Chapter 181: 161 Striking at Mid-Crossing
Although everyone in the conference room was shocked by Chen Xing's speed,
nobody doubted his truthfulness.
Not to mention the supervision of Wang Tao, the entire process had been recorded by drones, and there were military officers to verify and testify.
The feat of killing an Exotic Region Beast Tamer with an Energy Level of 100 was no small accomplishment, and such a military achievement would certainly undergo a rigorous review. To fabricate a battle report right in front of so many people
would be incredibly foolish.
So, the news was most likely true.
"Wang Tao, how many Beast Tamers with an Energy Level of 100 were there?"
One of the military officers who was familiar with Wang Tao asked.
"Three." When he uttered this number, the images of the battle just fought flashed through Wang Tao's mind.
It was entirely like a father beating his son.
How could there be Beast Tamers so barbaric, so unreasonable! It made Wang Tao feel itchy; if he had known earlier how satisfying it was to watch large Beast Tamers fight, he would have raised one himself.
Hmm... and he just happens to have a Beast Tamer slot unassigned; perhaps he should raise a large-sized one as well.
Gu Yuzhi guessed something from Wang Tao's expression and took a deep look at Chen Xing.
"Let's have dinner together later," Gu Yuzhi said to Chen Xing.
Chen Xing nodded, "Yes, General."
The place where Gu Yuzhi ate was in the same restaurant as where the field officers and generals dined.
However, the area around his seat was empty, with no one but Zhang Tianlin sitting nearby.
Zhang Tianlin placed his plate on the table and sat down beside him very casually.
Gu Yuzhi quietly glanced at him.
"You guys talk, why look at me? The chicken leg today is really tasty," said Zhang Tianlin, picking up a large chicken leg with his chopsticks.
His mouth was greasy all over.
He did not look like a Super Rank Beast Tamer in the military at all.
Gu Yuzhi withdrew his gaze, "Your plan... it could actually be put into action. Blowing up the Qingniao Reservoir was indeed in our plans, but we weren't ready to do it so soon."
"Actually, it's better to do it earlier because the Exotic Region will send more reinforcements later. Right now, we can clear out some of the Exotic Region's Beast Tamers, which will alleviate some pressure later on,"
Chen Xing suggested.
But what he found strange was that upon hearing his words, both Zhang Tianlin and Gu Yuzhi in front of him showed no expression and just kept eating.
A swath of red clouds appeared before his eyes, with a row of words formed by white clouds: You cannot reveal the direction of the campaign to characters in the Illusion Realm in any way, you can only change the direction of the campaign with your own abilities.
Chen Xing understood the message – revealing information was useless; if he wanted to change the outcome of the campaign, he would have to do it himself.
For example, if he knew someone would die,
Then he'd go into the battle and save him.
By saving him, the direction of the campaign would change.
If he knew that a certain battle would be lost, then he'd participate in it, killing key figures of the enemy or defeating a particular enemy force.
"If you're confident, then let's give it a try," Gu Yuzhi narrowed his eyes, "but if you make a move, the enemy will definitely not sit idly by; there must be Super Rank Beasts entering the field."
"Leave it to me!"
Zhang Tianlin, who was eating a chicken leg, raised his left hand with the chopsticks still between his fingers, and the chicken meat and bones in his mouth not yet swallowed.
He swallowed hard, trying to gulp down the lump in his throat, and his face broke into a bright smile.
"I'll hold off the enemy's Super Rank, the rest... you can handle it yourself, right?" Zhang Tianlin looked at Chen Xing.
"There are already three Super Rank Beast Tamers from the enemy side showing up," Gu Yuzhi pointed out.
"I know," said Zhang Tianlin nonchalantly.
He bit into the chicken leg, tearing meat and bone together as he pulled away.
His sharp white teeth ground the bones and meat to a pulp as he chewed.
He squinted his thin eyes, "It'll be an opportunity to have a head-on battle. Not to mention anything else, delaying them won't be a problem."
"Do you have a detailed plan for that?" Gu Yuzhi turned to Chen Xing.
"I do." Chen Xing handed over the plan he had thought out in advance.
Gu Yuzhi pondered, "Okay."
It wasn't until then that Chen Xing received a prompt.
"Minor changes to the campaign direction have been made, earning a stage bonus of 10,000 points. Subsequent stage point rewards will be based on campaign results."
....
The army's response was quick as the wind, and they moved with high efficiency. In a very short time, a series of temporary outposts were erected just outside the city like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
Inside the city, the Beast Tamers from Great Xia were also busy making preparations.
A large number of Beast Tamers were dispatched to covertly patrol amidst the people.
Any Exotic Region Beast Tamer attempting to sneak into the city was to be dealt with immediately.
In a short period, quite a few Beast Tamers from the Fentian Giant City side were caught trying to take advantage of the situation to infiltrate the city.
