*CLANK*

  Taishi Ci's halberd smashed Sun Ce's polearm away.

  After getting disarmed, Sun Ce drew a sword from his belt. As soon as he injected his force into it, he vomited a mouthful of blood. Several wounds on his body gushed out more red liquid.

  In the sky, Sun Ce was panting in exhaustion. His soul injuries had yet to heal, but he had to fight against someone with the same strength. Just now, he experienced a soul injury relapse because he had exerted too much wing power.

  Flying in the sky and survive was the only thing he could do. He could barely lift his arm and swing a sword again.

  Sun Ce didn't just get injured from failing his 8-wing breakthrough. This was the result of rushing cultivation without a thorough understanding of power utility and the right physical body preparation.

  Also, Sun Ce lacked the experience of fighting in high-speed battles. His reflex was still the same as when he had 4 wings, and his eyes couldn't adapt to the changes. For the sake of matching against Taishi Ci's agility and superior reflex, Sun Ce had to pay some lifespan in enhancing his body and perform some extreme movements, such as juking backward while flying forward at the speed of sound, which caused backlash damage to his physical body.

  On the other hand, Taishi Ci was still in good shape. The guidance of Medusa helped him a lot. He mastered the life force circulation technique, which made his lifespan usage and body enhancement more efficient. His lifespan stock was still abundant as he still had a million years to spare. If he had to, he could keep on fighting at his peak strength for a week without resting or eating.

  Training under Medusa and Friday helped Taishi Ci understand his limits. He mastered aerial combat, in which he didn't need to expend too much energy for such trivial movements or techniques that Sun Ce couldn't do.

  Sun Ce's cultivation base might be the same as Taishi Ci's, but the latter had a firmer foundation. The difference in strength was apparent when they fought.

  "Give up, Bofu. You're not my opponent!"

  Taishi Ci wanted to finish to a duel by having Sun Ce submitting to him. If the latter was obedient, there were chances that Diaochan and Dong Bai would spare his life.

  "Otherworlders have ruined our destiny! They killed my father! They killed Gongjin! They stole my wife and my future! I have no intension of working for the likes of Zhang Tong!!"

  Unfortunately, Sun Ce refused to accept reality.

  Sun Ce also took pride that he was a gifted fighter. He even believed that he was stronger than Lu Bu without the cultivation factor.

  Thus, he had a misconception. Sun Ce thought that since he was tired, Taishi Ci, who was supposed to be inferior to him, should have been exhausted as well.

  From Sun Ce's perspective, Taishi Ci was below him!

  "Also, Ziyi. You are thinking too highly of yourself! A weakling like you can never defeat me!"

  Sun Ce waved his hand, sending his signal to his subordinates.

  …

  Song Qian, Chen Wu, and a former subordinate of Sun Jian, Zhu Zhi, flew forward to assist their lord.

  Song Qian had 5 wings, while Chen Wu had 4. However, Zhu Zhi, the hidden elite, revealed his 6 wings.

  The three men were weaker than Taishi Ci and Sun Ce, but they jumped into the battle as their lord commanded them.

  As soon as these men came forward, Dong Bai, Zhang Ji, and Zhang Xiu rushed to stop them from interfering.

  Dong Bai and Zhang Xiu revealed their 6 black wings. Zhang Ji was weaker than the two as he had 5 demon wings, but he was confident that he could contribute to the fight.

  Liu Xie and Liu Ye stayed behind, but they were ready to participate as well. No one in Tong's forces shied away from combats and wars.

  Dong Bai marked Zhu Zhi as her opponent. She appeared directly in front of Zhu Zhi and thrust her spear.

  *SWUA*

  The spear grazed Zhu Zhi's chest. The initiative was in Dong Bai's hands.

  She didn't allow Zhu Zhi to regain his stance. Follow-up attacks rained upon him as a dozen spear tip afterimages cut and stabbed Zhu Zhi.

  "Nnn!!"

  Out of 100 strikes, 70 of them left deep wounds on his body.

  Zhu Zhi retreated, flying backward and decreasing altitude to catch his breath. He fled back to his men, hoping to use his soldiers as temporary meat shields.

  \r \r \r

  Dong Bai chased after him. She also didn't forget to cast a few curses to the soldiers on the southern riverbank, who had retreated from the battle.

  "Wraith! Corruption! Envy!"

  The surviving soldiers' cultivation base was weaker than Dong Bai. In an instant, several thousands of Sun Ce's men went berserk and attacked each other.

  "Despicable!"

  Zhu Zhi turned around in anger. He forgot that Dong Bai took advantage of her initiative and momentum to the point that he couldn't counterattack.

  The distraction on the ground created another opening for the veteran demoness. The moment Zhu Zhi lost his focus, her spear tip found its way into his chest.

  The spear punctured through Zhu Zhi's heart!

  Yet, Zhu Zhi gritted his teeth and grabbed Dong Bai's spear. He summoned all his souls to catch the empress.

  "You're going to hell with me!"

  Zhu Zhi injected all his life force into the souls, preparing to self-destruct and kill Dong Bai!

  "Predicable," Dong Bai snorted. She released her spear.

  *VHOOM*

  As Dong Bai had expected Li Feihong to help her, she flew backward and entered a blue portal, which opened behind her. It immediately closed when she entered Li Feihong's world.

