Chapter 431

Large-scale sonic attack, indiscriminate attack.

Only, those receiving differential treatment are the over ten thousand Black Phoenix Army soldiers outside the city forming ranks to resist the enemy.

The Muni Pearl somehow flew up and hung above their heads, shedding bright light; Wu Tie's roar couldn't disturb these Black Phoenix soldiers in the slightest, they couldn't even hear his roar.

The over ten thousand Black Phoenix soldiers merely saw wave after wave of sonic ripples swaying past the Muni Pearl, large groups of wood spirits rose into the air, each bleeding from seven orifices, tumbling and flying away like leaves in the wind, in the direction away from Wu Tie.

The gigantic trees all over the mountains bent their sturdy waists; those especially stubborn trees cracked with a 'crack crack crack', their trunks shattered by the roar, their huge crowns together with countless branches and leaves tumbled and were blasted to pieces in the sonic wave.

They also saw that tens of thousands of soldiers who fled the battlefield were thrown back by Wu Tie, then suppressed by countless wood spirits so they dared not move, lying on the ground pretending to be dead; they, like those wood spirits, tumbled and flew out.

Although they wore armor, Wu Tie's roar was tremendously powerful; even from nearly a hundred li away, these militia men were shaken until they bled from seven orifices, their armor shattered, their bodies slammed into tree trunks and boulders, breaking bones and tendons, each rolling their eyes and fainting.

Oh, wrong, it's not rolling their eyes.

The militia men bleeding from seven orifices had their eyeballs crushed by the massive sound wave, eyes congested, clearly each a scarlet red eyeball.

The sonic wave swept a hundred li; the stone giants a hundred li away saw Wu Tie's sonic wave overturn countless wood spirits, they immediately readied themselves, their massive bodies slightly leaning forward, legs digging into the ground, arms outstretched, assuming a posture to receive the sonic impact.

The countless water spirits standing on them silently retreated behind them, using their mountain-like massive bodies for protection.

The next moment, the sound wave attacked.

Tens of thousands of earth spirits condensed earth qi, their layered outer shells cracking inch by inch, yellow divine light flashing; each earth spirit, ten to thirty zhang tall, screamed hoarsely, struggling out of the looming dust mist, then the sonic wave struck, their massive bodies like human-shaped kites tumbled backward.

Along with the water spirits sheltered behind their outer shells, their bodies were far more fragile than the earth spirits'; as soon as the sonic wave came, they exploded into drifting sky‑wide water mist.

Fortunately, the water spirits' divine abilities are marvelous; though their bodies were shattered, they suffered no serious harm—aside from losing a bit of vital energy, once they re‑condensed their bodies, even their skin bore no injury.

Just one roar, and the five‑element spirits outside Wu Tie's cave‑heaven camp were almost swept away.

Only the high‑rank fire spirit stubbornly endured Wu Tie's roar, stubbornly hovering unmoving in the office pattern, but the flames on his surface were still raised into fine ripples by the sound wave—clearly Wu Tie's roar was no pleasure for him.

The high‑rank fire spirit stared at Wu Tie with eyes spewing fire, constantly having high‑temperature flames spout from his seven orifices.

This is truly being so angry as to bleed fire from the seven orifices; Wu Tie's roar inflicted too much damage on low‑rank wood, earth, and water spirits—the earth and water spirits are still okay, one having a sturdy flesh, the other possessing marvelous secret arts, so they won't suffer too much harm.

But those wood spirits… hundreds of thousands of wood spirits were violently flung aloft; seeing them bleed from seven orifices, even the lightest cases need three to five months of rest to heal, and those with severe injuries may never recover their combat strength.

"You..." the high‑rank fire spirit suddenly pointed a finger at Wu Tie.

"Talk? Or not talk?" Wu Tie hovered in the high sky, lowered his head, his huge eyes exhaling cold light, coldly gazing at this massive, scorching‑hot high‑rank fire spirit: "Talk, then we'll talk… if not, I'll slap you to death with one palm."

Now Wu Tie stands thousands of zhang tall, his heaven‑earth‑manifesting divine ability unfurled; the truths of the great Dao he has comprehended turned into strands; flowing light swirled and danced on his body, among them the wind and great Dao rhythms transformed into lifelike dragons, coiling and twisting around his arms like living creatures.

That very roar just now, Wu Tie employed precisely the wind‑and‑thunder principle.

Thunder's voice shakes ten thousand li, while wind enables the thunder's sound to travel faster and farther, possessing greater lethal power.

