Chapter 2629: War-time Kidnapping

Chapter 2629: Wartime Kidnapping

Boom! Rumbling!

The chaos in the San Xian Jie continued on a massive scale, with flames of war and smoke billowing across the heavens and earth. Thunderous roars echoed through the universe as countless forces clashed, leaving mountains of corpses and rivers of blood in their wake.

"Tai Shan Pai, bring your family's Tian Shi, Dan Yao, Fa Qi, young ladies, and young wives to Tian Dang Shan to ransom your Zhang Jiao. No extensions if you miss the deadline."

Amid the fierce battle, a bold and commanding voice suddenly rang out—it was Ye Chen's voice, broadcast through the clones he had sent out earlier, spreading across every battlefield and throughout the entire San Xian Jie.

Everyone who heard it froze in surprise.

"Stop."

Niu Mo Wang, who was locked in combat with the sixth hall master of Tai Shan, abruptly halted. His cow ears perked up, and his eyebrows shot high, as if he thought he had misheard.

He listened again to confirm it wasn't a mistake—there was even an echo.

He looked at the sixth hall master of Tai Shan with a strange expression. "It seems your Zhang Jiao has been kidnapped."

The sixth hall master of Tai Shan furrowed his brow slightly. Niu Mo Wang had sharp ears, but so did he, and he had heard it too—yet he refused to believe it. Their Zhang Jiao was in the Tai Shan stronghold, protected by walls and barriers. Who could get in? And even if someone did, how could they kidnap the Zhang Jiao from the heart of Tai Shan?

"The Zhang Jiao has been kidnapped?"

The Tai Shan soldiers in that area of the battlefield were all stunned, their faces blank with confusion.

"The Tai Shan Zhang Jiao has been kidnapped?"

Shocked voices echoed across various battlefields, even among the scattered cultivators who were just watching the spectacle. They cupped their hands and looked around, but couldn't pinpoint the source of the voice—they only knew it sounded familiar.

"Is the Zhang Jiao really kidnapped? Is this for real?"

"It's probably some schemer, most likely from Hua Shan, trying to disrupt Tai Shan's morale. They must be desperate to resort to this."

"You're absolutely right."

Discussions buzzed everywhere, with no one believing such an absurd claim. Tai Shan was one of the Five Sacred Mountains, a major force—how could their leader be kidnapped from their own stronghold?

As the discussions continued, a divine light streaked in from the horizon, appearing on every battlefield, especially around the Tai Shan forces. It wasn't true divine light, but glowing jade slips that exploded in midair above the crowds.

Then, images appeared before everyone's eyes: The Tai Shan Zhang Jiao had indeed been kidnapped.

The scenes also showed a familiar figure: Ye Chen.

The future Zhang Jiao of Hua Shan had stealthily entered Tai Shan, displaying incredible prowess as he cut down their experts, turning the scene into utter chaos.

In the end, he simply carried off the Tai Shan Zhang Jiao.

"Heavens! It really happened. When did Ye Chen leave Bu Zhou Mountain? He's got some nerve, going to Tai Shan to kidnap someone—or more accurately, to snatch them away and demand ransom."

"Who has time for kidnapping in the middle of a war?"

"It depends on who got kidnapped. The Tai Shan Zhang Jiao is like an emperor of his sect. With Tai Shan attacking Hua Shan, it's only fair for the future Hua Shan Zhang Jiao to return the favor. Ye Chen pulled off a brilliant move."

The scattered cultivators watching the show were thrilled, with figures crowding every hilltop, craning their necks to watch the projected images in the sky, their eyes shining with excitement.

Just as they thought—Hua Shan's future Zhang Jiao, that little stone spirit, was extraordinarily capable. He had stirred up chaos in the upper realms, toppling the Heavenly Court, and now back in the lower realms, he was causing just as much trouble. He didn't bother with ordinary targets; he went straight for the enemy's Zhang Jiao, boldly storming in to grab them.

Tsk, tsk, tsk!

Niu Mo Wang clicked his tongue, tilting his head back to watch, his mouth twitching at the corners. He was especially impressed by Ye Chen—that guy was something else. While we were fighting here, he managed to kidnap someone and make it count more than a million soldiers. The Tai Shan Zhang Jiao was worth an entire army!

"How is that possible?"

Compared to Niu Mo Wang, the sixth hall master of Tai Shan looked utterly grim. He hadn't believed it at first, but now he had to. He still couldn't fathom how Ye Chen had sneaked into Tai Shan to kidnap their Zhang Jiao—how he got in and out.

And what about Tai Shan's experts? What were they doing, letting someone waltz in and take their leader right from under their noses? How embarrassing.

