Chapter 646: Engagement

One hundred kilometers away from the core of the Pure Land, the Beacon Fire Army is still advancing in an orderly manner.

Two hundred meters in the air, Lin Feng, standing on Feng Xue's back, felt the core getting closer and closer.

His senses spread outwards, and all he could see was an endless, dark red forest.

No enemy troops were found within a radius of two miles.

There wasn't even a common Bloodthorn Golem; the entire forest was eerily quiet.

He frowned slightly and glanced back at the army that was marching in a long, single file.

The column was too long, a line of one million people stretching for miles from front to back, with almost no buffer space between the front, middle and rear armies.

If the Demon Sect launches a surprise attack from the flank or the middle at this moment, his long, serpentine formation will be cut in half.

This isn't some profound military principle, but anyone who has led troops knows that when marching in complex terrain, the worst thing you can do is to stretch out your formation too long.

As the ranks grow longer, it becomes impossible for the left and right sides to coordinate and for the front and rear to provide support. The transmission of orders will also be delayed segment by segment.

On open plains, a long, single-file formation can respond to unexpected situations by quickly changing its formation.

But in the Bloodthorn Forest, tree roots, thorns, and bushes cut the path into pieces, leaving the team with no room to maneuver.

Without room to maneuver, there is no possibility of changing formations.

Once attacked, this long snake can only passively take the beating and cannot even set up the most basic defensive formation.

He quickly estimated in his mind that in order for a million-strong army to quickly deploy into a circular formation when attacked, a passage at least two miles wide would be needed.

Two li, or one kilometer, is just enough for the front-line troops to spread out to both sides, while the rear-line troops press forward to fill in, forming a ring-shaped defensive line at least three layers thick.

The widest part of the passage is no more than 100 meters, and both sides are full of ancient trees with tangled roots and thickets of thorns, which is not enough to form a battle formation.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng's voice came down from the sky: "Pass down the order."

"The vanguard mammoth war elephant unit, reinforced with third-stage awakened warriors, will advance one mile on each side of the marching route, widening the passage to two miles."

"The war elephants lined up in a row, advancing laterally, clearing away all trees and thorns in their path."

The orders were passed down through the ranks, and the vanguard quickly mobilized.

"Frontline troops, on command! Mammoth war elephants, deploy laterally!"

"Those who have reached the third stage of awakening, follow the war elephants to clear the way!"

The sounds of bugles and commands rose and fell, and the originally long, single-file formation quickly changed shape.

The twenty mammoth war elephants, which were originally gathered at the head of the column, now spread out laterally under the commander's direction, with each one nearly a hundred meters apart, forming a line.

Dozens of third-tier awakened warriors with the skill of clearing the way were drawn from various legions and assigned to the two sides of the war elephant.

A power awakener wielding a giant axe walked to the far left flank of the group.

This man was burly, and every step he took left deep footprints in the mud.

Beside him, two other Awakened Ones, also wielding giant axes, stood still.

The three of them took a deep breath together, their chests bulging like bellows.

The giant axe was raised high above the head, and a layer of purple light condensed on each blade, slowly flowing across the axe surface.

The axe blades fell simultaneously.

Three arc-shaped axe beams shot forward along the ground, connecting end to end to form a crescent-shaped air wave over ten meters wide.

Wherever the shockwave passed, bloodthorn trees as thick as a person's embrace snapped cleanly at the base, their crowns crashing to the sides.

The brambles were uprooted, and gravel and wood chips flew to both sides, hitting the tree trunks with a crackling sound.

With one axe stroke, a hundred meters were cleaved.

On the other side, a fire mage stood among the tree canopy.

She thrust her staff diagonally downwards, the tip sinking into the ground, and flames spread out in a fan shape around her, like a fiery serpent running wildly along the ground.

Where the flames licked, the vines curled up, burst, charred, and collapsed, all in less than three seconds.

