Zong Yuan finished his hand movements, recognizing one set of armor immediately as the Blood Cloud Cavalry armor he had purchased that day.

The other set of armor and the spear, the moment he touched them, conveyed an intense familiarity, a sensation of flesh and blood connection.

Without exception, they were all Tier Five spiritual artifacts.

He couldn't help but stare, his gaze regaining a sliver of focus.

Zong Shou also shook his head slightly, "Don't look at me; these were left by Father at the Sanlu Bank.

Strangely, they are all lightning-attribute—probably prepared for you." Zong Yuan was immediately moved, a flicker of light flashing in his eyes, which then quickly dimmed again.

Zong Shou smiled, picked up the talisman brush again, and began drawing another talisman around the 'Soul' character brand on his forehead.

Only when the drawing extended below his neck did he tell Zong Yuan to put on both sets of armor.

The Tier Five spiritual armor, a flexible under-suit, went on first.

The Blood Cloud armor was worn over it.

Then he donned the pair of gold-thread gauntlets Zong Shou had snatched over a month ago.

As the faceplate lowered and he mounted the Dragon-Horned Winged Horse—already fitted with full barding—that the Kongqi Sect had gifted— The entire figure, horse and rider combined, looked as if they were forged from steel, their aura growing colder by several degrees, instilling a chilling dread in any who beheld them.

The horse's head was also marked with a talisman array.

Sitting atop it, Zong Yuan felt an instant connection of minds, utterly devoid of any awkward or discordant sensation.

Only then did he realize the array on the horse’s head was specifically designed to facilitate his control over the steed beneath him.

Zong Shou surveyed him once more, then ordered Zong Yuan to thrust the spear once, estimating that the fellow’s current strength was around 1,500,000 jin.

Satisfied, he stroked his chin. "Hmm, that should be about right.

Then, for this charge, you will lead the army." Everyone nearby started in surprise.

Tan Tao’s face drained of color, his back snapping straight as he looked over in disbelief.

He had assumed that, apart from himself, no one else would be chosen for the charge.

Even Zong Yuan turned his head, his gaze of shock flickering out from behind the faceplate again. "I'm not sending you to die.

Among all these people, you are the only one I can fully control.

You are my puppet; you ought to know how to cooperate with me..." Seeing the looks of the nearby few settle down, tinged with a sense of relief, Zong Shou shook his head again. "However, whether you survive or not still depends on you.

If you yourself possess no will to fight, no desire to live, then this battle will ultimately be lost anyway.

In truth, this is your opportunity—whether you wish to break free from my control or seek revenge.

How can you know the outcome if you don't put forth the effort?" Zong Yuan’s body visibly stilled, his eyes showing contemplation.

Tan Tao, however, remained deeply worried; the way of commanding armies was vastly different from common fighting.

Even Zong Shou’s spirit-penetrating swordsmanship would be utterly useless beneath the clash of massive armies.

Fighting one man versus fighting ten thousand were fundamentally different matters.

Take Xuanyuan Tong and Hu Qianqiu, for instance.

While there were certainly stronger experts in the East Lin Cloud Continent, these two rarely knew defeat once they entered the fray.

When Zong Weiran first emerged, his strength was merely at the peak of the Martial Ancestor realm, yet he swept aside all opposition with a thousand haphazardly assembled cavalry troops; even when faced with armies several times or dozens of times their number, they were routed and scattered.

With the example of that Demon King before them, victory seemed possible even against overwhelming odds.

Yet, Zong Weiran’s opponents back then were merely ill-disciplined mobs pieced together by various cities, incomparable to the elite forces of the Yunxia Blazing Flame Mountain.

Moreover, they had several Black Tortoise Grandmasters sitting in command opposite them.

Zong Shou paid no further mind to the two.

After giving a few brief instructions, he stepped onto the carriage.

The several thousand cavalrymen here silently mounted their warhorses.

Zong Yuan, equally silent, rode the Dragon-Horned Winged Horse to the very front of the entire cavalry corps.

The entire contingent of several thousand riders exuded a deathly stillness.

Unlike Zong Yuan, these men from Xuanshan City, though resigned to dying here, could not muster any fighting spirit.

Occasionally, their gazes, cold and sharp, would drift towards Zong Shou’s Cloud-Overturning Carriage.

Their Young City Lord was truly reckless, daring to charge headlong into an enemy a hundred times their number, marching straight toward certain death.

Did he truly think the enemy was made of clay? Yet, unwilling to disobey orders, they resolved to simply accompany this naive and foolish Young City Lord to the grave, thereby repaying the debt of life Zong Weiran had once shown them.

However, even if they were dying, they intended to take at least one or two enemies down with them. "Heh heh! This must be what the military texts mean by 'the army has no will to fight, the general has no fighting spirit,' right?" Zong Shou sat by the carriage window, smiling as he looked outside.

While speaking, he continued to administer needles to Ruoshui.

Xuanyuan Yiren’s pills were indeed effective; though not perfectly curative, their effect was immediate.

At this moment, after days of blood replacement, nearly thirty percent of the toxins in Ruoshui’s body had been purged. "It’s possible they might collapse as soon as the fighting starts—that would be truly tragic.

By the way, Ruoshui, are you also of the Celestial Fox lineage?" This question had long puzzled him.

Although Ruoshui had manifested a Celestial Fox form when she revealed her demon body that day, the situation had felt somewhat off. "My mother is a Shadow Fox; I am mixed-blood." Ruoshui first cast a worried glance at Zong Shou.

