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Chapter 119: Chapter 116: Situation
Sunset City.
A small city on the southern edge of Star State.
At this moment, the city had just experienced the ravages of war, thick smoke could be seen billowing everywhere, and faintly, cries of killing and agony could still be heard emanating from within the city.
Meanwhile, on the city’s main thoroughfare, a group of people were riding horned horses, advancing slowly.
Without the need for people from other sects, just the intelligence department of Lingxiao City itself could recognize the leading few figures at first glance.
Shadow Sword, Wuchenzi.
Lingfeng Sword, White Elephant.
And the person in charge of the southern border city, Zhuang He.
These three, both Wuchenzi and White Elephant were Divinity Transformation Cultivators who had mastered the art of the flying sword.
Among them, Wuchenzi’s sword was formless and traceless, the enemy often didn’t realize the danger before being killed by a sword stroke, hence he had gained the moniker Shadow Sword.
The Lingfeng Sword was known for its astonishing speed and its ability to cleave through the air, thus he was honored as Lingfeng Sword.
Compared to these two cultivators, who specialized in precise assassination of the enemy’s experts, Zhuang He, who was at the Peak of Refining God, was the overall person in charge of the battle.
At this time, as they walked through the city, their expressions did not show much joy in taking down the city.
They knew that occupying Sunset City was just a beginning, and how to defend against Gu Jinlai of Lingxiao City’s possible counterattack was the most critical issue.
"Have the two Elders heard the news from Lingxiao City? That Gu Jinlai... has become a Heavenly Monarch?"
After watching for a moment, Zhuang He suddenly asked.
"This matter... is most likely true to a great extent."
White Elephant glanced at him and said, "If he hadn’t become a Heavenly Monarch, it would be hard to explain how Gu Jinlai could create one terrifying war spiritual artifact after another."
About that, he added, "This Purgatory Sect Elder must have received the inheritance of some Heavenly Monarch, which is why he hastily applied for a transfer from the Purgatory Sect and hid away in Changjun City of Star State. Wasn’t it rumored that he had fallen from the Refining God Realm back then? I’m afraid that he had already switched to practicing the Heavenly Master Dao at that time, and must have achieved some success."
Wuchenzi followed with a nod, "The Heavenly Master lineage that Gu Jinlai received must surely come with many treasures; otherwise, in today’s decline of the Heavenly Master Dao, how could a proud cultivator of Refining God be willing to give up his realm and step onto the path of the Heavenly Master?"
Finished with that, he looked towards the direction of Lingxiao City, "He is committed to embarking on the path of the Demon Martial Artists in Lingxiao City, which makes me suspect, is he capable of resolving the influence of demonic nature on oneself and use the robust vitality of the Demon Martial Artists to compensate for the deficit of essence caused by Qi Refining and God Transformation."
"I have the same speculation."
White Elephant said, "Demons are by nature demon spirits, and the Heavenly Master is the nemesis of demon spirits. Some of the Heavenly Master’s techniques can cleanse the demonic nature inherent in demons... This isn’t strange. For a hundred years, many skilled practitioners of the Heavenly Master Dao have entertained similar thoughts. Unfortunately, before they could research a feasible method, the Heavenly Master Dao was nearly wiped out by the demons’ hunting."
"If Gu Jinlai really has this capability, with just a call to arms, he could surely attract countless Heavenly Masters. Wouldn’t our first attack against him be..."
Zhuang He asked with a frown.
"His call to arms would indeed attract countless Heavenly Masters, but it would also make him a thorn in the side of the demons, so he would never dare to do so,"
White Elephant explained.
Not only did Gu Jinlai not dare, but they also did not dare.
No single force could bear the consequences of being regarded as the primary foe by the demons.
How prosperous had the Heavenly Master Dao been a hundred years ago?
The Floating Islands hung high in the Nine Heavens.
The Ten Thousand Spirit Sword rampaged across the Earth.
Yet in the end, they still fell victim to the demons’ assassination, leading to the collapse of civilization.
To this day, the lineage of Heavenly Master is nearly severed.
This is the power of the demons.
No power could withstand it,
Not even the Daqian in its heyday, nor the Heavenly Master himself.
"As for why we were the first ones to attack him, there are two reasons. First, it’s related to a piece of information we’ve received."
White Elephant glanced at Zhuang He, "As the person responsible for this battle, it’s no harm telling you. During the period of Starlight City, although Gu Jinlai displayed three slaughter spirit artifacts named ’Red’, according to our probes, the other two only had their form without their spirit; in other words, they were merely props meant to bluff."
"Props!?"
Zhuang He’s eyes widened. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
"Yes."
White Elephant nodded.
Following that, he paused with a somewhat serious tone, "Secondly... we must provide a retreat for the Cold Moon Sect."
"A retreat?"
Zhuang He was startled and quickly associated it with something, his pupils suddenly constricting.
He knew that all four Mu States to the east, south, west, and north had fallen!
Above Mu State...
Was Blue State!
With the might of the demons...
If the Cold Moon Sect could hold off their onslaught, it might even have the opportunity to invade Mu State and seize territory.
But if it couldn’t hold off the demons...
"Mu State suffered a severe defeat, and we have gathered quite a number of resistors who fled from Mu State. The pressure on our defense has been slightly reduced, and it is for this reason that the sect could spare the two of us to seize Sunset City while safeguarding the newly occupied cities..."
Wuchenzi said, looking around, "What comes next will depend on Lingxiao City’s reaction..."
...
"We must launch a counterattack, and it must be one of thunderous might."
Lingxiao City’s war council room.
Gu Jinlai said with a grave voice.
Before him, Gu Chifeng, Gu Chaoyang, Nian Buwang, Gu Xiangyang, Gu Luochen, and others were all present.
