Chapter 431: The Two Sides Engage in Battle

Watching those ten light cavalry legions show off their power with such orderly formations gave them a real show of force,

even though they could not harm the Spirit Masters of the Holy Dragon Legion or their own heavy-armored legions.

But it was undoubtedly a huge blow to the morale of the Spirit Empire.

Bibi Dong understood that for all these years, it was not just she who had been biding her time; the Tiandou Empire had been doing the same.

According to previous estimates, the Tiandou Empire's army was no more than six hundred thousand, and most of them had no real combat capability.

But what about now? What lay before her was a million-strong army, well-trained and with sufficient supplies.

Even compared to the Xingluo Empire, the military strength of the Tiandou Empire was not much inferior.

Truly worthy of being my good daughter.

"Pass the order: Holy Dragon Legion, release Spirit Rings, attack."

This was the first clash between the two sides; morale had to be regained.

Bibi Dong knew that the armies of those kingdoms and duchies could not be relied upon.

The only ones truly worth relying on were the Spirit Masters under her direct command.

As long as they could crush the Tiandou Empire's Spirit Master Legion,

it would be no problem for those incorporated armies to pick up the scraps.

Brilliant radiance instantly lit up from the Spirit Empire's side,

ten thousand Spirit Masters releasing their martial souls simultaneously—it was truly a magnificent scene.

Countless Spirit Rings flickered in four colors: white, yellow, purple, and black.

Although they were as uneven as their army, the terrifying aura that suddenly surged up

caused the breathing of the two hundred thousand soldiers on the Tiandou Empire's side to become rapid.

The soldiers naturally knew what it meant to face Spirit Masters.

A single large-scale, high-damage soul skill from a high-level Spirit Master

could cause hundreds or thousands of them to die. To deal with Spirit Masters, only Spirit Masters would do.

Marshal Ge Long raised his right hand and said,

"Spirit Master Legion, release your martial souls."

The four thousand-plus Spirit Masters protected by the Zhuge Legion also released their martial souls at the same time.

Although their numbers were far fewer than their opponents',

their movements were uniform and orderly, and the colors of their Spirit Rings were not the least bit chaotic.

Standing in the very front row were, surprisingly, all seven-ring and eight-ring Spirit Masters.

Even most of the Tang Sect members at the very front were already in position, with Titan and Niu Gao directly activating their Martial Soul True Body, appearing like two war fortresses.

Although they were few in number,

the Spirit Rings on their bodies compensated for the deficiency in their own numbers.

Behind them

were the camps composed of six-ring, five-ring, four-ring, and three-ring Spirit Masters.

The vast majority of Spirit Masters were between the three-ring and five-ring levels.

The most eye-catching sight

was the one hundred Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagodas lighting up at the same time, their dazzling precious light shooting straight into the clouds.

They were located at the core position of the entire Spirit Master Legion.

Amidst the flashing precious light, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Sect Master Ning Fengzhi gazed into the distance.

Beside him, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, two Title Douluo, guarded his sides.

With one hundred Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples in front, the power of the four-thousand-strong Spirit Master Legion would be further enhanced.

On Jialing Pass, Bibi Dong waved her hand violently.

The ten thousand Spirit Masters of the Holy Dragon Legion soared into the air simultaneously.

Only the Spirit Hall was capable of conducting legion-level training for Spirit Masters.

Therefore, although the Spirit Empire's army was mediocre,

this Spirit Master Legion was absolutely elite.

Agility System Spirit Masters instantly bypassed from both sides,

Assault System Spirit Masters and Defense System Spirit Masters held the front,

Auxiliary System Spirit Masters applied various auxiliary effects from the rear,

and Control System Spirit Masters followed closely behind the Assault System Spirit Masters,

with each soul skill already in preparation.

These Spirit Masters were divided into several groups according to their cultivation paths.

The hundreds of Spirit Masters in the center of the front of the Holy Dragon Legion

were the Holy Dragon Sect, ranked fourth among the New Seven Great Sects.

Originally, she had wanted the Holy Dragon Sect to become the head of the Seven Great Sects with the help of a Title Douluo.

Who would have known that the Clear Sky Sect would suddenly return, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would not be conquered,

and although the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect was wiped out, a Tang Sect would unexpectedly emerge from nowhere,

and the Tang Sect even possessed five Title Douluo with the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul.

No matter how she thought about it, she could not understand what was going on.

Every disciple of the Holy Dragon Sect was covered with a layer of white scales,

their bodies robust and thick; this was their martial soul, the White Armored Earth Dragon.

The White Armored Earth Dragon cannot be considered a true dragon clan;

it can only be said to be a close relative of the dragon clan,

and compared to the original Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, there is still a significant gap.

But they are dragons after all,

and this Sacred Dragon Sect has many experts under the meticulous cultivation of the Spirit Hall,

having been separated directly from the Spirit Hall to form a sect,

and this Sacred Dragon Legion is named after them.

A group of Spirit Masters beside the Sacred Dragon Sect,

that is the Elephant Armored Sect, known for their defense and strength.

