Chapter 325: Cold Leaf City Assault and Defense

The next day, Mu Yi deployed his army and formed a battle formation ahead of schedule.

He prepared to coordinate troops from the other two directions to attack Cold Leaf City, but just looking at the fortress gave Mu Yi a slight headache.

The night clash already proved that the beastmen empowered by divine arts were no less combat-effective than his soldiers enhanced by Cloud Energy within his battle formation.

Even if they held some advantages, during the siege those advantages were completely nullified by the terrain.

The good news, however, was that a three‑sided encirclement would at least reduce the number of beastmen he faced.

"But the defense of this fortress is a bit over the top!"

Mu Yi, with a solemn expression, surveyed the defenses atop Cold Leaf City—arrow towers, battlements, catapults—and saw groups of beastmen cautiously watching with weapons in hand; it was clear the city was prepared for a staunch defense.

"Hard to attack!" Mu Yi said with slight worry, watching the constant shuttling of equipment along the walls.

Although he had prepared siege methods, the beastmen's level of defense might render his tactics insufficient for a decisive blow.

Mu Yi stared at the wall's layout and saw no large lethal weapons like bed crossbows, which was not a good sign.

He didn't think a city this size would lack bed crossbows, but their concealment must have a deeper reason.

Inside Cold Leaf City, the beastmen were nervously mobilizing, while Mu Yi's side displayed a do‑or‑die momentum that left them no room for carelessness.

Since last night's clash, the beastmen Seer immediately ordered the city gates sealed and blocked three gate openings with massive stones, leaving only a gate without human troops—both to allow reinforcements in and to keep an escape route.

"Seer, what else must we do?"

The beastmen Legends inside the city gathered around the venerable beastmen Seer; they increasingly recognized the cruelty of this war, their faces solemn.

Especially Ba Sa Ke, who had once looked down on humans, but the night encounter with Mu Yi made him keenly aware of the danger.

Had the Seer not sent men to support him, his night raid might have been completely annihilated.

He didn't refuse to kill Mu Yi at the time, but his intuition warned that daring to approach Mu Yi would end in a grim fate.

"No need to panic; it's merely that the human side has sent reinforcements. Holding the city, we still retain the advantage!"

The beastmen Seer spoke calmly, noting that although the night raid was a disastrous loss, it confirmed Mu Yi's presence.

The most lethal ones hide in the shadows; since Mu Yi has already revealed himself, there is nothing left to fear.

Honestly, the beastmen Seer was also uncertain inside, but outwardly remained composed—part of his experience as a Seer.

Do not panic when faced with matters; only then can they be resolved.

"I have already petitioned the temple for aid; reinforcements should arrive soon. Focus on your duties and don't give the enemy any opening!"

The beastmen Seer gave a brief arrangement.

He hadn't expected Cold Leaf City to become this dangerous.

Cold Leaf City actually has only two Legends permanently stationed; although slightly more important than the city itself, it wouldn't warrant five Legends staying long‑term.

The beastmen Seer had also foreseen the danger, which is why he summoned two beastmen Legends to come and inspect the issue.

Yang Tiancheng and his men lost the first time for the same reason; no one expected three Legends to suddenly appear inside the city, catching them off guard.

The second failure, however, was indeed due to fighting separately without good coordination, leading to a frontal defeat by the beastmen.

After confirming the armies on both flanks were ready, Mu Yi raised his hand and unleashed a legion attack into the sky.

Seeing the signal explode in the sky, Yang Tiancheng exchanged a glance with the officer beside him and nodded.

"Prepare to siege!"

Yang Tiancheng swung his arm and issued the attack order.

Siege warfare is a technical art; most of the time it relies on strategy, and sometimes only lives can be sacrificed to achieve it.

But the premise is that your army must outnumber the enemy severalfold.

Sun Tzu wrote: "The methods of warfare: tenfold to besiege, fivefold to attack, double to divide, the enemy can be fought when strong, can flee when weak, and can be avoided when inferior."

