Chapter 252: 245 A Hair's Breadth Away

Arrows like a sudden rain shot down from above.

Unlike the general area-covering volleys used in city defense, the arrows here were not overly dense, but they were swift and fast, shooting out from six line-like arrow paths; each arrow followed the next in a continuous string, the arrowhead of the following arrow connecting to the tail of the one before it, and from the air, the arrows connected from head to tail into a line, the rapid-fire so fast that there was not even a chance to blink.

The six arrow paths moved incessantly, sweeping from East to West, then from West to East without pause, the speed and range of the sweep following a strict pattern, each path forming a fan shape that intersected perfectly with the others.

Although there were only six lines, under the intersecting sweep, they covered the entire battlefield.

And then there was... the power of these arrows, it was too strong!

Ordinary arrows shot from a tower might pierce flesh, but not necessarily leather armor, let alone iron armor. These arrows, however, were extremely powerful, striking bone like rotten wood, piercing straight through and shattering the bone, yet the arrow's momentum remained undiminished, piercing a second one, shattering everything it struck, and continuing until it drilled into the ground, burying itself several feet deep.

A single arrow could actually pierce several people. This was only because the gaps in the skeleton bones were too wide and there were too few places for the arrows to catch, preventing effective lethality; if they were flesh and blood, they would likely be strung together like candied haws.

"Shenji Arrow!" Mai Shiyu recognized it instantly and cheered, "It's fixed! Azhao is truly worthy of being a Talisman Sword Master; the blank Shenji Arrow was repaired so quickly. Once the Sword Light Cannon is fixed, it will be complete. With this, what do I have to fear?"

Although the Shenji Arrow was not as suppressive against skeletons as it was against ordinary armies, it could still effectively contain them, pinning the skeleton army beneath the city walls so they could not advance an inch. The range of the arrows was the line of death; those who dared enter would die.

Mai Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief, but she also redoubled her efforts to clear the enemy with area-of-effect moves; she knew well that even if these bones were shattered, it was not safe—who knew if the Spirit Official had other means of recovery? One had to use crushing force to grind them into dust so they would never be reincarnated.

If only the Sword Light Cannon were still here.

As soon as this thought arose, a dazzling white light suddenly lit up on the city tower.

Whoosh—

The sound of the cannon was very soft, and a beam of light shone from the tower, forming a pillar of light that swept horizontally downward. Wherever it passed, nothing could withstand it, and everything was submerged in the white light.

Even though Mai Shiyu was half a city wall away, she was still stifled by the shock of the white light, feeling an extreme heat rush toward her face, her internal organs nearly burning, and she hurriedly retreated far away, shocked in her heart, thinking: If I were hit, could I escape unscathed?

She thought about it, and it seemed not impossible to escape. There was a slight delay from the moment the white light shone to the moment the beam was fired, and this amount of time was enough for a Sword Guest. However, while one could dodge, with the strength of a Sword Guest, one could ultimately not confront its edge head-on.

Moreover, besides a Sword Guest, probably no one within a hundred paces could dodge it. As for the most elusive Spirit Officials, they were likely the most constrained, because the Sword Light Cannon was the greatest counter to Spirit Officials; where the light swept, Spirit Images would collapse one after another.

A short while later, the Sword Light Cannon extinguished.

The surrounding air remained unbearably hot, and a deep trench had appeared on the ground. It was over a zhang deep, several zhang wide, and extended for several hundred zhang.

The lingering taste of the Sword Light remained, the smell of dust mixed with fire being exceptionally pungent. There were still many fire spots on the field; because the temperature was so high, any combustible material would naturally ignite, burning quietly and emitting wisps of black smoke.

As for the skeleton army, those in the trench had long since vanished into ashes, and those nearby had likewise turned to bone ash; even several hundred paces away, there were remains that had been burned to collapse.

One of the six routes of the army had been wiped out by a single shot.

And as for the other five, how many more shots could they withstand?

After all, when the Sword Light Cannon was first designed, it was not meant to deal with a few thousand skeletons, but to deal with thousands of troops with high morale and Spirit Officials pressing the formation. Given the size of Xun City, there could only be one Sword Light Cannon, which showed how precious this cannon was; just like the Hundred Spirit Cannon of the Wei Dynasty back then, it was a strategic weapon capable of destroying superhumans with the power of ordinary men.

Seeing the results, Mai Shiyu's mood became increasingly cheerful: with the help of the cannon fire and the Shenji Arrow, the frontal battlefield was naturally secure, and this battle was almost in an invincible position.

One only had to be careful of the hidden means of the enemy Spirit Official. Fortunately, the arrows were fired from the city in time, not letting Mai Shiyu's need to reinforce reveal any flaws; presumably, not knowing the reality, the opponent would not dare to act rashly.

It was just unclear how Jiang Shenyi, who had gone to perform the decapitation strike, was doing.

"Shenji Arrow, Sword Light Cannon, both are fine." That Highness watched in a daze, "High Minister, your judgment..."

That High Minister suddenly smiled and clapped his hands, saying, "I already know."

That Highness was startled and blurted out, "Know what?"

That High Minister said, "I know where the flaw is. Although Mai Shiyu stopped it in time, she panicked when the forces were split to attack at the beginning. Since she panicked, the initial decision she made was the place she most wanted to save; the direction has been exposed without a doubt. And that cannon muzzle—to keep me from discovering it, the first shot deliberately didn't choose the most critical route, but chose the one next to it. But I predict the second shot will strike the route that is actually the weakest. The second route on the left!"

He pointed forward.

Before the words had even faded, a white light flashed, directly opposite the tip of his finger.

The heat was overwhelming, and another route of the skeleton army vanished.

