Chapter 877

Brother, you're truly extraordinary.

When the Qinglian Temple Daoists spat blood in great mouthfuls and collapsed, when countless Sui Dynasty elite troops were struck unconscious by the terrifying awe of a venerable-level soul, when countless giant divine soldiers slowly approached, and the Sui Fire Legacy Grand Formation could inflict no harm upon those giant divine soldiers.

Xiahou Wuming stepped forward, clasped his fist toward Wu Tie, nodded, and praised without end: "Among our sworn brothers, to have a hero like you truly makes elder brother me both delighted and apprehensive."

He sighed, a hint of brutality surfaced on Xiahou Wuming's face, and in an instant he became like a raging lion: his high crown burst, his hair-binding ribbons shattered into fragments, and his full head of hair stood up strand by strand like a lion's mane.

But, you intend to dominate the entire Sui Dynasty with just one person's strength… that still seems insufficient.

Wu Tie pointed to the ghost sovereigns, demon sovereigns, and yao sovereigns lined up behind him, then toward the western battlefield where the combat had halted, to the Netherworld Peng Sovereign and the Ten Thousand Poisons Zhen Sovereign standing shoulder to shoulder.

Two yao sovereigns, I've heard you've taken good care of the Blood Prison; thus, in gratitude for your favor, this king will not imprison you… whether as foe or friend, it's up to a single thought of yours!

Wu Tie waved at the two great yao sovereigns: "However, I think we'd be better off as friends."

The Netherworld Peng Sovereign and the Ten Thousand Poisons Zhen Sovereign stared at Wu Tie in utter shock for a moment, then they burst into a long, sharp, piercing laugh, like two awls stabbing straight into the heavens. Their laughter shook the nearby Sui Dynasty elites until their ears bled, each one screaming wildly as they collapsed and twitched.

"We are, of course, friends." The Netherworld Peng Sovereign and the Ten Thousand Poisons Zhen Sovereign laughed in unison, their bodies flickering, and they instantly appeared behind Wu Tie.

They stood behind Wu Tie, then sized up Zhu Ganglie from head to toe: "Dead pig head, this time you've fooled an extraordinary fellow… tsk, perhaps… you… hehe!"

It was obvious the two great yao sovereigns had something to say to Zhu Ganglie, but now was not the proper moment, so they merely gave a few strange laughs.

Zhu Ganglie lightly patted his belly, gave a slight grin, and revealed a simple, honest smile.

"Look, I'm not alone." Wu Tie glanced at Xiahou Wuming with a smile: "Grand Tutor, you think that just by relying on you venerable ones…"

"Dare to fight?" Xiahou Wuming tilted his head slightly, narrowed his eyes at Wu Tie: "We brothers, a fair duel. If you win, elder brother I will resign my office and never again concern myself with Sui Dynasty affairs; if you lose, take these demons and monsters away, and once elder brother I has stabilized the Sui Dynasty's governance, we'll each rely on our own means."

Wu Tie rubbed his hands together vigorously, smiling at Xiahou Wuming: "A fair fight? How could our clash possibly be fair? Grand Tutor elder brother, you just saw my strength."

Xiahou Wuming said in a deep voice: "The Thirty-Three Heavens Witch-Demon Blood-Bleeding Formation… I personally preside over it; if you can break the formation with one person's strength, I will admit defeat."

Among the Six Desire Demon Sovereigns nearby, the one entirely crimson, representing 'Fury,' let out a harsh, piercing laugh: "King Wu, don't be deceived; the Xiahou clan's heretical formation has once achieved the feat of slaying a venerable-level being…"

The Netherworld Peng Sovereign murmured: "Thirty-Three Heavens Witch-Demon Blood-Bleeding Formation? 'Witch-Demon'? 'Witch'? Hmm, in the bloodline memory inherited from my ancestors, there seems to be a record of this clan… that is, an ancient human lineage older than the Human Emperor Sui Ren whom the Sui Dynasty venerates."

