Faced with thousands of people armed with swords and sticks, the only option was naturally surrender.
At present, more than two hundred people have been kneeling in an orderly manner in the Jingming religious altar square occupied by the Mahakala sect, all with their heads bowed to the ground, not daring to say much.
The Dark Sky Sect's soldiers formed a battle formation and surrounded the area.
Two consecutive victories have made this group of miscellaneous soldiers unable to determine their own capabilities. Each of them still thinks that he is an elite soldier and general, and they have become full of fighting spirit.
But it’s good to have higher morale - Xi Heng, who was sitting on the eaves next to him, thought silently.
I hope that when they face the army of the Goddess of Red Sky in the future, they will not flee at the sight of the enemy like they did today.
As long as this group of soldiers could hold out until the enemy charged before fleeing, she would be satisfied.
This is all Xi Heng expects from the miscellaneous soldiers of his own sect.
The girl's feet were swaying in the air as she listened casually to the missionaries accompanying the army below preaching and brainwashing the members of the Jingming Sect branch.
When the followers of the Jingming Sect saw the Dark Sky Sect's army attacking, they immediately surrendered and not many people died.
Those who surrender will naturally not be killed.
However, if they do not want to die, these pagans must change their minds and submit to the Great Dark Sky Mother.
So, the missionaries accompanying the army began to preach the doctrine of the Dark Sky Religion in front of more than 200 people kneeling on the ground, and belittled the Pure Fire Master they believed in as a pile of flames that were blown away by the Great Dark Sky Mother when she saved the world.
"When the heaven and earth were created, the four poles collapsed, the nine states shattered, the sky could not cover everything, the earth could not carry everything, the fire was not extinguished, the water was endless, and the birds of prey and evil beasts killed the people... The Dark Sky Mother blew the eternal fire and pushed it to the far end of the Chongyang... The white pure fire gathered in the fire, and it is the Pure Fire Mingzun that you believe in."
"The Pure Fire hated the Heavenly Mother because it was driven, so it deceived the world and said that the Heavenly Mother was an evil god... The Great Dark Sky is actually the mother of all living things. You have been harmed by the evil, and you must return to the right path!"
After saying it a few times, let the people kneeling below repeat the doctrine.
Although these believers who could not even read a single word recited the scriptures incomprehensible, as long as the main idea was repeated, they could squat down and rest instead of having to kneel all the time.
After a while, the missionary priest began to talk about other doctrines.
In the several months since Xi Heng left Jinshi, the Dark Sky Sect's doctrines have apparently become quite complete.
During the missionary journey, they would also encounter resistance from more determined Jingming religious believers.
But as long as the rebels were dragged out and beheaded, the remaining captives would become unusually obedient - their shouts would even increase a lot when they repeated the teachings of the Dark Angel Religion.
Gradually, after the teachings were finished, the leader of the hall led his troops to force the followers of the Jingming Sect to smash the statues and symbols of the gods.
A set of processes is carried out step by step, gradually allowing them to break through their own bottom line.
After a while, all the symbols of Jingming Sect here were smashed into pieces, turning into large and small stones that gathered together.
The believers who originally firmly believed in the Jingming Sect now had a look of despair in their eyes.
As for those new members who didn't have a deep understanding of the religion, their eyes were filled with confusion and fear, but they didn't really struggle in their hearts.
Whatever they are asked to do, they will do it right away.
It didn't take long before the two hundred or so people in the Jingming Sect branch had all been educated.
Xi Heng rested here for a night, then continued his journey with the Dark Sky Sect to attack the Red Sky Goddess on the eastern coast.
Before leaving, she had someone leave a book of doctrine here, asking the former followers of the Jingming Sect who had just been forced to have their brains cleansed to spread the teachings of the Dark Sky Sect here and turn it into a branch of the Dark Sky Sect.
After performing a few heart-shaking sword moves to show her power, she continued:
If these believers fail to preach to a thousand people when they return, or if they escape, they will be punished by the Great Dark Sky.
As for whether this threat would be effective, she herself didn't really care; it was just a scare.
Xi Heng is not a real demon. He will not find and kill anyone who disobeys his orders just because of a few words.
After that, she left with the army.
……
Walking on the flat official road, the Dark Sky Sect's miscellaneous soldiers had not encountered any patrols since they left Jinshi City.
This was probably because the number of officers and soldiers in this area had decreased a lot due to the previous invasion of the Tianliang rebel army.
