Princess Jiujiu was in charge of intelligence for the entire Star Luo Empire. Naturally, she was informed.
What do we do? This was the question in both Dai Hao and Xu Jiujiu’s minds. Xu Jiujiu looked at Dai Hao, but Dai Hao was looking at Huo Yuhao instead.
They were all panicking. Their fear had yet to metastasize. However, the entire Northwestern Field Army would most likely be engulfed by fear if this news spread. The morale boost that they had only just received yesterday from killing Wang Yiheng would most certainly vanish.
Huo Yuhao took in a deep breath. Comparatively speaking, he was the calmest among the three of them. Although he was from the Star Luo Empire, he didn’t have strong ties to it. To him, Shrek Academy and Shrek City was his family and home. This was why he was much calmer than both the White Tiger Duke and Princess Jiujiu.
“Your Highness, let’s stop all information from spreading first. We must not let anyone know about it, not even the leaders of the various soul master legions.”
After hearing Huo Yuhao’s voice, Xu Jiujiu was quickly jolted to her senses! Yes, preventing all information from spreading was the most important thing now. She nodded forcefully and took a few deep breaths. Her voluptuous chest rose and fell continuously. She also gradually calmed down. She even forgot to greet the White Tiger Duke, and immediately turned around before leaving the tent.
The White Tiger Duke looked at Huo Yuhao. Seeing how Huo Yuhao appeared so pensive, he gradually steadied himself. Huo Yuhao’s suggestion was right. Blocking off all information was the most important thing right now. It wasn’t about performing surveillance anymore. Rather, it was about concealing the information that they had and preserving the fighting strength of the entire army.
“Yuhao, we are in a disastrous situation right now. I don’t see any hope of us breaking out of it.” The White Tiger Duke sighed.
Huo Yuhao said, “Even so, we must still do our best. Duke, there are two ways we can choose to deal with the situation right now.”
“Oh? Tell me about it.” The White Tiger Duke’s eyes brightened. Just as he was unable to think of any solutions, Huo Yuhao actually claimed that they had two solutions to choose from. To him, it was as if he had grabbed hold of a stalk of life-saving grass.
Huo Yuhao said, “There are two ways for us to proceed. One, we protect whatever we have. Second, we turn aggressive. By protecting whatever we have, I mean that we immediately retreat and use Star Luo City as our base to gather all our strength. At the same time, we’ll ask for help from the academy and implore them to send some strong individuals to meet with us. Concurrently, we’ll need to ask the Dou Ling Empire to gather whatever strength they have. After that, we’ll enter the Heavenly Soul Empire from two different directions, exploiting the opportunity just as the Sun Moon Empire has to divide its forces after invading the Heavenly Soul Empire to fight the main force of the Sun Moon Empire. By concentrating the strength of the academy and the two empires, and even the power of the soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest, we can fight all-out with the Sun Moon Empire.”
“After all, we’ve ruled the Douluo Continent for so many years. People’s hearts are with us. Even if we suffer huge losses along with the enemy, we are still in an advantageous situation. During the final clash, we’ll need the two empires and the academy to contact all the hidden sects to join in the resistance against the Sun Moon Empire’s invasion.”
After hearing Huo Yuhao’s words, Dai Hao nodded repeatedly. It was indeed a good plan. However, there was a price to pay for using this plan. The price was close to half the land of the Star Luo Empire and the people who occupied that land. No one knew how the Sun Moon Empire would treat those people. This was also something that the White Tiger Duke wasn’t willing to see. He didn’t just love his soldiers. He also loved his own people!
“What about turning aggressive?” Dai Hao was much more composed after hearing Huo Yuhao’s first solution. Undoubtedly, Huo Yuhao’s first plan was workable.
Huo Yuhao’s gaze turned sharper and he replied, “By turning aggressive, it means that we have to risk everything. According to your original intentions, we have to attack the enemy’s most important site. As long as we can overcome the enemy’s defenses in the Ming Dou Mountain Range and fight our way into the Sun Moon Empire, their troops will definitely return to save them. When that happens, the Dou Ling Empire, Heavenly Soul Empire and the academy can combine to force the Sun Moon Empire’s troops back to where they came from.”
