A Chaotic World

Chapter 199: The Right Choice

General Mojian could not help but to let out a deep frown.

He had just received a message sent over by the main camp, informing him that the assault party had returned. However, there had been complications during the mission, and Nanlu Tianzi had no choice but to stay behind in order to ensure that the rest of them were able to escape safely.

Even at this point, they had no idea as to whether he managed to get out alive

This was absolutely dire news for the Scarlet Moon Kingdom.

When Marshal Xianming first informed him of the plan, General Mojian had agreed immediately in spite of the obvious danger.

In doing so, General Mojian had effectively taken a gamble on Nanlu Tianzi, believing in his capabilities and thus wanting to create an opportunity for the promising youngster.

But who knew that things would turn out this way?

Nanlu Tianzi was the top ranker of the Scarlet Moon Heroes Meet, a youngling of limitless potential. Losing him in battle was no joking matter, not to mention that he would also be known as the commander who had personally sent Nanlu Tianzi on his death mission!

Marshal Xianming might have been the one who suggested it, but it was ultimately up to him, the commander of the Second Battlefront, to accurately assess the feasibility of the plan.

Thus if anything were to happen to Nanlu Tianzi, Marshal Xianming would only be slightly affected, but his reputation would end up in the gutter!

Hovering in the air and facing him directly was none other than his direct counterpart, and acting commander of the Dragon Cauldron Army at the Second Battlefront, General Longming.

"Hey, what's the matter?" General Longming of the Dragon Cauldron Army smirked. "Weren't you very confident in the bunch of brats that you sent over to our camp? Why are you frowning right now?"

"When faced with the full force attack of the Scarlet Moon Army, you actually decided to leave an Origin Core realm martial artist to defend the empty camp?" General Mojian eyed his counterpart coldly. "How is that possible?"

"Why is it not possible?" General Longming grinned in triumph. "Or did you really think that I won't be able to see through this little trick of yours?"

"Hah! With just your bit of capability? I think we both know that it is impossible." General Mojian scoffed. "In fact, I am more inclined to believe that your deputies were the ones who convinced you to do with this!"

"Tch!" General Longming's mood plummeted in an instant. "Nothing good ever comes out of that mouth of yours. Even when at an obvious disadvantage, you always need to have the last word! Now then, are you going to continue with this senseless battle? Or are you finally going to retreat?"

General Mojian's countenance darkened.

The original plan had been for the assault party to wreck havoc in their opponent's main camp, forcing into sending reinforcements for their main camp, thereby exposing their backs to the Scarlet Moon Army.

Even though it was not going to be a game ender for the Second Battlefront, it was still supposed to gain them quite a bit advantage in this area.

However, that plan had just gone up in smoke.

Because of that, both sides were now in an awkward position, whereby the first to retreat would suffer heavier casualties from exposing their backs.

Yet at the same time, it was not exactly feasible for them to just fight to the death in this battle.

While that would decide the victor once and for all, the number of casualties that would result from such a forceful method was ridiculously high.

Neither of them wished to see such an end, no matter if they ended up victorious or not.

After all, they understood very well that this was only one of many battlefronts, and a mutually destructive victory was meaningless.

Not just that, but many of the forces under their command had been recruited from various powers within their respective kingdoms, and they were not exactly the most loyal.

In fact, even at this very moment, the many Origin Core realm martial artists clashing in the air were not truly fighting with all their strength.

To martial artists of their level, their lives were definitely more important than anything else. Thus, all of them were prudent enough to conserve some of their strength, so that they would be able to make a quick escape if things ever got dangerous.

If the situation were to get desperate, General Mojian was not nearly nave enough to expect these proud martial artists to stick with them to the end, laying down their lives for the cause.

But now that they had fallen into such a situation, what more could he do?

They were the ones who made the first move to attack. Given that, was there really no other way but to give up on the initiative?

While General Mojian was still contemplating his next step, General Longming received a message coming in through his communication ring as well.

"Such a thing actually happened?" General Longming furrowed his eyebrows even as he continued to stare down General Mojian in the air.

"Why? Did something go wrong somewhere?" General Mojian immediately taunted, as though it was only natural.

He could guess that General Longming probably just received some form of bad news, but he had absolutely no idea what it was. In such a situation, the best move would be to act confident and pretend that he had the situation under control.

"Those brats you sent who exactly are they?" General Longming questioned solemnly.

"Why do you even bother asking? Would you know them even if I told you their names?" General Mojian was finally able to let out a faint smile as he felt himself taking the upper hand in this confrontation.

He did not know why, but the worry in the other party's voice was clear as day.

Since that was the case, he definitely had to take full advantage of it!

