Chapter 307: Tang San's Wisdom: The Turn of the Battle
After the Deep Sea Magic Whale King and the Sea God finished their communication, the long-standing enemies seemed to have reached an understanding, no longer shouting and fighting like before, nor filled with hatred.
After some discussion between Yang Xiong, Poseisi, and the others, they decided to leave Sea God Island once again.
Now only Shui Bing'er remained on Sea God Island. She needed to undergo a new assessment, and this test was extremely difficult—one that she could not easily complete at this stage.
Although everyone felt reluctant, they still decided to leave. After all, a great war was unfolding across the continent, and both the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the Body Sect were deeply involved. If they didn't return in time, the war would become even more brutal.
Especially since Yang Xiong could feel that Qian Renxue was just one step away from achieving godhood. From the timeline, she should have already reached level 99.
Once Qian Renxue ascends to godhood, the battlefield at Jialing Pass would likely fall into true trouble.
Of course, even after absorbing the soul ring and soul bone of the Deep Sea Magic Whale King, Yang Xiong still heard a voice in his mind.
"Yang Xiong, Asura's Ninth Trial, Sixth Trial: Obtain the Ninth Soul Ring and Torso Soul Bone. Do not kill innocents or leave any hidden dangers. Trial completed. Reward: Asura affinity 10%, Total affinity 70%."
Even the Deep Sea Magic Whale King was amazed. After the Asura affinity reached 70%, Yang Xiong's martial soul seemed to have started shifting toward a divine direction. The Asura Demon Sword became incredibly familiar, as if it were his innate weapon. The swordsmanship of the Asura God's legacy became clearer, and even his killing intent and domain became stronger.
...
While Yang Xiong and his group sailed out, the battlefield at Jialing Pass became even more intense.
The departure of the seven Title Douluo-level experts from Jialing Pass had a huge impact on the Heaven Dou Empire, especially the absence of Ning Rongrong, the ultimate support spirit master.
Though Tang San had begun studying the Great Sumeru Hammer, he had only been training for a short time and could not fully utilize it. When fighting Bibi Dong, he was still lacking.
The Jialing Pass battlefield was like a giant grinding wheel, with countless casualties. Not only had many ordinary soldiers perished, but several Title Douluo-level experts had also fallen. Originally, the Heaven Dou Empire had a force of 1.6 million, but after such a brutal battle, nearly half had been killed or injured.
The Soul Master terminals had also lost a large portion. Both the Body Sect and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School had lost nearly 40% of their members. The Body Sect had lost over 400 out of 1,000 disciples, while the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, which had slightly better numbers, had lost over 600 of its 2,000 disciples. This was still because the Body Sect disciples were generally positioned further behind on the battlefield.
The Spirit Hall Empire wasn't faring much better. Its army had lost about 70%, and Bibi Dong had used every method she could to recruit troops from within the empire just to maintain the situation. This was still thanks to the advantage of defending their strongholds.
The 40,000 soul masters originally sent to the front lines had lost over 10,000.
Looking at the current situation, both sides were starting to test each other's foundations.
Emperor Xueye had pressed the national power of the Heaven Dou Empire to the limit, even deploying the royal guards of the Heaven Dou Palace and the military forces from all regions to the front lines, just barely maintaining a force of 1 million troops.
However, the Heaven Dou royal family's soul master army had suffered heavy losses. Originally, the royal family had gathered about 5,000 soul masters, but now more than 3,000 had been lost.
Even the Haotian Sect had lost a significant number of people. The Haotian Sect originally had the smallest number of soul masters among the three sects, only sending 500 to the front lines, since the sect had only about 1,000 soul masters in total.
But these 500 had lost 300, mainly because the Haotian Sect's disciples were known for their bravery, and all of them had the Haotian Hammer martial soul, making them primarily assault-type soul masters.
Moreover, the Haotian Sect had long been seeking revenge against the Spirit Hall Empire, which resulted in their casualty rate being the highest among the three sects.
In contrast to the brutal battlefield, Bibi Dong and Tang San were somewhat excited. Their battles were intense, and whether it was Tang San's Dark Blue Silver Grass or Bibi Dong's Soul Devouring Spider Queen, they were thriving in the battlefield.
Especially Tang San, whose Dark Blue Silver Grass had devoured countless corpses and soul power. Tang San himself had reached level 97, just one level behind Bibi Dong.
If not for Bibi Dong's flying advantage from her external soul bone, she might not have been able to maintain an advantage in the battle against Tang San.
The killing intent between Bibi Dong and Tang San had been growing, and the evil aura surrounding them had become more intense.
Tang San's left hand held the Haotian Hammer, while his right hand held the Mantis Leg external soul bone. After harvesting countless lives, the original dark green color of his Mantis Leg had turned black, emitting an endless evil aura. Even Titled Douluo would not dare to engage lightly.
As for Xiao Wu and the others, they performed relatively average on the battlefield. Unlike in the original story, where they dealt with Titled Douluo-level experts, no Titled Douluo had fallen so far.
Emperor Xueye looked at the current situation with great worry. If both sides continued to exhaust each other like this, the Heaven Dou royal family would lose all of its power to govern, and their foundation would likely be exhausted in this war.
