Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme-Chapter 966 - 596: Pyrrhic Victory_2
Chapter 966: Chapter 596: Pyrrhic Victory_2
“Acquired special spoils—Dragon Bone Arrow!”
“Acquired special spoils—Hero Contract (Epic) X1”
“You have obtained Conquest Order (Rare) X50!”
“You have obtained Conquest Order (Total Assault) X1!”
“You have obtained Conquest Order (Counterattack) X2!”
“You have obtained Conquest Order (Legion) X1!”
“Mulan Archers are now upgradable!”
“Mulan Cavalry are now upgradable!”
“Yellow Turban Foot Soldiers are now upgradable!”
“Yellow Turban Gunners are now upgradable!”
“…”
The battle logs refreshed en masse, dizzying to the observer.
Yet Xu Yang did not pause to inspect further, urging Red Rabbit towards the ravaged city.
The outer grassland city, built over a month with considerable resources, now lay mostly in ruins—broken walls and severely damaged buildings were all that remained.
However, more heartbreaking than the destruction of the city were the casualties suffered.
“My Lord!”
Hua Mulan led a group of battered troops forward, their battle armor stained with blood and dirt and riddled with bullet holes and sword marks, bearing witness to the severe fighting though not resulting in fatal injuries.
Following her were the remnants of the personal guard army and the Yellow Turban Army; the former had reduced from over five hundred to just over four hundred, and the latter from over eight thousand to just eight hundred, closely bordering on a decimation.
This was the price he had paid, the harsh reality of a lord’s campaign for conquest. The Sky-reaching Tower and the Ten Thousand Demon Abyss were not a mere game of gods and demons, but a bloody struggle for survival.
Xu Yang dismounted and walked over, looking at Hua Mulan and the less than a thousand battered troops, placing his hand on her shoulder, “You’ve worked hard!”
As his words fell, a brilliant light flashed, and the blood-stained defeated troops were instantly revitalized.
“Mulan Archers (Historical Battle) upgrade complete!”
“Mulan Cavalry (Elite) upgrade complete!”
“Yellow Turban Foot Soldiers (Heroic) upgrade complete!”
“Yellow Turban Gunners (Elite) upgrade complete!”
Mulan Archers
Troop morale: 300
Troop Order: First Order (Hundred Battle)
Troop attributes: 30 Physical Strength, 15 Intelligence, 20 Charm
Troop equipment: Refined Iron War Bow, Armor-piercing Pointed Arrow, Damascus Red Tassel Spear, Emerald Kite Iron Helmet, Emerald Fish Scale Armor, Emerald Iron Shin Guards, Armored Gloves.
Troop skills: Second Order Strong Body LV1, First Order Strong Strike LV10, Second-tier Strong Bow LV5, Second-tier Step Battle LV10, Bow Weapon Master, Long Pole Weapon Expert.
Troop special skills: Heroic Archers.
Troop special skill: Hundred Battle Sharp Warriors (Sharp warriors battle-tested, their rich combat experience allows them to kill the enemy and protect themselves more effectively, attack damage +30%, physical energy consumption -20%, wound recovery +50%, a chance to fake death during a critical injury)
Troop introduction: Generals die in a hundred battles, brave soldiers return after a decade!
…
Yellow Turban Foot Soldiers
Troop morale: 200
Troop Rank: First Order (Strongman)
Troop attributes: 28 Physical Strength, 10 Intelligence, 15 Charm.
Troop skills: First Order Strong Body LV10, First Order Strong Attack LV10, Second-tier Step Battle LV1, Second Order Shield Defense LV1, Single-handed Weapon Master.
Troop equipment: Yellow Turban Hundred Refinement Iron Helmet, Yellow Turban Hundred Refinement Iron Armor, Yellow Turban Large Shield, Yellow Turban Steel Battle Blade.
Troop special skills: Yellow Turban.
Troop special skill: Strongman (Yellow Turban Strongman, fight one against a hundred, one Strongman can enact the “Yellow Turban” effect similar to a hundred Yellow Turban soldiers, Physical Attribute +25%, damage taken -50%)
Troop introduction: Yellow Turban Strongmen are the spirit of the Yellow Turban, these battle-hardened soldiers may not have received the Great Virtuous Master’s mana refinement, but in the countless battles between life and death, they too were given a portion of the great power from Taiping Yellow Heaven.
…
Troop upgrade, Fifth Rank!
Although the majority of special troops have a fifth rank, having one is one thing, being able to upgrade to it is another.
Barracks and other buildings can train soldiers, but they can only reach the third rank; to reach the special fourth rank, they must endure the baptism of warfire.
