Chapter 649: Planning the General Assault

On the Spirit Empire's side, aside from the Holy Dragon Legion commander whom Tang San had forcibly killed in an instant, Bibi Dong had originally been accompanied by eight Titled Douluo. In the previous battle, one had been killed when Xiao Wu's Eight-Stage Bursting Throw slammed him into Bibi Dong's full-power strike. Snake Lance Douluo had been critically wounded by Yang Wudi and was on the verge of death. The Titled Douluo who had lent his mental strength to Bibi Dong had also suffered severe backlash to his mental power. Only five Titled Douluo remained with any combat capability.

Watching Bibi Dong get blasted away by Tang San's strike and smashed into the city wall until blood streamed from all seven orifices, the five Titled Douluo nearly lunged down simultaneously. Two of them caught Bibi Dong's body, while the other three positioned themselves in front to guard against a follow-up attack from Tang San. When they saw Tang San retreating into the distance, they could not help but breathe a deep sigh of relief. Today's battle had left a deep shadow in the hearts of these pinnacle powerhouses of the Soul Master world — that seemingly young man who had commanded the battlefield with such devastating strategy and inflicted catastrophic losses upon them. Especially now that Tang San had reclaimed the Sea God's Trident, they had absolutely no desire to face him in combat again.

The Tian Dou Empire's army had withdrawn like a tide to a distance of five li before halting under the command of the Great Master and Marshal Golong. They reformed into orderly battle formations, giving the appearance of being ready to launch a second charge at any moment. When the retreat order was given, the Golden Sacred Dragon had already split back into the three individuals — the Great Master, Liu Erlong, and Flandre. The moment Tang San had charged toward the fortress, the Great Master had already ordered the other six members of the Shrek Seven Devils to move forward quickly to support Tang San. They arrived just in time to meet him returning.

Reuniting with his companions, Tang San immediately reached out with his left hand and grasped Xiao Wu's, saying in a low voice, "Give me some strength. Get me back." After those words, he forced himself to take a deep breath, his entire body swaying slightly. Xiao Wu was so startled that she hastily fed her Soul Power into his body to keep him upright. At this moment, Tang San gave Xiao Wu the impression that he could collapse at any second.

"Brother, are you all right?"

Tang San gently shook his head. "We'll talk after we get back."

The Shrek Seven Devils had been together for so many years that their coordination was already seamless. Oscar immediately pressed a Recovery Sausage into Tang San's hand and had him eat it. The six of them surrounded him and hurried back to their own lines.

By now, the Tang Army had begun moving again — not to attack this time, but to swiftly clear the battlefield.

Every crossbow bolt forged by the Tang Sect was worth a fortune, and each soldier's own supply was limited to one hundred and twenty bolts. Combined with the forty-eight already loaded in each repeating crossbow, each Tang Army soldier was equipped with only one hundred and sixty-eight bolts total. They had to recover the bolts fired in battle so they could be reused. This was one of the important reasons why the Great Master and Marshal Golong had not led the army straight back to camp. With the Tang Army's forces still standing at the front as a deterrent, the Spirit Empire's troops at Jialing Pass dared not act rashly.

Among the Tian Dou Empire's forces, the only ones who could tell something was wrong with Tang San's condition were those with at least the strength of a Soul Douluo and the Great Master, who knew Tang San intimately. Among the ordinary soldiers and even the Soul Masters of the various Soul Master corps, all they saw was the Blue Hao King returning in triumph after devastating the enemy. In their eyes, Tang San had become synonymous with invincibility.

"Blue Hao King, a thousand years, a thousand years, ten thousand years!" The army of two hundred thousand gave Tang San a hero's welcome. Every soldier raised his weapon overhead and cheered with wild abandon.

Ordinary people could generally only witness battles between Soul Masters in places like the Grand Battle Arena, and they could certainly never see a clash at the Titled Douluo level. Today's battle was the first time the vast majority of ordinary soldiers had witnessed Soul Master combat of this magnitude. Tang San's Sea God's Trident had left too deep an impression on them, and the thunderous roar they unleashed now had been organized by no one — it came entirely from the bottom of their hearts. In their eyes, it was this young Blue Hao King who had defeated the Spirit Empire's Empress Bibi Dong and the host of Spirit Empire powerhouses, leading them to this great victory.

