The Tian Hun Empire was located in the north of the continent. It mostly consisted of plains and rolling hills, with very few high, perilous mountain peaks. The only exception was the Jialuo Mountain Range in the northwest, winding like dragons and snakes, majestic and precipitous.
Jialuo Pass was situated right at a break in the Jialuo Mountain Range. On both sides were sheer cliffs piercing into the clouds; the peaks leaned against the sky like swords. The severed precipices faced each other, looking just like the grand gates of a mountain.
For thousands of years in the past, this majestic pass, defensible by a single man, had never seen the flames of war. But today, it had become the gateway for the Tian Hun Empire to halt the Sun Moon Empire's continued advance.
At this moment, inside Jialuo Pass.
As the Marshal of the Tian Hun Empire, Li Shuai naturally commanded the troops personally. However, due to the Sun Moon Empire's fierce prior assaults, the Tian Hun army had suffered heavy losses and could only rely on the treacherous terrain to defend.
Fortunately, reinforcements from various major powers had arrived that morning. Counting the Title Douluo strictly belonging to the Tian Hun Empire, there were currently twenty Title Douluo stationed within Jialuo Pass.
This number... one could say that a single pass of the Tian Hun Empire had gathered the strength of over half the Douluo Continent.
But even so, Li Shuai felt no ease.
Because the Sun Moon Empire's true strength—their Soul Engineer Legions—was enough to contend with the Title Douluo experts on his side. Moreover, those Class 9 Soul Engineers, relying on their exclusive Class 9 Soul Tools, could exert combat power on par with Super Douluo.
When the scout returned, Li Shuai hurriedly pressed him for answers. "How is the situation?"
"Commander, it doesn't look good."
"The Sun Moon Empire's army is continuously converging toward Jialuo Pass. Compared to before, they've increased by about ten thousand men. Moreover, the Fire Phoenix and the Terrorclaw Soul Engineer Legions have already stationed themselves on the two flanks of the main army, forming a pincer formation to protect it."
Damn it!
Hearing that the two Beast King-tier Soul Engineer Legions had already appeared, Li Shuai cursed inwardly, then immediately demanded, "What about Kong Deming? Has he shown up?"
"No news."
Li Shuai roared, "No news means scout again!"
"Yes!"
Once he was alone again, Li Shuai paced back and forth, chaotic thoughts flooding his mind. Then he violently sat back down in his chair, his palm continuously tapping against the desk.
A prolonged defense is bound to fail. A prolonged defense is bound to fail!
If he hadn't witnessed the terrifying power of the Class 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Shells, or the overwhelming combat prowess of an Limit Douluo, he would have been confident in defending the pass. But having seen them, he knew one thing clearly: if the Sun Moon Empire attacked at all costs, even if Jialuo Pass held, the treacherous mountains on both sides would sooner or later be blasted open or flattened by the Sun Moon Empire.
"We can't drag this out any longer."
Li Shuai stood up abruptly, his mind made up.
"Summon the various Excellencies for a council of war!"
As the Tian Hun Commander, even though Li Shuai only had an 89th-rank cultivation, the visiting Title Douluo all gave him face. Before long, twenty Title Douluo had gathered in one hall.
"Everyone, we can't drag this out any longer."
Getting straight to the point, Li Shuai laid it out. "The longer we wait, the worse the situation becomes for us. If we wait until Kong Deming and 'Zhongli Wu' arrive, Jialuo Pass will be in extreme danger."
"That's not necessarily true."
Yang Zihan, leading the delegation from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, parted her red lips slightly. "Perhaps in just a day, or maybe two, our Great Elder should be able to arrive."
"Will just one Limit Douluo be enough? After all, it was mentioned before that 'Zhongli Wu' and 'Ye Xishui' have been 'resurrected' to some extent. What if Long Xiaoyao also reappears?" The Old Heavenly Dragon from the Heavenly Dragon Sect spoke slowly, raising doubts that actually harbored deep worry. Finally, he proposed his own idea. "Or, could we request Di Tian's assistance?"
Hearing this, Yang Zihan fell silent.
She didn't dare guarantee this.
After all, their relationship with Di Tian stemmed entirely from Chen Junting. To get Di Tian to take action? That would depend entirely on Chen Junting's intentions.
So, Yang Zihan shifted the topic back to Li Shuai. "Commander Li, what did you originally want to do?"
"Raid their camp."
Li Shuai revealed his true objective. "Actually, my targets aren't the Sun Moon Empire's experts, but their Soul Engineer Legions. I want to use this night raid to severely cripple them!"
What Old Heavenly Dragon could think of, Li Shuai naturally could too.
Furthermore, as a commander, he absolutely couldn't view the problem solely from a Soul Master's perspective; he had to focus on the strategic big picture.
And the current big picture was that the threat of the Soul Engineer Legions was simply too massive. Even though the loss of two armories had crippled one of their arms, the firepower retained by the Soul Engineer Legions and the army itself was still enough to give them a terrible headache—at most, they just couldn't fight a protracted war.
