Douluo Continent: Changing just one word ruined the entire character's persona.

One side, with overwhelming momentum, launched an attack led by as many as six thousand Soul Masters, possessing an absolute numerical advantage.

On the other side, however, their momentum had waned, with the Jialing Pass city walls and four drawbridges behind them. In the clash of these steel torrents...

Human lives are being ruthlessly harvested by death, like weeds.

The Holy Dragon Legion was facing the Zhuge Legion's Zhuge Divine Crossbow.

At this moment, however, the Heaven Dou Empire's Soul Master Legion was facing ordinary soldiers.

Despite their heavy armor,

But what use are these heavy armors against a Soul Master?

Fire and ice attribute soul skills were the first to appear on the battlefield.

It was the students from the Four Elements Academy who unleashed their power!

Fire and water are merciless.

These two absolute elemental forces are simply beyond the reach of any armor. Following closely behind...

It is the central assault force composed of disciples from the Tang Clan's Imperial Hall and Medicine Hall.

The disciples of the Imperial Hall were in front, and the disciples of the Medicine Hall were behind.

They were paired up. The heavy armored soldiers' attacks landed on the plate-armored rhinoceros-like defenses of the Midō disciples, offering little more than a scratch.

but,

The Soul-Piercing Spears that pierced the shoulders and ribs of the disciples caused their armor to be torn apart as easily as paper.

Almost every step the disciples of the Imperial Palace took forward,

Two hundred bodies are about to fall in the heavily armored legion of the Martial Soul Empire.

Six thousand Soul Masters are like a sharp knife.

It plunged deep into enemy territory. This should have occurred during the attack on the Heaven Dou Empire's heavy armored legion by the Spirit Empire.

However, this time it appeared on the Spirit Empire's own heavy armored legion. The casualties were so heavy that they drew attention.

At the Jialing Pass, generals from the various kingdoms and duchies that make up the Martial Soul Empire were kneeling in a sea of ​​kneeling.

"Your Majesty, please send the Soul Master Legion to rescue us! Our heavy armored legion is about to collapse."

"Yes, Your Majesty. These are our elite troops."

"We only have these 80,000 heavily armed troops at Jialing Pass."

"If the Heavenly Dou Empire breaches our defenses, how will we defend the pass?"

"Your Majesty, the First Heavy Cavalry Legion is about to be wiped out. Please give the order immediately."

"If this continues, the heavy armored legion will be finished."

……

Heavy armored legions are extremely important in any country; the financial resources required to form one heavy armored legion are almost equal to those of ten infantry legions.

Both in terms of equipment and soldier quality, it is the highest in the military system.

Originally kingdoms and duchies belonging to the two great empires of Tiandou and Xingluo,

It's already quite difficult for any country to have one or two heavy armored legions.

At this moment, watching these precious troops being slaughtered one after another under the onslaught of the Heavenly Dou Empire's army,

How could they not feel heartbroken?

Bibi Dong looked at the generals before her with a solemn expression.

He said decisively, "The Soul Master Legion can no longer fight. I've said it before, we must not take any more risks until we figure out what those weapons that are killing so many Soul Masters are."

"You must understand that while the heavy armor legion is important, the Soul Master legion is what plays the decisive role."

"As long as the Angel Legion is still here, with the natural barrier of Jialing Pass, we are not afraid of being breached by the Heavenly Dou Empire."

"Come on! Pass on my order: deploy all ranged attacks to cover the heavy infantry's retreat."

"The angelic legion guards within the city walls. If enemy troops attempt to break in, intercept them immediately."

Upon hearing Bibi Dong's orders, the kneeling generals exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes filled with resentment.

Of course, they dared not disobey Bibi Dong's orders.

After all, no one wants to live too long.

But in their hearts, a dark seed had already been quietly planted.

Bibi Dong's actions inevitably gave them a sense of...

Your Soul Master Legion is elite.

It gave me the feeling that our soldiers weren't human.

The generals fell silent.

But their angry but silent demeanor only made Bibi Dong feel more frustrated.

Since the founding of the Spirit Empire, she has always been full of confidence.

But only now did she realize that

In actual battlefield command, I am ultimately not a seasoned commander.

Commanding Soul Masters in battle is acceptable.

But when the battlefield descended into chaos, her mind became somewhat unsettled.

Even after becoming a god, there are still some things that cannot be made up for.

Of course, this was not enough to change Bibi Dong's decision.

In her heart, nothing was more important than the Soul Masters under her command.

The giant crossbows guarding Jialing Pass began to unleash their power.

With the help of a large number of archers, they continuously hurled large swaths of arrows down on the city walls.

