Chapter 613

Xiang Zhuang kicked a Invincible Army auxiliary soldier to death with one foot, and Huang Yu was the first to rush out of the crowd.

When the Xiang family's fleet surged out of the spatial gate with a menacing aura, Huang Yu had already noticed this domineering fleet.

When Xiang Zhuang ordered his flagship to ram the Four Spirit warship, Huang Yu decisively activated his own Heavenly Path Divine Armor-grade armor, and a mass of misty water vapor instantly enveloped his whole body.

Xiang Zhuang plummeted from high speed in the sky, and when he landed before that great cauldron, Huang Yu left a few military clerks who were counting slave numbers and hurried to the Invincible Army unit nearest to Xiang Zhuang.

The auxiliary soldier was kicked to death by Xiang Zhuang, Huang Yu's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, he was the first to charge out of the crowd, pointing at Xiang Zhuang and delivering a stern rebuke.

Huang Yu came from an official family; although his clan was not a top-tier aristocratic house, merely a governor's family of a commandery, yet the populace under his jurisdiction numbered in the hundreds of millions; from childhood he had been immersed in this environment, and Huang Yu deeply knew where his family's power and glory came from.

The Huang family was framed by enemies and exiled to the frontier marshland of Da Ze Prefecture; originally the whole family was destined to die in Da Ze Prefecture.

Wu Tie rescued the whole family from the bottomless abyss of Da Ze Prefecture, heavily employed Huang Lang, heavily employed the Huang clan members, and especially employed Huang Yu this spoiled son of a rich family. Unbeknownst to himself, Huang Yu, by Wu Tie's side, had become one of his closest confidants.

At every moment, Huang Yu was attentive to maintaining Wu Tie's dignity and authority.

At every moment, Huang Yu was on guard against anyone or anything that might threaten Wu Tie.

What Xiang Zhuang kicked to death was not merely an ordinary Invincible Army auxiliary; he kicked Wu Tie's face, the Invincible Army's face, and the entire An Prince Manor's dignity.

Huang Yu rushed up to Xiang Zhuang, pointed at him and shouted angrily: "General Xiang, you wantonly killed our prince's personal troops—are you trying to declare war on my An Prince Manor?"

Xiang Zhuang's bloodshot eyes fixed on Huang Yu for a moment, then he burst out laughing: "Which bastard didn't pull up his pants, exposing you this piece of trash? Hey… scram!"

Xiang Zhuang let out a loud shout and threw a punch at Huang Yu.

The misty water vapor condensed from Huang Yu's Heavenly Path Divine Armor on his body trembled violently; the originally elusive vapor suddenly compressed into a thin layer, as hard and brittle as tinplate, of water ice.

With a "crack," the thin ice shattered; Xiang Zhuang's punch slammed into Huang Yu's face, causing peach-blossom-like bruises to bloom across his face, half his cheek nearly shattered; without a sound he was flung backward by the punch, crashing into dozens of Invincible Army soldiers behind him, then rolled several zhang across the ground.

Fortunately, Wu Tie had confiscated the homes of many wealthy families across the Nine Provinces, amassing countless Heavenly Path Divine Arms; as Wu Tie's attendant, Huang Yu naturally received a few of these divine arms as gifts.

However, Huang Yu's cultivation was insufficient; even after practicing the secret imperial clan technique of the Great Jin Divine State bestowed by Wu Tie, handed down from Sima Wuyou, and despite a deluge of cultivation resources, Huang Yu now merely barely reached the Embryonic Treasury realm.

Given Huang Yu's cultivation, even wielding a Heavenly Path Divine Armament, he could not unleash its full power.

Xiang Zhuang's fist easily shattered the defense of the armor he had summoned; a single blow nearly killed him on the spot.

Xiang Zhuang watched Huang Yu rolling on the ground, furrowed his brows and gave a soft snort: "Heh, nice battle armor, kid, you've got a tough life!"

Xiang Zhuang felt very uneasy.

Huang Yu actually dared to scold him?

A mere novice at the Embryonic Treasury realm, that thin mist on him seemed somewhat mysterious, but to the Xiang clan, nothing is beyond what their fists can handle.

According to Xiang Zhuang's calculations, a brat like Huang Yu could at most possess a three-refined immortal-armor-grade armor.

Thus, Xiang Zhuang easily exerted enough force to break a nine-refined immortal armament and dealt Huang Yu a heavy punch.

However, he misjudged: Huang Yu's armor was not a nine-refined immortal armament but a Heavenly Path Divine Armament; although his punch shattered the water vapor released by the Hu family, it failed to kill Huang Yu as intended.

