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Chapter 189: Jiang Ming’s Shock—His Volcanic Technique is Truly Terrifying?
🕑 Added 2024-10-31 16:42:43 +0000 UTC“Jiang Ming of the Zhenhai Army, a commander of the lower sixth rank, is stationed at Dongshang City. He’s eager to make achievements, and since Captain Liao has already spoken with him, he’ll certainly cooperate with us,” Chen Shijie explained to Zhao Xing as they sailed aboard the Yunyu Lou Ship, high in the turbulent winds.
“That dormant volcano is already surrounded by Jiang Ming’s troops, just waiting for us to arrive.”
“This sounds like he’s trying to curry favor,” Zhao Xing remarked. “Why would a commander personally oversee something like this?”
Chen Shijie chuckled, “You might not know this, but the Zhenhai Army is primarily a naval force. Their main troops are engaged upstream, along the southern banks of the Canglan River.”
“The battlefield around the Canglan River is one of the main fronts, but the Zhenhai Army’s performance has been, at best, mediocre.”
“In comparison to other units, they’re even somewhat lagging.”
“The upper reaches are controlled by the southern barbarians, making it tough for them to gain much ground. They’ve only managed some progress thanks to advances on other fronts, where the four royal courts are fighting and retreating. As a result, the Zhenhai Army has made slight headway.”
Zhao Xing understood now. Taming the Canglan River was no easy task, especially with the Water Shamans wreaking havoc upstream.
In Cloud City, Zhao Xing had nearly fallen into a trap. It had only been through the combined efforts of talents like Xia Jing, Wang Ji, and Cao Shuang that they had avoided disaster.
That time, the Bug Shaman had merely tested the waters with a small-scale disaster. An eighth-rank Bug Shaman’s attack was a minor probe.
Since the opening of the Merit Board, the intensity of such disasters had increased a hundredfold.
The Zhenhai Army might claim some victories today, but those would be offset tomorrow by setbacks. They had followed the advancing battle lines for thousands of miles, yet their war achievements remained minimal, far below the average.
“With other units feasting on victory, Zhenhai General Lan Hongming couldn’t sit still.”
“He pulled strings during the military council at Jiutian Yingyuan Prefecture, securing an opportunity to land troops. Eight thousand of his soldiers were brought ashore, including the unit commanded by Jiang Ming.”
“The other unit is led by Li Que, the superior of Chen Lu—the one you saved last time.”
Zhao Xing chuckled, “The Wolf God Tribe has been nearly wiped out by the Shenwei Army and the Lieyang Army. The only places left to fight are the southeastern Fire Dragon Pass and the southwestern Fengming Mountain ranges.”
“That old fellow has no luck.”
The Zhenhai Army, with its three-thousand-strong auxiliary force, wasn’t about to plunge into the Fengming Mountain Range. With no allied units in the vicinity, venturing into the vast mountains with so few troops would be tantamount to suicide.
Beyond Fengming Mountain lay the most formidable of the four royal courts: the Yan Guang Royal Court.
Even General Zhao had nightmares about Babock’s sand worms.
Anyone foolish enough to engage them would get themselves turned into dust.
“Perhaps it’s not just bad luck,” Chen Shijie reasoned. “The Zhenhai Army came ashore late. By then, all the offensive routes and battle sequences had already been allocated.”
“Without a good strategy, they could only stand back and wait for opportunities.”
Before they discovered the Earth Fire Lotus, Fire Dragon Pass had been an impenetrable stronghold.
Jiang Ming could only bide his time, relying on the larger units to carve out opportunities, as the battle zones were under strict control. Even if there were missions, he couldn’t overstep into others’ territories.
They were fighting an easy battle, and everyone wanted a share of the credit. Who would willingly give up any glory?
Now, Zhao Xing understood why Jiang Ming, a commander, was behaving so humbly.
Liao Rulong’s mere word had prompted Jiang Ming to personally oversee the volcano.
After all, fighting for merit wasn’t shameful.
“We’re almost there,” Chen Shijie announced as he glanced out of the window before swiftly moving to the command cabin to issue orders.
First, they raised the Shenwei Army’s battle flag to identify themselves to the small fleet of flying ships surrounding them.
Then, Chen Shijie sent a smaller boat ahead to negotiate. After multiple confirmations of their identity, they were escorted by fifty smaller ships into Dongshang City’s territory.
During this time, the Yunyu Lou Ship’s defensive formations were ordered to remain open, while twenty smaller ships kept their ballistae trained on it.
“Jiang Ming’s command seems quite strict,” Zhao Xing remarked as he descended from the Yunyu Lou Ship and boarded a Jianyu Flying Ship with Chen Shijie.
