Chapter 1022: The Art of Psychological Warfare

Chapter 1022: The Warfare of the Mind

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Along the three million li border of Nan Chu, it was as if billions of thunderbolts were raging, shaking the earth and rumbling through the heavens.

Looking down from above, the Tian Mo forces still surged like tides and seas. Even in their feigned attacks, they were fiercely intense, several times nearing the city walls, only to be repelled by the combined efforts of the Da Chu cultivators. Beneath the walls, mountains of corpses had piled up, and rivers of blood flowed.

Kill! Kill for me!

The Tian Mo commanders continued to wave their hands leisurely, watching the Nan Chu walls with mockery and amusement. Their blood-red eyes glowed with a sinister light, as if they could already see the Da Chu cultivators being devoured by the Tian Mo.

Kill! Kill for me!

On the Nan Chu walls, the Da Chu cultivators roared thunderously, unleashing killing formations, spirit weapons, and powerful crossbows without restraint.

If not for the orders from above, they would have charged out long ago. The Tian Mo outside had already separated them from their loved ones in life and death—this was an unforgivable blood debt that made them forget the Tian Mo's overwhelming strength.

"That decision you made back then was correct." Watching the countless Tian Mo army outside the city, Ji Ning Shuang took a deep breath, even her composure shaken with fear. "If the Tian Mo attacked from the rear right now, with a pincer assault and internal collusion, Nan Chu would fall, and Da Chu would be powerless to turn the tide."

"The strategies of mortal warfare can sometimes apply to cultivators as well." Ye Chen had already drawn his bow and notched an arrow, the arrow like thunder carrying the power of annihilation. His target, however, was not the attacking Tian Mo soldiers, but the Tian Mo drummer at the rear.

In the next instant, he released the bowstring. The thunderbolt shot out like divine light, piercing through the void from the Nan Chu walls.

Thud!

As blood splattered, the Tian Mo drummer was shot through the head on the spot, his entire body disintegrating.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Ye Chen's arrow was overwhelmingly dominant, piercing the drummer and continuing its destructive path, obliterating over a hundred Tian Mo soldiers.

Thud!

Then, the Tian Mo trumpeter was also shot through the head.

It was Ji Ning Shuang who fired, her arrow equally unmatched, pulverizing several hundred Tian Mo soldiers in its wake.

Crack!

At the same time, a towering Tian Mo battle flag was snapped by a thunderbolt arrow.

The one who shot it was Mo Wang Kui Yu Jiang, his arrow's power equally formidable, causing many surrounding Tian Mo soldiers to turn to ash in an instant.

Like them, Du Gu Ao and Dao Huang had also drawn their bows, their targets not the besieging Tian Mo soldiers, but the battle flags, drummers, and trumpeters at the rear.

The faces of the Tian Mo commanders twisted into grotesque expressions.

The Tian Mo battle flag was the symbol of their army;

The Tian Mo war drum was the source of their morale;

The Tian Mo horn was the embodiment of their military might.

Now, with the battle flag broken, the drummers slain, and the trumpeters executed, this blow to the Tian Mo army was, in some ways, more devastating than the Xu Tian absolute killing formation.

Warfare of soldiers is secondary; warfare of the mind is paramount.

Ye Chen was waging a psychological war.

Though the Tian Mo were powerful, they were still a type of cultivator with emotions and desires. They held beliefs stronger than those of the Da Chu cultivators and faiths even more exalted. To gain the upper hand in momentum, one must shatter their beliefs and faiths.

The results proved his tactic effective. Without the fierce Tian Mo battle flag, the charging horn blasts, and the morale-boosting drums, the entire Tian Mo army grew slightly sluggish.

Boom!

The void rumbled as a massive war flag was planted in the heavens, boldly inscribed with two characters: Da Chu.

Dong! Dong dong dong!

Then came the deep, resonant, and ancient sound of war drums, echoing from the Nan Chu walls across the heavens and earth.

Looking into the distance, above the Nan Tian Men city tower, an eight-thousand-zhang cloud platform hovered. Upon it stood an enormous eighty-zhang war drum, and the one beating it was the Heavenly Court Holy Lord and Da Chu's commander, Ye Chen.

