Chapter 395: Really About to Die Here?

At the same time, the situation on the battlefield suddenly deteriorated.

The originally brave and fierce soldiers of the Fierce State each felt a tightness in their chests, their limbs grew heavier, their sword swings became slow and weak, losing their original speed and strength.

The Da Xia soldiers, on the contrary, had red eyes, emitted beast‑like growls from their throats, disregarded their own casualties, and launched a frenzied counterattack.

When their blades were nicked, they bit with their teeth; when their spears broke, they lunged forward with their bodies, forcing the Fierce State's line to continually retreat.

"Hold the line! Shield formation, forward!" Zhang Wu'an roared hoarsely, swinging his blade to cleave a Da Xia soldier who had lunged at him, blood splattering across his face.

He panted, feeling as if some strange thing was dragging away all his strength.

Xiao Yuanhang flung an enemy officer into the air with his spear, his armor stained with blood.

He scanned the battlefield; if this continued, the outcome would be hard to predict.

Had Lu Qi sent Tuan Tuan and the National Preceptor away?

"Stinking National Preceptor! Rotten National Preceptor! It's you again!"

Inside the Soul‑Locking Cover, Tuan Tuan was like an irritated kitten, darting and leaping beneath that relentless large hand.

She was small and agile, always slipping through the gaps between fingers by a hair's breadth; the large hand kept grasping at air, stirring the mist inside the cover into turmoil.

"Hmph," Wu Luo snorted impatiently: "You really are slippery!"

He suddenly spread his five fingers, no longer trying to grab Tuan Tuan, but slapped down at her!

Tuan Tuan couldn't dodge in time and fell into the gaps between his fingers!

Wu Luo felt a surge of joy; his palm naturally closed, and it seemed he would soon seize this little thing.

Yet he never expected the originally panicked Xiao Tuanzi to suddenly stop, lower its head, and bite down hard on his finger with an "ah‑wu"!

"Ah——!"

Wu Luo let out a miserable cry; his finger trembled violently from the bite, as if a chunk had been torn away by sharp teeth!

"You dead girl! Dare to harm my soul power!"

Wu Luo was shocked into fury.

He instinctively retracted his large hand, and his soul‑body dimmed somewhat as a result.

"Pah pah pah!"

Tuan Tuan put her hands on her hips and shouted angrily at Wu Luo's retracting large hand and twisted face:

"The rotten National Preceptor's hand really is stinky!"

"You're surely rotten all over—stinkier than a cesspit!"

Wu Luo flew into a rage, extending his large hand to grab Tuan Tuan.

"Stop! Take your hand back! Don't touch her!"

With a sharp shout, the rolling gray mist was split by a blue light, revealing Chu Yuan's figure.

Tuan Tuan shouted happily: "National Preceptor! Quickly save me out of here! This rotten National Preceptor wants to catch me!"

Chu Yuan looked at her with heartache: "Don't be afraid, stay still and don't move."

"Mm‑hm." Tuan Tuan obediently retreated to the corner of the Soul‑Locking Cover.

Wu Luo gave a hum: "Senior Brother, you've come."

His eyes flickered, the corner of his mouth twitched, revealing a morbid pleasure: "Long time no see, Senior Brother."

"You really are still alive."

"But since you're not dead, why hide yourself under an assumed name?"

"By the way, Senior Brother, have you gone back to your sect over these years to take a look?"

"You haven't gone back, have you? After all, a disciple who killed his master has no face to return and pay respects."

Chu Yuan's figure began to tremble.

Upon hearing that, Tuan Tuan protested: "What business is it of yours when he goes?"

"He'll go when he wants to—no need for you to meddle!"

"Stinking girl!"

Wu Luo glared at her, then turned to stare fixedly at Chu Yuan: "However, Senior Brother, with your talent you actually managed to see through my Gathering Slaughter Formation; it seems these years haven't been completely without progress."

"No wonder you were the disciple Master valued most back then."

Chu Yuan's face sank like water, ignoring the barb in his words: "Wu Luo, how can you base a formation on killing qi? Those are people's lives!"

