Chapter 990

Hundreds of Dao seals float suspended in the high sky.

Each Dao seal tugs at the laws of heaven and earth, transforming into visible chains of law that crisscross the void.

Because their cultivations differ, hundreds of these law-chains are as thin as a finger, while the thick ones are as wide as a water tank, exuding a mighty Dao rhythm; they weave into a great net that tightly envelops the vast demon army camp.

The wind does not stir, the trees do not sway, the grass does not move, the water does not ripple.

All birds and beasts shut their mouths; not a single insect dares to chirp.

The entire cosmos seems to have been sealed inside a huge amber; countless demon soldiers stare wide-eyed, standing stiff as stone, unable to move an inch, and none dare to budge.

With a thunderous boom, boom, boom, only the giant god soldiers march in perfect formation, their steps uniform, like four walls closing in from all sides. They step by step approach the demon troops; upon reaching them, they smash them to the ground with a casual blow of their spears, then strip away their armor and weapons.

Hordes of immobilized demon soldiers are disarmed, stripped naked, and piled up on the ground.

The giant god soldiers always act in a rigid, mechanical, and utterly stable manner; they stack the stripped demon soldiers like firewood, neat and orderly, each pile spaced almost identically.

In the void, Yin Wu Jiu and the eight great expedition commanders, along with their half-step Sovereign subordinates, stare with eyes nearly bursting at the heavenly Dao chains hanging high above.

This is the pressure of a Sovereign; it is the Sovereign old monsters mobilizing the laws of heaven and earth to ruthlessly oppress them.

"We've fallen into a trap." Yin Wu Jiu gritted his teeth and hissed, "The rabble of the Fu Feng Divine Dynasty have schemed against us… How could this Martial Kingdom be so strong? How could they possess so many Sovereigns?"

The Supreme Demon Nation has only thirty-six Sovereign old monsters.

Given the Supreme Demon Nation's strength, it couldn't possibly have only this few Sovereigns, but thirty-six Sovereigns are already enough.

This is a power structure forged over long ages, the most stable of all.

The thirty-six Demon Sovereigns refuse to let the Supreme Demon Nation have even one more Sovereign, so the nation can only have thirty-six Demon Sovereigns.

But the Martial Kingdom… right before their eyes, there are over two hundred Sovereign auras filling the void.

Over two hundred Sovereigns… wouldn't the Martial Kingdom's Divine Emperor worry that these Sovereign old monsters threaten his throne? Wouldn't he fear they'd split his power? Wouldn't he fear they'd take away too much, the benefits that rightfully belong to the Martial Kingdom's Divine Emperor?

"The Martial Kingdom's strength far surpasses our Supreme Demon Nation… our falling into this trap is our own doing." Fei Liu Hua, one of the eight expedition commanders, gave a bitter smile: "Fight desperately… perhaps there is still a sliver of hope."

"Abandon all the troops; we'll break out together. As long as we flee back to the Supreme Demon Nation and destroy those teleportation arrays, even if the Demon Emperor punishes us, at least our lives will be safe." E Qing said in a vicious tone: "As long as we're alive, there is still hope."

Yin Wu Jiu and the eight expedition commanders exchanged a glance, then simultaneously chanted a secret incantation.

Around them, among the elite demon soldiers, vast numbers of elite troops—including nearly ten thousand half-step Sovereign commanders—shrieked hoarsely before their bodies suddenly exploded into fragments.

Their souls collapsed, directly condensing into one soul crystal after another.

Their blood mist roiled, and clumps of blood essence condensed out of thin air.

Before Yin Wu Jiu and the others appeared eight small altars, each fashioned hideously, emanating traces of sinister and brutal aura.

Millions of soul crystals and blood essence shot swiftly toward these small altars, then clumps of bloody demonic flame rose up from the altars and gulped down the soul crystals and blood essence.

Wu Tie raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Are you trying to go all out? Break through in the midst of battle?"

Sensing the aura emanating from Yin Wu Jiu and company, Wu Tie shook his head. The magical fluctuations on Yin Wu Jiu and his companions showed no change whatsoever; they had not broken through using the power of sacrifice!

Yin Wu Jiu and the others felt as if their hearts were bleeding.

These sacrificed demon soldiers were the death warriors they had painstakingly controlled over the years.

Given the number of their sacrifices, the eight of Yin Wu Jiu could certainly seize the opportunity to break through to the Demon Sovereign realm.

But they dare not…

They intend to flee back to the Supreme Demon Nation.

Because even if they break through in battle, they are clearly no match for Wu Tie's side, which has so many veteran Sovereign old monsters.

