Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 1846: Intimidation, Retreat, Fang Tianqing's Desolation (Part 2)

Boom…

The central army formation composed of 150,000 soldiers was shaken apart and scattered wide by this shockwave.

Such terrifying momentum was only caused by the rebound force of the crossbowstring resetting; what situation must the crossbow arrows flying into the sky be?

Chu Tianhe’s reaction best illustrated the issue…

“Hide behind me!”

The moment the five giant crossbow arrows shot up from the ground, Chu Tianhe had already reacted.

Just from the speed of those crossbow arrows, enough to instantaneously empty the air in a radius of several miles, he didn’t even need to feel it to know that these arrows had a minimum impact of over 200 jun.

What does an impact of over 200 jun mean?

He possessed Second Turn Tribulation Body Realm Cultivation, and his basic strength barely exceeded 200 jun. Combined with other aspects of substitution, it would not surpass 240 at the most.

Therefore, these twenty machines below were not the Divine Machine Crossbows they previously understood but rather secret weapons of Great Xia, which had never been shown until now.

Boom…

Though he regretted it deeply in his heart, Chu Tianhe’s actions were swift as he fully understood that He Tianxin and the five others could not even escape the shooting range of these five crossbow arrows, let alone block them. So he instinctively not only summoned his thirty-zhang Golden Body but also sternly instructed the five to hide behind him.

Fang Tianqing also summoned his Golden Body, but his Golden Body was only fifteen zhang, emitting solely red Fire Tribulation Qi despite only having One Turn Cultivation; dodging the crossbow arrows should have been achievable, so Chu Tianhe paid him no mind.

Thoughts raced through his mind, but the Longsword shot from the Qingxun Divine Crossbow actually arrived instantly; Chu Tianhe indeed acted swiftly, transitioning to the Golden Body just as the arrow arrived at the gate.

Clang…

The five crossbow arrows targeted Chu Tianhe first, but as the arrows were lifted into mid-air, their diameter expanded to ten meters, covering a range of more than just Chu Tianhe.

Chu Tianhe’s Golden Body was hit by the crossbow arrow without a hint of suspense, shot hundreds of meters into the sky, even piercing through his Golden Body membrane straight to the bone marrow.

Moreover, all five arrows arrived simultaneously!

The terrifying force further propelled him several hundred meters into the sky, where five fully blooming silver rays overshadowed his Golden Body’s brilliance, becoming the sole stars of the sky.

So was he, and much less could be said for He Tianxin and the five others hiding behind him; their Bone Appearance painfully visible as they bit down and summoned strength to resist. Even so, it could not contain the crossbow arrow’s impact, with all five simultaneously spewing blood and staggering fiercely. They nearly fell apart if not for biting their tongues and holding on.

The worst off was Fang Tianqing!

Without Chu Tianhe helping to absorb the force, his fifteen-zhang Golden Body couldn’t withstand the crossbow at all, and though it wasn’t the arrow itself but its tip, the Golden Body was instantly ruptured, with the formidable force directly blowing him several hundred meters toward the flank.

“Three hundred… no, at least three hundred fifty, how could this be, how could Great Xia produce such a crossbow mechanism…”

Fang Tianqing was utterly stunned; Chen Cang also possessed a large machine crossbow named Dragon Soaring Crossbow, sourced from the Bone-Eroding Path’s Qingxun Treasure Tree, but the Dragon Soaring Crossbow’s maximum impact was only around a hundred jun.

Over three hundred jun could threaten Third Turn Tribulation Bodies, even Fourth Turn ones…

Bong…

The reverberation sound of the crossbowstring resetting interrupted Fang Tianqing’s thoughts, and while retreating to unload force, his peripheral glance swept toward the ground, his body trembling at the sight.

Boom…

Five silver rays shot up again; the time gap between firing the first five crossbow arrows and these was practically only twenty-five breaths, and to have a second round arrive so swiftly.

Five silver crossbow arrows pierced the sky, instantly soaking Fang Tianqing’s back in sweat, having not yet unloaded the full force from the first round of arrows, facing another would likely mean death.

Clang……

The Fire Tribulation Qi suddenly blossomed as Fang Tianqing drew Longsword from his waist, first dispersing the energy force from the first round of arrow tips, and then without hesitating, turned to flee north.

