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Chapter 226: Chapter 223: Counterattack
"The entire army is to attack!?"
Ye Qianqiu’s heart jolted.
They were going to launch a full-scale attack now!?
"Patriarch, our number of Divinity Transformation Cultivators surpasses that of Star State, and we can completely rely on the power of the Divinity Transformation Cultivators to destroy the cannon positions, then continue with the previous defensive tactics. There’s no need to abandon the advantage of Dragon Roar City to attack Dragon Ascending Mountain."
"I fear that if we can think of this, the enemy can also anticipate it. What if they have set traps on Dragon Ascending Mountain waiting for our Divinity Transformation Cultivators to attack?"
As Huo Yuqing spoke, he turned to Ye Qianqiu, "I remember you once mentioned that Gu Jinlai possesses a Slaughter Spirit Artifact named ’Red.’ Didn’t his subordinates once use six such weapons to weave a net of firepower that stopped the flying swords of seven Divinity Transformation Cultivators?"
"Indeed, that is so."
Ye Qianqiu nodded in agreement.
"Just now, due to our erroneous judgment, six Primordial Spirits were severely injured, leaving them incapable of fighting anymore in the short term. Now, our Divinity Transformation battle power has dwindled to only thirteen individuals. On Gu Jinlai’s side, with six ’Red’ Slaughter Spirit Artifacts equivalent to seven Divinity Transformation Cultivators, and their ranks include Cheng Wanli, Nie Shisan, Lu Zhanfeng, Shi Chen, and Sha Wujin—five great Divinity Transformation Cultivators—their Divinity Transformation battle strength is actually no less than ours..."
Huo Yuqing took a deep breath, "In such circumstances, on what basis do you claim our Divinity Transformation Cultivators could break through their interception and destroy their so-called War Spiritual Artifacts known as cannons?"
This comment turned Ye Qianqiu’s face pale.
Star State had never been weak!
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen a defensive strategy to avoid mutual destruction with the enemy.
At this moment, Star State had secured the initiative; a round of bombardment had heavily injured their six great Divinity Transformation Cultivators. If at this point they still opt to assemble their elites to try and destroy the War Spiritual Artifacts called cannons...
Once more of the Divinity Transformation Cultivators were injured, the balance of power between the elite forces of Dragon Sparrow Manor and Star State would instantly shift.
Without the advantage of top-tier powerhouses...
Moreover, Gu Jinlai could leverage the "cannons," the War Spiritual Artifacts, to bombard Dragon Roar City. The best outcome for their Dragon Sparrow Manor would be a ’Jade and Stone Burn Together’ scenario, perishing together with the grand army of Star State.
If things go poorly...
Defeat!?
The word ’defeat’ surfaced in Ye Qianqiu’s mind for the first time.
Their ancient force, which had endured for hundreds of years, might...
be defeated by Gu Jinlai, who had unified Star State less than a year ago!?
"The only plan now is as the Grandmaster said, launch a full-scale attack and disperse our formation. We need to resist the cannonballs shot by these ’cannon’ Spiritual Artifacts while advancing toward Dragon Ascending Mountain. Despite the inevitable heavy losses, this is our only way to break the deadlock," said Long Xiangtian, taking a deep breath. "We underestimated the world; if Gu Jinlai dares to attack our Dragon Sparrow Manor, wouldn’t he be fully prepared?"
"Further discussion is futile. Summon the Divinity Transformation Cultivators and Refining God Immortals. We are the first to strike. Even if we can’t destroy those ’cannon’ Spiritual Artifacts, at least we need to slow down their firing rate to allow our Dragon Sparrow Manor elites to reach the base of Dragon Ascending Mountain. If we allow those War Spiritual Artifacts to launch a full-scale offensive, after crossing more than fifty miles, our side’s elite forces will likely have suffered more than half casualties, and our chances of victory will be slim," concluded Huo Yuqing decisively.
The three exchanged thoughts through Divine Thought and quickly made a decision.
