Chapter 372

Chapter 372: A Rage That Shook the Western Desert

Suddenly, Zhang Yang remembered something the moon-returning dragon had once said.

In the Western Desert, there was a man whose martial prowess was utterly unremarkable, worthless even. No matter how many resources were poured into him, it was seen as a waste. And yet, this man had become the most feared figure in the entire region.

No one knew his real name.

No one had ever seen his true face.

He was always shrouded in black, hidden in darkness. He called himself the Black Cloaked Strategist, and like a seasoned general, he reveled in devising strategy. But while generals planned for victory on the battlefield, this man strategized for entire nations and sacred lands.

The moon-returning dragon had explained that although the Cold Moon Dynasty had declined over the centuries and suffered repeated attacks by the Taixu Dynasty, enduring infiltration, assassinations, and sabotage, their thousand-year-old foundation was not so easily destroyed. Unless the Taixu Dynasty launched a massive all-out assault, it would still take centuries for the Cold Moon Dynasty to fall. And even in such a final battle, the Cold Moon Dynasty would inflict devastating losses.

That was precisely what the Taixu Dynasty wished to avoid.

Yet all of that changed because of one man:

The Black Cloaked Strategist.

He had first risen to prominence during a minor conflict involving only three thousand soldiers. Through ingenious planning, he orchestrated a flawless victory, achieving his goal without a single casualty on his side, while annihilating the enemy completely.

This feat caught the attention of the Taixu Dynasty.

Shortly afterward, he was given command of more battles, each larger and more complex than the last. No matter the odds, no matter how desperate the situation, he would devise a method to reverse the tide and secure victory.

The last emperor of the Taixu Dynasty had promoted him without hesitation, granting him the title of National Master.

And with that authority, the Black Cloaked Strategist began to roam freely across the Western Desert.

In just three years, people began to notice that wherever he went, storms of blood and slaughter followed. He truly walked amidst blood and corpses. What made it worse was that among those corpses were many from the major sacred lands, people who never even realized how they had died.

This enraged the various sacred lands, prompting them to unite in an attempt to destroy him.

But the Black Cloaked Strategist revealed even more terrifying capabilities. With only three great sages, not to fight, but to execute a series of intricate strategies. He lured the Western Desert coalition into a dead-end trap, where they were completely annihilated without a single survivor.

From that moment on, the name of the Black Cloaked Strategist became one that could silence even children.

And that was only the beginning, the first stain of blood in the skies of the Western Desert, the first wave of fear that swept across the land.

Over the next twenty years, he personally led ten large-scale massacres, orchestrated seventeen conflicts against the Sacred Dynasty that were unrelated to the Taixu Dynasty, and engaged in twenty-nine sage duels, seventeen of which resulted in the deaths of opposing sages. Ultimately, he even opened a once-lost sacred site on his own, creating a death zone that buried more than thirty sages.

During those twenty years, the single might of the Black Cloaked Strategist caused the power of all sacred lands outside the Taixu Dynasty to plummet.

At the same time, the Taixu Dynasty expanded at full throttle. Without suffering any significant losses, it experienced an unnaturally rapid rise, as if its millennium-long plan had finally borne fruit.

In contrast, the Cold Moon Dynasty’s strength plummeted to its lowest point, pushing the nation to the brink of extinction far earlier than expected.

Thus, phrases like “When the Strategist is angry, the skies of the Western Desert are stained with blood,” and “When the Black Cloak is angry, the Western Desert trembles,” became widespread sayings, ones that no one dared refute.

The Black Cloaked Strategist had, for the first time, forced the sacred lands of the Western Desert to seriously consider uniting against the Taixu Dynasty.

But then, at the peak of his influence, news broke that the Black Cloaked Strategist had once again set his sights on the Sacred Dynasty—only to unexpectedly fall into a death zone and die.

At first, no one believed it.

But after that day, he truly never appeared in public again. Coupled with the widely known fact that his martial abilities had always seemed cursed, never able to improve, many began to believe his death was real. Some even saw it as divine retribution, punishment from the heavens for the atrocities he had committed.

Ten years passed.

People gradually forgot about him.

