Word Count: 3,230 Words
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"Jialing Pass..."
The faces of the Holy Pavilion members shifted, and more than one gaze turned instinctively toward Ling Bai. This fortress was steeped in legend. Ten thousand years ago the Heaven Dou Empire had shattered the Spirit Empire on that very ground, and the clash of two Gods against two Gods was still sung across the Douluo Continent to this day.
Ten thousand years later, the Sun Moon Empire had invaded the Heavenly Soul Empire. Dragon Emperor Douluo and Demonic Phoenix Douluo pressed forward with overwhelming force, their Spirit Guidance Legions crushing every defense in their path, and Jialing Pass had become the final barrier shielding the imperial capital of Heaven Dou City.
The military strength of the two empires could not even be mentioned in the same breath. The border fighting had inflicted devastating casualties on the Heavenly Soul Empire, and their retreat could only be called a panicked rout.
Well aware that they lacked the strength to resist, the Heavenly Soul imperial family appealed to every major Spirit Master faction for aid. Yet Dragon Emperor Douluo and Demonic Phoenix Douluo loomed like two insurmountable mountains, and the Evileye Tyrant and Terror Claw Beast King-class Spirit Guidance Legions, each outfitted with Multi-Person Linked Spirit Guidance Devices, were monstrous engines of war in their own right. Pitifully few answered the call.
Whatever Ling Bai personally thought, Shrek Academy was an ally of the three great empires and was bound to send reinforcements to Jialing Pass. Zhang Lexuan spoke in a low, grave voice:
"Pavilion Master, the academy was badly mauled by the Star Dou beast tide. More than half of our fighting personnel are wounded, and we've burned through countless Spirit Guidance Devices. At most we can scrape together a single Shrek Spirit Guidance Legion, and its configuration would only match an ordinary Sun Moon Empire legion."
Hearts sank around the room. The Sun Moon Empire had deployed a full six Spirit Guidance Legions, two Beast King-class and four ordinary, along with several light and heavy corps. For Shrek to send that lone legion across the continent seemed rather too much like serving up a dish to a hungry man.
Ma Xiaotao drew a deep breath. The gap in Spirit Guidance technology between the two continents was a chasm not easily bridged, and the Sun Moon Empire had deliberately chosen the Heavenly Soul Empire's weakest moment to strike, plainly intent on finishing off a wounded foe. But war had always been brutal. All they could do was answer each move as it came.
"If the Heavenly Soul Empire falls, the Sun Moon Empire will certainly use it as a foothold to swallow the Star Luo and Dou Spirit Empires next. Shrek cannot stand aside.
I'll take the Shrek Spirit Guidance Legion to Jialing Pass. Big Senior Sister, how many Titled Douluo can the academy still field?"
Zhang Lexuan smiled bitterly. "Nine out of ten of the academy's Titled Douluo are recovering from their wounds. Only you, me, Elder Zhuang, and Dean Cai still have any fight left in us."
"Pavilion Master, we are willing to follow you and reinforce the Heavenly Soul Empire!"
Elder Zhuang and Cai Mei'er spoke in perfect unison. It hardly mattered on ordinary days, but during Holy Pavilion meetings even elders like them were expected to address Ma Xiaotao respectfully as Pavilion Master.
Ma Xiaotao gave a firm, weighty nod. This was everything Shrek Academy could bring to bear. Their conscience, at least, would be clear.
Huo Yuhao pressed his lips into a thin line. In a war between nations, the strength of a five-ringed Spirit King counted for almost nothing. All he could do was remain at Shrek Academy, pour himself into cultivation, and await the outcome at Jialing Pass.
"If the Sun Moon Empire breaks through Jialing Pass, Heaven Dou City comes under immediate threat. When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan will contribute its share as well," Ling Bai said. "Xiaotao, Qiuxi has broken through to eight-ringed Spirit Douluo, and Elder Sister has become Golden Fairy Douluo. We'll go with you to reinforce Jialing Pass."
"Good. Shrek Spirit Guidance Legion, form ranks and move out!"
...
Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
"Mom, I'm here."
Ning Tian stepped into the study and called out softly. Ning Fengya gave a slight nod and motioned for her to sit.
Her mother's face carried not the faintest trace of expression, and reflected in those eyes, Ning Tian tensed without meaning to. She placed both hands neatly on her knees and kept her back ramrod straight.
"Xiao Tian, all of you broke through these past few days, didn't you."
