Chapter 560: Counterattack Surge
Sure enough, in the next moment, Du Tiechuan’s voice spread across the battlefield: “All soldiers, heed the order—launch a full counterattack. All military merits will be rewarded!”
In an instant, all the soldiers within the Liangzhu Kingdom army shouted in unison.
In contrast, the morale on the side of Thousand Peaks Forest sharply declined.
The enemy’s Soul Formation–level expert had already taken action—where was Thousand Peaks Forest’s own?
Countless people expected the Dragon Ginseng King to appear, yet not even a single ginseng whisker could be seen.
Lu Hongtu shouted loudly, “Do not panic! This is the enemy bluffing—Du Tiechuan has not personally appeared!!”
The crowd looked uncertain.
For several breaths, all combat slowed. Everyone waited.
Du Tiechuan’s expression turned gloomy as he could not help but speculate, “Is there some kind of trap forcing me to reveal myself first?”
“Dragon Ginseng King…”
“Where exactly are you hiding?”
Du Tiechuan carried injuries. Merely taking action to imprison Xiang Yue had already destabilized his aura and left him struggling.
No matter how he searched, he could not find the Dragon Ginseng King’s presence, which only made him more wary.
Under such circumstances, he became even more unwilling to risk revealing himself first.
Thus, across the entire battlefield, neither side managed to witness Du Tiechuan appear.
The morale on the side of Thousand Peaks Forest stabilized!
“The Grand Cave Lord of the Six Caves Sect truly thinks fast.” Grandfather Long cast a grateful glance toward Lu Hongtu. As expected of the chief military advisor of the Thousand Peaks Forest coalition army.
In just a few breaths, Lu Hongtu had already devised a countermeasure.
Although Grandfather Long’s combat strength exceeded Lu Hongtu’s, he could not have thought of it.
This was the power of strategy!
“Hahahahaha!” Shuang Ling suddenly threw her head back and laughed, her sharp laughter spreading across the battlefield.
She pointed at Grandfather Long. “Your Dragon Ginseng King still hasn’t appeared. Could it be that he already died from severe injuries long ago?”
Truly worthy of being the Mechanism Princess—she immediately returned the tactic in kind.
Grandfather Long’s expression changed drastically. He shouted angrily, “Wretched woman, sharp-tongued and audacious! You dare insult our divine lord! Today I will tear out your soul and flay your skin—body and soul destroyed!”
Grandfather Long flew into a rage and launched a frenzied assault on Shuang Ling.
This verbal clash between the two greatly affected the morale of both armies.
Shuang Ling controlled the Flexible Bone Mysterious Maiden to actively resist Grandfather Long. As the latter unleashed fierce attacks, she retreated step by step.
Even so, Shuang Ling felt greatly encouraged, the pressure in her heart dropping by at least half.
Previously, she had to divide her attention—both fighting Grandfather Long and searching for opportunities to suppress Xiang Yue. It had exhausted her mind and body.
Although she was a Nascent Soul figurehead of a kingdom, facing both Grandfather Long and Xiang Yue alone had been far too much.
But now things were different.
Xiang Yue had been personally suppressed on the spot by Du Tiechuan, completely losing his influence over the battlefield. This allowed Shuang Ling to focus entirely on dealing with Grandfather Long.
In fact, it was not just Shuang Ling—the morale of the entire Liangzhu Kingdom army was rising rapidly!
The reason was simple.
Their own Soul Formation–level expert, Du Tiechuan, had already taken action at least once, and with a single move he directly suppressed Xiang Yue.
Previously, Xiang Yue had inflicted enormous casualties and pressure upon the Liangzhu Kingdom army. Now that he had been suppressed, the army’s spirit recovered just as much.
Thus, a tide of full-scale counterattack was officially unleashed!
“AAAAAH!” Xu Dali roared, his entire body soaked in blood.
He suddenly charged forward, relying on the foundation of his body cultivation. Using Military Art, he smashed through all barbarian cultivators in his path, unstoppable!
Ding Bi waved the kitchen knife in his hand. In an instant, blade light flashed like snow, and a pangolin demon cultivator was immediately sliced into pieces.
The flesh slices flew into a pot and were quickly cooked.
Ding Bi’s disciple Jia Wan danced around the large pot, constantly adjusting the fire.
The cooked meat slices emitted a rich fragrance. With spiritual sense, Ding Bi pulled them into his mouth, rapidly chewing and swallowing them, transforming them into a vast surge of mana that replenished him greatly.
Mo Yechen took a deep breath and activated the formation on his robe, staining the sky until it transformed into a stretch of night.
The darkness spread like ink. From the sky descended chains of pitch-black iron, locking down numerous enemy soldiers so they could not move, allowing their opponents to easily take their lives.
Similar scenes appeared across the battlefield almost simultaneously.
The rising morale caused the Liangzhu Kingdom soldiers—who had previously fought individually in chaotic combat—to all choose to attack.
Their collective offensive surged forth. Although some attempts failed, most temporarily suppressed the forces of Thousand Peaks Forest.
