Chapter 843: Dragon Battle in the Wild

The sun on the distant horizon had only a final sliver of light remaining.

In the nearby mountains and across the land, bonfires had already been lit one after another.

People took supplies from the trucks and quickly distributed them.

"Holy crap, Cotton-Wood Pills! Are we celebrating a festival?"

Mei Lin took the pill handed to him and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Cotton-Wood Pills are wood-attribute elixirs that can accelerate the replenishment of energy required by wood-attribute implants, stimulate the growth of the implants, and have relatively pure medicinal properties, causing minimal impact on the body.

This type of elixir is of high quality and not widely circulated on the market; each one can sell for a high price of at least 300 yuan!

Yet, Mei Lin had just received 10 Cotton-Wood Pills.

For a Body-Breaking Realm martial artist like him, this was already a significant fortune.

The surrounding group of Body-Breaking Realm martial artists who also cultivated wood-attribute implants were just like him, their faces filled with pleasant surprise.

"Hey, Mei, you're a fool. We might be heading to the battlefield tomorrow, so of course we have to 'celebrate' tonight!"

Beside a bonfire not far away sat an old man with graying hair, a sneer on his face.

These words caused the expressions of those around him to change, and the joyful atmosphere was instantly swept away.

Mei Lin glanced at the medicine bottle in his hand, walked over quickly, sat down beside the old man, and said in a low voice:

"Old Man Yao, is the war really starting tomorrow?"

Old Man Yao had a scar on his face that ran from his forehead to the corner of his mouth, looking somewhat ferocious.

A blade lay by his thigh, his right hand ready to grip the hilt at any moment.

He raised his hand and patted the ground: "Do you know where we are?"

Mei Lin said uncertainly: "Should be Feng Province?"

Old Man Yao: "Ahead is the Baifeng Plain; only after crossing the plain can one enter the territory of Feng Province."

"Feng Province, so what about it?"

Mei Lin asked nervously.

Old Man Yao sneered: "You don't think the imperial court will just let us fight all the way to the capital, do you?"

"Then—"

"There will definitely be a major decisive battle along the way!"

Old Man Yao said with certainty, "Ahead is the Baifeng Plain, a key thoroughfare and a suitable battlefield. Since such good elixirs were suddenly issued tonight, it's almost certain that we'll be fighting the imperial court's army on the Baifeng Plain tomorrow."

"This—"

Many people had already gathered around, all listening to Old Man Yao speak.

This Old Man Yao had participated in the war against the Western Continent invasion back then. He had served as a scout in the army as a martial artist and had experienced many battles, large and small, so his knowledge and experience were far above those of ordinary people.

"Are you really sure we're fighting tomorrow?"

Mei Lin looked anxious.

Old Man Yao couldn't be bothered to say more: "Believe it or not, that's up to you."

"Damn it, we're going to die..."

Mei Lin looked at the elixir in his hand, feeling it burning to the touch.

He was a martial artist from the Zhi Ge Academy in Hongcheng, Xiguang Province.

Before the vanguard of the Southern Border army arrived, the head of the Hongcheng Zhi Ge Academy had already begun making moves, killing quite a few people!

Once the vanguard arrived, the other party led everyone to surrender collectively.

Oh, it couldn't be called a surrender.

According to that head, they were responding to a call to help the First Imperial Prince set things right and support the nation!

Mei Lin didn't actually understand these things, nor did he want to.

He only knew that his family was all in Hongcheng; if he didn't follow that head, he and his entire family would likely lose their lives!

Just like that, Mei Lin joined the vanguard of the Southern Border army and followed them all the way north.

During this time, he had thought about whether to find an opportunity to escape.

But he feared retaliation, and even more, he feared implicating his family, so he eventually gave up.

Perhaps he really was participating in something incredible?

He could consider himself as serving the country!

Mei Lin could only comfort himself this way.

But when Old Man Yao said that war was coming tomorrow, only anxiety remained in Mei Lin's heart.

What national affairs, what serving the country—none of it was as important as his own life!

He just wanted to live and return to see his family.

After all the supplies were distributed, a burly, imposing middle-aged man walked over, followed by a group of people, all from the Hongcheng Zhi Ge Academy.

The person who arrived was the head of the Hongcheng Zhi Ge Academy, Ge Yanyu.

"Brothers, listen to me!"

Ge Yanyu said loudly, making the surrounding martial artists look at him:

"Tomorrow, we will face the enemy army; the time for everyone to serve the country has arrived!"

