Chapter 532 - Face to Face
Even when tidying up the camp, no one in the Ardent Flower Blood Division made any sound. Other than the breaths of the ardent flower night wolves and the soldiers petting them to pacify it, the whole campground was solemn.
Xing Shan managed the military strictly, but whatever War God Ye said, he would complete wholeheartedly. He, too, would do that. Military order was strict, and anyone who dared defy his instructions would be killed on the spot and without hesitation. On the other hand, he knew how to coax his subordinates. Whenever there were money making opportunities, he would bring everyone along instead of hogging everything for himself.
He was born in the marketplace and was very practical and tactful. He knew that flattering and fawning hadn’t the least bit of use. Those who led the team well and were loyal and devoted to him would be rewarded immediately and given important posts. That way, subordinates felt it to be rather fair.
As time passed, people were convinced of this boss’ leadership. Boss appeared rough, but he was actually a complex person and not someone to be fooled easily.
Xing Shan leaned on his Chieftain Wolf and sprawled on the floor with his eyes slightly shut as if he was resting. He was lightly stroking the wolf’s fur with his palm. This ardent flower night wolf was his saddle horse. It was extremely spirited, but also hot-tempered.
In the beginning, Xing Shan suffered some hardships when dealing with the Chieftain Wolf. He was extremely frustrated, but he couldn’t bear to slaughter it. With much effort, he finally managed to tame it.
They had a very close relationship, and the Chieftain Wolf had saved his life repeatedly. In Xing Shan’s eyes, no one in the whole of the Ardent Flower Blood Division was comparable to his Chieftain Wolf.
With his Chieftain Wolf’s ability, this long-range raid wasn’t a big deal. The Chieftain Wolf enjoyed Xing Shan’s caresses and yawned occasionally. With his eyes shut, XIng Shan was deep in thought.
He didn’t know why, but he started to feel ill at ease, which disturbed him, because he had met with danger the previous time he felt this way.
This was an omen, he thought.
He sorted recent affairs carefully but couldn’t find anything amiss.
Suddenly, he felt that something wasn’t right and jerked his eyes open.
A dazzling light ray lit up in the faraway sky, its intense wave motion alarming Xing Shan. Such a strong motion could only be due to a confrontation between two powerful players. Was there a powerful figure?
The whole camp had been startled. Everybody stood up and looked toward the ray in bewilderment.
A short while later, an obvious air flow swept across the campground, and Xing Shan’s face changed.
This was the shockwave from that earlier collision. From amid the wind, he captured Zu Chun’s aura of blood spiritual force!
Quite a few people had detected this. Having interacted with Zu Chun day and night, many of them were familiar with his blood spiritual force’s aura. If it had been any other day, no one would be too worried, since in the Ardent Flower Blood Division, Zu Chun’s ability was second only to Boss Xing Shan. Yet that wave motion was simply too intense. Zu Chun must have met a Master elementalist!
Xing Shan’s face was ashen-colored. Zu Chun was his right-hand man and Xing Shan relied heavily on him. Zu Chun had always been the one in charge of daily training, and even after so many years, he’d never failed to live up to Xing Shan’s expectations.
He quickly suppressed his anger, his mind spinning rapidly. Xing Shan had secured his position as the division leader not only because of his own capability.
He originally planned to seek out the location of the Spear of Heavy Cloud first. He hadn’t expected to scout out the opponent so quickly, and a Master elementalist at that.
The enemy was very close!
Xing Shan’s expression worsened with this realization. The distance between them was much shorter than he’d expected. This meant that the enemy was positioned even more aggressively and invasively and was more ambitious.
While he didn’t know which combat division his opponent was from, he knew that the three teams that cooperated and claimed victory previously had no reason to battle separately. If they wanted to join forces, they could not be too far apart.
After analyzing, Xing Shan realized that they were in a very dangerous situation!
The Ardent Flower Blood Division could be attacked from all sides.
Xing Shan calmed down. He was aware that whether or not the opponent was from Shi Xueman’s combat division, he would have to use the power of lightning to attack and prevent getting closed in on three sides.
Any hesitation in the face of such an encounter could lead to a catastrophe.
In a battle encounter, both parties were usually unprepared. Many would wait for the right opportunity in hope that they could be more amply prepared, but retreating and hesitating was like bowing and giving away victory.
"Get ready, army! We’re setting off shortly!"
Xing Shan roared before turning over and sitting on his wolf.
Everybody responded loudly as they got up in succession and sat on ardent flower night wolves.
They transformed into a deluge and whizzed toward that dazzling light.
Shi Xueman was in the tent, summing up her insights.
If they had a God-subduing Peak and installed a pagoda cannon at its crucial position, it would be alarmingly powerful. She put pen to paper and in the blink of an eye an outline of God-subduing Peak appeared.
She’d been stationed in one before, so she was very familiar with it. Propping her chin, she fixed her eyes on the drawing and quickly marked out a suitable position for the pagoda cannon to be installed.
A mighty force like a Hellfire Pagoda Cannon was very well-suited to a heavy weapon like a God-subduing Peak.
