I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 489 - 270: Journey, The Old General’s Charge_2

Chapter 489: Chapter 270: Journey, The Old General’s Charge_2

Wen’an City could only afford to support two thousand Daoist Soldiers, while Liang State, not to mention others, just the provincial governor alone had one hundred thousand Daoist Soldiers. That was where the disparity lay.

To reach the sky in one step was like a snake swallowing an elephant—in other words, impossible. Otherwise, how could you ascend so suddenly? Risk and reward were directly proportional.

"Teacher, why do these Heart Demon Dao Soldiers of yours seem a bit different from before? Judging them individually, they seem even stronger than my Sun and Moon Daoist Soldiers," Jiang Lu changed the topic, looking at Gu Shanhai’s Heart Demon Dao Soldiers.

In the past, he had seen a group of the lowest-grade Daoist Soldiers. Now, they should still be of the lowest grade, but the aura faintly emanating from their bodies had drastically changed, as if a worm possessed the strength of a giant elephant.

"What you saw before was test version 1.0," Gu Shanhai stated.

"Is this the official version now?" Having spent a lot of time with Gu Shanhai, Jiang Lu had also picked up many modern terms.

"No, this is still test version 1.1," Gu Shanhai replied, having only activated the mana aura for them, which made them seem very powerful—but indeed they were. If everyone had only two hundred Daoist Soldiers clashing, Gu Shanhai’s Heart Demon Dao Soldiers could easily defeat other types of Daoist Soldiers.

Unfortunately, no one would clash with him using only two hundred soldiers. As soon as a Daoist commander led soldiers numbering over a thousand, they could only manage a draw against Gu Shanhai’s two hundred Heart Demon Dao Soldiers, and an addition of a hundred soldiers would lead to a loss.

On the battlefield, quantity and then logistics were paramount. In a transcendent world, time and location no longer played a decisive role. Claiming you can split a mountain was feasible, and even if Seven Armies flooded the terrain, the floods could also be annihilated.

"Is there a difference?" Jiang Lu curiously asked.

"Haven’t you already noticed? They are just stronger than the previous Daoist Soldiers," Gu Shanhai indicated that the boy might be a bit slow, seeing the differences yet still asking him.

This made Jiang Lu feel somewhat embarrassed—it seemed Gu Shanhai’s point was quite valid.

In fact, Gu Shanhai was already perfecting the second ability. Due to lack of time and having to hit the road on the seventh day after the declaration arrived, the three days on the road were mainly about meeting and coordinating.

The second ability, called Heart Demon’s Hundred Desires, could extract various emotions and desires from the surroundings for self-recovery, healing, and temporary self-enhancement. Normally, Heart Demon Dao Soldiers were powered by Gu Shanhai, which in essence was a combined Divine Skill.

With this ability, there would be no worries about running out of power or mana.

Once the mana inside the Heart Demon Dao Soldiers was exhausted, they would revert to the Guardian Demon of the Five Grains Spiritual Plant. This entity also relied on Gu Shanhai’s presence and required his mana input; otherwise, if it cost nothing and managed to create energy from void, Gu Shanhai would have long since started researching that.

Thanks to Gu Shanhai’s profound mana and the enormous Spiritual Vein·Longevity Mountain within him, he was not worried about his mana in the short term and, as he refined it, his mana would grow even more immense.

The ability of Heart Demon’s Hundred Desires was still being tested. After the testing was completed, it would be loaded onto the Heart Demon Dao Soldiers. It wasn’t without its drawbacks—the temporary self-enhancement had a limit and couldn’t be infinitely amplified.

Once they entered the battlefield, basically as long as they weren’t instantly killed, they would act like a meat grinder—unexhausted and becoming stronger with the fear or ferocity of the opponents, making their attacks increasingly terrifying.

"Boom~"

A sudden noise transmitted, causing the already tense million-strong army to descend into chaos.

"The vanguard has suffered heavy losses, the governor is unlucky," Gu Shanhai saw through the multiple perspectives integrated by the Four Saints Beasts System, clearly seeing the leading Daoist Soldier cut a bloody swath.

"If we’re lucky, the governor is already gone," Gu Shanhai added another comment.

