Chapter 1682: Army of a Hundred Thousand
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
It did not take long for him to arrive at the foot of a mountain, where he found four Otherworldly Demons loitering. Spiritual energy was surging in from the surroundings. It seemed like the Otherworldly Demons were trying to drive some kind of formation.
Of the four Otherworldly Demons, the stronger one was at Sempiternal realm, wielding strength comparable to Mou Wu. The remaining three were only at Great Sage 1-dan Introspective Convalescence realm.
Right in front of them was a Teleportation Formation. However, gauging from the formation flags around, the formation seemed to be really old. As such, it would take some difficulty to reactivate it.
The strongest Otherworldly Demon was glaring at the other three with a furious gaze. The one who had hollered earlier was him as well.
“Lord Mo Ye, I am already trying my best, but this formation is simply too old… There’s nothing I can do either…” one of the Otherworldly Demons driving the formation protested timidly.
“Cut the cr*p and get to work. If this doesn’t work out, you and I, our heads will roll!” Mo Ye waved his hand coldly.
“Yes!”
Not daring to protest anymore, the Otherworldly Demon drove his zhenqi furiously into the formation. The rate at which spiritual energy was gathering in the area hastened, and the ancient formation began to flicker. It seemed as if it would come to life at any moment.
However, the face of the Otherworldly Demon driving the formation was swiftly paling as well. He seemed to be reaching the limits of his stamina.
“Hurry up and help me!” the Otherworldly Demon exclaimed to the remaining two.
The other two Introspective Convalescence realm Otherworldly Demons unhesitatingly bit their fingers and offered their blood to the Teleportation Formation.
Weng!
In an instant, the spiritual energy in the surroundings grew so dense that it almost felt tangible. A brilliant light shone off from the Teleportation Formation.
“Good!” Seeing that the Teleportation Formation had been activated, Mo Ye harrumphed coldly before stepping into it.
Hu!
Enveloped by the light, a dimension rift appeared before Mo Ye. He stepped in and swiftly disappeared from sight.
Padah!
As soon as Mo Ye left, the remaining three Introspective Convalescence realm cultivators slumped onto the ground.
It seemed like activating the formation had sapped their strength dry.
“It’s fortunate that we managed to pull it off, or else our heads would have been lopped off…” Despite their exhaustion, the trio had relieved smiles on their faces.
If the formation had not been activated, they would have lost their lives!
While they were in the midst of celebrating their small success, a towering Otherworldly Demon suddenly walked up to them.
“Lord Mou Wu!”
Upon seeing the towering Otherworldly Demon, the trio hurriedly got to their feet and greeted him.
“Un. Drive the formation. I want to go to where Mo Ye just went!” Mou Wu waved his hand imposingly.
It went without saying that this Mou Wu was an impersonation from Zhang Xuan.
Considering how Mo Ye was in such a rush to leave via a Teleportation Formation, there was no doubt that he had something urgent to attend to. Since he had seen it, it went without saying that he had to stop the other party. At the same time, this was a good opportunity for him to learn about what was going on in the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.
“Lord Mou Wu, you wish to head to the Thousandleaf Sea, too?”
The Otherworldly Demons who had activated the formation nearly burst into tears.
They had nearly exhausted themselves to death activating the Teleportation Formation once. If they had to do it once more, they might just lose their lives!
One of the Otherworldly Demons gritted his teeth and said, “Lord Mou Wu, pardon me for asking this, but weren’t you heading to Riverstar under Sovereign Chen Ling’s orders?”
Picking up on the phrase ‘Riverstar’, Zhang Xuan pondered silently for a moment.
Considering that Mou Wu had gone to the Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery earlier with Sovereign Chen Ling’s edict in hand, it was likely that the ‘Riverstar’ mentioned by the Otherworldly Demon referred to that. It seemed like the names that humans and Otherworldly Demons had for certain locations differed from one another.
“I have already resolved the matter at Riverstar. Sovereign Chen Ling has just instructed me to make my way over to the Thousandleaf Sea in order to meet up with Mo Ye… Do you need me to report all of my actions to you?” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes as killing intent burst forth from his body.
Power began billowing beneath his thick armor, and it seemed like he would make a move at any moment.
Mou Wu’s armor was identical to Heng Jiang’s, so he only had to alter his appearance a little in order to personate the other party.
“I dare not question Lord Mou Wu’s movements!” The Otherworldly Demons immediately paled in fright. He hurriedly turned his attention to the Teleportation Formation and began infusing his zhenqi.
However, as he had just exerted himself too much, his stamina was already at its limits.
The other two Otherworldly Demon knew that they would be punished if they could not activate the Teleportation Formation for Mou Wu as well, so they quickly rushed over to aid their companion.
