Chapter 384

Wu Tie removed his own soul seal from the city guard token and handed it to Sima Yan.

Sima Yan pointed a finger, leaving his own soul seal in the token, then nodded satisfied: "Huo Xiong, right? Very good, you've done well. His Majesty the Divine Emperor already knows your achievements; when you return, you will surely be rewarded."

Wu Tie solemnly saluted Sima Yan, then, keeping to his duty, stepped back several dozen paces, making space for those senior officers of the Divine Martial Army.

How could a mere fifth-rank Commandant possibly stay by Sima Yan's side for long?

However, has this matter already alerted the Divine Emperor of Great Jin?

What is strange about this blood flag struggle?

Jiang Ping again edged close to Wu Tie, lowered his voice, and whispered cautiously: "I've heard that all the rewards in this blood flag struggle are bestowed by the heavenly gods, all are supreme good things… that big lotus seed, what treasure is it?"

Wu Tie furrowed his brow; his mind was still murky, almost all his soul power having been swallowed by the sprouting lotus seed, his remaining soul power insufficient even to inwardly inspect his five viscera and six bowels, so he had no idea of the lotus seed's condition.

Spreading his hands, Wu Tie spoke bluntly: "I don't understand; it drained my mana, my soul power, and swallowed half of my essence blood in one gulp. My strength has greatly diminished; without months of hard training I cannot recover… yet I still don't know what kind of exalted being this is."

Jiang Ping's face twitched; he pointed at Wu Tie's brow: "Where is he?"

"Right in the center of the life pool!" Wu Tie gave a bitter smile to Jiang Ping: "Commander, have you ever heard of a treasure that looks like this?"

Jiang Ping stared for a long time, scratched his head, and after a while murmured: "It seems there are secret treasures specially used to guard the soul and even the future divine fetus, made in this manner. However, such secret treasures are extremely rare…"

Jiang Ping lowered his voice, speaking furtively: "I've heard that this kind of soul-protecting secret treasure is possessed only by a few core royal nobles, such as His Majesty the Divine Emperor, such as His Highness the Crown Prince… tsk…"

Wu Tie slowly nodded.

This lotus seed directly entered my life pool; perhaps, as Jiang Ping said, it is a soul-guarding secret treasure?

Generally, among treasures of the same grade, defensive treasures are worth several times offensive ones; among defensive treasures, soul-protection treasures are a hundred times rarer than various bodily armor and shields.

If it truly is a soul-guarding secret treasure, many secret arts and curses that specifically attack the soul would not inflict great harm on Wu Tie; moreover, Wu Tie would even be immune to various soul-scrying secret arts, which is a great safeguard for his safety.

"Good stuff." Wu Tie nodded seriously.

"Of course it's good stuff… treasures bestowed by the heavenly gods are naturally good." Jiang Ping looked at Wu Tie with envy and jealousy, then gave his chest a heavy punch.

"Since your mana, soul power, and essence blood have been drained by this treasure, just rest awhile." Jiang Ping pointed to those Divine Martial Army officers condensing their life pools: "They are basically your subordinates; you shall specifically command them as a reserve… these fellows will all become treasure lumps…"

As Jiang Ping spoke, he couldn't help but laugh.

These treasure lumps, according to the organization, are all subordinates of the Third Battalion, C Company, Right Wing, Vanguard of his Divine Martial Army, thus all his subordinates. With this batch of fierce subordinates, Jiang Ping's future glory in the Divine Martial Army is easy to imagine.

"Heh heh," even Sima Xin and Sima De, those royals in the A Battalion… will never surpass his battalion.

Jiang Ping hummed a tune as he went to find Jiang Hu; he needed to tell Jiang Hu about the change in Wu Tie's combat power after receiving the award. In the ensuing fierce battle, Wu Tie need not participate—this promising seedling destined for a bright, broad future, the Divine Martial Army must still look after carefully.

Even a top-tier bigwig like Sima Yan personally came to the battlefield, even bringing the Divine Emperor's will; in such a great war, having one more or one less "Huo Xiong" makes no real difference.

Inside and outside the fort, cries of slaughter shook the heavens.

The rich smell of blood filled the air, the bloody aura almost condensing into substance, submerging everyone within it.

The Divine Martial Army came, the Divine Might Army came, the Suppressing Demon Army came, the Expelling Demon Army came… the several main legions of the Divine State of Great Jin, officers of all ranks flocked through this small teleportation array to reinforce.

Sima Jun of the Suppressing Demon Hall, Sima Kuang of the Expelling Demon Hall, the great commander of the Divine Might Army, and the Divine Might Hall's First Army—the only unit among the major legions not of royal lineage—each brought their elite forces and rushed over via the teleportation array.

The cultivation of Sima Jun and Sima Kuang is nothing special; compared to Sima Yan, they are slightly inferior by one rank.

However, the First Army of the Divine Might Army—"First" being his family surname—is also the top-ranked martial house of the Divine State of Great Jin. Named "Army," its meaning is that one man can match an army, and it is the strongest unit.

