Chapter 349: Not a Chicken or Dog Left Alive

At the star gate connecting Huashixingyu to the Star River, four sixth-rank alien beings, accompanied by fifty fifth-rank and a thousand fourth-rank, had not only formed an array but were also using stellar energy to construct defensive fortifications.

Over two hundred Yanjia clansmen, led by a sixth-rank Yanjia, stirred stellar energy to upturn earth and stone from all directions, then compacted it relentlessly with stellar force—again and again—until the layout subtly took on the shape of a defensive fortress.

The aliens of Huashixingyu, having fought Domain Lord Ji Cheng for over a decade, were not without growth.

Learning to build fortresses was one of the skills they acquired.

They couldn't stop sixth-rank experts, but they could make fourth- and fifth-rank experts extremely troublesome.

Not only was their defense extremely strong, but they also blocked vision—anyone who charged recklessly risked being surrounded and annihilated.

"Brothers of the Yanjia clan, push harder! Once the fortress is built, you rest—we'll take the night watch!" a sixth-rank Huolinfu encouraged the sweat-drenched Yanjia.

The sixth-rank Yanjia, heads-down working, grunted, "Huo Qi, you said that!"

"I said it, and I stand by it!"

"Good!"

The sixth-rank Yanjia shoved into the ground, flipped over, and hurled up a mound of earth and stone like a small hill; his massive palm hammered down like a pile driver—boom, boom, boom—while continuously shaping the form, and within ten breaths, a section of wall one meter high, ten meters long, and three meters wide was compacted into place.

In the next instant, several fifth-rank Huolinfu roared, spewing high-temperature flames that instantly turned the wall section glowing red, while more earth and stone were pounded into it.

For a time, dust and smoke rose high around the star gate.

"Huh, someone's coming!"

Suddenly, a fifth-rank alien on alert cried out, "It's a woman—a fifth-rank woman!"

"Oh, a woman?"

The sixth-rank Huo Qi leapt out instantly, "What luck!"

"Huo Jiu, come on—capture this woman! Human women are rare treasures!"

In the next instant, the two sixth-ranks charged toward Ning Yuchan, who was approaching from afar, carrying a heavy hammer.

At the very moment they left their formation, a piercing whistle erupted from the side; as the aliens turned their heads, they saw a flash of light obliterate Huo Qi's skull.

All they saw was a phantom!

Fourfold Liushuo!

Almost simultaneously, Ning Yuchan accelerated violently, shooting forward like a cannonball, her heavy hammer slamming toward Huo Jiu!

"Ambush!"

In the next instant, another piercing shriek rang out.

But this time, the sound came from within the formation—the head of another sixth-rank was pierced and shattered!

Amid the aliens' screams, as they rushed toward Ning Yuchan—who had just sent Huo Jiu flying with a single blow—Xu Jin suddenly appeared above the center of their formation, like a celestial god; with a wave of his hand, crimson lightning crashed down.

With a thunderous boom, five bolts of lightning struck, instantly killing five fifth-ranks.

In the next instant, five more fifth-ranks were obliterated!

"Damn it!"

The sixth-rank, sixth-layer Yanjia buried underground roared in fury; a soil dragon erupted from the ground and surged toward Xu Jin.

Xu Jin flared his thunder wings, twisting and dodging the soil dragon's attacks—but each time he evaded, five bolts of Huoyun Divine Thunder crashed down, killing five fifth-ranks each time.

In the next instant, the long-absent kite-fighting tactic reappeared; Xu Jin flicked his fingers rapidly, each flick sending a bolt of lightning that struck precisely at the fourth-rank aliens preparing to focus fire on Ning Yuchan.

Either dead or wounded!

"Bastard, come after me!"

The Yanjia sixth-rank roared, leaping skyward and forming three colossal Yanjia dragons that coiled around Xu Jin, aiming to crush him.

"Seeking death!"

Xu Jin sneered, and a vast surge of divine soul energy rose.

Dreamstart!

Instantly, the Yanjia sixth-rank plummeted to the ground—but the three Yanjia dragons surged toward Xu Jin.

Xu Jin flared his thunder wings, dodged away, then accelerated with twofold Liushuo, darting to the Yanjia sixth-rank's side and tossing a Great Sun Star Art like a child's ball.

Boom!

The Yanjia sixth-rank was blasted into fragments.

At the same instant, Ning Yuchan, like a mad tiger, unleashed eight consecutive Whirlwind Heavy Hammer strikes, obliterating the fourth-layer Huo Jiu, then spun into the remaining fifth-rank aliens like a whirlwind.

Xu Jin suddenly realized Ning Yuchan was perfectly suited to the S-class defensive stellar artifact, the Jinlin Armor.

After activating the S-class defensive stellar artifact, Ning Yuchan simply ignored enemy attacks—strong foes were crushed by her hammer with overwhelming force, while weak foes were merely absorbed by the armor's raw defense.

Once she charged into the elite alien formation, she became a living blender; hundreds of aliens were slaughtered by her alone, screaming and scattering in panic.

