As Chen Mu had predicted, things unfolded exactly as he had envisioned.
Just three days after the Haotian Imperial Palace quelled the rebellion, the Thunder Battle Division appeared at Mountain and River Pass!
At the same time, more than a dozen passes and large cities bordering the Chen Kingdom and the Haotian Empire were all attacked. They were obviously trying to hold back the Haotian Empire's forces and prevent them from stopping the Thunder Battle Division from entering the Chen Kingdom's capital.
With a loud bang!
A terrifying bolt of lightning, as if capable of destroying the heavens and the earth, struck down from outside Mountain and River Pass.
In less than three breaths, the defenses of Mountain and River Pass were completely destroyed. Chen Mu knew that the Mountain and River Pass garrison was no match for the Thunder Battle Division, so he immediately ordered them to retreat, abandon everything, and retreat completely.
Thus, the Thunder Battle Division led tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers, advancing rapidly and reaching Dragon-Subduing Pass, the closest city gate to Source Wood City, the capital of the Chen Kingdom, in less than a day.
Dragon-Subduing Pass is only about 8,000 li away from Source Wood City. It was formerly called Earth Dragon Pass and was the border pass of Yi Province to defend against Wilderness monsters.
It was originally called Earth Dragon Pass because this area was inhabited by a large number of earth dragon-like monsters.
Earth dragon-type monsters are highly intelligent and naturally ferocious. They often launch beast tides to attack human cities. This Earth Dragon Pass was built during that time to defend against the earth dragon beast tides.
However, since this region was granted to the Chen Kingdom by Di Lin, the problem of the beast tide was naturally resolved quickly.
Some of those earth dragon monsters were tamed as military mounts, some were raised in captivity and turned into high-end food, and some were even cultivated by the Hall of Living Beings and entered the Mutant Demon Beast Corps.
Only a few less aggressive ones still live in the wild. After all, the Wilderness is vast, and as long as the monsters don't go too far, humans won't exterminate them.
Earth Dragon Pass was renamed Dragon-Subduing Pass by the Chen Kingdom and became a major military stronghold.
After all, today's situation was already within Chen Mu's calculations. If the Haotian Empire wanted to conquer the Chen Kingdom, it would definitely have to go through this city.
Boom!
Outside Dragon-Subduing Pass, a bolt of lightning suddenly ripped through the clear sky, and then a legion halted outside the Dragon-Subduing Pass.
This legion numbered about three thousand men, each riding a magnificent thunder beast, clad in golden armor, and wielding a platinum spear. The entire legion was surrounded by crackling lightning, making them appear from afar like the embodiment of thunder itself.
" Chen Kingdom is a villain; surrender or die!"
A terrifying sound wave spread down from the air; if an ordinary person were to be roared at like that, their eardrums would probably be ruptured.
"Hmph! Thunder Battle Division, how arrogant you are!"
On the city gate tower, Chen Mu spread his hands, and a huge spatial vortex opened up from the sky, from which a series of burly and tall figures walked out.
What Chen Mu summoned was clearly also an army.
This legion also numbered about five thousand men, all of whom were covered in thick red and black armor. Each man held a blood-red greatsword in one hand, with only two red-glowing eyes visible, giving them a cold and sinister appearance.
"Haha... Chen Kingdom is a petty scoundrel. He doesn't think that such an unknown army can withstand us, does he?"
The commander of the Thunder Battle Division looked at the suddenly appearing army and couldn't help but sneer.
Judging from the style of the legion's attire, he could easily tell that this was not any of the legions that Chen Kingdom had ever fought in.
This inevitably made him laugh. After all, no matter how high the cultivation level of the members of an army is, if they don't have rich combat experience, they are just paper tigers.
If Chen Kingdom thinks that secretly cultivating a highly skilled army will be enough to resist him, then he is being extremely naive.
"Enough with the nonsense! Whether it can stop us or not, why don't you try and see?"
Chen Mu had no intention of exchanging pleasantries with the other party, and his words were utterly impolite.
The commander of the Thunder Division's face turned cold. Seeing that the other party was so ignorant of their own limitations, he said no more and ordered his troops to prepare for an attack.
The reason they haven't made a move is that they are waiting for the main force in the rear. Otherwise, given the speed of the Thunder Battle Division, it probably wouldn't take them more than an hour to fight their way from the border to Source Wood City.
The reason they took almost a day to get here was to wait for the main force to catch up; otherwise, they would have been at risk of being ambushed while advancing alone.
" Heavenly King Linlang, now that you're here, why bother sneaking around?"
Wouldn't it be more satisfying to fight openly and honestly?
Chen Mu, who was standing high in the sky, suddenly turned his head. Countless runes flowed in his right eye, locking onto a certain position in the void.
"Hehe, as expected of a descendant of the Rune Ancestor."
Many True God cannot see through my ' Light Escape Technique,' yet you discovered it. No wonder the Long Lineage has been unable to do anything to you until now."
A figure radiating golden light suddenly appeared from the void. After a while, the light subsided, revealing the figure of a handsome man with a dazzling halo floating behind his head, making him appear incomparably holy.
"You flatter me, Your Majesty. I was simply lucky to discover it."
When Chen Mu actually saw the Heavenly King Linlang emerge, he became much calmer, because this was not the true form of the Heavenly King Linlang, but merely an avatar.
An avatar, at most, possesses the strength of the Peak Void God Realm. While it is strong, it is not enough to overwhelm our side.
Although Chen Mu's current body only contains one-fifth of his Primordial Spirit, he can still fight by borrowing the energy of the Spirit Magnetic Wave, given that this is the heartland of the Chen Kingdom, and thus unleash the combat power of the Middle to Late Void God Realm cultivator.
It's impossible for him to defeat the incarnation of the Heavenly King Linlang, but he can still manage to protect himself.
Luck is also a part of ability!
Alright, I've come here today to see just how you can possibly stop my Thunder Division.
If you can't stop them, don't blame me.
The Heavenly King Linlang flashed to the side and stopped, clearly not intending to interfere, displaying considerable grace.
At this moment, the main force that had fallen behind was finally almost there, and the Thunder Battle Division immediately launched its first attack on Dragon-Subduing Pass.
" Thunder Battle Formation, First Move: Thunder Dragon Descends!"
Roar~~!
A colossal thunder dragon roared as it crashed into Dragon-Subduing Pass, its terrifying electric current raging wildly in all directions, as if to tear the sky apart.
"Well done! The Five Elements Shield of Creation!"
Five thousand red and black warriors simultaneously raised their swords, their movements so synchronized as if copied. After they drew a circle in the air, terrifying energy condensed in the center of their battle formation, quickly transforming into a massive earthen-yellow shield.
No sooner said than done, the earthen-yellow shield, which was initially just a fluffy lump of mud, underwent a frenzied compression as it approached the Thunder Dragon, eventually transforming into an alloy shield that reflected a dazzling light.