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Translator: Silavin & Ashish
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Yang Kai naturally understood the situation and proposed, “City Lord Lin, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I suggest forming a team of Military Enforcers.”
Lin Tong raised his brow and asked with some confusion, “Military Enforcers?”
Yang Kai’s face turned serious as he explained in a serious voice, “The Two Races’ Great War is different from ordinary individual battles between cultivators and requires a clear-cut Martial Law. Anyone who disobeys the law or disrupts order will be subject to severe punishment. Those who flee from the battle are subject to death, anyone who disturbs the army morale may be killed, anyone who does not fight with all their strength dies!” He stared at Lin Tong as his voice turned ice-cold, “Carrying out these punishments is the duty and mission of the Military Enforcers!”
Lin Tong and Ma Yin felt chills run down their backs when they heard this. If they really followed Yang Kai’s suggestion, they would probably have to kill a lot of people even before confronting the Demon Race.
But after giving it a second thought, this was indeed a good way to resolve their current crisis. They were seriously outnumbered, and morale was pitifully low. Tiger Roar City was in imminent danger. If they wanted to defend the city, they had to present a united front. If there was a team of Military Enforcers, it might not improve morale, but it would at least unify the cultivators to defend the city.
Having understood this, Lin Tong stated, “Palace Master Yang is right, but my Tiger Roar City’s cultivators can’t undertake this role.”
Yang Kai proposed, smiling, “City Lord Lin, if you can trust this Palace Master, please leave this to me.”
“I will have to trouble Palace Master Yang then!” Lin Tong nodded in agreement.
Outside the city, the Demon Race was invading in large numbers, and inside the city, people were panicking. A large crowd of cultivators was gathered on the city wall even now, gazing into the distance, many trying to figure out what to do or where to turn to, an air of gloom hovering over all of them.
At that moment, a person flew around the city, announcing in an ice-cold voice with a solemn expression on his face, “The Demon Race is invading, a great battle is imminent! This war is related to the survival of Tiger Roar City, to the life or death of hundreds of thousands of residents of the city. Sir City Lord has thus given the order to implement Martial Law. Defeat is not allowed in this fight. Anyone who violates the Martial Law will be judged guilty and executed for disobedience! Anyone who flees from the battle will be killed, anyone who disturbs the army morale will be killed, anyone who does not fight will be killed!”
The voice was loud enough for everyone below to hear it loud and clear, and as soon as these words were announced, all the listeners turned to look at each other in shock. Many of them were thinking of running away if the situation turned bad, but after they heard this announcement, they couldn’t help furrowing their brows. However, they didn’t take this announcement too seriously either; after all, everyone could clearly see the current situation. Tiger Roar City’s demise was all but certain. At that time, the people who wanted to escape wouldn’t be limited to just one or two, rather there would be many. At that time, laws couldn’t be enforced as there would be many people to punish. How would Sir City Lord have the time to care about such things? Perhaps he would be too busy saving himself!
Most people thought that this was just arbitrary propaganda, a declaration before mobilizing everyone in order to stabilize morale.
But before they could finish such thoughts, they saw a large group of cultivators flying out. This group had about a thousand people in it, and by the looks of their robes, they weren’t locals of Tiger Roar City, but rather the reinforcements from the other territories who had come to provide support. The person leading the group was an extremely conspicuous young man with fiery red hair.
Chi Gui of the Eastern Territory’s Ahan Temple!
Many people recognized him at once. It wasn’t that Chi Gui was that famous, rather his image was just too unique, so it was easy for the people to recognize him even if they had only heard rumours about him. Only Chi Gui had fiery red hair in Tiger Roar City, no one else. Understanding this, it was reasonable to assume that the group of people behind Chi Gui were cultivators of Ahan Temple.
If it was just this though, it wouldn’t have been enough to attract everyone’s attention. What really caught everyone’s attention was that as Chi Gui lead this thousand man force, each of them was emanating a fearsome murderous intent and had fierce looks on their faces. Chi Gui especially was gazing at everyone as if all of them were targets. There was also a group of cultivators following behind him that was holding up a bunch of severed human heads.
