Taurus Defense Zone! Above the vast, open desert plains! Boundless, as far as the eye could see, was nothing but a fiery crimson. Looking closer, those towering clouds of red fire were actually colossal, ferociously-visaged Fire Dragon Moths.
At this moment, this dense swarm nearly blotted out half the sky, leaving only a dim shadow cast upon the ground!
And on the other side, above the Taurus Defense Zone, the sky was similarly obscured by a massive cloud of red carriers, yet compared to the opponent's vibrant, fire-like scarlet, this cloud of fire appeared far more subdued, leaning towards a deep russet hue—the subtle distinction between the two factions of Fire Dragon Lizards!
Perhaps this would be the only significant mark by which the two groups of Fire Dragon Lizards could tell friend from foe!
The entire expanse of sky was forcibly cleaved in two by these two colossal, sky-occluding clouds of fire!
Leaving only a gap approximately one thousand meters wide in the middle! Like a slender, narrow fissure, the morning sun struggled to squeeze through the faint, feeble light, sprinkling onto the shadowed earth below, creating a bizarrely thin, golden thread.
This added a rare touch of warmth to the somber, oppressive battlefield.
Was this the largest aerial battle in the entire Wolong World?
Even witnessing it firsthand, Xingchen remained stunned by the terrifying scale of the assembly!
His heart rate and breathing became uncontrollably rapid, and even the hands gripping the Dragon Shadow began to tremble slightly!
Not from fear, nor nervousness, but from an ineffable excitement and anticipation!
Yes, what he was about to witness was a world-shaking battle for the ages, and he himself was destined to be a protagonist in this astonishing conflict.
Thinking of this, Xingchen instinctively glanced towards Lan Qi and Niya, the two comrades closest to him since arriving in the Wolong World.
Equipped with the technology provided by Shadow Moon, all the long-standing difficulties plaguing the Shadow Moon Tribe had finally been resolved.
Take equipment, for example!
At this moment, both Lan Qi and Niya were clad in genuine Thunder Roar Suits. Although slightly inferior to the gear specially reserved for Xingchen and Yueying, they were on par with the equipment worn by Silver Fox and the others.
The only regret was that Shadow Moon had only left behind two Divine War Beasts for the air forces!
In fact, the entire Wolong Manor possessed only seven Divine War Beasts capable of aerial combat!
This was the fundamental reason why the Phoenix Knights of the Wolong World had always been limited to seven in number!
Although they had successfully killed Nico last time, they failed to acquire his mount, meaning the Soaring Sky Tribe quickly saw a replacement Phoenix Knight appear to fill Nico's vacancy!
Seven Phoenix Knights, combined with a massive contingent of twenty million Fire Dragon Lizards, definitely constituted an unprecedentedly large-scale military campaign!
Consequently, Niya and Lan Qi both wore expressions of tension; even the usually calm and indifferent Lan Qi had a fine sheen of sweat forming on her smooth forehead!
However, despite their nervous expressions, their eyes were fiercely sharp and resolute.
In their gaze, there was only the opposing seven figures and their seven beasts!
Indeed, these were the strongest roadblocks in this war, the seven most formidable adversaries Xingchen had to face: the Seven Great Phoenix Knights of the Wolong World!
“They really think highly of me,” Xingchen muttered softly, “To send all seven of them out at once.”
“That’s only natural,” Niya replied. “Gold Dragon and Silver Fox are never rash or unintelligent, especially when facing you and Yueying.”
“It’s up to you now,” Lan Qi stated gravely. “The Taurus Defense Zone has activated the Taurus Barrier, which is similar to our Nile Tribe’s Black Tortoise Barrier. Its defensive strength is over six million. This level of defense cannot be breached by the Fire Dragon Moths. If the barrier cannot be broken, no matter how many Fire Dragon Moths we possess, we won't be able to capture the Taurus Zone, let alone invade Wolong Manor.”
“Leave those seven to me,” Xingchen said, lightly pressing the flanks of his mount—two giant falcons externally identical to Silver Fox’s Iron Hawks!
Except their feathers were entirely golden, as if cast from solid gold statues.
And their gazes were ice-cold and sharp! These were Xingchen and Yueying’s Divine War Beasts of the air.
