Chapter 768: Section 556: Protracted War of Attrition
Before a host of Golden Level duelists, Mei Lin took the initiative to admit she had made a mistake.
Gudong said, "No real harm done. Once we bring our true strength into play, I refuse to believe the Mage Tower won’t fall!"
The Devil Muscle then said, "They used a Legendary artifact, isn’t that even better? I’ve never had such an advanced trophy before."
Mei Lin slightly shook her head, "If I’m not mistaken, this Legendary artifact should be the Old King’s Crowbar. We have lost the condition for a swift victory."
"The victors will certainly be us, that much was certain when the Mage Tower entered the Divine Country."
"But this will indeed be a long-term battle."
"Therefore, do not reveal your identities. If the other side can bring out Legendary artifacts, they might have communication methods that can break through the Divine Realm."
The subsequent battle proved Mei Lin’s point.
The duelists’ siege was simply unable to penetrate the defense layers of Honey Snow Tower.
The Old King’s Crowbar continued to be effective, but this time it wasn’t Divine Power it was prying, but the offensive of the duelists, and even the Divine Country itself.
"All our powerful Combat Skills are almost being pried away, turned into means for Shuanglian to counterattack!"
"Just getting close to the Mage Tower, I can feel the whole world rejecting me. This is supposed to be our home ground."
"The Old King’s Crowbar... How could Shuanglian just happen to have such an artifact?"
The duelists had laid siege for a long time, feeling discouraged and frustrated.
Yijiu felt the worst of it.
He had once fallen upon hard times in the half-plane of Mixo, constantly fighting and fleeing, feeling as though the whole universe was against him. Now this damn sensation had returned!
The space around the Mage Tower was repelling the duelists, instead bending to protect the Mage Tower, the invader.
"A Legendary-level artifact..." Mei Lin sighed.
Such high-grade equipment was quite rare, and having witnessed its effects in actual combat, she could easily guess.
She suddenly remembered a piece of intelligence: "When young, Shuanglian successfully captured a juvenile half-plane. Is this true?"
"Or did she encounter a more mature half-plane and, relying on the Old King’s Crowbar, pried its defenses open, thereby taking it down?"
"Damn it, detestable!!" Devil Muscle, after a prolonged assault with no success, grew increasingly angry, raising his voice in question, "This is desecration, stark naked desecration! Why isn’t my Lord severely punishing this desecrator worthy of death?!"
The Divine Country is the home of the gods. Shuanglian was not only fighting in the Divine Country but also prying part of the Divine Country for her own use.
It was practically slapping the gods in the face.
But having fought up to this point, the duelists appeared weak, yet the God of Duels remained utterly silent.
This was very abnormal.
When gods suffer such humiliation, they almost certainly will act to maintain their reputation.
Reputation is very important for the gods; the greater their reputation, the easier it is for them to spread their faith. On the other hand, by allowing Shuanglian, a Golden-Level being, to brazenly disrespect them, the Face of the God of Duels was being lost. Who would trust a god that couldn’t even eradicate a Mage Tower and had such weak control over the Divine Country?
This was extremely detrimental to the God of Duel’s future proliferation of faith!
Nevertheless, the God of Duels remained inactive.
"It’s... as if He doesn’t exist at all."
Some duelists’ eyes flickered, faces uncertain, already guessing a part of the truth.
"The will to fight has plummeted to the bottom, alas..." Mei Lin sighed.
If she had known that Shuanglian had the Old King’s Crowbar, she would never have designed such tactics.
Now, she was caught riding the tiger, with no choice but to keep fighting toughly.
"Wearing them down is our best choice moving forward."
"This will be a prolonged battle. I will arrange for everyone to constantly maintain harassment and monitoring of the Mage Tower."
"The Old King’s Crowbar can handle a mature half-plane, but it cannot handle the Divine Country of Anqiu. The part of Divine Country it can pry is limited."
"At the same time, a Legendary-level artifact must be a great consumer of energy!"
Mixo strove to boost morale.
Yet the other Gold Level fighters were no fools, and someone immediately responded, "Give it a rest."
"Shuanglian has Honey Snow, doesn’t she? Her half-plane is the Kingdom’s largest Honey Snow production area."
Honey Snow, a unique resource, can be consumed as food and also serves as a relatively special Elemental Crystal, used to feed the Mana Pool, converting into Mana.
Mixo’s gaze turned dark as she emphasized again, "That’s why I say it’ll be a war of attrition!"
The duel between the fighters and the Mage Tower caught the attention of another group.
"What’s happening over there?"
"It seems like an intense battle is taking place!"
"How absurd, this is the Divine Country of Anqiu, how could an enemy possibly invade us?"
This group was the remnants of the Saber Gang.
The commotion from the Divine Power wash was too great, catching their interest.
As the Divine Power ebbed, the intensity of the battle dropped sharply, and they could no longer detect any signs of combat.
"Let’s begin, Hen Fa." Xiong Ju looked at Lan Zao, initiating the challenge, "Let’s see what you’ve learned recently."
Lan Zao nodded and stepped into the center of the clearing.
Their sparring began.
Xiong Ju went on the offensive, trying to pull Lan Zao into close combat.
Lan Zao, on the other hand, had retreated explosively from the moment the sparring started, trying to maintain distance.
Bang, bang, bang...
He kept retreating, continuously emitting from his mouth.
Combat Skill—Air Bomb.
Xiong Ju charged forward, battering through the explosions.
Each Air Bomb packed a considerable punch, and crucially, Lan Zao’s shooting skills were getting better. The Air Bombs he fired varied in power, feinting and striking unpredictably, making it hard for Xiong Ju to discern in time and significantly increasing his Fighting energy consumption.
A few bombs landed near Xiong Ju’s feet, severely disrupting his advance.
Xiong Ju let out an angered growl, unable to handle Lan Zao in the short term.
Ice Eagle and Spring Boxer watched the sparring, both having the same thought flash through their minds: "Hen Fa... has gotten stronger."
Neither was surprised.
Lan Zao had successfully converted his faith, receiving the transference of related experiences during his daily training.
This made him very adept at using Air Bombs in actual combat. If he had to rely on his own efforts, it might have taken him years to achieve such results.
Praying in the Divine Country of Anqiu to receive the Divine Blessing from the God of Duels was an excellent shortcut for cultivation!
"However, Hen Fa is definitely no match for Xiong Ju."
"I guess Xiong Ju’s level of faith must be at the Devout Level by now?"
Ice Eagle and Spring Boxer secretly communicated.
Among everyone, except for Spring Boxer, the one who had progressed the most wasn’t Lan Zao, but Xiong Ju.
Xiong Ju’s faith in the God of Duels, with a constantly elevating devotion, meant he received richer Divine Blessings.
"Ha ha, got you now!" Xiong Ju finally broke through to Lan Zao’s position.
Lan Zao could no longer maintain his distance and, with no other options, raised his fists to fight back forcefully.
Xiong Ju’s moves were powerful and forceful, even though Lan Zao was in his Fishman Form with bulging muscles, he struggled to compete.
Quickly, Lan Zao was sent flying with a punch from Xiong Ju, losing his capacity to continue fighting in the short term.
"What a pity," Spring Boxer sighed inwardly as he watched Lan Zao on the ground, "Your level of faith, like the others’, is not high."
"If this continues, I’ll have no choice but to leave you all behind in Anqiu."