Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme-Chapter 931 - 574: Captives

Reality is cruel, and fairness can only ever be relative, never absolute.

The Sky-reaching Tower is no exception. A month of safety is the final tenderness before plunging into a brutal war, where either new or veteran Lords, as long as they are of the same rank, can attack each other.

Even with different ranks, forceful attacks are possible but come at a substantial cost, requiring the use of some extremely rare items, making it hardly worth it.

Therefore, after the safety period ends, the primary challenge that new Lords face is the aggression from veteran Lords, especially those high on the prestige leaderboard with considerable potentiality and strong troop attributes, owning Second-Order soldiers, which present a significant challenge for new Lords.

But fortunately, the Sky-reaching Tower is relatively fair, as defenders have a substantial home advantage. This includes defense architectures of the territory such as walls, defense towers, and various city defense weapons, even using farmers as cannon fodder.

The attacking side is less fortunate, as the resources and troops they can carry are limited, determined by their logistics skills and charm and commander skills, respectively.

Logistics needs no further explanation—it's about the space in one's pack; the size of the pack determines how much material can be carried. As for charm and commander skills, they are crucial for a Lord in leading troops.

Because fighting away from home is different from defending home turf, at home you can command all your soldiers with one order, but when out campaigning, there are limits on how many troops you can command—one point of charm increases the number of troops by five, one point of command by ten.

Take Xu Yang as an example; he now has 6 points of charm attribute and 1 point of commander skill, so when he attacks someone else's territory, he can only carry 40 soldiers, and only First-Order soldiers at that. For Second-Order soldiers, the same attributes would increase tenfold, and he could only carry 4 of them.

So, although new Lords have less experience, when facing an attack from a veteran Lord, they aren't entirely at their mercy if they manage properly.

Xu Yang currently has 580 Yellow Turban elite troops, which can be temporarily transformed into Yellow Turban Foot Soldiers through the Yellow Turban Camp. Although still pitifully weak, sending five hundred men forward is more than enough to withstand some of the lower-ranking old Lords.

But there is no need for that, as Xu Yang has gathered all the Yellow Turbans around the camp, under protection of twenty Arrow Towers, and prepared them for battle, ready to transform them into Yellow Turban Foot Soldiers at any moment to resist the enemy's attack.

He himself, carrying his weapon, went to the only open space in his territory, a beach on the west facing the sea, to wait for the enemy's arrival.

His goal in building Arrow Towers was not to repel the enemy's attack but to protect his farmers.

After all, he is a "solo Lord," which is characterized by strong combat ability but being alone, making it easy to be tied up by enemies who then split their forces to sneak attack, slaughter the farmers, and damage the territory.

This was unacceptable, so Xu Yang did not hesitate to put off building "taverns" and instead spent a significant amount of money to construct twenty Arrow Towers around the "Yellow Turban Camp" to ensure the safety of the farmers and core buildings.

In such a manner, thirty minutes quickly passed.

"Swoosh!"

A beam of black light flashed, and soon numerous soldiers appeared on the beach, with one, dressed in Black Armor and wielding a lance atop a horse, standing at the center of the team.

"Foot soldiers in front, archers at the back, cavalry get ready to charge!"

The general commanded skillfully, and the dozen soldiers quickly steadied their stance and began scanning for traces of the enemy's army.

Suddenly, coming alone a hundred meters ahead was a solitary figure striding forward with a spear.

"Hm!"

"A solo Lord?"

The general in Black Armor's expression sharpened, showing a hint of delight, and he immediately ordered his troops, "Fire!"

At his command, behind the foot soldiers, more than ten archers dressed in plain clothing and wielding War Bows simultaneously drew and fired, unleashing a dense torrent of arrows toward their opponent.

Although the Sky-reaching Tower and the Ten Thousand Demon Abyss are opposing entities, their systems develop in remarkably similar ways, both adopting a lord's conquest mode. Therefore, the general in Black Armor was very familiar with the traits of a "solo Lord."

This was also the reason for his delight; encountering such an easy target was surely a joyful surprise.

A solo Lord sounds grand, but in reality, it's synonymous with weakness. After all, a child of wealth does not stand in a precarious place. Who would risk soloing if not out of desperation?

As for a solo Lord's battle strength, isn't it just better equipment and higher martial skills? The individual excels, but this is a war between Lords. You might bully some mindless wild monsters, but thinking you can act as an army of one in group warfare is foolish.

Do you even know what the art of command is?

The general in Black Armor sneered to himself.

Though their territory might not have reached the reputation leaderboard of a First-Order Lord, they were still veteran Lords with developed architecture, capable of training soldiers from the "Jurchen" civilization, enhancing its civilizational traits "Mounted Archery," which significantly boosts the combat effectiveness of cavalry, archers, and mounted archers.

It's well known that lower-ranked solo Lords fear ranged attacks the most, especially widespread ones like a barrage of arrows, because there's simply no way to dodge them. They can only rely on their equipment and combat skills to endure, often succumbing after a few rounds of arrow rain.

So...

There stood Xu Yang, motionless, facing the barrage unleashed by over ten "Jurchen Strong Bowmen (Elite)" without attempting to dodge, instead swirling his Reed Leaf Spear in hand.