The First Army lived up to its name; upon arriving as reinforcement, he immediately left the fort, alone stormed the central camp of the Slaughter Spirit Army, single-handedly fought an army, and slaughtered the Slaughter Spirit Army's commander, Wu Bu Bai, along with the five army commanders beneath him and hundreds of senior officers.

After wiping out the Slaughter Spirit Army's mid‑command elite, the First Army additionally slaughtered thirty thousand of their war barges; only then, under the gaze of countless Slaughter Spirit soldiers frightened witless, did he slowly return to the fort carrying a great blade, his body unmarked by a single trace of blood.

One man, one battle directly caused the entire Slaughter Spirit Army to collapse, and also directly caused the Leopard Cavalry to sheath their claws.

After the First Army went into battle, the Leopard Cavalry and the Slaughter Spirit Army remained completely still for twelve full hours—not a single arrow fell into the city.

Reinforcements from the Divine States of Great Wei and Great Wu poured incessantly into the three‑state battlefield.

Aside from the Leopard Cavalry, the Divine State of Great Wei also sent its Running Wolf Cavalry, Soaring Dragon Army, and Phoenix Soaring Army—three main legions—rushing to the front.

The great host of the Divine State of Great Wu's Slay Immortal Army, Entrap Demon Army, and Lawless Army—three main legions—also surged in mighty numbers onto the three‑state battlefield, and under the personal supervision of the Lawless Army's commander, the Crown Prince Wu Duzun of Great Wu, they drove the already morale‑lost Slaughter Spirit Army to launch suicidal attacks.

Countless Slaughter Spirit soldiers were utterly used by Wu Duzun as expendable material, as fodder to let the blood banner grow; they were driven to surge toward the city walls, then died wave after wave beneath them.

Likewise, the Leopard Cavalry, whose fighting spirit had suffered a great blow, also, under the edict of the Divine Emperor of Great Wei, desperately launched an assault on the fort.

In this offensive, the Leopard Cavalry and the Slaughter Spirit Army had no retreat; if they dared to fall back a step, the supervisory units formed from the other main legions behind them would ruthlessly strike them down.

Either they would breach the fort, die beneath it, or fall under the blades of the supervisory units.

Aside from a very few officers of noble or royal lineage, the Leopard Cavalry and the Slaughter Spirit Army were all plunged into a dead‑end situation.

Wu Tie sat cross‑legged in a corner of the fort; beside him were nearly four thousand subordinates who had just broken through to the life‑pool realm, were stabilizing their cultivation, and were simultaneously practicing the Six Revolutions Elemental Technique.

Within the modest fort were packed the elite officers of the Divine Martial, Divine Might, Suppressing Demon, and Expelling Demon Armies, each of them at the fetal‑storage realm; with these present, whether Wu Tie's subordinates joined the fight had become utterly meaningless.

Even if several thousand fortunate ones who had just reached the life‑pool realm actually fought, they would still not be enough to match a hundred fetal‑storage commanders in killing power.

Moreover, those several thousand life‑pool realm troops didn't even possess a single immortal weapon, while the commanders streaming in to reinforce the fort were covered in pearls and jewels, their equipment lavish to the extreme…

During a lull in the fighting, Jiang Ping ran over to whisper to Wu Tie, telling him that before these reinforcements arrived, the Great Jin royal treasury had been deliberately opened, and though no one knows how many years' worth of top‑grade immortal arms were stored there, they had all been taken out to equip these commanders.

Every half‑hour, nearly a thousand fetal‑storage commanders, armed to the teeth, would rush forward as reinforcements.

The fort's defensive strength grew ever stronger, while with the passage of time, the Leopard Cavalry and the Slaughter Spirit Army outside had already suffered losses of nearly half.

The main legions of the three divine states are enormously organized; the Leopard Cavalry and the Slaughter Spirit Army alone possess elite troops numbering in the hundreds of millions. Even if a fetal‑storage commander wields an immortal weapon and can easily slaughter hundreds of elite troops with a single strike, completely annihilating the Leopard Cavalry and the Slaughter Spirit Army remains an extremely arduous task.

Boundless masses surged toward the tiny fort, countless numbers falling beneath it.

The officers of the Divine Might, Divine Martial, Suppressing Demon, and Expelling Demon Armies stood expressionless on the walls, carrying out slaughter… each was like a clay‑flesh wooden doll, completely devoid of any vitality that a living being should possess.

They had completely become killing machines, frenziedly slaughtering the enemy troops outside whose strength was far inferior to theirs.

Often, officers of the Divine State of Great Jin had the battlefield's bloody aura invade their bodies, making them bend over and vomit loudly; worse, some had the bloody murderous qi invade their souls, suddenly going mad like a frenzy, waving their blades and hacking wildly at their comrades…

Whenever this happened, someone would quickly take their place, and they would be forcibly subdued, then sent away to take medicine and recuperate.

Once their blood and qi were balanced, their minds settled, and their souls stabilized, they would resume walking expressionlessly onto the walls to carry out slaughter.

On the column of blood‑red light, the surface of the blood‑red banner spanning tens of li began to show fine patterns.

