Chapter 723

Above the demon's lair, thirty-two bronze mirrors, each a hundred zhang in diameter and several zhang thick, hovered there.

The mirrors spewed out blazing golden flames, enveloping the entire demon's lair.

Wu Tie stood on a mountain peak several hundred li from the demon's lair; behind him loomed a towering black-iron throne, with hundreds of civil and military officials surrounding him, while at the mountain's base countless Five Elements spirits stood packed together.

Dozens of large bronze mirrors hovered before Wu Tie, each corresponding one-to-one with the mirrors floating above the demon's lair; beneath the lair, within a radius of one hundred thousand li, every movement, great or small, lay bare.

Countless dwarves, gnomes, ratfolk, snakemen and other subterranean races flickered in the mirrors, densely packed, numbering in the hundreds of millions.

These subterranean peoples, weak in combat underground and fit only as slaves or to consume their tribe, relying on their vast numbers, were launching a desperate assault on the surface; accompanying their attack were flying giant bats and various large lizards with extreme climbing speed.

Under Wu Tie's command, there were likewise countless dwarves, gnomes, ratfolk and the like, wielding magically altered firearms, who relied on large and small fortifications on the ground to construct a complex and sturdy defensive line.

Four Spirit Warships

Metal pellets the size of a thumb were engraved with lightning-strike runes; upon hitting an enemy, they burst into a ball of electric sparks several zhang across, causing the warriors of these weak combat races to convulse and go numb, then collapse involuntarily.

Occasionally, half-dragons, dragonoids, or even scions of the Four Fiend clans would hide in the crowd and suddenly strike out; naturally, the Wu clan's youths and Elder masters of the Five Elements spirits would sally forth, cooperating with the vast numbers of giant god-constructs to easily slay them on the spot.

Wu Family Ancestor

Besides the initial assault squad of the Four Fiend clans that killed hundreds of Wu Tie's troops in a surprise attack, over two months have passed; Wu Tie has captured an unknown number of prisoners, while his own giant god-constructs have been damaged in the thousands, and aside from that there have been no further battle losses.

These giant god-constructs, being humanoid killing weapons, are ultimately just tools—unless they are like Old Iron, who has spawned self-aware spirit; when broken, one gathers the fragments, feeds them into the production line controlled by Big Iron, and in the blink of an eye a brand-new one emerges, at most costing a bit of energy.

Divine Manifest Realm Five Heavens

The vast territory of Wuguo sees its economic level rise day by day, enough for Wu Tie to spend money lavishly.

Light flickered in the mirrors; Wu Tie opened his third-eye, and amid the countless shimmering figures he suddenly locked onto a tall silhouette. His vast divine sense began to spread, and his left hand's five fingers flew rapidly in seal signs.

Once, Wu Tie performed an initial divination and deduction in a small grove.

Back then his cultivation was insufficient, his Dao not profound, his soul power not strong enough, and his attunement to heaven and earth was far inferior to now.

At that time he could only divine the fate of the small animals and birds within a radius of several li of the woods for the coming few days.

But now Wu Tie's strength has been transformed; he has smoothly entered the Divine Realm, his Dao has soared, and his attunement to heaven and earth has reached a degree that even ordinary senior Divine Realm beings cannot compare to.

Around the demon's lair, temperature, airflow, humidity and wind blew; cold surged up from below, hot winds swept down from the ground, the air roiled, and countless bats of various sizes, carrying differing numbers of subterranean peoples, rose from below in spiraling flight.

Wu Tie's divine soul precisely gathered all information near the demon's lair, including the densely packed subterranean peoples crawling up the rock walls; his divine fetus now stands sixteen thousand zhang tall, and his soul's strength is unparalleled through the ages.

Xi Yao

The densely packed subterranean peoples surged forth from below like a dark cloud, while Wu Tie rapidly calculated and deduced.

Xi Yi and the others must certainly be underground, and they must be in a place where they can clearly observe every move on the surface, while also being advantageous for launching a sudden, fierce assault.

Four Ferocious Family

For instance, given Xi Yi's status, the air above their heads must be clear; no bat, large or small, would dare to hover and flutter above them.

Thus, following the trajectories of those bat groups bursting from the ground, Wu Tie quickly locked onto three coordinates.

Then, according to Xi Yi's temperament and nature, and according to the dispositions of the Four Fiend clan elders provided by the Wu Prison, Wu Tie settled on one of those coordinates.

Taowu Clan

The four spirit warships combined form a state-level divine artifact, a great killer; nowadays each four spirit warship hosts a triple-corpse emanation of a Wu clan ancestor seated in command, enabling the warships' power to be exerted to the utmost.