Kill! Kill for me!

The Tian Mo commanders drew their killing swords in unison, pointing them at Ye Chen as they roared furiously, "Xu Tian killing formation, blast him to pieces!"

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

As the words fell, over a thousand Xu Tian killing formations in the Tian Mo army activated, targeting Ye Chen on the cloud platform.

Immediately, over a thousand beams of world-destroying divine light shot toward the platform, aiming to obliterate him on the spot.

"Protective formation, activate!"

Gu San Tong and Wu Ya Dao Ren quickly formed seals.

In an instant, a powerful barrier enveloped the cloud platform. The divine light from the Tian Mo's Xu Tian killing formations struck it simultaneously, but the barrier held firm, though it trembled and hummed loudly without breaking.

Boom! Keep bombarding!

The Tian Mo commanders raged like maddened lions.

The Tian Mo army regrouped, surging like tides and seas once more toward the Nan Chu walls, now exceeding the scope of a mere feigned attack.

The Da Chu cultivators' fighting spirit soared. Their pre-arranged killing formations, crossbows, and arrows fired ceaselessly, turning waves of Tian Mo into blood mist and staining the three million li of Nan Chu walls.

At the same time, in the central state of Nan Chu, within an unnamed mountain forest, the ground trembled slightly.

The next moment, an ancient stone gate rose from the earth, towering ten thousand zhang and etched with dark demonic patterns—this was a transmission domain gate.

"So Ye Chen was right after all." In the void space outside the forest, Ming Wang snorted coldly.

"Shatter it." At his side, Zhan Wang's son Xiao Chen spoke resolutely.

"What's the rush?" Ming Wang replied leisurely. "The Tian Mo are delivering such a great gift to me—how could I not accept it? Pass the order: Surround this mountain forest. No one is to act without my command."

"Understood."

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

In the forest, the massive transmission domain gate hummed and vibrated, then opened wide. Rolling demonic mist poured out, carrying countless Tian Mo soldiers, each sinister and terrifying, each grotesque and bloodthirsty.

The domain gate was enormous, transporting a vast number of Tian Mo soldiers. In less than three seconds, over a hundred thousand had emerged.

"This aura is truly delightful." One Tian Mo general stepped out, savoring the air with pleasure.

"The feeling of a sneak attack from behind should be quite satisfying." Another Tian Mo general emerged, gripping a black battle spear and clad in icy armor, his vital energy vast as the sea, his physique so powerful it made the void tremble.

"Did you really think Da Chu is easy prey?" No sooner had the general spoken than a cold, authoritative voice echoed through the heavens and earth.

Hearing this, the two generals' expressions changed drastically, sensing surges of annihilating energy and chilling killing intent closing in from all sides.

This is bad! It's a trap!

The two generals shouted in unison, "Retreat quickly!"

Too late!

Ming Wang snorted coldly and stepped forward. As he did, the armies of Yin Ming Holy Domain and Jiu Tian Zhan Long Sect materialized, covering the ground and filling the sky, sealing off the vast mountain forest completely.

Boom!

A world-shattering divine light from the Xu Tian killing formation swept out, destroying everything. The transmission domain gate, still transporting Tian Mo soldiers, was blasted to dust. Those in the transmission channel naturally met the same fate.

Now, the main event began.

With the domain gate destroyed, only around three hundred thousand Tian Mo soldiers had been transported. These were the "gifts" Ming Wang had mentioned.

Why was Ming Wang known as a supreme overlord who once contended with Zhan Wang for dominance? It was because he hadn't immediately destroyed the domain gate—he had waited for the Tian Mo soldiers to arrive, but not fully.

This was exactly the effect he wanted. You came thinking we wouldn't stop you, but leaving? Unfortunately, that's not possible.

The two generals' faces turned ashen, realizing all too clearly that this was a trap. Nan Chu had anticipated their secret transmission and lain in wait here, amassing forces ten times greater to wipe them out completely.

"Kill! Leave no one alive!"

Ming Wang's icy voice, laced with supreme authority, thundered like lightning across the land.