Previously, everyone’s choices had been inconsistent. Although Thousand Peaks Forest soldiers sometimes retreated or fell into disadvantage, they would often quickly counterattack and reclaim the upper hand or restore balance.
But now things were different.
The drop in Thousand Peaks Forest’s morale made them subconsciously uneasy, causing them to adopt defensive stances.
If only one person or one region chose defense, it would not affect the overall situation. But when everyone collectively chose defense, the entire battlefield situation changed instantly.
Almost in a single moment, the winds of the battlefield shifted clearly—Liangzhu Kingdom seized the advantage, while Thousand Peaks Forest fell into a battered defensive state.
This change further intensified the psychological shift among both armies.
The Liangzhu Kingdom soldiers, now gaining the upper hand, had originally only relied on a burst of courage. But once they counterattacked and discovered the enemy truly faltering, their morale surged even higher.
Meanwhile, the Thousand Peaks Forest side—already anxious and defensive—suddenly found the enemy becoming much stronger. Their common thought was: Indeed! Choosing to defend and avoid earlier was correct.
Thus, it further confirmed the suspicion that Liangzhu Kingdom was strong while Thousand Peaks Forest was weak.
Army morale wavered!
One side’s morale rose while the other’s fell, and morale directly influenced military force enhancement. Nascent Soul cultivators fighting alone were less affected, but the vast majority of soldiers were only Foundation Establishment or Golden Core cultivators.
They were the majority.
Thousand Peaks Forest grew weaker the more they fought, while Liangzhu Kingdom grew increasingly ferocious. Rising morale filled them with spirit and vigor!
“The human heart changes unpredictably. Clearly, strength has not changed much, yet perception alone alters everything. This is the Dao of military strategists! Boss, I understand now.”
At that moment, Ning Zhuo—who had just separated from Xiang Yue—suddenly flashed with brilliance in his eyes, grasping one of the supreme principles of the military strategist path.
Morale, army spirit!
For military strategists—and especially for a Grand Decisive Battle—how crucial these factors were.
Just this single change had completely altered the battle situation! And the change had happened almost instantly.
One moment earlier both sides were evenly matched, with Thousand Peaks Forest even attacking aggressively. The next moment, the counterattack erupted, leaving Thousand Peaks Forest in an obvious defensive disadvantage.
Inside the Dragon Head Cabin, Sun Lingtong wore an expression of sudden realization and murmured, “Thieving Breeze Formation… so that’s it.”
Stimulated by this moment, relying on his extraordinary comprehension, he instantly understood the battle formation he had previously grasped.
From this moment onward, he completely comprehended the Thieving Breeze Formation and fully mastered its essence and nature.
He could once again activate Gao Sheng’s Testament and Soldiers Sharing One Helm.
Ning Zhuo was unaware of Sun Lingtong’s state. Through spiritual sense transmission, he spoke to him and to the three generals Liu, Guan, and Zhang:
“This is the perfect opportunity for a counterattack! Let’s go!”
Although the three generals Liu, Guan, and Zhang had lost their primary weapons, they still possessed spare weapons from before, which remained quite handy.
Leading the soldiers of the Three Generals Camp, they formed the Triangular Arrowhead Formation and began their charge.
Ning Zhuo also released his Mechanical Puppets, reorganizing his forces.
His spiritual sense swept through his Storage Bags and discovered that few Mechanical Puppets remained. Thus he released them all at once, bringing his troop count slightly above his previous record.
He had been continuously enhanced by the Warrior Returns Art. In terms of strength, he had leveraged a massive boost, raising his combat power to a nearly exaggerated level. Therefore, even though his troop numbers exceeded his normal control limit, he still felt completely at ease.
He tried releasing the Mechanical Golden Swallows, but soon withdrew them.
Controlling two different types of mechanical constructs simultaneously was still too taxing on his mind.
The Mechanical Golden Swallows only offered minor combat improvement but multiplied the mental burden several times. The cost far outweighed the benefit, so Ning Zhuo decisively abandoned the idea.
“Charge!”
Leading the Mechanical Army, he advanced together with the Three Generals Camp, coordinating left and right as they surged forward.
Enemy groups encountered along the way were all crushed.
Sometimes Ning Zhuo’s Mechanical Army would stall, and the Three Generals Camp would flank from the side, quickly causing the enemy group to collapse.
Other times, Ning Zhuo supported the Three Generals Camp, sacrificing Mechanical Puppets to forcibly break open gaps in the enemy formation. The three generals would then lead the charge, driving deep into the enemy ranks and scattering them in panic.
Various Military Arts were used in succession. The three generals carefully selected their targets, avoiding many of Thousand Peaks Forest’s formal armies. Other scattered groups were simply no match for a structured army.
The greatest feeling Ning Zhuo had while charging was—
Ease.
Yes, ease.
His Warrior Returns Art had been enhancing him all this time, and these Mechanical Puppets were his final batch. This brought him immense amplification.
Since entering the battlefield, the enemies he had encountered had all been powerful.
