Chapter 362: The Heavenly Palace and the Immortal Sects Are Both Great Benefactors

The steel torrent gradually moved away.

It left deep tank tread tracks on the ground.

"They're gone..."

On the city wall, the Emperor in disguise let out a sigh of relief.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. The emergence of this divine army is a heavenly omen of good fortune, foretelling the eternal prosperity of the Great Li Kingdom!"

A eunuch in the Primordial Realm beside him flatteringly offered his congratulations.

"Great Companion, what good fortune?"

The Great Li Emperor was a burly man; he laughed and scolded, "If my guess is correct, this must be the celestial army of the Immortal Sects."

"Only their celestial army could be so scrupulous; though their route passed through cities and towns, they destroyed nothing, nor did any common people suffer casualties."

"The celestial army of the Immortal Sects?"

The Grand Eunuch's expression changed: "With such ferocious killing intent, their purpose is..."

"Exactly, I suspect it is the celestial army of the Heavenly Palace."

The Great Li Emperor sighed heavily; even using true qi to transmit his voice, he dared not show any disrespect to either side: "We shall see which side emerges victorious. We mortals can do nothing but wait quietly for the outcome."

His face was filled with worry.

Neither the Heavenly Palace nor the Immortal Sects were easy opponents; it was uncertain whether they would retaliate against him, a mortal who had once defected to the enemy.

Any shift in the situation, any whim of an Immortal Master, could threaten his life as the Son of Heaven of the Great Li Kingdom and lead to the extermination of the entire imperial clan.

"Your Majesty, tell me, is it better for the Heavenly Palace to win, or for the Immortal Sects to win?"

The Grand Eunuch also harbored concerns in his heart.

Though he was a eunuch, he was a powerhouse of the Primordial Realm; their bond was deep, so he asked directly.

"Both are good, both are good."

The Great Li Emperor sighed: "The Immortal Sects, aside from having certain demands regarding the livelihood of the common people, interfere very little in the mortal world. The Heavenly Palace... will select disciples within Great Li. If one can pass through layers of trials, it is possible to become a disciple of the Heavenly Palace."

"Both are good, both are very good; they are all great immortals who save the suffering and rescue the needy."

The tank torrent left the plains and entered the mountains and forests once more.

Where there were mountains, they opened them; where there was water, they built bridges.

On the front, cultivators of the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace lay in ambush deep underground, intending to risk death and launch surprise attacks as the great army passed, using soul prohibitions and kinship pressure to delay the army's speed with their lives.

Before they could act, within a thirty-kilometer range of the great army, cannon mouths roared; dozens to hundreds of white streaks slashed across the sky, and armor-piercing shells imbued with the Earth-Splitting Technique plunged underground, shattering a vast area of underground caverns.

The surface depressed slightly, then fell completely silent.

In the sky, Jiang Ding sat cross-legged atop a super aerospace fighter, closing his eyes to rest his spirit.

Another march of several thousand li.

The thirty-six towering pillars at the core of the Southern Brother Xuanwu Four-Pole Boundary Array were in sight; densely packed earth-yellow runes flickered upon them, piercing straight into the clouds and diving deep into the starry sky.

At this moment, the attacks by the cultivators of the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace reached a climax; knowing to avoid the one-hundred-kilometer width of the front, hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators flanked and launched surprise attacks, causing many casualties among the Immortal Sects' Qi Refining cultivators.

Then, they themselves were shattered by armor-piercing shells in the shortest time.

From the moment the steel torrent started until now, it had never stopped.

One hundred kilometers.

Ninety kilometers.

Seventy kilometers!

This is the effective range of tank cannons.

The targets are immobile, fixed targets!

The eyes of all the Immortal Sect cultivators lit up, burning with heat, entering the phase of hitting fixed targets, which they knew best and loved most.

"Prepare!"

Jin Jin Lingfeng's voice rang in the ears of all Qi Refining cultivators piloting tanks throughout the entire First Army Group; Jin Jin Chengkong, Dong Xue Senior Qian, and others of the Second, Third, and Fourth Army Groups did the same.

Jiang Ding, sitting cross-legged atop the super aerospace fighter, looked down.

