Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 454 Total Collapse

As intelligence continued to arrive, one piece of bad news after another emerged. In order to allow the main force to withdraw from the range of the Sun Moon Empire's soul-guided cannon fire, the White Tiger Duke led the White Tiger Guard to cover the rear, suffering extremely heavy losses at the front. At the same time, the Western Army Group also suffered a devastating blow, as the Sun Moon Empire also deployed level-nine fixed-mount soul-guided cannon shells.

Conservative estimates suggest that the Sun Moon Empire used at least six Level 9 fixed-position soul-guided cannon shells in this operation.

Hearing one bad news after another, Ji Lin shook his head, then looked up at the sky. There wasn't a single high-altitude detection soul tool in the air above Yuming City; there were only some soul power detection soul tools on the city walls. In terms of defense, it was incomparably inferior to the Sunrise City of the Sun Moon Empire. This was the difference in technology! He wondered how long the Star Luo Empire could hold out. What if they were defeated before they were even fully prepared? That would be no fun at all.

The Star Luo Empire cannot be so easily defeated. It must at least hold on until the other two great empires are defeated, and until Ji Lin takes over the Star Luo Empire.

With Xu Jiawei's cooperation, Ji Lin could establish a new empire based on the Star Luo Empire, but the prerequisite is that the old forces of the Star Luo Empire must be purged. This task cannot be carried out by Xu Jiawei or Ji Lin's Zizai Sect. It would be best if they died in the war with the Sun Moon Empire.

Soon, defeated soldiers retreating from the front lines appeared outside Yuming City. It was a complete rout! Large numbers of soldiers were retreating from the west, dejected and many of them were injured. Even the ranks seemed somewhat chaotic.

As the defeated army entered the city, more detailed intelligence came in. It turned out that the Sun Moon Empire's surprise attack was even more ruthless than he had imagined. The Star Luo Empire's aerial detection was too weak, which allowed the Sun Moon Empire to send a large number of powerful warriors into the Western Frontier in batches for a surprise attack. They launched level-nine fixed-position soul-guided cannon shells. After the terrifying power of the level-nine fixed-position soul-guided cannon shells raged, these experts rushed into the chaotic military camp, killing officers and creating chaos, causing the Northwest Army Group to fall into chaos.

If it weren't for Duke Baihu's strict military discipline and strong control over the army, the defeat would have been even more devastating, with more than 70,000 casualties on the front lines.

According to the defeated soldiers, after the terrifying explosion, beams of light continued to fall from the sky, destroying the Star Luo Empire's stronghold on the mountaintop. Then, a large number of flying Soul Masters entered the Mingdou Mountains and began a full-scale massacre.

This is a combat method that paves the way with high-end combat power. Moreover, through the flight capabilities of the Soul Master Corps and the absolute advantage of the air force, the Sun Moon Empire has gained air superiority and fully utilized its own advantages.

The Star Luo Empire had always known that it lagged behind the Sun Moon Empire in terms of soul tools, but it wasn't until this all-out war broke out that they realized just how big that gap really was.

Yes, the gap is just too big, too big.

With the terrifying power of the soul tool, the defensive fortifications of traditional warfare are far from sufficient to resist the offensive of the Sun Moon Empire. The Sun Moon Empire came prepared. With the loss of the defense along the Mingdou Mountain Range, the Star Luo Empire is in big trouble and may very well collapse.

Ji Lin lowered his head in thought. After a moment's thought, he headed towards the Mingdou Mountains. He needed to go to the battlefield to check the situation and get a direct understanding of the Sun Moon Empire's fighting strength. He needed to assess whether the Star Luo Empire could withstand the attack. If they couldn't, he would have to find a way to help. If the Star Luo Empire was the first to be destroyed, it would not benefit him at all, but would only cause him trouble.

Yuming City is only 200 kilometers away from the battlefield. It won't take long to fly there. In the distance, Ji Lin could already feel strong soul power fluctuations erupting ahead. The sky had already darkened, and in the night, it was even more obvious that different colored lights were constantly flashing on the border.

He quickly noticed the changes in the Mingdou Mountains.

A huge gap appeared on the Mingdou Mountains. The gap looked jagged and extremely ferocious, and the gap itself was charred black. It was clearly caused by the bombardment of a terrifying level nine fixed-position soul-guided cannon shell with explosive force. From a great distance, it could be seen that a large number of soldiers from the Sun Moon Empire were entering the territory of the Star Luo Empire through the gap.

The Star Luo Empire's defenses have completely collapsed. The remaining Star Luo Empire army has been utterly routed. About ten kilometers away, a large number of high-altitude detection soul tools and ground detection soul tools are densely packed in the sky. Below, the soul tool array constructed by soul masters has gradually taken shape, and the light that was occasionally flashing before has gradually disappeared.

The Northwest Army Group's positions were completely lost in just half a day.

