Chapter 315: Pregnant Woman

The raging flames ran rampant.

Wu Tie, along with the Wu family disciples, had their bodies covered in golden flames.

The Wu family disciples gritted their teeth, letting the flames burn their skin split and flesh torn, without a single person making a sound.

Vast qi-blood essence flowed, the scorched skin and flesh continually peeled off, and the damaged body constantly repaired itself.

This is tempering, just as refining fine iron into steel; this pain is also a form of tempering.

"Take a good look at these demons' methods," Xuanming Die said softly.

Wu Tie's forehead eye of law opened, a beam of hazy divine light shining upon the void.

He saw that the fortresses on both sides of the Great Rift Valley were wrapped in a layer of bluish-white cold light, thin as rippling water; under the wild impact of the true solar fire, this layer of cold light constantly undulated, yet remained extraordinarily supple and never broken.

Inside the fortress, the dwarven warriors, drenched in blood, raised their weapons and howled hysterically.

The poisonous bats, poisonous spiders, and countless low-ranking warriors of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom besieging the fortress were instantly slain by the Sun Golden Shuttle; some fortresses that had been on the verge of collapse, liable to be breached at any moment, instantly turned from peril to safety.

Through the thin cold light, the dwarven warriors gleefully admired that brilliant, dazzling golden sea of fire that hid endless killing intent.

"That is…" Wu Tie murmured while gazing at that layer of bluish-white cold light, "It is Yin Star Power… they have set up formations in every fortress to draw in Yin Star Power, using it to resist the true solar fire."

"What a remarkable method." Xuanming Die sighed beside him, "If the demons of Great Jin lacked this means, suppressing us would not be so easy for them."

Wu Tie's mouth corner twitched.

This tactic is truly shameless, not to mention unreasonable.

The Sun Golden Shuttle's blanket attack easily destroyed the vast cannon‑fodder forces mobilized by the Fuxi Divine Kingdom, while the fortresses of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom, shielded by Yin Star Power, faced no risk whatsoever under the impact of the true solar fire.

Truly utterly unscrupulous.

A howling gale surged forth, rolling wave after wave of fire. The lingering power of the Sun Golden Shuttle continued to ravage for a little over a moment; only then did the high‑altitude fire clouds slowly disperse, and the sea of fire on the ground gradually die out.

On the high mountains, the bluish‑white Yin Power outside each fortress dissipated at once, and many dwarven warriors stood on the battlements, proudly blowing their horns.

The deep, resonant horn calls echoed back and forth in the Great Rift Valley; inside the valley it was utterly silent, not a poisonous bat flew out, nor a poisonous spider crawled up.

The mountains on both sides of the Great Rift Valley were scorched crimson by the true solar fire; after about an hour or so, the reddened slopes gradually returned to their original hue.

The corpses piled like mountains vanished completely, leaving nothing but clean ground, not a trace of residue.

Gradually, cultivators rose from the fortresses into the air, vigorous and high‑spirited, stepping on flowing light as they shuttled between fortress after fortress; some even spanned the Great Rift Valley or hovered above it, full of pride as they looked down.

In the distant sky, the drifting clouds shattered, and hundreds of tower ships of the Demon‑Suppressing Hall lined up in a single file, unhurriedly piercing the void as they flew over.

When the tower ships were still about a hundred li from the Great Rift Valley, large masses of Demon‑Suppressing Hall troops leapt out, forming neat ranks that pressed toward the valley.

The flames on Wu Tie and the others had already died out; everyone's qi and blood circulated, the scorched skin and flesh continually flaking away to reveal fresh new skin beneath.

"How are we supposed to keep fighting this battle?" asked a Wu family novice, just like Wu Tie, fighting for the first time, feeling a bit disheartened.

The young Wu family disciples had their morale struck by the terrifying power of the Sun Golden Shuttle, each feeling a bit listless.

This utterly unreasonable, table‑overturning style of attack…

"How to fight? Chop off their heads—that's how." Xingtian Xian burst into laughter, swinging his great axe with force.

"You brats, you can't even take this little blow? What is this? How few have died? Those bats, spiders and the like—underground there are as many as you want; killing more of them changes nothing."

"Rat‑folk, dwarves, lizard‑folk, snake‑folk… hehe, as long as they have enough food, within ten years they'll breed nest after nest, and there will still be as many as you need."

"Wasn't that last extermination campaign nothing but mountains of corpses and rivers of blood?" Xingtian Xian roared loudly, "This little scene is too much for you? Later there will be even bigger stages awaiting you."

With a wild laugh, Xingtian Xian threw down his great axe; his body shuddered, a thunder‑like roar burst from within, and his physique rapidly swelled, becoming a giant of thousands of zhang in height in just a few breaths.