Unlike typical Divine War Beasts, their brains were fitted with a twin system connected to the bio-computers in Xingchen and Yueying’s minds.[..]**
This meant they were not truly beasts possessing independent thought, but rather tools controlled by their riders, much like an aircraft or an automobile!
However, the ones piloting them were not Yueying and Xingchen, but the powerful Lan Ye residing within Xingchen’s mind. Thus, they lacked emotion and could never make mistakes.
Through countless simulated battles, Xingchen had long experienced their rationality, calmness, and precise combat style—qualities exclusive to machines and computers.
In fact, not just Xingchen, but the research scientists of the Nile Tribe were intensely curious about Lan Ye’s capabilities. They said Lan Ye’s processing power was comparable to the main computer of the Shadow Moon Tribe, yet its volume was incredibly compact.
This was simply unbelievable.
Because of this, Xingchen felt supremely confident about this battle.
Since it was a large-scale conflict, it was fundamentally different from one-on-one duels.
In fact, in large-scale warfare, the contribution of individual prowess was very limited, even for powerhouses as formidable as the Phoenix Knights!
Although separated by a great distance, there seemed to be a strange, inexplicable sense of connection between them. Gold Dragon and Silver Fox, among others, coldly surveyed Xingchen, Lan Qi, and Niya hovering before the Fire Dragon Moths! Finally, their gazes inevitably settled upon the golden divine beasts ridden by Xingchen and Yueying!
“They actually equipped Divine War Beasts for aerial combat,” Gold Dragon’s pupils contracted violently beyond control, and his heart sank uncontrollably to the very bottom.
“Where did this technology originate?” Silver Fox spoke gravely. “Biological Divine War Beasts for aerial combat. They must have mastered all our technologies! Otherwise, they wouldn't launch such an ambitious attack!”
“We'll investigate that later; for now, let’s gauge their strength,” Gold Dragon looked towards Old Bull and Wei Peng. “We will rely on you two for conventional operations.”
“Yes,” Old Bull and Wei Peng responded in unison. Old Bull then waved his hand grandly: “First Battalion, Attack.”
Roar! Countless muffled, fierce roars instantly shattered the desert’s silence!
A section of the overwhelming cloud of fire finally detached and began surging toward Xingchen, Lan Qi, and Niya!
And at the same time!
In the control room of the Nile Defense Zone, Ni Luo also issued a command!
First Battalion, engage the enemy!
“Yes!” The operator controlling the First Battalion, comprising a staggering two million Fire Dragon Lizards, turned out to be the petite and lovely Meimei!
After ten thousand years of evolution and warfare in the Wolong World, conflict had developed in an unexpectedly simple and direct manner!
Through the control chips embedded in the brains of the bio-beasts, even a small girl could effortlessly control tens of thousands of bio-beasts or bio-soldiers.
Their mastery of commands was simple: attack, defend, formation changes—all instructions could be executed directly via computer control.
It could be said that warfare at this level was purely a competition between the superiority of troop types and the sheer quantity of forces; the commander’s skill in leadership became less important.
This was precisely analogous to the combat mode in a real-time strategy game.
Even from the control room far from the battlefield, one could remotely command the entire theater of operations via radio.
Of course, these battles only represented clashes between conventional units.
Elite generals like Xingchen, Lan Qi, and Niya still had to be present on the front lines, as their roles were irreplaceable and could not be achieved through simple remote control!
Rumble! Two enormous, orderly clouds of fire launched their charge almost simultaneously.
Then, within an area of less than a thousand square meters, they became hopelessly entangled!
Slash! Rip! Tear!
There were no painful cries of anguish!
Only ruthless biting and strangulation devoid of emotion!
Even Xingchen, who was already familiar with this combat paradigm, felt a wave of nausea!
But the people of the Wolong World were accustomed to this slaughter.
Even the small, lovely Meimei before the computer screens maintained a composed and placid expression.
Yes, in her eyes, these bio-beasts were merely sets of data, and this battle was nothing more than a computer-controlled game!
The only difference was that creating this data required significant cost, and the victory or defeat in this computer game would directly dictate the fate of everyone present!
Therefore, although the little girl was calm and composed, she was also meticulous and completely focused!
Two million Fire Dragon Moths, under her precise control, shifted and charged the enemy formation with dazzling maneuvers!
Innumerable fireballs swept down overwhelmingly toward the enemy ranks!
