Chapter 1106: Breaking into enemy territory!
Arriving in Inner Mongolia after another day spent crossing the Yanqing District, the 20.000-strong army led by Bai Zemin did not go back into any of the bases under the control of the Transcendent faction. Quite the contrary, the group went straight in a direct line to the north.
With a large three-meter tall white dog that looked like a wolf leading the pat, all the land mounts carried their riders, kicking up clouds of dust in the process. Their speed was so fast that in a matter of a few blinks of an eye they disappeared from an area to appear on the distant horizon but only for an instant before disappearing again and appearing tens and hundreds of meters in the distance.
There were also soul evolvers that rode flying beasts; there were birds, there were winged snakes, fiery-winged lizards, and even blood-sucking flies. However, the most striking of all was not Meng Qi's Phantom Blue Bird nor was it the Third Order Silver Flood Dragon that Shangguan Xinyue had made a blood-based Soul Contract with.
Bai Zemin raised his head and looked at the glowing mount that moved from east to west in search of enemies. Its wings were deep red and seemed to glow like burning flames in the distant blue sky. This beast, despite being smaller than Shangguan Xinyue's Jiaolong, actually exuded an aura of destructive power that even surpassed the Flood Dragon.
"Feng Tian Wu's mount is really strong don't you think?" Chen He riding his Black Lightning White Tiger approached Bai Zemin and commented as he looked towards the sky. "It looks a bit like the legendary phoenix but it clearly isn't."
Bai Zemin had seen that beast once when he was in Oblon World. The beast's name was Devastation Queen Bird, one of the most powerful air-type beasts Bai Zemin had seen so far that could even rival the Demon Lord's Purple Flame Wyvern. In Oblon World, this mount belonged to Queen Eloise; one of the strongest human soul evolvers in the world.
Bai Zemin did not know where Feng Tian Wu had gotten the Devastation Queen Bird from but although it looked a bit weaker than Queen Eloise's it still seemed to be above level 110. That beast, as its name pointed out, was a creature with extremely low defense but with speed and magical power practically unsurpassed among air-type beasts.
Curious, Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and asked, "Bing Xue, aren't you interested in forming a contract with some mutant beast to be your comrade?"
However, to his surprise, Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head and said softly, "No need."
Bai Zemin looked at her silently for a few seconds before finally nodding and not pursuing the matter further. If Shangguan Bing Xue said that then she naturally had to have her reasons.
...
Two days later.
Standing on top of a mountain, Bai Zemin still riding Little Snow looked off into the distance with a cold expression on his face.
In the distance, more than 2 kilometers ahead, the first armed patrols of the Russian army finally became visible.
"These guys are underestimating us?" Nangong Lingxin raised an amused eyebrow at the sight of the several patrols with light machine guns and normal soldier's clothes: "They clearly knew we would be attacking soon but they really dare to send normal troops to face high-level soul evolvers? Did the cold freeze their brain cells?"
Most could not help but agree with what Nangong Lingxin said while questioning the Russian Leader's ability, whoever they might be.
Bai Zemin narrowed his eyes slightly and after several minutes of silence called out without looking back, "Yuan Mei."
"Yes." Yuan Mei advanced and immediately activated her Transcendent Eyes skill while looking into the distance.
(A/N: Yuan Mei appeared in chapter 414 for those who want to know more about her skill).
Yuan Mei's pupils turned completely white to the point where her entire eye had turned into a vast emptiness. Seconds later, her lips curved slightly into a smirk as she calmly said, "Leader, those fellows really are interesting hehe... They really dared to put all those landmines there. Those poor soldiers have no way of getting back even if they want to."
Although the explosion of a landmine couldn't kill a warrior-type First Order soul evolver it could definitely kill a First Order soul evolver focused on Magic or Agility. Furthermore, if more than one landmine hit a warrior it could cause grave damage to them and put them out of combat even if it didn't kill them.
Only those above the Second Order were capable of taking an explosion of that magnitude without getting hurt at all.
"Chen He, you handle it." Bai Zemin turned around and began to walk down the mountain while leaving behind a simple order.
Chen He waited for everyone to descend the mountain and without a word pulled the string of his bow while pointing towards the sky, "If you want to blame someone blame yourselves for stepping in where you have no business... Rain of Arrows."
The Russian soldiers who had no idea that they had already been slaughtered and were just following the patrol route that was explicitly pointed out to them were surprised when a magic circle over 500 meters in diameter appeared in the sky.
"W- What is that?!"
"E- Enemy attack!"
"Watch out!"
Unfortunately, the chaos only rose even more and even before the first arrow fell there were already some poor souls who exploded into hundreds of pieces after being caught by several landmines.
Swooosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swooosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! ...
The skill Rain of Arrows didn't have much power in particular but its range was very wide and therefore it was one of the best skills to deal with many low level enemies. However, Chen He's purpose was somewhat different.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! ...
The earth shook harder and harder as the Russian soldiers screamed in fear and pain. The shrapnel from the explosions cut off the limbs of the most unfortunate before finally being killed by the next detonated landmine.
Watching everything from the distance, Ye Linger gently clenched her fists but said nothing. Seeing this, Bai Delan who stood beside her sighed and gently stroked her arm without saying anything either.
