Douluo Dalu: Volume 40: Beginning of the War

by Tang Jia San Shao

  The ballista guarding Jialing Pass began to show their might, constantly spraying the battlefield below with sharp arrows together with numerous archers.

  Marshal Ge Long was already prepared. Seeing that his troops had already entered enemy attack range, he immediately passed on orders. The two wings of ten light cavalry legions that had charged into the battlefield immediately dispersed, moving into the rear via two large arcs. They didn’t go far, but rather formed up in dense formations five li from the battlefield, prepared to support the front at any time.

  Common arrows were basically no threat to heavy cavalry. Each heavy cavalry soldier was like a metal pot, even their horses were wrapped in armor. The arrows could only strike sparks off their armor.

  The direct threat was the fortress ballistae. Jialing Pass had no less than one hundred fifty of them, each using one meter twenty long bolts. With their sudden eruption, within a kilometer, their attack power wasn’t less than that of the Godly Zhuge Crossbows. Even ordinary spirit masters wouldn’t dare take them head on. Of course, the fortress ballistae firing rate couldn’t compare to the Godly Zhuge Crossbow, and as long as one was prepared, it was difficult for these ballistae to hit the spirit masters they aimed at. Moreover, the bolts were so enormous that high level spirit masters that were somewhat prepared could easily intercept them. But even so, under the attack of the ballistae, the Heaven Dou Empire’s casualties gradually mounted.

  The Spirit Empire’s eight great heavy legions withdrew to the sides. They no longer had any fighting spirit, and the majority had withdrawn across the drawbridges. After reaching a fortified position, cooperating with the ballistae and bows on the walls, the situation finally stabilized.

  If Grandmaster now led the spirit master legion to assault, then these miserable heavy soldiers of course wouldn’t be enough to stop them. That giant hole in the Jialing Pass walls was right before them.

  But Grandmaster didn’t do this. After their assault was repulsed a few times, Grandmaster and marshal Ge Long exchanged looks, and immediately ordered withdrawal. The drums sounded the retreat.

  This time the Heaven Dou Empire had dispatched all cavalry. Even though the heavy cavalry couldn’t compare to the speed of the light cavalry, they were still much faster than infantry. Shortly, large numbers of soldiers withdrew like a tide. Grandmaster led the spirit master legion to guard the rear, to prevent any Spirit Empire counterattack.

  Elsewhere, the Shrek Seven Devils had also caught up, and met up with Grandmaster and the others.

  “Little San, your trident……”

  Grandmaster asked Tang San somewhat anxiously. With his research on spirit masters, he naturally saw the contrast in strength between Tang San and Bibi Dong. If he didn’t have this Seagod Trident, Tang San absolutely wouldn’t be able to block Bibi Dong’s attacks.

  Tang San said:

  “Teacher, I have my ways. Don’t worry.”

  While speaking, his figure quietly disappeared, shielded by the surrounding spirit masters. How could he surrender his absolute diving weapon? The Vast Sea Barrier’s stealth effect made him disappear into thin air, and he quietly separated from the retreating army, rushing towards Jialing Pass like a bolt of lightning.

  The moat before the Jialing Pass fort was already completely dyed red, countless corpses left behind. The vast majority belonged to the Spirit Empire.

  Tang San quietly stole towards Jialing Pass. As Long as he got close to the moat, he wouldn’t even have to pass the water. He was sure he could return his Seagod Trident with Controlling Crane Catching Dragon. Bibi Dong might be powerful, but even if he couldn’t match her head on, it was still impossible for her to hold him back.

  But, just as Tang San was about to reach the range at which he could use Controlling Crane Catching Dragon, he felt his whole body tighten. On the walls, Bibi Dong’s gaze was already aimed at him like a sharp sword.

  How was it possible? Tang San was shocked, subconsciously throwing himself sideways. With a bang, a big crossbow bolt suddenly erupted next to him, personally loosed by Bibi Dong.

  Tang San was stunned, and didn’t dare move forward. But he didn’t understand how. His mental strength was even a bit above Bibi Dong’s, so as long as he relied on the protection of the Vast Sea Barrier and didn’t attack with spirit abilities, Bibi Dong ordinarily couldn’t have discovered him before he had retrieved the Seagod Trident.

