Douluo Dalu 3: The Legend of the Dragon King

The golden light in the sky faded, and the Archangel's Holy Spirit Dance also concluded..Yali's face had turned quite pale, and Tang Wulin had to support her as she descended to the ground.

She shook her head with a resigned expression, and said, "It's not enough; they've gathered the power of too many vengeful spirits. Holy energy can only weaken the array, but is unable to truly damage it unless my Archangel's Holy Spirit Dance can reach the godly level."

Thankfully, Archangel's Holy Spirit Dance hadn't been completely ineffective; the Blood River Godslayer Array had been stopped in its tracks.

Everyone in the main control center could naturally also see this, and they were all waiting with bated breath.

Only 10 minutes later, the Blood River Godslayer Array began to travel slowly toward the encampment of the Western Legion again.

Tang Wulin and the others attempted a few more rounds of attacks, but all they could do was only delay the Blood River Godslayer Array in its advance.

The resistance continued into the night, and at this point, the array was only 100 kilometers away from the Western Legion's encampment. 

The soldiers standing on lookout on the mountaintop could already clearly see the array from this distance, and their hearts were filled with dread.

How were they supposed to keep such an opponent at bay? This was a hopeless task, but they couldn't just give up as the outcome of that was very clear.

All of the soldiers were standing resolutely on their positions, blocking the path to further inland, so none of the other legions would be able to transfer over to reinforce them. Even if reinforcements could arrive, they wouldn't be able to do anything.

At the current rate of advance, the Blood River Godslayer Array would arrive at the Western Legion's encampment by dawn the next day at the latest.

Dong Zi'an had already enquired countless times about Eternal Heaven's modifications, but they were still incomplete.

At the Western Legion control center.

"They must be doing this on purpose! Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect must be intentionally stalling for time to take advantage of this opportunity to weaken us!" Dong Zi'an roared with fury.

At this moment, Qiangu Dongfeng and many other high-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda were also present with him in the Western Legion control center.

A lieutenant general said in an urgent manner, "You have to make a decision soon, Commander! That Blood River Godslayer Array is definitely not something we can resist; our brothers would be giving their lives for nothing if we don't do anything!"

Dong Zi'an's breathing was quite heavy as he replied, "Shut up! Do you think I don't know that? Chairman Qiangu, do you have any ideas?"

Qiangu Dongfeng shook his head with a wry smile. "I'm afraid not. The array contains too much energy, so we don't have any way to oppose it, either. Eternal Heaven is our only hope. I truly didn't think that the Holy Spirit Cult would be capable of creating such a powerful entity. The only viable option right now is to retreat."

"Retreat?" Dong Zi'an's hands immediately balled up into tight fists. What did retreating entail? It entailed giving up their current encampment.Setting up defensive infrastructure took time, as did disassembly, and there was no time available to them, which mean that once they abandoned these defenses, there was no way that they would be able to re-establish them.Furthermore, if they were to retreat, the abyssal army would have a clear path further inland, allowing them to reach deeper into the continent.

However, if they didn't retreat, then they would have to face the Blood River Godslayer Array directly, and the consequences of that would be catastrophic for the Western Legion.

"We can't retreat. If we do that, we'll be traitors of the federation," Dong Zi'an said as he closed his eyes with a pained expression.

Qiangu Dongfeng suggested, "What if we only feign a retreat? I strongly suspect that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect are intentionally refraining from using Eternal Heaven with the objective of allowing the Blood River Godslayer Array to severely weaken us first. On top of that, the explosion of Eternal Heaven would be sure to affect us as well, thereby inflicting further damage. As such, why don't we pretend to retreat and see how the main control center reacts?"

Dong Zi'an reopened his eyes as a hesitant look appeared on his face.

At the Shrek Academy and Tang Sect encampment, a group of exhausted powerful beings were seated around the secondary tree of life.

They had all given everything they had to give, but were still unable to completely stop the Blood River Godslayer Array.

Thankfully, with the secondary tree of life present, they would be able to recover their lost energy far more quickly than normal.

Tang Wulin was focused on meditation, inspecting his own internal condition. In reality, if he had tried a bit harder, he would've perhaps been able to pierce through the Blood River Godslayer Array; that was most likely achievable with his Golden Dragon Spear and Sea God's Trident.

However, what would he do then? He would just be trapped in the array, and there would be no chance for him to escape again.

The Blood River Godslayer Array was like a self-regenerating rubber ball; even if he were to pierce through it, it would simply heal itself and trap him inside.

If only she were by his side.

Tang Wulin couldn't help but reminisce on the last time he had fought alongside Gu Yuena. The two of them were able to unleash the Dragon God Transformation, and with it, they had even been able to force back the Holy Lord. Both of them were definitely far more powerful than they had been back then, and if they were to join forces again, their combined impact on this battle would be much greater.

However, would she be willing to join forces with him?

With that in mind, Tang Wulin slowly opened his eyes and cast his gaze toward the Western Legion's encampment.

In this dire situation, surely even the Spirit Pagoda wouldn't stand between them. After all, the Western Legion was about to face a full-frontal assault.

Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly rose to his feet in an alarmed manner.

The mountaintop they were situated on was the tallest on in this area, so the view was good, and to his surprise, he could see that the Western Legion seemed to be preparing to move. A series of mechas rose up into the air before slowly flying back, and many cars on the ground were also beginning to swivel around.

What were they doing? Were they retreating out of their encampment?

There was still quite some time before the Blood River Godslayer Array was projected to reach their encampment! How could they just abandon their encampment like this?

Tang Wulin hurriedly pulled out his soul communicator to contact the main control center.

"Commander, what's going on with the Western Legion? Why are they suddenly retreating? Did you authorize this retreat?" Tang Wulin asked in an urgent voice.

Yu Guanzhi seemed to be extremely furious as he replied, "Of course not! How could I authorize them to abandon their encampment? Those bastards! I'm unable to get through to the Western Legion for now, and I've already sent someone to investigate. No, I have to go and see what's going on for myself. Please rest assured, Sect Master Tang; I'll head over to stop them right away."

Yu Guanzhi was so enraged that he felt like he was about to go insane! Deserting a battlefield was a crime punishable by death! Never did he think that the Western Legion would decide to retreat at a time like this. It was clear that they had already given upon on their encampment and were gathering behind it.

Thus, Yu Guanzhi and Chen Xinjie rushed out of the control center together before heading directly toward the Western Legion.

Dong Zi'an was currently in his military uniform, standing on the shoulder of an imposing red mecha. This was his divine-grade mecha, and it was renowned for its wolf-like appearance, as well as its incredible speed. The mecha had been named "Fierce Wolf" after his martial soul, and he was currently appraising the unfolding scene with a smug smile on his face.

Yu Guanzhi and the others had definitely already noticed the situation, and he was essentially forcing them into using Eternal Heaven.

He wasn't actually planning to retreat; he was very familiar with military laws. The Blood God Legion was currently still at least six to seven hours away from reaching them, and that was sufficient time for them to reoccupy the encampment. Everything he was doing now was according to Qiangu Dongfeng's suggestion, which was to feign retreat to force the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy into using Eternal Heaven as quickly as possible.