Chapter 390 - Success or Failure in Heaven
When Bi Hongzhang heard Xiang Yun's decision, he was immediately dumbfounded. Such a large beast tide had already gathered in Northwestern Prefecture, which was even closer to the Northwest. Perhaps it had already long since become a sea of clouds.
"Your highness, if we go against the current, I'm afraid that the cloud wave will become stronger and stronger. If we fall into an endless tide of beasts, I'm afraid that we will be the only ones!"
Bi Hongzhang did not finish his sentence, but the meaning was obvious. Doing so was tantamount to suicide.
"Not too far, about five hundred miles."
That's right, if we were to move towards the south, then the beast tide would spread for more than two thousand miles, and it would continue to grow deeper. If we were to move towards the south, then we would probably end up being attacked by cloud beasts after running for thousands of miles.
Xiang Yun continued, "But if we head northwest, although there will be an increasing number of Cloud Beasts, we will only need to travel several hundred kilometers to find shelter in the Western Lion Country."
"If we stop every hundred li or so, and use our formation to temporarily separate out a resting area, we can reorganize ourselves and then continue to charge forward. After so many times, we will definitely be able to reach the Western Lion Country, and this way, we can ensure that the civilians and the wounded will be able to stay in the city."
"Haha, you flatter me too much!"
After the two of them had reached an agreement, they began to draw up a plan for their journey.
As for the Snow Wolf Cavalry and the PaG.o.da Armoured Cavalry, they only numbered over three thousand. It was already difficult for three thousand people to pa.s.s through the beast tide, so it was naturally even more difficult to protect these one thousand people.
It was a good thing that more than half of the soldiers of the Beishan County could still fight. Thus, Xiang Yun decided that the army would remain in a triangular formation, the Snow Wolf Cavalry leading the way, and the Buddha Armoured Cavalry supporting and defending the Cloud Beasts from both sides.
The people and the wounded were in the middle of the triangular formation while the soldiers who could still fight were at the back of the triangular formation. This would ensure the speed of the troops and also ensure the safety of the citizens of the Northern Sage County!
With regards to this arrangement, Bi Hongzhang naturally did not have any objections. He immediately went down to give the order, and Xiang Yun also instructed the Snow Wolf Cavalry and PaG.o.da Cavalry on this matter. Everyone continued to rest and recover until a quarter of an hour before this great formation was about to break!
The thousands of people formed a spear-like triangular formation, gathering at the southeastern edge of the great formation. Xiang Yun was still at the spear-like position at the very front of the group, and beside him, aside from Ma Duan and Zhu Kai, there was another person.
No matter how many people tried to dissuade him, Hong Zhang still decided to rush to the front of the group. In his words, since his highness the crown prince was already on the front lines, how could I, a dignified county governor, fall behind?
He turned his head to look at the people behind him. Whether it was the Snow Wolf Cavalry, the PaG.o.da Cavalry, or the soldiers of the Northern Good County, their eyes were all filled with determination at this moment!
Everyone was well aware of the current situation. If one wanted to stay here, they could only sit back and wait for death. If they wanted to survive, they would have to carve out a path of blood for themselves!
"Life and death are decided by fate, success and failure are decided by the Heavens!"
Xiang Yun's gaze swept across everyone as he spoke in a loud and clear voice, "Brothers, in this charge, there will definitely be sacrifices, and there might even be the possibility of our entire army being annihilated. However, please believe firmly in your victory over the Heavens!"
These soldiers and civilians in front of him were all citizens of the Northwest Continent. Xiang Yun felt that he had a responsibility to protect them in their entirety!
Hearing Xiang Yun's words, everyone's eyes lit up. The soldiers gripped their sabers and spears even more tightly than before. In the eyes of the commoners in the middle of the troop, the fire of hope burned even hotter!
With such a n.o.ble son charging in front of them with his precious body, what was there for them to be afraid of!
Immediately after, the second person, the third person, and finally, everyone shouted out!
"We vow to follow the crown prince to our deaths!" "I vow to follow the crown prince to my death!"
Just as this sound reached its peak in the nine heavens, Xiang Yun suddenly waved the Blue Profound Sword in his hand, and a sword light shot out, striking the silver formation disc in the air in front of him!
"Boom!" The array disc exploded with a loud bang, and smoke began to rise from all four sides of the array formation!
With a single command, the entire army charged forward!
Like a triangular iron chariot, the army accelerated within the range of the formation, rus.h.i.+ng from the southeast edge to the northwest edge of the formation. At this moment, the formation just happened to have completely disappeared, and the army's speed had increased, meeting the cloud beasts rus.h.i.+ng towards them!
Xiang Yun directly struck out with a single hand, causing the air in front of him to be filled with a b.l.o.o.d.y mist!
Ma Duan and Zhu Kai also brandished their long spears at the same time. Countless spear energies swept out like countless long chains, piercing through rows after rows of cloud beasts' bodies!