  Bibi Dong stood on the walls, coldly gazing in Tang San’s direction. True, just her spirit power naturally wasn’t enough to discover Tang San. But when her gaze fell on the Seagod Trident, she had already expected that Tang San would come retrieve this weapon capable of contending with her.

  Consequently, Bibi Dong’s gaze was always fixed in Tang San’s direction. Even though Tang San hid very stealthily in the spirit master legion, she had still noticed. Among the Title Douluo on Bibi Dong’s side was one with a peculiar ability, able to connect his mental strength with that of others. Bibi Dong’s mental strength alone wasn’t enough to discover Tang San, but by meticulously paying attention, joining together with another Title Douluo’s mental strength, and reducing the search range, she still caught him.

  Nimbly falling back, Tang San might as well no longer hide. Revealing himself, he gazed at Bibi Dong up on the walls, his face brimming with a faint cold smile. Want to stop me from getting the Seagod Trident like this? In terms of strength, Bibi Dong of course had the confidence, but, the Seagod Trident was a weapon belonging to the Seagod, how could someone else easily touch it?

  Tang San stopped while still around two kilometers from Jialing Pass, searching for a smooth and flat space on the battlefield, where he sat down cross legged.

  Instantly focusing his mental strength, the Seagod Trident brand on his forehead abruptly flashed, intense golden light shining, coloring Tang San’s body.

  In the previous battle with Bibi Dong, Tang San had undoubtedly exhausted himself enormously. The Seagod Trident had admittedly seriously injured bibi Dong, but by using that One Goes Without Return, Tang San’s own spirit power was also exhausted. In a battle against a power on Bibi Dong’s level, every second that passed would be exhausting. But Tang San hadn’t spent too much mental strength, just what it took for the Seagod’s Light to activate the Seagod Trident. Compared to his spirit power, his mental strength was still adequate.

  And in fact, while Bibi Dong’s attack back then might seem fatal, Tang San still had some aces left. One Goes Without Return didn’t manage to block Bibi Dong’s attack, but Tang San was confident her Space Rending Abyss Cut wouldn’t kill him. His confidence was in the spirit power he had once used to contend with Bibi Dong, and even exceeded hers. At that time he had been waiting for the Space Rending Abyss Cut to reach a certain distance from him, so as not to give Bibi Dong the chance to react. He might end up injured, but as long as he used the Purple Demon Eye at that moment, it was impossible for Bibi Dong’s attack to hit him squarely. How would Tang San be so careless as to leave himself without any means? This was also why he was so enormously regretful when he saw Xiao Wu block the attack for him.

  Now Tang San’s mental strength rose once again, completely congealing on the Seagod Trident brand. His body looked as if dipped in liquid gold. Starting from the top of his head, he was rendered completely golden in just a few breaths time.

  Overbearing energy fluctuations emerged in this instant, frightening mental waves rising to the peak in a split second. Indeed, there was no forest here, so Tang San was unable to use the Blue Silver Domain to amplify his mental strength, but he still had another domain.

  Blended white and red colored light appeared over Tang San, instantly enveloping his whole body. The light remained without scattering, only surrounding him, but even when condensed over such a small area, that focused terrifying killing intent still pointed straight at Bibi Dong up on Jialing Pass.

  What was he doing? Bibi Dong scowled. She didn’t believe Tang San would dare come retrieve that mystical trident w
hile targeted by her. If he really did, then with the strength of the Title Douluo next to her, he would inevitably never return. But where he stopped, two kilometers away, was at a distance spirit abilities couldn’t hope to reach. What could he hope to do at such range?

  Tang San very soon provided the answer. He sharply opened his eyes, now turned completely golden. The compacted Deathgod Domain wrapped him up in an instant, white and red lights carrying terrifying extreme killing intent merged into his eyes, and shot out as golden light.

  The two rays of light fused together in the air, alternately bursting with red and white, it actually crossed that two kilometer distance, closing on Bibi Dong on Jialing Pass.

  The split second Tang San released that light, Bibi Dong felt how her energies were locked inside her body, even the air around her seemed to be pulled away. That absolutely wasn’t as simple as killing intent taking form. That it could still give her such a reaction at such a distance prooved that there was a major problem. The extremely terrifying point of killing intent was like a giant maw, even surrounded by several Title Douluo, in this moment Bibi Dong still felt helpless and alone.

