Zhao Lun furrowed his eyebrows. This place being a land of death was completely beyond his expectations.
What on earth had happened here?
Although he had learned a lot about warfare, such knowledge could merely raise him to the level of an armchair strategist. In terms of genuine battle experience, he had only ever battled as a single entity. Thus, he was completely stupefied by the sudden and unfamiliar sight that lay before him.
"Heir Zhao, the situation seems off. I think we should play it safe and abandon our original plan," another student suggested. They were also a supporter of the Zhao lineage.
Zhao Lun mulled over this suggestion for a moment before shaking his head, and said, "No, continue with the original plan! We're going to attack at night anyway, and the main army will also charge over at that time. There's no need for us to return and report this."
This was his first time leading an army, so how could he give up halfway? In any case, his hatred for Ling Han was immense, so how could he let this golden opportunity slip?
The assault squad remained where they were as they waited for night to fall. Darkness would be their signal to attack.
Time flew by. When the moon rose into the sky, they stealthily crept toward Golden Lion Nation's encampment.
They were few, and there was only a single elite at the Sun Moon Tier in their ranks. As such, they didn't dream of causing too much damage. Their aim was simply to spread chaos in the Golden Lion Nation's encampment. At that time, the Eastern Rain Nation's army would be able to cross the furious river with ease.
Once they seized control of the furious river, they would blow the horn that signaled the beginning of their counterattack. If this natural barrier remained as no-man's land, it would be easily defendable yet almost impossible to breach for either of the armies.
The sky was dark, and the assault squad of 1000 closed in on the Golden Lion Nation's encampment like silent ghosts.
Although it was night, this place was still brightly lit, with gigantic torches lining the perimeter of the encampment.
However, the aim of the assault squad was merely to catch the enemy encampment by surprise.
"Charge!" Following Zhao Lun's roar, the assault squad instantly started to launch ferocious attacks on the enemy encampment.
Although a squad of 1000 was small, the minimum cultivation level of its members was the Mountain River Tier. Thus, they were like ferocious tigers as they surged toward their enemies.
They even gave off deafening roars as they charged, intending to instill panic into their enemies. Meanwhile, this was also a signal calling for their allies on the opposite end of the furious river to attack.
Sure enough, the sound waves emitted by 1000 cultivators at the Mountain River Tier roaring in unison were powerful enough to cause those at the Shattering Void Tier to vomit blood. As if hit by a level 10 hurricane, the tents in the enemy encampment were all smashed to the ground.
The Golden Lion Nation's army instantly descended into chaos. Under the tremors caused by the terrifying sound waves, even the commands of the commander couldn't be passed along properly. The enemy army was like a dragon that was missing its head.
"Humph!" Following a cold harrumph, a general clad in a golden armor appeared. He was standing atop a flagpole, and his body measured at least nine meters in height. The parts of his body that remained exposed were surprisingly flowing with bright red lava.
"Great General Crimson Flames!" The Golden Lion Nation's soldiers immediately calmed down. It was as if everything could be solved as long as this person was present.
He was Liu Qing, a Great General of the Golden Lion Nation. He had the title of "Crimson Flame", and he was a god for the Golden Lion Nation's army. He had led armies into 109 battles, yet he had only suffered seven losses. It could be said that his commanding skills were godly.
He was the soul of the army, and as long as he was present, the army would be as sturdy as Mount Tai.
"They are but a bunch of weaklings. What is there to be afraid of?" Liu Qing's contemptuous voice boomed through the entire encampment.
"Weaklings!" roared all the soldiers of the Golden Lion Nation in agreement. There wasn't a hint of panic or alarm on their faces anymore.
They all raised their weapons and roared loudly as they charged toward the members of the assault squad. Barely any of them were at the Mountain River Tier, yet their morale was no lower than that of the assault squad.
The two sides instantly engaged in battle.
Because the students from the Scarlet Heaven Academy had higher cultivation levels, they initially enjoyed a significant advantage over their enemies. However, this advantage gradually disappeared as more and more elites joined the battle.
This was a large army, after all, so they could definitely find a few thousand soldiers at the Mountain River Tier.
Ling Han only defended, and didn't do anything extraordinary.
This wasn't his battle, nor did he hold any grudges against the Golden Lion Nation. He even more so didn't have any relationship with the Eastern Rain Nation. So, why would he kill other innocent people?
However, it was precisely because he didn't do anything extraordinary that he wasn't targeted by powerful enemy elites.
Ling Han was under no pressure at all, and continued to mull over why this place was permeated with an air of death as he battled. When a nation set out on a campaign, their aim was always to conquer, not to kill.
However, not only were the people in this place all dead, but even the plants, animals, and insects were completely wiped out. Why exactly was this the case?
An acute sense of danger suddenly gripped Ling Han's heart. He hurriedly leaped up and jumped toward his left.
Pu!
The ground where he had just been instantly exploded with a boom. A devastating shock wave soared into the sky and ripped his opponent into pieces.
This shock wave had surged out from the ground, and it was definitely not an attack that could have been launched by a cultivator at the Mountain River Tier. The attack was still incredibly powerful after traveling through the ground, which meant that the attacker… was at the Sun Moon Tier!
If the attacker were an enemy elite, why would they need to launch a surprise attack? The two sides were engaged in battle anyway, so they could have simply charged over to attack him.
That being the case, there was only one possibility left.
The attacker was Zhao Lun!
Ling Han looked toward Zhao Lun, and found that he was currently engaged in a heated battle with Liu Qing. However, Zhao Lun glanced over to meet his gaze, his eyes filled with wicked killing intent.
There was no doubt that the attacker was him!
'Weird… He can fight Liu Qing and reach a stalemate?'
Ling Han could clearly see the two Suns and Moons hovering behind Liu Qing's back. This signified that his cultivation level was at the late stage of the medium extreme of the Sun Moon Tier. Meanwhile, Zhao Lun had only just broken through to the Sun Moon Tier, which could be seen from the miserably small red sun behind his back.
The difference between their cultivation levels was at least seven stars! However, Zhao Lun was only a four-star genius, and there was no way he could draw on the power of the nation here. How could he overcome the three-star difference in battle prowess between him and his opponent? Did he suddenly become a seven-star genius?
'Wait, no!'
Ling Han immediately saw divine light radiating from the armor on Zhao Lun's body. It seemed as if it was this armor that was battling, with Zhao Lun merely being a passenger on board.
'Precious treasure… It's definitely a precious treasure!'
A mere armor was able to elevate Zhao Lun's battle prowess by three stars. This was truly astounding.
Zhao Lun couldn't leave any clues, and thus he could only use these kinds of secretive methods to attack Ling Han. Fortunately, Ling Han's reaction was fast enough. Otherwise, it was extremely likely that he would have been severely injured even with his incredibly sturdy physique.
"Hahaha! It's time to exterminate these pieces of trash!" There was a hearty laugh, and several hundred elites appeared on the battlefield, all of them bearing Suns and Moons behind their backs.
Gasp!
Several hundred Sun Moon Tier elites!
One had to realize that even the Golden Lion Nation only had a total of 100 or so Sun Moon Tier elites. Now, however, several hundred Sun Moon Tier elites had suddenly appeared. What did this signify?
Ling Han's heart instantly jolted. 'These are elites from the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire!'
The events that had transpired here were already extremely uncanny to begin with. Now that elites from the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire had appeared, it was only natural for Ling Han to think that the invasion from the Golden Lion Nation was entirely at the bidding of the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire.
However, why had this place been transformed into a land of death?Mount Tai is a famous mountain in China. It appears in multiple idioms etc.