Chapter 628

The Yin-Yang Two-Qi Bottle swallowed sixty thousand formation masters in one gulp; the Yin-Yang Daoist turned into a stream of light and sped away far.

In a certain secret realm of Ju Prefecture, Wu Tie has already prepared an excellent settlement for these formation masters; a batch of carefully selected children, with unproblematic backgrounds and pure, loyal, kind natures, are already waiting there.

In the future, these formation masters will continuously cultivate qualified fresh blood for Wu Tie.

A hundred or so invincible army warships rose slowly into the sky, flying at full speed toward the prefectural capital of Ju Prefecture, where there is a spatial gate leading directly to Qingqiu City—whether in the former Great Jin or the present Qingqiu, the spatial gates to the imperial capital exist only in the prefectural capitals of each state.

Flying southeast all the way from Phantom Cloud Mountain, Phantom Cloud Mountain is not far from Ju Prefecture City; at the speed of standard warships, the fleet had only flown for half a day, and it was already about to reach Ju Prefecture City.

Just then, a blaze of fire whistled down from high above and instantly struck the middle of the largest flagship.

The fire blazed sky-high; the terrifying high-temperature flames swallowed a hundred or so warships in one gulp.

Near and far, countless people watched how a hundred or so warships vanished amid this crimson-gold blaze. Even before the invincible army's standard warships could activate their defensive formations, they were directly vaporized into a wisp of green smoke.

On the gate tower of Ju Prefecture City, an invincible army commander screamed hoarsely: "Heaven, what is this, what is this demonic thing? How could it, how could it possess such tremendous power?"

An even higher-ranking officer stamped his feet and cursed: "Damn it… those warships carry formation masters sent from the imperial capital; these masters are all treasures of my divine nation!"

The terrifying news spread like a hurricane, instantly radiating from Ju Prefecture City in all directions.

A terrifying powerhouse attacked the fleet dispatched by Prince An to escort the formation masters back to Qingqiu City; all formation masters and all escorting troops were wiped out, with not a single person escaping.

The spies of Qingqiu Divine Nation's Forbidden Demon Hall arrived at the scene immediately, even faster than the invincible army soldiers inside Ju Prefecture City, reaching the fleet's ambush site. They circled the scene with a special secret treasure, and a stream of the tightest orders flew toward Qingqiu City.

The attacker of the escort fleet was an innate spiritual treasure.

Moreover, it is an innate spiritual treasure of extremely high rank and tremendous power—indeed, absolutely an innate spiritual treasure of the level of a state-protected divine artifact.

Someone launched a fire-attribute state-protected attack, striking the escort fleet sent by Prince An Huoxiong, and in one strike exterminated sixty thousand formation grandmasters of the Qingqiu Divine Nation. Especially among those sixty thousand formation grandmasters was an existence of the grand master level like Pang Xuan.

And formation grandmasters of Pang Xuan's caliber number only three in the entire official system of the Qingqiu Divine Nation!

In other words, the enemy of the Qingqiu Divine Nation wiped out one-third of the formation masters' foundation in the nation's official system with a single blow.

Fierce and valiant generals capable of razing cities and seizing strongholds on the battlefield are easy to cultivate; just pile up cultivation resources, and like harvesting leeks, new blood commanders can grow continuously, batch after batch.

But formation masters rely not only on the body, but more importantly on the mind and wisdom… especially in the present age, when civilizational transmission is difficult, aristocratic clans seal off various classics and techniques with extreme strictness, the mindset of cherishing one's jade and keeping it hidden prevails; to cultivate a formation grandmaster, even with the power of the state, it is still quite difficult without thousands of years.

The news from Ju Prefecture had just been transmitted back, and immediately the court of Qingqiu City was shaken; Gongyang Sanlü, even more furious and flustered, personally led people to rush to Ju Prefecture.

When the escort fleet set out, Wu Tie stood on the city wall of Wu Family Fortress, gazing as the fleet departed.

The clone of Wu Yu, formed by severing three corpses, stood beside Wu Tie, grinning with a 'hehe' laugh, his gaze fierce as he stared at the departing fleet: "What a pity, those warships are all good things, good things!"

Wu Tie laughed and shook his head: "Not really good stuff, just standard military-issue goods. Over at the Ancient Arms Bureau, there's already a better design; although the cost is much higher, a single warship's combat power can be increased by at least twentyfold. From now on, all our warships will be replaced with that new design, good companions."

Wu Yu laughed, nodded, and slapped Wu Tie's shoulder heavily.

"We're old; some novel and strange ideas can't compare to yours, you little rascals… but we old-timers are all happy."

Looking up at the sky, in the azure expanse, white clouds lay in neat, orderly rows like fish scales, exceptionally fresh and tidy, making one feel refreshed and delighted just to behold them.

In every direction, towering mountains and steep ridges are nothing but a sea of verdure; giant trees hundreds of zhang tall reach the sky, the primordial wilderness of the primeval forest brims with moving beauty—those trees, those vines, those flowers, those birds and beasts all stir the heart to tears.