  Deeply golden light enveloping that intense red and white light, the two kilometer distance disappeared in a moment.

  Bibi Dong gave a fierce hiss, the spiderweb pattern on her forehead suddenly turning dark purple, compacting into a ray of dark purple light that went to meet it. Even she herself felt an intense danger in this moment. She’d once clashed with Tang San in mental strength, but even though Tang San’s mental strength was already deep as the sea at the time, his spirit power was still only rank eighty something. Now Tang San’s spirit power had already truly stepped into the Title Douluo level, and his mental strength had naturally risen with it. But this still wasn’t most important. Most important was that Tang San possessed a unique ability like the Purple Demon Eye that could condense all mental strength to attack a single point. And Bibi Dong didn’t.

  This was also an important reason Tang San could launch an across two kilometers while Bibi Dong couldn’t.

  But, as that golden light was just about to arrive, and Bibi Dong had already prepared herself to suffer a violent mental attack, and drawn out large amounts of mental strength from that Title Douluo connected to her in order to defend herself, the golden light the should originally have struck her, suddenly changed directions after passing the moat, suddenly turning straight down and falling directly on the Seagod Trident.

  Duped. This was Bibi Dong’s first thought. Leaping up without the slightest hesitation, she launched herself straight at the Seagod Trident below.

  What Grandmaster understood, she of course also understood. As long as Tang San was unable to get back this true divine tool, his strength would directly fall by a level. She would be even more certain of killing him in their next fight. Consequently, no matter what, Bibi Dong absolutely wouldn’t quietly watch Tang San take this weapon away.

  But at this moment, two kilometers away Tang San had already leapt up, the Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone and Evil Spirit Orca left leg bone simultaneously issuing force, launching him towards Jialing Pass like an artillery shell.

  Bibi Dong’s reaction was undoubtedly very fast, but she still wasn’t faster than light. That golden Purple Demon Eye with the red and white colored lights directly hit charged towards the ground, and as if it had eyes, it fell squarely on the Seagod’s Heart below the Seagod Trident’s main blade.

  Bibi Dong was just falling from above, lunging towards the Seagod Trident, she had to stop Tang San from retrieving it. Just as she was putting even more energy on reaching it before Tang San, suddenly, the golden light that had rushed into the ground abruptly returned.

  All of a sudden, Bibi Dong could only once again erupt with the mental energy she had just withdrawn, the dark purple energy just managing to sweep across her body before it violently collided with that golden ray. And meanwhile, the Seagod Trident embedded in the earth exploded with incomparably intense golden light.

  Boom——

  Bibi Dong felt as if her brain had burst, violent pain engulfing her whole body. That golden ray wasn’t just filled with the frightening mental attack, but at the same time also held the divine presence of the Seagod Trident, as well as vast killing intent compressed to the extreme. That kind of killing intent didn’t just give her pressure and fear, but was also somewhat familiar.

  Her vision going blank, Bibi Dong’s already injured body bled simultaneously from eyes, nose, mouth and ears, making her seem extremely scary. Flung away by that intense attack, she heavily struck the walls. Meanwhile, that Title Douluo supplying Bibi Dong with mental strength equally bled from all orifices and went limp, collapsing paralysed on the walls.

  Mental clashes were even more dangerous than spirit ability collisions. Even with Title Douluo level strength, if there was any problem, it was very possibly fatal.

  And now Tang San had already reached the edge of the moat. With a wave of his right hand, under the gazes of the several tens of thousands of Spirit Empire generals, soldiers and spirit masters on Jialing Pass, the Seagod Trident rose like a golden dragon, returning to his palm.

  Tang San didn’t halt, he didn’t even glance at the seriously injured Bibi Dong. Soaring up, he returned towards his own side. The six Title Douluo on the walls still with the strength to fight didn’t dare chase after him, and could only helplessly watch Tang San float away.

  He had to hold out, he absolutely had to hold out. Tang San constantly shouted at himself in his heart. He of course knew that Bibi Dong was seriously hurt, but right now he was practically running on fumes. He was certain that if he launched another attack condensing the last of his strength on Bibi Dong, while Bibi Dong might not die, she would suffer even more appalling injuries. But if he did so, he would pay with his own life.

