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The red robe began to carbonize and turn to ash from the waist down, and silver demonic patterns suddenly appeared on the exposed waist. Below the slender waist, the bones emitted a crisp sound like jade shattering, and the elegant and alluring snow leopard body, like a mythical beast leaping from an ink painting, replaced Lin Chong's beautiful legs, transforming her into a demonic half-human, half-leopard form!
Six leopard tentacles also extended from the snow leopard's back, their golden leopard spots overlapping each other, resembling pale, mottled tiger stripes, marking the beginning of her transformation from a leopard to a tiger.
The new tiger-leopard's hindquarters are a flowing aesthetic of slaughter: the roots of its silvery-white fur gleam with a deep blue, leaving a trail of aurora-like streaks as it runs, and its muscle lines resemble layered mountains carved by ice blades. As the silver tiger-leopard's tail sways lazily, three tufts of crystal-like hair at its tip freeze the air into icicles, blooming into a cluster of ice-thorned roses with each sweep across the ground.
Most lethal of all were her claws and pupils. Her five fingers still retained the outline of slender, jade-like fingers, but her nails had extended into half-foot-long icicles, each cone containing a miniature snowstorm. Her heterochromatic pupils were even more captivating—her left eye retained the gentle, ink-like color of a human, while her right eye had transformed into the vertical, silver pupil of a tiger or leopard. When both were narrowed at the same time, one could simultaneously feel the loneliness of the Moon Palace and the madness of a blizzard.
At this moment, Lin Chong, with the favor of the Dark Prince, the support of Grand Marshal Gao's entire family and a large number of Imperial Guards, the souls of six top masters from the Six Doors, and all of Gao Qiu's wealth, completed a promotion ceremony similar to that of Lu Zhisheng.
The Chaotic Silver Beast had become one with Lin Chong—it was not some alien creature from subspace, but clearly a demon that Lin Chong had split off from and was constantly suppressing!
At this moment, she had merged with her inner demons and fully accepted her own existence.
At this moment, Leopard Head Lin Chong is dead, and Chaos Heavenly Hero Star has returned to its place.
At this moment, Lin Chong, in the guise of a star deity, corresponds to the White Tiger God, one of the Four Symbols!
With a thought, Lin Chong transformed from his half-human, half-tiger-leopard demon prince form back into a normal human. He seemed to be able to switch freely between human and demon forms, and what flowed in his veins was no longer blood, but surging demonic energy.
Lin Chong (The Devil Prince)
Level 12 (Level 7 Cavalry General + Level 5 Imperial Guard Cavalry)
Life 180, Psychic 0
Strength 24, Agility 52, Constitution 24
Intelligence 16, Perception 16, Charisma 16
[Luxury Belt]: All attributes +6.
[Ascension Ritual]: You have transcended the realm of mortals. Attribute points +20, freely allocate to any six attributes. (Agility +20)
【Demon Messenger - Mirror Flower Water Moon】: All attacks against you have a 50% chance of missing. Your block and dodge are equivalent to twice the Dexterity modifier (normally it's one). Gain the full-turn pounce power after charging, charging damage x3. Additional innate weapons: White Tiger Claw x4, Slaanesh Tentacles x6.
Chapter 103: The Resurgence of the Nine Guards (Bonus Chapter in 2050!)
Having successfully ascended to demonhood, Lin Chong, who had killed the entire Gao family, felt an indescribable sense of ease as he looked at the mountain of Gao family heads before him. His mind became clear and at ease.
The only regret is that Gao Qiu escaped under the protection of the Imperial Guards, but it's alright. I'll let you taste the pain of having your entire family wiped out first! Then I'll find an opportunity to kill you!
Lin Chong snorted coldly, picked up a string of torches, and set fire to every house in the Gao family mansion, burning it down until the entire Gao family residence was ablaze. Only then, filled with the satisfaction of avenging his great grudge, did he rush to Lu Zhisheng's vegetable garden amidst the towering flames.
At this moment, Liu Hong also protected Lin Niangzi, Jin'er, Lin Chong's father-in-law Zhang Laojiaotou and his group, and they all retreated to Lu Zhisheng's vegetable garden. After everyone reunited, they immediately followed the Baozhu Temple from the Tang Dynasty and retreated to the underground ruins of Kaifeng from the Tang Dynasty.
