Chapter 468

Thirty-six Four Spirit Warships, each 3,600 zhang in length, were arranged neatly in the air according to the Nine Palaces positions.

The massive hull cast a large shadow on the ground, and the shimmering defensive shield on the hull released dazzling light, like giant paintbrushes daubing rapidly flashing, shifting patches of colored light across the shadow.

Thousands of warships of the Great Martial Divine State swirled around the Four Spirit Warships, constantly shooting black beams of light.

It felt like a large school of ferocious piranhas trying to hunt down a few even more savage tiger sharks. The petite piranhas darted swiftly through the air, attacking the enemy while carefully evading their attacks.

On the Four Spirit Warships, dazzling firelight constantly flickered; pairs of phoenix wings kept forming, then exploded into burning feathers that fell like lightning upon the frantically circling Great Martial Divine State warships all around.

The attack power of the phoenix wings was terrifyingly strong; a dozen or so falling burning feathers could severely impact the defensive formation of the Great Martial Divine State warship, causing its shield to dim suddenly and collapse rapidly from ten zhang thick to less than one zhang.

The attacked Great Martial Divine State warship immediately bolted like a startled rabbit, fleeing outward with all its might.

Afterward, new warships continually arrived to reinforce, speedily encircling the Four Spirit Warships, wildly circling and spinning, then incessantly spewing streams of black light that hammered the seemingly impregnable defense of the Four Spirit Warships.

Every so often, the Great Martial Divine State warships whose defensive formations had nearly collapsed after being attacked would cautiously, like a dog badly smacked on the nose by a brick, slowly rejoin the battle, then quickly accelerate and resume their frantic assault on the Four Spirit Warships.

Bai Ying stood on the central Four Spirit Warship with a cold expression, her gaze unwavering like a frozen mountain spring, staring coldly at Wu Du Zun standing on the distant Great Martial Divine State flagship.

Zhu Ji stood beside Bai Ying, occasionally touching the wound on her face.

She was eager to try, several times wanting to charge out of the Four Spirit Warship toward Wu Du Zun's direction, but each time she glanced at Bai Ying, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed her impulse.

With a booming roar, a vast expanse of firelight illuminated the sky.

A large warship of the Great Martial Divine State lost control, continuously struck by nearly a hundred burning fire feathers; its defensive formation shattered completely, bursts of firelight exploded across its hull, its shield shattered into fragments, and as its speed plummeted, it could no longer resist the Four Spirit Warships' fierce onslaught, becoming studded with dozens of fire feathers.

That warship instantly turned into a huge fireball, spewing firelight as it fell from high altitude, dragging a long black smoke trail behind it.

The warship plummeted from ten thousand zhang altitude, its massive hull exploding, and firelight quickly engulfed the surrounding forests for several dozen li.

Dark clouds rolled in, and raindrops condensed from the Xuan Yin Water fiercely pounded the forest, gradually extinguishing the flames, leaving only thick and thin strands of black smoke slowly rising.

Bai Ying suddenly turned her head and glanced at Wu Tie standing at the rail, continuously exercising the wind‑and‑rain summoning divine ability.

"General Huo Xiong, I never expected you to still have such leisurely elegance." Bai Ying's eyes flashed with a hint of appreciation as she spoke in a very cold tone.

"These trees grew so large—how difficult it was… this great fire burned these plants and trees, what a pity." Wu Tie said calmly: "Not to mention, countless birds and beasts in the forest were innocently burned to death, which is utterly wasteful."

Wu Tie recalled the pitch‑black underground world where sunlight never reaches.

In that underground world, vast expanses of mushroom forests, lush moss, and incredibly tenacious vines dominate; the towering trees of the surface world could never exist there.

Wu Tie felt an inexplicable joy toward those giant trees and the colorful flora of the forest.

A deep‑blooded impulse made him unwilling to see these ancient forests destroyed; thus, during the great war, he still had the spirit to expend his mana summoning wind and rain to douse the mountain fires… and no one else could do it.

"You are a commander of the Great Jin." Bai Ying nodded: "Pass the order to your subordinates, have them join our formation to resist the powerful enemy."

Bai Ying turned her head and looked toward the distant, tiger‑gazing Wu Du Zun.

Wu Tie stared blankly for a moment: "You want me to summon my subordinates and have them join… the formation?"

Bai Ying softly said: "From my perspective, my father's tomb hasn't yet been relocated, so we cannot let these Great Martial enemies pass through here. From the Eastern Palace's standpoint, Great Jin is ultimately our homeland, and its people are also our people."

After exhaling, Bai Ying calmly said: "Therefore, no matter what, we cannot allow the Great Martial Divine State's army to charge through here."

Wu Tie understood Bai Ying's meaning.

The Great Martial Divine State's army, and such a massive force appearing here all of a sudden, clearly indicates they have found an exact route from within the Great Martial realm straight to Great Jin territory.