"Teacher, how can you see that?" Jiang Lu found it odd. The power of a Daoist commander’s strategy lay in his Daoist Soldiers, and with only two hundred soldiers, Gu Shanhai shouldn’t have been able to see that far.

There were at least a few hundred thousand people in between, not just a few dozen.

"Oh, I used my eyes to see, do you want them? I can lend you a pair." While he only had one pair of arms and legs, Gu Shanhai supposedly had extra eyes—two in his pocket.

Okay, borrowing eyes wasn’t exactly feasible, so he opted to share a visual directly through a mental link with Jiang Lu.

"Could it really be him?" Jiang Lu instantly recognized the leader who was leading an army to surprise attack the Liangzhou Army.

Gu Shanhai also learned the information about the man through the mental link.

The Old Wolf, Qiao Xuan, a famous young general now known for his stability, commanded the Swift Shadow Daoist Soldiers, an inheritance of the Qiao family. They had drastically innovated their own "Swift Shadow Tactics" early on, transforming into Light Cavalry.

Most Daoist Soldiers are actually versatile, such as the Sun and Moon Daoist Soldiers, who serve not only as infantry but also as cavalry, archers, among others, truly all-rounders.

Capable of archery on horseback, as well as assaulting fortresses on foot.

This unit of Swift Shadow Daoist Soldiers, however, had abandoned many versatile capabilities, focusing entirely on the Light Cavalry, thus achieving unimaginable agility.

More importantly, the enemy brought fifty-thousand Swift Shadow Daoist Soldiers, completely overpowering the provincial governor in numbers.

"It seems he wants to first severely weaken the leader of the Liangzhou Army," observed Gu Shanhai, discerning Qiao Xuan’s intention. He appeared more like a greedy opportunist, never really considering completely annihilating the governor’s Daoist Soldiers.

The noble title of ’subjugating rebels’ sounded commendable, but in reality, everyone had their own ulterior motives, not to mention, the troops under the provincial governor were forcibly assembled, each with their own schemes.

"It’s a pity he didn’t die; that would have saved us a lot of trouble."

Qiao Xuan’s Swift Shadow Daoist Soldiers came quickly and withdrew even faster, causing the Liangzhou Army to lose at least ten thousand men in a single charge.

Chased? It was impossible to catch up; the enemy was entirely focused on agility, and all their strategies and military maneuvers related to speed. Gu Shanhai guessed that even with fifty-thousand Heart Demon Dao Soldiers and the amplifying effect of the White Tiger Companion Spirit Beast and the aura combined, he probably couldn’t catch up with the enemy.

"So, shall we take action now?" asked Jiang Lu.

"Let’s wait and see. The enemy surely aims to wear down our troops with continuous harassment, focusing on reducing the number of our Daoist Soldiers, and they might even cut off our supply lines later. Find a reason to request more supplies to avoid being caught off-guard," Gu Shanhai knew this wasn’t over; with the speed of the Swift Shadow Daoist Soldiers, they could attack three to five times a day. The Liangzhou Army might collapse before they even reached the battlefield.

That man able to wield immense influence in the Dalong Court certainly had many talented people at his disposal, so he would send appropriate generals to deal with each state.

If they could solve this with minimal cost beforehand, why wait for the enemy to gather strength before acting?

They weren’t fools or villains who would watch a group of righteous heroes transform over ten minutes; they would strike the enemy down in the middle of their "casting time."

While the alliance against the rebels had strength in numbers, defeating them one by one was relatively simple.

Once the leader of the Liangzhou Army, the Liangzhou Governor, died, the Liangzhou Army would essentially disband, and everyone would return home, plunging the entire Liang State into chaos as the cities waged war against each other, becoming completely ineffective.

Gu Shanhai planned to kill the governor too, but now that someone was helping, it means less trouble for him.

Furthermore, since the enemy intended not to kill the governor but only to weaken his Daoist Soldiers, as the number of soldiers decreased, so would the governor’s power. Gu Shanhai wouldn’t mind stepping in himself to expedite the governor’s demise.

"Yes, I’ll immediately figure out a way to extort accordingly," Jiang Lu wasn’t foolish. After hearing Gu Shanhai’s analysis, he understood the old general Qiao Xuan’s penchant for surprise attacks and hence the need to prepare in advance.

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