So, since they cannot win, they must definitely retreat to the demon nation.

And even if they managed to break through to Sovereign, their fate upon returning to the Supreme Demon Nation would be utterly grim; those old demon lords would absolutely not allow these eight juniors to become Demon Sovereigns, and they would surely die without a burial place.

Eight newly broken-through Sovereigns would have no power to resist before those old monsters.

They fully understand the malicious intentions of those old demon lords; they absolutely dare not return bearing Sovereign cultivation.

Of course, if they could gather a hundred or so Sovereigns…

…perhaps they would then be qualified to negotiate with those old demon lords.

The death warriors under their command number far more than the millions sacrificed before them; nearly half of the demon troops under their sway are completely under their control.

If they were ruthless, they could sacrifice hundreds of millions of demon soldiers, enough to push the eight of them, together with the core clansmen of the eight expedition commanders' families, up to Sovereign rank.

But they are unwilling…

Why should these clansmen get a free ride, gaining such great fortune for nothing?

Demon lords are just that selfish and self-centered; they absolutely will not let others take advantage of them or reap their benefits.

Wu Tie laughed.

His soul power is mighty; his innate spiritual light is thousands of times stronger than an ordinary person's, so his thinking speed is likewise thousands of times faster.

He guessed what Yin Wu Jiu and the others were thinking, and involuntarily shook his head.

These fellows, even at this life-and-death juncture, are still playing petty tricks; they deserve to be wiped out by the Martial Kingdom today.

"What are they doing?" Gong Sun Bai Ma, setting aside his earlier argument with Wu Tie, looked at Yin Wu Jiu and company with a dazed expression.

In the next instant, eight columns of blood light shot up from the eight altars.

The turbulent, ferocious blood light shattered the seals of the heavenly Dao chains in the void, howling toward the firmament; in a flash, the millions of soul crystals and blood essence vanished along with the blood light.

After just a few breaths, the void blazed with light.

Auras of immense supreme divine artifacts descended from the heavens; Yin Wu Jiu and the eight expedition commanders, along with nearly a hundred thousand high-ranking officers nearby, each shone with dazzling light, donning strange, exquisite divine armor and wielding divine weapons such as ice frost tridents, light-feather wing scepters, thunderbolt spears, and so on, continually emitting piercing shrieks and roars.

Their aura surged upward.

They have already reached half-step Sovereign; they are only a step away from condensing a great Dao seal to reach the Sovereign realm.

In the Supreme Demon Nation, they dare not condense a Dao seal; for if they dared to do so, they would surely die.

They offered sacrifices to the myriad gods; the gods received the abundant offerings and immediately responded.

The power of the supreme divine artifacts descended, forcibly pushing Yin Wu Jiu and company's strength up from half-step Sovereign by a great leap—though they are still not true Sovereigns, with the aid of the artifacts their speed, strength, and magical cultivation have become roughly on par with a Sovereign.

Although the aura is very insubstantial, giving a feeling of a floating pavilion, an unstable foundation, but at this moment, Yin Wu Jiu and others indeed, in a short time, have gained the power to contend with the Venerable level.

"\"Break out, charge! \" Yin Wu Jiu let out a long whistle, turned and rushed southward."

"The gods' divine artifacts descending also have a time limit; generally, the power boost from these artifacts lasts at most two hours."

"Within two hours, they must flee back to the Supreme Demon State, destroy the teleportation array leading to it, then find sufficient excuses to explain to the old monsters of the Supreme Demon State why they suffered losses and were annihilated."

"\"We'll be back! \" Yin Wu Jiu turned his head and roared hoarsely at Wu Tie."

"He felt intense hatred."

"Originally, it was a great opportunity—just one chance would have been enough to free themselves from the old monsters' control of the Supreme Demon State, allowing their brothers to dominate a region and become honored as the Dao ancestors."

"Well, this is nice."

"They failed to become Venerable Rank."

"They failed to dominate a region."

"Instead, they had to flee in disgrace, abandoning countless troops under their command."

"Yin Wu Jiu felt intense hatred, hating Wu Tie, hating Wuguo, hating the Fu Feng Divine Court, and hating Yin Wu Shuang and others who caused this trouble."

"Yin Wu Jiu reckoned that once the dust settled and he ensured his own safety, he would definitely find a way to kill Yin Wu Shuang—if it weren't for his sneaky troop invasion of Wuguo, how could he have committed such a great crime?"

"A hundred thousand mighty streams of light shot up into the sky, swiftly fleeing south at full speed."

"All the demon commanders who had received the artifacts' boost knew well that this empowered state was limited in time, and the artifacts' power was not inexhaustible."

