Chapter 381

Hold fast!

Jiang Ping, Jiang He, Jiang Kuo, and the others shouted hoarsely.

They stood alongside Wu Tie at the very front of the formation; the strength of thousands of soldiers behind them poured into their bodies, causing their mana to surge manyfold, and all their spirit weapons and immortal weapons blazed with blinding light.

Moreover, the defensive immortal weapons and spirit weapons released by many other commanders reduced the attacking force of the Leopard Cavalry Assault Team from outside the city by more than half when it struck.

Even so, just like Wu Tie's Nine Refined Spirit Armor, the armor, shields, helmets, war boots, belts, and so on worn by Jiang Ping and the others—any defensive treasure of spirit-weapon grade—shattered explosively in the intense light.

Countless fragments flew about, tearing deep gashes down to the bone on Jiang Ping and the others.

Only Wu Tie was fortunate; his Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique was forcibly driven to an extremely tyrannical level, and when he slightly exerted his body's innate strength, the countless fragments striking him produced only a tinkling 'ding-ding', sparks flying, yet failed to break his skin.

"Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique—its power truly knows no bounds!" Jiang Ping and the others exclaimed in amazement as their armor shattered, their battle robes blown to pieces, and Wu Tie, fully exposed, bore not a single trace of abrasion.

The Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique, indeed a primordial forbidden art passed down from antiquity, brings down heavenly tribulation upon any ordinary person who cultivates it.

Such a formidable physique… "Huo Xiong" had not yet broken through the Fetal Storage Realm, yet already possessed such tremendous defensive power; if he were to break through that realm, would he not become immune to blades and spells, invincible in close combat?

Wu Tie's displayed bodily strength now far exceeds the defensive power of a single Nine Refined Spirit Weapon.

"Generals, stay behind me!" Wu Tie growled lowly; his body swayed slightly, and the Heaven-Earth Manifest Divine Ability innate to his Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique unfolded, his frame instantly swelling to the height of the city gate as he brandished his three-pronged two-edged spear, swinging it left and right to block more than half of the gate.

"Good!" Jiang Ping, Jiang He, and the others replied in unison, each stepping back two paces to form a formation behind Wu Tie.

The mana of thousands of soldiers flowed into these commanders, who, using the Divine Martial Army's formation secret art, slightly organized the incoming energy and then poured it directly into Wu Tie from above.

Wu Tie gave a low shout; having received the mana of thousands of elite soldiers, especially several hundred Divine Martial Army commanders, his power swiftly rose to the utmost limit attainable by an ordinary Fetal Storage Realm cultivator.

His skin became as clear and flawless as the finest jade, and a thin yet incredibly lively and solid radiance seeped from his pores, completely sealing the city gate opening.

"Great Jin Divine State, Divine Martial Army Vanguard Right Camp Third Battalion Commander Huo Xiong is here!" Wu Tie roared, gripping his three-pronged two-edged spear: "Who dares to fight?"

Streaming light swirled across the sky as another wave of immortal weapons and spirit weapons came crashing down upon Wu Tie.

Wu Tie shielded his face with both hands, leaned his upper body forward, and used his very torso to block this fierce assault.

Immortal weapons struck Wu Tie's body, sending sparks flying as his flesh dented deeply and his bones emitted a thunderous, dull crack. Spirit weapons striking him triggered the full power of his Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique, unleashing a tremendous recoil that shattered each Nine Revolutions Spirit Weapon on impact.

Flames shot up near the city gate, thunder rumbled incessantly, and the tremendous shock caused the bodies of Jiang Ping and the others inside the gate to sway.

Heat continuously seeped from the fortress floor, brimming with vigorous life force and essence, flowing into the garrisoned Divine Martial Army soldiers within the city to continually repair their wounds.

The same heat entered Wu Tie's body, quickly healing the wounds inflicted by those immortal weapons.

The Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique combined with the fortress's unique terrain made for a practically flawless, unbeatable combination.

When hundreds of immortal weapons were flung skyward by the recoil, two Leopard Cavalry commanders of the Fetal Storage Realm had already closed in on Wu Tie.

A blade and a sword, two immortal weapons spewing auspicious rosy light, slashed at Wu Tie's vital points; he laughed loudly and swung his three-pronged two-edged spear with overwhelming brute force.

Two booming sounds rang out; these two Leopard Cavalry commanders clearly lacked sufficient cultivation, their strength far inferior to Wu Tie's—upon contact with three immortal weapons, their palms exploded into a mist of blood, the weapons flew from their grips, and Wu Tie's spear thrust repeatedly, piercing their brow vital points in an instant.

The two Leopard Cavalry commanders burst apart and died, while a dozen or so Leopard Cavalry Fetal Storage Realm commanders let out low roars and lunged at Wu Tie together.

Suddenly, a low shout came from behind Wu Tie: "Dodge!"

