Stellar Transformations

The town of Xiyang is a small town near the Black Water mountain range but this time it has become the headquarters of the Qin clan’s war machine. The people in command here are East Vanquishing Prince Qin De and Tactician Xu Yuan, who are playing the game of Go at the moment.

“It’s already dark. It’s about time Marshal Qin Feng’s army launches the first wave of attack.” Xu Yuan, dressed in a black brocade gown, looks into the sky then says to Qin De with a smile. At the same time, he keeps waving the fan in his hand slowly and gently.

After gently putting a white chess piece down, Qin De says dully: “If Feng’er couldn’t even win the 1st battle, he wouldn’t need to be a marshal anymore.”

A faint smile appears on Xu Yuan’s face. Even though Qin De looks very calm, Xu Yuan is still certain that he feels completely uneasy in his heart at the moment because just now he played a wrong move. Given Qin De’s chess skill, he will not make such a mistake in a normal situation.

Calm?

How can Qin De possibly remain calm?

The tension caused by his wife’s death, his son’s death and the Qin clan’s preparation of several hundred years is going to erupt into war tonight, so, even if Qin De is a Universal Golden Immortal he would not be able to calm down.

******

It is gradually getting dark. At the moment, Yanglin City, a small city in the easternmost part of Lei Xue County, is still being strictly guarded. After all, the Xiang clan also knows that the Qin clan is going to attack and, moreover, even though this Yanglin City is considered a defensive obstacle, it is merely a small city. However, based on its intelligence, the Xiang clan thinks that the Qin clan does not have enough power to breach the defense of Lei Xue County and therefore only several thousands troops are stationed in this small city Yanglin.

“The city’s gate is closed. Wait until tomorrow to go out!”

Seeing some people approaching, several tens city guards immediately shout loudly.

“Officers, my father is seriously ill. I must go out right now. Could you please go easy on me?” 2 young scholars walk up to the side of the guards at the city’s gate. At the same time they take out a moneybag and open it. There are unexpectedly some large gold sycees.

The gold sycees glow in the dark, stunning these guards for a while.

Suddenly --

Outside Yanglin City, various strong, muscular people rush out extremely fast from a small forest holding their shields. The guards on the wall of Yanglin City never thought that there were people hiding in that forest. After all, it is not a large one.

All of those soldiers are moving extremely fast, covering several meters with each of their steps. And they are all internal experts. Seeing the speed of the Qin clan’s soldiers, the faces of the guards on the city’s gate immediately go very pale. They see clearly the difference between themselves and the attackers at once.

“The enemy’s raiding! The enemy’s raiding!!!” Instantly, loud shouts can be heard from the top of the city’s wall.

“Quickly scram!” The chief guard, however, takes the gold sycees with a grab then gives the scholar a push. Obviously he wants to rob him of these sycees.

But, with a movement of their bodies, the 2 scholars suddenly look like illusions. Following several muffled gurgles, the several tens guards all open their eyes wide then fall down while covering their throats with their hands. Their blood splatters over a large area. The 2 scholars pull back their daggers and give each other a smile.

The Qin clan’s 1st battle must be won quickly and thoroughly. It should be known that this time Marshal Qin Feng personally leads 100,000 troops into battle and the ones who fight the 1st battle are the absolute cream of the crop among them -- the trump card called Fortification Destroying Regiment.

Even though the Fortification Destroying Regiment has only 3000 soldiers, they have been selected from 100,000 troops so all of them are excellent fighters and practice a fairly formidable internal technique. As for the 2 scholars, they are Xiantian experts from the Secret Arrow group. As Xiantian experts, they indeed needed only a moment to annihilate several tens ordinary soldiers.

“Shoot arrows! Quickly shoot!”

Those panicked officers immediately roar, but the Fortification Destroying Regiment’s experts block the arrows with their shields. They quickly run up to the city’s gate then go into the city ... unhindered.

“Rumbling ~~~”

The city’s gate opens --

“Why is the city’s gate opened? Quickly close it! Close it!” The officers on the city’s walls roar loudly at once.

The experts among the 3000 soldiers rush into the city like arrows leaving bows. After opening the city’s gate, the 2 Secret Arrow experts suddenly take off the scholar clothes on their bodies at the same time, revealing 2 black suits of clothing. After the city’s gate has been opened wide, the 3000 soldiers of the Fortification Destroying Regiment conduct a sweep through this entire small city with great ease.

Whizz!

A whisling arrow is shot into the sky.

“Ha-ha, Yanglin City has been defeated. Immediately start the 2nd wave of attack. We must continuously take the 4 eastern cities of Lei Xue County.” Qin Feng gives an order as soon as he hears the signal of the whistling arrow. He simply does not doubt the result of the 1st battle. Yanglin City is only a small city and he used the 3000 most crack troops who make up the Fortification Destroying Regiment, if those experts had not been able to defeat it, they should commit suicide as an apology.

Following Qin Feng’s order, several whistling arrows are shot into the sky.

