Chapter 249: 242 The Shaking Battlefield

The situation on the battlefield changes in the blink of an eye.

At this very moment, the battlefield outside Xun City is seeing an especially rapid succession of strange changes.

From the Town Guardian being shot dead by a cold arrow, to the Spirit Official woman controlling the giant beasts being blown apart along with the largest Fierce Beast, to the final sudden charge of the skeleton army, it all happened in such a short time that it was overwhelming.

Mai Shiyu's emotions fluctuated, feeling somewhat chaotic for a moment, but once the skeletons started charging, there was no need to let her mind wander anymore; she only needed to face the enemy.

"Miss Mai, should I send a message to Tang Zhao?" Gui Ye asked.

Mai Shiyu was clear-headed now; she swept a glance over the situation and said calmly, "No, hold our position."

She didn't actually know exactly what Tang Zhao intended to do, but she roughly knew he was going to unleash a large-scale area-of-effect ultimate move, aiming to strike first and inflict damage on the vanguard.

But this was unnecessary, because someone had already done so.

The skeleton army charged forward several dozen steps, and not knowing which skeleton stepped on the key spot, a faint sizzling sound of electric current could be heard from the ground.

Sizzle...

Boom—

Thunder Light shot up into the sky!

The Chain Lightning Talismans that Jiang Shenyi had left on the Qianxian were finally triggered passively. Unlike Mai Shiyu's Falling Red Killing Array, which required active activation, these would explode upon being stepped on, making them the best choice for clearing the first wave of enemies. The Thunder Light and thunderclouds shot into the sky, the blue-and-white radiance obscuring half the heavens.

Half of the skeleton vanguard's bone frames were directly swallowed by the Thunder Light. The skeletons could not scream; only the faint sound of bones breaking, like popping beans, could be heard amidst the cracking thunder.

Those were the sounds made by the powerful skeletons; the ordinary skeletons made no sound at all, silently turning into a part of the Thunder Light.

"How powerful. This wave must have taken out at least several hundred."

Watching the battle from above, Mai Shiyu couldn't help but feel her heart surge. Beyond the joy, there was also some regret. Firstly, the Spirit Official behind this actually knew military strategy; these skeletons didn't charge in a swarm but were arranged in formations, divided into front and rear armies, moving with discipline and controlled speed, and they could stop immediately upon sensing danger, without crowding or trampling each other. The damage from this wave of Thunder Light was ultimately limited in range.

Another regret was that skeletons do not feel fear. Even the strongest iron army should have been terrified after experiencing the thunder and explosions, if not routed, then at least suffering a massive drop in morale. Unfortunately, skeletons do not; perhaps the Spirit Official behind them would be startled, but the skeleton army remained silent and continued to advance.

It was just that this wave of vanguard was wiped out, exposing the Fierce Beasts that were bringing up the rear.

Seven massive, mountain-like Fierce Beasts, having lost control and with their ferocity fully exposed, became the vanguard.

They, too, knew no fear!

"All low-level Heavenly Demon-class Fierce Beasts, seven of them. It's a pity that dog Spirit Official died."

Heavenly Demon-class Fierce Beasts refers to those capable of rivaling a Heavenly Demon. This is a classification by the Land Inspection Department, which is now basically accepted. Unlike the common inferior Fierce Beasts, Heavenly Demon-class Fierce Beasts are not something that righteous warriors or even Heavy Swordsmen can handle. They are very rare, almost impossible to produce naturally, and are mostly artificially cultivated.

Low-level Heavenly Demon-class is equivalent to the Sword Guest level, meaning this beast has destructive power similar to a Sword Art. It is just that Fierce Beasts have very low intelligence and fight brutishly, so they mostly cannot contend with a Sword Guest; an average Sword Guest can take on several at once.

But if driven by a Spirit Official, it is different. The Spirit Official compensates for the beast's intelligence, and with the added buffs from Spirit Official arts, they can face a Sword Guest head-on.

It was a close call; Xun City was about to face the simultaneous attack of nearly seven Heavenly Demons. Fortunately, the Spirit Official died cleanly, and these Fierce Beasts lost their reason and could only charge.

However, these were, after all, Heavenly Demon-class Fierce Beasts. Each one was taller than the city wall, with Steel-Reinforced Iron Bones and immense strength, charging straight toward the wall as if their massive bodies were going to crush it.

These skeleton armies had no siege equipment, but the bodies of the seven Fierce Beasts were more formidable than any equipment. You could call them battering rams, earthen mountains, or siege towers!

Originally, with the thickness of the city wall and its defenses, even the bodies of low-level Heavenly Demon-class Fierce Beasts could not budge it. But now the wall had a flaw; one section looked fine but was actually rotten inside, unable to withstand a collision. And as luck would have it, a bull-like Fierce Beast was charging straight toward that section.

Mai Shiyu gritted her teeth slightly. If she wanted to protect the wall, she should choose to attack the one charging head-on. But she knew an enemy was watching coldly from behind the Fierce Beasts, looking for her flaws. If she took the initiative to attack only that beast, which was neither here nor there, it would be tantamount to exposing her own weakness, and all future waves would charge in that direction.

Therefore, this was a dilemma.

Fortunately, she didn't need to make a split-second decision; she only needed to wave her hand.

"Xiao Tang, do it!"

Following Gui Ye's relay, Tang Zhao, who had been waiting impatiently, casually threw a Time Jar.

"Dang—dang—dang—"

A bell toll!

A bell toll that shook the world and reached straight to the Soul!

