"We continue, of course! We can’t let the enemy intimidate us," I replied with a smile.

Gui Guzi said, "But we’re definitely going to get taken out if we go at them directly. There’s only 70000 of us and 2 million of them!"

I shook my head. "Think, Little Gui. The enemy is 2 million strong, but are they really? God’s Domain and its few allied guilds are powerful, but the rest are small fries at best. That’s why we’re going to strike at the heart of their army. Once we’ve taken out their main forces, the rest are just walking bags of loot."

Xu Yang licked his lips a little before asking, "Does that mean you have a plan already?"

"Nah, I haven’t thought of one yet…"

"Motherfucker!"

I dismounted, leaned against a maple tree and closed my eyes. For a while, everyone just stared at me blankly as if they had no idea what I was doing. Then, a chuckling He Yi walked up to me and said, "Let’s check out the map, shall we?"

"Heh, I’m doing that right now!" I knew my beautiful guild leader would understand me.

The minute details of Floating Ice City flashed across my eyes. I had explored nearly every map in Floating Ice City and ran through every setting at least even before I entered Sky City. This was how I planned to gain an advantage over God’s Domain. Red Maple thinks he can do whatever he wants in our domain? In his dreams!

……

It was at this moment Beiming Xue sent me a message: "I got it, big bro. God’s Domain main forces are close to coordinates (18277, 4737). I count around 150k cavalry troops and 250k of everything else including mages, archers, priests, tacticians, tamers and more. This is everything God’s Domain’s main guild and subguilds have combined after the battle against Candle Dragon. Oh right, about 80k of that 150k cavalry troops are Wildfire Riders, and they are all stationed at the valley of Wild Pheasant Ridge right now."

I quickly marked the coordinate in my map and examined it for a bit. Then, an idea formed inside my mind.

I quickly picked up the Purple Ying Sword and got up my mount once more.

"So? Do you have a plan now?" Li Chengfeng asked.

"Yep!"

"Well, don’t keep us waiting!" He Yi said with a smile.

I thought for a bit before asking, "Quick question: Are you guys afraid to die?"

Xu Yang, High Fighting Spirits and more immediately glared menacingly at me. "Is that an insult?"

"I wouldn’t dare…" I said with a grin. "Alright, first things first, I need a Famous General to launch a fake frontal assault and attract God’s Domain attention."

Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun stepped out with a smile, "Leave it to me! I haven’t been doing much anyway!"

"It will be very dangerous."

Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun nodded affirmatively. "I know."

He Yi blinked once before asking, "Lu Chen, are you going to use these 20000 players as cannon fodders?"

"Yes. I’m sorry." I nodded solemnly before explaining, "Someone needs to launch a frontal assault and keep the enemy distracted. It’s the only way to ensure that the next step of our strategy will succeed."

Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun dismounted and watched me closely for a moment. "Lu Chen, I’ve always thought of you as a brother, but I need to know what exactly this step of yours is before I send my troops to their deaths. Otherwise, I won’t be able to accept this myself."

I sucked in a deep breath and said, "According to Beiming, God’s Domain main force is currently stationed at Wild Pheasant Ridge. All 80000 of their Wildfire Riders are currently inside the valley. However, they couldn’t know that there is a hidden trail 1.5 km away from the east of Frost Forest that leads straight into the valley. I know because I’ve hunted there when I was Level 50. So this is the plan: I want you to keep their eyes on you while I and our 14k Dragonlight Cavalrymen and 5k Dragonlight Archers sneak up on them from the trail. We will wipe out their ace with our ace and send Red Maple packing from Floating Ice City! Once the Wildfire Riders are destroyed, Snowy Cathaya and Warsky Alliance can finish the rest!"

Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun burst into an understanding grin and patted me once on the shoulder. "That’s a cool plan. Which stratagem do you think it’ll fall under the Thirty-Six Stratagems?"

I thought for a moment before replying, "Eh, I guess it barely counts as ‘crossing the sea by a trick’..."

"Alright, when are we launching the assault?"

"Not yet. You should select 20000 elites from our mixed cavalry first!"

"Got it!"

While Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun was carrying out his business, I looked at a group of Dragonlight Archers and ordered, "All Dragonlight Archers, you have thirty minutes to spread out and eliminate all Purple Grape City assassins and archers within this forest! Leave no scouts in the area to spy on our movements! Once you’re done, come back and report to me!"

"Yessir!"

The Dragonlight Archers swiftly faded into the forest to carry out the operation. The Archer class was famous for their perception, and these ones were mounted and protected by Dragon Soul Protection. I had full confidence that they would be able to deal with any ordinary assassin.

A short time later, Beiming and the Dragonlight Archers returned and reported that they had fulfilled their mission.

At the same time, I contacted Lin Yixin—

"Dear, I miss you…" I started.

Lin Yixin rolled her eyes in the dialog box. "Why haven’t you come home then?"

"I’m just too busy…"

"Hmph hmph. Anyway, what’s your business?"

"Mn." I paused for a second before saying, "I need your help with something."

"Yes?"

"I want you to send Purple Marquis and about 30k Purple Dragon Cavalry to coordinate (18277, 4737) in an hour. It’s to support our assault, and… to rescue Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun and his men…" I said tactfully.

"But I miss you so much, Little Cheat…" Lin Yixin replied.