Chen Lingfeng, using his innate talent, had reached peak Golden Core combat power. Xiang Yue was even a True Lord—top-tier among Nascent Soul experts! Within the entire region of Thousand Peaks Forest, he was absolutely among the top five.
Facing such formidable enemies, Ning Zhuo felt great pressure even as his strength continuously increased.
Now that he was suddenly facing normal opponents, feeling relaxed was completely natural.
Not just relaxed—he felt increasingly relaxed!
Once a full offensive surge began, it became a massive wave.
When a wave rose, if it was not stopped in time, it would continue endlessly.
Grandfather Long and Lu Hongtu naturally understood this clearly.
Without needing communication, they all displayed their strongest combat stances!
Divine Bestowed Art—Life Force Collapse Surge!
The vast vitality within Grandfather Long transformed into violent life energy and erupted at this moment, granting him a full-body enhancement.
His height rose to sixteen feet. Muscles bulged across his body as if they were about to burst through his skin.
Divine Bestowed Art—Divine Dragon Treasure Body!
A semi-transparent dragon-scale armor covered his entire body.
Ordinary attacks struck the dragon scales only with metallic clangs, shaking the scales but unable to harm Grandfather Long’s flesh.
Spirit Treasure—Purple Coral Scarlet Gold Dragon Armor!
Grandfather Long’s right shoulder armor was a Spirit Treasure. Shaped like a dragon’s head with its mouth open, it wrapped around his right shoulder.
The armor shone in gold and crimson, smooth as a mirror, scattering metallic light. The dragon’s eyes resembled diamonds, dazzling like stars.
Delicate cloud patterns flowed across the shoulder armor, shifting endlessly.
When the Spirit Treasure was activated, it combined with the Divine Dragon Treasure Body.
In an instant, the previously translucent dragon-scale armor solidified, now gleaming with brilliant crimson-gold colors. Its defensive power skyrocketed!
“Hmm?!” Shuang Ling’s expression changed.
The Flexible Bone Mysterious Maiden’s attack struck Grandfather Long but produced only a shower of sparks. His upper body did not even sway.
His next words made her heart sink even further.
“Your true body is over there, isn’t it?”
Grandfather Long looked toward the White Jade Camp and charged directly toward it!
The Flexible Bone Mysterious Maiden tried with all its strength to stop him but achieved little.
Boom!
Grandfather Long crashed straight into the White Jade Camp’s position.
Treasure—Light Mountain Heavy Mist Painting!
This was the sect-protecting treasure of the Six Caves Sect, now activated by Lu Hongtu.
A misty mountain fog rapidly spread from around him, forming an ink-wash landscape.
Strangely, the scenery within this ink painting was inverted.
Mountains floated upside down in the air, ancient trees growing atop them. Below lay dense mist, heavy as if weighing thousands of tons.
“Man and formation united?!”
“The Grand Cave Lord of the Six Caves Sect actually possesses such mastery in formations!”
“AH—!”
Liangzhu Kingdom cultivators caught in the mist were swiftly sucked into the painting landscape. Their bodies were flipped upside down and split apart.
Their lower halves flew into the sky, smashing into rocks and turning into paste. Their upper halves fell into the clouds below and were ground into pulp.
A demon cultivator named Jin Tunhe—wearing a wide robe printed with copper coin talismans—revealed his true form: a three-legged golden toad!
His body was massive and bloated, over forty feet tall, with copper coins piled across his back.
Jin Tunhe inhaled deeply, sucking in numerous objects around him.
“My flying sword!”
“Damn it—give me back my magical instrument!!”
People cried out in alarm.
“My clothes! Give my clothes back!!”
Some were even worse off—instantly stripped naked, frantically covering their lower bodies. The smarter ones simply covered their faces and fled in embarrassment.
Jin Tunhe blocked the charging path of Ning Zhuo and the Three Generals Camp.
Ning Zhuo’s Mechanical Puppets were swept up by violent wind and sucked into the three-legged golden toad’s mouth, instantly losing their connection with him.
Ning Zhuo’s expression changed drastically, his heart shaken—because he discovered that losing these Mechanical Puppets did not give him even the slightest increase in power.
“This kind of method directly counters my Warrior Returns Art!” Ning Zhuo exclaimed in shock.
There was no strongest spell—only the strongest cultivator.
All things counter one another; such balance was the fundamental principle of nature.
The Warrior Returns Art that Ning Zhuo had relied on would inevitably encounter its counter someday.
He just had not expected it to come so soon.
Not only him—even many soldiers of the Three Generals Camp had their weapons and armor sucked into the three-legged golden toad’s stomach.
“I’ll smash it to death with my bare hands!” Zhang Hei roared angrily. His magical treasure had been absorbed, and the armor on his upper body was gone.
“No!” Ning Zhuo immediately rejected the idea. “Jin Tunhe is a Nascent Soul expert. Right now is his strongest moment. There’s no need to clash head-on. No matter how much he absorbs, his stomach space is limited.”
“We’ll detour and focus on killing more enemy cultivators!”
Liu Er immediately said, “The Military Advisor is right!”
Zhang Hei and Guan Hong obeyed resolutely.