Bai Zemin had warned her mother that a genuine battlefield was completely different from all the fake battlefields she had been in. The reason Ye Linger's level had risen was solely because experienced and powerful people helped her before Bai Zemin gave her the pearl with Thao Zhi's records, but this was the first time she was in the middle of a genuine war.
Hearing the human cries and their wailing in the distance, she who had a good heart could not help but silently lament.
On the other hand, all the other members of the 20.000-strong army stood firm and indifferent to the fate of their enemies. Even little girls like Luo Ning, the Wen twins, Xiao Xiao, and Bai Shilin did not show the slightest emotion of grief as they silently waited for it all to end.
It was then that Ye Linger realized how difficult everyone's path had been; especially that of her son who led all these people. It was then that she had to close her eyes so that her tears would not fall, as she finally understood one thing that made her feel very sad.
Looking at the indifferent profile of everyone present, Ye Linger could not help but wonder how many people one had to kill and how many atrocities one had to see to have such a cold heart towards other people's lives.
Just then, the explosions and cries stopped.
Looking at the cloud of smoke and dust rising in the distance, Bai Zemin raised his spear to the sky and said in a loud voice: "Brothers and sisters, there is no need to show mercy at all! No need to give warnings! Go forward and kill everything that crosses our path with a weapon in their hands! Revenge for our fallen compatriots!"
"Revenge!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"..."
Among the soul evolvers present were many who had been part of the war in Inner Mongolia before China became finally unified. This meant that among those present there was no shortage of soul evolvers who suffered because of Russian support for their enemies, and there were definitely more than a few who lost friends and even family members in that war.
They, who had been waiting patiently for this moment, finally broke free from their bonds when the top leader called out.
Like demons released from hell, the soul evolvers of the Transcendent faction mounted their beasts and turned into a whirlwind straight towards enemy ground.
In less than 1 minute, the allied troops broke past Chinese land and entered Russian land.
Approximately 10 minutes later, the enemy's main camp finally came into view.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ...
As a welcome, thousands of grenades flew towards them along with the shot of more than 200 tanks of war. There was even shelling from mortars and bazookas. At the same time, the sound of war helicopters soaring into the sky resounded loudly.
"Team 1, breakthrough!" Bai Zemin bellowed and he himself advanced.
Approximately 3000 soul evolvers quickly broke formation and advanced alongside Bai Zemin while the others slowed down a bit.
From a distance, the enemy general who was a Third Order soul evolver snorted coldly. His objective was not to defeat the enemy troops here but to hold them back for at least 6 hours for the real main army to get organized, something that from his point of view would be a piece of cake considering how fierce the arsenal he had been given for this mission was.
Even a Second Order soul evolver would end up dying horribly if they were blasted by the cannon of a war tank not to mention that there were also plenty of weapons waiting to be used. However, what happened the next instant made the expression on the enemy general's face freeze.
The hundreds of cannon shots, the thousands of grenades fired from grenade launchers, and the hundreds of shots fired from mortars; all froze in mid-air when they came within 5 meters of the troops charging in front of the enemy.
The general's face turned pale as he understood what was happening and he shouted urgently, "Quickly raise barriers!"
Some of the 10.,000 soul evolvers among the more than 100.000 men were quick to react and managed to raise some magical barriers in time. However, none of that did very much good.
The approximately 3000 soul evolvers that followed Bai Zemin were in possession of a treasure that against soul evolvers was not very useful but was incredibly good at dealing with normal soldiers; Rejection Ring.
"You folks can have them!" A soul evolver from the Transcendent faction shouted as he waved his hand.
They all did the same, and under the terrified eyes of the Russian soldiers and soul evolvers, all the attacks they had made just a moment ago turned and flew with the same force with which they had come out back towards them.
"No!"
"B-Barriers!"
"General!"
"..."
Wails and cries for help echoed amidst the explosions.
Over two hundred battle tanks were completely destroyed after being hit by their own attacks, killing everyone inside in the process.
Those who used guns to fire thousands of grenades were the most miserable next to the mortar launchers. Some did not die immediately so they writhed on the ground and soaked in their blood and that of their comrades after losing one or more limbs or suffering terrifying disfigurements after being hit by flying shrapnel.
"Fucking Chinese!" The Russian army general unsheathed his sword in fury and was about to order to charge when he suddenly saw the pale face of one of his strongest subordinates.
The subordinate looked behind his general and pointed his finger tremblingly as he stammered, "G- General- T- That.... B- Behind..."
The level 102 warrior's pupils contracted fiercely and his heart clenched in fear. Unfortunately, the last thing he heard was a sweet, playful voice before the light in his eyes faded.
Resist the enemy for 6 hours in exchange for war merits of the highest level? Everyone thought it would be easy when they got such a large arsenal along with the support of 10.000 soul evolvers.
However, the reality was cruel. The two armies had not yet clashed but the Russian forces had already suffered disastrous losses and their commanding general was decapitated by the enemy's dagger.
"Hehe~" Cai Jingyi appeared like a shadow with red lightning crackling around her small but charming body. She lifted the enemy general's head and said while completely ignoring the terrified Russian troops, "Leader, what is the reward for killing a Third Order enemy?"
* * * * * * *