Chapter 337: Unable to Refuse

Pale blue-white, with a hint of blood at its edge, the round moon hung lazily in the midday sky.

A light as cold and pale as a corpse's white eyeball fell on the battlefield outside Demon-Suppressing City; after a moment of fierce fighting……no, after a moment of slaughter, corpses piled like mountains outside the city, bodies nearly as high as the city walls, and in dozens of nearby valleys, pools of congealed blood several feet deep had accumulated.

Wu Tie and the others stood blankly on the flying carpet, their whole bodies icy cold as they watched the myriad warriors of all tribes surge out in great numbers from the teleportation array.

They roared like beasts, trampling over piles of corpses, charging hundreds of li, scaling the walls of Demon-Suppressing City, only to be cut down on the spot by the thousands of mighty divine soldiers stationed on the walls.

Under Xi Qi's command, the Main Army Camp, besides slaughtering hundreds of thousands of the city's defending Demon-Suppressing troops in the first wave, after exchanging two moves with the reinforcements that arrived from above, all the soldiers inside Demon-Suppressing City fled into the thick city walls to hide.

More than three thousand pitch-black divine soldiers, wielding specially made great two-handed longswords, mounted the walls and began a ruthless, unrestrained massacre.

Countless warriors of all tribes rushed forward; these divine soldiers stood on the walls, their hands flashing as they swung their longswords, sending out blade after blade of transparent light that swept hundreds of zhang, cutting countless warriors in half at the waist like straw.

Wave after wave of warriors charged forward, wave after wave of warriors were slain.

The more warriors charged forward, the more warriors were slain.

The divine soldiers knew no fear, no pain, no fatigue; their drive was nearly inexhaustible, and they lacked even a trace of pity or mercy. Stationed on the walls, they frenziedly sliced the enemies rushing at them.

In just a short quarter of an hour, heaven only knows how many people they killed.

In short, every few breaths, great sheets of flame would erupt from the walls of Demon-Suppressing City, burning the mountain-like piles of corpses to ash.

Even so, the corpses piled at the base of the walls remained stacked high, ever higher.

Besides Wu Tie and the other Wu family juniors, the peoples of the other tribes also watched from afar, mouths agape, each standing there like a wooden post, dazed.

Is there any point in throwing away their lives like this?

Far off, a burly, rough-hewn man clad in a flood-dragon hide suddenly bellowed: 'Enough, Marshal Qi! Is this what you said? Are you sure you can breach Demon-Suppressing City? What the hell are you doing?'

Xi Qi's voice spread unhurriedly in all directions: 'As Marshal, I act—why must I explain myself to you? But since you ask, then… never mind; it also spares you from misunderstanding me, thinking I'm needlessly wasting the lives of our lads.'

A blood-colored banner rose from the central command of the Main Army Camp; the enormous banner stood a thousand zhang tall, its silver threads outlining the image of a man with a human body and a snake's tail.

The blood-colored banner exuded a thick blood mist from its entirety; a fierce wind blew on the banner, and with just a slight sway, immeasurable blood surged skyward from the corpse piles outside the city, even the pooled congealed blood lifting off.

In the high sky appeared a sea of blood, within which scarlet lightning bolts coiled and rolled.

Inside the Main Army Camp, countless cultivators chanted incantations and formed seals simultaneously, then blasted their mana into the blood sea.

Countless thin threads of blood-colored lightning fell like a rainstorm onto Demon-Suppressing City; thousands of divine soldiers took the brunt, their bodies instantly stiffening, then large patches of rust appeared on them.

In just a few breaths, thousands of those formidable divine soldiers were blown to pieces by the blood-colored lightning.

The lightning struck the high, thick walls of Demon-Suppressing City; the all-metal walls also showed countless rust spots. Accompanied by a low rumble of thunder, the walls corroded, cracked, and large sections began to collapse.

The complex troop passageways and hidden soldier caves within the walls were exposed; the countless Demon-Suppressing soldiers concealed inside the walls let out sharp cries, and though the blood-colored lightning seemed gentle and weak, where it struck their bodies they turned into chunks of blood water, each man rapidly collapsing and melting.

After the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, the hundreds-of-li-long front wall was ground to dust bit by bit by the blood-colored lightning.

The millions of Demon-Suppressing troops hidden within the walls likewise turned into pools of blood.

Then the blood sea rolled onward, flying into Demon-Suppressing City, where a torrential rain of blood-colored lightning fell upon the buildings inside.

Inside Demon-Suppressing City, many buildings' surfaces flickered with strong spiritual light, as heavy light curtains shrouded each structure; moreover, vast numbers of barrier attacks shot up from the buildings, turning into a sky-filling tide of light that slammed into the blood sea.

The blood sea violently clashed with the spell attacks from those buildings; strong light after light bombarded the blood sea, as vast expanses of blood water turned into vapor and dissipated, the blood sea's volume continually shrinking.

Xi Qi's voice sounded again: 'You all, what else do you have to say? What I have done is precisely to breach Demon-Suppressing City at the smallest cost.'