However, unlike the first round, this second round of five crossbow arrows came two at Chu Tianhe and three directly at him.

Moreover, the three operating the crossbow mechanism below seemed to have already anticipated his escape path, one forcing him to run while the other two aimed at his unavoidable path north.

Boom!

With the two predictive arrows, the first he narrowly avoided, yet only dodged the arrow itself, not the three hundred plus jun impact force from the arrow tip, which like the first round, shot his body several hundred meters into the sky again.

Moreover, due to his frantic dash northward, the sudden impact unsteadying him suspended his body mid-air for two to three breaths.

Pfft……

And it was precisely these two seconds that allowed the last crossbow arrow to pierce straight through his Golden Body.

This was a literal piercing!

The silver crossbow arrow pierced through the neck area of the Golden Body, shrinking it from fifteen zhang by one-third instantly, causing Fang Tianqing to spew fresh blood suddenly with a pale face, leaving his Golden Body shaking and unstable in mid-air.

Whoosh……

Naturally, he did not sit idly by waiting to die but forcibly invigorated himself, continuing to flee northward, having seen clearly before that Great Xia Army had brought a total of twenty crossbow mechanisms, five firing per round, clearly calculated accurately.

Not running meant certain death.

However, having his neck pierced was not a fatal injury in the Tribulation Body Realm, but the consequence of the weakening Golden Body was exceptionally severe, reducing his strength by thirty percent, leaving his speed sluggish.

“It’s over!”

A trace of defeat flashed across Fang Tianqing’s face, unable to fathom being an adviser of Heyang Dominance Mansion, dying in such a theatrical manner at the hands of Great Xia, which had risen only half a year ago.

Moreover, to die at the hands of crossbow arrows.

“Mr. Fang, retreat!”

However, at this critical juncture.

Chu Tianhe, who had been forced back, actually returned.

Clang……

Not only did he return but also helped catch that deadly crossbow arrow.

Of course, not a direct catch, the arrow’s power was too great for even Chu Tianhe to withstand, merely using the Big Saber for a small redirect, causing the arrow’s path to deviate slightly.

Even this little flick pushed Chu Tianhe far toward the wing, with unending tremors through his blood, indicating a considerable cost.

But he managed to block it eventually, and while retreating despite being forced, didn’t forget to grab Fang Tianqing, crazily fleeing north alongside him.

Seeing Chu Tianhe return to save him left Fang Tianqing full of shock and surprise.

Why had he despaired just now?

Because he had realized, saving the five of He Tianxin was already Chu Tianhe’s limit; with such powerful crossbow mechanisms, ten machines below waiting to fire, Chu Tianhe fleeing with the five was the correct decision.

He, as an adviser, held some weight in Lord Chu Tianming’s mind, it was normal for Chu Tianhe not to save him.

Yet he returned to rescue him……

“Mr. Fang, it seems we can’t hold them off any longer, Xia Hong’s people haven’t even arrived, the county has no reinforcements, merely relying on our army of 100,000, East River City cannot be held; retreat while we can!”

The Xia Army was already close to East River City, flying north with Chu Tianhe less than several breaths before Fang Tianqing was above East River City, hearing Chu Tianhe’s words, he almost instinctively wanted to dissuade him.

“How can we fight now? We have to retreat!”

“We originally have only two in Tribulation Body Realm, both the Prefectural Governor and Mr. Fang are injured, fighting on will surely result in defeat.”

“Holding temporarily is pointless; no reinforcements from the county mean Fang the Landgrave dispatching several Tribulation Body Realm soldiers is insufficient, it’ll only hinder the battle with Cai Qiu, retreat is the only option.”

“East River City was won by chance initially, giving it back to them isn’t a loss.”

……

Upon hearing He Tianxin and the five others, Fang Tianqing immediately swallowed his words, his expression extremely sour.

East River City had ten thousand reasons to defend, yet Chu Tianhe did not wish to hold it, and these military leaders below him did not wish to hold it either; what use was his lone persistence?

The crux was that Great Xia had showcased sufficient strength, proving that their mere army of 100,000 from Chen Cang could not stand firm in the Southern Slope Territory.

“This retreat… the future will be uncertain…”

Fang Tianqing never uttered this, merely gazing at the Southern Slope land with a soft sigh, his demeanor exceedingly desolate.