Chapter 429

Hehe!

A roar came from afar as the stone giant; a stone giant thousands of zhang tall suddenly raised its arms, like a mad bull, it strode forward toward the nearest unfinished fortress.

When the Five Elements Spirits appeared, the laborers and Da Ze Zhou Army warriors in the fortress had already retreated at full speed.

As they withdrew, the scene was like a duck shed exploding; the laborers were relatively okay, and amid the shouts of various foremen they could still form a barely passable line, somewhat disordered but not collapsing as they fell back.

And Wu Tie also asked the Black Phoenix Army commanders to put considerable thought into training the Da Ze Zhou Army warriors……

Wu Tie slapped his own forehead—these guys really brought him honor.

Heaven knows how they managed to drill their proficient Three Talents Convergence Formation; clearly when practicing the formation they acted all proper, but the moment countless Five Elements Spirits suddenly sprang up, these guys' true colors were laid bare.

Though not quite abandoning armor and weapons, they scattered like tens of thousands of ducks of all sizes, each wailing and howling as they fled on foot.

The strongest officers ran in front, and according to their varying strength, huge crowds of Da Ze Zhou Army troops scattered wildly through the woods in a frantic dash.

Fortunately the Wood Spirits did not seize the moment to attack, otherwise those tens of thousands of Da Ze Zhou Army warriors would all have died there.

Wu Tie's face darkened; he kneaded his fingers hard, producing a loud 'crack-crack', and with a grim visage he said, 'Let them die there……no one is allowed to go rescue them, just let them die there……I will give them a heroic roster of "dying for the country"!'

Only over ten thousand Black Phoenix Army soldiers, under the leadership of several commanders, formed a semicircular defensive formation facing the direction from which the stone giant charged, raising their shields.

However, the heavy shields issued to the Black Phoenix Army were extremely effective against the Wood Spirits' arrows.

Shields nearly eight chi high and one chi thick, when joined together, formed a small-scale wall; the Wood Spirits' arrows in pairs or threes had little effect on such heavy shields.

But now the attacker is a giant thousands of zhang tall.

The Black Phoenix Army instinctively raised their shields, but they instantly realized the shields were useless; the stone giant needed no other attack—just lift its huge foot and stomp down, and half the formation would be crushed to powder.

Several Black Phoenix Army commanders leading the troops leapt into the air, bellowing lowly as their bodies rapidly expanded; they unleashed the Heaven-Earth Manifestation divine ability, swelling to a height of hundreds of zhang, brandishing their weapons as they charged at the stone giant.

Amid the chaos, among the Da Ze Zhou Army warriors fleeing at breakneck speed, a few of the strongest leaders turned their heads to look at the Black Phoenix Army commanders who had boldly rushed forward to fight desperately.

These few, oily to the marrow, actually blew a sharp whistle, like a theater star being cheered, and shouted in a shrill voice: 'Brothers, nicely done! Hold on, hold on, brothers, we'll go fetch reinforcements!'

From tens of li away, Wu Tie's complexion grew ever uglier.

He waved toward the council hall, and the Muni Treasure Pearl spun rapidly out of the hall, hovering above his head.

Wu Tie pointed fiercely at the tens of thousands of Da Ze Zhou Army warriors racing far ahead, having abandoned the laborers and Black Phoenix Army allies far behind, and softly shouted 'Freeze!'!

Boundless Light poured down, and the bodies of the tens of thousands of scattered Da Ze Zhou Army troops fleeing in disarray simultaneously stiffened.

No matter what they were doing at that moment—including some who had already taken to the air, riding clouds and mist to flee backward—they were frozen in place, even those who had risen into the air were locked mid-flight.

'Go!' Wu Tie thrust his palm forward, a gale surged up from the ground, sweeping up those tens of thousands of embarrassing losers and sending them back the way they came.

In the camp, the Da Ze Zhou Army troops left to guard the base let out schadenfreude-laced laughter.

Wu Tie's face grew ever darker; he glanced at these useless fellows, pondering whether to find a chance to send them all to the front lines to die……If this lot were all killed in battle, the military department would surely allocate a generous pension, right?

These fellows seem useful only for that.

With their pension money, Wu Tie could recruit a batch of more capable people—at least among the many border‑filling convicts Mr. Li later sent over, quite a few were low‑rank soldiers dispatched for violating military discipline, and those are surely more useful than these street‑ruffian warriors, right?

Suddenly the main camp fell silent.

All the brave men of the Great Marsh Prefecture army felt the intense malice in Wu Tie's gaze; they shivered, looked at each other, then simultaneously raised their voices and shouted: "Brothers, kill! Don't be afraid, we brothers are here."

A group of brave men standing in the safe cave-heaven military camp began to clap and stomp their feet, cheering on the unlucky bunch that Wu Tie had flung back.

