Chapter 278: Battlefield of the Immortal Sects (Please Subscribe)

"Moo!"

Half a month later, following a dull bovine low, the Tripod-Carrying Barbarian Oxen pulling the prison wagons and cargo carts took their heavy steps.

This type of tamed spirit beast, possessing immense strength, bulging muscles, and the size of a small hill, was of the fourth rank; a single one could easily haul several hundred carts, moving steadily and securely.

At this moment, they were following the main road in a northeasterly direction, intending to exit the Great Plains, pass through that mountain pass, and head toward the Lin Dong region.

The reason for traveling by land was that the area surrounding Lin Dong City maintained a constant no-fly restriction, and the escort team Yun Yi had dispatched this time was a direct, non-stop transport, so they simply chose to travel by land.

One by one the Barbarian Oxen stepped forward, one by one the carts moved, a vast and mighty procession stretching for a thousand miles.

The terrain gradually rose; Du En stood at the seat on the ox's head and looked back, only to see Yun Yi City gradually receding, the long string of the procession looking like an army of ants, with no end in sight.

"Traveler Du, why look back? Now is the perfect time to sit, enjoy the scenery, sip tea, and discuss the Dao!"

Someone beside him spoke up.

Turning his head, he saw it was the person from Yun Yi City tasked with overseeing the team.

That Nascent Soul stage supervisor was the same one who had been in charge of the temporary prisoner camp, now serving as the supervisor for the caravan's inspection and care.

Because the situation regarding Du En's meeting with the Great Cultivator had largely spread, his attitude had undergone a major shift; it was now very favorable, and he would even invite Du En to enjoy the scenery.

After all, if one set aside the conflict with the Great Cultivator above, Du En was a traveling practitioner highly regarded by the sect, a stock with absolute potential; if circumstances permitted, it was only natural to strike up a friendship.

Du En originally did not want to pay attention to this type of person; after all, if he had time to drink tea and enjoy the scenery, he might as well be diligently cultivating.

But seeing the fourth-rank tea leaves he brought out, he still chose to show some face.

Be polite when there is a benefit, cultivate when there is not; simple and straightforward, not caring about the opinions of others.

As they traveled along this way, the atmosphere gradually turned murderous, and no one had any leisure or elegance left.

Especially on the side of the prison wagons, where roars and shouts erupted first, followed by weeping and wailing, and finally desperate misery, making people feel a sense of shared grief, inevitably giving rise to the feeling of the fox mourning the death of the rabbit.

Thus, another half month passed, and Lin Dong City could be seen in the distance.

The terrain was high, like a raised spine.

The city was not large, yet it was exceptionally heavy.

That place, which was much, much smaller than a small city, was a normal border fortress found only in the mortal world; it stood there just as ordinarily, unfallen for ten thousand years, and as a transit point and border pivot, it had always fulfilled its function.

The sprawling caravan approached and was swallowed up bit by bit; the hill-sized Tripod-Carrying Barbarian Oxen silently shrank into small oxen, yet the carts themselves showed little change.

Small leading the large, very abrupt, yet exceptionally natural.

Du En no longer sat on the ox's head; he leaped down, stopped by the side of the road, and looked up.

Looking past this border city currently in a state of combat readiness, all one could see was the abruptly broken spine of the earth, where the border arrays of the two great immortal sects were constantly clashing and grinding against each other, creating a distorted, tearing, and festering space-time.

Colorful, pitch-black, and mottled...

Du En could not even look directly at that festering, unable to describe exactly what it looked like.

And he also knew at the same time that the border battlefield here, the Sighing Death Gobi, was located within this festering mess, a place where the two great immortal sects fought and filled with lives every year.

One could even use terms like "a separate world" to describe it; in short, it was located within the festering space-time, exceptionally abrupt, existing only for their mutual slaughter and struggle.

Thinking of these things he had long known, Du En calmly turned his head and saw the receptionist specifically sent out by Lin Dong City.

This receptionist was also at the Golden Core stage, and his strength was not insignificant; he was also a genius figure. At this moment, he looked at Du En with a somewhat strange expression, said nothing more, and simply raised his hand to gesture an invitation.

So Du En followed him, entered the city, arrived at the city tower, and entered the battle-viewing platform.

Along the way, he saw the prisoners who had been taken off the carts, their shackles removed, and given magic tools and other items for combat; they were trembling like quails, the arrogance and dominance they had shown in their original positions gone, leaving only the fear of death.

Among these nearly ten thousand prisoners, one-tenth were at the Nascent Soul stage, and eight-tenths were at the Golden Core stage; they were basically all elites, and there were even some ruthless figures who had cultivated some unknown evil arts or demonic techniques and could now also be called geniuses.

When Du En officially stepped onto the battle-viewing platform, his peripheral vision caught the scene of these prisoners disappearing.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had scooped up a handful of chess pieces and begun distributing them across the board.

It was intense and urgent, giving them no time to adapt at all; as soon as they arrived, they had to go into battle!

Du En focused his gaze on the battle-viewing platform in front of him; at a glance, he saw a projected light screen, all-encompassing and immersive, displaying the Sighing Death Gobi that served as the battlefield.

It lived up to the name of Gobi; not a blade of grass grew.

The earth and stones appeared dark brown, and the howling wind blew, mixed with wailing sounds, more like some kind of heavy, gasping sigh that was powerless to do anything more.

After arriving here, the thing Du En felt most was that sense of abruptness.

For example, on the battle-viewing platform at this moment, there was a group of Golden Core stage cultivators who were currently watching the battle but might be filled into the ranks at any time; they were all of genius caliber.

Their attitude toward Du En seemed to be a mix of envy and resentment, yet it was quite flat; no one had any obvious changes in expression or gaze.

Everyone was a genius, so why should you be valued by the sect, be a traveling practitioner, travel and wander everywhere, and not have to worry about fighting for your life on the battlefield?

Originally, there should have been such natural negative emotions, and they would certainly have appeared quite intense, because this did indeed seem very unfair.

However, as it was now, it was just too flat, a very abrupt kind of flatness.

Then, Du En looked at the battlefield again.

At this very moment, the cultivators of the prisoner camp had already been positioned, placed at the very front, spread out evenly, facing the enemy formation.

At this time, they actually gradually stopped trembling; emotions like fear and despair were gradually replaced by something else.

Numbness!

Thus, Du En realized that here, everything was actually invisibly filled with a kind of numbness.

Space-time, geography, people... that sense of abruptness was a numb abnormality, created by the strong contrast between what "should be normal" and "what is not."

While Du En was secretly lamenting, on the other side of the Gobi, the Fu Dong Immortal Sect took the initiative to launch an attack.

One cultivator after another, regardless of anything, like wild beasts, charged over across the mountains and plains.

"It is a battle of the hundred-thousand level."

The Golden Core stage cultivators watching the battle seemed slightly relieved.

And on the side of the Luo Yu Immortal Sect, they also quickly deployed enough troops according to the situation.

One by one, Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stage cultivators were moved over.

Only at this moment did Du En see clearly that the reason why the city here was small and had few people was because all those cannon fodder were stationed inside the Gobi.

Mound-like encampments stood one after another, filled with cannon fodder who were nothing more than walking corpses.

Fifty thousand of them had been moved over and positioned behind the convict camp.

(End of chapter)