"Thousand Li Tyrant Blade!"
The four of them were the spearpoint, and their unstoppable killing intent shocked the heavens!
The Snow Wolf Cavalry of three hundred elite soldiers, the spear pointed at the edge, regardless of what angle the previous Cloud Beasts attacked, they would all be killed by this gathering sharp energy!
When the great army finally broke out of the horde of cloud beasts, their faces, bodies, and even their warhorses had already been drenched in blood. They were like a squad of Blood Armored Death Soldiers pointing their spears towards the northwest, leaving nothing behind!
Along the way, they continued to kill many different groups of cloud beasts. However, the army formed by these thousands of people continued to advance forward. They were like an unbreakable iron bucket, opening the path with their blood!
After the first one hundred miles of journey, the Snow Wolf Cavalry and the PaG.o.da Armoured Cavalry immediately changed formation. The Snow Wolf Cavalry had set up a garrotte formation, working together with the Buddha Armoured Cavalry to build up a defensive formation.
As soon as the array formation was completed, everyone retreated back into the great array. They were temporarily protected by the great array, separated from the horde of Cloud Beasts in the outside world!
After completely activating the great formation, Xiang Yun couldn't help but pant heavily as he plopped down on his b.u.t.t. Bi Hongzhang was also lying on his back, exhausted. As the battle continued, his old bones were about to break apart.
Even though Xiang Yun was only at the Yellow Cloud Realm, the number of Cloud Beasts that had died at his hands was actually more than the number of Cloud Beasts that Bi Hongzhang, Zhu Kai, and Ma Qin, the three Mystical Cloud Realm martial pract.i.tioners had killed.
Bi Hongzhang couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Hearing this, Xiang Yun's heart revealed a bitter smile, he didn't even have the strength to reply.
Although they had only covered a distance of one hundred Li, it could be said that Xiang Yun had used all his might and killed countless Cloud Beasts along the way in order to boost everyone's morale.
At this time, Ma Duan, Qi Haowei, and the rest came to report on the casualties. In this Hundred Miles charge, the number of cloud beasts they had encountered was enormous. Under these circ.u.mstances, it would be impossible for them to survive.
According to the crowd's statistics, there were twenty Snow Wolf Cavalry Soldiers, three dead, two hundred Floating Spear Cavalry Soldiers, and fifty dead. As for the soldiers of the Beishan County, because they only lost back, and with the support of the PaG.o.da Steel Cavalry, they only lost around thirty people.
Hearing this, Xiang Yun's expression turned slightly heavy. However, everything was within expectations. Xiang Yun instructed that these soldiers who had lost their lives should be recorded down so that their families could be compensated in the future.
Outside of the formation, the cloud beasts gathered and continuously attacked the barrier. The inside of the formation was filled with the fragrance of meat. Everyone was devouring the meat of the cloud beasts.
At this moment, it was as if the rules of the ancient deep forest were being followed. The strong preyed on the weak. The Cloud Beast ate the human, and the human had to eat the Cloud Beast as well.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they immediately began to rest. The Cloud Warriors took this time to meditate and cultivate, while the ordinary people immediately began to replenish their sleep. Everyone only had four hours to rest, so they had to cherish their time!
Xiang Yun had not chosen to meditate and cultivate. This was because if he were to cultivate, the strange phenomenon that would occur would be somewhat shocking. He would then use the Turtle Resting Technique to rest and enter the semi-conscious state of the Great Void Sect, constantly monitoring the situation within the great formation.
Under the state of Turtle Rest Technique, the Art of Creation could be entered into a half-circulation state which could recover both Yun Li and the soul. It could be said that the efficiency of a full recovery was extremely high!
"Crack!"
Four hours later, as the array disc began to crack and Xiang Yun woke up, the Cloud Beasts outside had already gathered into several surging waves, constantly cras.h.i.+ng against the great array, about to exceed the burden of the great array!
"Prepare the entire army for battle!"
The army immediately regrouped. The moment the formation was broken, they charged again. It was another b.l.o.o.d.y battle!
After the group reached the next hundred miles, they once again set up the formation. As they continued to go deeper into the northwest border, the number of casualties increased.
Watching their comrades and relatives torn into pieces one by one in the beast tide, the crowd did not mourn or cry, but chose to coldly fight with these wild beasts. Everyone held in their emotions, holding in their grief, fear, and sadness, all for the sake of living!
This time, Xiang Yun directly placed down two formations for the fourth time, allowing everyone to rest for a full six hours!
There was no other reason. After four consecutive attacks, the number of casualties in the army was already not small. Furthermore, regardless of physical or mental fort.i.tude, they could not continue fighting for a short period of time.
What was even more crucial was that the cloud beast tide outside the formation wasn't just in numbers. The cloud beast level had also quietly risen, and the difficulty in killing them had risen again and again!
As for the Western Lion Country, they were eighty li away. Xiang Yun planned to finish this battle in one go and succeed or lose in this final charge!