The seven arrows that pierced the sky, silenced the battlefield.
The Han soldiers were filled with dread.
The Ming soldiers were confused.
Crown Prince Wanli, his face pale, was overcome with relief. He had survived.
His eyes darted about as if he was thinking rapidly. Then, he understood.
He threw back his head and laughed. It was a sound of unrestrained triumph.
"Cough!"
He suddenly coughed up blood, his laughter cut short.
He realized, with anger, that the Azure Dragon's final attack had shattered his ribs. Thankfully, as a cultivator, he was no ordinary man.
Wanli retrieved several vials from his storage ring, swallowing handfuls of pills.
The pills dissolved instantly, their medicinal properties swiftly healing his internal injuries.
Broken bones mended. Internal organs stitched themselves back together. Blood flow was restored.
Those injuries would have been fatal to an ordinary person, but Wanli endured.
He glanced around, looking cold and menacing.
The Ming and Han armies had separated, creating a strange, silent tableau.
The death of the man upon Wuzhang Plains had seemingly united them in grief.
But Wanli didn't share their sentiment.
"Zhuge Liang is dead! The Seven Stars Lamps are extinguished! His formation is broken! What are you waiting for?!"
Wanli's face twisted in rage and malice as he glared at the leaderless Han army.
"Kill them! Kill them all! Leave no survivors!
Bring me Zhuge Liang's corpse. I will display his head for all to see! I will show the world what happens to those who defy me!"
Fan Li, watching through the holographic projection, clutched the final Great Jin Immunity Talisman. He didn't even have a chance to use it.
Zhuge Liang…
Fan Li stared at the arrogant and cruel Wanli and clenched his fists.
"Duke Jin… I have a favor to ask…"
A familiar voice whispered in his ear, soft as the wind.
"Huh, it's you?"
Fan Li looked around, but there was no sign of Zhuge Liang. His body, lifeless, remained upon Wuzhang Plains, resting in his humble four-wheeled carriage.
"Duke Jin… I have a favor to ask…"
Zhuge Liang's voice came again.
Fan Li realized it wasn't a hallucination. It was Zhuge Liang's spirit.
"Please speak freely, Strategist," Fan Li said solemnly.
"Thank you…"
The wind blew, carrying a hint of coolness, calming his troubled heart.
"After my death, the remaining Han soldiers upon Wuzhang Plains… I entrust them to you, Duke Jin…
They have followed me through countless hardships. They should not die here…
Please… send them home…"
As Zhuge Liang's voice faded, the four-wheeled carriage, along with his body, vanished into thin air.
The Seven Stars Prayer Formation began to collapse.
Wuzhang Plains and the Wei River disappeared.
Day returned.
The Han and Ming armies stood where the Han camp had once been.
"For the glory of the Han Dynasty!"
A young Han general who was crying, raised his silver spear, prepared to charge towards the enemy. But a calm, gentle voice stopped him.
"Boyue, retreat. I have entrusted the soldiers to Duke Jin. He will send them home."
As the voice faded, the word "Speed" reappeared upon the foreheads of the remaining Han soldiers, including the young general.
But without the bronze lamps' power, the tattoos were faint, like flickering candle flames threatening to be extinguished.
The young general understood. This was Zhuge Liang's final act of protection.
He was overwhelmed with grief, his grip on his spear tightening.
He raised his head and let out a mournful cry, a sound of heart-wrenching sorrow.
"By order of Chancellor Zhuge Liang of the Han Dynasty… All troops, retreat!"
He held a position of authority within the army. His words calmed the soldiers.
Their grief and hesitation vanished. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with determination. They began to retreat towards the Han border, carefully watching the Ming army.
Empowered by the "Swift as the Wind" ability, they moved quickly.
The Ming army gave chase, but they were quickly left behind.
"You think you can escape? I haven't given you permission!"
Wanli laughed coldly.
"Houyi!"
"Your servant is here."
Houyi, the muscular man with a thick beard, stood before Wanli.
The Ming soldiers who had been fighting were exhausted. But those who hadn't joined the battle were well-rested, eager to test their strength.
Wanli pointed towards the retreating Han army.
"Zhuge Liang's lingering spirit cannot protect them for long. Pursue them. Kill them all. Leave no survivors!"
