Chapter 430: Futile Loss

The earth trembled slightly; in the distance several mountain peaks collapsed, and where the peaks disappeared, a huge face spanning several thousand zhang appeared on the ground.

The face is so huge that one can imagine how towering the stone giant's body would be if it emerged from underground.

A vein of earth far away shuddered violently, the ground split open an extremely deep fissure, and a large amount of Geng-metal qi shot up into the sky, turning into a silver sword tens of thousands of zhang long that stabbed straight into the heavens.

The sword qi gradually faded, and from within leapt a figure about three zhang tall, its body radiating golden light yet tightly restrained—a gold essence.

Splash—water sound came from afar, the raindrops in the high sky vanished; a hundred li away, in the high sky, a lake spanning a hundred li appeared out of nowhere. The azure lake hovered in midair, then began to spin rapidly.

As the lake spun, its volume began to shrink rapidly.

After a few breaths, the lake shrank to a few zhang in height, then a great mass of steam exploded outward, and a woman of exquisite beauty, about a zhang tall with a graceful figure, stepped onto the water mist and slowly walked out of the steam.

Boom!

A vast expanse of wind and thunder poured down from the heavens; dense lightning and gales intertwined, gradually forming a colossal wind pillar that shot straight to the nine heavens, encircling the summit of a great mountain several hundred li away—a towering tree a thousand zhang tall.

The giant tree spread its branches, countless leaves bursting with blinding green light, and then the fearsome wind-and-thunder pillar imbued with terrible power was swallowed whole by the tree. On the trunk, thick enough for dozens to encircle, an aged face appeared, gradually becoming clear; accompanied by the sharp rending of wooden fibers, the aged face slowly emerged from the trunk.

After about the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, an extremely old figure emerged from the trunk, its green hair and beard wound many times around the body, almost coiling into a spherical old wood essence.

These stone giants, gold essences, water essences, and wood essences that appeared in strange ways emanated auras far stronger than the hidden clansmen of the mountains and forests; merely releasing their aura from afar was enough to leave the Black Phoenix Army's fierce warriors behind Wu Tie gasping for breath.

Together with this great fire essence before Wu Tie, these fellows ought to be the high-ranking members of the Five Elements Essence Spirits, their true trump card.

The fleet in which Sima You and the others were aboard began to drift slowly backward; they dared not use full speed to flee, instead slipping back bit by bit, ever so slowly.

Outside the tower ship, in the camp, the troops brought by Sima You and the others were forming ranks, carefully following the tower ship as it retreated backward while continually boarding the tower ship.

These fellows had realized that the Five Elements Essence Spirits were not to be provoked, especially these five masters, who were terrifying existences they could not afford to offend; thus… 'May my comrades die, not I,' Sima You and the others shamelessly decided to retreat.

Perhaps because of the Cave Heaven Military Camp, the Five Elements Essence Spirits focused their attention mainly on Wu Tie and Pei Feng.

Perhaps in their eyes, Wu Tie and Pei Feng, who possessed a camp capable of autonomously inhaling and exhaling the world's primordial energy, were the true leaders of this invading army… while Sima You and the others aboard the flagship were merely subordinates of Wu Tie and company.

The Five Elements Essence Spirits stared fixedly at Wu Tie and Pei Feng, with few paying attention to Sima You and the others sneaking away backward.

"Children, do not disgrace the prestige of our ancestors."

Accompanied by tens of thousands of zhang of sword qi, the gold essence that surged up from deep within the earth's vein raised its right arm and pointed toward Wu Tie and Pei Feng.

In the next instant, Wu Tie's Cave Heaven Blessed Land fell into darkness.

Heavenly raindrops carried a piercing tearing-through-the-air sound, spinning rapidly as they poured down upon the camp at a terrifying speed; in Wu Tie's perception, these raindrops became extremely dense and extremely heavy, each like a copper bullet.

"Bang!" a tremendous roar.

Far and near, who knows how many wood essences drew their longbows.

Hundreds of thousands of wood essences nearly simultaneously loosed their arrows; the bowstrings' tremendous reverberation roared like thunder, causing Wu Tie's ears to ring with a buzzing sound.

Wu Tie and Pei Feng exchanged a horrified glance; the few Old Man Ma and companions behind them had no time to react, their eardrums shattered by the simultaneous roar of hundreds of thousands of wood essences releasing their bows, and blood spurted directly from their ears.

From all directions, countless fine arrows in the mountains and forests were wrapped in strands of clear wind; in an extremely strange manner, they passed through each droplet of dense rain, shooting rapidly upward into the sky, then swooped down to blanket Wu Tie's camp.

The arrows and raindrops did not interfere with each other; rather, the clear wind wrapped around the arrows and the vortices stirred up by the raindrops achieved a wonderful harmonious coexistence, further agitating each other to erupt with even greater power.

The speed of the raindrops and arrows kept increasing, accelerating without end, giving Wu Tie the illusion of no limit, as if these raindrops and arrows could keep accelerating.

The gold essences hovering in the air simultaneously burst forth with brilliant silver light.

