Tiger Roar Forest, Tiger Roar Defense Line.
In the silent night sky, countless sparks suddenly appeared, raining down from above.
Boom~!!!!
Rumble~!!!!
The earth trembled as if the gods were lamenting, and the world spun!
Behind the Tiger Roar Defense Line, inside the soldiers' tents, the Star Luo soldiers who had spent all day repelling the Great Ming Army's assaults had long since fallen into a deep sleep.
Faced with the sudden disaster, they had no power to resist.
"Stay alert!"
"Enemy attack!!"
"Enemy attack!!!"
After the first barrage swept through, countless people were buried in their sleep.
The barracks were engulfed in flames.
Whoosh~!!!
A burly man clad in black armor flung open the command tent and stared grimly at the soldiers' camp, which had already become a sea of fire.
"How... how is this possible!"
"Bastards, what the hell is going on!"
While he was still in a daze, over in Xingyao City, across from the Tiger Roar Defense Line—
Firelight slowly reflected in Xu Nian'an's eyes. The first barrage was over.
Without expression, he raised his head and hand.
"Second barrage, stand by!"
At Xu Nian'an's words, the fifty Level 7 Soul Engineers didn't hesitate for a moment. They activated the Level 7 fixed soul cannons again, preparing to begin a new round of bombardment.
"Fire!"
Boom~!!! Boom~!!!!
With each thunderous boom, countless shells shot out in unison once more.
"I'll show you what it means to be crushed by technology from ten thousand years in the future!"
"This is the might of Great Ming!!!"
To the left of the Tiger Roar Defense Line, one hundred thousand Dragon Guard troops stood ready.
To the right, the blades of the three hundred thousand Great Snow Dragon Cavalry were already itching for a taste of blood.
They had received Xu Nian'an's order to attack the Star Luo Army guarding the Tiger Roar Defense Line from both sides.
They waited only for the three barrages to signal their advance. Once the shells had been fired, they would charge straight at the defense line.
Boom~!!!
"Ah~!!! My hand!!!"
"Help me, please, I don't want to..."
Bloodcurdling screams rang through the night. Firelight slowly illuminated the darkness, revealing a living hell.
No one pitied them. They were too busy trying to save themselves.
The third barrage followed right after.
Rumble~!!!!
Clip-clop~!!!!
The earth trembled. After the bombardment, the Star Luo Army had lost all semblance of order; the battlefield was a complete shambles.
Just then, the thunder of iron hooves pounding the ground came from the north.
In the main camp, far from the forward encampment, a middle-aged man's face twisted in alarm.
"That's... cavalry! It's... Great Ming!"
"We're done for! Damn it, this is bad!"
Boom~!!!
Another thunderous blast rang through the sky, and a flare instantly lit up the entire battlefield.
On the left, golden armor gleamed; on the right, silver-armored cavalry raised their weapons high.
"Fight back! Fight back!!!"
"All of you, fight back!!!!"
The Star Luo general Zhu Ke roared.
What the hell was going on? He had no idea. All he knew was that he had woken up to find—
The entire camp had been shelled, and as soon as the bombardment ended, Great Ming's cavalry were right on top of them.
They charged without a word, heedless of the fact that the Star Luo Army behind them had already dissolved into chaos.
The soldiers had no power to resist.
The Great Snow Dragon Cavalry began cutting them down, charging again and again like scythes sweeping through a field of wheat.
Stab~!!!!
Thump~
The sounds of blades piercing flesh rang out. Scalding blood sprayed as panicked figures fell.
One hour.
Two hours.
As the third hour approached, the Star Luo soldiers finally regrouped under the tireless direction of their commanders.
But by then, even with command restored, the officers were powerless to change anything.
Their casualties were simply too great, and defeat was imminent.
"General Zhu Ke, we should retreat. Our casualties are too heavy."
"The men are exhausted in both body and mind. If we keep fighting, our losses could reach an unprecedented ninety percent!"
After hearing from his subordinates, who had observed the battlefield, and scouts who had brought in reports, Zhu Ke's brows twitched again and again.
They'd lost... they'd lost!!!
The Tiger Roar Defense Line hadn't held for even three days. It had been breached in a surprise attack on the second night, and this time their casualties had reached seventy percent!
The Tiger Roar Defense Line had been defended by a full three hundred thousand soldiers.
Now they were gone. Everything was gone!
Anger flickered in Zhu Ke's eyes, followed by helplessness, then fear.
Could a kingdom that had only recently become an empire really possess this kind of overwhelming offensive power?
"Retreat!"
"Fall back to Battle God Lake and rendezvous with the main force tonight!"
By the time the eastern sky began to pale, the Great Ming Army had taken the Tiger Roar Defense Line, and the battle ended with Star Luo's retreat.
Xu Nian'an had taken a third of Star Luo Province.
"Too slow. Far too slow!"
Looking at the report his recording officer had handed him, Xu Nian'an furrowed his brows deeply.
Even with the Soul Master Legion, it had taken several hours to take a defense line spanning more than ten kilometers.
Without the Soul Master Legion, wouldn't it take several days, or even half a month?
No. That wouldn't do.
Great Ming was currently fighting two empires at once. The last thing Xu Nian'an could afford was to drag things out.
Great Ming needed to bring its greatest strength to bear: lightning strikes. First cripple one enemy, then turn on the other.
But over the next few days, Xu Nian'an found himself troubled again.
First, he wanted to keep advancing through Star Luo Province, defeat its final line of defense, and make a beeline for Star Luo City.
The capital of the Star Luo Empire. Its government!
Second, beneath Galloping Wolf Kingdom lay another province of the Star Luo Empire: Tianxing Province.
It was the very province that had sent troops to aid Galloping Wolf Kingdom and been badly mauled by Xu Nian'an.
After what had happened last time, there probably weren't many troops left in the province.
But Xu Nian'an was still worried that he might fail to take Star Luo City quickly and get bogged down by the Star Luo Empire.
If the Heaven Dou Empire sent troops then, the Star Luo Empire could redeploy its forces to Tianxing Province and drag a third party into the conflict.
Once the front stretched too far, Xu Nian'an would have only one outcome.
He would lose the territory he had fought so hard to take and be forced to retreat in haste.
"Looks like it's time to use that thing..."
Xu Nian'an wanted to keep attacking Star Luo City, and he wanted to take Tianxing Province too.
Adults had to make choices. Xu Nian'an chose both.
There was no need to occupy all of Tianxing Province. That would be a complete waste of manpower. He only needed to cripple the provincial capital or support the rise of a new kingdom.
"System, use the Myriad World Character Summoning Card!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the scene before Xu Nian'an's eyes slowly darkened.
A roulette wheel began to turn.
The next second, a cold system notification rang out.
[ Ding, Myriad World Character Summoning has begun... Summoning in progress... Congratulations, Host! You have summoned the Holy Spirit Cult's Saintess from Peerless Tang Sect...! ]
Screee~!!!
A piercing bird cry rang out.
A woman appeared slowly, surrounded by black flames, with a fiery bird floating behind her.
She had long, fiery red hair and a beautiful face. Her eyes slowly opened, and the next instant, a pair of blood-red eyes, seemingly able to drip blood, came into view.
"Fire Phoenix, Saintess of the Holy Spirit Cult, greets Your Majesty!"
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red—nine Soul Rings shone: two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red. A Titled Douluo.