Chapter 136: The Hope of Humanity

In the third defense zone of the border battlefield, Xu Zhe spent the night quietly.

It had to be said that the identity of Chu Xiaotong was quite useful. There was no need to give any special instructions; as long as no major incidents occurred, no one else would come to disturb him, let alone dare to investigate his movements.

Moreover, there seemed to be no sign of ferocious beasts here.

After all, this was the third defense line, belonging to the final line of defense of the Southern Heaven Continent's border battlefield.

When Xu Zhe arrived here during the day, he had already conducted a brief investigation. This defense line was essentially built by taking advantage of the terrain.

The surrounding two sides were flanked by towering mountains, serving as natural city walls. The mountains were covered with restrictive barriers, and watchtowers were set up at regular intervals with guards keeping watch around the clock, not to mention the numerous hidden sentries concealed within the mountains.

Under such a defense line, ordinary ferocious beasts could not get through the mountains at all, and powerful beasts attempting to charge through would inevitably be detected, drawing the encirclement and annihilation of the Vermilion Bird Army's elite forces.

The main camp of the defense line was stationed in the middle of the mountains on both sides. In front of it lay a vast plain, clear to the horizon at a single glance. With heavy troops guarding the area, the entire defense line appeared extremely solid.

At that time, Xu Zhe merely glanced at it in passing and felt deeply moved.

With such a high-intensity defense line, even if he wanted to sneak in silently, it would actually not be difficult.

However, because the second defense line had been breached, the atmosphere in the camp of the third defense line was now noticeably tense, and the vigilance of all soldiers was extremely high.

Many people had also retreated from the second defense line, almost all of whom were wounded.

Millions of wounded soldiers were carried back one by one. Xu Zhe could only watch helplessly, unable to offer much help.

Throughout the night, Xu Zhe hid in his room, watching the battlefield video sent to him by Chu Xiaotong.

He had already reviewed the recorded footage of the first defense line being breached, recognizing that the intermediate battle array deployed by the demon race was of the buff type, which temporarily boosted realm cultivation and burst forth with power.

As for the breach of the second defense line, it had occurred just a few days ago.

In the recorded footage, the demon race had surprisingly deployed three intermediate battle arrays this time.

Aside from the realm-boosting battle array, they had also used a discord-sowing battle array and a summoning battle array.

Just as he had guessed previously, the demon race used the discord-sowing battle array to successfully trick the Vermilion Bird Army into believing that their own teammates had betrayed them.

Although they did not immediately turn their blades against their comrades, they directed all their attention and vigilance toward the people beside them, causing morale to plummet instantly.

Following that, the demon race activated the summoning battle array, extracting a massive amount of spiritual Qi from the battlefield and transforming it into a dense, sprawling swarm of flying insects that attacked the Vermilion Bird Army from the air like a black hurricane.

With three such intermediate battle arrays deployed simultaneously, no matter how brave and skilled in combat the Vermilion Bird Army of the second defense line was, they truly could not withstand it and were instantly beaten into a continuous retreat.

The entire battle lasted less than two days before ending prematurely.

Seeing the writing on the wall, Chu Xiaotong broke through the encirclement of several demon kings, signaled her subordinates to sound the gongs and recall the troops, yielded the second defense line area, and retreated collectively.

"This person is quite remarkable in the Azure Heaven Domain to actually understand so many intermediate battle arrays."

Xu Zhe frowned as he watched the demon race's grand display in the recorded footage.

However, now that he had arrived, it wouldn't be difficult to turn the tide of defeat.

According to Chu Xiaotong, the main force was already on the way back, but she would hurry ahead to rendezvous with Xu Zhe.

Before that, Xu Zhe still had to maintain his identity as the "Avatar of Chu Xiaotong" and stay in the camp.

The military laws of the Vermilion Bird Army were very strict, and impersonating a commanding officer was undoubtedly a grave crime.

Although nothing much would happen even if Xu Zhe's true identity were exposed—Chu Xiaotong certainly wouldn't punish him—Chu Xiaotong's prestige within the army would inevitably be affected.

After all, the rules were established by her. If she were to break them herself, anyone in the Vermilion Bird Army who violated military law in the future and needed to be punished would certainly refuse to submit.

The resulting series of troubles made his head spin just thinking about it.

Xu Zhe was well aware of this, so he didn't cause trouble for Chu Xiaotong and continued to maintain her identity.

The only thing he found somewhat unaccustomed was being unable to take a bath.

Take a shower looking like Chu Xiaotong?

Better not; just thinking about it felt extremely perverted.

Soon, the pitch-black night gradually receded.

Just as a sliver of light appeared at the edge of the sky, Xu Zhe sensed the arrival of several powerful auras.

Chu Xiaotong had arrived, and it seemed she hadn't come alone.

When Xu Zhe's spiritual sense probed outward, he distinctly sensed the auras of two other Tribulation-stage cultivators accompanying her.

Compared to them, however, Chu Xiaotong was definitely stronger.

After all, Chu Xiaotong was at the late stage of the Tribulation Realm, while the other two should only be at the early stage, leaving a rather significant gap.

"Salutations to General Chu!"