The shrubs were pulverized in the high temperature, and the sap was instantly evaporated, creating a cloud of white steam.

A wind-elemental awakener attacked from the right flank, pushing forward with both palms and conjuring dozens of high-speed rotating wind blades that swept out in a fan shape along the ground.

Where the wind swept past, low-lying thorns were cut down to the roots, and broken branches and leaves were swept up by the wind, twisting into a green and red mist in mid-air.

The Earth-type Awakener was crouching behind, hands on the ground, preparing to unleash a skill, when he was smeared with fallen leaves.

He spat twice, looked up and cursed, "Can you move your fan to the side? I can't even open my eyes!"

"Why don't you just move one step to the side?" Feng Xi didn't even turn his head.

The Earth element muttered curses as it took two steps back down, then squatted down again, pressing its palms to the ground.

The earth surged forward from underfoot, sweeping up the remaining tree stumps, rubble, and broken roots, pushing them to both sides of the path, forming two low embankments, and flattening and solidifying the road surface.

The mammoth war elephant advanced laterally at the front, swinging its trunk and trampling with its feet.

A bloodthorn tree, disguised as a dead tree, blocked the road. The war elephant didn't even turn its head; it swung its trunk back and the tree trunk burst open from the middle, scattering fragments everywhere.

Another war elephant stepped on a clump of thorns, and a series of cracking sounds came from its hooves, but it didn't even pause and continued forward.

"Push another thirty meters on the left wing!"

"Right wing, follow up! Leave no blind spots!"

"Fire element, burn to the south! Wind element, clear the north!"

The commanders' shouts rose and fell, and the passage widened to both sides at a visible speed, from 100 meters to 200 meters, then to 500 meters, and finally stabilized at a width of two miles.

Broken logs and rubble were piled up on both sides, forming a wide corridor around the entire marching route.

The army's speed has clearly slowed down.

Lin Feng didn't care. It was fine if it was slower. Although his side's mid-to-high-end combat power was enough to crush the opponent, it was always better to lose fewer people.

Five hours later, there was still nothing unusual along the way.

The army advanced slowly through the widened passage, the blood mist still flowing along the tree canopy, the bloodthorn trees standing silently on both sides, like an endless dark red ocean.

When the rear army also entered the forty-kilometer radius of the Pure Land's core, the Beacon Fire Territory army below suddenly became restless.

Jiang Yelan flew up from below onto Feng Xue's back and landed beside Lin Feng.

Her face was colder than usual, and her voice was very low: "The intelligence department has received warnings from all sides. The enemy has completed their encirclement and is expected to engage in battle in eight minutes."

After she finished speaking, she glanced eastward and added, "We've detected a large number of Demonic Sect Grandmasters. This isn't a probe; their main force has been deployed."

Lin Feng nodded: "The Demonic Sect's air combat power is yours to handle; don't be careless."

Jiang Zhaoyue, Zhou Guosheng, Zhao Hu, and the others who had been hovering nearby immediately obeyed the order, dispersed, and flew towards their respective legions.

While flying through the air, Jiang Zhaoyue began issuing a series of orders, her spear pointed east: "Crescent Legion, consolidate your formation and prepare to engage the enemy!"

Zhou Guosheng followed closely behind, his golden longsword drawn: "Great Xia Legion, shield formation forward, ranged units in the center, no reckless advance!"

Lin Feng jumped off Feng Xue's back, his figure drawing a pale purple arc in the air before landing steadily at the easternmost front of the entire army.

The million-strong army behind him, under the command of officers at all levels, rapidly contracted towards the center, with the Qingyang Guards moving outwards and the ranged troops moving inwards, forming a huge circular formation that slowly took shape in the Bloodthorn Forest.

From within the blood mist, the sound of rapid footsteps could be heard in the distance.

Like countless feet treading on fallen leaves at the same time, or like countless vines being pulled out of the soil at the same time.

The sound came from all directions, getting closer and closer, more and more intense.