The eastern coastline of the Heaven Dou Empire was extrely long, making it impossible to defend the entire stretch simultaneously. Moreover, if the defensive forces were spread too thinly, they would be unable to effectively resist attacks from sea soul beasts when they ca.
Therefore, Fang Chang chose to concentrate his defenses on Harbor City, located near the middle section of the coastline. From this central position, they could quickly provide reinforcents to any area under attack, and the followers of the Spider God Cult were most nurous here.
Of course, these defensive preparations were largely unnecessary - the Sea Spider Clan had already received Fang Chang's instructions and would not cause him any trouble.
Additionally, Fang Chang had ordered them to periodically drive so of the weaker sea soul beast populations toward Harbor City. This served two purposes: first, it maintained the appearance that they were actively working, and second, it helped create a greater sense of urgency among the soul masters on the mainland.
At the sa ti, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was leading a coalition force of nearly ten thousand soul masters gathered from various sects across the Heaven Dou Empire, marching toward the Star Dou Great Forest in a grand procession.
Unlike Fang Chang's defensive approach, they had formulated an offensive strategy. Their plan was to first dispatch large numbers of soul masters into the outer regions of the forest to suppress all the soul beasts in those areas, then attempt to push deeper into the forest to eliminate so of the more dangerous high-level soul beasts.
For them, the Star Dou Great Forest was very familiar territory - most of their soul rings had been obtained from here.
In their established understanding, although the soul beasts in the forest were fierce, they were still within manageable limits. Furthermore, most soul beasts were inherently afraid of humans. With so many people entering the forest at once, the soul beasts would likely scatter like startled birds and animals.
This thinking had gained approval from the major sects. So individuals were even hoping to take this opportunity to acquire soul rings or try their luck at finding soul bones.
The nearly ten thousand soul masters stopped outside the Star Dou Great Forest for two days to rest and reorganize before boldly entering the outer regions of the forest.
Fang Chang had heard about their plans and even knew the specific locations where they would set up camp after entering the forest.
Before the army set out, he had pretended to offer advice to Sword Douluo, warning him not to be overly confident as the current Star Dou Great Forest was very dangerous.
However, the leadership of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had now passed to Ning Rongrong. After hearing about Ning Fengzhi's death, Oscar had also returned. The two were already engaged, and with Sword Douluo's support, they held considerable authority within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
They showed little interest in Fang Chang's suggestions, rely exchanging polite pleasantries before politely declining his "well-intentioned advice."
Inside the Star Dou Great Forest, the spider clan had all withdrawn to the deep forest areas under Fang Chang's arrangent. The outer regions were left with only those small soul beasts without intelligence, appearing just as they always had.
"Tch, I thought sothing would be different. It's exactly the sa as when we ca here several years ago," Ning Rongrong said with a pout, her face showing dissatisfaction. "That Spider God Envoy told us not to enter the Star Dou Great Forest lightly - what alarmist nonsense."
For so reason, she had always felt particularly averse to this Spider God Envoy.
"I also think that Spider God Envoy is no good. This so-called war between soul beasts and humans might just be sothing he made up to deceive everyone - who knows what sches he's hiding," Oscar chid in at this mont.
Sword Douluo gave an ambiguous smile but didn't speak, his eyes fixed intently on the depths of the forest. From the mont they entered the forest, he had been feeling sowhat uneasy.
Although this expedition involved a large number of people, he was the only Titled Doulro present, aning he would bear trendous pressure.
While the three were talking, the soul masters from various sects had already spread out through the forest, each seeking their own targets and rcilessly slaughtering the soul beasts.
In the past, when they entered the Star Dou Great Forest, they would only co in small groups of a few people and would never dare act so recklessly. But now, with nearly ten thousand soul masters at their backs and one hundred thousand elite cavalry from the Heaven Dou Empire stationed outside the forest, they no longer feared these re hundred-year or thousand-year small soul beasts.
Soon, the outer regions of the Star Dou Great Forest beca a slaughterhouse, with countless soul beasts being killed under the greed of human soul masters.
Although the human side also suffered so losses, these were insignificant compared to their gains. Apart from soul rings and soul bones, these soul beasts' bodies could also produce so quite valuable materials.
Especially in recent years when the Star Dou Great Forest had been unstable, with almost no professional soul beast hunters venturing in, the prices of these materials had soared to astronomical levels.
Driven by profit, these soul masters beca increasingly reckless, spreading further apart and penetrating deeper into the forest. So had already approached the deeper regions.
"Boom!" A section of ground suddenly collapsed as a Pit Demon Spider erged from the sunken earth, biting onto a human soul master at the Soul Elder level before sinking back into the ground.
This all happened in the blink of an eye. Before the soul masters around the victim could react to rescue him, the Pit Demon Spider had completely disappeared underground, as if it had specifically targeted this individual.
Similar situations were occurring in dozens of locations simultaneously. Nearly a hundred human soul masters near the Star Dou Great Forest had suffered such attacks, alarming the other soul masters.
"Sect Leader Ning, should we retreat sowhat? According to our original plan, we were supposed to camp in the outer regions tonight and only move deeper after two days if there was no danger," a minor sect leader ca to ask Ning Rongrong after witnessing the ferocity of these Pit Demon Spiders.
Ning Rongrong looked around at the quiet forest and considered that most of the soul beasts attacked by the Pit Demon Spiders were of lower levels. After so thought, she said, "No need. I think we can continue advancing further."
"If there truly are no changes in the Star Dou Great Forest, we should return earlier to report this news to the others, lest they be exploited by certain individuals."
She was clearly referring to the Spider God Cult, even suspecting that the incident with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family might be related to that Spider God Envoy.
Creating this incident of a soul beast war might just be a smokescreen to divert attention and prevent people from discovering certain clues.
"This..." The minor sect leader hesitated, but seeing Sword Douluo standing beside Ning Rongrong, he imdiately felt more at ease.
"Everyone maintain formation and continue advancing! Just a few Pit Demon Spiders are nothing to fear!" Ning Rongrong's voice, amplified by soul power, spread through the ranks.
Although the soul masters were sowhat fearful, they still moved forward cautiously under her command, penetrating deeper into the forest.
Perhaps sensing their unease, Ning Rongrong actually led the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect mbers to the front, clearing the path for all the soul masters.
This successfully stabilized morale, and the soul masters' worries diminished sowhat.
Whether intimidated by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect or not, those Pit Demon Spiders truly did not reappear.
However, as they advanced, underground in the forest, large numbers of spider ground forces were quietly moving through subterranean tunnels to the outer regions, cutting off the soul masters' retreat.
On both flanks, thousands of Bloodwing Demon Spiders forming the spider air force split into two groups, circling around from the air to outflank the advancing army and position themselves on their sides.
Underground, those five hundred-plus burrowing spider soul beasts, though not showing themselves again, continued following the soul master army beneath the surface, ready to strike at any mont.
Deep in the forest, Xiao Bai and the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger were leading the spider cavalry and large numbers of other ten-thousand-year soul beasts, arrayed in formation and waiting for the soul masters to enter their killing zone.
All of this was part of the tactics Fang Chang had devised in advance. Now the soul beast army only needed to execute the plan accordingly.
Reviews
All reviews (0)