Stranger Danger

Chapter 1008: Immovable Fortress

“Immovable Fortress!”

The Nanjiang Pacification Flag waved, and Demon Subjugation, Earth Trap, Flying Wings and Hunting Tiger began blending with one another. It looked chaotic from a distance, but there was an undeniable rhythm to it. As the four armies mingled, their vigor became one and formed what looked like an immovable fortress.

At the center of the immovable fortress was Profound Spirit Taoist and the Nanjiang Pacification Flag.

“Guard!”

Profound Spirit Taoist yelled, and the Nanjiang Pacification Flag waved again. Beams of light descended from the flag and made the immovable fortress surrounding the Nanjiang Pacification Army look real.

Not a moment too soon, the Xun Armor, Kan Armor and Zhen Armor reached the army and struck the fortress like gods.

Rumble!

A storm cracked, and everything turned white. The next moment, terrifying shockwaves and deafening rumbles washed out in every direction.

The immovable fortress remained unmoved, however. Not a single person was killed despite the terrible impact.

Seeing that their initial attack had done nothing, the three Divine Armors unleashed another attack.

The Xun Armor surrounded itself in cyan wind and summoned a storm.

Water currents so thick they looked like living dragons flowed around the Kan Armor.

The Zhen Armor wreathed itself in purple lightning as thick branches of thunder snaked across the sky.

Each Divine Armor was on par with a Half-Sage, but their combined power still couldn’t breach the strange fortress the Nanjiang Pacification Army had created.

Not only that, more soldiers were joining the army formation by the minute. Normally, the addition of troops would impede the circulation of the formation and disrupt its integrity at least a little, but that wasn’t the case for this formation at all. Everything was running smoothly like a river accepting a hundred streams into its waters.

Not only that, the more troops joined the formation, and the bigger and more solid the fortress became.

“Is this the legendary Immovable Fortress Formation?” Ye Qing asked seriously.

“It is.” Feng Qingyou nodded.

It was said that the Nanjiang Pacification Army boasted two ancient army formations. One of them was offensive, and the other defensive. The offensive formation was called the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation, and the defensive formation was called the Immovable Fortress Formation.

It took at least ten thousand people to unleash the true power of a massive formation like this. Naturally, the greater the number of people, the higher the potency.

Assuming that the army numbered over ten thousand, the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation was said to be capable of cutting through anything and everything. Even a Sage must move out of the way.

On the other hand, the Immovable Fortress Formation was immovable and untouchable. Ten thousand people formed a city, and even a Sage would find it difficult to break through.

The two formations were one of the main reasons the Nanjiang Pacification Army became throughout the south. In fact, all other army formations were derived from these two army formations.

The shadow of the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation and the Immovable Fortress Formation were behind the famous battles of Dragon Flipping Mountain, Snake Hiding Shore, Fog Shrouded Forest, Eagle Beak Cliff and more.

The most renowned battle of the Nanjiang Pacification Army was the Battle of Phoenix Mountain over a century ago. A total of ninety thousand soldiers had formed the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation to annihilate over a hundred thousand enemies and slay Zen Master Moon Listener.

Who was Zen Master Moon Listener? He was the Teacher[1] of the Nanjiang Royal Court and a famous Sage on the Heavenly Champions Ranking.

And yet, such a man had experienced true death against the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation. That’s right. Not even his soul managed to escape when the Nanjiang Pacification Army was done with him. That was how potent and terrifying the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation was.

In comparison, the Immovable Fortress Formation was less renowned not because it was weak, but because the army rarely needed to use it.

After all, Chu was strong, and the Nanjiang Royal Court was weak. Naturally, Chu attacked a lot more often than they defended and so rarely deployed the Immovable Fortress Formation.

Of course, just because they rarely deployed it didn’t mean that the Immovable Fortress Formation had never taken part in any major battle.

For example, there was one time the Nanjiang army launched a surprise attack against the Wu Ling Pass during a foggy day.

At the time, Nanjiang had launched a false assault against another territory and lured the large majority of their troops away from Wu Ling. As a result, Wu Ling only had twenty thousand troops left in their garrison. On the other hand, their attackers’ numbers were five times bigger than theirs: a hundred thousand.

