Chapter 467: Holding Firm

The Four Spirit Warship, also called the Four Spirit Vessel, was crafted by the founding Divine Emperor of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom; there are thirty-six of them, and it is said they possess the power of the legendary Four Spirits of Heaven and Earth.

Speed is extremely fast, defense extremely strong, lethality extremely great, carrying capacity extremely huge; used to assault cities and seize strongholds, it can be called unstoppable, and is one of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom's trump-card strategic means.

After the founding was successful, the Four Spirit Warship became one of the foundations of the Great Jin Imperial Clan; the thirty-six Four Spirit Warships were incorporated into the Great Jin Imperial Clan's guard sequence, appearing in grand sacrifices and similar major ceremonies, or in the entourage escorting the Divine Emperor on his travels; the Great Jin has not deployed these thirty-six war machines in battle for many years.

Six thousand years ago, the court of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom underwent a drastic change; the former crown prince led his trusted aides from the Eastern Palace to flee Anyang, while the previous Divine Emperor of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom ruthlessly ordered a massacre, frantically purging the former crown prince's supporters, and countless civil and military officials were slaughtered.

It is rumored that the former crown prince of the Great Jin took away half of the collections from the Great Jin Divine Kingdom's state treasury and the imperial clan's secret vault, and the Four Spirit Warships also completely disappeared six thousand years ago.

However, whether in the Great Wu Divine Kingdom or the Great Wei Divine Kingdom, the imperial clan's secret archives contain corresponding records of the Four Spirit Warship; everyone knows it is an extremely powerful acquired spirit treasure, a top-tier offensive supreme treasure, and upon seeing it, one cannot let it go.

Zhu Ji stood on the prow of the leading Four Spirit Warship.

Hearing Wu Duzun's great roar, Zhu Ji pressed her lips together and gave a scornful laugh.

"Phoenix Wings Nine Heavens Falling Strike!" Zhu Ji raised her head and let out a long whistle, her red skirt swirling like a blazing flame.

From the nine Four Spirit Warships simultaneously came a soaring, sky-piercing phoenix cry.

The next moment, on the nine strangely shaped warships, pairs of huge, blazing crimson phoenix wings condensed respectively. Then, with a tremendous "Boom!", countless strips of burning feathers over a foot wide and hundreds of zhang long sprayed out from the phoenix wings.

These burning feathers turned into a sheet of fire rain, swirling upward into the sky, then unstoppably fell downward.

Over a hundred Great Wu Divine Kingdom vanguard battleships rushing at the front were simultaneously hit by sheets of fire feathers; amidst the low rumbling, one could see the surface of these battleships, hundreds of zhang in length, with their thick light curtains violently trembling, rings of light waves rippling intensely, and large patches of fire immediately splashed onto the hulls.

The attack power of these burning feathers was astonishingly strong; in just three breaths, the defensive prohibitions of over a hundred battleships were shattered to pieces, the ten-zhang-thick light curtains completely burst open, exploding into countless points of light scattering away.

The burning feathers heavily struck the hulls of those smoke-spewing, fire-breathing battleships; the feathers exploded, and sticky crimson flames clung to the battleship surfaces, burning wildly, the metal hulls quickly turned red and softened, then turned into large pools of molten metal that fell from the hulls.

Inside the battleships, crowds of Great Wu Divine Kingdom soldiers screamed in agony, their bodies engulfed in raging flames, madly rushing out from the cabins.

They desperately slapped at the flames on their bodies, but the flames showed no weakening; instead, they burned ever more fiercely.

In just a few breaths, tens of thousands of Great Wu warriors on nearly a hundred battleships were burned to ashes; even the several Great Wu commanders overseeing the vanguard fleet, mighty experts of the Womb Storage Realm, were all reduced to a wisp of blue smoke.

Over a hundred battleships burned fiercely, like massive fireballs falling from the sky and crashing heavily into the forests.

The battleships' hulls shattered, large sheets of flame flying out in all directions, instantly igniting the surrounding forests.