Marshal Goron was well prepared.

Seeing that their own troops had entered the enemy's long-range attack range, they immediately issued orders.

The ten light cavalry legions that charged into the battlefield from both flanks quickly dispersed, forming a large arc from both sides.

It swept away to the rear.

They didn't go far.

Instead, they regrouped five miles from the main battlefield, ready to provide support to the front lines at any time.

Ordinary arrows posed no threat whatsoever to heavily armored cavalry.

Each of the heavily armored cavalrymen was like a tin can.

Even their warhorses were encased in armor.

The arrows could only leave a trail of sparks on their armor.

The real threat comes from the giant crossbows used to defend the city.

There are as many as 150 giant crossbows guarding Jialing Pass.

Each bolt used by the giant crossbow was 1.2 meters long, and when it was suddenly fired...

Within a kilometer range, its attack power surpasses that of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.

Even an ordinary Soul Master would never dare to let it hit them head-on.

Of course, the firing speed of the defensive giant crossbow could not compare to that of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.

With proper preparation, it would be difficult for these giant crossbows to hit a Soul Master. Moreover, the crossbow bolts themselves are enormous.

This also allows high-level Soul Masters to be prepared and intercept their attacks.

Even so, under the fire of the giant crossbows,

The casualties on the side of the Heaven Dou Empire began to increase.

The eight heavy armored legions of the Martial Soul Empire fought and retreated simultaneously.

They had long lost their will to fight. When the vast majority of the soldiers retreated to the other side of the drawbridge...

After holding the strategic position,

Only with the help of the giant crossbows and arrows on the city walls did the situation finally stabilize.

After several attacks were thwarted,

Marshal Goron immediately issued the order to retreat.

The Heavenly Dou Empire deployed only cavalry this time. Although heavy cavalry could not match the speed of light cavalry...

But they are also much faster than infantry in action.

As the soldiers retreated like a receding tide,

Marshal Golong led the Soul Master Legion to provide cover from behind, in case the Spirit Empire launched a counterattack.

The Heavenly Dou Empire's army retreated five miles like a receding tide.

They stopped under Marshal Goron's command.

Rearrange them into a neat formation.

They made it appear as if they were ready to launch a second attack at any moment.

At this moment, Zhuge's army had already begun to move again.

However, this time they weren't attacking; instead, they were quickly cleaning up the battlefield.

Each crossbow bolt forged by the Tang Clan is extremely valuable.

Moreover, their own supplies consisted of only 120 sticks.

Adding the original forty-eight crossbow bolts, each soldier in Zhuge's Legion was only equipped with one hundred and sixty-eight crossbow bolts.

Therefore, they had to retrieve the crossbow bolts fired from the battlefield for reuse. This is also why Marshal Goron did not lead the army to retreat directly back to their own territory.

With them in front as a deterrent,

The Martial Soul Empire army on the Jialing Pass side dared not make any rash moves.

This was a perfect victory, a perfect victory that no one expected.

With its overwhelming numerical advantage, the Heaven Dou Empire used this battle to almost suffocate the opposing Spirit Empire.

Not only was morale low, but the assembled generals were also shrouded in gloom.

They even felt a bit schadenfreude about the Holy Dragon Legion's losses.

After all, the Soul Master Legion's lofty status has always been the object of envy.

Moreover, the relationship between the arrogant and domineering Soul Masters of the Martial Soul Empire and these ordinary generals and soldiers was already tense.

Marshal Goron was currently contemplating whether to launch another charge.

Now is the moment when our morale is at its highest and the enemy's morale is at its lowest.

"Your Majesty, I suggest we try another one."

"Perhaps we have a chance to break into the city. Even if we don't, we can afford to fight a war of attrition."

Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, was on the edge of the battlefield.

The presence of His Majesty and his soldiers was undoubtedly a major reason for the surge in morale.

I wonder how many people tried to dissuade Qian Renxue from stepping back, saying it was too dangerous.

But she rejected them all.

Nothing could threaten her under God.

"Strategically, the marshal should be in charge."

"I am not good at marching and fighting."

"However, I personally believe that now is not a good time to charge."

"Although morale at Jialing Pass is low, the soldiers of the Spirit Empire know what it would mean for them if the pass were breached."

"Most importantly, there is an elite Soul Master legion of the Spirit Empire behind the pass."

"Marshal, please don't let your guard down just because we defeated the enemy's Soul Master Legion today."

"You saw the true strength of the Soul Master Legion when we attacked them just now."

"Our six thousand soul masters are far from being comparable to any soul master legion of the Spirit Empire."

