Cultivation Simulator: Starting From The Empress' Palace

The sun set and rose, morning light spilled over the tranquil mountain hollow.

Wugong Hollow lay between two mountains, surrounded by steep slopes.

On these slopes, tens of thousands of Yellow Turban Bandits were already lying in ambush.

Although Han Zhong’s troops numbered one hundred thousand, several times the Imperial court’s reinforcements, combined with the geographical advantage and an ambush, victory was almost certain.

But Han Zhong was not careless.

Yet among these hundred thousand troops, only less than thirty thousand were real soldiers with combat power. The rest were peasants recruited from Wuling County, although they had some strength, they were just ordinary people, not even martial artists.

Fortunately, after more than ten days of training, they understood some formations and could follow commands.

In Han Zhong’s plan, he would wait until half of the Imperial court’s reinforcements entered the hollow before launching the attack, starting with rolling logs followed by an arrow shower, leaving the enemy helpless before charging in for the kill.

From their rear in Wugong Hollow, Quan Qiyang did not expect anyone to ambush here, and thus unwittingly fell into the enemy’s trap.

After a rain of arrows, the thirty thousand Imperial Guard soldiers were thrown into chaos.

Tens of thousands of Yellow Turban Bandits surged down from all sides of the hollow.

”Form up!”

”Form up!”

”Form up, quickly!”

Quan Qiyang was taken aback and hastily commanded the troops to form up to resist the enemy charge.

”Cavalry, follow me to break through!” Quan Qiyang shouted, attempting to lead the cavalry to carve a bloody path out.

Rabble are just rabble.

Though the Imperial Guard lacked battle experience and were accustomed to slackness, they were all martial artists, especially the Personal Guards Department, every single one of them was a Seventh Grade Martial Artist or higher.

Despite being caught off guard by the ambush from the Yellow Turban Bandits, due to the disparity in strength, Quan Qiyang actually managed to break open a gap.

But soon, Han Zhong’s personal guards sealed it tight.

”Kill all these lapdogs for me!” Han Zhong led his personal guards straight towards Quan Qiyang.

They were already gaining the upper hand, and by killing the main general, this ambush could conclude.

With the numerical advantage, it took three Yellow Turban soldiers to take down one Imperial Guard, and with the latter’s formation disrupted, within a short period, the thirty thousand Imperial Guard soldiers had suffered thousands of casualties.

Bodies were piled up in the hollow.

When the thirty thousand Imperial Guard troops suffered casualties close to ten thousand,

Thud, thud, thud...

The ground trembled.

A sudden strange sound echoed, resembling either distant drumming or the stampede of countless beasts.

In the thick of the melee, Han Zhong was startled; it was the sound of hoofbeats, and from the sound, there were many.

Before he could send anyone to investigate, a Yellow Turban soldier rushed over in panic, trembling, ”L-lord... something... something’s wrong, a large force of official troops is charging towards us.”

”What?” Han Zhong’s face changed drastically.

Where did these soldiers come from?

Wasn’t the Imperial court only sending these thirty thousand reinforcements, while the rest were confronting the allied forces of the Eighteen Lords at the front line in Qinyang County?

”Kill!”

”Charge!”

Before Han Zhong could think further, the sounds of battle cries erupted from behind them.

Chen Mo charged at the forefront with hundreds of light cavalry, spear in hand, killing several Yellow Turban Bandits in one thrust, shouting furiously:

”Kill them all, leave none alive!”

His voice was like thunder, overpowering the noise of thousands of troops and reaching everyone’s ears.

Immediately, Han Zhong felt a tidal wave of sound coming from his left flank.

”Kill!”

”Charge!”

Han Zhong saw the figure on the white horse and the fluttering flag with ”Chen” behind him, and his pupils contracted, his face trembling.

”Chen... Chen Hong.” This was a face he would never forget, last time at Huayang Slope, he was nearly taken down by him.

”It’s General Chen Mo, our reinforcements have arrived.” Seeing Chen Mo, Quan Qiyang was first stunned, as it was most expected for Chen Mo to be in Qinyang County, he never imagined he’d appear here, then he rejoiced, they were saved.

”Brothers, General Chen Mo has sent troops to support us, follow my command, fight your way out.” Quan Qiyang raised his arm and called.

”Kill—”

”Kill—”

The force surged like a tide.

The Yellow Turban army, initially having the upper hand, collapsed under the pincer attack from the Imperial Guard.

”Lay down your weapons, surrender and you won’t be killed.” Chen Mo originally intended to leave none alive, but given their lack of troops, and most of the Yellow Turban soldiers were peasants who rebelled because they had no choice, the idea of incorporating them to defend the city seemed promising.

”Surrender and you won’t be killed!”

”Surrender and you won’t be killed!”

Those below relayed Chen Mo’s command.

Most of these Yellow Turban soldiers rebelled simply to have something to eat, now at the brink of life and death, hearing that surrendering would spare their lives, they dropped their hoes, sickles, and other weapons, squatting down.

”Commander, run quickly, you... you should cover the commander to escape.” Han Zhong’s personal soldiers wished to shield him out.

They knew their fate would not be the same as these ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers.

If they surrendered, only death awaited them.

”Where are you running to, kill!” Chen Mo also remembered Han Zhong, wasn’t this the Yellow Turban leader who ran away at Huayang Slope...

This time, he couldn’t let him escape again.

Chen Mo charged directly into the enemy ranks.

The personal soldiers protecting Han Zhong were dismembered by Chen Mo in a few encounters.

Han Zhong was captured alive by Chen Mo, and his cultivation was sealed by Chen Mo.

As there was much to ask him, his life was spared.

Chen Mo instructed the men below to register the surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers, noting where they were from, their age, family size, recording everything.

This way, if they ever thought of betraying later on, the cost of betrayal would be even greater.

Chen Mo left behind a battalion, while the rest of the troops, including the nearly forty thousand incorporated Yellow Turban soldiers, were led by Quan Qiyang to support Qinyang County.

Seizing the gap while the men below cleaned up the battlefield, Chen Mo had Han Zhong brought over, drew his sword Tianwen from his waist, and pointed it directly at Han Zhong, his gaze calm: ”What’s your name?”

Han Zhong remained defiant, after a cold snort, he turned his head to the side, seemingly refusing to answer.

”You’re gutsy,” Chen Mo said, ”Let’s see how long you can keep up that courage.”

He casually swung the sword, Sword Qi swept out, severing Han Zhong’s right arm, blood sprayed out like a fountain.

”What’s your name?” Chen Mo sheathed his sword and asked, ”If you don’t say, next will be the left arm.”

The immense pain caused Han Zhong to collapse to the ground, his face pale.

He never expected Chen Mo to not bother with torture and directly sever his limb.

No one came on this hard from the start.

He fell silent for a second.

Chen Mo then continued, ”Very well, gutsy indeed.”

Just as Chen Mo was about to cut off Han Zhong’s left arm, he hurriedly said, ”I’ll talk, I’ll talk, I’ll talk.”