I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 17: The Dragon Formation, the Confucianism-Taoism Dispute

"Die!"

Seeing that the enemy was about to leave the coverage of Huang Tiandao Kingdom, He Man suddenly exerted force with his right arm and threw the weapon in his hand out.

The huge iron club came whirling and spinning, and before it got close, the strong wind was already blowing in our faces.

"Yanyun, be careful!"

Wang Jing was riding on a horse and kicked Wang Ling several feet away. At this moment, a spinning iron club fell on his head, smashing Wang Ling's mount into a meat paste. The sight of blood and flesh flying everywhere almost scared Wang Ling to death.

so close!

I almost died without a complete body!

Where the iron club fell, flames shot up into the sky and poisonous smoke covered the area, turning it into an impassable and dangerous place of death.

Due to this delay, He Man had already caught up.

He was eighty feet tall and walked very fast. In a few leaps, he had already reached Wang Ling. At this moment, He Man's eyes were filled with hatred, and he punched out without saying a word.

The millstone-sized fist was a creepy dark blue color, with poisonous smoke curling around it. The friction with the air ignited a raging flame, and it fell heavily towards Wang Ling like a meteorite falling to the ground.

"Come and pay for my second brother's life!"

At this moment, He Man still regarded Wang Ling as the murderer of He Yong.

Just when Wang Ling was about to die under He Man's fist, Wang Jing made a move. The Seven Star Sword came out with a sharp and fierce blade, and he slashed towards He Man's fist with an unstoppable momentum.

Dang~
The blade hit the fist, making a sound like a huge bell.

The sword energy is unstoppable!
The punch is vicious and ferocious!

For a moment, no one could do anything to anyone else.

But Wang Jing was ultimately not strong enough, and when he was blown away by He Man's powerful force, he also picked up Wang Ling. The two retreated to a distance of ten feet before they stood firm, and then looked at He Man's huge body with caution.

When her "enemy" was rescued in front of her, He Man was furious. She rushed towards Wang Jing and Wang Ling, and while running she reached out and picked up the iron club that was sticking on the ground.

He Man wielded the iron club, his face ferocious, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "Today you will all die!"

Wang Jing shouted, "This man is incredibly powerful, don't take it head-on!"

There was no need for Wang Jing to remind them. Xu Lan and the other sword guards knew, just by looking up at He Man's eight-foot-tall body, that they were no match for him and that they could only engage in a fight.

Xu Lan had hunted huge monsters and ghosts outside Yanmen Pass before, so he did not panic when facing a huge enemy like He Man. Instead, he shouted, "Sword guards, listen to my order, use the dragon-binding rope!"

"Yes!"

Following Xu Lan's order, the sword guards took out a bunch of black gold ropes from their bags. The ropes were as thick as thumbs, with metallic color and texture, yet as soft as hair.

"Set up the formation!"

brush brush~
The sword guards took up positions at the four corners, east, south, west and north. After they stood still, they swung out the dragon-binding ropes in their hands and wrapped them around He Man, first around his neck, then his arms, then his waist, and finally his feet.

The other end of the Dragon Binding Rope was nailed to the ground with a magic sword that was flashing with rune light. The magic sword was only one foot long and had not been sharpened, so it was obviously not a weapon used in battle.

"Want to trap me? Dream on!"

He Man's martial arts skills were already quite high, and now he had the power of the Heavenly Talisman added to him. Although he couldn't move a mountain, he could pull out a tree like an onion. How could he be afraid of this small rope?

The thumb-thick dragon-binding rope fell on his body and was about the same thickness as a hair, so He Man didn't care at all. He suddenly exerted force with his knotted muscles, trying to break free from the restraints on his body.

However, no matter how hard he tried, the black gold rope became tighter and tighter, and even began to dig into his flesh, cutting him and making him bleed profusely.

Xu Lan stood up straight with cold eyes, and said in a clear voice: "The Dragon Binding Rope is made of Bingzhou's specialty golden silk. It is naturally endowed with a trace of Gengjin aura, and even divine weapons cannot cut it. Now it has formed a great dragon-suppressing formation in all directions of heaven and earth, and can use the power of the earth veins to trap and kill even dragons. No matter how powerful you are, you can't break free."

"I do not believe!"

He Man roared with unwillingness, but even if he had tremendous power, how could he contend against the earth?
The power of the earth veins is continuously transmitted along the dragon-binding rope through the magic sword, maintaining the operation of the dragon-subduing formation in all directions of heaven and earth. As Xu Lan said, even if a dragon falls into this formation, it can only be slaughtered.

Wang Jing looked at Xu Lan and said, "With this treasure, why didn't I see you using it before?"