With a great shout, Xingtian Xian seized a nearby mountain in one hand.

A mountain three or four thousand zhang tall was ripped out by Xingtian Xian's sheer strength; he laughed loudly, holding aloft this pitch‑black mountain with both hands, gave it a slight aim, spun his body, and flung the mountain away with a shake of his arms.

That enormous mountain peak, bearing a terrifying sound of tearing through the air, shot off almost straight; in just a few breaths it flew over a thousand li and struck squarely a tower ship of the Demon‑Suppressing Hall.

With a tremendous crash, the tower ship over a hundred zhang long was smashed to pieces by the mountain's blow.

The mountain barbarously shattered that tower ship, then slammed head‑first into the summit of another mountain behind it. The fortress on that peak exploded with a bang, and instantly every cultivator and every dwarven warrior inside turned into minced meat.

"You brats, picture this: tens of thousands of mountains flung across the sky, great rivers whipped into lashes that flail about, tracts of land a thousand li square overturned, hundreds of thousands of soldiers slapped into pulp by the upheaved ground… that is a true grand spectacle."

"Sons of the Wu family, do not fear death. How to fight? Behead the foe and trade the heads for merit; strip them naked and loot their wealth; breach their cities and carry off their women… set fire, burn their fields; set fire, burn their homes; set fire, burn everything they own!"

"Extermination wars know no cease‑fire; as long as a head remains, we kill, we burn, we destroy, we slaughter…" Xingtian Xian's eyes grew bloodshot, and he low‑growled, "We are born destined to have no end with the demons of Great Jin."

Xingtian Xian roared loudly, lecturing the young Wu family disciples.

His violent assault quickly drew the attention of the Demon‑Suppressing Hall forces. From an exceptionally huge tower ship, three elders clad in black robes with jade belts around their waists, their faces ancient and simple, rose into the air and swiftly flew toward this side.

The three elders' cultivation was extraordinarily strong; they turned into lightning, fleeing at incredible speed, and in just a few flashes they had streaked over a thousand li.

When they were still several hundred li from Wu Tie and the others, the three elders simultaneously chanted their incantations, and a sheet of thundercloud suddenly condensed in the void above them.

Within the pitch‑black thundercloud, electricity surged; thick‑as‑a‑water‑jar lightning dragons roared terrifyingly, continually exploding into massive balls of fire that rained down from the sky. Once these crimson fireballs struck the ground they detonated violently, shattering mountains and earth, sending boulders flying across the heavens.

Wu Tie felt only a searing pain in his eardrums; the terrifying thunderclap made his head buzz incessantly.

The three elders' thunder arts are profound and unfathomable; even the prelude to their attack already wields such tremendous power.

Xingtian Xian, together with two other Wu family elders of the Womb Storage Realm, roared in unison, seized their weapons, and charged at the three elders.

Kuafu Gang of the Wu family's Kuafu clan gave a simple‑minded laugh, stamped his foot hard, his body shooting up to giant height like Xingtian Xian, and then he slapped his palm toward the thundercloud in the sky.

Lightning dragons, accompanied by fearsome thunderclaps, wound down from the cloud and frenziedly hacked at Kuafu Gang's arms.

Kuafu Gang's body blazed with blinding electricity, almost turning translucent; he laughed loudly, his palms moving like wind, continually striking the thundercloud and literally tearing it apart bit by bit.

Xingtian Xian and his two companions had already engaged the three elders in combat.

The three elders, unwilling or unable to fight Xingtian Xian's trio at close quarters, turned themselves into lightning, darting through the air while continuously spewing violet lightning pillars that bombarded wildly, causing Xingtian Xian and his companions to blaze with electricity all over.

The flight speed of Xingtian Xian's trio was clearly inferior to that of the three elders.

Battered by the lightning pillars, they were in a sorry state, each shouting in fury, yet they could never catch up to the foe, unable to deal with those three slippery elders.

Far off, Wu Tie saw dozens of tower ships hurtling rapidly toward this side.

The prow decks of the tower ships split open, sharp‑tip aurora cannons protruding from the hulls; every barrel flashed with blinding white light, obviously already charging and ready to fire at any moment.

Xuanming Die gave a low, gruff call: "Withdraw… we belong to the Hunting Camp, we are not the main troops tasked with assault and protracted battle, hum…"

Xuanming Die formed hand seals with both hands, heavily pressing the bone staff in his hand onto the ground.

On all sides, a gloomy, bone‑piercing cold wind suddenly blew from among the mountains, and vast expanses of mist arose out of nowhere, like milk, quickly filling the surrounding valleys and gullies.

