Borders between the Stormlands Dukedom and the Spirit City Territory
The Stormlands Dukedom directly bordered the territory controlled by the Spirit City, and thus, it wasn't really that far from the headquarters of the Spirit Hall. The entire region where Spirit City, the Stormlands Dukedom, and Moolight Principality were located was divided into many Lordships that were constantly fighting against each other.
As the 1st Legion of the Knights Templar marched toward Storm City, which was the capital city of the Stormlands Dukedom, they faced little to no resistance because of the infiltration and sabotage conducted by the agents of the Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce.
Hun Tiandi predicted that the real and only battle would be in front of the gates of Storm City, where most of the military forces of the Stormlands Dukedome were located. The entire Dukedom was governed by the Lei Family, which had all Lightning-based Martial Souls and was relatively powerful among the Spirit Masters.
Especially in the same Rank.
The current strongest person in the Lei Family was Spirit Rank 91 Titled Douluo with Thunder Leopard Martial Soul. He was a rather powerful Titled Douluo, with strong offensive power and very fast speed, so it was relatively troublesome to deal with him through normal means.
Lightning was already considered one of the top-grade elements that one could possess, primarily because of its tremendous offensive capabilities, extreme speed, and if the Spirit Master developed the Lightning to its potential, it could even evolve to possess rather frightening defensive capabilities.
Two Cardinals of the Spirit Halls for this war, Devil Bear Douluo Xiong Shi and Spirit Kite Douluo Ling Yuan, were hidden among the troops and were awaiting the opportunity to strike.
Even though the Crusade was primarily aimed at the Stormlands Dukedom and Moonlight Principality, aside from several tens of smaller Earldoms, Counties, Baronies, and Lordships, there was also a big fish.
The Clear Sky Clan.
Four Super Douluos and four Average Titled Douluos, and at least twenty to thirty-five Soul Douluos.
The Spirit Hall planned to draw out some of the Super Douluos of the Clear Sky Clan, if not, then at least the Average Titled Douluos and kill them. Hun Tiandi knew that if the Clear Sky Clan was left to develop, it would be a danger for the Spirit Hall.
Attacking the Clear Sky Clan in their mountains in the Heaven Dou Empire would be a rather stupid thing to do.
Hun Tiandi was aware that an ancient clan like the Clear Sky Clan would have several trump cards in their home, including the Spirit Formation and other things that would make the siege a rather pricey transaction.
For the past ten years, the Spirit Hall has been meticulously searching for the trails of the Clear Sky Clan across the Douluo Continent. The people with whom they worked, the factions that they had secretly supported, and the Chambers of Commerce through which they obtained resources.
Fortunately, the relationship between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Clear Sky Clan was currently strained a lot.
Since the fallout between the Clear Sky Clan and Spirit Hall, the Heaven Dou Empire bore a lot of the anger of the Spirit Hall. The Heaven Dou Imperial Family wasn't like the Imperial Family of the Star Luo Empire, which boasted of several Titled Douluos, most of whom came from the Dai Imperial Clan.
The Star Luo Empire at least had some capital to resist the pressure of the Spirit Hall if they decided, and if the Spirit Hall wasn't willing to actually mobilize the Douluo Consecration Hall or some of their Super Douluos.
The Imperial Family of the Heaven Dou Empire didn't have even a single Titled Douluo and their Martial Soul, White Swan, was... rather weak in direct combat and wasn't worth mentioning.
Hun Tiandi looked at the border as he gave the order to advance with two people standing next to him. One of them was obviously Commander Lor Diarra, but the other one was different.
It was a slim man, of average height, with white hair and brown eyes. He had an Ω symbol on his gloves and clothes. He wore a blue colored coat with orange, yellow, and black stripes, with some white gloves, and also wore red colored skinny jeans with a brown belt and light brown boots.
His name was Sang Mandeok.
He could be considered the first friend that he made in this world.
Hun Tiandi almost wanted to chuckle...