But the opponent’s response was equally veteran! No matter how agile Meimei’s changes were, or how bizarre her tactics, she still could not break through the interception of that formation.
Shredded limbs and torn remains, struck by fireballs or mauled by claws, rained down onto the ground like hail!
Blood-red mist veiled the sky and the earth everywhere!
At this moment, the entire world had transformed into one massive meat grinder.
All life had lost all value!
Finally, the chaotic melee involving four million creatures ended!
Yet within the thousand-meter expanse shrouded in blood mist, not a single living Fire Dragon Moth could be found!
In the end, the aerial confrontation involving a total of four million combatants resulted in mutual annihilation!
Lan Qi and Niya remained expressionless, as if they had long anticipated such an outcome!
But Xingchen couldn't help but feel a chilling dread creep up his spine!
This was the Wolong World!
This was the manner of warfare in the Wolong World!
So cruel it almost lost its connection to reality!
If an army like this appeared on the Mafa Continent, what a terrifying scene it would present!
Perhaps even if Silver Frost were incredibly powerful, they would never stand a chance against them!
Once again, Xingchen was struck by a profound fear of the Wolong World!
The battle was extremely fierce, yet it appeared strangely monotonous!
Both sides seemed prepared to exhaust their conventional military strength!
This was unavoidable! Under these circumstances, Xingchen was the only one capable of breaching the Taurus Barrier!
But the enemy would never give him the chance to act!
And to secure an opportunity to break the barrier, they had to first deplete all the conventional troops guarding it. Without interference from conventional forces, Xingchen would have his chance to deploy!
Otherwise, no matter how astonishing Xingchen's combat power, being caught in the relentless assault of those Fire Dragon Moths meant inevitable destruction!
This was not the small-scale battle involving only a few hundred creatures like Lan Qi’s previous engagement; this was a massive conflict involving over ten million combatants!
Even immense individual power could not dictate the course of the battle!
In the Wolong World, elite generals like the Gold Warriors and Phoenix Knights were primarily utilized for breaching barriers!
The progression of warfare was truly fascinating!
Where there is a spear, there must be a shield!
This overwhelming legion of Fire Dragon Lizards could easily swallow powerful elite warriors, but when faced with incredibly tough defensive steel plates or defensive barriers, they were equally helpless.
Because their offensive power was simply insufficient to pierce these steel plates or defensive barriers!
In this highly developed technological age of the Wolong World, both defensive barriers and defensive steel plates possessed astonishing self-repair capabilities!
If the attack power was insufficient, no matter how dense the frequency of the assault, it would be impossible to breach the defense!
This explained why, even though the Soaring Sky Tribe held superior troop numbers and technological might compared to the Shadow Moon and Chenxing Tribes, they were helpless against the passive, hunkered-down defense adopted by the other two tribes!
However, the situation today was precisely the reverse: the Nile Tribe was taking the offensive, while Wei Peng and Old Bull were focusing entirely on defense!
In terms of troop numbers, the sides seemed evenly matched, but both had subsequent reinforcements! So, who would ultimately triumph was still uncertain!
Of course, even if the Nile Tribe managed to destroy the enemy's conventional forces!
The subsequent battle to penetrate the barrier would still be incredibly difficult!
One must remember that the enemy still held their ultimate trump card: the combined force of the Seven Great Phoenix Knights. Even if the conventional troops were mostly consumed!
And even if Xingchen successfully broke through their first layer of defense, he would still have to face the more severe layered barrier defense battle!
It was similar to the situation with Iron Hawk and Silver Fox previously; although they successfully breached the Black Tortoise Barrier of the Nile Tribe's outer defense, despite having an overwhelming numerical advantage, they were forced to risk entering the tunnels to challenge the enemy’s elite generals.
Only by defeating the enemy's elite generals could they sabotage the internal defensive structures and achieve ultimate victory!
This was the complex and brutal operational method of the elite generals in the Wolong World!
Therefore, Xingchen knew that before the battle between the conventional forces concluded, he had no opportunity to step onto the stage!
Although Xingchen was anxious, the only thing he could do was remain in his main formation, awaiting the distant, grueling slaughter!
Both sides had deployed over twenty million troops each, totaling forty million forces!
How to determine a victor among forty million combatants in this expanse of sky posed a significant test for the commanders behind the scenes!
