Chapter 38

Without any warning, the Mist Blade attacked, and battle broke out.

As nearly a thousand Mist Blade assassins launched an assault on the Changsheng Sect stronghold, Chi Laolao, Gu Gonggong, and Lan Gonggong each steered their wooden boats in three huge arcs, racing back at full speed.

Five water columns shot up from the great river; two Mist Blade experts in tight leather armor, with a grim, cold aura, together with three elderly men in long robes, dignified and clearly long‑time high‑rankers, shot into the air, two in front and three behind, to meet the three boats.

Chi Laolao shrieked sharply: "Seventh Palm Order, Eighth Palm Order, what do you Mist Blades intend to do?"

The two Mist Blade Palm Orders sneered in unison: "Old Nine is dead, you think? My Mist Blade always repays grudges!"

The Mist Blade Seventh and Eighth Palm Orders whipped up two gales and fiercely attacked Gu Gonggong's and Lan Gonggong's boats. Not daring to let them approach their own vessels, Gu Gonggong and Lan Gonggong likewise rose into the air, stepping on blood clouds to meet them.

Four figures tangled in mid‑air, cold light and blood mist entwining—sometimes the mist ensnared the light, sometimes the light tore the mist. Obviously the two sides were evenly matched; for a while neither could gain the upper hand.

Meanwhile, the three elderly men in long robes joined forces to attack Chi Laolao.

Chi Laolao snorted repeatedly, likewise launching off on a blood cloud, her hair flying wildly as she drew from somewhere a black‑iron spear half again her height—some sixteen feet long—whipping up gales as she smashed it down hard on the three elders.

"Lin family head, Jin family head, He family head—you three families, are you looking for death?" Chi Laolao was short and looked frail, yet her sixteen‑foot spear radiated terrifying power, like a monstrous dragon whipping up dozens of afterimages that engulfed the three men.

She clearly recognized the three elders, attacking wildly while shouting furiously: "You three families, do you want to exterminate your clans?"

The three elders each drew their swords, avoiding a head‑on clash with Chi Laolao; instead they spun like whirlwinds around her, their blades turning into streaks of light that filled the sky, stabbing and slashing at her vitals whenever they saw an opening.

Hearing Chi Laolao's angry shout, the three elders snorted in unison.

An old man with leopard‑spotted eyes and a round face bellowed: "The people you planted in my Lin family—aren't you just trying to wipe out my Lin clan? What do you fear from the Changsheng Sect? My Lin family has held deep roots in the Cangyan Realm for centuries; why should we fear you outsiders?"

The other two elders also hurled abuse, each with full vigor and booming voices; thanks to the dome's echo, their shouts could be heard clearly for dozens of miles around.

Wu Tie understood clearly: it seemed the Changsheng Sect had, through unknown means, bought off traitors inside the Scaly Armor, Jin, and He families—and these traitors were high‑ranking important figures who had already rotted the three families from within, leaving them riddled with holes.

With their own lives and property directly threatened, how could the three family heads still care about Chi Laolao's threats?

The two Mist Blade Palm Orders invited the three family heads to join forces against the Changsheng Sect—a perfect match. The four sides united, first purging the traitors from within the three families, then, under the Mist Blade's arrangement, seized the moment to launch the attack.

One after another, shuttle‑shaped scout boats surfaced; large units of Lin, Jin, and He family warriors rowed toward the shore, then, upon landing, swiftly assaulted the stronghold.

Inside the stronghold, the Changsheng Sect's servant soldiers, having shaken off the fierce blows, began organizing the gray dwarves and stone dwarves for a counterattack. Though clearly outmatched by the elite Mist Blade assassins, the dwarves had the advantage of numbers.

But as the three families' warriors kept landing and another nearly a thousand family fighters joined the assault, the Changsheng Sect's slaves could no longer hold.

Hut after hut was destroyed, slaves were continually cut down, blood soaked the ground, and the Changsheng Sect's personnel kept retreating, clearly about to be utterly driven out of the stronghold they had painstakingly built.

In the high sky, Chi Laolao, who with one person's power could barely hold a balance against the three family heads, let out a furious roar.

Gu Gonggong and Lan Gonggong shouted in anger together; their three boats instantly sped down to the ground, where nearly a hundred young men and women aboard hurried back to the cabins, quickly donning armor and weapons, fully armed, and stepped out.

They did not disembark, but drove the boats to dart swiftly above the stronghold, wielding strange‑shaped crossbows and raining a barrage of fire onto the ground.

These youths' cultivation, even among the Changsheng Sect's killers, was top‑notch—far superior to the three families' warriors; their crossbows were immensely powerful, deadly accurate, and their bolt heads were coated with lethal poison.

