1009 City Lord
<You have started your first trial in the Stairway to Heaven>
<You have to survive 24 hours and protect the city from outside forces>
<Finish the trial with less than 10 percent casualties in the city to receive a reward>
Yuan walked to the window and looked outside.
The city was quite massive, but it was not so big that he couldn't see the borders from his location. In fact, he could see the entire city up there.
'I don't see anyone attacking just yet…' Yuan thought to himself as he surveyed the city's surroundings.
"City Lord!"
A voice suddenly called for him.
He turned to look at the door, where a middle-aged man with a cultivation of a peak Spirit King stood.
"What's the matter?"
"We have received a report from our scouts that there is an army of 10,000 approaching the direction of our city from the north, their intentions unknown. They have over 9,000 Spirit Lords and 1,000 Spirit Kings. With such forces, I doubt they're coming here to have tea. What are your orders, City Lord?" The man reported.
Yuan's jaw almost dropped to the ground after hearing the report.
'Over 1,000 Spirit Kings?! The difficulty has ramped up so much compared to the last trial!' He cried inwardly.
He wasn't confident that he would be able to defeat such a powerful army even at his current state.
Then he realized something.
"What's the condition of our army looking like?" He asked the middle-aged man, who was wearing military armor.
"We have 1,000 Spirit Lords and 500 Spirit Kings ready to be deployed at this moment," said the middle-aged man.
'That's slightly above 10 percent of their total forces… This is going to be rough, especially if we wait for them to come. If I want that special reward, I will have to make sure that they don't get close to the city. In order for this to happen… I will have to go to them.'
After pondering for some time and coming up with a conclusion, Yuan turned to the middle-aged man and spoke, "How far away are these people?"
"They're about two hours away."
Yuan nodded and said, "Bring half of our forces with me. We're going to intercept them before they can get close to our city. As for the other half, leave them here just in case they have reinforcements."
"As you command, City Lord."
Half an hour later, Yuan and 750 soldiers left the city and made their way towards the north.
Sometime later, once they could see the enemy with their eyes, Yuan stopped and said, "Wait for my order."
"Yes!"
Yuan summoned the Empyrean Overlord and took a deep breath before he started gathering spiritual energy.
'There's only one way for us to defeat them… Taking them by surprise.'
When the enemy noticed Yuan and his small army, they stopped for a moment before resuming their movements. In their eyes, there was no way that an army of that size could possibly defeat their army with 10,000 experts.
"Keep moving! They're probably just here to speak with us! We will pretend to be peaceful, but once we're close enough, we're going to kill all of them!" The general leading that armor commanded.
"Yes!"
However, the closer they got to Yuan's army, the more they felt uneasy for some reason.
"General, I think there is something wrong here."
Once they were close enough to see Yuan's face, they were surprised.
"General! That's the City Lord! What's he doing out here?!"
"I can see that! But this is great. If we can kill him here, his city will be wide open for us to conquer." The general laughed as they continued to approach Yuan.
However, once they got close enough, Yuan suddenly released the Heavenly Sword Strike with his full power.
A massive beam of sword light flew towards the army that was too close to dodge properly, instantly killing 70 percent of the people there.
The soldiers behind Yuan were shocked speechless after witnessing the scene.
"Attack them now! I will join you guys after I recover some spiritual energy!" He said to them.
"Yes!"
The soldiers snapped out of their daze and flew towards the opposing army.
Thanks to Yuan's Heaven Splitting Sword Strike, the opposing army was in dismay, and they were too dazed to fight properly, allowing Yuan's small army to dominate them.
Yuan joined the battle shortly after, quickly killing off everyone there.
"T-That was amazing, City Lord! You took out more than half of their army with a single technique!"
"As expected of the City Lord, who is known as the God of War!"
His soldiers praised him nonstop after the battle.
"How many casualties were there?" Yuan asked them.
"We have lost several soldiers— 3 Spirit Lord and 1 Spirit King. However, this little amount of casualties is like a miracle considering the size of our enemy's army."
"Let's return to the city for now. Make sure you reward the families of those that had fallen in battle today." Yuan said to them.
"Yes!"
After returning to the city, Yuan stared at the throne on the peak of the pagoda with a pondering face.
'That man… He called me the God of War. Who is that? Tian Yang? Or is he another incarnation?' He wondered.
After pondering for a moment, he decided to forget about it for now and sat down to cultivate.
'I still have 20 hours left. I doubt this trial will end just like that.'
Just as he'd predicted, about four hours later, the middle-aged man returned with more news.
"City Lord! I have just received a report that there is another army! They are coming from the west, and they have 20,000 soldiers!"
'20,000 soldiers? That's doubled compared to the last army!' Yuan cried inwardly.
At this rate, he will need another massive area of effect technique besides the Heaven Splitting Sword Strike to deal with them.