'As Marshal, I have planned this battle; we will surely win greatly…… sacrificing a few low-ranking soldiers while preserving high-level cultivators—is that not what has always been necessary in the countless campaigns of my Fuxi Divine Kingdom?' Xi Qi sneered: 'Capturing Demon-Suppressing City, this great merit is shared by all…… what else do you have to say?'

That burly, rough man exhaled, his face flushed red, and he cupped his fists toward Xi Qi in a salute.

'Marshal Qi is wise; I was wrong.'

The tribal leaders watching all around nodded in praise; now they understood, Xi Qi actually had such a method.

Those spell barriers inside Demon-Suppressing City are clearly not to be trifled with; although we don't know by what means Xi Qi broke the great defensive formation, if those internal attack formations were assaulted rashly, his Main Army Camp would surely suffer heavy losses.

Every single one in the Main Army Camp is elite.

And as for these cannon-fodder tribes…… just look at those rat people, dwarves, dwarves…… look at those lizard people, snake people, python people……

In the Fuxi Divine Kingdom, these non-human, or rather semi-human peoples, have extremely low status and have always been used as slaves and cannon fodder.

Moreover, these lowly peoples excel at breeding; take the rat people, for example—give them enough food and within three to five years their numbers can multiply manyfold, even tenfold!

Rather than wear down the Main Army Camp in a thunderous ordeal, it's better to sacrifice these lowly slaves and cannon fodder.

From all directions came the laughter and flattery of many tribal chiefs.

'Marshal Qi is wise; it's just that we don't understand his strategies.'

'Indeed, Demon-Suppressing City isn't easy to take; using these lowly things to breach the walls counts as them accruing merit.'

'Well, these lowly peoples are like seedlings—cut them down and they'll grow back, endless in supply; dead is dead.'

'It's just wasting a bit of grain and fodder—what's the big deal?'

The tribal chiefs chuckled as they voiced their opinions, while on the ground, countless warriors of all tribes continued to surge toward Demon-Suppressing City like a flood.

This side of Demon-Suppressing City's wall was destroyed; countless warriors roared as they charged into the city, where the myriad spell barriers inside erupted explosively, the powerful barriers directly reducing countless warriors to dust.

Blood mist sprayed across the sky, the blood mist shooting up in all directions and vanishing into the blood mist above.

Then came fine threads of blood-colored thunder, continually striking the great and small buildings within Demon-Suppressing City.

The defensive formation outside a high tower was breached, several attack formations were broken, and hundreds of Demon-Suppressing soldiers poured out from the tower, shouting as they rushed toward the endless sea of enemy warriors before them.

These Demon-Suppressing soldiers are all elite; even the weakest among them have attained the Chonglou Realm.

As for these tribal warriors…… serving as cannon fodder, many of them haven't even reached Foundation Establishment, relying solely on raw bodily strength to fight.

Hundreds of Demon-Suppressing soldiers immediately stirred up a bloody gale in the boundless sea of people.

A thunderbolt struck down, shattering hundreds of warriors into pieces.

A gust of savage wind blew past, reducing hundreds of warriors to flesh and mud.

A sword light swept sideways, snapping at the waist over a thousand warriors.

A burst of primordial vigor erupted, felling thousands of warriors at once.

A cultivator at the Chonglou Realm can easily slaughter tens of thousands of weak tribal warriors before finally being struck down by the blood-colored lightning falling from above.

A cultivator at the Life Pool Realm can easily wipe out hundreds of thousands of feeble cannon-fodder warriors, after which the blood-colored lightning drifting down will slowly dissolve him into blood.

Hundreds of elite Demon-Suppressing Army troops inflicted horrifying casualties on the warriors of all tribes within just a few dozen breaths, and great swaths of blood mist surged into the sky, merging into that vast sea of blood.

Building after building was captured.

Wave after wave of Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers kept pouring out, inflicting horrifying casualties on the warriors of all tribes, and then were slain by those blood-colored lightning.

Occasionally, great hosts of giant divine soldiers would rush out from building after building; these giant divine soldiers could withstand stronger attacks, and the casualties they inflicted were even more terrible. Whenever a great host of giant divine soldiers appeared, they could almost slaughter to the last the warriors of all tribes who had charged into the city, and only then would they be annihilated by the blood-colored thunder.

An endless, dark mass of people surged into Demon-Suppressing City, and then perished together with the Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers inside the city.

Demon-Suppressing City is vast; after such a frenzied assault lasting two quarters of an hour, the area washed over by the blood-colored lightning amounted to less than one-thousandth of the entire city.

And just how many casualties did the warriors of all tribes suffer?

No one knows.

Besides Wu Tie and Old Iron, no one cares.

Even these brutish fellows of the Wu clan…… Wu Tie clearly heard the Xuanming Butterfly muttering to itself: "How horrible, how horrible…… but it's fine as long as it's not the sons of my Wu clan."

This is the mainstream view of everyone among the great tribes.

