Gate of God

Shan Ling wanted to ask Nangong Hao what he was doing, but he did not have the chance. Nangong Hao had already leapt off.

He did not even say anything before jumping.

Then, something even more shocking happened.

After Nangong Hao jumped, another figure flashed by his side and leapt off the wall.

He didn’t say anything either...

"Xing Yuanguo?!" Shan Ling was stumped. He never expected that Xing Yuanguo would do something similar.

And then...

He was completely floored.

After Nangong Hao and Xing Yuanguo jumped down onto the battlefield, Xing Qingsui and the Dragon Protection Squad followed suit.

Their eyes were filled with determination.

Shan Ling could not believe his eyes when he saw the figures leaping onto the battlefield.

"Your Highness, open the gates, the Mountain Breaking Army is prepared to fight!"

"Please have faith in us!"

"Open the gates!"

Their voices reverberated in Shan Ling’s ears. Princess Shan Yu and the other Southern Region soldiers could not believe their ears.

Shan Ling’s expression was stony.

If anyone had asked him to open the gates before this, he would have executed them on the spot.

But now...

He couldn’t.

Not only could he not draw his blade, he had to listen to them and open the gate.

In fact, this wasn’t a request, it was an order. It was an order from the Great Xia, an order that couldn’t be refused.

Shan Ling looked at Princess Shan Yu and the surrounding soldiers.

Princess Shan Yu and the other soldiers looked at Shan Ling, their expressions visibly different from before.

Before this, the Southern Region soldiers’ expressions were pained.

But now...

They looked insulted and shamed.

This feeling of shame translated into a energy that riled them up. They would do anything to salvage their dignity.

On their home ground...

The Great Xia soldiers were showing greater bravery and will to fight! How could they take it lying down?

Jumping down...

Was a very stupid thing to do...

But it was this stupid act that invigorated the Southern Region warriors and gave them a new lease of life.

"If the Great Xia dares to fight, why should we shy away?!"

"Die!"

"Your Highness, I, Shi Zun, have never been humiliated this way before! I can’t wait any longer!" Shi Zun’s voice rang out.

He leapt down onto the battlefield.

"Hahaha... wait for me! I am going to fight it out with the demons today!" Thunderous Lion followed suit, chuckling as he did so.

The two major settlement chiefs had joined the battle!

They followed the lead of Nangong Hao and Xing Yuanguo without hesitation. They did not even wait for approval from the Crown Prince.

It wasn’t because they didn’t respect him.

It was because they knew that Shan Ling would definitely agree. If Shan Ling still didn’t know what they were doing, he wasn’t fit to be the Crown Prince.

Shan Ling’s eyes widened, his eyes swirling with iciness, almost like a tornado.

"Open the gates!"

"Yes, your highness!"

...

The battle of the Iron Hill Settlement was destined to be a bloody one, much worse than anything Princess Shan Yu had expected.

Princess Shan Yu knew exactly what Nangong Hao was doing.

It was precisely because she knew, that’s why she was so stunned.

Raising morale!

Morale was paramount in battle. Anyone who knew anything about war knew that the army with higher morale had the advantage.

Yun Qingwu understood this very well.

She used her body as a target and countered the onslaught using the abilities of those behind her.

Everything that she did was for only one purpose. She would raise the morale of the demon army and make them fight harder than ever before. She wanted the army to know that she was fighting with them.

This was one of the best strategies Princess Shan Yu had seen.

It was exactly this strategy that caused General Mu to lose the initiative. From start to finish, he had been suppressed, suffering heavy losses in the defence of the city.

However, there was always a counter to even the best strategies. That being said, this counter was particularly difficult to think of, and even harder to execute.

Courage!

That was the only way to counter Yun Qingwu’s strategy.

They couldn’t beat her in numbers!

They couldn’t beat her in terms of abilities!

So how could they defeat her?

They had to best her in courage.

Yun Qingwu had used her courage to raise the morale of her troops. If they were to have any chance of beating the demons, they needed to be even more courageous.

The braver one would emerge victorious.

They had to be even more vicious!

"Die!"

When the gates to the Iron Hill Settlement opened, the Mountain Breaking Army led the charge, like a blade cutting through the demon army.

Countless Southern Region soldiers raised their spears and rallied behind the Mountain Breaking Army.

They threw their spears at the demon army. The spears mixed with the arrows, forming a lethal torrential rain of metal tips.

"Kill! Defend the Southern Region!" Princess Shan Yu leapt onto the battlefield like a black leopard ready to hunt.

The red cloud patterns appeared on her skin and her skin turned black. She held two daggers in her hands as she charged into the demon army.

"Woosh woosh woosh!"

Her hands spun like a blender as she cut through the demons, sending blood spraying into the sky and staining her hair.

Yun Qingwu’s expression finally had some change.

When she saw Xing Yuanguo and Nangong Hao leap onto the battlefield, she knew that the battle situation was about to change.

