Transition

"Amazing, simply amazing. I never imagined that elves actually existed."

A crowd of soul beasts from the Dragon Valley Forest surrounded Barus and Elena, their eyes wide with the look of those who had never seen the world, staring at this dragon and this elf.

After Rus Wang established a connection between the Zheer Continent and the Dragon Valley Forest, he had taken the opportunity to bring along his eldest son and his wife, who had been wandering around his daughter Iyuda's territory. It was the perfect chance to show the various hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, who had been locked in a life-or-death struggle with humans for so long, why elves were the one race soul beasts absolutely had to ally with.

"There really isn't a shred of the scent of soul beast slaughter on her."

As for the hundred-year soul beasts that Rus Wang mentioned had raided the elf kingdom only to be counter-killed by the elves? That didn't matter to the hundred-thousand-year soul beasts; a group of brainless soul beasts were no different from animals without soul power.

What truly shocked them was that this elf, whom Rus Wang claimed was the first Title Douluo in elven history, had truly relied entirely on filling her dantian with soul power to drive her cultivation upward and condense a soul core. Her body was completely free of any blood-taint. (After killing a soul beast, even if the soul ring isn't absorbed, the residual pheromones can be sensed by hundred-thousand-year soul beasts even after a hundred years.)

"Alright, alright, let's not crowd around these youngsters, you big oafs. Everyone go back and tend to your wounds."

Once the Giant Mountain Golden Ape confirmed that Elena truly carried no scent of blood, he urged his brothers to follow him and leave quickly. They needed to take advantage of the time Rus Wang spent patrolling the Dragon Valley Forest to use the Intermediate Stamina Recovery Potions he had distributed and hurry to recover from their injuries.

Although the Dragon Valley Forest was now under Rus Wang's rule, it could not be considered the primary focus of his operations. After seeing the elf Elena today, the hundred-thousand-year soul beasts understood in their hearts that the Zheer Continent was the place where soul beasts were truly focusing their protection and migration efforts.

Aside from their slow physical maturation, elves were truly leagues ahead of humans in the eyes of soul beasts.

"Dad, in this human war, why are both sides stupidly lining up in a long snake formation and charging head-on at each other?"

On the other side, Rus Wang had taken Barus and Yanjin—having transformed into human form—to hide in a secluded spot, where they observed the battlefield between the Star Luo People and the indigenous humans.

One look was all it took to leave all three soul beasts speechless.

Is this how you humans fight wars now that you have Soul Guidance Devices?

The indigenous human army played at close-quarters charges because they had no choice; their Soul Guidance Devices were outdated. But the Star Luo Empire was completely incomprehensible; they had the range advantage of fixed-position Soul Guidance Devices reaching over a dozen kilometers, yet they insisted on setting them up within a few kilometers—well within visual range—to bombard the enemy.

It made Barus wonder if the Star Luo People even had concepts like artillery barrage sectors, tactical maneuvers, or firing coordinates. If this were a military exercise for the elves, the elves would be ecstatic; they could skip the calculations, forget about setting up fixed Soul Guidance Devices, and simply send troops to flank and seize the equipment.

"Never mind that. What does Yanjin say? Is she ready?"

This time, the reason Rus Wang and his group had come to observe the battlefield was naturally not just to watch; they intended to delay the Star Luo People's conquest of the human regions across the continent.

A few days ago, Rus Wang had used his water affinity to rain on the Star Luo People's logistics lines for an entire week, severely delaying the supplies they transported via dirt roads. The Star Luo beachhead defense troops were already lacking clean water and food, which was naturally detected by the coalition of indigenous human kingdoms, who then launched an attack. That was exactly what Rus Wang was seeing now.

The Star Luo People couldn't even manage to hold a trench, so it was no wonder the Sun Moon Empire had been able to pierce through the defensive lines the Star Luo People had painstakingly built along the mountain ranges back then.

"I've been waiting for this. I was just waiting for your word, Rus."

Suddenly, flames soared into the sky from the beachhead camp behind the Star Luo People's long snake formation. Believing their camp was lost and suffering from the illusion of being caught in a pincer attack, the Star Luo army quickly began to collapse.