The muzzles of over 2.8 million tank cannons tilted slightly upward, adjusting their direction; metal cannon barrels reflected dazzling light under the sun, a magnificent sight.

"Fire!"

Jin Jin Lingfeng, Dong Xue Senior Qian, Jin Jin Chengkong, and other Army Group commanders spoke in unison.

Boom!

A deafening roar shook heaven and earth; sound waves rolled for hundreds of kilometers, snapping trees and grass, as over 2.8 million cannons simultaneously spat flames.

The firelight formed a sea, the gunpowder smoke formed clouds, rising into the sky.

Whoosh, whoosh-whoosh!

Streaks of white rose into the sky, in waves, densely packed, yet interfering with one another not at all, all flying together toward the thirty-six base pillars of the Brother Xuanwu Ding Gao Jie Array in the distance.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"..."

One volley was far from the end.

As if venting the fury accumulated since crossing the boundary, Jin Jin Lingfeng and others launched twenty waves of armor-piercing shells in succession, completely submerging the Brother Xuanwu Four-Pole Boundary Array until it vanished without a trace.

Dozens of peak Qi Refining cultivators gathered together, casting the Battalion Long-Viewing Spell to observe the damage effects of the bombardment.

Amidst the rumbling echoes, the rolling gunpowder smoke dispersed somewhat.

The thirty-six heavenly pillars of the Brother Xuanwu Four-Pole Boundary Array shone brilliantly, piercing the starry sky, while the array's protective shield flashed with spiritual light.

Compared to before, there was absolutely no change.

"Impossible!"

Jin Jin Lingfeng, Dong Xue Senior Qian, and other officers turned pale, unable to believe it.

"It was expected that a single artillery barrage could not destroy the core of the Brother Xuanwu Four-Pole Boundary Array; this place is built upon a fourth-rank or even fifth-rank spiritual vein. Although it is a third-rank formation, it far exceeds ordinary third-rank formations."

"But how could it remain completely unscathed!"

"This defies military common sense!"

"Has the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace made some breakthrough in immortal-formation technology?"

In an instant, many hearts grew fearful, and all sorts of chaotic thoughts arose.

A desperate killing intent, typical only when immortal sect cultivators face a dire predicament, spread universally through the army.

"If this is truly the case!"

Someone spoke with a chilling voice: "Even if our entire army is annihilated, we must still ascertain the details of this new immortal-formation technology. We cannot allow such a situation to appear on the immortal sect's top battlefield, nor let the Mother Star face the crisis of falling again."

"The research and development capabilities of the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace's immortal technology are far inferior to those of the immortal sects. Why is this so? Could it be luck and destiny?"

Someone felt unwilling to accept it.

In immortal technology research, many results are unreasonable; they do not appear in teams that are powerful, diligent, and strictly follow laboratory regulations.

Instead, they appear in many wild teams with incomplete equipment and chaotic personnel!

Where is the logic in that?

"Shut up!"

"It is not certain yet. Why panic?"

Jin Jin Lingfeng, Dong Xue Senior Qian, and other commanders silenced the discussions among their subordinate officers that were shaking the Dao hearts of the men.

Only they would think so much; many students were far more simple and not so afraid.

"Supreme Commander."

They asked jointly: "Your aerospace fighter's reconnaissance precision is far superior to our Far-Seeing Spells. What is the exact reason?"

"Look for yourselves."

Jiang Ding, who never managed the specific affairs of the army, transmitted a video clip captured by a super airdrop fighter.

In the footage, the sounds of armor-piercing shells breaking the air rose and fell continuously.

Everything was normal until they entered the range of the Brother Xuanwu Four-Pole Boundary Array.

Boom! Boom-boom!

Similarly, a huge roaring sound came; similarly, millions of cannon barrels fired in unison. Steel-core shells broke the air one by one, crashing into the group of armor-piercing shells. Terrifying explosions and fire appeared, and millions of immortal sect tank armor-piercing shells were utterly destroyed.

The remaining residual waves could no longer cause any effective damage to the Brother Xuanwu Four-Pole Boundary Array.

(End of this chapter)