Chapter 231: All Rise

Green Ant Sound Transmission is a secret technique unique to the major families of Three Linked City.

Using one's own essence blood to raise the strange insect Green Ant, this creature flies without trace; it is said that even the strongest can possess the power to break open the void and instantaneously shift.

Green Ant Sound Transmission is extremely fast, and it also has another ability: upon reaching its destination, the Green Ant instantly burns itself, turning into a huge acceleration talisman that buffs everyone nearby.

With the Green Ant's blessing, whether running or flying, speed can increase severalfold.

It is precisely by relying on the secret technique of raising Green Ants that the major families of Three Linked City can swiftly deploy troops and effectively control the surrounding thirty great domains.

The middle-aged man grinned widely.

Amid his laughter, a piercing sound of breaking air came from outside Shibao.

Wu Tie stepped out of the hall in a single stride; fierce winds rose beneath his feet, lifting him into the air.

In a distant passageway, three war chariots forged entirely of pure silver flew in, breaking the air; firelight radiated from their wheels, the chariots clearly hovered in flight, yet their wheels emitted a deep, thundering roar as if striking a stone road.

On each chariot stood several dozen golden-armored cultivators, and behind the chariots came hundreds more golden-armored warriors flying on their weapons, breaking the air.

Each of the hundreds of golden-armored warriors was sturdy and vigorous; over seventy percent were at the late Sensing Mystery Realm, more than twenty percent were at Chonglou Realm level, and on each chariot sat a Life Pool Realm cultivator.

These golden-armored cultivators, like the Bodhi clan warriors Wu Tie had seen, also wore splendid capes embroidered with gorgeous Udumbara flower patterns; their armor bore the same Udumbara flower insignia on the chest.

"Are they?" a Life Pool Realm cultivator on one chariot pointed sharply at Wu Tie.

"They are!" on another chariot, a Life Pool Realm cultivator unfolded a portrait, narrowed his eyes, compared Wu Tie's appearance with the several heads in the picture, and nodded firmly.

"Capture them alive… if they resist, break their limbs, but do not harm their lives." The middle-aged man who had just spoken snorted coldly, flicked his right hand, and a white light tinged with pink patterns shot forth, breaking the air.

Within the white light was a finely forged long sword; the sword flew through the air, its edge trembling slightly, emitting a faint hum.

The long sword thrust straight at Wu Tie's right shoulder, just as they said—they only wanted to wound him and capture him alive.

Wu Tie raised the White Tiger Rend, took a deep breath; the White Tiger Rend trembled violently, its length unchanged but its weight suddenly increasing a hundredfold. With Wu Tie's current strength, he felt his arms sink, and swinging it became somewhat strenuous.

Clenching his teeth, he lifted the White Tiger Rend and swept it outward in a horizontal strike.

The spear slammed into the sword with a tremendous crash; the sword exploded into countless metal fragments that sprayed hundreds of zhang away.

On the chariot, the swordsman who had just drawn his sword let out a muffled groan, spitting out mouthfuls of blood. He stared in horror at Wu Tie, his body swaying, barely able to stay upright.

"A formidable foe… be careful!" Having his most vital Primordial Soldier Treasure Sword shattered by Wu Tie's blow, the middle-aged man's five viscera nearly ruptured, his soul as if thunderously bombarded for three days and nights, countless golden stars flashing before his eyes.

He forced his body upright, warned his companions, then flicked his finger; three sharp piercing sounds rang out as three Green Ants turned into green streaks, howling as they shot through the air.

Wu Tie looked at his opponent, drew a deep breath, chanted an incantation, slammed the White Tiger Rend hard into the ground, then stomped his foot down.

The earth roared violently; ahead, several li away, a rock stratum one li long and wide, tens of zhang thick, tore open from the ground with a crack, the massive stratum boiled up, spun in midair, and came crashing down upon the three chariots.

At the instant the stratum struck, Wu Tie formed seals with his fingers, bombarding it with a dozen or so minor divine abilities.

Such as turning mud to stone, pointing the ground to become steel, fanning wind to blow fire, and so on.

The ordinary rock stratum instantly became as hard as refined steel, its weight increasing a hundredfold, and the downward pressing force grew countlessfold. When the stratum struck, the surging gusts made the entire stone cavern hum continuously.

The three Life Pool Realm experts shouted strangely at once; a tall, burly man obviously cultivating the body instinctively activated every divine ability that could enhance strength and physique.

The burly man's body swelled to over ten meters tall; he raised both hands, exhaled loudly, and rushed up to meet the plummeting stratum.

