BOOM!!
With a deafening roar, the northern gates of Shangjing burst open. Countless Neon soldiers poured in like a flood, their furious battle cries echoing as they charged into the Capital City.
As the Divine Land’s masters retreated from the northern city walls, falling back to defensive lines within the city, Shangjing’s gates could no longer hold back the Neon Army’s advance.
The gates were open. The flames of war spread into the city. Battle cries, gunfire, screams, and panicked shouts filled the air of Shangjing, a ceaseless cacophony.
The Neon soldiers were no saints. Upon entering Shangjing, the units not engaged on the front lines immediately began looting all manner of supplies while securing the occupied areas.
The Divine Land’s thousand-year-old capital was now suffering an unprecedented catastrophe.
VROOOM!!
Amidst the roar of an engine, a Neon field command vehicle drove through the northern gate into Shangjing. Seiichiro Shintani stood inside, listening to the distant sounds of battle and screams, a faint smile gracing his lips as he surveyed the city’s scenery.
The Divine Land’s thousand-year-old capital had been thrown wide open for him.
"Commander, the Divine Land’s masters and soldiers have retreated into Shangjing. They’re using the urban terrain to engage us in street-to-street fighting. Their resistance isn’t weak. It seems their goal is to delay our advance as much as possible, to stall for time before we occupy the city. But I don’t understand the purpose of this, since they have no reinforcements. Also, we haven’t found any trace of Yuan Tianhao. I suspect there might be something more going on."
An officer ran up, gave Seiichiro Shintani a military salute, and spoke with the utmost respect.
"Stalling for time?"
Seiichiro Shintani’s eyes narrowed slightly at the report. He mulled it over. He didn’t understand the Divine Land’s objective either, but perhaps it had something to do with Yuan Tianhao.
Yuan Tianhao’s unknown whereabouts left him feeling deeply unsettled.
He had a nagging feeling that things weren’t this simple.
In any case, he could not allow the enemy to achieve their strategic objective, whatever it might be.
"Relay my orders! All units are to advance at maximum speed according to the established plan. Encircle and capture Shangjing. Try not to let a single Divine Land master escape. Crush all of their resistance completely!"
Seiichiro Shintani ordered the officer beside him.
"Yes, sir!"
The officer saluted respectfully and turned to leave.
Staring out at the scenery of Shangjing from his command vehicle, Seiichiro Shintani spoke calmly to his chief of staff. "To destroy a country, one must first erase its history. To annihilate a people, one must first destroy their culture. Now, we have conquered this thousand-year-old capital and killed its head of state. This has a deterrent effect, but it’s far from enough. Shangjing is the cultural and political heart of the Divine Land, the nation’s capital. Tell me, if this city were to vanish from the map of the Divine Land, with countless masters and commoners buried along with it... would the soul of the Divine Land still exist?"
Hearing Seiichiro Shintani’s words, the chief of staff seemed to understand something, and a look of utter horror appeared on his face.
...
...
Within Shangjing, numerous Harmony masters were scattered throughout the city, using the pre-arranged defensive positions of various army units to harry the Neon Army, attempting to delay the city’s fall with urban warfare.
But the plan was far from easy. The Neon Army held an absolute advantage in terms of top-tier masters. Moreover, with the gates breached and Yuan Tianhao’s whereabouts unknown, the morale of the Divine Land’s forces had plummeted to rock bottom.
In less than three hours, soldiers from various units within Shangjing began to break and flee, joining the terrified populace in an exodus out of the city. However, Seiichiro Shintani clearly had no intention of letting anyone leave so easily. After entering the city, the Neon Army had executed an encircling maneuver, quickly surrounding the whole of Shangjing and tightening the noose like a closing pocket.
It wasn’t just the ordinary soldiers; even the Harmony masters were beginning to suffer heavy casualties. Among the Sixteen Generals, Celestial Sparrow Song Lan of the Yunling Army and Sun Ruyi of the Celestial Army, wielder of the Bright Light Fist, were severely wounded and captured. The Beidou Army’s Harmony master, Cao Ying, was tragically beheaded by Aurora Mitsuro and died on the spot. In addition, another Harmony master from the civilian Martial Arts Realm was killed in action. Three more Harmony masters were so grievously injured they lost all combat capability, and all the remaining masters were wounded.
Worse still, they had completely lost contact with two others, unsure if they had fallen in battle or had escaped Shangjing amid the chaos.
On the Neon side, by contrast, only two of the Twenty-Eight Celestial Emperors were seriously injured and five were lightly wounded. The rest were in good condition.
As for the regular soldiers, the casualty ratio had reached nearly ten to one.
As the Neon Army’s encirclement tightened, the Divine Land’s forces fell back again and again, retreating toward the city center. And the focal point of their slow withdrawal was none other than the Yuan Mansion!
"Meng Dongtai!! Is what you said true or not?! Did the Grand Marshal really entrust his power to Zhao Xuanqi in some special way?! Can he really turn the situation around if he succeeds in his breakthrough?!"
As they retreated to the next line of defense, Chi Zhenyun stared at Meng Dongtai nearby, gritting his teeth as he spoke.
The other masters from the Divine Land all turned to look at Meng Dongtai, who was now covered in blood from the fighting.
This was the story Meng Dongtai had told everyone after they retreated from the city walls.
Although Yuan Tianhao had successfully broken through to the Divine General realm, unforeseen complications had arisen, leaving him with not long to live. However, after regaining consciousness, he had secretly summoned Zhao Xuanqi and entrusted the mysteries of a Divine General to him. Inspired by this, Zhao Xuanqi was now in the midst of a breakthrough. Once he emerged, his power would surpass that of Yuan Tianhao before his own breakthrough, making him the strongest in the Divine Land.
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