In just half a quarter‑hour, as the three wooden boats shuttled back and forth over the stronghold two or three times, two or three hundred Mist Blade assassins and family fighters were hit by crossbow bolts; at least half of them, struck in vital spots, collapsed on the spot before they could take an antidote.

The wild assault of the three boats caused the Mist Blade and family fighters' offensive to stall abruptly; the Changsheng Sect's elite servant soldiers steadied their lines and, coordinating with the boats, launched a counter‑charge.

For a moment the fighting grew fierce, with constant deaths on both sides, the ground littered with wounded, and everywhere arose painful groans and wails.

Wu Tie had never before witnessed a war of this scale.

Several thousand people surged back and forth around the stronghold, which was about two li wide and long, shouting and cursing, with the sound of swords cutting into flesh—bone and meat splitting—along with the dying's anguished howls and pleas.

"They're mad!" Wu Tie's body trembled violently.

It wasn't fear, but a shock—a feeling rising from deep in the blood, immensely complex, that Wu Tie could not even comprehend or explain.

Hot blood boiled in his veins; an impulsive urge, like a flame scorching his mind, made Wu Tie grip his spear, eager to charge into the fray regardless of consequences, just to have a big fight.

"What is this even supposed to be?" the metal spider perched on Wu Tie's shoulder sneered: "Just a tiny scene… a pile of fly‑shit… what's that supposed to mean?"

Wu Tie fell silent; the hot blood in his belly was instantly quenched by Old Iron's cold mockery.

Wu Tie glanced askance at the metal spider and snorted: "Well, then what counts as a real big scene?"

Old Iron remained silent for a while, then said nothing for a long time.

Just as Wu Tie was about to retort at Old Iron, he suddenly spoke: "You kid, without experiencing it yourself you could never imagine the scene… Grandpa I'm not a scholar, can't describe it well… but isn't the Ox Hero's size big enough?"

Wu Tie hurriedly nodded.

The Ox Hero stands several thousand meters tall—that build is truly huge.

"Just picture it: with a single glance, your field of view—whether on land or in the sky—is packed solid with muscle bulges like those of the Ox Hero, almost an impenetrable throng waving weapons and hacking at each other…"

"Blood pours down everywhere like a waterfall."

"Countless arms, legs, entrails, and fine hero heads… keep falling without cease."

"If you were a bit shorter, just one breath's time would bury you under a thick layer of flesh and blood from the hero heads dropping from the sky."

Wu Tie shuddered all over, countless huge goosebumps covering his body.

He could not imagine such a scene… countless Ox Heroes packed together, madly hacking at each other?

Look up at the high sky: the battlefield where the two Palm Orders, the three uncles‑and‑aunts, and the three family heads clash extends at most a few hundred meters in radius.

A single Ox Hero already stands over a thousand meters tall.

"Sure enough, it's just a small scene." Wu Tie exhaled and shook his head.

Old Iron suddenly called out softly: "Be careful."

Wu Tie's external invisible force field was suddenly triggered; he instantly sensed three people rushing from behind at high speed, three straight blades almost silently thrusting toward his back.

The three arrived extremely fast; the swords went almost straight in, and as soon as Wu Tie's force field sensed their presence, the blades were already almost at his rear.

Utterly ruthless, utterly professional assassination.

Even though his invisible force field spread over a hundred‑meter radius, Wu Tie could barely turn his body, watching helplessly as the three straight blades pierced his soft ribs.

"Kid, you've died again." Old Iron's icy mockery came from the metal spider's belly.

Wu Tie angrily grunted, his invisible force field roiling; he assumed a strange posture, exerted no visible force, and simply sprang up in an odd bounce.

The three straight blades slammed into him, sparks flying everywhere, and the swords snapped.

Wu Tie did not retreat but pressed forward; his spear, tipped with pinpricks of cold light, flashed like lightning and pierced the throat of a Mist Blade assassin.

A flash of Blood Light streaked past; two Mist Blade assassins dropped their weapons, opened both hands, and charged at Wu Tie. Wu Tie saw clearly that in the hands of these two Mist Blade assassins each gripped the metal pellets used to bombard the Changsheng Sect's stronghold.

This is a weapon of the same type as the Opening Mountain Thunder used by the Wu family's mine slaves, possessing great lethal power.

Wu Tie also didn't dare, nor did he want to let the two assassins get close to him; he suddenly widened his eyes, a hot sensation flared at his brow, and Wu Tie's 'Control Heaven and Earth' innate divine ability erupted at full strength, a powerful invisible force surging out like an invisible tide.

