Chapter 227: Safety of the Camp
Chapter 227: Safety of the Camp
"Kill them all!"
Thunderous cheers resounded throughout the battle ground as the soldiers charged forward fearlessly, as though they were an unstoppable ocean wave that was headed straight for shore.
All of a sudden, their enemy had started to retreat, while they had been ordered to pursue.
How could any of them not understand what was going on right now?
After so many rounds of fighting, the stalemate had finally been broken!
Not many knew exactly what resulted in this shift in equilibrium, but that mattered not. All that mattered was that theirs was the side with the advantage.
And now, it was up to them to extend this lead even further.
No longer trapped in their ranks and given the freedom to chase as they willed, this was the best time to show their worth, to stand out from the crowds and gain the recognition of the Elders watching from above!
How could any of them want to miss this golden opportunity?
Explosions occurred everywhere as clashes quickly escalated in intensity.
Those from the Scarlet Moon Army struck forth with greater might than before, now more eager than ever to gain recognition.
In return, those from the Dragon Cauldron Army had no choice but to respond in kind, defending themselves to the best of their abilities as they tried to make an orderly retreat.
Just like that, the scene of the battle slowly shifted from the original battle ground, and into the forest.
The dense vegetation only served to make the battles more chaotic, resulting in even more casualties on both sides.
"Isn't this far enough?" General Longming's countenance had grown extremely ugly by now. "Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew!"
"Hahaha! General Longming doesn't have to worry about me. My teeth just happen to be quite suited for chewing!" General Mojian answered with a hearty laugh.
He had been receiving messages from the scouting team by the minute, informing him of the conditions of the terrain ahead.
Armed with that information, General Mojian was getting more and more certain that there were no traps laid down by the enemy.
Since that was the case, he would be a fool to not press the attack!
Even though casualties were stacking up for both factions, the Dragon Cauldron Army was doing far worse since they had been forced to take up a defensive position.
That, and also because the initial reason for the Scarlet Moon Army's advantage had still not been addressed.
Lu Tianzi led the charge without a hint of hesitation in his eyes, the Torrential Sabre in his hands already dyed red with the blood of his enemies.
But even for him, the dense trees proved to be an obstacle that limited the extent of his influence.
With the trees in the way, the enemy soldiers were all moving separate from each other as well. Thus, Lu Tianzi could no longer sweep through the enemies, reaping away multiple lives with a single slash.
This greatly reduced his killing efficiency, but it did little to stop his advance.
With his strength, nobody could block a single strike.
With his speed, nobody could outrun him.
Like a grim reaper, Lu Tianzi quickly became the focal point of the entire battle.
Even people who had not noticed him earlier could not help but begin to do so.
Those with sharper eyes immediately understood that he was likely the reason for the Dragon Cauldron Army's strategic retreat, and began to place the bulk of their attention on him.
As time passed, more and more of the Scarlet Moon Army rallied behind him, while those of the Dragon Cauldron Army scattered away with him as the epicentre.
At this very moment, Lu Tianzi had become the centre of attention in this battle.
Even the Origin Core realm martial artists flying above could not help but to look down and give him a quick visual assessment.
"That damn brat" Beiqian Zuo cursed under his breath as he looked down from above.
Lu Tianzi's actions might have created an opportunity for the Scarlet Moon Army, but Beiqian Zuo simply could not bring himself to feel glad about it whatsoever.
He clearly understood that the better Lu Tianzi's accomplishments were during the war, the harder it would be to get rid of him in the future.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it.
After all, it was not as though he could directly strike against his own ally before the eyes of General Mojian and the rest of the Scarlet Moon Army!
Thus, he decided to continue watching from the side, patiently bidding his time as he waited for his chance to act
Blood continued to flow, and men continued to fall.
In this gruesome manner, the scene of battle shifted quickly through the dense vegetations.
Before long, the Dragon Cauldron Army's main camp of the Second Battlefront had come into view.
"Just a little more! Back into the camp!" General Longming roared in a frenzied rage.
He had already expected to suffer quite a huge loss when he gave the order to retreat. However, he never expected the enemy to be this fierce and tenacious, relentlessly chasing them down all the way until their doorstep!
After such a frenzied pursuit, even though the number of Origin Core realm martial artists had not fallen by much at all, many of them had suffered injuries of varying degrees.
However, what shocked him the most was still the number of deaths at the ground battle.
Of all the Essence Building and Essence Condensation realm soldiers in his army, almost half of them had been wiped out!
This number of casualties was already large enough to deal a significant blow to his army's overall combat capability, rendering it no longer able to contend with the enemy's main force.
After all, it was not like he could just send out Origin Core realm martial artists to fight. Nobody would take the fight seriously that way.
This meant that before the arrival of further reinforcements, he would have no choice but to hide in the protective formations of the camp!
How disgraceful!
"Hahaha! Kill as many of them as you can before they escape!" General Mojian shouted in joy as he relished in the moment.
The Dragon Cauldron Kingdom had always boasted a stronger military force than the Scarlet Moon Kingdom.
That was also the reason why the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom had always been eyeing the lands of the Scarlet Moon Kingdom, even blatantly leaving its army to encroach on the latter's territories.
How long had it been since they last dominated the enemy this much in a frontal battle?
General Mojian did not know the answer to that.
What he did know was that the feeling of suppressing these opponents was extremely refreshing!
As expected, his father's decision to pull in the various powers in the kingdom had worked to great effect!
"Halt!" General Mojian called out after a few moments, his eyes filled with satisfaction as he watched the Dragon Cauldron Army retreat into the safety of their camp.
