Chapter 156 - The Condition of the Imperial Army

Chapter 156: Chapter 149: The Condition of the Imperial ArmyThe sky had just begun to brighten, and Lu Hong awoke from his sleep startled.

"Are you awake?" the female assassin’s deep voice, tinged with a trace of gentleness, emerged by Lu Hong’s ear.

"Yes," Lu Hong nodded. "I still don’t know how to address you."

The female assassin smiled. "Just call me Nightingale."

Nightingale again brought out a lavish breakfast, which they began to enjoy together, and during the meal, she explained everything the empire’s army had experienced in Yuannhua to Lu Hong.

Initially, Nono had led the army into Yuanhua quite smoothly. With the help of Lai Li, a war expert, their advance was unstoppable. They nearly swept through more than half of the Gold Family’s territories, almost entering Gold City.

However, as the Gold Family abandoned their other planes and concentrated their troops in Yuanhua, the roles of both sides began to exchange.

At first, Lai Li had managed to hold her ground despite the enormous pressure from the large garrison of the Gold Family, but as Xia Lu by chance displayed her military talent, the elder council issued an order, and Xia Lu began to take command of the army, causing the imperial troops to retreat step by step.

Lai Li was battle-hardened, but usually, it was Caesar who acted as the supreme commander; she merely played the role of a general. The fact that she could help Nono withstand the pressure and fight until now was already her limit.

Under Xia Lu’s repeated deployment of surprise tactics, the imperial army was ultimately routed, retreating a thousand miles.

And as they were defeated, Nono was also caught in Xia Lu’s scheme, severely injured and falling unconscious. With the commander down, the imperial troops lost their morale and retreated to the current Baiyun Mountain, leveraging the complex terrain to hold off the Gold Family.

Actually, that was not the case; it was just that Xia Lu had not yet schemed, as Andre once said, Baiyun Mountain was not a good place, easy to attack but difficult to defend.

"Do you know why the imperial army was defeated so quickly?" Nightingale asked, setting down her pastry.

"Was it because of Xia Lu’s strong strategies?"

Nightingale shook her head. "That’s only part of the reason. The rapid collapse of the empire was due to the disrespectful mobilization of two major legions."

"Which two? I seem to remember Caesar mentioning them before," Lu Hong recalled what Caesar had told him before leaving. "Were they the 78th and 36th Legions?"

"Correct, the Princess Fina led a total of four legions, including the 5th Legion from the northern territories, the 3rd Queen’s Guard, and the 78th and 36th Legions from the southern territories," Nightingale said with a grave expression. "Among them, the 5th Legion and the 3rd Queen’s Guard are under the Shah Family, totaling 600,000 people, who are wholeheartedly devoted to Princess Fina. The 78th and 36th Legions, however, belong to the Pulo Family, and they are some of the weaker forces of the Pulo Family, essentially reserve forces. The entire troop is seriously lacking in all types of professions, with less than ten Third Transition strongmen combined."

Lu Hong frowned deeply. "Why would the Pulo Family send such troops to attack Yuanhua?"

"They might be wishing to see the future queen perish here," Nightingale didn’t hesitate and voiced her thoughts directly.

Lu Hong shook his head. "It shouldn’t be, right? Does the Great Emperor want to see unrest in the north?"

"Who knows?" Nightingale just smiled and did not argue. "Anyway, you see the current situation now. There are only thirty-two Third Transition strongmen remaining in the empire at present, with the strongest being Her Highness of the Third Palace of the Ice Snow Shrine and Miss Lai Li. However, the Gold Family still has more than fifty Third Transition strongmen. The gap in top combat power is just too big."

Lu Hong took a deep breath. "Is there really no way to escape Yuanhua?"

Nightingale shook her head. "I have been lurking in the Gold Family’s territories for more than half a month now, and from the intelligence gathered, the only way to break the planar blockade is to destroy the magic array set up in Yuanhua, but I have not yet heard any news about the core of this magic array. And as of yesterday, the Gold Family has completely blocked the bidirectional passage, which means now not only can nobody leave Yuanhua, but no one can enter either."

"Blocked?" Lu Hong furrowed his brow even tighter, "Caesar once mentioned that the Gold Family chose to open the channel for other fallen families to join them. Could it be that they have already achieved their purpose?"

