When leaving the Bewildering Mist Zone, Jiang Kai discovered that his National Soul State had actually activated!
"No way, the Bewildering Mist Zone even blocked the National Soul State?" Jiang Kai found it a little unbelievable.
"That big willow tree, just what kind of origin does it have, to have such high authority!"
"I actually forgot to ask him if there's a way to solve Dongli's matter."
But now time was tight, and the big willow tree had already issued an eviction order, so Jiang Kai didn't dare recklessly go back.
Jiang Kai checked his own attributes—his four basic stats had each increased by 40 points.
"My attribute increase isn't proportional," Jiang Kai thought to himself.
When he first obtained the National Soul, Jiang Kai already knew that his National Soul State wasn't the same as others'.
Jiang Kai's growth came from Huaxia players charging through the Endless Abyss, and from fighting against transcendent-level opponents. But other Huaxia players improved their stats through the National Soul itself.
Right now Jiang Kai couldn't know what attributes other players had gained—hopefully he could run into someone on the way to ask.
It would still take several days to return to Huaxia City from here, so Jiang Kai could only follow the shortcut that Chang Siyao had once led him on.
All along the way, he didn't run into a single person!
What he didn't know was that right now, nearly all players had gathered inside the main city.
Since he couldn't find anyone, Jiang Kai could only give up for now—there wasn't time to go searching for people just to clarify the National Soul's condition.
"I don't even know if I can still enter the National War!" Jiang Kai sped up his pace.
......
In Huaxia's Second Army, the Fourth Army clashed fiercely with the Island Nation and Country H for several hours.
Fighting outnumbered, Huaxia's 4 million soldiers unleashed terrifying potential.
Many of them, even when one against many, still held their opponents tightly in place!
And Huaxia's free cavalry also stood out at critical moments.
They slaughtered madly amidst the enemy forces!
Blades of sword qi tore across the battlefield, the furious roars of Huaxia players never ceasing!
"So what if you have National Souls? I'll beat the crap out of your Island Nation's National Soul!"
"Before my Huaxia, you dare call yourselves National Souls! Brothers, kill them all!"
"I'll let you see what it means for one man to hold the pass!"
Huaxia players fought with extreme ferocity, using half the enemy's numbers to hold the line of Huaxia's territory so tightly that the two nations' armies couldn't advance even half a step!
However, at the same time, Huaxia's casualties were also brutally heavy.
If Huaxia had free cavalry, the Island Nation did as well. With the power of their National Souls, they massacred among Huaxia's ranks.
For every soldier that fell on Huaxia's side, fifty in the main city would be killed in the same way, dying and forced offline!
In every major main city, waves of players let out wretched screams, before scattering into points of light and vanishing…
In the Island Nation's rear command center, several generals were watching the situation on the battlefield.
What they hadn't expected was that even with their superiority in both numbers and National Souls, they still couldn't break through!
"Are these Huaxia people insane? They're all fighting like they don't care about their lives!"
"They're too stubborn, it's been nearly three hours—we can't keep dragging this out. If our own headquarters gets attacked, the consequences will be unthinkable!"
"Right, we can't drag it on any longer. While our casualties are still acceptable, we should withdraw first." One general spoke up. "Don't forget, others are still on their way. If we beat Huaxia into near-death, we might just end up letting them reap the benefits."
His words were immediately met with agreement.
It seemed they knew that two more armies were already on the march.
"Then let's retreat first. Once our wounded recover, we'll return."
Considering it was the National War period, no nation could claim to be completely safe.
After fighting desperately against Huaxia's four million army for three hours, the two nations suddenly chose to retreat.
Seeing H Country and the Island Nation both withdraw, Huaxia's players finally let out a long breath of relief.
"They're gone, we won! I told you already, trying to seize our battle flag? Keep dreaming!" Hao Yan roared, then his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.
On the battlefield, many severely wounded warriors, who hadn't fallen during the fight, finally couldn't hold on anymore after seeing the enemy retreat, collapsing in place.
"Save them quickly!" someone shouted. "Anyone who still has strength, bring the wounded back!"
