Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao - Chapter 1288
Chapter 1288: War Breaks Out, A Chance Has Come
This was the camp for mercenaries, and there was a Heavenly Body Tier elite on standby here. He was the chief commander, and subordinate to him were 12 captains, who took charge of the whole mercenaries’ camp respectively.
This also meant that Xie Donglai was only one of the 12 captains, and could not possibly do as he liked.
He was “demented” and “attacked his subordinates” in the camp. This was something that everyone could see, and there were as many as a few hundred victims. The effect of this was naturally extremely negative, so soon enough, an elite appeared and stopped Xie Donglai.
Consecutively, that Heavenly Body Tier chief commander called Xie Donglai over, and reprimanded him severely before shooing Xie Donglai off, and commanding him to make amends for his crime through meritorious service.
Ling Han couldn’t help but feel rueful. It was really easy to do things when you had someone in the higher echelons backing you up. He had wounded so many people, yet had only received a scolding for it. If it had been anyone else, putting everything else aside, his position as team captain would definitely have been revoked.
As the descendant of an Eternal River Tier elite, Xie Donglai had special privileges everywhere, so it was no wonder that he was so arrogant. He had obviously seen Ling Han duck into the masses, yet still attacked without reservations; he was completely certain that he would get off with a smack on the hand.
However, though Xie Donglai had become the most unwelcomed, the most hated captain, Ling Han was not any better off.
Though it was Xie Donglai who had inflicted injuries, Ling Han was the one who had drawn the disaster to them, so he was similarly detested.
Ling Han was indifferent to it, though. He had not come here to make any friends. Once this battle was over, they were naturally going to go their separate ways. Furthermore, after this matter, Xie Donglai did not come and make trouble with Ling Han again.
This was very abnormal.
Yet Ling Han was guessing that Xie Donglai was preparing an even crueler vengeance.
The mindset of this kind of person was very easy to guess. It could be none other than using the Netherworld beings to get rid of him.
‘Just nice. I planned the same,’ Ling Han thought. He, too, did not want to be targeted secretly by a stupid bird all the time. He had to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
If he wanted to use the Netherworld armies to kill someone, there were two ways. Firstly, draw the person into the proximity of an elite of the Netherworld, such as Heavenly Body Tier. Then, a sliver of the shock wave created from one of their attacks would be enough to crush a Sun Moon Tier completely.
Yet Ling Han was not an idiot. Would he still continue on that path if he saw a Heavenly Body Tier elite ahead? This would require Xie Donglai to compel him, but Xie Donglai would also be placed in a dangerous situation because of this. He hated Ling Han, but it was absolutely impossible that he wanted to die with Ling Han.
Then, it could only be the second method, and that was to draw Ling Han into the depths of the army camp of the Netherworld and use innumerable Sun Moon Tiers to gang up on Ling Han and wear him down to death. Although this would also cause Xie Donglai to be under siege as well, his cultivation level was higher, so he would definitely last longer than Ling Han. Furthermore, he still had trump cards to escape. Once he saw Ling Han was dead, he would be able to break out of the siege.
Since he was already dead, who could say that Xie Donglai had sent Ling Han into the depths of the enemy troops? Didn’t they see that even he had rushed inside?
This was called taking the lead, and should be rewarded.
‘There is 80% that is what he’s planning.’ Ling Han had a very accurate grasp of Xie Donglai’s mindset. This kind of profligate young master was very easy to guess. ‘Then let’s just see who would be falling into whose trap!’
A few peaceful days passed, and the Netherworld finally started a large-scale battle. This time, all the major troops of the Immortal Realm all joined together to fight against their strong foes.
The mercenaries’ camp that Ling Han was at was naturally pulled in as well. To be honest, in comparison to the regular armies, they felt like they were about to become cannon fodder.
Regular armies all practiced combat in formations that allowed them to attack together. 10 people would make one small team, and 100 would be a large team, which could exhibit 50% or even 60% of their overall power[1]. This was very frightening as this meant that about 20 people would be able to boost their battle prowess by one star.
Yet the mercenaries would be fighting on their own, and no matter how strong a lone soldier was, they could possibly be overwhelmed by their enemy’s advantage in numbers.
