A Chaotic World

Chapter 180: Shadowfront Regiment

Three days later, Bluenight Palace suddenly became extremely lively.

It was now the focal point of the entire Bluenight City, with numerous martial artists from every influence within the city flocking over in droves.

Everyone in the region who wanted to participate in the war had arrived, dutifully reporting to City Lord Nanlan who was the highest ranking official in the region.

Bluenight Palace had long foreseen this sort of overwhelming response, and had wisely opened up the front regions of its territory to welcome the visitors.

Among them, Lu Tianzi and the rest of the Nine Suns Sect were naturally counted within, led by none other than Elder Diansheng and Elder Mingxin.

But apart from Lu Tianzi and the other Inner Sect members, more than a hundred Essence Building realm members of the Outer Sect had come along as well.

Of these Outer Sect members, few were concerned about the outcome of the war. Rather than that, most of them were hoping in their hearts that this war would provide them the impetus needed to break through their respective bottlenecks, allowing them to soar to greater heights!

They were gathered at a preassigned open area large enough to comfortably accommodate tens of thousands of people, where City Lord Nanlan sat silently in his elevated seat as he patiently waited for everyone to arrive.

On this day, he no longer carried his usual affable expression, and neither did he come forward to welcome each influence as they arrived, even for the powerful Nine Suns Sect.

This time, things were serious, and City Lord Nanlan needed to express that with his actions.

Seated beside him, General Nanbai Zhaoyu was dressed in his full battle attire, with a similarly solemn expression showing on his face.

"Welcome, everyone." City Lord Nanlan stepped forward to address everyone. "I am heartened to see that so many of you are willing to step forward to lend us your strength in this war against the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom. On behalf of His Majesty the King, I hereby thank you from the bottom of my heart. However, the expedition this time will not be led by myself, but by General Nanbai Zhaoyu. In view of that, let me not waste anymore time and pass this over to him."

Even though City Lord Nanlan was itching to join in the war as well, Bluenight City could not be left without a leader. Thus, he had no choice but to remain there, as per the orders of the Scarlet Moon Overlord.

With that, City Lord Nanlan could only step aside to let General Nanbai Zhaoyu take centre stage.

"Thank you," General Nanbai Zhaoyu stepped up. "This time, I, Nanbai Zhaoyu of Shadowfront Fortress, have been bestowed the honour of taking the commanding position here. However, please understand that in consideration of confidentiality in our overall military strategy, I would not be able to reveal too much to everyone from the start. For that, I hope for your understanding. As for those who are unwilling to heed my instructions without first receiving clear explanations, do inform me right now so that I can arrange for you to support my colleagues in the other regions instead!"

As a Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist, General Nanbai Zhaoyu was certainly considered as one of the strongest experts here.

In fact, apart from City Lord Nanlan, everyone else was beneath him in terms of cultivation level.

Despite that, many of them were still respected peers at the Origin Core realm, and General Nanbai Zhaoyu had to consider their pride while taking the lead. In order to prevent any complications from arising in the future, he had decided to clear things up from the start.

The last thing he wanted would be for his subordinates to question his orders in the thick of battle, which in crucial situations could even result in the difference between victory and defeat.

Thankfully, nobody spoke up in response, and General Nanbai Zhaoyu secretly let out a sigh of relief.

In order to facilitate the issuance of commands and the employment of tactics during battle, it was absolutely necessary to introduce some sort of structure to this mass of martial artists gathered here today, and that was exactly what General Nanbai Zhaoyu chose to do next.

Under his instructions, every fifty Essence Building realm martial artists formed a squad, each led by an Essence Condensation realm squad leader.

Twenty squads formed a battalion, each led by an Origin Core realm battalion commander.

There were a total of twelve battalions this time, forming the complete Shadowfront Regiment that was led by none other than General Nanbai Zhaoyu himself, the coordinating general for forces in the region.

In total, there were more than twelve thousand well-trained martial artists within the Shadowfront Regiment, a massive force to be reckoned with!

Even though the Nine Suns Sect had always been known to be the strongest influence in Bluenight City, the number of sect members they sent out this time was relatively insignificant when placed in comparison to that total!

Other than that, General Nanbai Zhaoyu also tried to keep martial artists from the same influence banded together. This would allow them to have a better idea about the abilities of their direct comrades, and thus improve combat effectiveness.

General Nanbai Zhaoyu moved quickly.

After he had confirmed that each individual's role and squad had been assigned, the Shadowfront Regiment promptly left Bluenight City under the well wishes of City Lord Nanlan, heading towards the northwestern borders of the Scarlet Moon Kingdom.