Boom!

Several black phoenix army commanders who had deployed the Heaven‑Earth Phenomenon Divine Ability and reached heights of over a hundred zhang collided heavily with the thousand‑zhang stone giant.

It felt like a few rabbits crashing into an enraged bull; the stone giant's whole body sprayed earth‑yellow divine light, and with a clap of its massive hands, the several black phoenix commanders went spinning and flew away.

Their cultivation was roughly the same, all at the level of the Womb‑Storage realm, but their sizes differed enormously and the power gap was huge; before this stone giant, the few black phoenix commanders who had used the Heaven‑Earth Phenomenon Divine Ability appeared extremely frail.

Just as the commanders were blown away, a raging gale swept up tens of thousands of fleeing Great Marsh Prefecture brave men and rushed them toward the stone giant.

Even the might of the Mani Pearl could not control these prefecture army brave men.

Under the suppression of the Heavenly Way Divine Artifact, facing such a colossal stone giant, these brave men—even the weakest among them—let out a terrified shriek from their throats, jumping about like leeches struck by lightning.

Human potential truly is unfathomable.

Wu Tie and Peng Feng both sighed with feeling, involuntarily applauding and praising the potential these prefecture army brave men displayed in the face of death.

"Heavenly Way Divine Artifact, Mani Pearl!" Wu Tie shook his head, then shook it again. This bunch of damned fellows—Wu Tie didn't know how to evaluate them.

The stone giant let out a low roar; facing the tens of thousands of prefecture army brave men swept up by the hurricane, he raised both hands high, stirred up a sky‑filling yellow divine light, and brought it down upon them.

Tens of thousands of prefecture army brave men wailed in unison, each shrieking hysterically as if they had lost their parents; some even lost control of their bowels and bladder, filling the air with a suffocating stench.

Wu Tie drew the Nine‑Refined Immortal Soldier long bow he had extorted from Sima You and others, nocked an arrow personally carved by Gongshu Ban, whose head bore ninety‑nine layered armor‑breaking runes; as the stone giant's great hand came down, he pulled the bow, nocked the arrow, and loosed it at the giant.

In the air, the floating gold essences all lowered their heads to look at Wu Tie.

The Nine‑Refined Immortal Soldier long bow's power was tremendous; the arrow almost as soon as it left the bowstring emitted a booming 'Peng!', and in the rain‑curtain a straight, transparent passage appeared, leading from before Wu Tie straight to the stone giant's heart.

The stone giant let out a furious roar; he had no time to swat the prefecture army brave men, and hastily drew both hands together to shield his chest.

The massive stone hand was pierced through by Wu Tie's arrow, which whistled straight into the stone giant's heart.

The stone giant bellowed, and his thousand‑zhang tall body suddenly shattered; his back exploded, revealing a figure suffused with yellow light, almost translucent, standing twenty‑odd zhang tall, which shot out from his back and instantly appeared among the giant clan a hundred li away.

The thousand‑zhang tall giant's body was pierced by the arrow, which exploded violently inside the stone giant's torso, blasting half of his body into sky‑filling rubble.

Countless rubble rained down, causing tens of thousands of prefecture army brave men to wail for their mothers and fathers.

The two great legs of the thousand‑zhang stone giant wobbled, then collapsed like massive stone pillars, shaking the ground violently; the myriad Black Phoenix troops standing ready were thrown east and west, yet they kept their battle formation intact.

Wu Tie looked at the Great Marsh Prefecture brave men clutching their heads and lying on the ground, then at the myriad Black Phoenix soldiers, and couldn't help but look up and sigh.

"Peng Feng, let's make a deal?" Wu Tie looked at Peng Feng with ill intent.

"Don't even think about it!" Peng Feng gave Wu Tie a white eye and sneered: "Trade my troops for yours? Ten for one, and I still wouldn't do it even if you paid extra… that bunch of… parasites under your command—just keep raising them yourself!"

Wu Tie helplessly rubbed his nose and muttered: "They're actually sometimes useful… for example, intimidating and exploiting civilian laborers, they're still quite handy!"

Tens of thousands of prefecture army brave men were swept back to their original spots by Wu Tie's gust; shadows flickered in the nearby woods as an unknown number of wood spirits rushed out of the thicket, standing on the giant tree branches, their bows and arrows locked tightly onto the prone prefecture army brave men on the ground.

With the wood spirits' archery, a single command would turn those tens of thousands of prefecture army brave men into sieves in an instant.

Regarding this, Wu Tie had nothing to say.

Those who dare to flee in battle—if they die, they die; he absolutely won't feel any heartache. Even if they're captured by the enemy, don't think they can extort any benefit from Wu Tie.

