NOVPUB
Chapter 279: Chapter 276: Attack
Gu Jinlai was unwilling to incite a civil war in Tian Nan.
He was well aware of the predicaments facing Tian Nan at present; once civil war broke out, it would exhaust their forces against each other, only allowing the devils to gain momentum and further turn Tian Nan into their hunting grounds.
But the actions of the Yellow Sky Sect had already crossed the line.
In his position, he sought to govern.
Since they of the Yellow Sky Sect were squandering their duties, he would not blame him for taking matters into his own hands.
...
The army of six thousand led by Gu Jinlai soon stationed itself in Yuntian City.
Yuntian City was not far from Yellow Sky City, with a distance of just over six hundred miles between them.
Additionally, Yuntian City was one of the large cities in Yellow State, with a permanent population exceeding three million.
Owing to the previous experience of "cooperation," Gu Jinlai’s stationing faced no hindrances.
Both the City Lord Mansion affiliated with the Yellow Sky Sect and the local forces in the city warmly welcomed their arrival.
By then, the news of Yellow Sky City’s great defeat had reached Yuntian City, Yellow Sky Sect, and indeed all of Yellow State; everyone pinned their hopes on Gu Jinlai and his group, naturally complying with their every demand unconditionally.
Upon arrival in Yuntian City, Gu Jinlai quickly arranged the battlefield while also keeping tabs on the movements of the Yellow Sky Sect and the devils.
...
A day later, Gu Jinlai received a message from Tang Qing of the Meteor Star Guard.
"The people from Yellow Sky Sect have directly retreated to Haitian City? A retreat of a thousand miles!? They have yielded the entire central part of Yellow State!?"
Gu Jinlai, looking at the message, didn’t know whether to feel angry or sad, "So, they don’t plan to keep or defend those cities behind Yellow Sky City?"
"This time, the number of Tianhe Demons isn’t very high; after the big battle in Yellow Sky City, only about forty thousand remain. Yet that force is still too much for Yellow Sky Sect to withstand. According to the message from their side, if they were to defend the cities one by one, it would lead to even more severe losses for Yellow Sky Sect. Rather than being gradually weakened by the enemy, it’s better to directly retreat to Haitian City. There they can regroup and wait for an opportunity to counterattack. Besides, with us in Yuntian City, one in the east and one in the west, a pincer movement could be formed."
Tang Qing’s voice also carried anger.
Clearly, he deeply despised the actions of the Yellow Sky Sect.
"This is basically dumping the mess of Yellow State on us," one of Gu’s men said sharply.
Gu Chaoyang, standing by, spoke solemnly, "Our location in Yuntian City is roughly at the southwestern corner of Yellow State’s central part, while Haitian City is near the east. Yet it’s not really the eastern corner anymore. The location of Haitian City is more towards the southern part of Yellow State; there is no pincer position here."
Gu Jinlai glanced at a map of Yellow State.
The terrain of Yellow State was rectangular, splitting the whole state into northern, central, and southern parts. Currently, the north had entirely fallen.
The central...
Following the major defeat at Yellow Sky City in the northern-central part, it too had largely fallen.
At present, only Yuntian City remained as a major city or defensive point.
Moving further south...
There was Haitian City in the south.
Together with the capital Yellow Sky City and the long since fallen Yutian City, the central Yuntian City and southern Haitian City comprised the four core areas of Yellow State, each with populations exceeding three million.
Currently, two of the four major areas were gone, effectively marking more than half of Yellow State as fallen.
"Patriarch, what do we do next..."
"Draw the devils to Yuntian City, and from there, we will have another sniping battle with them!" Gu Jinlai ordered. "Also, prepare to receive refugees; those people retreating from the direction of Yellow Sky City, we need to settle them properly."
"By doing this... we are precisely following the intentions of Yellow Sky Sect..."
Gu Chaoyang hesitated.
"Execute the order."
"Yes."
Gu Chaoyang responded firmly.
After Gu Chaoyang and Tang Qing left, Gu Jinlai stepped outside and gazed toward the horizon.
He could clearly see that the Lucky Qi belonging to Yellow State was being rapidly eroded by the Tianhe Demons.
It was now a flickering flame, on the verge of collapse.
He turned to look behind him.
"Over six thousand men..."
Since the main force of the Demon God Guards was on the Blue State Battlefield, he had only over six thousand men with him at this moment.
If they didn’t leverage the defensive advantage to strike and retake Yellow Sky City...
A miscalculation could cost the lives of all six thousand men.
Although he wanted to save the thirty million people of Yellow State,...
At this moment, he was the Governor of Star State, not the Governor of Yellow State.
He had to ensure the safety of these Demon God Guards recruited from Star State.
Therefore...
He could only wait.
If the devils wanted to continue southward, they had to pass Yuntian City.
Moreover, there was him, the "Heavenly Monarch" fully loaded with taunts, along with a group of Heavenly Masters.
He planned to rely on these six thousand men to snipe the devils here.
...
Gu Jinlai had a good plan.
But in reality...
The devils did not strike toward Yuntian City.
It seemed they realized that a decisive battle in Yuntian City was not favorable for them, or perhaps they were wary of the power Lingxiao City possessed.
Days later, when the first batch of forty thousand elite troops entered Yuntian City from Star State, the devils who had lingered around Yellow Sky City started to move again.
They bypassed Yuntian City, moved through the central southern part of Yellow State, and continued toward Haitian City.
Persimmons need to be picked soft.
The axiom ’exploiting the soft and fearing the tough’ similarly applies to demons.
Even if Yuntian City had a Heavenly Monarch drawing monsters, it was no exception.
Having received this message, Gu Jinlai pondered for a long while before finally making a decision.
Dispatch troops!