Xu Lan shook her head and explained in a low voice in his ear: "It is extremely difficult to break the Heaven and Earth Four Directions Subduing Dragon Formation from the inside, but it is easy to break it from the outside. Any farmer can pull out the magic sword stuck in the ground. And once the suppression of the earth vein power is lost, how can He Man be trapped? If he hadn't been so arrogant this time, he would have dared to come and kill us alone, and this formation would not have been able to trap him."

Seeing that the Yellow Turban Army was approaching, Wang Jing dared not hesitate. He immediately stepped on the Dragon Binding Rope and jumped onto He Man's shoulders. Without saying a word, he struck with a flaming palm.

Dang~
However, this blow, which was powerful enough to split mountains and rocks, only made a loud noise when it hit He Man's temple.

The real fire was blocked by an invisible air shield and could not fall on He Man's body.

He Man was slapped so hard that his head felt dizzy, but after the pain subsided, he was still unharmed. He laughed fiercely: "You can't break my body-protecting golden light. When my Yellow Turban warriors come, I will peel off your skin and pull out your bones!"

"I just don't believe that your magic power is endless!"

"What are you still standing there for? Come on, kill this bastard!"

After saying that, Wang Jing used his sword and palm together, the Flame Sun Shock, and the Hundred Battles Sword Technique, and attacked He Man's head without paying any attention to how furiously the other party cursed.

"rat!"

"Let go of your restraints and fight me fair and square!"

"What kind of skill is it to use external objects?"

Wang Jing didn't listen to He Man's nonsense at all, just thinking he was talking nonsense. In order to undermine his fighting spirit, he even deliberately mocked him, "Haha, idiot, if you have the guts, just remove the power of the heavenly talisman. Without the protection of the Taoist magic, I can smash your head to pieces with just one slap. Do you believe it?"

Xu Lan hesitated for a moment, but finally drew his sword and stabbed He Man.

"Second brother, isn't this a bit too shameless?"

"Humph, what do you know? In a battlefield, you should use all means possible. As long as the result is victory, what's the point of being mean or not?"

Wang Jing was talking, but his hands never stopped for a moment.

Wang Ling sighed, and immediately swung his sword towards He Man's ankle. The other sword guards also rushed forward and began to "manicure He Man's feet".

Although the golden light protecting his body from swords and knives was strong, the magic power was not endless. He Man felt like he was being bitten by ants, but now he was trapped in the formation and trapped by the Dragon Binding Rope. No matter how angry he was, he had no way to break free.

clang clang ~
The golden light protecting the body became dimmer and death was approaching.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Cut it off!"

He Man struggled hard, but the Dragon Binding Rope sank deeper and deeper, and even large pieces of flesh and blood fell like rain, making him look like he was being tortured by slow slicing. However, the Fu Long Formation remained motionless.

At this moment, He Man's subordinates finally caught up. Hundreds of Yellow Turban strongmen came running towards him with big strides, which rekindled the fire of hope in He Man.

"Qu handsome!"

"Someone come and help me pull out the magic sword from the ground!"

He Man shouted angrily, and the golden light protecting his body was about to dissipate. He now only wanted to break free from the Dragon Binding Rope as soon as possible.

Seeing their commander trapped in the enemy's trap, He Man's men immediately ran over like crazy, "Hurry up and rescue Commander Qu!"

"You despicable villain, let my Qu Shuai go!"

"Brothers, hurry up!"

The tall Yellow Turban warriors began to charge the formation. Wang Jing immediately ordered Wang Ling: "Yanyun, you lead the sword guards to resist. You must not let these Yellow Turban warriors get close to the formation."

"Yes!"

Wang Ling took the order and left, bringing with him more than a hundred sword guards and eight hundred soldiers. They quickly formed a circular formation, standing like a rock in the face of the enemy's overwhelming attack.

"Hold your ground!"

"Fight to the death and never retreat!"

Wang Ling drew his sword and roared, using his Confucian magical powers to stimulate his inner energy and inspire morale.

He was incredibly gifted and was a well-deserved prodigy among the younger generation of the Wang family in Taiyuan. Like Wang Yun, he was a man of both civil and military talents. Therefore, in addition to swordsmanship, he also read Confucian classics and military strategies.

Now, at only sixteen years old, he has the potential to be a famous general.

What he lacked was only the temperature for refining Qi. He had not yet mastered the Taiyuan Wang family's ancestral magical skill "Nine Refinings of True Yang".

Thousands of Yellow Turbans rushed in, and the 300 Yellow Turban warriors who rushed in the front soon collided with the sword guards. The Yellow Turban warriors who drank the human talisman water had amazing brute force. Even if they were just wielding crude weapons, they could knock down trees as thick as bowls and break the formation easily.

