Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Heaven and earth spun around, and the myriad of scenery shifted.

Jiang Ding opened his eyes, and suddenly before him lay vast, sprawling mountains. His blood and inner energy roiled, prompting an urge to vomit, and his nearby classmates similarly struggled.

In the sky,

under parachutes, the Type 62 tanks with five pairs of wheels gradually descended, surrounded by a number of tracked trucks, as well as various weapons, ammunition, and airdropped supplies, all wrapped into neat cubes.

Bang!

The several-ton Type 62 tanks crashed down, snapping several trees as thick as bowls and burying their broken, white remnants dozens of centimeters into the ground.

The tracked trucks and other supplies also landed one after another.

Jiang Ding paid special attention to the cultivators from Liyun Sect.

After a brief adjustment, they quickly dispersed to guard the surroundings, their bodies emanating magical glows that almost merged them into the forest, showcasing their rich combat experience.

Hua Bing and a few others maintained their vigilance and communicated telepathically, ”Magic light line invisibility can also shield one from Divine Sense scans within a certain range, but it has no effect in concealing from Lingzi Radar Waves.”

This was a feature intentionally preserved by the Xianmen Dao Soldier Army.

Jiang Ding nodded in acknowledgment.

”Let’s take stock of the supplies first!”

Hua Bing clapped his hands, gathering the nearby students, ”The top six ranked students from each class climb onto the tanks to form three tank platoons for reconnaissance and search operations around the area.”

”Okay.”

Gongsun Ling and Ding Qi from the second and third classes exchanged a glance and agreed.

As was customary, in the absence of an official rank, the person with the highest cultivation base would automatically become the commander, something the teachers always emphasized.

Boom, boom!

Engine roars, and dozens of military drones took to the sky while the three tank platoons moved towards the distance.

Each tank platoon consisted of six tanks, spaced over a hundred meters apart, that would bulldoze directly through trees smaller than telegraph poles, creating broad paths in their wake.

Whenever they encountered larger trees, the guns mounted high under assault would rattle fire at the base of the trees, and a hundred-millimeter tank shell would directly bombard, leveling the woodland as if it were flat ground.

The cultivators from Liyun Sect watched these metallic beasts with reverence.

Upon receiving orders, three teams of Liyun Sect cultivators followed a tank platoon each, gliding fifty meters apart near the tank squads.

”Conserve the shells!”

Hua Bing, observing through the drone cameras, frowned and said, ”I’ve checked the logistics, and on average, each person has about fifty rounds of ammunition. Whether there will be further resupplies remains uncertain.”

”Got it.”

Gongsun Ling smiled sheepishly. Blasting the large trees with tank shells had been her doing.

After the others left, the remaining students quickly picked up the heavy machine guns from the ground and donned their camouflage uniforms, tactical helmets, and drones.

Jiang Ding dressed in his Scout-1 Camouflage and anti-material sniper rifle, both special types of superior-grade Magic Tools, and then his form blurred and vanished from sight.

The patrolling cultivators from Liyun Sect showed a hint of shock.

Under their meticulous Divine Sense coverage, this mortal from Xianmen Sect had completely disappeared before their eyes, becoming invisible even to the naked eye.

The Scout Camouflage had a powerful effect in both Divine Sense and light concealment, and with Jiang Ding’s highly advanced Art of Small Concealment, his stealth abilities now surpassed those of over half of the active reconnaissance infantry in Xianmen Sect in terms of concealment alone.

A few branches nodded subtly, and then on a high ground, a blade of grass was flattened.

Jiang Ding silently surveyed the enemy situation within a five-kilometer radius through his sniper scope and drones, finding no signs of the enemy.

After Hua Bing and the others left, Wu Tianli and the cultivators from the second and third classes who were at the Fifth Level of Qi Practicing gathered for a brief meeting and then dispersed.

Ding!

Jiang Ding found himself connected to the combat channel.

”Wu Tianli, Hua Bing, Gongsun Ling, and Ding Qi have initiated the ’Combined Command of Third Platoon’ election, nominating ’Hua Bing’ to be the supreme commander and acting camp commander for this battle. Do you agree?”

You could choose to agree or disagree.

If the vote doesn’t reach fifty percent, the election will not take effect, and if multiple votes still fail to achieve the threshold, the person with the highest cultivation present will take over.

The voice came from a smart local network formed by the integration of the tank’s onboard computer, the helmets, and embedded microcomputers in the camouflage uniforms, which could be considered a simplified version of an Array Spirit with only weak artificial intelligence responsible for communication tasks.