As those giants of the Elephant Armored Sect each released their martial soul, led by Sect Master Tianxiang Huyanzhen, they took huge strides and followed the Sacred Dragon Sect to charge together.

Without a doubt, they are the backbone of the Sacred Dragon Legion,

and although the two great sects combined total less than seven hundred people,

their combat power is undoubtedly the strongest.

Whether it is the White Armored Earth Dragon or the Mammoth Giant Elephant martial soul,

both are the most suitable for appearing on the battlefield. No heavy cavalry can block their advance.

And those blocking them are naturally Titan and Niu Gao; experts always trade blows with experts,

and will not unilaterally slaughter the other side's overly weak people;

this is the tacit understanding between the two sides, because once both sides specifically slaughter the other's weak people, it will cause inestimable casualties, and even if one could win, it would be no different from losing,

and it is only someone like Tang San who, when both sides are fighting at the same low level,

suddenly kills their way out to launch a sneak attack,

especially when specifically sneak-attacking the weak.

Both sides constantly slaughtered each other, and earth-shaking sounds were constantly roaring.

The Zhuge Crossbow Legion rode warhorses from both sides and rapidly fired crossbow bolts from the flanks.

There is no need at all to deal with the tanks the other side has placed in front,

all of the Zhuge Crossbow Legion are equipped with warhorses,

and especially the finest breeds,

using their high mobility, it is very easy to cause super-high damage to ordinary legions, forming a slaughter like cutting wheat,

no matter how many Spirit Masters the Spirit Empire has, there are not many who can block the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.

Five thousand people from the Zhuge Legion on each side launched an attack,

accompanied by deafening clanging sounds, a large-scale humming sound rang out at the same time,

the extermination arrows of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow were constantly released,

and the black crossbow bolts formed a dense phantom in the air,

the Zhuge Legion used the Zhuge Divine Crossbows in their hands to outline a radiance of death.

More than ten thousand Zhuge Legion warriors,

each person's Zhuge Divine Crossbow spat out sixteen crossbow bolts with Iron Essence arrowheads,

what a scene that was.

Nearly two hundred thousand crossbow bolts were like a black cloud appearing on the ground,

spreading to the front of the Sacred Dragon Legion in an instant.

In order to make the charge more effective and to allow the Spirit Masters' strength to be fully unleashed at the first moment,

the formation of the Sacred Dragon Legion's charge was spread very wide.

It is precisely because of this that they bore more attacks from the Zhuge Divine Crossbow from the front.

Even though they were dozens of miles away from the main battlefield, the sound of over ten thousand Zhuge Divine Crossbows erupting was still so soul-shaking,

at the same time, the moment that black cloud swept into the Sacred Dragon Legion's army,

large patches of blood mist rose into the air,

and accompanying it were those heart-wrenching screams.

Wherever the black cloud formed by the Zhuge Divine Crossbow bolts passed,

the Spirit Masters of the Sacred Dragon Legion fell like cut wheat.

That was nearly two hundred thousand crossbow bolts,

the Sacred Dragon Legion in the front was slightly better off,

after all, they were mostly Assault System Spirit Masters, and the Auxiliary System Spirit Masters were still in the back.

But the Agility Attack System Spirit Masters on the two wings were not so lucky.

No matter how fast the speed of an Agility Attack System Spirit Master is, it is impossible to be faster than the crossbow bolts spat out by the Zhuge Divine Crossbow,

almost in an instant,

nearly one-third of those Agility Attack System Spirit Masters with relatively weak defense on the two wings fell.

Only those with higher levels or extremely sensitive reactions escaped this disaster.

Although the Sacred Dragon Legion Spirit Masters in the front were mainly Assault System Spirit Masters,

using their physical bodies to resist such a dense Zhuge Divine Crossbow attack,

was still an extremely terrifying thing.

Every Spirit Master charging at the very front had to withstand the impact of nearly a hundred crossbow bolts.

Sixteen crossbow bolts certainly cannot break a defensive soul skill above the three-ring level,

But with a hundred crossbow bolts descending at once,

even a fourth-ring level defensive soul skill might not be able to withstand it.

What's more, when the Zhuge Divine Crossbows were fired,

how many Spirit Masters of the Sacred Dragon Legion had actually released their defensive soul skills?

Two full rows, with over a thousand Spirit Masters of the Sacred Dragon Legion, had bursts of blinding blood mist erupt from their bodies,

and they fell into pools of blood amidst heart-wrenching screams.

Added to the losses of the Agility Attack System Spirit Masters on the two flanks,

just a single volley caused the number of Spirit Masters in the entire Sacred Dragon Legion to plummet by nearly one-sixth.

With the Zhuge Legion attacking again and again,

the number of Spirit Masters in the legion plummeted, while ordinary soldiers were also falling continuously.

When all the crossbow bolts were exhausted, they retreated without the slightest hesitation,

while the Spirit Masters of the Sacred Dragon Legion had been left somewhat stunned by this volley.

From afar, Qian Renxue quietly sensed the situation on the battlefield through her divine sense,

and everything was within her divine sense,

even everything at Jialing Pass was within her divine sense.