And siege adds another level to this foundation.

Nevertheless, they are still a regular army of Military Strategists, certainly not a ragtag group without any preparation.

Artisans and such are inevitably taken along when a large army sets out.

Although siege weapons are few, they did prepare some devices like catapults.

"Catapult!"

A strong, burly strongman struggled to lock the catapult's arm, then placed a millstone‑sized rock into the throwing basket.

Biu!

With a single "biu," the strongmen released together; the catapult's arm flung the stone, striking the ground and raising a cloud of dust.

No one paid attention to that; everyone's focus was on the flying stone, which shot out at extreme speed, vaulted over the wall, and smashed a house inside Cold Leaf City.

"Adjust distance, commence full‑scale catapulting!"

After gauging the approximate error, all catapults began to fire, though most only struck the wall.

Dozens of stones were launched; only one hit a target, instantly reducing a burly beastman to mush, a sight that left any witness horrified.

Yang Tiancheng and his men didn't expect to breach the wall with this; it was merely a morale‑crushing device against the defenders. Though the kill chance was minuscule, a single hit could deliver a ton‑scale morale blow.

With the catapulting underway, the siege battle was fully launched.

The standard‑bearer raised the banner and shouted, "Fire arrows!"

Countless twangs of bows and arrows pierced the air simultaneously, like innumerable crows flapping their wings, causing extreme unease.

From the formation, a black cloud rose instantly, as if endless crows beat their wings skyward; a dense black veil of arrows howled, piercing toward the wall.

Under the cover of the arrow rain, the formation bearing large shields and spears surged toward the wall in a loose formation, like a tide bearing murderous intent, crashing against the stone barrier.

"Kill!"

Yang Tiancheng unleashed his legion's talent, leading the charge onto the wall like a meteor; the specially reinforced wall glowed with magical aura and withstood the terrifying blow.

Yet the spot where Yang Tiancheng stepped cracked spider‑web‑like in all directions, and amid the rumble, the wall's ground turned into fine rubble.

The beastmen squad leader on the wall wore an incredulous expression, unable to believe his misfortune in meeting a human Legend upon ascent.

Even with divine‑art augmentation, it certainly meant that their few could not directly confront a Legend.

"Form a defensive formation, don't get close to him, wait for the Legend's support!"

Yang Tiancheng, who had leapt onto the city wall, gave a feral grin, then lunged forward, crossing tens of meters in a single bound, sweeping his spear horizontally.

The few orc soldiers blocking his front were instantly like hitting a high-speed train, blown tens of meters away, dead before they even hit the ground.

Inner Qi surged with Yang Tiancheng's eruption; a powerful qi blast blew away the flying sand and rocks around, the orc warriors ahead died in batches, and a short stretch of orcs on the wall were instantly cleared out.

The orc priest squad noticed Yang Tiancheng's rampage, joined forces to cast spells, and several streams of magical light shot toward him.

Yang Tiancheng's expression didn't change in the slightest; Inner Qi condensed on his body's surface into a layer like armor, directly blocking all magical attacks.

The next moment, the spear in his hand vanished.

——Mage Armor

The targeted orc priest frantically raised a defense; an invisible energy field appeared around his body, blocking the incoming spear.

But before the orc priest could catch his breath, a hand landed on the spear, exerted slight force, and expelled Inner Qi.

With a crisp crack, the energy shield around the orc priest shattered instantly; his stone skin offered no resistance, and the spear pierced his chest.

One thrust, and the orc priest's chest caved in, all his bones breaking, he collapsed like a puddle of mud.

Yang Tiancheng didn't care; he swept his spear, slaughtering all the surrounding orc priests.

"What's the point of bullying the weak? Come fight me!"

With a roar, an immensely sturdy figure stepped out; the ground trembled with each of his steps.