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

The spear spun, turning into a flurry of stick shadows, as the continuous rain of arrows fell and turned into sparks flying everywhere, leaving no gaps to penetrate.

"This..."

"Cutting Arrows technique?"

"How is this possible!"

The general in Black Armor's pupils contracted, and he awakened in shock, shouting angrily, "Fire, volley fire!"

Upon hearing this order, the ten-plus Jurchen strong bowmen hastened even more, and the few Jurchen Cavaliers standing by also took out their Short Bows. Twenty shooters fired together, forming an even denser rain of arrows.

Seeing this, Xu Yang too sprung into action, charging forward with large strides, his Reed Leaf Spear still spinning ceaselessly like a "human windmill," slamming into the enemy's formation.

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

The windmill charged forward, sparks flying all around, truly impervious to water or needle, as the twenty elite archers poured down hundreds of arrows, all deflected by the swirling stick shadows, causing no harm whatsoever.

Looking back at his opponent, who rushed in like a wild storm, crossing a hundred meters in an instant, he arrived before the infantry line in a blink.

"Stop him!"

The Black-armored General shouted in surprise and anger. Over twenty elite level Jurchen Foot Defenders immediately raised their shields to form a formation, intending to defend against the enemy at the front.

However...

Jurchen civilization excels in mounted archery, but the foot soldiers are ordinary. These elite Jurchen foot defenders wore leather armor and used Rattan Shields; their defensive capability could only be described in two words.

Terrifically poor!

Xu Yang sprinted forward, his flurry of staff moves had ended, he freed one hand and drew the Ancient ingot knife from his waist.

The Evil Qi congealed on the Ancient ingot knife, and with a sway of Xu Yang's hand, he slashed a streak of sword energy, a crimson, blood-like sword energy.

Special Skill—Breaking Army!

"Boom!!!"

The blade like a crescent moon fiercely slashed down into the enemy ranks, shredding the rattan shields and leather armor instantly; flesh and blood flew, and cries filled the air as over twenty Jurchen foot soldiers died instantly, ripping the infantry line apart in moments. It even caused several archers behind the front to be injured by the residual force and topple over.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, the Black-armored General had not even reacted when he saw his infantry line breached by a bloody assault. The rampaging Lord then leaped forward, swinging his long spear like a sweeping windstorm, breaking into the archer line.

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

A series of intense sounds like rain beating on banana leaves filled the archer line, Xu Yang swung his spear like a staff, sweeping forward and disrupting the advance. Several Jurchen Strong Bowmen could not react in time and were forcefully scattered like dolls tossed aside.

In an instant, just an instant, Xu Yang had broken through two defensive lines and charged straight to the Black-armored General.

The Black-armored General's pupils contracted, finally awakening. He had no time to turn his horse around and escape, so he had to stiffen up and thrust his long spear forward.

However, his opponent, who was charging, also thrust out his spear directly, and the tip of the Reed Leaf Spear, like a venomous snake's tongue, was faster, stronger, and more cunning.

"Pfff!!!"

A muffled sound as blood splattered. The cold light pierced from below upward, going through the General's chest. The thirty points of Protection from his Black Iron Scale Armor were like nothing before the Reed Leaf Spear's tip. The long spear pierced through him, exiting his body.

Armor-breaking Strike!

"You have killed an enemy Hero—Rong Quan!"

"You gain 20,000 points of Experience, 100 points of Reputation!"

"You have killed the enemy's Commander, causing significant damage to the enemy's Morale!"

The battle log refreshed again and again, but Xu Yang paid no heed as he speared the Black-armored General's Corpse Body into the air, then swung his spear around, charging towards the remaining Jurchen Cavalry.

However...

"The Jurchen Mounted Archers have collapsed!"

"The Jurchen Mounted Archers request to surrender!"

"The Jurchen Strong Bowmen request to surrender!"

"The Jurchen Foot Defenders request to surrender!"

Xu Yang swung his spear around but had not started another round of slaughter when the remaining Jurchen cavalry and the surviving archers and foot soldiers knelt down on the ground.

"..."

Xu Yang frowned but still halted his movement.

"You have accepted the surrender of the enemy soldiers!"

"You have thoroughly defeated your opponent, achieving a brilliant victory!"

"You gain special spoils of war—Sweat and Blood (Armor-clad)"

"You gain an additional 50,000 points of Experience and 150 points of Reputation reward!"

"You gain 3 Conquest Orders (Ordinary) and 1 Conquest Order (Specific)!"

"Your Lord Rank is 1, Character Level is 10, and you cannot further increase; experience is automatically accumulated, please complete the Advanced Task as soon as possible!"

The battle log massively refreshed, yet Xu Yang did not speak further, only turning his gaze towards the surrounding Jurchen soldiers kneeling on the ground.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

"Whirl!"

A flash of white light saw nine Jurchen soldiers vanish directly, leaving behind nine cards.

Xu Yang walked forward and picked them up, then saw the attributes displayed.

Jurchen Mounted Archer (Prisoner)

Troop Order: First-Order (Elite)

Troop Attributes: Slight

Troop Description: Captives can be sold or recruited for one's own use.