Chapter 1022: The Overbearing Heavenly Court

"The small fry were taken out, now the big ones have come."

After unleashing thunder tactics to destroy the fleet of the Dao Qisha's command, and exchanging two blows with Dao Qisha's lightning-fast strike, the frivolous youth whose heart had been pierced by Dao Qisha's sword floated in midair, sneering with a muttered chuckle.

Several figures appeared beside him.

"Suffered a loss?" a middle-aged man glanced askance at the youth, focusing on the damage to his armor.

The frivolous youth snorted coldly, he fiercely wiped the hole in his chest armor with his right hand; the whole suit of armor shone with flowing light, the damage instantly repaired. He coughed a few times, spat out a few mouthfuls of clotted blood, then his complexion quickly returned to normal.

"What's this injury?" the frivolous youth arrogantly lifted his head: "We are born invincible."

Dao Qisha stared wide-eyed, astonished at the frivolous youth standing far away.

That sword just now, although he hadn't had time to unleash the killing intent within the blade, failed to crush the enemy's heart, failed to deliver a fatal blow to the frivolous youth. But his sword had indeed pierced the opponent's heart.

The nine-foot-long sword in Dao Qisha's hand is likewise a divine weapon passed down from the Dao clan; although Dao Qisha hasn't poured much effort into it, its power doesn't match that pair of snake-shaped daggers, but it is not to be underestimated.

On this long sword is coated the Dao clan's secret poison, refined from three hundred thirty-three kinds of poisonous insects, poisonous snakes, poisonous flowers, and poisonous grasses.

The Dao clan conducted experiments; this poison they call "Soul-Shatter" can, with just a nick of skin, instantly kill a Divine Realm expert, causing the flesh's vitality to vanish instantly, and even the soul suffers great damage.

This frivolous youth, having been stabbed in the heart, even if his flesh is extraordinarily strong, how could he possibly heal so easily?

"Soul-Shatter" entering the heart, not even the slightest effect?

The frivolous youth noticed Dao Qisha's gaze, he bared his teeth and grinned at Dao Qisha, then swiped hard across his own neck, sneering: "Old geezer, you're dead, no matter how many you summon it's useless."

"I am Ji Ming, remember that—later I'll be the one who chops off your head, Ji Ming!" The frivolous youth hooked his right hand; the long spear he had discarded to escape brought forth a flash of thunder, accompanied by a thunderous roar as it flew back into his hand.

Dao Qisha gave a cold, sinister chuckle, silently retreating dozens of li.

Who kills whom is still uncertain. Dao Qisha is not accustomed to fighting enemies head-on; he prefers using daggers, lightly stabbing into enemies' hearts from behind. As an assassin, direct confrontation has never been his habit.

Thinking of his pair of snake-shaped daggers, Dao Qisha felt a sudden pang of heartache.

He drew the dagger, stroking the originally smooth blade now bearing a small hole punched out by electricity; his eyeballs instantly turned bloodshot.

The rumble of breaking wind came as Xiahou Wuming's flagship tore through the clouds, bringing over a thousand warships to Dao Qisha's side.

On the opposing side's mass of clouds, a flash of electricity flickered; the heavily armored soldiers sitting cross-legged on the clouds all rose to their feet, each glaring wide-eyed, their pupils flashing with murderous electricity as they looked toward Dao Qisha.

At a glance, there were at least a million heavily armored soldiers on the clouds; their aura was immensely strong and uniform.

Each person's aura fluctuation was nearly identical; everyone's aura perfectly merged into one, even their heartbeats and breaths were completely in sync, with no difference in size, speed, or rhythm.

"What an elite force—how was it trained?" As a former high-ranking military official of the Sui Dynasty, Xiahou Wuming naturally understood military strategy; he didn't even know how many elite troops he had personally trained in his lifetime.

But facing those heavily armored soldiers whose aura fluctuations were exactly alike, Xiahou Wuming and his retinue of generals felt a chill of dread—these people gave them the sensation of the giant god soldiers under Lao Tie's command.

Terrifying, truly terrifying.

On the opposing clouds, the bearded burly man originally seated in the chair crossed his arms over his chest, expressionlessly staring at Xiahou Wuming and company.

Dao Qisha approached Xiahou Wuming, recounting everything that had just happened in detail.

On the ground, dozens of wrecked warships still burned fiercely, dozens of black smoke columns shot up high, the air filled with a foul metallic burning smell.

Northeast of the wrecked warships by several hundred li, a huge pit on the ground was glaringly conspicuous.

There originally stood a city, teeming with a great horde of demons, and also imprisoning millions of citizens of the Buddha Kingdom. But to rescue Ji Ming, the opposing side unleashed a tremendous thunder barrage, utterly obliterating the city, leaving only a pit dozens of li in diameter.

Ruthless, merciless, wanton, arrogant to the extreme.

Xiahou Wuming quickly judged these people; as commander of this extermination fleet and a senior minister of Wuguo's military, second only to Lao Tie, he straightened his face, stepped forward a few paces, stood on the flagship's bow, and loudly rebuked the bearded burly man opposite.