Wu Tie abruptly shifted his body aside; a polychromatic blazing light whizzed past his flank, countless multicolored light needles condensing into a polychromatic torrent that swiftly engulfed a dozen or so Leopard Cavalry commanders.

In the midst of the fray, Wu Tie glanced back.

That was a five-colored stone vase wrapped in five-colored rosy light held by Jiang Kuo, into whom twelve Fetal Storage Realm commanders poured their mana, enabling him to unleash a stunning strike from the vase.

A dozen or so Leopard Cavalry commanders who charged forward brandishing blades and spears grunted as their spirit armor was instantly pierced; they and the elite Leopard Cavalry troops behind them were repeatedly run through by the five-colored light needles, great clouds of blood mist sweeping across a battlefield hundreds of zhang wide, this strike annihilating the over three thousand Leopard Cavalry elites at the forefront.

"Boom, boom boom!"

A deep rumble from a large-caliber light cannon sounded from atop the city wall.

Thick as a water tank, crimson light pillars slammed down from the city wall, crashing heavily into the Leopard Cavalry assault team.

The light pillars burst open, scorching heat orbs swallowing silhouettes one after another, instantly reducing Leopard Cavalry soldiers to nothing.

Soon after, sharp tearing noises rang out as heavy bed crossbows began spewing cold light; from their hive-like launchers, thumb-thick, three-foot-long pure-metal bolts shot out like a gale, nearly following straight trajectories as they screamed into the vast ranks of Leopard Cavalry and Slaughter Spirit Army outside the city.

Within a radius of several hundred li outside the city, Leopard Cavalry and Slaughter Spirit Army soldiers packed together tightly.

The heavy bed crossbows mounted on the city wall possessed fearsome power.

With Wu Tie's current eyesight, he could not even discern the flight paths of those bolts; one can imagine how tremendous their speed and force must be.

Dense bolts whistled through the packed formations, piercing bodies, armors, and shields one after another…

Waves of blood surged skyward within the dense ranks; each bolt could easily pierce two or three hundred ordinary soldiers, expending all its kinetic energy before embedding deep within their frail flesh.

Just a single volley claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Leopard Cavalry and Slaughter Spirit Army troops in the concentrated bolt barrage.

Yet more Leopard Cavalry and Slaughter Spirit Army soldiers surged forward, to the rumble of war drums and the dull toll of bronze bells echoing to the heavens, while the high officials of Great Wei and Great Wu roared at the top of their lungs, announcing bounty after bounty that drove countless soldiers into a frenzy.

Whether Leopard Cavalry or Slaughter Spirit Army, the first to charge into the city gate, if he could set a single foot inside, would instantly be promoted six ranks, ennobled, and wed to an imperial princess, becoming a bona fide royal relative.

Even a lowliest soldier, if he were the first to plant a foot in the gate, could rise from obscurity to stand above all.

The Leopard Cavalry's first assault team was wiped out, whereupon the Slaughter Spirit Army's assault team immediately attacked.

Just as immortal weapons and spirit weapons cleared the way, a flood of light from the heavens crashed down onto the tiny city gate; Wu Tie roared, his body surging with immense magical power, while dozens of immortal weapons clung to him, exhaling thick immortal light and auspicious clouds that shielded his body.

Countless immortal and spirit weapons rained down thickly upon Wu Tie.

Spirit weapons exploded on the spot, and some inferior immortal weapons also burst open one after another; Wu Tie felt excruciating pain all over his body, not knowing where he had been hit, for every part and corner of his body was in agony.

Of the dozens of defensive immortal weapons clinging tightly to him and protecting him, more than ten were blown apart, while the rest of the dozens also dimmed their light, clearly having suffered severe damage.

A massive contingent of the Slaughter Spirit Army's elite charged forward like madmen, not even glancing at Wu Tie, but fixing their stare dead-set on the city gate behind him…

As soon as one steps inside… the first person to set foot in the city gate becomes the winner of life.

"Mad, completely mad!" Wu Tie shouted hoarsely.

Several leagues from the city gate, a mass of Jaguar Cavalry and Slaughter Spirit Army commanders blocked the Divine Martial Army reinforcements sent here; the two sides stalemated, wildly throwing forth all manner of divine abilities and secret techniques, and any ordinary soldier who dared approach was smashed to pieces.

Suddenly, a seal of dark gold, its surface covered with countless blood-red patterns, appeared out of nowhere in the void and came crashing down.

The seal was casually tossed by the Divine Martial Army's Vanguard Commander-in-Chief, Sima De; originally the size of a fist, it flared in the wind and instantly expanded to ten li in length and width, spewing earth, water, fire, and wind, and came crashing down like a massive mountain.

The seal smashed into the spot where the Jaguar Cavalry and Slaughter Spirit Army intercepting commanders were most densely packed.

With a tremendous boom, countless wails rose; Sima De's near-sneak attack instantly crushed nearly a thousand Jaguar Cavalry and Slaughter Spirit Army commanders at the Tai Cang realm, inflicting heavy casualties. The four-colored dragons of earth, water, fire, and wind howled outward, sweeping across the surroundings and slaughtering countless soldiers of both armies nearby.

