CHAPTER 461: CHAPTER 455: COUNTERATTACK ON THE MIDDLE BATTLEFIELD_1

The Domain of Phoenix, Tianwu City!

In the City Lord’s Mansion, Kang Baohua, the Eighth Elder of the Qionghua Sacred Land, paced back and forth. Silver strands of hair cascaded to her waist, neatly combed. Her cheeks, lined with age, were rouged, suggesting she was a woman who paid attention to her appearance. In her hand, she held a report bearing the seal of the ’Three Sacred Temples’.

"Sacred Lord, you’re putting me in a difficult position! The Qin army is so powerful. How can I possibly stop them with just my ten million troops?" Kang Baohua sighed, her eyes filled with sorrow.

The ’Three Sacred Temples’ report warned that the Qin army on the southern front had ceased its attacks and was likely to head north to reinforce the central battlefield. It urged her to find a way to intercept the Qin army.

"Men, summon the military commanders! Gather them at the City Lord’s Mansion to discuss important matters!" Finding no good solution herself, Kang Baohua returned to her seat of honor and ordered solemnly.

Outside the City Lord’s Mansion, hundreds of messengers, ever on standby, saluted respectfully before vanishing into the Void.

A short while later, a group of commanders, clad in armor that seemed a little too large for their youthful frames, appeared at the entrance of the Mansion. With curiosity and cheerful smiles, they entered respectfully. They were all remarkably young. Half a year ago, with their qualifications, they certainly couldn’t have taken command of an army. However, as the older generation of commanders from the Qionghua Sacred Land fell in battle, these youths had stepped onto the stage of history.

Evidently, they were proud at heart. But what they didn’t know was that in the eyes of some, they had already become prey. The hidden reaches of the Void were already seething with murderous intent.

Across the vast land, soldiers of the Fanqiu Army, the Long Plank Army, the Ding Yang Army, and the Blood Fight Army rapidly approached Tianwu City from four different directions. Formation patterns flickered on their bodies, completely concealing their auras. They went unnoticed by the Qionghua Sacred Land army until they were nearly upon its camp.

"Everyone, the Sacred Lord has ordered us to intercept the Qin Army, who are likely to reinforce the central battlefield. Do any of you have any good strategies?" Inside the City Lord’s Mansion, Kang Baohua surveyed the assembled generals and asked in a grave tone.

Upon hearing her words, the young commanders reacted variously. Some turned pale, some scoffed contemptuously, and others showed no reaction at all.

"Eighth Elder, give me three million men, and I guarantee the Qin army will meet its end!" a hawk-eyed commander declared, stepping forward. His arrogant tone made it sound as if the enemy was not the famously formidable Qin army, but a swarm of ants. In truth, he had never faced the Qin army in battle. The terrifying rumors about them were merely hearsay to him. He had seen the battle reports from the front lines, but he dismissed them as excuses from the older generation of commanders for their defeats. Many other young commanders shared his sentiments.

"You? Stop the Qin army?" another fleshy-faced commander with a fierce expression scoffed, then said sternly, "Eighth Elder, I suggest we build defensive fortifications and defend the city from within. The Qin army is powerful; we absolutely must not underestimate them!"

Kang Baohua nodded slightly. Between launching an offensive and holding a defensive position, she favored the latter. "Pass my order! The army is to gather inside the city..."

Kang Baohua stood and began to issue her command in a loud voice, but halfway through her sentence, she felt the ground tremble. The stable sky above suddenly turned violent.

"Enemy attack!" The commanders present were startled. They drew their weapons and strode out of the City Lord’s Mansion.

The sight that greeted them was four towering pillars of blood, exuding a roiling Evil Qi that blotted out the sky. Even from a hundred miles away, the oppressive aura made their hearts pound in their chests.

"They’re here already?" Kang Baohua’s expression changed. She quickly ascended into the air. Seeing the four armies approaching in the distance, her brow furrowed deeply. "Relay my orders! The army is to defend! All of you, return to your troops and command the defense!" There was no time for hesitation; Kang Baohua’s command was cold and firm.

