Jiang Xingyan shot to her feet.
The words “heavy casualties” sent a jolt of shock and pain through her.
“I’m going to Shanhe Pass!”
“No!”
For once, Yun Chunfeng and Xiao Chonghua were in rare agreement.
“General, you absolutely must not act on impulse.”
“The situation is still unclear—how can you rush over there so recklessly?”
Jiang Xingyan paced frantically.
“Then what do we do? With fifty thousand troops at Shanhe Pass, Xin Zhui would never use the message talisman so urgently unless the losses were catastrophic.”
For ordinary mortals, a message talisman could only be used once in a lifetime. Yun Chunfeng had given one each to Xin Zhui, Xiao Zhenhuai, and Huo Ci, and they were only to be used in the most dire emergencies.
“Since Deputy General Xin said Shanhe Pass has been defended for now, why not send ten thousand troops over as reinforcements first? Once Tieshi figures out the secret behind the explosions, the general can bring that over—wouldn’t that be far more useful?”
“But—”
“General Huo, let’s follow the Imperial Advisor’s suggestion. Deputy General Xin, Deputy General Jiang, and Second Brother—they’ll definitely be able to hold out a while longer.”
Jiang Xingyan’s heart was racing with anxiety, but logic told her Brother Yun was right.
She forced herself to suppress her panic and quickly mustered ten thousand troops, sending them off through the side paths to Shanhe Pass overnight.
Just as she was at a complete loss, Yun Chunfeng gave her a reassuring look.
“Don’t worry, General. I can lend Commander Tie a hand.”
“Oh? Please do, Imperial Advisor!”
Jiang Xingyan quickly ushered Yun Chunfeng over to the Military Engineering Battalion’s tent.
For a moment, it seemed all their past grievances had been set aside.
Xiao Chonghua, left out, felt an inexplicable twinge of unease.
Suddenly, he noticed something odd.
Had Huo Ci always been this flustered when faced with a crisis?
With that question lingering in his mind, Xiao Chonghua hurried after them.
Jiang Xingyan and Yun Chunfeng entered Tieshi’s tent and saw him carefully rubbing some black powder between his fingers, sniffing it intently.
“This is it—so why isn’t it working?!”
He muttered like a man possessed, pulling three things from a cloth pouch and mixing them together.
“Sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal.”
After that, he eagerly lit the mixture with a flame.
“Watch out!”
In a flash, Yun Chunfeng could only throw his wide sleeve around Jiang Xingyan, shielding her completely.
Whoosh!
A burst of flame flashed, and the tent quickly filled with acrid black smoke.
Yun Chunfeng grabbed Jiang Xingyan and ran outside.
Xiao Chonghua coughed and stumbled out after them.
Finally, Tieshi emerged slowly.
His face was completely blackened, a third of his hair singed off, the rest curled and frizzled from the fire. He coughed up a puff of black smoke.
“That’s not right!”
Jiang Xingyan snapped: “Tieshi, are you out of your mind?!”
Tears suddenly streamed down Tieshi’s soot-covered face, carving two clean streaks through the grime.
“I can’t make fireworks that powerful—I’m useless! General, punish me!”
Jiang Xingyan furrowed her brow: “This isn’t something mortal knowledge can easily grasp. Don’t blame yourself. Didn’t the Imperial Advisor say there’s a mysterious visitor from beyond the heavens on the Northern Luo side? That must be where their secret formula came from.”
Even so, Tieshi kept sobbing.
It was one thing to get scolded by the military advisor before, but now he’d been utterly defeated again. Whatever the reason, it ultimately came down to his own lack of skill—he just wasn’t as good.
Yun Chunfeng stared at the pile of black powder, deep in thought.
He pulled out his communication jade and sent a message to his Fourth Senior Brother, Daoist Zhuihua.
“Fourth Senior Brother, send me that alchemy formula you nearly blew up the sect with.”
Zhuihua replied instantly: “You %#@￥, you %￥u0026#, you @#￥%#!”
A string of colorful curses poured out of the jade.
Yun Chunfeng sighed: “No, Senior Brother, you’ve got it wrong—I really need it urgently.”
Zhuihua was silent for a long moment, then bellowed: “Wait till I get there!”
Yun Chunfeng counted unhurriedly: “Three, two, one!”
Swish!
He pulled a thick stack of banknotes from his robe and slapped it right onto Zhuihua’s nose as he appeared on the spot.
The fury on Zhuihua’s face vanished instantly, replaced by a beaming smile.
His ability to switch expressions was second to none.
“You—you’re my very best little junior brother! Whatever you want, even if it means stomping my face into the dirt, your big brother won’t complain one bit.”
Zhuihua quickly stuffed the notes into his robe, his eyes practically groveling.
Little Junior Brother was truly something—having the richest man in the world as a backer sure made him generous.
Yun Chunfeng held out his hand: “The formula.”
“Of course, of course! A mere formula isn’t enough—as your senior brother, I must give you a live demonstration!”
Back when Zhuihua first started learning alchemy, he’d tossed all the ingredients into the furnace at once and nearly sent the entire sect to the afterlife.
The blast was far more powerful than anything those Northern Luo scoundrels had strapped to themselves.
That blunder was considered his greatest shame—anyone who brought it up was practically begging for a fight. But when it came to spirit stones, nothing else mattered.
He flawlessly recreated the entire process from that day. After sealing the furnace and lighting the fire, he threw a protective barrier around it.
Boom!
Even the barrier couldn’t contain the earth-shaking blast. Every soldier in the Huo Family Army was jolted awake.
Jiang Xingyan’s eyes went wide: Mountain-shaker!
This was the real Mountain-shaker!
Only this kind of power could split mountains, crack the earth, and collapse underground palaces.
Compared to this, those black powder pouches on the Northern Luo soldiers were nothing but child’s play!
In her excitement, Jiang Xingyan grabbed Yun Chunfeng’s wrist and exchanged a glance with him—both saw the elation in each other’s eyes.
The smoke within the barrier cleared.
Tieshi and Xiao Chonghua were utterly stunned.
A waist-high alchemy furnace had been blown to pieces, leaving a deep crater in the ground inside the barrier.
“I don’t know how those Northern Luo folks made their stuff, but Zhuihua’s version is absolutely reliable.”
Zhuihua never expected that, one day, his failed alchemy formula would sell for more than a furnace full of fine pills.
Jiang Xingyan’s eyes lit up at the whole setup: “Daoist Zhuihua, how many sets of this can you give me?”
Zhuihua’s mind raced.
“I’ve got fifty furnaces about this size in my storage ring. As for ingredients, I can split them into fifty portions too. If Junior Sister-in-law—”
“Ahem!”
Yun Chunfeng frantically signaled Zhuihua with his eyes, but Zhuihua, caught up in the excitement of landing a big order, had already blurted it out—there was no taking it back.
Xiao Chonghua’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Junior Sister-in-law?!
When did a woman show up among these people?!
