Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

No matter the current state of the battle or the circumstances...

The troops of every Small Kingdom obeyed his orders perfectly, because they trusted Lu Chao.

More importantly, the three Small Kingdoms that trusted Lu Chao the most—Sky Cliff, Liyan, and Mad Snow—were the first to move out without hesitation.

Naturally, the other Small Kingdoms’ forces followed suit.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Chao had fired thirty-five Fire Sparrow Arrows, issuing thirty-five deployment orders.

This turn of events and these orders left everyone on the scene completely baffled; even Luo Wendeng was stunned.

’Why is Lu Chao scattering his forces?’

What Luo Wendeng didn’t know was that now, including the Dragon Flame Academy itself, there were exactly thirty-six Soldier Dao Battle Arrays.

These were the thirty-six Battle Arrays of the Forbidden Land’s 6th Floor.

On his way back from the Forbidden Land, Lu Chao had cut across a high mountain pass to save time. He was instantly stunned by what he saw at a glance.

He suddenly discovered that the terrain of the Azure Flame Sect had been laid out to match the thirty-six Battle Arrays of the 6th Floor.

At that time, Lu Chao’s gaze had turned to the battlefield...

He realized the battle was in a perilous state. The Three Great Flame Countries had brought a massive army this time. He suspected they had even redeployed a portion of the garrisons stationed at the Great Wu Border, as well as the forces meant to suppress the Lion Flame, Fox Flame, and Leopard Flame territories.

The forces of Lion Flame and the other two Flames had simply disguised themselves as Tiger Flame soldiers and joined the assault in secret.

Clearly, Lion Flame and the other two Flames had not been truly subdued.

But they didn’t dare openly defy the Dragon Flame Academy, so they had joined the battle in disguise.

Facing such a massive Three Flames army, the forces of the Dragon Flame Academy and the Small Kingdoms were at a severe numerical disadvantage. Especially since they had been pushed back from the start, launching a counterattack would be incredibly difficult.

’We can win a conventional battle, but the cost will be immense.’

Back then, on that mountain peak, Lu Chao had made his assessment. He then committed the entire terrain of the old Azure Flame Sect site to memory. As he continued his journey back, he formulated his entire battle plan in his mind.

This was the plan he was now putting into action...

Using the Fire Sparrow Arrows, he was guiding the thirty-five contingents of the Small Kingdoms’ soldiers to advance on the locations of the various Soldier Dao Battle Arrays. Lu Chao intended to use the terrain of the old Azure Flame Sect site to assemble the thirty-six Battle Arrays from the Forbidden Land’s 6th Floor.

Once all thirty-five deployment orders had been issued...

Lu Chao had already dodged the volley of arrows from the Three Flames Commander, Guan Zanyi, and the others. He slipped back into the ranks of the Dragon Flame Academy, rejoining Luo Wendeng and his people. Cheng Yunsu also rushed to his side.

The couple exchanged a look, seeing the trust and resolve in each other’s eyes, but said nothing more.

Lu Chao then spoke. ”My apologies, I’m late. Now, follow me. We’re abandoning the defense of the Beast Flame Gate and retreating into the Beast Flame Institute.”

With that, he mounted his warhorse and led the two thousand-plus members of the Dragon Flame Academy in a swift retreat deeper into the Beast Flame grounds.

At that moment, Luo Wendeng hastily interjected, ”Brother Lu Chao, the morale of the Small Kingdoms...”

Lu Chao gently cut him off.

”I know. That’s why I had Sky Cliff, Liyan, and the third kingdom lead the way. The Three Flames’ army will focus on pursuing us, so the thirty-five contingents from the Small Kingdoms won’t face much resistance.”

Just as he finished speaking, the Three Flames Commander and his officers, still baffled by the thirty-five contingents of Small Kingdom soldiers, looked on in utter confusion.

’These thirty-five contingents of Small Kingdom soldiers... it doesn’t look like they’re trying to break through the encirclement at all.’

