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  The Palace Masters, including Jian Wushuang and the Samsara Temple Master, all had their breaths held as the weight of the Tang Emperor’s words sank in.

  “As you well know, we do not have many Universe Master. To make up for the lack of strength, we have bolstered their ranks with tactical formations in place. With most of the Masters adept in protecting themselves, we have lost one Universe Master and another got badly injured. The rest is still able for battle.”


  “One dead and another wounded?” The Palace Masters around nodded gently. It was still a loss that they could tolerate.

  Despite their tactical advantage in the ambush, it was a deadly and difficult battle nonetheless that would have claimed several more lives of the Universe Masters.

  The six of the senior Palace Masters of the Green Fire World, save for Jian Wushuang, were greatly experienced Masters who had extensive stores of treasures and artifacts that could have protected them from harm. The perils of the last battle would hardly have endangered their lives.

  The rest of the other Palace Masters had struck in unison during the ambush, striking a fatal blow so heavy that the forces of the Jin Kingdom were astounded with shock. This had essentially stripped the victims of the ambush of all their abilities to retaliate, allowing the Universe Masters of the Green Fire World to strike without suffering much damage. Thus only one Universe Master was lost and another wounded by the desperate reprisals of the victims.

  The death of one Universe Master would be considered as negligible in comparison with the heavy losses of the many Universe Masters of the Jin Kingdom.

  “But we have lost a total of 136 Holy Masters in this battle.” Tang Emperor announced gravely.

  “What! That many of them?” Jian Wushuang and his comrades were stunned with shock. But they could only shake their heads in bereavement.

  It could be safely assumed that the loss of 136 Holy Masters had occurred when their men were luring the forces of the Jin Kingdom into their trap.

  Although these Holy Masters had fallen in battle, their enemies had also paid a more dire price in return. The Jin Kingdom had suffered even greater losses themselves!

  “How about the Dao Masters?” Jian Wushuang asked.

  There had been one wounded Universe Master and one other dead.

  136 Holy Masters had perished. But how about the Dao Masters?

  The contigent of Dao Masters was of the utmost importance to them, because it was the Dao Masters who formed the backbone of the tactical formations in the last battle, the main force of the forces of the Green Fire World.

  Nevertheless, it was the tactical formations that had suffered the brunt of the Jin Kingdom’s attack earlier.

  “Our losses of the Dao Masters a-are… are terrible!”


  The Tang Emperor clasped his wrist tightly as his voice grew hoarse, saying, “I have made some calculations. More than 35 thousand Dao Masters of our side have been killed in the last battle with another more than 10 thousand heavily wounded. Not even healing elixirs would be able to restore them into proper battle strength in a short time!”


  “We have lost a quarter of our force in this battle! 40 thousand of our Dao Masters are either dead or dying!”


  “What?”


  It was ill tidings that had come with the heaviness of the blow from a hammer. Everyone was startled by the grim news.

  40 thousand men!

  In only at their first battle, a test that the Jin Kingdom had done to assess their strength, the Green Fire World had lost 40 thousand Dao Masters! Could this really be hailed as a great victory?

  This was a most devastating loss to them!

  “How is this possible! We have such a great number of our Dao Masters lost!” Jian Wushuang frowned with shock as even his body trembled.

  Beside him, the Samsara Temple Master merely exhaled lightly and said, “The Dao Masters, if unified together into formations, would be a formidable fighting force in battle. But if the formation is broken, the scattered Masters would hardly be able to survive the onslaught of the enemies’ forces, much less making it into the safety of the Battle Fortress. It is hardly surprising that many of them could not survive!”


  “It pains me to admit, but the Dao Masters are as good as cannon fodders!”


  “We hardly have any choice! The victory of this war will determine the fate of all the lives in the Green Fire World. We need the battle strength of these Dao Masters to weather this storm!”


  “Everything is for the survival of the Green Fire World!”


  The Samsara Temple Master clenched his fists tightly.

  Beside him, Jian Wushuang and the other Palace Masters wore an expression most grim and morose.

  They knew that it would be a difficult and bloody battle. It would be a battle so deadly that there might not be even one out of every 10 Dao Masters would survive this struggle.

  Yet, deprived of other options, they had no choice but to let these Dao Masters fight!

  The Green Fire World had to gather all its strength and resources in order to endure the adversity posed by the Jin Kingdom!

  “We have lost many comrades in this battle, most notably the comrades from the ranks of our Dao Masters. But their sacrifice will not be for nothing!” The Tang Emperor swore throatily, “My calculations of the casualties of this battle have also included an approximate number of the men that the Jin Kingdom has lost as well.”


  “They have sent more than 50 Universe Masters and more than one thousand and five hundred Holy Masters in this battle. But not more than 20 Universe Masters and not more than 500 Holy Masters survived!”


  “In this battle, we of the Green Fire World have slain more than 20 Universe Masters and more than 1,000 Holy Masters of the Jin Kingdom. This is a bite that even the great Monarch of their Kingdom will find it hard to bear!”


  The Tang Emperor’s words roused everyone present from their mournful bewilderment.

  Indeed, most of the forces of the Green Fire World have been lost, but the Jin Kingdom had suffered an even more devastating damage!

  More than 30 Universe Masters from their number had fallen… Among them, there were more than 10 who had been slain by Jian Wushuang alone!

  In addition to the more than 1,000 dead Holy Masters, the casualty of this battle was a cost that would be very difficult for the Jin Kingdom to stomach.

  “In one way or another, this is, undeniably, a victory for us. But victory in war does not come without sacrifice. The deaths of our comrades are unavoidable.” The Samsara Temple Master said.

  “Indeed.” The other Palace Masters present nodded in agreement.

  “Go. Do what you should.”


  The Samsara Temple Master turned around. “Sunrise Sword Emperor and Red Lotus, I would like you both to reorganize the battle formations manned by the Dao Masters. The Jin Kingdom will never relent, not especially after suffering such a terrible defeat. The next confrontation will not be far behind. We must be prepared by then.”


  “Understood!” The Sunrise Sword Emperor and the Palace Master called Red Lotus nodded and retreated.

  The rest of the Palace Masters then took their leave and left.

  At the same time, within the decks of the spaceship far away from the Battle Fortress,

  The Hong Xue King knelt before the Monarch of the Jin Kingdom in a huge chamber as fear and panic were evident upon his face.

  He knew full well of the terrible loss that he had incurred in his battle. More so, it was he who was in command of the forces of the Jin Kingdom.