The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron
chapter-683

Ten miles away, a mist that looked like dust being swept off of the ground came into contact with the earth. There were shadows of people standing within the mist.

They all looked like targets at a shooting range. The shadows appeared and disappeared at intermittent intervals.

These shadows seemed focused and determined, and there was a steel-like willpower emanating from the mist.

Although the two armies were ten miles apart, the thick aura of killing intent could be felt as it came closer and closer. As the people of the Heavenly Law Alliance looked at the incoming army, each of them were perspiring heavily as their hearts thumped. They all felt immensely unnerved.

Xue Wu's army, which they had previously fought against, were bandits who only knew how to burn, kill, and steal. Although Xue Wu's army was strong, his army lacked the qualities of true military men.

The soldiers before them, however, exerted a huge pressure upon their hearts. They were true warriors, who had been battle-hardened by many wars.

Before the war had even started, the people of the Heavenly Law Alliance felt their confidences had diminished slightly. They all felt like small fiery particles going against a vast sea of mist. They were trying to put out a flame that could not be extinguished.

All of a sudden, the rumbling mist before them came to a halt. As the air cleared and the mist settled, the figures of their enemy could clearly be seen under the moonlight.

It was an army of one thousand. Each of the soldiers was wearing pitch-black armor. Under the moonlight, they looked like statues of the God of Death, who had come to reap the lives of all of the humans.

Their pupils were glowing dimly with killing intent. In the moonlight's reflection, their eyes looked like they belonged to wild beasts. Tonight was their night to kill and rejoice in their enemies' deaths.

The army looked very well-organized as the various types of troops aligned with proper formations. The warriors with shields stood at the front, while the spearmen were located in the middle and the archers were at the back. Despite the large number of people moving altogether, they seemed to be in perfect order.

"One died and three were injured. The enemy is very strong." Within the shield formation, at the center of all of the warriors, a man with an additional red color symbol on his armor in front of his chest appeared to be the commander of the army. He was tallying the injuries.

"There is a Grade One Fairy amongst the enemy ranks. This is different from the news we had received." The formation commander was emotionless.

He was barely surprised by the appearance of a Fairy, and his willpower grew even stronger, almost like steel. The rest of the warriors were also emotionless.

"Remove the treasures from those who have died. Those with minor injuries will continue to fight. Those with major injuries will surrender their treasures and look after their own injuries," the formation leader said coldly. He had chosen to abandon the severely injured soldiers.

On the battlefield, those who were heavily injured and left to fend for themselves would die nine out of ten times. The enemy army's cruel rules of survival sent chills down one's spine.

However, none of the soldiers showed any expression. It was almost as if they felt that this was a fair and rightful judgment.

As Su Yu observed the scene from afar, his brows furrowed deeply. Their enemy was a frightening army with frightening willpower.

This war was much more difficult than he had first imagined! However, the Fifth Saint Lord, whom he had paid the most attention to, had yet to appear.

"The shielded warriors will forge a way through. The archers shall get ready to suppress the enemy with a barrage of arrows. Once we get within a mile of the enemy, the spearmen will attack." Commander Hong Yu yelled out orders.

Although he was only a Grade One Fairy and was not the Fifth Saint Lord, he still had the right to give orders. As soon as he gave the order, the big army began to attack.

Dong. Dong.

The warriors, who held shields in their hands, formed a neat row at the front as they advanced in an orderly manner. The spearmen followed closely behind.

Under the protection of the shielded warriors, they continuously moved forward. Each of them had twelve long spears at their backs. Every single soldier emitted a strong physical energy.

There were four hundred spearmen in the army. If each of them attacked with all twelve of the spears at their backs, that would be sufficient to eliminate the entire Heavenly Law Alliance. Moreover, there were three hundred archers behind them with equally capable powers.

"Release the arrows!" Commander Hong Yu suddenly gave the order.

Zoom.

A barrage of arrows came down from the sky. It looked as if a black shadow had covered the entire atmosphere.

"Dodge them!" Su Yu commanded.

He frowned as he looked at the approaching arrows. The arrows of the enemy were all middle-grade divine artifacts that could not be withstood by anyone below the Fairy level.

All of the members of the Heavenly Law Alliance immediately sought cover from the incoming arrows. Although they had prepared for this, some of the members who could not find shelter were still shot by the arrows. Some of them were even killed instantly.

However, these casualties were not their main concern, as the most important matter was that the Heavenly Law Alliance members were now trapped in the city!

"Fire!" Without letting the Heavenly Law Alliance have a chance to regroup, the enemy opened fire yet again.

Zoom.

Under the enemy's attack, the Heavenly Law Alliance's members did not have any opportunity to make a move. Meanwhile, the enemy's army was slowly advancing.

Within the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, the central region of the city had taken on the appearance of a porcupine. The entire surface of the city was covered with arrows, including the walls, the roofs, and the streets.

The arrows seemed to keep coming, with no end in sight. During this time, the enemy had already forcefully made it to a point that was only twenty miles away from the Heavenly Law Alliance.