Silver light swept across the void, and the heavenly raindrops and arrows instantly acquired a silver coating; clearly these arrows became heavier and sharper, and one can imagine how much greater their lethality became.

Several hundred li away, the stone giants roared loudly in unison; a cluster of yellow divine light flared suddenly in their chests, and the surrounding earth's electromagnetic gravity became chaotic.

Wu Tie had already obtained much knowledge of the Five Elements Essence Spirits from the stone giant he had captured alive.

For example, the stone giants' true forms are actually not nearly as huge as they appear.

These stone giants, which casually stand hundreds to thousands of zhang tall, have massive bodies that are 'armor' formed by their true selves absorbing external rock; their true bodies lie hidden near the chest of the stone giant.

Thus, when Wu Tie loosed an arrow just now, it forced that thousand-zhang stone giant to discard its outer armor, and its true form fled in a sorry state.

These stone giants—or rather, these earth essences—after donning outer armor tens to hundreds of times larger than their true forms, are able to wield earth-type power with enormously amplified strength thanks to their massive bodies.

The ground beneath Wu Tie's camp trembled violently, undulating like water.

At the same time, the surrounding light underwent a strange distortion; the earth's electromagnetic gravity fluctuated violently, and the defensive formation on Wu Tie's camp was fiercely tugged by the immense distorted gravity, gradually bursting forth with blinding light.

The lethality erupted by these stone giants exceeds the ordinary, and the pressure they exert on the camp's grand defensive formation keeps growing.

Within the camp, various defensive prohibitions began to operate at full power, continually drawing in heavenly and earthly primordial energy; moreover, the origin crystals stockpiled at the formation's core burned rapidly, supplying tremendous energy to the camp's defensive formation.

Dense impact sounds arrived as countless raindrops and arrows struck the camp.

The heavy light curtain above the camp trembled violently; the curtain twisted, sending out great ripples, and a low rumbling filled the ears without cease—each raindrop seemed like a meteorite falling, each arrow like a giant drill attacking the formation.

Inside the camp, the Black Phoenix Army soldiers began to form ranks, gripping heavy shields, their faces flushed red, each preparing for a fight to the death.

And the brave men of Wu Tie's provincial troops…

Excellent, too excellent.

Besides Li Erhaozi and Huang Yu and a few other leaders who, mustering their courage, brandished knives and spears while shouting loudly, the majority of the provincial troops—over ninety percent—fled with heads covered, abandoning weapons and shields, and scrambled into the barracks to hide.

These fellows truly never considered that, if the camp's grand defensive formation were breached, how could the barracks possibly protect them?

In the distance, the water essences swarming densely over the stone giants' bodies simultaneously raised their hands; the raindrops in the high sky fell faster and faster, their volume growing larger, until countless raindrops coalesced into dozens of water dragons that plunged straight down from the heavens with mighty momentum.

Thousands of gold essences shifted formation in the air, suddenly arranging themselves into a strange formation several dozen li from the camp.

These gold essences formed a straight line, with each essence's palm pressed tightly against the back of the one ahead; their bodies flickered with brilliant silver light, and a terrifying sharpness shot up into the sky.

In the next instant, the bodies of these gold essences writhed rapidly, turning into a mercury-like fluid; the thousands of gold essences merged into a single entity, becoming a handleless, narrow, single-edged straight blade hovering in the air.

"Not good!" Wu Tie suddenly felt a bone‑chilling dread looming imminent; he charged out of the camp's grand defensive formation and positioned himself before the long blade condensed by the thousands of gold essences.

"Screech!" a tremendous roar, the long blade trembled slightly, and a blade aura as fine as a hair, thousands of zhang long and crescent‑shaped, burst from its edge, shooting straight toward Wu Tie to cleave him.

The fire essence high‑ranking one who had just dealt with Wu Tie cracked open its mouth, spewing viscous flame from its seven orifices with a mocking smile: "Truly a pointless self‑invited death… you have greatly underestimated the abilities of these iron boys."

Shaking its head, the fire essence high‑ranking one sneered at Pei Feng: "He… is doomed!"

Wu Tie's linked‑mountain pattern armor burst forth with blinding light as he loudly shouted: "Nine‑turn Golden Pill, explode! Nine‑turn Mystic Technique, hold firm!"

He shouted just like that, but Wu Tie could not bear to waste the medicinal potency of the Nine‑turn Golden Pill.

He silently recited the secret chant transmitted by Wuyu, releasing part of his sealed bodily cultivation; a tremendous force surged from within, his essence‑blood aura shot up tens of thousands of zhang above his head, and within the blood‑qi a faint dragon‑elephant phantom could be seen, appearing and disappearing.

A low growl erupted from Wu Tie's chest as he released a strand of the power hidden in his heart—the five‑elements essence blood. The miraculous essence‑blood power surged through his body, swiftly driving his physique toward a realm that was stronger, more overbearing, more brutal, and more domineering.

Wu Tie threw a punch that slammed into the oncoming blade aura.

