The Holy Spirit Sect's Saintess, the Fire Phoenix!

Chapter 30: Saintess of the Holy Spirit Sect, Fire Phoenix!

Tiger Roar Forest, Tiger Roar Defense Line.

In the silent night sky, dense sparks suddenly appeared, descending from the heavens.

Bang—!!!!

Boom—!!!!

The earth trembled as if the gods were wailing, the world spinning and turning upside down!

Behind the Tiger Roar Defense Line, inside the soldiers' barracks, the Star Luo soldiers who had spent the day resisting the charges of the Ming army had long since fallen into a deep sleep.

Facing this sudden catastrophe, they had absolutely no power to resist.

"Alert!"

"Enemy attack!!"

"Enemy attack!!!"

After the first round of artillery fire blanketed the area, countless people were buried in their sleep.

The barracks became a sea of flames.

Swish—!!!

A burly man clad in black armor violently threw open the main tent, his expression grim as he looked toward the soldiers' camp, which had already turned into a sea of fire.

"This... how is this possible!"

"Bastards, what on earth is happening!"

Just as he stood there in a daze, in Xingyao City, located opposite the Tiger Roar Defense Line, Xu Nian'an watched the firelight slowly reflect in his eyes. The first round had ended.

He raised his hand, his expression emotionless.

"Second round, prepare!"

Hearing Xu Nian'an's command, the fifty Level 7 Soul Engineers did not hesitate in the slightest, once again activating their Level 7 fixed-load soul cannons to prepare for a new round of bombardment.

"Fire!"

Bang—!!! Bang—!!!!

With a series of roars, countless artillery shells were fired in unison once more.

"I shall let you see what it means to be crushed by technology ten thousand years ahead of your time!"

"This is the power of Ming!!!"

To the left of the Tiger Roar Defense Line, one hundred thousand Dragon Guards stood ready.

To the right of the Tiger Roar Defense Line, the thirty thousand Great Snow Dragon Cavalry had long been impatient, their blades thirsty for battle.

They had received Xu Nian'an's orders to flank the Star Luo army guarding the Tiger Roar Defense Line from both sides.

They were only waiting for the signal of three rounds of artillery fire; once fired, they would charge straight into the Tiger Roar Defense Line.

Bang—!!!

"Ah—!!! My arm!!!"

"Save me, save me, I don't want to..."

Piercing screams resounded through the dark night, which was slowly illuminated by the firelight, instantly turning the scene into a living hell.

No one felt pity for them, for everyone was too busy trying to save themselves.

The third round followed immediately.

Boom—!!!!

Thud, thud, thud—!!!!

The earth shook. After the artillery fire, the Star Luo army had long since lost all order, left in complete disarray.

At this moment, the sound of iron cavalry trampling the ground suddenly came from the north.

In the main camp, far from the border barracks, a middle-aged man's expression changed wildly.

"This is... iron cavalry, it's... Ming!"

"Damn it, this is bad!"

Bang—!!!

A roar echoed through the sky once more, and a flare instantly lit up the entire battlefield.

On the left, golden armor shimmered; on the right, silver-armored cavalry raised their weapons high.

"Counterattack, counterattack!!!"

"Everyone, counterattack for this general!!!!"

The Star Luo general, Zhu Ke, roared at the top of his lungs.

What the hell was going on? He didn't know; he only knew that he had just woken up.

It was one thing for the entire military camp to be bombarded, but no sooner had the shelling ceased than the iron cavalry of the Great Ming trampled right over their faces.

They engaged without a word, completely oblivious to the fact that the Star Luo army in the rear had long since descended into total chaos.

There was not the slightest shred of resistance.

The Great Snow Dragon Cavalry began their harvest, charging in wave after wave as if reaping wheat.

Squelch!

Bang!

The sounds of sharp blades piercing flesh rang out incessantly, hot blood sprayed, and panicked figures collapsed.

One hour.

Two hours.

By the time the third hour approached, the soldiers finally regrouped under the desperate commands of the Star Luo commander.