This great army before us could completely catch the Great Jin Divine State off guard.

They will act like a sharp blade, viciously thrusting into the heart of the Great Jin Divine State and inflicting massive damage.

After breaking through this forest, they will face Da Ze Prefecture and the dozens of newly established Jin prefectures nearby; with those prefectures' defensive strength, they could not possibly resist the invasion of this Great Martial army before us.

Dozens of prefectures will surely fall into enemy hands in a short time; the Jin people living on that land will surely be plunged into dire straits, even becoming cannon fodder for the Great Martial army's assault on Great Jin.

As Bai Ying said, Great Jin is the homeland belonging to the Eastern Palace; facing the Great Martial army, Bai Ying made her own choice.

Wu Tie hesitated a little.

His forces are mainly composed of the Five Elements Spirits.

The Five Elements Spirits are living beings conceived in this forest after receiving the essence of the Great Peng Bright King and the Peacock Bright King.

They revere Wu Tie as their holy ancestor, obeying his every command; Wu Tie also regards them as his true kin.

And to Wu Tie, Great Jin is more like an enemy, isn't it?

Sacrificing his own people's lives to mobilize troops and organize defenses for the Great Jin Divine State, merely to buy time?

Wu Tie hesitated.

Bai Ying narrowed her eyes, not receiving an immediate reply from Wu Tie, she turned and stared at him with an icy gaze: "General Huo Xiong, what are you thinking? Do you perhaps wish to watch my Eastern Palace and the Great Wu army both lose, then profit from the aftermath?"

With a sizzling sound, the four bronze chains transformed from Wu Tie's wrists and ankles suddenly burst forth with sheets of electricity.

Wu Tie's whole body stiffened; his mana and soul were sealed.

Bai Ying coldly declared: "In the name of the Eastern Palace of Great Jin, I command Lord Longjiang Huo Xiong to mobilize all his troops to assist the Eastern Palace in battle. Defy this order… and you will be beheaded!"

With a sizzling sound, two massive bronze divine pillars' phantoms appeared above Wu Tie's head, crackling with electricity, as spears and weapons condensed from electric light began to slowly descend upon his body.

Wu Tie drew a deep breath and declared loudly: "This subordinate obeys. Please, Your Highness, lift the prohibition."

Wu Tie suddenly understood.

Perhaps, this is an opportunity.

He recalled the mission entrusted to him by Wu Yu and Xi Bu Bai, knowing it concerned the life‑and‑death fate of many of his own people.

In his mind, he weighed the Five Elements Spirits against his own people; without doubt, the Spirits were less important than they.

Wu Tie quickly convinced himself, especially… as he gazed at the Four Spirit Warships forming the Nine Palaces array, whose defensive power was so great that even if the Five Elements Spirits joined the battle, they would suffer little loss.

The electricity flickering on the chains at his wrists vanished.

Wu Tie flicked his finger, and a jade tablet shot from his fingertip; he swiftly imprinted a military order upon it with his soul power, then a wisp of green flame spurted from his fingertip, and the jade tablet instantly turned into a green light shooting straight upward.

At the instant the jade tablet transformed into green light and shot upward, an ancient‑looking robed elder beside Wu Du Zun suddenly roared, thrusting his hand forward and grabbing toward Wu Tie.

Boom—above the Four Spirit Warship where Wu Tie stood, the void tore open a huge hole, and a gigantic hand suffused with gray cold light lunged down to seize the green light that the jade tablet had become.

Wu Tie's forehead's dharma eye opened, and Yin‑Yang Five Elements Divine Thunder howled like a torrent, rapidly blasting toward that great hand.

On the gray‑cold‑light‑shimmering palm, gray scales sprouted, and the gray divine light blazed; the divine thunder Wu Tie released shook the palm left and right, scattering countless halos of light, yet it could not destroy the hand in a short time.

As the gray hand swiftly approached the azure stream of light, about to seize the command issued by Wu Tie, a flash of bluish-white cold light flickered atop Bai Ying's head.

Wu Tie didn't even understand what kind of ability this was when he heard the robed old man beside Wu Duzun cry out in pain; his body jerked back a step, and the right hand he had just extended suddenly coated with a thin layer of ice, his palm cracked by the terrifying Cold Qi into countless fine cracks like a spiderweb.

From the marks, the old man's entire palm had shattered.

As for the giant gray divine hand wrapped in that gray spiritual light above Wu Tie, it vanished completely without a trace.

The flow of light transformed from the jade tablet wavered, then instantly disappeared without a trace.

Wu Duzun finally spoke, his thousands of large warships surrounding the thirty-six Four Spirit Warships and bombarding them wildly for nearly half a shichen; the Four Spirit Warships suffered no damage at all, only their surface defensive shield seemed a bit thinner and dimmer.

With such efficiency, how difficult it would be to capture the Four Spirit Warships!