Seeing no change in his expression, she let out a breath of relief.

Among the Fox Clan of the Demon Race, lineage was paramount.

But for someone like Zong Shou, mixed-blood with a human of equally noble birth, it could be grudgingly accepted.

Perhaps in the future, it might even bring some benefit to the clan’s bloodline.

But the Shadow Fox was considered a lesser, mixed variant. "No wonder your ability to conceal yourself and disappear is so profound." Zong Shou withdrew the last needle, administered another pill to Ruoshui, and then stated calmly, "On the battlefield, blood-mist will saturate the air.

The Spiritual Masters over there will certainly establish their altars far from the main combat zone.

No matter what method you use, you must try to minimize their deployment of spiritual arts for at least the next three hours." Ruoshui was currently able to exert herself fully for four hours.

She was stronger than him, but only slightly.

Ruoshui stopped speaking and leaped directly out of the window.

Her figure, ethereal as an immortal, flew into the dense woods and vanished among the foliage.

These four thousand cavalrymen truly lived up to their reputation as Xuanshan City’s elite.

Their march was measured, carefully conserving their strength and the horses’ stamina.

They took a full hour to cover the thirty li distance.

It was now just approaching noon, the scorching sun directly overhead.

The enemy camp opposite opened up, and ranks of armored soldiers marched out, stepping with precise cadence, forming battle arrays.

Sixty square formations, each comprising five thousand men, lined up ten li away across the wide open ground.

Another hundred thousand cavalrymen were arrayed on either flank, thundering like rolling thunder.

The clang of colliding armor plates was incessant.

Hundreds of thousands of armored figures moved as one, their presence like an immense mountain.

From a distance, all that could be seen was a vast, oppressive mass of dark heads.

Zong Shou immediately heard gasps erupting from those near him.

The elites of the Yunxia and Blazing Flame Mountains were indeed rigorously trained.

As they entered the valley, the sound of muffled, thunderous hooves echoed from behind them, adding to the heavy atmosphere.

Any non-idiot knew their retreat route had just been cut off.

Chuxue also despaired, but she looked at Zong Shou with firm resolution. "Young Lord, though you are clumsy and foolish, Xue'er does not blame you.

I promise to die before you do later." Zong Shou let out a wry chuckle and unceremoniously tapped Xue'er’s head hard.

The cavalry under his command were clearly veterans; despite knowing survival was impossible, they showed no panic.

Under Tan Tao's direction, five hundred Iron Tiger Halberdiers, plus a thousand knights dismounted for foot combat, methodically linked the Cloud-Overturning Carriages together, forming a sturdy wagon fort.

The remaining three thousand, including the thousand Black-Armored Wind Dragon Riders, arrayed themselves outside this defense line, their faces grim, resigned to death.

Zong Shou's own Cloud-Overturning Carriages were positioned in the innermost circle.

Forty-nine vehicles were joined together, bizarrely carved with seemingly random runes.

Yet, when assembled, they formed a ritual altar.

Shi Dan resided in the center, with Li Luo and Zong Shou guarding on either side.

The spiritual power of an Eight Talisman Returning Yang Realm Master was limited.

With only four thousand five hundred people here, they had only managed to empower a few spells before their spiritual energy was depleted, forcing them to sit and meditate for recovery.

These were all elementary spiritual methods: Wind Speed, Swift Shadow, and Armor Piercing, yet they instilled a slight lift in the morale of the few thousand men here.

Any slight boost in strength was precious.

Li Luo stood atop the carriage roof, hands clasped behind his back, gazing proudly ten li into the distance.

His gaze frequently shifted to Zong Shou, who was fiddling with a black mirror nearby.

Recognizing the black mirror as a demonic artifact capable of controlling others remotely over a hundred li, Li Luo raised an eyebrow.

He inwardly questioned where this Crown Prince of Qiantian Mountain found the confidence to confront forty thousand troops with just these three thousand cavalry? At this moment, it wasn't just Li Luo who was curious.

Dozens of li away, atop a hastily constructed high platform made of thick, round logs, Feng Yu and Xiong Kui were also watching with confusion. "Is Zong Shou truly an idiot or a fool? He actually plunged right in? Even if he were a simpleton, he wouldn't court death like this." Xiong Kui suddenly stood up and walked to the edge of the wooden platform. "That fellow, with his ability to buy low and sell high that day for dozens of times the profit—I’ve been reflecting on it these past few days and even held him in higher regard.

But what in the world is this stunt he’s pulling today?" Feng Yu also frowned; today’s events had completely baffled him.

To say the boy was foolish, he couldn't possibly have predicted the impending crash of the beast crystal spirit stones.

To say he was clever, yet he commits this act tantamount to suicide.

If Zong Shou had a master guiding him, surely he would know better than to come to the Ruo Sea Strait? As he pondered, he saw the cavalry force, led by the Black-Armored Wind Dragon Riders, slowly begin to advance in the distance, starting to circle from the right flank toward the left wing.

Feng Yu’s brow immediately arched.

After a cold sneer, he stood up fully. "I don't know why Zong Shou came here, but I know that once the rat is in the cage, it cannot escape.

Order Yang Xuan: the entire left wing attacks immediately.

Be swift and annihilate these reckless fools!" A nearby attendant Spirit Master immediately acknowledged the command.

A talisman bird shot into the sky, soaring toward the left flank of the great formation.

In moments, nearly fifty thousand iron cavalry on the left wing urged their steeds forward in a slow advance.