She was even able to communicate with Bibi Dong,

"My dear sister, how are you doing now?"

Qian Renxue calling Bibi Dong sister was done deliberately to disgust her.

At this moment, Bibi Dong's complexion could be described as extremely ugly,

as the battle had just begun,

and her side could be said to have suffered heavy losses.

"Xiao Xue, don't get cocky,"

"these are merely clashes between low-level Spirit Masters,"

"the ultimate victory will depend on the high-level Spirit Masters."

Qian Renxue gave a cold snort,

"My good sister, a loss is a loss, why bother looking for excuses?"

Qian Renxue immediately gave the order,

"Tiandou Legion, attack!"

Marshal Ge Long raised the long sword in his hand at the same time, his eyes wide as he roared, shouting only one word,

"Kill!"

His high soul power of level eighty was almost entirely injected into his voice.

Ten heavy cavalry legions,

and ten light cavalry legions immediately surged forward from outside Jialing Pass like a vast, boundless, crashing wave.

Charging at the very front was still the Zhuge Legion,

and on horseback, they were in the middle of cocking the triggers for the third volley.

Inside their Zhuge Divine Crossbows, there were still sixteen sharp crossbow bolts.

At this moment, even Bibi Dong had to admit that her first engagement had failed.

"Sacred Dragon Legion, retreat. Heavy cavalry and infantry legions, engage the enemy."

To her, the lives of those heavy cavalry and heavy infantry were not important; the key was that the foundation of the Spirit Hall could not be shaken.

Although she did not yet know how great the losses of the Sacred Dragon Legion were, the casualties were already very heavy.

If they were pursued by the enemy in this way, there was no telling how many would die.

Those pursuing were also Spirit Masters,

and there was that weapon, whatever it was, that could cause such massive casualties to her side's Spirit Masters.

As the saying goes, a defeated army is like a collapsing mountain; when more than one-tenth of the people are dead, their combat effectiveness is basically gone.

The two volleys of the Zhuge Divine Crossbows had already left the Sacred Dragon Legion with no fighting spirit,

and once Bibi Dong gave this order to retreat,

it truly became a race to see who could run the fastest.

Without a doubt, the higher the soul power of the Spirit Master, the faster they ran when retreating,

and the dense crowd could not stop the pace of these high-level Spirit Masters at all; they either leaped over their own low-level Spirit Masters,

or the more aggressive ones simply shoved them aside, and those high-level Spirit Masters soon rushed to the very front of their own retreat.

In this way, those low-level Spirit Masters and Auxiliary System Spirit Masters were naturally exposed to the Zhuge Legion.

Galloping horses might not be able to catch up to high-level Spirit Masters over a short distance,

but these low-level Spirit Masters and Auxiliary System Spirit Masters could not compare to galloping horses at all.

When Bibi Dong watched the Zhuge Divine Crossbows erupt for the third time,

and saw the Auxiliary System Spirit Masters and low-level Spirit Masters of the Sacred Dragon Legion falling in droves, she could not help but close her eyes in pain.

Only then did she realize that her order had been mistaken.

Although the enemy was formidable,

the Sacred Dragon Legion was, after all, a legion composed entirely of Spirit Masters; if she could have let the high-level Spirit Masters stay at the front,

and retreat slowly, even if there were losses,

they would never have been as heavy as they were now.

This time, the Spirit Empire had undoubtedly suffered heavy losses.

At this moment, the battlefield was already in complete chaos.

The Tiandou Empire's twenty legions of the grand army were pressing straight toward Jialing Pass.

After the Sacred Dragon Legion was hit by three consecutive volleys from the Zhuge Divine Crossbows,

they lost nearly half their numbers, and with the pursuit of over six thousand Tiandou Empire Spirit Masters,

the number of casualties continued to surge.

The Spirit Empire's eight heavy-armored legions finally moved up to fill the gap.

They let the Spirit Masters of the Sacred Dragon Legion pass, but what they met instead was the frenzied grand army of the Tiandou Empire.

Two torrents of steel collided; one side was charging at full Speed,

while the other was already cowardly, and under the impact,

although their numbers were similar, the outcome was decided instantly under the lead of the Spirit Master Legion.

Pufferfish Douluo said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, should we send out the Angel Legion? Otherwise, our losses..."

"The Angel Legion cannot be sent out."

Bibi Dong's eyes were dark and uncertain.

"Before we figure out what those weapons that killed so many of our Spirit Masters are, we absolutely cannot let our Spirit Master Legion take any more risks."

"Spirit Masters are not soldiers; even with our foundation, it is impossible to rebuild them in a short time."

"Pass on my order: the Angel Legion is to take the city walls to prevent the enemy from laying siege."

Finally, the surviving Spirit Masters of the Sacred Dragon Legion, under the cover of the Spirit Empire's eight heavy-armored legions,

retreated into Jialing Pass.

However, following their retreat,

the Tiandou Empire Spirit Master Legion and the Tiandou Empire's light and heavy cavalry legions had also arrived at the front.