Immediately ... the 4 eastern cities of Lei Xue County are attacked by several tens thousand troops when they are barely prepared. In just a half night, the 4 cities are defeated. At the same time, Jiang Tao and Fu Bing each lead 100,000 troops through these 4 cities and start to wipe out any resistance in Lei Xue County.

The 300,000 Black Water troops, who have been bandits before, attack the southern cities of Lei Xue County directly under Marshal Fan Yu’s command. They are divided into quite a few groups whose troops range from under 20,000 to 100,000 in number.

......

Pu!

A Qin army soldier raises his battle knife and directly cuts off a local soldier’s head at one stroke.

“Ha-ha, these chickenshits who haven’t even seen blood are stupid enough to fight us. I, Lian Lang, have killed a dozen of them.” A Qin army soldier laughs out loud but his hands are still mercilessly slaughtering opposing enemies.

“We surrender! We surrender!”

Various Xiang clan soldiers shout. When the Qin clan started to attack, its troops said very loudly “Surrenderers are spared,” and they have indeed kept this promise ever since. Because the Xiang clan soldiers have been living in peace, none of them has ever killed anyone.

In contrast, most of the Qin clan’s troops have been stationed on the border of the Wilderness and have fought some wild beasts so their fighting power is naturally on a different level.

......

A half month, in only a half month,

600,000 troops have swept through the entire Lei Xue County like a flood. The true power of the Qin clan army’s soldiers has been shown for the first time. Most of these soldiers, who have fought in the Wilderness, are far superior to those ordinary soldiers of the Xiang clan, who have never seen real action before.

This time the Qin clan definitely does not take a soft line. It has launched an absolutely fierce attack on the whole Lei Xue County.

In a half month, Lei Xue County has been defeated completely. However, because by now the other 3 counties of the Xiang clan have totally mobilized their large armies, if the Qin clan attempts to forcefully break through their defense, it will also suffer heavy losses. After all, assaulting fortified positions is extremely difficult.

The Black Water Army is then garrisoned in some southern cities of Lei Xue County to deter the Mu clan of the 3 Southern region counties.

______

Pa!

A teacup is fiercely thrown on the ground and shatters.

Bang!

In the imperial study, the specialized desk at which emperors work is flipped over completely. Everything on the desk falls on the ground. At the moment, Xiang Guang is like a furious lion. With his eyes having turned blood-red and wide open, he looks as if he wants to bite people.

“A county, an entire county has been seized just like that. This is a complete mess. My plan has been utterly messed up.”

Breathing heavily, Xiang Guang stares at the several people in front of him with blood-red eyes.

“My intelligence chief, I’ve valued you so much, but how have you treated me? 600,000 troops, do you hear that? The Qin clan used 600,000 troops to attack my Lei Xue County. Where did they come from? Come on! Tell me, where did those 600,000 troops come from?”

Xiang Guang gasps for breath nonstop.

A county is a very large territory with over 100 cities. Moreover, Lei Xue is one of the 4 counties that the Xiang clan has been managing painstakingly, but in only a half month it has been defeated completely.

“The original plan was so nice. You even said you had investigated and totally ascertained that the Black Water bandits could hold down Jiang Tao’s and Fu Bing’s 200,000 troops. With only 100,000 troops under Qin Feng’s command, their defeating my Lei Xue County would’ve been pure fantasy. But what’s the current situation?” Xiang Guang stares at the hook-nosed man.

The hook-nosed man kneels down in terror, saying: “I don’t know either, Your Majesty. Those Black Water bandits unexpectedly didn’t keep their promise and totally gave in to the Qin clan. That 300,000 strong Black Water Army is made up of the former Black Water bandits.” The hook-nosed man is extremely terrified.

“Ha-ha ... surrendered? Gave in?” Xiang Guang raises his head and laughs out loud.

“Those Black Water bandits have been around for several hundred years. For the last several hundred years, the Qin clan has attempted to exterminate them several tens times. Sometimes it even lost several tens thousand troops. Could all these things have been faked? Argh, could everything have been bogus? How could they possibly have submitted to the Qin clan? How could this have happened?”

Xiang Guang bellows.

The leader of the Dominant Dragon Corps, Yi Yan, says: “Your Majesty, now it looks like the Qin clan was already disloyal to you early on and it has been scheming for several hundred years. Those Black Water bandits are also a chess piece that was put down by the Qin clan several hundred years ago. They have always been used to deceive us. Only this can explain why, after fighting each other many times for the last several hundred years, now the Black Water bandits instantly give in to the Qin clan without saying a word.”

Xiang Guang does not want to believe this, but judging by the current situation, it seems Yi Yan is right.

Xiang Guang’s whole body shakes once: “Several hundred years, my goodness, I never thought they had been preparing for several hundred years. How many other hidden chess pieces does it still have? This is a preparation of several hundred years, no less. When it erupted, it was so terrifying!” At the moment Xiang Guang is totally scared stiff by his own thoughts.

The people present are the ones Xiang Guang trusts the most but none of them dares to say anything.

