Chapter 617: Experimenting With Sword Formations
Translator: TYZ Editor: Lucas, TYZ
Even though Mo Shaojun and his counterparts had not captured the defensive line, Helian Tianxiao still praised them and guaranteed them huge merits for this battle.
Mo Shaojun's beast battalion suffered heavy losses and was crippled. He had a lot of blood elementalists left, but his broadback batfishes were completely expended.
However, Mo Shaojun was already prepared for this. Not only him, the other three division leaders were the same as well. Beast battalions were created to be sacrificed.
The important thing was that they had to be sacrificed for a meaningful purpose.
His strategy today had enlightened the others greatly. Solely depending on broadback batfishes wasn't enough to take down the defensive line. Instead, using a variety of methods would produce a better result.
The usefulness of frost locust grass greatly exceeded their expectations. If they were adequately prepared, their battle result would've been even better. On the other hand, they were also very surprised that the enemy forces were able to find a solution to the frost locust grass so fast. This proved that the enemy forces were well-trained and a force to be reckoned with.
After the post-battle meeting, the four division leaders gathered and discussed about whether or not there were other methods other than frost locust grass.
Mo Shaojun's facial expression had already returned to normal. He was an unfeeling individual. He wasn't feeling sad because of his injured and dead subordinates, but rather because he had made little headway against the enemy forces. At this point in time, he had returned to his senses and was actively giving ideas. He did not react negatively just because the next attack would be led by someone else.
He clearly knew that only a victory would salvage everything.
A defeat would render all sacrifices meaningless.
Only Helian Tianxiao and Song Xiaoqian were left in the encampment of the God Wolf Division.
Song Xiaoqian was reporting to Helian Tianxiao with a solemn look on her face. "We have scouted the vicinity 50 kilometers from here and picked six potential positions. However, we still need more time before we can decide on the final position."
Helian Tianxiao nodded his head and smiled. "There's no hurry. Today our offense was rather effective. I'm sure the enemy was startled."
"I also didn't expect Mo Shaojun to achieve this level of success. The effect of Sir transferring over the beast battalions is instant." Song Xiaoqian's lips curled into a smile as well.
Helian Tianxiao broke into a laughter. "Honestly speaking, I also didn't expect they would achieve this level of success. I'm looking forward to seeing what methods they will use tomorrow. I don't care whether their methods are effective or not, as long as they can maintain the pressure on the enemy forces and keep them distracted, I'm fine with anything they do."
"Sir is right," Song Xiaoqian agreed with Helian Tianxiao's words wholeheartedly.
"You don't need to be so anxious; we still have time now. However, you have to ensure that you will only succeed and not fail once the plan is set in motion," Helian Tianxiao said with a deep and low voice.
"I will definitely make an all-out effort for this battle! I will only live if I succeed and I will seek death if I fail!" Song Xiaoqian bowed and replied solemnly.
Helian Tianxiao's facial expression returned to normal as he continued, "Don't think that I'm pressuring you. Right now, we are on the same boat. Victory is our only hope now."
"Subordinate understands!" Song Xiaoqian replied resolutely.
"Go."
"Yes!"
…..
On a valley not far away from the forge.
All the weeds and bushes in the valley had been cleared off, leaving nothing at all.
He Huan had followed Gu Xuan to the valley. He looked around, feeling nervous. Was it possible that they had discovered his real identity? Were they going to kill him by bringing him to such a desolate place? He was racking his brain to find what he had done wrong to reveal his identity?
Today, he suddenly received the Division Leader's order that he was sent to the rear to coordinate with Gu Xuan. The Division Leader's order to him was vague.
Ever since he received this order, he had been feeling jittery. From the unusually intense battle today, one could imagine how intense the battle would be tomorrow. Therefore, he could not help but feel overly suspicious when he was suddenly transferred from the front line to the rear. Furthermore, the order was so vague.
However, he had great restraint over his emotions. Even though he was feeling nervous deep down, he maintained his composure on the surface.
He noticed there were piles of swords on the empty valley. He feigned curiosity and asked, "Sir Gu, what are we here for?"
Gu Xuan was the vice division leader of the Sword of Lightning, and his rank was higher than He Huan's. Therefore, He Huan had to address him as "Sir". Even though the Sword of Lightning had only a few hundred people, no one dared to underestimate them.
"Actually, we need to experiment with various sword formations. However, Captain He should also know that even though we are swordsmen, we are not really familiar with sword formations. Therefore, I requested Lady Karakorum to send us a swordsman who is proficient in sword formations to help us set up sword formations. Lady Karakorum recommended Captain He to us. She praised Captain He for being a master in setting up sword formations. As such, we shamelessly requested Lady He to send Captain He to guide us," Gu Xuan said politely.
He Huan heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. It turned out he hadn't exposed his identity.
Karakorum Polaris's praise for his proficiency in sword formations wasn't excessive. He Huan was one of the senior figures in the Karakorum Sword League. He was also one of the earliest swordsmen to join it. He had followed Karakorum Polaris for a very long time and he did have an exceptional proficiency in sword formations.
After having loosened up, He Huan's thought process came alive. However, he still had many doubts. Why would they transfer him over to set up sword formations when the war was in its climax now?
"Sword formations? May I know what will the sword formations be used for?" He Huan asked puzzledly.
"We are trying to find a suitable sword formation," Gu Xuan replied.
"What is considered suitable?" He Huan was even more puzzled now.
Gu Xuan shook his head and replied, "We still don't know yet, and that's why we need Captain He to set up every type of sword formation you know before we can find out which one is suitable."
"Every type of sword formation?" Hu Huan was stunned.