However, the Kaifeng Imperial Guards during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song may have been abolished in history.
However, the Kaifeng Imperial Guard in this magical world does indeed retain considerable strength.
Amidst a deafening roar, the leaden clouds churned like boiling lava, and three towering, terrifying dragon bodies roared as they tore through the sky—three colossal blue dragons, each over fifteen meters tall! Every scale on their massive bodies reflected a poisonous, eerie blue light!
The blue dragon on the left raises its head and roars loudly, with spiderweb-like thunderstorms surging in its throat; the flying dragon on the right lowers its head and gazes intently, its pupils reflecting the star map of a thousand-year-old dynasty.
The blue dragon flying in the middle had its eyes closed, its wings swirling up a sky full of thunderstorms, while its snout opened and closed as if chanting a spell. Three completely different dragon languages intertwined in the sky above Kaifeng City, forming the prelude to annihilation!
In an instant, rain fell throughout Kaifeng. The cold, drizzling rain, imbued with a terrifying magic, dripped onto Lin Chong and Liu Hong's shoulders. These raindrops seemed to be extensions of the three blue dragons' spiritual tentacles. The moment the raindrops fell and outlined human figures, they locked onto their target, flapped their wings, and rushed towards Lu Zhisheng's vegetable garden!
"Oh no! These three blue dragons are Empress Song, wife of Emperor Taizu of Song! Empress Fu, wife of Emperor Taizong of Song! And Li Cunshen, the ninth of the Thirteen Protectors!!!"
Seeing the three giant dragons soaring in the storm clouds, Lin Chong's expression changed slightly, and Liu Hong was also slightly shocked.
What the hell? Li Cunshen, the Ninth Protector of Li Keyong from the late Tang Dynasty?! This ancient relic from over two or three hundred years ago is still alive? Come to think of it, if the Shatuo people were all blue dragons, it doesn't seem too far-fetched that he's still alive; he'd be at least a mature dragon!
The dragon's level increases with age. These behemoths are almost the only monsters in the world that are not limited to level 12. A mature blue dragon is a level 24 behemoth.
The other two blue dragons are even more impressive. One is the Song Empress, whom Emperor Taizu of Song married. She was the great-granddaughter of Li Cunxu and was a Shatuo blue dragon.
Empress Fu, whom Emperor Taizong of Song married, was the granddaughter of Li Cunshen, also known as Fu Cunshen, and was a Shatuo Blue Dragon! These two dragons had lived for at least a hundred years, and the slightly weaker adult dragon was still at the level of a giant dragon of the 21st rank.
The Song dynasty inherited a large amount of military legacy from the Shatuo Blue Dragons, to the point that these three creatures, practically living fossils, were hidden in Kaifeng. They were mobilized because Lin Chong massacred the Grand Commandant's entire family!
"Masters! The Shatuo people are here! Come down quickly!!!"
Lu Zhisheng's hooligans, seeing the terrifying dragon shadow in the thunderclouds, cried out in alarm and scrambled to jump down from the Tang Dynasty pagoda into the first underground level.
Even Lin Chong wouldn't dare fight three blue dragons alone, so he quickly covered his wife, children, and family as they retreated.
It's alright. Three adult dragons are indeed powerful, but with their size, they shouldn't be able to enter the dungeon, right?
"Roar!!!"
Liu Hong was the last to jump into the pagoda. Behind him, a giant dragon roared, thunder roared, and three destructive dragon breaths roared down from the sky! Like the Milky Way falling from the heavens, like meteors falling from the firmament, beams of liquid plasma danced like lightning snakes, like molten silver destroying everything, instantly vaporizing the gilded pagoda top of the Xiangguo Temple!
The plasma breath of the blue dragon on the right even condensed into a straight spear of light, piercing into the basalt layer beneath the bluestone slabs of the Imperial Street, like a thunder hammer forged by a god, crashing heavily onto the Bian River embankment! The entire vegetable garden's crust groaned as if bones were breaking, and the cracks spewed out a burnt stench of sulfur and bronze rust.
Beneath the soil overturned by the blue dragon's thunderstorm, the ruins of Kaifeng City from the Tang Dynasty rose up like the ribs of a giant beast. Strands of blue dragon lightning seeped into the earth's veins, creating a spiderweb of cracks with lightning-fast movements in the vegetable garden. In an instant, the entire lower level collapsed and caved in!
