Chapter 439

The dark-skinned brute swung his axe and struck the west gate, emitting a deep, heavy boom.

The defensive formation of the Cave Heaven Military Camp activated on its own, a thick layer of water-like light surged from the west gate, the Nine‑Refined Spirit Soldier‑grade great axe shattered with a boom, fragments flew backward, a shard of the axe blade scraped the dark‑skinned brute's shoulder, tearing a fine fissure there.

Blood spurted out, and the dark‑skinned brute's face turned extremely ferocious.

He threw away the smooth axe handle, the dark‑skinned brute spread his hands and slammed them onto the left leaf of the west gate.

Thud thud footsteps sounded, another head, standing five to six meters tall and more burly than the dark‑skinned brute, a bull‑headed warrior charged over and rammed his head against the other gate leaf.

Hum!

Both gate leaves simultaneously sprayed out strands of electricity, the dark‑skinned brute's hands were entwined by the electric light, amid dense thunderclaps his skin rapidly scorched black, peeled away, revealing bloody muscle.

Another bull‑headed brute let out a hoarse, prolonged howl, his skull shattered by the electric light, his body continually recoiling, his two massive hooves gouged deep tracks in the ground.

"Charge in! Kill!" the dark‑skinned brute roared madly.

Hundreds of bull‑headed brutes wielding great axes charged at the slowly closing west gate; this gate could normally shut quickly, at most within a single breath, but under the desperate interception of the dark‑skinned brute and his companions, the gate required at least four or five breaths to close.

The prohibitions of the Cave Heaven Military Camp are immensely powerful, the force of the gate leaves closing together is extremely strong.

At the peak of the Life Pond Realm, the dark‑skinned brute and his companions originally could not possibly withstand the force of the gate leaves closing; this is absolutely the tremendous strength only a Body‑Tempering expert of the Womb‑Storage Realm could possess.

From the pores of the dark‑skinned brute and his companions burst a blood‑colored mist, their bodies rapidly withering and shrinking.

They had taken forbidden drugs and employed the desperate secret art from the Indestructible Bull Demon Body, forcibly raising their strength to the level of a Womb‑Storage Realm Body‑Tempering cultivator.

As the gate closed bit by bit, the dark‑skinned brute and his companions' bodies rapidly withered.

Thud thud a few sounds, several more bull‑headed brutes whose pores rolled with blood‑mist rushed forward and rammed their heads against the city gate.

The momentum of the gate closing suddenly stalled for a moment; hundreds of bull‑headed brutes, like a gale, swung their great axes and howled as they charged into the Cave Heaven Military Camp, emitting low‑pitched howls while blood‑mist likewise roiled from their bodies.

These bull‑headed brutes are all of Life Pond Realm cultivation, and they simultaneously took forbidden drugs and employed desperate secret techniques.

They forcibly raised their strength to the level of a Womb‑Storage Realm Body‑Tempering cultivator; although their divine abilities and secret arts did not increase, their killing power truly reached that of the Womb‑Storage Realm.

Moreover, in their hands they held purely Nine‑Refined Spirit Soldier weapons.

Hundreds of great axes swung in unison, hundreds of blades of cold light swept out, tearing through space and slashing for miles.

Along the way, each barracks glittered with dazzling light; the Cave Heaven Military Camp's defensive prohibitions blocked the bull‑headed brutes' frenzied hacking, but the Prefecture Army warriors swarming out of the camp collided head‑on with those sharp, domineering blades of cold light.

Limbs and arms flew sideways; on the broad avenue inside the camp, nearly a thousand Prefecture Army warriors, before they could even grasp what was happening, were hacked into pieces. Blood spurted out dozens of zhang along the cold light, and the shrill wails shook heaven and earth.

Sharp bugle calls sounded from all directions of the camp.

Over one hundred thousand Black Phoenix Army troops stationed in the camp, hearing the wind, sprang into action, quickly donned their gear, brandished various weapons, rushed out of the barracks, formed ranks, and charged toward the west gate.

At the same time, the sound of doors being shut and barred never ceased.