Wu Tie somewhat recklessly manifested those two principle dragons, showing he has grasped these two principles to an extremely profound degree. Compared to a sudden surge in magical power and bodily cultivation, mastery of such principle‑Dao cannot be faulted.

One must know, in the cultivation world there is a special situation called 'sudden enlightenment'.

Sometimes, a wild boar, thanks to 'sudden enlightenment', will instantly elevate its Dao cultivation—i. e., its comprehension and mastery of heavenly‑earthly principles—to an extremely high realm. This is something with no reason, no pattern, completely random, a matter of luck.

"Huo Xiong" studied the Nine Revolutions Mystic Technique, received a Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir from Master Li to aid his cultivation, yet he insists that just now, after a single loud shout, he suddenly grasped part of the wind‑and‑thunder principle's mystery, condensing it into a principle dragon… what can you say?

Two azure‑ and violet‑colored thousand‑zhang dragons coiled around Wu Tie's arms; the wind dragon roared with gales throughout its body, the lightning dragon flashed with electricity throughout its body, wind and thunder giving birth to each other, a dull thunder rumble continuously echoed in the void, a heavy pressure that weighed on the heart continually spread from within Wu Tie.

Pei Feng stood in the camp, his whole body engulfed in rolling black flames, with a faint smile he gazed upon Wu Tie standing in the sky.

She softly said: "A true man ought to be like this… far better than those spoiled, worthless good‑for‑nothings."

Several Black Phoenix Army toughs stood behind Pei Feng; these veteran Black Phoenix cadres, hearing Pei Feng's muttering, glanced at each other, their faces twitching simultaneously. Their visages twisted; looking at their expressions, they resembled an old farmer seeing a herd of wild boars invade his cabbage patch—each grieved and wan, yet deep down hiding a hint of ferocity and brutality.

The high‑rank fire spirit sensed the aura emanating from Wu Tie.

His magical cultivation, or more precisely his soul cultivation, remained at the womb‑storage realm; his soul had not undergone transformation.

Yet Wu Tie actually mastered two principle dragons; his aura made this high‑rank fire spirit feel waves of palpitations and oppression.

He exhaled a breath, the great fire spirit said in a low voice: "Old water demon, you are the most deceitful and cunning—come, say something."

The water‑spirit lady who emerged from the waves, with a graceful, curvaceous beautiful form, flew over from afar.

Just now Wu Tie's roar, this water‑spirit lady did not choose to meet it head‑on, but retreated along the direction of the sound wave—being spirits who command water, water spirits are not good at, nor do they like, head‑on clashes.

A wisp of faint white mist curled behind her; the water‑spirit lady came before Wu Tie.

Below, a great river rose into the air, swiftly merging into the water‑spirit lady's body; her form rapidly expanded, and after a few breaths she towered over three thousand zhang high, faintly surpassing Wu Tie by a little over half.

Obviously, this seemingly delicate water‑spirit lady is quite proud deep down; even when manifesting a heaven‑earth‑altering dharma form, she refuses to be inferior.

That which hung high in the air, transformed from underground into a gushing sword‑qi, was the metal essence.

And the wood‑spirit elder who, with difficulty, revealed his form from within a giant ancient tree.

The two, one ahead and one behind, each turned into flowing light and arrived beside the giant formed by the water‑spirit lady; they stood left and right on her shoulders.

As for the high‑rank fire spirit who had previously dealt with Wu Tie, he stood far away, with no intention of approaching this water‑spirit lady.

Obviously, water and fire are mutually antagonistic; the high‑rank fire spirit certainly did not want to clash his whole body of flame with her body of pure water.

"I am Shui Qianchi." The water‑spirit lady slightly bowed her head, looking at Wu Tie, who was a bit shorter than her, and said: "Outsiders, what do you wish to discuss?"

"We seek passage." Wu Tie spread his hands, earnestly gazing at Shui Qianchi: "We must pass through your territory; we need to go farther south. We want to open a route through your lands, and you must guarantee its safety."

Shui Qianchi's clear face shimmered with waterlight; she said in a deep voice: "Why not go around our territory?"

Wu Tie sneered: "Don't you know how many dangers lie outside your territory? Your land is the safest stretch of this route. We don't want our troops to die pointlessly, so…"

Shui Qianchi interrupted Wu Tie: "That's right—you don't want your men to die needlessly, so why do you want to pass through our land? If the five clans join forces, you'll suffer heavy casualties."

Wu Tie said in a deep voice: "And you will be exterminated."

Shui Qianchi remained silent, stepping back three paces.

