Chapter 320

The great battle continues.

Iron Blood City stands firm.

Under the fierce assault of thirty thousand Wu clan disciples, aided by the Drought Witch Altar, Iron Blood First City held out for two days and one night, yet still remained standing.

A giant drake lizard lay atop the great mountain, Wu Tie and Old Iron sat on its head, glancing at Iron Blood City hundreds of li away, then looked around for a while.

The terrain around Iron Blood First City had become bowl‑shaped, the ground sunk downward by several hundred zhang.

One mountain after another kept crashing down, one landmass after another slammed down, the surrounding mountains were shattered countless times, the city's warriors did not know how many were killed or wounded by the shocks, yet they persisted.

The city's defensive wards were breached seven or eight times, the Wu clan disciples had already invaded the city four or five times, but the defending troops, using their own flesh and blood, forcibly drove the Wu army back out.

In particular, several Embryo‑Storage realm experts in the city spared no effort, self‑detonating their divine embryos to fight to the death; even Xing Tian Eel was seriously wounded and now lies beside the Drought Witch Altar receiving emergency treatment.

In the brief two‑day‑one‑night fierce battle, Wu Tie witnessed all kinds of gruesome scenes; brush and ink, words truly cannot describe them.

"Truly desperate." Wu Tie muttered a sigh.

"The city's defenders have suffered fifty percent killed, thirty percent seriously wounded, and less than twenty percent lightly wounded or unharmed." Old Iron lay nearby, his chin resting comfortably on his two claws, and said in a low voice: "We have no choice but to fight desperately; Xing Tian Eel clearly said he would leave no defender alive."

With the Drought Witch Altar aiding the battle, among the thirty thousand Wu clan disciples, over ten thousand were seriously wounded, while fatalities were temporarily none.

The Xuanming Butterfly controlled the Drought Witch Altar; battlefield rescue was timely, showing the Wu clan disciples' combat strength.

Wu Tie couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety as he lamented: "Even with the Drought Witch Altar's aid, we've fought to this state; this Iron Blood City truly is not easy to take—no wonder, after all these years, it has only been breached twenty times."

Another great mountain screamed down from the sky, its violent shockwave sweeping outward, scraping yet another layer off the ground beside Iron Blood City.

The dimmed, hole‑ridden city defenses exploded with a boom, the light curtain shattering into countless drifting specks of light.

Outside the city, seated on the ground after swallowing large quantities of healing and strength‑restoring pills, the Wu clan disciples drew a breath; clad in armor riddled with holes, wielding weapons whose blades were full of notches, they howled and launched another fierce assault on Iron Blood City.

Iron Blood City's walls had been smashed to rubble, no longer serving any defensive purpose.

Tens of thousands of Demon‑Suppressing Army soldiers, likewise covered in wounds, many missing arms or legs, roared loudly, wearing the same tattered armor, gripping broken weapons, and charged like mad beasts at the attacking Wu clan disciples.

Behind them, even more Demon‑Suppressing Army soldiers, their bodies covered in scale wounds, were swallowing pills while struggling to re‑form their ranks.

As the two armies were about to clash, a tremendous boom sounded; a mountain block a thousand zhang in size smashed down onto the Demon‑Suppressing Army's formation, instantly turning over ten thousand soldiers into blood mist without a sound, while tens of thousands nearby lost footing and collapsed to the ground.

More than a dozen feeble Demon‑Suppressing Army commanders transformed into streams of light and rushed toward the Wu clan experts in the sky; on the ground, the Wu clan disciples plunged into the first wave of the Demon‑Suppressing Army, their eyes blood‑red as they unleashed indiscriminate slaughter.

Boulder after boulder kept being hurled from afar into the city.

One after another, the prohibition towers were smashed to pieces; the city's dwarven soldiers could no longer keep up with repairs.