Soon, a series of earth-shattering shouts echoed from outside the door.

The numerous soldiers on the third defense line had long known that the "Avatar of the Martial God Chu" had arrived at the camp, and now that they saw her true form, they naturally went to pay their respects.

However, Chu Xiaotong did not seem to linger for long, hurrying toward Xu Zhe's room in a whirlwind.

This time, she came alone.

With a loud "bang," the door was knocked upon and violently pushed open at the same time.

That was very much in Chu Xiaotong's style.

Accustomed to it, Xu Zhe stood up without changing his expression. Looking at the tall, enchanting figure before him, he smiled and said, "You're here?"

"Wait, don't move."

After entering the room, Chu Xiaotong immediately closed the door, rushed over to Xu Zhe, and looked him up and down with curiosity.

Then she started getting hands-on.

Pinching his arm for a moment, pinching his cheek the next, and then patting his chest shortly after.

"Snap!"

Xu Zhe immediately slapped away Chu Xiaotong's mischievous hands, widened his eyes, and said, "What are you doing?"

"Amazing, amazing. This transformation technique of yours is quite realistic; even I can't tell the real from the fake," Chu Xiaotong clicked her tongue in wonder, highly interested in the Xu Zhe who looked identical to her.

"If your spiritual sense were stronger than mine, you could see through it easily," Xu Zhe shrugged and said.

This transformation technique was only really useful in the Azure Heaven Domain. In the Azure Heaven Domain, any cultivator whose realm cultivation and spiritual sense were superior to his could easily see through it.

Unfortunately, the cultivators in the four major continents of the Azure Heaven Domain had unbalanced specializations, blindly pursuing realm cultivation while neglecting the refinement of the physical body. Even their spiritual sense only improved along with their realm, without being independently cultivated and strengthened.

"Spiritual sense? You, someone who only awakened not long ago, have a stronger spiritual sense than me?" Chu Xiaotong asked in astonishment.

"I'm a bit special." Xu Zhe raised an eyebrow, took out a few jade slips from his storage ring, and tossed them over.

"These sets of cultivation techniques are for you; practice them more often in your spare time."

He said calmly.

These were the techniques he had compiled overnight, all related to flames and considered high-grade treasures even in the Azure Heaven Domain.

Among them were also cultivation methods concerning spiritual sense; practicing them in conjunction with the techniques yielded even better results.

After briefly introducing each technique to Chu Xiaotong, the look in her eyes as she looked at Xu Zhe grew increasingly bizarre.

"You're accumulating more and more secrets on you."

Chu Xiaotong sighed, but she didn't ask further.

After putting away the jade slips, her gaze finally shifted to the two huge array discs placed on the table.

The bases of the array discs were built entirely from spiritual stones, fused into a single entity, and covered with array patterns.

Standing atop the array discs were dozens of small jade bottles, their exteriors similarly engraved with array patterns.

At a glance, they looked somewhat like model action figures—aesthetically pleasing while vaguely giving off an esoteric feel.

"Are these the things that cost us two defense lines and the lives of so many people?"

Chu Xiaotong found it somewhat hard to believe.

The four major continents also had array masters adept at setting up formations, but they were generally used for defense or small-scale trapping and killing, with a minority being illusion arrays that plunged intruders into illusions.

However, such arrays were difficult to set up, required pre-selected sites for establishment, and necessitated luring opponents into them to take effect.

Therefore, arrays were rarely useful on the battlefield.

Yet now, she had learned of a new concept called battle arrays—things built on the foundation of arrays specifically tailored for use on the battlefield.

To her, this was completely unheard of.

The demon race had actually relied on these seemingly simple things to deal devastating blows to the Vermilion Bird Army, which completely exceeded her imagination.

"How should I put it? The demon race using battle arrays to fight you guys can pretty much be considered a dimensional reduction strike."

Xu Zhe said calmly, offering a word of comfort that wasn't particularly comforting.

"A dimensional reduction strike... isn't that just hacking and cheating?" Chu Xiaotong said irritably.

"Ahem, can you call it that? Warfare is all about strategy and methods; how can it be considered hacking and cheating?"

Xu Zhe corrected her: "Besides, now that we have battle arrays too, there is still hope of turning the tide of defeat."

"Wait, only hope of turning it?" Chu Xiaotong paused.

Logically speaking, the Vermilion Bird Army was not afraid of the demon race, especially since this place belonged to human territory and possessed home-field advantage. Usually, the Vermilion Bird Army won more than they lost.

Now that the Vermilion Bird Army also had battle arrays to eliminate the disadvantage and both sides fought under fair conditions, the Vermilion Bird Army ought to be superior, so how could he say there was merely hope of turning the tide?

Shouldn't it be an absolute certainty of turning defeat into victory?

"If they only possess intermediate battle arrays, then turning defeat into victory indeed wouldn't be difficult for us."

Xu Zhe's expression turned solemn: "However, after looking at the recorded footage you provided last night, I'm instead worried about whether they might still be holding back a trump card, such as... high-grade battle arrays."

"High-grade..."

Chu Xiaotong instantly fell silent.