A tremendous boom rang out, and the spiritual light emitted by the Lianhuan Mountain Pattern Armor dimmed slightly; a clear, visible scratch appeared on Wu Tie's fully enclosed immortal‑soldier gauntlet. The light flickered, the scratch slowly healed, yet the combined force of the thousands of gold essences actually managed to inflict damage on this armor that surpassed the Nine Refined Immortal Soldiers.

On the flagship that had already retreated seven or eight li, Sima You and the others used a secret treasure spirit‑light mirror to see what had happened; they stared at each other, unable to speak. If that blow had landed on them…… no, if it had struck their flagship, the thousand‑zhang flagship beneath their feet would have had defenses inferior to the Lianhuan Mountain Pattern Armor.

That strike would at least take out several of those unlucky fellows, right?

The blade aura shattered with a boom, a huge force surged forward, and Wu Tie lost his footing, stumbling backward in large steps.

"Thud‑thud‑thud" he retreated backward dozens of steps, each step leaving a huge transparent footprint in the void. Wu Tie's low laugh drowned out the roar of the Five Elements Spirits' combined attack, and he laughed loudly: "Your strength is great, but I can still withstand it!"

With a great laugh, Wu Tie turned into a golden flash; before the thousands of gold essences could react, he lunged to the front of that extremely long single‑edged blade, grabbed it with both hands, and flung it with all his might.

The long blade forged from the thousands of gold essences lost its footing; despite the high‑pitched, ear‑piercing tremors ringing from within the blade, Wu Tie hurled it forth, carrying a sharp tearing‑through‑the‑air sound, slicing toward the dense crowd of earth spirits a hundred li away.

The earth spirits' bodies were too huge; they simply had no time to dodge.

The blade spun, slicing through the waists of hundreds of the earth spirits' massive bodies; hundreds of earth spirits were cut in half at the waist, their upper halves crashing heavily to the ground, frightening the water spirits standing on them into scattering as wisps of water vapor.

A furious roar rang out; the chests of the severed earth spirits' massive bodies burst with blinding yellow divine light, as each earth spirit's true form discarded its outer armor, stepped on the yellow aura and shot into the sky, striding forward to charge at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie also rushed forward to meet those earth spirits, swinging his fists; his fists glowed with a faint light, one punch per spirit, blasting those earth spirits far away.

Those earth spirits possessed the titanic strength to uproot mountains and rivers, but after Wu Tie released part of his bodily cultivation, added the immense power from the Nine Turns Mysterious Skill, and incorporated the bodily evolution brought by the five‑elements essence blood merging into his flesh, his physical strength had now entered the realm of the "inhuman."

Even those true cultivators of the Nine Turns Mysterious Skill among the Great Jin elite, who had countless resources to squander, and who had trained the Nine Turns Mysterious Skill to the utmost of the Fetal Storage Realm, would likely have physical strength only comparable to Wu Tie's current half‑step Fetal Storage Realm.

After all, those fortunate Great Jin elites who had obtained the right to cultivate the Nine Turns Mysterious Skill could acquire ever more resources, yet they could not possibly be like Wu Tie, who possesses a mutant skeleton and has five Divine Bright Realm ancestors condensing their natal essence blood for him to consume!

Moreover, Wu Tie's fundamental technique is the Yuanshi Scripture!

Thus, the earth spirits' arms were shattered, they screamed in anguish as Wu Tie's heavy punches blasted them away.

One punch per spirit—hundreds of earth spirits amounted to nothing more than a few hundred punches.

The earth spirits came quickly, but were flung away even faster; Wu Tie struck with extreme heaviness, sending the farthest of them flying a hundred li or more.

After the last charging earth spirit was blasted away, Wu Tie surged upward into the sky. Standing several hundred zhang above the ground, he unleashed the Heaven‑Earth Law Divine Ability, and his body rapidly expanded to a height of three thousand zhang.

He spread his arms and drew a deep breath.

Instantly, the rain clouds within a hundred‑li radius of void began to spin rapidly; large masses of water‑cloud were sucked into Wu Tie's body in one gulp, then transformed into surging origin energy, which swiftly churned and surged in his chest.

The fire‑essence high‑rank stationed above Wu Tie's camp widened his eyes, opened his mouth, and was about to shout a warning to everyone to be careful.

Wu Tie had already let out a great roar; in heaven and earth, nothing but his roar could be heard.

The fire‑essence high‑rank's voice was drowned out by Wu Tie's great roar, as wave after wave of visible sound surged, howling across the forests within a hundred‑li radius.

Countless large tree branches snapped, and the trunks were bent by the impact of the sound waves.

Within the hundred‑li forest, countless wood spirits, earth spirits, water spirits, and metal spirits clapped their hands over their ears, emitting hoarse, exhausted cries of pain.

The wood spirits were the most numerous; one could see sheets of them flying up, blood spurting from their ears, shaken by the sound waves to soar far away, fainting mid‑air.

With a great shout, the Five Elements Spirits within a hundred‑li radius were almost swept clean.

Pei Feng burst into laughter, imitating the fire‑essence high‑rank's words, and softly laughed: "Really, what a pointless loss!"