Chapter 2889

He hoped his sacrifice could become strength for He Lingchuan and Panlong.

He Lingchuan took out a red battle-axe:

"To wield this artifact requires power far beyond that of an immortal. Hu Min and the others cannot move it, and I need to conserve my energy."

Just standing here speaking, he could feel his life force draining; he had no idea what the scene would be like when the fight began later.

His body, wounded from prolonged battle, was like a rice sack torn with a huge hole—no matter what means he used, he could not mend it, only watch as the grains poured out in great quantity—

He Lingchuan knew the grains would eventually leak out completely, leaving nothing behind. This inevitable slide toward death felt terrifying to anyone, but he had grown numb; he had more important, urgent matters to attend to. Whether fear or worry, such personal feelings could only be set aside.

His remaining strength was scarce, and he had to reserve it for the most important opponent.

"The remaining power in this axe can still deliver one more strike! When I say the words 'begin,' please throw this battle-axe at our target!" Anyway, the battlefield was filled with wind and sand everywhere, so Zhong Shengguang was everywhere. As long as He Lingchuan stood in the wind, Zhong Shengguang could hear his whisper.

After saying this, He Lingchuan lightly tossed the battle-axe toward the whirlwind.

The whirlwind seized the battle-axe and lifted it into the sky, where it vanished.

Had it been Zhong Shengguang a quarter-hour earlier, he probably could not have moved this artifact. But after becoming a demon spirit and combining with the Great Expansion Heaven Pearl, he gained formidable, domineering power.

He Lingchuan had witnessed the furious sand season of later ages. Even without the Great Expansion Heaven Pearl, Zhong Shengguang had kept his oath for over a hundred years, letting the wind guard Panlong Ancient City; now he could instantly transform into a demon spirit without waiting three days, and could even hard-resist great demons like Pili Tian, first because he had combined with the power of the Great Expansion Heaven Pearl—whose energy in this time-space far exceeded that in history, making it stronger—second because he chose to concentrate all his power, which originally could have been slowly released over more than a hundred and fifty years, into this half-hour for full explosion!

At this moment, Zhong Shengguang—or rather, the Sand Demon Spirit—was qualified to command the divine flying axe.

……

The tent flap opened toward Panlongcheng; Gao Huaiyuan could gaze upon the battlefield without leaving the great tent.

He was now anxious, having thought that after taking Mingsha Forest he could quickly crush Panlongcheng, but the enemy had held firm until now.

Even Pili Tianzun had personally intervened, yet the situation remained deadlocked!

Panlongcheng clearly had exhausted its supplies and grain, so why would it not fall?

Even after fighting Panlongcheng for several months, Gao Huaiyuan realized he had still vastly underestimated the nation's resilience and ferocity. Judging by this, were it not for the descent of a great heavenly god, he feared he would still fail to take Panlong after several more months.

He once again felt helpless.

As battlefield commander-in-chief, he had done all he could. Yet now that the battle had reached this point, even if our side had millions of troops, we could only crowd onto the Natural Bridge, destined unable to bring out our numerical advantage. To shake Panlongcheng's walls, we could only rely on the various immortals and demons.

He observed the anomalies on the battlefield and could not help but ask: "Heavenly Venerable, you said earlier that Panlong's power had been exhausted, that we could soon storm the city—but now this black dragon suddenly appears..."

As the city's guardian beast, the black dragon not only left the city walls and penetrated the enemy army, but also attacked Pili Tian with fierce vigor—showing no sign of weakness or exhaustion.

Guardian beasts all appear full of fighting spirit; who dares say Panlongcheng's walls have no energy left?

"Merely an illusion." The person answering him beside him had a somewhat blurred face, as if veiled by a thin gauze, and also bore a small inverted triangle tattoo on the neck.

This was still Pili Tian, merely his emanation.

Pili Tian had this time fully descended as a god, personally taking the battlefield, not forgetting to leave an emanation beside Gao Huaiyuan—both for protection and supervision.

"They are most likely borrowing the power of the Great Square Vessel."

Gao Huaiyuan's heart jolted: "If Panlong can use the Great Square Vessel, then today's battle may well be delayed until after dawn!"

As to what kind of supreme treasure the Great Square Vessel is, he now had a rough idea. To have made the Void Holy Venerable drool for thousands of years, it must be extraordinarily powerful.

His heart even felt a bit cold. "Dawn" was not only Panlong's life-or-death line, but also his.

Once dawn came, the Red General would lead his troops to arrive, and the two great commanders Zhang Kangyi and Du Shian would also reach this place, stripping him of his military authority.

By then, everything would be over.

"What is there to fear?" Pili Tian saw through his worry: "At worst, we intercept and block those two units, preventing them from reaching Panlongcheng."

Zhang Kangyi and Du Shian could not arrive in person, so they could not publicly announce the Demon Emperor's edict, nor could they on the spot accuse Gao Huaiyuan of treason.

Thus, Gao Huaiyuan's secret of defying the sovereign's order could still be concealed for a while.

Gao Huaiyuan gave a bitter smile: "After dawn, my army will also have no spiritual power left."

The spiritual power of his Biejia army was rapidly ebbing, and as commander-in-chief, he knew this clearly!

It was only that they had won the Battle of Mingsha Forest and pressed the Panlong army back to its lair, putting the Biejia army in a state of collective exaltation, morale high, so this rise and fall meant the decline of spiritual power was not yet obvious.

But at most another two quarters of an hour, the soldiers would realize it!

By then, the fact that the army's spiritual power had been plundered by the Demon Emperor could no longer be concealed. The blow to morale would be unimaginable, and he dared not even think about it.

"You need not worry, Panlongcheng is merely a flicker before death." Pili Tian stated the obvious truth: "If one could freely use the power of the Great Square Vessel without cost, why would Panlong wait until now to use it, and why sit and watch us take Mingsha Forest?"

This argument was very reasonable, and Gao Huaiyuan suddenly saw hope:

"You mean, the power Panlong has obtained is unsustainable?"

"Of course." Pili Tian said lightly, "This black dragon is no match for me; it is doing its utmost, merely buying time."

Gao Huaiyuan pleaded with Pili Tian's emanation: "Could you not—"

—defeat it quickly, so that this war might end in dust! He was truly tormented.

Pili Tian knew what he wanted to say, but that black dragon fought to the death; even Pili Tian's true self could not easily crush it.

Yet he could indeed feel that the black dragon's power was limited and had an end, for it ought not to be so strong. The brief, high-intensity burst gained by burning life would only hasten its plunge into exhaustion.

Normally, Pili Tian would just wait for it to exhaust itself, but now the situation was urgent, even the great demon could not wait.

"I will—"

At this point, Pili Tian suddenly fell silent, turned his head, and looked toward the southeast.