As expected.

Mei Lin's heart skipped a beat and sank completely.

The bonfire beside him crackled, and Ge Yanyu's voice kept ringing in his ears, but he didn't take in a single word.

"... he First Imperial Prince and Prince Li have issued elixirs to you brothers in advance. If we can win tomorrow's battle, the rewards you receive in the future will be ten or a hundred times what you got tonight!"

"We're going to die..."

Mei Lin stared blankly at the layers of mountain shadows in the distance.

The night wind roared like a tiger, passing through mountains and forests, bringing the scent of metal and horses.

The 49th year of Hongguang, July 27th.

The morning sun had not yet become scorching.

Mei Lin and the others were woken up early in the morning and began to run.

This vanguard unit had over twenty thousand people, most of whom were martial artists.

With the supply of sufficient elixirs, their running speed would not be slower than that of cars.

Therefore, a small number of mages and ordinary soldiers rode in cars, while most martial artists jogged all the way.

Following a highway, they ran and stopped along the way, rhythmically taking elixirs for replenishment, drinking water, resting, and regulating their breathing.

Starting from 7: 0 AM, the vanguard unit entered the Baifeng Plain by 3: 0 PM.

After another rest and regulation of breathing, the unit slowed down, left the highway, and walked onto the plain on one side.

More than twenty thousand people first formed a relatively simple formation on the plain.

Over five thousand ordinary soldiers carrying firearms, heavy machine guns, and pushing cannons walked at the very front of the unit.

A portion of the martial artists were sent out to act as scouts.

These martial artists also carried firearms because most of them were only Body-Breaking Realm martial artists, and the damage they could cause was not as great as that of firearms.

However, their physical fitness was stronger, their reactions were sharper, and they could better exert the power of the firearms.

At 4: 3 PM, gunfire rang out on the plain.

The scouts sent out encountered the enemy one after another, and the prelude to this battle was opened by the scouts of both sides.

At 4: 7 PM, several hundred mages walked into the crowd and cast various buff spells on the five thousand ordinary soldiers at the front.

Whether it was anxiety, fear, or cowardice.

After being buffed by the spells, these ordinary soldiers became hot-blooded, full of fighting spirit, and pressed forward!

They accelerated their running, charged with guns, and like an arrow, thrust straight toward the front!

The gunfire began to intensify.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Artillery roared, and the plain shook.

"Old Yao, do you think we can win?"

Mei Lin stared intently ahead, asking Old Man Yao beside him.

The front was filled with smoke and dust, and one could only hear the deafening sound of artillery; it was impossible to see the specific situation on the battlefield.

Old Man Yao smelled the smoke and showed a look of nostalgia:

"It's still early; it's hard to say right now."

"Isn't the fighting already happening?"

"This is just the beginning. Right now, it's nothing more than an appetizer."

Old Man Yao sneered, "In this kind of large-scale corps operation, those ordinary soldiers are just cannon fodder; the goal is to cause damage and consumption to the enemy's martial artists, martial masters, and even Dao Foundation Realm powerhouses!"

"In a while, if our side's cannon fodder loses, it will be our turn to take the field."

Mei Lin opened his mouth: "Then... then can our side win?"

Old Man Yao shook his head, showing a look of worry:

"I think it's doubtful."

Although he didn't know how many troops the other side had, he could figure out the general situation.

The five thousand ordinary soldiers in the vanguard were all elites carefully selected from the Southern Border frontier army.

With limited transport capacity, and with the railway destroyed and not enough cars available, the vanguard could not bring many ordinary soldiers if they wanted to maintain their marching speed.

The opponent can mobilize far more manpower and resources than our side, so the number of "cannon fodder" they send will naturally be greater.

Therefore, in this initial "cannon fodder battle," our side is highly likely to be at a disadvantage.

Once you fall behind by one step, you may fall behind at every step thereafter!

If our martial artists and sorcerers are exhausted by the opponent's cannon fodder, the opponent's transcendent beings will be able to fight more easily and have more manpower to spare later on.

This tactic was learned from those Westerners, so Old Man Yao is very clear about it.

"Don't we have Prince Li on our side? Isn't he a Martial Saint?"

Mei Lin suddenly grabbed Old Man Yao and asked urgently:

"Once Prince Li makes a move, wouldn't even tens of thousands of people on the other side not be enough for him to kill?"

Old Man Yao sneered: "Do you think a Martial Saint has no consumption when killing? Besides, if the other side dares to fight this battle, how could they not guard against Prince Li? If Prince Li strikes first to kill and exhausts himself too much, then we will truly have lost this battle for sure!"

