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"They’re here... Ignite!"

Atop the city walls, Meng Yan, who had detected the scent of danger from afar, shivered with excitement and immediately bellowed his command.

All the soldiers on the walls were instantly energized, a stark contrast to the fear and trepidation they felt during the previous days when the Jiangnan soldiers attacked, as most of the Southern Barbarian Soldiers now flashed a hint of irrepressible excitement in their eyes!

"Spearmen, get ready!"

Looking at the densely packed soldiers below, Meng Yan took a deep breath of the cool air. The number of soldiers attacking this time exceeded any previous assault, clearly indicating that the enemy was launching a general offensive, aiming to capture the fortress tonight!

His judgment had indeed been correct; if they didn’t activate that plan tonight, the Tiannan Pass would definitely be indefensible.

"Fire!!"

At the command, countless spears, with their eerie green flames, rained down like fiery arrows. The Jiangnan soldiers attacking the city, seeing the green fire on the spears, each carefully tried their best to dodge.

This was one of the main reasons why they had been unable to breach the defenses in the past few days.

It had to be said that the Southern Barbarians’ spear technique was far superior to that of the Central Plains.

Third Rank Warriors and above, combined with the high ground advantage, could throw spears with terrifying force that not even a First Rank Warrior could block without leverage, much less with a shield.

What was even more deadly was the ghost flame on those spears; the substance spread rapidly, and it could instantly ignite and rapidly melt even metal and stone.

This meant that even soldiers equipped with shields could only block a spear once and then had to immediately discard the shield; otherwise, the ghost flame would spread instantly to their bodies, which was very troublesome.

In the thick sea of spears, a shield could only block once. If you wanted to climb up, you had to concentrate on avoiding all the spears, which was virtually impossible during the ascent—it was a hellish difficulty!

Fortunately, the number of enemy troops now was no longer as great as before, and the density of spears had lessened from the initial onslaught. After enduring many such attacks, many soldiers had become accustomed to dodging, making their climb up the walls smoother than at any time before!

Soon, the first man surged over the city wall...

Without hesitation, a large group of soldiers immediately pounced forward!

They forcefully grabbed the man who had just leaped onto the wall and hurled him down...

Seeing this familiar scene, the Jiangnan soldiers showed no surprise, as they had grown very accustomed to it.

One of the reasons why the Tiannan Pass had held out for so many days was precisely the Southern Barbarians’ reckless fighting style.

The walls were hard to scale, and as soon as someone managed to get up, there would immediately be someone willing to sacrifice themselves in a do-or-die attack.

This tactic was, admittedly, ferociously spirited!

Watching the intense offensive on both sides, a general behind Meng Yan spoke in a lowered voice, "Could this be overdone? What if the enemy retreats again?"

"The play must go on in its entirety!" Meng Yan replied softly, "The more critical the moment, the more convincing we need to be. If we collapse too easily, the enemy will definitely sense something is off. Duke Qi Tian Heng is a renowned commander; do not underestimate him. If we don’t play our part well, he might very well see through it. "

Hearing this, generals from the other states nodded slightly, thinking to themselves: Meng Yan, who has survived two battles at Tiannan Pass, really knows his military tactics.

Although he planned to lure the enemy deeper, he only shared the plan with half of his soldiers, meaning he intended to use the other half as bait!

It must be said his methods were somewhat ruthless, but as the saying goes, "Kindness does not lead to victory in war." On the battlefield, it’s the most ruthless who seize victory...

Soon, as half of the soldiers held back, more and more Jiangnan soldiers started to kill their way up the wall. Once they lost the geographical advantage, the gap between the First Rank and the Third Rank became apparent.

In almost an instant, many of the defenders atop the walls were slaughtered, causing Meng Yan and his men’s eyelids to twitch uncontrollably.

They finally understood why the vanguard troops had been defeated so quickly. With such a disparity, lasting a single day was already impressive...

"Retreat!" Meng Yan’s spirit surged as he immediately ordered a retreat.

The soldiers who had been warned earlier retreated extremely quickly, while those Southern Barbarian Soldiers who had not yet reacted were overwhelmed by the advancing wave of Jiangnan troops before they could flee.

As the number of soldiers from Jiangnan on the city walls continued to increase, Meng Yan immediately cried out in a grim voice, "Spiritual Commanders!"

Several key players below quickly formed hand seals; streaks of pitch-black light tore through the air, and countless dark spirits swept through the skies like the wind, burrowing into the bodies of the soldiers on the city walls who were already prepared.

In an instant, the eyes of the soldiers in the back turned blood red, a savage and icy aura surged within them, their powerful presence erupted swiftly, and their strength broke through the limits of mortals in a flash!

Watching this scene, Meng Yan was extremely excited. These soldiers of Jiangnan were certainly top-notch; they definitely were not easy to cultivate. If they could all be left behind here, it would save him countless troubles in their future invasion of the Central Plains...

But just as he was about to give the order to round them up, a bizarre scene took place...

The soldiers who were originally occupying the walls suddenly stopped fighting and rapidly retreated with no intention of continuing the battle.

As the second blessing had just begun, those Jiangnan troops, who had been like hungry wolves, scattered like birds and beasts, sliding back smoothly without hesitation!

Meng Yan saw this and immediately sensed something was wrong, shouting, "Stop them!"

These soldiers were retreating so decisively as if it had been planned in advance. Could it be... their own plans had been anticipated by the enemy?

A traitor?

That shouldn’t be the case. The Ghost Temple had inscribed all the soldiers, who were being monitored at all times; how could there possibly be a betrayal?

But if no one had betrayed them, why did the enemy retreat so decisively? They didn’t even wait for a command...

There was no time to think about this now. The priority was to capture them as much as possible; otherwise, once their own forces were exhausted, the Tiannan Pass would truly be lost!

"General Meng... What is this?"

"Pursue!" Meng Yan led the charge, determined to keep these soldiers from Jiangnan at bay even if it meant bursting out of Tiannan Pass!

"There’s still a chance!" Meng Yan encouraged as he led the way, "Our soldiers have transcendent power for a short time. We are definitely faster than those on the other side. At such a close distance, they can’t get away!"

Several commanders heard this and felt slightly reassured; it seemed to make sense.

But this reassurance didn’t last long, as a terrifying whirlwind came sweeping in with a flash of green light in the sky, forcing all soldiers to protect their vitals and come to a standstill.

The wind carried sand and stones, its powerful force turning the debris into blades that filled the sky, forcing even the Transcendent soldiers to close their eyes and be momentarily rooted to the spot.

"Chen Qing?" Meng Yan looked up at the figure floating amidst the green light.

"Spiritual Commanders!" Meng Yan roared fiercely. The Spiritual Commanders had said that if Chen Qing made a move, they would act!

But for some unknown reason, when he turned to call for reinforcements, he found no response on the ground...

Chen Qing, floating in the air, smiled slightly. If he dared to cast his Technique in mid-air, he was naturally confident that at this very moment... the adversaries on the ground couldn’t make a move!

As expected, inside Tiannan Pass, Dragon Mother and the others watching Chen Qing immediately turned pale with rage.

Initiating the second blessing required them to tap into the power from the Path of Yin and Yang, and at this time, releasing so many Evil Spirits at once, they had no energy left to contain Chen Qing.

This guy... actually timed their cooldowns!!