"Why did you attack my Wuguo soldiers? Today you must give this commander an explanation."

The bearded burly man glanced at Xiahou Wuming, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

From all directions, powerful magical fluctuations transmitted; over fifty Wuguo Revered-level experts, accompanied by masses of subordinates, tore through space and arrived instantly.

Over fifty Revered-level, over two thousand half-step Revered-level, and nearly fifty thousand Divine Realm experts above the seventh heaven. They stepped on wind and clouds, stood in midair, and from afar encircled the opposing cloud mass.

After capturing the Sui Dynasty and obtaining its resources, the heavenly upheaval completely removed the constraints on Divine Realm experts; Wuguo's strength is soaring day by day.

Under Wu Tie's command, the number of Divine Realm experts has increased by more than a thousandfold compared to before.

Those who had already broken through to Divine Realm now comprehend heavenly laws with far greater efficiency; their cultivation speed surpasses even ordinary Embryonic Storage breakthroughs to Divine Realm, making progress much easier.

In today's Wuguo army, every officer possesses the strength of Divine Realm third or fifth heaven.

Even among ordinary soldiers, there are large numbers of half-step Divine Realm and Divine Realm first heaven experts.

Fifty-plus extermination fleets can muster nearly fifty thousand Divine Realm experts above the seventh heaven; in the past, such a force would have been unimaginable for Wuguo and the Sui Dynasty.

But now, such elite commanders are becoming more and more numerous in Wuguo, and ever stronger.

These reinforcements that arrived via space-teleportation released their auras one after another; military flags floated above their heads, fluttering in the heavenly wind with a resounding "clatter-clatter".

The bearded man's complexion finally changed; although he had a million armored soldiers behind him, the arriving Wuguo troops overall outclassed his soldiers by a large margin.

The average strength of the arriving troops is Divine Realm seventh heaven or above, while those behind him, though their aura is perfectly unified, are only around Divine Realm third heaven on average.

In the Divine Realm, a difference of one heavenly layer means a world of difference in strength.

Wuguo's sudden display of strength forced the bearded man to seriously consider Xiahou Wuming and his army.

"I am Ji Chen."

The bearded man spoke, his voice extremely loud, like thunder, shaking the void. Especially when he spoke, the two rows of big teeth in his mouth crackled with electricity, plasma continuously spraying from his mouth, a momentum that can be called horrifying to the extreme.

"You lot, why did you attack my Thunder Division leaders? You lot, need to give me an explanation……otherwise, don't blame me for memorializing the Great Heavenly Sovereign; when the Great Heavenly Sovereign rages, my Heavenly Host's heavenly army will crush you all to dust."

Xiahou Wuming, Dao Qisha, and the Wuguo generals who had just heard Dao Qisha's report laughed angrily.

The violent and vicious Xiang Feixie burst out, pointing at Ji Chen and shouting angrily: "Nonsense, yellow-mouthed brat, is your face actually a face or just an ass? You all have no shame?"

"You attacked my Wuguo troops for no reason, killing and wounding countless of my soldiers, even brazenly assassinating my generals, destroying Lao Tie's natal divine weapon, and now you bite back……are you all rabid dogs? How can you bite so much?"

Ji Chen's face quickly darkened; he glanced askance at Xiang Feixie and coldly said: "What are you, what qualifications do you have to speak to me?"

Ji Ming also jumped out, shouting loudly: "Report to the Commander, Ji Ming only saw their warships hovering in the air, constantly attacking the ground crowds……Ji Ming thought they were demons, harming the good people of the Liuli Buddha Kingdom, so he intervened."

Xiang Feixie's eyes turned red with anger.

Dao Qisha was even more furious, his lips turning purple; he shouted angrily: "Nonsense……what are my boys doing, you blind? We killed those demons harming the people!"

Ji Ming spread his hands, indifferently saying: "I only saw you attacking the ground crowds; whether they are demons or civilians, who knows?"

Dao Qisha's body erupted with a wisp of icy killing intent, which then swiftly condensed; his aura became almost nonexistent, his presence rapidly fading. Even if one stared at him with the naked eye, his figure would seem hazy, as if he might dissipate into heaven and earth at any moment.

Dao Qisha, his killing intent aroused, had almost instinctively activated his own assassination secret technique; he only needed an opportunity……

Xiahou Wuming glanced at Dao Qisha, gave a light cough, and several tall, burly Wuguo generals stepped forward two paces, intentionally or unintentionally using their bodies to block the view of Dao Qisha's relatively frail and small stature.

Dao Qisha perfectly merged into the shadow behind those Wuguo generals.

Xiahou Wuming said coldly: "You claim Dao Qisha's army slaughtered the citizens of the Buddhist State for no reason—that's your sophistry, I admit…… but that city held countless civilians, and you wantonly destroyed it with thunder techniques—how do you explain that?"

