Chapter 644: War Begins: Cavalry Charge

On the side of the Spirit Empire, the two heavy infantry legions closest to the Saint Dragon Legion quickly closed ranks, blocking the front of the Saint Dragon Legion and holding their giant shields before them.

Within the military formation, watching the 100,000 light cavalry charging toward them in an orderly fashion, Bibi Dong could not help but frown. "Are these fellows from the Heaven Dou Empire trying to commit suicide?"

Although she had not studied military strategy extensively, she knew what the result would be if light cavalry charged against heavy cavalry and heavy infantry formations, especially when the numbers on both sides were relatively equal; it was practically no different from suicide.

Even if these light cavalry intended to attack with bows and arrows, they were facing fully armed heavy cavalry and heavy infantry; bows and arrows would have almost no effect, and there was no need for her own Saint Dragon Legion to take any action.

Just as Bibi Dong was feeling puzzled, the Heaven Dou Empire's light cavalry legion had already charged over. When they were still one li away from the Spirit Empire's side, they suddenly turned, drew their bows, and notched arrows. Amidst the whistling sounds, countless arrows shot toward the Spirit Empire's side.

The vast majority were parabolic shots, which provided sufficient range, and since their target was a full 100,000 enemy troops, there was no need to aim at all. Through the deliberate actions of the light cavalry, more arrows were shot in a parabolic arc toward the direction of the Saint Dragon Legion. The heavy infantry could block the front, but these arrows descending from the sky were not something they could withstand.

After one round of shooting, the light cavalry did not stop at all. Arcs of movement kicked up clouds of dust, and relying on the speed of their horses, they slid directly past the flanks and headed back toward their own side.

A single volley meant 100,000 arrows! These ten light cavalry legions of the Heaven Dou Empire fully demonstrated their high quality before the Spirit Empire. As the 100,000-strong army galloped and skirmished, their formation remained completely orderly. By the time they circled around and returned to their own side, the Heaven Dou Empire's main army had already pressed forward once more.

Bibi Dong sighed inwardly and asked indifferently, "This light cavalry unit is truly well-trained; I fear they far surpass the soldiers of our empire."

The Spirit Empire generals standing behind her were all as silent as cicadas in winter, none daring to make a sound.

"Didn't you tell me that the Heaven Dou Empire was a loose sand, their army slack, and mostly focused on collecting empty paychecks? Is this a slack army? Then what are you? Trash?" Bibi Dong scolded angrily.

Watching those ten light cavalry legions show off their power and maintain strict formations to give her a show of force, although they could not harm the Spirit Masters of the Saint Dragon Legion or her own heavy legions, it was undoubtedly a huge blow to the Spirit Empire's morale.

It seemed that ever since the Heaven Dou Infiltration Plan failed, Ge Long had not been idle. Turning hatred into motivation, he had actually trained such a formidable force.

Now, standing before her was a million-strong army, well-trained and well-supplied. Even compared to the Star Luo Empire, the military strength of the Heaven Dou Empire was likely not far behind.

Yet, this seemed to have exceeded the limits of Ge Long's military capabilities. If he had been this capable before, Heaven Dou would not have been suppressed by Star Luo in military matters for so many years.

Nan Feihuang! This name flashed through Bibi Dong's mind. Nan Feihuang was the Regent of the Heaven Dou Empire; if he had a hand in this, everything would make sense.

Nan Feihuang had always been the greatest and strongest opponent in Bibi Dong's heart, and precisely because of this, the Nan Feihuang in Bibi Dong's perception was almost omnipotent.

Perhaps ordinary people would not believe that Nan Feihuang, as the Crown Prince of the Gu Lei Empire, would be so biased toward the Heaven Dou Empire; after all, there was no benefit in it for him.

But she knew that Nan Feihuang possessed a capacity far beyond that of ordinary people. He had likely long since regarded the Heaven Dou Empire as something already in his pocket, so training Heaven Dou soldiers was no different from training his own troops.

It must be said that the saying "the person who knows you best is often your opponent" was truly not wrong.

Just as Bibi Dong had expected, it was precisely because Ge Long had received a portion of the military manuals bestowed upon him by Nan Feihuang that he was able to train this mighty army. Feihuang understood that only in this way would the Heaven Dou Empire have the strength to resist the Spirit Empire. "Pass the order: Saint Dragon Legion, release Spirit Rings, attack." This was the first clash between the two sides, and morale had to be regained. Bibi Dong knew that the armies of those kingdoms and duchies could not be relied upon. What could truly be relied upon were her own direct Spirit Master legions. As long as they could crush the Spirit Master legions of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Gu Lei Empire, it would be no problem for those annexed armies to pick up the scraps.

Brilliant radiance instantly lit up from the Spirit Empire's side. Ten thousand Spirit Masters released their martial souls simultaneously; it was an absolutely magnificent scene. Countless Spirit Rings flashed in four colors—white, yellow, purple, and black. Although they were as uneven as their army, the terrifying aura that suddenly surged caused the breathing of the hundreds of thousands of troops on the Heaven Dou Empire's side to become rapid.

The soldiers naturally knew what it meant to face Spirit Masters. A single large-scale, high-level Spirit Master's destructive soul skill could cause hundreds or thousands of them to die. To deal with Spirit Masters, only other Spirit Masters would do.

Marshal Ge Long looked at Lv Lingqi beside him and bowed slightly. "The next part depends on Marshal Lv."

Lv Lingqi nodded and raised her right hand. "Spirit Master Legion, take orders: release martial souls."

The joint Spirit Master army of the Gu Lei Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire also released their martial souls at the same time. Although their numbers were far fewer than their opponents, their movements were uniform, and the colors of their Spirit Rings were not chaotic in the slightest. Standing in the front row were all seven-ring and eight-ring Spirit Masters; although they were few in number, the Spirit Rings on their bodies compensated for the lack of quantity.

Behind them were the formations composed of six-ring, five-ring, four-ring, and three-ring Spirit Masters. The vast majority of Spirit Masters were between the third and fifth rings.

Three five-ring Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagodas slowly rose in the center of the battle formation; they were the three girls from the collateral branches of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect who had married into the Gu Lei Empire.

Their aptitude was always more than a notch behind Ning Rongrong, and even now, they only had five rings.

But in terms of amplification ability, a five-ring Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had an amplification effect stronger than many other auxiliary martial souls that had opened their Spirit Avatar.

More than a dozen rays of light flew out under the Distraction Control of the three.

They landed in their most perfect states upon the majority of the Title Douluo present, as well as the talented young boys and girls from the Element Academy who had just returned from Sea God Island.

"So many Title Douluo and Spirit Douluo! Damn the Gu Lei Empire! Even with Nan Feihuang and Lan Xue absent, they can still produce such power. I truly underestimated them!" Bibi Dong raged. She had not expected that the weakest kingdom, which she had completely disregarded back then, would develop into such a behemoth in just over a dozen years.

It could simply be called a heart-and-bowel ailment for the Spirit Empire.

In fact, this legion was a force that the Gu Lei Empire had kept hidden for a long time. The colors of their Spirit Rings appeared no different from those of ordinary Spirit Masters, but most were over-limit.

After all, one cannot tell much difference between a nine-hundred-year and a one-hundred-year Spirit Ring just by looking at them with the naked eye; both are yellow, but the soul power contained within and the soul skills born from them are worlds apart.

Did Nan Tianchen collect so much Whale Glue back then just to put it on display? In fact, he had been secretly training this Spirit Master unit all along.

Since the number of Spirit Masters could not compare to the Spirit Empire, they could only compensate with higher quality.

(End of chapter)