Thus, the ones truly exhausted to the point of dizziness were not the generals on the front lines, but the remote-controlling marshals behind the scenes!
Just like Ni Luo, and the Grand Marshal of Shadow Moon at the Shadow Moon headquarters, and the Grand Marshal of Chenxing at the Chenxing Tribe headquarters!
The advance on all three fronts encountered strong resistance from the opposition!
Fortunately, their absolute advantage in conventional forces meant that although the Shadow Moon and Chenxing Tribes faced tenacious resistance, they succeeded in breaking through the defensive lines of the opposing conventional legions.
However, in the subsequent barrier assault and defense operations,
The Shadow Moon and Chenxing Tribes met fierce resistance from the enemy’s Gold Warriors!
Duels between generals were always the strong suit of the Soaring Sky Tribe!
And the Gold Warriors of the Twelve Zodiac Signs guarding each defense zone were experts in this field! Consequently, the Gold Warriors deployed by the Chenxing and Shadow Moon Tribes suffered heavy losses, crumbling at the first touch!
However, the Grand Marshal of Shadow Moon reacted swiftly!
Knowing that the standard Gold Warriors were unreliable, he immediately ordered the Gold Warriors from the Doro and Shaluo Tribes to coordinate their efforts!
The Doro, Shaluo, and Nile Tribes were all situated on the front lines, constantly contending with the Phoenix Knights of the Soaring Sky Tribe, and their strength was certainly not comparable to those Gold Warriors from the regular legions who only knew internal power struggles!
Their involvement finally brought gratifying progress to the Shadow Moon Tribe’s advance!
Of course, their successful operation was also largely thanks to Xingchen!
If not for the need to counter Xingchen, all seven Phoenix Knights of the Soaring Sky Tribe would have been dispatched to the Taurus Defense Zone. Terrifyingly, even the brave and skilled Gold Warriors of the Doro and Shaluo Tribes would not have fared well!
In contrast, the advance of the Chenxing Tribe was fraught with difficulties! They were almost completely locked out of the Pisces and Capricorn Defense Zones, unable to penetrate them!
Across the three fronts, only the Shadow Moon Tribe successfully broke through the Leo and Virgo Defense Zones, continuing their deep penetration!
The fierce fighting continued unabated; the melee involving forty million troops took a full five days to decide the victor!
But the Nile Tribe’s reinforcements arrived slightly earlier than expected for the Taurus Defense Zone, so Xingchen finally received his chance to enter the fray!
The first layer of the Taurus Barrier was shattered by Xingchen without incident!
Of course, this was only the beginning!
Xingchen’s true battle had just commenced!
Next up were twelve layers of complex barriers; only by breaking through these barriers and reaching the interior could they destroy the magic aggregation array supporting the Taurus Barrier!
Thereby capturing the Taurus Defense Zone and carving out a path for the main army!
Unlike the narrow underground passages of the Nile Tribe!
The inner layers of the Taurus Defense Zone barrier offered an open combat radius spanning six thousand meters!
This space was deliberately designed to maximize the unparalleled aerial combat capabilities of the Divine War Beasts!
It could be said that once inside the inner layer, that was the true battlefield belonging to the Phoenix Knights!
And at this moment, Xingchen and Yueying found themselves situated within this vast inner space!
Taurus Defense Zone, Inner Barrier Layer! A massive, open area spanning six thousand square meters, appearing exceptionally sparse and wide!
If Fire Dragon Moths were to be deployed here, only about a thousand could fit!
The number was not small, but against powerful Phoenix Knights, a thousand Fire Dragon Moths were incapable of exerting much influence!
So, within this expansive inner barrier, there were only seven massive figures suspended silently!
These were the supposed strongest seven in the Wolong World: the Phoenix Knights!
Gold Dragon, Silver Fox, Iron Hawk, Iron Wolf, Qilin, Phoenix, and Flying Tiger!
Additionally, two figures were positioned slightly further away!
They were Old Bull and Wei Peng!
Compared to the Phoenix Knights mounted on Divine War Beasts, the combat strength of the two Gold Warriors was negligible, but at this crucial juncture, Gold Dragon was unwilling to abandon even the combat power of these two Gold Warriors. Perhaps these two men would become the last straws that broke the camel's back!
So, they too appeared here!
Appearing on this battlefield that originally belonged only to the Phoenix Knights!