Chapter 3150: Retreat and Sacrifice

He was different from Zhu Xiuer; at this moment he was hiding in a safe watchtower, remotely commanding his demonic puppets to assist in the retreat.

Over the years he had accumulated countless experimental subjects, and had continuously improved dozens of demonic puppets; this time they finally proved useful when the elemental power waned.

Liutiao also led his own troops charging over; the two forces joined, and she searched anxiously in the crowd.

"Where is the gate? Where is the gate?"

All who heard lowered their heads.

Finally the gate's deputy commander, tears streaming, reported: "Just now we were surrounded, the celestial demons attacked fiercely, the general charged ahead and, unfortunately, unfortunately was pierced through the heart and sacrificed."

Liutiao heard this and his body swayed, all color draining from his face.

The crowd made way; on the ruined wall sat a pitch-black corpse, legs covered by a broken shield, a large hole in the chest.

It was indeed the gate.

He died heroically in battle; as his comrades retreated, they desperately dragged his body back.

Liutiao rushed two steps to his side and reached out to press his neck.

The man was gone, beyond recall.

Liutiao closed his eyes. In reality he and the gate had been married not long ago, but in the Panlong World they had been husband and wife for over twenty years, fighting side by side countless times, their bond stronger than gold!

She sacrificed herself in the Panlong World, while the gate fell here, before the dawn of resistance against the celestial demons could arrive!

The husband and wife had often dreamed of good days in the mortal world.

Ha!

Liutiao gently helped her husband sit up, her eyes red as she stood. She did not burst into tears on the spot, but seized her weapon and turned to charge toward the city wall!

She wanted revenge, she wanted revenge!

She wanted to slaughter all the celestial demons beyond the wall, and their lackeys, to avenge her husband!

"General, no!" cried the crowd, trying to intercept, but Liutiao bowled several of them over in succession.

At this moment dozens of celestial demons circling above noticed the anomaly here, riding rainbow light as they rushed toward this spot; the brightest among them was the Great Celestial Demon Sha Baotian!

Had this been half an incense stick earlier, they would not have dared approach the ground so easily, but now the situation was different. A Great Celestial Demon leading dozens of celestial demons, facing two or three thousand people whose elemental power had drastically diminished, was a destructive presence.

Sha Baotian casually tossed out a small counterweight-like magical device; it expanded in the wind and with a bang struck the Earth Mother Plain.

It turned out to be a giant set of bronze bells.

Upon landing it formed layer upon layer of shockwaves, drilling deep into the Earth Mother Plain, making the deep Earth Mother let out an angry roar.

The celestial demons also knew that Cangyan possessed the Earth Mother, this great siege weapon, and had made special preparations for it, ready to greet it grandly when it appeared; this bell was just one of them, capable of producing tremendous vertical shockforce. To the Earth Mother, this strike was no different from detonating a bomb beside its leg—though it could not kill it, it could make it writhe in agony.

Sha Baotian's order was also clear: "Leave them behind!"

These several thousand troops were the bait. If Cangyan did not abandon them, they would keep coming to die; if Cangyan abandoned them, Lingxu City would be swallowed whole.

But at this moment Sha Baotian suddenly felt a premonition in his heart and instinctively flashed backward.

Only a sharp "whoosh" was heard as a long blade swept past the spot where he had stood; though it did not directly cut him, the fierce gang wind still scraped a bloodstain across his face.

Who could still wield such power during the elemental power decline?

Sha Baotian turned his head, and sure enough saw a black-clad figure striding forward, the cloak behind him sweeping like spilled ink, rolling black mist spreading rapidly, poised to cover the city wall breach and the Earth Mother Plain.

The Nine Nether Great Emperor has arrived!

The other Great Celestial Demons had not yet arrived; seeing him, Sha Baotian felt a pang of alarm, rose higher, and dared not plunge into the dark heavenly canopy.

His hesitation caused the dark heavenly canopy to spread. He Lingchuan shouted in a deep voice to the Earth Mother: "Take them back!"

At this moment Liutiao was about to charge through the city wall gap when suddenly two clumps of spider silk shot from the side, entangling her legs.

She instinctively wanted to raise her blade to cut them, but her elemental power had weakened, and this spider silk was harder than diamond thread, so she could not sever it for a moment.

As Liutiao just fell to the ground, Zhu Xiuer leapt over and kept spewing silk, wrapping her into a cocoon and handing her to the nearby deputy.

"Take her away, calm down, calm down."

There should be no more casualties; retreat is now the top priority.

The Cangyan troops originally trapped beneath the city gate also advanced onto the Earth Mother Plain under the cover of the dark heavenly canopy, fighting while retreating.

The Earth Mother only told everyone, "Stand firm and hold steady," then began to sink.

It could sink smoothly underground, but it took a long time; to speed up would inevitably cause jolting.

After about half an incense stick more, the Earth Mother had completely sunk underground, beginning to transport the trapped Cangyan troops from the front lines to the rear.

But during the rescue process, sand and mud poured down, inevitably allowing many celestial demons and Lingxu garrison troops to take advantage of the chaos and climb onto the Earth Mother Plain.

These invading enemies were handed over to Dong Rui, Zhu Xiuer, and other immortals garrisoning the plain, as well as the Earth Mother's dedicated stone men and stone beasts army.

In short, the Earth Mother made four or five trips back and forth, specifically to rescue the trapped soldiers to Mount Xushan.

During this process, Dong Rui's demonic puppet army lost more than half.

Zhu Xiuer broke three legs and was stabbed with a large hole in her abdomen.

The immortals and cultivators guarding the Earth Mother Plain also suffered over three hundred casualties.

Meanwhile on the front battlefield, this retreat battle was even more tragic.

The allied army's elemental power was insufficient; during the retreat they mainly relied on the Nine Nether Great Emperor, True Immortals, and Immortals for cover.

However, whether True Immortals or Immortals, their numbers on the battlefield were inferior to the enemy's.

The hardship of this retreat battle speaks for itself.

The reason the Cangyan army could still fight while retreating, maintaining formation, was not only due to the troops' high quality, but also another crucial point:

Their pursuers often fell into periodic panic and terror, as if suddenly struck by reckless mania; when it flared up, they could no longer attend to the battlefield's fighting and killing.

This symptom had previously only appeared among the frontline troops of the allied army; now the enemy began to suffer from it.

And it was not only the Lingxu garrison; even the celestial demons were deeply affected, several Great Celestial Demons thrown into confusion and distress.

Helu Tian raged angrily: "The God of Fear has defected!"

They already knew that Pili Tian had fallen, and the whereabouts of the God of Fear were unknown.

Now it seems that the gutless thing, the God of Fear, has actually defected to the enemy.

The Holy Venerable originally went to great lengths to invite it down to the mortal realm, making many promises. Who would have thought that in the end, it would simply hand the enemy a sharp blade!

And the true immortals of the War Alliance all understand clearly that this is when Mr. Yuan begins to exert his strength.

After subduing the God of Fear, he came to the battlefield silently and without fanfare, taking advantage of the chaos to kill and devour the heavenly demons.

When the Yuan power receded, He Lingchuan also asked him for assistance in withdrawing the troops, and Shuangye readily agreed. Just as he himself said, as long as he could cause trouble for the heavenly demons, that was enough. Placing the God of Fear on the battlefield is truly a formidable weapon; the fear of both sides serves as fuel to intensify its ferocity.