"They are holding a defensive position, which prevents our Zhuge Legion's Zhuge Crossbows from being used effectively. If we were to charge forward, we would likely suffer heavy losses."

Upon hearing Qian Renxue's words, Ge Long immediately nodded in agreement.

"Alright. We've won a great victory in our first battle, so it's indeed not wise to take too many risks."

"Relay my order to the entire army: sound the retreat."

……

"My dear sister, you have lost this battle."

Qian Renxue used her divine sense to send a message to Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong's face turned ashen; she hadn't expected to lose.

She didn't know what those things were that could cause a lot of damage to low-level Soul Masters.

The other party is Qian Renxue.

He knew everything about the Spirit Hall, and he knew how many spies were within the Heaven Dou Empire.

Since those undercover agents were removed, very little is known about the internal situation.

They were hit with a serious information gap.

"Xiaoxue, don't be so smug. You will eventually fall into my hands."

For the past few days, the Heavenly Dou Empire's army has been routinely launching attacks.

However, Jialing Pass remained closed, and the damaged city walls were quickly repaired.

Despite the Heavenly Dou Empire's army hurling insults and curses at them, they refused to engage in battle again.

Qian Renxue also challenged Bibi Dong to come out of the city and fight, but she never did.

The Heavenly Dou Empire also deployed siege equipment to test the waters, but with little success and considerable losses.

When you want to take over a city

The best approach is to force the opponent into battle.

The next option is to besiege the city, surrounding it without attacking, and cutting off its supplies.

The worst thing is a siege.

Even if a city could be captured, the very act of attacking it would come at a considerable cost.

Because no matter how many soldiers attack a city, only a limited number can be deployed at any given time. The city walls are only so big, and the defenders have a commanding position looking down from above.

If one person can exert the strength of many people, even if they manage to conquer the enemy, the effort they put in may far outweigh the reward.

When Zhuge Liang's army's hidden weapons became ineffective, the Soul Master army from within the pass joined the defensive formation.

Even with a million-strong army, the Heavenly Dou Empire could hardly cross the line.

Inside Qian Renxue's military tent,

Most of the top personnel from the Heavenly Dou Empire who participated in the war are already here.

Your Majesty Qian Renxue, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, Titan, the Hall Master of the Power Hall of the Tang Sect, the Hall Master of the Battle Hall of the Tang Sect and the former Grand Elder of the Haotian Sect, Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, Sword Douluo Chen Xin, Bone Douluo Gu Rong, Elder of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, Flander, the Dean of Shrek Academy, Marshal Golong...

Qian Renxue spoke slowly,

"Everyone's here, let's start the meeting."

"Although our army achieved a great victory in the first battle, severely damaging the Spirit Empire's army and the Spirit Master Legion, the current situation is still very unfavorable for us."

"Our army appears to be a million strong, with an imposing presence. The pressure on the Martial Soul Empire's army at Jialing Pass has deterred them from launching another attack."

"But in reality, Jialing Pass, with its natural defenses, had a much easier time than we did."

"We must be on guard against any possible surprise attack from them, but they have no such concerns at all."

"At the same time, and most importantly, because our army is so large, the consumption of supplies is astronomical."

"We cannot afford to delay. Although we have been preparing for years, if this drags on, our logistics will not be able to keep up, and our army will collapse without a fight."

"The Spirit Empire appears to have a much smaller army than us, but with the natural barrier of Jialing Pass and their massive number of spirit masters, it will be very difficult for us to break through."

"Even if you want to engage in a war of attrition with your opponent, it's not an easy task."

"The Spirit Empire has tens of thousands of Spirit Masters, while we only have a few thousand. If we don't deploy Spirit Masters, our troop losses during the siege will be terrifying."

"If we send out Soul Masters, we simply can't afford the cost."

"Therefore, our situation is not optimistic. We must change this situation as soon as possible."

"Either we find a good way to overcome this challenge, or we can lure the Martial Soul Empire out of seclusion to fight again."

"What we're going to discuss in today's meeting is how to achieve both of these possibilities."

Upon hearing Qian Renxue's words, almost everyone frowned.

Jialing Pass is like a seamless fortress.

The city was incredibly fortified, with a large army of Soul Masters serving as its defensive backbone.

In this situation, the Zhuge Legion, which the Heaven Dou Empire used to counter the Soul Master Legion of the Spirit Empire, could not play its full role.

Effectively kill the opponent's Soul Master.

The trouble they understood was something the Spirit Empire naturally understood as well.

The purpose of this defensive posture is to wear down Tiandou. (End of Chapter)