Heroes always captured people's hearts the deepest, and the morale of the Tian Dou Empire's million-strong army had been raised to its absolute peak. Before this battle, who could have imagined that the Spirit Empire's Soul Master corps would be defeated so easily? Of the Spirit Empire's eight heavy-armored legions, fewer than sixty percent had made it back behind Jialing Pass. At least thirty thousand elite soldiers had been lost in the preceding battle. More critically, the Holy Dragon Legion — composed entirely of Soul Masters — had been shattered beyond reorganization.

This was a perfect victory, a perfect victory that no one had anticipated. The Tian Dou Empire, which already held an overwhelming advantage in numbers, had leveraged this battle to nearly suffocate the Spirit Empire across the lines. Not only was Spirit Empire morale plummeting, but a layer of gloom had also settled over the hearts of those hastily assembled generals. Some even felt a degree of schadenfreude over the Holy Dragon Legion's losses. After all, the Spirit Empire's Soul Master corps had always occupied a lofty status that bred jealousy, and the relationship between those arrogant Spirit Empire Soul Masters and the ordinary generals and soldiers had always been tense.

Tang San had been gritting his teeth and holding on. The Sea God's Trident, which normally weighed barely over a hundred jin to him and felt as light as nothing, now seemed to weigh a thousand tons in his hand. The Soul Power depletion was more manageable — after eating Oscar's Recovery Sausage, it had eased somewhat, and his body was extraordinarily robust. But the mental power exhaustion was agonizing beyond measure, as though his entire brain had been hollowed out. And this mental depletion was something he could only recover from gradually.

Marshal Golong asked the Great Master, "National Teacher, should we charge once more? Now is the moment when our morale is at its highest and the enemy's is at its lowest. Perhaps we can break into the city. Even if we can't, we can afford to play a war of attrition."

The Great Master replied, "Strategically, the decision is yours to make, Marshal. However, my personal assessment is that now is not the ideal time for a charge. While Jialing Pass's morale is low, the Spirit Empire's soldiers also know what it means for the breach to be opened. Most importantly, behind the pass there still exists an elite Spirit Master corps of the Spirit Empire. Marshal, you must not become careless simply because we defeated their Soul Master corps today. The true power of a Soul Master corps — you saw it yourself when we attacked them earlier. And our six thousand Soul Masters are far from comparable to any single Spirit Empire Soul Master corps. They hold a fortified position, which nullifies the power of the Tang Army's Zhuge Divine Crossbows. If we force a charge, the losses would likely be catastrophic."

Marshal Golong's former arrogance had been completely swept away by this battle. Whether it was the strength displayed by the Great Master and Tang San, or the devastating power the Tang Army and the Soul Master corps had demonstrated under the Great Master's direction, it had all shaken him profoundly.

After hearing the Great Master's words, he considered for a moment and said, "Very well. We won a great victory in our first engagement. It would indeed be unwise to take excessive risks. Men, pass my order — sound the gongs and withdraw."

The Tian Dou Empire's army slowly retreated in orderly fashion back to their camp fifty li away. Xue Beng personally came out to meet them. Although he did not understand why the army had retreated earlier, on the battlefield he refrained from making any complaints. Questioning the commander-in-chief before the ranks was never a wise move.

By the time they returned to camp, Tang San's consciousness had become hazy. He could not even clearly recall how he had entered the camp or returned to his tent. The moment Xiao Wu helped him lie down, he sank immediately into a deep sleep. Since his mental power had ascended to the Vast level, and especially after entering the Titled Douluo realm, this was the first time Tang San had been depleted so severely. It was even more exhausting than when he had cleared the meridians for his father or helped his mother resurrect.

That single beam of Asura demonic light had drained Tang San's mental power, willpower, and Soul Power in their entirety.

Tang San slept for a full three days. During those three days, the Tian Dou Empire's army issued daily battle challenges as routine, but Jialing Pass refused to come out. After quickly repairing the damaged city walls, the Spirit Empire ignored all the insults hurled by the Tian Dou Empire's army and simply would not fight again.