Nono nodded, "It should be that way. The Chi Lan Family and Feng Xi Family most likely have already reached Yuanhua. If this is the case, the empire’s army is doomed. The combined top combat power of the Four Great Families has at least a hundred people. The combined force of a hundred Third Transition warriors is enough to crush any legion of the empire."

"That’s why we must destroy their alliance," Lu Hong said gravely, "only then might we stand a chance."

Nono didn’t respond but said indifferently, "Sometimes, plane suppression isn’t necessarily a good thing. At least for me..."

Some things Nono didn’t continue to explain but asked instead, "I have discussed things with the master before. You should not have come alone, right? What about Hank from the Thunder Family?"

"Ah!" Lu Hong recounted all of the previous events including those within the Basa Family.

Nono’s brow furrowed tightly, quite displeased with the Basa Family that Lu Hong mentioned, "Five days ago, I was still in contact with the Basa Family, seeing if we could join forces against the enemy. I didn’t expect them to treat you this way. They deserve death!"

"Was it the Basa Family that initiated contact with you?"

Nono shook her head, "It was I who first found out about this hidden force under the Gold Family and took the initiative to make contact. We were still discussing an alliance, but now it seems unnecessary."

"Do you know where their stronghold is?" Lu Hong pressed on.

Nono nodded and then looked at Lu Hong seriously, "I can decide not to cooperate with the Basa on my own. But if you seek revenge against them, I won’t be able to help. I hope you can understand this."

Lu Hong wasn’t offended by Nono’s words. Cooperating with the Basa Family was a last resort anyway, and it was better left undone. However, to gather forces and provoke them would simply be courting more trouble than the Gold Family already had, unnecessarily making new enemies.

"The Basa Family may not be strong, but according to my investigation, they have at least nearly ten Third Transition warriors. If they have reserves, it would be around thirteen to fifteen people. With such a force, it’s best not to ally with them, but if you wish to make them an enemy, I don’t think I can help you." Nono explained her position, unsure if Lu Hong would understand.

A dozen Third Transition warriors...

Lu Hong became somewhat silent. With these people in Basa, how could he seek revenge?

Nono patted Lu Hong on the shoulder encouragingly, "You’re not weak either. Having survived unscathed against two Third Transition warriors from the Gold Family, you’ve already earned the right to call yourself a warrior. A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years. Eventually, strength will prevail in this world. I see you’re only at Second Transition Level 2 now. Perhaps, once you reach the limit of this plane, even Third Transition warriors may not be unbeatable."

Nono’s words were mainly meant to encourage him, as Lu Hong’s spirits had been dampened and this could affect his cultivation progress. So, she cheered him on.

But Lu Hong was different. Facing Third Transition warriors, he had two disadvantages. Firstly, the inequality in skills, as Third Transformation Skills had reached the pinnacle of offense and were naturally much more powerful than Second Transition Skills. Lu Hong had no advantage in the skill department and would likely be at a disadvantage. Secondly, the accumulation of magic power and the integration with magic artifacts.

The armor he got from Caesar was still in his Space Ring simply because, although it was powerful, he couldn’t activate it or integrate it with himself.

Every time his Holy Sword appeared, his opponents weren’t fools, but they didn’t covet such divine weapons much, most just felt jealous. That was because of the integration of magic artifacts.

A magic artifact that couldn’t integrate with oneself couldn’t exhibit its power. As for how to integrate with a magic artifact, well, that depended on fate.

Of course, low-level magic artifacts didn’t even qualify for integration. What was meant here were artifacts above level eight, like the Darkblood Demon Sword that Lu Hong got from the royal treasure earlier. He could only use it to cut people but couldn’t bring out the sword’s power. Of course, the sword was now broken, so there was no point in mentioning it. Even the current Holy Sword, the Blood Holy Sword, which was most compatible with Lu Hong, couldn’t fully unleash its might, being merely sharp.

If he wanted revenge now, leveling up was the only way for Lu Hong. Nono’s encouragement was indeed the most feasible path for Lu Hong. Each level-up would exponentially increase his vital energy. At Second Transition Level 4, his total vital energy would absolutely not be inferior to a Third Transition Early Stage warrior. Relying on the plane’s suppression and his own Lion King’s Arrival boost, a fight wasn’t impossible!

"I need to kill my enemies. Where are they?" Fire blazed in Lu Hong’s eyes. Leveling up wasn’t difficult for him. It just depended on how many lives he needed to fill in the gap. Enemies were everywhere in the Yuanhua plane; by killing, he would rise!