Just outside the south gate of Wu Family Fortress, beneath the gentle slope of a vast expanse of hills, below a cliff thousands of zhang deep, a river tens of li wide surges mightily through a massive canyon, its roaring, thunder-like waters flowing ceaselessly day and night.

Although it is a bit noisy and tumultuous, it gives a feeling of great peace of mind.

In the underground world, not to mention such a river tens of li wide, even a stream as thick as a bowl's mouth is regarded as a treasure by countless cavern dwellers.

Moreover, let alone the myriad plants and animals in all directions, the floral fragrance permeating the air, even the great swarms of bees fluttering through the mountains and forests, all make people inexplicably feel a fullness of happiness.

Wu Yu's gaze is razor-sharp; with his terrifying cultivation that can be called strong even among the divine realm, and with the Wu family's vigorous bloodline, he can effortlessly see, at a glance, a mosquito flapping its wings several thousand li away.

He clearly saw that, over a hundred li away, on the mountainside, a silver giant tasked with patrol was slacking off.

This guy stands over twenty zhang tall, but among the silver giant tribe he is still not an adult—just a youth.

He lay sprawled on a small hillock, a tiny wildflower placed on his nose tip, a palm-sized butterfly lightly landing on the flower, its yellow-red-green wings occasionally twitching faintly.

Such a massive silver giant lay there so cautiously, holding his breath, restraining his aura; his huge eyes turned cross-eyed, staring fixedly at that beautiful, delicate, frail little creature on his nose tip.

On the silver giant's rough, ferocious, even somewhat savage and brutal face, there now lay a gentle smile.

"Really, we old-timers are truly all happy…" Wu Yu smiled at that silver giant.

These folks, including the underground peoples Wu Tie bought back from Demon-Suppressing City, are now slaves of Wu Family Fortress… and they have indeed been imbued with various soul-spirit restrictions, subjected to extremely strict disciplinary controls.

No matter who comes to investigate, these slaves appear exactly as proper slaves.

Even these folks themselves believe they are truly proper slaves.

They are merely fortunate, blessed with good luck, having encountered a relatively generous, broad-minded lord who does not overly mistreat them in food, clothing, lodging, and usage, and whose disciplinary constraints are not overly harsh.

Indeed… if placed in the underground world, that silver giant wouldn't even be allowed to lie on a hillside quietly admiring a butterfly; as a slave, if he merely works a little slower, his own master would beat him mercilessly, not stopping until dozens of bones are broken.

But in Wu Family Fortress, such a thing would naturally not happen.

"They are also very happy." Wu Tie smiled, narrowing his eyes, as his vast soul power spread forth, effortlessly enveloping the mountains and forests for ten thousand li around.

This is the talent ability awakened in Wu Tie's bloodline; since his youth he has possessed a soul power field, enabling him to do things ordinary people cannot.

Now his cultivation grows ever stronger, far surpassing the divine fetus power of an ordinary half-step divine realm, combined with this miraculous talent; within the range of Wu Tie's soul power field, every grain of sand, every stone, every blade of grass and tree, even the dust motes in the air—everything is under his control.

Within the ten-thousand-li radius of mountains and forests, countless ratfolk and dwarves are busy.

They wear joyful, radiant smiles that spring from inner happiness, carefully tending those medicinal herbs and meticulously managing everything in the herb mountain.

These ratfolk and dwarves adapted most quickly to life in Wu Family Fortress.

In the underground world, their fate was so humble and cruel, but in Wu Family Fortress… they experience a sudden lightness as shackles fall away from body to soul.

The lords of Wu Family Fortress do not mistreat them, rarely inflicting corporal punishment; for those whose status in the underground world is extremely lowly, this is already boundless heavenly grace.

Moreover, they can eat their fill every day, and their food is not moss, grass roots, or worms.

They can also wear neat, uniform clothing; although the material is not good, merely the coarsest linen, this is already a grace they dare not hope for.

What's more…

Look at the sky: the sky is no longer a thick, black, oppressive, confining rock ceiling, but a true, azure sky.

And there are those neat rows of white clouds, and those feathered warriors who roam freely through the cloud layers…

Even though their souls have been imbued with soul-spirit restrictions by the lords of Wu Family Fortress, they still feel—freedom and happiness!

Thus, Wu Tie saw those dwarves and ratfolk smiling all over their faces, busily working nonstop; even some of the more quick-witted dwarves, having learned some mountain folk tunes from somewhere, hummed lightly while they labored.

This is a settlement that Wu Tie, after many years of effort, finally opened up in the surface world.

A place specially set up for his own clansmen and these underground tribes, where they can feel the true natural world.

Wu Tie only hopes that in the future, such settlements will become more numerous and larger in area.

He further hopes that, in these settlements, these small-folk will no longer need soul restraint or slave identity, but can walk openly in sunlight as a true, complete, free people.