Ji Ming gave a cold laugh: "Inside the city, there are demons."

The several heavily armored men beside Ji Ming nodded in agreement: "Exactly, the city holds a horde of demons, numbering in the millions."

Xiahou Wuming shouted sternly: "Inside the city, there are civilians!"

Ji Chen spat electric light from his mouth as he roared at Xiahou Wuming: "Don't you have ears? Didn't you hear what my brothers said? Inside the city are demons—subduing demons and eliminating evil is the righteous path!"

Xiahou Wuming snapped: "Subduing demons and eliminating evil—is that what you call this? Nonsense, utter nonsense, complete nonsense. To rescue that frivolous child, you disregard the lives of civilians and recklessly wield great power thunder techniques…… so cold-hearted, so ruthless, so vicious and deceitful—you are the true demons!"

Ji Chen bellowed: "Insolent, daring—I am one of the 108 commanders of the Thunder Department, Demon-Purging Office of the Heavenly Court, a person of heavenly mandate…… how dare you slander me with bloody mouth, defame me, defame me—that is defaming the Heavenly Court, showing disrespect to the Great Heavenly Venerable…… this is a death sentence!"

"Damn it, I can't take this anymore!" Xiang Feixie roared, activating his family's secret Overlord Cauldron Lifting Technique; his whole body spewed streams of black-red blood energy, which condensed above his head into a great three-legged cauldron.

Xiang Feixie's body swelled to a height of a hundred zhang, his hands gripping a wheel-shaped axe flashing with cold light; in a flash he spanned hundreds of li, charging straight to Ji Chen's face and bringing the axe down.

"Martial Prime Minister, cut the chatter, let's fight!" Xiang Feixie swung his axe at people while not forgetting to shout back at Xiahou Wuming: "These guys…… aren't decent folk—just take them out!"

The instant Xiang Feixie made his move, Xiahou Wuming decisively waved his hand forward: "Soldiers, follow me to slay the enemy."

Xiahou Wuming made his decision; these fellows who claimed to belong to the Heavenly Court acted ruthlessly and were utterly shameless—reasoning with them was surely like playing music to a cow.

To be frank, Xiahou Wuming himself was too lazy to reason with others, for his veins flowed with the blood of the Wu Clan, and the Wu Clan's temperament…… how could he possibly reason with anyone?

On Xiahou Wuming's flagship, nearly a hundred waves of Venerable-level pressure surged forth, and nearly a hundred heavily armored great generals followed close behind as they charged out with him.

From afar, dozens of Wuguo senior officials who had come to reinforce from all directions let out piercing long whistles; Dao seals appeared on their heads, stirring up violent heaven-and-earth pressure that slammed down upon the Thunder Department's flowing clouds.

The half-step Venerable-level generals they brought, along with the Divine Realm commanders, quickly rallied, forming a battle formation that steadily advanced to crush the enemy.

Within Xiahou Wuming's flagship, amid thousands of warships, a massive host of Colossal Divine Soldiers surged forth.

They hovered in midair, their eyes swirling with Blood Light; millions of ultrafine red strands tore through the void, once again concentrating fire on the unprepared Ji Ming.

On the ground, among the tens of thousands of Colossal Divine Soldiers, one that was a notch sturdier than the rest opened its mouth and emitted a strange 'ga-ga-ga' laugh.

His eyes flickered with lively flames—indeed, he had instantly communicated with the Colossal Divine Soldiers accompanying Xiahou Wuming, locking onto Ji Ming as his target.

Millions of red strands converged in fire, striking Ji Ming once more; the impact point was exactly the same as where the tens of thousands of Colossal Divine Soldiers had previously focused, without the slightest deviation.

Ji Ming let out a strange whistle; the armor over his heart vaporized with a 'swish', and a strand of red light the size of a mung bean, condensed from those millions of red strands, pierced straight through his back.

Ji Ming's body swayed, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.

Ji Chen shouted hoarsely: "Insolent, daring—you dare to injure the Heavenly Court's great generals, you dare to defy the Heavenly Court—each of you deserves death!"

Everything happened so quickly—Xiang Feixie's great axe had already come down.

Ji Chen let out a great roar, spewing countless electric thunder dragons from his whole body, and punched Xiang Feixie's great axe.

With a tremendous crash, Xiang Feixie's axe in his hand shattered inch by inch; electric light surged, and the axe fragments exploded into countless droplets of searing molten metal.

In the midst of Xiang Feixie's mixed fury and rage, Ji Chen followed up with a punch to his chest; electric light splattered, Xiang Feixie's armor shattered, a large area of flesh on his chest instantly carbonized, exploding into countless black smoke and dust that drifted away.

Xiang Feixie cried out in pain, then likewise threw a punch at Ji Chen's face.

With a tremendous crash, Ji Chen never expected Xiang Feixie's counterattack to come so fast; this punch landed squarely on his face, blasting half his cheek apart with a 'bang', his entire head a bloody blur, looking horrifically grotesque.