  Zhu Zhi widened his eyes in shock. He had already activated the soul-detonation, and he couldn't cancel the skill.

  "NOOO!!"

  *BOOM*

  *BOOM*

  *BOOM*

  Zhu Zhi's 6 souls exploded above the Yangtze River's southern bank. Several of his soldiers got caught in the explosion and died from soul destruction.

  …

  *SWUA*

  Another battle also concluded. Zhang Xiu cleaved Song Qian in half from head to groin.

  As Zhang Xiu had 6 demon wings, an angel with 5 wings wasn't his opponent. This general had it easy in this fight.

  Meanwhile, Zhang Ji, who had 5 wings, paired up with Chen Wu. Similar to his nephew, Zhang Ji used his superior cultivation base to dominate the duel.

  Unfortunately, Zhang Ji's talent in martial arts was below average for a general. As his skills weren't as good as his nephew, his battle had not finished yet.

  "Eh, just surrender, will you?" Zhang Ji got annoyed that he kept missing a vital strike here and there.

  Chen Wu had wounds all over his body, but they were superficial. None of Zhang Ji's attack hit his vital organs.

  Chen Wu glanced around. Upon seeing that his two colleagues had already died, he shed a tear.

  "Why are you keep bullying us!? What have we done wrong!?"

  Zhang Ji clicked his tongue, "You're a moron. You're following a rebel lord. I know that you're a good guy. Just surrender, and we will compensate what you've lost. Our emperor and empress are kind. They will forgive you and employ you."

  "…"

  Chen Wu's heart wavered. He glanced at Sun Ce, who was far away, but he turned to Zhang Ji and nodded.

  "Please spare me."

  Zhang Ji beamed with a bright smile, "That's more like it! You've made the correct choice! Now, go tell your men to surrender as well. The more troops you can persuade, the more good men's lives that you can save."

  "… Okay."

  Chen Wu reluctantly turned around. Yet, he expanded his sense to check Zhang Ji's movements.

  Zhang Ji let down his guard after he assumed that Chen Wu had surrendered. He wiped his halberd tip and checked the cracks on his weapon.

  At that moment, Chen Wu exerted his strength and charged at Zhang Ji. He raised his long glaive to cleave Zhang Ji in half.

  *SWUA*

  A thin silver line afterimage flashed.

  Chen Wu's both arms and his neck separated from his torso. The silver line just now beheaded him and cut through his arms in one strike.

  Zhang Xiu was floating behind Chen Wu's headless floating corpse. The dead body parts fell into the river as the owner could no longer fly.

  "Uncle, if you want to make someone surrender, please extort an immortal oath first. You can't trust anyone's empty words."

  Zhang Ji gazed at his nephew in shock. Then, he looked at Chen Wu's dead body in a pity.

  "Shame. We could have been friends if he didn't lie."

  "Let's head back to our men. If we're staying out for too long, they might suicide on us. Don't forget that common soldiers can cultivate and use soul-detonation." .

  Sun Ce witnessed how his subordinates died one by one. He hated how his forces were underprepared and how Tong's generals overwhelmed them.

  Everything was in Tong's favor. Sun Ce wanted to scream that this war was unfair.

  Infuriated by the situation, Sun Ce charged at Taishi Ci. He ignored his defense as he wanted to turn the tide of this battle by killing his former subordinate.

  *CLANK*

  Taishi Ci swatted Sun Ce's sword away. With a solemn expression, he swung down his halberd.

  *SWUA*

  Taishi Ci cut through Sun Ce's right shoulder and severed the latter's right arm.

  It was over.

  "You've lost, Bofu."

  Taishi Ci reminded Sun Ce once again.

  "I NEVER LOSE!!"

  Sun Ce summoned all of his souls, planning to use the number advantage. However, he forgot that detached souls were weaker than a concentrated force within one's body.

  Taishi Ci inwardly shook his head.

  *SWUA*

  For the sake of not torturing his former lord, Taishi Ci beheaded Sun Ce's real body in one strike.

  "Goodbye, Bofu."

  Sun Ce's 7 injured souls froze in mid-air. They wanted to self-detonate to bring down Taishi Ci with them, but their ethereal bodies shattered into pieces before they could gather their strength.

  Taishi Ci bathed in the sparkling fragments of Sun Ce's souls. He closed his eyes and shed a tear.

  "When you reincarnate again, I hope that you will live a better and modest life. Don't let your ambition and grudge blind your judgment."

  …

  As the core leaders of Sun Ce's forces were all defeated, half of the retreating soldiers deserted the army.

  Some threw their weapons and surrendered to Dong Bai's soldiers.

  Some disguised as local peasants to avoid getting captured.

  Still, half of them insisted on fighting. These soldiers had criminal records and warrants on them since they were recruited bandits in this area.

  A day later, Li Feihong did what Guo Jia had asked. He ransacked all Sun Ce's supply bases, stealing all their food and weaponry.

  The remnants of Sun Ce ran away without looking back. They scattered as if they were ants that their nest had been destroyed.

  Guo Jia sent his men to chase after the deserters. Other than those who had surrendered, they were all killed.

  Still, many shrew deserters retreated to Jianye, where Lu Su, the last officer of Sun Ce, was protecting.