Chapter 254: War Escalates

Yesterday, Tao Kun had led the elites of Yuanheng Pavilion through an arduous spell of leveling up, all in anticipation of this very moment!

To establish a firm foothold in an unfamiliar territory, the finest recourse was to make an example out of someone, exerting dominance through ruthless intimidation!

Had they left well enough alone, it would have been one thing, but now that they had dared to provoke him, vowing to slaughter every soul from the Morning Star Sea Region on sight, did this not play perfectly into his designs?

Furthermore, this so-called Jiuhua Army appeared thoroughly lackluster, compromised of a mixed formation of martial artists and cultivators.

Whereas in Half City, any elite force was composed entirely of cultivators! Without absolute opulence, none would ever dare to establish a faction here!

Thus, he possessed the utter confidence that this Jiuhua Army would serve as an excellent stepping stone to assert his dominance!

After all, in the eyes of many cultivators, their kind had always stood a cut above mere martial artists!

"Cultivators of Yuanheng Pavilion and the Huang Family, gather in the open clearing near the Viper Valley!" Within the Yuan-Huang Alliance room, Yuan Heng bellowed fiercely. "Today, we must utterly crush them! Let us show them the true might of our Morning Star Sea Region!"

At this moment, excluding those still unable to return from the Red Name Village, some fifty to sixty members of the Jiuhua Army had assembled at the village entrance.

Gong He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Brothers! Those country bumpkins from the Morning Star Sea Region have brought their forces to our very doorstep. Not only have they plundered our resources, but they have also slaughtered seven or eight of our brothers who were out leveling! Can you tolerate this?!"

"Never!"

"Kill our way through!"

"What is our battle cry?!" Gong He roared.

"The might of Jiuhua, united as one!"

"Kill!" Gripping his iron sword, Gong He pointed it toward the vicinity of Viper Valley. "Today, we slaughter them all to appease the banner of our Jiuhua Army!"

With warriors leading the vanguard, Taoists holding the center, and mages bringing up the rear, they marched in perfect synchronization toward Viper Valley under Gong He’s command.

……

Near Viper Valley, the allied forces of the Yuan and Huang families had cleared out all the surrounding monsters.

Yuan Heng’s expression grew solemn as he spoke, "Brother Huang, command must be unified now. I expect the disciples of your Huang family to cooperate."

"Naturally!" Huang Shan hastily shouted into the Penguin Communication channel, "All Huang family disciples near Viper Valley, obey the orders of Yuanheng Pavilion!"

Only then did Tao Kun nod in satisfaction. "Huang family disciples, take the left flank! Form the array!"

"They are coming!" The members of Yuanheng Pavilion had also discovered the immense utility of the Penguin Communication channel. Shouting in-game would only turn their throats hoarse without ensuring everyone heard, but now, with the command mode activated on the channel, Tang Yuan and Tao Kun needed only to take the microphone for their words to ring clearly in every member's ears!

"One hundred paces until we are within range of Fireball!"

"Fifty paces!" Tao Kun bellowed, "All mages, prepare your Fireballs! Taoists, fall back!"

……

On the opposing side, the Jiuhua commander Gong He ordered, "We are about to enter Fireball range! Taoists, prepare your Healing Arts! Warriors, charge from the flanks! Mages, cover them with Fireballs!"

More than twenty warriors split to the left and right ahead. Concurrently, both sides unleashed a torrent of Fireballs at each other as if they cost nothing, resulting in a spectacular storm of magical radiance, sparkling starlight, and flying spheres of flame that resembled a torrential rain of meteors!

"Taoists! Keep the health up!" Both sides shrieked frantically.

Unlike the original game, drinking health potions during combat here easily caused distractions, impairing focus and judgment. A single misstep could result in a Fireball to the chest, or worse, choking on a potion, which was exceedingly troublesome!

Thus, the Healing Art of the Taoists remained the superior choice!

A gentle, pure light enveloped many of the wounded warriors and mages, and their injuries gradually mended under its influence.

……

"Warriors, break through and kill those two standing in the center directing the battle! Kill them for me!" commanded the Jiuhua leader.

……

"Mages, move forward a bit more! Do you see that fat man protected in the center? Concentrate your fire!" ordered the Yuan-Huang Alliance commander.

……

Within mere moments, the two forces clashed in brutal, close-quarters combat!

"Taoists, push up! Hold the line for the mages!"

"Warriors, target the mages! Kill the mages quickly!"

"Everyone pile in! Charge forward!"

"They dare match numbers with us?! Let us see who has more men!"