There were at least a few hundred of these heads, most of which had died with their eyes wide open. Blood was still dripping from their necks, making for quite the creepy scene.
Many people suddenly found some of these heads a little familiar.
Just as they were about to take a closer look to check whose heads they were though, the previous cultivator who was shouting continued, “The Five Great Families disturbed the morale of the army and have been beheaded. Wu Zi Jin fled from the battle and was executed!”
Such shouts echoed throughout the entire city, leaving everyone rooted to the spot, dumbstruck by what they were hearing.
[No wonder their heads looked familiar, it turns out they’re from the Five Great Families! And the head held in the forefront belongs to none other than Vice City Lord Wu Zi Jin!?]
[Vice City Lord was beheaded, and so were the Five Great Families! The fight hasn’t even begun but so many people on our side had already been killed! Furthermore, all these people are important figures in Tiger Roar City!]
Finally, everyone came to realize that the so-called Martial Law wasn’t there just for appearances, it would really be enforced. Since even the Five Great Families and Vice City Lord were beheaded because of breaking the law, who could possibly escape punishment?
In other words, though Tiger Roar City was in imminent danger, there was now also a group with butcher knives standing behind them all! If they accidentally violate the Martial Law, the butcher’s knife might swing for their necks! Everyone was shocked, but none dared harbour any traitorous thoughts now. They all asked themselves how their lives fared in contrast to the Five Great Families, let alone the Vice City Lord, Wu Zi Jin. Compared to these people, their lives naturally weren’t worth any more.
Above the city wall, Lin Tong was busy with his communication artifact, a nervous look hanging on his face, apparently gathering reports from various parts of the city.
After a while, the nervous look on his face gradually relaxed as he looked up at Yang Kai and praised, “Palace Master Yang’s is a born leader!”
Ma Yin looked at him with gleaming eyes and asked, “How is the situation in the city now?”
Lin Tong replied, smiling, “Although many are still worried, at least morale has stabilized.”
Ma Yin let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this and nodded, “Very good.”
She then turned her head, gratefully looking at Yang Kai and declared, “If Tiger Roar City can hold today, Palace Master Yang will be the biggest contributor.”
Yang Kai denied, shaking his head, “You flatter me. But don’t lower your guard yet. The cultivators in the city are only intimidated by those heads now. If you really want to defend the city, it will all depend on how we fare in the next battle. If we collapse at the first blow, no amount of threats will be able to save the situation.”
Lin Tong laughed and proclaimed, “Although my Tiger Roar City does not have many cultivators, if all of us can work with united spirits, it won’t be so easy to defeat us. We will let those Demon bastards know the might of Tiger Roar City today!”
Yang Kai nodded in appreciation, “It’s good to hear that Sir City Lord has this much confidence.”
While he was speaking, Ma Yin suddenly took out her communication artifact and checked it out before reporting with a solemn look on her face, “The Demon Race seems to be underestimating us a little. They have gathered all of their strength to make a breakthrough from the east!”
“Then we must go greet them!” Lin Tong coldly snorted.
The group then hurried to the east, and soon after, they arrived at the gates. The city wall was already jam-packed, mostly with local cultivators of Tiger Roar City. When Lin Tong and Ma Yin arrived, these people immediately cupped their fists and greeted them, making way for them to come over.
Yang Kai stood on the city wall beside these two, and as he looked up, he saw a black army about ten kilometres away, rushing towards this side in neither a hurried nor slow manner. The Demon Race members leading the army were riding humongous, hideous-looking Demon Beasts, each of them wearing a calm look on their faces, as if they were out for a stroll in their courtyard. It didn’t seem that they were here to invade the city but to play a game. The large army behind them was marching without any specific formation, scattered here and there, but they remained silent and solemn. The sky over the Demon Race Army was shrouded in dark clouds, making it seem like a fearsome storm was rolling towards Tiger Roar City.
The black clouds were bearing down on the city as they wanted to blow it away!
*Gudong…*
Nervous gulps sounded one after another before gazes turned towards Lin Dong one by one, as if they could only find a sense of security from him.
