Chapter 617

Southwest defensive line of the Azure Hill Divine State, Azure Forest Prefecture, the Xiang Clan's garrison.

The vast garrison lay empty and desolate; among the barracks stretching hundreds of miles, only a few medium-sized camps had faint cooking smoke rising.

Near the central commander's tent, the sparse guard, numbering less than a thousand, patrolled in small groups all around; because they were too few, the expected visible and hidden sentry posts inside and outside the commander's camp were not set up.

The few guards each had a pallid face; as they walked they were like startled birds, their movements slightly unsteady, like a flock of chicks chased all night by weasels, their eyes darting and wandering, they had completely lost the vigor and spirit a qualified soldier should have.

Inside the huge commander's tent, over five thousand Xiang Clan officers gathered with helpless expressions, foolishly staring at Xiang Tuo seated behind the large table in front.

Standing nearly two zhang tall, with a burly frame like a mountain and an aura vicious as a demon dragon, Xiang Tuo wore a set of heavy armor, no helmet, revealing his smoothly shaved head; his large hands constantly rubbed his scalp, polishing the bare scalp to an oily sheen.

"Hey, tell me, what's going on? Look at the nearby major prefectures, the fighting is in full swing; we… why not go over and get involved?" Xiang Tuo asked the clansmen in the tent, his voice loud and booming like thunder.

The Xiang Clan officers looked at each other, nobody speaking.

Even though the Xiang Clan officers are battle‑mad, often going berserk on the battlefield and leading troops in frantic charges, they are not stupid.

No matter how formidable the Xiang Clan's Overlord Cauldron Technique is, no matter how strong their strength, on a battlefield where millions clash, facing tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of elite troops forming battle arrays, unless one is a deity, even if your whole body were forged into an indestructible diamond vajra, you would still be ground into molten iron by the terrifying array.

On the frontline battlefield, only battle arrays can oppose battle arrays.

The Xiang Clan's fighting strength is indeed formidable; on the battlefield they can roam and dominate at will, but that is only because countless soldiers form battle arrays, providing them with sufficient cover and magical support, enabling them to reap countless military merits.

Without those ordinary, everyday soldiers as unremarkable as weeds, the Xiang Clan's officers facing million‑strong battle arrays on the battlefield would merely be marching to their deaths.

"No troops left, Second Uncle." A youth about the same age as Xiang Zhuang snorted resentfully.

"Second Uncle, we've wiped them out." A rough‑looking man in his thirties or forties vigorously rubbed his beard and sighed helplessly: "Ah, these youngsters nowadays, why aren't they more resistant to slaughter? We've only been fighting half a year and they're all gone."

Another man about fifty sighed deeply: "Second Brother, where have the elite troops of this Divine State gone? Or have the lackeys of the Great Martial Divine State grown stronger? Our halberdiers aren't weak either, yet… after just three battles they're all wiped out."

Xiang Tuo let out a heavy sigh, helplessly gazing at the clansmen standing in the commander's tent; he slammed both fists onto the long table before him, shattering the cold‑iron‑carved table into pieces.

"The elder brother sent a letter, scolding us soundly…… the bunch of rascals in the Ministry of War refuse to give us new troops." Xiang Tuo said helplessly: "All we can do is wait for that brat Xiang Zhuang to return."

Shaking his head, Xiang Tuo narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "Over at Demon‑Suppressing City, the underground demons are countless, and some of the strong warlike tribes, with a little training, could all serve as good cannon fodder…"

With force exerted through his arms, a tremendous roar like countless iron bells ringing in unison suddenly came from within Xiang Tuo's body.

His physical strength had reached an astonishing degree; the commander's tent, densely covered with formation prohibitions, trembled violently, countless prohibitions triggered by the vital‑blood murderous aura he emitted, and the huge tent instantly blazed with a blinding Blood Light.

The tent shook, and the ground for hundreds of miles around the commander's tent violently trembled, like an extremely intense earthquake; barracks all lit up with protective glows, thus avoiding collapse and shattering in the quake.

"Still, lately the fighting has been most satisfying." Xiang Tuo laughed at a clansman: "I've sustained one hundred and twenty‑seven serious injuries, barely escaped death in the encirclement, after struggling back I've found my pure bodily strength increased by more than double."

"Don't grieve over the troops' losses; they died a worthy death. Our Xiang Clan lads grow stronger through these bloody battles… soldiers are like leeks—cut one batch, another grows; the number doesn't matter."