This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.
And the fifth rank cannot be achieved by ordinary warfire baptism. It requires a massive amount of experience, necessitating extensive combat and a long period of accumulation.
Xu Yang had only encountered one kind of fifth rank troop, the Black Lotus Warriors from the Black Lotus Civilization, which, under the transformation of Black Lotus Magicians, became fifth rank Blood Flesh Puppets, with terrifying combat abilities that forced him to use extreme measures like “Divine Martial.”
But this belonged to the Evil Path Mana Point, and the transformed Blood Flesh Puppets were likely one-time use.
Xu Yang was different because the casualties were so severe. The nearly thousand remaining injured troops absorbed a massive amount of experience and were officially promoted to the fifth rank, including Mulan’s personal guard and Yellow Turban Foot Soldiers.
After promotion to the fifth rank, their attributes, skills, and equipment underwent significant improvements, even changing in nature, and they acquired a second troop type skill—Mulan’s personal guard became Hundred Battle Veterans and the Yellow Turban Foot Soldiers became Strongmen.
The former effectively increased the attack damage and combat endurance of Mulan’s personal guard, and they had a chance to feign death to save their lives when they suffered fatal damage, greatly enhancing their survival abilities.
The latter gave the Yellow Turban Foot Soldiers a boost in Physical Attribute and damage reduction, standing out as one during their special skill application in Yellow Turban Special Skills.
From eight thousand troops, only eight hundred remained; the baptism of warfire truly condensed them.
Seeing the completely upgraded, renewed Mulan’s personal guard and Yellow Turban Army, Xu Yang did not say much, simply waving them off to clean the battlefield.
“Yang!”
As Mulan’s army and the Yellow Turban Army departed, several people approached, led by Zhang Yan, Feng Cheng, and their shattered troops.
This battle had been devastating for Xu Yang. As reinforcements, Zhang Yan and Feng Cheng had not been spared either. Zhang Yan’s two hundred-plus Great Song Soldiers and fifty Beiwei Army men were now reduced to just over ten following her and Yue Yun.
Zhang Yan was in such a state, and Feng Cheng was even worse, with only five or six survivors—all troops—and their hard-earned rare hero had died on the battlefield.
“Thank you for the help!”
Seeing their miserable state, Xu Yang got straight to the point, “I will compensate for your losses, and there will be additional mercenary payment.”
“Hey, we’re all familiar here, why speak so formally!”
Although a hero had died, Feng Cheng didn’t seem sad, instead showing a carefree and magnanimous demeanor.
“This battle was truly perilous!”
Zhang Yan sighed, her emotions mixed, but this quickly turned into horror.
“Oh no, my territory!”
Zhang Yan snapped back to reality, looking at Xu Yang, “I need to go back and check.”
Xu Yang nodded and then turned his gaze to Feng Cheng, “You go too. I hope it’s still there.”
As mentioned before, for lords who venture out to battle, Sky-reaching Tower does not provide much protection. If the forces left to guard their territory are insufficient, it’s easy for others to take advantage.
Thus, supporting a battle is no different than Zhang Yan and Feng Cheng having helped Xu Yang, being stuck here for over three months, during which time their territories were likely attacked or even captured.
So…
The two hurried off, and after a short while, they hurried back, both with bitter expressions.
Seeing this, Xu Yang was not surprised, “How is it?”
“The Conquest Orders are exhausted, my territory has been occupied for seventeen days.”
Zhang Yan gave a bitter smile, then spoke solemnly, “You have to help me retake it!”
“Me too!”
Hearing this, Feng Cheng also hurriedly spoke out, “That damned Demon Abyss Lord took advantage of my absence and stole my home, Yang, you have to help me set things right.”
“That’s natural.”
Xu Yang nodded, unsurprised.
Both were new lords, away for three months, their territories being occupied was to be expected.
However, that doesn’t matter. A territory that can be occupied can also be recaptured, unless you kill the enemy lord during the occupation, otherwise you need to hold on for a month plus the number of Conquest Orders, fend off the enemy lord’s counterattack, and only then can the enemy’s territory be claimed as your own, obtaining a Territory Treasure Chest.
Last time he had directly killed the enemy lord, so he didn’t need holding time, directly obtaining the Territory Treasure Chest.
But Zhang Yan and Feng Cheng weren’t so unlucky, so Xu Yang could completely help them regain it.
But before that…
“Let’s check the spoils of war first to ease our minds!”
Xu Yang smiled, displaying the war spoils organized by Hua Mulan to both.
