Chapter 386

no names.

Wei's main force was stationed outside the western wall; bloody killing intent shot up to the sky, forming a hundred‑li‑long nine‑headed chiliu that flickered in midair. The beast's huge mouth glowed with eerie light; whenever it opened its jaws to devour the void, a hurricane rose from the ground, enveloping the entire fort.

Wu's main force filled the eastern plain; a bloody mist blanketed heaven and earth, within which a ferocious nine‑headed bird gave a sharp cry. Wave after wave of substance‑like sound surged, shaking the ears of Jin commanders on the eastern wall until their eardrums throbbed and blood trickled out.

The main forces from east and west had arrived, and the north side of the fort was equally packed with troops.

Outside the southern gate, Wei and Wu had gathered tens of thousands of Tai‑cang realm experts, each shining with treasure light, clearly still intent on storming the gate and breaking into the fort.

At Sima Yan's command, dozens of powerful commanders surrounded the golden dragon bell that had just risen from the altar.

Together they poured their mana into the golden dragon bell; the massive bell slowly rose hundreds of zhang above the ground. As mana continued to flow, the golden dragon coiled around the bell lit up scale by scale.

When every scale of the golden dragon blazed, a bell toll shook heaven and earth.

Waves of golden‑red auspicious light and qi swept outward; in all four directions outside the city, masses of troops had their souls scattered and collapsed limp.

The sound wave tossed the warships; thick armor plates shattered and fell in midair, while the formations inside detonated, blooming into gorgeous fireworks that rained down.

The killing intent of the two nations' vast armies, condensed into the chiliu and nine‑headed bird phantoms, trembled and faded, looking gravely wounded. Both the hurricane raised by the chiliu and the screech of the nine‑headed bird weakened severalfold.

"Hahaha, we have a heavenly‑dao divine artifact aiding us; see what tricks you still have." Sima Yan stood on the altar top, laughing loudly: "Come, come, attack all you want—the more casualties, the greater the blood banner's power, and in the end the greater the benefit for our Jin."

A soft chime from the golden dragon bell drained the dozens of commanders who had poured mana into it, leaving them limp and powerless on the ground. Wu Tie saw their pallid faces; they had exhausted not only their mana but also much of their essence and blood.

After all, it wasn't a treasure they themselves refined; they lacked sufficient spiritual connection with the golden dragon bell, so each activation demanded a huge expenditure of mana and essence‑blood.

If it were Wu Tie's own soul‑scattering banner and North Star spirit‑slaying sword—manifestations of the Dao drawn from himself—once they grew to the level of that golden dragon bell, the power he would need to activate them would be negligible, nowhere near as taxing as for these commanders.

"After all, it's a posthumous treasure made by outsiders… tsk." Wu Tie remained seated cross‑legged on the ground, listening intently to the muffled footsteps outside the wall.

Wei and Wu had not given up attacking; they kept marching in orderly steps, with a booming sound, toward the fort.

This time they prepared countless siege engines a hundred zhang tall.

Cloud ladders, siege wagons, mobile arrow towers, and more; even the prows of many warships bore arrow towers as high as the city walls, where countless soldiers stood, gripping strong bows and crossbows, eyeing the walls covetously.

Accompanied by deafening clapper sounds, countless arrows poured down like a rainstorm on the west, east, and north walls.

The Jin commanders on the walls raised various defensive divine weapons; auspicious light and qi gathered into a thick cloud, sealing the walls. Countless arrows whistled down, wave after wave striking that thick cloud.

Moreover, countless light cannons roared in, heavily striking the auspicious light and qi emitted by the defensive divine weapons.

The Jin commanders on the walls trembled slightly; each flick of a finger they had to withstand millions of arrow impacts, tens of thousands of light‑cannon strikes, and hundreds of thousands of divine abilities and spell attacks.

Wei and Wu's countless troops capable of long‑range attack all unleashed their various divine weapons and secret treasures, turning into streams of light that neatly rained down on the walls.

The entire fort was blanketed by the allied armies' attacking radiance; dazzling streams of light filled the sky, the earth trembled, the void continually burst with blinding fireballs; the terrifying shockwave became like a steel‑plate hurricane blasting outward, so that no speech or breath could be heard, only terrifying explosions rang out, leaving people dazed.