Wu Tie took a deep breath and directly employed the Summon Wind and Rain Divine Ability; instantly, dark clouds rolled over the burning forest, and thin threads of sticky, bone-chilling cold rain swiftly drifted down from the clouds, bringing a terrifying chill as they fell into the forest.

With a "hiss", these Mysterious Yin Waters rapidly neutralized the crimson phoenix flames.

Under the continuous spraying of Mysterious Yin Water, the phoenix flames in the forest slowly dimmed and then gradually extinguished.

From the rear, nearly a thousand Great Wu Divine Kingdom large warships surged forward; on each large warship, the bow shield plates slid open to left and right, and barrel after barrel of dazzling large-caliber main guns extended slowly, each barrel flashing with blinding light.

The Great Jin Divine Kingdom's Pure Yang Aurora Cannon possesses an extremely domineering and extreme nature; it is a high-temperature aurora formed by condensing the supreme yang qi of Heaven and Earth, with extremely strong penetration, and its power after detonation is immensely great.

Meanwhile, the main guns of the Great Wu Divine Kingdom's warships employ Yin Cold attribute power, pitch black in color, with powerful freezing, tearing, and corrosive effects; compared to the Great Jin Divine Kingdom's main guns, they are somewhat inferior in large-area lethality, but still surpass in single-target penetration attacks.

With a continual "hiss" muffled sound, thousands of black light pillars tore through the air to assault.

The Four Spirit Warships shone all over with dazzling four-colored spiritual light; faintly visible were the illusory forms of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—the Four Spirits of Heaven and Earth—hovering beside the massive hulls, and a layer of light shield a hundred zhang thick, brilliantly radiant throughout, protected the nine great ships.

The black light pillars heavily struck the light shield, like red-hot iron rods thrown into ice water, producing a piercing "hiss" sound.

As expected, the Four Spirit Warships' might was unmatched; under the frenzied assault of over a thousand large warships, the light shields on the surfaces of the nine warships merely rippled slightly, appearing to have plenty of strength to spare.

At the same time, more Great Wu Divine Kingdom officers and soldiers rose into the air, stepping on flowing clouds, forming battle arrays, and marched in mighty numbers toward the nine Four Spirit Warships.

"Meet the enemy!" Zhu Ji raised her head and let out a long whistle, then she turned into a fleeting shadow, charging out of the protective range of the Four Spirit Warship's defensive formation, like a ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex, charging into the mighty Great Wu Divine Kingdom army formation ahead.

Wu Tie widened his eyes; on the Four Spirit Warship, the hundreds of youths brought by Zhu Ji also widened their eyes simultaneously.

What is called unstoppable?

What is called domineering aura radiating outward?

What is called sweeping aside eight horses and overturning them, pulling back nine oxen?

Well, Wu Tie's mind was in a mess; for a moment he didn't know how to more accurately describe Zhu Ji at this moment.

In short, very brutal, extremely brutal.

She threw a punch, and within a cylindrical space before her with a diameter of a hundred zhang and length of over ten li, everything ceased to exist.

Whether it be Great Wu Divine Kingdom soldiers, officers, commanders, or an unfortunate warship that happened to be in the front line, they were utterly pulverized!

From Zhu Ji's fist surged a vast, unstoppable red light; terrifying high temperature swept over everything, burning everything, annihilating everything within that cylindrical space.

This punch alone annihilated at least several thousand Great Wu Divine Kingdom officers and soldiers.

Then Zhu Ji threw another punch.

Directly ahead of her fist, another large expanse of space was emptied.

The void trembled; Zhu Ji punched again and again, not rushing but not slow—how many times slower was her punching speed compared to when she beat Wu Tie that day? Yet her punch force was even more terrifying, each strike mobilizing immense heavenly and earthly power.

The sun high above seemed to resonate with Zhu Ji's fist; each punch could be seen as golden streams of light overlapping in the air, gathering like tides upon her fist, then instantly transforming into a burst of red light that sprayed out, utterly destroying everything before her.