Groups of giant drake lizards flapped their wings, gliding low, repeatedly opening their mouths to spew misty Cold Qi onto the ground; then vast sheets of lightning flickered rapidly within the misty Cold Qi, knocking down masses of Demon‑Suppressing Army soldiers.

The seriously wounded Xing Tian Eel and others rose, drew a deep breath, and their essence‑blood burned rapidly; their hair turned patchy withered white, as if they had aged a dozen years, yet their external wounds healed instantly.

Using a secret art, they sacrificed essence‑blood and lifespan to instantly mend their whole bodies; Xing Tian Eel and the others swelled to a height of about a thousand zhang, brandishing their weapons as they joined the battle.

Within Iron Blood City, blood and qi surged heavenward; this time the city was truly breached.

The Demon‑Suppressing Army inside the city could no longer resist the Wu clan's invasion; the Embryo‑Storage and Sea‑of‑Qi realm commanders and commandants, each one, had crimson flames ignite on their bodies like rising red fire in mist, and they were burned one after another into desiccated corpses.

The Drought Witch Altar displayed tremendous power; the two ornamental pillars inside the city shook violently, the two blazing Yingdragons that had shot out from within the pillars were already slain by the female figure condensed from the altar, the pillars' surfaces cracked profusely and could collapse at any moment.

This city appears unable to hold out any longer.

A thousand li away, on a mountain peak opposite Wu Tie, a plume of Wu‑fire wolf‑smoke shot up to the heavens, a blood‑colored smoke column rising straight into the sky for hundreds of li, clearly visible even from afar.

Then came the second, third, fourth…

One after another, blood‑red wolf‑smoke pillars stood between heaven and earth; in that direction, a large number of enemies were approaching.

Wu Tie's forehead divine eye opened, a sheet of chaotic divine light illuminating the void; he saw, tens of thousands of li away, countless barges like a frenzied swarm of hornets, each dragging a long white wake, continually flying toward Iron Blood City.

Faster than those barges were over a thousand Embryo‑Storage realm experts.

Each employed their divine evasion techniques, turning into streaks of light that flashed like lightning across the void, their mighty momentum rushing straight toward us.

Within Wu Tie's divine eye, the divine light flickered rapidly; he saw a Wu clan disciple who had just released a blood‑red wolf‑smoke, unable to dodge, as an Embryo‑Storage realm Demon‑Suppressing Army commander flew past from above and casually pressed down with a palm.

With just that strike, the Wu clan disciple whose cultivation had reached the Sea‑of‑Qi realm, together with his drake lizard mount, silently exploded into a cloud of ash.

This was the first Wu clan member to fall in this surprise attack.

Wu Tie's eye corners twitched violently; he worriedly glanced toward Iron Blood City.

Wu Jin wielded a great axe, his left hand holding a Zhuwu wooden shield to block left and right, like a tiger among sheep, he was hacking so that flesh and blood flew everywhere. Wu Zhan, Wu Yin, and Wu Tong followed close behind Wu Jin, their great axes continually chopping down, each swing sending out great sheets of blood light.

Wu Zhan, Wu Yin, and Wu Tong are Giant‑Divine‑Soldier bodies; their sheer physical strength alone can match Embryo‑Storage realm experts, and with the various strange weapons within them, their combat power is astonishing. With the three coordinating, Wu Jin truly is like marching into an uninhabited realm—none of his opponents can withstand a single exchange.

Xing Tian Eel and the others had already seen the blood‑red wolf‑smoke continually rising in the distance, and a tremendous roar like thunder echoed across heaven and earth.

"Watch out, you brats, demonic reinforcements are coming. Hey, there are plenty of experts!"

Xing Tian Eel slapped with his palm, sending hundreds of Demon‑Suppressing Army soldiers blocking him spitting blood and collapsing; in just a few steps he reached the city's supply depot. One axe blow lifted the depot's roof; Xing Tian Eel flicked his left wrist, and the bracelet on it spat out a beam of strong light, turning the mountain‑high stores into a long dragon that was continually sucked into the bracelet.