Wu Ling was the main entrance into Chu at the south. It was the most important and strategic pass out of all of them. If Wu Ling was lost, the Nanjiang army would have a free pass straight to the heart of Jian Nan, and Chu would suffer a tremendous blow.

Nanjiang had been eyeing Wu Ling since time immemorial, and finally they had the opportunity of a lifetime. Naturally, they weren’t going to hold back. It was an all-out attack where all of their elites were entering the battlefield.

Logically speaking, it should not be possible for the twenty thousand strong Nanjiang Pacification Army to hold out against one hundred thousand elites even though they held the geographical advantage.

In reality, the defenders managed to hold out for over half a month before the main bulk of their army finally returned, and Nanjiang’s decades-old plan was ultimately foiled.

Of course, the defender’s advantage was one of the major reasons the defenders ultimately managed to hold out. The other major reason was the Immovable Fortress Formation.

Thanks to the Immovable Fortress Formation, at the cost of just half their numbers, the twenty thousand defenders were able to withstand dozens of surprise attacks and the endless wave of frontal assaults until reinforcements arrived.

That was how powerful the Immovable Fortress Formation was.

That said, it wasn’t as if the two army formations were without their flaws.

As mentioned earlier, it took at least ten thousand people to form the army formation.

Both army formations also had their individual flaws.

The Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation boasted infinite flexibility, but that was only if the formation was commanded by a considerably accomplished military officer.

The military officer must know both the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation and the characteristics of their army like the back of their palm. They must be able to see the bigger picture as well.

Besides that, the army formation could only unleash its true potential in a wide and massive open area.

In comparison, it was much easier to form the Immovable Fortress Formation. It wasn’t as complex as the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation was. It didn’t require an extraordinary military officer to deploy either. On top of that, it did not need a wide, massive open area to deploy. The army formation could be deployed even in complex terrains such as a city.

This was why Profound Spirit Taoist chose to deploy the Immovable Fortress Formation instead of the Nanjiang Pacification Evil Suppressing Formation.

Of course, the Immovable Fortress Formation’s flaw was that the army formation literally couldn’t move from its spot. A mountain was tough because it was immovable. Likewise, a fortress that moves wasn’t an “immovable fortress” anymore.

By doing this, Profound Spirit Taoist was announcing that he had given up on killing him or Feng Qingyou. He had chosen to protect himself and his remaining army.

Once again, Feng Qingyou’s prediction was right on the mark.

It wasn’t hard to understand why Profound Spirit Taoist had made this choice.

At the beginning, Profound Spirit Taoist fought a great battle against Ye Qing. Later, he was ambushed by the Xun Armor and suffered serious injuries. The only two champions guarding the Nanjiang Royal Court were him and Chi Tian, and Chi Tian was incapacitated right now.

If he decided to continue with the offensive, he would have to pave the path to victory with the bodies of the ordinary troops. Sure, the garrison manning the Nanjiang Royal Court numbered thirty thousand, and they could probably defeat the three Divine Armors if they went all out. However, it would almost certainly cost him all of his troops.

Chu had just scored a decisive victory against Nanjiang, and they were in the middle of pacifying the rest of the realm right now. This period was no less important than the conquest of the Nanjiang Royal Court. If they were to lose the Nanjiang Royal Court, the situation for Chu and the Nanjiang Pacification Army would not be as bright anymore. They would be plagued by all sorts of troubles and disadvantages. The reward wasn’t worth the risk.

All things considered, defense was the best offense in this scenario.

So long as he did not throw away his army willy-nilly, it was still possible to turn this around. This was what Profound Spirit Taoist was thinking right now.

At first, he thought that his enemy only had activated two Divine Armors. The woman’s cultivation level was just average as well. That was why he tried to capture her and suppress the Divine Armors at the same time.

In reality, his enemy had activated three Divine Armors, meaning that he was up against not two, but three Sages. He himself was seriously injured after the surprise attack as well. Therefore, his earlier plans were no longer feasible.

All things considered, the only thing he could do now was preserve his main force as best he could and snuff out any possibility of losing the Nanjiang Royal Court. Chu’s century-old plan took precedence over everything else.

The Sky Mending Spring, the Eight Divine Armors and the two thieves mattered far less than the war of Nanjiang.

They had every opportunity to take revenge against these bastards after Nanjiang was pacified.

1. Kinda like a Prime Minister or something, but I can’t really use that term because there is no real context for me to refer to. ☜