King of Creation Chapter 2118 - 2103: Blood River Fortress

The generals able to stand in the council hall of the Human Demon Battlefield Grand Commander’s Mansion are all those who have earned their ranks through real military merits, having fought their way out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

The killing qi and evil qi around them are so dense they seem almost tangible.

Ordinary martial artists, when locked onto by their gaze, would feel an intense chill throughout their bodies; those whose cultivation is weaker wouldn’t even dare to move.

Even martial artists of the same level would find their strength suppressed by at least twenty percent.

Now, dozens of Grand Governor Ji Yuan’s trusted generals inside the hall are simultaneously pressuring Ye Zhen, their divine sense filled with tangible killing qi and evil qi locking onto Ye Zhen.

The temperature in the whole hall dropped to freezing point in an instant, bringing a bone-chilling cold where even water could freeze.

The trusted aides of Grand Governor Ji Yuan standing hundreds of meters away at the entrance of the hall couldn’t help but shiver, feeling their bodies tense from the cold.

This is from hundreds of meters away.

If they stood in Ye Zhen’s position in the center of the hall, they would likely have fainted.

It’s known that those qualified to be the trusted aides of Grand Governor Ji Yuan, guarding the entrance to the council hall, are all elite at the peak of the Ninth Stage Dark Palace Realm.

Yet, Ye Zhen, at the vortex center of this storm of killing qi, appeared completely unaffected, directly ignoring the killing qi crashing over like raging waves, looking at Marquis Kaiyuan Ji Guan with a grin.

"What’s going on here? I was merely speaking the truth, just kindly giving the Marquis a ’heads-up’ and advising caution, lest the Marquis truly ’dies young’!"

At the moment he said ’dies young’, Ye Zhen’s gaze shifted, and his killing qi erupted like a flash flood, rushing towards Marquis Kaiyuan Ji Guan.

Killing qi is something unseen and untouchable, but to those who possess it, it seems almost tangible.

At this moment, in the eyes of Marquis Kaiyuan Ji Guan, upon meeting Ye Zhen’s gaze, countless blood waves rushed toward him, within the blood waves were innumerable malevolent howling ghosts.

With a startled cry, Marquis Kaiyuan Ji Guan abruptly stepped back, falling into the chair bestowed by Grand Governor Ji Yuan.

The faces of all the generals who had initially locked onto Ye Zhen with their killing qi turned utterly unpleasant in an instant.

Ignoring!

Ye Zhen actually ignored the impact of the killing qi accumulated and settled by them over the years.

This only proves one thing—the battles Ye Zhen has experienced are far greater and more numerous than theirs.

Their killing qi no longer held any deterrent effect on Ye Zhen.

This alone made them not dare underestimate Ye Zhen anymore; many generals’ eyes retreated from any display of contempt.

The emotionless voice of Grand Governor Ji Yuan suddenly rang out, "Ji Guan, this Ye Zhen gives plenty of reminders; with the rampant marauding of the Demon Clan on the front lines, you must be careful, lest you truly die young!"

With Ji Yuan’s words, a dense oppressive aura swept across the entire hall, dispersing the killing qi emanating from Ye Zhen and the other generals entirely, allowing Marquis Kaiyuan Ji Guan’s exceedingly tense and rigid limbs to finally relax.

This is the aura accumulated over countless years by those in high positions.

Like killing qi, it’s formless and intangible, but sometimes, a mere glance is enough to make many experts break out in cold sweat, as if entering hell!

"Rest assured, Grand Governor! If the Demon Clan really dares to trouble me, I will make sure they do not return!" Ji Guan said with gritted teeth, his gaze fixed fiercely on Ye Zhen, asserting firmly.

But no one noticed that as Ji Guan uttered this exceptionally firm statement, a shadow of intense fear flickered in his eyes!

With a light stroke of his palm, a highly complex map appeared in front of Grand Governor Ji Yuan, though many areas visible to Ye Zhen were obscured in mist, leaving only seven or eight places clear to see.

"Follow the protocol."

With Grand Governor Ji Yuan’s words, the chief strategist approached Ye Zhen, emotionlessly stating, "According to military regulations, the auxiliary defense corps on the Human Demon Battlefield can choose their auxiliary defense barracks within a certain scope."

"Your Sky Wave Army of North Sea has an authorized strength of twelve thousand soldiers; by scale, you can only garrison in military cities, fortresses, or strongholds. Currently, no vacancy exists in military cities, so you can only choose from fortresses or strongholds for garrison locations," Gu Yue explained.

The military hierarchy of the Human Demon Battlefield, though seemingly complex, is actually fairly simple.

