Chapter Six Hundred and Thirty Seven – Arrival of Marshal Yu
Ma Fan wiped his face and took a look at the packed group of xiuzhe outside. He shook his head. “It seems that they don’t plan on leaving in the short term.”
The xiuzhe outside was the Tian Huan Battalion that Gongye Xiao Rong was leading. As predicted by Gongsun Cha, they had appeared in Orchid Home Jie and started to attack the chaos rift defended by Black Turtle Camp.
Luckily, Ma Fan had been careful and didn’t dare to relax. He had constantly sent out patrols. His caution was useful. The patrols had discovered the enemy and sounded an early alarm.
Ma Fan who received the warning immediately went on full defense.
Due to the worry that they would not be able to hold the chaos rift, the construction of defensive formations had never stopped. Compared to when Lil’ Miss had been here, the formation belt was two times larger. Even right before the fighting started, the formation belt was still being expanded.
This caused Ma Fan’s confidence to increase.
Truthfully, the fighting had never stopped in Orchid Home Jie. Ma Fan’s scouts and the yao scouts would frequently have skirmishes. Overall, though, the two sides were restrained and maintained an unspoken agreement.
When Gongye Xiao Rong saw the ambush did not succeed, he changed to a frontal assault.
But facing such an enormous formation belt, Gongye Xiao Rong didn’t have any good solutions. However, Gongye Xiao Rong knew that this chaos rift was their closest path to returning to the xiuzhe realms.
Gongye Xiao Rong’s attacks were extremely ferocious and uncaring of fatalities. The fighting was unusually intense, and almost half of the fort’s formation belt had been destroyed. Corpses littered the surroundings.
The grand talismans that Tian Huan Battalion had were enormously effective. This allowed them to withstand two rounds of attack.
Ma Fan’s Black Turtle Camp had had a difficult time. The fort was almost lost until Guard Camp arrived and steadied the defense line.
Yet these Tian Huan xiuzhe did not know weariness nor cared about the fatalities. They furiously attacked like waves crashing onto the shore.
Ma Fan could not count how many rounds of attack they had fought off.
Almost half of Black Turtle Camp was lost. Ma Fan had to replenish his forces with members of Green Dragon Camp which had been acting as reinforcement to Black Turtle Camp.
The rate of deaths for the greenhorns was extremely high in intense battles like this. Azure Dragon Camp only existed in name now. Those able to survive were all xiuzhe that were able to quickly adapt to battle.
The defense line became even stronger, and everyone started to adjust to fighting of such high intensity.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of!” Lei Peng’s voice was hoarse and rough but his eyes were even brighter than before. He said nonchalantly, “We can be said to be experienced now. Ha, Tian Huan is just so, we can kill as many as they send!”
“They have no reinforcements, and cannot afford continuous fatalities. We will definitely win this fight. I just wonder what good reward I can get from Lil’ Miss Daren.” Nian Lu drawled. His handsome face was covered in dust. However, just like Lei Peng, his eyes were unusually bright and he was surrounded by sword essence.
This battle had been hard, but after going through it, all of them had improved greatly.
Nothing could cause someone improve faster than fighting.
———
Gongye Xiao Rong looked with concentration at the damaged fort expressionlessly.
The other’s primary commander had left with their main forces. Technically, this should be a great opportunity. This was the main reason that he decided to attack the fort.
No battle general had a good method of attacking forts like this. Gongye Xiao Rong had been mentally prepared that many people would die but, fighting until now, he was unable to calm down.
The other’s hardiness was almost unimaginable!
He had learned Gongsun Cha’s strength already. He knew that he was a battle general that rivaled him! But even now, he could not figure now which faction Gongsun Cha belonged to.
When Gongsun Cha left with the main forces, the biggest obstacle for Gongye Xiao Rong had been removed. Even though he knew fatalities would be high in a full-frontal assault like this, he had still been filled with confidence – if he was willing to pay the price, he could take the fort!
Yet this mysterious faction gave him a heavy blow again!
The unknown battle general inside the fort was the hardiest battle general that he probably ever met!
This battle general’s battalion was not outstanding, and far from being comparable to Gongsun Cha’s battalion. Gongye Xiao Rong had not thought much of them, dismissing them as a threat, but this unknown battle general and this unknown battalion had cost his side a heavy price, and he was unable to advance one more step
They were as steady as rock!
And the detail-oriented Gongye Xiao Rong discovered that the enemy battalion was becoming even more resilient.
After this battle, this unknown battalion would completely transform and become a true elite force.
Their Tian Huan Battalion had became the enemy’s whetstone.
There was no hope of victory. If they kept on fighting, the fatalities would only increase.
Gongye Xiao Rong was silent.
He had been talented from childhood and had smoothly advanced even in a large sect like Tian Huan. He had been respected by his fellow disciples and protected by the elders.
He had never thought that he would end up in a situation like this one day.
Defeat after defeat!