Previously, when she beat Wu Tie, Zhu Ji used only pure physical violence.

But this time, she boldly unleashed a powerful and terrifying divine ability secret technique, causing her fist's destructive power to skyrocket by an unknown multiple.

Zhu Ji's figure flickered; she almost teleported across the battlefield, and then continuously threw punches.

Vast numbers of Great Wu Divine Kingdom troops were utterly obliterated by her; in just a few short breaths, she alone annihilated at least hundreds of thousands of the Great Wu Divine Kingdom's army.

Wu Tie stared, then shook his head: "This is a bit, against the rules!"

Great Jin, Great Wu, and Great Wei, the three states, have been mutual enemies, entangled on the Three Kingdoms battlefield for an unknown number of years.

However, the three kingdoms have already formed a certain battlefield unwritten rule: high-ranking commanders rarely strike at low-ranking soldiers; in the three kingdoms' warfare, it has always been the large formations of low-ranking troops clashing, while high-ranking commanders fight each other.

The conclusion of a major battle is often accompanied by the fall of a high-ranking commander from one side.

Losing the command of a high-ranking commander greatly weakens the battle formation's strength, naturally leading to collapse and disintegration. In such a situation, the proportion of soldiers killed or captured in a major battle is roughly up to forty to fifty percent of the total participants.

Yet Zhu Ji's wanton slaughter of the opposing low-ranking soldiers and officers is absolutely a breach of the rules!

"Impudence!" As expected, within the vast battle array of the Great Wu Divine Kingdom's rear, atop the largest flagship, a towering man clad entirely in black armor shot up into the sky; likewise, he instantaneously appeared before Zhu Ji, and suddenly a sky-filling barrage of fist shadows covered her body.

That man, when he rushed out from the flagship, still looked normal; but upon reaching Zhu Ji, his whole body glittering with spiritual light, he transformed into a three-headed, six-armed form, and his arms became extraordinarily elongated, nearly as long as his body.

In this state, this man was like a pile-driving machine; his six fists brought forth countless black fist gusts, howling as they bombarded Zhu Ji.

Zhu Ji was clearly caught off guard—obviously, Wu Tie saw that this violent woman's battlefield experience was severely lacking; while she ravaged the Great Wu Divine Kingdom's army formation, she completely neglected her own protection.

Suddenly, many small red butterflies appeared in the air.

Wu Tie stared wide-eyed; that was the red skirt on Zhu Gui shattered by the black-armored giant's heavy punch, and the skirt fragments fluttered down.

Zhu Gui took thousands of blows to the head and face; the black-armored giant showed no pity, striking her beautiful face hundreds of times, deforming her lovely little face.

From behind came Wudu Zun's cold snort: 'This woman is of national beauty; capture her alive…… I, alone, lack a maid to fetch tea and water.'

Wudu Zun had already brought a large group of trusted generals soaring into the air, hovering above to watch the battle here.

The so-called maid to fetch tea and water was naturally a pretext; Wudu Zun instantly recognized Zhu Gui's identity. It wasn't because of her appearance; rather, Zhu Gui cultivates the divine-level technique《Great Day Emperor Sutra》, a secret royal lineage of the Divine Jin State, which only the purest imperial bloodline core clan members are qualified to practice.

The appearance of the Four Spirit Warships, plus the emergence of the divine-level technique《Great Day Emperor Sutra》, leaves no doubt: Zhu Gui is of the Divine Jin State royal bloodline.

What more need be asked? She is a descendant of the former crown prince of the Divine Jin State!

Wudu Zun's body trembled slightly, his whole body heating up—who doesn't know that the former crown prince of the Divine Jin State made off with half of the state treasury and the royal secret vault's treasures…… In his eyes, Zhu Gui is not a person at all, but a mountain glittering with jewels and treasure.

Zhu Gui was violently subdued by the black-armored giant.