In each barracks belonging to the Great Marsh Prefecture Army, the Prefecture Army warriors, faces ashen, shut the heavy doors and barred them with various spears and halberds.

Moreover, some shameless Prefecture Army warriors poked half their faces out of the barracks windows, shouting loudly at the Black Phoenix Army soldiers urgently gathering on the avenue: "Black Phoenix Army brothers… it's all up to you! Brothers, give us encouragement, don't be cowards, go!"

A Black Phoenix Army commander flicked his sleeve; a few copper coins fell into his palm, and he backhanded them out.

Swish swish swish, several streaks of yellow light shot out, striking the Prefecture Army warriors who were shouting at the window, leaving them with broken heads and blood streaming, each wailing heaven and earth as they drew their heads back.

"Form array! Meet the enemy!" a Black Phoenix Army commander brandished a spear, strode forward to the front of the ranks, gazing at the hundreds of terrifyingly strong‑aurad bull‑headed brutes, he bellowed: "Form the Minor Five‑Elements Peach Blossom Array! All officers of commandant rank and above, serve as array eyes, kill!"

The Black Phoenix Army's combat quality is astonishingly high.

They quickly split into five divisions, rolling up a surging killing intent, like a five‑petal peach blossom that constantly splits and recombines, under the leadership of about a hundred commandant‑rank and above officers, they brought forth streaks of sharp cold light and charged into those bull‑headed brutes.

The strength of the hundred thousand elite troops converged through the formation, concentrating on those hundred‑odd commandant‑rank officers.

Their weapons emitted a chilling cold light, the chill spraying out dozens of zhang, like venomous dragons and giant pythons slashing forth.

The bull‑headed brutes had taken forbidden drugs and employed secret arts; their flesh and souls were burning, they had been burned to the point of muddled consciousness, even a bit crazy. Faced with the rolling killing array, they split into five teams, swinging wheel‑sized great axes and clashed head‑on, killing their way forward.

The great axes and the Black Phoenix Army officers' weapons collided heavily.

The dull impact sounded like thunder; weapons shattered one after another, and in an instant more than ten Black Phoenix Army commanders and dozens of bull‑headed brutes had their bodies burst apart.

This is a formation clash; the tremendous force acts directly on the flesh.

The strong prevail, the weak die; this is war, this is a formation, aside from life and death there is no third path.

The great array hesitated slightly; the several thousand vanguard soldiers simultaneously spat blood from mouth and nose. They shouted in unison, madly pouring their mana, continuously feeding power into the bodies of the frontline officers.

About a hundred Black Phoenix Army officers' bodies began to rapidly swell, their physiques quickly expanding to seven or eight zhang tall.

The bull‑headed brutes' bodies also began to swell, becoming even more burly and ferocious than the Black Phoenix Army officers.

Boom! With a tremendous roar, the surrounding barracks trembled slightly, and both sides erupted in a second hard‑on‑hard impact.

Several dozen Black Phoenix Army commanders had both arms shattered, spewing blood as they flew backward.

Over sixty barbaric, invincible bull‑headed brutes had their upper bodies almost simultaneously explode; about half of them were directly smashed to bits and died on the spot, while over a dozen with shattered upper bodies crashed heavily to the ground, each emitting a mournful cry of pain.

Immediately after, those bull‑headed brutes who barely clung to a single breath all wailed in unison; a flash of red light passed through their bodies, and their bodies exploded with a boom.

Dozens of clots of blood‑flame swept the surroundings, dozens of pillars of blood‑colored smoke shot up hundreds of zhang high.

The Black Phoenix Army's Minor Five‑Elements Peach Blossom Array was shattered by the terrifying self‑destructive killing power; the several thousand warriors closest to those bull‑headed brutes were directly blown to pieces, while another twenty‑to‑thirty thousand soldiers were blasted until their bones broke and tendons snapped, flying far away, and the remaining troops also vomited mouthfuls of blood, being blown straight off the battlefield.