The dark, heavy stratum struck solidly; as soon as the burly man's hands touched it, two dull thuds sounded, his arms exploded into blood mist spraying out, he also spat blood tens of meters away, and his body was forcibly compressed, shrinking by three meters.

Covered in unknown broken bones, the burly man's skin turned pink… this was because all his capillaries had ruptured, changing his skin color.

The burly man spat blood mouthful after mouthful, plummeting from high altitude, heavily crashing into the ground and blasting out a huge pit.

The swordsman who had just drawn his sword and another man roared loudly at the same time.

They opened their mouths, and the blood qi filling them transformed into two large hands that rose to meet the descending stratum.

The two blood‑qi hands slammed heavily onto the stratum.

With a tremendous crash, the blood‑qi hands shattered violently; the two Life Pool Realm experts vomited blood, and blood also sprayed from their nostrils and eye sockets.

Unlike the burly man, who suffered only bodily injury, these two had their own divine abilities forcibly shattered by the stratum, damaging not just their flesh but their souls, the very source of their magical power.

Their souls gravely wounded, excruciating pain raged inside their skulls; they emitted anguished howls, turned into two wisps of light, and fled at top speed.

On the ground, the burly man whose bones were all broken also gave a strange cry and leapt up; he staggered, his body constantly emitting a hoarse grating sound from grinding broken bones, and without looking back he abandoned all his subordinates and fled the way he had come.

Everything happened too quickly.

Hundreds of Udumbara clan's golden-armored cultivators watched helplessly as the stratum struck, unable to dodge in the slightest.

Dozens of Chonglou Realm cultivators, in despair, simultaneously launched their weapons; dozens of light ribbons of various colors and lengths hacked at the stratum, sparks flying, yet the stratum remained unscathed while all swords and blades were shattered into pieces.

The stone cavern trembled slightly.

Though the noise was not great, the stratum's blow sent hundreds of Udumbara clan warriors deep underground; afterward the ground undulated like water, the stratum remerged with the earth, and that patch of ground restored itself perfectly, leaving no trace of battle.

The three Life Pool Realm experts had already run several li away, having slipped back into the passageway they came from.

Wu Tie extended his left hand, hooked his fingers toward the three men, and gave a low shout: "Come, come, come…"

Following Wu Tie's summons, the three Life Pool Realm experts found themselves unable to resist; despite their frantic struggling and hysterical cursing, their bodies were utterly out of control, stepping backward one step at a time toward Wu Tie.

In just a short while, the three heavily wounded Life Pool Realm experts arrived at Wu Tie's side.

That burly man let out a loud roar, suddenly turned, and from his hands sprang a hors‑slaying saber over three meters long; a cold light flashed, fire burst along the blade, forming a blazing curtain that swept horizontally at Wu Tie's waist.

Wu Tie stretched out his left hand, opened and closed his five fingers like a tiger's vise, and clamped tightly onto the saber's blade.

The burly man stared at Wu Tie in disbelief, muttering: "What tremendous strength… what a hard… hand!"

Wu Tie shook his fingers, and the hors‑slaying saber exploded with a bang.

A few strands of extremely dim light flowed from the shattered saber's fragments, slowly streaming into Wu Tie's hand.

Wu Tie shook his head dissatisfied; the quality of this hors‑slaying saber was truly poor, containing too little useful essence for him, its effect on strengthening his bones far inferior to the personal weapons of the few Mist Blade wardens of old.

Of course, the saber's quality was certainly far superior to those personal weapons of the Mist Blade wardens.

However, Wu Tie's bones are now so strong it borders on absurd; without a rare treasure, they are hard to benefit him much.

The hors‑slaying saber was shattered by the shock, the burly man was flung back by the recoil, the arm bones he had just reconnected instantly shattered again; his arms hung limp, he retreated dozens of steps, toppled headfirst to the ground, and rolled over several times.

This time, Wu Tie's own qi and blood were also thrown into utter chaos by the shock; he wanted to rely on his own qi and blood to quickly heal his wounds, but it was no longer easy.

The other two, who specialized in spell divine abilities, Life Pool Realm men, glared with murderous intent, secretly forming hand signs and silently chanting incantations, about to launch a spell attack on Wu Tie, when the dharma eye between his brows suddenly opened.

The five-colored lightning violently trembled within his spiritual eye, and the low rumble of thunder echoed through the stone cave.

A mighty aura resembling heavenly might burst forth, and the two scheming fellows hastily dispersed all their spiritual power, standing extremely obediently before Wu Tie, putting on smiling faces and gazing at him almost obsequiously.

"This honored one… we have no grudge against you," a man said, smiling humbly.