Tang San's exhaustion had been severe, but Bibi Dong's injuries were far worse. Not only had she been wounded by the Sea God's Trident, but most critically, Tang San's final Asura's Light had nearly robbed her of consciousness in an instant. After being rescued by the five Titled Douluo, she had remained in a coma the entire time. Inside Jialing Pass, a degree of chaos had already set in. Fortunately, the five remaining Titled Douluo and the Angel Legion were still there, barely managing to maintain order. But as for fighting on the front lines, they clearly had no intention of leaving the pass again.

The Tian Dou Empire had also brought up siege equipment and made tentative assaults on the city, but achieved little while suffering considerable losses. Just as the Great Master had said, once the Tang Army's Hidden Weapons could not reach their targets and the Soul Master corps inside the pass joined the defense, even the Tian Dou Empire's million-strong army could not cross that single step.

When Tang San woke from his deep sleep, the first thing he saw was the waterfall of black hair. Xiao Wu, dressed in white, lay quietly beside him, sleeping peacefully. Her silky black hair draped over him like a blanket, outlining a perfect silhouette. Looking at her, Tang San's heart instantly filled with tenderness. His mental power had recovered to nearly full. Since the Mysterious Heaven Skill had reached completion, he no longer needed to cultivate deliberately, and his Soul Power had also largely restored itself.

He quietly drew closer to Xiao Wu's body, pulling her into his embrace. Feeling that fullness that made his heart beat faster, Tang San could not resist lowering his head and placing a gentle kiss on Xiao Wu's red lips. He loved her too deeply. Even something as simple as holding her like this kept touching the softest place in his heart.

At that moment, a voice called from outside, "Xiao Wu, is Little San awake?"

Hearing that voice, Tang San and Xiao Wu sprang apart as if shocked by lightning. The tent flap lifted and Liu Erlong stepped in from outside. Seeing Tang San's awkward expression and Xiao Wu's flushed cheeks, Liu Erlong immediately let out a look of fond envy. "Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds."

"Mom—" Xiao Wu shyly threw herself at Liu Erlong's side, hugging her arm and shaking it vigorously to cover her embarrassment.

Liu Erlong laughed. "Stop shaking, stop shaking — at this rate my old bones will fall apart."

Tang San's composure had already returned, and he smiled. "Master Liu, you're still very young!"

Liu Erlong scolded him with mock severity. "Enough with the flattery. Since you're awake, your teacher and I can rest easy. Take care of yourself and recover properly. Don't worry about things outside — the Spirit Empire has turned into a turtle hiding in its shell."

Tang San said, "Master Liu, I think I should go take a look. My body is fine now." As he spoke, he gave Xiao Wu an apologetic nod. Xiao Wu returned a gentle smile, came over, and took Tang San's arm. "I'll go with you."

As the National Teacher and the leader of the Tian Dou Empire's Soul Master corps, the Great Master had his own large tent for strategizing with the top Soul Masters. When Tang San and Xiao Wu arrived under Liu Erlong's lead, the tent was bustling with activity. All the Shrek Seven Devils had been granted seats. Also in attendance were Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, Titan the Master of the Strength Hall representing the Tang Sect, Ning Fengzhi the Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and Vice-Commander of the Soul Master corps, Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong, both elders of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, and Flandre the Dean of Shrek Academy. Not a single one was less than a pinnacle powerhouse of the Tian Dou Empire's Soul Master world.

Tang San's appearance immediately drew expressions of joy from everyone. Poison Douluo was the least restrained with his emotions — he stood right up and gave Tang San a hearty embrace. "Little monster, I knew your life force was more tenacious than a cockroach's. So, fully recovered?"

Tang San chuckled. "Well, you old monster are still kicking, so how could anything happen to me?"

The Great Master nodded toward Tang San. "Since Little San is here, take a seat. We'll continue the meeting."

As a latecomer, Tang San — despite his extraordinary status in the Tian Dou Empire's army — did not insist on sitting in the front. He simply pulled up a chair in the back and sat beside the other members of the Shrek Seven Devils.