Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 446: 218, Brahman World Purifying Army_2

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If the war in Hedong continues to be entangled, the Six Sacred Lands will not be able to spare the effort to deal with Zhongzhou, and Qinjian Villa together with the Great Jin Dynasty will be able to smoothly divide Zhongzhou. Should this indeed come to pass, when the Six Sacred Lands are weakened by the war in Hedong, Qinjian Villa will rise to power, becoming one of the two strongest Holy Lands alongside the Great Jin. Next, it will be their turn to vie for supremacy over the world.

By that time, the hopes of the Hou Clan for revenge will be completely shattered.

This... is what Sikong Yue wanted to tell himself!

Hou Yuxiao looked at the area of Jizhou marked on the map, a cold light flashing in his eyes, his expression gradually turning grim.

"If we don't want Qinjian Villa to continue growing in strength, we must end the war in Hedong as quickly as possible, so that the Six Sacred Lands can promptly free up their hands and shift their focus to the north. It's not about preserving the Great Yu Holy Dynasty, at the very least, we cannot allow these two to so easily divide Zhongzhou!"

Hou Yuxiao closed his eyes, and whether it was psychological or not, the sound of Sikong Yue's voice seemed to echo from the Merit Gold Page in his mind, making his already somber countenance grow even more downcast.

"Even if I'm being manipulated by you, Sikong Yue, as long as it's against Qinjian Villa, I, Hou Yuxiao, will accept it!"

Despite being clearly aware that Sikong Yue was using him, the deep-seated hatred for Qinjian Villa still drove Hou Yuxiao to make this decision.

If his participation in the war before was with the intention of taking advantage of the chaos, his thoughts had now changed. He wanted to do everything within his power to quickly put an end to the conflict in Hedong.

This might sound like a fanciful tale, as the war of the Six Sacred Lands could not possibly be influenced by a single Martial Artist of the Second Realm Grandmaster, let alone by the entire Hou Clan, no matter what.

Yet Hou Yuxiao's expression did not show the slightest hesitation, especially when he looked down at the fifth black petal of the Divine Lotus in his mind that had been illuminated, his face grew even more resolute.

In the following days, Hou Yuxiao went nowhere, staying with the five hundred elite members of the Hou Clan on the eastern bank of the river, watching as warships ferried the Holy Church's vast army across to Hedong. Before Peony left, she made a point to bid him farewell.

Sikong Yue sent Peony over at this time not just to convey those words but surely she had other, more important matters to entrust to Zhan Taiqing, matters of which Hou Yuxiao was unaware. Hou Yuxiao attempted to guess Sikong Yue's intentions but, with too little information under his control, he ultimately came up empty-handed.

Among the five hundred cavalry, just the Hou Clan elites led by the trio of Hou Fei, Hou Ying, and Hou Cun numbered over three hundred. The remaining hundred or so were elite Martial Artists from various institutions within the clan, plus nearly fifty Warriors of the Gang Qi Realm and more than five hundred war horses. Compared to the nearly one million-strong army of the Holy Church, the Hou Clan's force was naturally insignificant, but if compared with the mansion army of any single prefecture individually, they were not to be taken lightly.

Therefore, during the days stationed there, various parts of the Mansion Army came to gather intelligence, and upon learning it was the Hou Clan's army, they all paid a visit to Hou Yuxiao's camp.

The current strength of the Hou Clan was not weak, and both Hou Yuxiao and Hou Yuduan had considerable renown. The reasons behind the visits by these mansion army officers, Hou Yuxiao could guess some of them.

Firstly, it was to give face to him as the Family Head of the Hou Clan, and secondly, it must also be because of the upcoming war in Hedong.

The nearly one million-strong army of the Rakshasa Holy Sect was drawn from five different places: Xingnan, Jianye, Pingjin, Zhao Tong prefectures, and the Headquarters. It should be noted that not all relationships between prefectural cities were harmonious. For example, the twenty thousand reinforcements from the Yongdu Main Altar would likely look down upon the troops from the other four prefectures, not to mention that there were also undercurrents among the other four prefectures as well.

The million-strong army might sound impressive, but its internal issues were not small.

Moreover, this time they were crossing the river to fight in Xuzhou, which left them feeling insecure.

Establishing a good relationship with the Hou Clan in advance would come in handy on the battlefield. Of course, not just with the Hou Clan - the smarter mansion army officers made connections everywhere. After Hou Yuxiao figured out the reasons, he instructed Hou Fei and the others to start visiting around and gather detailed information about the army dispatched to Hedong. In a few days, they indeed uncovered a considerable amount of useful intelligence.