Friend...
He didn't say that word sicne he killed Xiao Xuan.
Long, long, long ago, he and Xiao Xuan could be considered friends when they were travelling across the Dou Qi Continent despite the animosities between their Clans. Not like Hun Tiandi cared even a bit about the Hun Clan, it could perish for all he cared.
But...
The heavens worked in mysterious ways, and in the face of an opportunity to reach the Dou Di, they became enemies.
"We should get going... it won't be long before they will meet us on the field..."
Sang Mendeok was someone who joined the Spirit Hall a few years ago, with his primary motivation being to defeat Hun Tiandi after he lost to him during the spar. Sang Mandeok also had a rather peculiar and powerful Martial Soul called God's Blade.
It was the Ultimate Space Attribute Tool-Type Martial Soul that possessed tremendous potential and destructive capabilities. He wanted to attain the title of the Number 1 Swordsman on the Douluo Continent.
Unfortunately, the first hurdle was to defeat Hun Tiandi, which was right now an impossible task, but then again, Hun Tiandi wasn't even a geniue swordsman, even though he had a sword-type Martial Soul.
Still, within the Spirit Hall, Sang Mandeok was considered to be groomed for the position of next Worship Elder. Even though he possessed the Ultimate Attribute, his cultivation speed wasn't that much hindered.
Primarily due to the presence of the Celestial Spirit Mantra, which negated a lot of negative effects of the Ultimate Attributes in the Martial Souls, but also due to his undying and ever-lasting conviction and willpower.
Hun Tiandi never met someone as hardworking as Sang Mandeok, who was training and cultivating for every opportunity that he had. Well then, even his cultivation was testament to it, because even though they were of a similar age, as Sang Mandeok was a year older, the white-haired teen was already Rank 69 Spirit Emperor.
He was just stuck at the 6th Layer of the Celestial Spirit Mantra and was going to form his 1st Soul Core during his breakthrough to the Spirit Saint.
***
As predicted, it took some time for the notice about the attack by the Spirit Hall on the Stormlands Dukedom to reach Storm City. Most of their communication channels were intercepted by the infiltrators of the Celestial Trade Chamber of Commerce, but in the end, someone succeeded and delivered the message.
It was just too late.
When the Duke of the Stormlands Dukedom, Lei Tianlang, received the news about the invasion of the Spirit Hall, the Templar Knights were just forty kilometers from the Storm City, a distance they would cross in one or two hours.
Depending on their marching speed and usage of the Spirit Beast or different means of transportation. The fact that the Spirit Hall has deployed the Templar Knights and even some of their regular troops from the Spirit Guardian Army, their overall numbers were more than fifteen thousand.
And they were all heading towards him.
In the face of numbers of more than fifteen thousand, Lei Tianlang remained calm, because the Stormland Dukedom had a standing army of thirty thousand, with the possibility of forced conscription of another twenty to forty thousand.
Yet most of them are just ordinary people with no Spirit Energy, or if they were Spirit Masters, their Spirit Rank was just at the Spirit Trainee Rank. Because the Spirit Awakening Ceremony was free and conducted by the Spirit Hall, approximately 70% of the entire Douluo Continent had awakened their Martial Souls.
Problem was...
The majority of those people would never become full-fledged Spirit Masters, meaning cultivating to the Spirit Rank 9, obtaining their Spirit Ring, and reaching the Spirit Rank 10 Spirit Master Realm.
Most of them were born with Lowest-Grade Martial Souls and Innate Martial Power below the Rank 3, which meant that their future was grim. Still, having Spirit Energy in their body was better than having nothing, and thus, it wasn't a problem turning them into soldiers.
Unfortunately for these people, the Spirit Energy Gathering Method wasn't really useful, because to start cultivating the Spirit Energy Gathering Method, one needed to reach the Spirit Master Realm.
