Chapter 578: Set Off
Translator: Irene Editor: TYZ, KLKL
Dawn was approaching and a slight glimmer could be seen through the forest on the azure horizon.
Everyone was done with their preparations and the forest was dead silent.
They were still very far away from their enemies’ camp. Even if they were to sprint and fly they would need about a day or so. If they did not fly at full speed and kept stopping, they would need about two to three days. As such, they found no scouts from the enemy’s side and even their enemies felt that this region was safe.
No one had ever launched their attack from so far away. A long day of flying would be a rigorous test of the soldiers’ physical strength and elemental energy. Ordinary combat divisions would’ve been too exhausted and unable to battle by then.
But they could do it.
Wan Shenwei swept his gaze across his people, his heart filled with pride. They were the most elite elementalists in the whole of the Avalon of Five Elements. Every single one of them had been carefully selected and had been through the harshest trainings.
People only knew that they were defending Old Territory and other than that felt that they were very mysterious. No one knew what kind of hardships they had been facing. They were fighters. Real fighters that had been through countless close quarter battles.
Everyone was calm and steady, thanks to their experience from being in hundreds of battles.
Wan Shenwei spoke up suddenly, his voice deep, "Glorious footprints, the old man is dead in enemy country. From Shi Beihai’s family, the lone girl is fighting on the front line. New soldiers from Infantry and Sky Edge are defending our territory. The so called best of the elite congratulate and celebrate victories!"
The originally quiet forest became exceptionally suffocating as the air seemed to have congealed, leaving no wind at all. The birds in the forest tried effortfully to flap their wings but were confined to their spots and unable to fly.
Wan Shenwei’s gaze swept across the stone cold faces, causing them all to blush a deep red, gasp loudly for air and clench their fists tightly while trembling all over.
"The humiliation and shame has settled. If word spreads, it will go down in history for many years."
The red on their faces deepened, as if there was a ball of fire in their chests, unable to be released. They were prideful people, so being nailed onto history’s wall of shame was worse than death.
Expressionless, Wan Shenwei said faintly, "Words will continue to spread and historians will remember what the best of the elites are for many years to come."
The suppressed fire exploded in their chests as the fresh blood within their bodies boiled like lava. Everyone started breathing heavily.
It was like the practically frozen forest was hit by a rising windstorm as countless leaves rolled up and branches crackled and rattled. Their fighting spirit and battle lust rushed out of their hearts like flowing fire, able to engulf all. Lightning struck every inch of flesh in their bodies and the blaze made them feel the pain. A satisfying pain. A pain that carried pride.
It felt as if they were going to burst out of their chests, and pierce through their bodies. There was fire, light, a knife, a sword. The blazing fire and lightning was roaring and bellowing. Kill all the enemies! Obstruct them all, burn them to ashes!
The azure wings on Wan Shenwei’s back appeared. They were wide and deep black in color, effectively accentuating his heavily-built body. The agitated soldiers started spreading their azure wings and all kinds of bright colors instantly lit up the forest.
"Dread, set off!"
He took the lead and soared high into the clouds.
"Judgement, set off!"
Ximen Caijue transformed into a green light and flew up into the sky.
She was resolute, her light ray was like a sword that pierced through the blue dome of heaven.
Countless light rays whizzed up into the sky like rain and illuminated the deep earth and the swaying forest.
A few Rust Plumes could be seen gliding steadily in the sky.
Rust Plumes were standard equipment for God Nation’s scouts. They looked like blood eagles, but were in actual fact a hybrid form of blood eagles and blood vultures. Beast Venom Palace had successfully produced them after years of breeding. They were ash-green in color and had a very tactile quality to their bodies. They had a bright red feather at the back of their neck, hence their name.
Their wings stretched over fifteen meters and could fly very well and stable even for long distances. It was like gliding on ice, which allowed the scouts to better conserve their energy. Rust Plumes had another major gift – their eyes. They could see very far away, making it difficult for enemies concealed within the forest to escape them.
This was a small scout team from Dawn Blood Division.
At that point, the Rust Plumes were in pilot mode and the scouts onboard were all lazing around and chatting.
"Have you heard? Yet another fellow offered himself to Commander Ye."
"Yes. What a good fellow! He’s already an old man but people are so devoted to him."
"What a pity. They are all outstanding fellows."
"Could it be that the higher ups want to remove his authority? Do you think they’re all people who stand by Commander Ye’s side?"
The leader was frightened by this statement and hurriedly chided, "Don’t talk drivel! Is His Majesty that kind of person? Is this something we should discuss? Keep in mind not to speak like that anymore or I’m not going to let it go!"
He took out a few jade fruits to feed his own Rust Plume Wings, intimately caressing its solid feathers.
The rest knew that they had taken it too far and quickly diverted the topic.
"When can we go to the front line. It’s so boring to go patrolling every day!"
"Yeah. Not a single soul can be seen in this stupid place."