"Let's go, first settle the affairs at home, then your trouble will come too, kid?" Wu Yu slapped Wu Tie's shoulder, smiling: "But, with us old guys backing you, there's nothing to fear."

Wu Tie nodded with a smile, looking at the verdant mountains around, he whispered: "I've never been afraid... because what we're doing is right."

Wu Yu stared, then smiled, reached out and firmly rubbed Wu Tie's head: "Yeah, that's right, we haven't done anything wrong or bad... what we should truly fear is them."

In Wu Fortress, to the north of the main residence, stands a very large ancestral temple, its surroundings heavily guarded.

The defensive prohibitions of Wu Fortress have all been activated; the Five Elements Daoist and the Canghai Daoist remain hidden in the void, coordinating with the avatars of a dozen or so Wu clan old monsters, vigilantly watching all directions, strictly preventing any powerful beings from sneaking close or entering.

Of course, Wu Fortress is newly built; such clan cities and fortresses have been constructed in the hundreds in Aquatic Plant Prefecture over the past half year, so Wu Fortress is unremarkable and draws no attention.

It's merely a precaution; in fact, Wu Fortress is too important.

The Yin Yang Daoist goes back and forth; inside Wu Fortress now, the Wu clan people secretly brought out from the Wu Territory, men and women, old and young, totaling two hundred thousand. For their safety, no amount of caution is excessive.

Under Wu Yu's presiding, a sacrificial ceremony following the Wu tribe's oldest tradition proceeds in an orderly manner.

Slaughtering offerings, presenting sacrifices, reading the sacrificial text, performing the sacrificial dance... the procedure is not complex, but extremely solemn.

Finally, in the innermost chamber of the ancestral temple's offering hall, Wu Yu and the four Wu clan elders carefully, working together, placed properly a spirit tablet about three zhang tall.

On the spirit tablet shaped like a stele, the eight blood-red characters "Wu Clan Ancestral Spirit Positions" are engraved upright and proper.

Wu Tie stood among the ranks of his brothers, silently gazing at this spirit tablet that seemed to share his bloodline and resonate with his aura. He couldn't help but recall the countless spirit tablets enshrined in the Wu clan ancestral temple in the Wu Territory, belonging to the ancestors of the Wu clan through the ages.

In this surface world, to be able to enshrine a spirit tablet representing all Wu clan ancestors is already an immense luxury.

Those spirit tablets of the Wu clan's ancestors through the ages... many of their names still hang on the wanted list of the Demon-Suppressing Hall.

For absolute safety, Wu Yu and those old guys decided that enshrining such a spirit tablet in the ancestral temple of Wu Fortress would be enough.

At the moment the spirit tablet was set in place, Wu Tie and all the qualified Wu clan males who could stand in the offering hall fell to their knees, kowtowing to the spirit tablet while softly chanting the ancestral sacrificial text passed down through the Wu clan, which venerates heaven and earth and commemorates the ancestors.

"Wu Tie, step forward." After the sacrificial text was finished chanting, Wu Yu's low voice echoed throughout the offering hall.

Wu Tie stared in surprise, looked up at Wu Yu, stood up, and came before him.

"If the name is not correct, then authority lacks trust; if authority lacks trust, then the heart is unsettled; if the heart is unsettled, then chaos arises; if there is chaos within the clan, then the clan will perish." Wu Yu looked at Wu Tie and said, word by word: "We elders unanimously agree that from today onward, the Wu tribe shall split into the Sun and Moon Sects... all who migrate to the surface and take up residence in Wu Fortress, regardless of age or gender, even us elders, shall belong to the Sun Sect."

"This is the seal of the Sun Sect Leader, forged by our elders awakening the ancient slumbering venerable ancestors, consuming a single thread of our tribe's secret offering of origin bloodline."

"From today onward, the life and death, honor and disgrace of all Sun Sect members lie in your single thought."

A seal made entirely of unknown black bone, extraordinarily heavy, wrapped in a thick aura of blood, its surface covered with countless ancient mysterious characters, its aura primordial and desolate, was solemnly pressed into Wu Tie's hand by Wu Yu.

Wu Yu, together with dozens of other Wu clan elders in the offering hall, simultaneously knelt before this seal.

After three kowtows, Wu Yu and the elders simultaneously bit their tongues, spitting out a drop of essence blood; a wild wind rose inside the hall, and the seal in Wu Tie's hand, heavier than a mountain, absorbed all the essence blood spat out by Wu Yu and the elders.

At Wu Yu's command, the Wu Jin and other clan members in the hall all bit their tongues, each spitting out a drop of essence blood.

Outside the hall, the dozen or so clan elder avatars guarding the void likewise bit their tongues, each spitting out a drop of essence blood.

Next, the two hundred thousand Wu clan people inside Wu Fortress also bit their tongues, each spitting out a drop of bright red blood toward the offering hall.

Wu Tie grasped the sect leader's seal, feeling the minute soul fluctuations within, and felt an immense weight on his shoulders, leaving him speechless for a moment.