Mu Yunji pointed toward the eastern entrance and said, “Block the entire eastern entrance with a great number of boulders!!! Mister, can you do that?”

Normally, massive boulders weighed several hundred thousand Jin.

Lifting a gigantic boulder would require one to exert great strength. However, lifting one would be easy for Teng Qingshan. Moreover, there was no need for him to lift it. All he needed to do was push it off the mountain.

“No problem.” Teng Qingshan nodded.

“Alright, Mister. The entrance must be completely blocked. Therefore, a large number of rocks will be needed. We will be troubling Mister,” Mu Yunji said. This plan…… was impossible for ordinary people to achieve within a short period of time. Only Teng Qingshan, the extremely strong expert who feared no experts from other clans, could achieve that!

After all, the five great clans, the Yan Clan, the Xiahou Clan, the Taitan Clan, the Wu Clan, and the Dong Clan, all had Golden Dan Innate Experts! For example, the Steel Sword Martial Saint, the Martial Saintess, and the other Martial Saints who they had specially invited!

Ordinary Golden Dan Innate Experts wouldn’t have the audacity to display such arrogance and block the entrance.

“When should I do it?” Teng Qingshan asked.

“At that moment, I will shoot a red whistling arrow! Mister, you can make your move when you see red smoke emanating from a whistling arrow,” Mu Yunji answered. “There’s no time to lose. Mister, please wait at the Fiery Gilt Steel Valley.”

Teng Qingshan nodded.

He then looked at Li Jun and instructed while smiling, “Little Jun, you shall be with Ah Shou, Dong, and Blue Luan. I will join you guys when this matter is resolved.”

“Yes.” Li Jun nodded gently.

Carrying the sheathed Reincarnation Spear on his back and holding the Dark Blaze Rod in his hand, Teng Qingshan left the tent.

……

It was already dawn, but the stars and moon in the sky could be seen faintly. The clashing sounds grew increasingly louder. With the Dark Blaze Rod in hand, Teng Qingshan moved, leaving an azure-colored afterimage. Every step he took covered a distance of several Zhang. Teng Qingshan strolled casually amidst the millions of soldiers, as if he was walking in his own backyard.

Within a short period of time, Teng Qingshan had arrived near the Fiery Gilt Steel Valley.

At this moment, a vast crowd was gathered in the vicinity of the Fiery Gilt Steel Canyon. The northern hill was dyed red by fresh blood and a large number of soldiers were climbing up the northern and southern walls of the northern hill.

“Kill!”

“Kill them all!”

During these moments of life or death, the soldiers had all gone frenzy. Whenever they saw someone dressed differently, they would slash at the person’s neck or head immediately or thrust toward them with spears. Blood splashed about like water, and bones, flesh, and limbs could be seen everywhere. The shouts of the mad soldiers calling out for death resounded throughout the area.

Yan Baishou, Xiahou An, and the Steel Sword Martial Saint assembled amidst their army.

They were the highest-ranked leaders of their army.

“This is madness.” Yan Baishou’s eyes reddened as he exclaimed, “I didn’t expect that Wu Baiwei and that old bastard from Dong Clan would team up. If it wasn’t because we were able to respond quickly, more people would have died.”

“The situation is very terrible.”

Xiahou An’s one eye flashed coldly as he said, “The Tantai Clan, the Wu Clan, and the Dong Clan must have planned this beforehand. They must have chosen to attack before dawn, during the time when the sky was still dark! And this time, they dispatched almost all their manpower and really tried to annihilate us in one move.”

The Steel Sword Martial Saint looked very serious.

There were seven large clans fighting for the Fiery Gilt Steel Ore Deposit. However, in actuality, the Fu Clan was the weakest of the seven. Although it was said to be seven large clans, in actuality and to be more precise, there were six large clans and one small clan.

The total manpower of the Tantai Clan, the Wu Clan, and the Dong Clan was over half of the total manpower of all seven clans!

Furthermore, the combined forces of the Tantai Clan, the Wu Clan, and the Dong Clan had attacked so suddenly and fiercely, with much consideration. The armies of the Steel Sword Martial Saint, the Yan Clan, and the Xiahou Clan were completely unprepared…… The battle continued for over one hour and the armies of the Yan Clan, the Xiahou Clan, and the Steel Sword Martial Saint were at an absolute disadvantage. They even lost some of the advantages they had obtained earlier.

“No matter what, we must take the northern hill!”

With a dark expression, the Steel Sword Martial Saint shouted, “Conquer the northern hill at all cost!”

The Steel Sword Martial Saint’s army had organized itself and immediately began fighting madly, striving to take the northern hill.

……

At this time, the alliance of the Tantai Clan, the Wu Clan, and the Dong Clan were battling against the alliance of the Steel Sword Martial Saint, the Yan Clan, and the Xiahou Clan for the northern hill. Yet…… the Duan Clan remained inactive. Of course, the alliance formed between the Martial Saint, the Yan Clan, and the Xiahou Clan, along with the alliance formed between the Tantai Clan and the other two clans, were not worried at all…… since the Duan Clan was just a lone clan.

If they could conquer the northern hill, they would win the profit.

……

“Whoosh!”

A red whistling arrow exuding thick, red smoke rocketed into the sky. Teng Qingshan turned to look at the source of the sound and a smile graced his face as he said to himself, “It has begun.”

