Chapter 980

Southern Border, deep mountains and forests.

The fourth prince of the Fufeng Divine Dynasty, Fu Feng Xiaoyao, leading several dozen armored troops, fled in disarray through the mountains and forests.

Behind them, a large group of wood spirits darted about like flying, occasionally turning into strands of green light that mysteriously sank into the towering ancient trees, then instantly flashed into view ahead of and to the sides of Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his men.

The wood spirits did not approach Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his men; they merely stood far away, drew their spirit-light flashing short bows, and released volley after volley of silent arrows.

In such densely packed jungle, almost impenetrable mountains and forests, the poisoned arrows shot by these wood spirits seemed like living things, nimbly weaving through branches, vines, and trunks, viciously aiming for every vital spot of Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his men.

If it weren't for the top-tier body-protecting spirit treasures that Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his men possessed, they would have long since taken a nasty fall in this vicious, ever-changing arrow rain.

Fu Feng Xiaoyao had also considered going all-out against these wood spirits.

But he and his followers numbered fewer than a hundred, while the wood spirits pursuing him from all sides exceeded a hundred thousand.

What's more terrifying is that the laws of heaven and earth have undergone a tremendous change; the barrier that once prevented humanity from breaking into the Divine Manifestation Realm has vanished completely, and each of these wood spirits possesses cultivation at the Divine Manifestation Realm.

Although they had only just entered the Divine Manifestation Realm and hadn't even reached its first heaven, their numbers were overwhelming.

So many that even the usually proud and intolerant Fu Feng Xiaoyao could do nothing but clutch his head and flee like a rat, daring not to entangle with these wood spirits at all.

What's even more frustrating is that they dared only to flee in disarray through the mountains and forests.

They dared not fly into the sky, where thousands of main warships pursued them along the way.

They dared not hide underground, where nearly a hundred thousand Divine Manifestation Realm earth spirits pursued them.

They dared not enter the water, where over a hundred thousand Divine Manifestation Realm water spirits pursued them.

Faced with this three-dimensional, all-encompassing pursuit, they didn't even have time to set up a teleportation formation and escape back to the Fufeng Divine Dynasty.

Even, they had no chance to light a fire, warm their rations, or grill some meat for a bite… As soon as they dared to live, great swarms of Divine Manifestation Realm fire spirits would burst from the flames, turning into a raging inferno that pummeled them.

"This Wuguo... where did they get so many acquired spirits? So many alien monstrosities?" Fu Feng Xiaoyao let out an anguished cry to the heavens: "Have I kicked a hornet's nest?"

If he hadn't shouted, it would have been fine, but Fu Feng Xiaoyao's roar instantly summoned several large warships speeding from the high sky, their decks crowded with multicolored-scaled viper-people with pointed heads, who leaned over the railings and sprayed torrents of saliva downward.

Vast sheets of transparent deadly poison poured down like a torrential rain; the wood spirits in pursuit quickly darted into the towering ancient trees to hide, while the toxic liquid swiftly corroded the branches and leaves of the forest, and in an instant the poison drenched Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his men from head to toe.

A burst of azure light shot up into the sky, transforming into a great gust of wind that swept away the falling poison; Fu Feng Xiaoyao, hysterical, pointed at the massive ships in the sky and shouted: "You wait, the calamity that will topple the heavens is right before your eyes—do not act recklessly!"

"This brat still dares to be arrogant—blast him!" a group of gleeful dwarves standing on the ship's railings shouted loudly.

Far and near, hundreds of warships of various sizes simultaneously spewed blinding flames.

Among the giant trees, the wood spirits quickly withdrew from the area covered by artillery fire, while Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his men, having expended enormous energy over the past few days, could not dodge in time and could only endure the warships' barrage head-on.

A great mountain was blanketed by layers of fire, explosions ringing nonstop; its summit, a thousand zhang high, was shattered to pieces in the short time it takes to finish a cup of tea, and Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his men, reeking of smoke and fire, stumbled out of the blaze in disarray and fled into a nearby grove.

The commander of this pursuit, Lao Bai, full of vigor, stood atop the flagship's mast, waving the command flag and shouting: "Listen up, don't really kill these bastards… Consort Pei Feng has ordered: capture them alive, you must capture them alive!"

"Oh dear, we old and young masters haven't even enjoyed a few good days, and now someone can't stand our prosperity, trying to draw disaster eastward and pin the blame on us!" Lao Bai screeched shrilly: "What is this? Wolfish ambition, a heart deserving death… To capture them alive, we'll have to subject them to a little death by a thousand cuts!"

After Lao Tie, Li Er Gouzi, and the others began beating the dogs at the gate, Lao Bai took command of an enormous army and began to relentlessly pursue Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his group, determined to capture them alive.