These patterns made the blood‑red banner more lively, more vibrant, and the aura it emitted grew even greater.

It is obvious that the soldiers who died in battle have indeed become nourishment for this blood banner.

Wu Tie sat cross-legged in the fortress corner, looking exhausted, drooping his eyelids, listlessly practicing the transportation cultivation method.

His soul power had recovered a little, so he could now inwardly view his life pool and observe the changes occurring within it—he saw that the lotus seed that had already sprouted had fallen into the center of the projection of the Creation Jade Butterfly at the bottom of his life pool, and an extremely fine root stalk forcibly drilled into the projection.

Wu Tie inhaled and exhaled the primordial energy of heaven and earth, and thread after thread of pure magical power continuously grew, continuously falling into his life pool.

This lotus seed, shimmering all over with seven-colored divine light, like a crystal-carved lotus seed, continuously absorbed the magical power Wu Tie had just condensed; as Wu Tie's magical power continuously flowed in, this lotus seed that had already sprouted a leaf and an extremely fine tender root stalk saw its all-over seven-colored divine light continuously dissipating.

The seven-colored divine light was too flamboyant; after Wu Tie sat cross-legged here for two days and three nights, the seven-colored lotus seed had become all-over dull gray, with threads of murky qi swirling irregularly on its surface; occasionally these extremely fine murky qi would outline one or two Dao patterns containing the profound mysteries of the boundless Great Dao.

Wu Tie carefully communicated with the lotus seed using his soul power.

He clearly sensed that within the lotus seed there lay an extremely fine thread of vitality, and furthermore a point of primordial chaos yet unusually lively spiritual consciousness that flickered in and out of existence. This point of spiritual consciousness was like the initial point of light when heaven and earth were first split—although weakened to the extreme, it was eternal and enduring, like a speck of miraculous pearl light in a hurricane, no matter how the hurricane raged, it could never be extinguished.

Creation, vitality, in absolute desperation that fled a sliver of heavenly opportunity.

Wu Tie communicated with that extremely weak point of spiritual consciousness within the lotus seed for a long time, and he roughly understood what it was.

He did not know where this lotus seed came from, but it was like a 'refuge warehouse' existence……a tremendously great existence had perished, and this lotus seed was the thread of vitality that great existence had released before its demise.

Sensing the qi emanating from Wu Tie's body, the lotus seed actively jumped out and actively merged with him.

That extremely fine thread of vitality within it contained infinite possibilities.

It would take Wu Tie's body as a 'host', silently gestate, and gradually grow.

It had no fixed appearance or form; what shape it would grow into, what thing it would become, what mighty power it would possess—all were unknown.

Just like the divine being who split heaven and earth, wielding a great axe and fiercely chopping at the void chaos, even that divine being did not know what his axe would split forth.

But Wu Tie keenly discovered that the lotus seed sensed the presence of the water-fire gourd and water-fire divine spear hidden within his body.

Moreover, Wu Tie keenly discovered that this now moribund lotus seed openly displayed a… contempt for the water-fire gourd and water-fire divine spear!

And likewise, the remarkably perceptive water-fire gourd and water-fire divine spear had no opinion on this, seemingly acquiescing to the lotus seed's disdain for them.

"Interesting, I can't help but anticipate, anticipate what treasure you will become." Wu Tie gave a wry smile and shook his head.

"However, sir, could you please raise your hand high and not swallow every thread of my condensed magical power? Leave me some to deploy divine abilities and as a last‑ditch trump card for survival?" Wu Tie made a somewhat helpless suggestion to the lotus seed.

In the next moment, amidst Wu Tie's newly condensed surging magical power, a thread‑half of magical power escaped the lotus seed's frantic devouring and drifted down to the bottom of his life pool.

That feeling was like one or two snowflakes falling on a million‑li‑wide Great Gobi; Wu Tie didn't know, at this rate, whether accumulating enough magical power to unleash one Heaven‑Earth‑Emulating Divine Ability would take a hundred years or a thousand.

Just as he was about to mutter a few words to this strange lotus seed that called itself the Chaos True Seed, Wu Tie was suddenly kicked by someone.

Wu Tie lifted his head and saw Sima Xin leading several officers of royal lineage from the Jiazi Battalion, standing before him like a screen.

"Huo Xiong, I've heard that your lotus seed might be a soul‑defense type secret treasure? That's great stuff—secret treasures that defend the soul are mostly Nine‑Refined Immortal Weapons… you've gotten lucky."

Sima Xin looked at Wu Tie with a bright smile—just now he had kicked the seated Wu Tie on the ground.

"Let's make a deal… your qualification to cultivate the Nine Turns Mystic Technique is something I can't give you, but as for this soul‑defense secret treasure, I'll give you a chance to curry favor with me."

Sima Xin squatted before Wu Tie, looking at him earnestly: "Remember, I'm giving you a chance to curry favor with me. Hand over this secret treasure, and I'll ensure you rise to prominence in the Great Jin Divine Kingdom, commanding awe everywhere you go."

"Think it over— not everyone has the qualification to curry favor with the royal family!" Sima Xin's smile grew even brighter.