Chop Off the Elephant Armor Sect's Claws!
Half-dizzy, Huo Wu's hand was tightly grasped by the boy's large, strong hand. She felt both ashamed and anxious, instinctively trying to pull her fingers away. "I know my own body best. Go back and recuperate for two days... um!"
Before she could finish speaking, a shy, hot nasal sound escaped uncontrollably from between her lips.
Su Chen completely ignored her insincere struggles. He precisely pressed his right thumb into her palm, and with a slight rotation of his level 54 Soul Power, a wisp of the supreme and pure [Pure Yang Ancestral Dragon True Fire], like the king of all fires in the world, slowly entered Huo Wu 'Huo Wu body through their skin touching!
The moment that wisp of Pure Yang Ancestral Dragon True Fire, a crimson gold color, surged into the Pericardium Meridian, Huo Wu's entire body tensed up like a bow.
The violent fire poison that had been rampaging through her Meridians, causing her unbearable pain, collided head-on with this domineering yet gentle and mellow Pure Yang True Fire, and was instantly devoured and refined by the Pure Yang True Fire!
Moreover, the pure yang fire energy, which had merged with the origin of the Chaos Ancestral Dragon, flowed down her arm and into her dantian, enveloping her orange-red "Fire Shadow" Martial Soul.
Huo Wu felt an indescribable tingling heat surge from her palms up to her tailbone and the top of her head.
Under the baptism and purification of that Pure Yang Ancestral Dragon True Fire, the mixed dark red fire energy in her Fire Shadow Martial Soul was rapidly eliminated, and the color of the flames transformed from orange-red to a pure and dazzling crimson gold. Her Soul Power was also directly pushed to the peak of level 43!
Even more deadly, as her Martial Soul was branded by Su Chen's Pure Yang True Fire, Huo Wu clearly felt that her Fire Shadow Martial Soul had developed a deep-seated attachment and longing for this young man. Even just having his hand held by him made her Soul Power circulate at nearly twice the speed it usually did!
After a short while, the eerie dark red fire poison on Huo Wu's cheeks completely subsided.
Su Chen released her hand:
"The fire poison has been completely removed, and your Martial Soul has been purified. You won't damage your Meridians when you use your fourth Soul Skill again."
Huo Wu looked up at Su Chen, who was standing close to her. She recalled how he had extinguished her Repelling Fire Ring with a single hand in the maple forest, how he had just crippled Lei Zhen with a single move, crushed an 84th-level Soul Douluo despite being 30 levels higher, and how he had now selflessly helped her undergo the Fire Cleansing Ceremony...
This proud and arrogant prodigy spoke in a voice barely audible:
"Thank you... thank you, Su Chen. I was blind and offended you in the woods just now. You saved my brother and Blazing Fire Academy, and even helped me purify my Martial Soul... I, Huo Wu, am not an ungrateful person. I will remember this kindness."
[Ding! The Pure Yang Ancestral Dragon True Fire was used to remove the fire poison from Huo Wu and purify her Martial Soul, initially winning over Huo Wu's heart! Triggered Heavenly Fate Critical Hit reward: The power of the Pure Yang Ancestral Dragon True Fire increased by 15%!]
At this moment, Xiao Wu and Shui Bing'er had already opened the backyard dungeon and rescued all the Veteran Teacher who had been detained by the Blazing Fire, Plant, and Divine Wind academies.
The captain of the Plant Academy Liu Qingqing, along with the healing-type Soul Master Jiang Zhu and five female team members, quickly approached Su Chen. Looking at the corpses of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan experts scattered on the ground, Liu Qingqing's face showed worry as she softly said:
"Captain Su Chen, today you crippled Lei Zhen and captured the executioner of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to save us. The False Emperor Xue Xing and Yu Luomian, upon learning of the complete annihilation of the Windwatch Post Station army, will surely send a large army to block all Official Road leading west to the Balak Kingdom. Our Plant Academy is entirely composed of girls, with the highest level only being forty-two. If we set off now, we fear we'll be intercepted and killed by the False Dynasty's army before even leaving the Heaven Dou Kingdom..."