"Tai Shan Pai, bring your family's Tian Shi, Dan Yao, Fa Qi, young ladies, and young wives to Tian Dang Shan to ransom your Zhang Jiao. No extensions if you miss the deadline."

Ye Chen's voice boomed again, full of audacious energy.

His clones, dispatched to the various battlefields, were working overtime, shouting at the top of their lungs, each one louder than the last, determined to spread his message across the entire realm.

The tenth emperor of Da Chu was quite considerate, fearing people might not believe it. Almost every battlefield had jade slips exploding, displaying the incriminating scenes clearly.

Throughout the heavens and earth, the rumbling of battle faded, replaced by a cacophony of discussions. Too many people tilted their heads skyward, staring in astonishment at the floating images, which told the story all too clearly.

Because of Ye Chen's words and those vivid images, the intense free-for-all came to a temporary halt. If it had been some minor figure kidnapped, it wouldn't have mattered, but this was the Tai Shan Zhang Jiao—a major lord of the San Xian Jie, commanding millions of troops. His capture had far-reaching implications.

"Is the news... accurate?"

At the peak of Hua Shan, the Hua Shan Zhen Ren paused, turning to the black-clad figure beside him—the master of Hua Shan's intelligence pavilion.

"It's from our scouts' images."

The black-clad figure smiled and quickly presented a jade slip. It contained the events from Tai Shan: a man in black clothes rampaging through, single-handedly breaking in and kidnapping the Tai Shan Zhang Jiao right in front of their experts.

"This..."

Seeing it was Ye Chen, not only Di Yuan Zhen Ren and Hua Shan Xian Zi, but all the Hua Shan elders and even the Hua Shan Zhen Ren were stunned. Did he have to be that bold? Sneaking into enemy territory to kidnap their Zhang Jiao and then demanding ransom from some random mountain?

And as for the ransom—fine, Tian Shi and Fa Qi we can understand, but what on earth are young ladies and young wives?

"Impressive!"

After the initial shock, the old folks grinned and clicked their tongues. Ye Chen had been absent since the war started, and no one expected him to stir up trouble in enemy territory. What a mess he'd made—their Zhang Jiao was captured.

"They're retreating! The Tai Shan forces are retreating."

Di Yuan Zhen Ren shouted, using the Huan Tian Water Mirror to see the battlefield. The Tai Shan army, like a receding tide, was pulling back without further resistance.

If Tai Shan were a dynasty, their Zhang Jiao was the emperor. With the emperor captured, what was the point of fighting? After years of battle, this was the most ridiculous turn—frontline soldiers charging ahead while the home base burned and their leader vanished.

"Tai Shan Pai, bring your family's Tian Shi, Dan Yao, Fa Qi, young ladies, and young wives to Tian Dang Shan to ransom your Zhang Jiao. No extensions if you miss the deadline."

The voice echoed once more across the San Xian Jie.

Now, even the scattered cultivators who hadn't joined the fight gathered in groups of three or five. Many left their hilltops and headed toward Tian Dang Shan. They were more interested in seeing the Tai Shan Zhang Jiao and that legendary figure Ye Chen firsthand—previously, they'd only heard his name; few had actually seen him.

Even the experts in the San Xian Jie who had been secretly sabotaging the Heavenly Court stopped their mischief and went to watch the excitement. This was truly fresh and entertaining.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

After a brief pause of about a dozen breaths, the chaos resumed.

Although Tai Shan had withdrawn, the other three sacred mountains fought on fiercely, along with the Heavenly Court's vassal forces and races. They remained dedicated—it wasn't their leader who was kidnapped, so let whoever it was deal with the ransom.

Meanwhile, at Tian Dang Shan.

At the mountain peak, Ye Chen's clone sat with one leg crossed over the other, puffing on a tobacco pipe, surrounded by swirling smoke as if he were cultivating.

The Tai Shan Zhang Jiao lay unconscious, bound beside him.

As for Ye Chen's true body, he had already set off toward Song Shan.

Collecting the ransom didn't require his personal involvement—the ransom itself wasn't the point. The goal was to throw Tai Shan into disarray and prevent them from attacking Hua Shan.

And it had worked. Tai Shan's main forces were in turmoil, their army had retreated, and the pressure on Hua Shan had eased significantly.

Before long, Tai Shan's experts arrived, a massive dark swarm that encircled Tian Dang Shan completely, layer upon layer.

More than half of them had ulterior motives. They claimed to be there for the ransom, but in reality, they wanted to eliminate their own Zhang Jiao.

They had even justified it to themselves: Tai Shan was poor and couldn't afford the ransom. Better to just end it all.