Lin Tong stood at the edge of the city wall, wearing a stoic look on his face. His grey hair was blowing in the wind as a gleam in his eyes flashed sharply like a falcon’s. At this moment, his old figure seemed somewhat taller than normal.
Ten kilometres, eight kilometres, five kilometres…
A tense atmosphere began to spread among the residents of Tiger Roar City. Some people had already summoned their artifacts, clenching them tightly before relaxing their grips, their palms all sweaty. Some people even started saying their final goodbyes to each other, fearing that there was no hope of surviving this battle.
The appearance of the Demon Race had been clearly imprinted in everyone’s eyes. Those fearsome Demon Beasts were also giving people a huge psychological pressure.
About three kilometres away, the leading Demon Race Master suddenly grinned at the crowd standing on the city wall, revealing his white fangs before raising his arm high and then slowly swinging it down.
The next moment, the disorganized army suddenly charged out like they were injected with hot chicken blood. War cries filled with murderous intent resounded throughout the sky as hundreds of thousands of Demons released their Demon Qi and slammed it towards Tiger Roar City as they ran forward.
Many people’s faces turned pale. Some people even involuntarily retreated, shoving others left and right. Before the battle even started, the city wall was already in chaos.
The leading Demon Race members broke into laughter at the sight of this, their laughter loud and resounding like claps of thunder.
*Shua shua shua…*
Cold gleams flickered one after another as several heads flew into the air along with splashes of blood. The next moment, several dozen twitching headless corpses fell to the ground among the bustling crowd. Bright red blood-drenched the faces and heads of the nearby cultivators, the warm and moist sensation causing shudders to run down their spines.
Chi Gui’s cold and cruel voice sounded the next moment, “Anyone who shows cowardice before the enemy will be beheaded!”
He coldly retracted his blade and swept his gaze around. All the cultivators around him evade his eyes. There were several dozen people who had acted just like him, killing the retreating cultivators, each and every one of them radiating a ghastly aura.
In an instant, no one stood within ten metres of these people, avoiding them like they were vipers.
If the announcement of the Martial Law and the display of hundreds of heads seemed distant before, what happened just now had hit far closer to home.
There were really people holding butchers’ knives behind them, ready to cut off their heads at a moment’s notice!
Yang Kai then shouted in a deep voice, “There are 5,000 Military Enforcers in the city supervising the battle, if anyone dares to violate the Martial Law, they will show no mercy. Everyone must fight!”
[5,000 Military Enforcers!] This number shocked everyone…
The next moment, the disorganized army suddenly charged out like they were injected with hot chicken blood. War cries filled with murderous intent resounded throughout the sky as hundreds of thousands of Demons released their Demon Qi and slammed it towards Tiger Roar City as they ran forward.
Chicken blood seems really wonderful
The author is going a bit crazy with this implementation… This is not a good way to lead an army. Really bad writing in this chapter. Like a power fantasy
If I’m not wrong in WW2, Russian’s were thrown to the frontline and any men who retreated were shot. I’m sure there are many other instances, but this situation is at least somewhat believable. It’d be more believable if YK wasn’t as ridiculously OP as he’s already been portrayed, but he simply refuses to use his methods (Ancient River Bell, Soul Devouring Insects could singlehandedly wreck their army).
Ultimately though, I’m not a history buff and we’re all armchair strategists.
It might work for some time, but I wouldn’t say it “stabilizes morale” but rather just makes them scared. And using 10% of your army to kill your own army seems overkill.
Something like ” The whole star boundary is fighting in this war to protect your city/homeland” seems more motivating to me
I understand what you are saying. However, given the circumstances, you are in a hot pot wherein if morale dies, you die. This is the only stop-gap measure that I could think of myself that would work immediately. They are already charging down your door… you don’t have time to convince them to fight otherwise. You can only control them, via force. And I personally hate this kind of tactic, but what other alternative can you give that would realistically work in that scenario? You have 1 hr to change morale, odds are 8:1 against. What do you do, as your 8:1 will become obliterated if you do nothing.
Die or Die lol
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.