Contrary to what the fleeing Sand People leaders had guessed, Elder Hessen was not dead; in fact, he was quite healthy.
He was, after all, a Three Rings spiritual energy user, the Sand People's top expert, and also the top expert on this planet, so he had some means of self-prespreservation.
The extraordinary perception ability granted to him by his spiritual energy talent allowed him to detect the approaching danger at the first moment and quickly deploy his spiritual energy spell.
Giant stone golems grew out of the ground, shielding him within the camp beneath them.
And in the next second, deafening explosions penetrated the golems' solid rock bodies, dominating his hearing.
Immediately following, scorching heat and shockwaves, like sharp swords, tore through his scales, penetrating deep into his muscles and bones.
He felt pain all over his body, his internal organs churned, and the blood in his body seemed to be boiling dry.
In fact, if Hessen had not already activated the Star Ring's third ring and become a spiritual energy master, with a constitution no longer that of a mortal, all of the above would have already occurred.
After the intense pain and a brief moment of confusion, he gradually seemed to realize that he had been shelled.
Moreover, it was artillery fire from the Alqi Highlands.
The mercenaries rebelled?
This was the Elder's first thought.
A misfire during the test?
No, someone is rebelling!
Yes, there are simply too many city-state 'kings' and tribal 'Khans' who dislike me!
Are they finally going to make a move against me?
Someone must have bribed those greedy goblins, right?
But, it shouldn't, it really shouldn't be!
Even if they were going to act, it should have been after completely defeating the Tulon defenders!
You short-sighted rats are truly not worth planning with!
For a long time, the Elder's mind did not consider the option of 'the heavy artillery positions being captured by Earthlings.'
This is understandable.
Hessen was not a military expert who had undergone rigorous training and extensive study, nor was he a born military genius, and he did not possess any superior sensitivity.
After all, he had an army of a million, so it was truly difficult to imagine that someone would penetrate his army's defenses, seize all the heavy artillery, and then turn it back on his own side.
The heavy artillery continued to bombard the camp for an unknown number of rounds.
Just as the Elder felt he was truly going to die beneath it, someone finally dug through the shattered stone golem and pulled him out.
"Teacher!"
"That's great... you're still alive!"
"That's great!"
It took the Elder a few seconds to finally regain his senses.
His vision gradually shifted from chaotic to blurry, with constant shaking, strong light and heat from all directions, and continuous loud noises still dominating most of Hessen's senses, but he could finally barely make out the other person's appearance.
"Mi Xun..."
The Elder's most prized disciple let out a long sigh.
The fact that her teacher recognized her showed that he was not only alive but also seemingly not foolish, so she quickly reached out to help him up.
The Elder grimaced, took a breath, and endured the pain to look around, but he couldn't see anything clearly: "What exactly happened?"
"Did someone rebel?"
"Han Latt?"
"Gamay?"
"Or someone else..."
Mi Xun shouted loudly: "Teacher, our heavy artillery positions have been taken by the Earthlings!"
Hessen was bewildered for a second, then shook his head: "This, this is impossible!
We..."
"Teacher, it has already happened!
Moreover, the defenders within Tulon Port have also launched an attack!
We are in disarray!
Please make a decision!"
The Elder was stunned for another second, then suddenly bit his tongue hard, forcing himself to dispel all his confusion.
He stood up and hoarsely asked: "Where are the others?
Where is Feng Quan?"
Mi Xun lowered her head with a heavy expression.
The "others" the Elder spoke of, of course, did not refer to the manpower of the other lords and chieftains, but a thousand-man guard unit personally led by his disciples, which was probably the most organized army the Sand People had ever had.
However, as a guard unit, they were naturally stationed around the main camp and were, of course, the first targets of the artillery barrage.
"Is that so..." The Elder looked at Mi Xun, who was also covered in injuries, and sighed.
"Teacher, most people are fleeing, the situation here is beyond salvation.
However, as long as we are alive, there is still a chance!" Mi Xun said.
Hessen gritted his teeth and nodded: "Yes, there is still a chance!
Let's go... Ugh, wait, Mi Xun, where is Kaz Khan?
Have you seen Kaz Khan?"
Mi Xun shook her head, thinking that she herself had just been disoriented, and the first thing she did upon waking up was to dig him out, so she hadn't paid attention to anyone else.
"We must save him!
He is the future!
Let's go to him!" Hessen said.
Mi Xun naturally would not object; on the one hand, her teacher was like a god in her heart, and on the other hand, it was naturally her own little ulterior motive.
She helped her teacher up, looked around, and surprisingly found a dying large raptor not far away.
Mi Xun quickly ran over and injected her spiritual energy into the raptor's body—she was a "Believer" and was preparing to develop along the branch path of the "Pure" Star Ring.
Her abilities focused on aspects such as repair, healing, infection, and encouragement; in simple terms, she was a healer.
Of course, she was only a First Ring now and could not truly bring the dead back to life or regrow flesh on bones; at most, she could only use spiritual energy to completely activate the opponent's vitality at once, temporarily restoring their mobility.
Mi Xun helped the Elder climb onto the raptor's back, assessed the direction, and prepared to head towards Kaz Khan's camp.