The Human Demon Battlefield Grand Commander Mansion oversees the entire operation, with one Grand Governor appointed under whom there are five war zones: East, West, South, North, and Central, each managed by a Governor responsible for all military affairs within the zone.

In each war zone, aside from the main garrison surrounding the Governor’s Mansion, there are six levels of military establishments: defensive lines, military cities, fortresses, strongholds, posts, and Fenghuo Towers.

The garrison size for each of the six levels of military establishments varies.

The number of troops assigned to each defensive line differs, but even the shortest requires a minimum of thirty thousand soldiers.

While military cities require far fewer troops; the smallest city needs a garrison of ten thousand at least, making military cities the favorite garrison places for auxiliary defense commanders.

By comparison, military cities offer more resources, greater security, stronger defenses, and more complete facilities, making them ideal auxiliary defense locations.

But usually, such favorable locations typically aren’t accessible to general nobles, let alone nobles like Ye Zhen who are in conflict with the Grand Commander’s Mansion.

Fortresses have garrisons of at least five thousand and can host up to thirty thousand troops, while strongholds’ garrison sizes vary from one thousand to fifteen thousand based on size.

However, both fortresses and strongholds, compared to military cities, face significantly more pressure.

Of course, the pressure varies depending on the location.

Currently, Gu Yue has offered Ye Zhen only the choice of fortresses and strongholds.

"Here is the Central Battle Zone, which currently has only two available strongholds, here is the Western Battle Zone..."

Gu Yue quickly introduced the available fortresses and strongholds to Ye Zhen.

The Eastern Battle Zone holds no options for Ye Zhen; among the other four battle zones, there are five fortresses and twenty-four strongholds available for Ye Zhen to choose from.

In fact, with Gu Yue’s suggestions, Ye Zhen’s options have narrowed down to only five fortresses.

Of the twenty-four strongholds, the one with the smallest capacity accommodates five thousand troops, whereas the largest can host fifteen thousand, known as a war stronghold.

However, the problem is, Ye Zhen has brought an army of twenty-two thousand.

If the garrison space is insufficient, part of the army would have to camp outside the stronghold.

Camping outside an undefended stronghold on the Human Demon Battlefield for long durations equates to basically handing over troops’ lives to the demon scouts and Shadow Demons.

Therefore, with the twelve thousand recommended military establishment in mind, the strongholds are completely excluded, leaving only five fortresses for Ye Zhen to choose from.

However, Ye Zhen cannot choose all of these five fortresses.

Among the five fortresses, the maximum garrison size for two is only fifteen thousand, meaning Ye Zhen still can’t choose them.

In other words, there are only three fortresses for Ye Zhen to choose as a base.

The three fortresses are the Tiger Mountain Fortress in the Western War Zone, which can accommodate up to 250,000 soldiers; the Bitter Creek Stronghold in the Southern War Zone, which can house up to 200,000 soldiers; and the Blood River Fortress in the Northern War Zone, which can accommodate up to 300,000 soldiers.

Ye Zhen has only these three choices.

In fact, from a strategic perspective, there are only two suitable bases for Ye Zhen.

They are the Tiger Mountain Fortress that can hold 250,000 soldiers and the Bitter Creek Stronghold that can hold 200,000 soldiers.

Ye Zhen has an army of 220,000. With a camp of 200,000 soldiers, squeezing in an extra 20,000 is not difficult.

As for the Blood River Fortress in the Northern War Zone, it’s a bit too large.

It’s important to note that the more soldiers a fortress can accommodate, the larger and longer its defense line is.

Take the Bitter Creek Stronghold, for example. The minimum quota is 60,000 soldiers, meaning at least 60,000 soldiers are required to maintain its defense.

In Ye Zhen’s 220,000-strong army, besides 20,000 reserves, only 200,000 are always ready for battle.

No army can perform military duties for extended periods without rest and rotation. This is a ten-year-long stationing.

If stationed at the Bitter Creek Stronghold, Ye Zhen’s troops would have more than enough strength, allowing frequent rotations and keeping the army in high spirits.

The Tiger Mountain Fortress, which can house up to 250,000 soldiers, has a minimum quota of 90,000. If Ye Zhen’s 200,000-strong army rotates monthly, the soldiers can rest adequately, and the troops can maintain their mobility.

But if it’s the Blood River Fortress in the Northern War Zone, stationing the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea would be somewhat challenging.

The Blood River Fortress has a minimum quota of 120,000 troops. In such a case, rotations would have to be conducted in turns, with relatively fewer mobile troops.

Once a battle erupts, the defense line stretches longer, facing more enemies, dispersing forces further, and increasing pressure.

In other words, the Blood River Fortress is quite unsuitable and can be essentially ruled out.

Therefore, Ye Zhen’s choices are down to the Tiger Mountain Fortress and the Bitter Creek Stronghold.