Staggering to his feet, Huang Yu roared: "Someone, seize this scoundrel… exercise restraint, do not clash with them… send the swiftest few to bring me to find the prince!"

Huang Yu, having been beaten, heard a booming rumble in his head, the pain nearly making him faint.

Yet his mind remained clear and lucid… the Invincible Army of the An Prince Manor must not clash with the Xiang family's fleet.

Wu Tie was already hated by countless people; if a conflict erupted in Zhenmo City between him and the top-tier military clan Xiang of the Qingqiu Divine State, let alone whether the newly formed Invincible Army could withstand the Xiang fleet, just consider how many nobles would take advantage of the situation.

Therefore, we must intercept Xiang Zhuang, entangle him, prevent him from acting recklessly.

At the same time, restrain the Invincible Army from clashing with the Xiang fleet; everything should wait for Wu Tie to decide—this is the safest course.

Several fire-spirit Elders highly skilled in evasion techniques silently flashed over, seized Huang Yu in one grab, and swiftly flew toward Wu Tie in Zhenmo City. At the same time, over a dozen Wu family youths charged out of the crowd, silently swinging their fists at Xiang Zhuang.

Huang Yu's order was to stop Xiang Zhuang, but the Wu family youths… heh, these fellows are also hot-blooded daredevils; just now Xiang Zhuang kicked to death their subordinate auxiliary, they've been fired up and are eager to fight.

After Huang Yu was sent flying by Xiang Zhuang's punch, these fellows all thought the same: "You dare strike an official under our brother Wu Tie? That's denying Wu Tie face!"

Denying Wu Tie face is denying us brothers face!

Not giving face to our Wu brothers—what else can we say? Brothers, get him!

Xiang Zhuang smirked contemptuously: "Heh, coming to die? Your cultivation…"

Xiang Zhuang stood at ease, hands on his hips, vigorously shaking his neck, producing a series of "crack-crack-crack" joint sounds; he wanted to display the bearing of a general who is fearless in crisis and composed in battle.

Then he met tragedy.

One of the Wu family's greatest elders, who had reached the peak of the Embryonic Treasury realm, and after Wu Tie's seven nights of starlight bathing, had forcibly rehearsed the Heaven-Earth Great Dao in his soul.

This Wu elder hailed from the Zhurong lineage, cultivating the "Zhurong Classic"; his fire-system divine abilities were astonishingly strong, having reached the ultimate level of the fire path.

Yet after receiving Wu Tie's derived method, this elder, beyond the fire path, had forcibly inscribed onto his divine embryo wood, wind, thunder, etc., which perfectly complement fire and can erupt as seventeen great dao principles of even greater power.

Moreover, infused with boundless starlight essence…

Wu Tie monopolized all the starlight essence from the hundreds of prefectures surrounding Qingqiu City, refined its quintessence, and poured it into his brothers' bodies.

Of the over a hundred prefectures, the starlight essence originally meant to be shared equally among tens of trillions of beings, Wu Tie forcibly injected half of it into his 120,000 brothers!

Imagine, what degree of physical enhancement have these Wu youths attained?

Not only their flesh, but also their bloodline.

The most miraculous effect of starlight essence is to return to the origins, to refine the primordial ancestors' strongest bloodline.

As for this first elder who rushed forward, judging by his bloodline alone, he can at least be considered a semi-primordial great shaman god of the Zhurong lineage!

Faint flames flickered on his skin; the Wu elder threw a punch at Xiang Zhuang's face.

The Zhurong lineage… not known for speed; this Wu elder exerted full force, his strength so great that his swing speed became slightly slower than usual.

In Xiang Zhuang's view, this punch had power and speed, the speed was fast, but still not fast enough!

"Not bad, not bad; under my command you qualify to serve…" Xiang Zhuang laughed arrogantly, casually raising his right hand to grab the Wu elder's fist.

With a "bang," the Wu elder's fist slammed heavily and solidly into Xiang Zhuang's palm.

Xiang Zhuang's face twisted abruptly.

He felt that what he grasped was not a fist but a red-hot iron hammer.

Amidst a "hiss," the skin and flesh of Xiang Zhuang's palm were scorched open by the high heat, and in a snap a pale yellow oil seeped out from his palm.

The Wu elder's fist was glowing red, its temperature astonishingly high.

The Xiang family's Overlord Cauldron Lifting Art that Xiang Zhuang cultivates is also a top-tier, nearly ancient forbidden technique body cultivation divine skill; with Xiang Zhuang's cultivation, even if he delved deep into the subterranean ancient fire veins and bathed in the extremely deep fire vein magma, he would suffer no harm at all.

But the Wu family elder brother's fist was like a red-hot branding iron pressed onto fatty pork; in an instant it scorched Xiang Zhuang's palm to a ruin, even rendering out the fat.

