Chapter 622: Chapter Six Hundred and Eighteen: Advantage
The battlefield at the eastern, western, and southern foot of the mountains saw both camps engaging in a boisterous clash. However, the retreat of the members of the Tang Clan was orderly and rapid, which was a commendable feat accomplished by their steward, Tang Kuan.
The movement of the Tang Clan’s retreat was too conspicuous and impossible to hide from others. Therefore, for the past few days, the attacks from the Mi Clan coalition forces were especially fierce.
Because breaking the North Mountain defense line during the retreat of the Tang Clan would yield significant gains.
After all, anyone fleeing in chaos would take with them their most valuable possessions, and confiscation for private use was certainly a strategy that excited the desires of the martial ancestors in the coalition forces.
Upon learning that the Tang Clan had begun their retreat, the bloodshot coalition martial ancestors launched relentless attacks on the North Mountain defensive line.
In just a few days, mountains collapsed, peaks shattered, and the defense line at the eastern, western, and southern foot of the mountains was pushed back hundreds of meters. Property © 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.
But the martial ancestors of the Tang Clan stood firm like nails hammered into the ground, not retreating even in the face of disastrous landslides. Especially Tang Sen, who had been switched to the south front, managed to withstand almost half of the onslaught single-handedly.
A strike powerful enough to critically wound top-tier fighters in the Fierce Realm solidly hit Tang Sen. Before the Mi Clan martial ancestor who delivered the strike had time to celebrate, he saw Tang Sen, who was sent flying, vomit a mouthful of blood before returning to the center of the battlefield, nimble and vigorous, as if he wasn’t injured at all.
Nothing on his expressionless face hinted at any pain. This was enough to chill the courage of each enemy, as no one dared underestimate a man who couldn’t even be taken down by a combined Fierce Realm attack.
Maybe the top-tier warriors of the Mi Clan coalition showed more remarkable feats on the offensive side. But, on the defensive side, no one performed better than Tang Sen across the huge North Mountain battlefield.
The potential of possessing the double-powered bloodline talent and the Undying Battle Body made Tang Sen a well-respected figure within the Fierce Realm. Nevertheless, due to his current cultivation level, he lacked the ability to instantaneously kill top-tier foes from the Fierce Realm, unless the opponent insisted on engaging him in close combat. Otherwise, just one or two top-tier Fierce Realm fighters could easily hold him off.
Fortunately, Tang Sen had extraordinarily sharp combat intuition. He never prolonged combat, and he sometimes let the top-tier fighters of the Fierce Realm attack his back while he counter-attacked, severely wounding a regular martial ancestor of the coalition forces.
Apart from the two stewards, all thirteen elders of the Tang Clan, and the nine guardians who Sect Head had invoked from the ancestral hall, threw themselves into the battlefield. They successfully held back all the advances from the east. However, as time passed, the advantage of the Mi Clan’s martial ancestors gradually surfaced.
After all, not everyone was as indestructible as Tang Sen. In the clash of fists and feet and the collision of spiritual power, sustaining hidden injuries was common. Before an individual has completed the spiritual transformation of their physical body and precondition for the grandmaster, even the most robust Fierce Realm practitioner should avoid prolonged combat, especially in such intense battles.
The martial ancestors of the Tang Clan could hold on for this long thanks to the Undying Battle Body and the many wild beasts. On such a chaotic battlefield, reckless and fearless beasts made the best meat shields. But even the best meat shields would eventually wear out. With many of the wild beasts severely wounded, the North Mountain defense line once again found itself in a dangerous situation.
Twenty-first of December
Mi Hai, exhausted from numerous hidden injuries, couldn’t hold on any longer. After being ambushed by Tang Siyuan, he used the Xuanji Jade to escape back to South Ridge Beast Valley. Not caring about his own injuries, he demanded to see Clan Head Mi Jin.
“Clan Head, I request that our clan immediately send reinforcements, and please summon the shrine guardians and the Flame Luster Phoenix Crane!” Despite being severely injured, there was a spark in Mi Hai’s eyes: “The Tang Clan’s wild beasts have suffered heavy casualties, and their martial ancestors are exhausted. If we can provide fresh forces now, we can break through the North Mountain defense line in one fell swoop. While Tang Sen has placed numerous Mortal Realm squads in the forest for a contingency plan, the minute our shrine guardians make their move, these Mortal Realm bugs won’t be able to stir up any real harm!”
The Flame Luster Phoenix Crane is a sacred bird of the Feather Tribe, a steed of the immortals, and it takes sixteen hundred years to hatch. The male Phoenix Crane in the depths of South Ridge Beast Valley is not only the king of the Mi Clan’s sacred birds, but also it’s a divine beast strengthened by secret arts that can easily tame various types of sacred birds. Even the fiercest eagles and hawks would follow its orders. The sacred birds and wild beasts led by it not only move in a disciplined manner but also fearlessly face death. It is one of the Mi Clan’s most important trump cards.
The shrine guardians are representatives of the outstanding martial ancestors of the Mi Clan through the generations. Although they are no longer as courageous as they were in their prime due to their age, they are still untouchable to the combined strikes of Mortal Realm fighters and are no less powerful than the top-tier martial ancestors.
This time, Mi Hai didn’t just come back to heal his wounds. He wants to give the Tang Clan a fatal blow when their old force was exhausted, and the fresh force had not yet been developed.
But the golden opportunity that he saw didn’t arouse Mi Jin’s interest. The clan head who was bent over revising official documents looked up at the battered sect head and said calmly, “please treat your wounds first, we will discuss this matter later.”
The message that Mi Hai disregarded his severe injuries to deliver was belittled by Mi Jin, and the indignant sect head could no longer control his emotions. With his palms slammed onto the clan head’s table and towering over Mi Jin like a raging tiger, he squeezed out a few words between his teeth: “Why?”
He needed a reason, a reason why Mi Jin refused to reinforce, even though breaking through the North Mountain defense line was already within reach. Why wouldn’t Mi Jin put forth that last bit of effort?
The usually bustling clan head office was silent at once. Seeing the sect head looking as if he was ready to rip people apart, the busy stewards and counsels fell silent. Mi Jin lifted his head, waved his hand to let the guards who wanted to step forward retreat, and asked Mi Hai who was furiously glaring at him, “Has our clan coalition forces suppressed the Tang Clan and gained an advantage at this point?”
“Of course!” Although Mi Hai was angry, he did not forget his duties. With the number of martial ancestors in his hand exceeding the Tang Clan’s y double, claiming he couldn’t gain an advantage would be suicide. However, being in an advantageous position does not mean this advantage is expanding: “Although we have killed many of their wild beasts, they are still resisting fiercely. Those from the Tang Clan are all madmen. They use wild beasts as bait and attack with Fierce Realm combined strikes. Many of our Martial Ancestors were severely injured by this tactic, and those with shallow cultivation even perished instantly!”
Most of those who died were young martial ancestors from the Mi Clan with unlimited potential. At around forty years of age, this is the prime time for a warrior, full of vigor after reaching the level of Martial Ancestor. They had a bright future but ended up dead on the battlefield forever.
“The Tang Clan martial ancestors seem to know which martial ancestors are the weak links in the coalition forces. Since early December, more than twenty martial ancestors in the coalition forces have been brutally killed by the focused fire of the Tang Clan!” At the mention of this, Mi Hai was heartbroken. The neck veins bulged as he roared at Clan Head Mi Jin: “Do you understand that these advantages were gained by the clan sacrifices, and now all you need to do is give an order, and our clansmen will no longer have to die, why won’t you do it?”