Those who were not at the Spirit Master Realm, meaning they were Spirit Trainees ranging from Spirit Rank 1 to Spirit Rank 9, could only do some basic circulations of the Spirit Energy in hopes of increasing their Spirit Rank and breaking through to the Spirit Master Realm.
Still, the chances were low.
Even then, most of these 30,000 soldiers were at the Spirit Trainee Realm... approximately 80% of troops were at this level. Followed by the Spirit Master Realm, which consisted of another 15% and the rest was divided between the higher Realms.
Only the officers were at the Spirit Elder Realm or Spirit Ancestor Realm.
Those who were above were already bigshots in the military of the Stormland Dukedom.
Lei Tianlang looked grim because he was aware of a tremendous gap in quality.
For the Templar Knights, one needed to be a Spirit Ancestor to join.
For the Spirit Guardian Knight, the minimum requirement was Spirit Master peak and generally Spirit Grandmaster.
These were even higher standards than those of the two great Empires for their ordinary troops.
Still, he didn't waste any more time, as he ordered the full mobilization of all forces in the Storm City and also the surrounding villages, and ordered them to congregate within the Storm City.
At the same time, he also activated the secret communication channel with the rest of the Lordships in the region and told them news about the attack of the Spirit Hall. This was primarily done because he was sure that the Spirit Hall wouldn't stop with the Stormland Dukedom, but also because they needed reinforcements.
In front of the might of the Spirit Hall, the Stormlands Dukedom was insignificant, but if all of the Lordships joined forces together and even support arrived from the Heaven Dou Empire and the Three Upper Clans, then they would be able to survive through this ordeal.
Right now, his primary goal was to hold the position until the seniors from the Clear Sky Clan arrived. In the end, the battle would be decided by the power of the Titled Douluos, and Lei Tianlang hoped that the most powerful sect in the world would be able to turn this tide.
He was aware of the true power of the Clear Sky Clan because the Stormland Dukedom often did business with the Clear Sky Clan, so he knew very well how powerful the Clear Sky Clan was and how powerful they became during the years in seclusion.
At the same time, the Clear Sky Clan was especially poor, because every single bit of cultivation resources went into cultivating the Titled Douluos and their Spirit Master without exception.
Thus, the strength of the Clear Sky Clan underwent a significant upgrade at the expense of poverty, but due to the need for resources, they conducted business and trade with various factions across the Douluo Continent.
Lei Tianlang knew that the chances of the Clear Sky Clan arriving to their help were certainly significant.
As long as the experts of the Clear Sky Clan arrived to support the Stormland Dukedom, then, coupled with the other Lordships, they should be able to push back the forces of the Spirit Hall that were encroaching on their territories.
***
"Surround the city and prepare the siege machines."
Hun Tiandi issued orders as the people below his command were to carry them out, as he stood on the small hill, not far from Storm City.
Together with him, there were several people.
The most notable was the rather imposing presence of the Snake Lance Douluo, She Long, and Devil Bear Douluo Xiong Shi. Aside from the two Cardinals of the Supreme Pontiff Palace, only the Commander of the 1st Legion Lorr Diarra aremairend there and Sang Mandeok.
They managed to arrive at Storm City ahead of their current schedule, which was something surprising, but nevertheless surprising, and they would be launching the siege on the city.
Unfortunately, the siege machines that they would be using were just the most traditional ones of the Douluo Continent, and not the Soul Tool ones.
Though...
Hun Tiandi managed to obtain a Class 8 Soul Tool Cannon from Xuan Ziwen, and he planned to use this Class 8 Soul Tool Cannon during the siege. The Class 8 Soul Tool Cannons could unleash might comparable to the pinnacle Soul Douluo. If they were very well made, then their destructive prowess could even reach the realm between the peak Soul Douluo and Titled Douluo.
Because Xuan Ziwen was once in a century seen as a prodigy when it came to the Soul Guidance Devices and was a genius Soul Engineer, his Class 8 Soul Tool Cannon could most probably injure even the Soul Douluos who cultivated the Spirit Celestial Mantary to the peak of the 8th Layer.
