Chapter 22: Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain Break Open a Path

The Art of War emphasizes: "Be swift as the wind, steady as the forest, intense as fire, immovable as a mountain, elusive as shadow, and fierce as thunder."
It means that in military operations, troops should move swiftly like the wind; when deployed, they should be orderly and composed like a forest, with orderly formations like the trees. During offensive actions, they should be fierce and aggressive like fire. While maintaining a defensive position, they should be immovable like a mountain. When concealing themselves, they should be as elusive as shadow, making it difficult for others to perceive them. And when launching an attack, they should strike fiercely and forcefully like thunder.
This is the essence of "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" in warfare, and in military formations, armies sometimes shout this slogan to boost their prestige. It is somewhat similar to the modern military's "1234" or other slogans. Just now, when Gu Qingcheng and her personal guards shouted in unison, "Wind," it was just like that.
However, besides that, these four words "风林火山" are not just a simple slogan, because these four words originated from the military book, so they have other clever uses, such as shouting them out during a battle to boost morale. And when faced with these evil creatures, they can also have the effect of dispelling the evil.
Gou Chen, the predecessor, has indeed put a lot of effort into military strategy, so he knows immediately why that sound signifies.
Taking advantage of the destructive power of this sound, Gu Qingcheng unleashed a lightning-fast strike resembling thunder.
With the might of this sword strike, not only did it dissipate a large area of the surrounding gloom, but it also cleaved open a gap in the "Great Array of Subduing Ten Thousand Demons".
Gu Qingcheng not only hails from the Xian Du Sect but is also the daughter of the current Sect Master, making her the senior sister of the disciples of her generation. Naturally, she has been trained in swordsmanship since her childhood and is skilled in it. However, for reasons unknown, she had a falling out with her father and joined the military, changing her name. Whether it was to leave her past behind or to create a barrier from it, she abandoned the sword and began using a knife. In the martial world, it is widely known that this renowned female general of Great Wei excels in knife techniques, but few are aware of her mastery in swordsmanship as well.
However, from the current strike, we can see the sharpness of Gu Qingcheng's swordsmanship, which is by no means an empty reputation.
Moreover, before Gou Chen noticed, this female general is not using an ordinary single-edged sword, nor a lighter willow leaf sword commonly used by women, but an elongated horse-cutting knife. The blade is longer and heavier. Due to its shape resembling a young stalk of grain, it is also called the Miao knife.
Although this type of knife is shorter than long weapons such as guns and spears, it is considerably longer than a regular single-edged knife, making it more suitable for chopping and slashing while on horseback. It can also be considered a long-bladed weapon, with a higher level of difficulty in its usage compared to a regular single-edged knife. However, Gu Qingcheng clearly wields it effortlessly and with extraordinary power. Please note that the "@" symbol is not commonly used in English translations.
The ten personal guards under her command also use the same standardized long knives as hers, indicating that she likely personally trained and instructed them. It is even possible that she passed down her martial skills to them. If this is the case, then these personal guards, who were trained and groomed by her like disciples, would naturally be even more trusted and loyal to her, following her commands without question.
Gu Qingcheng's Thunder-like Sword Strike, although powerful, is still difficult for her to break the formidable "Ten Thousand Ghosts Suppression Formation" with her current cultivation level. Additionally, she only has a small number of soldiers, with only ten personal guards forming a limited battle formation, making it difficult for her to rely on the power of formations to break through the enemy formation.
Therefore, her slash only opened a gap in the "Ghost Corpse Great Formation," and she was not able to immediately break the Ghost Gate Formation. The gap that was opened was not very big. Moreover, as soon as the gap appeared, the inside was covered in dark mist and the black aura surged, quickly filling and wanting to heal and close up the gap.
However, as soon as this gap appeared, it ultimately created a loophole in the "Array of Ten Thousand Ghosts Lying Down". Immediately, it broke the effect of reversing time and space and isolating the inside from the outside that the formation had originally set up. Suddenly, all the sounds that were originally isolated inside the formation burst out. Countless screams, wails, and ghostly cries resounded one after another, continuously.
