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This army comprised of no more than one hundred and fifty thousand men but possessed more than enough power to perhaps defeat every other army in the Warring States Region combined. With that being said if one were to add up all of the armies within the Warring States Region then there would be well over a few million soldiers.
However contrary to what one may think when imagining an army that could defeat all of the other armies in the Warring States Region combined, the Golden Wing Army did not possess any soldiers over the seventh rank of cultivatio and their general was only a middle-aged man who had barely reached the eighth rank.
But they did possess something that no other province did, an army of flying demonic beasts. Everyone within the Golden Wing Army was paired with a level seven demonic beasts called Golden Winged Eagles, hence the name of their army and partially the name of the province itself. These eagles were as large as horses and possessed razor sharp talons that could rip through steel like it was tofu.
With large high level flying demonic beasts on their side, the Golden Wing Army could easily wipe out any landlocked army or naval fleet within the Warring States Region who opposed them, however even with such enough power to sweep across the land, the lords of the Golden Peak Province have never set foot out of their lands nor have they entered into direct conflict with any other province.
Of course, information about the Golden Wing Army was only known by a few southern provinces that bordered the Golden Peak Province and had basically become like a myth everywhere else, it was not until the Sky Fortress was surrounded did Zhang know of this impressive army.
“Brother! Brother! I want one of those! I want to fly onto of one too!” Ai yelled in an excited tone as she spotted the thousands of Golden Winged Eagles that were currently flying toward the Sky Fortress.
Just like Ai, Zhang’s eyes also glittered as he caught sight of the eagles.
“If they joined me then not only will I have an aerial fortress; I’ll even have an aerial army!” Zhang thought excitedly.
With the fortress alone he wasn’t confident in being able to deal the kingdoms that bordered the Warring States Region. As Zhang saw things, although it did not take much time at all to lower his soldiers down to the ground using the dozens of platforms apart of the fortress, if he met with a highly organized army the size that some kingdoms possessed, his men would be easily outnumbered and subdued when the platform landed.
But if he had an army like the Golden Wing Army, then Zhang would be able to cover his soldiers being unloaded from the platforms of the Sky Fortress. Such an army would also only serve to add to his army’s overall military might.
“You two can spend as much time as you like taming flying demonic beasts after we repel them.” Lingqi laughed as she saw how much Zhang and Ai currently resembled two children who just caught sight of a shiny new toy.
“Ri-right.” Zhang laughed as he scratched the back of his head.
“All archers and ballistae units prepare to fire! All civilians fall back to the underground sanctuary. We are under attack; I repeat we are under attack.” Zhang said as his voice projected throughout the fortress thanks to the magical voice amplifiers installed everywhere.
Once orders were given, Zhang walked out from the room he was in and jumped off one of the four balconies that circled the top most floor of the Azure Tower. After jumping off the balcony Zhang landed on top of a flying platform that began to lift him upward toward the roof of the tower, but not before Ling also jumped off the balcony and landed beside him.
At the very tip of the Azure Tower was a massive diamond shaped crystal that glistened under the sun’s rays, this, of course, was one of the Sky Fortress’s essence cores.
“Just put your hand on it and draw on its power, I’ve already binded a drop of your blood to it so that the core’s defensive mechanisms won’t activate on you.” Zhang said toward Ling as they both sped toward the essence core.
Unlike the Underworld Heart which can draw an unlimited supply of essence from the area around it but was limited to its user’s storage capacity, the essence core created its own essence at a fairly quick rate and possessed massive storage capacity. The only downsides it possessed is that it had a limit to how much essence it could store, which could not be expanded like a human’s or was not infinite like the Dragon Heart Necklace storage capacity and that its rate of essence regeneration isn’t as quick as the rate that the Underworld Heart absorbed essence at. Then there was also the fact regarding its massive size so it can’t be stored on a person’s body.
So although they could not be compared to the Dragon Heart Necklace in terms of storage capacity nor could it be compared to the Underworld Heart’s essence channeling rate, essence cores are without a doubt very usefully because it contained lesser versions of the two treasure’s abilities but combined into one.
One may wonder why didn’t Zhang simply funnel essence absorbed from the Underworld Heart into the Dragon Heart Necklace, well actually he did, but he was normally unwilling to tap into the store of essence in the Dragon Heart Necklace and saved it only for life-threatening situations.
Thus, the essence core served as an alternative for when Zhang wished to use or strengthen his techniques that require more essence than his body could store.
In mere moments, dozens of Golden Winged Eagles fell to the sky after being pelted by ice or shocked by lightning. Of course, since the eagles were level seven demonic beasts that were big enough to be ridden by people, they would obviously be fairly resilient and would not die so easily. But they would certainly sustain heavy injuries while their riders who are humans would without a doubt meet their end due to falling to the ground from such heights.