Mei Lin: "..."

He thought of their own Sect Leader; although the other party is a Dao Foundation realm powerhouse, on a battlefield like this, he would likely exhaust his strength after killing at most two or three hundred people.

After all, even ordinary soldiers have sorcery enhancements, guns in their hands, and even cannons!

Based on this, tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers, even if they are cannon fodder, are not easy to kill.

Even tens of thousands of pigs are not easy to kill...

5: 8 PM.

On the Baifeng Plain, the afterglow of the setting sun cast a layer of blood-red color over the entire battlefield.

Corpse after corpse lay in pools of blood; the grassy ground was pitted and charred black, all from the craters blasted by artillery shells.

The smoke of gunpowder had gradually dissipated, and tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers were locked in slaughter.

Under the enhancement of rounds of sorcery, everyone was brave and fearless, not retreating a single step!

So, after repeated charges and artillery fire, both sides entered into hand-to-hand combat.

This vanguard unit of the Southern Border Army had only over five thousand ordinary soldiers; although they were the elite of the Southern Border frontier troops, their numbers were still too few.

The rebel-suppression army had a total of over twenty-eight thousand City Guard soldiers called in from various places; even though their capabilities in all aspects were inferior to the frontier elites, their numbers were five times that of the opponent, and they were on a plain where there was no terrain to defend and not much room for tactical changes.

Therefore, in the end, the more numerous City Guard soldiers broke through the frontier army's defensive line and charged toward the enemy's main force in the rear.

"It's our turn."

In the ranks, Old Man Yao took a deep breath and said in a low voice.

Mei Lin looked up and saw magic treasures rising into the air, flying toward the front with lights of various colors.

Those who can control magic treasures must at least be Great Sorcerers of the Possession stage, which means our side's experts have made their move.

In the words of Old Man Mei, this is our side's transcendent beings being forced to be exhausted by the enemy ahead of time!

Bolts of lightning descended from the sky, exploding into a large crater on the ground, then transforming into hundreds of electric snakes that spread to the surroundings, affecting the soldiers nearby and shocking them until they foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground one after another.

A gale howled, and sharp wind blades could slice through the iron armor on the soldiers; wherever they passed, they left behind only corpses cut into several pieces.

A bronze mirror shone downward, and with a flash, a sea of fire was generated out of thin air; over a dozen soldiers were burned by the flames, emitting painful howls as they ran frantically toward the outside of the sea of fire.

The Great Sorcerers who have made their move at this time all possess magic treasures capable of causing large-scale destruction!

But their numbers are too few, and they cannot continuously drive their magic treasures to release sorcery; in the end, they cannot stop the charge of tens of thousands of people.

"First Battalion, prepare—"

All the martial artists were assigned to different battalions.

Mei Lin was assigned to the First Battalion.

As the order was given, rays of sorcery light also fell upon Mei Lin and the others.

But sorcery is affected by a martial artist's life-force energy; the stronger a person's mind, the harder it is to be hypnotized or bewitched.

Therefore, these buffing sorceries are mainly "cleansing the heart," which can calm the tension, anxiety, and fear in everyone's hearts, allowing them to remain as calm as possible.

Under the influence of the sorcery, Mei Lin was finally not so nervous.

"First Battalion, charge!"

The order was given.

Mei Lin held a revolver in one hand and lifted a heavy iron shield wrapped in animal skin with the other.

Only martial artists can carry such bulletproof shields onto the battlefield.

"Kill—"

A group of martial artists held guns and shields and charged out!

Not long after, many people disappeared into the smoke, dust, and blood spray.

On a hillside, dozens of people stood there.

Li Fei wore the Golden Thread Jade Qilin Armor, looking very eye-catching in the crowd.

All the martial arts masters and True Persons and above of the rebel-suppression army were here.

The Regional Commander, Huang Qiyuan, stood at the very front, watching the distant battlefield with cold eyes.

Divine light flickered in his eyes, allowing him to see the details on the battlefield through the smoke and dust.

Previously, when over twenty thousand City Guard soldiers entered the battle, he was in command remotely the entire time.

He divided the over twenty-eight thousand City Guard soldiers into seven battalions based on their provinces.

Which battalion would charge at what time and from which direction.

When to fire the cannons and where to fire them—all these orders were issued by Huang Qiyuan and then transmitted to the various commanders on the front line by sorcerers using sorcery.