However, the two of them on one mount had only run a short distance when they collided head-on with a large group of Sand People retreating from the opposite direction.
"Stop!
Stop!
Go back and fight!
You are the Sons of Vanu!
You are the masters of this planet!
Take up your weapons!
Go back and fight!
Why are you fleeing!
Why are you fleeing in front of your mentor!"
Young Mi Xun stood on the raptor's back, shouting loudly to everyone.
However, the sound of artillery and gunfire drowned out her voice.
The terrified Sand People couldn't even see the path ahead, only knowing to retreat like walking corpses with the crowd, and naturally, they didn't notice Mi Xun and her companion's presence.
"You cowards!
Stop right now!" Mi Xun roared, and the power of her spiritual energy, condensed into a 'word of power,' was like a sudden burst of thunder, momentarily completely overwhelming the sound of the artillery.
Many Sand People were also shocked by it and actually recovered from their panicked state.
"Mi, Lady Mi Xun?"
"Elder!"
"It's the Elder!"
The Sand People who had regained their senses saw Hessen on the raptor's back and immediately ignored his obvious severe injuries and faint breath, with many even falling to the ground and kowtowing.
"Elder, please save us!"
"Please save everyone!"
"Please guide us again."
More and more of the fleeing Sand People stopped.
The herd effect also exists in civilized societies.
They might flee because some people flee, but they will also regain courage because some people go against the flow.
Hessen looked at Mi Xun with approval.
If it weren't for this favored disciple turning the tide with her 'word of power,' he, the Elder, a Three Rings 'Wizard,' would probably be more fragile than a withered tree in a mountain flood in front of the retreating defeated soldiers.
High Ring does not necessarily mean powerful, let alone omnipotent.
Elementary awakened ones who can achieve specific effects under specific conditions are probably more useful than those masters or even saints.
The Elder felt that he should indeed seriously consider the application of different spiritual energy users in warfare.
However, such "high-end" tactics seemed too far away for the current Sand People.
"Get up and form ranks immediately!
Is there anyone among you who has served as an officer!
Quickly get up and take charge of forming ranks!" Hessen asked loudly.
There were indeed a few officers among these routed soldiers, and even a warrior chief and a centurion, who were considered the highest-ranking military officers under the 'kings' and 'Khans.'
Under the encouragement of the Elder and Mi Xun, they finally started working.
Unfortunately, they were not the kind of extraordinary individuals who could make soldiers gather and disperse at will, and it took them nearly ten minutes to finally reorganize about 500 people.
Still a rabble!
The Elder subtly shook his head, thinking that this was better than nothing.
He didn't expect to lead this group of people to counterattack; being able to protect himself, rescue Kaz Khan, and then use that as a base to gather the scattered troops would mean he hadn't lost everything.
"We..." The Elder was about to give everyone a morale boost, however, at that moment, crimson beams of light rained down into the crowd.
Many Sand People were instantly pierced by the scorching beams, their internal organs and muscles within the perforations even directly vaporized.
However, when those beams struck the ground, they directly erupted into explosions, spreading into turbulent shockwaves that continuously tore at the bodies of the surrounding Sand People.
The Sand People had just regained a little courage, but at this moment, they were like soap bubbles floating into a great fire, instantly vanishing without a trace.
But this time, there was no 'word of power' to boost everyone's morale again.
Because another series of explosive energy beams erupted near the raptor, instantly knocking the teacher and disciple off its back.
Fortunately, Hessen had recovered a little strength by this time and used spiritual energy to gather airflow, cushioning himself and Mi Xun, so they felt no impact upon landing.
His gaze pierced through the chaotic crowd, finally catching sight of figures in power armor in the distance, and a "Divine Guard" tank.
"Divine Guard" was actually the formal name given to their "Frankenstein" tanks after the Sand People lords had discussed it.
Although the name sounded impressive, in essence, it was just a patchwork of components from various countries, assembled like building blocks.
Hessen, of course, knew that in the Galaxy Native Land, tanks of this quality wouldn't even be considered.
But he also knew that this was still the most powerful war weapon on this remote planet.
No matter what, this was a legitimate tank with armor, shields, and ion cannons; at least it was much more powerful than the Panther armored vehicles in the hands of the security forces.
He had persuaded various tribes and city-states to sell everything they had to buy 200 of them from those "collaborators," always believing they would be the trump card to break through the Tulon defenses.
But so far, these tanks had killed far fewer enemies than they had crushed their own people, and once they fell into enemy hands, they would become a nightmare for their own side.
"I should have listened to Kaz Khan; after getting the tanks, we should have trained for at least a year, forming them into a separate unit, before they could become combat-effective!" Hessen gritted his teeth and grabbed Mi Xun.
"Quick, go find Kaz Khan!"
"...Te, Teacher!"
"Go quickly!
I'll cover your retreat!"
Mi Xun was on the verge of tears, but her mentor had already pushed her away, and by the time she reacted, she had already been sent over a hundred meters away by spiritual energy.
"Remember!
He is the future!
Help him!
Assist him!
Give us hope!" Hessen left his final instructions to his disciple, then plunged resolutely towards the direction from which the enemies came.