When the blue dragon's third breath pierced the earth's core, the entire vegetable garden collapsed like a skeleton stripped from its skin. The thatched hut inside the small wooden door was the first to fall, and the celadon flooring melted into an emerald-colored viscous liquid in the lightning, carrying the Song-style roof ornaments and painted brackets into the abyss.
The soil and rocks at the edge of the fissure did not fall vertically, but were steamed into crimson magma by the aftershocks of the dragon's breath, which solidified in mid-air into millions of upside-down stalactites—each stone pillar contained an embryo of lightning, which exploded one after another with a collapse and roar, nailing the fragments of the Northern Song Dynasty's neighborhood into the streets of the Tang Dynasty's underground city!
In an instant, torrential rain and lightning from the sky pierced through the shattered ground and shone upon the underground city of the Tang Dynasty! The three-headed blue dragon actually used lightning to blast the ground apart, creating a skylight that even a giant dragon could enter!
"Block the river!!!"
Li Cunshen, one of the Nine Protectors, roared and instantly cast an ice spell.
The instant the dragon's claws touched the ground, the turbulent currents of the underground river in Bianliang emitted a clear, shattering sound. The river water began to crystallize beneath the shadow of Li Cunshen's wings; the ice was not the usual silvery-white, but a strange bluish-gray hue, a mixture of Tang Dynasty verdigris, Song Dynasty porcelain glaze, and lightning remnants deposited at the riverbed. The freezing speed far exceeded the laws of nature.
The water upstream was still churning, while downstream jagged ice peaks had already risen, the waves retaining their frozen, menacing posture. Embedded within the middle layer of ice were ice sculptures of fish still swimming, while the riverbed had imprisoned the lightning that the blue dragon had previously struck into the water, transforming it into a shimmering river of lightning.
At this moment, the Liangshan boats moored in the river bend were also frozen solid. Song Wan desperately swung his oars and struck the ice hard, but the oars shattered and he couldn't budge the thousand-mile ice barrier set up by the Nine Protectors!
"Abandon ship! Get downwater!!!"
Several ruffians familiar with Bianjing immediately screamed in terror, and before the three-headed blue dragon could break into the underground city, they continued to descend through the tunnels and caverns!
The Vermilion Bird Avenue of the Tang Dynasty underground city has been transformed into a lightning inferno. The ball lightning left by the blue dragon bounced through the market, melting the bones of foreign merchants into glass figurines; the foundation pagoda shaped like the Big Wild Goose Pagoda was cut in half by the aftershocks of the dragon's breath, and the gilded bronze finial on the top of the pagoda was inserted into the ground, transforming into a giant bronze gate engraved with Sanskrit of the Diamond Sutra.
The group ran frantically over the crumbling walls, with strange substances formed by the fusion of Tang and Song dynasty bricks and tiles collapsing behind them. When Liu Hong rushed through the gate, he discovered that behind him was a vertical void. Tang dynasty rammed earth layers and Han dynasty tomb yellow mortar stones flashed alternately as they fell.
A certain Han Dynasty street suddenly overlaps with the western market of the Tang Dynasty. When the bellows of the Han Dynasty blacksmith's shop are turned, they blow out the aroma of the fine wine that the Tang Dynasty Persian merchants had not finished drinking. The Tang stele with Bai Juyi's poem is shattered into dust, but the words "Kaifeng County Government Office" written in Han Dynasty clerical script emerge from the dust.
The scorching sulfur smell of Tang City was suddenly replaced by the strong aroma of Han Dynasty cypress coffin chambers after descending several meters, mixed with the mossy, fishy smell of Northern and Southern Dynasties floor tiles.
The group of people actually escaped to the Han Dynasty Kaifeng County on the second basement level of Kaifeng.
Chapter 104: The Fire Spears Destroy the Imperial Guards
"A cunning rat!"
Three giant blue dragons flapped their wings, which were as large as thunderclouds, and soared in the sky. Somewhat embarrassed and angry, the huge size of the blue dragons was not designed for drilling holes at all. The thunderous dragon breath smashed through a layer of rocky sky and exposed the Tang Dynasty underground city on the first basement level. But unexpectedly, these people actually went down to the second basement level.
The underground city of the Tang Dynasty on the first basement level is still a complete, huge, and open space.
However, the Han Dynasty underground city on the second basement level had been compacted and buried in the earth, and only later generations excavated the intricate underground tunnels.