Xiang Guang lowers his head. No one knows what he is thinking. Yi Yan and the others, however, do not dare to interrupt him.

“Ha-ha-ha ...” Xiang Guang starts to laugh softly then raises his head and stares at the other people: “Alright, isn’t it only a county? The Qin clan only has an extra 300,000 Black Water troops, doesn’t it? Alright, I’ll definitely let Qin De know who the Chu kingdom belongs to!”

Xiang Guang is wrong.

After the Black Water bandits turned into Qin clan soldiers, is it true that the Qin clan has only 300,000 more troops? No, it is not. Instead, the Qin clan can use 500,000 more troops because now the 200,000 troops that have been used as a deterrent against the Black Water bandits can take part in the war as well.

Originally the Qin clan had 600,000 troops and secretly recruited 200,000 more troops. Now, with the addition of the 300,000 Black Water troops, it has 1,100,000 troops in total. Moreover, the Qin clan’s army is much better at fighting than the other 3 big clans’.

“Great Ancestor sends for you, Your Majesty.”

A plesant quiet voice rises in Xiang Guang’s ears. Xiang Guang’s body immediately gets a shock. He angrily rebukes the others at once: “All of you go away and do your own work properly for me. If you make one more mistake, don’t blame me for having no mercy.”

“Yes!”

The several people present leave while bowing in an instant.

After they have left, Xiang Guang fixes his clothes a bit then leaves the imperial study directly for a visit to that Great Ancestor.

......

In the Imperial Palace, there are some places where outsiders are not allowed to approach. Eternal House is one of those forbidden areas. By now Xiang Guang has entered Eternal House. He and Mister Lan are standing outside the bedroom of the house. Even though the door of the bedroom is only covered with a beaded curtain, they both do not dare to go through it.

Xiang Guang stands outside the beaded curtain, bows and says: “Guang’er pays his respects to Great Ancestor.”

“Guang’er, tell me about the situation of the war.” An amiable voice comes out from inside the room. Through the beaded curtain, a man who is sitting with legs crossed on a bed can be vaguely seen. The bed is radiating indistinct rays of light.

Xiang Guang arranges his thoughts a bit then says: “Great Ancestor, those Black Water bandits have changed their name to Black Water Army and become a Qin clan army. Using 600,000 troops at once, the Qin clan has taken our Xiang clan’s Lei Xue County after a half month. Now the Qin clan has 1,100,000 troops. My guess is that it couldn’t have wanted to rebel recently. It must have been preparing for several hundred years.”

“Several hundred years? You’re smart to have guessed this.” There is a hint of praise in the voice inside.

With his face not reddening in the slightest, Xiang Guang continues: “Even so, I’m confident of destroying the Qin clan. To my knowledge, it has quietly sent 300,000 troops to the 2 Northern region counties. When the Qin clan starts to attack us, I’m going to let the Shangguan clan switch sides. It’s going to cooperate with the Xiang clan by attacking the Qin clan from within.”

“Oh?”

Xiang Guang is struck by a thought. Thinking about one possibility, he says hurriedly: “Great Ancestor, can Shangguan Hong be trusted? The Qin clan has been preparing for several hundred years so people like Shangguan Hong may have actually submitted to it, which will make that business a disaster.” He has suddenly come up with this idea.

“Don’t worry. Shangguan Hong won’t submit to the Qin clan even if he has to die.” The voice inside says with seemingly complete confidence.

Hearing this, Xiang Guang immediately feels much more relaxed. He has a blind admiration for Great Ancestor.

Suddenly Great Ancestor’s voice inside becomes very serious: “Guang’er, has your secret service investigated the matters related to Qin Yu, the dead 3rd Prince of the Qin clan, especially how he practiced?”

“Qin Yu? That useless 3rd Prince?” Xiang Guang is startled.

In fact Xiang Guang still knows nothing about the great battle connected with Qin De’s undergoing the tribulation. After all, except for Wu De, all of the people he sent died, and Wu De has not told him what actually happened.

“Useless? The Four Directions Death Gods and Ge Min were 5 peak Xiantian experts! A 19 year old brat was able to kill 5 peak Xiantian experts. There was also Shangxian Wu Xing. Just before his death, that brat killed Shangxian Wu Xing too. How could he possibly have been useless?” Great Ancestor is slightly angry.

Xiang Guang is startled.

He has paid relatively close attention to the big son and 2nd son of the Qin clan but has never cared about the 3rd son. However, now even the mysterious Great Ancestor unexpectedly shows interest in this Qin Yu.

“You quickly investigate what technique actually gave a 19 year old kid such a great power. I absolutely don’t believe natural talent can help a person reach that level. He must’ve had a top-class technique. If the Qin clan uses this technique to produce a bunch of top-class experts, it will be a disaster!” Great Ancestor’s voice is serious. Obviously he has become angry.

Xiang Guang has never seen Great Ancestor speak so angrily. He says hurriedly at once: “Yes, I’ll investigate this.” After saying, Xiang Guang leaves Eternal House in a rush.

End of b4c9.