Douluo Continent: Copying Ya Li, the Carefree King of the Sun and Moon

"The Heavenly Soul Empire?" Xu Yanli put down his teacup, leaned back in his chair, and looked up at the osmanthus tree above him. His tone was somewhat dismissive. "How many cities does the Heavenly Soul Empire have left? Five or six? It has no army, no food supplies, and even the hearts of the people have been shattered. All that's left are a few tattered flags planted on the city walls. What's the rush? Human life is the most precious thing."

Chapter 183 Encirclement and Severance

Huo Yuhao opened his mouth, but swallowed the words back.

He wasn't actually in a hurry; he was just afraid that things would go wrong if he dragged it out too long.

Xuanzi returned to Shrek Academy. The original Three Kingdoms were clamoring to form a million-strong allied army. Although this million-strong army was largely fabricated and consisted of many who were just filling the numbers, the momentum was certainly impressive.

If the conflict drags on until the Allied forces attack, we'll be attacked from both sides, and there will definitely be endless troubles.

Xu Yanli couldn't help but smile when she saw his hesitant expression, as if he wanted to speak but dared not.

Are you afraid of that so-called Three Kingdoms Alliance?

Huo Yuhao did not deny it, but his expression darkened: "After all, it is an army of a million. Even if we can win, it will take a lot of effort and result in the loss of many men."

Xu Yanli picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and sat quietly without saying anything.

The autumn wind swept through the courtyard, rustling the leaves of the osmanthus tree. Several sparrows fluttered their wings from the branches, flew over the wall, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Don't think too much about things on the battlefield," Xu Yanli finally spoke, his tone as calm as if he were talking about everyday matters. "Just focus on fighting your own battle well, and others will take care of the rest."

He put down his teacup, dipped his finger in the tea, and casually drew a few lines on the stone table.

“Look at the few cities left in the Heavenly Soul Empire.” He pointed to the crooked water stains on the table. “The two on the east are close together, and the three on the west are far apart. If you push from east to west step by step, you have to attack each city head-on. In that case, you will suffer heavy losses on both sides, which is not worth it.”

Huo Yuhao looked down at the water stains on the stone table, his brows furrowing slightly as he pondered the meaning behind those words.

Xu Yanli then drew a circle in the middle of the lines.

"Infiltrate and encircle." He pointed to the circle with his finger. "Ignore the two cities to the east. Go straight through the gaps in the enemy's defenses and completely cut off the connection between the western cities and the rear. Without supplies, the garrison in those cities won't last more than a few days." He paused, dipped his finger in tea, and drew a few small circles next to it. "Then, we'll launch a siege and ambush reinforcements. Surround one city, but don't rush to attack. Wait for other cities to send troops to their aid, then ambush them on the way. We'll swallow them all."

Huo Yuhao nodded repeatedly, making sure he remembered every word Xu Yanli said.

Encirclement and siege tactics are old battlefield tactics, known for their reliability. Moreover, he possesses a talent for mental detection, so no move of the enemy on the battlefield escapes his eyes. He can predict in advance which route to take for the safest infiltration and where to set up the most concealed ambush.

“Once we’ve dealt with most of the reinforcements,” Xu Yanli pointed to the encircled cities, “the remaining garrison troops have long lost their morale and will collapse on their own without a fight.”

He spoke slowly and deliberately, as if telling a story. The battle formations, strategies, and tactics that seemed thrilling to others came out of his mouth as if war was not a life-or-death struggle, but just an ordinary game of chess.

Huo Yuhao listened very attentively, not daring to miss a single word.

Xu Yanli said a few more words casually, then suddenly stopped, raised his hand and slapped his forehead, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"No, why am I talking to you about this?"

Huo Yuhao was taken aback and quickly asked, "What's wrong, teacher? Is something wrong?"

Xu Yanli looked at him and suddenly smiled. The smile was faint, with a touch of lazy nonchalance, but her eyes were very bright.

"Why am I telling you all these old tactics?" He leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, looked up at the osmanthus tree full of blossoms, and said with a hint of disdain, "Why not just use overwhelming firepower?"

Huo Yuhao was speechless for a moment, unable to react for a long time.

