Chapter 328: Facing a Formidable Foe, There Is Only Battle

Chapter 328: Chapter 328: Facing a Formidable Foe, There Is Only Battle

Although Che Dagui had sustained some injuries, a short rest was all he needed to get back into the fight.

This contingent of the Northern Domain Army only had three Void Realm experts, all of whom had already been slain by Chu Fan. With two Void Realm Cultivators, Chu Fan and Che Dagui, leading the charge into the enemy ranks, who could possibly stand against them?

The Northern Domain Cultivators had already lost their will to fight after the deaths of Zhe Ye and the other two. Now, seeing Chu Fan and Che Dagui leading an assault with their own Cultivators, they were practically scared out of their wits.

Before the two sides even clashed, dozens of Northern Domain Cultivators turned and fled north.

Strictly speaking, the Northern Domain’s soldiers were actually quite a bit stronger than Great Xia’s. After all, most of the Northern Domain people were nomadic tribes who lived on horseback from birth, raised in a harsh environment governed by the law of the jungle, where the weak were prey for the strong.

However, the deaths of the three Void Realm experts dealt a massive blow to the morale of the Northern Domain soldiers. As a result, the subsequent battle turned into a complete one-sided slaughter.

For Chu Fan, the Eastern Domain was the land that had raised him, and Great Xia was a nation unified through his efforts.

He would not allow anyone to invade Great Xia. Since the Northern Domain dared to attack, annihilation was the only answer Chu Fan would give them.

After slaughtering every Northern Domain Cultivator he could and striking terror into their hearts, Chu Fan left the task of wiping out the remaining Northern Domain soldiers to Che Dagui and his men.

He himself took Yun Xi and entered the city.

His first task was to have Lan Bing’s arrow wound treated. Secondly, he wanted to see if there were any others with injuries from last night’s battle that were difficult to heal. After Yun Xi treated them, he and she would rush to the other three border towns.

Compared to Beisui, the battle at Xingyuan was far more brutal.

This was because the general leading the assault on Xingyuan City was Goyelda, brother of the Southern Garden King of the Dahar Khan Kingdom. He was a Cultivator himself and possessed a Tier Three Void Realm cultivation.

This army consisted of 150,000 soldiers and had the most Cultivators of the four invading forces.

From the moment they launched their attack on Xingyuan City, the assault had not stopped for a full day and night.

Moreover, this Goyelda was a skilled commander. He rotated through several battle formations, and while both sides suffered casualties, Great Xia’s losses were clearly several times higher than the Northern Domain’s.

Liu Yisheng was wounded by a Profound-Breaking Arrow early in the fight, not knowing what they were. He fought on for more than four hours before finally being forced to retreat from the front lines due to excessive blood loss.

Liu Yicai rushed to the scene when he heard the news, but he was ultimately outnumbered. As a single Void Realm expert, how could he possibly be a match for two of them working together?

By the end of the noon hour, Liu Yicai was also critically injured and on the verge of death.

Of the Eastern Domain Cultivators sent to Xingyuan City, fewer than three in ten remained by the end of the noon hour.

More than half of Great Xia’s defending army had also been wiped out, and Xingyuan City was on the verge of collapse.

It seemed that two more strong assaults from the Northern Domain would be enough to break the city, but then, Goyelda suddenly ordered a rest for half an hour.

Although the forces of Great Xia couldn’t figure out what Goyelda was thinking, they took advantage of the rare opportunity to rest. Both the exhausted Cultivators and soldiers seized every moment they could.

They didn’t realize that with victory already in his grasp, Goyelda was merely toying with them.

It was like a cat playing with a mouse before finally eating it.

Standing on his war chariot, Goyelda gazed at the battered walls of Xingyuan City, a vicious, cruel smile spreading across his lips.

"These ants from the Eastern Domain actually thought that by killing our spies and making preparations in advance, they could withstand the might of my Dahar Khan Kingdom’s army. Truly a fool’s dream."

"My Prince, with just one more push, we can break this city before nightfall. Why are we stopping now? The Eastern Domain was prepared, and all four of our armies are advancing simultaneously. If our contingent falls behind the others, won’t we become a laughingstock?"

The Vice General advised in a low voice from the side.

"Have you never played the horse-hunting game on the Grassland?" Goyelda asked.

The two Void Realm Cultivators standing beside them burst into loud laughter.

The Vice General immediately understood Goyelda’s meaning. The horse-hunting game on the Grassland involved cornering defiant wild horses. Though they had more than enough strength to tame the horses directly, they would instead pretend to be evenly matched, lashing out again and again, only to give the horses a sliver of hope each time.

Just when the wild horses were about to fall into despair, they would be given a glimmer of hope.

After several rounds of this, the horses would be completely consumed by despair, forced to shed the defiance in their very bones and become utterly docile.

Clearly, in Goyelda’s mind, the people of the Eastern Domain—be they Cultivators or common soldiers—were nothing more than a herd of defiant wild horses.

"There are only three Void Realm Cultivators in this city, and we’ve already beaten them to within an inch of their lives. If I were to act personally, the city gates would fall instantly. But an opportunity for live-fire training like this is rare. Victory is already in the bag, so why quibble over a bit of time?" Goyelda said with a sneer, his sharp gaze fixed on the distant city walls.

"Issue the order. For the remainder of the battle, divide our remaining one hundred twenty thousand troops into three waves. The waves will attack in rotation for half an hour each. After one full cycle, the entire army will rest for a quarter of an hour. I want to make them bind their own hands and surrender."

A quarter of an hour later, the first wave of troops launched another attack on Xingyuan City.

However, just as this wave of soldiers was only a few hundred yards from the city wall, a figure came flying in from the west.

The figure arrived, and with a light wave of the Long Sword in his hand, a chasm hundreds of yards long and thirty feet wide appeared before the forty-thousand-strong army.

The suddenly formed chasm blocked their path. Some who were charging ahead on horseback plunged directly into the trench, where they were torn to shreds by the lingering Sword Qi.

"Who goes there?"

Goyelda narrowed his eyes, a cold glint in his gaze as he stared at the distant Chu Fan. A Tier Three Void Realm Cultivator beside him shouted the challenge at Chu Fan.

Chu Fan let out a cold snort. Seeing the pillars of smoke rising from Xingyuan City and smelling the suffocating stench of blood, he was already filled with uncontrollable rage.

"You are not worthy to know who I am. My Eastern Domain has never provoked you people from the Northern Domain. For what you have done today, you all deserve to die!"

"HAHAHA!"

Upon hearing Chu Fan’s words, the men of the Northern Domain burst into loud, mocking laughter.

Although the might of the sword strike that heralded Chu Fan’s arrival was immense, the Northern Domain People paid him no mind. After all, they had three Void Realm Martial Artists on their side.

The strongest expert in the entire Eastern Domain was merely a Tier One Void Realm—this was something they had thoroughly investigated long ago. So what difference could Chu Fan’s appearance possibly make?

"Kid, to be able to display such Sword Momentum at your young age is truly remarkable. But you think you alone can stop our army of hundreds of thousands?" the Void Realm Cultivator said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

However, the moment the words left his mouth, Chu Fan’s figure suddenly vanished.

Just as a flicker of shock crossed his mind, a bone-deep chill washed over him, and he was enveloped by a sense of mortal danger.

He instinctively assumed a defensive stance, but in the next instant, blood was already erupting from his neck, spraying onto the men beside him.

Someone cried out in alarm. Gor Yel even leaped to his feet on the war chariot and roared, "If you have any guts, fight a real battle! What kind of hero uses such despicable tricks?"