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Chapter 249: Chapter 246 Grim
The Star State Capital is only a few hundred miles away from the border of Yellow State.
Even though it took quite some time to gather troops from Lingxiao City to Yellow State, in just over a week, the army from Lingxiao City and various parts of Star State had already completed their assembly outside Starlight City.
In the recent period, the situation in Star State had stabilized, and it was no longer necessary to maintain an army of over three hundred thousand like during wartime. The troops of Star State gradually adopted the elite strategy, similar to Dragon Sparrow Manor.
The total force of three hundred and twenty thousand, after several months of reformation, resulted in one hundred and eighty thousand converting to local security forces. They no longer participated in external campaigns but were responsible for pursuing bandits and maintaining internal order.
Among the remaining one hundred and forty thousand...
Eighty thousand were elite troops, while sixty thousand were ranged units.
These were the real fighting force of Star State for external campaigns.
Since the weakest of the devil monsters had strength comparable to Qi Refinement, or even the Gang Condensation Realm, ordinary military units were virtually useless. Thus, for this battle, sixty thousand elite and forty thousand ranged troops were mobilized, totaling one hundred thousand.
Additionally, the newly expanded three thousand Demon God Guards, the original thirteen hundred Demon God Guards, as well as the Hugging Pill Masters and other experts in Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation who had defected from local forces, formed a special forces unit nearly six thousand strong.
Of course, among the newly expanded three thousand Demon God Guards, less than ten percent had managed to embody the Demon God Body, so at this point, they could only be considered as reserves.
Nevertheless, the number of official Demon God Guards under Gu Jinlai reached one thousand five hundred.
You should know that together, those aligned with Gu Jinlai practicing Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill did not amount to two thousand individuals.
Given that the combat effectiveness of the official Demon God Guards was stronger than that of special forces composed of Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill Cultivators, the one thousand five hundred Demon God Guards had already surpassed the cultivators.
In other words, Gu Jinlai had cultivated a powerful force in less than four years, one that was not inferior to the entire Cultivation World of Star State.
Although this power was only up to the Divinity Transformation Realm, the potential and growth rate of the Demon God Guards were still apparent.
Given a few more years, once the Demon God Guards further advanced in the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Method and supplemented it with Short Range Defense Cannons capable of tracking flying swords, they would become an invincible force capable of sweeping over any top-level power.
At this moment, Gu Jinlai, riding a Mechanical Tyrannosaurus, was positioned at the front of the troops.
By his side were the outstanding members among the Demon God Guards.
Or to put it another way, the Deputy Commanders of the Demon God Guards.
People like Gu Chifeng, Gu Luochen, Gu Qingmei, Gu Yunxin, and others.
In addition, he was accompanied by Cheng Wanli and Sha Wujin, two Divinity Transformation Cultivators.
Behind these masters in the Divinity Transformation Realm were over twenty Heavenly Masters headed by Si Tianyan and Zhang Yukan.
The newly produced Sword Heavy Cannons, although now operable by the average person, had somewhat unsatisfactory accuracy rates.
Considering that this battle would inevitably involve a large number of Upper-level Demons, the Heavenly Masters, capable of achieving "man-cannon unity" to significantly enhance accuracy, were indispensable.
Beyond these Heavenly Masters, there was someone whom Gu Jinlai was reluctant to bring along but had to.
Star King Jiang Chongshan.
This Star King, who had cultivated to the Divinity Transformation Realm, had to follow Gu Jinlai no matter what.
Considering his presence was also a flag, if they came into conflict with the Yellow Sky Sect, displaying his name would help suppress the morale of the Yellow Sky Sect, so in the end, he decided to bring this Star King along.
Gu Jinlai glanced over the large moving army.
He lingered for a moment on three large towing vehicles.
Those were three Mystic Bird Fighting Machines that had just been unearthed.
With the engines and weapons installed, the Mystic Bird Fighting Machines were now capable of engaging in aerial combat.
Though they appeared far less refined than modern combat aircraft, the pilots of these machines were not aviators but Gu Jinlai himself during a True Spirit Possession.
Hence, many functionalities essential on Blue Star were unnecessary for Gu Jinlai.
This was also why individuals like Zhang Lihuo managed to produce the framework for eight Mystic Bird Fighting Machines in a few months.
"Demons differ from human cultivators; their charges are difficult to stop, so using our elite soldiers to fight the demons would be the least wise tactic. The most important factor in this grand battle will be the Sword Formation."
Gu Jinlai turned his gaze in another direction once again.
There, rows of Sword Heavy Cannons were lined up.
Unlike the previous battle at Dragon Roar City, which had a total of forty-eight cannons and only twelve Sword Heavy Cannons, after a few months of development, Lingxiao City now had a total of one hundred and twenty-eight Sword Heavy Cannons.
This was because the demons from Tianhe and Mu State were approaching too quickly.
Zhang Lihuo and the others were set to establish a complete "Sword" production line by the end of this month, and Gu Jinlai himself had arranged two Ten Thousand Spirit Arrays in the Military Workshop.
By the end of the month, with the Military Workshop in full production, Sword Heavy Cannons would be assembled without interruption.
One hundred pieces a month was not a difficult feat.
Unfortunately, the Tianhe demons and those from Mu State would not give him that much time.
Gu Jinlai gazed toward the horizon.
Estimating the advancing speed of the demons.
But as he watched, he felt something was amiss.
He suddenly asked, "What is our marching speed right now, and how long until we reach the battle site?"