If it weren't for the bull‑headed brutes' bodies being severely wounded, their essence‑blood and mana excessively depleted, given that they now possess strength equivalent to the Womb‑Storage Realm and self‑destruct, the elite of this hundred‑thousand Black Phoenix Army would likely not leave more than a few survivors.

"Kill!" Seeing their companions self‑destruct, the remaining hundreds of bull‑headed brutes' eyes turned blood‑red.

They strode forward toward the Black Phoenix Army commanders wounded by the explosion, swinging their great axes and hacking wildly.

Among the Black Phoenix Army commanders stationed in the camp, only a few dozen had Womb‑Storage Realm cultivation; facing hundreds of bull‑headed brutes whose strength matched the Womb‑Storage Realm, the officers retreated step by step; within three to five breaths, all colonels present were nearly slain to the last, commandant‑rank officers were killed in more than half, and the rest were severely wounded and collapsed.

Even Womb‑Storage Realm commanders had seven or eight slain; the rest were covered in wounds, and many had their arms or legs chopped off by the great axes, each barely propping up their bodies with mana, desperately resisting the frenzied onslaught of those bull‑headed brutes.

A furious long howl came from the central command position of the camp.

A streak of black fire shot up into the sky; Pei Feng, his whole body ablaze with black demonic flame, clad in armor and wielding a black spear, flew over in a fury.

In the depths of Pei Feng's eyes, blazing with fury, lay an undisguisable panic.

Just now she was handling military affairs in the central command; the warning horn had just sounded, and as those bull‑headed brutes had just charged into the camp, she was about to rush out of the central command to meet the enemy.

What she never expected was that, among the dozen‑odd officers assisting her with military affairs in the central command, there were two senior commanders whose ancestors had served the Black Phoenix Army for five or six generations, almost like her own family's commanders, who boldly moved against Pei Feng.

One person employed the 'Vajra Suppress Demon Seal' divine ability, forcibly imprisoning Pei Feng and everyone else in the central command.

Another person even produced a string of ancient Buddhist relics, the Vajra Śarīra Pearls, to boost the power of the Vajra Suppress Demon Seal, forcibly suppressing Pèi Fèng for a long while.

The Vajra Śarīra Pearls possessed tremendous power, and the Vajra Suppress Demon Seal was infinitely profound; a Buddhist ancient treasure combined with Buddhist divine abilities unleashed power that left Pèi Fèng unable to move, and even her soul was nearly sealed.

Sensing the distant sounds of slaughter and the bloody scent, Pèi Fèng flew into a rage; the Inherited Demon Phoenix Technique she cultivated suddenly mutated as her fury peaked, and a terrifying devouring force surged from within her, directly consuming the Vajra Śarīra Pearls entirely.

Pèi Fèng's cultivation surged dramatically in that instant; without hesitation she fired two shots that gravely wounded the two traitorous commanders, ordered the other mid-army officers to keep them under strict watch, then rushed out of the mid-army and madly charged toward this battlefield.

"You lot, deserve to die!"

Seeing the Black Phoenix army's casualties strewn everywhere, Pèi Fèng felt her heart wrenched with pain, and furious, her long hair stood up straight strand by strand.

"Die!" Though they were still several li away, Pèi Fèng suddenly opened her mouth, and a towering black flame surged forth, instantly enveloping hundreds of bull-headed warriors.

Those bull-headed warriors had no power to resist the black flame Pèi Fèng exhaled; only their miserable cries were heard as they were burned to ash, their flesh and bones turning to dust, and in an instant they dissolved into a wisp of green smoke.

Pèi Fèng streaked like a flowing light, rushing to the west gate; with a few casual shots she felled the bull-headed warriors blocking the gate on the spot.

"Where did these people come from?" Pèi Fèng angrily gazed at the hundred or so state army brave men kneeling outside the city gate.

Those state army brave men had not yet recovered when a dull thundering of hooves suddenly came from afar.

A unit of heavy cavalry emerged like a phantom from the woods outside the camp, fully armored in heavy plate, their mounts being ferocious, peerless triceratops dragons, each encased in a foot-thick layer of heavy iron armor; the triceratops dragons, as large as small hills, charged forward with full force, kicking up gusts as they surged toward the camp.

