Chapter 627: A Desperate Gambit
by xennovelWhoosh—Boom!
In a flash, an elderly man clad in an old general’s uniform caught Huang Li falling from midair.
The old man, Cheng Longhu, was once hailed as the Northern War God, a legendary Peak Third-Stage cultivator.
His jet-black hair and the robust vitality of a Third-Stage fighter meant he remained in peak form even at seventy!
Yet at this moment, anger had drained the color from his lips.
Clutching the nearly lifeless Huang Li, Cheng Longhu glared fiercely at Yenir, his teeth clenched in fury.
How dare he! That little bastard is nothing but a mad, heartless brute!
Accustomed to wielding untouchable status in Huaguo—he hadn’t even reacted when Lu Haishan died—no one in the Huaxia Battle Zone should dare target someone of their caliber!
Fuming as he beheld Huang Li cleaved in two, Cheng Longhu felt a surge of anger that made the muscles in his face tremble uncontrollably.
Cleaved in two! It would’ve been better to kill him outright! For Huang Li to meet such a fate clearly meant that little bastard did it deliberately!
With such venom in his heart! Had he known, he would have slain that bastard himself the moment Lu Haishan mentioned him!
“Little bastard! Today, I’ll tear you to pieces!”
After handing Huang Li over to the subordinates scrambling to surround him, Cheng Longhu’s voice turned icy as an old longbow—unused for years—materialized in his hand.
Drawing back with immense force, he unleashed a burst of freezing frost as a massive arrow, resembling an ice dragon, soared forward—aimed straight at the overconfident Yenir!
Even as his fury surged, Cheng Longhu continuously channeled his spirit energy, while simultaneously communicating telepathically with over fifty other Peak Third-Stage cultivators.
“This little bastard’s inflicted too much damage! That weapon he wields is at least of Epic rank!”
“If we attack as a group, his spirit power will repel us! Even if we overpower him, Fang Hao and his Third-Stage fighters will intervene—and that could spell disaster!”
Caught in a dilemma with no clear way out.
Though Cheng Longhu hadn’t clashed in years, his instincts as a Peak Third-Stage remained razor-sharp.
Yenir must die, yet his strength far exceeded their expectations! Fifty-eight to one—they could kill him, but his unfathomable powers cannot be relied on indefinitely!
Clearly, the chance they thought they had was nothing more than a lure—Yenir had used his sword skills to bait them!
Next, he would undoubtedly hide behind Fang Hao and his men!
“Then what do we do!? We all know what Fang Hao and his group are capable of—a head-on clash won’t end well!”
“I noticed the Peak Third-Stage he brought along isn’t as strong as us!”
“But if we let him hide and fire cold arrows from the rear, we’re in trouble!”
“Should we retreat!? If we can’t take this little bastard down, we risk heavy losses!”
..
“Send some of our Third-Stages to cover our retreat!”
“Fall back to our territory. With our forces in command, there’s still hope to turn this around! Worst case, we cooperate with those minor nations!”
..
In a rapid-fire exchange, the Peak Third-Stages swapped a flood of opinions in less than a second. As former high-ranking officers, they were far from fools!
The current situation was dire—none of them wanted to die here!
Yet, unexpectedly, a ruthless glint flashed in Cheng Longhu’s eyes as his focus shifted in an instant.
“No! We haven’t lost this battle yet and we cannot withdraw!”
“We can’t let that bastard live! His growth is terrifying!”
“Feign an attack on Li Xuanguo!”
“Let’s pretend to surround and kill Li Xuanguo! Force Fang Hao and his men to come to our aid!”
“At the first sign of weakness, launch that thing to blow him to pieces! No one would dare rescue him against that device!”
The telepathic message sent a chill through the group; their eyes widened in shock.
Using that thing!?
Instinctively, one Peak Third-Stage wielding a War Hammer glanced at several Third-Stage Advanced cultivators among them.
Cheng Longhu’s deadly weapon turned out to be a tactical nuclear missile secretly smuggled into the Capital!
It had originally been reserved as a safeguard in case Li Xuanguo and his men resorted to desperate resistance by barricading underground fortifications!
Though its yield wasn’t massive, it still packed the equivalent of 500,000 tons of TNT—enough to annihilate an entire Group Armies in an instant! It was a trump card meant only for dire emergencies—nearly everyone had forgotten about it!
“Using it here!? No way! We’re on the outskirts of the Capital! An airburst would wipe out half the Capital…”
Unlike underground detonations aimed at crippling civil defense, an airburst nuclear warhead’s shockwave would be horrifying—capable of killing countless survivors in the Capital!
The veteran Peak Third-Stage cultivator with the War Hammer instinctively protested. Although he loathed Yenir, deep down he still saw himself as a high-ranking commander in the Huaxia Battle Zone!
Detonating a nuclear missile in the very heart of the Huaxia Battle Zone?
That would condemn us to infamy for all time!
“What, no!? We’re not all headed for death!”
“Yuan Zhan! It’s this little bastard who forced our hand! If we die, the loss to Huaxia is even greater! If he lives, Huaguo is finished!”
“Don’t worry—I have a special device that can limit the explosion range!”
Desperation and a glimmer of madness shone in Cheng Longhu’s eyes as he, ignoring the others’ hesitations, barked his next order:
“Feign an attack on Li Xuanguo with me! The moment their formation breaks, charge at him with the nuclear warhead!”
“Even if we die, we’ll drag him down with us!”
Before anyone could stop him.
Yuan Zhan, slack-jawed and too stunned to react, watched as Cheng Longhu surged forward—having no choice but to follow!
Tied together by the same faction, they were like insects clinging to the same rope!
Meanwhile, in midair…
Yenir, who had deliberately used himself as bait, instantly caught on to Cheng Longhu and his comrades’ scheme.
Without hesitation, Yenir let out a cold laugh and, ignoring the lock-on from Cheng Longhu’s colossal arrow, activated his Fallen Heaven sword technique.
“Think you can take me down? So now your target is the Prime Minister?”
Armed with the Evil God Ritual as his trump card, Yenir wasn’t afraid of whatever these old dogs had up their sleeves.
Confident in his invincible prowess, he never even considered hiding behind Fang Hao and his men.
“Uncle Fang! Go protect the Prime Minister! Don’t worry about me!”
“Boom!!!”
His figure plunged rapidly.
In an instant, as both sides adjusted their tactics with hidden agendas, the scene set for encircling Yenir transformed dramatically.
Seeing Yenir arrogantly charging in alone, Cheng Longhu—who had nearly resolved to use the nuclear missile on him—almost lost the nerve to see it through!
He was too overconfident! Enough is enough—let’s finish that bastard! He’s once again charging solo!
The conflicting thoughts tore at Cheng Longhu as he watched Yenir, seemingly courting death; he almost felt a righteous fury well up inside him.
Yet he was certain Yenir still held one or two secret tricks—he wasn’t as easy a kill as he appeared!
If they charged again, Yenir would likely revert to his old tactics!
With a heavy heart, he chose to ignore that possibility and continued to feign an attack on Li Xuanguo!
“Forget him! Let him run wild for a bit!”
“Once Fang Hao and his men are completely distracted, we’ll blow him to pieces!”