  How did Tang San end up so weak? It was because of that golden light. For an attack that could even harm Bibi Dong this way, how could he pay any less? For that one attack, Tang San had paid with practically all his mental strength and spirit power.

  The spirit power erupted via the Purple Demon Eye, the spirit power was instantly condensed in the Deathgod Domain. His two great domains had simultaneously evolved as his spirit power entered the Title Douluo level, the Blue Silver Domain’s final evolved ability was All Rivers Run Into The Sea, and the Deathgod Domain’s final evolved ability could be called Asura Manifestation.

  Just as Tang San was once told by his great grandfather Tang Chen, Slaughter City was established by the Asura God, only it was tainted by the Rakshasa God. But in the end this Deathgod Domain was a power belonging to Asura. Even though it wasn’t the true strength, after it evolved to its highest degree of loyalty, it could still produce a portion of Asura’s divine might.

  Just that attack was the final evolved ability of the Deathgod Domain, Asura Manifestation. But it didn’t cause Asura’s image to appear, this confused Bibi Dong. Then he again temporarily drew on the fusion of Asura’s strength and his own Purple Demon Eye, and launched it.

  Otherwise, even if his mental strength was powerful, how would it be possible to injure Bibi Dong at a two kilometer distance.

  Even so, Tang San’s attack had still weakened after spanning the whole distance, and Bibi Dong’s defense was at close quarters. Under such circumstances, it was almost impossible for Tang San’s attack to harm Bibi Dong.

  But, it was also at this moment that Tang San revealed his control strength and intelligence and wisdom in battle. He forcefully controlled this Purple Demon Eye’s Asura Demon Light to drop, illuminating the Seagod Trident’s Seagod’s Heart.

  The Seagod’s Heart was stimulated by the Seagod’s Light, and instantly erupted with the power of the Seagod, merging it into the Asura Demon Light, instantly also completely connecting with Tang San through this mental strength. Under Tang San’s control, the Seagod’s Heart had provided a reflective effect like a mirror, not only making up for the Asura Demon Light’s lo
sses after crossing two kilometers with Seagod’s Power, but simultaneously also joining its own divine presence into it, completely revealing the might of this attack.

  And on the other side, Bibi Dong had almost subconsciously assumed Tang San’s goal was the Seagod Trident when his attack changed direction, and was about to retrieve it. Consequently, she paid even more attention to Tang San himself, and only thought of how she would stop him from getting the trident back. Who would have thought that the light that made even her feel intensely terrified would actually be reflected, again descending on her. With her attention elsewhere, Bibi Dong’s defenses weren’t as good as on the walls, and was instantly heavily injured, and simultaneously also implicated the Title Douluo feeding her mental strength.

  Of course, only Tang San himself understood all these details. Even the now seriously injured Bibi Dong didn’t understand how Tang San did it. But, all this happened before the eyes of both armies, and they had their own thoughts. They only saw Bibi Dong in defeat, bleeding from the apertures on her head, striking the walls and falling from Jialing Pass, while Tang San proudly took back the Seagod Trident. They didn’t see Tang San’s weakness.

  Chapter 280: Planning The Main Attack

  On the Spirit Empire’s side, besides the Sacred Dragon Legion commander Tang San instantly killed, there were eight Title Douluo that followed Bibi Dong into battle. In the first engagement, one was thrown into Bibi Dong’s all out attack by Xiao Wu’s Burst Kill Eight Stage Drop and met a violent death, and Yang Wudi left Snakelance Douluo near death. The Title Douluo that lent his mental strength to Bibi Dong was also seriously injured when he was implicated in the mental attack, leaving only five Title Douluo in fighting shape.

  Seeing Bibi Dong blasted flying by Tang San’s attack, striking the walls so hard she bled, the ignorant Title Douluo leapt down almost at the same time, two of them catching Bibi Dong, the other three guarding in front, warding Tang San’s follow up attack. Seeing Tang San leave, they all couldn’t help but breathe a huge sigh of relief. In today’s battle, this seemingly extremely young, but extremely cunning youth that had given them enormous losses, had left a deep shadow in the hearts of these peak experts of the spirit master world. Especially when Tang San had taken back the Seagod Trident, they really had no hope of fighting him.