Chapter 315: Chapter 64: Swords Ignite the Beacon Fires (First Update)
Li Hao said, and secretly conveyed the message of his battle flag to her.
Li Hongzhuang was slightly stunned, and after hearing Li Hao’s words, she froze momentarily, “The battle flag contains Li Hao’s sword moves?”
This was the domain of Sketching Arrays that only the Heavenly Observatory could accomplish; how did Li Hao do it?
She looked at Li Hao with puzzlement and communicated through secret voice transmission.
However, Li Hao did not explain and only said, “There’s no time left, Elder Hongzhuang, if you wish to go and provide support, you should set off quickly. I will give you fifty battle flags!”
Li Hongzhuang recovered from her momentary daze, realizing that now was not the time to probe into Li Hao’s affairs. Her nephew was shrouded in too many secrets to explore; the wondrous and peerless talent alone was inexplicable, only to be attributed to a monstrous natural gift.
“I won’t go.”
A figure emerged, it was Li He.
He stared at Li He, knowing that with his current strength, he was no match for Li Hao. Thus, in addition to the solemnity, his expression carried an added sincerity:
“Young Master, in such dangerous times, Heavenly Gate Pass is also being attacked by demons. Please allow me to accompany you this time.”
Last time the Heavenly Gate Pass was in dire straits, he was knocked unconscious by a Four Stands Realm expert and sent out of the Heavenly Gate Pass, an incident that had haunted him continuously. He was moved by Li Hao’s kindness in sending him away during a crisis, yet ashamed of his failure to perform his duty, unable to face himself.
“I am under orders to protect the Young Master, even if it is to die, I shall die in front of you.”
Li He requested earnestly.
Li Hao was somewhat at a loss for words, those warriors of the Li Family really did have single-minded brains.
Li Hongzhuang glanced at him and thought about the recently detected intelligence at the Heavenly Gate Pass. With a complex look on her face, she knew she should also stay to defend. However, with the presence of the Four Stands Realm, coupled with Li Hao’s own strength not being weak, her fifth brother needed her even more.
“Hao Er, let him stay. I can travel alone, and that’s faster anyway,” Li Hongzhuang immediately said.
Li Hao pondered for a moment, and indeed it made sense.
Li He coming along would be of little use other than carrying the battle flags.
Instantly, his Divine Soul exited the body, whistling out, flying to the top of Cangya City’s walls, and from there he drew 50 of the 100 marked battle flags within a hundred li outside the city, gathering them and bringing them back to the courtyard.
The fifty stacked battle flags reached the height of several haystacks.
Li Hongzhuang covered these battle flags with her power of object control, and upon hearing Li Hao’s instructions on how to use them, she said to Li Hao:
“I’m off, be careful all of you over here!”
Giving Li Hao a profound look, she soared into the sky with the battle flags, flying towards the interior of the realm at her full speed with the rapidity of body control.
From the Heavenly Gate Pass to the western warzone lay a distance of thirty thousand li, and even reaching the second line of defense that Li Xuanli spoke of was twenty thousand li away.
If one used the speed of object control, covering dozens of li in a single breath, one could indeed arrive quite quickly.
But that was the limit speed during battle, hard to sustain. The energy expended was like a floodgate, and the longer one persisted, the more the consumed power exponentially increased.
By the time one reached the battlefield, there would be basically no fighting strength left.
The vast expanse of Liangzhou covered hundreds of cities. Each city’s territory spanned hundreds of li, encompassing numerous towns and vast wildernesses, with a diameter of one hundred thousand li.
Even with the full-speed travel of the Unwithering Strength, one would be exhausted halfway there, as the Unwithering Strength could not be maintained for so long.
At this moment, Li Hongzhuang could not afford to conserve her strength and directly burst forth at full speed to traverse at her utmost limit.
Furthermore, by not letting Li He accompany her, she intended to exercise the Unwithering Strength.
With the energy draining at this moment, she could burst forth with the maximum extreme speed.
Li He, only being of the Indestructible Realm, could not keep up with her pace.
…
Once Li Hongzhuang had left, Li Hao immediately summoned the Haotian Army, notified the whole city, and ordered a lockdown.
He also sent out a signal warning of the demon calamity, advising any wandering Martial Artists to either enter the city or hide.
Li Hao suddenly thought if the western front met with disaster, then if demons dared to come this way, it was likely that the eastern and northern frontiers would also suffer demon invasions.
Thinking of the eastern frontier, he frowned slightly; he had never paid attention to that side, nor did he want to.
The north was too far from this place, almost on the opposite end, spanning across ten thousand li of Liangzhou. It was impossible to send reinforcements instantly.
“Tighten the defense lines, if the eastern and northern frontiers are defeated, they should also retreat to the second line of defense. The news of the borders being breached should have spread throughout Liangzhou. If those noble families wish to survive, they should also send reinforcements.”
“Moreover, with such chaos, the royal troops should also come.”
“As long as we hold the second line of defense and hold them off, it should be enough.”
“But with the Demon Kings in the western front, there should also be others in different places. As defense lines shrink, demon forces will converge as well, and the pressure might be equally great, if not greater.”
Li Hao’s eyes flashed. He took a deep breath, the fifty battle flags he had just given to Li Hongzhuang might not be enough.
He then summoned a Grandmaster who served as a colonel in the Haotian Army. Li Hao took another twenty battle flags and had him ride a fast Red Blood Horse to rush to the aid of the western defense line.
The Grandmaster accepted the order and rode the Red Blood Horse out of the pass.
Li Hao instructed the scouts to watch for further news from beyond the pass, to see what kind of demons and in what numbers.
“Wasn’t it cleaned up before? Didn’t they get the message? If Tianji Palace knows of my strength and still dares to invade, it must be at least with four or more Demon Kings…”
Li Hao’s gaze became solemn, and what awaited would be a tough battle.
“Young General…”
Xu Zhouyuan, listening to this shocking news next to him, trembled, feeling for the first time the intense ferocity of the frontier soldiers.