Eternal Heavenly Emperor-Chapter 451 - 441: Attack on Iron Bull Tribe

In such a perilous place, it was clearly not suitable to refine the Black Soul Flower. Even if others could not directly attack them, they could still cause disturbances through means such as falling rocks, as Martial Artists were most vulnerable to disruptions during cultivation.

Moreover, with the presence of the Soul-Extinguishing Cloud, a formidable weapon, it was best to leave quickly now that they had obtained the Black Soul Flower.

Three days had passed, and the Soul-Extinguishing Cloud had hunted again before returning to the sky, thus Chu Hao and his companions were able to leave the valley quite smoothly.

Red Flame Ridge had two other valleys where rare medicinal plants grew, but they did not visit them. One should be content. Moreover, they had already been delayed by so many days; it was possible that those Spiritual Medicines had already been harvested.

--If they had not been harvested during this long period, then there would be no harm in coming back for them later.

They headed back to their stronghold, returning to Red Flame Ridge. The Black Iron Tribe might attack at any time, and their fate was now tied with that of the Copper Valley Tribe. If Copper Valley Tribe were to be defeated, they could only silently withdraw from this contest, or even die in battle.

Fortunately, when they returned to Red Flame Ridge, the Iron Bull Tribe had not launched a single attack.

According to the scouts, the army of Iron Bull Tribe had indeed been spotted earlier, but now they were nowhere to be found.

"They must have retreated back to Iron Bull City, waiting for us to attack them; otherwise, they will take advantage of our campaign to attack Red Flame Ridge and cut off our supply lines," someone said.

"Exactly, now all our forces are concentrated in Red Flame Ridge, and this place is naturally defensible and difficult to attack. They simply cannot take it down," another countered.

"And after we launch our campaign, the troops left behind will be significantly weakened."

"If we send troops to attack them, we will lose the geographical advantage of Red Flame Ridge, and our power will be brought down to the same level as theirs."

"This is their way of turning passivity into activity, throwing the pressure onto us," someone analyzed.

It was not hard for the crowd to analyze the thoughts of the Iron Bull Tribe, as the critical point of Red Flame Ridge had been lost. The current strategy was undoubtedly the wisest choice.

"Should we leave troops to defend, continue to advance, or remove this future threat first?"

"Secure the internal is required before repelling external threats!" someone exclaimed.

"No need, Red Flame Ridge is easily defended and hard to conquer. Leaving just one third of our forces should suffice," someone opposed.

"But won’t we be at a disadvantage in the contest with other tribes if we lack this one third of our forces?"

"Haha, that’s impossible!"

"Why?"

"Every tribe has another tribe to check them. Either they destroy the other tribe or they leave troops to defend. If they leave troops to defend, then it’s the same as us. But if they start by destroying another tribe, do you think two evenly matched tribes in bitter battle will lose less than a third of their power?"

"This..."

After hearing this analysis, the newcomers leaned towards initiating an attack, merely leveraging the stronghold of Red Flame Ridge to suppress the Iron Bull Tribe.

However, Chu Hao shook his head and said, "I suggest we first assimilate the Iron Bull Tribe."

"Are you insane?" Yang Huang immediately scoffed, and Jin Yuanheng’s expression turned sour as they both had grievances with Chu Hao.

"You’re the idiot, if you don’t understand then just shut up!" Chu Hao retorted angrily, thinking he wouldn’t retaliate?

Yang Huang was nearly bursting with anger, flames of rage shooting from his eyes, but they couldn’t physically confront each other there and could only vow in their hearts that once they left this area, he would definitely crush Chu Hao.

"Capturing Iron Bull Tribe might indeed cost us more than a third of our combat power, but have you not seen the ancestral teachings of the Copper Valley Tribe? It never said to fight to the death; surrender is an option!"

Chu Hao said with a smile, presenting his analysis: "As long as we can take down Iron Bull Tribe, we can gain ten more war chariots, which is the most critical combat strength."

"Exactly!" Immediately, many agreed, as the power of the war chariots was evident to all; without these war chariots, they would never have been able to capture Red Flame Ridge.

Ten war chariots versus twenty, that was an absolute qualitative change.

"But you can’t guarantee that, perhaps we might be defeated?" someone shouted.

"Indeed, I cannot!" Chu Hao shook his head, "But hasn’t the path of martial arts always been about forging ahead through difficulties, without a guaranteed path to victory?"

Everyone slowly nodded, their own paths in martial arts were never smooth, always filled with crises where one could fall at any moment.

"Since we are now in agreement, let’s discuss this with High Priest Tu Han."

"Exactly."

Launching a war required advance preparation. It wasn’t something that could be initiated on a whim.

Chu Hao and four others then began refining the Black Soul Flower, and the other two rare medicinal plants were also harvested by others. One was obtained by the War King, named Guo Shijiang, and the other was surprisingly picked by a Martial Sect named Zhou Shusheng.

Zhou Shusheng looked utterly ordinary. It was hard to imagine how he had managed to obtain that rare medicinal plant.

Surely an oddity, extraordinarily strange.

There were seven petals on the Black Soul Flower. If they were to be divided among five people, then two petals would be extra. Since harvesting the plants was mainly due to Chu Hao and Su Wanyue’s efforts, the Barbaric Girl and Fu Xue both agreed that the two of them should receive an extra petal each.