Xiang Tuo gave a "hehehe" laugh, and the Xiang Clan officers inside the tent looked at each other and also began to laugh "hehehe".

They laughed wantonly and wildly, their laughter bloody and ferocious, like a pack of well‑fed magic dragons lying in their lair, belching contentedly.

Just as they were laughing triumphantly, distant alarm cries rang out, then amid piercing whistles, slender streams of light shot up into the sky and quickly exploded, blooming into crimson clouds that flickered rapidly at high altitude.

Alarm, the most urgent alarm in the army.

A Xiang family officer rushed out of the main tent, soared into the air, glanced in the direction the alarm came from, then bellowed: "Second Master, it's terrible, it's the dog sons of the Great Martial God Kingdom…… swarming thick as blankets, covering sky and earth, at least the size of five or six million‑strong legions!"

On the distant horizon, nearly ten thousand warships of various sizes formed a dense volley formation, slowly pressing toward the Xiang family army's encampment.

Below these warships lay densely packed military formations.

The Great Martial God Kingdom's formations have a distinctive feature: each basic unit of sixty thousand troops is arranged like plum blossom petals in the air. From afar, such plum‑blossom arrays number at least a hundred, constituting a massive force of several million.

Adding the sailors and standing troops on those ten‑plus thousand warships, this Great Martial God Kingdom army absolutely exceeds ten million in size.

If our troops were strong and our horses vigorous, the Xiang family commanders would have long since blown a whistle and led their men forward to meet the enemy.

But now, the total number of soldiers in the whole camp is only about ten thousand……

Xiang Tuo was the first to burst out of the tent; he glanced at the distant Great Martial God Kingdom army and angrily cursed: "Damn, sure enough, marching and fighting still relies on our Xiang family's fine lads and that Zhao clan detachment—wasn't it supposed to buy us a month to regroup and prepare?"

Xiang Tuo swore: "We agreed they'd hold for a month, yet in less than half a month they've been breached!"

Shaking his head, Xiang Tuo sighed: "Zhao clan, a bunch of weaklings—the sky of the Qingqiu God Kingdom still needs to be held up by our Xiang family…… Hurry, retreat!"

Xiang Tuo blew a sharp whistle and shouted sternly: "Retreat, retreat, toward the rear…… toward the rear…… hey, retreat to the White Wave River!"

All the Xiang family commanders rushed out of the central command tent, each turning into a Blood Light and fleeing northeast.

Xiang Tuo sped northeast while laughing: "If I recall correctly, over there is a logistics camp under the Sun clan, garrisoned with a hundred thousand auxiliaries…… hiss, that camp is rich indeed! Aren't all the supplies needed for twenty percent of the Sun clan's regular troops stockpiled there?"

The Xiang family commanders glanced at each other, a flash of ruthlessness appearing in their eyes.

They had all received the family's information.

The halberd troops were wiped out entirely; these were the family's private forces, and all the pensions and benefits have already emptied the Xiang family's coffers.

The logistics camp under the Sun clan, well, well…… we are all officers of the God Kingdom, all serving the God Kingdom, all allied forces…… allied forces, they share wealth, right!

What's more, tens of millions of the Great Martial God Kingdom's troops are surging forward from behind; your Sun clan's logistics camp, with merely a hundred thousand weakly combat‑ready auxiliaries, simply cannot stop them.

Since we can't stop them, we might as well not try.

Xiang Tuo increased his speed, and the other Xiang family commanders did the same.

Fewer than a thousand of the Xiang family's personal guards chased after this group of generals, soaring into the air at top speed, putting distance between themselves and the camp, heading straight for the White Wave River logistics camp.

In the camp, several thousand defeated remnants of the Xiang family's forces rushed out; a sixth‑rank commandant stared blankly at the direction the Xiang commanders fled, then stomped his foot heavily: "They just…… ran? But this camp, this camp's supplies……"

The Xiang family‑commanded army had been expended in just over half a year of fighting, so the supplies in this camp have hardly been used.

The grain, wine and meat, medicine, arrows, bed crossbows, bows and so on transferred from the Ministry of War—vast amounts of materiel—hadn't even begun to be consumed, since everyone is dead; where could it have been used?

The supplies here constitute an astronomically huge figure.

These Xiang family commanders, on the other hand, carried all the gold and silver pay, primordial crystal spirit medicines, etc., on their persons, but the bulky grain and fodder were left behind in the camp.