"You!" Pèi Fèng's pupils contracted to pinpoints as she fixed her gaze on those triceratops dragons and the mountain-like warriors seated upon them.

Those triceratops dragons were completely clad in heavy armor, each plate gleaming with a chilling spiritual light, clearly spirit-armor of the divine weapon grade; the armor and weapons of the riders were all of at least threefold refined spirit-armor, top-quality gear.

Such equipment, together with such enormous mounts, could only be maintained by a few main legions of the Great Jin.

Even Pèi Fèng knew that in the hands of the person she most feared, there happened to be just such a unit of Rhino Dragon Cavalry.

Nearly a thousand rhino dragons ran wildly, their footsteps making the surrounding earth tremble and mountains shake.

Over a thousand rhino dragon cavalrymen raised their specially made extraordinarily long lances; the lance tips spewed forth chilling glows several dozen zhang long, pointing straight at Pèi Fèng.

"By order of the Marquis of Hujiang... suppress the rebels within the Black Phoenix Army."

A deep, powerful voice came from the ranks of the rhino dragon cavalry.

"There are no rebels here… get lost!" Pèi Fèng gripped her black spear with both hands; a black spear-blaze burned wildly, even igniting the rain curtain before her, turning into a vast black fury that swept toward those rhino dragon cavalry.

The leading rhino dragon cavalryman suddenly produced an octagonal jade bowl in his hand; with a casual flick, he sent a vast sheet of cold light wrapped in chilling waves surging toward the black flame.

"Hey, heavenly divine weapons!" Pèi Fèng's whole body erupted in raging black flames as she fixed her stare on that octagonal jade bowl exuding an astonishing Cold Qi.

The black flame she flung and the water waves collided violently in the air, continuously emitting a loud 'hiss-hiss' sound.

Soon, the black flame and water waves mutually annihilated, but even more cold-light water waves kept spraying from the jade bowl, turning into a heaven-covering, earth-enveloping cold tide that poured down upon Pèi Fèng.

It was obvious that this jade bowl was specially designed to counter Pèi Fèng's Demon Phoenix black flame!

"There are no rebels here… get lost!" Pèi Fèng shouted again.

On the city walls, thousands of Black Phoenix Army soldiers poked their heads out, their strong bows and stiff crossbows quickly locking onto the rushing rhino dragon cavalry.

"Whether there are rebels or not is not up to the commander of the Black Phoenix Army to decide… the rebels are within the Black Phoenix Army!" The deep, powerful voice sounded again; in the short time it took to utter those two sentences, the rhino dragon cavalry had already charged from three to five li away and reached Pèi Fèng.

Two extraordinarily long lances struck from left and right at Pèi Fèng's shoulders.

In the high sky, among the various warships under Wu Tie's command, suddenly dozens of warships turned their bows; the main guns at their prows, whose charging time was unknown, had completed, and thick beams of pure yang aurora tore through the void, bursting forth with light more blinding than heavenly lightning.

Dozens of warships under Wu Tie's command were caught off guard, never expecting their own comrades behind them to open fire.

Those warships had only activated the most basic defensive formation, merely preparing for possible lightning strikes… but when faced with close-range bombardment from the main guns of same-class warships' prows, the dozens of attacked warships were instantly blown open with huge holes, erupting in terrifying massive explosions.

Dozens of damaged warships emitted a dull wail, spewing out flames and black smoke as they slowly fell from the sky.

Those dozens of warships that had launched the attack kept firing, their bow main guns and broadside secondary guns wildly spraying shells at their nearby comrades.

Uncle Ma's furious roar came from the largest flagship; he and over a dozen Black Phoenix Army commanders rose into the air, standing beneath the dark clouds and lightning, pointing at those dozens of warships and shouting curses.

The next moment, a Black Phoenix Army commander behind Uncle Ma suddenly drew his sword, thrusting it from behind and piercing Uncle Ma's chest.

"Damn it!" Pèi Fèng roared in extreme fury, at the same time unable to hide the panic on her face.