The war effort was led primarily by Xingnan Prefecture, hence only the Prefectural Governor Peng Yuhu from Xingnan had come; the governors of the other three prefectures did not. The commanders of the reinforcement troops from the three prefectures were the Jialans of the Sect's Guardians from each Prefecture City Prison Administration:

Mo Miao Jialan Tian Guangwen from Jianye Prefecture, at the Great Perfection of the Three Realms of Yuan Dan;

Thunder Sound Jialan Chen Fuhai from Pingjin Prefecture, at the Divine Skills stage of the Yuan Dan Second Realm;

Buddha Slave Jialan Lin Shengshan from Zhaotong Prefecture, also at the Great Perfection of the Three Realms of Yuan Dan.

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The Holy Church has three teachings and eight prefectures, including Zhan Taiqing, the Fanyin Jialan, totaling eight Jialan of the Sect's Guardians. Before the great war even began, four of them had already arrived, indicating just how seriously the Holy Church regarded the conflict in Hedong.

However, after all is said and done, simply by considering the cultivation levels of these Sect Guardians, one can see that the honor of Zhan Taiqing as the foremost among the Jialan was not unfounded. Hou Yuxiao learned after careful inquiry that the cultivation levels of the other seven Sect Guardians were all below that of Zhan Taiqing.

Each of the three prefectures dispatched an army of 160,000, and their methods of leading troops were similar. Three Grandmasters each commanded 10,000 elite soldiers, while the remaining 150,000 troops were led by a total of three Commandants and three Vice Commandants, six Warrior of the Gang Qi Realm.

This means that, not considering other factors and not yet counting the 200,000 reinforcements from the Headquarters, just within the 630,000 strong army from the four prefectures, there were already known to be three Yuan Dan Realm experts and twenty-four Master Realm experts.

Given the requirement that each platoon leader must possess Gang Qi Realm cultivation, the minimum number of Gang Qi Realm warriors in the entire army would be at least 650.

650 Gang Qi Realm warriors...

When Hou Fei calculated this number, his voice almost trembled. Not only him, but Hou Ying Hou Cun's faces were also filled with shock. In fact, even Hou Yuxiao himself felt somewhat bewildered when he heard this number.

The fact that there were 650 Gang Qi Realm warriors was not enough to bewilder him. What really chilled him was his clear understanding that the 650,000 strong army from these four prefectures was only the tip of the iceberg of the Rakshasa Holy Sect. That was the actual reason for his unease.

"We haven't even added the 200,000 reinforcements from the Headquarters yet. When I asked the brothers in the Mansion Army for information on the reinforcements, I could clearly sense their reverence for them. If everything goes as expected, that 200,000-strong army will only be stronger!"

Those were Hou Fei's exact words. After hearing them, Hou Yuxiao couldn't help but become curious and looked forward to witnessing the might of the 200,000-strong Holy Church Headquarters reinforcements.

On the 23rd of September, after all the armies from the four prefectures had finished crossing the river, Zhan Taiqing merely let Peng Yuhu follow them across and did not allow Hou Yuxiao to do so, instead keeping him to continue waiting on the Hedong side for the arrival of the Hou Clan's armies.

The Hou Clan's army was clearly not worth waiting for as Zhan Taiqing did. Therefore, what Zhan Taiqing was waiting for must have been the 200,000 reinforcements from the Headquarters.

Another day passed, and on the 24th of September, as the night fell, the Hou Clan's 20,000 strong army, led by Hou Yucheng, finally arrived.

Hou Yucheng, although looking travel-worn, still had an intense look of excitement on his face. He seemed to have a peculiar fondness for war and rushed up to Hou Yuxiao with joy as soon as he saw him.

"Big brother, when do we cross the river?"

"We'll wait for the Master's orders. For now, settle the brothers down in their encampments."

"Yes, big brother!"

Although Hou Yucheng nodded and obeyed, he was somewhat puzzled. There weren't many troops left on this side of the riverbank, which meant they had probably already crossed over. So why were they still waiting here...

Later, after Hou Yuxiao explained to him that they were waiting for the reinforcements from the Holy Church Headquarters, he also became curious and was eager every day to see the 200,000 reinforcements from the Holy Church, eager to see what an army that could be called the elite of the Holy Church looked like.

On the 25th of September, 1322 in the New Yu Era, just like when Hou Yucheng arrived, it was again at night when a surge of eerie, tide-like aura suddenly drew nearer from the end of the Official Road on the western side of the riverbank, startling everyone there regardless of their cultivation level instantly.

All the people came out of their tents and looked towards the Official Road in the west. Hou Yuxiao, leading the members of the Hou Clan, naturally did the same.

At the end of the western Official Road, the rumbling sound of horse hooves approached, followed by the rising of a sandy whirlwind, akin to a white waterfall of Iron Cavalry flooding into view. Under the leadership of a valorous middle-aged man riding a white war horse, they sped toward the people on the riverbank.

"Sss... the Brahman World Purifying Army!"

Despite Peng Yuhu's voice of astonishment clearly reaching everyone, no one turned their heads or spared a glance in that direction, because at that moment, their gaze was entirely fixed on the approaching white tide, their eyes filled with shock as well...