Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 692 - 622: Trap
To speak frankly, the Yellow River Dams were by no means fragile.
In order to tame this wild and unruly river, the Sui and Yu dynasties had spent astronomical amounts of wealth, materials, and manpower building numerous dam projects to hold back tides, prevent waves, divert the river, and regulate flood peaks.
Each dam not only employed the most advanced construction techniques but also housed sensing talismans within. The moment they sensed that the dams were permeated by water and moisture and were no longer structurally sound, they would issue a warning.
SWOOSH, SWOOSH, SWOOSH—
From within the dams along the river, luminous flares shot up. The pre-set talismans issued warnings, yet they received no response.
The water’s speed was simply too great, instantly submerging both riverbanks and overwhelming the dams as if toppling low earthen walls.
Tons upon tons of floodwater, carrying yellow sand and broken stones, swept down like a sepia tide of iron cavalry.
Wooden and stone buildings could not hold back the floodwater for even half a second. They immediately collapsed, swallowed by the current.
Lian Xuanyao flashed into the air above the river’s surface. Looking down at the rolling, murky waters, he lifted his left hand, his fingers gesturing at the empty air.
HUMMM—
His vast and abyssal Qi Sea began to slowly revolve, and a torrent of Spiritual Energy condensed into talismans.
The relentless flood, under the influence of the talisman power, was forcibly brought to a halt. It was as if it had struck transparent walls, causing the water to churn and swirl in place.
Torrents of water poured down, accumulating to a height of four to five meters in mere seconds.
The common people of Xingzhou, faced with this "sepia water wall" taller than their houses, felt their hearts seized by fear. This lasted until Li Ang shouted with a Macro Sound Symbol, "Run for your lives! What are you standing there dumbfounded for?!"
His voice thundered throughout the city. Only then did the common people snap to their senses, fleeing madly away from the flood toward higher ground.
"Heh heh heh."
Jun Qianzi clapped his hands lightly, a faint smile on his face as he admired the utterly chaotic scene in the city. He said aloud, "From Xingzhou, the Yellow River Basin stretches across more than thirty provinces and over two hundred counties.
"Now that the Xingzhou dam has breached, hundreds of millions of pounds of silt and sand will surge into the plains through the opening. This will clog the river channel, causing other tributaries to overflow as well. Eventually, fields will be submerged and lakes will overflow.
"Downstream of the Yellow River, at least hundreds of thousands will become food for fish, and tens of millions of acres of fertile farmland will be destroyed.
"Even if Yu Country’s disaster relief is timely, the ensuing famine and plagues will cause tens of millions to suffer, and millions more will be displaced.
"The only solution is for you to use your sky-mending power to personally stop this disaster.
"I just wonder... how long can *you* hold out?"
Jun Qianzi’s figure rose, hovering in mid-air. He clapped his hands sharply twice.
BOOM! BOOM!
From a great distance, the sound of violent explosions echoed.
Upstream, dozens of geysers, some nearly a hundred meters high, erupted where the riverbed had also fractured. Underground water from the Nine Nether Dark River burst forth, further accelerating the flood’s spread.
The Mountain Master’s gaze grew even more profound. His left hand changed gestures once more, fingers flickering like phantoms as they manipulated the air, adjusting the water’s flow.
"Heh."
Jun Qianzi chuckled and shook his head. He knew his teacher all too well. Beneath Lian Xuanyao’s kind and gentle elderly exterior lay a cold and resolute heart, one willing to get its hands dirty to achieve its goals, if necessary. But if one were to cut open that icy, severe heart and expose Lian Xuanyao’s true essence, they would find that this so-called strongest in the world, the first person to transcend the Candle Cloud Realm, was still that little boy from a mountain village in Xingzhou, shivering in a wooden tub, adrift on the current. Having personally witnessed the devastation floods could wreak, Lian Xuanyao would never stand idly by. He would undoubtedly shoulder the burden of the common people, hold back the abyss with his own hands, and face the cataclysmic flood head-on. Even with god-like power, he would still act according to his human nature. All of this was part of the plan.
