Tyrant Sky Martial Sou
Chapter 1059: Catching a Turtle in a Jar

Chapter 1059: Chapter 1059: Catching a Turtle in a Jar

Within the Royal Family, finding true warmth was exceedingly difficult, so Jiumo Zhiyan had to consolidate his own power.

At this time, Jiumo Zhiyan had not yet realized that, after letting them into the city, Zhang Yu Fei took the opportunity to slip out amidst the chaos.

As for Cai Yun, who had been arranged to keep an eye on Zhang Yu Fei, he had already turned into a corpse.

The door opened.

Boom!

Suddenly, a burst of firelight flashed before his face, and the tremendous force sent Jiumo Zhiyan flying out. It was lucky that Mu Tu’s strength was formidable, blocking most of the impact; otherwise, that one blast would have reduced Jiumo Zhiyan to a pulp.

Boom!

Boom!

At the same time, loud explosions resonated throughout Northern Desert City, as if countless thunderbolts surged up from the ground. The entire city was engulfed in thick smoke and fire, with continuous screams of agony.

"We’ve been fooled!"

Only at this moment, as he rose from the ground, did Jiumo Zhiyan suddenly realize that he had fallen into Ling Xiao’s trap after all.

"Who would have thought that even I, a seasoned hunter, would be blinded by the hawk; this young man actually abandoned Northern Desert City he built with such hard effort? And how exactly did he acquire so many explosives, with such ferocious power?"

A few shades of anger appeared on Timmerman Muto’s aged face.

To capsize in the gutter, played by a sixteen-year-old child – what would happen if word of this got out?

"Prince, the most urgent matter now is to break out of the city. Without the defensive formation to stop us, this mere city cannot hold us back. Even if we lose half our soldiers, we can still capture and kill Ling Xiao!"

Timmerman Muto said.

"Master speaks wisely!"

Although Jiumo Zhi was clever, it was after all his first time leading troops to war. Faced with such a situation, he was somewhat flustered.

Fortunately, Timmerman Muto’s words quickly calmed him down.

The blasting sounds continued, but the two men could no longer concern themselves with that. They rushed out of the City Lord’s Mansion and ordered the entire army to break out of the city.

"Hear my command, split into two armies and attack both the north and south city gates!"

He had over a million soldiers. If they only targeted one city gate, it could result in a significant waste of military strength, hence splitting forces was the best option.

However, all of this was within Ling Xiao’s calculations.

When the Blackraven Empire’s mighty army approached the city gates, the glow of the Magic Arrays and Array Formations suddenly lit up, and a slew of attacks rained down, striking towards the inside of the city.

"What’s going on? In just one day, the defensive formations have been reversed? Nobody could do this unless they were a master of the Magic Arrays!"

Another miscalculation!

Even though Jiumo Zhi and Timmerman Muto had made careful adjustments to Northern Desert City and were aware of Zhu Ge Ming’s prowess.

Their analysis concluded that Zhu Ge Ming’s mecha soldiers simply couldn’t do this.

But they made a mistake in calculating one person.

That was Ling Xiao!

Whether it be the explosives or the reversal of the formations, all these were changed because of Ling Xiao.

The explosives were something Ling Xiao had always hidden within the Mountain and River World, and they had now come into play.

As for reversing the formations, that was trivial for him; simply changing the connection points of the Array Formation, it wouldn’t take more than ten minutes to reverse them all.

"That youth is even more terrifying than we imagined; we’ve been utterly outmaneuvered!"

Although Mu Tu was furious, he had to admit that Ling Xiao’s performance far exceeded his expectations: "Is this even a youth? He’s ten times more formidable than Ji Ning."

But shock aside, they had no choice but to fight desperately at this moment.

Despite the strength of the defensive formation, it ultimately couldn’t withstand the onslaught of the Blackraven Empire.

After losing nearly three hundred thousand soldiers, the north and south gates were simultaneously blasted open.

Adding the soldiers who were previously killed by the explosions, the total losses exceeded five hundred thousand.

Having too many people was also a problem, because they were densely packed; hence, explosives would inevitably kill someone upon detonation.

The attacks from the defensive Magic Array were likewise.

"All forces, charge toward the north gate!"

Even after the loss of five hundred thousand soldiers, the Black Crow Empire’s army still numbered around seven hundred thousand. Both Jiumo Zhiyan and Mu Tu were well aware that Ling Xiao only had at most forty thousand men. With such a disparity in numbers, even if there were ambushes, they would not fear.

Therefore, charging in one direction was the best option.

The reason for choosing the north gate over the south was, of course, for an escape route.

The south gate led to the Phoenix God Empire, and if they went that way, getting their retreat cut off would be disastrous.

Heading north, they could attack if they advanced and defend if they retreated, which was much more convenient than the current situation.

At this moment, although Mu Tu and Jiumo Zhiyan could still maintain their composure, the army of the Black Crow Empire was already in disarray.

With hundreds of thousands of men, it was impossible for them all to remain calm.

This chaos not only reduced morale but also significantly weakened their combat effectiveness.

Before the Black Crow Empire’s army could even leave the city, songs suddenly resounded from all directions.

Every soldier of the Black Crow Empire heard the singing clearly.

It was a folk song from the Black Crow Empire.

Hearing such a song, the soldiers of the Black Crow Empire’s army became panic-stricken, many of them thinking of their families back home, unwilling to continue fighting.

Deserters began to emerge.

Desertion was fatal for an army, too damaging to morale, even more so than casualties.

In an instant, more than a hundred thousand men fled in panic, and under Ling Xiao’s arrangements, these deserters were not intercepted. They discarded their armor and fled in disorder.

Seeing this, even the usually calm Mu Tu and Jiumo Zhiyan began to panic.

"Clever Ling Xiao, to even use psychological warfare, but how could he have so many people?"

Jiumo Zhiyan asked.

"We almost forgot, besides the tens of thousands of soldiers, Northern Desert City also had over a hundred thousand civilians. Altogether, that’s more than two hundred thousand."

Mu Tu sighed and said, "Perhaps on any given day, these civilians are just a motley crowd, but today, our soldiers are like startled birds. Little Prince, you lead the troops in retreat, while your master covers the rear. As long as we return to the camp and use the captives as leverage, Ling Xiao will naturally hesitate to act rashly."

"Master, be careful!"

At this moment, there was no time for Jiumo Zhiyan to ponder further. To regroup and turn the tide, retreating to the military camp was a must.

Timmerman Mu Tu remained at the rear, closely watching the surroundings.

After all, he was a formidable figure with the ability to change the course of a battle single-handedly. If Ling Xiao dared to show himself, he would kill him.

Boom!

Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, flames soared into the sky, countless Thunderbolt Bombs were hurled into the crowds, and instantly bodies and horses went tumbling, with innumerable dead and injured.

These casualties were not just from the blasts, but also from being trampled to death by their own.

On the cliffs ahead, Ling Xiao stood there, his gaze sharp as he looked at Mu Tu.

In his eyes, the real opponent was not Jiumo Zhi, but this old man.

It was true that Jiumo Zhi was intelligent, but his practical combat experience was severely lacking. Given a few years to mature, he was bound to become another Mu Tu.

But for now, Jiumo Zhi just didn’t cut it!