Yu Xiaogang, You Know the Art of War Too?

Su Chen held a deep blue ice feather arrow, formed from pure, extremely cold Soul Power, firmly in his hand!

At this moment, the tip of the Ice Feather Arrow was already covered with cracks, and on the arrowhead, an ice crystal droplet emblem representing [Skywater Academy] was flickering with a faint, fading blood-red light, a plea for help!

"It's Shui Bing'er and the others' distress arrow!"

Xiao Wu leaped onto the carriage shaft, gazing at the billowing smoke of the North Wind Canyon three miles to the south, and said urgently, "Su Chen, Skywater Academy has always been neutral and has never interfered in Xue Xing's dirty deeds. Should we rush into the valley immediately to rescue them?"

Ning Rongrong, not even bothering to wipe the sweat from her brow, quickly stepped forward and said, "Su Chen, I've heard my father mention that Skywater Academy is connected to several water-attribute Soul Master families in the north!"

"We must save them, but not by blindly rushing in."

Su Chen raised his hand to stop the restless convoy, and led the women and the three Titled Douluo up a rocky hill three miles north of the North Wind Canyon.

A fierce afternoon southerly wind, carrying the smell of burning, rushed towards Su Chen, causing his black robe to flutter loudly.

His eyes suddenly shone with a purple-gold divine light, Ancient Truth-Severing Dragon Divine Pupils pierced through the billowing black smoke several miles away, taking in the entire terrain of the North Wind Canyon.

The canyon is shaped like a long, narrow gourd, and at the bottom of the canyon, three thousand heavily armored cavalry are besieging a crumbling ice shield.

Behind the pine forests on the steep cliffs, some forty feet high, on both sides, two hidden trenches were clearly dug!

Eight hundred elite archers of the puppet regime were lying in ambush in the trench, holding their breath. Beside them were piles of logs and stones as thick as bowls, as well as more than three hundred barrels of black flammable oil that emitted a pungent, fishy smell!

In the wheelchair of the armored chariot in the middle of the valley was Yu Xiaogang, who had defected to the puppet dynasty and used his second uncle Yu Luomian's military power to rise to the corps commander!

A cold glint flashed in Su Chen's eyes, and he instantly saw through the old dog's vicious scheme.

Why would this good-for-nothing be in such a hurry to kill Skywater Academy? He clearly calculated that after the chaos in Heaven Dou City, there would be scattered Soul Master from various academies or members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect School breaking through along the South Official Road. He deliberately spared the lives of Shui Bing'er and the other seven as bait, setting up a "besieging the point and attacking the reinforcements" trap in this Calabash Valley!

If anyone were to recklessly crash into the entrance of the North Valley, with oil-soaked logs raining down from both sides of the cliff, even Titled Douluo with a heavily injured convoy would be severely injured if they got stuck!

"That good-for-nothing Yu Xiaogang has hidden eight hundred crossbowmen and three hundred barrels of flammable oil on the cliffs on both sides, waiting for us."

A glint flashed in Su Chen's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Since he likes playing with fire so much, today I'll use his own oil to light a bonfire for his three thousand iron cavalry!"

He turned to Ning Fengzhi and the Sword and Bone Douluo: "Sect Master Ning, Senior Sword Douluo, Senior Bone Douluo, the main force of the 40,000-strong pursuing army from the capital camp will catch up at any moment. I would like to trouble you to take three armored chariots and two hundred elite soldiers and take the eastern side road. Tie pine branches to the horses' tails, plant many banners, raise a cloud of dust, and make it look like the main force is turning back and forming ranks. This will keep the Imperial City pursuers twenty miles away!"

Ning Fengzhi's eyes lit up, and he immediately cupped his hands in greeting. "A feint to deceive the enemy, a brilliant strategy!"

Su Chen then looked at Dugu Bo, who was clutching his left side with a bandage. "Old Poison Master, a strong southerly wind is blowing now. You follow the cliff face behind the mountain to the windward openings on both sides of the cliff top, and use the colorless poisonous miasma to poison those eight hundred crossbowmen. Remember, don't alert the valley floor!"

Dugu Bo licked his chapped lips, his emerald green snake eyes flashing with a fierce light. "Don't worry, when it comes to secretly poisoning and spying, I'm second to none!"

"Qian Renxue, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Rongrong, Yanyan, Lingling, the six of you will follow me around the western ridge to block the southern exit of the North Wind Canyon!"

At a single command, the three groups of men instantly split up and sped off in different directions.

At this point, the cold air at the bottom of the North Wind Canyon had almost completely dried up.

Three thousand heavily armored cavalrymen of the puppet dynasty surrounded the valley floor, while dozens of fourth and fifth-ring military Soul Master continuously unleashed sword energy and fireballs, causing the ten-zhang-square ice crystal shield in the center to crack.

In the center of the protective shield, Shui Bing'er, the captain of the Skywater Academy, knelt on one knee on the broken ice.

Four Soul Ring, two yellow and two purple, flickered violently beneath her feet, while the illusory Ice Phoenix above her head was already tattered and broken.

In order to withstand the relentless attacks of three thousand iron cavalry for half an hour, she forcibly overdrawn the essence of her Ice Phoenix Martial Soul. A strand of crimson blood slid down her pale lips and dripped onto the ice-blue academy uniform on her chest.