Ling Han surveyed the scene from higher up, and saw dust everywhere ahead of them. A great number of Netherworld elites was charging over, and they were also similarly a mixture of various groups. There were regular military and mercenary teams as well. He could see this clearly.
Regular armies moved in neat formations, maintaining their positions even when they were charging in attack, but the mercenaries were different. At one moment, they would be charging ahead, and at another, they would be hanging back. Sometimes, they would head left, and at other times, they would be heading right. They were completely moving at their own pace.
Some people were even giants 30,000 meters tall. Their gigantic footsteps descended down, and directly stomped over.
This was definitely not Sun Moon Tier. Sun Moon Tiers could not possibly form such an astonishing figure.
Heavenly Body Tier elite!
Hence, the stomp of this foot was extremely frightening. Even the heaven and earth had darkened. The foot had not even descended, and the ground had already cracked. All the people below looked overwhelmed with horror. They were really going to die without having done anything worthwhile.
“Humph!” However, the Immortal Realm naturally had elites as well. A person moved, stabbing out with his sword. A grand light slashed over. Pa, that giant foot was instantly severed. The severed limb still descended, but no longer had the might of a stomp.
“Hoho, you actually managed to disperse the might of an attack from my figure, so you are not that weak after all. Come battle with me!” An elite of the Netherworld leaped up into the skies, issuing a challenge to the Immortal Realm.
“As you wish!” An elite of the Immortal Realm flew up into the skies astride sword light and began to battle that elite from the Netherworld. Instantly, a figure 30 km tall once again appeared, and several sword lights with the same length similarly slashed through the air, its might not the slightest bit weakened.
“Charge!” Even more elites charged over.
“Charge!” Ling Han and the others shouted out as well. Influenced by the boiling blood and fighting spirit in the battlefield, they did not bother about life or death now, either. They only wanted to have a vigorous battle as well.
Dong, dong, dong. The war drums rang out loudly, cheering on the soldiers of both sides. They had some kind of rhythm, and had the effect of stimulating fighting spirit.
Everyone did not care for themselves. In this kind of battle, no one could possibly have a way out, because there was completely no way of retreat. The people behind them were continuously charging ahead. Moreover, there were also a few elites sitting on the gigantic war elephant observing the battle coldly. If there appeared any deserters, hoho, they would move at the first instant to get rid of them.
In a battle between two armies, morale was the most important.
“Charge!” Xie Donglai called out loudly. He took the lead, and led his army into the ranks of the Netherworld, and went further and further in.
At this time, everyone had been blinded by the slaughter and bloodshed. They only knew that either they had to kill or they would be killed, and when they felt the pressure increase further and further, only then did they shockingly realize that they had already penetrated into the depths of the Netherworld army, and only less than 3,000 of their initial 10,000 comrades remained.
They had already charged to this place, so how could their pressure not be heavy? How could the price they paid for their charge not be heavy?
“How did we charge over to this place?”
“Quick, retreat!”
The remaining 3,000 called out. This was not dauntlessly killing their enemies; this was completely going to their deaths!
Ling Han was also driven into a slight frenzy by the battle, and had completely not foreseen that Xie Donglai would actually be so demented. He brought his whole army into their graves just to kill him.
“Charge back!”
Everyone came to realization, and no longer blindly charged forwards under Xie Donglai’s lead. Instead, they turned around to counterattack. How strong was the power with all these people added together? Even Xie Donglai could not possibly stop them.
However, their lone unit had entered deeply into the Netherworld army’s files, so how difficult was it to charge back out?
“Ah!” Terrible cries rang out unendingly, and the remaining 3,000 people were being worn away at an astonishing pace. Furthermore, they were also a troop of mercenaries, so in a time of danger, they naturally would only care for themselves, completely lacking a teamwork mindset. The troops were divided, and death and injury came even faster.
Xie Donglai showed a cruel grin. As he was sacrificing a whole troop of 10,000 to be buried with Ling Han, this brat could be considered to have died a worthy death.
[1] Not clear whether it means 150-160%, or if the author implies that they’d get in each other’s way otherwise so it’d be difficult to show even half the power per every person otherwise.