The Thunder Dragon's Breath could blast through the rocky dome and collapse several tunnels, but it couldn't directly destroy this solidified second basement level.
With no other option, the three-headed blue dragon stopped and immediately mobilized the Imperial Guards to block the river, determined to capture Lin Chong alive!
This Imperial Guard instructor is incredibly audacious! Although we don't know what grudge Gao Qiu has against her, she first slaughtered the Six Doors and Imperial Guards at the White Tiger Hall, and then massacred Gao Qiu's entire family. This is no ordinary crime; we must deal with her severely!
At that moment, Liu Hong also rushed out of the scorched earth and ruins, and hurriedly counted the number of people. He had transferred Li Cunxiao and more spearmen from Liangshan back to meet Lin Chong.
At this moment, everyone was scattered by the torrent of stones and thunder. Liu Hong shook his head, shook off the dust, and found that only Lin Chong, Li Cunxiao, more than fifty musketeers, and two ruffians under Lu Zhisheng were by his side. The others had been scattered.
"Masters, this way! I remember this road; we can escape Kaifeng from here!"
Two hooligans, covered in dust and dirt, crawled out of the ruins, took out tinderboxes, lit torches to illuminate the darkness, and led more than fifty people to retreat.
"Where are the others? Lu Zhisheng, Sister Wu Song, and more than fifty brothers and more than a hundred disciples have all been lost!"
Liu Hong searched anxiously.
"Third Master! Don't worry! The other disciples and Master Lu know the way. We're all experienced! If we follow these tunnels, we'll meet them sooner or later!"
A ruffian shouted, trying to comfort Liu Hong.
Now that things have come to this, Liu Hong has no choice but to continue fleeing downwards as the three blue dragons crush him.
At this moment, when Gao Qiu returned to the Gao mansion tremblingly, all he saw was the burning mansion and towering flames.
He hurriedly dispatched people to put out the fire, but before the fire was completely extinguished, he stepped through the remaining flames and rushed into the choking smoke. He rushed into the mansion in terror, only to see headless corpses completely burned and swallowed by the flames!
"Where is my son? Where is my son!"
With his official hat askew and his red robe covered in dust, Gao Qiu walked dejectedly across the blazing ruins. Although he believed that Gao Yanei was probably already dead, he still clung to a last shred of hope.
What if he runs away?
Gao Qiu ran through the blood and ashes to the ancestral hall, where he found the heads of all the Gao family members piled up like a mound of corpses on top of the ancestral tablets! His own father's head, filled with extreme terror, regret, and confusion, bled profusely within the mound of corpses!
And on that head was Gao Yanei's terrified head, which had wet himself in fear!
"Boom!!!"
In an instant, Gao Qiu, whose entire family had perished, felt dizzy and fell to the ground, immediately losing consciousness. The firefighters and imperial guards quickly helped the Grand Commandant up.
"Grand Commandant, don't panic! Although spiritual energy is becoming increasingly scarce, and everyone's level has been suppressed to level 12, with the highest spell level only being the sixth ring, Kaifeng City still retains many treasures left behind by the ancients! For example, the seventh-ring Resurrection Scroll! This thing can bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded. I remember that the Emperor Zhao bestowed one upon you, Grand Commandant. Your son can still be saved!"
"Oh, right, right! I happen to have one!"
Gao Qiu hurriedly took out his most treasured possession, the only seven-ring scroll in the Grand Commandant's mansion: the Resurrection Scroll, in an attempt to revive Gao Yanei. However, after the scroll was unfurled, the text, runes, and formations on it all disappeared, turning into beams of light that flowed into Gao Yanei's body, reassembling the body that Lin Chong had severed from its limbs and head.
However, Gao Yanei's soul did not return to his body. His soul had already been sacrificed by Lin Chong to the Dark Prince. Resurrection can save wandering ghosts, but how could it snatch food from the tiger's mouth among the chaotic gods?
Seeing that he had used up an extremely rare scroll of resurrection but still failed to save his son, Gao Qiu completely broke down!
In the blood-red sunset, Gao Qiu sat slumped on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, his ten fingers digging deeply into the still-warm brocade robe of Gao Yanei. A beastly roar, like that of a wounded animal, burst from his throat. Hot tears mixed with blood stained the front of his official robe, leaving large dark patterns. Withered leaves were swept across the bluestone bricks by a sudden gust of cold wind, shattering the intermittent sobs.