Reinforce Haitian City!
Then use Haitian City and Yuntian City as strongholds to encircle the demons entrenched in Yellow State!
His decision, naturally, led Gu Chaoyang and others to repeatedly advise against it.
After all, foregoing the strategic advantage of Yuntian City to aid Haitian City was risky; if they fell into a trap set by the Yellow Sky Sect, they might end up bearing the brunt of the demon forces themselves.
Fortunately, Gu Jinlai maintained his rationale.
The real significance of dispatching troops was not to confront the demons directly but to protect the cities along the demons’ route to Haitian City, preventing the demons from dispersing and endangering the surrounding areas.
The real battlefield would only be at Haitian City.
Once this order was issued, both the Official Demon God Guards and the elite troops in Yuntian City sprang into action.
...
At this moment,
Within the boundaries of Jiangzhou State,
An army was swiftly heading north towards Yellow State.
This was the retreating Official Demon God Guards from Blue State.
The number of these Demon God Guards exceeded ten thousand.
Among them, six thousand were Official Demon God Guards, four thousand were Reserve Demon God Guards, and there were also over a thousand members of the Sword Heavy Artillery Unit.
Upon receiving Gu Jinlai’s order to support Yellow State, under Gu Chifeng’s lead, they hurriedly rushed towards Haitian City.
Since Haitian City was located in the southeast of Yellow State, they planned to cross Jiangzhou State directly, enter Yellow State via Jiangzhou, and reach Haitian City to join forces with Gu Jinlai’s Demon God Guards.
Leading the troops was Gu Chifeng, but Cheng Lixue, who had already pledged allegiance to Lingxiao City, was also traveling with him.
The remaining Monarch Jing Yunshan...
He took with him two disciples and relatives of Monarchs, as well as many trophies seized by the Demon God Guards, heading towards Lingxiao City.
Their sects planned to establish a base in Lingxiao City for a while, recruiting disciples and laying roots.
Perhaps in the future, after recapturing Mu State, they would return, but as representatives of Lingxiao City, incorporating Mu State into the political system of Lingxiao City.
"Heavenly Monarch Gu is truly noble. The demons of Tianhe originally emerged because Zhang Taiping meddled; now, with troubles in Yellow State, Heavenly Monarch Gu still selflessly lends a hand despite past grievances. Such moral integrity is indeed a model for our generation," Cheng Lixue said somewhat emotionally, riding on a creature resembling a White Tiger.
"Yellow Sky Sect..."
Gu Chifeng felt a mix of helplessness and admiration upon hearing this, "Patriarch isn’t solely concerned about the Yellow Sky Sect, but about all living beings in Yellow State. He can’t bear to see the people of Yellow State suffer, which is why he was compelled to take this risky move..."
At this, he shook his head, "First Blue State, now Yellow State again, it feels like we from Star State have become firefighters, rushing wherever there’s a fire."
"The swift stabilization of Star State and Jiangzhou State was all due to Heavenly Monarch Gu’s benevolent heart, and moreover, once the people of Tian Nan learn of his character, more will be willing to serve under him and contribute their efforts to quell the demons in Tian Nan," Cheng Lixue added.
Laughing, he continued, "Just like Xin Monarch presiding over Jiangzhou, and Monarch Jing and I are no different."
Gu Chifeng laughed upon hearing this.
With the addition of Cheng Lixue and Monarch Jing Yunshan, Lingxiao City now had three Monarchs at their disposal.
Together with Gu Jinlai, whose prowess exceeded that of the typical Monarch...
Their top combat strength had finally caught up.
They were at least not considered weak among the top forces in Tian Nan.
He was about to say something more when suddenly, Cheng Lixue sensed something and his expression changed.
"Be careful! Danger!"
As he spoke, he suddenly looked in one direction, "Who is skulking about, hiding yet revealing themselves? Come out!"
No sooner had he spoken than he was greeted by two sword lights whistling ear-piercingly towards him.
The swords moved incredibly fast, accompanied by the thunderous roar of tearing through the void.
"Flying swords incoming!"
Gu Chifeng roared.
Since Gu Jinlai had taken all the elite forces to Yellow State, at that moment, only three Short Range Defense Cannons, including one operated by Gu Xiliu, were beside him.
Despite Gu Chifeng’s roar prompting the cannons to aim and fire simultaneously, they were ultimately a moment too slow.
Cheng Lixue intercepted one of the flying swords.
But the other, moving at four to five times the speed of sound, astonishingly ripped through the net of fire created by the cannons and aimed at Gu Chifeng and the cannons from a special angle, shooting straight towards them.
If this sword struck, both the cannons and his body would be pierced at once.
In a life-or-death moment, Gu Chifeng roared, his blood surging as he tilted his body just as the flying sword shattered the cannons.
"Boom!"
The roar of his top-grade Spirit Armor shattering and blood spurting occurred simultaneously on Gu Chifeng. n𝚘𝚟𝚙𝚞𝚋.𝚌o𝚖
However, he had already become physically strong enough to rival a Middle Level Demon, an Intermediate War General.
And this Spirit Sword...
Although it was a top-grade Spiritual Device, embodying tenacity and breaking the sky, it lacked the "Sharpness" and "Infinite" traits that could bear more True Yuan.
With the Merit Gu Chifeng earned from his victory over demons at Yu Yuntian City, his armor had reached the level of top-grade spiritual armor.
After the flying sword that lacked the "Sharpness, Infinite" traits had shattered the cannons, broken his armor, and pierced his body, it could not advance even a fraction further.
Seizing the opportunity, Gu Chifeng bravely grasped the sword embedded in his body, glaring towards the direction from which the flying sword had come, and bellowed, "Fire the cannons! Fire!"