Seeing this, the old commander from the Heavenly Law Alliance spoke up, "Alliance Master, the enemy's army is well-trained. They are also very experienced. If we do not effectively fight back, they will surely reach ten miles closer. By then, there will be no way of salvaging our situation."

He then added, "The only plan we can use to counter this is to mobilize our one hundred archers. This will slow the enemy down. We can then use the opportunity to break through the enemy's defensive barrier via our melee troops. In this way, there will still be hope for us to win!"

Even though the old commander had a wealth of experience from past battles, Su Yu had his own tactics that he depended upon.

"Resist," Su Yu replied with a single word.

"But, Alliance Master…" The old commander was getting impatient. Based on his experiences, if they did not fight back now, they would lose all opportunities to rally and win later.

Su Yu did not reply. Instead, he remained silent to reinforce his decision.

"I understand," the old commander said through gritted teeth. He had to hold back his thoughts as he looked towards the continuously advancing otherworldly army.

However, something unexpected occurred at that moment...

Suddenly, the enemy's army came to a halt.

Zoom.

Three formation leaders gathered around Commander Hong Yu, who was focusing his sharp gaze towards the central region of the city in silence. It was as if he had seen through everything.

"The enemy is not moving. Something is definitely out of place. They must be lying in wait for us." The commander had seemingly seen through Su Yu's plan with ease, as the one hundred archers were the ultimate move that had been planned by the Heavenly Law Alliance.

"Pass along the order that we will change our plan. We will now battle from a distance of twenty miles! Follow through with the backup plan. We will kill the enemy's army from here," Commander Hong Yu said coolly.

The three formation leaders immediately returned to their groups and made arrangements accordingly. When the enemy stopped, the members of the Heavenly Law Alliance were finally able to catch their breaths.

However, no one was able to relax. This was because the enemy's army was rapidly changing its overall formation!

The shielded warriors still stood at the front. However, the archers and spearmen had teamed up in pairs.

The spearmen removed the long spears from their backs and broke them into halves. These spears were suddenly transformed into arrows, which were then passed to the archers. The archers then put down their normal arrows and started using the modified spears as arrows instead.

"First round, fire!" Commander Hong Yu ordered with a chilly expression.

Zoom.

The sounds of arrows flying through the air could be heard yet again as the sky was covered by a shower of arrows. However, this time, when the arrows rained down, they were not normal arrows like before.

These arrows exploded in the air, while layers of pungent liquid spurted out from them. The liquid came into contact with the sparks that had been created from the friction between the arrows and the air around them, instantly ingniting into flames.

As the balls of flames fell to the ground, the fire quickly spread all over. Soon, the entire central region of the city had become a sea of flames.

Cries.

The flames caught the people by surprise. All of a sudden, hundreds of people were burning amid those flames. They instinctively slapped the flames on their bodies to try to put them out, thus exposing themselves.

"Do not move! Use your Vital Energy to extinguish the flames," Su Yu yelled at them.

However, it was too late.

"Release the arrows!" Commander Hong Yu laughed cruelly.

Zoom.

Hundreds of arrows instantly flew towards the exposed people! Fresh blood splattered all over the place, then turned into powder as it came into contact with the flames.

Bang.

Hundreds of corpses soon fell to the ground and burned amid the flames. Hundreds of people had instantly lost their lives.

The scene upset everyone. They felt as if a needle had pierced through their hearts.

They had not lost so many lives, even when they had fought Xue Wu's big army. However, they had lost many of their men in this current battle!

"Alliance Master Su, quickly, let the archers attack. We should try to break through the enemy's defense! These flames cannot be extinguished by our Vital Energy. If we continue to stay here, we will all be burned alive!" The commander was panicking. He did not understand why Su Yu was so adamant about holding still, as this was now a matter of life and death!

"Resist!" Su Yu's gaze swept across the hundreds of corpses. As the shocking image of the burned corpses reflected in his pupils, a look of pain flashed in his eyes.

"If we try to attack now, we will fall into their trap. So, we must resist!" Su Yu yelled once more.

The commander was stunned. He felt that Su Yu was being unreasonable. In fact, he even suspected that Su Yu had intentionally allowed them to burn amid this sea of flames.

The commander tried to suppress his desire to override Su Yu's decision. His eyes flashed intensely as if he was struggling with indecision.

Meanwhile, Commander Hong Yu shouted to his own troops, "Archers, get ready! Kill anyone in sight!"

He then added, "If you stay put, your people will die in the sea of flames. If you attack, you will die from the arrows. There is no other way for you to navigate. The only path is death!"

He shook his head, then said, "The battle has already ended. You foolish wildlings. Your intelligence in strategizing is so weak. It is such a waste that the Invincible Black Army had to be mobilized for this. I had originally thought that this would be more of a challenge since you managed to annihilate Xue Wu's army. It seems that you have not lived up to your namesake."

Commander Hong Yu tugged at his cape as he sighed softly. In the time that followed, some of the alliance's members continued to expose themselves, as they could not bear the sting of the flames. They were all killed as a consequence.

Some of the members were also burned alive. All of the alliance's members were dying at a shocking rate.

This battle was far more unforgiving than everyone had expected! In fact, they did not even have a chance to strike back. They had been thoroughly suppressed by the enemy.