"Charge in!" Sima De roared loudly.

A large group of Shenwu Army commanders suddenly lost the opponents blocking them, each using their utmost speed, leaping and jumping toward the city gate.

They crashed headfirst into the Tuling Army assault team that was fiercely attacking the city gate; nearly a thousand Shenwu Army commanders with strong cultivation unleashed lethal blows, instantly shattering that Tuling Army assault team.

The Jaguar Rider Commander, locked in combat with Sima De, shouted angrily and likewise swung a thirty-six-section commander's whip, striking from midair at the Shenwu Army reinforcements that had already reached the city gate.

Sima De gave a cold 'gehe' laugh, then boldly stepped forward, firmly placing himself in front of the commander's whip.

With a booming 'Peng!' the whip, now several li long, landed solidly on Sima De's chest; his armor burst out clouds of smoke, which then shattered, and Sima De took the full blow of the whip.

That whip was extraordinarily heavy; Sima De spat out a mouthful of old blood, and the seal that had just fallen to the ground shot up, slamming hard into the Jaguar Rider Commander's chest.

The Jaguar Rider Commander brought the commander's whip down heavily.

With a tremendous boom, both Sima De and the Jaguar Rider Commander spat blood profusely, staggering back in disarray, panting as they retreated to their respective shattered flagships.

Sima De waved his right hand and gave a loud order.

All Shenwu Army ships swiftly withdrew in the direction away from the city gate, then began to regroup and reorganize at a distance.

The Jaguar Rider and Tuling Army ships also did not pursue; instead, they quickly encircled the small fortress, forming battle arrays on the left and right like two dark clouds surrounding the fortress.

A second-rank Shenwu Army officer spat blood mouthful after mouthful, staggered out of the Tuling Army assault team, and crashed headfirst into Wu Tie's shin.

He lifted his head and hoarsely shouted, "I've brought a teleportation array—set it up quickly to welcome reinforcements!"

Jiang Ping, Jiang He, and the others clapped and cheered in unison, hurriedly helping the second-rank officer to his feet and pulling him into the fortress.

Shenwu Army commanders kept charging into the city gate, and the gate descended into chaos.

Suddenly, a Tuling Army commandant shouted hoarsely, "I… I'm the first…"

One of his feet, indeed, followed behind a Shenwu Army commander, and he stepped with that foot into the city gate passage.

But before he could finish, a Shenwu Army second-rank officer flying from behind struck him down with a clean, swift sword, cutting him to pieces.

"Promote and get rich? You don't have the fate for that!" the Shenwu Army commanders laughed hoarsely, quickly forming a new defensive line beside Wu Tie.

In just a quarter of an hour, the Jaguar Rider and Tuling armies launched another five or six waves of furious assault.

Although leveraging the advantage of a city gate no wider than twenty zhang made defense extremely difficult, Wu Tie and his companions nonetheless managed to hold on.

After a quarter of an hour, a teleportation array a hundred zhang in diameter had been successfully set up inside the fortress.

Piles of yuan-energy crystals kept burning inside the array into green smoke; after a full half-hour of charging, the array finally blazed with strong light, and Jiang Hu, commander of the Right Battalion of the Shenwu Army's Vanguard, led a large group of fully armed senior officers out of the array.

"Hmm, indeed it's difficult." Jiang Hu watched the array quickly dim, then gave a firm nod.

"This battle for the blood banner is truly perilous; indeed, only one transmission can be made every half-hour in this fortress, and each time at most a thousand can enter… To truly master the blood banner… people must die, many must die!" Jiang Hu let out a cold snort; a ring on his hand flashed, then vast rosy light shimmered, and a great host of radiant immortal soldiers screamed forth.

"All four major battalions of the Shenwu Army's Vanguard—front, rear, left, right—have gathered all the immortal soldiers here." Jiang Hu said in a deep voice: "Distribute them quickly, then… hold fast!"

Jiang Hu barked sternly: "By commander's order, not even death permits a step backward. Those who dare retreat, who fear battle—shall have their nine clans exterminated!"

Jiang Hu issued the command with a grim expression; Sima Xin, Sima Hu, and the others stood expressionless to the side, unmoved.

Exterminate the nine clans?

Everyone present could be subject to the nine-clans extermination, except them… hehe, they are actually imperial relatives!

Jiang Hu then turned his gaze to Wu Tie and shouted loudly: "Huo Xiong, command authority here will be transferred to me… Your performance has been good; whatever rewards appear on the altar in the second stage, they are yours. Rewards that appear after the second stage will be distributed according to your performance, based on merit—do you have any objections?"

Everyone exchanged a glance, then simultaneously bowed their fists to Jiang Hu in assent.

Outside the fortress, the sounds of battle rose again, as countless Jaguar Rider cavalrymen surged forward like madmen…