A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1376: The Northern and Southern War (VIII)

On Tawantin’s side, Huangfu Ji, who had arrived at Monclova, stood within a concealed bunker to observe the battlefield. He saw mechanical puppets as far as the eye could see, moving in strange, unnatural ways.

“The Westerners have deployed their puppet legion. These things are not only expensive but also costly to maintain. They’re usually kept in trains. Now that they’ve been sent to the battlefield, it shows they’re truly desperate,” Huangfu Ji remarked.

“The defining trait of the puppet legion is fearlessness in the face of damage. But that’s also their weakness. The puppets don’t fear destruction, but their controllers do, since every unit is built from Gold Crowns,” a strategist added.

Huangfu Ji nodded. “War is about burning money. Since the Steam Evangelical Sect has deployed its puppet legion, we ought to respond in kind. We won’t fill the battlefield with human lives. Where is our Rakshasa legion? Deploy them all.”

This was the era of large-scale warfare. Armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands were not just conscripts filling ranks. They were all elite forces. Beyond top-tier weaponry, even ordinary soldiers were highly capable, with many veterans nearing Xiantian Beings. Higher-ranking officers were even more formidable. In addition, both sides fielded special units. The Holy Court relied on steam machinery, while the Daoist Order specialized in creations.

Thus, a single Immortal could not wipe out hundreds of thousands of troops. Even if an Immortal’s attack spanned an entire army, its effect on each soldier would be limited.

Moreover, factors like blood qi and formations came into play. The more people gathered, the stronger the collective blood qi, rivaling even Manly Immortals, so it could greatly diminish the power of spells. There were also large-scale Eastern and Western formations, using individuals as nodes. The most classic example was the Wuxing Mountain Formation, where the Daoist Order had to deploy Spirit Guards to dismantle the nodes before Madam Qi could banish The Inn’s Owner to the depths of Donghai, allowing other pseudo-immortals to enter the battlefield.

Immortals could influence the course of battle, but they could not decide the outcome alone. Especially when it came to actual territorial control, victory depended on the army.

In such circumstances, the power of the organization became evident. Even among Immortals, a lone wanderer could not compare to one who commanded vast armies. That was why Immortals also pursued, wielded, and competed for power.

The Rakshasa legion Huangfu Ji referred to was the Daoist Order’s creation.

The term “Rakshasa” came from Buddhist lore, referring to malevolent spirits that fed on human flesh. The males were grotesquely ugly, while the females were extraordinarily beautiful. They were capable of flight and were terrifyingly swift on land.

At its peak, the Gezao Sect was unrivaled in the mortal world, so it had its sights on other realms, setting out to create beings from Buddhist mythology.

The Gezao Sect designed the Rakshasa to correspond to Xiantian Beings, Yaksha to the Guizhen-stage Xiantian Beings, Asura to Xiaoyao-stage Heavenly Beings, Great Asura to Wuliang-stage Heavenly Beings, and King Asura to Zaohua-stage Heavenly Beings. Beyond that was the Sakka, which corresponded to a Longevity-stage Immortal. This was the renowned plan for the Eight Tribes.

The Gezao Sect only managed to complete the Rakshasa before they were defeated by the other Daoist factions. Since then, they scattered, and their plan became far beyond reach.

However, the Eight Tribes plan was later inherited and successfully completed by Elder Xu. Subsequently, the Daoist Order’s creation project carried on his legacy, integrating Ancient Wuist systems and advancing further.

The Daoist creation project refined and improved the Rakshasa, granting them rudimentary instinctual intelligence alongside resilient bodies. They were also fearless of death.

The Rakshasa were the cheapest and most suitable for mass production, so they became a legion rather than the Yaksha, Asura, or Sakka. The others’ production costs were far too expensive.

What ultimately limited the scale of war had always been cost and production capacity.

The Daoist Order’s support for the Western Daoist Order and Tawantin was comprehensive.

That was why Gong Fu had to shift from defense to offense to prove value. Otherwise, the Daoist Order might reduce support or even consider intervening directly, which was something the Western Daoist Order could not accept.

Simply put, the better the Western Daoist Order performed, the more support Qi Xuansu’s faction would gain. If they failed, Li Changge’s faction, which advocated direct intervention by the Daoist Order, would take the upper hand.