With the Dark Blaze Rod in hand, Teng Qingshan darted toward the Fiery Gilt Steel Canyon near the northern hill.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Like a grasshopper in the shape of a human, Teng Qingshan leaped up from the mountain wall twice and landed on the peak of the northern hill. He advanced along the mountain summit and headed in the eastern direction.

“Kill! Brothers, kill!”

“Die.”

“Go to hell.”

The frenzied soldiers fought the enemies with all their might. A few thousand people were gathered on the summit of the northern hill, and it was apparent that these people were divided into two parties…… Simultaneously, an endless number of soldiers climbed up from the mountain walls on both sides. Each of the two parties wanted to drive the other party away so that they could conquer the northern hill.

Teng Qinghsan shook his head as he advanced toward them in an eerie manner.

Many soldiers saw Teng Qingshan and foolishly tried to slash him to death, yet they couldn’t even touch his clothes.

“Eh?” As Teng Qingshan advanced eastward on the summit of the mountain, he suddenly saw a conspicuous figure amidst the troops around a distance of two to three Li away. It was the Martial Saintess!

“It’s her.” Teng Qingshan smiled faintly.

Maybe it was because the Martial Saintess had an aura and appearance similar to that of Cat, his wife in his previous life, that Teng Qingshan’s feelings toward the Martial Saintess were slightly special.

At this moment, the Martial Saintess was with her husband, Wu Baiwei.

……

She was in the midst of the Wu Clan’s army. Wearing a full suit of armor, the Martial Saintess was watching the fight playing out on the northern hill. At the side, Wu Baiwei guffawed and said, “Dear, look…… After the Wu Clan combined forces with the other two clans, we managed to force the opposing alliance back immediately. Now, on the northern hill, it’s obvious that our army is in an advantageous position.”

“Hmph, they might still be struggling now, but the northern hill will be ours soon.” Wu Baiwei was obviously very excited.

“Dear…” Wu Baiwei looked puzzledly at the Martial Saintess, wondering why she wasn’t talking.

“We’re in trouble.” The Martial Saintess gazed at the northern hill and said, “Look over there!”

The Martial Saintess pointed toward the eastern summit of the northern hill.

Wu Baiwei looked in the direction that the Martial Saintess was pointing……

“Eh?” Wu Baiwei’s facial expression changed.

Seeing a tall figure dressed in an azure leather coat while holding a dark-red long rod, Wu Baiwei instantly recognized who it was.

……

On the easternmost summit of the northern hill:

“Haha……” Teng Qingshan laughed and kicked down the huge rocks in his vicinity.

With a terrifying, “Rumble,” a large number of boulders tumbled down the lofty summit. Immediately, all the soldiers below freaked out. Their faces turned pallid, and they began dodging and escaping with haste.

“Quick dodge!”

“Flee!”

“Out of the way!”

Loud screams of fear rang out. When the armies of the Tantai Clan and the other two clans saw the massive boulders, which weighed almost a few hundred thousand or even several hundred thousand Jin, tumble down, they dodged and fled in a panic.

“Rumble~~~”

The boulders fell successively like meteorites. The army which originally had high morale collapsed instantly. At this moment, who would care about supporting their fellow soldiers climbing the northern hill. All they wanted to do was retreat And escape this nightmarish canyon as soon as possible!

“There are not many boulders here.” After Teng Qingshan kicked a large number of boulders down the same direction as if he were kicking balls, he realized that there were no more boulders around him.

Shouts immediately rang out from below.

“Quickly. Climb up the Northern Short Mountain quickly! There are no more boulders! There’s no need to fear anymore! Climb up quickly!”

“Everyone, move quicker.”

The officers of the three clans urged with all their might, commanding their soldiers to charge forward again. This was a crucial moment. If they were one step slower, then…… the northern hill would be taken by others. By that time, all their efforts would be wasted.

“Hmph!”

Teng Qingshan’s right leg was now one size thicker, expanding the leg of his pants to its limits to an extent in which his right leg looked like the leg of an elephant. Teng Qingshan then stomped down forcefully. As he possessed a perfect physique, his stomp was like the powerful wrath of a heavenly god!

“Rumble~~~”

The ground below Teng Qingshan’s feet cracked. Then as a boom, which sounded like the rumble of over a thousand thunderbolts, rang out, a great number of boulders and cracked rocks tumbled down from the top of the mountain like an avalanche! It caused the soldiers of the Tantai Clan and the other two clans to cry out in terror as every one of them began to flee.

The great number of boulders instantly blocked the entrance in the east.

The higher-ranked members of the Wu Clan, the Tantai Clan, and the Dong Clan immediately turned pale with fright.

“No… How can this be… No……” Wu Baiwei’s facial complexion worsened drastically.

Now that the eastward entrance was blocked, the soldiers on the northern hill wouldn’t be able to receive any reinforcement, and all the efforts the three clans had expended would go to waste.

“Teng Qingshan!”

The Martial Saintess gazed at the tall figure standing on the peak of the mountain.

To think that the strength of his one stomp was actually that horrifying…… The Martial Saintess finally realized the disparity between her and Teng Qingshan’s strength.

“Kill!!!” At this moment, a loud yell suddenly rang out in the western area of the northern hill!