Chapter 2233: Smoke Rises Again by the Immortal Spirit Lake

Indeed, Beiga had been biding its time, but once Panlong City deployed its forces, Beiga also launched a major offensive.

Clearly, its struggle against the Lingshan forces on the eastern front had not been too taxing, as it still had enough strength to deploy troops to the western front.

Beiga would not stand idly by while Panlong City monopolized Xiluo; Zhong Shengguang had long foreseen this. Nevertheless, He Lingchuan's heart still sank when Beiga's army truly entered the conflict.

What terrible timing. With Beiga's army now involved, the situation would become even more unpredictable.

The two sides fought five major battles consecutively, with victories and losses on both sides.

During these battles, He Lingchuan remained on edge, not daring to stray more than a hundred yards from General Hong.

Even though Zhong Shengguang had given instructions beforehand, General Hong had strong objections to this arrangement.

She had always commanded battles with great authority; why would she need such close protection?

But He Lingchuan knew clearly in his heart that with every advance on the battlefield, she was getting closer to immense danger.

In recent days, rumors had also spread within the Panlong army, claiming that General Huxi was romantically pursuing General Hong and frequently stayed by her side.

Panlong's customs were always open, and people could say what they wished, so General Hong did not take the rumors seriously at all. But He Lingchuan understood that there were many followers of the Great Sky Demon Mitian among the Panlong people, and such gossip would eventually reach Mitian's ears.

Would Mitian become suspicious of his actions, or would Mitian simply not consider him significant at all?

In the past few years, he had also diligently collected information about Mitian in reality, hoping to gain a deeper understanding of this War God of the Demon Realm.

Nara Heaven had also spoken of Mitian's past achievements; in his prime, Mitian not only instilled fear among demons in the Demon Realm but also killed many immortals during the Ancient Great War!

Besides being ferocious in combat, he was cunning, resourceful, and possessed a unique understanding of warfare.

To dare set a trap for the War God of the Demon Realm, across both realms, apart from Saint Lingxu, perhaps only the Dragon God would dare to do so.

However, the peak surges of Imperial Dew have occurred several times already, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant for a short period. Yet Mitian has been slow to descend to the lower realm, much later than Zhong Shengguang's prediction. Logically, after he went on a rampage in the Demon Realm, Saint Lingxu should have made his life difficult.

Having withstood the pressure from the Demon Realm, he must be waiting for a more opportune moment.

Currently, Panlong City and He Lingchuan are actually engaged in a test of patience with Mitian, to see who can remain more composed.

In these mountains, the Panlong army was actually tasked with intercepting a coalition force, consisting of Hong Qixing, the self-proclaimed king of Xiluo, and his nine hundred men, as well as twenty-one thousand Beiga troops led by General Jinjiao and human General Wu Xianxian.

This General Jinjiao was the ancestor of the Jinjiao family of Lingxu City in later generations, and was, of course, a great unicorn rhinoceros.

The Panlong army comprised a total of fourteen hundred men, led by General Hong and He Lingchuan.

Their numbers were small, but they were all elites, as today's battle was an ambush.

Beiga's army was fighting fiercely at Honghu Lake; after several battles, they had suffered more defeats than victories, finding little success. Thus, Lingxu City dispatched General Jinjiao and Wu Xianxian with over twenty thousand men to reinforce them.

Unfortunately, this relief force was intercepted mid-route by the well-informed General Hong and He Lingchuan.

The ambush location, Xianling Lake, was He Lingchuan's idea.

He had fought life-and-death battles here before and knew well that the terrain was rugged and the open space by Xianling Lake was quite limited. However, in the Panlong world, there was no Xianling Village yet by the lake, nor any human traces; it was a purely natural wilderness, allowing more people to stand there.

But at most, it could accommodate around three thousand people.

Even if Beiga's army wanted to send more people up, there wouldn't be enough space for them to stand.