In just over an hour, the over twenty thousand City Guard soldiers had completely broken through the enemy's defensive line!

It seems that Huang Qiyuan, the Regional Commander, is not only proficient in military strategy and martial arts, but also skilled in commanding military formations.

He also has a lot of research on fighting ordinary soldiers and the use of gunpowder weapons.

Now that the City Guard soldiers have engaged with the enemy's main force, regardless of victory or defeat, they can inflict damage and attrition on the enemy's main force.

With the battle reaching this point, the rebel-suppression army can be said to have a clear advantage.

If Prince Li still does not make a move next, then he can only wait for the people below to be consumed and killed layer by layer, eventually falling into a situation of being surrounded.

It is indeed difficult for Huang Qiyuan to lead the Sky Blue Iron Cavalry to kill Prince Li.

But if there is help from several Grandmasters and thousands of Imperial Camp soldiers, the situation will be different.

Suddenly, all the powerhouses present felt a palpitation!

And the others whose realm and strength were below theirs felt an even stronger sense of fear.

The buffs on the over twenty thousand City Guard soldiers who were charging were like snow meeting the scorching sun, all being dispelled!

These people were brave and fearless a second ago, but the next second their faces turned pale, their legs went weak, and many of them collapsed directly to the ground.

ROAR!!!!

The sound of a dragon's roar resounded throughout the entire Baifeng Plain, shaking the heavens and the earth.

Li Fei looked up and saw a giant golden dragon soaring into the sky on the distant horizon!

"Prince Li has made his move!"

At this moment, the same thought flashed through the minds of all the powerhouses.

As a member of the royal family and a powerhouse with talent rarely seen in a hundred years, Qin Mingli naturally cultivates the royal family's strongest legacy-grade Dao Foundation—【True Dragon Descends to the World】!

After this legacy-grade Dao Foundation is built, the first divine ability refined is called—【Dragon Transformation】.

This is a transformation-type divine ability that allows one to transform from a human body into an exotic beast.

The 【Dragon Transformation】 divine ability can allow one to transform into a seventh-rank dragon-type exotic beast!

At the same realm, exotic beasts possess physiques and vitality far exceeding those of martial artists; the only thing they lack is martial arts.

Exotic beasts are far inferior to the human race in fighting techniques, and no exotic beast can unleash Dao energy.

But if a human can transform into an exotic beast, this problem can be solved directly.

A seventh-rank exotic beast that possesses human intelligence and can unleash Dao energy naturally has combat power far exceeding that of a martial arts master of the same realm!

Therefore, 【Dragon Transformation】 is one of the top-tier divine abilities; its only flaw is that the consumption is too great to be sustained for long.

The founding emperor of that year often used 【Dragon Transformation】 on the battlefield, then rampaged across the battlefield with his dragon body, killing the enemy until they were terrified!

More than five hundred years have passed, and a true dragon has reappeared on the battlefield!

"Formation—"

On the hillside, Huang Qiyuan issued the order the moment the true dragon appeared.

Below the hillside, the twelve thousand Sky Blue Iron Cavalry, including both men and their mounts, saw their armor emit light.

In an instant, everyone's aura connected into a single whole.

The military formation was activated!

An invisible baleful aura like a tidal wave swept toward the front.

The baleful aura swept over the over twenty thousand City Guard soldiers, immediately stimulating their spirits and allowing them to pull themselves together.

And the same baleful aura swept over the enemy's martial artists, making these people terrified and feel as if they were being pricked by needles!

Li Fei looked up at the sky.

The sea of clouds surged; half of the body of the golden dragon that had just soared into the sky was hidden in the clouds, and a huge dragon head was watching Li Fei and the others below with cold eyes.

The terrifying pressure of a peak powerhouse descended like a mountain; even the several Grandmasters present changed their expressions, revealing solemn looks.

Except for Huang Qiyuan, Li Fei was the only one among them who remained calm.

Having come all this way, he has already seen many peak powerhouses and has been targeted by peak powerhouses more than once.

He has even witnessed with his own eyes someone attempting to break through beyond the peak!

Therefore, his state of mind had long since been tempered.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but Li Fei felt that the golden dragon's gaze in the air seemed to linger on him for a moment longer.

The next second, the pressure from the sky became tangible.

Boom—

A golden bolt of lightning was spat out from the dragon's mouth, descending toward the crowd on the hillside.

The magnificent might of heaven descended from the sky.

It's attacking!

Seeking monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)