Severely crippling the Soul Engineer Legions...
For a moment, everyone fell into deep thought.
Only Xian Lin'er from Shrek Academy showed no hesitation, immediately asking, "Commander Li, how do you plan to do it?"
As a top-tier Class 8 Soul Engineer, she was acutely aware of the threat of a Soul Engineer Legion, especially one from the Sun Moon Empire.
"I plan to sortie from the pass at midnight tonight to raid their camp."
"Midnight is the dead of night, when men and horses are exhausted. Moreover, observing today's weather, dark clouds should obscure the moon, leaving the sky dim. The effectiveness of their ultra-high-altitude detection soul tools will drop to a minimum. This will be the best opportunity for us to raid their camp."
Hearing this, everyone agreed one after another.
When it came to which part of the camp to strike first, Li Shuai didn't hesitate. "The two Beast King-tier Soul Engineer Legions!"
"Terrorclaw first, then Fire Phoenix!"
...
The long night stretched on. At the camp of the Terrorclaw Soul Engineer Legion.
Liao Mengkai, the Legion Commander of the Terrorclaw Legion, stood solemnly in the military camp. His black armor and robe fluttered in the cold wind as he gazed up at the night sky.
The mountain peaks on both sides stood tall; right ahead was Jialuo Pass, within arm's reach. It truly possessed the aura of "one man defending the pass, ten thousand being unable to break through."
It was precisely because Jialuo Pass was easy to defend and hard to attack that the Terrorclaw Legion had been deployed here. After all, compared to the other Beast King-tier Soul Engineer Legions, the Terrorclaw Legion was the most adept at siege warfare.
Tomorrow, the Sun Moon army would attack.
The Terrorclaw Legion as the main force, the Fire Phoenix Legion as support, and the other legions coordinating—they were to take this pass within ten days!
Only...
"Will the Tian Hun Empire just sit and wait for death?"
A trace of apprehension rose in Liao Mengkai's heart. This was a commander's instinct.
At the same time, within the mountain walls on both sides.
Concealed by the night and some trees, eighteen Title Douluo, wearing black robes that hid everything except their eyes, were stealthily navigating through the mountain forest.
When they were not far from the Terrorclaw Legion's camp, all eighteen stopped, yet everything remained completely silent.
Gazing out, they locked onto the military camp.
Seeing the Terrorclaw Legion's sturdy fortifications, Yang Zihan, the temporary leader, her expression tightened, her eyes brimming with chilling intent.
"The Beast King-tier Soul Engineer Legion truly lives up to its reputation."
"Prepare to move."
The next second, all eighteen Title Douluo vanished from sight.
As for why there were only eighteen out of the twenty Title Douluo...
The two with the lowest cultivation had not come. They stayed at Jialuo Pass with Li Shuai, ready to lead troops to provide backup at a moment's notice.
...
The third watch of the night.
Thick fog permeated the air, and patches of dark clouds obscured the stars and moon.
On the watchtower, a soldier of the Terrorclaw Legion was constantly surveying the surroundings. Though tired, he showed no slacking.
Swish—
An invisible arrow tore through the sky. At the same time, a Soul Breaking Gun surged with black light, its sharpness converging to a single point. Striking later but arriving first, it shot straight toward the front of the arrow.
Clang—
A ringing sound erupted abruptly.
A soul tool defensive barrier suddenly rose, and soul power fluctuations violently surged. Almost in an instant, Yang Zihan, who had long been prepared, had her 100,000-year Soul Ring flare up with a bloody light. The might of the Soul Breaking Gun's tip surged once more.
With a shake of the gun shaft, "Ninth Soul Skill—Ultimate End!"
Crack—
The soul tool barrier shattered. The arrow met no further obstruction, violently piercing through the soldier's throat before he could fully react, and he tumbled from the watchtower. The arrow's momentum didn't decrease, continuing to fall into the camp below. Right behind it was...
Boom—
The arrow triggered a violent explosion, setting off layers of scorching heatwaves.
At this moment, the eighteen Title Douluo didn't hold back. Slaughtering their way through the camp gate guards like a violent wind, they dispersed to all directions.
Fast as the wind, silent as a forest, fierce as fire.
Without organization, the soldiers of the Terrorclaw Legion were absolutely no match for the eighteen Title Douluo.
It was completely a case of being killed upon first sight, or being killed without even seeing them.
Even patches of fire were ignited in succession, displaying utter chaos.
In an instant, the entire camp was in an uproar!
In the command tent, Liao Mengkai, who had just lain down to rest, had only closed his eyes when the chaotic noises of the camp jolted him awake. Simultaneously, his Martial Soul attached itself, and his humanoid black soul tool was activated.
Flash—Flash—
With a gleam of light and a howl of blades.