However, it doesn't matter even if a team of soldiers comes to patrol. Just report the name of the Dark Sky Sect and explain that they are going to the eastern coast to attack the rebel Red Sky Goddess.
No matter whether the officers and soldiers believed it or not, the patrol team of only a dozen people at the post station had no ability to stop the followers of the Dark Heaven Sect. The most they could do was report it to their superiors.
Given the relatively weak influence of the Great Zhao in the southeast region, it was unable to organize an army to oppose her.
Even if the government wanted to mobilize fifty militiamen, it would require a series of approvals and it would take more than ten days to get a reply.
Unless there is a military headquarters stationed nearby, thousands of soldiers will not be affected by the government.
Not to mention, the army and the imperial court were actually happy to see the cult fighting, as it would also help relieve the pressure on their eastern coast.
So the journey went extremely smoothly.
After half a month, Xi Heng led a team of a thousand people through three states and conquered two branch temples of the Jingming Sect.
It is quite simple to find the branch temple of the enemy religion. Once you arrive at the place, you can just ask around for some information about the Jingming Sect, and then follow the information to look for believers, and you will be able to find out the location.
The enemy was completely unprepared for this kind of surprise attack, and they were easily captured each time. The captives would stand up and kneel to listen, and after being taught a lesson and destroying the Jingming Sect, the emperor would leave and continue on his journey.
Gradually, thousands of victorious troops of the Dark Sky Sect arrived at the vicinity of Dachen, which was controlled by the Red Sky Goddess.
……
Southeast coast, Pearl City.
The so-called Goddess of the Red Sky is now sitting in the large altar that was converted from the former government residence, handling the political affairs of Dachen under her leadership.
Although she only occupied two and a half states, she had already decided on the name of her country. Now, in addition to the title of Scarlet Sky Goddess, she also calls herself the "King of Qingxi".
This person had blonde hair and was wearing a long robe that was interwoven with white and gold. She had a fair and pretty face and could be considered a beauty, but she did not have the gentleness of an ordinary woman of that era. Instead, she always maintained a serious and dignified appearance that could not be desecrated.
Her slender fingers held a thin brush and she was constantly writing something on the document in front of her.
Before I finished writing, I heard hurried footsteps outside.
The footsteps approached quickly, and a messenger ran into the room, half-knelt down, raised his hands and said:
"My Lady Goddess, General Wang who was sent to mop up the mess was defeated by the Dark Heaven Sect. More than 2,000 of his men fled in all directions. The deputy general tried his best, but he could only gather 500 men!"
"Defeated?" The Goddess of Scarlet Sky stopped writing, her light grey pupils fixed on the messenger, her tone gradually becoming colder:
"Two thousand against one thousand, how did they lose?"
"My Lord, there is a demon among the Dark Sky Sect's people!" the messenger said nervously:
"After General Wang gave the order, he led his troops to charge. The enemy army began to disintegrate before they reached halfway. Suddenly, a red-clothed demon rushed out from the enemy and struck with a sword, resulting in a flash of blood. Then, dozens of people were torn apart from the chest and abdomen. The army was in a panic. The demon rushed over again and killed hundreds of people. General Wang was also beheaded by it among the thousands of soldiers!"
"Then everyone in all directions shouted 'demon'. The generals thought that no mortal could defeat a demon, and only the goddess could defeat it, so they all hurriedly fled back—"
"Demon?" She frowned.
"I originally thought that the Dark Sky Sect was just a clever name borrowing from me to compete for power, but now it seems to be more like a sect on earth than the Great Dark Sky..."
After a moment, the Goddess of Red Sky with her blonde hair spread out said, "Tell us more about the appearance of that demon."
"Yes!" The rumor spreader had experienced the battlefield before, and naturally could not forget the horrific scene in his heart. He used all the words he knew to try to describe it:
"The demon was dressed in red, holding two swords in his hands. He could travel over a hundred meters with one step. When he swung his sword, heads flew off. His black hair was stained with blood and fluttered. Wherever he passed, there was a bloody rain..."
He stumbled on for several minutes, while the Red Sky Goddess looked increasingly gloomy.
"So, it's only natural that General Wang was defeated after encountering a demon... You just said that her five fingers can grow bones?"
The person who spread the rumor nodded quickly.