This was also the Western Daoist Order’s only opportunity to influence the Daoist Order’s top-level power structure. A major victory over the Steam Evangelical Sect before the election of the eighth-generation Grand Master would greatly bolster Qi Xuansu’s position. Conversely, a crushing defeat would stir dissatisfaction within the Daoist Order, allowing Li Changge to consolidate support.

Behind this military conflict lay deeper political implications that were far more than a mere contest of territory.

Like a rising tide, the Rakshasa surged forward, clashing with the mechanical puppets in brutal close combat.

The two sides quickly became entangled, forming a massive vortex amid shattered ruins. Flesh and machinery flew together, steam and corpse qi intertwined, all shrouded beneath the billowing smoke of gunfire.

The fierce battle never ceased. Even with the deployment of the puppet legion, the Holy Court’s advance remained difficult.

Robert, who had been observing the battle, withdrew his gaze and looked toward the puppet legion general who had just been making bold assurances.

“Bullshit!” The general cursed. “This is the Daoist Order’s creation legion. The Western Daoist Order could never possess such technology. Those hypocrites from the Daoist Order accused us of invading the New Continent, but aren’t they doing the exact same thing now?”

Robert scowled at the corner of his mouth. “General Geppetto, is now really the time to discuss this? If you wish to voice opinions, I can recommend you as an assistant to the Minister of the Holy Affairs Council or even as a liaison to Jade Capital. But before that, we need to end this war in a respectable manner.”

Successfully provoked, Geppetto tore off his general’s uniform, revealing a white shirt and parts of his exposed body, which had also been modified to look like one of those mechanical puppets. However, he still retained some human traits.

A winding mechanism sounded within him, and the gears in his joints clattered as they turned. His steam-powered heart thumped loudly, and white steam vented from the seams of his body.

Geppetto drew his weapon, which was a massive pair of closed scissors, resembling a greatsword.

He leaped down into the battlefield, raising the scissors high and roaring, “Puppet Legion, advance! Attack!”

Responding to his roar, the puppet legion gained momentum and pushed forward fiercely.

Huangfu Ji gazed calmly ahead.

From time to time, shells struck above the bunker, shaking loose cascades of falling dirt.

Unmoved, Huangfu Ji ordered, “Prepare the Rahu.”

The Eight Tribes plan was named after the Buddhist guardian deities, with its highest achievement being the Sakka, which was comparable to an Immortal.

After receiving the Eight Tribes plan from the Daoist Order, the Western Daoist Order, constrained by its own limitations, could not produce the Sakka, yet was unwilling to stop at the King Asura. Thus, they settled for a compromise, creating a special being above the King Asura but below the Sakka, called the Rahu.

At the same time, the Western Daoist Order designed another immortal-level construct distinct from the Sakka, named Mara, the Demon King of Buddhist mythology, who once obstructed the Buddha’s enlightenment. However, due to the lack of a critical material, the Mara was never realized.

Suddenly, the city shook violently. Buildings collapsed, and an entire street crumbled, as if it had been plowed. The ground split open, and from its fissures surged great masses of thick foul qi that was dark yellow in color, lingering in the air.

The fissure widened until it was as wide as the Rio Grande. Then four arms emerged, gripping both sides of the crack and hauling its body upward.

A colossal being slowly crawled out along the fissure. Its lower body was a massive dragon tail, and each lash of the tail shook the earth.

With the emergence of this giant, waves of corpse qi surged skyward. Dark clouds spread across the heavens, pressing downward with a suffocating and chilling aura.

This was none other than the Western Daoist Order’s creation—the Rahu.

The Rahu roared toward the sky.

The black clouds turned a blazing crimson, dyeing the sky red.

From within, countless massive flaming meteors descended, densely packed.

A vast rain of fiery meteors crashed down upon the Holy Court’s artillery.

At the same time, Geppetto encountered his opponent.

This opponent was vaguely human in form. It was more like a skeleton cloaked in a billowing black robe. It wielded a long-handled giant scythe. At times, glimpses beneath the cloak revealed wrinkled, scaled skin covered in tumorous growths and black fissures. Exposed bones could also be seen, with withered flesh hanging in places.

This was not a Western Daoist but a chosen servant of the ancient gods.

On the other side, Robert issued his command. “Prepare to deploy the Type-4 Steam Guard into the center of the battlefield.”