This was an absolute victory for their side!
Unfortunately, this victory had come too abruptly, and he did not have time to set up a trap to cut off the enemy's retreat.
Otherwise, it might have been possible to deal an even larger blow to the Dragon Cauldron Army!
Even so, this was good enough.
Now that the Dragon Cauldron Army had retreated into their camp, continuing to press the issue would only give the enemy an opportunity to turn the tide.
After all, the might of a defensive formation was nothing to be trifled with.
If they were not careful enough, they could even end up suffering just as huge a blow as the enemy!
Thus, General Mojian wisely called for his army to stop their pursuit.
As long as the enemy continued to hole up in the camp, General Mojian would have the freedom to do as he pleased. If he wanted to, he could even choose to bring up the backlines and establish a position that was further up, effectively pushing the Dragon Cauldron Army further from the Scarlet Moon Kingdom.
Of course, things were not that simple.
While the defensive formations prevented them from approaching, it did not prevent the enemy from leaving.
As long as the Dragon Cauldron Army continued to send out Origin Core realm martial artists to harrass them, it would not be easy to relocate their camp this far ahead.
In that case, what should he do so as to maximise the benefits obtained from this victory?
General Mojian rubbed his chin in contemplation.
But right at this moment, he noticed from the corner of his eye that a certain soldier had rushed out from the ranks, running straight for the enemy camp!
General Mojian immediately frowned.
Did that soldier just disobey his order to halt?
It was not just him either. Many others furrowed their eyebrows as they watched the soldier charge forward like an idiot.
In the eyes of the Scarlet Moon Army's Origin Core realm martial artists, this guy was already a dead man.
Even if the defensive formations did not kick in to kill him off, there was simply no way that the Dragon Cauldron Army would allow one person to approach and let him retreat unscathed.
But what they did not expect was that the Dragon Cauldron Army was caught completely off guard by this random soldier's advance.
It's a trap!
The same thoughts flashed through everyone's mind.
In their eyes, the entire Dragon Cauldron Army had stopped, and one person rushed out from behind the ranks, heading straight towards them. What else could it be other than a trap?
And when they finally noticed just who it was, it only served to confirm their doubts.
Nanlu Tianzi.
He was the same person whom Chiren had gone after, only for the latter to fall into a trap and get himself killed.
He was the same person who had dominated the ground battle, single handedly shifting the balance of battle in the Scarlet Moon Army's advantage.
When the entire army had stopped, a person like Nanlu Tianzi must have a damn good reason not to follow suit.
If they acted right now, it would be equivalent to falling for the enemy's trap!
Since he wanted to approach, then let him!
No matter how excellent he was, what could a mere Essence Condensation realm martial artist do in the face of their powerful defensive formations?
Even Origin Core realm martial artists would suffer a massive drop in strength when bound by their formations.
Once Nanlu Tianzi triggered the defensive formation, he would be nothing more than easy picking, and any Essence Condensation realm martial artist would be able to take him down.
It would not be too late to act against him then!
However, the scene that they were expecting eventually did not come to pass.
As Lu Tianzi ran up to the very edge of the defensive formations unimpeded, a silvery light flashed across his eyes, revealing the flow of energy before his eyes.
Seeing the view before his eyes, Lu Tianzi could not help but to let out a chuckle in disbelief.
Back then when they sneaked into the enemy's camp to attack the Dragon Cauldron Army's recovery tents, he had personally disabled the camp's defensive formations.
As expected, the enemy had discovered this and had mended the formations by now.
However, what Lu Tianzi found unbelievable was that they had simply reset the formation, such that it was just the way it was before!
Lu Tianzi did not know this, but the reason for that was because General Longming and the rest of the Dragon Cauldron Army simply could not imagine that their complex defensive formations would ever be unravelled by a group that was led by mere Essence Condensation realm martial artists.
What were the chances?
Their defensive formations had been painstakingly laid down by their Origin Core realm formations masters after a long period of calculations.
No matter how excellent and stellar this Nanlu Tianzi was, how could any Essence Condensation realm martial artists even come close to seeing through something like that?
There had been no doubt in their minds that a slightly misalignment in the setting up of the formation had resulted in it failing to work at a crucial moment.
In other words, it was nothing more than bad luck.
This time, Lu Tianzi's relatively low cultivation level had worked out perfectly for him.
If he still had to look for the crux of the defensive formations, Lu Tianzi would definitely have needed more time. That would also mean exposing himself to the enemy's attacks for a longer period.
But now that he saw everything in their original positions, he could remember where the nodes of the formations were even without looking!
There!
Lu Tianzi threw a pebble infused with his Essence energy, directing it straight towards the nearest formation node.
"Not good! Stop him!" General Longming bellowed in horror when he saw exactly where Lu Tianzi was targeting.
At his command, countless Origin Core realm martial artists swooped down from the air, heading straight towards Lu Tianzi.
However, they were still one step too late.
Bang-!
The pebble smashed right into the inconspicuous looking stone pillar, causing an explosion of energy that sent a small shockwave in all directions.
Along with the destruction of the stone pillar, the energy undulations caused by the activated defensive formations vanished without a trace.
Silence fell upon the battle ground.
No matter who it was, what cultivation level they were at, what faction they belonged to all of them were momentarily at a loss for words as they witnessed this ridiculous scene occurring right before their eyes.
The very next moment, a wide grin instantly spread across General Mojian's face. With his blood still pumping in exhilaration, General Mojian bellowed at the top of his voice.
"Advance! Enter and tear down the enemy camp! We shall decide the victor of the Second Battlefront right here and now!"