"Don't you remember Master's teachings? Why practice this sinister technique? Aren't you afraid of falling into the demonic path?"

Tuan Tuan wasn't idle either: "Exactly! The National Preceptor is right!"

"Since childhood you've never listened to Master's words, never learned well—you're a bad child!"

"Dead girl!"

Wu Luo glared at her again and then burst into a harsh laugh: "Hahaha! Demonic path? Righteous path? Senior Brother, you're still so naive! On the Great Dao, what's the distinction between right and wrong?"

"The victor becomes king! As long as my fortune is strong enough, who could do anything to me?"

He gazed greedily at Tuan Tuan inside the Soul‑Locking Cover, full of pride: "Senior Brother, you saw through my Gathering Slaughter Formation, found the formation eye in the imperial tent and reversed it—well done."

"But have you ever considered that I have yet another formation?"

"The formation eye in the imperial tent is merely that of the Gathering Slaughter Formation."

"This Soul‑Summoning Return to Origin Formation is what I truly want!"

"This formation shares the outward‑rushing killing qi with the Gathering Slaughter Formation, so destroying just one formation eye isn't enough."

"You surely wouldn't guess, the formation eye of this Soul‑Summoning Return to Origin Formation…"

He suddenly raised his hand, pointing straight at Tuan Tuan inside the Soul‑Locking Cover, word by word:

"It… is… her!"

Chu Yuan's pupils contracted sharply, his mind and spirit greatly shaken.

He abruptly turned his head toward Tuan Tuan, a terrible guess instantly forming.

This is not an ordinary Soul Separation Technique; it is a forbidden art that uses the soul as a guide and the body as a foundation.

"Am I the Formation's eye?" Tuan Tuan blinked her big eyes, completely unable to understand, her face full of bewilderment.

"Yes, it's you, a little girl blessed with extraordinary talent!"

Wu Luo's voice trembled with excitement: "So, what if we reverse a Formation's eye?"

"I only need to pay a small price, using the heart's blood of a hundred people as sacrifice, and I can still forcibly activate the Gathering Killing Formation! Senior brother, you didn't think of that, did you?"

Chu Yuan shuddered all over; the Gathering Killing Formation had been activated?

Using the heart's blood of a hundred people!

He couldn't believe it: "How could you resort to such evil sorcery just to activate the Formation?"

Wu Luo laughed heartily, as if already seeing the final outcome: "So what? What matters is that the Formation has been opened, and killing qi is continuously flowing into this formation!"

"The war god of Lie Kingdom, Prince Ning, must now be trapped in a siege of ten thousand troops, at the end of his rope! Hahaha!"

"Father——!" Tuan Tuan understood the last sentence; her little face turned deathly pale in an instant, she flung herself onto the Soul-Locking Cover, futilely pounding the invisible barrier.

She shouted angrily: "You wretched National Preceptor! What have you done to my father? Let me go! I want to find my father!"

On the battlefield, Lie Kingdom's defenses were already perilous.

The effect of the Gathering Killing Formation was like a bone-deep ulcer; Lie Kingdom's soldiers felt their limbs growing heavier, their chests as if weighed down by a huge stone, each swing of a weapon exhausting all their strength.

The Da Xia army, however, grew fiercer with battle, their eyes blood-red, they rushed forward wave after wave.

It seemed they felt no pain; whether mutilated or stabbed multiple times, as long as they still had breath, they fought like madmen.

They literally piled up human corpses to build their advancing pace.

Corpses piled up like mountains, blood soaked the scorched earth.

Xiao Yuanhang was drenched in blood; wherever his Dragon-Chant Spear passed, it could still stir up a rain of blood.

But the commanders and soldiers around him kept falling; the dark, pressing enemy army surged like tide after tide, wave upon wave, seemingly endless.

Xiao Yuanhang's tiger's mouth had long since split open; each exhalation carried the bloody smell of iron rust.

He gazed at the seemingly endless enemy, then glanced back at the steadily retreating lines behind him, his heart sinking to the depths.

Could it be that today, he would truly meet his death here?