Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Chapter 410 - 202: War, the Hidden Guards Strike

...

While Li Chang’an was intensifying his cultivation...

...the war between the Fusang Tribe and the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe was raging just as fiercely.

One cannot tolerate a rival sleeping soundly on their doorstep.

In fact, because of Man Yu’s skill in commanding battles, the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe had considered the Fusang Tribe a grave threat for years.

The only reason they hadn’t acted sooner was that the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe’s main forces had been away, fighting campaigns alongside the Sunlight Tribe.

Now that the campaigns had temporarily concluded, the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe had freed up their hands and, naturally, had to begin their move against the Fusang Tribe.

Moreover, this was not just the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe’s own idea.

It also had the support of the Sunlight Tribe.

With their rear flank secured, the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe acted swiftly.

In just one year, the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe conscripted six of its vassal tribes, amassed thirty thousand of their soldiers to serve as cannon fodder, and then drew twenty thousand elites from its main force. In total, a vast army of fifty thousand strong launched an attack on the Fusang Tribe.

Keep in mind that the entire population of the Fusang Tribe had yet to surpass one hundred thousand.

Yet Nine-Tower Mountain, another medium-sized tribe, could muster an army of fifty thousand in one go.

Although most of them were cannon fodder forcibly conscripted from vassal tribes, it was still a terrifying number. This was proof of the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe’s deep foundations; their hard power was far beyond what a tribe with an unstable foundation like the Fusang Tribe could hope to match.

Of course, the number of soldiers wasn’t even the most critical factor in this battle.

What was most critical was that the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe’s army had assembled five Guardian Gods of the Transformation Realm. The Fusang Tribe, even counting its vassal tribes, only had two Guardian Gods in total.

The difference in power here was even more staggering.

Upon discovering such a huge disparity in strength, the upper echelons of the Fusang Tribe were clearly worried. From their perspective, they could see no hope of victory in this battle.

’Perhaps our only hope is to place our faith in our chief and our Guardian God. We have to hope they can achieve the impossible.’

Across the entire tribe, perhaps only Li Chang’an and Man Yu could remain calm. The reason for their composure was that they both knew the Fusang Tribe’s true current strength.

The Fusang Tribe and the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe were, at most, mismatched in terms of troop numbers and overall strength.

If it came to a direct confrontation, the outcome was still anyone’s guess.

Because of the massive gap in overall strength, the Fusang Tribe could not be the aggressor.

Man Yu had fortified all the tribe’s major transportation routes and strategic mountain passes. He also dispatched several mobile and flexible hunting parties to act as scouts, utilizing the Fusang Tribe’s geographical advantages to the fullest.

But in the end, war always comes suddenly.

There was no such thing as being completely prepared.

While the Fusang Tribe was urgently preparing for all-out war, the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe was also making its own preparations.

The fifty-thousand-strong army on the surface was merely a feint.

In truth, having experienced various tribal wars, the Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe knew better than anyone what was most important: either you don’t strike at all, or when you decide to strike, you must end the conflict decisively.

And what was the fastest way to end a conflict?

Without a doubt, it was to cut off the head of the snake!

The fifty-thousand-strong army marched out in a vast and mighty torrent. When the armed soldiers appeared in the Fusang Tribe’s territory, the war was finally on the verge of erupting.

Because the Fusang Tribe was fighting on their home turf, they held the geographical advantage. So even though the tribe was considerably weaker, they stubbornly resisted the enemy’s attack.

However, just as the Fusang Tribe’s soldiers thought the war would settle into a prolonged stalemate...

The situation on the battlefield changed rapidly.

The Nine-Tower Mountain Tribe had pinned down all of the Fusang Tribe’s effective forces at the various strategic passes. Their true killing blow, however, had already appeared at the Fusang Tribe’s settlement in Santi Town, arriving through a gateway from the Void.

High above Santi Town, a rippling gateway opened, and from it emerged over a dozen Guardian Gods of various shapes and sizes.

This group of Guardian Gods was numerous.

After they stepped out of the gateway, it still did not close. Following a series of violent tremors and shudders, a giant, single-horned wolf emerged from within.

The giant wolf was enormous. Its fur was snow-white, like a coat of sharp steel needles, and on its back sat a middle-aged man whose body glowed with a jade-like luster.

Over a dozen Guardian Gods, a giant wolf, and a profoundly mysterious middle-aged man.

Although they were few in number, their sheer size meant the aura they exuded was anything but weak.

Just the few of them standing there was like witnessing an army of thousands, their presence utterly awe-inspiring.

The moment this group appeared, the atmosphere in Santi Town turned grim and murderous. All ordinary living beings who felt their presence felt their legs go weak, as if the heavens would fall and the earth would shatter in the next second.

Under the pressure of their might, even beings with Cultivation found it difficult to breathe, to say nothing of the old, the weak, the sick, and the infirm left to guard Santi Town, or the ordinary tribespeople. They were already trembling in fear, barely able to hold their weapons steady.

The Fusang Tribe was no stranger to life-or-death crises.