“It’s the shadow of having fought so many naval battles,” Chen Shijie replied in a low voice. “If you were constantly ambushed, you’d be this cautious too.”
“Here he comes. That Sanye Flying Ship is raising the commander’s ‘Moon Over the Sea’ flag.”
Before Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie could even land, Jiang Ming flew up into the sky to greet them.
The Zhenhai Army’s banner depicted a full moon hanging over the ocean.
In contrast, the Shenwei Army’s banner featured a celestial dragon rising into the clouds, encircled by a sword formation.
“Brother Chen, my apologies for not welcoming you sooner!”
Jiang Ming was a burly man with a typical general’s belly. When he lowered his head, he probably couldn’t see his own feet.
His head was somewhat round and chubby, giving him a rather wealthy appearance.
Zhao Xing could tell at a glance that Jiang Ming had mastered the “Gluttony Technique” and had likely cultivated it to the fourth layer or higher. He was at a critical stage where his internal energy was much stronger than that of an ordinary sixth-rank warrior. His endurance and defense far surpassed the norm for his rank.
However, this might have affected his agility.
If Jiang Ming couldn’t break through soon, he would remain stuck in this state.
“Commander Jiang, there’s no need for such formalities,” Chen Shijie replied. “We’re the ones imposing on you.”
“Not at all, not at all!” Jiang Ming laughed heartily, his cheeks bunching up. “The Shenwei Army’s business is the Zhenhai Army’s business! We’re all family, no need for such distinctions.”
“Brother Chen, have you eaten yet? Why not rest a bit first?”
Jiang Ming’s enthusiasm was borderline servile, despite outranking Chen Shijie. He avoided mentioning their difference in rank, instead addressing Chen Shijie as an equal.
Even Zhao Xing, standing next to Chen Shijie, was addressed as “Brother Zhao” by Jiang Ming.
However, Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie didn’t think less of him for this.
Zhao Xing understood Jiang Ming’s position all too well. In his past life, he had led a group of brothers, scraping by for survival. To secure tasks and earn merits, he had been even more deferential than Jiang Ming. For the right opportunity, he would have called a seventh-rank officer his godfather.
“I have military duties to attend to. I’d like to inspect the volcano first,” Chen Shijie said.
“Of course, of course,” Jiang Ming agreed, smiling widely. “I’ll take you both there immediately.”
Jiang Ming’s ship led the way, while Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie returned to the Yunyu Lou Ship.
Before long, they arrived at the southern part of Dongshang City, where a six-hundred-meter-high volcano stood.
Snow capped the summit, peach blossoms bloomed halfway up, but the base was barren, devoid of even a single blade of grass.
A ring of tents had been set up five miles from the foot of the mountain, where Jiang Ming’s Overturning Sea Ship was docked.
Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie circled the volcano once aboard their flying ship before descending for a closer look.
Jiang Ming followed them every step of the way, acting like a bodyguard, accommodating their every request.
“What do you think?” Chen Shijie asked Zhao Xing.
“It can be activated,” Zhao Xing said. “But the area needs to be cleared of people first.”
“How far do they need to withdraw? Will twenty miles suffice?”
“Make it thirty... no, forty miles.”
Chen Shijie raised an eyebrow. “That far? Is it really that dangerous?”
“My volcanic technique is somewhat unpredictable. I’m not sure how powerful it will be,” Zhao Xing explained, gesturing to the camps below. “But at this distance, it’s definitely not safe.”
Jiang Ming, overhearing the conversation, was equally surprised.
He hadn’t expected Zhao Xing, not Chen Shijie, to be the one in charge of activating the volcano.
Jiang Ming had heard of the volcanic technique before but hadn’t imagined that Zhao Xing would be responsible for using it.
And from what Zhao Xing was saying, it sounded like the technique’s power might be truly formidable.
Could it really be that even a distance of twenty miles wouldn’t be enough? Was this some sort of exaggeration?
“Commander Jiang, please have the soldiers at the foot of the mountain evacuate to at least thirty miles away,” Chen Shijie instructed.
“Understood,” Jiang Ming said, ever the obliging host.
He immediately ordered his forces to pack up and relocate thirty miles away to a desolate plain, well beyond the danger zone.
“Commander, the warships in the air below the fifth rank should also retreat,” Zhao Xing added.
Jiang Ming found this request odd. His ships were stationed a thousand meters above, in the stratosphere. Did they really need to pull back as well?
He wasn’t entirely convinced but decided to comply anyway.
He left only his Overturning Sea Warship in place.
“What’s next?” Jiang Ming asked.
“Now, we wait for Zhao Xing to perform the technique,” Chen Shijie replied.