Seeing this, the indigenous human coalition immediately pressed their advantage.

"For at least the next hundred years, we must keep a close eye on the defensive line the indigenous human coalition has built along this great river."

Barus asked his father and Aunt Yanjin.

"Dad, Aunt Yanjin, it's strange, isn't it? The indigenous human coalition is being beaten so badly, have they never thought about joining forces with us soul beasts?" Barus asked his father in confusion. Having read some books his father had swiped while disguised as a Star Luo person, and currently learning the Star Luo language from Aunt Yin Ji, Barus knew what humans and local soul beasts were doing over on the Douluo Continent.

"That is impractical, son. Unless someone like Huo Yuhao, the first master of the Spirit Pagoda, appears among the indigenous humans of the Dragon Valley Continent, there is no such thing as diplomatic negotiation between the human leadership and the soul beast leadership—only violent slaughter."

Rus Wang said this to his son.

"And more importantly, the Spirit Pagoda has no place for soul beasts; it is an organization entirely controlled by humans. The original intent behind Huo Yuhao's Spirit Pagoda could be maintained on the surface for a few generations after he ascended to the God Realm. But once that group of humans is gone, how will the subsequent generations of humans coexist with the soul beasts who once cooperated with Huo Yuhao?"

"Just like how your former provincial framework, Dad, and the incentive policies of Uncle Evans and Uncle Light, have long since become ill-suited to the current Elf Kingdom and the economic situation as time has passed?"

"A very apt expression, Barus."

Yanjin smiled and patted Barus on the head, praising him.

"Everything is constantly changing. Only by adapting to the trend can one survive in the torrent."

"So, we lost?"

Duke Libai... no, he was a Count now. After being locked up for several months, he looked at his good friend, Imperial General Kallen, who had come to greet him upon his release. From their conversation over drinks, he learned what had happened in the central and southern parts of the Star Luo Continent over the past few months.

"It was all the doing of that guy Dezuola. He relied on his status as a thousand-year noble and thought he was invincible. He stubbornly led the 8th Army deep into enemy territory, forgetting even the most basic logistics of warfare, and failing to account for the fact that the indigenous humans also had Title Douluo. It would have been a miracle if he hadn't lost."

"That is certainly something that group of aristocratic families back home would do."

After listening to the detailed account from Kallen of how that scoundrel Dezuola had been defeated, Count Libai was speechless.

If an army wants to fight, it must first be fed.

Although Count Libai and Kallen could never manage to provide the soldiers with the rations stipulated by official regulations, they at least kept a tight grip on the logistics officers and never let their soldiers fight on empty stomachs.

Unlike them—a new generation of nobles who had earned their titles through the conquest of the Star Luo Continent—that group on the Douluo Continent, who lived in luxury thanks to their ancestors, were barely even human.

While it was true that the conquest of the Star Luo Continent was a victory for the main imperial forces over the local human kingdoms, it didn't mean it was an easy win. If not for the generational gap in Soul Guidance technology, the indigenous coalition, driven by the will to protect their homes, could have held the Star Luo imperial army in a stalemate in the north of the Star Luo Continent.

Instead, they were now reduced to surviving in the south, relying on the vast, undeveloped mountainous regions of the central and south and a few scattered population centers.

"How did His Majesty the Emperor react?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Count Libai was somewhat surprised. This was a major event involving the loss of over twenty thousand soldiers a month or two ago; would the ministers dare to hide it from him? General Kallen looked left and right, then leaned into Count Libai's ear and whispered.

"According to recent rumors, the old Emperor is ill again."

"If that's the case, the loss of an army is indeed less chilling than the Emperor's illness."

Libai understood immediately.

"For the near future, just stay in your fief. Honestly have your people farm and build roads. Once the storm passes, we'll meet again."

Kallen was, after all, a General commanding an army and a military district on the frontier. At a time like this, he really couldn't have too much contact with a noble like Count Libai who held a real fief. If the old Emperor couldn't hold on and passed away, and the new Emperor ascended the throne and grew suspicious, neither of them would have an easy time.