Chapter 2288: Chapter 2288 Striking Simultaneously
While his clone was purchasing supplies in the cities surrounding the spiritual spring, he noticed the significant presence of an expert and a massive crowd of soldiers stationed there.
If they were to launch a direct assault on the spiritual spring, they would inevitably be surrounded by the combined forces of these three factions’ experts.
To avoid such a predicament, he donned the Concealcape and used his Golden Phantom Eyes to scout the strength of the martial practitioners near the Spiritual Spring.
According to his findings, the Spiritual Spring was protected by over a hundred advanced and peak-level experts, almost a thousand intermediate-level experts, and warriors of the seventh and eighth levels. There was no chance for him to strike.
Even if they used the Black Tower to teleport away, the cost of attacking the guards of the Spiritual Spring would be devastating.
Realizing the futility of a direct approach, Ye Liuyun instructed his clone and Qiong Qi to change tactics. "First, we’ll eliminate the powerful experts in the city outskirts. We’ll start with the Grandcrest and Euphoria dynasties, using Divine soul attacks to control them."
"Then, we’ll target the cities of the Elysium Dynasty, causing disturbances to provoke their experts into action and observe their reactions."
"If they send reinforcements from Regalty, we’ll incite the experts from the other two dynasties to turn against them, creating internal strife."
"Once chaos erupts in the outer regions, we’ll make our move on the Spiritual Spring, and they won’t be able to surround us. At that point, it would be best for the clone to disguise as a martial practitioner of the Elysium Dynasty, further sowing discord between the factions and letting them fight each other as we reap the benefits."
Following this plan, the clone and the Qiong Qi first arrived at Jade Grove City, controlled by the Euphoria Dynasty. They applied for the position of alchemist in the City Lord Manor, successfully infiltrating it.
Starting with the City Lord, they gradually took control of the city. The garrison commander and the sixteen martial practitioners of the advanced and peak ninth level.
Next, they traveled to Sky Fortune Town, under the rule of the Grandcrest Dynasty, and employed the same method to seize control of the City Lord Manor. They took control of the garrison commander and thirteen expert martial practitioners. Only after that did they head to Greenfield City of the revival Dynasty.
They spent two days collecting intelligence after entering the city and found that Greenfield City was home to thirty-one experts, with strength stronger than the other two cities combined.
To draw out the true strength of the Elysium Dynasty, Ye Liuyun had over fifty Blade Legions conceal their power and disperse throughout the city to gather information.
They managed to gather two crucial pieces of information in just a few days.
Not far from the outskirts of Greenfield City, a mineral vein was under development. Meanwhile, Lei Heng, the son of the city lord, Lei Zhentian, was a notorious bully in the city, indulging in a life of debauchery.
To rally the experts to the mineral vein outside the city, Ye Liuyun sent Ye Tiandao in charge of a hundred-man squad with the assistance of Qiong Qi.
The clone was tasked with dealing with Lei Heng and the city lord’s mansion, while the remaining fifty-plus soldiers of the Blade Legion were to create friction with the garrison, targeting their commanders and the experts among them.
All three groups coordinated their actions to strike simultaneously.
For half a day, the clone followed Lei Heng, observing his arrogant and tyrannical demeanour. At the smallest irritation, Lei Heng would lash out at the commoners, treating them with utter disdain.
In a tavern, when Lei Heng attacked a waitress, the clone unleashed his Divine Soul power and devoured Lei Heng’s Divine Soul. He did not spare even his entourage of guards, eliminating all of them on the spot.
The tavern manager, terrified, immediately reported the incident to the City Lord Manor. A patrol of garrison soldiers rushed to the scene, but in their haste, they pushed and collided with civilians who fled the tavern. Disguised as commoners, the Blade Legion soldiers swiftly executed them all.
The City Lord Manor was thrown into chaos. Lei Zhentian personally came with six martial experts to investigate the cause of death of his son.
Without delay, the garrison surrounded the city and ordered a lockdown.
However, as soon as Lei Zhentian arrived at the scene, he received news of an attack on the mineral vein. It was reported that twenty martial practitioners were wreaking havoc there, and the defending garrison was on the verge of collapse.
"It’s a diversionary tactic!"
Lei Zhentian instantly realized that someone was trying to seize the mineral vein by causing a disturbance in the city to shift his attention.
"D*mn soul cultivators. How dare you provoke me!"
Seeing the state of Lei Heng’s lifeless body, Lei Zhentian could tell right away it was the work of a soul cultivator.
He dispatched the remaining twenty-five martial experts from the manor to reinforce the defence at the mineral vein while ordering the few experts by his side to release their Divine Sense to scan the city for any other anomalies.
Meanwhile, the commander of the garrison was suddenly assassinated by martial practitioners, leading to a fierce battle within the city.
Six soldiers from the Blade Legion acted in perfect coordination, swiftly eliminating the garrison commander before turning their attention to the other soldiers. With it, chaos instantly erupted in Greenfield City.
"Send reinforcements immediately!" Lei Zhentian barked, ordering the experts by his side to rush to the location of the chaos.
"Get them alive!" He seethed through his teeth.
He had his men capture the culprit alive so that he could interrogate them about the man behind their movement.
He allocated some of his ordinary guards to collect Lei Heng’s body.
However, his Divine Sense suddenly detected that his six experts he had just dispatched were ambushed halfway.
The Blade Legion under Ye Liuyun had long surpassed the mid-stage of the ninth level, and after intense training and improvement, most of them were now at the advanced or even peak of the ninth level.
Moreover, they had been hiding among the crowd and struck without warning. As a result, three of the six experts dispatched by the city lord were killed on the spot, with the remaining three surrounded.
"This is bad!"
The strength of the enemy was much greater than Lei Zhentian had anticipated. It was probably an attack with prior planning.
Before he could fully retract his Divine Sense from the six experts, a clone clad in Concealcape struck him with Starrazor.
The might of heaven and earth were infused into the assault. The clone retrieved the Starrazor, which, using the Hyper Hop technique, materialised from behind him and sliced down on him from the top of his head.
Caught off guard, Lei Zhentian reflexively countered with a palm strike.
It was only then that he understood this wasn’t a mere diversion but a coordinated attack on him.
However, it was too late for him to deflect the attack. Despite taking a few steps backwards, the clone’s strong physique managed to withstand his palm attack and avoid major internal injuries.
However, the blade swung by the clone had already cleaved through Lei Zhentian’s head to his abdomen, slashing his upper body into two.
With a swift motion, the clone retrieved Lei Zhentian’s Interspatial Ring and then continued the journey towards the City Lord Manor stealthily.
Meanwhile, the experts of the Blade Legion, having slain the six experts, regrouped and began hunting down the garrison troops that was conducting searches throughout the city. They specifically targeted the minor commanders and higher-level soldiers, causing panic to the troops and had them fleeing in all directions.
The city was swiftly engulfed in the continuous roar of battle. In a desperate attempt to survive, many of them threw open the city gates and dashed into the wilderness.
At the mineral vein outside the city, the twenty-five experts were ambushed by Ye Tiandao and his hundred soldiers. None of them were able to escape, and they were all killed instantly by Qiong Qi’s Divine Soul strike and his Formation traps.
