Before Zhuang Yi tried to assassinate Yang Cheng, this entire scheme had already been set into motion.
Yang Cheng had deliberately lured Zhuang Yi into making the attempt on his life. Then he used that chance to push the Zhuang clan into a desperate corner, forcing them to cooperate with the Southern Guardian Prince's Manor.
On the surface, Yang Cheng sent the Imperial Envoy Squad into Chanzhou. But in secret, he slipped into Chanzhou himself and had Lin Shu mobilize the Blood Shadow Tower.
At the same time, Yun Jinghuai had already moved troops in the shadows, marching them toward Chanzhou.
The Blood Shadow Tower had been operating in Chanzhou for two years, its intelligence network strong and entrenched.
With their cooperation, plus the presence of the Imperial Envoy Squad, and Yang Cheng stirring the waters under the name "Chen Cheng," all attention was firmly fixed on the Southern Guardian Prince's Manor.
They never even noticed Yun Jinghuai's army slipping inside.
So by the time the troops stormed the manor gates, the Southern Guardian Prince's people were only just realizing what was happening.
Half an hour later.
Yang Cheng, with a group of several hundred, arrived before the Southern Guardian Prince's Manor.
Already, more than 100,000 commoners of Chanzhou had gathered nearby just to watch the spectacle.
When Yang Cheng appeared with a mass of several hundred thousand behind him, the front of the manor grew even more frenzied.
The crowd stretched endlessly, a black sea of heads.
On every face, shock was plain to see.
Before them, the manor was already surrounded by tens of thousands of elite soldiers.
In the very front stood several thousand crossbowmen, each one gripping a Divine Machinery Crossbow.
These crossbows were Yun Jinghuai's army's deadliest weapon.
They were also the reason he and Yang Cheng dared to move against the Southern Guardian Prince's Manor so confidently.
The Divine Machinery Crossbow had already been developed up to the twenty-four-star grade.
Though the twenty-four-star version was rare, the eighteen-star and nine-star crossbows had been widely deployed.
In Yang Cheng's past life, when the Great Zhou army fielded the twenty-four-star Divine Machinery Crossbow, the nations of the Eastern Wastes had already proven powerless against them.
Even great states could not stand before it—how could one Southern Guardian Prince's Manor possibly resist?
Especially when they had been caught completely unprepared.
While the manor was busy scheming with the Zhuang clan to kill Yang Cheng, they had never realized that Yang Cheng had already set his sights on them long ago.
In fact, he had been planning this for two years.
Back then, he had left a large number of Blood Shadow Guards behind in Chanzhou, establishing the Blood Shadow Tower in secret.
Now, martial artists inside the manor tried rushing out, but without exception, every last one of them was cut down by the rain of arrows.
Wu Cangming felt as though his head had been struck by a hammer. He froze in a daze.
When he finally snapped back to his senses, his eyes turned blood-red. "No!"
Never in his worst nightmares had he imagined the Southern Guardian Prince's Manor would suffer such a terrifying calamity.
Just watching the endless downpour of arrows made the chill sink into his bones.
No—it wasn't just the arrows. It was those soldiers' crossbows. They were too terrifying.
"What… what kind of crossbow is this?"
Panic seized Wu Cangming's heart.
The upgraded versions of the Divine Machinery Crossbow hadn't been widely seen yet, so most forces in the world couldn't recognize them.
That ignorance was precisely why the Southern Guardian Prince's Manor was being butchered so badly.
This weapon of slaughter that was supposed to appear a hundred years later had arrived early thanks to Yang Cheng—and its devastation was unimaginable.
"Wu Cangming, your reliance was always on the Southern Guardian Prince's Manor. But now the manor itself can no longer stand."
Yang Cheng's tone was calm, almost indifferent.
"Yang Cheng!"
Wu Cangming's eyes nearly split apart in rage. "My Southern Guardian Prince's Manor has stood loyal to Great Zhou for over 2,000 years, guarding Chanzhou for the empire. Is this how Great Zhou repays its heroes?"
"Heroes? Plotting to assassinate the Crown Prince? Scheming to rebel? Is that your definition of loyal service?"
Yang Cheng chuckled.
Boom!
At that moment, a figure shot skyward from within the manor.
Waiting for it was a storm of arrows.
But this figure was terrifyingly powerful. It forced its way straight through the net of missiles and landed before Yang Cheng's forces.
