"To all the human citizens—I, Yang Ye, have failed you. I am truly sorry. In the next life, should you return as humans, come find me—Yang Ye. I will be waiting for you to take my life in return. I swear—tenfold, a hundredfold of foreign tribes shall be buried with you."
Tears of blood streamed from Yang Ye's eyes, even blood trickled from his lips. He bowed deeply and knocked his head to the ground three times toward the human refugees. He was guilty. He was ashamed. But he had no choice.
His heart had already been steeled. Whether it be ten thousand or hundreds of thousands—it could no longer shake his resolve.
After the kowtows, Yang Ye stood up decisively.
"Divine Crossbows—prepare!!" he shouted.
The soldiers of the Vermilion Bird Legion rose in unison, hoisting their Divine Crossbows.
"Crossbows ready," Yang Yanping reported, his voice trembling.
"Target… Chaos Rock Valley. Our human refugees," Yang Ye inhaled deeply and said with eyes closed.
"Target—Chaos Rock Valley. Human refugees," Yang Yanping echoed.
"You… How dare you? Aren't you afraid of universal condemnation, of being spat upon by your own kind? These are your people! There are pregnant women, babies… Do you have no compassion left? No humanity?!"The Two-headed Ogre's face turned pale as he shouted. He saw the raised crossbows—his heart flooded with terror. The Great Yi Dynasty was actually willing to sacrifice their own people.
They were cold. Ruthless. Mad.
"All units—send off our fellow humans… on their final journey!"Yang Ye gave the order with steel in his voice.
"Cry! Scream! Beg your human brothers for mercy—how are you all so alike!"The Two-headed Ogre roared at the human refugees. Some foreign soldiers whipped them viciously.
Cries and the wails of children echoed across the battlefield. Every sound stabbed like a dagger into the hearts of the Vermilion Bird soldiers, causing their bodies to tremble. Their hands shook holding the crossbows—an unprecedented reaction.
"For our human kin… fire!!"
Yang Ye swung his hand down sharply.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
Soldiers live to obey. Even if their hearts were torn by grief, they still pulled their triggers.
A storm of arrows flew like lightning.
An arrow rain engulfed Chaos Rock Valley.
"They're insane! These Yi soldiers are lunatics. They even kill their own!""We must spread this news—Yi will be cursed by all!""Run! These humans have gone mad!"
Foreigners in the valley were stunned. Some fled outright. If even the refugees were shot dead, the invaders certainly wouldn't be spared. After all, Yang Ye had vowed to sacrifice tenfold or a hundredfold of foreign blood for every fallen human.
Even the Two-headed Ogre felt fear.
"No one expected this. Damn you, Fan Wencheng—your plan was trash! If I survive this, I'll twist your head off and use it as a chamber pot!"
The arrows tore through the air.
They were Flame Arrows. When they hit, they ignited, turning flesh to ash. The human dead burned completely—nothing left but smoke. It was cruel, but also a kind of mercy. Their bodies wouldn't be defiled—they would reincarnate in fire.
"Kill!!"
One wave of arrows was enough to eliminate all the unarmed refugees.
Seeing them burn into ash, the soldiers of the Vermilion Bird Legion erupted in righteous fury. They stormed forward, crossbows firing nonstop.
They advanced in leapfrog formation—one group fired, crouched and reloaded, the next stepped forward ten paces and fired again. It was an unending cycle.
A tide of arrows swept through the valley.
"Ahh! How is this possible!""Run! Their power's insane! The arrows don't stop! Even giant rocks are pierced!"
Arrows enhanced with true essence pierced through stones and bodies alike.
The soldiers infused their true essence into the arrows, boosting destructive force by 40–50%. Boulders exploded; entire swathes of foreign troops were slain on the spot.
The Two-headed Ogre fled.
After witnessing the refugees being killed, he knew the plan had failed. Yi would face a storm of backlash for this—yes—but that was later. Right now, he had to survive.
"Think you can kill me so easily?!"
"Devour Destiny Aperture – All Things in Heaven and Earth Can Be Food!"(食天命窍 – 天地万物皆可为口中食)
Madness flashed in the ogre's eyes. His mouths expanded dozens, hundreds of times—huge maws with black holes inside, filled with gleaming fangs. The incoming arrows were sucked in and crunched like crispy biscuits.
Anything in his surroundings was devoured—he was a man-eating demon who could consume the heavens.
This was the power of the Devour Destiny Aperture. At its peak, it could even swallow the sky.
No arrow reached him. He ran with terrifying speed—leaping dozens of meters at a time.
"Soldier's Tomb!!"
Yang Ye's icy gaze locked onto the ogre. His voice echoed with power.
In his hand appeared a blood-red spear, glowing with crimson flames and ancient runes—Blazing Flame Spear.
Soldier's Tomb Destiny Aperture – Blazing Flame Spear!!(兵冢命窍 – 赤焰枪!!)
The Soldier's Tomb Aperture was one of the core apertures in the Heavenly General War Codex. It birthed a powerful battle weapon, attuned to the user's own fate. Though not a physical divine weapon, it was a true manifestation of destiny, destined to be the core weapon in the user's life diagram.
The one Yang Ye forged was the Blazing Flame Spear.
"Kill!!"
With a flick, the spear soared like a crimson dragon, tearing through space—instantly locking onto the ogre.
"What is that?!"
The ogre's instincts screamed. He activated the Devour Destiny Aperture again.
"Devour it—everything is my food!"
Boom!!
The two black vortexes spun wildly, sucking the spear inward.
But—
This was no ordinary arrow.
The Blazing Flame Spearpierced straight through.
Puff!!
The cold spear tip burst through one of the ogre's heads. His body was flung backward and nailed to the ground.
The spear's flame—not ordinary fire, but battle flame infused with war spirit—erupted and engulfed him.
"That's… Soldier's Fiendfire!" the ogre screamed.
The flames were battlefield soul flames, infused with the wrath and will of soldiers. Ferocious and unstoppable.
In seconds, the ogre was reduced to ash.
Yang Ye hadn't slacked off in cultivation. As a military commander, the killing intent and bloodlust he harnessed were even greater. With top-tier pills and the Heavenly General War Codex, his progress had been meteoric.