However, when they crashed into the sword guards, it was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

The sword guards didn't move at all, but they themselves were blown away by the recoil force.

Some Yellow Turban warriors who had experience fighting against the government troops screamed in shock and anger when they saw that the enemy formation was indestructible: "Ah, the qi and blood are connected, and the formation is formed, it is an iron wall fighting method!"

Every time the Yellow Turban Army encountered the government army's formations and tactics, they would suffer heavy losses. A ragtag army without formations and tactics was completely a mess, and no matter how many people they had, they were still a mob.

He Man's troops of the Yellow Turban Army, with several times the number of troops, attacked fiercely for a whole cup of tea, but still could not break into the formation.

On the contrary, He Man's protective golden light finally couldn't hold on, and shattered in the light of Wang Jing's sword.

The gas mask disappeared, and blood began to flow from every blow.

"I hate it..."

"Go down there with your brothers!"

With a "pop" sound, the Seven-Star Knife in Wang Jing's hand pierced into He Man's temple. Although the Seven-Star Knife was a short knife, the knife energy it emitted was like a white rainbow piercing the sun, directly piercing through He Man's head, crushing his brain, and passing through his body from the other side.

Brains gushed out along with blood, and He Man's angry and resentful expression froze in an instant. His huge body lost its support and fell to the ground with a bang. The deadly poison accumulated in his body from practicing poison skills also began to run wild because he lost the vitality to suppress it.

The venom that seeped out of the pores immediately burned when it came into contact with the air, turning into bursts of poisonous smoke that filled the surroundings.

Wang Jing only smelled a little and suddenly felt dizzy and sore limbs. Fortunately, Danyu Holy Flame can not only restrain ghosts, but also restrain all toxins in the world.

As the mysterious power turned, Wang Jing's mind suddenly became clear: "Retreat quickly! This smoke is poisonous!"

After saying that, he put his arm around Xu Lan's slender waist and flew away, away from He Man's body.

"Ah, Master Qu is dead!"

"Run for your life!"

"Revenge for Commander Qu!"

After He Man's death, the Yellow Turban Army under his command immediately became leaderless. Some wanted to fight to the death, but more people just wanted to escape.

Once the formation was disrupted, what awaited them was naturally only ruthless slaughter.

Wang Ling seized the opportunity and led his troops to counterattack. He quickly killed those who were resisting stubbornly on the spot. The rest of the defeated soldiers were too lazy to pursue them and stayed by Wang Jing's side.

Wang Jing, who was a little exhausted from chopping, patted Wang Ling on the shoulder and said, "Well done, Yanyun."

"Brother, are you okay?"

Wang Ling looked concerned.

Wang Jing waved his hands, indicating that he was fine: "It's just that he's exhausted. This bastard's head is really hard. It took me a long time to break through his defense."

After saying that, Wang Jing looked at He Man's body that was still burning. With He Man's death, the poisonous fire burned, and the magic power of the heavenly talisman in his body was rapidly lost. His huge body began to shrink rapidly, and finally turned into ashes.

A light breeze blew, and He Man's ashes flew up, revealing a copper belt that was originally buried by the ashes.

"what?"

Wang Ling picked up the belt from the ground and then showed joy: "It's the Lion Barbarian Treasure Belt!"

Xu Lan was also a little surprised: "Such treasures are only issued by the court to military officers above the rank of lieutenant. Who did He Man take it from?"

At this time, Liu Hong had not passed away yet, and the chaotic times had not yet begun, so the rank of military officers was still very valuable. It was not like the chaotic middle and late periods of the Three Kingdoms, when generals were everywhere and governors were worse than dogs.

Generally speaking, if a military general could reach the rank of Colonel or General of the Household, that was almost the top.

Therefore, it is very rare for the Lion Barbarian to carry such equipment, and it is considered a good treasure.

Wang Jing didn't mind that this trophy was stripped from a dead person. He put it on directly and was immediately surprised to find that his strength and defense had been increased to a certain extent.

"Brother, how is the effect?"

"Great! I feel like I can kill a cow with just one punch now!"

Feeling the surge of power in his body, Wang Jing looked excited, but then he felt a little regretful: "It would be great if I could take off a piece of armor."

Bao Hong, the captain of the lower army, was wearing a piece of armor that was impervious to swords and spears, water and fire. The armor was of high quality. Although Wang Jing did not know its name, he was very envious of it.

Hearing this, Xu Lan could not help but said venomously: "If He Man wore a piece of armor today, we would all die here. Moreover, wearing armor requires a certain level of cultivation, and some even require a special physique. Otherwise, even if it is placed in front of you, you will not be able to wear it."

Wang Jing didn't dwell on this matter too much. After cleaning up the battlefield, he prepared to continue evacuating.