“Are you saying that we should use brute force?” The White Tiger Duke squinted, and released a killing aura from his body. “I’ve thought of this idea. Perhaps we might stand a chance if we do that. But if we do it that way, we’ll definitely suffer huge losses. Even if we manage to succeed, we’ll still suffer heavy losses. And even if we break our way into the Sun Moon Empire, we might not have enough strength to threaten them.”
Huo Yuhao said, “I understand your worries. However, the main threat to us is the Death God. It’s an irresistible force. If we can make the Death God lose its effect and influence the Sun Moon Empire’s surveillance abilities, we can minimize our losses. The Sun Moon Empire only uses elite forces for defensive purposes. Their actual strength is at most two to three soul engineer legions. Even if they concealed information about their strength earlier, they couldn’t possibly have conjured up so many soul engineer legions.”
“According to the news from the Heavenly Soul Empire, the Sun Moon Empire has combined the strength of seven soul engineer legions and the Holy Ghost Church over there, which explains why they managed to take the Heavenly Soul Empire down so quickly. The original news was that the Sun Moon Empire had ten soul engineer legions. If we have two or three legions on our side, the Sun Moon Empire’s imperial family will have to keep some troops with them to defend themselves. For example, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Legion will need to stay with them. In this way, we won’t be facing as many enemies. Let’s overestimate their strength. Let’s say that they have three soul engineer legions, which comes up to about one thousand soul engineers, along with a lot of soul tools. If they rely on terrain, they can most definitely stop us. This is why we need to wreak havoc first. Once we are able to inflict serious damage on them, we can then attack on all fronts.”
Dai Hao laughed bitterly. “Yuhao, your plan is indeed possible. However, its feasibility has to be built on the fact that we can cause damage to the defensive line of the Sun Moon Empire’s Ming Dou Mountain Range and cause the Death God to lose its effectiveness. However, they have many surveillance soul tools. You’ve tried before too. Given our current abilities, how are we able to do it? It’s too difficult.”
Huo Yuhao said, “It all depends on our will. It’s not impossible. I have a plan. Even without intelligence from the Heavenly Soul Empire, I was already willing to offer it to you.”
“What plan?”
“It’s like this…”
Huo Yuhao remained in the tent for a long time. He only left at lunch time. After having his lunch, he gathered his comrades and explained his strategy to them.
“No, I disagree.” Xu Sanshi said.
He was normally full of jokes. However, he appeared very serious at this critical moment. In the Tang Sect, even Bei Bei listened to his opinions.
Huo Yuhao said, “Third Senior, I’m confident.”
“Even so, I won’t let you do it. It’s too dangerous. Whether this strategy of yours work is solely built on the risk that you are facing. I won’t agree to it as long as you’re going to be subjected to any danger. Have you thought of the ramifications? What if you fail? You’ll die.”
Huo Yuhao smiled and replied, “I won’t. The Beast God won’t let me die.”
Xu Sanshi sighed and said, “However, you are taking too big of a gamble. What if the Beast God can’t handle it either? Once you venture that deep in, you’ll need sufficient time. What if…”
“Third senior, there’s no ‘what if’. I have to take this risk. If I don’t, we will be in an extremely disadvantageous situation. If we wait for the Sun Moon Empire to consolidate their hold on the Heavenly Soul Empire, we won’t be able to resist them, given the Star Luo Empire and Dou Ling Empire’s lacking research in soul tools. At the same time, the Heavenly Soul Empire is being attacked from all directions, which endangers our academy! The academy nurtured us to be who we are today and gave us strength. If I’m afraid of death at such a critical moment, I’ll miss out on this opportunity.”
Ye Guyi was suddenly a little agitated as she said, “This is not an opportunity. This is a death wish!” She suddenly stood up and looked at Huo Yuhao. Her breathing had evidently become a little quick. “Have you not heard of the Death God? Two thousand soul masters who were at least Soul Sages vanished without a trace in just one strike. No matter how strong you are, how can you possibly compare to two thousand Soul Sages? It’s the number one soul tool in the continent. No, you can’t go. It’s too dangerous.”
It wasn’t just Xu Sanshi and Ye Guyi. The rest also had the same expression on their faces. On the other hand, Tang Wutong was calmer, and didn’t utter a word as she sat where she was.
“I’m curious. How did you convince the White Tiger Duke?” Jiang Nannan asked doubtfully.