"Tch!" General Longming clicked his tongue while cursing in his heart.

General Mojian did not guess wrong.

Indeed, General Longming had just received a worrying message via his communication ring.

An Essence Condensation realm youngster actually managed to fight off an Origin Core realm martial artist?

If not for the fact that they were currently at war and had countless lives at stake, General Longming would surely have thought that this message was nothing but a bad joke!

But should it be true, this mysterious Essence Condensation realm youngster might just end up becoming an unknown factor that could very well disrupt their future plans for this war.

No, even without the war, he would still be a huge threat to the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom. Thus, he was an individual that had to be treated with high importance.

As long as it was possible, priority had to be given to hunt down this monstrous genius, preventing him from growing any further!

To think that the Scarlet Moon Kingdom actually had such a card up their sleeves

No wonder General Mojian had been so confident earlier!

At this point, General Longming had completely lost interest in this war of nerves with General Mojian.

All he wanted to do was to return and find out more about this mysterious Essence Condensation realm youngster, so that he would at least be able to make sufficient preparations against the youngster in the future.

"I believe this is enough for the day. Why don't we both order our men to stop fighting?" General Longming asked.

"Oh? What's the hurry all of a sudden?" General Mojian spoke in a relaxed manner.

"Stop acting like you have the advantage. Your plans have already been thwarted, so give up on your pointless act!" General Longming snapped. "That is, unless you really want our forces to fight to the bitter end here and now?"

" Fine," General Mojian finally agreed after a short pause.

It was indeed as his counterpart had said.

If they dallied any longer, they might just end up with no more forces to command. Before that happened, it would be better to end things as early as possible.

After all, it was not like he had anything else prepared.

"Scarlet Moon Army, retreat!" General Mojian ordered, his voice descending upon the entire battlefield and reaching every combatant in the area.

"Dragon Cauldron Army, retreat!" General Longming gave his orders at the same time, his voice no softer than General Mojian's.

Hearing their orders, the Origin Core realm martial artists quickly split apart. They had not been fighting all out in the first place, so it was relatively easy for them to disengage.

Down on the ground, however, things were not as simple.

Most Essence Condensation and Essence Building realm martial artists fought at close range, and it was much more difficult for them to completely break free of their current opponents.

There were many fights that ended only tens of minutes after the order of retreat, some of them resulting in deaths.

Even after they finally freed themselves from the tangle of their opponents, most of them still continued to glare at the other side with eyes of fury.

The two commanding officers in the air took one last glance at each other before turning around, each of them leading their forces away.

Given the relationship between them, it might be a wonder how they could just cleanly walk away without fear of the other party reneging on their words.

But at the same time, they understood more clearly than anyone else that if any side chose to turn around and attack their opponents from the back, this would only grant them the initiative and nothing else.

Yet immediately after that, the situation would escalate into an all out battle, and that was something that neither side wished for.

Just like that, the huge clash between the two armies finally ended.

Both sides had suffered multiple casualties, but it was not nearly enough to shake the situation in the Second Battlefront.

There was no doubt that there would only be more battles to come, and they would only get fiercer as time went by. As the commanders start to understand more about their enemies, the difference between the two sides would start to show, leading down to the final curtain.

Of course, there was still a long way to go before such an outcome would come to pass.

***

Ding-a-ling-!

The treasure bell in Lu Tianzi's hand let out a light chime.

Almost instantly, the giant bell that had imprisoned him within faded out into nothingness, as though it had never been there in the first place.

Lu Tianzi smiled in satisfaction upon seeing this.

Just by going on this operation, he had acquired quite a good haul of rewards.

For starters, he had managed to obtain this Isolation Chime Bell that had the rare ability of completely isolating a given space. He had even tested it earlier, and he was truly unable to send out any messages through his communication ring while within the isolated space.

Apart from that, he had eliminated quite a number of Essence Condensation realm martial artists. It had taken him not a small amount of effort, but it was well worth it in the end. Not only had he absorbed their primordial Slaughter Essence, he had also obtained the riches within their spatial rings.

While this amount of primordial Slaughter Essence was still insufficient for him to break through to the next boundary, there was no doubt that it had given him a great push in that direction, saving him quite a bit of cultivation time.

Wait come to think of it, his gains did not seem to have much relationship to the war at all?

Thinking of this point, Lu Tianzi could not help but feel a little awkward. After all, the Isolation Chime Bell had belonged to the extraction team, and so did the bulk of the primordial Slaughter Essence that he had absorbed.

And this extraction team was part of the Scarlet Moon Army!

Well, not that it mattered.

At the very least, the opportunity had only risen due to his participation in the war.

As expected, participating in this war had been the right choice after all!