The two Mist Blade assassins let out a strange cry, flailing their arms and legs as they leapt into the air, being blown away like leaves in the wind by a powerful force.

Wu Tie thrust his spear; the two Mist Blade assassins spurted blood from their throats, and Wu Tie struck them down with a single thrust to the throat, killing them on the spot.

"Here's a ruthless idea." A deep, muffled voice came from several dozen meters away; two warriors of the Ox Tribe, each about ten feet tall, clad in crude heavy iron armor and bursting with explosive muscle, came charging out.

It was unknown which of the three families these two Ox Tribe warriors belonged to; they grabbed thick iron bars as wide as a bowl's mouth, lowered their heads, and rushed at Wu Tie, swinging the bars in wild smashes.

Wu Tie quickly retreated backward.

The iron bar almost grazed past the tip of his nose.

Wu Tie was not afraid of these two Ox Tribe warriors who had no cultivation and relied only on brute strength. He heard footsteps approaching nearby, the sound of strong, agile steps, clearly a large group of Blue Wolf or Grey Wolf warriors coming.

His skin-tight armor was indestructible, and Wu Tie also did not fear being surrounded by Wolf Tribe warriors.

He simply did not want to engage in pointless fighting and slaughter.

Whether it was the Changsheng Sect or Mist Blade, especially the three families newly drawn in… Shi Lingqing died, Luo Lin and the others also died, Wu Tie and the people of the three sides have no grudges, so why should he get mixed up in this muddy water?

While retreating at full speed, Wu Tie shouted in a low voice: "I am not your enemy……"

"Bullshit!" an Ox Tribe warrior bellowed in a muffled voice, swinging his large iron bar at Wu Tie's waist, nearly hitting him: "Here, aside from our own people, everyone is an enemy…… and you also killed Mist Blade's people."

The Ox Tribe warrior's simplistic friend-or-foe judgment left Wu Tie speechless.

He could only retreat quickly; his speed far surpassed that of the two Ox Tribe warriors, and the Wolf Tribe warriors encircling him clearly could not keep up. After a few breaths, Wu Tie shook off these enemies and swiftly moved behind a patch of ferns.

By the time these Ox Tribe and Wolf Tribe warriors caught up, they could find no trace left by Wu Tie.

Wu Tie changed direction, hid behind another small hill, and gazed far at the battlefield.

The allied forces of Mist Blade and the three families held the advantage; inside the stronghold, the Changsheng Sect's soldiers could barely hold their own against them with the aid of three wooden boats, but outside, scattered Mist Blade assassins escorted the three families' patrol teams, surrounding the place from all sides.

Troops of all sizes densely filled an area of several li in radius, completely encircling the Changsheng Sect's stronghold.

It was obvious that Mist Blade did not intend to let any survivor escape.

Of course, the precondition was that they could keep Elder Bone, Elder Lan, and three persons.

Wu Tie looked up at the sky; the battle between the two senior commanders and Elder Bone, Elder Lan was still ongoing, while Red Granny had been forced to pant by the combined efforts of the three family heads.

Any one of the three family heads was no match for Red Granny, and even two working together could hardly suppress her.

But when the three joined forces, Red Granny found it somewhat difficult to cope.

Three streams of light darted rapidly around Red Granny; her spear whipped the air with a 'boom-boom' sound, yet she could do nothing against the three family heads.

After fighting for a full two or three hours, the ground battle had nearly ended when a sudden wail rang out; Wu Tie couldn't even see clearly what had happened in the air, and Red Granny suddenly dropped her spear, covered in blood, turned and fled.

Large amounts of blood kept spurting from behind Red Granny; as she fled, she continuously emitted sharp howls.

But she couldn't run far; the three family heads, along with a dark shadow that had appeared at some point, pursued her and launched a frenzied attack.

Red Granny cursed nonstop, barely blocking over a dozen moves; several cold lights flashed, a huge boom sounded, and a rapidly blooming blood mist enveloped the void within a radius of several hundred meters.

Seeing that she was about to be killed, Red Granny detonated herself.

A black shadow dressed like the Seventh and Eighth Commanders swiftly fled several hundred meters; Wu Tie could clearly see that his left arm went limp, and Red Granny's self‑explosion only injured his arm.

The three family heads, however, could not escape.

In Red Granny's self‑explosion they were blown to bits, dozens of severed limbs and arms continually raining down from the sky, falling into the great river and attracting hordes of fish to fight over.

Elder Bone and Elder Lan said nothing, shook off the enemies, and fled at full speed toward the waterfall.

"Mist Blade? This is war!"

"Wait for the full retaliation of my Longevity Palace…… this is war……"