Looking at his battalion of which only slightly more than a third remained, looking at the faces that were looking in bewilderment at him, his heart suddenly hurt.
His face was slightly ashen but he knew that everyone was waiting for his decision.
“We will leave!”
He used almost all the strength in his body to say these three words.
———
When Mu Xi finished listening to the report from her subordinate, she was thoughtful.
“Daren, should we go take that chaos rift? The enemy is tired from fighting. Now that Gongye Xiao Rong has retreated, they would be relaxed and off-guard. This is a good chance!” the subordinate couldn’t resist saying.
The successive victories had established and secured Mu Xi’s position in the Palace Lake Wood Clan. Right now, she was undoubted as the top ranked battle general of the Palace Lake Wood Clan, and was qualified to decide on the major discussions of the clan.
There had never been one that was so young in the history of the yao able to achieve such a level.
Mu Xi shook her head. “What is the use if we take it? It is already very good that we are able to hold this jie. Do not underestimate the other. They were able to stop Gongye Xiao Rong. It is hard to say for certain but just in defense, there are probably few that can compare.”
Seeing the subordinate’s disagreement, she said, “Don’t be proud because Gongye Xiao Rong lost a few skirmishes to us. We have never fought Gongye Xiao Rong head on. Gongye Xiao Rong is very strong to have defeated the allied army.”
After some thought, she ordered, “We need good relations with this faction. They have great ambitions if they dare to become enemies with Tian Huan. Naturally, they will need allies.”
“But they are xiuzhe!”
“You need to see the flow of history. The world is in turmoil, chaos rifts connect xiuzhe, yao, and mo territories. Within the decade, the barriers between xiuzhe, yao, and mo will be broken,” Mu Xi said solemnly.
The subordinate wanted to say more, but he acknowledged the order when he saw Mu Xi’s stern gaze.
Mu Xi looked at the back of the subordinate as he left with flashing eyes. She knew that she was too young. Even though she had been winning all this time, there were many in the clan that did not accept her.
Maybe she should build her own battalion.
When this thought appeared, the urge was unable to be removed.
———
The black crowds of people in the horizon seemed to be moving slowly but in a flash, they appeared. The battalion stretched like a cloud silently.
There was indifference on the face of every mo soldier. From a glance, it could be seen that they were experienced mo soldiers. The banners of the clans were raised and flew in the wind. There wasn’t any stray sound from the battalion.
In the center of the battalion, an enormous chariot procession was the most eye-catching. Blue silk flew in the wind, and the copper tassels that hung from the eaves of the chariot roof chimed from far away. The four beasts that pulled the chariot were unusually ugly but they were extremely submissive standing the front of the chariot.
Beside the chariot, four large men with stern expressions had a wooden rack on their shoulders where a blue sword was placed.
As the ranks spread out, a tangible killing essence spread.
Great Peace City was silent. No one dared to speak loudly.
Zuo Mo wasn’t frightened by the pomp at all. He looked around. Marshal Yu’s battalion was not as large as he imagined and was just about ten thousand people.
This was a much lower number than he imagined.
In his imaginations, the battalion of a marshal should cover the sky. Each marshal usually had more than a hundred jie under their command.
Princess Xia suddenly said in a low voice, “Marshal Yu has been busy expanding his territories and his battalions have been mostly sent out. His own territories haven’t been peaceful. But you have to be careful. This Yu Frontier Guard is the most elite battalion that Marshal Yu has. I have no way to help, be careful.”
From these sparse words, Zuo Mo understood many things. He could hear the concern in the other’s tone and comforted, “That’s alright, I have my own measures!”
Princess Xia gritted her teeth and said, “If it cannot be helped, give the Anti Dragon Claw to him.”
Zuo Mo’s heart felt warm but when he thought of the Three Thousand Threads of Worry that had merged into his body, he grimaced inwardly. The Three Thousand Threes of Worry were wrapped around the Anti Dragon Claw. No matter how he tried, they would not unwind and leave the Anti Dragon Claw.
Even if he wanted to give the Anti Dragon Claw to someone else, he couldn’t do it.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” Zuo Mo comforted with a smile.
Shu Long and the others had returned to Zuo Mo’s side and were on full alert.
The presence of this battalion intimidated all. Even Ming Hui and the others couldn’t help but change expression. The Ming Bandits that he had built had not been afraid of anything but they had just suffered heavy losses. Now, after he personally saw the most elite force of Marshal Yu, he finally felt what true elite was!
His Ming Bandits, in front of this strictly organized battalion, could only be called “bandits”!
He had thought previously that with many people fighting over the Anti Dragon Claw, he would have a chance during the chaos. But when Marshal Yu came with his Yu Frontier Guards, he knew that the Anti Dragon Claw would land in Marshal Yu’s hands.
Marshal Yu would probably not let people of terrible reputation like his Ming Bandits escape.
Ming Hui’s expression became uncertain.
Translator Ramblings: A sneak peek back to what is going on at “home”. Also, the Yu in marshal Yu is for rain.