Ning Tian blinked in surprise before answering honestly. "After absorbing the spirit power of the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, we've improved tremendously.
Wu Feng, Na Na, Yu Mengdi, Jing Ziyan, Chen Zifeng, Yao Haoxuan, Gongyang Mo, Xi Xi, and I all reached Spirit Saint without difficulty. Apart from Wu Feng and me, who absorbed 100,000-year sea spirit beasts, the others chose first-generation Heaven Bestowed Spirit Rings for their seventh ring, the kind that turns inward for exploration.
Ye Guyi, Ling Luochen, and Ji Juechen went further still, leaping to eight-ringed Spirit Douluo. All three absorbed 100,000-year sea spirit beast spirit rings and spirit bones. Given the caliber of their Martial Spirits, their combat strength is already enough to match a Titled Douluo."
When one whale falls, a myriad of things spring to life. Just as with the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King ten thousand years before, the spirit power within those two beasts had been drawn out whole and handed over to human Spirit Masters.
Another ten years, and once the geniuses of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan became true Titled Douluo, the clan would stand alone in a class of its own among the Douluo Continent's super sects.
Ning Fengya rose to her feet, her tone touched with something complicated. "The Sun Moon Empire has launched a surprise attack on the Heavenly Soul Empire. They've already crossed the border and are driving straight at Jialing Pass. Xiao Bai contacted me through the Bone Dragon King. He and Qiuxi have set out from Shrek City to reinforce the Heavenly Soul Empire."
"Bai-ge is going to the battlefield?!"
Ning Tian's voice shot up an octave. If the Sun Moon Empire dared to start this war, it had certainly prepared for Ling Bai. Setting aside whatever other cards it held in reserve, at the very least it would have stockpiled a double-digit count of Class 9 Stationary Spirit Cannon shells, to avenge the fall of Starsky Douluo, the rescue of the hostages, and the annihilation of the Imperial Dragon Spirit Guidance Legion.
The Heavenly Soul Empire's military strength needed no discussion. It was as fragile as wet paper. The greater the ability, the heavier the responsibility. The moment Ling Bai entered the war, the entire weight of victory or defeat at Jialing Pass would rest on his shoulders.
As Ling Bai's future wife, Ning Tian worried for her husband's safety, yet she knew deep down that this battle could not be avoided. Nine Treasure City and Heaven Dou City stood side by side. Once Jialing Pass fell, the Sun Moon Empire would never spare the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
"Mom, I want to go to Jialing Pass!" Ning Tian said with absolute finality.
"Then go."
"You're not stopping me?"
Ning Tian stared, astonished. She had fully expected Ning Fengya to refuse on the spot.
Ning Fengya smiled faintly. "The clan's relations with the Heavenly Soul imperial family may have fallen to freezing, but the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan has always stood on the side of the Douluo Continent.
Xiao Bai didn't mention the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan even once just now. I can tell he doesn't want you joining the fighting. A battlefield changes from one instant to the next, and he doesn't dare guarantee with absolute certainty that Spirit Saints like you would all come home alive.
But he's forgotten one thing. Ships aren't built to stay in harbor. They're built to carry people across blue seas, through howling winds and crashing waves, to witness the vastness and beauty of the ocean.
You're willing to face the storm. That gladdens your mother's heart, so I'll respect your choice and let you go and do it.
I need to preside over Nine Treasure City's postwar affairs and do everything possible to guard against a decapitation strike by the Sun Moon Empire. The clan's Titled Douluo haven't healed, so this time the main force will be the younger generation.
The clan can field one fully staffed Spirit Guidance Legion. You and the geniuses at seven rings and above will take the Nine Treasure Spirit Guidance Legion to Jialing Pass and help Xiao Bai."
"Mm!"
Tears shimmered in those beautiful sapphire eyes. Ning Tian rushed out of the room, gathered Wu Feng and the others, and set off.
The Nine Treasure Spirit Guidance Legion stood fully prepared. Just before they left Nine Treasure City, Lin Jiaran sought Ning Tian out and pressed a blood-red Storage Spirit Guidance Device into her hands.
Ning Tian looked at the Demon Dragon Douluo, still wrapped in bandages, and asked in confusion, "Teacher Lin, what is this?"
Lin Jiaran's gaze was clear and unclouded. "This is the work of my life's struggle.
I schemed and toiled, smuggled Spirit Guidance Devices out of Illustrious Virtue Hall, and defected to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, and at last I succeeded in building it. Fortunately Xuan Ziwen's Sealed Milk Bottle technology solved the charging problem, or you wouldn't be able to use it at all.
