Chapter 68: The Immortal’s Three Words Bring Rebellion to its Knees (TNT Edition)

Chen Xiyi looked at the spot on the map inside Yongning Palace. He instantly recognized that Dong Shen had arrived. After all, the other party was a Red-Name NPC, and because of the extremely high Hostility Level, it caused his name to appear excessively red. One might say he stood out like a crane among chickens among the other NPCs.

“Great Immortal, the rebel army has already…” Wang Li rushed into Yongning Palace, his voice full of urgency, completely forgetting about decorum.

At present, they only had three thousand Imperial Guard soldiers. Compared to the one hundred thousand rebel troops gathered outside the city walls, the difference was like heaven and earth. If the rebels launched a strong attack, how long could they possibly hold?

“I know. Let’s go.” Chen Xiyi put down the book in his hand and looked at the flustered Wang Li, his voice calm.

Before Wang Li could react, a stream of water appeared. It transformed into a water dragon, carrying Chen Xiyi as it flew out of Yongning Palace, heading straight for outside the city.

Seeing this, Wang Li snapped out of his daze and immediately shouted, “Someone! Get horses ready! Hurry! Follow the Great Immortal!”

The water dragon, trailing a long plume of water mist, flew directly out of the Capital. Then it shrank, transforming into a watery lotus flower. From high above, Chen Xiyi gazed down upon the rebel camp opposite him.

Naturally, the hundred thousand rebels were startled by the commotion. They swarmed together densely, especially since Chen Xiyi’s water dragon had made such a huge spectacle earlier.

Of course, he switched to the lotus flower mount because the water dragon was too large and consumed too much energy. Changing to the water lotus greatly reduced the strain.

Dong Shen steeled himself and looked up at Chen Xiyi in the sky. His expression was extremely complicated.

He hadn’t expected Chen Xiyi to act first before he could even make his own move.

“The Great Li Kingdom’s reign should be long-lasting. Wang Li carries the Imperial Destiny. Why do you rebel against the heavens and bring chaos to the land? Aren’t you aware this is the path to certain death?” Chen Xiyi’s detached voice, amplified by Jianghu’s water magic, carried clearly to everyone in the Capital and the gathered one hundred thousand rebels.

Instantly, unease spread through the rebel ranks.

Chen Xiyi knew that most of the soldiers at the bottom of the rebel army were just struggling to survive, following whoever seemed likely to win.

Even among the Red-Name NPCs on his map, they were basically only the high-ranking rebel leaders. Even the mid-level rebel officers held no particular feelings towards Chen Xiyi and were marked as White-Name NPCs.

Seeing the unrest, Dong Shen’s face twisted into a snarl. “Notify all battalions! Prepare to storm the Capital! Whoever leads the charge will be ennobled as a Thousand-Household Marquis! Whoever opens the city gates shall be a Ten-Thousand-Household Marquis!”

“If we breach the Capital, ten days without restraint!”

Dong Shen knew he was cornered now. Chen Xiyi’s one sentence had crushed him under the weight of righteousness.

Just that single sentence had drained the morale from his one hundred thousand troops.

“Bah! A mere sorcerous charlatan dares wag his tongue in our midst? Someone! Fetch my bow! I’ll shut him up…” Not everyone was afraid; there were still defiant ones.

BOOM!

Violent flames and heatwaves erupted alongside a deafening roar. The rebel officer who had just boasted—along with the tent he stood in—was instantly vaporized into scorched earth.

“Did you truly think I feared you rebels? Were you seeking death?” Chen Xiyi’s voice rang out once more.

Everyone froze.

Within the Capital and among the rebels alike, because everyone had heard the deafening bang, everyone had seen the blinding flash of fire.

Dong Shen himself was paralyzed. He had never imagined the gap between them could be so vast.

The sheer ease with which another person was simply erased sent a chill through everyone’s hearts.

No one knew when he might erase them next, so no one dared make a move.

Some might not have believed it before, but those non-believers weren’t just dead now—not even their bones or the ground where they stood remained.

“Remove your armor. Lay down your weapons. Surrender. Bind your rebel leader, and I shall spare your lives. If you persist in futile resistance, I will scatter your traitorous souls to the winds.” Chen Xiyi saw the crowd was frozen, unsure if they were stunned stupid or waiting for his next move. He sighed internally and spoke again.

He discovered Jianghu’s Water Manipulation was incredibly useful. Having Jianghu encase a palm-sized chunk of TNT in a water sphere and then hurling it meant Chen Xiyi could detonate the TNT remotely, causing that massive explosion earlier.

Jianghu’s water spheres moved far too fast for the rebels to react. By the time the explosion occurred, the effect was truly… explosive. Especially since the TNT was triple-enchanted—the results were utterly satisfying.

After this experiment, these rebels were nothing to Chen Xiyi. Letting Jianghu rain TNT-encased water spheres would guarantee not a single soul survived. But achieving his goal with minimum cost was preferable; wiping them all out would still require a fair amount of TNT.

Chaos began to ripple through the rebel camp. Groups started moving, seemingly aiming to converge on the central command tent. Everyone was thinking flexibly now. Even those who had joined the noble families began stirring. But a core of high-ranking officers fiercely loyal to Dong Shen still tried to suppress the mounting chaos, preventing it from erupting on a large scale.

Chen Xiyi was very unhappy with the lack of total surrender.

‘Jianghu. One hundred triple-enchanted TNTs. Aim them all. Chaos where it’s lacking.’ With that thought, Chen Xiyi commanded Jianghu to unleash a tenth of his TNT stockpile.

[Jianghu Requested: TNT ×100, Water ×10 units. You happily obliged.]

[Jianghu used Water Manipulation to control 10 units of water.]

[Jianghu used Water Magic for secondary manipulation of the 10 units of water and TNT ×100.]

[Jianghu used Water Magic to inflict 100% damage to Health Points of Rebel Soldier Wang Erzhu, Rebel Soldier…]

A hundred water spheres, carrying TNT payloads, plunged into the rebel camp faster than lightning. In an instant, flames engulfed over half the camp.

Deafening blasts roared one after another. In that moment, what was obliterated wasn’t only countless soldiers and tents, but also the final shreds of resolve for those rebels still alive.

“Great Immortal, spare us! We surrender! We surrender!”

“Great Immortal, please retract your Divine Ability, spare our lives!”

“Great Immortal, show mercy…!”

All rebels hastily threw down their weapons and ripped off their armor, not delaying even a second. Then, the men surrounding the central command tent swarmed in. First, they subdued Dong Shen’s personal guards, then firmly bound an emaciated, broken Dong Shen who looked like a sick ghost.

“The rebel leader is captured! Death to those who resist!” the rebel officers themselves yelled fiercely, as if they had never been part of the rebellion, but more like deep-cover agents within the traitorous ranks.

Dong Shen hung his head. He never dreamed that from the height of ambitious fury to prisoner in chains could happen in less than the span of half an hour. The grand plan he crafted at the cost of his life had been flattened by Chen Xiyi’s few effortless words. In this moment, it felt like he had returned to his very first confrontation with Chen Xiyi within Yongning Palace. Both the process and the outcome—utter, complete defeat.