A pair of war knives, fully five feet long, were grasped in his hands. These twin blades were pitch-black like ink, yet reflected no light at all, giving off a feeling of entirely swallowing everything. Just a casual wave of the sharp aura on the blades tore through the tent from a distance.
He hurried out of the tent and loudly demanded, "What is going on?!"
A ragged soldier hurriedly ran over to report. "Commander, someone is raiding the camp!"
"Raiding the camp?!"
Liao Mengkai was furious, standing with his blades crossed.
The only place capable of raiding the camp right now was one!
"Good, good, good!!!" Liao Mengkai was enraged. "We haven't even attacked yet, and they dare to impatiently raid our camp!? Today, I will make sure all those raiding the camp die without a burial ground!"
"Commander! We still need to evade for now!"
"You want me to evade?"
Liao Mengkai shook off the soldier's hand. "Our Terrorclaw Soul Engineer Legion is the strongest in close combat among the Guardian Arms, and you want us to evade!?"
"Commander!" The soldier hurriedly grabbed him. "We really can't go! There are no less than a full hand's count of raiders. And they are all Title Douluo!"
These words were like a basin of cold water, drenching Liao Mengkai to the bone, but also instantly cooling him down.
All Title Douluo!
And no less than five!
With this raiding lineup, their Soul Engineer Legion couldn't stop them!
But right at this moment, "Roar—" a heaven-shaking dragon roar instantly captured Liao Mengkai's attention. He violently shoved the soldier away and roared, "Notify the main camp to send reinforcements! Also notify the Vice Commander to organize our legion to merge with the main camp!"
Then, with a backhand slash, he cleaved apart the incoming lightning. Tapping the ground with his toes, his body shot out like an arrow. Accelerating in mid-air, he charged straight toward the attacker.
The twin blades in his hands swept forward; wherever they passed, the air was effortlessly sliced into two thin, long crevices.
However, two dragon claws reached out. Wrapped in lightning, they forcibly grabbed onto these two slashes and violently crushed them.
Seeing Liao Mengkai charging at him in his partially dragon-transformed state, and sensing the aura he emitted, the Old Heavenly Dragon immediately guessed that this person was likely the commander of the Terrorclaw Legion, and he was instantly overjoyed!
"Come!"
His dragon body shook. The coiled lightning, like the wrath of heaven and earth, descended from above. A Prison of Lightning enveloped the surrounding soul engineers. In just a simple breath, they were directly reduced to flying ash and annihilated.
"You're courting death!"
Seeing this scene made Liao Mengkai's heart bleed.
He fiercely hacked down with both blades. The ink-black blade auras instantly crossed in the air, turning into a cross-slash that bombarded straight toward the Old Heavenly Dragon. The sharp edges gave off a feeling of being indestructible.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul True Body!"
From the dark clouds above, earth-shattering lightning instantly flooded the area, enveloping the Old Heavenly Dragon's entire body. "Roar—"
Accompanied by a dragon's roar, a massive Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon poked its head out from the clouds. As its dragon eyes opened and closed, it was like flashing lightning and rolling thunder.
Obviously, he didn't intend to let the commander of the Terrorclaw Legion escape. But because the raid required speed, the Old Heavenly Dragon didn't hesitate and directly activated his Martial Soul True Body.
The resulting aura placed enormous pressure on Liao Mengkai.
Boom—
His dragon tail fiercely whipped out, instantly shattering the blade aura.
"Thunderous Fury!"
Rumble rumble...
The sky suddenly exploded with sound. Under the amplification of his full-body dragonization, the boundless lightning directly formed a massive sea of thunder, targeting Liao Mengkai and pouring down.
Even the entire camp was covered underneath.
But Liao Mengkai's figure flashed, and his whole person suddenly turned somewhat ethereal. He allowed the sea of thunder to turn into a giant thunderball and smash down. By the time his figure reappeared, he was already at the Old Heavenly Dragon's flank. The sharp blade aura suddenly erupted into a ball of intense light, sweeping toward the Old Heavenly Dragon.
However, amidst the flashing electric light, the Old Heavenly Dragon's left dragon claw had already sparked with a layer of thunder, forming a massive thunder barrier behind him, blocking Liao Mengkai's attack from the side.
Just as his dragon tail fiercely whipped out again, Liao Mengkai vanished once more. Just as his spiritual power continuously swept the area, he appeared behind the Old Heavenly Dragon without warning, and the black blade aura instantly descended.
Boom—
Dragon claw struck out; blade and claw collided with a ringing boom!
However, right at this moment, "Old Heavenly Dragon, withdraw!"
A pity.
The thought that it was a shame they didn't have a bit more time flashed through the Old Heavenly Dragon's mind, but he didn't hesitate in the slightest. His dragon tail fiercely whipped toward Liao Mengkai, attempting to force him back.
Yet, "You want to leave!? It's not that easy!"
Liao Mengkai was furious!
You killed so many of my soldiers, and now you just want to leave!?
He knew that his own reinforcements were about to arrive.
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