Until now, when he appeared again.

“You should feel honored,” said the Black Cloaked Strategist, gently waving his folding fan. “I’ve spent ten years planning across the entire Western Desert. Today marks my return, and you will serve as the tribute for my blade. You may die without regret.”

A Ten-Year Plan for the Western Desert.

Zhang Yang’s brow furrowed. So, the Black Cloaked Strategist’s decade-long disappearance had been a calculated move, part of a larger scheme. Perhaps the wrath he had drawn before vanishing had been intentional, a pretext to mask ten years of meticulous preparation.

“I’ve killed nine sages of the Taixu Dynasty,” Zhang Yang said coldly. “Over a hundred experts at the Great Boundless Stage, a hundred thousand Black Wolf Riders, and ten thousand Zhu Yue Army troops, many of them elites. It seems no one’s blood is worthy of shaking the Western Desert… but paving a path with your blood, Black Cloaked Strategist, might just be enough.”

Wind Dragon and the two-meter-tall man behind the Black Cloaked Strategist stared at Zhang Yang as if he were a madman.

This was the Black Cloaked Strategist!

The most terrifying man in the Western Desert—someone whose fury alone could inspire dread across the land.

And yet Zhang Yang dared to speak so arrogantly, even while encircled and outnumbered.

“Hahaha…”

The Black Cloaked Strategist threw his head back in laughter. His black cloak flared like wings, making him appear all the more sinister.

“I’ve long forgotten how many years it’s been since anyone dared to speak to me like that. You’re impressive, you’ve reminded me of long-buried memories. Since I’ve decided to act, let’s make sure you understand your death.”

“Killing just you would be far too dull.”

“Adding the moon-returning dragon to the mix is merely an appetizer—not nearly satisfying enough.”

“I plan to disrupt this peak-power conference, slap the Crimson Flame Dynasty in the face, and announce to the entire Western Desert I am back!”

Zhang Yang glared coldly at him. Such arrogance.

The Black Cloaked Strategist grinned wickedly. “With my ten-year plan, the Western Desert will forever remain under my shadow. Hahaha… I can hardly wait to smell blood again.”

With a sudden snap of his fan, he snarled, “The slaughter begins with you!”

As he finished speaking, four figures appeared from the corners of the manor, casting forbidden laws to seal off the area.

These laws didn’t just block space, they also suppressed it.

The two-meter-tall man standing behind the Black Cloaked Strategist let out a sinister laugh and suddenly leapt down from the sky.

He was at the Small Boundless Stage!

Zi Tian Pavilion.

The moon-returning dragon, whose Holy Body had been suffering a violent backlash, finally began to stabilize. Though his cultivation was only at the Opening the Sky realm, Bing Yuyan had personally intervened. With her superior Holy Body, she was able to suppress the backlash. And with Gu Qianmu’s support, an expert at the Great Boundless Stage, the results were even more effective.

Tears streamed down the moon-returning dragon’s face, his eyes bloodshot. He stared in agony at the young pregnant woman lying lifelessly in a pool of blood, her abdomen pierced. His spirit teetered on the edge of collapse.

“Yuchan! My child!”

He cried out in despair.

Just then, the black-cloaked Marquis Ji Shaolong, having responded to Liu Yuewu’s earlier call, descended swiftly from the Zi Tian Pavilion and landed beside the young woman.

The moon-returning dragon, stunned for a moment, hurriedly said, “Black-Clothed Marquis! Quickly! Your Black Lotus Life Energy is said to hold the power of life, check if Yuchan can still be saved!”

A surge of dark energy radiated from Ji Shaolong. It gathered at his fingertip, then gently entered the woman’s body.

The pale young woman, barely clinging to life, suddenly coughed and groaned in pain.

No one had expected that the young pregnant woman still had a chance at survival.

However, before the moon-returning dragon could express any joy, Ji Shaolong’s right sleeve suddenly flicked out a sword, which he grasped and pointed at the woman’s throat.

In that instant, the moon-returning dragon, Bing Yuyan, Gu Qianmu, and the others were all stunned, staring in disbelief at the black-cloaked Marquis Ji Shaolong.