Huo Yuhao revealed an embarrassed look on his face. He had nothing to hide. “I told him that the academy had just researched a new type of soul tool that can be used in critical times to resist any attack, a true Invincible Barrier. I also have my Instant Teleportation. If I’m far away, I’ll be able to escape.”
Everyone’s expression turned weird. Whatever Invincible Barrier was useless. As for Instant Teleportation, Huo Yuhao indeed had it. However, there was a limit to how far he could go. There wasn’t any way he could escape the domain of the Death God.
“Yuhao, you’re playing with fire. Even if Elder Xuan were here, he wouldn’t agree to this plan.”
Huo Yuhao sighed and said, “What other better plan do you have? Third Senior, everyone else, please don’t worry. I’m really confident.”
Xu Sanshi’s gaze turned passionate as he said, “Alright then, Yuhao. Let’s do it this way. If you have to take this risk, I’ll follow you. I want to be part of your plan.”
Huo Yuhao was stunned. After this, he heard Jiang Nannan say, “Me too.”
Apart from Tang Wutong, everyone else also expressed their stance. They wanted to join him in his fight.
Xu Sanshi said, “If you’re willing to let all of us follow you, we’ll let you go.” He was clear that Huo Yuhao would be willing to sacrifice his own safety, but he wasn’t willing to compromise the safety of others. He wanted to use this method to dispel the thought in Huo Yuhao’s head.
“Alright, all of you can join then.” No one expected Huo Yuhao to agree, but he nodded and gave them a certain answer.
Xu Sanshi was stunned, and looked at him a little doubtfully. Don’t tell me he’s really confident? He understood Huo Yuhao, but he wasn’t completely confident that he would stray away from his plan given their demand.
He couldn’t take back his words anymore. Although there were still many doubts in his mind, he wasn’t able to voice them upon seeing how determined Huo Yuhao was.
Tang Wutong remained calmly seated where she was. She didn’t express her wish to join this mission, and no one went to question her. Ever since Huo Yuhao had confirmed that she wasn’t Wang Dong’er, everyone’s attitude toward her had changed a little. She was just an outsider, while the others were from the Tang Sect. She naturally didn’t have the right to ask others to risk their lives.
Huo Yuhao said, “Alright. Since everyone is agreeable, let’s discuss the details. This mission is extremely important. We’ll have to take real care with every detail.”
After this, the Northwestern Field Army remained very peaceful for the next two days. Huo Yuhao also stopped the probing attacks that he had originally planned.
The Star Luo Empire also strictly stopped all flow of information – news of the fall of the Heavenly Soul Empire didn’t spread. Both parties were at a stalemate.
In the night, the sky turned completely dark. There was a thin layer of fog in the sky tonight. When one peered into the sky, it was as if a layer of chiffon had engulfed the sky.
There weren’t any stars, and the moon was dim. This was definitely the night to carry out all sorts of covert operations.
Two figures rose into the night sky. They managed to get very high up under the cover of the night sky.
“Yuhao, whether we succeed depends on this. If we don’t, we can only choose to protect whatever we have.” The White Tiger Duke said softly. At this point, his hands were under Huo Yuhao’s armpits. His expression had evidently turned a little serious.
He was well-aware of the danger that Huo Yuhao was going into. If this mission failed, he would most likely end up dead. However, Huo Yuhao wasn’t bothered in the slightest when he came up with this proposition. It was as if he wasn’t the one whose life was in danger.
This entire mission was too important for the Star Luo Empire. The price to pay for failure was huge. However, if they succeeded, they could influence the situation across the entire continent!
Huo Yuhao smiled as he said, “Duke, don’t worry. I’ll do my best. I believe I have the ability to succeed.”
The White Tiger Duke took a deep breath, and then freed up one hand. He took off a necklace and placed it in front of Huo Yuhao.
“This is the tooth of a tiger. My father gave it to me in the past. I heard that it’s what remained after my ancestor killed a tiger-type soul beast. It can protect you. Put it on. No matter what, I hope you can return alive.”
Huo Yuhao turned his head around to look at Dai Hao. At that moment, he felt that he had lost control of his emotions, and was about to tell the White Tiger Duke about his background.
After receiving the necklace, he first felt that it carried the body warmth of the White Tiger Duke. After that, he sensed a strong killing aura from it.