As long as they were commanded properly, they could completely defeat a larger force with fewer numbers.

Moreover, Beiga's army was new to the area, and fighting here would inevitably restrict their movements, preventing them from unleashing their full potential.

Although the Panlong army was outnumbered, Hong Qixing's army, in the eyes of He Lingchuan and General Hong, could essentially be disregarded.

Or, to put it another way, in the eyes of Hong Qixing and his men, every Panlong soldier was like a monster; even if they didn't appear particularly tall, they could easily swing enemies around and send them flying!

That was truly an overwhelming advantage in strength, flexibility, and weaponry.

A single Panlong soldier could easily defeat at least seven or eight Xiluo men.

Before the two sides clashed, Hong Qixing had heard of Panlong City's great reputation, but felt it was exaggerated and was somewhat unconvinced, after all, he wasn't bad himself.

Until they formed ranks by Xianling Lake, he knew it was impossible!

It was a one-sided affair, like a father beating his son, with no suspense.

Not to mention the disparity in troop quality or the power of their specialized weapons, just consider that Xiluo's elemental power was inherently weak and naturally vanished after the kingdom's fall, whereas Panlong City's elemental power was so strong that few in the world could rival it.

With such a difference in power, the actual gap in strength between the two sides was far more than just one level!

The only ones who could truly contend with the Panlong army were the Beiga troops.

Beiga's army also didn't take Hong Qixing and his men seriously, using them merely as cannon fodder and expendable fillers to wear down the enemy's strength.

However, today General Hong ambushed Beiga's army midway. The latter lost the advantage of the first move and were trapped by Xianling Lake, struggling to fight effectively. Of the twelve thousand soldiers, only twelve hundred managed to get onto the field; the rest were stuck at the base of the mountain, able to do nothing but stare in anxious frustration!

The narrow terrain here, on the contrary, became an advantage for the Panlong army. He Lingchuan, relying on his knowledge of the area, devised flexible tactics with General Hong, managing to once again divide and encircle the enemies by the lake, separating them into three or four groups, causing them to lose coordination so that their own side could eliminate them one by one.

Fighting this way was the most composed approach and incurred the least losses for their side.

Due to the terrain, Hong Qixing's few hundred men actually took up space meant for the Beiga army, preventing the reinforcements at the base of the mountain from advancing.

"A bunch of useless individuals, they might as well not be here!" Wu Xianxian was furious and repeatedly ordered them to withdraw and be replaced. Unfortunately, General Hong also realized this and gave them no opportunity.

The Panlong army had been able to fight back and forth with Beiga's army years ago and had long since dispelled any illusions about it. Today, facing a stronger foe, they only grew stronger, and their morale and elemental energy surged!

Seeing that the Panlong army was fighting more smoothly and that leaders in his own units were repeatedly being killed or wounded, Wu Xianxian knew that if he didn't pull out a surprise move to turn the tide, they would suffer a great loss today.

Moreover, he had also discovered that the commanders opposite were General Hong and General Huxi—Panlong army's strongest combination!

Hearing this news, Wu Xianxian felt his vision darken:

"Good heavens, what kind of rotten luck did I stumble into?"

Panlong City and Beiga had been fighting for many years, and Panlong had never been at a disadvantage. Therefore, although Beiga's generals had nothing good to say about Panlong, they were not as arrogant as they were towards other nations.

After all, respecting a powerful opponent is also respecting oneself.

He just couldn't understand why these two didn't go to other vast battlefields to command against other Beiga armies; why they insisted on ambushing him in this mountain ravine, why they had to pick on him!

But it was a reality that he had encountered them. He had been ambushed first, and seeing that this initial advantage could not be regained, Wu Xianxian decisively revealed his trump card.

From the rear, a large iron cage was wheeled forward. Then, a man and a woman approached. Wu Xianxian muttered something to them, and then shouted loudly:

"We respectfully invite the Divine One to descend!"