Chapter 442: Chapter 38: Feint to the East, Strike to the West; Combining Truth and Deception
"Clan Leader, some of their ships are fake, and their artillery isn’t as fierce."
"The cultivators have intercepted those ships on the river, engaging in an exceptionally intense confrontation, but there shouldn’t be any issues for the time being."
Gong Xun conveyed through voice transmission.
At this moment.
Gonggong discovered that the wind and rain from the Jiu Li Tribe had no impact on their firearms.
However, it affected their crossbow arrows greatly; if it was just freshly fired arrows, it might not have much effect.
But initially, to prevent the Jiuli Tribe’s ships from launching long-range attacks directly on their troops.
Their crossbows were kept at a distance from the shore, and combined with the large size of the crossbow arrows, they were much more affected by the wind and rain.
The raging storm was growing stronger, and it increasingly affected the accuracy of the crossbow arrows.
Some arrows even fell into the water before getting close to the Jiuli’s copper ships.
On the Jiuli’s side, noticing the decreasing density of crossbow arrows,
they began to sail rapidly towards the opposite river bank once more.
In Gonggong’s eyes, there was a hint of urgency. The current number of troops at the riverbank, if the Jiuli Tribe lands ashore,
the frontline battlefield could hardly resist!
Gonggong immediately ordered, since this is the main attack point, it’s too wasteful to deploy more forces there.
"Let the upstream forces return, that area is likely a feigned attack, stationing too many troops is a waste of strength."
Gonggong saw this, as both places were areas of attack by the Jiuli Tribe.
Moreover.
Initially, many Jiuli Tribe forces were placed there, causing some, even most of Gonggong’s forces, to be stationed in the upstream attack area.
Only the crossbow team was left on the frontline battlefield, in his view, the crossbow team could buy time.
Plus, with him guarding the frontline, even if the crossbows were weaker, it was unlikely Jiuli could break through head-on.
But unexpectedly, the storm had such a significant impact on the crossbow arrows.
And although the Human Immortal wasn’t interfering, who would’ve thought the Jiuli’s High Priest would personally come to this place?
Though somewhat weaker, there was a special force assisting them, making it impossible for Gonggong to fully mobilize the river water.
Combining Gong Xun’s discovery, Gonggong realized he had been deceived.
The upstream was not the main battlefield, it was truly a feigned attack, and the portion of strength he mobilized was wasted.
The frontline was the real main battlefield.
"Just now, the troops have been stationed, now rushing back without stopping.
Might take a bit of time."
Gong Xun quickly transmitted voice, Gonggong saw the ships rapidly approaching.
Gonggong’s eyes flickered with urgency. If things continue like this, it would surely repeat the same mistakes.
And the previous failure had already greatly diminished his prestige in the Lie Mountain Tribe.
Not to mention, there is suspicion of ’colluding with Jiu Li’, this time, it was a chance offered by Leader Tingyao for him.
Leader Tingyao also disliked the growing power and influence of the cultivator forces within the Lie Mountain Tribe.
In her view, the many tribes were the bedrock for maintaining and enhancing the Lie Mountain Tribe’s prestige.
The power of the cultivators might seem to greatly enhance the tribe’s strength, but essentially had no contribution to the tribe’s development.
Previously, Gonggong might not have understood Tingyao’s words.
Although there were some conflicts between the cultivator forces and their tribe, they were all considered part of the Lie Mountain Tribe’s strength.
Even their power operates under the banner of the Lie Mountain Tribe.
So how could they have no contribution to the tribe?
But after visiting the Jiuli Tribe, he realized that the cultivators, although appearing as the strength of the Lie Mountain Tribe,
might once have been its foundation.
But now, they seemed more like rotten flesh parasitizing the giant that is the Lie Mountain Tribe or Shennong.
Constantly drawing power from the giant to grow themselves, though it seemed the giant’s body size was also increasing.
But in essence, this rotten flesh is weakening the giant’s power.
Yet the problem is, now this rotten flesh has already deeply embedded itself, and if it were to be completely removed,
it would be damaging to the Lie Mountain Tribe, if in the past it might still be feasible.
But now the Lie Mountain Tribe itself is already on a downhill path.
Even the powerful Leader Tingyao, second only to the Common Lord, could only suppress as much as possible, not destroy it completely.
The essence of the argument is, Gonggong cannot lose, he truly cannot lose.
He can’t let the Jiuli land so quickly.
Once they land, they will certainly be at a disadvantage in the frontline battle.
In Gonggong’s mind, the crystal-like Immortal Pill suddenly shattered partially.
His aura instantly surged upwards significantly, with red hair wildly dancing, and numerous patterns appeared on his body.
His legs seemed to transform into a snake’s tail.
The waves of Immortal Technique that Shen Fei and Little Pu had managed to resist were instantly broken.
Though Gonggong was not adept at the Wind and Rain Path, he relied on his extremely formidable Water Attribute Immortal Techniques.
The ’Flood’ law emerged with the Immortal Technique.
Leveraging his understanding, he controlled the rainwater in the raging storm, channeling it all into the river below.
The water surface immediately became turbulent, even the fierce wind weakened significantly.
Meanwhile, the turbulent waves on the river were also taken over by Gonggong.
The fleet that was about to reach the opposite bank was suddenly pushed back with such force as if being repelled by a giant.
Simultaneously, they were pushed back several kilometers.
The river surface was re-exposed, with some ships directly being swept to the riverbed by the waves.
For a moment, the moon shone brightly and the sky was clear.
At this time, the main forces from upstream had already returned and began to take up defense.
They were ready for the approaching ships.
Gonggong smirked coldly, glaring at Shen Fei from afar, and said in a cold voice, "Do you still wish to come over? Just relying on these forces is not enough."
Without the wind and rain, Gonggong noticed that this time there were far fewer ships than last time.
The storm had merely affected the crossbow’s performance, but if they were to land,
his wood armor army would undoubtedly be able to withstand the Jiuli Tribe’s weapons.
Nevertheless, the forcibly repelled fleet did not continue forward.
...
Upstream of the Han River.
Gong Xun noticed suddenly more ships on the river than on the frontal battlefield, initially thinking they were the ones pierced by the Water Ghosts earlier.
But unexpectedly, the Water Ghosts were killed directly by people appearing on the ships before getting close.
Moments ago, he thought it was a relatively weak offensive that rapidly became ferocious; the previously stalemated situation instantly started to change.
The artillery grew increasingly terrifying; any airborne cultivators getting struck would surely be injured.
The front line, once stalemated, was rapidly pushing towards where the Lie Mountain Tribe was located.
It was even almost reaching the riverbank.
As the deputy commander, Gong Xun was also in the Unity Realm.
It should be possible to drive back the fleet by mobilizing the river water;
but Gong Xun was found by Zhe Lu, engaging in a battle in the skies, leaving him no time to drive back the fleet.
He could only transmit another message to Gonggong.