As time went on, the frequency of encounters between both sides increased and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Large numbers of civilians were purposefully driven to the base of Iron Rock Pass, and at the same time, the army at Iron Rock Pass was continuously growing.
For Great Xia and the Fentian Giant City side, this was a desired outcome.
They could use this opportunity to consume Great Xia's vast military force in one fell swoop, thereby achieving victory quickly.
After all, nibbling away bit by bit was too slow. They were also faced with pressure from other giant cities and hoped to resolve the battle as swiftly as possible, in one decisive action!
There was another crucial point: the beast tamers of Fentian Giant City were not monolithic.
In fact, within the history-rich power that was Fentian Giant City in the Exotic Region,
there was not just one faction.
The Elders' Council, Giant City Guard Army, Commerce Association Alliance, Three Great Families, Fentian Temple.
These powers had interwoven relationships, through marriage alliances, master-disciple ties, and mutual interests...
Even the three advanced beast tamers who entered Great Xia each had their own schemes.
The beast tamers below were from various factions, and many belonged to mercenary corps and loose cultivators.
Getting them to unite was even more difficult than attacking Great Xia.
This was also why, after effortlessly breaching the first and second lines of defense, there had been a delay in rallying a grand army to attack the third line of defense.
As the first and second lines of defense were breached, the resource points and secret realms in this area became unguarded territories.
A large number of beast tamers flooded into these areas to plunder the resources.
The resources of the giant city belonged to the giant city, but only the resources one secured themselves genuinely belonged to them.
Many beast tamers held this belief.
As for Great Xia's resistance, after easily breaching the first two defense lines, the beast tamers from Fentian Giant City didn't see it as much of a threat.
And Fentian Giant City also had a system for merit achievements.
The most crucial part was calculating merits based on enemy heads taken down, and they must be of value to soldiers and beast tamers to count towards the merits.
Therefore, Iron Rock Pass, with a large concentration of Great Xia's troops, became a huge piece of cake in their eyes.
Only an assembly of advanced beast tamers could use this piece of cake to attract a vast number of beast tamers to gather.
As time passed, a massive number of beast tamers from exotic regions gathered on the plains outside the city.
At a glance, there were at least tens of thousands of them.
The dense crowd was filled with the figures of beast tamers from Fentian Giant City, clad in red robes.
Compared to these beast tamers, what was even larger were the beasts they tamed, which were by their sides.
On the vast plains, the beasts of varying forms formed powerful streams, advancing slowly.
Most of these beasts were of the Fire Element, and the scorching heat they emitted made even the cool September fall feel somewhat sultry.
The dry yellow grass on the ground crisped under the feet of the Fire Element beasts.
The dry and hot air spread out from the troops of beasts, enveloping the whole plain in a heavy and oppressive atmosphere.
Every now and then, a fire would suddenly arise in a spot, only to be stamped out with a stomp.
Such a massive group of tamed beasts could not possibly hide their movements, but it seemed that Fentian Giant City had no intention of doing so.
They were gathering a huge army, embarking on an unprecedented grand-scale migration with an almost arrogant attitude.
Nearly a hundred thousand tamed beasts moving at once made the ground tremble.
In the plain, there was a shallow river. Even the tranquil river started to ripple with the approach of the massive number of beasts.
The river wasn't deep, with the deepest part being just over two meters.
As the Fire Element beasts stepped into the river, the high temperature they radiated instantly transferred to the water.
The water quickly evaporated under this intense heat, turning into wisps of white mist. The vapor hung in the air, making the parched plain appear as if adorned with a slowly spreading white ribbon from afar. Discover the mystery at m,vl_em|p_yr
On the edge of a reservoir more than twenty li away,
Taotie lay on the ground while Chen Xing leisurely performed body posture corrections on it.
Taotie's bones crackled crisply.
Its small eyes squinted into slits.
It looked quite comfortable.
"After completing a pet posture correction, your pet gains enhanced confidence (substantially increasing strength), aesthetics improvement (moderately increasing skills' power)."
"Ao." After finishing the posture correction, Taotie let out a contented low groan.
A figure swiftly flew across the sky.
Approaching rapidly, a tiger-patterned great kite soon landed nearby.
Wang Tao spoke in a grave voice, "By the time I came over, their leading troops had already started crossing the river."
Chen Xing turned his head to look in the distance.
From this angle, the plain was out of sight, as several mountain peaks blocked the view of the horizon.
Chen Xing murmured, "To strike mid-crossing, the time has come."
He patted Taotie on the back.
The two-meter-long Taotie leaped into the water with a splash. In the next second, upon touching the water, it swelled rapidly, ballooning in size.
In an instant, a hundred-meter behemoth lay quietly inside the now-flooded reservoir.
From afar, it looked like a huge black island had emerged in the center of the reservoir.
But as time passed, the sunlight from the sky shone on the island, and its color gradually blurred, blending into the surroundings.