Wu Tie waved his hand, smiling at Xiahou Wuming: "Very well, then it's the Thirty-Three Heavens Witch-Demon Blood-Bleeding Formation…"

After clashing with the Qinglian Temple Daoists, Wu Tie's clothes were shattered all over; he simply gathered vast five-colored divine light, condensing it into a five-colored rosy-robe that draped over him, and strode through the void to the skies above Sui Du.

"Come!" Wu Tie beckoned to Xiahou Wuming.

"Go!" Xiahou Wuming likewise tore his garments clean, shouted loudly, and from the void gathered piercing white geng-metal qi that condensed into a silver-white long robe on his body.

With a shake of his hands, Xiahou Wuming gained a beast-faced square shield on his left and a heavy axe on his right.

Xiahou Wusheng and the thirty-three other Xiahou clansmen likewise strode forward, wearing heavy armor whose plates blazed with blinding light; gradually their skin turned pure gold, like golden-cast war puppets.

The Thirty-Three Heavens Witch-Demon Blood-Bleeding Formation had taken shape; Xiahou Wuming let out a great roar, his body turning into a white light that charged into the formation.

The original blood-bleeding formation gave an impression of boundless ferocity, its rolling killing intent nearly substantive, inspiring dread. But once Xiahou Wuming entered, the entire formation suddenly became lively, the towering killing intent abruptly drawing inward, condensing within the grand formation into countless silver rainbows like substantive streaks that whirled and darted rapidly.

The figures of Xiahou Wuming, Xiahou Wusheng, and the others vanished completely; in the void only silver rainbows remained, swirling and dancing. In the blink of an eye, the silver rainbows exploded, giving rise to towering figures a hundred zhang tall, with blue faces and fangs, some with three heads and six arms, others with four faces and eight arms, their muscles knotted like dragon cords, treading flood dragons, waists entwined with strange pythons, surrounded by swirling tides of earth, water, fire, and wind elemental energies—the witch-demons appeared out of thin air.

The blood-bleeding formation spewed forth torrents of turbid, blood-red vapor; the void around the formation writhed and trembled, faintly emitting low thunder.

Afterward, the great formation resembled a black hole, slowly beginning to rotate; the surrounding void, time, all tangible and intangible entities, perceptible or not, gradually collapsed inward into the formation.

Devouring all things, annihilating all things.

"Please!" Xiahou Wuming's voice came from within the formation, his tone turning extremely cold and stiff, like a blade sealed in glacial ice for countless years.

Around them, many Sui Dynasty commanders whose cultivation was insufficient merely heard Xiahou Wuming's voice and felt as if their souls had been struck by a sword, each letting out a hoarse wail, clutching their heads as they fell from the air.

"Here I come!" Wu Tie strode forward toward this witch clan's secretly transmitted witch formation; a tremendous suction spun toward him, actively dragging Wu Tie into the great formation.

From all directions solidified killing intent filled the air, mixed with the murderous intent of Xiahou Wusheng and the others; the killing intent turned blood-red, countless streams of it whistled with piercing sound as they assailed Wu Tie, like countless arrows striking his body.

Wu Tie took no defensive measures, allowing those killing intents to slice his body.

Amid the piercing tearing sounds, streams of killing intent exploded into fragments; Wu Tie's body burst with countless fine sparks, not even his skin suffering the slightest damage.

The surrounding environment became extremely terrifying.

Gravity surged rapidly, reaching within moments up to millions of times the external standard.

Air pressure likewise spiked, reaching within moments over a million standard atmospheres.

Temperature likewise rose; upon entering the formation it was merely slightly warm, but in the snap of a finger the temperature within the formation soared to millions of degrees—such heat would instantly char even an ordinary deity to cinder upon the slightest touch.

Wave after wave of terrifying thoughts, like primordial savage beasts, surged forth like a tide.

Deafening roars of demon gods exploded beside Wu Tie's ears, then surged wave after wave directly into his mind.

Viscous, potent killing intent clung like glue to Wu Tie's skin, seeking to seep inward along his flesh into his viscera.

