Death... and me

Gofen looked at the approaching army and how they were suffering next to no losses from their ranged attacks.

'What kind of tactic is that? How did they succeed in making the cultivators work together like that?'

Gofen already expected that Jialin would try to minimize the losses in their ranks before arriving at the hill that they were standing. If their strategists had sent the cultivators without any plan, then why would strategists even exist? Still, he didn't expect that all their ranged attacks would have next to no effect. Roan's basic defensive formation was doing way beyond what Gofen expected.

Still, he didn't lose his calm just because of that. Instead, he looked at the main army coming through the front. It's just that he couldn't tell what they were planning to do.

'They seem to be quite slow. Is that a mistake? Forget it. As long as I deal with the two wings in time, I won't need to care about the late ones.'

He then looked down the hill and saw an enormous line made of Earth and Fire Affinity Cultivators. They were all waiting for orders without moving a single muscle. Everyone on Jialin's side thought that those would be the first enemies they would clash directly against. However...

'Begin!'

As soon as they received Gofen's orders, those cultivators stepped forward and moved to the very edge of the protection formation. Immediately, Earth Element began to gather around as it was channeled into the earth in front of them.

*Tremble!*

So many Earth Element users made the ground suffer an earthquake as the earth got loose in front of them. Any rock or stone present inside was reduced to rubble, making the area quite soft. Soon after, all the Fire Element users focused on that area with their own skills.

Kassie and the Jialin experts on the back bitterly smiled. Before their army could approach the mountain, Cassen's alliance had created an enormous lava moat! The moat extended so far that there was no gap for Jialin's melee forces to pass. If they wanted to reach the other side, they would need to fly above it.

The problem was that only the Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators present could fly. All the rest would need to pass that moat by foot. Of course, they could stop and use other skills to cool down the moat so that they could traverse. Or perhaps they could jump to the other side if they were strong enough to cover the entire distance.

However, the first situation would make Jialin's forces stop and wait passively under their ranged cultivator's attack while they cooled the lava down. The second option would break the shield formations, which would be perfect for Cassen Country.

Kassie then looked at Roan.

'Maybe we should retreat and think of another way to cross this moat.'

However, Roan didn't seem to be too worried about it.

'There is no need. Although they can only use my formations at a basic level, it should be enough. Pass my orders. Make half of each Unit's ranged cultivators focus on the Earth and Fire Element Users on the other side. The other half will continue to defend against the incoming aerial attacks.'

'All Water Element cultivators will move behind the first line of defense inside of each Unit and focus on their Water Element skills. Make sure that they don't come out of the formation. They need to use their Water Element skills from behind the formations' defensive lines.'

Kassie couldn't help but ask.

'If they do that, they might hit the cultivators in front. They need a clear view of their target if they do such a thing. Besides, their own skills will disturb the cultivators focused in defense.'

Roan shook his head.

'Don't worry. The cultivators at the front already understand where the attacks are coming from. Even if their vision is restricted, they will be able to defend against most of the damage. As for the risk of hitting their allies with their water element skills, that will not happen either.'

Kassie narrowed her eyes but passed the order anyway. Soon, the Shield formation changed as half of the ranged cultivators began to target the lava moat creators. While they did that, the Water Element cultivators appeared right behind each Unit's main defense line. They were all nervous since they had to do all of that while receiving constant attacks.

However, as soon as they began to channel their water skills in the front, they noticed that they were having quite an easy time avoiding their allies. It turned out that the gaps left behind for the front defensive line were just enough for them to use focused Water Element Skills.

Roan's orders were straightforward. Don't try to use any area of effect skill since there was not enough space. As long as they used focused skills, they would have enough space to work with. The effect on the Lava Moat wasn't as significant as it would be with area of effect water attacks. Still, when you put so many cultivators at the same time, that problem wasn't as big.

The lava moat began to be cooled down from the border. All the Units on both sides then began to step on the solid rock that was lava just a few seconds ago and continued to advance. Although their movement was slowed down, it didn't reach a point where it could affect the general situation.

The Earth and Fire Element Users couldn't keep the Lava Moat active due to ranged attacks aimed at them. They needed to focus if they wanted to do that.

Gofen saw from the top of the hill that Jialin's forces would soon reach the other side of the Lava Moat almost intact. Obviously, that affected him quite a bit.

'Those combat formations can actually do such a thing?'

Still, he understood that the Jialin Forces would reach those Fire and Earth Element cultivators if he didn't do anything. That being said, Gofen sent their leaders a Spiritual Sense message.

'Give up the Lava Moat. Retreat to the first defensive line, and wait for orders.'

All those cultivators sighed in relief and immediately gave up the Lava Moat.

Gofen then looked behind at a middle-aged man with messy hair.

"Elder Rurio, can you help me stop their advance?"

Rurio laughed before saying.

"Hahaha! I thought you wouldn't ask."

Rurio then lifted his hand to the skies.

*Creeeee!*

As soon as he did that, everyone began to hear the sound of demon beasts coming from behind the hill.

*Creeeee!*

*Creeeee!*

*Creeeee!*

*Creeeee...*

Those sounds multiplied as they began to get louder and louder. Eventually, several aerial demon beasts appeared in the sky. One could also see one or two cultivators on their backs. But what really caught everyone's attention was the basket they carried. Each one had several red orbs of the size of a tennis ball.

"It's the Tolak Aerial Beast Army!"

The nervous Cassen cultivators immediately rejoiced at the sight. Tolak was famous for being a mountainous country. Naturally, many Aerial Demon Beasts lived there. With time, the cultivators in that place began to get used to tame large amounts of flying demon beasts. In the end, their country's forces became famous for their Aerial Beast Army.