"You think I'd be planning to outflank and surround the city with three hundred level-seven soul-guided cannons, or to attack reinforcements from a position of strength?" Xu Yanli turned his head to look at him, his disdain even more obvious, though it was clear that this disdain was directed at him. "Have you been in the military camp for too long? Has your brain become too rigid? Why go through all that trouble when you can just blast it flat with one shot?"

Huo Yuhao opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a while. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that he had really been stupid.

With three hundred level-seven soul-guided cannons firing simultaneously, what kind of city wall could withstand it? What kind of garrison could hold out? A single barrage of artillery fire could flatten the city. There would be no need for any flanking maneuvers, encirclements, or sieges to ambush reinforcements; such tactics would be utterly superfluous.

"But... there are still many civilians in those cities." Huo Yuhao carefully chose his words and said slowly, worried that the indiscriminate artillery fire might harm civilians.

Xu Yanli glanced at him, nodded, and said in a more serious tone: "So we can't just bombard indiscriminately. Set up the cannons outside the city and only bombard the city walls and military fortifications. No one is allowed to touch the people's homes. Anyone who dares to mess around will be dealt with by military law and executed."

He took out the jade carving knife from his sleeve, twirled it with his fingertips, and the blade gleamed with a warm green light in the sunlight.

"We must combine firepower coverage with precision strikes," he said earnestly. "First, use artillery fire to tear through the enemy's defenses, then let the melee soul master regiments charge and clear them out. If we encounter any tough opponents, we can directly call for artillery support using the communication soul tool. We can hit exactly where we point, without any hesitation."

He put down his carving knife, looked straight into Huo Yuhao's eyes, and said, word by word, "This is called crossfire. It's much faster and less troublesome than you rushing in and fighting with your knife."

Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up and gave Xu Yanli a respectful standard military salute.

"I understand, thank you for your guidance, teacher!"

Xu Yanli waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down: "It's nothing, no need to be so polite."

“There’s one more thing.” He took out a small communicator from his sleeve and gently pushed it in front of Huo Yuhao. “You are in full command of the battle at the front. Ju Zi is only responsible for artillery support. She must obey your orders unconditionally.”

Huo Yuhao took the communicator with both hands. It felt slightly heavy in his hands, and the outer casing still retained the warmth of Xu Yanli's palm.

"If you encounter any problems you can't solve, contact me directly." Xu Yanli picked up her teacup, finished the last sip of cold tea, and said with sincere advice, "Don't be stubborn, don't push yourself too hard. Nothing is more important than coming back alive."

Huo Yuhao gripped the communicator tightly in his hand, his Adam's apple bobbing as he felt a surge of warmth mixed with a touch of reluctance.

"Teacher, your wedding..." he couldn't help but ask, worried that he would miss his teacher's wedding.

"You don't need to worry about the wedding; someone else will take care of it." Xu Yanli put down his teacup and said with a smile, "Just finish your battle safely and come back to drink my wedding wine."

Chapter 184 The Ninth Test!

Huo Yuhao nodded heavily, stood up again, and bowed deeply to Xu Yanli.

"Students take their leave!"

He turned and walked towards the back gate, the soft clanging of armor echoing under the eaves. Reaching the gate, he paused, but didn't turn back; his voice, slightly strained, drifted over.

"Teacher, please take good care of yourself."

After saying that, he strode out of the courtyard gate, and his figure quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Xu Yanli sat by the stone table, watching the deep blue figure disappear completely, and remained silent for a very long time.

The autumn wind blew again, rustling the leaves of the osmanthus tree. A few withered yellow leaves swirled and fell onto the stone table, landing right next to the teacup.

He looked down at the fallen leaves and suddenly remembered seven years ago when he stopped that thin and frail boy in an alley outside Xingluo City.

At that time, Huo Yuhao was wearing tattered gray clothes, as thin as a bamboo pole, and his eyes were full of hatred and wariness of the world around him. He was like a small beast driven to the brink of despair, ready to fight to the death with all his might at any moment.

Seven years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The skinny boy from back then has now grown into a general who can stand alone, wearing armor, holding military power, and exuding a completely different aura.

But in front of him, he was still that obedient, reliable, and trustworthy apprentice.

