Chapter 1256: Our Weaknesses

Chapter 1256: Chapter 1256: Our Weaknesses

Under the steady advance of the Divine Martial Guard, the Immortal Palace Disciples fell into a brief period of chaos, with many disciples having their protective Source Energy pierced by the long spears of the military array, those who couldn’t avoid it were impaled and then trampled into a bloody pulp.

But this panic quickly turned into a shift, for the Immortal Palace Disciples, after all, are the foundational strength of this realm’s most powerful force. Although they aren’t as experienced as the Divine Martial Guard in military confrontation, once each sect completed their formations, their strength and numerical advantage began to manifest.

Round after round of orderly cultivation technique output, continuous and repetitive attacks cumulatively struck like waves on the Source Energy Protection Wall of the Divine Martial Guard’s military array. Thunder magic, Sword Qi, fire magic, and various magics resonated with each other. Some disciples even started altering the terrain to create mud zones to hinder the Divine Martial Guard’s advance.

Though the Divine Martial Guard’s military array was orderly and imposing, in the end, limited by numbers, the Source Energy Wall formed by the two rows of guards was too thin, visibly close to collapse under the wave of magical attacks from the opposing side. Pei Yan took a sidelong glance at Shao An beside him, seeing him raise his hand, evidently ready to change the formation to counter the current challenging situation.

"Hu Jiu! Go ahead!" Without waiting for Shao An to give orders, Pei Yan finally spoke to issue the command. The matter needed moderation; although he was eager to see what strategies the Divine Martial Guard would employ, if he continued to watch idly, there would certainly be casualties among the guards, as they were fighting for him after all. Not to mention, Lin Ruxue was watching everything from the shadows, and if he was too blatant, she would surely hold him accountable later.

"Awooo!"

A wolf’s howl responded to Pei Yan’s command. The eager Hu Jiu immediately revealed his true form, pouncing into the enemy ranks. Once in the enemy array, he was like a wolf among sheep, using no magic, relying solely on his own formidable strength. He bit into a disciple’s body, and with a terrified scream from the disciple, his jaws clenched, flinging the body in a shower of blood.

Hu Jiu’s sudden appearance instantly threw the Immortal Palace Disciples into chaos. Many shifted their target, launching attacks at Hu Jiu. But Hu Jiu, bathing in the torrent of attacks, was unafraid, continuing to crash into one building after another at the Forbidden Guard Office, causing the disciples to panic and struggle to cope.

Watching their young master exhibiting such might, members of the Fenrir Race in their true forms were greatly inspired. However, unlike Hu Jiu, they dared not charge directly into the enemy array, for if they did so with their seventh-level strength, they would quickly be overwhelmed by the storm-like wave of magical attacks, inevitably riddled like a sieve. Unable to charge directly, they could only open up battlegrounds on both sides of the Divine Martial Guard array, following their young master’s example to crash through a section of the wall, and attack the Immortal Palace Disciples scattered among the buildings.

"Allow our men to experience some real combat, but don’t go too deep. Stay alongside the Divine Martial Guard on both sides to block the Immortal Palace Disciples attempting to encircle them." Pei Yan did not command all the experts behind him to charge in, but instead whispered to Mei Simiao, as by this time he had already seen Ni Wenyong leading seven hundred more Investigative Division adepts coming to join the main force.

"Got it!" Mei Simiao understood Pei Yan’s intention and proceeded to make arrangements. Immediately, the situation in front of the Forbidden Guard Office shifted again with the arrival of the Investigative Division adepts.

Although the Forbidden Guard Office of the Immortal Palace had nearly ten thousand cultivators from various sects, the Mo Sect had been strictly ordered by their sect not to get involved in this conflict, so about two thousand members were absent as bystanders. Additionally, over a thousand were on patrol duty within the Immortal Palace tonight, leaving the true number of enemies at the Forbidden Guard Office to be just over seven thousand.

Out of these seven thousand, not all were in complete accord to defy the Spirit Lord’s orders. Many disciples maintained a hesitant stance, while only the most impulsive ones, driven at the outset, were caught in the battle unable to retreat, forced to fight the Divine Martial Guard to the end.

Thus, the Divine Martial Guard faced merely around three thousand Immortal Palace Disciples at the front of the Forbidden Guard Office, and when the Investigative Division and Dragon Realm coalition pressed forward, the numerical advantage of the Immortal Palace Disciples quickly crumbled with the front lines collapsing into chaos.

Amidst the three-way clash, the Investigative Division’s shortcomings were immediately exposed. Pei Yan had lamented earlier about the Immortal Palace Disciples being far inferior in military confrontations compared to the Divine Martial Guard, but upon witnessing his own colleagues in action, Pei Yan couldn’t help but sigh; compared to the Immortal Palace Disciples, his team was even less worth watching.

Pei Yan could see that these Investigative Division agents, facing such grand formations for the first time, were all very excited, almost ignoring the orders to play only a support role. Various supernatural abilities rained down like flowers onto the Immortal Palace Disciples’ formations. Those with Contracted Beasts, accompanied by two beasts on their sides, were even more imposing, unleashing a barrage of Wind Blades and alluring fire magic against the Immortal Palace Disciples, seemingly unstoppable in their ferocity.

Yet, the reality was, despite the intense action akin to a fierce tiger, the damage was only 0.5. This round of attacks indeed caught the Immortal Palace Disciples off guard, with many scattered disciples falling under the deluge of supernatural abilities, but shortly after, due to excessive exertion, the adepts’ offensive quickly hit a lull, allowing the Immortal Palace Disciples to regroup and launch a counterattack.

Being overly excited led to discontinuity in attacks which was but a minor issue. The main problem was that the variety of abilities failed to cooperate to form effective combined strikes. Unlike the Immortal Palace Disciples who, although each sect fought independently, among their own sect’s disciples, they used the same cultivation techniques, regularly training in battle arrays against enemies, they were proficient in synchronized attacks, their combined cultivation techniques cascading over each other seamlessly; their offensive combined spell strikes were ceaseless, their defense was orderly, mutually supporting each other.

Conversely, the Investigative Division’s abilities were diverse and varied. To say there was no cooperation would be dishonest, but mostly it was among team members, not linked into a cohesive whole. In the battle, not only did their abilities fail to stack, without enhancing damage, many abilities even counteracted, significantly reducing power. Pei Yan even saw one adept unleash a light-based ability, instantly illuminating half the battlefield. Whether the Immortal Palace Disciples were affected, Pei Yan was unsure, but many agents nearby were blinded by the sudden bright light, their attacks missing and flying into the sky.

"Alas!" A long sigh escaped from Pei Yan’s mouth.

Seeing this scene, a somewhat embarrassed Mei Simiao patted Pei Yan’s shoulder and reluctantly said, "You have to understand them! During this period, everyone was busy training to enhance personal strength. To reach this level in such a short time, these agents have made significant efforts. We simply had no time to train in combined strike battle tactics."