After intercepting another round of cannon fire, the command was swiftly given.
Fortunately, Dragon Sparrow Manor had many contingency plans in place for an attack by Star State.
This particular contingency plan...
was for an internal unrest within Star State, a pursuit plan for the retreating army of Dragon Ascending Mountain.
This plan called for the assembly of elites to chase and destroy the enemy.
Because of this plan’s existence, when Huo Yuqing, Ye Qianqiu, and Long Xiangtian, the three True Monarchs, along with various Divinity Transformation Cultivators, rushed to the gates of Dragon Roar City, the place had already gathered more than sixty Refining God Immortals, along with thousands of Hugging Pill, Gang Condensation, and Qi Refining cultivators.
As for those tens of thousands of elites, even with rapid mobilization, it still needed time.
"Move!"
Without wasting any words, Huo Yuqing commanded.
Thousands activated their True Qi, sprinting with full force, and swiftly surged toward the direction of Dragon Ascending Mountain.
Soon, this scene was reported by the Meteor Star Guard lurking within Dragon Roar City. Shortly after Huo Yuqing and the others had left the city, the message had already reached Gu Jinlai, Xin Tianqi, and others.
"They are really launching a full-scale attack so decisively?"
Gu Jinlai was somewhat surprised.
He had thought that the bombardments would confound the people of Dragon Roar City, subsequently leading them to think that such enemy attacks couldn’t continue.
In that case, he could have continued enjoying a bombardment spree, weakening Dragon Roar City’s power.
But unexpectedly, after only a few rounds of bombardment?
In just about fifteen minutes, the forces of Dragon Sparrow Manor had already broken out from Dragon Roar City, charging toward Dragon Ascending Mountain.
"Governor Gu, let’s retreat," urged Xin Tianqi through transmitted thought. "The situation has changed. Beside Huo Yuqing, besides the two True Monarchs and more than a dozen Divinity Transformation Cultivators, there are also dozens of Refining God Immortals and thousands of Hugging Pill, Gang Condensation, and Qi Refining experts. Once we get surrounded by these people, I am confident I can fight my way out, but you and the other Divinity Transformation Cultivators..."
The biggest advantage Divinity Transformation Cultivators have against Refining God Immortals is relying on their swift movement techniques and sharp flying swords to employ hit-and-run tactics.
With these tactics, given enough time, not to mention three or five Refining God Immortals, even ten or eight could be easily killed.
However, in close combat, even though Divinity Transformation Cultivators have the advantage of flying swords, once they are surrounded by three or five Refining God Immortals, they still risk perishing.
Not to mention Refining God Immortals, two or three dozen Hugging Pills, a hundred Gang Condensations, and Qi Refinings still pose a potential threat to kill a Divinity Transformation Cultivator.
Of course, if there were only twenty or thirty Hugging Pills, and a hundred or so Gang Condensation Qi Refinements, a Divinity Transformation Cultivator could choose to break out.
But now, with dozens in Refining God and thousands of Hugging Pills, Gang Condensations, and Qi Refinements, not to mention that they had only five Divinity Transformation Cultivators, even if they had twice as many, being surrounded would still lead to a dead end.
This was still under the condition that neither the Dragon Sparrow Manor’s Divinity Transformations nor Primordial Spirits made a move.
Otherwise, these five Divinity Transformation Cultivators would die even faster.
"The Sparrow Sword Immortal from the Dragon Sparrow Manor truly has formidable courage."
Gu Jinlai uttered, "However, if they think they can win against us just like that, they are gravely mistaken."
He directly said to Xin Tianqi and the others, "Star Lord Xin, take your men and retreat to the base of Dragon Ascending Mountain, and also send orders to the Demon God Guards, ready to strike."
Upon hearing this, Xin Tianqi quickly realized something, "Governor Gu, are you planning to... "
"Huo Yuqing’s choice to concentrate elites and strike first is a move towards their own demise."