"Why’s there a need for so many people to defend the big camp? I think one blood division is sufficient."
"Seems like there’s not going to be any credit for us this time. We’re done for. Won’t there only be Jadeite Forest left after Skyheart City is taken down?"
People conversed fervently, all talking at once. They had been patrolling around this district every day and had yet to notice anything. As the scouts in charge of the outermost circle, they covered the furthest distance every day.
Suddenly, the Rust Plume beneath the leader emitted a sharp hiss.
Everyone was stunned and stopped talking. Something’s wrong!
They diligently kept their eyes in front, but it was completely empty and they couldn’t find anything amiss. However, they did not let their guard down since the Rust Plumes’ eyesight was far superior to their own.
The leader was about to speak up, but his pupils shrank suddenly.
An arrow wrapped in green light appeared in his field of vision, its speed quickly accelerating rendering him unable to react.
Clap!
The green light flashed and the leader’s brain burst open like a watermelon.
A few arrows landed swiftly and more brains exploded simultaneously.
A wave of arrows rained down and wiped the whole scout team out before they could even get a clear look at the arrows.
The Rust Plumes called out sadly upon realizing that their owners were dead. They were rather intelligent and knew to return to the camp to inform the others. They flapped their wings hard, turned and flew toward the direction of the camp.
The sky buzzed and trilled, as if the air was trembling.
Specks of light rays lit up one after another, filling up the sky like stars.
The specks magnified at an alarming rate and in the blink of an eye they appeared right before them.
A deafening whistle drowned all sounds. The surging air was sharper than the tip of a sword. Without even looking at the Rust Plumes that were flapping their wings with all their might they whizzed overhead. Even though Rust Plumes were known for their speed, amid these light flows they were as slow as tortoises.
The surging airflow was like a very sharp sword.
Though stronger than steel, the Rust Plumes’ bodies were sliced into pieces in an instant.
With unspent momentum and power, the air flow whipped onto the ground ruthlessly.
The figures in the sky broke in like lightning, causing the mud to fly up, the forest to shatter and the river to stop flowing. It was as if there was a terrifying and invisible iron plow that was plowing a path over a mile wide. It created a pencil-straight ravine that seemed to have been drawn by a ruler, extending forward unceasingly.
The Three-forked River Camp was a more important defense spot. There were no towns located there and it didn’t have a name because it was where the river separated, so guards from Dawn Blood Division had named it the Three-forked River Camp.
Whether it was the god divisions or blood divisions, many of the battle tactics they followed originated from the Avalon of Five Elements.
Ye Baiyi used to be the division leader of Cold Flame Division, so he was very familiar with the combat divisions in Avalon of Five Elements. He knew their weaknesses and flaws, but also their advantages.
Before Ye Baiyi reorganized God Nation’s combat divisions, they were inadequate and weak. Outsiders regarded them as mobs.
Other than implementing battle tactics according to the unique characteristics of god elementalists, Ye Baiyi did not avoid the Avalon of Five Elements’s combat divisions’ areas of strength, but instead integrated them perfectly.
For example, Dawn Blood Division’s scouts used equipments which was exactly the same as those of combat divisions in Avalon of Five Elements. In fact, their equipment was even more perfect than those belonging to legitimate combat divisions, like Infantry and Sky Edge.
It wasn’t that Dawn Blood Division simply dispatched a few small teams. It was a whole security network constructed with many nodes. These randomly scattered nodes differed in size and Three-forked River Camp was a bigger node. Its scope could reach forty small surrounding nodes to form a big web. There was a total of six big nodes like Three-forked River Camp.
The nodes of different sizes formed a big, tight web that could resist an infiltration by elementalists.
If enemies invaded from the front, they could transmit the information to the base camp at top speed. Ye Baiyi was very clear about the importance of the scouts and guards. Their job wasn’t to obstruct and delay the enemies but to report the situation back to base camp as quick as possible in order to give them sufficient time to strategize and react.
The person in charge of the blood elementalist guards was Tang Jingrong. He was a godly blood elementalist, so it was clear how important Three-forked River Camp was to Dawn Blood Division.
Tang Jingrong was experienced, careful, reliable and powerful.
Tang Jingrong started setting up defense perimeters upon arriving at Three-forked River Camp. He also sent full scouts out for daily patrols. He did not feel that enemies would raid the camp because that wasn’t any different from seeking death. However, he knew that he mustn’t let his soldiers slack off or all sorts of incidents would occur. Instead, if they got busy, disturbances were less likely to happen.
He held onto a cup of tea and landed on a floating sentry. He asked the soldier on duty, "What’s the situation?"
The soldier answered helplessly, "Not even a fly, Boss."
Tang Jingrong laughed. "That’s the best. We would be in trouble if there was anything."
Suddenly he crinkled his brows, as if sensing something.
He focused his gaze far away, but noticed nothing. Was it his imagination?
Suddenly an arrow wrapped in green light appeared before his eyes.
His expression changed.