Chapter 2468: Struggle for Initiative

Cannot let them off—if the enemy weakens by one part, we strengthen by one part.

Of course, the converse of this statement also holds true.

The crowd rode the clouds and mist, charging downward.

During this process, Zhu Xiuer also discovered that the Panlong Ruins were right nearby, and moreover, she found herself surrounded by several Secret Realms.

This sight made it look deeply worried. If memory serves, these Secret Realms all have guardian spirits!

The immortals intercepted the transport convoy, slaughtering all the demon beasts within, while the servants carrying goods fled in disarray.

The crystal storage capacity of these specially made carts still greatly exceeded their expectations.

Shangguan Biao must be born in the Year of the Rat? He hoards far too much!

Everyone had smiles on their lips.

At this moment, Zhu Xiuer warned: "The enemy is coming."

The Wolf King Silver Fang had already received the message, leading over a thousand demon troops from afar, able to traverse the wide, open long street suited for carts, with towering, majestic buildings on both sides, they moved with great speed.

The True Person of Sihai ordered: "Form ranks!"

The battle formations of the Xian Sect are highly effective against demon beasts.

However, as a few cultivators rushed to the nearby wall corners to set up formations, they unexpectedly encountered a strange scene:

The buildings came alive.

The building with black walls and black roof tiles nearby, only a zhang away from him, suddenly transformed at this moment, changing from a house into a stone man!

The eaves became shoulders, the side wings turned into arms, and the doors and windows on the fifth floor became mouth and eyes.

It turned sideways, and with one punch, it crushed the cultivator into minced meat!

With a puff, flesh and blood splattered onto the black wall.

This was no isolated case—nearby, any stone-built structure at this moment likewise transformed, surging forward in a menacing assault on the crowd.

Of the seventeen or eighteen buildings nearby, at least twelve had risen to their feet, coordinating with the Silver Fang Wolf King's attack!

Do not forget, this is Shangguan Biao's home turf.

Given that the invaders' identities have been exposed, he can reshape Yujing City at will, even turning every building into a weapon to repel enemies!

This is the might of the Earth Mother.

Within her power's reach, the enemy cannot take a single step!

The True Person of Sihai seized his ritual implement and struck it, releasing the fire bird once more.

This thing, when placed on the ground in urban street combat, is a massive slaughter— the fire bird sweeps along every alley and lane, scouring every corner, letting high heat devour every living thing. Just as after a great fire, the mountains and forests are left devoid of life.

However, several stone giants formed from transformed buildings suddenly dropped to the ground, blocking the fire bird's path.

They even used their shoulders and arms to seal the gaps, leaving the fire bird nowhere to burrow.

Thus, the demon troops in the rear remained unharmed.

The True Person of Sihai spat out a resentful "Damn it"—Shangguan Biao's home-field advantage in Yujing City is all too obvious; continuing like this would be too exhausting for them.

The gains and losses are not proportional—it's not worth it.

Just as this thought flashed through their minds, Yujing City suddenly shuddered violently again, the ground beneath everyone's feet splitting open in several large gaps, as if a canvas had been savagely slashed with a knife.

At the same time, the movements of the five stone giants suddenly froze, seemingly driven by some unknown force—one of them clattered apart into a pile of ruins, another squatted in place and reverted to a building, then remained motionless.

As for the other three, they instead turned around and struck back, smashing several heavy punches into the demon horde!

The demon horde had no defense against them, and with their swift hands, these punches flew down, sending flesh and blood flying everywhere!

The demons screamed and cried out, scattering in all directions.

What is going on? Everyone stared at each other in bewilderment, then shouted in unison:

"Pursue!"

Today is favorable for pursuing a desperate foe—strike while they are weak, take their lives.

The three stone giants seemed to have had lead poured into their feet, managing only a few steps before stopping, raising their hands to point weakly and tremblingly westward.

The meaning was clear: tell everyone to head west to kill.

The True Person of Sihai exclaimed in wonder: "What's there?"

This was merely a casual question, not expecting an answer. But Zhu Xiuer replied anyway:

"Heavenly Demon!"

After pointing the direction, one stone man disintegrated in place, scattering into a heap of fragments, while the other two seemed to recover somewhat, taking large strides westward.

Zhu Xiuer kindly reminded: "Don't get too close to them—it's dangerous!"

These two stone giants alternated between fast and slow; the crowd clearly saw they sometimes wanted to turn around, yet seemed restrained by some unknown force, continuing westward.

Thus, after walking over two hundred zhang, the stone giants grew slower and slower, occasionally twitching a few times, as if their legs wanted to move forward but their bodies wanted to turn back—each with its own will, making them appear utterly uncoordinated. When the crowd drew near, one of them suddenly turned, lifted its foot, and stamped down!

This stomp was fiercer than a siege hammer—fortunately, everyone had been on guard, and before the giant foot could land, they scattered in all directions.

Boom—dust flew everywhere.

Zhu Xiuer leapt onto the nearest spire, seeing these two stone giants actually wrestling each other into a tangle.

"What is this?" Mei Ke Xianren also approached, asking, "Are the Earth Mother and Shangguan Biao grappling?"

"Probably." The two great immortals, well-versed and experienced, but truly encountering something this bizarre for the first time, said, "Shangguan Biao fights us, while the Earth Mother drags him back. It seems, although the Earth Mother has been dragged into the Void, her power can still reach Yujing City."

"Shangguan Biao cannot sever the bond between himself and his physical form, so he once forced it into deep slumber?" Mei Ke Xianren reasonably speculated, "Once the Earth Mother awakens, his control over Yujing City will be far less than before."

Saying this, he let out a huh, then pointed straight ahead:

"Why is the wall of Panlong Ancient City covered in snow?"

Straight ahead lies the eastern gate of Panlong Ancient City—though not as grand and imposing as the southern gate, its walls are still very solid. From Zhu Xiuer's vantage point, she could see the battlements covered in pure white snow.

Not only the walls, but a large number of buildings inside were wrapped in silver and white, with snowflakes drifting down the streets.

"Snow in Panlong Ancient City? This is wrong!" According to Zhu Xiuer's knowledge, in the past 170 years, the Panlong Wasteland has never seen snow.

Mingke the Immortal set up a shade canopy and looked toward the eastern part of the city wall: "The Secret Realm nearby—is it the Snow Mountain?"

Outside the Panlong East City Gate, a massive snow mountain was almost seamlessly connected, and the snowflakes drifted into the city with the whooshing wind.

"These Secret Realms devour one another!" Mingke the Immortal exclaimed repeatedly, "Shangguan Biao must have moved the powerful Secret Realms to the outskirts of Panlong Ancient City, intending to weaken it!"

Zhu Xiuer wanted to speak but hesitated.

Then it said:

"Wait, didn't you say earlier that the battle of the guardian spirits decides the outcome of the Secret Realm?"

"No, no, not only that!" Mingke the Immortal corrected it, "The Secret Realms devour each other, and the guardian spirits fight each other—this is combat on two levels, internal and external, which can happen simultaneously. But if one side's guardian spirit is absent or avoids battle, the Secret Realm can still devour the other, just more slowly. Look at the base of this snow mountain—the snow line keeps rising, showing that its attack on Panlong Ancient City is not without cost."

This snow mountain originally had seventy percent of its area covered in snow, majestic and impressive, but now the snow below the mid-slope has completely melted, revealing black earth.