The fort is a steel ingot…

And the allied armies are the furnace and the hammer; they will forcibly smelt that steel ingot, shatter it, and grind all the Jin defenders inside the fort into ashes, turning them into blue smoke.

At the southern gate, a blinding sheet of light sprayed forth; the allied armies' high‑level cultivators gathered in the south moved to act.

As soon as they acted, thousands of divine soldiers launched linked attacks, shaking the void near the gate; heaven‑and‑earth laws violently collided, producing countless phantasms near the gate, even manifestations of earth, water, fire, and wind splitting heaven and earth continually appearing.

After a quarter hour, a dozen or so commanders missing arms or legs were carried to beneath the altar and placed neatly; Wu Tie's troops were summoned to rush over and give these wounded commanders life‑saving elixirs.

Wu Tie could see clearly that only a dozen or so commanders rescued from the gate survived; several dozen more had been utterly annihilated by the enemy's attack, not even a wisp of soul escaping.

This battle for the blood banner only now truly entered a white‑hot state.

How about the Tai‑cang realm?

What about wielding divine weapons?

Even if one is of noble birth, from a general's family or even imperial lineage, what then?

Here, a moment's carelessness will cause you to vanish into smoke; even if you are extra cautious and meticulous, you could still vanish at any moment.

Beneath the altar, light flashed in the teleportation array, and nearly a thousand fully armed high‑level cultivators surged out. Among these reinforcements, nearly a hundred appeared who wore no armor, but long robes, wide sleeves, and tall caps, looking like refined scholars yet powerful cultivators.

These cultivators, upon entering the fort, immediately scattered in groups of three or five toward all directions.

They quickly took out large numbers of formation disks and formation tools from their storage treasures, and began to set up various attack and defense formations in the fort.

The formation disks and tools they brought were all top‑notch, each surrounded by radiant halos, emitting powerful pressure fluctuations.

Many of the formation disks and tools, even those of six‑fold refined or higher, were divine‑weapon‑grade heavy treasures.

One can imagine how strong the killing power or defensive capability of a great formation laid out with such disks and tools would be.

The battle continued; the formations inside the fort were continually forming, and strange beams of light shot up from within, transforming into various wind‑tiger, cloud‑dragon phantasms that twisted and churned in the air.

After another half hour, the teleportation array burst forth with another strong light.

This time, those who emerged from the teleportation array were all robed, dignified cultivators. Wu Tie could see clearly that these people lacked the fierce killing intent of military officers; instead each bore the composed elegance of a well‑learned scholar.

These people are likely high‑ranking civil officials of the Jin divine state; their bodies are frail, but their mana and divine powers are formidable, and the knowledge and doctrines they master are beyond what the martial soldiers can match.

Wu Tie saw that the highest‑ranking figures in the fort—the First Army, Sima Yan, Sima Jun, Sima Kai—all walked toward the leader of this wave of civil officials, a white‑bearded elder, and respectfully bowed with clasped fists.

"Grand Minister of the Left" — that is what the four of the First Army called this white‑bearded elder.

The white‑bearded elder looked aged and feeble, his steps unsteady, giving the impression he could collapse and die at any moment.

But his pair of eyes were sharp, clear, profound—like two deep‑blue abysses—possessing a tremendous, awe‑inspiring power that could captivate and swallow everything.

When he spoke, his voice was weak and breathless, and his ten fingers twitched uncontrollably.

Yet Wu Tie could sense that this Grand Minister of the Left possessed an inner power as terrifying as a primordial volcano; he did not deliberately conceal this aura, and every movement of his caused the space within three zhang around his body to tremble, twist, and even produce visible ripples.

Moreover, Wu Tie could feel a clear and powerful Dao pulse emanating from within him.

The pre‑ and post‑heavenly Five Elements Dao, this Grand Minister of the Left has mastered completely.

Besides that, there are the various derived phenomena—profound ice, azure thunder, hurricanes, poisonous gas, etc. —born from the pre‑ and post‑heavenly Five Elements Dao; the resulting great and minor heavenly Dao principles number in the hundreds, all exceptionally clear, showing he has taken these derived Daos to their utmost.

Furthermore, Wu Tie could sense clear auras of life, death, reincarnation, and the netherworld within him.

These Dao auras are not as clear as the Five Elements Dao, yet it is evident he has also conducted extremely profound study and contemplation of those Daos pertaining to life and death.