Xu Yanli let out a soft breath, stood up, and patted the dust off his robes.

He carefully put away his jade carving knife, walked to the osmanthus tree, looked up at the tree full of golden osmanthus blossoms, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

There's still some time before the wedding.

Oh, and there are also things to keep in mind regarding the military; we need to make the ordinary people who originally belonged to the Three Kingdoms feel truly convinced and convinced.

We can adopt some of the qualities of great figures, such as not taking a single needle or thread from the people...

Xu Yanli rubbed his temples, sighed, and got up to go to the palace to discuss things with Xu Tianran.

Forget it, I'll just write a report and have someone submit it tomorrow.

For him now, the most important thing is the succession of his divine position.

Once the divine position is passed on, the danger to Tang San can be considered no longer a threat.

"I wonder who will get the divine position of Zihuang Annihilation Dragon..." Xu Yanli looked at his palm with anxiety and sighed.

However, if Xu Tianran is really as he says, it might not be impossible to give him the divine position.

But he couldn't rush to tell him. Sigh, it could be said that two Xu Tianrans were constantly intertwining in his mind right now.

Although I tell myself to believe in myself and in the person I meet every day, I always subconsciously think of Xu Tianran from the original novel.

Especially on important matters.

In some respects, he didn't do anything wrong; in fact, he genuinely wanted to eliminate the Holy Spirit Cult in the end, but...

Xu Yanli rubbed his head and, after finishing writing a rule, summoned Luo Chen.

"Take these things and hand them over to His Highness the Crown Prince on behalf of my Xiaoyao Prince's Mansion tomorrow. As for me, just tell him that I'm preparing to begin the inheritance of the divine position. Oh, and have the Angel Clan send 14 Soul Douluos over here," Xu Yanli said, tapping the table.

"Now?" Luo Chen asked.

“Yes, now,” Xu Yanli said immediately. “Then you have them wait at the door. I will personally go and bring them in a while. The divine succession... Oh, right, we must have Ye Guyi come over and see if she can use her divinity to activate the remaining angelic divine position.”

"Yes, I will take care of it right away."

Xu Yanli remained silent for a moment, touched the space between his eyebrows, and slowly took out several divine objects and placed them on the ground.

It must be said that the God of Destruction and the God of Life are indeed worthy of being called the two God-Kings. They are obviously much more benevolent than the God of the Sea and the God of Angels. At least they do not require human life sacrifices to complete the opening of the divine trials.

Xu Yanli had to sit among those divine objects, quickly calming his breathing and his emotions.

He didn't know what the ninth test from the God of Life and Destruction would actually test, but being well-prepared would ensure he wouldn't have any problems.

Before long, a group of blond men surrounded Xu Yanli.

Xu Yanli felt as if his eyes were about to be blinded in that instant.

Holy crap, a bunch of golden retrievers!

Xu Yanli suddenly felt that he couldn't be serious anymore, as the torrent of information kept flowing through his mind.

Suddenly, he felt that he had changed so quickly; 20 years had passed in the blink of an eye.

He himself transformed from a pure-hearted college student into a powerful being on the verge of becoming a god.

"Your Highness." The 15 people bowed respectfully to Xu Yanli in unison.

Xu Yanli slowly opened his eyes, quickly withdrew his outward spiritual energy, and looked at them.

"Are you all ready? Remember to use your Martial Soul to sense the divinity within it. It may benefit you in the future and give you a better chance to restore the glory of the Six-Winged Angels," Xu Yanli said with a gentle smile.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xu Yanli looked at the group of angels in front of him with satisfaction.

Then, it slowly raised those creatures into the air, and two different lights immediately shone brightly.

The green, like jade, nourishes the soul and body of everyone, and the destructive power, like the most domineering force in the world, tells them what destruction is.

Two forces intertwined within their bodies, seemingly washing away the dust that had settled over them. Of course, the one who changed the most was Xu Yanli in the very center.

At this moment, a number appeared between Xu Yanli's brows, and the scepter was formed by two halves of the same object simultaneously. Behind him, a large gate appeared, half of which was made of jade and the other half of which was made of amethyst, with the two different colors intertwined.

Xu Yanli glanced back at the 15 people, then turned and walked through the door.