Just then, Guan Zanyi stepped forward and said, ”The Fake Lu Chao returned too late. He’s powerless to turn the tide, so he’s using the Small Kingdoms’ forces to distract us. That way, he can lead the people from the Dragon Flame Academy and escape deep into the mountains.”

Pausing here, Guan Zanyi added, ”He’s pulled this stunt before, back in the Great Wu Empire.”

At this, Guan Zanyi recalled the time Lu Chao led two thousand Descendants of Azure Flame deep into Yinzhou Mountain. Back then, Guan Zanyi didn’t even know Lu Chao’s name; he’d thought it was all Fan Jinhua’s doing.

”To put it bluntly, he’s sacrificing the Small Kingdoms’ forces so he can escape,” Guan Zanyi repeated emphatically.

Hearing this, a sharp glint flashed in the Three Flames Commander’s eyes.

His gaze swept over the thirty-five contingents of Small Kingdom soldiers as he bellowed, ”What are you still fighting for? The Fake Lu Chao is abandoning you!”

Evidently, the Three Flames Commander was starting to believe Guan Zanyi’s assessment.

Even if he didn’t, it was a good way to demoralize the thirty-five contingents from the Small Kingdoms and make them falter.

As soon as he spoke, the soldiers of the thirty-five contingents visibly flinched.

However, Sky Cliff’s Chi Yun said coldly, ”Fight. We just have to fight our way out.”

She refused to believe Lu Chao would abandon them. Having followed him into battle against the Fox Flame and Leopard Flame, she knew him better than anyone.

「Meanwhile...」

The Eagle Flame Commander spoke up. ”Forget these other Small Kingdom troops. Our main force should pursue the Dragon Flame Academy. We absolutely cannot let them get away. Lu Chao might be trying to lead them all into the Forbidden Land.”

The Three Flames Commander found this reasonable and gave the order for his main elite forces to pursue them into the Beast Flame Academy.

Meanwhile, Lu Chao looked at the members of the Dragon Flame Academy around him.

”As expected, the Three Flames’ army is focusing their pursuit on us. Next, Brother Luo, Old Yu...”

”I have a mission for you all.”

”You will form groups of ten and go reinforce the thirty-five contingents of Small Kingdom soldiers. Your primary task is to steady their morale. Then, follow my instructions and lead their forces to the positions I’ve designated.”

As he spoke, Lu Chao immediately began assigning everyone to different locations.

Lu Chao continued to assign positions as they charged deeper into the Beast Flame grounds.

For instance, Fan Jinhua was to take nine Descendants of Azure Flame to join the Mad Snow contingent and lead them to Assist Flame Cliff, part of the original Azure Flame Sect.

One by one, they received their orders and designated locations, peeling off from Lu Chao’s main group.

The Dragon Flame Academy’s core students, like the siblings Jiang Yi and Jiang Yu, also formed a ten-person team and set out.

Essentially, all thirty-five ten-person teams were led by core members of the Dragon Flame Academy. This was the only way to reassure the thirty-five contingents and ensure they would follow his orders without question.

Once everyone with orders had slipped away, using the Beast Flame Academy’s buildings for cover...

Lu Chao’s group, with the exception of Cheng Yunsu, now consisted entirely of ordinary, newly recruited Dragon Flame Students.

His contingent was now, for all intents and purposes, very weak. Extremely weak.

But Lu Chao didn’t care. He simply led these new Dragon Flame Students deeper into the Beast Flame Academy.

Behind them, a ceaseless stream of glowing arrows rained down on Lu Chao’s group.

But Lu Chao’s judgment was uncannily precise. Time and again, he led them to use buildings, trees, and other obstacles as cover, evading the volleys of streaking arrows.

At first, the new Dragon Flame Students were flustered—after all, not a single expert remained in their group. But as Lu Chao led them out of harm’s way time and again, their nerves gradually settled.

「Behind them...」

The Three Flames Commander noticed something was off. ”The Fake Lu Chao’s Dragon Flame Academy contingent... it looks like a lot of them are missing?”

Guan Zanyi chimed in from the side, ”Fan Jinhua is gone, and that dean with the surname Jiang is gone too.”