“I have just finished dealing with the matters at Riverstar and am still unaware of the situation over at the Thousandleaf Sea. Tell me, what’s the progress there?” Watching as the Otherworldly Demons squeezed every last drop of their zhenqi into the Teleportation Formation, Zhang Xuan dropped such a question leisurely.
Since Riverstar referred to the Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery, it was likely that the Thousandleaf Sea was the name of another Subterranean Gallery. In fact, if his guess was correct, it was likely one of the six Subterranean Galleries that the Otherworldly Demons were focusing their manpower on.
It would be good if he could head over there and resolve the crisis there. This would alleviate the pressure the others were facing.
“Reporting to Lord Mou Wu, we aren’t privy to such information, so we aren’t too sure either… However, Lord Mo Ye mentioned earlier that both Sovereign Chen Xing and Sovereign Chen Ling have issued an order in unison for the reserve army stationed at the Thousandleaf Sea to launch an attack on the humans right away!” one of the Otherworldly Demons replied hurriedly.
“Reserve army? Launch an attack right away?” Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up.
Back at the Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery, Sword Saint Xing noticed that the Otherworldly Demons were in no rush to attack the Zhang Clan and wondered if they might be waiting for reinforcements. An army of ten thousand was already a handful to deal with. If they had to deal with reinforcements, it would really be a nightmare for the Zhang Clan!
Deducing based on the information that he had received so far, it seemed like the Thousandleaf Sea was not a Subterranean Gallery but a military barrack where the ‘reinforcements’ were all stationed.
This was not good news. Without a doubt, the master teachers stationed in the Subterranean Gallery where the reserve army was mobilized to would definitely face great danger.
Furthermore, this was an order that Sovereign Chen Xing and Sovereign Chen Ling had ordered in unison!
The orders that Heng Jiang had received from Sovereign Chen Ling and Sovereign Chen Xing earlier had been conflicting; the former had commanded him to launch an attack right away whereas Sovereign Chen Xing had commanded him to remain on standby. In order words, it seemed like there was some disharmony among the Sovereigns. Yet, the two of them actually made a call in unison to launch an attack…
“How many soldiers are there at the Thousandleaf Sea? Is it possible to divert some men over to reinforce Riverstar?” Zhang Xuan continued asking casually.
“The soldiers at the Thousandleaf Sea are the strongest soldiers of our Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, the elites under Sovereign Chen Ling and Sovereign Chen Xing’s command. They number over a hundred thousand!” the Otherworldly Demon replied proudly.
“Hundred thousand?” Zhang Xuan nearly stumbled upon hearing that number.
Ten thousand Otherworldly Demon soldiers was already enough to force the Zhang Clan to mobilize all of its forces and descend to the Subterranean Gallery to fight a desperate battle. If a hundred thousand Otherworldly Demon soldiers were mobilized simultaneously, not even the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would be able to suppress them!
Who could have thought that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe would actually have an army of such a scale?
Would they still be able to protect the Master Teacher Pavilion against such a powerful foe?
“That’s right!” the Otherworldly Demon seemed to know quite a bit about this matter. “This is the first time that the two Sovereigns have worked with one another. They have gathered all of the experts of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe together in order to push open a path to the Master Teacher Continent. Most of the soldiers from the other Subterranean Galleries have already headed over to the Thousandleaf Sea. The only reason Riverstar didn’t receive the order is because it’s too far away!”
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan discreetly heaved a sigh of relief.
He had thought that the Otherworldly Demons were a.s.saulting all 108 Subterranean Galleries simultaneously and still had a reserve army of a hundred thousand strong to reinforce them wherever required. If that was the case, that would really have been frightening!
Fortunately, that was not so.
It seemed like Sovereign Chen Ling and Sovereign Chen Xing had issued orders to have the soldiers from the different Subterranean Galleries regroup at the Thousandleaf Sea. Afterward, they would focus their fighting power on breaching a single Subterranean Gallery.
Another thing that he noted from the Otherworldly Demon’s words was that this was the first time that Sovereign Chen Ling and Sovereign Chen Xing had worked together. This further verified his deduction that the three Sovereigns of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe were not on good terms.
In fact, it was likely that they were apprehensive of one another, and there was a little bit of infighting going on. That had probably hindered them from cooperating with one another, thus preventing the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe from launching a decisive a.s.sault all this while.
All of a sudden, the Otherworldly Demon noticed that something was amiss and exclaimed, “That’s not right… Lord Mou Wu, you are a commander of our Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. How can you not know all this?”
The other two Otherworldly Demons widened their eyes as realization dawned on them, and they swiftly directed menacing gazes toward Zhang Xuan.