Her body was huge, and she employed a marvelous divine ability like a gentle breeze sweeping over water; as she swayed, she had already retreated nearly a hundred li. Shui Qianchi gave a soft cry, and at least thirty‑odd rivers and streams of various sizes in the surrounding mountains shot up into the sky, continually merging into her body.

Shui Qianchi's transparent, clear body, originally bluish‑white, quickly turned pale green‑blue, light green, light blue, deep blue, bluish‑purple…

Finally, as water vapor continually merged, Shui Qianchi's body turned into a terrifying jet‑black.

Like a massive vortex on the sea surface in a hurricane, Shui Qianchi's now graceful, curvaceous form feels terrifying, her whole body permeated with an intense aura of destruction.

Retreating three steps, retreating a hundred li—this was to gather power.

Having stored up momentum, he was about to unleash a full‑force strike, like the heavenly river breaking through a dam and rushing straight down from the nine heavens to the earth.

Wu Tie looked at Shui Qianchi: "What happened to our agreed talk?"

Shui Qianchi looked at Wu Tie: "You say we will be exterminated... I refuse to accept that."

Wu Tie shouted sternly: "Do you know what stands behind us? Do you know which faction we belong to? Do you know who the enemy you will soon face is, if you Five Elements Spirits do not cooperate well with us?"

Shui Qianchi gave a proud smile: "But so far you haven't shown much strength... I don't believe how heaven-defying your power and influence truly are. Take my full-force strike first; if you don't die..."

Before she finished speaking, Shui Qianchi had transformed into a black water dragon, silently charging at Wu Tie.

Moreover, as soon as she moved, she was directly before Wu Tie; her hands became the dragon's two horns, carrying a terrifying aura of annihilation straight into Wu Tie's chest.

Wu Tie sighed, pointed his hand, and the Munni Treasure Pearl suddenly appeared before him, emitting a blinding light that illuminated heaven and earth, completely immobilizing all Five Elements power within a radius of several hundred li.

Wu Tie drew the Nine Refined Immortal Sword he had extorted from Sima You and others, took a deep breath, and slashed with one sword at the water dragon's head.

A sharp, miserable howl rang out; the water dragon that Shui Qianchi had become had its head chopped off by Wu Tie's sword, the Munni Treasure Pearl pinned its body and head, leaving her unable to move for a moment.

After such a stalemate for the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, the three senior leaders of Fire Essence, Metal Essence, and Wood Essence watching from afar all began to stir, and farther away, the enormous stone giant face on the ground slowly bulged upward.

The old, decrepit Wood Essence, whose beard and hair were wound around his body like a ball, sighed: "Release the old water demon; this heavenly-path divine weapon is too overbearing—even if Water Essence could shatter its body a hundred million times... being pinned by this pearl for too long, over time, she will die as well."

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes, gestured with his palm, and summoned the Munni Treasure Pearl back.

The water dragon's body writhed, then with a "splosh" turned back into Shui Qianchi's female form. However, it was obvious that a strange pattern faintly appeared on her neck, from which a cyan-white viscous blood plasma continually seeped.

Wu Tie smiled at Shui Qianchi: "You're injured."

Shui Qianchi and the others gave Wu Tie's palm a deep look: "You're nothing but relying on the power of your treasure..."

The Metal Essence said in a cold, solemn voice: "Don't think that just because you have a good treasure, if we summon the Holy Ancestor..."

The Old Wood Essence coughed heavily; the Metal Essence immediately stepped back a step, silent.

Wu Tie couldn't help but shake his head: these Five Elements Spirits are too pure-hearted, to the point that they cover up their mistakes with such simplicity and honesty.

"What is this so-called Holy Ancestor?" Wu Tie wondered curiously.

"Now..." Shui Qianchi sighed, reaching out her hand to Wu Tie: "Could you let us see your route? If your route is reasonable and you are willing to release our clanspeople you have captured... then we can try to persuade the Elder Council of the Five Tribes."

Wu Tie raised his eyebrows, took out a jade tablet, and pointed.

A vast landscape map emerged, light flashing amidst swirling mist, and a faint green dotted line appeared on the map.

Shui Qianchi, Old Wood Essence, and the senior leaders of Metal Essence and Fire Essence all trembled slightly at the same time.

After taking a deep breath, Old Wood Essence said calmly: "That's fine; it's not impossible to discuss, but please release our captives."

Wu Tie looked at the four forcing themselves to stay calm, lightly shook his head: "You, go report to your Elder Council first."

Wu Tie gently pushed the jade tablet forward and said solemnly: "Take this route map back with you; perhaps you can persuade your Elder Council."