Finally, Liu Qingqing and the others behind her, including Jiang Zhu, all raised their beautiful, watery eyes and looked at Su Chen with anticipation and trepidation.
Su Chen glanced at the beautiful and delicate girls from the Plant Academy, then looked at Huo Wu beside him, whose eyes were slightly Huo Wu, and said directly:
"The Official Road to the west is indeed impassable. Glazed Tile Fortress City is only fifty miles to the southeast, with strong defenses and ample supplies. If your Plant Academy and Blazing Fire Academy don't mind, why don't you come with me to Glazed Tile Fortress City for a temporary stay and rest, and then make further plans once the situation becomes clearer?"
"I'm willing to go!"
Before her brother Huo Wushuang could speak, Huo Wu raised her head first, met Su Chen's gaze, and blushed as she loudly replied, "Anyway, the road back to the Balak Kingdom is blocked by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Going to Glazed Tile Fortress City is better than being captured and used as cannon fodder on the way! Brother, you agree, right?"
Huo Wushuang glanced at his younger sister's shy demeanor, which she had never shown in front of other men before, and sighed inwardly. He quickly clasped his hands in a fist and said with a wry smile, "My sister is right. Captain Su Chen's kindness is deeply appreciated by everyone at the Blazing Fire Academy. We will follow Captain Su Chen's arrangements!"
"Our Plant Academy is also willing to go to Glazed Tile Fortress City with Captain Su Chen! While in the city, Jiang Zhu and all the sisters in our team can help your army prepare herbs and treat the wounded!" Liu Qingqing and Jiang Zhu were overjoyed and bowed to Su Chen to express their gratitude.
Seeing Huo Wu choose to leave with Su Chen without hesitation, Feng Xiaotian, the captain of the Godwind Academy, felt a momentary dimming in his eyes. However, knowing that Godwind Academy's main campus was located north of Heaven Dou City and that his family was all in the north, he could only step forward, clasp his hands, and say, "Brother Su Chen, I, Feng Xiaotian, will forever remember your life-saving grace today! However, Godwind Academy's foundation is in the north, making it inconvenient to go south. We will take a detour through the mountains to return to the academy and report the news. Rest assured, I guarantee with my life that Godwind Academy will never send a single soldier to fight against you for the Xue Xing Pseudo-Dynasty!"
Okay, until we meet again.
Su Chen nodded in agreement, then walked up to Yu Tianqing, whose Soul Power had been crippled. He reached into Yu Tianqing's robes and rummaged around for a moment before taking out a Black Iron communication jade slip imprinted with a purple lightning dragon pattern and the fire lacquer of the pseudo-dynasty's Ministry of War.
As Su Chen scanned the jade slip with his divine sense, his eyes suddenly turned cold.
"Tie those three useless bastards, Yu Tianqing, Lei Zhen, and Yu Tianxin, onto the war chariot and return to Glazed Tile City immediately!"
In the late afternoon, at the core council hall of the inner city of Glazed Tile Fortress City.
Dozens of teachers and students from the Blazing Fire Academy and Plant Academy have been properly settled in the guest courtyard on the west side of the inner city. Ye Lingling is taking the curious Jiang Zhu to the rear camp to take care of the wounded, while Huo Wu insists on staying outside the council hall to wait for orders.
In front of the sand table in the center of the hall, Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo Chen Xin, Bone Douluo Gu Rong, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, and Qian Renxue, dressed in a plain white dress, gathered together.
Ning Fengzhi took the Black Iron military jade slip that Su Chen had taken from Yu Tianqing. After injecting his Soul Power to activate it, lines of detailed military orders and marching route maps were immediately projected onto the sand table.
After reading the contents of the jade slip, Ning Fengzhi's expression became extremely solemn, and he said in a deep voice:
"What a vicious plan to undermine our defenses! No wonder the 80,000 troops from the Imperial City region have remained inactive these past two days. It turns out that the two elders of the Clear Sky Sect and Yu Luomian were terrified after the battle at the Meridian Gate and dare not attack us head-on. Instead, they devised a treacherous plan to nibble away at the three outer defensive cities surrounding our sect from three directions!"