Just from the literal meaning, one could understand the distinction between intermediate and high-grade.

If the demon race still held trump cards and deployed high-grade battle arrays, then they would indeed regain a new advantage.

"Do you know how to make high-grade battle arrays?" she immediately asked, looking at Xu Zhe.

"I do, but I might not necessarily have the opportunity to put them to use," Xu Zhe shook his head and said.

High-grade battle arrays surpassed intermediate ones not only in grade but also in a qualitative transformation of power.

For instance, the most common high-grade battle arrays on the battlefield of the Azure Heaven Domain included large-scale instant teleportation arrays, which could instantly transport tens of millions of people behind enemy forces to form a front-and-rear encirclement, and also allow them to retreat safely en masse after a surprise attack.

There were also large-scale long-range attack arrays; as long as one stood within the battle array and executed techniques, all those techniques could land on the enemy forces at the other end of the battlefield.

This wasn't simply extending the attack range, but rather functioned similarly to energy storage and charging, storing techniques within the battle array and having the array controller release them at a designated location.

There was also the large-scale damage-transfer array, which upon activation would temporarily generate a barrier to deflect all offensive strikes, keeping those inside the array safe and sound.

Such high-grade battle arrays were obviously far more powerful than intermediate ones, but setting them up was also exceptionally troublesome.

First of all, they required a massive amount of materials, and their fabrication was extremely mentally taxing, taking a relatively long time. Moreover, the battle array had to cover the entire battlefield, which similarly demanded time and manpower.

According to Xu Zhe's estimation, just fabricating a high-grade battle array, assuming sufficient materials, would take at least a month or two to complete with his current strength.

Most importantly, covering the entire battlefield with the battle array would consume even more time; without five or six months, it certainly couldn't be done.

So adding everything up, it would definitely exceed half a year.

Yet compared to a war, half a year wasn't actually that long.

The problem, however, was that after seeing the three intermediate battle arrays used by the demon race when breaching the second defense line, Xu Zhe began to suspect whether the opposing side also possessed high-grade battle arrays.

Or even whether the opponent might have already possessed high-grade battle arrays and completed their deployment and coverage across the battlefield.

If that were truly the case, then just as he had said, even though he knew high-grade battle arrays, he might not necessarily have the opportunity to use them.

Xu Zhe briefly explained the matter of high-grade battle arrays to Chu Xiaotong.

Chu Xiaotong marveled at the power of high-grade battle arrays, and then her expression also sank, turning immensely grave.

She looked at Xu Zhe and lowered her voice: "Over the past few decades, or rather before you awakened, the demon race launched several inexplicable invasions, pointlessly sacrificing the lives of many ferocious beasts. Previously, we never knew the reason, thinking something had gone wrong within the demon race. But now that you mention it this way, I feel... things are looking ominous."

"..."

Xu Zhe was instantly at a loss for words.

Well then!

Judging by this situation, his guess was probably spot on: the demon race had been using human-wave tactics to sacrifice lives, presumably having already completed battle array coverage across the battlefield.

And that was a high-grade battle array!

"What should we do?" Chu Xiaotong asked.

"Two words," Xu Zhe said calmly: "We're doomed!"

"..." Chu Xiaotong instantly froze.

Then she glared fiercely at Xu Zhe: "Stop messing around, this is no trivial matter. Once the demon race invades, the human race will face massive trouble. Quickly think of a solution."

"High-grade battle arrays can only be broken by two methods: either counter them with high-grade battle arrays, or wait until I break through to the Tribulation Realm." Xu Zhe said with a helpless expression: "Both methods require time. Before that, if the other party deploys a high-grade battle array, we are bound to lose."

"This..."

Chu Xiaotong furrowed her brows. The hope and confidence she had briefly felt—believing that with Xu Zhe creating intermediate battle arrays, they could turn the tables—were instantly dashed away.

"However..." At this moment, Xu Zhe's "however" arrived belatedly.

Realizing something, Chu Xiaotong fixed her beautiful eyes squarely on Xu Zhe and ground her teeth: "However, what?"

"Ahem, however, the situation might not be entirely terrible. As you said, although the demon race kept invading previously, they failed to break into the third defense line. I suspect the demon race's high-grade battle arrays haven't covered the third defense line yet. Therefore, while we might not reclaim the first two defense lines, we can still hold the third defense line." Xu Zhe said.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaotong calculated slightly in her heart, and her tension eased somewhat.

Indeed, as long as the third defense line held, the demon race wouldn't be able to utilize high-grade battle arrays. If both sides clashed solely using intermediate battle arrays, the Vermilion Bird Army truly had nothing to fear from them.

"Since that's the case, the worst that can happen is this old lady temporarily gives up those two defense lines. Little Zhe, try your best to make more intermediate battle arrays. Just name whatever materials you need; the hope of humanity rests entirely on you."

Chu Xiaotong patted Xu Zhe's chest and said resolutely.

"Please remove your filthy hand."

Xu Zhe felt uncomfortably shaken, his face darkened, and he immediately stepped back, reverting his appearance to his own.

This "Chu Xiaotong" disguise wasn't worth keeping anyway.

...

[An extended version, arriving late.]