"Don't look at their numbers, don't look at them now possessing Venerable Rank combat power, but their strength only equals that of newcomers who have just entered Venerable Rank; they are no match for the old monsters of Venerable Rank threefold heaven, fourfold heaven, or even higher cultivation."

"Especially, Venerable Rank can mobilize the laws of heaven and earth to empower themselves."

"They lack the power to mobilize the laws of heaven and earth."

"They are merely a hundred thousand 'false Venerables'; they cannot possibly deal with Wuguo's true Venerable old monsters before the artifact's boost ends."

"So, flee."

"Only by fleeing is there a way out."

"\"You can't escape. \" Wu Tie laughed loudly; having already fallen into the trap as prey, how could he let them get away?"

"Wu Tie's mana boiled like a tsunami as the Yin-Yang Daoist, Five Elements Daoist, Sea Daoist, and his six avatars simultaneously released the same-source mana, pouring it into his body."

"The Primordial Crown emitted a low rumble, emerging from atop Wu Tie's head."

"Over these years, the Primordial Crown also swallowed countless rare materials alongside Wu Tie; the heavily damaged Primordial Crown has now been mostly repaired, and its power output has increased a thousandfold compared to when Wu Tie first obtained it."

"The Primordial Crown slowly rotated, sending out powerful time ripples that spread in all directions."

"Time, reverse flow."

"Yin Wu Jiu and the others, against their will, gradually returned to their original positions."

"The eight scarlet light pillars that had shot up into the sky wailed, gradually reappearing in the void, then slowly flying back downward."

"In the void, a huge vortex brimming with seven-colored divine light appeared; beyond the firmament, the divine artifacts that the great god clans used to receive offerings from Mu Dalu reacted actively, beginning to expend all effort to retrieve the offerings that had already been secured."

"Wu Tie raised his head, gazing at the large seven-colored vortex in the sky, bit his tongue, and spat a mouthful of blood onto the Primordial Crown."

"The mana of the three corpses avatars and six paths avatars continuously flowed into his body, then quickly poured into the Primordial Crown, burning within; the Primordial Crown grew brighter, and its emitted time ripples became stronger."

"In just a few breaths, Yin Wu Jiu and the others returned to their original positions."

"The eight Blood Light were forcibly dragged back by the might of time, heavily slamming onto the altars; the eight altars exploded, and countless strands of Blood Light sprayed forth. The millions of demon troops whose bodies had been turned into blood mist by the demonic technique seals now materialized out of thin air."

"Even though their souls and spirits had already scattered, Wu Tie again used great divine power to reverse time and drag them back into the mortal realm."

"\"Damn it! \" Yin Wu Jiu and the others screamed hoarsely."

"They still wore radiant flowing divine armor and wielded boundless divine weapons, yet their hearts were filled with icy cold."

"Wu Tie……Wu Tie reversed the life and death of those millions of demon troops, and moreover forcibly pulled Yin Wu Jiu and the others back to their original spots, yet Wu Tie actually, actually allowed Yin Wu Jiu and the others to retain their divine armor and divine weapons!"

"What does this mean?"

"This means that the gods beyond have not received the offerings, but Yin Wu Jiu and his companions have indeed expended much of the artifacts' power."

"They have given the gods a blank check!"

"Yin Wu Jiu and the others' faces turned ashen, each looking at Wu Tie with eyes full of terror."

"With such great power, such divine abilities, how could they possibly……"

"Under Wu Tie's feet, the black-and-white Taiji diagram slowly spread; the innate Yin-Yang creation turning sword formation opened, with a sheet of black qi and a sheet of golden light rushing rapidly within the diagram, emitting terrifying sword intent and sword light."

"Gongsun Bai Ma blinked his eyes, focusing his gaze on that sheet of golden light."

"He felt that the aura of that golden light seemed somewhat familiar……but when he tried to see the true nature of that golden light, Wu Tie's mana and divine powers shielded it, leaving him unable to discern what kind of sword implement lay within that golden light."

"\"Everyone, lend me a hand! \" Wu Tie called out softly."

"A hundred Wu tribe Venerables simultaneously entered the sword formation, silently pressing their hands on the Taiji diagram, pouring vast mana into the formation."

"Black and golden light shot up to the sky, strands of black-gold intertwined double-helix sword light sweeping through the air; with 'pfft-pfft' sounds, the sword light spun, and Yin Wu Jiu and the others, trapped by the Primordial Crown's time ripples and unable to dodge, were struck squarely by these sword energies."

"With just one strike, the hundred thousand demon commanders all vomited blood; over half were torn apart by the sword light, flesh flying, severely wounded and collapsed unconscious."