This time, Fu Feng Xiaoyao had opened a teleportation formation deep in the southern border of Wuguo, drawing in the army of the Supreme Demon Realm.

The southern border is desolate, with troops stationed there, and the harm caused by the demon army is not great.

If Fu Feng Xiaoyao fled to the densely populated, prosperous areas of Wuguo and opened several teleportation formations there, how much carnage would result? How many innocent Wuguo citizens would he kill?

Therefore, Pei Feng, who oversees Wuguo's government, issued an order: Fu Feng Xiaoyao and his men must never again be given a chance to cause trouble. At the same time, we must do everything possible to capture them alive and punish them severely under Wuguo's law.

While Lao Bai directed the army in pursuit of Fu Feng Xiaoyao, Lao Tie, commanding the giant divine soldier army, had already built a ring of towering walls around those dozen or so giant teleportation formations.

The walls were six hundred li in length and width, cast entirely of metal, ten li thick and twenty li high, their interiors laced with formations and prohibitions, utilizing nearly a hundred innate spirit weapons as the suppression core of the grand array, and inside, thirty-six Venerable-level masters oversaw the formation.

This wall, modularly cast by the Mohists in the rear and then erected here by the army, is so strong defensively that even a Venerable-level expert would find it hard to breach in a short time.

Everyone in Wuguo, high and low, knows full well how destructive a Venerable-level being can be.

If the Supreme Demon Realm were to send a Venerable-level old monster breaking through from here, once they stormed into the heart of Wuguo, the carnage these ruthless, unscrupulous old demons could inflict would surely rival a heavenly calamity.

Therefore, after Lao Tie seized those teleportation formations, he immediately built such a sturdy wall to seal off the area.

Within the six-hundred-li sealed zone, the ground is a hundred zhang of yellow sand; amid the endless desert, countless giant immortal pillars, each ten li tall, stand densely packed.

On these giant immortal pillars grew countless dense spines, each tipped with a tiny drop of seven-colored viscous poison that glittered in the sunlight with a chilling hue.

On the walls, countless giant divine soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder.

These giant divine soldiers are larger and stronger than those that passed through the teleportation formation to the Supreme Demon Realm; relying solely on physical strength, they can match body cultivators of the first two heavens of the Divine Manifestation Realm.

Lao Tie sat cross-legged at the center of the northern wall, stroking his water-fire divine spear, muttering lowly: "Try to minimize casualties… heh, giant divine soldiers have never feared casualties."

"Goodness, Big Tie's recovery speed is still too slow, too slow—when will he be able to forge Venerable-level giant divine soldiers?"

Waves of fierce, brutal yin-evil energy howled out from a giant teleportation gate, spewing vast clouds of five-colored demonic mist, followed by copious limbs and arms of shattered giant divine soldiers.

Amid the clanging sounds, sheets of metal limbs splattered out, striking the giant immortal pillars set in the sand; the pillars trembled, causing the poison on their spines to quiver and drip, corroding the yellow sand into wisps of green toxic smoke.

"Hahaha, let us see what a vast domain this is, what a mighty state it is." A soft, effeminate voice came from the giant teleportation gate: "You can tell you also have some skill."

A voice as rough as a volcanic eruption rumbled: "You can trap that bunch of ungrateful whelps who forget their ancestors, and you do have some skill—at least you're stronger than the Fufeng Divine Dynasty… but this mob of scrap metal just isn't enough!"

An old man over two zhang tall, with a beard like a lion's mane, a bear-like build, a frenzied and vicious aura, muscles bulging all over, stepped out of the teleportation gate, dragging a broken giant divine soldier corpse in one hand.

This old man bore his upper body, a bronze heart-mirror set into his chest, his waist wrapped only in a bronze war-skirt reaching his knees, barefoot, his heavy steps striking the thick yellow sand. He glanced around, then slammed two broken giant divine soldier corpses to the ground with both hands.

"Heh heh, quite a formation… you've even built walls around it?" The burly old man laughed loudly: "Well, not bad, not bad—this lineup lets me have a good kill; I love it, I love it!"

The burly old man gave a loud laugh, clenched his right fist tightly, and then, quite casually, threw a punch toward the northern wall where Lao Tie stood.

A terribly fierce beastly howl rang out, as a crimson demonic aura coalesced into a ferocious giant beast skull fist imprint, shooting northward like lightning.

A giant immortal pillar as thick as a hundred zhang sprang up from the sand out of nowhere, and the Blood Light spurting skull fist imprint slammed heavily into it; with a tremendous boom, the pillar was blown open with a huge through-hole, while the imprint itself was neutralized outright.