In short, this Grand Minister of the Left has comprehended and mastered roughly five to six hundred Dao profundities.

Although compared to the myriad Daos Wu Tie has sensed, the number of Daos this Grand Minister of the Left holds is not many, merely a tiny fraction… yet in terms of mastery and depth of comprehension, he far surpasses Wu Tie.

These five to six hundred Daos, the Grand Minister of the Left has almost completely penetrated them.

Besides the innate and acquired Five Elements Great Dao, Wu Tie merely has some insight into other Great Daos, and is still painstakingly researching them.

Wu Tie cultivates the Primordial Scripture, so he deeply understands that this Left Minister Sir has so many clear Dao patterns within his body—just how great his strength has become…… This is an old man who looks like a withered candle, as if even a kitten could knock him down.

But in reality, perhaps with a single finger he could kill the tall, sturdy, exceptionally strong First Army standing before him!

Wu Tie has no doubt that this Left Minister Sir could kill the First Army with a single finger.

"With the Left Minister Sir overseeing, this contention is worry-free." The First Army, smiling broadly, helped support the Left Minister Sir's trembling arm.

Sima Yan hurriedly grabbed the Left Minister Sir's other hand: "Indeed, if we had known the Left Minister Sir would personally descend, we wouldn't have had to worry for so many days. Goodness, for such a matter, why must you personally act?"

The Left Minister Sir chuckled and shook his head, saying softly: "I, old man, can no longer suppress the internal magical power…… Even if I pour magical power day and night into several national treasures, the rate at which magical power generates itself is thirty percent faster than my rate of consumption……"

"I have reached the limit; I can no longer suppress it. If I cannot break through the Womb Storage Realm, I will surely die." The Left Minister Sir said softly: "But breaking through the Womb Storage Realm……"

A flash of extreme fear crossed his aged face, and the Left Minister Sir murmured: "This Blood Flag Contention concerns whether I can break through the Womb Storage Realm and ascend to the Divine Realm…… Even if it involves bullying the weak with strength, I can no longer worry about such things. Hey hey, we're practically on our deathbeds."

The First Army and Sima Yan hurriedly spoke gently to console the Left Minister Sir.

Wu Tie's face twitched.

This Blood Flag Contention determines whether the Left Minister Sir can make a breakthrough.

Upon careful sensing, indeed, the Left Minister Sir's internal magical power aura is terrifyingly abnormal; his personal magical power cultivation is a thousand times stronger than the combined might of the First Army and the four Hall Masters, yet the nature of his magical power aura remains that of the Womb Storage Realm.

Above the Womb Storage Realm lies the Divine Realm!

The so-called Divine Realm means that once broken through, one becomes a true 'spirit', undergoes a metamorphosis, and is no longer a mortal.

The Womb Storage Realm also has a lifespan limit; depending on cultivation and technique, lifespans range from thousands to tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years.

But no matter how long the lifespan, the Womb Storage Realm's lifespan has a limit; upon reaching that limit, the soul can no longer withstand the power of the Great Dao, the soul gradually dissipates and merges back with the heavenly Dao, i. e., returns to the world.

However, once one breaks through the Divine Realm, if not struck by misfortune, one's natural lifespan becomes virtually infinite.

Upon hearing the Left Minister Sir's words, is this Blood Flag Contention the key to his breakthrough into the Divine Realm?

While pondering the Left Minister Sir's words, suddenly a powerful force extended from the void; this immense force quickly stretched toward the transmission array beneath the altar, and with a 'hiss' sound, clear spatial ripples appeared above the transmission array, which then turned into hazy shackles, completely sealing the void above the array.

With a few 'crack' sounds, the foundations of the transmission array were completely shattered.

The Left Minister Sir glanced at the damaged transmission array, slowly nodded, and said: "I, old man, arrived just in time; according to my calculations, they could at the earliest—namely now—determine this transmission array's spatial coordinates and seal it by means."

"After this, there will be no reinforcements."

The Left Minister Sir chuckled and nodded: "Hmm, rebuilding the transmission array is also impossible; this region of void has been completely sealed by this spatial seal, so rebuilding would be playing with the lives of the youngsters."

"So, children, break the cauldrons and sink the boats, fight to the death…… Upon success, I will request merit for you all."

The Left Minister Sir smiled, slowly stepping with small hurried steps toward the southern city gate where the battle was fiercest.