Compared to its peak, the Heaven Dou Empire had lost at least a third of its territory, including its original kingdoms and duchies, and two provinces' land.
This included the famous Balak Kingdom, which was known as the Heaven Dou Empire's granary, and had significant strategic importance.
After this great battle, Emperor Xueye summoned everyone for a meeting, hoping that the three sects would provide more support for the Heaven Dou Empire. Given the Spirit Hall Empire's current attitude, they had already made the three sects their mortal enemies. Once the Heaven Dou Empire fell, the three sects would likely be exterminated as well.
The battle had reached this point, and both Ning Fengzhi, Tang Xiao, and Lin Gong knew that they had no way out, but they were unwilling to drain their sects' foundations completely.
So even though Emperor Xueye repeatedly asked, the three had no intention of sending more soul masters to the front lines.
Moreover, everyone knew that the Spirit Hall Empire still had Qian Daoliu and Qian Renxue as trump cards. If they put everything on the line, their sects would likely be destroyed.
Instead of doing that, they preferred to conserve their resources. If they were truly defeated, they would surrender to the Spirit Hall Empire, hoping to preserve their sect's inheritance.
The three sects now all had reserves. The Haotian Sect still had their ancestor Tang Chen, and their relationship with Qian Daoliu. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the Body Sect were closely watching Yang Xiong's current developments. Ning Fengzhi and Lin Gong both knew that Yang Xiong now had the inheritance of a god.
Tang San, although his strength had increased and he had become more insane, was increasingly eager to obtain the last two soul rings.
Tang San believed that if he could get two more 100,000-year soul rings and soul bones, he would truly reach level 99, at which point he would be able to defeat Bibi Dong and even challenge Qian Daoliu.
Unfortunately, there was no time or opportunity to obtain the final two soul rings. If Tang San left the battlefield, the entire situation in the Heaven Dou Empire would likely collapse.
As for searching for a 100,000-year soul beast, Tang San had searched the Star Dou Forest with Xiao Wu and hadn't found one. As for the 100,000-year soul beasts outside of the forest, even Xiao Wu was unaware.
After all, Tang San had obtained seven soul rings in the Star Dou Tournament, each over 70,000 years old. He had already hunted down all the suitable soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest.
Tang San also knew that, both his father and the Haotian Sect had already been locked in an endless battle with the Spirit Hall Empire. His great-grandfather had gone to Sea God Island due to serious injuries, and he could only wait for death.
If Tang San wanted revenge, he had no choice but to rely on himself and absorb the last two soul rings to grow stronger.
What Tang San didn't realize was that as the battle continued, his hatred for the Spirit Hall Empire deepened. Whether it was the grudge over his mother's death, the Haotian Sect's resentment, or the hatred for the Tang Sect, it all made him increasingly obstinate and extreme.
With the deepening of the Asura God's trial, although his soul power and soul ring age didn't increase, his affinity with the Asura God had grown. The hatred within him, amplified by the Asura affinity, seemed to be shifting further into darkness, even becoming unscrupulous.
However, Tang San finally demonstrated his wisdom. While the Titled Douluo of the Heaven Dou Empire had an advantage in terms of combat power, their soul power levels were still lower.
After Tang San made some arrangements, especially with the help of Bone Douluo, Bone Douluo entered the battlefield. Tang San also arranged for several of Haotian Sect's top experts to protect Ning Fengzhi.
The tide of the battle changed in an instant.
Bone Douluo was incredibly powerful, especially in defense, and together with Tang Hao, they confronted the Lion Douluo and the Qing Luan Douluo.
Although Bone Douluo and Tang Hao's soul power was lower than that of the Lion Douluo and the Qing Luan Douluo, Bone Douluo's Bone Dragon martial soul had excellent flight capabilities. With their combined offense and defense, they managed to block the attacks of the Lion Douluo and Qing Luan Douluo.
Meanwhile, Tang Xiao was assigned to deal with the Golden Crocodile Douluo. Tang Xiao's soul power was only one level lower than the Golden Crocodile Douluo, and with the powerful Haotian Hammer and Haotian Sect's inherited soul skills, he could barely match the Golden Crocodile Douluo.
With this, the 98th-level Sword Douluo and the 97th-level Tang San could surround Bibi Dong.
Though Bibi Dong was powerful, and her Soul Devouring Spider Queen was extremely strong on the battlefield, neither Tang San nor Sword Douluo was inferior to her.
Eventually, the battle turned in favor of the Heaven Dou Empire. Bibi Dong was severely wounded under the combined assault of Tang San and Sword Douluo, and they continued to massacre the Spirit Hall Empire's soul master army.
The Spirit Hall Empire suffered its greatest defeat since the start of the war, and the soul master army suffered another major blow.
Had it not been for the efforts of the high-ranking ministers, the Spirit Hall Empire would have nearly been destroyed.
After this battle, the Spirit Hall Empire had no strength left to counterattack and could only retreat to Jialing Pass, allowing the Heaven Dou Empire to provoke them.
However, Jialing Pass was too high and had significant geographical advantages. The Spirit Hall Empire's soul master army still had the upper hand, and the Heaven Dou Empire's troops couldn't climb the tall walls.
(END CHAPTER)
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