Anyway, such trash isn't worth Wu Tie's concern. Better off dead; alive they just waste military rations, right?

Wu Tie and Pei Feng, leading dozens of Black Phoenix Army stalwarts, soared into the sky.

In the camp of Sima You and the others in the distance, a flagship slowly floated up; under the close protection of a large entourage of guards, Sima You and his companions stood grim-faced on the prow, glaring fiercely at the Five Elements Spirits all around.

Just now, in Wu Tie's camp, these guys were given quite a fright.

Especially those few whose skin was burned by the flames spat out by the Fire Spirit; now they have smeared ointment on their faces, a messy multicolored sight. They're seething with anger, hoping Wu Tie and the Five Elements Spirits will clash—no matter which side gets wiped out, it would be a gratifying spectacle.

Wu Tie and Pei Feng had just soared to a height of a hundred zhang when dozens of Metal Spirits came rushing over with a piercing screech; on their silvery bodies, sharp spikes sprouted silently, instantly turning them into hedgehogs bristling with blades, exuding a menacing sharpness.

"We should talk." Wu Tie looked at the Metal Spirit blocking the way.

"Nothing to talk about—release our comrades… then scram!" a Metal Spirit arrogantly pointed a finger at Wu Tie's nose; his finger whooshed out, stretching to a full three chi long.

The silvery finger was extremely sharp, like an awl, pointing straight at Wu Tie's nose tip.

Such a sharp finger—obviously, if he poked someone with it, the lethality would be considerable.

"Let's talk; it's good for everyone." Wu Tie stared seriously at this Metal Spirit: "Or do you really want to fight to the death and go to war with us?"

The Metal Spirit's eyes flashed with a piercing cold light as he shouted sternly: "Five Elements Spirits fear no death. Release our comrades, then get out of our territory—this is your final warning!"

Whoooo!

From all directions came countless piercing whistles.

Countless Wood Spirits sprang from the forests, nimbly perching on treetops and swaying lightly with the branches' motion. The heavy rain lashed their bodies, kicking up sheets of mist that made their forms flicker in and out of view, making it impossible to tell just how many there were at a glance.

But as soon as they lifted their longbows, the treetops for hundreds of li around were thickly covered with longbows as dense as hemp stalks.

The sight was so terrifying that even Pei Feng's face changed.

Sima You and the others were startled by the sudden appearance of the Wood Spirits; their flagship had just risen a hundred zhang or so, then, sneaking about, it slowly sank back toward the ground.

They had witnessed the Wood Spirits' archery before.

If the decked ships were flying high in the sky, to the Wood Spirits they would be moving targets.

Only a fool would stick his neck out at a time like this.

Sima You and his comrades secretly ordered their troops to prepare to abandon allies and flee at full speed. Six hundred decked ships hovered a few zhang above the ground, their power furnaces silently storing energy, ready to dash forward at full speed.

A strong surge of water-element magical power came from afar, and the torrential rain pouring down in the high air suddenly halted.

Thereafter, the curtain of rain retreated in all directions.

The heavy rain over several hundred li was pushed far away by this water-element force; looking from afar, a semicircular gap appeared in the rain curtain, exactly covering the several-hundred-li forest.

Boom!

Behind those Stone Giants, several mountain peaks split apart, and then a mountain ablaze with raging flames burst forth from the ground.

This fiery mountain shot up to over three thousand zhang high, its entire body burning with seven-colored divine flame, exhaling firelight; over a hundred li away, Wu Tie and the others felt the scorching heat wave hit them.

Then a jet of magma erupted from the mountain's summit, shooting straight up to an altitude of ten thousand zhang above the ground.

The magma vaporized instantly, forming a tumbling mass of fire cloud; the cloud then collapsed inward, becoming a fire egg a hundred zhang in diameter. After a few breaths, the fire egg exploded, and a Fire Spirit several zhang tall, entirely engulfed in flames, shot out of it— in a flash it appeared behind the Metal Spirit facing Wu Tie.

Dozens of Metal Spirits turned simultaneously and bowed to the Fire Spirit in respect.

"Let's talk; we agree we should talk. But before we talk, we ought to let you gauge the strength of our young ones." The Fire Spirit, wholly wreathed in flames, with seven-colored light flickering in its eyes, said in a low voice: "So, brace yourselves for an assault from our progeny!"

"If you can hold us off, we'll talk… if you can't, then you die!"

The Fire Spirit imperiously pointed at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie inclined his head solemnly, clasped his hands before the Fire Spirit, and said: "A very wise decision… let's talk, but the premise for talking is that our strengths are roughly equal, right?"

Wu Tie suddenly cracked a grin: "What if we win?"

The Fire Spirit spread its hands: "If you win, you may put forward your terms… that's perfectly fair! Might makes right— that's very fair!"