Shui Yue'er, Xue Wu, and six other Tianshui girls stood guard around each other, their sleeves torn and arms bruised, their Soul Power already depleted.

Thirty paces away, on an armored command vehicle, Yu Xiaogang, who had difficulty walking, sat steadily in a specially made wheelchair, holding in his hand a blood oath of surrender stamped with the new emperor's jade seal of Xue Xing.

To his left and right, Liu Erlong, level 78, and Flender, also level 78, stood guard with complicated expressions, their arms crossed. Half a step forward was Yu Tianheng, whose right arm was wrapped in dark purple dragon tendon splints and whose broken bones had just been reattached using his family's secret medicine.

"Shui Bing'er, my patience is limited."

Yu Xiaogang raised his chin and shouted in his usual lecturing tone, "His Majesty the New Emperor is benevolent. He has abolished the corrupt competition and reorganized the Soul Master of each academy into the Garrison Legion, which is in line with the general trend! As long as you seven sign this blood oath of allegiance now and return to the capital with me to receive your appointments, I will immediately order a halt. Otherwise, once the ice barrier breaks and three thousand iron cavalry trample over you, don't blame the swords for being merciless!"

While verbally urging him to surrender, Yu Xiaogang kept a close eye on the valley entrances on the north and south sides, secretly feeling extremely smug.

Back then, he was humiliated by Su Chen in Nuoding City and Suotuo City, and the world laughed at him for Yu Xiaogang incompetent.

Now that his second uncle Yu Luomian, holds military power in the Imperial City, he has used a little trick to trap Skywater Academy as bait. As long as he catches one or two big fish that have escaped from Heaven Dou City, he can burn them all down. Then Yu Xiaogang will be a military genius who will be famous throughout the continent!

"Bah! What a load of bullshit, what new emperor!"

Shui Yue'er, supporting her sister, wiped the blood from her face and angrily cursed, "That old traitor Xue Xing murdered the emperor and usurped the throne! Your Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan aided and abetted the evildoers, even trying to ambush the academy students who came to participate in the competition! You want my sister and me to be dogs for traitors? You're dreaming!"

Shui Bing'er, forcing herself to her feet with her ice staff, spoke in a clear, cold voice that echoed through the valley, "Skywater Academy would rather die fighting in North Wind Valley than sign a single word!"

"You shameless bitch! Uncle, let me lead men to tear their turtle shell apart!" Yu Tianheng's newly reattached right arm throbbed with pain, and his eyes blazed with rage.

Just as Yu Xiaogang was about to order another attack to force out a distress call, a series of steady and clear footsteps suddenly came from the narrow southern exit of the canyon!

The strong wind dispersed the thick fog at Nankou, and Su Chen led Qian Renxue, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling out side by side!

"Su Chen?!"

Yu Tianheng, Liu Erlong, Flender, all aboard the armored vehicle, simultaneously changed their expressions drastically!

Yu Xiaogang was initially so frightened that he gripped the wheelchair armrests tightly with both hands. But when he widened his eyes and scanned behind Su Chen, he found that there was neither Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo, nor Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, nor a large group of guards. There were only six young women following him. His extreme fear instantly turned into frenzied joy!

Hahaha! You have a path to heaven but choose not to take it, so you've chosen to throw yourself into hell!

Yu Xiaogang, his fat jiggling with excitement, grabbed the crimson command flag from the cart frame, stood up, pointed at Su Chen, and roared hysterically, "Archery Battalion, listen to my command—cut down the logs, pour on the raging oil, and burn this little beast to a crisp!!"

The command flag fell fiercely in the south wind!

Yu Tianheng's face was contorted with rage, as if he could already see Su Chen howling and struggling in the sea of fire.

One breath, two breaths.

Instead of a single crossbow bolt being fired at the south valley entrance from the cliff tops on both sides, a series of dull, heavy thuds suddenly came from the tops!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

More than twenty crossbowmen corpses, their faces purplish-black and their orifices oozing green fluid, fell from the top of the cliff like dumplings being dropped into a pot!

Yu Xiaogang's maniacal laughter vanished instantly. "Wha... what's going on?! Where are my men?!"

"Your men? They've all gone down to scout ahead for you!"

At the edge of the pine forest atop the cliff, Dugu Bo, a level 92 Poison Douluo, leaned out halfway, his dark green hair dancing wildly in the south wind.

With a flick of his giant tail, the illusory image of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor beneath his feet swept fiercely across the three hundred barrels of fierce fire oil neatly stacked at the edge of the dark trench!

Rumble!

More than three hundred black lacquered wooden barrels, each weighing over a hundred pounds, tumbled down the steep chute that Yu Xiaogang had prepared beforehand!

With the help of the strong southerly wind, the wooden barrels crashed into the rocks in mid-air and burst open. The foul-smelling, sticky burning oil turned into a black rain that poured squarely and solidly over the heads of the three thousand heavily armored cavalrymen who were the most concentrated in the valley!

Warhorses neighed, and heavily armored soldiers were covered in oil.

"Oh no! It's kerosene! Spread it out!!" Flender was terrified and let out a distorted scream.

However, the valley floor was narrow to begin with, and with three thousand cavalry crammed together, where could they possibly scatter?