"Yes!"
Houyi obeyed immediately, mobilizing his troops.
Wanli wanted to join the pursuit, but resisting the Azure Dragon's attack had depleted most of his spiritual energy.
He was still capable of fighting, but as the "Emperor of Xia," he wouldn't deign to personally chase down a few thousand fleeing soldiers.
He wanted them all dead. Annihilating the Wei and Wu armies hadn't been this difficult.
But the Han army… they had almost won!
To wash away this shame, he needed to eliminate them all.
"Houyi might not be able to achieve complete victory," Wanli muttered to himself.
"Sage Ruler, I require your assistance."
…
Fan Li hadn't expected Zhuge Liang to be aware of his presence. And he hadn't expected him to entrust the lives of his soldiers to him.
To be honest, Fan Li didn't feel obligated to save them.
The Three Kingdoms Alliance had been defeated. Wanli was unstoppable.
Not only had he achieved the Great Vehicle Realm, but he also had a mysterious expert backing him, someone who had extinguished the Seven Stars Lamps with seven arrows.
Who was this expert?
Fan Li immediately guessed their identity.
He hadn't expected the Archery Sage to act so boldly!
There truly were no eternal friendships between kingdoms. Only interests mattered.
Yao Guang, the mastermind behind the Five Kingdoms Alliance, hadn't sent reinforcements. Instead, she had sent the Archery Sage to assist Wanli.
The alliance… it had become a joke!
What would happen to the alliance now?
Fan Li, as the true power behind the Great Chu throne, had to consider this seriously.
But his immediate concern was whether to rescue the Han army.
To do so meant going to war with Wanli.
He was still struggling with this decision when a spark of light, like a firefly, entered his forehead.
He was startled for a moment, then smiled wryly.
Zhuge Liang, like Zhou Yu and Guo Jia, had left him a gift.
"Damn it! Did he think I would be too embarrassed to accept? Did he assume I couldn't bear the weight of this obligation?"
He chuckled bitterly.
"You judged me correctly, Zhuge Liang… I am thin-skinned."
Fan Li strode out of his command tent and addressed his army.
"Prepare to rescue the remaining Han forces! Be wary of the Ming army pursuing them! Their general is a Unity Realm expert!"
His final words were directed at Fan Chun.
His younger brother, a prodigy in both martial arts and military strategy, had reached the peak of the ninth-rank Divine Transformation Realm. He had even defeated a first-rank Unity Realm cultivator.
But Houyi was no ordinary Unity Realm expert. This would be a difficult battle.
"Don't worry, Brother. If I can't defeat him, I'll find another way. At the very least, I can hold him off."
Fan Li nodded. It was a good mindset.
If Fan Chun, having tasted victory against a higher-ranked opponent, became arrogant and underestimated his enemies, Fan Li would be worried.
"The Archery Sage might be among the pursuers," he said, lowering his voice. He didn't want anyone else to hear.
"Brother?!"
Fan Chun was shocked.
Wasn't Great Ci the mastermind behind the Five Kingdoms Alliance? Why had they betrayed their allies?
"You focus on Houyi. I will deal with the Archery Sage. Keep this a secret. We don't want to spread panic among the troops."
They discussed the plan, then went their separate ways.
Half an hour later.
The Han army, having crossed a mountain range, slowed their pace.
The "Speed" tattoos on their foreheads had vanished. They were exhausted from the battle. They had reached their limit.
Grief for their fallen leader, Zhuge Liang, hung over them like a shroud. Even the young general was listless, his spirit broken.
They marched onward, their steps heavy, unaware that the enemy was closing in.
Whoosh!
An arrow, infused with spiritual energy, shot towards the young general's back, its momentum unstoppable.
"You dare attack a junior?"
A cold voice came from ahead of them.
"You bring shame upon all Great Vehicle Realm cultivators!"
Fan Li had instructed Wu Gang not to reveal the Archery Sage's identity.
The Five Kingdoms Alliance still existed, at least in name. It couldn't be allowed to collapse completely.
Fan Li had analyzed the situation carefully.
The Archery Sage assisting Wanli, despite their alliance, didn't necessarily mean that Great Ci had betrayed them.
Perhaps it was simply a temporary partnership.
To destroy the Great Ming, after all, was in Yao Guang's best interests.