These non-human fodder—if they die, they die; even if casualties mount, give them a few years to rest and recuperate, and they'll produce more fodder.

As long as the dead aren't our own kin.

Only Wu Tie felt waves of darkness before his eyes, his heart gripped by waves of anguish.

He had seen the Genesis Memory in the Triple-Linked City.

From his bloodline awakened the ancestral imprint.

Wu Tie knew well that these strangely shaped fellows—whether ratfolk, dwarves, gnomes, or other humanoid or near-human peoples—shared the same origin as humanity; put another way, they are a branch of the vast human system.

All of us share the same root and origin.

Their souls are essentially no different.

Thus their souls can also serve as raw material for soul crystals.

They ought not to be so vilely slaughtered here like livestock.

Wu Tie thought of the gnomes fallen in great swaths, recalling the gnomes raised at the Wu clan's Shibao—those tiny, thoughtful, timid, bashful, diligent, and supple little fellows.

Wu Tie thought of the fully furred ratfolk, recalling Old Bai and his kin.

Those dwarves—Shi Fei that fellow, he has Giant Bloodline, and dwarves likewise have Giant Bloodline…

These fellows ought not to be so vilely treated as trade goods, nor so vilely slain here by such foul means.

Enough have already died.

Wu Tie's face flushed in waves, and a great sense of guilt welled up in his heart.

He ought to have done something long ago.

Rather than stand here blankly watching.

His body swayed, and he wanted to rush out.

But he saw Wu Jin, and then glanced at Wu Zhan, Wu Yin, Wu Tong standing beside Wu Jin…

And also the Wu clansmen nearby.

Wu Tie's body stiffened again, rooted to the spot.

Three hundred li away lay Xi Qi's main army camp, its equipment excellent, its strength formidable, its numbers astonishing.

If Wu Tie were to do something now…

It wouldn't be just him who dies; many would perish, among them the Wu clansmen, even Wu Jin, Wu Zhan, Wu Yin, Wu Tong…

And also Wu Zheng, Xiantian Eel, Xuanming Butterfly…

Wu Tie had not stayed long in the Wu clan's ancestral lands, yet he had already developed deep feelings for this rough bunch of Wu clansmen.

He absolutely must not, because of himself, let these clansmen fall into danger that would not otherwise exist.

On the ground, endless warriors of all tribes kept streaming in an unceasing charge into Demon-Suppressing City.

Xi Qi controlled that blood-colored banner, still slowly demolishing building after building of the Demon-Suppressing Hall, and constantly Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers rushed out from those structures, inflicting massive casualties on the warriors of all tribes.

The Demon-Suppressing Army's performance was strange; their defense and Xi Qi's offense formed a perfect tacit understanding, and within it lay a kind of cruel artistic beauty.

Wu Tie understood all the more clearly that this was a trap.

Xi Qi's voice suddenly rang out: "Although these little things are easy to breed and raise…… I, the Commander, am actually a soft-hearted person."

"I, the Commander, offer a reward of 310 million military merit…… whoever has the courage to join the assault formation, charge into Demon-Suppressing City, and cooperate with these little things in their slaughter, I will reward that hero with 310 million military merit."

Wu Tie's face twitched violently.

310 million military merit.

That number is indeed subtle, indeed praiseworthy.

It seems Xi Qi has already probed the Wu family's background; he knows Wu Jin is Wu Tie's elder brother, and he knows Wu Jin owes the Three Imperial Camp 310 million military merit.

310 million military merit is actually nothing much.

But in this situation, Xi Qi laid bare that point, and his words are filled with deep malice.

"Ah, I, the Commander, am soft-hearted; I cannot bear to see these little ones suffer such horrible casualties!" Xi Qi's heavy voice echoed all around: "Is there any hero bold enough to go into battle? I, the Commander, will not stint on rich rewards."

Xi Qi laughed: "However, I, the Commander, can promise you all that this battle will surely see Demon-Suppressing City fall. The process may have a few twists, but there is no doubt that Demon-Suppressing City will indeed be breached."

"So, you need not worry about anything; if you bravely join the fight, you all know my character."

"I'll go…… I have a supreme treasure protecting my person, I'll go……" Wu Tie let out a soft sigh, looking at the Wu clansmen nearby: "Please, elders, restrain the clansmen; absolutely do not meddle recklessly…… you know what I mean!"

Wu Tie suddenly struck out, a fist slamming into the back of Wu Jin's head, knocking him unconscious with brute force.

Then Wu Tie patted Old Iron's head; a golden light and a black sandstorm howled forth from the Wu clan's formation, charging toward the Demon-Suppressing City that was like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

"Wu clan main house, seventh branch, Wu Tie enters the battle."

"Commander Qi, I've heard you have a discerning eye for talent, appointing Luo Lin as marching commandant…… such a youthful talent, dare he march alongside me and fight shoulder to shoulder?"

Wu Tie's form flashed, and he reached the sky above Demon-Suppressing City; with a backhand sweep, seven fierce sword auras, brimming with brilliant starlight, sliced across.