Gu Jinlai emphatically said, "The trump card in my hand is capable of area attack; if used successfully, many experts of the Dragon Sparrow Manor will perish in one battle."
"Is that really true?"
Xin Tianqi’s eyes lit up.
"Naturally."
Gu Jinlai said, "Star Lord Xin, you and your men withdraw first, then, get ready to pursue and attack any remaining fugitives of the Dragon Sparrow Manor."
After speaking, he added with a smile, "Of course, just to be safe, let the cannons continuously bombard Huo Yuqing along the way, tie down their Divine Thoughts and energy, to prevent giving away any flaws too soon and scattering them in all directions."
"Good!"
Xin Tianqi nodded emphatically, "Once you unleash your trump card and heavily injure the people of Dragon Sparrow Manor, we will immediately lead our troops to charge and wipe out this batch of Dragon Sparrow Manor elite. If we can keep this group of elites... even if only half are left, the great battle at Dragon Roar City can be considered as largely settled."
"Go."
Gu Jinlai said.
Xin Tianqi no longer hesitated.
He quickly assembled Lu Zhanfeng and the others and left swiftly.
During this, he had Cheng Wanli, who resembled Gu Jinlai in stature, change into heavy armor, impersonating Gu Jinlai, and made sure to expose these details in sight of those "with intentions."
The great battle between Star State and Jiangzhou State attracted countless people’s attention.
At this moment, it was unknown how many eyes were watching this battlefield.
The birds flying high in the sky dome, the arrays set up on certain mountain peaks for observation, were all means for them to monitor the battlefield.
Even though these powers might not receive firsthand critical news, the actions of Xin Tianqi and his men that were not intentionally hidden could be instantly known by them, and then through other channels, be known to the people inside the Dragon Sparrow Manor.
Thus, it was even more advantageous for Gu Jinlai to unleash his trump card and wipe out Huo Yuqing and the others in one strike.
...
Xin Tianqi and others evacuated.
At Dragon Ascending Mountain, cannons also roared to life, opening fire.
Amidst bursts of thick smoke and sparks, each round had dozens of cannonballs smashing towards the rapidly advancing people from the Dragon Sparrow Manor.
However...
At this time, those accompanying Huo Yuqing and others were at least the masters of movement techniques in Qi Refining, leaping tens of meters with each maneuver.
In addition, with Huo Yuqing, Ye Qianqiu, and Long Xiangtian, the three Primordial Spirit Monarchs intercepting with swords, and even some Divinity Transformation Cultivators and Refining God Immortals condensing True Yuan to slash out Sword Gangs, shooting a hundred meters to intercept the cannonballs, the ones that could actually land on them had already become very few.
Along the way, aside from a dozen unfortunate souls who were killed by the bombardments, only a few dozen were wounded by shrapnel.
This scene, to Gu Jinlai’s eyes, was somewhat regrettable.
However, those already above Qi Refining were considered somewhat superhuman.
Unless he could deploy hundreds of cannons for a covering bombardment all at once, the difficulty of bombing these cultivators, who were alert and moving quickly, especially the Gang Condensations, Hugging Pills, and those in Refining God and Divinity Transformation who had developed Divine Thoughts, was indeed depressingly low.
"Ultimately, it still comes down to relying on myself."
A sharp light flashed in Gu Jinlai’s eyes, "Next, the task is to ensure that this strike eliminates Huo Yuqing while maximizing its power."
Huo Yuqing...
Primordial Spirit Monarch.
Compared to him, the biggest advantage of a Primordial Spirit Monarch is the ability to control swords soaring through the sky and entering Qingming.
So...
Disable her main attack flying sword.
Then, entangle Huo Yuqing, do not give her a chance to fly into the sky, and use her as bait...
Or rather, use himself, Gu Jinlai, as bait, tempting one by one the experts of Dragon Sparrow Manor to gather and join the queue to besiege him.
Then...
One strike to set the universe!
One major move to clear the field!