Gu Yuan
It can be heard from the sound alone that there is definitely a scene of hell on earth inside. The gloom inside is even thicker, everything is pitch-black, making it impossible to immediately see the horrifying scenes inside. Translation:
At this moment, Guo Chen and Su Yunlong, who were closely following behind, also instantly heard the countless screams and ghostly howls coming from inside after a gap was broken in the "Ten Thousand Ghosts Prostrate Formation".
Originally isolated by a formation, they couldn't hear any of these voices before. But now, as a gap is opened up, all these voices rush in instantly. This sudden impact makes them startled and their hearts heavy with sorrow.
After crossing over, Gou Chen has also experienced several battles, especially when the second master of the Heifeng Gang, Jiang Cheng, conspired with Zhao Sihai to betray the gang leader, Zhu Xiong, and then launched a counterattack on the gang. There were also quite a few people killed during the night when Su Yunlong wanted to kill and eliminate the gang to protect his family's reputation.
However, both times, regardless of the number of people, scale, or degree of devastation, they were far from the current massacre of martial artists by the disciples of the Ghost Door Sect with their "Thousand Ghosts Prostrate Formation".
Especially, this is not just a simple fight and killing, as it is filled with countless ghosts and zombies constantly choosing their prey. Faced with these spectral creatures, many of the martial artists, despite their brave spirits from training in martial arts, are still afraid of ghosts. They scream even more when they see these ghostly creatures, and the pain and terror they experience when attacked and killed by these supernatural beings are far greater than that of being struck by swords and knives, leading to even more horrifying cries.
In addition to the ghost cries, screams, and corpse howls of these evil spirits, the intensity of the tragedy naturally increases exponentially. Not to mention the scale of the crowd gathered on the Black Wind Mountain at the moment, which is larger than the previous two times experienced by Gouchen. Translation: The intensity of the tragedy increases exponentially with the addition of these ghostly sounds such as ghost cries, screams, and corpse howls from these evil spirits. Moreover, the number of people gathered on Black Wind Mountain at present is larger than the previous two occasions experienced by Gouchen.
Gou Chenyuan looked through the broken gap, although the mist inside was even denser, making it difficult for him to see inside, he could vaguely see countless ghostly figures swirling in the mist, howling in all directions.
Compared to the surrounding mist gathered by the formation, these misty clouds appear to be relatively thin. With the pervading mist blocking their senses, most of the martial artists inside can only fight individually, making it difficult to find companions. Unable to gather and assist each other, it becomes even more difficult to withstand the attacks of the "Ten Thousand Ghosts Lying Corpses Great Formation."
Plus, most of the people in the martial arts world are external power martial artists, and very few possess effective means to attack and resist ghosts. They are basically powerless and can only act as punching bags. Those with lower cultivation will be easily knocked down by those ferocious ghosts in a single encounter, resulting in a completely one-sided slaughter.
Once a person dies inside, not only will their soul be immediately collected and refined by the Ghost Disciples' array of countless ghost flags, but their body will also immediately rise under the influence of the "Array of Countless Ghost Corpses." They will turn into corpse soldiers controlled by the array, joining the attack against the remaining martial arts practitioners, becoming accomplices.
In this way, the more people killed in the large formation, the greater the power of the formation will be. It will become increasingly difficult for those trapped in the formation to break through and resist, and the pressure will continue to mount.
But I still heard screams coming from inside, so it can be imagined that there are still people resisting inside, and those trapped haven't all died out.

Objects like "Beidou Breaking Evil Talisman" are widely circulated in the martial world. Although they are valuable, everyone may have one and they will never be lacking in them. Translated content: Objects like "Beidou Breaking Evil Talisman," which are widely circulated in the martial world, may be expensive but they are ubiquitous among these individuals and no one would be without one.