The utmost power of the four spirit warships is enough to heavily wound a mighty being of the seventh heaven of the Divine Realm.

The dragon barge from the Wei royal clan, over ten thousand zhang long—a useless hulk despite its oars—now also hovers above the four spirit warships; this barge has already undergone Big Iron's magical refit, its performance enhanced in every respect, and meanwhile vast numbers of metal spiders under Big Iron's control are carrying out a large-scale overhaul inside its cabins.

However, this colossal dragon barge named the 'Martial Vessel' has twelve main guns arrayed in a row at its prow, each capable of unleashing terrifying devastation equivalent to the fifth heaven of the Divine Realm.

Thirty-six four spirit warships are entwined with spiritual light, pairs of massive flame wings unfurling to port and starboard, countless burning feathers violently quivering, ready at any moment to tear through the void and slay.

The Martial Vessel's twelve main guns swiftly adjusted their angles, locking onto the coordinate transmitted by Wu Tie.

Moments later, Wu Tie's voice rang across the battlefield: 'I once set my heart upon the bright moon… but alas, you wretched thing… do you really think your status amounts to anything?'

Indeed, Wu Tie came to the surface world on a mission from Xi Bai White to seek the whereabouts of the siblings Xi Yi and Xi Yao.

Divine Fetus

Just a prince who relies on talent, lacks any sense of responsibility, acts wantonly, harms others and himself—a fool; there have been many such people in the past, there are still plenty now, and there will be even more in the future.

Xi Yao isn't Wu Tie's kin or old friend; there's truly no need to hold back.

"Kill!" Wu Tie gave the order.

The thirty-six Four Spirit warships spewed limitless fire feathers and also shot out streaks of tiger-head-shaped Geng-metal sharp qi, like a storm, bombing toward the coordinates Wu Tie had designated.

Twelve thick light pillars, each thousands of zhang tall, almost formed a line, instantly piercing the void and brutally invading the demon's nest.

In the void, the metallic war fortress hovering in the air also went all-out, with beams of light blasting into the deep cavern.

Hundreds of thousands of giant god warriors had the thick armor on their chests slide open to either side; from their finely meshed launch nests, countless chaos fire crossbows spewing firelight shot up into the sky, drawing beautiful arcs before plunging fiercely into the demon's nest.

Xi Yao and the others were indeed exactly at the position Wu Tie had measured, without the slightest deviation.

Over a hundred burly Four Ferocious Clan Divine Manifestation elders surrounded Xi Yao, high-and-mighty and arrogant beyond compare.

Xi Yao promised them that, as long as they could successfully invade the surface, plunder sufficient resources from Wuguo, and even seize a sufficiently large territory there, the Four Ferocious Clan would become the Guardian Clan of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom in the future.

The elders of the Four Ferocious Clan all knew Xi Yao's identity; he was practically destined to become the next Sovereign of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom.

So they took his promise very seriously.

Otherwise, how could they have exerted such great effort, mobilizing so many vassal tribes' warriors, launching continuous attacks for over two months, and regardless of how many warriors were lost, still frenziedly attack upward?

Guardian Clan… heh, thinking of the future benefits this status would bring to the Four Ferocious Clan, all the elders of the Four Ferocious Clan grinned until saliva dripped.

Then, a torrent of strong light fell straight down from the high sky, without the slightest deviation.

The Qiongqi, Taotie, Hundun, and Taowu clans—the four strongest ancestors of the Four Ferocious Clan—roared in unison, each bringing forth their ancestral supreme secret treasure, surrounding and protecting Xi Yao at the very core.

Then, the strong light spread out, and countless bats of all sizes, countless lizard venomous snakes, countless giant pythons and spiders, and countless vassal tribes all vanished in smoke and mist within the strong light.

Tens of thousands of the Four Ferocious Clan's elite disciples disappeared without a trace amid this sudden barrage of artillery fire; dozens of Divine Manifestation realm elders were also severely wounded, with several merely managing to protect a single skull, which wobbled back underground, barely preserving a life.

But with only a skull left, unless they seize another body, who knows how many years of bitter effort it would take to restore their former peak cultivation?

If they were to seize another body… heh, recalling the arduous struggle to barely break through to the Divine Manifestation realm… how could one bring oneself to make that decision?

"Martial King... Huo Xiong..." a furious roar shook the entire demon's nest.

Countless tiny chaos fire bolts poured down like a rainstorm washing the earth; within the demon's nest, the chaos fire bolts exploded in batches very evenly—every time they dropped a hundred zhang, a batch detonated, and every time they fell a hundred zhang, another batch detonated.

From the top of the demon's nest to a place tens of thousands of li deep, the chaos fire bolts boomed—boom—boom—boom and exploded layer by layer; no one knows how many elite warriors under the Four Ferocious Clans were slain.