Sword Douluo Chen Xin frowned, pointing to the three key nodes surrounding the Glazed Tile Fortress City in a triangular formation on the outer edge of the sand table:
"The grain-producing town of ' Green Maple City ' on the western route, the vital waterway and land route of ' Fallen Goose Pass Pass' in the southwest, and ' Red Iron Ridge ' a hundred miles to the southeast, rich in refined iron and soul-guided ore! The false dynasty has secretly offered huge profits, colluding with greedy warlords on the border of the Silves Kingdom, along with the rebel armies of the Lower Four Sects and the Blue Lightning branch, preparing to simultaneously attack these three fortified cities within half a month! Once these three granaries and iron mines are destroyed, this place will become a complete wasteland!"
Qian Renxue's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly as she analyzed, "The enemy has divided their forces into three groups, each led by Soul Douluo or Soul Saint from Lower Four Sects. Our Titled Douluo within the city must remain to deter the Clear Sky Sect elders in the direction of the Imperial City. We absolutely cannot send out our entire force easily, and we cannot fall for their diversionary tactic."
Just as everyone was discussing countermeasures, a series of rapid hoofbeats and the clanging of armor plates suddenly came from outside the hall!
A scout from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect School, covered in blood and with three black command flags tucked into his back, stumbled into the hall, knelt on one knee, and held up two sealed emails with sealing wax, shouting urgently:
"Report--!! Sect Master, Lord Su Chen! The sentries at the border of the Southern Balak Kingdom sent back an urgent report half an hour ago: a large number of unidentified elite black-armored Soul Master have been discovered in the dense forests of the border. They are nocturnal and operate by day. The leader is surrounded by black mist and is suspected to be the vanguard of the Spirit Hall's level 95 Ghost Douluo and the Holy Maiden Hu Liena. They are expected to arrive at the outskirts of Chongcheng within three days!"
Upon hearing that Ghost Douluo and Hu Liena were about to arrive, Qian Renxue and Ning Fengzhi were both invigorated.
However, the scout took a deep breath, and his voice suddenly became shrill and urgent:
"Second urgent military dispatch! Just two quarters of an hour ago, three beacon fires suddenly lit up at the ' Red Iron Ridge Mine,' a hundred miles to the southeast, urgently requesting reinforcements! The ' Elephant Armor Sect,' one of the Lower Four Sects that have sided with the false dynasty, has dispatched two Seven-Ring Soul Sage, joining forces with five thousand armored rebels from the border of the Silves Kingdom, and is fiercely attacking the Red Iron Ridge Fortress! The mine's garrison leader is seriously injured, and the fortress's protective shield can only hold for another four hours at most. We earnestly request that the city send troops to its aid immediately!!"
Boom!
The atmosphere in the hall instantly became tense!
"Even Huyan Zhen Elephant Armor Sect has sent people to get involved!" Bone Douluo Gu Rong slammed his fist on the table in anger. "I'll go over there right now and twist the heads off those fat pigs!"
"Don't act rashly against Uncle Bone."
Su Chen raised his hand and pressed it against the edge of the sand table, stopping Gu Rong.
His gaze swept over the red markers of Red Iron Ridge on the sand table, then glanced at the stunning beauties— Huo Wu, Shui Bing'er, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and others—who were eagerly waiting in the corridor outside the hall.
With the Titled Douluo in the Imperial City unmoved, and these three groups of clowns on the outskirts, it was the perfect hunting ground for him to lead his female followers to fight and gain Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring and destiny fortune!
"Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo, and Sect Master Ning will remain stationed in Chongcheng to prepare for the arrival of Ghost Douluo and Hu Liena in three days."
Su Chen pulled out the Black Iron Command Arrow stuck in the position of Red Iron Ridge on the sand table. The domineering Dragon Might might of level 54, five-ring, all black swept across the entire field, and his voice was as cold as iron:
"Since the Elephant Armor Sect is so eager to jump out and act as a stepping stone for the false dynasty, let's use them as a scapegoat first! Dugu Bo, Qian Renxue, gather five hundred elite cavalry, and call Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Rongrong, Bing'er, and Huo Wu —we're going to Red Iron Ridge now to chop off the Elephant Armor Sect's claws!"