Other Wu clan experts likewise proceeded in accordance with the law.

They employed divine powers to plunder, to their heart's content, every resource within the city that could be scavenged.

Even the destroyed prohibition towers, they also swept clean the arrays, array devices, and various rare materials inside used to set up the city's defenses…… even the towers' foundations, those extraordinarily hard rare stones, they left none untouched.

Wherever they passed, it was like a locust swarm sweeping through, leaving behind only some broken bricks and tiles; anything of slight value was completely looted.

Wu Tie stood on the giant drake lizard's head and began to chant the incantation.

The ancient, mysterious chant swiftly stirred the surge of heavenly and earthly primordial energy around him; Wu Tie's hands moved rapidly in the air, drawing ancient Daoist talismans, continually drawing in the surrounding primordial energy.

Above Wu Tie's head, dark clouds rapidly gathered; at first just a patch of clouds a few li across, they soon rolled outward, spreading to thirty‑fifty li, then three‑hundred‑five‑hundred li…

When the mana in Wu Tie's Sea of Qi was nearly exhausted, that expanse of dark clouds had already expanded to a radius of about a thousand li.

This is a pure ancient immortal method.

With one person's strength, borrowing the immense power of heaven and earth, mobilizing the boundless energy of the universe—like four taels moving a thousand catties—using a unit of force to move ten‑fold, hundred‑fold, or even billion‑fold power, erupting with unimaginable attack power.

Wu Tie's whole body shone with divine light as he strained to control the thick cloud layer covering a thousand li.

The Harvest Tree rapidly inhaled and exhaled the surrounding primordial energy; wave after wave of vast primordial energy poured into Wu Tie's Sea of Qi, condensing into clear, flawless mana crystals that fell to the bottom of the Sea of Qi, then instantly burned away.

"Give me a fulcrum, and I can move the Earth!" Wu Tie laughed brightly: "This saying contains the Heaven‑Earth Great Dao."

Burning one's own mana to mobilize ten‑fold, hundred‑fold, or even billion‑fold of heaven‑earth‑cosmic energy… this is the supreme might of the ancient great divine adepts.

Wu Tie flicked his finger, and within the heavy black clouds countless electric lights flashed rapidly; thick-as-water-tank electric currents surged and howled in the clouds, wave after wave of terrifying thunder booming continuously from the clouds.

In the distance, the escape lights of over a thousand Embryonic Treasury realm cultivators rushing toward Iron Blood City all paused briefly.

Wu Tie's Wind and Rain summoning divine ability was immensely powerful; having mastered the complete Wind and Rain summoning, the aura of power he erupted with could faintly rival that of an Embryonic Treasury realm expert.

A Demon-Suppressing Army commander gave a low, cold snort: "The enemy ahead is a Wu family monster… Wu family members excel at physical attacks; even if they have magical arts and divine abilities, they are mostly curses and nightmares… When did they master such a great divine technique?"

Another, obviously of extremely high status, whose aura faintly surpassed the others by a large margin, a long-robed old man gave a cold snort: "Wind and Rain summoning, the art of controlling thunder… to break it is possible."

The old man drew a deep breath and then, like Wu Tie, began to chant the incantation.

As the old man's chant rang out, the surrounding heaven and earth's elemental energy surged violently; the fluctuation spread rapidly from three to five li to up to a thousand li, then directly permeated a radius of ten thousand li.

The old man swiftly waved both hands in the air, tracing one after another profound and exquisite Daoist talisman sigils.

A vast expanse of white vapor appeared above his head, the white vapor rapidly spreading outward, gradually blanketing the ten-thousand-li void; immediately thereafter, a blazing light emerged behind the white vapor.

"Nine Suns Soaring Heavenward!" the old man's eyes snapped open, and a sheet of blazing red light erupted from his whole body.

