There were roughly one hundred fifty cultivators in each group. The Xuantian sect had mobilized only it's inner court disciples. So, their number was lesser compared to the devil army.
Zhan Chen took a look at each of his group members and found displeased expression on many of their faces. Many of them were unsatisfied with the fact that someone as young as Zhan Chen was going to lead them.
"Everyone, please listen to me. I know many senior brother and sisters are unsatisfied with me being the group leader. I can understand your emotion. So, why don't we have a little competition here? As long as any of you manage to defeat me, I will handover my position to that person", Zhan Chen spoke as he clasped his hands towards his group members. He was not keeping his voice down. So, his words attracted the attention of other groups.
"Junior brother, are you serious?", a burly disciple asked. He had a glint on his face as he looked towards Zhan Chen.
"Ofcourse, I am. Senior brother, please step forward. If you can defeat me, I will hand over my position to you", Zhan Chen spoke.
"In that case, don't blame me if you receive any injury. To make it more fair, I will restrain my power while fighting with you", the burly disciple spoke.
"Senior brother, thank you for you generosity", Zhan Chen spoke. But inwardly, he was chuckling coldly. He would never allow anyone to cause trouble at such a critical time.
The burly man stepped forward in an intimidating fashion. His steps were leaving behind cracks on the stone floor while he walked towards Zhan Chen.
"Look, it is senior brother Hu Tao. He is one of the most powerful disciple from our Earth peak. His cultivation is already at the late Martial ascension realm. I wonder, what this core disciple, Zhan Chen is thinking? No matter how talented he is, he can never beat senior brother Tao", a cultivator spoke to his companion. All of them were looking towards Zhan Chen's group as they were curious about the fight between Zhan Chen and Hu Tao.
"Junior brother, prepare youself", Hu Tao spoke. He looked coldly towards Zhan Chen and lunged towards him as soon as he finished his sentence. It was clear to everyone that he was not planning to give Zhan Chen any preparation time.
A punch came towards Zhan Chen's face in a breathtaking speed. At the same time, two earthen snakes emerged from the ground and tried to imprison Zhan Chen at his place.
It was a clever idea by Hu Tao. He was planning to overwhelm Zhan Chen by a single attack. Everyone was wondering how Zhan Chen would extricate himself from such a situation but Zhan Chen was not worried.
He merely trusted his hand forward and a blinding beam of light came from his hand. Hu Tao stopped just before landing his first on Zhan Chen's face. There was a look of disbelief on his face as he looked towards his belly.
There was a finger sized hole on his belly now. He couldn't imagine what would have happened if Zhan Chen aimed his attack towards his heart. He sent his essence energy towards his sound quickly and looked towards Zhan Chen.
"I admit my defeat. You have superb skill. So, I have no problem in accepting you as my group leader", Hu Tao spoke. A bottle came flying towards him from the side and Hu Tao shifted his eyes towards Lan Yueyue.
"It is Moonlight petal powder. Apply a little and your injury will be completely healed", Lan Yueyue spoke.
"Thank you city lord", Hu Tao clasped his hand. He stored the bottle in his robe and walked back to his place.
"Anyone, who is not convinced yet?", Zhan Chen looked towards his group members. Many had still some complain in their hearts but they suppressed their emotions when Zhan Chen looked towards them. Only a few in the group could be compared to Hu Tao. So, his defeat cemented his position as the group leader. No one would openly defy his command anymore.
The incident involving Hu Tao was very small and it ended as soon as it started. Ying Chao gave the command to press the charge and the city gate of the Yellow stone city was opened with a creaking noise.
One after another group walked out from the city gate as the devils looked at them with malice and bloodthirst in their eyes. "These human scums think very highly of themselves", a tribulation realm devil general spoke. He was standing together with all eleven other generals.
"There is no need to hold back anymore. Yan Luo, Nu Chongyi and all the other noble clan scions, prepare to fight at any time. This city will be our first outpost in this lowly world", lord Tianzun spoke.
"Thank you senior", the young devils bowed their heads. There was vicious grin on many of their faces as they watched the Xuantian sect cultivators pouring in from the city gate.
"What is this humans are doing?", a devil general suddenly exclaimed. To everyone's surprise, the forces of the Xuantian sect suddenly spreaded out towards different directions.
"Is it some sort of trap?", a devil general asked. She was a female devil with a head full of crimson hair. She had a voluptuous body and she was wearing almost nothing to hide her natural blessings.
"Fen Jiayi, are you afraid? Even Law glimpse realm experts will face trouble if they fight with you", another devil general from the side spoke. He was a sinister looking devil but he had a look of respect when he looked towards the sinister looking devil by her side.
"We are not afraid of trouble. Let the humans employ what ever little tactics they have. We will crush them thoroughly once the battle begins", another devil commented.
"Attack", Ying Chao commanded loudly from the sky. Every group of cultivators were already scattered towards different directions of the battlefield. They immediately attacked like a sharp sword after receiving the command.
Each groups of cultivators defended and attacked in unison. The devils fell into disadvantage just after half an hour of battle. Devils were planning to counter attack when the voice of Ying Chao bloomed again.
"Fall back", he commanded loudly. To the devils' surprise, the Xuantian sect cultivators left the battlefield like a receding tide. Powerful devils tried to stop them from leaving but they were suppressed by the united groups of cultivators.
Unlike humans, devils had a different structure in their army. They were keeping weaker devils at the frontline and the true powerful ones were at middle or end of the army. Zhan Chen clearly noticed this. So, he had decided to apply the method of division and kill the weaker devils as much as they could before fighting with the truely powerful devils.
If they collided directly, powerful devils would have assisted their subordinates. But by the method of division, they managed to confuse the devils and divided their attention. It ensured that many weaker devils were killed in exchange of few loses in the Xuantian sect side.
"Yan Luo, Nu Chongyi and other noble clan scions, step forward. I want all of you to select your subordinates and target the enemy groups. They have yet to know what a noble devil means. Show these scums, how lowly they are actually infront of devilish power", lord Tianzun spoke. He was planning to copy the idea of humans and wipe out their groups by sending in the powerful noble devil scions.
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Cultivation stages
1st stage- Essence gathering realm
2nd stage- Meridian opening realm
3rd stage- True essence realm
4th stage- Core condensation realm
5th stage- Martial ascension realm
6th stage- Heavenly tribulation realm
7th stage- Law glimpse realm (emperor realm)
8th stage- ? (Sage realm)