"Patriarch, the troops have fully set out; since the force is mainly composed of elites, and equipped with a large number of horses and war beasts, we can march up to a hundred miles per day."
Accompanying Gu Jinlai at this moment, was Gu Chaoyang, who finally broke through to the Refining God Realm after consuming a large amount of Nourishing God Pills.
Mounted on a horned horse, he spread out a map he was carrying and said, "According to your instructions, Patriarch, in order to maximize the advantage of our war spiritual artifacts, the battle site is at Longtang Mountain. This mountain is roughly one thousand eight hundred miles away from our current position, we should be able to reach our destination in at most twenty days, or as quickly as half a month."
"What about the second potential battle site?"
"It’s Eighteen Pavilions."
Gu Chaoyang answered, "This area mainly relies on Jade Belt River for defense, and not far from Eighteen Pavilions, there is a major city belonging to Yellow State..."
He glanced down at the map, "Eighteen Pavilions is a thousand kilometers away; we can reach it in ten days."
"Adjust our direction, the target is now Eighteen Pavilions."
Gu Jinlai ordered.
"Eighteen Pavilions? Our relationship with Yellow Sky Sect isn’t exactly... close, and there’s the Great Cloud Sky City of Yellow State eighteen miles from Eighteen Pavilions—this... is too close. If the people from Yellow Sky Sect were to harbor ill intentions while we are battling the devils..."
Gu Chaoyang was somewhat puzzled by his ancestor’s order.
"They wouldn’t dare."
Gu Jinlai explained briefly and then urged, "Issue the order."
"Understood."
Gu Chaoyang responded affirmatively.
Yet, as their order to change the destination was relayed, a group of about a dozen people was detected by scouts.
After consulting with Gu Jinlai, these dozen or so people were soon brought before him.
The leader was none other than Yu Jin, a Divinity Transformation Cultivator from Yellow Sky Sect, who had attended the establishment of the Tian Nan Alliance as a representative three months earlier.
Upon seeing Gu Jinlai, the Divinity Transformation Cultivator hurriedly offered his greetings, "Governor Gu, we’ve recently received news that the Tianhe Demons seem to be aware of our Tian Nan Alliance’s plan to confront them, and they are massively moving southward, intending to directly plunge into Star State through Jade Belt River with the purpose of destroying the fervent Heavenly Master revival efforts within Star State."
He spoke calmly, "Patriarch, you’ve been extremely high-profile lately, and the demons have been accumulating power, seemingly aiming to deliver a fatal blow to you and the Heavenly Masters who have joined you these past months. Our Tian Nan Alliance’s action has undoubtedly prompted these demons to strike ahead of schedule, and the number of demons emerging from Tianhe this time is close to a hundred thousand!"
"A hundred thousand?!"
This number made everyone including Gu Chaoyang, Gu Chifeng, Cheng Wanli, and others deeply change their expressions simultaneously.
A hundred thousand demons! Even the smallest among them was equivalent to a Qi Refinement or at least a Gang Condensation Realm cultivator!
A hundred thousand such demons...
That was more than ten times the number of demons that had emerged during the battle at Baihe City!
Such an absolutely desperate force!
Considering that it often takes tens or hundreds of soldiers to kill a single demon, within Star State, at least ten million troops would need to be organized to withstand them.
Ten million!
All of Star State’s able-bodied population combined would just barely reach this number.
If these demons were allowed to rampage within Star State, the entire Star State would be slaughtered to the ground in an extremely short period of time.
"How could there be so many demons in Tianhe?!" Cheng Wanli couldn’t help exclaiming.
"I estimate all the demons around Tianhe have gathered there. No wonder the demons near Tianhe have been so quiet these past few months," Gu Chifeng said with a serious face.
Yu Jin was pleased with everyone’s reaction and continued, "With so many demons amassing in Tianhe, nine out of ten chances are they’re bent on eradicating all living beings in Star State. If Star State can’t hold back the tide, the Four Great Mu States to the east, south, west, and north will serve as dire warnings. Star State will completely become a Demon Paradise."
His expression was grave, "Once the demons run amok in Star State, they will inevitably spread to the surrounding areas. Our Yellow Sky Sect also understands the principle that when lips die, teeth feel the cold. The Sect Master and the Supreme Elder have already taken action, planning to use the original defenses built to ward off the demons of Champsosaurus Swamp to hold back some of the demons as much as possible. However, there are too many demons; we can only help your Star State hold back a portion. Hence, some of the demons about to move south along Jade Belt River will have to be dealt with by Star State alone."
Making his point, he took out a map, pointing to a spot and saying, "This should be the gathering point for the first batch of demons moving south, and right below it, there is a rather suitable defensive position. Please, Governor Gu, lead your special elite forces day and night to intercept them. With Star State’s six thousand special operation troops, you might be able to hold them off temporarily."
Gu Jinlai took one look; this location was almost at the edge of the Tianhe River basin.
"While Governor Gu holds back the demons, you should widely recruit soldiers within Star State, and organize an army of a million or even three million people at the fastest speed. You should also send out a distress signal to the Purgatory Sect, Netherworld Sect, and Cold Moon Sect, all members of the Tian Nan Alliance, to march north to resist the demons. Only then might you be able to defend Star State," Yu Jin said, taking a long breath, "Otherwise, once the demons move south, if Star State isn’t fully prepared in time, nearly sixty million people will become demon fodder." no𝚟𝚙u𝚋.c𝚘m