"That is indeed an evil method, but I don't know where this demon came from... According to historical records, demons should not exist just one, and once they appear, they should appear in groups."
She pressed her temples:
"But there is only one rumor about a blood demon in this world. This blood demon might be the demon that led the Dark Sky Sect to attack."
"Can the goddess defeat the demons?"
Seeing that the goddess was only a little annoyed but not panicked at all, the messenger asked expectantly.
"It's just a demon. The magic of our Pure Fire Sect is used to slay demons and monsters." The Goddess of Scarlet Sky snorted softly:
"How dare the demon hurt my army and destroy my teaching platform? Pass on my order - assemble the army in front of Pearl City tomorrow morning and set out to attack!"
"Yes!"
"In addition." After the Red Sky Goddess finished talking about the demons, she asked about something more important in her heart:
"I spent so much effort and money to build this big ship. What's the current progress?"
"Replying to Lady Goddess, although the hull of the large ship has been constructed and can barely enter the sea... but it only takes half a year to urgently construct it. The wood is not dry enough and the quality is slightly inferior. It can only be used for two or three years at most before it rots and becomes loose..."
"That's enough." The Goddess of Red Sky nodded.
"After I kill the demon, I will launch the ship into the water and set sail for the Far East on a chosen day, crossing the Chonghai Sea and heading to the realm ruled by the legendary Pure Fire Master."
She led people to rebel not for the sake of the common people, nor for the sake of making life better for her subordinates.
Everything she did now was to collect and gather resources, mobilize the strength of the people, and build a huge ship that was rare in the world for her to cross the Chong Ocean and go to the place where the legendary Pure Fire Master was in the Far East.
After the Goddess of Red Sky said this, she shifted her gaze to the corner of the long table.
There, a book with a faint golden glow was quietly placed.
The cover of the book was covered with layers of twisted yet even patterns that looked like burning flames, and there were four words written on the cover.
"The Blazing Spirit Heavenly Law."
……
Some time ago.
Two hundred miles west of Mingzhu City, the battlefield has already ended.
Xi Heng had just single-handedly defeated the invading army of the Jingming Sect, and at this moment he was quietly wiping the sword in his hand with a silk cloth among the pile of corpses.
The blood on the sword was wiped clean, and the cold light glowed again.
The girl sheathed her sword, looked around at the familiar scene of corpses, and recklessly returned to the military headquarters where her subordinates were on duty, even though they were too stunned to know what to say.
"You guys did pretty well."
Even though these miscellaneous soldiers had not yet actually engaged the enemy, they had already begun to flee in panic.
However, at least they fled in a decent manner, no one was trampled, and no one among the 800 people was killed or injured.
As for why there were only 800 people left, it was naturally because they were consumed in the battles with other branches of the Jingming Sect on the way.
"I thought you would run away when you first saw the enemy's army, but I didn't expect you to be able to hold on until the enemy launched an attack before you started to flee."
Xi Heng said casually: "I think all the victories accumulated so many times before have not been in vain."
When the soldiers at the front heard this, most of them felt guilty.
The hall master who led the troops was so ashamed that he didn't know what to say.
"You don't have to participate in the next battle with the Scarlet Sky Goddess. I will be the only one who can do it."
Although Xi Heng spoke the truth, it sounded more like sarcasm to the soldiers below.
But no one dared to refute this, and they just thought about practicing well this time when they returned.
"As for you, just stand back and watch from afar."
After saying that, Xi Heng turned around and continued to move eastward, leaving the battlefield.
Senior Sister Hong Miao followed behind, looking silently at the hundreds of strange and terrifying corpses piled up on top of each other around them.
Although she had seen her junior sister killing people before, she had even used evil methods to turn hundreds of people into mummies last time.
But after the massacre, one could still see some unfamiliarity in Xi Heng's posture and movements.
But now, he has become very skilled.
I wonder how many people my junior sister killed when she left Jiangning City...
……
Three more days later.
Xi Heng led his men along the official road. Before they saw the capital city where the Goddess of Red Sky lived, they saw a cloud of dust flying high in the distance.
At first, only a few cavalrymen holding tall flags were visible in the dust, and then a dense crowd walked out from behind.
The soldiers in the front were each wearing paper armor, carrying shields and swords, and were obviously stronger than the miscellaneous soldiers led by Xi Heng.
Moreover, the troops behind were almost endless, first the sword and shield soldiers, then the spearmen and archers.