"Impossible!" Xiang Zhuang let out a shocked and angry, incredulous roar.

The Wu family elder brother's fist forcibly pushed Xiang Zhuang's palm, heavily and solidly slamming into his face.

Xiang Zhuang exerted force with both legs, trying to steady his body.

But the Wu family elder brother's punch was simply too heavy, too heavy…… Even though the Zhurong lineage within the Wu family is not renowned for absolute strength, after all, within the Wu family bloodline, the Xingtian and Kuafu lineages, purely in terms of physical strength, far surpass the Zhurong lineage.

But even though the Wu family elder brother belongs to the Zhurong lineage, his physical strength far exceeded Xiang Zhuang's expectations.

In the subterranean world, that impoverished subterranean world, the Wu family's stalwarts can rely on their overbearing bloodline strength to become formidable foes that even the Demon-Suppressing Palace finds headache-inducing.

On Wu Tie's territory, the cultivation resources these Wu family youths receive are at least a thousand times more than what they have consumed in their entire lives!

Vast resources, fearsome bloodline, overbearing technique, and an unyielding ambition!

These Wu family youths' increase in strength is terrifying, extremely terrifying.

This Wu family elder brother's punch slammed into Xiang Zhuang's face, deforming half of his skull slightly and emitting a piercing bone-cracking sound. His body involuntarily leapt into the air, spinning rapidly as it flew backward.

Within the Xiang family fleet, countless soldiers roared in unison, shouting "Junior General"!

Xiang Zhuang's body had just flown backward seven or eight chi, just completed three turns, when four arms like cast iron clamped behind him, four hands like tiger vices tightly gripping his neck and shoulders, then he was hoisted up, swung through the air, and slammed heavily onto the ground.

Near and far, hundreds of earth sprite Elders cheered in unison, then their bodies shone with light, and the ground within a radius of ten-odd li suddenly became smooth as a sheet; the original sandy stone ground instantly solidified into a stone surface comparable to supreme fine jade.

The land within a radius of ten-odd li around here, extending deep nearly a hundred li, turned into a single massive stone that was solid, extremely solid, and empowered by the magical power of hundreds of earth sprite Elders.

With a tremendous boom, the ground shook violently, and great clouds of dust shot up from the vicinity of that massive stone, spraying high like a fountain.

Xiang Zhuang's bones all over his body crackled like fried beans, and he lay spread-eagled on the ground, his eyes vacant and pupils dilated as he stared at the sky.

What happened?

How did he end up in this posture?

He actually got beaten?

The one who beat him, he didn't even know, and certainly wasn't a famous scion from a top-tier military family.

It seemed, merely a few ordinary officers from Wu Tie's invincible army?

Ha, he must be dreaming!

Exactly, surely a nightmare—how could Xiang Zhuang, one of the Xiang family's Five Tigers, the finest of this generation of the Xiang family, possibly be knocked down so easily?

Even if he was a bit careless, he was very careless, he indeed was careless.

Even, he hadn't had time to muster his mana, couldn't in time activate his divine weapons on his person, couldn't in time employ battle techniques, divine abilities, secret arts, spells, and so on and so forth...

That too must be a nightmare!

He could not possibly be defeated, especially not by these nobodies!

With a booming "dong", the Wu family elder brother's big toe heavily stepped on Xiang Zhuang's head, a large axe burning with faint flames rested on his neck, and the Wu family elder brother growled in a low voice: "Anyone who moves will die!"

In groups of three or five, Wu family youths walked out from the invincible army's ranks, and already four to five thousand Wu family youths had gathered together on the scene.

They wore immortal-armor-grade heavy armor, held various immortal weapons, and each bared their teeth in a sneer at the dumbfounded Xiang family soldiers.

The Wu family elder brother puffed out his chest, coughed heavily once, and expelled a stream of black smoke and fire from his mouth.

"This, cough cough, uh, robbery!"

The Wu family elder brother casually pulled and tugged the large axe in his hand across Xiang Zhuang's chest, leaving a long gash in his chest armor.

"If you don't want this... this damn little junior general of yours to die... everyone of you, put down your weapons, take off your armor, hand over all your storage treasures, hand over all your warships, everyone may only keep a single piece of close-fitting undergarments, then line up at the side and accept our disposal."

The Wu family elder brother issued orders with great experience and familiarity.

Xiang Zhuang finally came to his senses; it turned out he was not dreaming.

He screamed in fury: "Kill... kill them... kill all these bastards!"

Xiang Zhuang shouted sternly: "Have you forgotten our Xiang family's ancestral instruction? Kill, kill them all! I refuse to believe they dare to move against me!"