Even though Karakorum Polaris had to manage the Sky Edge Division, she never stopped developing and studying sword formations, as she was determined to compile a "swordsmanship encyclopedia". Not only her, but many people in Karakorum Sword League were doing the same thing. All of their sword formations had been recorded into the incomplete Swordsmanship Encyclopedia.
The number of types of sword formations in the Swordsmanship Encyclopedia kept on increasing every year.
Up till now, there was an alarming 1,600 types of sword formations recorded in the Swordsmanship Encyclopedia.
Therefore, when He Huan heard Gu Xuan say "every type of sword formation", he was stunned.
Gu Xuan had a serious look on his face. He emphasized again, "That's right! Every type!"
When He Huan saw the piles of swords that were piled up like hills at the valley, he suddenly realized that Gu Xuan wasn't joking. These swords were obviously just forged not too long ago. Some were still giving off steam and some were not even polished.
The sense of doubt in Gu Xuan became even stronger. He racked his brain and still couldn't figure out what these people were doing. Gu Xuan's words baffled him.
When he saw the resolute look on Gu Xuan's face, he reminded him beforehand, "The newest version of Swordsmanship Encyclopedia has recorded more than 1,600 types of sword formations, but I can only remember over 900 of them."
Gu Xuan nodded his head and replied, "Set up over 900 of them then! Thank you for your trouble, Captain He!"
Gu Xuan felt slightly ashamed of himself.
Taking a look at He Huan, he was also a swordsman, but he remembered over 900 types of sword formations!
Gu Xuan himself could only remember over 10 types of sword formations. In the Sword of Lightning, his swordsmanship was second only to Ai Hui's.
Upon hearing Gu Xuan's reply, He Huan replied bluntly, "I will need some help."
"Including me, everyone in the Sword of Lightning will listen to Captain He's commands. If it's not enough, I will go and call for some more people," Gu Xuan said.
"It's enough, it's enough," He Huan said hurriedly.
When He Huan had to carry out a task, he would be very meticulous and devote his heart and soul to it.
Setting up 900 over types of sword formations was an extremely huge test even for him. He felt like he was taking a very difficult test. He had to go over every single detail from his memory, and this wasn't easy.
Even though Gu Xuan and his counterparts were not familiar with sword formations, they could still identify sword formations that were set up wrongly.
With the help from everyone in the Sword of Lightning, the process became faster than Hu Huan expected. Even so, it took them an entire night to finish setting up over900 types of sword formations.
The sun rose up from the horizon. The previously empty valley was now filled with densely packed sword formations.
Everyone was standing on the highland beside the valley and looked down at the valley. Their hearts were filled with a sense of achievement. The weariness from working through the night seemed to have decreased significantly.
Suddenly, someone yelled, "Look, there is a trace of mist!"
Everyone stared hard at the valley. Indeed, a trace of faint, white-colored mist had appeared in the valley mysteriously. That trace of mist was extremely faint. However, its razor-sharp and cold aura could be clearly felt even from such a huge distance.
The mist gradually became more concentrated. The bizarre thing was that its color kept on changing. It would be snow-white like an iceberg, red like the sunrise, light blue like the sky, and silvery like a sword.
"Why does it look like the Silver Mist Sea?"
"Now that you mention it, it does look a bit like the Silver Mist Sea."
"What Silver Mist Sea? It's Sword Mist Sea!"
When He Huan heard the excited conversations of the members from the Sword of Lightning, his brain began to work silently. Were they trying to recreate the Silver Mist Sea? But what was the point of doing that? Sword Mist Sea?
He could not come up with a reasonable explanation. The magical sight in the valley in front of him did startle him. He also realized that the densely packed sword formations in the entire valley were set up using approximately 10,000 swords.
10,000 swords implied that an enormous amount of manpower and resources were utilized.
When they were setting up the sword formations, bundles of swords were being delivered to the valley endlessly. It was obvious that these swords were just recently taken out of the furnace. Some of them were still giving off a red glow.
These many sword formations could only be completed with an abundance of manpower and resources.
Perhaps only this group of people could squander their resources like this.
He Huan felt that they were squandering their resources. He could not think of a reason for them to do so.
Even though He Huan did not know what they are trying to do, he still asked casually, "If you want to increase the power of the sword formations, why don't we carry out blood imbuement?"
Upon hearing He Huan's words, Gu Xuan quickly asked, "What is blood imbuement?"
"This is a discovery that we made while we are studying the ancient sword formations. It's actually not very hard to understand. I think everyone has seen it in various ancient records before. A sword that has not tasted blood before usually does not have any aura of death. A flying sword from the Cultivation Era has to depend on its owner's nourishment and the enemies' blood to enhance day by day," He Huan explained.
"That's right, there are indeed such records. We can give it a try." Gu Xuan nodded his head.
However, when he cast a glance at the valley, he became vexed. "There are so many swords, where can we find so much blood for them?"
When He Huan thought about the number of swords in the valley, he also felt that his idea was indeed absurd. He quickly said, "Without blood channelling, even though the sword formations will be weaker, they still can be used."
And this moment, the morning sun had risen. A streak of sunlight shone through a gap on the mountain peak into the valley.
The streak of sunlight bounced to and from the swords in the valley continuously. All of a sudden, the valley became brighter.
The swords in the valley looked like a forest and the mist was moving even though there wasn't a single trace of wind. An extremely sharp aura soared to the sky, causing everyone to take a step back involuntarily. A deafening sword chime resounded through the air as the countless swords broke free from the ground and flew around the inside of the valley. Under the illumination from the sunlight, the flying swords resembled sparkling shoals of fishes. They were extremely nimble and turbulent, looking as if they wanted to shred even the sunlight.
Upon witnessing such a magnificent sight, everyone quieted down in unison.