A Hellfire Pagoda Cannon could double the power of a God-subduing Peak and seal off a region that was more than ten times bigger. Shi Xueman was also startled by her deductions. Any tripling or quintupling of power of a heavy weapon was already considered remarkable.
A tenfold increase was completely unbelievable.
Shi Xueman never would’ve thought that such a small Hellfire Pagoda Cannon could cause such a huge change.
What else would a God-subduing Peak need if it had a Hellfire Pagoda Cannon?
Shi Xueman was very aware that a God-subduing Peak wasn’t without its flaws. The Wall of North Sea wouldn’t have collapsed otherwise.
And her father wouldn’t have…
Shi Xueman pursed her lips tightly, her expression steadfast. She tried hard to dismiss her distracting thoughts. Now’s not the time to feel sad and weak, she told herself.
She started thinking again.
She thought about the flaws of a God-subduing Peak since thinking from this angle might lead her to something.
She recalled her journey to Jadeite Forest, trying hard to capture the God-subduing Peak’s weaknesses.
Its speed!
The God-subduing Peak’s speed wasn’t considered slow. Elementalists would get tired from flying, but a God-subduing Peak could travel from Silver Mist Sea to Jadeite Forest without needing to stop. When it came to battles, however, it always seemed clumsy.
The God-subduing Peak was too bulky and could only resist instead of dodge enemies’ attacks.
Enemies would throw themselves onto it like a swarm of bees, and that was when the God-subduing Peak was in greatest danger. It wouldn’t be able to bear the attacks no matter how solid its defense was. If enemies managed to get close, some unique attacks would smash its tortoise shell like a heavy hammer.
Some extreme blood elementalists would even self-detonate.
The scene of a blood elementalist exploding was very heroic, and its impact was extremely shocking too.
In the midst of killing, soldiers would usually become even more crazy, be it blood elementalists or elementalists. There wasn’t any difference.
A God-subduing Peak’s speed and agility was difficult to change because of its bulk.
How could she compensate for this flaw then?
What about an even more compressed pagoda cannon? Shi Xueman immediately rejected this idea. While Hellfire Pagoda Cannons were indeed very mighty, their firing frequency was simply too slow and more suited for focused targets.
A God-subduing Peak wasn’t very useful when it came to dealing with this swarm battle technique.
What to do?
Increase the number of defending elementalists? This could be a solution. Elementalists were good at flying, so they would be able to block off approaching enemies. An inspirational flash lit across her eyes. That’s right, as long as they prevented enemies from getting close to the God-subduing Peak, its might could fully be unleashed.
Shi Xueman was feeling rather agitated. She was aware of the value of this idea.
Quite a few God-subduing Peaks had already been created, but there were always only a few elementalists stationed around each of them. Because there weren’t many battle positions onboard, there had always been few battling elementalists.
But its gigantic build could definitely fit the entire combat division!
They just hadn’t done it, because they believed that increasing the number of elementalists on board wouldn’t increase the God-subduing Peak’s might.
But it was as if Shi Xueman had just opened up a new window. She felt that a God-subduing Peak wasn’t just an empty castle, it could actually be a beehive!
A flying beehive!
If they weren’t able to handle the swarm battle technique, the enemies, too, wouldn’t be able to.
Adding a Hellfire Pagoda Cannon to a God-subduing Peak would greatly increase its lockdown region, which meant that their own soldiers would be able to get assistance from a greater area.
Shi Xueman got increasingly excited and stood up abruptly, left her tent, and got ready to discuss this matter with Sang Zi Jun, Jiang Wei, and the rest.
This was their daily activity – non-stop pondering and discussing. From the start of the blood catastrophe, Ai Hui had been the one to host the discussions, and this tradition never stopped since then.
Shi Xueman, who had just walked out of the tent, turned rigid. She raised her head and looked at the dazzling light ray at the horizon.
That was… Zu Yan’s elemental energy wave motion!
Zu Yan must have met an extremely remarkable blood elementalist!
Zu Yan was very capable. Although he had become a Master a little later than usual, his abilities in the Spear of Heavy Cloud was second only to Shi Xueman’s. He was a even notch better than Yang Xiaodong. Such a violent impact could only be due to an encounter with a powerful blood elementalist.
An enemy was here!
And they were already very close by.
"Get ready for battle!"
Without needing for her to shout, members of the Spear of Heavy Cloud were already alarmed. The elemental energy wave motion was simply too intense.
"Gather the troops quickly, Wang Xiaoshan. An enemy is here."
"Get ready to face the enemy head-on, Jiang Wei."
"Get someone to inform the Sky Edge soldiers that the enemy is here, Sang Zijun."
"Follow me, Yang Xiaodong. We’re going to save them!"
The azure wings on Shi Xueman spread open with a jolt and she soared into the sky.
Not daring to lag behind, Yang Xiaodong quickly followed behind.
Jiang Wei fixed his gaze on their silhouettes, clenching his fists. The more dangerous the situation was, the usefulness of a Master became more apparent.
This battle encounter occurred too suddenly, and everyone was caught off guard. Yet none panicked, since they already had a contingency plan. From top to bottom, everybody was working in an organized manner.
The camping ground was in full swing as everyone was operating at full speed, like precise gears.
The courageous reigned supreme!