Wang Ling looked worried: "Second brother, are we going to withdraw like this?"

"What else? Now that such a huge change has occurred in Gepi, the outcome of the battle is no longer something you and I can decide. We must preserve our strength first, and then we can consider what to do next."

On the way back to Qiao County, Wang Jing met Cao Ren who had just been separated from him: "I am relieved to see that you are okay, Zixiao."

"Thanks to you, Yuan Xu, for waking me up. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten away so easily this time."

Talking about the situation at that time, Cao Ren's expression was solemn and he was filled with fear.

The power of the Huang Tiandao Kingdom is too strange. If he is not careful, he may even lose his life in Gepi. Although he has a trump card given by the elders of the Cao family in this battle.

But he had no confidence at all whether his trump card could withstand the encroachment of Huang Tiandao Kingdom.

Seeing that Cao Ren was safe and sound, Wang Jing then asked about the whereabouts of Huang Wan and Bao Hong: "Where are Huang Yuzhou and Captain Bao?"

Cao Ren's eyes were filled with anxiety, and he felt very uneasy: "I don't know either. I haven't seen them along the way. I'm afraid they have already fallen into Huang Tian."

At this time, Gepi.

The Huangtian Dao Kingdom formed a vast Dao domain that covered the sky and blocked out the sun.

Enshrouded in the waxy yellow light, the dragon energy of the powerful man who was able to break through anything could hardly advance an inch and was blocked outside.

However, there was a crescent-shaped jade bead on Huang Wan's waist, which emitted a hazy moonlight that lingered three feet around his body, blocking Huang Tian's power outside and protecting Huang Wan's soul from being eroded by Huang Tian's power.

Bao Hong also relied on the Iron Beast Swallowing Armor on his body to maintain his clarity of mind. He was seen holding the sword tightly in his hand and concentrating on being alert to his surroundings.

At this moment, a frivolous voice sounded in their ears: "Welcome to the Huangtian Dao Kingdom."

Huang Wan looked at the mysterious masked man who reappeared with a solemn expression: "Starting a war and slaughtering innocent people, just to use their spirits to forge magical instruments, so this is the Taoist's plan! You claim to be righteous, but practice such evil methods, aren't you afraid of God's punishment?"

"Hehe, a passerby was about to die of starvation, and you stepped forward and stabbed him. So, is he starved to death, or was he killed by you? The refugees in this world have no place to live, are hungry, and are about to die. Could it be that it is the fault of my Taoist sect?"

Facing the mysterious masked man's sarcasm, Huang Wan retorted: "Humph, you are just making sophistry! If it weren't for you, the Taiping Dao, who deceived the refugees, how could there be such a tragic scene? Countless people have been displaced and buried in the war because of your ambitions. You are to blame!"

"Haha, the Confucian scholars boast of their vast knowledge and their speeches are always high-sounding, but in the end, aren't they still exploiting the people? Now that the world is in turmoil and the people are full of resentment, they blame me, Emperor Xuanzong, for starting the war?"

The mysterious masked man smiled coldly. Now that Huang Wan and Bao Hong were trapped in a jar, he was not in a hurry to take action.

"The Dao Sect is going against the will of Heaven and plotting evil. They will not have a good end."

Huang Wan's eyes were filled with resentment. He came from a Confucian background, so naturally he couldn't stand the practices of the Taiping Dao. Now he regarded the person in front of him as an ambitious person within the Taoist sect.

"Haha, didn't the Confucian school do such things long ago? And they are more adept at it than our Taoist school. Could it be that Huang Yuzhou has forgotten the old story of Wang Mang in the Xin Dynasty? If Wang Mang hadn't usurped the throne, how could the Confucian school have occupied 70% of the Central Plains and formed a situation where the emperor and the literati ruled the world together? Now that our Taoist school has followed suit, why not?"

"You! You're talking nonsense!"

Although Huang Wan wanted to refute, Wang Mang was indeed the leader of Confucianism in the past, and his moral character was unrivaled in the country. Otherwise, he would not have been strongly recommended by Confucianism from top to bottom.

However, the final result was beyond everyone's expectations.

The dispute between Taoism and Confucianism has a long history.

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the emperor governed the country with the teachings of Huang-Lao. It was not until the reign of Emperor Wu that Confucianism rose to prominence, replacing Taoism as the country's most prominent school of thought.

The emergence of the Map of Mountains, Rivers, and States made Taoism no longer able to compete with Confucianism for destiny, and it was forced to retreat to the second line.

In Huang Wan's view, the emergence of Taiping Dao was Taoism's counterattack against Confucianism, and Huangtian Dao Kingdom must be the Taoist national treasure used to fight against Shanhe Shejitu.

(End of this chapter)