Countless visions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood arose before Wu Tie; he saw myriad towering demon gods tens of thousands of zhang high and countless strange beings frenziedly slaughtering each other; those giant demon gods unleashed heaven-splitting, earth-shaking terrifying power with every gesture, and many of the divine abilities and secret arts they employed were intimately familiar to Wu Tie.

Transformed into three heads and six arms with a vertical eye on his brow, Xiahou Wuming brandished three square shields and three heavy axes, roaring as his form emerged from the formation.

His body became knotted with muscle, hot sweat pouring forth like a waterfall; he exhaled terrifying heat, exuding a suffocating killing intent and soul shock, like a mad demon beast, he charged straight at Wu Tie.

The witch clan's grand formation possessed no profound mystery; it was pure, blunt crudeness and violence.

The thirty-three witch clan youths united as one, employing a secret art to activate their bloodlines, drawing power from a certain witch clan incarnation of a demon god from primordial myth; through the formation they linked their strength as one, exchanging it for the world's tremendous vigor, then poured it into the bodies of those forming the formation.

Thus an individual's strength is amplified by thousands or even tens of thousands of times.

Even a harmless little white rabbit, if it can bear this mighty empowerment, could slay a dragon.

Even a harmless little white rabbit, if it can withstand the pressure of this killing intent and soul shock, will possess endless combat skills, becoming the most terrifying fighting machine in heaven and earth.

Xiahou Wuming rushed to Wu Tie's front, his three heavy axes suddenly sweeping up trails of mysterious afterimages.

Sometimes light and agile, sometimes heavy, sometimes incredibly swift, the three heavy axes unleashed dozens of utterly different moods, and in an instant they hacked Wu Tie tens of thousands of times.

Xiahou Wuming's attack frequency was accelerated to a point where nothing could be added.

Flick of a finger—tens of thousands of strikes, then another tens of thousands, immediately followed by yet another tens of thousands.

Each heavy axe forged from geng-metal power continually exploded; every strike was like a meteor smashing the earth, and placed in the outside world, any single blow could utterly devastate the land within a million-li radius.

Deafening booms rang out incessantly; Xiahou Wuming howled madly, hysterically pouring his boundless inner power toward Wu Tie.

Given Xiahou Wuming's cultivation, under the empowerment of the Thirty-Three Heavens Witch-Demon Blood-Bleeding Formation, his skin, muscles, even his bones and viscera were constantly being torn apart; then, bolstered by the witch clan's unique tenacious vitality and sustained by vast essence-blood energy, his wounds continually healed.

Blood sprayed forth, his roars like thunder.

Xiahou Wuming fell into a frenzied, primitive id state.

He completely forgot everything about the outside world; he merely attacked Wu Tie with all his might, with all his strength, out of instinct, wanting to knock down Wu Tie.

This is him, as the Senior Grand Tutor of the Flame Dynasty, the most stubborn obsession in his heart, the strongest persistence.

He, Xiahou Wuming, a veteran minister who served four reigns of the Flame Dynasty, the current Grand Tutor.

He, the current clan chief of the Xiahou clan, while the ancestors of the Xiahou clan once followed the Founding Divine Emperor of the Flame Dynasty and single-handedly established this glorious dynasty.

Generation after generation of Xiahou clan ancestors sacrificed their heads and shed their blood for the Flame Dynasty... On the borders' battlefields, almost every year Xiahou clansmen died in battle. On the Xiahou clan's ancestral hall, countless spirit tablets of fallen Xiahou clansmen are enshrined.

Those ancestors, ninety-nine percent of them died with their souls scattered and spirits dispersed.

But in the heart of every Xiahou clansman, on the spirit tablets in that ancestral hall, there seems to be a floating silhouette, looking down from above upon these living clansmen.

The Xiahou clan has already merged with the Flame Dynasty into one.

"I cannot be defeated!" Xiahou Wuming roared hoarsely, blood continuously spraying from his mouth: "How could I possibly be defeated?"

Xiahou Wuming has his pride.