Gu Qingcheng, although displeased with Su Wanyue, couldn’t oppose her and could only agree grudgingly.

After some deliberation, the high ranks of Copper Valley Tribe decided to prepare for seven days before launching an attack on the Iron Bull Tribe. They hoped that by preparing for such a long time, the Iron Bull Tribe would lose patience and attack them first.

Chu Hao and his four companions did not concern themselves with these matters, as they were all in seclusion refining the Black Soul Flower.

This Spiritual Medicine was to strengthen the Divine Soul and did not enhance cultivation even slightly; therefore, when they had refined the medicine by the next day, they barely felt any increase in Star Force. However, they all noticed a significant enhancement in their cognitive speed and reaction times.

Especially Chu Hao and Su Wanyue, who each consumed two petals of the Black Soul Flower, enhancing their Divine Soul’s strength by twenty percent, naturally felt a more pronounced effect.

The fortification of the Divine Soul meant they could sustain longer cultivation periods, thereby indirectly enhancing their cultivation, albeit through a prolonged process.

By the third day, Chu Hao had made a breakthrough.

Through Dual Cultivation with Su Wanyue, he could breach a Minor Realm in about ten days. The Black Soul Flower’s twenty percent enhancement of his Divine Soul also increased his cultivation time by twenty percent, reducing the original ten-day period to eight days.

Breaking through was as easy as drinking water.

At this, Su Wanyue couldn’t help but marvel. Even during her rapid cultivation phase after the baptism at the Ancestral Pool, it took about twenty days to achieve a breakthrough at peak speed, which was considerably slower compared to Chu Hao.

Moreover, Chu Hao’s current status was that of a War General, and to advance so rapidly on that basis was indeed unbelievable.

At this rate, just over two months would suffice for this fellow to become a Peak War General, and then swiftly advance to War King, standing shoulder to shoulder with her.

Back when they first met years ago, he was merely a Martial Disciple, leagues below her, but in just a few years, he was nearly catching up, truly a thought-provoking reality.

Seven days passed quickly, and the Iron Bull Tribe did not attack, clearly resolute in their defense.

On the seventh day, everyone embarked towards the Iron Bull Tribe. Ten War Chariots reappeared, wheels thundering, battle spirit soaring.

Less than half a day later, a city was in sight—it was the Iron Bull Tribe.

"Woo—" The war horn sounded, emitting a long and somber tone that boiled one’s blood involuntarily.

The Copper Valley Tribe’s army halted, ready to strike, while from within the city, troops on War Wolves, Dragon Elephants, and other mounts appeared, but the most astonishing sight was the dozens of War Chariots—some engulfed in flames, others wrapped in torrents of water, and some even shimmered with lush greenery, transforming into massive trees. The scene was extraordinary.

"Woo!" Both sides sounded their horns urgently, signalling immense tension.

"For glory!" Tu Han raised his Bone Rod and bellowed loudly.

"For glory!" The soldiers echoed, raising their weapons and shouting, "For glory! For glory!"

"For the tribe!" Tu Han roared again.

"For the tribe! For the tribe! For the tribe!" The soldiers yelled, their voices thunderous and earth-shaking.

"Attack!"

"Attack! Attack! Attack!" Copper Valley Tribe launched their assault, mounts roaring, the ground trembling. On the other side, Iron Bull Tribe, after a brief pre-battle mobilization, charged as well.

Chu Hao drove a chariot, refraining from taking flight for the moment, as standing out too much could make him a target.

If he were a War King at that moment, fear would not be an issue, but as a War General, it was better to stay low-key.

Gu Qingcheng was still with him in the same chariot, while Fu Xue was with the Barbaric Girl in another, and Su Wanyue drove her own War Chariot, leading the charge with her Star Force ignited.

Both forces, like two tidal waves, drew close and then violently crashed into each other.

The great battle erupted instantly, with flesh and blood flying and various powers chaotically at play.

The Iron Bull Tribe also had seven War Venerate, on par with Copper Valley Tribe, but while the quantity of War Chariots was the same, those piloted by War Kings or War Generals could unleash vastly different powers.

Thus, the upper hand in high-end combat power would depend on the caliber of outsiders from both sides.

However, both sides were still unaware of each other’s foundations.

Boom—a succession of War Chariots unleashed terrifying powers, allowing both parties to finally gauge the strength of their opponents.

Five chariots, six, seven!

The Iron Bull Tribe had only seven War Venerate-level War Chariots—or rather, only seven outsiders had reached the level of War King.

This is Qi Luck!

Even a Martial Disciple could be blessed with Qi Luck. Thus, totaling the Middle Three Realms and the Three Minor Realms, only sixty individuals received Qi Luck, barely averaging one per tribe.

Yet, Copper Valley Tribe had as many as three people blessed with Qi Luck, and this was not merely talk. Some unseen force of nature was undoubtedly influencing outcomes, currently tipping the scales slightly in favor of those arriving at Copper Valley Tribe by granting them one more War King than those at Iron Bull Tribe.

On top-tier combat power, Copper Valley Tribe held a slight advantage!

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote with your recommendation ticket or monthly ticket at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com.)