The Great Martial God Kingdom's army is rapidly approaching; if these supplies were captured by them……

"Brothers, set fire, set fire……" the remaining sixth‑rank commandant screamed hysterically, his eyes rapidly filling with blood and turning crimson: "Set fire, burn everything that can burn—not a grain of rice, not a tent may be left for the Great Martial God's rabble!"

"Quick, quick, quick, quick, go set the fire, then…… they've gone to the White Wave River, we, we will go to Linwu City behind…… May the Ministry of War officials bless us, so we aren't assigned again under their command!"

The sixth‑rank commandant screamed hysterically, but then he suddenly shuddered with a chill.

He abruptly lifted his head, gazing at the spatial gate hanging high in the air several hundred li north of the camp…… He remembered clearly that this great army had come through that gate from the rear Tianwu Prefecture to the Bilin Prefecture garrison.

That spatial gate leads straight to the rear Tianwu Prefecture.

Usually, this space gate should have soldiers stationed…… but the Xiang family's elders went to war, and they even transferred the guard team stationed at the space gate. These days, Xiang Tuo and the others only cared about healing their wounds, only cared about using the innate nature of the Xiang family bloodline to boost their physical strength after severe injury.

They completely neglected the defense of this space gate.

"Heavens!" The sixth‑rank commandant's legs went weak, and he plopped onto the ground, screaming hysterically: "Field Wu Prefecture, Field Wu Prefecture…… we're doomed!"

Azure Forest Prefecture is the frontline battlefield; Field Wu Prefecture is an extremely important logistics base in the rear, stockpiling supplies for the twelve prefectures including the Azure Forest Prefecture battlefield.

If the Great Martial God Kingdom's army smoothly passes through the space gate and reaches Field Wu Prefecture……

"Think of a way, think of a way, how can we……" the sixth‑rank commandant screamed incoherently.

He is at the Life Pool Realm, but neither the military standard cultivation method he practices nor the various killing techniques he learned in the army teach him how to destroy a large space gate.

To destroy such a large space gate, at minimum one must be a high‑level expert of the Fetal Storage Realm, wielding powerful immortal weapons, to have any chance.

"Warning…… warning……" the sixth‑rank commandant's lips turned white with panic.

But he is merely a sixth‑rank commandant. To warn the troops opposite the space gate to be on guard, such a high‑level order is something only a second‑rank or higher general would possess.

Fire heads rose one after another from the barracks, and streams of black smoke shot straight into the sky.

The sixth‑rank commandant sat dazedly on the ground, staring dazedly at the space gate flashing with strange light.

A large black shadow flew over his head without hesitation, sweeping past him and the camp. He saw swarms of Great Martial God Kingdom's warships flying by, and swarms of its soldiers flying by.

He saw nearly a hundred streams of light, moving far faster than warships, rushing straight to the space gate, cheering all the way.

He faintly heard the cheers from those streams of light; someone laughed loudly: "Bring the captured Jin rabble's warships forward, let the lads wear the captured armor and uniforms, get dressed quickly…… give those Jin rabble a hard time."

"Hey, it's not Great Jin anymore, it's Green Hill now." The sixth‑rank commandant sat on the ground, then suddenly muttered strangely: "You've got it wrong; now we are the Green Hill Divine Kingdom."

Dozens of Great Martial God Kingdom's soldiers descended from the sky, a fourth‑rank commandant walked up to him and kicked him hard.

The sixth‑rank commandant showed no reaction; the Great Martial God Kingdom's fourth‑rank commandant shook his head: "This guy, scared stupid, his brain's been frightened to pieces…… well, hurry and put out the fire, see what useful stuff we can find."

Xiang Tuo and the others had already run far away; after flying several thousand li, Xiang Tuo finally furrowed his brow: "It seems we forgot something? Hey, never mind…… let's push on, once we reach the White Wave River, we……"

Far away, a thin thread of Blood Light flew over; Xiang Tuo gestured, and a three‑inch‑long strange short sword landed in his hand, emitting a clear 'ding'.

Xiang Tuo bit his fingertip, dropped a drop of his blood onto the short sword, and a voice issued from the sword.

Xiang Tuo stared, then shouted in furious desperation: "We fought to the death for the dynasty on the front lines, yet back here someone is beating my Xiang clan's youths, dragging down our clan!"

A flicker of joy crossed Xiang Tuo's eyes: "Prince An, Prince An…… hey, isn't Jade Prefecture Prince An's fief? Good, you've delivered yourself right to our door."