Chapter 2854: Conquer

An intense battle had broken out at Juyong Pass, which was around 25 kilometers northwest of Beijing.

Li Zicheng’s army had swept through Shanxi, Datong, Xuanfu, and several other important strongholds. The Reproduction army had already built up the momentum required to conquer the world. It wouldn’t be long before Juyong Pass was encircled.

The Order faction understood the importance of Juyong Pass. Were it to collapse, there would be no natural terrain to guard Beijing anymore. So, they channeled all their remaining generals and soldiers there.

An intense siege battle ensued.

Li Zicheng’s army had extremely high morale. His soldiers relentlessly scaled the fortress walls without any fear for their lives.

The Order faction understood that this was a fight for survival, so they layered Order buffs on their troops. They proved to be formidable foes. Brilliant lights enveloped their soldiers as they reaped Li Zicheng’s army like crops.

It didn’t take long for the perimeters of the city to be soaked in blood.

But the Order faction didn’t look relieved at all. Li Zicheng’s army was too huge. As quickly as they killed off their enemies, many more rebel soldiers would appear to take their place. Reinforcements were never a problem for the Reproduction faction.

To make things worse, Order soldiers were continuously defecting over to the Reproduction faction’s side under the influence of the latter's powers.

This was the most terrifying aspect of the Reproduction faction. A fight against them would require the total eradication of their army, or else one would risk being assimilated into their fold.

When the Ming army’s defenses began to weaken, Li Zicheng began rolling out siege weapons. Their battering rams were reinforced with formations and skills, making them nigh-indestructible.

The Ming army struggled to damage the weapons even after concentrating attacks on them. This left them with no choice but to tightly shut their gate. Light halos enveloped the gate as defensive skills and formations were layered on it.

Despite that, they still struggled to fend against the battering rams. The gate stood firm even after several rams, but the impact caused blood to splatter everywhere on the other side.

Each time the peasant rebel army struck the gate, many Ming soldiers lost their lives. Seeing that, the Ming army didn’t dare get careless. They hurriedly altered the area around the gate with Order laws.

The stone pavement around the gate loosened into dirt, and the ground began quaking violently to push the battering ram back.

Upon seeing that their battering rams were being pushed back, the Reproduction faction hurriedly cast a spell to extend the rams to the point where they were even larger than the fortress gate itself. Now, the Ming army would have to induce a much more powerful quake to push the battering rams away, but that would risk destabilizing their own fortress walls.

So, the Order faction resorted to another formation—Order Rain.

A powerful tsunami gushed forth from the gate. They were trying to use the gentle nature of water to push the nigh-indestructible battering rams away.

Unfortunately, they forgot that they had just terraformed the ground around the gate into loose dirt. Casting a water formation at this juncture resulted in the ground becoming very muddy. Not only did they fail to push the battering ram backward, but they also made it easier for the invading party to push ahead. The fight was turned into a pure clash of military prowess.

Needless to say, that was to Li Zicheng’s advantage. The peasant rebel army had high morale, whereas the Ming army had already lost their resolve. Many of the Ming soldiers even thought about surrendering and joining the enemies.

In the end, the battering rams smashed through the gate, and bloodshed ensued.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Li Zicheng’s army was highly motivated. They charged into the fortress with furious war cries. Wherever the battering ram struck, soldiers were reduced into mush. Casualties swiftly hiked.

Soon, the lofty Juyong Pass was conquered.

But Li Zicheng’s army didn’t stop and rest. He wanted to continue his momentum and not give the Order faction any chance to catch a breather, until their spirit was completely crushed. This way, he could lower the casualties in the fight for the capital, Beijing.

The kneeling Ming soldiers cowered at his feet and offered him their loyalty, allowing him to baptize them in Reproduction’s radiance.

...

Back in the cavern, Zu An gently kissed away Zhao Xiaodie’s tears. “What’s wrong? Was I too rough?”

“That’s not it.” Zhao Xiaodie shook her head. She clutched onto Zu An like an octopus, embracing his whole body with her tenderness.

She didn’t want to answer that question. She had just thought about her father and big brother, and she suddenly felt that she was useless.

She'd chosen to join the Annihilation Divine Palace after she had heard about how the Shadow Group had posed a threat to Zu An by tapping into Annihilation power. She'd thought that mysterious power could help her in her vengeance.

She'd undergone trials in the Annihilation Divine Palace and nearly died many times, but in the process, she continuously grew stronger, to the point where she started to become confident in her ability to exact vengeance.

She hadn’t expected to bump into Zu An in this world. Neither had she anticipated that there would be such a switch in their relationship.

She'd become a part of Annihilation’s upper echelons, whereas Zu An had fallen from grace and was reduced to a prisoner. She had thus planned to slowly tease and corner Zu An like a twisted cat and mouse game so as to redress the grievances faced by King Qi’s manor. But for some reason, she'd helped him conceal Jiang Luofu and the Little Fiend Empress’ identities.

Back then, she'd told herself that she was playing the long game. She would lead him into thinking that she had fallen in love with him, and when he thought that everything was in his grasp, she would plunge the knife of betrayal into his back and pull him down from his lofty heights into the dirt. He would experience the pain of losing everything.

She hadn't thought that he could slowly rise from a lowly prisoner into an esteemed guest whom both Dissonant Melody and the Conqueror King sought the loyalty of.

His compelling confidence and incredible abilities made her remember how he had defied all odds to rise to the top in the Cultivation World.

He’s always so self-assured. He’s always able to make the impossible happen. He's undefeatable...

That thought had dominated her mind back when she was in the Cultivation World. She had thought that she could turn the tables on him after attaining annihilation power, but this reunion with him showed that he was infallible, no matter where and when.

She kept telling herself that this was all an act for her ultimate vengeance, yet she found happiness in this play. Instead, the thought of vengeance plunged her into misery, and she found herself averting it.

All of a sudden, she no longer understood how she truly felt toward him.

Her rational mind told her that she was approaching him to earn his trust and investigate his weakness, so that she could avenge her father and brother. But she couldn’t control her feelings of wanting to get close to him.

For a moment just now, she even thought that he was her everything, and vengeance didn’t mean a thing anymore.

Father, big brother, I might not be able to avenge you anymore...

Zu An didn’t know about Zhao Xiaodie’s complicated thoughts, but he could sense a change in her. The tenderness and adoration in her eyes couldn’t be faked easily.

The following morning, the two of them marched ahead. On the way, they learned that Li Zicheng’s army had breached Juyong Pass and was gathering around Beijing. That left them shocked.