"As the only power without a Divinity Transformation Cultivator, if our counterstrike isn’t forceful enough, if it doesn’t work on the first attempt, what awaits us is the surrounding forces rising to attack and dividing up the four cities we occupy, all at once."
He was very clear on the consequences of not displaying enough deterrent power in this fight.
"Please give the order, Patriarch!"
Gu Chifeng said in a deep voice.
"Lingxiao City, as a priority among priorities, cannot be left undefended. Gu Chifeng, you and ’Red’ stay behind,"
said Gu Jinlai.
In fact, he wanted to take the Red Close Defense Cannon with him.
But...
If he took "Red" away, Lingxiao City would be defenseless against any Divinity Transformation Cultivator.
However, without the "Red" Close Defense Cannon, should they encounter a flying sword attack en route, they would inevitably be unable to respond at the first moment.
Therefore, their movements could not be within the enemy’s control.
In other words...
He could only choose to launch a surprise attack.
"Mobilize four thousand troops to take Sunset City. Additionally, Gu Luochen, Gu Qingmei, Gu Yunxin, you and a hundred Demon God Warriors, a hundred Reserve Demon God Warriors, and all the ’Thunder’ Gatling Guns, follow me to take the city,"
"Yes."
All of them stood up and responded loudly at the same time.
Gu Jinlai then glanced at Gu Chaoyang, Nian Buwang, and others, "You will stay in Lingxiao City to maintain order."
"Patriarch, should we call over Su Nanxing? And ask the Star King to act?"
Gu Chaoyang hastily said, "According to our investigations, this time, the Cold Moon Demon Sect has mobilized not just two Divinity Transformation Cultivators, but also four at the Refining God Realm. Moreover, the ranks of Hugging Pill, Gang Condensation, and Qi Refinement experts are also considerable. Although the elite force is not comparable to that in the battle at Monument Mountain, the high-level combat strength surpasses that of Monument Mountain."
"Su Nanxing..."
Gu Jinlai shook his head, "We must not move him."
Yuanhua City had only one Refining God Cultivator guarding it, which was already quite difficult, relying entirely on maintaining face with the Purgatory Sect.
Once he transferred Su Nanxing, it would undoubtedly completely expose his own vulnerability, and at that time...
The Purgatory Sect would not hesitate to press him aggressively.
"In the battle of Monument Mountain, we were able to win decisively. The battle for the restoration of Sunset City will surely be the same,"
Gu Jinlai stood up and spoke in an undeniable tone, "Mobilize the troops immediately, get ready! We depart in one day!"
"Yes."
Gu Chaoyang, Gu Chifeng, Gu Luochen, and others responded loudly once more.
...
One day quickly passed.
Armed to the teeth, Gu Jinlai arrived outside the city.
He didn’t ride in a carriage, nor did he ride a mount.
One must know that although the swords and armor on him were reduced in size, their weight did not lighten by the slightest, totalling over eight thousand jin.
Additionally, the two Close Defense Cannon models...
Though slightly more manageable due to being models, still weighed about twelve thousand jin.
In other words, the burden on him was twenty thousand jin.
Twenty thousand jin of weight is not something any horse can pull.
Therefore, he had to either choose to ride in a carriage, with the Rhino Horn Beast pulling the Close Defense Cannons, or...
Carry them himself.
Marching with a heavy load.
"We need to evolve the Swift Dragon into a T-Rex as soon as possible, even if a T-Rex carrying a twenty thousand jin load... would affect its agility,"
Gu Jinlai realized this problem.
He had a complete training chart for evolving a Swift Dragon into a T-Rex and then into a Mechanical Tyrannosaurus. Accomplishing this wasn’t difficult.
It’s just that there were so many things on his plate that he was delayed.
But this kind of surprise attack, like today’s, made him realize this shortcoming.
A T-Rex mount was imperative.
"Counting the time... the Demon Realm Rift is about to open..."
thought Gu Jinlai.
He had too many things waiting for a Co-spirit.
"Greetings, City Lord."
As soon as Gu Jinlai appeared, everyone saluted and shouted their greetings at the same time.
The soldiers were fine, but the gazes of the Demon God Warriors towards Gu Jinlai were particularly fervent.
They knew very well that their accomplishments today, and their families’ current glory of occupying four cities, were all brought about by Gu Jinlai alone.
This Patriarch held immense prestige in the Gu family and in the forces dependent on the Gu family.
Gu Jinlai took notice of everyone’s gazes.
"Rise!"
He did not mount any grand steed, but even standing on the ground, he still appeared tall and muscular, exuding a sense of potent strength.
Especially with hundreds of Demon God Warriors behind him, this sense of strength escalated into a sense of oppression.
Which then transformed into a sense of security.
He delivered a stirring declaration and then, with a single command, the army of over four thousand rapidly advanced, heading straight for Sunset City.
The army’s departure was impossible to hide from vigilant eyes.
Nonetheless, all Gu Jinlai could do was increase his scouts to probe the surroundings.
When the team had barely traversed a hundred li from Lingxiao City and passed by Qiushan Mountain, Gu Jinlai descended from a heavy vehicle carrying two models of the Close Defense Cannons, silently disappearing among the ranks.
At the same time, other Demon God Warriors in the troop had swapped their equipment, with a hundred Reserve Demon God Warriors replacing them to show a front, while the real Demon God Warriors had already entered Qiushan Mountain to rendezvous with Gu Jinlai.
Gu Jinlai couldn’t maintain the True Spirit Possession state of the Close Defense Cannons all the time. And since he wasn’t a true Divinity Transformation Cultivator, he couldn’t resist an enemy’s mid-journey assault and had to resort to stealth tactics.
One hundred warriors regrouped and raced towards Sunset City at an even faster pace.