Her actual strength far exceeds that of the black-armored giant, yet she was suddenly ambushed, taking thousands of blows to the head and face, leaving her somewhat dazed; moreover, she has never before endured such hardship!

She felt completely bewildered.

Especially when Wudu Zun's words from afar reached her, she felt both resentful and angry; she lifted her head, intending to curse him a few times, but the black-armored giant seized her moment of distraction and unleashed another barrage of hammer blows.

'Heaven‑Shattering Ape Fist!' the black‑armored giant roared, his body flickering as he transformed into a hundred‑tall, wholly black‑furred, ferocious and mighty demonic ape, his six arms becoming extremely thick and long—'thud thud thud thud thud thud'—six consecutive fists slammed hard into Zhu Gui.

Zhu Gui was blown back as a stream of light, crashing head‑first into the defensive formation of a Four Spirit Warship; with a tremendous roar, the warship's entire body gleamed, and its hundred‑thick defensive shield was shattered by Zhu Gui into a pit several zhang deep.

Zhu Gui lay spread‑eagled on the shield, staring blankly at the sky in disbelief.

How could she, in such a sorry state, be defeated by a bastard weaker than herself? Though her injuries were not serious…… Zhu Gui's face flushed red, then rapidly turned purplish‑black.

Furious, she leapt like thunder; crimson flames spewed from every pore, and the temperature within a hundred‑li radius rose sharply.

Wu Tie's brow‑heart law eye suddenly opened.

'Sizzle… boom!'

A terrifying roar echoed; Wu Tie's brow‑heart sprayed seven‑colored lightning, the Yin‑Yang Five Elements Divine Thunder carrying a strange aura, striking like lightning onto the black demonic ape frantically pounding its own chest.

The hundred‑tall black demonic ape let out a mournful howl; the lightning from Wu Tie's law eye was immensely lethal and unceasing, like a sudden storm, instantly submerging the ape that the black‑armored giant had become.

Wudu Zun and the others in the distance watched, their eyes twitching.

They quickly judged that the destructive power of the divine thunder spewing from Wu Tie's law eye was definitely at the peak of the Fetal Storage realm; such a mighty thunder technique, an ordinary Fetal Storage peak cultivator could unleash only dozens at once before exhausting all their mana.

Yet Wu Tie, in an instant, unleashed at least thousands of Yin‑Yang Five Elements Divine Thunderbolts!

Wudu Zun couldn't help exclaiming: 'This monster, when he broke through the Life Pond realm, how large could his condensed Life Pond be? Could it be hundreds of li across?'

Wudu Zun's exclamation reached Wu Tie's ears, and Wu Tie couldn't help but sneer.

A Life Pond only hundreds of li across? You're seriously underestimating people!

When Wu Tie broke through the Life Pond realm, his condensed Life Pond already had a diameter of 180,000 li; as he comprehended more Grand Dao principles, his Life Pond steadily expanded, and now, viewed inwardly with his soul power, its diameter reaches 270,000 li, with a depth of 60,000 li.

Within that vast Life Pond, it is filled to the brim with the pure mana Wu Tie has cultivated.

With such Yin‑Yang Five Elements Divine Thunder, Wu Tie can release it continuously for days and nights without pause!

Like a torrential rain, the divine thunder swept across; the black demonic ape vanished completely, utterly blown away by Wu Tie's violent thunder assault.

Moreover, Wu Tie's lightning attack destroyed dozens of large warships, frightening the thousands of large ships fiercely assaulting the Four Spirit Warships ahead into hastily carving avoidance arcs and swiftly retreating from Wu Tie.

Wu Tie took a breath and smiled at the distant Wudu Zun.

Wudu Zun's expression shifted slightly, as he was about to speak.

Bai Ying's clear, cold voice came from far behind: 'Belonging to the Eastern Palace, relying on the Four Spirit Warships, form up…… hold fast!'

Wu Tie stared, and together with Zhu Gui he couldn't help exclaiming: 'Hold fast? Sister?'