The two men returned to the warship’s deck, watching as Zhao Xing descended toward the volcano.
With a gust of wind, the clouds parted as Zhao Xing landed on the rim of the volcanic crater.
“The crater has a diameter of 359 meters and a depth of 245 meters.”
“It’s just a small volcano.”
“Activating it shouldn’t be too difficult,” Zhao Xing thought.
The dormant volcano at Dongshang City was considered small. Its height was only around six to seven hundred meters, with a relatively shallow crater.
True large-scale volcanoes had diameters of over a hundred kilometers and depths exceeding five thousand meters.
Such a massive volcano would be beyond Zhao Xing’s ability to affect.
But this smaller one fell within his capabilities.
“The Volcanic Technique is an advanced method derived from the Five Elements Earth-Splitting Technique. Although it primarily focuses on fire-based attributes, it retains the characteristic of being influenced by fate.”
In other words, Zhao Xing’s volcanic technique still involved an element of luck, much like other mountain-shaping techniques.
However, being a higher-level method, it had a more directed effect.
“Shhh...”
Zhao Xing leaped onto the gray rock at the crater’s edge. Only the central twenty meters of the crater emitted faint wisps of smoke.
At first glance, not even magma was visible.
“Shoo!”
A beam of golden energy shot into a specific point.
“Rumble...”
The ground cracked, and a small spark flickered to life.
High-level volcanic techniques required a gradual process to take effect.
Mountain-shaping methods weren’t instant. They didn’t produce immediate results with just a wave of the hand.
Zhao Xing was, in fact, altering the structure of the mountain.
“Shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo!”
One after another, golden beams of energy burrowed into the ground.
After entering the volcanic crater, they continued their path deep into the earth.
Every hour, Zhao Xing would shift to a different location.
Sometimes, he would fly to the mountainside or base to cast his technique.
He would either break apart massive boulders or cause landslides.
He was like a craftsman, meticulously shaping the mountain.
Time passed as Zhao Xing worked his technique. Three days went by in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Ming, who had patiently observed the entire process, began to feel restless.
The volcano still appeared much the same as it had three days earlier.
Would it really work?
Jiang Ming couldn’t help but doubt.
However, he knew better than to question an expert in their field. Despite his concerns, he kept his thoughts to himself.
Instead, he occasionally offered words of encouragement to Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing, suggesting they take breaks to rest.
Zhao Xing did return to the warship twice to rest.
High-level techniques drained his energy to an extraordinary degree. Even at the thirty-eighth rank of Essence Gathering, the immense energy consumption was overwhelming.
“How are things looking?” Chen Shijie asked as he approached. He could already sense a shift in the earth’s energy, particularly the fire element, which was becoming increasingly intense.
“It’s almost ready. One more dive down, and I can activate the volcano,” Zhao Xing said as he ravenously devoured spirit fruits to replenish his energy.
Once he had regained his strength, Zhao Xing prepared to descend once more.
Before leaving, he glanced at Jiang Ming, “Commander Jiang, are you sure all personnel have been evacuated?”
Jiang Ming assured him, “Don’t worry. There isn’t a soul within thirty miles. Only we remain in the air.”
“That’s good to hear.”
With that, Zhao Xing jumped down.
Chen Shijie turned to Jiang Ming, “Commander Jiang, activate the defensive array on the Overturning Sea Warship and raise the altitude to fifteen hundred meters.”
“Set the defensive formation to its maximum strength.”
Jiang Ming hesitated, “Is that really necessary? This is a top-tier fifth-rank warship. Level two defense should be more than enough.”
Chen Shijie nodded firmly, “It’s necessary.”
Jiang Ming had no choice but to comply, albeit reluctantly.
On the fourth night.
The stillness of the dark night was shattered by a sudden explosion.
“Boom!”
It sounded as though a massive boulder had crashed to the ground, its impact reverberating deeply.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom...”
A series of successive explosions followed, their muffled reverberations creating a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. Even thirty miles away, the soldiers of the Zhenhai Army felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding, as though the entire world were bracing for a cataclysmic event.
The explosions lacked the sharpness of thunder, yet their slow, deliberate rumbling weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts. It was as if the very heavens and earth were preparing for an upheaval.
“What’s happening? Is it a thunderstorm?” Ouyang Song ran out of his tent, scanning the sky.
“It’s not thunder,” He Yu emerged as well. Both were military Shennong, and they immediately began investigating the source of the disturbance. “It’s coming from the direction of the volcano.”
“No way! We retreated thirty miles. How can we still hear it?”
He Yu suddenly crouched down, pressing his ear to the ground.