Therefore, he couldn't afford to antagonize her.
As Wu Gang spoke, a black energy barrier appeared behind the Han army.
Clang!
The arrow struck the barrier, its impact deafening.
The young general stopped, looking back, but he saw nothing.
A black shadow flashed across the sky, too fast for anyone to see. It pursued the arrow, disappearing into the distance.
But there were no more arrows. The young general was safe.
"General! Look!
Ahead! Those are Great Chu banners!"
A soldier pointed excitedly.
Countless Chu army banners, arranged in a dense formation, appeared in the distance.
Everyone knew that Duke Jin of Great Chu was a ruthless and powerful man.
But he was also a close friend of the Three Kingdoms' rulers!
The Han soldiers, seeing the Chu army banners, felt no fear, only relief. They rushed forward.
Salvation awaited them.
"Form ranks! Prepare to meet the enemy!"
Fan Chun issued the command, and the Great Chu soldiers formed a single-winged "Wild Goose Formation," a defensive formation.
The Han soldiers didn't slow down.
They were like tired birds returning to their nests, seeking refuge within the wings of the formation.
The two armies merged, but the Chu army's formation remained intact.
Once the Han soldiers were safely behind them, Fan Chun issued another command.
"Raise your shields!"
Large shields, taller than a man, were raised, forming a solid wall.
Behind the shields, archers nocked their arrows.
In the distance, Houyi's forces came into view.
"Foolish creatures! Who dares block my path?!"
He was about to shout a challenge, but Fan Chun interrupted him.
"Fire!"
One hundred thousand arrows flew through the air, targeting the Ming army.
Houyi roared in fury.
His Unity Realm cultivation exploded outwards.
He punched towards the sky, creating a gap in the rain of arrows, as if he had punched a hole through the heavens.
The arrows fell, but not a single one landed within ten feet of Houyi.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The muscular man laughed triumphantly. But outside his protective zone, the Ming army suffered heavy losses. Screams and groans filled the air.
Houyi's face darkened. He hated the sound of defeat.
"Silence! Abandon the wounded! Follow me! We will break their formation! With me leading the charge, once we reach their front line, victory will be ours!"
His words inspired confidence. He had slain Xiahou Mao in battle, earning the respect of the Ming army.
Few generals had reached the Unity Realm.
They believed Houyi could easily defeat the enemy commander.
But the path forward was not easy.
Another wave of arrows followed.
Fan Chun, watching from afar, saw Houyi's imposing figure. He could sense the man's power.
A true expert!
But Fan Chun's expression remained calm as he ordered his troops to fire again.
Military arrows came in two varieties.
The first was forged from ordinary iron or low-grade spirit iron. These arrows could be infused with spiritual energy to increase their sharpness. They were cheap to produce, but their use depleted the archer's spiritual energy, affecting their stamina and their ability to fight.
The second type was forged from "Spirit Gathering Iron."
This was a type of high-grade spirit iron that naturally gathered spiritual energy.
Weapons forged from Spirit Gathering Iron possessed innate sharpness and didn't drain the user's spiritual energy.
Their only drawback was their high cost. Most armies couldn't afford them.
But money was never a problem for the Fan Clan.
"Brother once said: 'A war that can be won with money is the cheapest kind of war.'"
Fan Chun smiled as he watched the Ming soldiers fall.
"He also said: 'Truth is within the range of an arrow.'"
…
In the Great Jin Palace, Fan Li summoned Empress Lu Fubao. He wanted to know how her cultivation was progressing.
Lu Fubao was a formation master. Aside from personal cultivation, studying formations was another way for her to improve.
It was similar to Huang Longshi experiencing a breakthrough after defeating the Chess Sage.
"I've made some progress, but it's still too slow."
She pouted, snuggling against Fan Li. She was a talented formation master, but her ambitions were great.
To construct the Investiture Platform, Wang Ban required her to reach at least the Unity Realm.
But Lu Fubao was only at the Nascent Soul Realm. She was still two major realms away!
"I've acquired four new formations that might help you."
Fan Li embraced Lu Fubao, his voice gentle.
"The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, the Iron Chain River Crossing Formation, the Beacon Fire Yellow Sand Formation, and the Seven Stars Prayer Formation…"