"Do you really plan to wipe out an entire Iron Cavalry with these landmines?"
Chenyinzi, however, laughed, "Destroying an entire elite Vanguard Camp would indeed be a major blow, like losing a pair of eyes. Ironically, it’s the main army you want to ambush that will pose a problem. Seated there is a Grandmaster of the Martial Meridian who can mobilize the martial formation at any moment—then, at most, a few unlucky ones would die, wasting a chance to use a Divine Skill."
In the past half month, Chenyinzi had watched An Jing calmly organize troops and drones, burying landmines at key locations, and though the crucial point was indeed the Heavenly Mechanism Arms that An Jing had somehow procured, his handling and control over his troops were indeed praiseworthy.
"That Iron Kite, if armed in large numbers and controlled by you, could truly make one man an army."
Chenyinzi was endlessly praising this design: "This even inspired me—if I were to forge numerous Attached Mirrors with Spirit Assigning, surrounding my Main Mirror like stars orbiting the sun and moon, then by transferring light through the mirrors, supplemented by the power of creation, having the main mirror like the sun illuminating the stars and moon, forming an All-Heaven Primordial Spirit Creation Great Formation, would it not be possible to use the mirror as a medium for the dual forces of yin and yang, the sun and moon, the three lights of stars, thus transforming heaven and earth?"
"Indeed worthy of the Divine Mandate, you’ve immediately opened up another path for me to pursue in these final years."
"I think this is still thanks to your profound foundation, Master,"
An Jing didn’t believe this was his own merit, since such drone formations surely existed in the world of Embracing the Void, and Chenyinzi had simply never thought to replicate the methods of the Bright Mirror Sect until inspired by his own drones.
Besides, the master was right—rather than betting that the Master of the Martial Meridian in the Iron Cavalry’s main body wouldn’t react in time, it was better to directly eliminate the enemy’s pair of eyes, slowing down their advance—after all, the reinforcements from Da Chen were dragging their feet in coming, while the Vanguard of the Iron Cavalry had already arrived!
"It doesn’t matter anymore."
With that thought, An Jing pressed the activation button.
At that moment, within Broken Blade Mountain, Old Scout Kuo Yunlv suddenly opened his eyes, a look of horror in them: "An ambush?!"
His Fate Pattern had saved his life.
At that instant, the numerous landmines that had been lying dormant underground were activated simultaneously. They sprung from deep beneath the ground, suspended in mid-air, and then exploded.
In an instant, tongues of fire like dragons rose in the forest. As all the Blood Fiend Flame Thunder responded to the command and activated, targeting automatically and exploding, even a drone far on the other side of the mountain could see a fiery cloud, like a waterfall surging backwards into the sky, turning half the mountain and half the sky blood red.
In this cloud of crimson flame thunder, arcs of electricity flickered, transforming once more into a rain of Blood Fiend. Screams—numerous screams rang out from the camp—the majority of the people had perished in the instant the landmines exploded, but there were still a few survivors, and what these survivors would face next were Blood Fiends, like disease clinging to the bone, the Blood Fiend torched crown branches and infiltrated every corner of the camp, turning the once peaceful deeps of Broken Blade Mountain into a veritable hell on earth instantly.
This corps, which had battled through many years and won countless victories, overcoming numerous traps, vanished in a blaze in the blink of an eye; only a few vigilant old soldiers and the Night Watch Scout who were patrolling outside escaped disaster.
"What, what happened?!"
Kuo Yunlv stared incredulously at the camp now turned into a sea of blood-red fire; he didn’t dare approach, nor would he—according to past lessons, he should immediately leave Broken Blade Mountain, escape the enemy’s ambush range, and report this failure to his commander.
But he was also very aware that, while others might have a chance, he would not escape.
He had already been marked.
In the darkness, several drones locked onto this elite Old Scout—whether fortunately or unfortunately, his fate would no longer be in his own hands.
Just as Dust Li on the other side was trying to obtain information from Broken Blade Mountain, An Jing was also attempting to gather information from the Iron Cavalry.
Soon, with An Jing personally leading the team and Xu Tai as his deputy, a fully armed squad of Martial Artists descended on the scene, capturing most of the scouts on the scene as prisoners, among whom Kuo Yunlv was the most significant.
"You... are the Divine Mandate?"
With his meridians and Divine Abnormality sealed, Kuo Yunlv knelt on the ground, incredulously raising his head to look at An Jing’s face illuminated by the firelight—too young, and too indifferent.
—How could he be so young? And how... could he be so accustomed, so familiar with the battle formation?
In that moment, Kuo Yunlv felt that the person before him was not some young Divine Mandate, but an old soldier who had lived through wars, relished in warfare, and was cold-blooded in killing and death.
Unaware of the opponent’s thoughts, An Jing replied calmly, "Rest assured, casualties are inevitable in war, but I do not kill prisoners. Besides, I am not so interested in affairs concerning your Iron Cavalry that I would need you to betray your troops. I can obtain those details myself."
"Rather, it is the Sects behind the Iron Li parties that interest me—I would like to understand them from an Iron Li’s perspective."
"Since that is the case." The Old Scout sighed with a bitter smile and hung his head, "Then I will speak."
On the other side of the snowfield.
The commander of the Iron Cavalry stood incredulously in the big tent, his usually somber and reticent nature shaken, as he got up and automatically pressed for details: "You mean, the vanguard has been annihilated?"