Considering the large amount of people who were below Origin Core realm, as well as the need for secrecy, it was simply impossible for the Shadowfront Regiment to fly towards their destination.

Thus, they had no choice but to make their way there at a pace that was well suited for the Essence Building realm martial artists among them.

Lu Tianzi was placed under the command of Elder Mingxin, alongside Nanlan Qianxue and Nanqing Haowen. Apart from them, there were also martial artists from other influences mixed within their battalion.

The moment they realised that they had been assigned to the same battalion as the famous Nanlu Tianzi, everyone in Elder Mingxin's battalion immediately felt more assured.

Even Elder Mingxin herself was no exception.

After all, this was a person rumoured to possess strength rivalling an Origin Core realm martial artist!

With him around, it was almost as though their battalion was led by two Origin Core realm experts. So how could they not feel assured?

***

The northwestern regions of the Scarlet Moon Kingdom were full of dense vegetations, forcing the Shadowfront Regiment to traverse such rough terrain on their march.

Even so, the sheer quality of even their weakest members ensured that they made good progress on their journey.

"Reporting to Squad Leader Nanlu!" a young man in his mid twenties hurried up to Lu Tianzi from behind. "In regards to your earlier enquiry, everyone in the squad has confirmed that they are carrying some medicinal pills, and still have sufficient rations!"

"Thank you for the help, Juncheng," Lu Tianzi smiled in response at his enthusiastic deputy.

"I am glad to be of help!" Juncheng patted his chest in pride.

Just like Lu Tianzi, Juncheng was a member of the Nine Suns Sect. In fact, he was even talented enough to have been allowed into the Inner Sect despite only possessing a cultivation level at the Peak Essence Building realm.

Lu Tianzi had always known of his existence, but it was only over the course of the past week that Lu Tianzi started getting to know Juncheng on a personal basis.

By now, he had already formed quite a good impression of this enthusiastic fellow sect member of his.

"From the looks of it, we should be reaching the borders soon," Lu Tianzi remarked.

"Indeed," Juncheng nodded. "According to the map, we should be able to reach the borders by the end of today. Finally, we will be able to see some action! I can't wait!"

"Hahaha" Lu Tianzi could not help but let out an amused laugh when he saw Juncheng's burning enthusiasm.

However, Lu Tianzi's laughter was suddenly cut short by a message that came in through his communication ring.

"My apologies," Lu Tianzi let out a faint smile. "Elder Mingxin has requested to see the squad leaders so I have to go over. As for the things here, I will be leaving them to you."

"Sure! It is about damn time as well!" Juncheng grinned widely.

Juncheng clearly understood that by summoning the squad leaders at this point, Elder Mingxin was likely to be briefing them on the upcoming deployment plans.

"Haha, I will be right back then!" Lu Tianzi broke off from the squad, heading towards where Elder Mingxin was.

Juncheng hit the nail on the head.

Elder Mingxin, just like the other Origin Core realm officers, had all been briefed by General Nanbai Zhaoyu on their next instructions.

Now that they were this close to the kingdom's borders, it was finally time for her to pass the message on to her subordinates.

The Scarlet Moon Kingdom shared its entire western border with the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom.

Thus, the moment they stepped beyond the northwestern border of the Scarlet Moon Kingdom, they would have directly entered the territory of the opposing kingdom.

However, just like how they did not pass by any cities on their way here, there were no big targets on the other side in this remote region either.

According to the intelligence gathered, all that existed near the borders were a bunch of small villages, as well as a town that lay slightly further.

The instructions from General Nanbai Zhaoyu were short and simple.

Divide and conquer.

The twelve battalions of the Shadowfront Regiment were to split up, taking a village each and razing it to the ground.

After which, they were to reconvene at Drakecrack Town at their fastest speed, where they would work together to take over the town for themselves!

As for what means to be used, what to do with the population in the villages and whatnot, General Nanbai Zhaoyu had purely left it up to the officers to decide.

After all, these small villages did not possess any significant form of defence, and in General Nanbai Zhaoyu's eyes, this could not even be considered a challenge.

With such odds in their favour, this was nothing but a prelude to the start of the war, merely to warm up their forces for the battles to come!

Lu Tianzi sighed inwardly when he heard of the plan.

Even though they already gathered that these villages possessed no means of fighting back, General Nanbai Zhaoyu had still mercilessly ordered for their destruction instead of simply passing them by.

However, Lu Tianzi had to agree with this decision, no matter how ruthless it might seem.

There was simply no telling what these villages would do if left to their own devices. If they were unlucky, the villagers might even end up dealing them a blow from behind!

Thus, there was no better choice than to completely get rid of them from the start.

As for the villagers involved, all they could do was to blame their luck for being there!