It was exactly the second route on the left!

The High Minister's judgment was correct.

The Sword Light Cannon contained the power to suppress and cause Chaos to Mental Power; both high-ranking officials of the Turtle Bandits were Spirit Officials, and although they were far away, they were still affected and felt uncomfortable for a moment.

But soon, the High Minister recovered first and laughed heartily, "Your Highness, look at how my prediction turned out?"

That Highness suppressed the discomfort in his heart and praised, "The High Minister's calculations are divine; with you here, why worry that the great cause will not be achieved?"

This was not flattery; ever since their base at Kungang had been buried by a pile of dirt for years, he had been quite Lost Soul for a while. Coming to Yunzhou and seeing that the rule of the Gaoyuan Marquis had already taken shape, making it hard to even find a place to stand, he had become even more disheartened. At this moment, seeing this High Minister pointing out the landscape as if achieving the great cause were within his grasp, he felt very disdainful, thinking that this person did not know the immensity of heaven and earth and had never seen a True God. By underestimating the people of the world, he feared failure would come in an instant.

However, as they spent more time together, the High Minister's bearing and wisdom truly made him admire him; although there were advances and retreats on the battlefield, what the High Minister said always hit the mark, and his confidence was well-founded—it was truly the aura of someone who could achieve great things. As the rhythm of the battle progressed, that Highness could not help but settle his heart and regain some confidence.

Could it be that this attempt might actually succeed?

At this moment, the skeleton soldiers brought up the Hundred Spirit Cannon.

The Hundred Spirit Cannon's muzzle was already emitting wisps of smoke, in a state of being fully loaded. The High Minister had spent these years collecting wandering Phantoms on the Ancient Battlefield to load this cannon—the so-called "one shot in ten years"—just waiting for this day. The state was perfect, far more relaxed than when that Highness had loaded it in a rush, and the power was far superior.

The High Minister directed the adjustment of the cannon muzzle, aiming it at that section of the city wall.

That Highness laughed, "I wonder which is better, our Hundred Spirit Cannon or the fake dynasty's Sword Light Cannon?"

The High Minister also laughed, "One day, when the two cannons face off, we will know."

It was a joke; how could they really face off? Compared to the city having reserves to reload, this cannon only had one chance and could not be wasted. The High Minister was waiting for an opportunity, the best opportunity to fire.

At this moment, the city wall lit up!

Another shot was fired!

A good opportunity!

The Sword Light had just extinguished, and the cannon muzzle was already billowing with white smoke.

"Fire—"

"Puff!"

In a certain instant, the High Minister's hair suddenly stood on end; he reached out to push that Highness and leaped to the side himself.

However, it was already a bit too late; a brilliant radiance, no less than that of the Sword Light Cannon, shot out from the sky and struck the white bone chariot hidden in the forest.

The chariot was shattered instantly, the body bursting apart, Fragments flying everywhere, and the two passengers on the chariot were thrown to the left and right respectively.

That Highness was in the air, grazed by the radiance, his chest burning with pain; he immediately separated his Spirit Image, letting the Spirit Image drag him into the forest to hide. His movements were extremely practiced.

In the air, he vaguely saw the High Minister grazed by an arrow, which entered from his shoulder and exited through his chest, leaving a bloody hole, and his heart could not help but sink.

The High Minister... dead?

No, it should not be yet.

"Did I hit him?!"

Jiang Shenyi loosened his grip slightly, while still holding onto the bow body.

To avoid being discovered, he did not fly at a low altitude, but instead flew through the clouds a thousand meters high, using a refraction mirror to conceal his figure, finally finding the Bone war chariot in the dim jungle and observing it for quite a while.

That High Minister was waiting through all sorts of hardships for the chance to fire the cannon; how could Jiang Shenyi not be waiting for the chance to loose an arrow? Just like that Hundred Spirit Cannon, he only had one best opportunity to strike.

On the eve of the High Minister firing the cannon, he finally found his chance, diving several hundred zhang from above, hitting the target in one strike.

"He's dead, right?" Jiang Shenyi spoke with a bit of panting; accelerating from above to dive and shoot an arrow placed no small burden on his body.

"It's still too early." At this moment, the bow spoke, still the same voice that had been guiding him all along.

Jiang Shenyi found it inconceivable; he had clearly seen that fellow's body shot through by half, if that wasn't death, what was? Even if profound cultivation allowed him to drag out his last breath, it would only be lingering on in a desperate state.

The voice within the bow said: "A Spirit Official generally has to die twice; the death of the physical body is only the first step, at least he can still delay for a period of time. Don't be in a rush to fire a follow-up arrow—" it stopped Jiang Shenyi, who was drawing the bow again to shoot, "My power is not much, there is only one last arrow left, go shoot that cannon!"

Jiang Shenyi agreed with a sound, his gaze locked onto the Hundred Spirit Cannon with its wisps of smoke at the muzzle, drawing the bow and once again condensing an arrow.

Suddenly—

"Fire!"

"Boom!"

Before he could release the string, a command from the ground somehow triggered the mechanism of the Hundred Spirit Cannon; the command fell, the cannon roared, and a white light blasted out!

This shot, in the end, was fired, blasting toward the city wall!

At this moment, a shadow drifted out from the High Minister's broken body, half-ethereal and half-solid; it could be seen that she was an unremarkable-looking woman, but as the radiance shifted slightly and her features adjusted, she became beautiful again, like a finely carved beauty Mask.

This was the unique Spirit Image beauty technique of the Wei Dynasty Spirit Officials.

That Spirit Image stared at Jiang Shenyi, who was drawing his bow in the sky, and said through gritted teeth: "Very well, now we are both the same, Feng Zhilie!"