The burly old man stared, a flash of killing light in his eyes, and shouted sternly: "Old Ancestor Qiong Ji, progenitor of the Qiong clan of the Supreme Demon Realm…"

As Qiong Ji was bellowing, the huge teleportation gate's light curtain flickered, and seven more figures shot out, wrapped in demonic clouds and flames, as fast as lightning.

At the very moment those seven figures rushed out, countless giant immortal pillars in all directions twitched; these thick pillars contracted inward a few turns, then suddenly expanded.

Countless spines, as fine as cow hair and over a foot long, emitted an extremely sharp, almost inaudible tearing sound; at an awful speed they blanketed the heavens and earth, sweeping toward the giant teleportation formation.

Qiong Ji and the other seven demon venerates were simultaneously covered by the sky-full of spines.

The eight of them roared in unison with fury: "Fellow cultivator, you are also of our Way—why strike from the shadows?"

Vast sheets of demonic flame whirled as eight domineering demonic treasures turned into rolling smoke clouds and surged forth, smashing the sky-filling chaotic long spikes to pieces. Each spike bore venerable-level power, and when they shattered, each fragment let out a thunderous boom, with a ring of explosive air bursting in the void.

Ci Huang's stiff voice rang out across the whole sand plain: 'I am right before your eyes…… You are blind, cannot see — who can you blame?'

The Eight Great Demon Venerables' pupils narrowed slightly, and they simultaneously gazed at the dense forest of giant cactus pillars all around.

"What… what kind of demonic monstrosity is this?" the Eight Great Demon Venerables were a bit dumbfounded.

In the continent where Fufeng Shen resided, no strange phenomena ever arose; therefore, they had never dealt with 'monsters' before, and truly, for a moment, they could not identify Ci Huang's origin, nor could they discern the nature of his power.

A wind began to roll across the flat ground.

In the sand, countless strands of yellow sand, extremely fine — a hundred times finer than dust — were stirred by the strong wind, rising thread by thread like a yellow mist, slowly growing taller and taller.

With a booming 'Boom', the burly Wu Jin, left hand holding a shield and right hand gripping an axe, leapt down from the eastern city wall.

"Sha Jun, Ci Huang, you two seniors, hold your hands." Wu Jin lightly tapped his axe against his left-hand shield, and he said in a deep voice: "Wu Tie is fighting ahead; as his elder brother, how could I stay behind and enjoy the fruits?"

"Several uninvited old demon brats, your demon brats have been surrounded by us behind and are now facing off against us." Wu Jin stepped toward Qiong Ji and the other Eight Great Demon Venerables: "Want to save them? Beat our brothers first!"

Wu Yin and Wu Tong also donned heavy armor, wielded heavy weapons, and leapt down from the city wall.

They stood one on the left, one on the right, following behind Wu Jin, and strode toward the gathered demon venerables. Wu Yin gave a simple, honest smile: 'We brothers have just ranked up a few days ago, so we'll take them one on one…… you can't rely on numbers to bully us, who are few.'

Qiong Ji gave a strange chuckle, sensed the aura emitted by the three Wu Jin brothers, shook his head: 'One old ancestor is enough; you three little rabbit brats, heh, your life force is so fresh and tender, yet you've all reached venerable level? Tsk, your hearts and livers must be a great tonic; old ancestor won't……'

Before Qiong Ji could finish speaking, three demonic shadows behind him shot straight out.

"Lao Qiong, just shut up…… this kind of tender meat is ours to savor."

The void shuddered violently, and the three Wu Jin brothers quickly became entangled with the three demonic shadows.

Inside a dark cavern within the thick walls, Wu Yu stood with his hands behind his back, alongside dozens of Wu clan elders, before a sinister, mysterious Wu altar. Listening to the battle's booming echoes from within the walls, Wu Yu smiled leisurely: 'Be careful; if the three brats can't hold up, then lay a heavy curse on them.'

"Hey, uninvited guests are evil guests…… evil guests, then we needn't talk about fairness or justice; we'll just lay a heavy hand and kill them, consider it done."

Wu Yu spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground with a heavy thud, and laughed with a strange voice: 'Even if they have cultivated longer than us, with so many of us joining forces, can we still not curse them to death?'

Dozens of Wu clan elders, together with thousands of Wu clan divine-realm experts from the secret treasury, let out a strange laugh in unison.

Just as Wu Yu and his companions were preparing the Wu curse, and the three Wu Jin brothers were locked in fierce battle with the three old demons, the imperial city of Wuguo suddenly trembled slightly.

A powerful spatial fluctuation spread out from deep within the imperial city.

Pei Feng's rebuke echoed through the heavens: 'Who dares to invade Wuguo?'