......
After this great battle, although the two nations hadn't captured Huaxia's district flag, and Huaxia had won its first engagement, the cost was heavy.
The two nations had a total of 640,000 killed, while Huaxia across two battlefields had sacrificed 1.03 million!
The Ghost Star's National War, after all, wasn't the same as a real war. Here, as long as you had enough medicine, wounds could be healed.
So after launching their invasion, the two nations had been very careful to target and kill the wounded in Huaxia's army.
As long as they killed enough, Huaxia's losses would be permanent. Even if they didn't capture Huaxia's territory this time, it would create a greater advantage for future campaigns.
Under these circumstances, for Huaxia's deaths to be only 50% more than the enemy's was already an extraordinary achievement!
Even so, Huaxia's wounded numbers were terrifying.
Of nearly 4 million who fought, 90% were injured!
Even those not wounded had been drained to exhaustion.
Of the fewer than 2.8 million survivors, every one of them was utterly spent.
Zhang Xuan and Wang Xusheng checked the two armies' condition—seeing the surviving warriors tending their wounds, the whole camp sunken and dispirited, their hearts grew both anxious and pained.
Zhang Xuan saw several injured men in the crowd—their bodies covered in countless wounds, armor barely holding together, one arm severed, blood flowing everywhere.
As someone was helping them apply medicine to stop bleeding, he hurried over.
The wounded cracked open their eyes, "Commander…" and tried to sit up.
Zhang Xuan quickly calmed them, "Stay down, don't move! You're all heroes!"
Hao Yan bared his bloody mouth, showing a row of white teeth. "Commander, we won! We beat two great armies! If Huaxia had National Souls too, in one-on-one, they wouldn't be our match at all."
Another nearby man laughed heartily, "They looked down on us, even with so many more numbers—but we still drove them back!"
Seeing the soldiers joke and laugh, Zhang Xuan felt bitter.
What fairness is there on the battlefield? The enemy meant to attack Huaxia together—how could they be expected to fight only in duels?
As for National Souls—if you don't have them, you don't have them. There is no "if."
Yet, seeing the young men so excited, Zhang Xuan forced out a faint smile. "That's right, we Huaxia people aren't inferior to anyone!"
Just then, Zhang Xuan's wristwatch suddenly buzzed with a message.
"Old Zhang, Xuanyuan asked me to pass this on. You still have 1.4 million troops there—immediately pull 1.3 million and head to the First Army's camp."
"What? But… our men just went through a brutal battle, they haven't even rested yet! They're people, not gods!"
The man replied, "Of course I know. Xuanyuan feels the same way! But we're out of time—the M Nation's army is nearly at the First Army's position! And in five hours, the F Nation's army will also arrive there—we must start defenses immediately."
"M Nation?" Hearing this, Zhang Xuan stumbled back several steps, a flicker of despair in his eyes.
Though they had held back two great armies, everyone was exhausted. At this moment, with M Nation and F Nation pressing down, how could Huaxia's warriors possibly endure?
Zhang Xuan lifted his eyes to the soldiers in camp—for the first time, he felt as commander that he couldn't bring himself to give the order…
"Commander, what's wrong?" Hao Yan noticed Zhang Xuan's abnormality, struggling to sit upright.
Zhang Xuan lowered his head to him, his eyes blurring.
How could he bear to send them into another great battle?
Hao Yan, along with the wounded around him, all forced themselves up, coming to Zhang Xuan's side.
"Is it the Island Nation returning? Those little islanders have learned plenty of our war tactics—they even know how to play tricks now."
"What's there to fear? Just fight! Commander, if they dare come again, we'll thrash them again!"
"Commander, give the order. Whoever comes, as long as we live, the flag stands!"
"That's right, as long as we live, the flag stands!"
Looking at the wounded around him, Zhang Xuan's voice choked. Taking a deep breath, he said to the generals beside him, "Pass the order—whole army assemble, move quickly toward the First Army's position."
"The M Nation will launch their assault in one and a half hours!"
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