In terms of geographical location, both fortresses are similar, not on the direct attack path of the Demon Clan’s army. But who knows the Demon Clan’s attack route?

Under normal circumstances, Ye Zhen should choose one of these fortresses as the base for the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea.

However, Ye Zhen sensed something unusual.

Preset!

The options of these two fortresses, from which Ye Zhen can only choose one, were set by the Commander’s Mansion under seemingly normal conditions for Ye Zhen.

That is to say, in their plan, Ye Zhen’s station can only be one of these two fortresses.

Or they wish or intend to station Ye Zhen in one of these two fortresses.

These two fortresses surely have no issues, but what about in the future, who knows?

Ye Zhen’s gaze abruptly fell on the Blood River Fortress in the Northern War Zone.

"Grand Governor, I choose to station at the Blood River Fortress!" Ye Zhen quickly made a decision.

The Grand Governor Ji Yuan snorted indifferently, while the strategist Gu Yue nodded slightly, "Come, hand over all the city defense tokens of the Blood River Fortress, surrounding maps, military architecture details to the Heavenly Wave Army of North Sea!"

The subsequent proceedings require no elaborate description.

Ye Zhen and Liuu Feng took a day to collect all these items, including the grain for the 120,000-strong army. This time, the Commander’s Mansion posed no difficulty, and everything went smoothly.

What’s left is to lead the army to the Blood River Fortress.

At night, after a busy day of handling military affairs, the Grand Governor Ji Yuan casually set up a few exquisite dishes in the back residence, chatting with his chief strategist Gu Yue while dining.

"Gu Yue, your plan this time is truly brilliant! How did you predict that Ye Zhen would inevitably choose the Blood River Fortress?" While speaking, the Grand Governor Ji Yuan raised his cup and drank it all in one go.

Gu Yue did not immediately reply but filled the Grand Governor’s cup with the jug before slowly saying, "Grand Governor, ever since Ye Zhen caused the destruction of Ren Xinsu, the Deputy Director of the Military Armory Division, I’ve made a special investigation of all the affairs related to this Ye.

Analyzing his decision-making directions and styles in every matter, I have almost endlessly deduced and simulated all his actions over these years before achieving a minor understanding."

"Hmm, continue!" the Grand Governor Ji Yuan casually picked a crystal-clear lotus root slice.

"This child appears to act entirely based on biases, easily impulsive, but in reality, everything behind his actions is deliberated and prudently strategized much beyond ordinary people, considered extremely astute.

This time, I arranged things from his perspective, first making an extremely shrewd choice for him, then deduced his choice." With short beard and a confident face, Gu Yue explained.

"Then the remaining matters are left to Mr. Gu to arrange!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Yue, familiar with Grand Governor Ji Yuan’s habits, made a motion of listening earnestly.

"I have only one request, and that is for this Ye Zhen, including his close aides, to be legitimately and reasonably eliminated, be it by military law, warfare, or other means!"

"Moreover, it should not be too long!" Upon saying this, Prince Lik Ji Yuan gave a sudden cold humph, "Some people must understand not to reach too far, as this Human-Demon Battlefield is now under my command!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Yue stood upright and respectfully saluted the Grand Governor Ji Yuan deeply, "Rest assured, Grand Governor, swiftly within three or five months, or slowly within a year, I shall ensure that Ye Zhen meets his demise reasonably, enhancing the prestige of the Commander, awe-striking every heart!"

The Grand Governor Ji Yuan nodded slowly and said, "Then, I’ll eagerly await your good news."

"Please, Commander, patiently await the good news!"

....

Inside the commander’s tent of the North Sea Heavenly Wave Army’s base, Big Ears Nie Ting shook his head helplessly again, "My lord, we still can’t hear Ji Yuan and the others. Not a single sound within a kilometer around the Grand Governor’s house."

"Can’t hear, then forget it!"

Ye Zhen nodded helplessly. Big Ears’ Heavenly Sound Divine Ability came across a nemesis for the first time, but this is considered normal.

In this world with countless divine skills and secret techniques, there’s bound to be a counter to the Heavenly Sound Divine Ability.

"Liuu Feng, issue the orders. At the third watch, we prepare a meal, and at the fifth watch, break camp to set off for the Blood River Fortress in the Northern War Zone!" Ye Zhen commanded.

"Yes, my lord!"

Outside the commander’s tent, Ye Zhen’s eyes looked towards the Northern War Zone direction across the distant sky.

Ye Zhen’s stationing choice of the Blood River Fortress isn’t solely due to the consideration of the ’preset’ plot, but more importantly, it’s related to the Emergency Secret Edict from the Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long of the Holy Son of Heaven, Great Zhou!