Unfortunately, even with the commander back in control of the troops, it was of no use.

The casualties were simply too high, and they were on the verge of defeat and total withdrawal from the battlefield.

"General Zhu Ke, we must retreat; the casualties are far too heavy."

"The soldiers are physically and mentally exhausted. If we continue to fight like this, our losses could reach an unprecedented ninety percent!"

Hearing the report from his subordinate who had been observing the battlefield and relaying messages from the scouts, Zhu Ke's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Lost... they had lost!

The Tiger Roar Defense Line hadn't even held for three days. On the second night, they were caught in a surprise attack, and this time, the casualty rate had reached seventy percent!

One had to remember that the Tiger Roar Defense Line had been guarded by a full three hundred thousand men.

Now they were gone; everything was gone!

Anger flashed in Zhu Ke's eyes, followed by helplessness, and finally, fear.

Was this level of offensive dominance really something a kingdom that had only recently become an empire could possess?

"Retreat!"

"Fall back to Battle God Lake and link up with the main force overnight!"

By the time the horizon turned a pale, fish-belly white, the engagement concluded with the Great Ming army taking the Tiger Roar Defense Line and Star Luo retreating.

Xu Nian'an had seized one-third of the territory in the Star Luo province.

"Slow, too slow!"

Looking at the report handed over by the recorder, Xu Nian'an furrowed his brows deeply.

With a Soul Master Legion at his disposal, it had taken several hours to take a defense line spanning over a dozen kilometers.

If he hadn't had the Soul Master Legion, wouldn't it have taken several days, or even half a month?

No, this wouldn't do.

One had to realize that Xu Nian'an's Great Ming Empire was currently fighting a war on two fronts; the one thing he could not afford was to drag things out.

He had to utilize the Great Ming Empire's specialty: blitzkrieg. Cripple one opponent first, then move on to the next.

However, over the next few days, Xu Nian'an found himself troubled.

First, he wanted to continue attacking the Star Luo province, defeat the final defense line within it, and push straight toward Star Luo City.

The capital of the Star Luo Empire, the seat of government!

Second, below the Galloping Wolf Kingdom lay another province: the Star Luo Empire's Tianxing Province.

This was the very province that had sent troops to aid the Galloping Wolf Kingdom and had been heavily crippled by Xu Nian'an.

After the previous incident, there shouldn't be many troops left in that provincial capital.

But Xu Nian'an was still worried—worried that if he failed to take Star Luo City quickly, he would be bogged down by the Star Luo Empire.

If the Heaven Dou Empire sent troops then, and the Star Luo Empire dispersed its forces to Tianxing Province, the conflict would be dragged into a third front.

Once the front lines were stretched thin, there would be only one outcome for Xu Nian'an.

The hard-won territory would be lost, and he would be forced into a rapid retreat.

"It seems it is time to use that thing..."

Xu Nian'an wanted to continue the offensive on Star Luo City, and he also wanted to strike at Tianxing Province.

Only adults make choices; Xu Nian'an's choice was to do both.

There was no need to occupy the entirety of Tianxing Province, as that would be a complete waste of manpower. He only needed to cripple the local provincial capital or install a new puppet kingdom.

"System, use the Myriad World Character Summoning Card!"

As the words fell, the scene before Xu Nian'an slowly dimmed.

A roulette began to spin slowly.

The next second, a cold system prompt began to ring out slowly.

[Ding, summoning of characters from the myriad worlds has begun... Summoning in progress... Congratulations to the host for summoning the Saintess of the Peerless Tang Sect's Holy Spirit Sect...!]

Screech~!!!

A piercing bird cry rang out.

A woman radiating black flames all over her body, with a fire bird floating behind her, slowly appeared.

She had long, fiery red hair and a beautiful face. As she slowly opened her eyes, a pair of blood-red pupils that seemed as if they could drip blood appeared the next second.

"Saintess of the Holy Spirit Sect, Fire Phoenix, greets Your Majesty!"

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red—nine soul rings, two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red, shone brilliantly. A Titled Douluo.