Ji Lin hovered in the air, his heart filled with astonishment. Although he knew that the military strength of the Sun Moon Empire was far superior to that of the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, he never expected that the strongest fighting force of the Star Luo Empire would be so easily defeated!

Ji Lin did not see the White Tiger Duke's troops or figures on his way here, so he guessed that they had either been annihilated or retreated in other directions.

The Northwest Army Group is stationed not only on the western border, but also close to the Heavenly Soul Empire. From here, it is less than 500 kilometers north to reach the border of the Heavenly Soul Empire. If Duke Baihu is still alive and has not retreated towards Yuming City, then he must have retreated to the north.

Ji Lin pondered for a moment, then smiled slightly. As expected of Duke White Tiger, a man who had spent his entire life on the battlefield, his battlefield instincts were truly incredibly sharp. This time, the Sun Moon Empire's sudden, undeclared attack was undoubtedly aimed at Duke White Tiger. And the Sun Moon Empire was willing to go to any lengths to kill him; their strongest forces were probably all focused on him. His retreat to the north was precisely to draw away these forces, giving the defeated army time to retreat. Otherwise, those Soul Master Legion members of the Sun Moon Empire were flying in the air, and the damage they could inflict on ordinary soldiers would be far too severe.

As the commander-in-chief, not only did he not retreat first, but he also risked his life to buy time for the army to retreat. This is something that ordinary people cannot do.

Putting aside their positions, Duke Baihu is indeed a qualified commander. If possible, Ji Lin would like to subdue him. Duke Baihu's lineage has always been pragmatic; otherwise, they wouldn't have directly ceded the throne to Xingguan Sect. This is not something an ordinary person can do. In this war, Duke Baihu's lineage will bear the brunt, since their foundation is the army. After this battle, it is unknown how much strength Duke Baihu's lineage will have left.

Ji Lin was not worried about Duke Baihu. After all, if he could give up the throne, what else couldn't he give up?

Ji Lin flew north, activating his mental detection. Sure enough, there were many traces of battle on the ground, left by soul tools, soul masters, and armies. Occasionally, some corpses could be seen. From these traces, it was clear that the battle was quite fierce, but the number of people involved was not too large, at most no more than ten thousand. However, these were undoubtedly the elite of both sides.

On the Star Luo Empire side, although there are few Soul Masters and Soul Guidance Devices, the number of true Soul Masters is unmatched by the Sun Moon Empire. On the Northwest Army Group side, there is at least one Soul Master Legion of more than a thousand people, all of whom are true Soul Masters. Although they are not the White Tiger Guards, they only obey the orders and commands of the White Tiger Duke.

Throughout the Star Luo Empire, there are as many as ten such Soul Master Legions. However, Xu Jiawei is not a fool. Although he trusts Duke Baihu, he cannot entrust such a powerful force to Duke Baihu for command. Each of the several army groups is only assigned one such Soul Master Legion.

Flying along the traces of the battle, the speed naturally cannot be too fast. The faster you fly forward, the more you can understand the Sun Moon Empire's killing intent towards Duke White Tiger.

From some of the corpses, he could tell that at least two Soul Master Corps were chasing Duke White Tiger and his group, and both were members of the Sun Moon Empire's Guardian Hand.

Ji Lin recognized one of them; he had wiped out a third of the members of the Evil Lord Soul Master Corps. The other, judging from the military uniform on the corpse, should be a member of the Terror Claw Soul Master Corps.

As Beast King-level Soul Master Legions, both legions are equipped with top-tier equipment and a large number of high-level Soul Tools. Their average combat strength is above that of a Level 4 Soul Master, and they are extremely skilled in teamwork between Soul Masters.

After flying for more than half an hour, covering at least another two hundred kilometers, Ji Lin finally saw faint flashes of light in the distance.

The flashes of light were extremely rapid, demonstrating the intensity of the battle.

From afar, Ji Lin could see the figures flashing with light in the air. These people were mainly divided into two groups: one group consisted of members of the Evil Eye Soul Guild whose flying soul tools on their backs were flashing with blue light, and the other group consisted of members of the Terrorclaw Soul Guild whose flying soul tools on their backs were flashing with dark gold light.

The two Soul Master Corps spread out in the air, maintaining their Soul Master positions in mid-air. They each raised a dark gold light shield and a blue light shield to protect themselves. It could be seen that the Soul Power of these light shields came from a spike-shaped Soul Tool at the top of their flying Soul Tool. Each person was outputting outwards, and together they formed a huge light shield.

On the way, Ji Lin saw a pitifully small number of corpses among the Soul Masters, only a dozen or so. But the Star Luo Empire had far too many corpses left behind. Among them, the White Tiger Guards suffered heavy casualties, and many powerful Soul Masters had also died in battle.

The two Soul Master Corps suspended in the air were continuously firing thick Soul Guidance Rays downwards. They weren't attacking alone; their Soul Guidance Devices seemed to have a combined effect. Working in groups of three to five, each Soul Guidance Ray produced a deafening roar below.

(End of this chapter)