However, she did not expect the change to be this great and quick.

She had plenty of power behind her. The ten domain chiefs and hundreds of elites were all present.

There was enough power to destroy a country.

But...

The Southern Region was not weak.

The five settlement chiefs were all in the Rebirth State. Furthermore, Xing Yuanguo, Nangong Hao, and Shan Ling could not be underestimated.

The last three were particularly powerful.

Shan Ling and Xing Yuanguo were definitely more powerful than any of the ten domain chiefs. As for Nangong Hao, he could easily go up against any of the ten.

Furthermore, there was the Dragon Protection Squad and the Mountain Breaking Army...

Yun Qingwu knew that she still had the upper hand. However, she also knew that it would be a pyrrhic victory.

However, could she retreat?

Definitely not.

This had been in the works for so long. She couldn’t give up when victory was in her sights.

Fight, fight to the death!

That was Yun Qingwu’s decision.

"Domain Chiefs, meet the challengers!" She waved her arm lightly. This was the first time she had spoken during the battle.

"Understood!" The reply came in unison from hundreds of black-cloaked demons. Their power was much more intimidating than the hundreds of thousands behind them.

This was a messy battle.

There were dozens of Rebirth State cultivators and hundreds of Supernatural State cultivators. This was a battle filled with waves of power and lightswords.

There was no ordinary soldier who could step into this battle.

Yun Qingwu’s attention was focused on this bloody killing field. She watched on as lightswords flew in her direction.

However, she did not move. She allowed the lightswords to hit the blue light and disappear.

The Heavenly Rebirth Dao.

So long as she stood inside it, she was in a different dimension. She could not be affected by what was happening around her.

15 minutes passed.

An hour...

Two hours...

Countless bodies fell on the ground. There were heavy losses on all sides, their blood staining the ground and collecting in little puddles.

Fatigue plagued all the soldiers.

However...

The battle showed no signs of stopping.

For as long as the battle raged on, they would have no time to rest. They would have to fight tooth and nail to the bitter end.

Shan Ling was being protected by the settlement chiefs, his body riddled with injuries and his face pale. However, he showed no intention of leaving the battlefield.

"Report! Your highness... something... something bad happened! The back... back gate has been breached!" Just at that moment, a voice rang out.

"What?! The back gate was breached? How is that possible? Is General Tai that inept?" Shan Ling’s face paled.

He had come from the Sagely Mountain City and entered from the back gate.

As such, he knew that General Tai was the one commanding the defences there. He also knew that the 50,000 strong demon army from the Sagely Mountain City would be assaulting that gate.

As such, he never asked soldiers from the back gate to reinforce the other gates.

Even though he only had 5,000 soldiers left...

He kept 20,000 soldiers at the back gate to guard against the attack of the 50,000 demon soldiers coming from the Sagely Mountain City.

Shan Ling could not understand it...

Most importantly, he had given explicit orders to General Tai...

He was not to attack... he was to hold that gate at all costs.

"15 minutes ago, there was a small group of demons at the back gate. General Tai was influenced by the battle here and followed your lead. So... he gave the order to open the gates. In the end... in the end... that wasn’t a small group but the entire army. He walked right into a trap..." The Southern Region soldier was flustered.

"What small group?! I had already told him that there are 50,000 soldiers coming for him! Where is Tai Ting?" Shan Ling was furious.

"After being ambushed, he... he disappeared..."

"Disappeared? I will find him at all costs... for now, give the order for the soldiers on both flanks to defend against the demons coming from the back!" Shan Ling knew that this was not the time to assign blame, but he could not accept that fact.

They had sacrificed so much to hold the front gate.

Yet...

The back gate had been breached?

If they were attacked from both sides, it would be devastating for morale.

Having both flanks reinforce the rear was his only strategy left. That being said, he was just delaying the inevitable.

"Time, why is time passing so slowly! Is... is the Southern Region really at its end?" Shan Ling looked at the setting sun, his heart turning to ice.

...

Yun Qingwu was very near to Shan Ling. She had heard everything that had been said.

"It would look like... the end is near. But, why is it that he isn’t here yet?" Yun Qingwu muttered to herself.

Behind Yun Qingwu was a figure in a black cloak.

That position was once filled by the 10 domain chiefs and hundreds of elites.

But now...

They had all joined the battle. Only one figure remained in that position, standing still as a shadow.

Two hours of intense battle.

The screams of the fallen filled the sky.

However, there were no lightswords that flew in his direction. It felt as though everyone was avoiding him.

Even Xing Yuanguo maintained his distance.

Everyone knew how terrifyingly powerful the person in the black cloak was. Of course, no one knew why he was here.

Was he here to protect Yun Qingwu?

No!

If that was the only purpose, there were plenty of demons up to the task. It wasn’t a show of dominance either.

The demon army was sufficient for that.

"The sun is about to set..."