The imperial guards surrounded Gao Qiu, looking at each other in dismay. After a short while, Gao Qiu wiped away his tears and roared!
"All troops mobilize! I want Lin Chong dead!!!"
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At this moment, tens of thousands of Song Dynasty imperial guards, under Gao Qiu's command and amidst the roar of three blue dragons, set out in unison. They first entered the massive Tang Dynasty Kaifeng City on the first basement level, and then drilled into the Han Dynasty Kaifeng County tunnel on the second basement level. There were too many enemy soldiers, and soon, a Kaifeng imperial guard unit encountered Liu Hong in the narrow tunnel.
"Oh no! It's the Kaifeng Imperial Guards!"
Several ruffians let out desperate roars. These terrifying Kaifeng Dragon Guards were all wearing infantry armor with a defense of up to 13 points, carrying crossbows and wielding halberds. Their defense was so high that it was a terrifying defense that the ruffians could never break through in their entire lives.
"You lot, get out of the way! Musketeers, fire!"
Liu Hong pulled aside the ruffians and deployed his musket troops above the narrow tunnel! "I spent so much silver, employed so many blacksmiths, and made so many guns and bullets, all to fight against the Northern Song Imperial Guards!"
In the tunnel on the second basement level of Kaifeng, torches cast distorted shadows on the brick walls. Ten Liangshan musketeers gripped their gun barrels tightly with their hands. Forty paces away, the clanging of armor clashing together mingled with the distinctive sound of copper bells of the Song army, creating a teeth-grinding resonance under the low dome.
"put!"
As Liu Hong roared, ten iron bullets, accompanied by blinding flashes of light and choking smoke, ripped through the darkness! Several ruffians stared in astonishment at the Imperial Guards in the front row, who were like a row of wheat stalks swept by an invisible scythe, all knocked to the ground. The infantrymen's exaggeratedly protective iron armor was blasted into one dent after another by this strange weapon, and iron filings mixed with bone fragments and blood mist rose three feet high.
The biggest advantage of the fire lance is its armor-piercing capability, which is specifically designed to counter heavily armored units.
The biggest drawback of the fire lance is its poor accuracy, which is almost zero in such a narrow tunnel.
"Change the tube!"
At Liu Hong's command, the forty Liangshan soldiers in the back row immediately handed the new fire muskets to the ten men at the front, and retrieved the old muskets, nervously beginning to reload them.
At this moment, not only the ruffians but even the Imperial Guards were dumbfounded. What the hell? A fire lance? So powerful? Impossible!
The ten soldiers in the front row tossed aside their scorching hot iron canisters, the new gun barrels they pulled from their backs still carrying the chill of the cellar. The smoke in the tunnel was so thick it was almost impenetrable; the roar of the Song army commander echoed back and forth within the tunnel.
"Shieldbearers! Send in shieldbearers! Run them over!!!"
Unfortunately, the second wave of explosions came even faster than the shields. A few ruffians peered through the thick fog and watched as the Song army's towering heavy shields were mercilessly pierced by the iron projectiles! Once again, the iron armor was shattered, and one by one, the heavy shield soldiers were struck in the chest by the iron projectiles, dying while coughing up blood!
"Third round, open fire with shotguns!"
Liu Hong's voice was like tempered iron. Seeing that the enemy had already rushed within twenty paces, they immediately changed ammunition. Instead of using single iron bullets, the Liangshan soldiers took out oiled paper-wrapped shotgun shells and stuffed them into the chambers—on top of the gunpowder, instead of an oversized iron ball, were eight small beads.
"boom!!!"
Amidst the raging flames, the explosion of the ten fire lances was particularly muffled. The Imperial Guards twenty paces away suddenly let out inhuman howls—the broken iron shards wove a death net in the confined space. One captain had just seen the flames when his eyeballs, along with the nose guard of his iron helmet, were shattered by the iron shards!
As the Liangshan soldiers reached the fourth gun barrel, the screeching sound of armor scraping against the ground faded into the distance. The surviving imperial guards were retreating frantically! In such a narrow tunnel, facing a line of muskets head-on was practically certain death.
Chapter 105: Empress Fu Descends with Thunderous Power
"Third Master, this thing is incredibly powerful! What's its name?"