The primary reason behind it was to showcase the might of the Soul Tools, because as he expected, not everyone within the Spirit Hall was pleased by the decision to invest a tremendous amount of resources into the development of the Soul Guidance Devices.
"There is the presence of more than one Titled Douluo in the Storm City."
Suddenly, it was She Long who spoke as he looked at Storm City. As someone who has reached the Spirit Rank 93 and cultivated the Celestial Spirit Mantra to the early stages of the 9th Layer, he was very sensitive to the disturbances in the Spirit Energy.
"That's good... at least we would have some fun."
Compared to the elegant and noble appearance of the Snake Lance Douluo She Long, the Devil Bear Douluo looked like a gruff woodcutter. Xiong Shi had Martial Soul of the Blood Devil Mad Bear, which was rather ordinary Martial Soul of the Beast-Type, but it had relatively peculiar Attributes and Abilities.
Thus, he managed to cultivate till the Titled Douluo and reached the Spirit Rank 92 Titled Douluo, which was a rather impressive feat, considering the certain limitations of his Martial Soul.
He was always battle hungry and wanted something to punch, but his power was undeniable. Among the Cardinals of the Spirit Hall, even those who had much higher Spirit Rank than Xiong Shi were inferior in terms of physical body and physical strength.
The man managed to refine his physical body to have the power of a Titled Douluo.
He was able to contend with Titled Douluo with his physical body alone.
This was rahter frightening combat prowess and achievement, considering the state of the Body Tempering across the Douluo Continent. Like the problems of the Spirit Energy Cultivation, only a minuscule number of people managed to temper their bodies to the limits.
Lately, he heard some rumors about a Sect that was established somewhere around the outskirts of the Heaven Dou Empire that was devoted to Body Tempering and cultivating the Body-Type Martial Souls.
It was called Body Sect and was founded by two people, the Du brothers.
Both of them were Soul Douluos, but they were capable of fighting against a Titled Douluo if they wished.
"We need to be serious about this, Cardinals. It is highly probable that the Clear Sky Clan would take this situation very seriously and dispatch multiple Titled Douluos. Not to mention, it is still very probable that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan would dispatch one of its two Titled Douluos, most probably the Bone Douluo Gu Rong..."
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had just two Titled Douluos, but both of them were Super Douluos of Spirit Rank 95 and Spirit Rank 97, respectively. Lately, according to the reports, Chen Xin, the Sword Douluo, showed signs of breaking through to the Spirit Rank 98.
Boen Douluo Gu Rong, as Super Douluo of Spirit Rank 95, was no easy opponent, not to mention that he possessed a very powerful Martial Soul.
Bone Dragon.
Bone Dragon was a powerful Beast-type Martial Soul. It's related to spectres. Evil Spirit Masters primarily used it. It can even control the Evil Ice, a rather powerful and dangerous Element. Among Evil Spirit Masters, it is considered one of the top-ranked Martial Souls.
"If we are lucky, we would be able to eliminate several Titled Douluos of the Clear Sky Clan and even one of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan in one swoop."
Hun Tiandi knew that if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan sent out one of their Titled Douluos, they would send out Bone Douluo. Primarily because the Sword Douluo, as the stronger of the two, needed to stay in their headquarters and guard them.
"Duke Lei of the Stormlad Dukedom isn't any threat to any of you, but still, don't kill him straight away and conceal your strength. At first, we should reveal only one of our Titled Douluos, with the others remaining in the shadows."
Hun Tiandi said as he looked at Devil Bear Douluo and Snake Lance Douluo. He would let them decide which one of them would be making a move against the Lei Tianlang of the Stormland Dukedom.
"Only after the reinforcements from the Clear Sky Clan use all of your power to kill them as soon as possible. Though it would be good if we could take at least one of them as captive and extract information about the Clear Sky Clan."
Everything was going on absolutes.
No chances were being taken.