Chapter 1919: As If Entering an Uninhabited Realm

Quchuhai urgently ordered: "Spread out the ranks, harrow the ground, quickly!"

The harrow has many teeth; the ground it harrows becomes loose with furrows. The original intent of this order was to have the Luo Dian troops disperse into small squads, not gather in one place, to cope with the impending collision.

No one dared to face this group of elephant demons head-on, no one.

But such monster collisions are momentarily exhilarating, yet turning is clumsy. The Luo Dian troops must first avoid their sharp front, wait until their momentum is exhausted, then they can stab and shoot arrows at the P-shaped rear of these moving large targets.

However, in the darkness and dust, there was still the sound of hooves like thunder.

There is cavalry!

Of course there is cavalry; Quchuhai was not surprised at all, only his heart grew heavier. With giant elephants leading the way, cavalry must follow to fill the gaps, in order to expand the victory.

But these cavalrymen shouted until the heavens shook, utterly unlike the silent black-armored troops straight ahead.

When the dust and smoke could no longer conceal them, the Luo Dian people were astonished to discover that these were not the Black Armored Army at all!

Those wearing dark yellow armor and holding bright curved blades were the Kasha tribe;

those in light leather armor, but with shoulder guards either blue or black, some even bearing irregular stripes, were the Longye tribe.

Their shoulder guards were neither leather nor metal, but the hardened shells of a locally abundant giant beetle, also called carapace, hard enough to block blades and spears, yet unusually light.

This is a specialty of the Longye tribe; some Longye people also make whip-like lashes from the beetles' long antennae, and the Luo Dian people jokingly call them the "Shell Tribe."

But now, seeing them, the Luo Dian people could not laugh, only gritted their teeth in hatred.

These things that help tigers!

In the blink of an eye, the elephant herd collided with the Luo Dian army's flank.

That scene was like great waves crashing against the seashore, splashing a spray of blood-red!

Although the Luo Dian army had already dispersed to avoid, the consequence of this collision was even more tragic than Quchuhai had imagined, because the Luo Dian people did not know that among the charging elephant herd, an invisible qi wall would be generated. Even if the Luo Dian people avoided the elephant demons, they could not avoid the impact of the qi wall.

When He Lingchuan first subdued the elephant herd, the Phantom Sect cultivators suffered greatly from this move; how much more so these Luo Dian soldiers?

First, people and horses were overturned, then they were ground into minced meat.

Although the Luo Dian army had yuanli, the individual strength gap between the elephant demons and human soldiers was too great; yuanli could not possibly compensate.

Some Luo Dian cavalry were nimble, riding far to evade, but after only a few zhang, the mammoths suddenly spat out a handful of sticky silk nets from their bodies, directly pulling them off their horses!

Upon close inspection, people discovered that some giant elephants had black-and-white-spotted long-legged spiders lying on them, merely hiding beneath the long fur, and with the dim light, the first few encounters had not been noticed by anyone.

After capturing Luo Dian people, they first quickly wrapped them into cocoons, then bit into the prey and injected poison.

This is not a cave spider, but the Huanle spider from the northern forests. The three-nest spider originally had three leaders, but Zhu Xiuer ate two of them raw in a duel; the remaining one, turning misfortune into blessing, became the leader of the spider swarm.

The Huanle spider got its name because its toxin has a violent numbing and hallucinogenic effect, capable of making prey confused or producing illusions. Dong Rui used this toxin to make painkillers, but the spider venom itself is extremely potent; even weak humans may die from overstimulation.

Luo Dian soldiers have yuanli protecting their bodies, so they are not affected by the illusions, but even after the spider venom is severely weakened, it can still cause their muscles and spirit to relax slightly, meaning they cannot muster energy.

This is not over; the Luo Dian people also discovered that behind the giant elephants there were shadows of demonic beasts.

Wolves, bears, tigers, leopards—in astonishing numbers, they charged past alongside the Kasha tribe members, side by side without conflict. Even several dozen giant wolves looked very familiar, with white spots on their foreheads; Quchuhai recognized them at a glance as the Northern Wolves from the Northern Yuan forest.

Could it be that the Nine Abysses Great Emperor also subdued the monsters of the northern mountains and forests together?

That is unreasonable. If the monsters of the Northern Yuan were easy to subdue, the You tribe would have long settled there, and there would not be so many uninhabited areas.

In just a few months without seeing him, what has this fellow actually done?

Coincidentally, a wild boar the size of a yellow ox charged at him, its body wrapped in a thick layer of mud shell. His personal guards fired three arrows in succession; the last one pierced its eye, finally bringing down this huge creature.

Currently, the Luo Dian army has been temporarily split into five or six parts by the charging elephants and enemy cavalry. Although they have experienced several major battles in the Yaoguo, they have never faced such an enemy deployment, and for a moment were at a loss, suffering considerable casualties.

Quchuhai calmed his mind and commanded.

The Nine Abysses Great Emperor used the elephant formation and demon horde as a surprise force, charging straight through our forces like entering an uninhabited realm, indeed shocking the enemy's heart.

No wonder He Xiaodare dared to place the battlefield on the open plain; originally, this terrain is more favorable for elephant charges.

If it were another army, they might collapse at the first blow and never again organize effective resistance.

But Luo Dian is different!

Even though the scene is chaotic and our side seems unfavorable, Quchuhai still believes the advantage lies with us, for a very simple reason:

His troops are more numerous!

Our well-trained great army numbers over thirty-five thousand, while the opposing two forces combined, including elephant troops and demon horde, total no more than four or five thousand!

An eightfold troop disparity is not something elephants and demon horde can make up for. This must be a shortcoming He Xiaodare desperately wants to conceal, which is why he unleashed the elephant troops at the outset, aiming to strike first and seize the initiative.

After enduring such an impact, the Luo Dian army, though disordered and retreating, did not collapse!

No mistake, no omission, no single shot, no inner, no container, no existence, no one looking!

The Luo Dian people are the finest warriors on the plain—resolute and valiant, they will not be frightened down by temporary difficulties.

Once the elephant charge's momentum is exhausted and they are forced to turn, the Luo Dian great army can then enter the rhythm of counterattack!

Therefore, Quchuhai's orders came down one after another, all focused on reorganizing formations and reshaping the battlefront.

His opponent still has a fatal weakness:

Yuanli.

The Luo Dian people's yuanli, when viewed across the entire Flash Gold Plain, is quite formidable; originally, only the Yaoguo could match it.

But the Nine Abysses Great Emperor's army, this seemingly powerful demon-human hybrid force, lacks the radiance of yuanli.

The two armies have just clashed for fewer than two rounds; temporarily, the outcome is still undecided. But once the battle reaches a stalemate, the effect of yuanli will immediately become apparent.

With lesser consumption, heavier defense, and stronger resistance to divine powers and techniques, one can often endure longer.

Holding these two great advantages, Quchuhai's battle will is extremely firm.

Only one thing makes him somewhat apprehensive:

The Black Armored Army on the northern flank stands motionless, not moving at all, nor taking advantage of the chaos to launch a charge; otherwise, our great army's front and flanks would be attacked simultaneously, certainly making us even more flustered.

He gazed toward the Nine Abysses Great Emperor on the half-slope; the latter's silhouette was like a sculpture, and his black-and-white steed only flicked its tail a few times.

This fellow observes the battlefield with old godlike composure—does he have some hidden move?

The Nine Abysses Great Emperor dares to confront Quchuhai's Luo Dian great army head-on with only four or five thousand men—does this indicate he is very confident, able to fight, able to win?