"As you command!" Hundreds of commanders clasped their fists in salute, then traversed the city to land in the military camps outside, where they began organizing their troops for defense.

With Tianwu City at its center, for a hundred miles around, millions of soldiers began to arrange their battle formations. A faint Evil Qi gathered above their heads, forming ten military souls, each a thousand feet tall.

"Shield-bearers to the front!"

"Spear-bearers in the middle!"

"Archers to the rear!"

At these commands, the ten military souls began to move. South of the city wall, one million sturdy shield-bearers moved to the forefront. The giant shield military soul above their heads was like an indestructible mountain standing between heaven and earth.

"KILL!" Ten miles away, Guan Yu, having already swept through the Qionghua Sacred Land’s frontline scout camp, roared furiously.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" The soldiers of the Fanqiu Army following him roared in response, their powerful voices echoing for thousands of miles. Their eyes blazed with a furious, burning battle intent. An overwhelming blood-red Evil Qi surged skyward, tearing the Void apart and forming a ten-thousand-foot-tall army soul, imprisoning heaven and earth.

"SLASH!" Leading the charge, Guan Yu saw the enemy shield-bearers move and brought his Azure Dragon Crescent Blade down with immense force.

Two terrifying powers traversed the Void. One was blade energy, condensed into an Azure Dragon blade light that seemed to shatter eternity. The other was the power of the army soul; boundless military power swept in, forming a prison of heaven and earth that precisely sealed the Qionghua Sacred Land’s shield-bearer army soul.

"What is this power?" The commander of the shield-bearers was stunned. To his horror, he realized they had lost control of their army soul. Then, a sight unfolded that made his eyes nearly split from fury.

BOOM!

The Azure Dragon blade energy descended with an ear-splitting dragon roar, directly cleaving the shield-bearers’ army soul in two. It left a rift in the sky that lingered, refusing to heal.

The backlash from the shattering of the army soul struck, and a million shield-bearers coughed up mouthfuls of blood.

"KILL! KILL! KILL!" Before they could even wipe the blood from their mouths, soldiers from the Fanqiu Army were already upon them, their gleaming weapons instantly stained with fresh blood.

The bodies of the Qionghua Sacred Land soldiers were sent flying by the terrifying power. Splashes of blood arced high, dyeing the Heavenly Universe red.

"AHH!"

"Save me!"

The shield-bearer formation of the Qionghua Sacred Land immediately collapsed. At this moment, the spear-bearers and archers behind them had not even begun to凝聚 their army souls. What awaited them was the blade of the Grim Reaper!

...

"Bloodied Sands of Desperate Battle!" Outside the northern city wall, Ma Chao led the Blood Fight Army, transforming into a blood dragon that wreaked havoc upon the enemy. Wherever they passed, blood flowed like a river. After several charges, the Qionghua Sacred Land’s army formation was in complete disarray.

...

"ROAR!" Outside the western city wall, Zhang Fei took a deep breath and let out a thunderous bellow. In front of him, soldiers of the Qionghua Sacred Land clutched their ears in agony, bleeding from all seven orifices as they died. The terrifying soundwave from his roar even caused Tianwu City’s wall to collapse.

"CHARGE!" The soldiers of the Long Plank Army, waving their weapons, disdainfully slaughtered vast numbers of the enemy without even bothering to congeal their army soul.

...

"Arrow Formation, FIRE!" Outside the eastern city wall, Huang Zhong held his divine bow. His nine-star chain shot tore through the Heavenly Universe, killing nine commanders from the Qionghua Sacred Land. Behind him, soldiers of the Ding Yang Army loosed volley after volley of arrows. Like lightning, they struck the vast Qionghua Sacred Land army, exploding on impact with devastating repercussions. Qionghua Sacred Land soldiers were sent flying, their blood and flesh scattering everywhere.

...

"It’s over!" Hovering above the City Lord’s Mansion, Kang Baohua witnessed the utter collapse on all four battlefronts. Her face was as white as a sheet. The battlefields on all four sides formed an encirclement. Even if she wished to escape, there was nowhere for her to go. She even suspected that the Qin Army’s main target was to capture her.