World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 690 - 341: Whip Turing Tuo! Tragedy for Ling Ao!_2

Chapter 690: 341: Whip Turing Tuo! Tragedy for Ling Ao!_2

Ling Ao always held himself in high regard, seeing Suo Lun as his greatest enemy and rival. Moreover, he swore that one day he would step on Suo Lun beneath his feet.

Only now did he deeply feel the absurdity and hilarity of such thoughts.

Ling Ao had risen to prominence by relying on Gui Xingfu and on Zhi Li. In Ling Ao’s heart, his father-in-law Gui Xingfu was like the sky itself.

Yet now, this sky-like father-in-law had actually surrendered to Suo Lun, becoming his loyal dog.

Duke Zhi Wei, second only to Zhi Li His Highness in power within the Rage Wave Kingdom, ended up being beheaded by Suo Lun for all to see.

Suo Lun’s opponent had always been Zhi Li, how could he ever consider the existence of Ling Ao? It was laughable that he always considered Suo Lun his greatest rival, truly lacking in self-awareness.

Turing Tuo said, "Not only that, but your father-in-law has also been stripped of his dukedom and the position of City Lord of Linhai City by Suo Lun. And he has appointed Gui Qinshao as the successor to the City Lord of Linhai City."

Qinshao? She is becoming the City Lord of Linhai? Ling Ao was baffled once more, feeling an air of unreality.

Turing Tuo looked at Ling Ao with a hint of pity in his eyes and said, "Ling Ao, where will you go from here?"

Ling Ao felt his heart sink, indeed, where would he go?

Gui Xingfu had always been his greatest support, yet now this support had surrendered to Suo Lun. Surely he wasn’t expected to surrender to Suo Lun as well? That was out of the question.

There was no going back to Zhi Li.

From the first young talent of the kingdom, Ling Ao had fallen to a homeless dog; the whole wide world now had no place for him to take shelter.

It used to be that Zhi Li repeatedly said he would make Ling Ao the future number one commander of the military. Now, that notion sounded utterly absurd.

Turing Tuo stepped forward, patted Ling Ao’s shoulder, and said, "You used to call me your sworn father, probably with insincere heart. Now, would you be willing to sincerely call me your sworn father once again, and assist your elder brother Turing Chen in the future?"

Ling Ao trembled, looking incredulously at Turing Tuo.

Turing Tuo said, "I don’t care about your background, nor that you were once a servant to Zhi Li His Highness. I only value your talent, and I hope you can become Turing Chen’s right-hand man in the future. Are you willing?"

Ling Ao’s heart was moved, and then he knelt on both knees and said, "Your son greets you, sworn father!"

Turing Tuo laughed heartily and said, "Good, from now on, you are the true leader of the thirty thousand cavalry. If anyone dares to be insubordinate, I’ll crush them, hahaha..."

Then, Duke Turing Tuo added, "We are more than two hundred miles away from Tianlang Pass. After annihilating Tianshui City, the first thing I will do is take back Gui Qinshao for you."

Ling Ao replied in a trembling voice, "Thank you, sworn father. I am willing to lead the charge in the attack on Tianlang Pass."

"Good..." Turing Tuo said, "Suo Lun is imposing and has defeated your father-in-law Gui Xingfu, and has also killed Zhi Wei. If he is defeated by you on the battlefield, you will truly become world-renowned!"

Ling Ao once again bowed and said, "Willing to serve unto death for my sworn father!"

"I believe in you," Duke Turing Tuo patted Ling Ao’s shoulder again and said, "I look forward to watching you beat Suo Lun till he’s running ragged on the battlefield."

With that, Duke Turing Tuo rose and walked out.

...

Surrounded by hundreds of loyal samurai, Turing Tuo inspected the camp.

More than two hundred miles. It was more than two hundred miles to Tianlang Pass, and the grand battle with Suo Lun was going to erupt completely in two days.

Filled with pride and satisfaction, that was the only true representation of his inner state at the moment.

He really should thank Suo Lun for killing Zhi Wei, which caused him to lose his counterbalance and become the sole support pillar for Zhi Li.

From now on, as long as he firmly held the military power, even Zhi Li wouldn’t be able to harm him.

Being granted the title of a king was just around the corner!

Although Suo Lun had done him a great favor by killing Zhi Wei, deep inside, Turing Tuo was still filled with disdain and contempt.

A greenhorn, thinking minor tricks could make him, Turing Tuo, withdraw his troops, was utterly ridiculous!

Turing Tuo was not remotely worried about the great battle with Suo Lun.

He would not underestimate Suo Lun, but after Tianshui City’s army had been fighting Zhi Wei’s forces for more than ten days, they were exhausted. How much fighting strength could they possibly have left?

Most importantly, to force his retreat, Suo Lun even killed Zhi Wei, which showed his lack of confidence and determination.

In his view, Zhi Wei had already exhausted nine-tenths of Suo Lun’s army’s strength. The remaining fraction was as if they had barely managed to defeat a tiger.