Xiao Tian, give the Douluo Continent back its dawn. Even if it must be cast in crimson blood."
...
Jialing Pass.
The ancient fortress, weathered by ten thousand years, crouched over the horizon like a sleeping lion. Beyond its walls the Sun Moon Empire's army swarmed across the broad plain like a rising tide, ranks packed shoulder to shoulder, moving with precise order as they laid out their Spirit Guidance positions.
"Their bearing really is something else..." Ling Bai said with honest admiration.
Even viewed from high overhead, the sight of the Sun Moon Empire's host left the Shrek Spirit Guidance Legion dazed. Had a force like that been the one to face the Star Dou beast tide, it would never have ended up in so wretched a state.
Ma Xiaotao shot Ling Bai an annoyed glare. Praising the enemy's spirit at his own side's expense!
"Hiss—"
The very next instant, Ling Qiuxi drove an elbow viciously into her waist. The Golden Dragonwoman refused to tolerate anyone showing Ling Bai the slightest disrespect, least of all a rival in love!
Ling Qiuxi had used seven-tenths of her strength, and the power of the Golden Dragon was nothing to trifle with. Ma Xiaotao nearly dropped straight out of the sky and flew into a rage on the spot, ready to settle things the old-fashioned way. Neither woman gave an inch. Phoenix flames gathered around one, while the Golden Dragon Spear in the other's hand gleamed with a chilling light. Han Ruoruo could only smile helplessly at the sight, and two Dazzling Golden Ropes snaked out from her fingertips to haul the two of them apart before their foreheads could touch.
As they approached the sky above Jialing City, Ling Bai loosed a long, clear howl. The bright sound spread outward and carried to every corner of Jialing Pass. Figure after figure shot into the air, and as far as the eye could see, every face was a familiar one from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
"Bai-ge!" "You bastard!" "Ling-ge!" "Adoptive Father!"
Everyone breathed easier the moment they recognized the arriving Shrek Spirit Guidance Legion. Nine Treasure City sat closer to Jialing Pass, and because Ling Bai had slowed his pace to accommodate Shrek's inferior flying Spirit Guidance Devices, he had actually arrived a step behind the Nine Treasure Spirit Guidance Legion that Ning Tian led.
A man in a general's armor lifted off his helmet to reveal a firm, resolute face. His very first act was to bow deeply.
"Holy Evil Douluo, Phoenix Douluo, my thanks to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and Shrek Academy for your reinforcements. I am Ge Peng, Marshal of the Heavenly Soul Empire. Please come with me to the central command tent so we may discuss matters."
Rank 92 Thunder Roc Douluo Ge Peng held a station comparable to that of the Star Luo Empire's White Tiger Duke Dai Hao, and he commanded the whole of the Heavenly Soul Empire's army.
Designated officers saw to the two Spirit Guidance Legions while Ge Peng guided Ling Bai and the others toward the central command tent. All along the way they passed listless, hollow-eyed Heavenly Soul soldiers, and their expressions gradually darkened.
Momentum mattered enormously when two armies faced each other. The Sun Moon Empire advanced with unstoppable force while the Heavenly Soul Empire lurched from one defeat into the next, and the gulf between them looked less like a war than like a higher civilization grinding primitives underfoot.
Several of the Heavenly Soul Empire's Guardian Douluo had already died in battle, their souls and flesh devoured by Demonic Phoenix Douluo. The rest would sooner be beaten to death than come to the front.
In all the vastness of Jialing Pass, Ge Peng stood as the only Titled Douluo. Small wonder the Heavenly Soul army had no will to fight. To a man they wore the look of salted fish three days dead.
The group filed into the central command tent. Ge Peng had served in the army for many years and was acutely sensitive to atmosphere, and he abruptly noticed that the backbone of both allied forces consisted mostly of women, and that the small details of their movements were exceedingly strange, as though they were sparring with one another both openly and in secret. The air seemed to carry the faint crackle of sparks and lightning.
"The situation is urgent, so I won't talk in circles," Ge Peng said with dutiful professionalism. "The Sun Moon Empire has dispatched two Beast King-class Spirit Guidance Legions and four standard Spirit Guidance Legions, led by Dragon Emperor Douluo and Demonic Phoenix Douluo and supported by elite troops.