"The battle has ended in just half an hour. How boring." Commander Hong Yu sighed again.

…

Ten thousand miles away.

Within a heavy mist, ten thousand soldiers were standing quietly. There was a young man with distinct features leisurely sipping an alcoholic beverage in a floating pavilion.

"How is it going? Did the otherworldly army show itself? How was their battle power?" the young man asked.

One of the servants replied, "Third Lord, the Heavenly Law Alliance suffered great casualties. The enemy's army was barely harmed. We expect that the Heavenly Law Alliance will be completely defeated in half an hour!"

The Third Lord frowned as his calm expression faded. "The Heavenly Law Alliance houses a bunch of useless trash! They should have toughened up by now. After all, they defeated Xue Wu's big army! How could they be so weak now?"

After a moment of silence, the Third Lord asked thoughtfully, "Did the Fifth Saint Master attack?"

"No. There was only a big army of one thousand. The Heavenly Law Alliance was completely suppressed. They could not even fight back," the servant replied.

The Third Lord slowly stood up as his face turned serious. "Absolute suppression? How does their armor look? Investigate this, then return and report everything to me in detail."

"Yes!" the servant replied.

…

As soon as he heard what was said, the Third Lord's facial expression changed drastically. His pupils contracted as he murmured, "It is the Invincible Black Army!"

He then turned and gave an order, "There has been a change of plans! Tell everyone that we will retreat immediately. Do not delay for even a moment!"

"What? Third Lord, our mission was to buy time for the Great Lords by keeping the otherworldly army occupied." The commander was shocked upon hearing this new order. He couldn't believe that the Third Lord was actually calling them to retreat!

The Third Lord was angered by his response. "What do you know? Do you know who you are going up against? And… Buying time? You are unbelievably dumb! After all, they are not some Black Shadow Guards. They are the personal army of the Central Prefecture's King from Jiuzhou!"

Everyone knew about the existence of the Black Shadow Guards. They also knew that the Black Shadow Guards were invading the Zhenlong Continent under the leadership of the Fifth Saint Master.

However, none of them could have thought that the army that appeared was not the Black Shadow Guards. Instead, it was the personal army of the Central Prefecture's King!

Most people had heard stories about the Invincible Black Army. This army of a thousand soldiers was able to kill a Divine Master who had run away after betraying them. Moreover, this army had been able to accomplish this feat, while only losing the lives of one-tenth of its soldiers.

As such, this army's mighty reputation was well-known by everyone in Jiuzhou! Since then, they had never failed to accomplish any of their missions.

The enemy's army would always end up losing all of their soldiers. As for themselves, they were never gravely injured.

Their most glorious accomplishment was the time when they killed ten thousand people with their army of one thousand! Moreover, those ten thousand people were all as strong as each of their soldiers.

In other words, they had the ability of defeating an opposing army that was ten times stronger than them. Thus, they were nearly invincible!

All the Heavenly Law Alliance had now were a few hundred Half Fairies and ten thousand Half Gods. Thus, they were merely ants in the face of the notorious Invincible Black Army!

"Do not hesitate, but retreat immediately! Our only option is to ask the king to help us!" The Third Lord looked horrified. He did not even have the heart to laugh at Su Yu.

The otherworldly enemy's sudden change of plans made the Third Lord feel immensely frightened. He felt as if there was a huge conspiracy behind all of this.

…

"Alliance Master Su!" the commander cried out with hatred and pain as he observed his peers burning to death amid the sea of flames. Either that, or they were being killed by the incoming arrows. As such, he was no longer able to trust Su Yu's judgment!

"Please forgive me for not being willing to observe my peers die in vain!" The commander shouted loudly as he stood up. "Those who do not want to die, follow me and charge towards the enemy! I would rather die fighting than be killed by them before making a single move!"

On the enemy's side, Commander Hong Yu laughed lightly. "The trapped beasts are trying to fight back? In truth, you are all merely moths throwing yourselves towards a flame. You are only speeding up your own deaths."

He then gave the order, "Archers, get ready. This battle will come to an end soon."

In the central region of the city, a huge crowd was being rallied as they were about charge ahead. The enemy's archers started drawing back their longbows as they took aim at their targets.

However, right then, Su Yu suddenly let out a long sigh, as if he had just been relieved of a great burden. It also sounded like he had just completed a very grueling task.

Bang.

The Heavenly Law Alliance's members suddenly cried out in surprise. Su Yu had exploded right there! His body then turned into pieces of crystal, which gradually floated away.

"An illusion?" the commander murmured.

He was shell-shocked. He had been standing next to Su Yu for so long, yet had not noticed that it was actually Su Yu's clone that was beside him! So, he had to wonder...

If that is the case, then where is the actual Su Yu?

"Archers, get ready. This battle shall indeed come to an end soon..." These words were spoken by Su Yu's clone, who was slowly fading away. His voice sounded very scattered and could not be heard clearly.

"Under the ground!" Commander Hong Yu suddenly looked towards the ground as his facial expression changed drastically. "There is a trap under the ground. Back off immediately!"

However, it was already too late...