"No grudge, then why did you seize us?" Wu Tie looked at the other party.

"We don't know either; we only received the order a few days ago, leading a team to patrol nearby, and just now we got a blue‑insect transmission…" the man said in a low, deferential tone: "If we knew our target was someone as strong as you, how dare we act?"

"You don't know the reason?" Wu Tie recalled the ambush that had just been sent over.

It was obvious that some unknown force was controlling everything.

The man gave a wry smile, thought for a moment, and said carefully: "How about I show you the way? You could go ask our Dahu City's Guardian Grand General? We are merely a branch of the Udumbara Clan; the Guardian Grand General is of the same generation as us, but he is of the direct bloodline……"

"He's the one who gave us the order; perhaps he knows the specific reason?"

Including that sturdy man, the three men looked at Wu Tie warily.

"Dahu City, how strong is it?" Wu Tie sneered at the three.

"Not much, not much—there are only seven or eight commanders at the Life Pool Realm…" the man hurriedly said: "There are about three hundred officers at the Chonglou Realm, and roughly six thousand elites at the ordinary Sensing Profound Realm……"

"After all, although Dahu City is extremely fertile, it's merely a breeding base for tasty aquatic products." The man said with a smile: "It's not worth stationing too many elites here. Our main strength is still placed in the Three Linked Cities."

Wu Tie glanced at the three, raised his hand, and tapped each of their foreheads with a fingertip.

A strand of five‑colored lightning flickered; Wu Tie, using the power of the Divine Thunder of Slaying Evil, forcibly sealed the life pools at the center of their brows—if they dared to stir even a thread of spiritual power, the Divine Thunder of Slaying Evil would erupt and surely inflict grave damage on their life pools.

The life pool not only determines cultivation achievement; the three men's souls also gestate and grow within it—if the life pool is harmed, their souls will surely suffer grave injury.

"Obediently take us to Dahu City… then, think of a way to lure out your peer, the Guardian General." Wu Tie smiled at the three: "I know it's a bit difficult… but you'd better figure out how to do it."

"Lure him out, let me give him a beating, and ask clearly what happened—then we can talk about anything."

"If you can't do it, don't blame me for being rude." Wu Tie smiled at the three, then abruptly turned his head.

A strand of five‑colored electricity as fine as a hair shot out from Wu Tie's spiritual eye and instantly slammed into the distant rock wall.

With a tremendous boom, the lightning scattered; the stone wall was blasted open into a pit a dozen zhang wide and nearly a hundred zhang deep, inside which a speck of red molten rock glowed—this was the rock and soil melted by the lightning's high temperature.

"Right, you've also seen the five‑colored seal outside your life pools… the same thing." Wu Tie smiled at the three, whose faces had turned ashen: "The life pool of a Life Pool Realm cultivator is very strong… its defensive power is extremely strong… but getting hit by such a bolt of lightning probably won't feel good."

The three men cursed Wu Tie over and over in their hearts.

Getting hit like that in the life pool—how could it just feel bad? It's practically lethal, right?

The three gave a bitter smile… the tangled knots of worry in their guts tightened even more.

Those who don't obey Wu Tie will obviously meet a miserable end.

Following Wu Tie's method, they would pitfall the direct‑line members of the Udumbara Clan—indeed, those of a much higher standing than themselves……

Half an hour later, Wu Tie and the others continued on their way.

Before departure, Wu Tie distributed all the grain stored in the Shibao storehouse to those slaves.

As for the masters of Shibao, since they had shown their claws to Wu Tie, he made sure they would never get the chance to do so again.

"If you do wrong, you must be punished—don't you agree that's the principle?"

Wu Tie smiled at the three Life Pool Realm men forced to guide him: "I'm no saint, either."

The three dragged their feet like mourners who had lost their parents, taking heavy steps as they led the way ahead.

Under Wu Tie's urging, the three helplessly gathered up their inner anxiety and resentment, being forced to speed up.

Proceeding along the winding passage for less than a hundred li, a gust of wind stirred ahead, and figures came flying fast—among them were cultivators of the Udumbara Clan clad in golden armor, and many more were dressed in all sorts of strange garments, belonging to various large and small clans of the surrounding areas.

"Seize them, seize them!"

"By order of the Guardian Grand General, seize them!"

At least ten thousand people, extremely fervent, roared loudly as they charged at Wu Tie and the others.

Wu Tie recalled the three azure insects that a certain man had released earlier.

Looking again at the tens of thousands swarming forward ahead, Wu Tie cursed, turned, and shouted loudly: "Run… we can't possibly kill them all."