"Roar!"
The figure bellowed, its eyes locking onto Yang Cheng.
In that instant, Yang Cheng felt as though a primordial beast had fixed its gaze on him.
A crushing, ancient aura bore down, sealing him in place.
Unfortunately for them, Yang Cheng's memories had endured countless Heaven's Chosen from myriad worlds trampling over him—including true gods.
This aura was formidable, but compared to those? It wasn't worth mentioning.
So his eyes stayed calm, unwavering.
Yun Jinghuai and Hu Po only admired him more for it.
"Wu Zhaoyan."
Yun Jinghuai urged his horse forward, blocking in front of Yang Cheng.
The figure across from them was none other than Wu Zhaoyan, the Southern Guardian Prince.
Only someone like Wu Zhaoyan, a Martial Sovereign, could break through the blockade of the Divine Machinery Crossbows.
"Yun Jinghuai," Wu Zhaoyan's eyes gleamed with ferocity. "Order your men to retreat at once. This prince can still let bygones be bygones."
"Cut the nonsense—kill!"
Yun Jinghuai charged with his spear, lightning fast.
"Kill!"
Wu Zhaoyan roared back.
In the blink of an eye, the two Martial Sovereigns blasted forward more than a hundred zhang and smashed into each other with brutal force.
That collision was like two stars crashing together.
The destructive shockwave exploded in all directions, shattering nearby buildings and tearing through trees.
And that was only the beginning.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two of them clashed again and again, each strike earth-shaking.
Yun Jinghuai's spear moved like a dragon, every thrust carrying the power to crush mountains and split rivers.
Wu Zhaoyan's entire body burned with crimson blood-qi, his fists smashing out like meteorites. Each punch shook Yun Jinghuai's spear until it rang with vibration.
The crowd around them was utterly stunned.
In their eyes, the duel between these two Martial Sovereigns looked no different from a battle between gods.
To ordinary people, Martial Sovereigns were already beings beyond the reach of mortals.
Hu Po's gaze grew heavy.
She knew more than the average cultivator.
Yun Jinghuai and Wu Zhaoyan were not ordinary Martial Sovereigns.
Their battle power had far surpassed the norm.
Boom!
After another violent clash, the two Martial Sovereigns were both blasted back several dozen zhang.
A thin line of blood trailed from the corner of Wu Zhaoyan's mouth, but his eyes shone with madness. "Yun Jinghuai, do you truly mean to fight my Southern Guardian Prince's Manor to the death?"
Yun Jinghuai sneered. "From the moment you schemed to assassinate the Crown Prince, it was already a fight to the death."
"Very good."
Wu Zhaoyan's expression turned wild. "My Southern Guardian Prince's Manor has been loyal to Great Zhou. We never intended to betray. But the Crown Prince and Marquis Champion forced this prince's hand!"
As he shouted, his voice rose into a sky-splitting howl. "Sea-Suppressing Golden Bowl, emerge!"
Hum!
From deep within the Southern Guardian Prince's Manor, space suddenly trembled.
The next instant, an overwhelming force surged skyward.
All eyes turned upward to see a blazing golden light piercing into the heavens, a massive golden bowl floating in midair.
"The Sea-Suppressing Golden Bowl!"
Yun Jinghuai's pupils shrank.
"A thousand years ago, ruins surfaced in the South Sea. From within, a supreme treasure appeared—the Sea-Suppressing Golden Bowl," Hu Po explained. "But in the end, its whereabouts were lost. No one knew who had seized it. To think it was your Southern Guardian Prince's Manor. That alone proves your clan has harbored sinister ambitions since a thousand years ago."
"Sea-Suppressing Golden Bowl—suppress them for me!"
Wu Zhaoyan bellowed.
The golden bowl above immediately descended, pressing down toward Yun Jinghuai's army.
In an instant, hurricane-force winds swept the field, trees toppled in all directions, and even the earth was crushed downward by the sheer weight of its pressure.
"Southern Guardian Prince, do you really think I came unprepared?"
Yun Jinghuai's voice was calm.
Although the killer move was indeed beyond his expectations, it made little difference.
Because the weapon he had brought feared no ultimate technique of the Southern Guardian Prince.
With a turn of his wrist, a small bronze cauldron appeared in Yun Jinghuai's hand.
The moment Wu Zhaoyan saw it, his pupils contracted and his face went pale with terror.