"There isn't enough time; otherwise, I wouldn't resort to such cruel methods." Wu Tie stood calmly on the hilltop, his voice cold: "In the past two months or so, we've captured so many prisoners… we're running out of time. To the north, the Snowfield Barbarians have already charged forth."

Wu Tie shook his head and said in a deep voice: "Seal the demon's nest, head north, prepare for war."

Beside Wu Tie, the Canghai Daoist flew up into the sky.

The Canghai Daoist hovered at the center of the demon's nest; a flash of spiritual light appeared behind him, and within the world inside the Canghai Pearl, mountain after mountain, their bodies entirely covered in runes, having undergone preliminary refinement and rich in metallic ore, flew out and then slowly descended toward the demon's nest.

Peak after peak joined together, sealing off the demon's nest's exit.

Mo Yun and Ou Yezi led their respective peoples to fly above the demon's nest sealed by the mountain, together with the Fire Essence Elder among the thousands of Five Elements Spirits; they all unleashed immense fire techniques, melting the mountain into a colossal rock slab thousands of li thick, sealing the entire demon's nest.

Just as Wu Tie suddenly exerted force, delivering a sudden heavy blow to Xi Yao and the Four Ferocious Clans he had gathered, the north also erupted simultaneously.

With the total annihilation of hundreds of Li clan officers and over two hundred thousand elite cavalry as the opening move, the boundless Snowfield populace surged along the first ice-crystal road that broke through the barbarian wilderness mountains and invaded Shuozhou's land.

They cheered, leapt, and roared loudly; many people rolled about with abandon on the warm, moist land carpeted with various kinds of thick, long grass. Such fertile, warm land was nothing more than what their ancestors had spoken of in legend.

But now, this wonderful new world lies before them; as long as they brandish their weapons, they can easily obtain it.

Over a hundred tribal elders, more than two hundred mystics of the Xuanming Hall, and over four hundred Divine Realm masters, leading tens of millions of Snowfield populace, surged like a tide straight toward the southern Shuozhou Grand Camp.

The Shuozhou Grand Camp was built relying on Shuozhou; behind it lay hundreds of Shuozhou's northernmost cities.

Although Shuozhou lies in the Northern Border, it is also an ancient territory of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom opened up over a thousand years ago; these cities have populations ranging from over two hundred thousand to several million, and gathered behind the Shuozhou Grand Camp, their residents number over a hundred million.

The Snowfield Barbarians came charging forward with a mighty momentum; tens of thousands of newly selected sturdy men seized thick ropes and dragged that massive ice sculpture, striding forward toward the south, continuing Benz.

Small cavalry units sallied forth in all directions, and a relentless rain of arrows bombarded the barbarian masses.

Those barbarian Divine Realm masters were utterly ruthless; they completely disregarded status or face, charging straight at these cavalry units to unleash deadly blows.

Increasing numbers of barbarian units burst out of the ice-crystal road and set foot upon Shuozhou's territory.

Gradually, within a radius of tens of thousands of li north of the Shuozhou Grand Camp, an uncountable number of Snowfield tribespeople had gathered.

"Let's also do something ruthless," Li Guang chuckled he-he, raising the brilliant gold token in his hand.

High above the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom, enormous golden wheels began to spin faster and faster.

Accompanied by a piercing whoosh-whoosh sound, solar-gold shuttles each about a zhang in diameter, olive-shaped and filled with terrifying solar-gold firepower, broke free from the golden wheels and screamed down from the sky.

Like a sudden meteor shower, the sky was filled with thin strands of golden light pouring down swiftly from the firmament.

Within a radius of tens of thousands of li, hundreds of thousands of solar-gold shuttles struck the ground almost simultaneously.

A blazing sun rose from the north of Shuozhou, a golden mushroom cloud tens of thousands of li in diameter slowly billowing upward to an unknown height.

Nearly half of the populace of the Northern Border of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom saw this enormous golden mushroom cloud.

Flames rose and winds howled; each solar-gold shuttle's destructive power reached the Embryo Storage Realm, and hundreds of thousands of such shuttles exploding within a radius of tens of thousands of li had a destructive power in the core zone that absolutely reached the Divine Realm.

Countless Snowfield populace were melted by the golden light, not even a wisp of blue smoke left behind.

Just as Li Guang himself said, using solar-gold shuttles to scour the earth was utterly ruthless.

Amid the blaze and thick smoke came the mournful cries of the Snowfield Divine Realm elders; those who had charged out of the ice-crystal road and invaded Shuozhou's Snowfield populace, aside from their over four hundred Divine Realm elders, everyone else… was wiped out.