Jialing Pass currently holds the Nine Treasure Spirit Guidance Legion, the Shrek Spirit Guidance Legion, and the last surviving half-legion of the Heavenly Soul Empire's own. Two and a half in total. Everything else is conventional forces, heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and so on..."
The disparity in Spirit Guidance Legions was crushing enough that more than a few of them saw their vision darken. Ji Juechen hugged his Judgement Sword and silently calculated how many men he would have to kill to close the gap. Ling Luochen tipped her head back toward the sky and prayed for heavy rain when the battle began, to amplify her Ultimate Ice elemental Martial Spirit.
There was no help for it. This was the true distance between the three great empires and the Sun Moon Empire. The Heavenly Soul Empire actually counted as middling. Their neighbor, the Dou Spirit Empire, had never managed to assemble even one Spirit Guidance Legion right up until the day it was destroyed.
Once the military council had settled on a plan to meet the enemy, night fell in earnest. Marshal Ge Peng arranged marching tents for everyone so they could conserve their strength and greet a war that might come at any moment.
The name Holy Evil Douluo thundered across the Douluo Continent, so Ling Bai naturally received the finest treatment. His tent was practically the central command tent in a different color. The night stretched long, and certain people had no mind for sleep. They crept quietly toward it, and then...
Found themselves staring wide-eyed at one another!
"What are all of you doing here?" Ma Xiaotao struck first.
"I was just about to ask you the very same thing." Wu Feng crossed her arms, wholly unimpressed.
"I'm passing through." Ling Luochen's voice was cool and clear.
"I came to see who couldn't bear the loneliness." Ling Qiuxi laughed coldly.
"Hmph!"
Color flared across Ma Xiaotao's and Wu Feng's lovely faces at the same instant. The two of them made a show of leaving, then bolted straight into Ling Bai's tent, only to come up with nothing at all. The place had been swept clean!
"Huh? Where is he?!"
Meanwhile, in another tent entirely, Ling Bai sat across from Ye Guyi and spoke quietly.
"Once the war begins, I'll deal with Demonic Phoenix Douluo and Dragon Emperor Douluo as quickly as I can. But the gap between the Heavenly Soul Empire's army and the Sun Moon Empire's is simply too great. Even with two extra Spirit Guidance Legions thrown in, it's a cup of water on a burning cart. We may not even hold their first wave.
Jialing Pass. The Sun Moon Empire picked a good spot...
Guyi, we may... have to borrow the power of ten thousand years ago..."
"I understand."
Ye Guyi's eyes were unwavering as she gave a slow, resolute nod.
…
At dawn, the Sun Moon Empire's army began to move. The commanders of the Evileye Tyrant and Terror Claw legions entered the command tent, and the stench of blood struck them in the face. A gorgeous, sinister woman with long blood-red hair stood devouring the blood soul of a Heavenly Soul Titled Douluo, while Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao watched in pained silence.
"Demonic Phoenix Douluo, the army has finished resting and reorganizing. We are ready to engage," Wang Yiheng, commander of the Evileye Tyrant Spirit Guidance Legion, reported with a bow.
In this war of invasion, Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao served only as a deterrent presence. Demonic Phoenix Douluo, however, was brutal and bloodthirsty. The souls of the Heavenly Soul Empire's officers and men all became nourishment for her Evil Phoenix Martial Spirit, and her cultivation rose with the tide until it had already surpassed that of Dragon Emperor Douluo.
"Attack." Two cold words fell from the woman's lips.
"Understood."
The two commanders accepted their orders and withdrew. Long Xiaoyao could bear it no longer. He finally stepped in front of her and said in a low, hoarse voice:
"Xishui, you can't keep devouring lives!"
Ye Xishui did not so much as blink. Her sharp, crimson-tipped nails closed around Long Xiaoyao's throat and drew him in until their faces nearly touched and their breaths mingled.
"Long Xiaoyao, do you imagine yourself so lofty and pure?
The one who abets the tyrant is more hateful than the one who began it. You rotted into the same thing I am a long time ago.
If you still love me, then break through Jialing Pass with me. Kill Holy Evil Douluo. Avenge the Holy Spirit Cult and Wu'er!"
"Xishui..."
Long Xiaoyao smiled, and the smile was a wretched, broken thing. He could admit it plainly. He had had the chance to stop Ye Xishui from falling to evil a second time, and in the end he simply could not harden his heart.
Ye Xishui shot into the sky, her voice rolling out like thunder.
"Sun Moon Empire, flatten Jialing Pass!"