Me: "..."

Lin Yixin burst into a giggle upon seeing the look on my face. "Fine, fine, we’re fighting the second best guild of Purple Grape City right now, but seeing as you’re the one who’s making the request, I’ll send you the men you need. In fact, forget Purple Marquis, I’m coming over myself!"

"Mn, thank you!"

"Seriously though, when are you coming home? I’m really starting to miss you…"

"I’ll come back right after this Nation War is over!" I said without hesitation, "I promise you’ll be the first person I meet after returning to Suzhou. You like that?"

"Very much. Well, talk to you later. I’m in a fight right now…"

"Be careful!"

"Relax, I’ll be fine…"

……

After I hung up, I looked at everyone and said, "Attention, Dragonlight Cavalry, Dragonlight Archers! There is this saying called ‘train an army for a thousand days to use it for an hour’, and now’s the time we fight for our country! Win or lose, the important thing is that we’ve done our best, and that we have no regrets! So let’s do it!"

Everyone raised their weapons and roared, "Long live Ancient Sword!"

"Let’s go!"

After I got up my mount, I led the Dragonlight Cavalry, the Dragonlight Archers and 30000 riders from the mixed cavalry to the eastern trail. As planned, Eighteen Steeds and You and Yun and his 20000 elite riders stayed behind waiting for my order to attack.

The first ray of dawn pierced through the clouds and illuminated the dense mist above the forest. It looked like the thin fabric covering the forest goddess’s privates, and it was being ripped away bit by bit by the sunlight and the promise of war. When it vanished completely, all that would be left was spilled blood and cruel murder.

We circled around the forest and arrived at a short hill.

Chaos Moon asked, "Is this where you did your hunting and cooking?"

"Yep. In fact, this was where Shadow Chanel and her people fought me!" I laughed.

Beiming Xue asked with a smile, "Did you win?"

"Of course! Have you ever seen me lose in open world PvP?"

"Bro…" Li Chengfeng shook his head. "Ever heard of the word ‘humility’?"

Heaven’s Rain giggled. "Nah, I prefer big brother Lu Chen’s style more. It feels more hypocritical to pretend that you’re not as good as you really are. Plus, why wouldn’t you want to boast a perfect open world PvP record?"

I rode up the mountain trail and looked back. "Alright, enough chit-chat. If we travel at full speed, we should reach the valley in less than half an hour!"

"Full speed ahead!" He Yi ordered.

At the same time, I sent Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun a message: "Alright, you can launch the assault now, You and Yun! Remember, don’t get close within 3 km of Wild Pheasant Ridge. Just focus on killing the casuals on the perimeter and avoid a head-on clash. It’s unlikely you’ll win without the Dragonlight Cavalry."

"Got it. You should be careful as well. Let’s pray that this will end in a massive victory!"

"Mn."

……

The end of the mountain trail was a one kilometer-wide canyon that connects to Wild Pheasant Ridge Valley. After taking a moment to get all 14k of our Dragonlight Cavalry, and the 5k Dragonlight Archers led by Beiming Xue at the back ready, I moved to the front of the group and started explaining our strategy.

"When I give the order, charge at the enemy with everything you got. There’s no need to hide the noise, we have the element of surprise on our side. All Dragonlight Archers are to listen to Beiming Xue’s command. Generally speaking, you will keep the wings and support our cavalry with Skypiercers, Spiraling Arrow Blades and Shock Arrows. Understand?"

Beiming Xue nodded. "We understand, big bro!"

"Very good!"

I raised my weapon and shouted, "Regret not the present, and fear not the future! For the sake of our dreams, kill them all!!"

……

The thunderous sound of hooves abruptly erupted in the canyon as the Dragonlight Cavalry took off at full speed. Wild Pheasant Ridge Valley was less than five minutes away, so I was sure that the enemy could hear us coming. However, even if they knew that something was off, there was a forest standing between us and them. They might not understand the true extent of the danger because they couldn’t see us!

…...

Rumble rumble rumble!

The Dragonscale Beasts tore through the vines and brambles like nothing. A while later, we emerged from the other side of the forest and saw a group, no, an entire army of resting Wildfire Riders. I counted at least tens of thousands of them. Beiming Xue’s scouting was spot-on; this had to be Red Maple’s lifeblood for sure!

"Kill!"

More and more Dragonlight Cavalry burst out of the forest. Soon, we descended upon the enemy like a tidal wave. This was a perfect sneak attack led by me, Li Chengfeng, He Yi, Gui Guzi, Chaos Moon, and High Fighting Spirits, and God’s Domain wasn’t prepared in the slightest!

Chiang chiang chiang!"

The sound of blades tearing through armor resounded again and again. Countless Wildfire Riders were killed before they were even able to get on their mounts.

Acting as the spearhead of the charge, I raised my arm and fired 7 Ancient Seals into the enemy in quick succession, giving my troops an easier time tearing through the disheveled remnants of a formation. The valley was soon flooded with the red sea of 5-starred flags!

"Mount and fight!"

However, the Wildfire Riders were no small fries. About 20000 of them launched a countercharge to buy time for the rest of their allies to rally, and by the time they hit us, they had already formed a near-perfect anti-charge square formation!

Holy shit, what a powerful opponent!