Therefore, attacking Tianshui City and annihilating Suo Lun’s forces would be a piece of cake!

"Suo Lun, you are destined to become the first stepping stone in my grand ambition of knighthood!" Turing Tuo looked up to the sky, full of spirit!

Suddenly, he felt that there was something odd about the sky, vaguely, as if some black dots were falling!

...

The fourteen hippogriffs sent by Suo Lun had flown more than two hundred miles in less than an hour and had reached the airspace above Turing Tuo’s camp!

The two hundred thousand-strong army encamped on the spot, stretching over several miles, like a vast sea.

Still targeting the cavalry camp, they hurled the powder kegs toward the densest concentration of warhorses.

"Whizz whizz whizz whizz whizz whizz..."

Dozens of powder kegs, each weighing over a hundred pounds, fell from the sky, hundreds of meters above.

A few seconds later...

All the powder kegs viciously smashed into the ground, into the midst of the warhorses.

"Boom boom boom boom..."

Then, earth-shattering explosions occurred.

The whole ground trembled as dozens of fireballs shot into the sky.

In the center of the blasts, a large number of warhorses were blown to pieces, meeting their tragic end.

Yet more warhorses panicked, completely out of control, running wild in terror.

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of warhorses stampeded in utter chaos as if the madness were contagious.

Soon, countless warhorses rampaged through the camp like a furious tidal wave.

Duke Turing Tuo’s two hundred thousand strong army was thrown into complete disarray.

No one knew how many soldiers were trampled into mush, their bones shattered by the charging steeds.

Countless cries of shock and screams of agony filled the air!

The entire camp was ablaze with fire reaching for the sky!

At that moment, Duke Turing Tuo, who had been full of pride, felt a chill throughout his body and trembled uncontrollably.

Then, a series of commands followed, ordering the officers to take control of the situation as quickly as possible.

...

It was almost dawn when the army’s chaos finally settled down!

"Father-General, we have thoroughly investigated; last night Suo Lun deployed over a dozen griffins to drop thunder bombs from the air, causing the warhorses to panic and the camp to explode," Turing Chen reported.

"Thunder bombs..." Turing Tuo said, "It was with these that Suo Lun killed Grand Duke Lanshi of the Night Orchid Duchy. Aren’t these extremely precious? How could there be so many?"

Turing Chen continued his report, "Last night, we suffered casualties of two thousand three hundred warhorses and over seven thousand soldiers, most of whom were trampled or crushed by the warhorses."

Turing Tuo closed his eyes in pain, saying, "Now I finally understand how Turing Tuo’s one hundred and fifty thousand strong army was completely annihilated. That old thief deserves death for not mentioning a word about Suo Lun’s thunder bombs in the letter to me."

Drawing a deep breath, Turing Tuo spoke with hatred, "Suo Lun is slapping me in the face, warning me, and forcing me to retreat!"

Turing Chen asked, "Father-General, what should we do next? Retreat, encamp here, or continue to advance?"

Turing Tuo fell into silence!

Indeed, what should be done next?

Suddenly, Turing Tuo couldn’t help but think of Zhi Wei; he must have faced tough choices as well.

Now it seemed clear that Zhi Wei’s first day of battle against Suo Lun wasn’t just a minor loss but a crushing defeat.

After the disastrous defeat, Zhi Wei had not retreated to defend Baiyun County, but instead continued to hold his ground, besieging the Fenglei Fort Defense Line, which led to the tragedy of his entire force being annihilated and his eventual beheading by Suo Lun.

Zhi Wei’s choice to hold his ground that day was wrong, so what should Turing Tuo do today?

He was not like Zhi Wei; Zhi Wei could risk everything for Zhi Li His Highness, gambling all his forces away to naught, but Turing Tuo could not.

Zhi Wei would remain a top Duke of the kingdom even if he lost all his troops.

But if Turing Tuo gambled away all his forces, he would have nowhere to bury his remains.

To Zhi Li His Highness, Turing Tuo was a powerful official, but also an outsider!

However, to retreat now, to be frightened off by Suo Lun’s mere dozen griffins, Turing Tuo would likely become a laughingstock across the land!

Moreover, he firmly believed that Suo Lun did not have the confidence to face him in a decisive battle, which was why he repeatedly forced him to retreat.

Thus this aerial assault was nothing but Suo Lun’s bluff! Suo Lun, the boy, shall not deceive me!

Suddenly, Turing Tuo commanded in a cold voice, "The army shall rest for three hours, then continue to march towards Tianshui City. I will not rest until Suo Lun is destroyed!"

...

Note: The first update of four thousand words is here. Today I had to visit my hometown for some errands, and I only got over three hours of sleep last night before traveling a thousand miles today. Writing these words, I was truly at the brink of exhaustion, finishing it by gritting my teeth.

I beseech your support, thank you everyone!

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.