As soon as the wind blew, the thick mist surged up into the sky, and Wu Tie and the others were quickly submerged in the thick mist.

Xing Tian Shan and his two companions angrily shouted at the three slippery old men like loaches, then lowered their bodies and quickly darted into the thick mist.

The three old men frowned, turning into bolts of lightning they swiftly swirled and weaved above the thick mist, but ultimately they dared not risk pursuing into the mist; they could only angrily shout and provoke for a while, and seeing no response, they could only fly back onto the floating ships.

The Demon Suppressing Palace's floating ships flew one after another to the ruins of the captured fortress, and large amounts of building materials continuously flew out of the ships; a great host of towering giants with skin shining like silver skillfully constructed, and they could finish a new fortress in just over an hour.

A great throng of dwarf warriors in heavy armor surged into the fortress, and countless arms and supplies were sent into the fortress storehouse.

After just a night's work, Wu Tie and the others, cooperating with the Fuxi Divine Kingdom's great army, fully restored those hard‑won fortresses and stationed even more, stronger troops there.

More floating ships flew over from the distant horizon.

Ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand…

When the east showed a hint of fish‑belly white and most of the moon had already set behind the western hills, a huge force of the Demon Suppressing Palace had gathered near the Great Rift Valley, and every fortress was packed tight with elite soldiers.

A sharp, long howl rang out from the Great Rift Valley.

A black cloud shot up into the sky, and a swarm of poisonous bats even larger than the previous days surged upward; countless poisonous spiders squeaked "kee‑kee" as they crawled up the rock walls, and ever more strange underground creatures swarmed out, fearlessly attacking the Demon Suppressing Palace army.

This time, the Fuxi Divine Kingdom seemed to have gotten serious.

Among the low‑rank soldiers serving as cannon fodder, a large number of half‑dragon people suddenly appeared—human bodies with dragon heads, several meters tall, covered in black scales, and bearing a pair of huge flesh‑covered wings on their backs. These half‑dragon people exuded a domineering aura, and even the weakest among them possessed strength at or above the tenth level of the Chonglou Realm.

These half‑dragon people were further clad in heavy armor and wielded gleaming, elusive primordial weapons, their equipment extremely superb.

They formed ranks and charged the Demon Suppressing Palace army, catching it completely off guard; in just a quarter of an hour, one could see nearly a hundred floating ships belching black smoke as they fell from the sky, and some of the ships plunged straight into the bottomless Great Rift Valley.

Wu Tie and the others did not take part in the battle.

Under Xing Tian Shan's leadership, they wandered through the complex mountains for a long time and finally arrived at a valley of jagged rocks and extreme depth.

Xing Tian Shan gave a low, deep shout, and a cliff at the end of the valley suddenly split open, after which a squad of Wu Clan members riding giant dragon lizards rushed out quickly.

After over ten thousand Wu Clan members surged out of the mountain cliff, Wu Tie suddenly widened his eyes.

A gray rock lizard walked out of the mountain cliff slowly and steadily, and on its back sat several pregnant women with their bellies swollen high.

One gray rock lizard after another crawled out of the cliff, bringing more pregnant women.

Wu Tie opened his mouth wide and stared in bewilderment.

Wu Jin was the same; he stood beside Wu Tie, completely stunned.

This is a punitive expedition, this is war, this is a place where people can die at any moment.

How could there be so many pregnant women?

The Wu Clan elders, what are they sending all these pregnant women here for?

Although the Wu Clan's people are all stalwart and fierce—even the women are not weak in cultivation, and their brute strength is tremendous, being women capable of splitting tigers and leopards—yet with their bellies swollen, who could expect them to fight and slaughter?

Wu Zhan slapped his own head hard and said, "Oh, is that the thing? Well, back then my strength was too weak; I wasn't qualified to get involved in this matter, I only heard about it… tsk."

Wu Tie and Wu Jin both looked at Wu Zhan.

Wu Zhan shook his head, pointed at Wu Zheng and said, "Ask your uncle—he knows better than I do. I've never been involved in this; I only heard an old coot mention it once… tsk, these big‑bellied folk, this battle isn't going to be easy."

An old man whose hair and beard had turned ivory‑yellow, frail and bent as if a breeze could blow him away, walked over trembling and said in a soft voice to Xing Tian Shan, Xuanming Die, and the others, "This time the women sent over are more numerous—over twenty thousand. With so many people they're very conspicuous and the risk is great, so you must cause a big commotion outside."

"All together I'm giving you thirty thousand clan members; make a fuss, fight desperately, so that those demons' thoughts are all on you."

"Roughly speaking, that's what these two days are about. You, act as the situation demands."