“It’s an earthquake.”
No sooner had he spoken than the ground began to tremble lightly.
“Quick! Notify the commander! We need to retreat further!” He Yu shouted.
“Do we really need to?” Ouyang Song asked.
“Have you forgotten what happened during the Ten Sun Cave-Heaven training? Back then, Zhao Xing was just at the ninth rank, and he carved a ten-kilometer isolation zone across the Earth Fire Plains.”
“Now he’s a solid seventh-rank expert!”
“Brother, use your head! Hurry up and notify the others!”
The memory of that incident sent a shiver down Ouyang Song’s spine. He had almost died of thirst in the Earth Fire Plains back then.
If it hadn’t been for Wei Chen of the Xuanjia Army giving him a canteen of water, he might never have made it to Yang City.
“I’m on it!”
As the rumbling continued for an hour.
Then, suddenly, everything fell silent, as if the world had returned to peace.
But in the very next moment—
“Boom!”
The night sky was instantly illuminated as if it were midday.
A massive mushroom cloud erupted from the volcano’s crater!
In the billowing, scorching smoke.
A pillar of crimson light shot skyward, like a fire dragon ascending to the heavens!
The world trembled!
“Swish!”
Zhao Xing’s figure rapidly ascended, emerging from the dark plume of smoke.
He leaped onto the deck of the Overturning Sea Warship.
Seeing this, Chen Shijie immediately shouted, “Run!!”
Jiang Ming felt his scalp go numb. From his vantage point on the deck, he watched in horror as the crimson pillar of fire pierced through the stratosphere in an instant.
The surrounding layers of wind and clouds were torn apart, and in mere moments, the fiery pillar reached the altitude at which their warship was hovering—fifteen hundred meters.
“Hard to port, ascend, to the southeast... Damn it!”
Before Jiang Ming could finish issuing his orders, the ship’s deck bucked with immense force.
The power was so overwhelming that even Jiang Ming, a sixth-rank warrior, couldn’t keep his footing. He was thrown into the air.
The others were similarly tossed about, crashing into the ship’s defensive array or slamming into the walls inside the ship.
Boom!
Despite its massive size and being a top-tier fifth-rank warship, the Overturning Sea Ship was struck by the fiery column, spinning wildly out of control!
It spun like a top, flung over three thousand meters away in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Ming’s head was spinning, his senses disoriented. The warship only stabilized after about a minute of spinning through the sky.
“Holy...!” Jiang Ming was in shock. “Is this the volcanic technique?”
Jiang Ming had always considered himself well-traveled. To have risen to the sixth rank, he had seen his fair share of battles.
But this—this was beyond anything he had ever witnessed.
The volcano’s crater, once only three hundred meters wide, now stretched over a kilometer!
Molten lava spewed forth, its searing heat creating a haze of smoke. The entire top of the volcano had been scorched red, casting an eerie glow that was blinding to look at.
Red volcanic ash swirled in the air, resembling dark clouds twisting and churning in the sky.
The intense heat surged from the depths of the earth, like a roaring beast seeking to assert its dominance, causing all living creatures to tremble before its might.
The sky above was now obscured by thick clouds, completely hiding the wind layers from view.
The ground around the volcano quaked endlessly, as if the earth itself was writhing in agony.
The volcanic eruption grew more violent, with lava flowing across the surrounding plains, transforming the landscape into a sea of molten fire.
In that brief moment of chaos and destruction, Jiang Ming was utterly shaken to his core.
Now he finally understood why Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing had repeatedly emphasized retreating to a safe distance.
This was the power of the natural world—a force beyond comprehension.
Had Jiang Ming not listened and activated the warship’s highest defense settings, the ship might have been incinerated!
If that had happened, neither the crew nor Jiang Ming himself would have stood a chance of survival.
A sixth-rank Heavenly Gang realm cultivator could survive in the thousand-meter wind layers.
But now, the very wind layer at three thousand meters above the volcano had been blown apart!
“Is anyone hurt?!”
“Where’s the medic? Get the medics here!”
Chen Shijie clung to a mast, shouting as the ship finally came to a stop.
Jiang Ming, shaken from his stupor, began assessing the damage and checking on the crew’s injuries.
After a stick of incense’s time, Jiang Ming slumped to the ground, drenched in cold sweat.
Fortunately, no one had died, though many had suffered broken bones from the violent jolt.
It was hard to imagine what would have happened if they hadn’t activated the defensive array in time.
Jiang Ming’s gaze toward Zhao Xing had completely changed.
His eyes were filled with awe and shock.
“The volcanic technique is truly terrifying. If my camp had been stationed at the base of that mountain, we would have been wiped out.”
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