And in this swift guerrilla encirclement, Wu Duzun's fleet could have lost over three hundred ships.

The Four Spirit Warships were completely unharmed, while our own warships suffered over three hundred losses—such a loss ratio Wu Duzun could not accept.

"Leave three thousand warships to entangle them, the other warships, hunt down the previously escaped shamanic barbarians." Wu Duzun's order rang through the clouds; he deliberately let Wu Tie, Bai Ying, and others hear his command: "Six thousand years ago, the surviving remnants of the treasonous Eastern Palace of Great Jin appeared here, hehe, could their nest possibly be nearby?"

"Follow me, thoroughly search the nearby mountains, dig out their nest, kill everyone inside. You featherless beasts, you are the local natives, your chance to shine has come."

Wu Duzun laughed extremely brightly: "As long as you help me find their nest, I will surely reward you handsomely; those shamanic barbarians will all become your food."

"Moreover, when I lead the great army to invade the heartland of Great Jin, those people of Great Jin will also become your food."

Countless thunderbird demons shrieked wildly, joyfully soaring up from the temporary galley warships and turning into vast dark clouds that rushed toward the direction of Bai Ying and Zhu Que's traveling palace.

They have been entangled with the Jade Dragon tribe for who knows how many years, and they are extremely familiar with the surrounding terrain and environment.

They certainly know that, over these years, by aiding the shamanic barbarian tribe, they have repeatedly dealt heavy blows to the direction belonging to the Eastern Palace. These thunderbird demons even know where the mausoleum of the former crown prince of Great Jin lies.

"Crown Prince, Great King, follow us…… we know all about their details." a thunderbird demon chieftain shouted loudly, joyfully saying: "We know where their lair is, and we also know where the graves of those two tender young ladies' fathers are."

Wu Duzun laughed even more happily: "Good, you lead me there, hahaha, I can't wait any longer to break open Sima Sheng's tomb and see just how many treasures lie in his mausoleum."

Among the thousands of warships that had been wildly attacking the Four Spirit Warships, about half suddenly broke away from the outer encirclement at high speed, leaving only three thousand warships to form a much sparser blockade, continuing to fiercely assault the Four Spirit Warships from a distance of a hundred li.

The warships that had withdrawn from the battlefield regrouped several hundred li away, then quickly joined the other warships under Wu Duzun's command; mighty throngs of thousands of warships swept far around the battlefield, and, under the leadership of those thunderbird demons, charged straight toward the direction of Bai Ying and Zhu Que's traveling palace.

Zhu Que anxiously stomped her feet: "Older sister?"

Bai Ying clenched her hands, she said in a deep voice: "The traveling palace's defense is immensely strong; furthermore, Senior Lord Su and Senior Lord Ti are stationed to oversee and command, so nothing will happen."

Bai Ying looked at the surrounding Da Wu warships that had become much sparser, and said in a deep voice: "First annihilate these enemies, then return to reinforce the traveling palace."

Just as Bai Ying's words fell, a clear, flowing formation diagram shot up from the midst of the encircling Da Wu warships; within the diagram, faintly visible were several large stars rolling and swaying. The diagram rapidly expanded to a size of several hundred li, and then strands of starlight poured downward, each strand enveloping a Da Wu warship.

The fire feathers launched by the Four Spirit Warships struck dozens of warships, but this time those warships merely dimmed slightly in brilliance.

Wu Tie quickly realized what had happened to the Da Wu warships, and exclaimed in alarm: "This formation diagram links all the warships into one; the Four Spirit Warships' attacks are spread evenly across the three thousand warships! Unless a single blow destroys three thousand warships, our attacks will hardly harm them!"

Bai Ying and Zhu Que's faces changed at the same time.

Bai Ying shouted sternly: "Attack with all your might… regardless of consumption, attack with all your might!"

The thirty-six Four Spirit Warships simultaneously burst forth with dazzling light, the Azure Dragon letting out a long roar, the White Tiger letting out an angry roar, the Vermilion Bird letting out a long cry, the Black Tortoise letting out a low murmur…

Four-colored strange light spewed from the Four Spirit Warships, transforming into the true forms of the Four Spirits that frenziedly assaulted the Da Wu warships.

The Da Wu warships trembled violently; the robed old man who had just thrown out that scroll of the formation diagram likewise trembled slightly, and after about a quarter of an hour, two streams of blood flowed from his nostrils, and soon blood began to flow from all seven of his orifices.

At the same time, the massive army under Wu Duzun's command had already approached the traveling palace.

Within the vast bamboo forest stretching tens of thousands of li below, who knows how many round, chubby pandas let out low growls, standing up on their hind legs and baring their teeth at the enormous fleet in the sky.

Moreover, some of the pandas were extraordinarily huge, and powerful magical surges emanated from their bodies.

Their flesh and skin rolled, quickly transforming into towering figures several zhang tall, half-human half-beast brawny men.