He never imagined that, because of Feng Rong's wanton misconduct and because of the turmoil in the Flame Dynasty's imperial court, he actually had the chance to single-handedly eliminate so many demons and monsters.

More than ten Lord-level old monsters.

If we could exterminate them here... the war situation between the Flame Dynasty and the four-direction enemy states would be greatly advantageous to the Flame Dynasty.

One's gain is another's loss; perhaps the Flame Dynasty has a chance to completely eliminate the threat of the four-direction enemy states.

If so, the Flame Dynasty's national fortune will surely blaze, and surely the country will be prosperous and the people peaceful.

And he, Xiahou Wuming, will also be written in great detail in the Flame Dynasty's history; the entire Xiahou clan will, because of this battle, be forever remembered by the Flame Dynasty's court and populace.

But... Wu Tie!

"Give me, defeat!" Xiahou Wuming screamed hysterically, his attacks becoming ever wilder, their frequency ever more astonishing.

Countless blinding flashes of fire exploded on Wu Tie's body; amidst the deafening noise, Wu Tie stood firmly in place, however Xiahou Wuming, borrowing the power of the great formation, might bombard wildly, he simply stood firmly in place, unmoving.

In just that moment, within Wu Tie's body, many of the Dao patterns in the multi-spiral light flow merged into his physique.

His divine fetus had shrunk to only about a zhang tall; Wu Tie's strength leapt forward, his understanding of the Pangu True Form gained some novel ideas, and his strength increased significantly again.

The attack of this Blood Sacrifice Formation indeed reached the level of Lord-level.

But to deal with Wu Tie at this moment, it's still somewhat insufficient.

Wu Tie stubbornly endured Xiahou Wuming's frenzied bombardment; Xiahou Wuming's whole body ignited with blood-colored flames, he had completely fallen into a mad demonic state.

After such a quarter of an hour, Wu Tie suddenly raised his right hand and threw a punch.

With a tremendous roar, the entire Thirty-three Heavens Witch Demon Blood Sacrifice Formation suddenly collapsed; Xiahou Wuming, Xiahou Wusheng, and the others all vomited blood, one by one pallid-faced falling from the air.

"We are brothers of the same origin and lineage... Since I recognize this great formation, I naturally can break it."

Wu Tie looked down at Xiahou Wuming, who lay on the ground continuously vomiting blood, unable to rise, and calmly said: "Senior Grand Tutor brother, you, just don't worry about the affairs of the Flame Dynasty. You, rest in peace; later... later matters, we will discuss later."

Wu Tie waved his hand; Lao Tie shouted angrily; a large crowd of Five Elements Spirit Elders surged forward, three or five attending to each, helping Xiahou Wuming and the others to their feet, while also separating them far apart.

Wu Tie looked at the distant, pallid Feng Ying and others, and calmly said: "Now, I speak; you must listen... you won't object, right?"

A Daoist of the Azure Lotus Temple shouted angrily.

The Black Sword turned into a thread of black sword light, instantly piercing his body.

This Daoist's vitality suddenly collapsed, and he fell headfirst from the air.

Wu Tie smiled; he had snatched that ancient jade talisman from Xiahou Wuming's hand and casually crushed it.

The original version of the Firewood Transmission Great Formation violently trembled a bit, then all those simple, crude altars everywhere simultaneously extinguished.

A lump of flame-fire seed the size of a water jar shot up from the ruins of the Primordial Palace; the Grand Dao Furnace flew over swiftly, swallowing the flame-fire seed that the Flame Dynasty had passed down through the ages, clean and clean.

Wu Tie let out a great shout; he executed the Pangu Classic, transforming into the Pangu True Form; his strength surged again; at this moment, Wu Tie, over fifty thousand zhang tall, stood in midair, spreading in all directions an astonishing tidal wave of mighty power like a tsunami.

Under Wu Tie's intimidation, no one around dared to move.

"Someone come, please bring His Majesty Feng Rong over."

Wu Tie laughed loudly; the Blood Prison let out a long howl, charging straight at the pallid-faced Feng Rong.

All around, still no one dared to move.