The bell toll seemed to come from very, very far away, and traveled very, very far.

It passed through the city wall, broke through the dawn, and reached the nine heavens! Even beyond the nine heavens, one could hear the shocking sound of the great bell!

Every vibration caused the air to vibrate, the environment to vibrate, the world to vibrate, and human hearts to vibrate; everything was enveloped in the bell toll, vibrating along with the sound!

Dang—

Amidst the tolling of the bell, Mai Shiyu's face had already turned pale. Fortunately, she had received the news early and had blocked her ears and sealed her hearing. Moreover, her cultivation was not low, and she had a sword to stabilize her Soul, so she was not greatly affected. Instead, she watched the ground more excitedly, appreciating the effect of the reinforcements coming from behind.

The seven large Fierce Beasts bore the brunt of it; they stopped in their tracks and began to shake their heads, looking very distressed. Their Souls were already tattered and broken, and another shake would make them as scrambled as egg yolks. However, their bodies were extremely massive and sturdy; the sound made their bodies tremble slightly, but it was not enough to make them fall.

This terrifying bell toll had limited effect on the Fierce Beasts for the time being.

But for another part of the enemy, it was extremely great.

Wherever the bell toll reached, those skeletons fell like mown wheat, row after row. The most ordinary skeletons couldn't even wait for the second bell toll before suddenly collapsing, like puppets with cut strings. Those stronger skeletons could hold on for a few tolls, but their bones rattled and clattered, and finally, like a dilapidated house kicked in the face, they collapsed with a crash.

The bell toll had a miraculous effect on the skeletons!

The closer they were to the city wall and the further from the Spirit Official, the more easily the skeletons were shaken. And the bell toll traveled so far that everything within sight was within the range of the bell's influence.

After seven or eight tolls, except for the seven Fierce Beasts frozen in place, there were no skeletons left standing on the battlefield, nor were there even any skeletons lying down. Once a skeleton hit the ground, it naturally turned into broken bones; each bone was displaced by the vibration, no longer able to form a human shape. Even those bones were jumping on the ground with the vibration of the bell, as if they were dancing.

Setting aside the fact that these were the Spirit Official's skeleton army, this scene was somewhat terrifyingly comical.

"Ah, pathetic. This sound is truly powerful. So, does this count as sweeping through a thousand troops?" Jiang Shenyi had received the news early and had long since gained altitude, covering his ears and trying his best to exclude the influence of the sound. Because he was flying high, he could see far, and the entire battlefield was in full view. Although it was still a bit uncomfortable, he was mainly happy.

It seemed this siege could be resolved this time? He just needed to clean up the seven idiots who were acting like fools.

"Stop giggling and go find that Spirit Official."

A voice came, and Jiang Shenyi was startled, shouting, "Who?"

"How long has it been, and you don't remember me? It was a waste for me to entrust the bow to you just now."

Jiang Shenyi said in astonishment, "Don't try to bluff me; the one who gave me the bow was a cute girl."

The voice said impatiently, "It is me, stop your rambling. Listen, your little partner has already used up the stored bell tolls..."

"How do you know it's used up?"

The voice became even more annoyed, "How could I not know? He was only able to record the bell toll because of me. In any case, he has no more such powerful means. You must find the Spirit Official behind this and shoot him dead with one arrow, otherwise the skeleton army will recover."

Jiang Shenyi wanted to retort, but then fell silent. He also realized—this skeleton army had no life at all. The so-called collapse was merely the power manipulating them being shaken away, so they returned to their original state in the grave. They might have been in this state in the mass grave on the Ancient Battlefield. If the Spirit Official could wake them up once, he could wake them up a second time. If he couldn't get to the root of the problem and kill the Spirit Official, this death legion would be endless.

He looked back at the battlefield and discovered that those seven Fierce Beasts had recovered again, appearing even more enraged, roaring incessantly, and clearly about to charge once more: "Then the battlefield here..."

"Leave it to Shi Yu, she will have no problem, at most let your little friend help her. You grew wings in vain, you are the most agile, if you don't go find people, who will? You must distinguish between what is urgent and what is not."

Jiang Shenyi felt the other party's attitude was quite lousy, sounding a bit like an old-timer lecturing, but he truly could not be bothered with all that right now, and asked: "Then do you know where they are? Will you point the way for me?"

"If I knew, would I still have any use for you? Follow the military formation and look. The command headquarters is definitely held in the rear."

"High Minister." The Prince grabbed the High Minister's hand and said, "Things have reached this point, let us withdraw first. I, this Prince, will vouch for you; if you preserve yourself, the Emperor will not hold you responsible."

That High Minister shook his head and smiled: "Your Highness, the overall situation in Yunzhou begins from this moment. If I retreat without a fight, the entire situation will collapse. Never mind you vouching for me, even if the Emperor wanted to show mercy, it would not be possible. Moreover, this is merely a small setback; the Skeleton Army is still here, they are just lying down for a moment. Besides, I still have methods I have not yet employed."

"But that bell toll just now..."

That High Minister said decisively: "The bell toll has no reserves left; I know his background. That bell is still in my hands, it is just that without an Artifact Spirit Official, it cannot be used, so they absolutely have no follow-up. And I still have a Sword Law for victory; once they have exhausted themselves further and think they have victory in their grasp, that is when it will be their turn to despair."

That Prince was startled and said: "Could it be you are talking about..."

That High Minister smiled and said: "Exactly. Bring up the cannons."

That Prince: "..."