The white vapor split open abruptly, and nine suns each ten-thousand-zhang in diameter spewed blazing red light, leaping forth from the vapor.

With the Nine Suns Soaring Heavenward, pure yang qi filled the skies; Wu Tie's summoned thousand-li thunderclouds trembled violently, layer after layer of black clouds evaporated under the sunlight, and the area covered by the thunderclouds shrank rapidly from a diameter of one thousand li to nine hundred, eight hundred, seven hundred li…

Wu Tie's body shook violently for a moment, and his viscera were wracked with sharp pain.

The old man's Nine Suns Soaring Heavenward perfectly countered Wu Tie's Wind and Rain summoning and thunder-controlling art; furthermore, the opponent was a high-level Embryonic Treasury realm expert, Wu Tie's cultivation was far inferior, his grasp of the Great Dao worlds apart, and in a clash of divine abilities and techniques, Wu Tie was no match at all.

"Go!" Wu Tie gave a low, deep roar; when the thunderclouds rapidly collapsed to a diameter of five hundred li, he thrust both hands forward.

The sky-wide thunderclouds suddenly collapsed to a radius of ten li, and then countless clusters of lightning-fire balls each a hundred zhang in diameter, accompanied by terrifying roars, whistled out from the clouds and slammed head-on into the thousand Demon-Suppressing Palace experts who had come to reinforce.

Wu Tie's strike truly reached the level of an Embryonic Treasury realm cultivator.

But what he faced were over a thousand genuine Embryonic Treasury realm experts outside; they either flew out weapons, unleashed secret treasures, or a few burly fellows simply bore the impact with their bodies, easily blocking Wu Tie's strike.

"Realm insufficient, cultivation lacking." Wu Tie heaved a deep sigh: "If I were at the Embryonic Treasury realm…"

Lao Tie glanced at Wu Tie: "You cultivate the Primordial Scripture; your foundation is too solid, so a slower cultivation speed is only natural… If you were at the Embryonic Treasury realm, these chicken-and-dog lackeys wouldn't be enough… Who is it?"

Before Lao Tie could finish speaking, he suddenly let out a great shout, his body instantly turning into a vast black wind that shot off diagonally.

Three thumb-thick golden ropes, glittering and exhaling auspicious clouds and propitious qi, turned into golden light, barely grazing Lao Tie's body as they flew past, almost wrapping around him.

Wu Tie's reaction speed was slightly slower, and twelve similarly golden ropes, writhing like snakes, suddenly coiled around him.

With a sizzling sound, these ropes, like spirit snakes, rapidly wound themselves around Wu Tie in layer after layer.

Wu Tie gave a low, stern rebuke, and the White Tiger Split appeared beside him; he was about to use the White Tiger Split to cut the ropes on his body when a three-inch-long and three-inch-wide gold seal silently appeared above his head and came down with a heavy blow.

With a booming crash, this tiny gold seal was heavier than dozens of large mountains combined.

The blast sent flesh and blood flying from Wu Tie's head; the gold seal slammed heavily into his skull, issuing a dull, bell-like roar like a great bronze bell, and large sparks showered out.

The giant draconic lizard beneath Wu Tie's feet let out a mournful, wailing howl.

This blow was too heavy; Wu Tie's legs sank violently into the giant draconic lizard's head, the beast unable to bear the weight, its body slammed hard to the ground, its brains bursting instantly as it exploded headfirst and died.

Dozens of warriors, their aura grim and clad in blood-colored armor, appeared silently beside Wu Tie.

A middle-aged man in a blood-red robe, a black sash tied at his waist, left hand gripping a scarlet document, silently appeared: "Seize this dare-to-defy military law, attacker of allies… Take him down! Escort him! Quick!"

The middle-aged man instinctively glanced toward Iron Blood City: "Hurry up and take him away… This bunch of Wu family lunatics isn't easy to provoke."