Jun Qianzi’s lips curled upwards. He announced to his Zhao Ming companions, "Everyone, the day of God Slaying is today!"
He spread his arms, and from his sleeves, more than ten talismans, each imbued with the aura of the Candle Cloud Realm, flew out. He flicked one straight towards Lian Xuanyao.
SWOOSH—
The talisman burned fiercely in mid-air, transforming into a fireball a hundred feet in diameter, which then suddenly exploded.
Endless light and heat erupted. The carriages closest to the talisman were instantly incinerated, their forms "imprinted" onto nearby stone walls like shadowy bas-reliefs.
Floodwater that touched the light and heat instantly vaporized, creating scorching steam that surged rapidly along the streets and alleys.
Divine Talisman: Yang Flame.
Seeing the blazing steam about to engulf the fleeing common people of Xingzhou, Lian Xuanyao continued to draw talismans with his left hand to restrain the flood. With his right, he executed a sword flourish and pointed diagonally downwards.
His overwhelming Sword Qi, though unleashed later, arrived first. It caught up to the shimmering, superheated steam. With incredibly delicate and profound control, the Sword Qi gathered all the heat, forcing it to explode a hundred meters up in the air.
BOOM!
Rolling heatwaves swept across the sky a hundred meters above. The people on the ground only felt a sudden warmth on their heads, instinctively pressing down on their turbans and hats.
Fortunately, no further casualties were caused.
"Using your sword as a talisman, employing unrestrained Sword Qi to dissipate talismanic power from afar... It’s been years, Teacher. You’ve grown stronger."
Jun Qianzi laughed wildly. "Then, what about *this* talisman?"
He threw out another Divine Talisman, unleashing a vast wave of Frozen Air.
In mid-air, moisture condensed, forming sharp icicles beneath eaves and on branches. Wine banners fluttering in the wind froze solid, hanging stiffly on their poles. A galloping horse, unable to dodge in time, was struck by the frigid air. Its speed visibly slowed, its body stiffened, and then it crashed into a wall, shattering into pieces of frozen flesh with a sickening CRACK!
The immense flood, affected by the Frozen Air, began to turn into a vast expanse of ice chunks. Far from stabilizing the water or restraining its flow, the colliding and grinding ice chunks created even greater pressure, pushing against Lian Xuanyao’s containment.
Divine Talisman: Extreme Cold.
Images of the Divine Talisman surfaced in Li Ang’s mind. He circulated his Qi Sea, erecting a barrier to fend off the omnipresent cold.
The situation is utterly dire. All of Zhao Ming’s Candle Cloud Realm cultivators are here. They’ve used Chaotic Wind to disrupt communications, all to assassinate the Mountain Master as quickly as possible.
Li Ang considered his options:
One: Flee Xingzhou, find a way to contact the Academic Palace for reinforcements.
Two: Head to the Yellow River, try to reinforce the riverbed and mitigate the flood.
Three: Attack the Zhao Ming members. Use the strategy of ’besieging Wei to rescue Zhao’ to lessen the pressure on the Mountain Master. If the Mountain Master can free up his hands, he can repel Zhao Ming and perhaps even dispel this cataclysmic flood.
Hundreds of his Heart Thoughts analyzed these choices simultaneously, weighing the pros and cons. An answer was reached in an instant.
I’ll take them all!
A cold glint flashed in Li Ang’s eyes. All the Mo Si within his body activated, a large portion of them seeping into the ground to construct clones.
Meanwhile, he himself stomped on the ground and bolted toward the city outskirts.
Compared to the previous incident in Chang’an, this Chaotic Wind had a far greater range. It covered most of the Capital Province and Henan Road, disrupting Spiritual Energy communications and neutralizing the River Suppressing Talismans that should have been effective.
I need to break out of the Chaotic Wind’s range and send a warning to the Academic Palace.