A beastman the size of a bear, about 2.5–2.6 meters tall, stepped out; his arms alone were as thick as a normal person's waist, and he wielded a massive battle-axe with one hand, heavy as a door panel.

"Then let's see if you can stop me!"

Yang Tiancheng narrowed his eyes; he knew this guy was one of the orc Legends, a bear-kin orc with limitless strength, and Lin Yi had previously suffered a sizable loss at his hands.

After all, sometimes sheer strength overwhelms tenfold skill; Lin Yi's technique could not be brought to bear against such a foe.

"Ahahaha, watch me chop you into minced meat!"

The bear orc slammed his chest, his already mighty frame swelling further, terrifying muscles and veins bulging anew with a crackling sound, turning him into a colossal figure over three meters tall.

——Frenzy

But that wasn't the end; amid his bestial howls, he slammed his chest again, his already exaggerated size swelling once more.

——Legend Frenzy

The ground began to crack; the immensely sturdy figure turned into a giant, the huge axe that had been like a door panel now fit perfectly in his hand, terrifying blocks of limitless-power muscle covering his body, radiating an unmatchable dread.

"Howl!"

A wildly ferocious roar rang out.

Like a sound wave, it rolled up a layer of ground and hurled it at Yang Tiancheng.

——War Cry (Legend)

Hit directly by the sound wave, Yang Tiancheng bled from his seven orifices, his face grim; far more terrifying than he imagined, yet not unbeatable.

Seeing Yang Tiancheng only lightly wounded by his own roar, the bear orc grew more excited.

With a stomp of his massive frame, he split the city wall with a crack.

Yang Tiancheng glanced at the crack, a strange expression crossing his face; this guy is far more useful than a catapult.

A catapult pounding all day is nothing compared to this one strike.

Clang!

Spear and great axe clashed, the ground cracked again; the battle of two Legends was a severe test for the wall.

Meanwhile, on both sides of the wall, such fighting had already erupted fully.

Several Legends dueled atop the wall, their aftermath causing both orcs and humans to consciously steer clear.

Any conscript caught in it would be pulverized in an instant.

Meanwhile, the frontal clash was even more brutal.

Huge stones fell from the sky, smashing the catapults on the wall to pieces.

Compared to those catapults needing constant tuning, the earth-vein giant condensed by Chu Yi using Earth Vein Power is obviously better suited to bear the catapult's duty.

"Smash them hard!"

The nearly eight-meter-tall giant condensed millstone-sized boulders in his hands, continually aiming and hurling them at the wall's defensive devices.

As the boulders fell, arrow towers, catapults, and so on collapsed one after another, while the orcs' counterstrikes against the giant felt like nothing.

Meanwhile, on the ground, thousands of orc slaves, under the blessing of the Black Tortoise Spirit, charged madly at the wall.

These orcs, their reason completely eroded by slaughter, are pure war machines that know only combat, feeling no emotion; they obey only Mu Yi's orders, killing any enemy in sight, even fellow orcs similarly corrupted.

Mu Yi's face was cold, he gazed at the battlefield without a flicker of emotion.

But his mind wasn't on the battlefield; he had a premonition that someone would come to assault him.

Unlike their Military Strategists, these orcs esteem personal might, so in their eyes victory isn't decided by the battlefield's outcome.

Rather, it is the outcome of personal combat that determines whether war occurs.

This difference in viewpoint destined them to choose a surprise attack on him.

Accordingly, he used himself as bait, expending all his forces to storm the city, aiming to kill as many enemy troops as possible.

Cloud Energy suppression works well, but as the enemy numbers grow, its effect wanes—unless the enemy also possesses Cloud Energy, which can further enhance the suppression.

The quickest way to slay these Legend orcs is to reduce their forces, then mass the army to crush them.

Especially after witnessing the orc Sword Saint's perverse stealth ability, Mu Yi's vigilance toward his surroundings was maxed out, his awareness spreading fully; any rustle would put him on alert.