Yuan Heng was inexplicably slashed from behind. "Who the hell stabbed me?!"

Gong He’s forehead practically steamed with rage. "Damn it, who threw that Fireball?!"

The battlefield dissolved into utter chaos!

Three minutes later: "Brothers at the resurrection point, hurry and reinforce us! Reinforcements!"

Five minutes later: "Where are the people from the resurrection point?! Where is everyone?!"

The elite forces replied, "We got into a fight on the road!"

"We are intercepting their reinforcements!"

The commanders of both factions scratched their heads in sheer bewilderment. How could such a ridiculous predicament occur in reality?! After a brief thought, they commanded, "Drag the battle line toward the resurrection point! Stretch the engagement!"

"Those who died, get up immediately! Do not take the main gate! Do not get cut down by the City Guards!"

……

Along the road leading to Viper Valley, Ye Xiaoye and several newly arrived disciples of the Cloud Sea Sect had only just departed the novice village.

"Are those cultivators from the Morning Star Sea Region? They look like a few low-level mages!" Several Jiuhua soldiers pointed at the Cloud Sea Sect disciples who had barely left the village outskirts, charging forward to hack them down mercilessly!

"What is the meaning of this? Why are you attacking me?!" The disciples were instantly laid low, scattered across the ground.

Riddled with frustration and cursing silently in their hearts, the Cloud Sea Sect disciples emerged once more from the resurrection point.

"Are those three from the Jiuhua Army? Why haven't we seen them before?" Upon spotting them, several cultivators from the Morning Star Sea Region hurled a Fireball at each of them!

The trio collapsed to the ground once more!

"Damn it all! Are you people insane?!" Yun Lian instantly exploded with fury. "Kill those sons of bitches!"

At that moment, the Royal Guard, who had come to farm gold, had also created their characters and stepped out of the novice village.

"Why are there more people coming?!"

Having completely lost their minds to bloodlust, both warring factions roared, "Who cares! Cut them down!"

……

Meanwhile, Ji Wu and his companions were still hunting vipers deep within Viper Valley.

"By this time, they should have arrived, shouldn't they?" Ji Yu glanced at the hour.

"Let me check." Ji Wu removed his virtual jade and inspected the communication talisman. "They have already arrived and are preparing to head out to level up."

Of course, this was assuming he remained oblivious to the catastrophe unfolding outside the novice village...

Just outside the gates of the novice village.

"Who do you think you are?! How dare you attack the Royal Guard?!"

"To hell with your royalty!" The blind, blood-crazed members of the Yuan-Huang Alliance slammed Fireballs directly into their faces.

"You court death!" The newly emerged Royal Guard roared, "Kill!"

...

The Red Name Village.

The fiercest killers from both the Jiuhua Army and the Yuanhuang Coalition had all ended up here.

"What the hell is going on over at the Novice Village?! Someone give me a report! I'm already in the Red Name Village!" Yuan Heng roared over the Penguin Messenger channel.

Likewise, the Jiuhua Army commander, Gong He, shouted, "I'm over here hacking these little bastards to pieces in the Red Name Village! Brothers over there, take charge and slaughter every last one of them until they spawn here!"

Meanwhile, back at the Novice Village...

A player from the Xiyi Academy cursed, "Fuck your mother! Who just killed me?! Was it you?!"

A frenzy of wild hacking ensued.

The Royal Guard bellowed, "Who just struck me? Do you have a death wish?! Still hitting?! Motherfucker, you're still hitting?! Ugh—!"

An explosion of dropped loot!

They resurrected and immediately dove right back into the savage slaughter!

"Waaah—! They stripped me of all my gear!" Ye Xiaoye, who had only just managed to farm a few pieces of equipment, had now been plundered until nothing remained but her coarse cloth shift. Even her wooden sword was gone, leaving her wiping away tears in a corner.

"Motherfucker!" Yun Lian and his companions stood with darkened faces. "Disciples of the Cloud Sea Sect! Come and help avenge our Junior Sister!"

"Disciples of the Floating Cloud Dao Palace, lend us your strength!" another voice rallied from deep within the surging crowd.

...

Back in the Red Name Village, Yuan Heng and his men gasped, "Why are there so many people?!"

"There are too many of them!"

Tang Yuan, his expression grim, commanded, "Send word, deploy another contingent over here!"

"Argh—!"

A miserable shriek cut through the air as someone was hacked down again.

"Damn it! Deploy my hundred-man personal guard here!" Tang Yuan's face flushed crimson as he let loose a feral roar!

Motherfucker, in all his life, he had never been butchered like this before!

.