Jiang Ding chose to agree.

”Tallying the votes...”

”Hua Bing received 53 votes, accounting for 56.9%, thus Hua Bing is appointed as the acting camp commander for this operation.”

This was because Gongsun Ling and Ding Qi had given up themselves and had mobilized their close classmates to vote for Hua Bing, barely making it over fifty percent. Otherwise, most students would only choose someone from their own class.

”I nominate Student Gongsun Ling as the temporary Deputy Camp Commander.”

”I nominate Student Ding Qi as the temporary Camp Staff Chief.”

Hua Bing also returned the favor, campaigning for the two in the class group chat.

...

”The vote has passed.”

”With three candidates elected, a temporary camp command is automatically established.”

...

”The temporary camp command appoints Student Wu Tianli as the Commander of the First Tank Platoon…”

”The temporary camp command appoints Student Wu Bin as the Commander of the Second Tank Platoon…”

Appointments continued to be issued, detailed down to the squad and platoon leaders, and even the specific responsibilities of the infantrymen in each squad were arranged with utmost detail.

”The temporary camp command appoints Student Jiang Ding as the Commander of the First Scout Platoon, commanding the Fourth Liyun Dao Soldier Squad, with Squad Leader Qian Tongyi, equipped with the Middle-grade Magic Tool Liyun Sword… specialized in…”

Jiang Ding was startled.

It was perfectly normal for him to be assigned to a scout position, as he was the only scout infantryman, but commanding a Dao Soldier Squad was unexpected.

He also paid attention to Li Junhao’s position, which was the leader of the First Logistics Class.

This guy had extremely high academic scores and played a very important role in setting up formation methods, but since he lacked Divine Sense and mana, he could not see the flow of spiritual energy in the environment’s ley lines and needed someone to assist him in mapping them out.

Once everyone’s positions were assigned, Wu Tianli and the others immediately started busying themselves with the students, organizing the airdropped tanks, tracked trucks, spirit stones, formation instruments, ammunition, and other materials into their respective categories.

Their efficiency was extremely high, and in less than fifteen minutes, everything was neatly arranged.

Boom, boom!

At about the same time, Hua Bing and the three tank platoons returned from reconnaissance, jumping out of the vehicles.

”Radar search within a forty-kilometer radius has not detected any enemy traces.”

”Next, we need to quickly set up the First-order Electromagnetic Induction Array, First-order Rejuvenation Array, and First-order Optical Concealment Formation, dig deep for the ammo depot, and lay a First-order Vajra Formation. In this regard, those muscleheads from No.7 High School who have almost grown muscles in their brains can’t compare to us…” Hua Bing said in the large group chat. She continued to arrange various matters with Gongsun Ling, Ding Qi, and several others, and all the classmates from the three classes got to work.

The maximum search range of a First-order Infantry Radar is thirty kilometers. The terrain of mountains and forests affects the Spirit sonar waves, but not significantly.

”Jiang Ding! Jiang Ding, where are you? Come here for a moment!”

Hua Bing could not find him no matter what, so she had to call out loudly in the group chat.

It wasn’t because he was beyond the range of her Divine Sense. She had also used the tank’s built-in First-order Radar to scan but still couldn’t detect him.

A few hundred meters away on a high rock, a young man wearing scout camouflage deactivated his concealment, with his gear and a sniper rifle slung over his back. He lightly tapped his toes several times and jumped down from the treetops.

”Your Art of Small Concealment is well practiced.”

Hua Bing nodded in approval and then beckoned to several dozen Xianmen cultivators near another big tree, who immediately revealed their figures and ran swiftly toward her.

”We have seen the Immortal Envoy!”

The ten cultivators bowed respectfully.

”Qian Tongyi.”

Hua Bing didn’t waste words: ”Your group will follow Student Jiang Ding’s command and scout towards the east.”

”Immortal Envoy, this…”

Qian Tongyi hesitated, and the surrounding Liyun Sect cultivators also showed signs of discomfort.

Being commanded by a mortal was something they found hard to accept.

Besides the cultivators’ pride, they also considered the danger—a mortal might easily get them killed!

Even a Xianmen cultivator at the First Level of Qi Practicing would be better!

”Hmm?”

With significant cultural and customary differences between the two sides, Hua Bing did not attempt to convince them. She raised her eyebrows, ”Qian Tongyi, are you planning to refuse this order?”

”We dare not! We respectfully abide by the Immortal Envoy’s command!”

Qian Tongyi and the other cultivators responded solemnly with a strict tone.