Those struck by her hammer either had bones shattered and tendons torn, or suffered grievous wounds—or died horribly.

Her combat style was unlike Xu Jin's.

Xu Jin picked off targets one by one.

Ning Yuchan plunged into the formation, killing few outright—but she overturned the entire formation.

This made Xu Jin suddenly feel very relaxed.

Because he became the finisher!

And it gave Xu Jin an indescribable sense of contrast.

Was this really the soft girl he'd carried on his back half an hour ago, slapping her rear?

Too surreal!

The battle ended after a hundred breaths.

Of over a thousand enemies, only a few fifth-ranks escaped.

All four sixth-ranks were annihilated!

After the battle, Ning Yuchan swallowed an elixir to restore her stellar energy and wiped sweat from her brow. "Fighting alongside you is pretty fun!"

"There's even more fun coming!"

Xu Jin smiled, beginning to extract sixth-rank stellar cores and collect the sixth-rank aliens' essence blood, preparing to make more Blood-Obfuscating Essence Pills.

On the way here, Xu Jin had already made a few, allowing them to approach the aliens undetected and launch their surprise attack.

Otherwise, under the celestial will's targeting, powerful aliens hundreds of li away would have sensed them!

"Let's go—mission accomplished. Back to Hongli City. I'll carry you—you keep resting."

"I can fly myself!" Ning Yuchan recalled Xu Jin's earlier unseemly behavior on the road and hesitated.

"Your Da Ju Xingwen is low-grade. I'll teach you the seventh-rank version—it'll boost your total stellar energy by at least forty percent."

"Alright then!"

In the next instant, Ning Yuchan leapt onto Xu Jin's back—but as soon as she landed, she got a slap.

Ning Yuchan's cheeks flushed slightly, but she said nothing; as they sped away, she began meditating on the seventh-rank Da Ju Xingwen.

Of course, Xu Jin's purpose in carrying Ning Yuchan wasn't for that pleasant sensation—he mainly wanted to enhance her strength.

And carrying her while using twofold Liushuo made travel faster!

Xu Jin realized Ning Yuchan's strength still had enormous room for rapid improvement.

For example, Da Ju Xingwen, Liuxing Xingwen, and Youyu Xingwen—all were still at outdated versions.

If she mastered them all, her power could surge dramatically.

Perhaps even enough to harvest a Golden Star!

On the walls of Hongli City, Domain Lord Ji Cheng stood with five sixth-ranks behind him; among them, only Ji Xiuchuan was a human sixth-rank.

Originally, humans had three sixth-ranks, but all others had died in previous battles.

Besides them, Cui Chongguang, Li Tian, Hou Yunzhang, and Hongli City's own fifth- and fourth-ranks—over a thousand in total—were now watching the alien army roll toward them from afar.

But Domain Lord Ji Cheng's expression was grim.

Just moments ago, they discovered all high-power war machines—Stellar Divine Crossbows—had been destroyed.

These Stellar Divine Crossbows were vital for city defense; when properly used, they could kill fifth-rank experts, though forming the stellar arrows via the array required time. Originally, Hongli City had twenty.

But now they'd just found them all destroyed.

During his severe injury and unconsciousness, Jin Fan had sabotaged them first.

Because only living humans could operate the Stellar Divine Crossbows.

This instantly increased the difficulty of defending the city by several tenths.

Far off, the Earth Spirit King led ten sixth-rank aliens, two hundred fifth-ranks, and two thousand fourth-ranks, stepping across starlight like clouds and auroras, charging toward Hongli City!

"Huh, Ji, you're still alive!"

From afar, the Earth Spirit King spotted Ji Cheng standing unharmed.

"If you're still alive, how dare I die?" Ji Cheng sneered.

"Where's Jin Fan?"

Scanning the area, the Earth Spirit King saw no Jin Fan and spat, "What a useless waste! Given the chance to establish a clan of the Golden Lion race, and he still failed! Deserved to be wiped out!"

"Jin Fan is stupid, but your judgment isn't any better," Ji Cheng said.

The Earth Spirit King glanced at Ji Cheng, then searched the city walls, fixing his gaze on the positions of the Stellar Divine Crossbows.

In earlier years, they'd suffered greatly from those crossbows.

If properly prepared, even a sixth-rank could be gravely wounded by three or four simultaneously firing.

And in earlier years, Ji Cheng had turned the Stellar Divine Crossbows into an art form.

He'd even mounted them for field battles.

This forced the aliens of Huashixingyu to adopt tactics themselves.

Especially in open-field combat, they built war fortresses primarily to defend against the Stellar Divine Crossbows.

But today, the starlight divine crossbows on the city wall had lost all their former radiant glory.

"Hahaha!"

The Earth Spirit King threw back his head and laughed loudly, "It seems Jin Fan, this useless fool, isn't entirely without merit! At least he's destroyed all our starlight divine crossbows—so the one remaining starlight giant crossbow must be ruined too!"

At these words, the defenders of Hongli City all turned pale, including the alien races.

After all these years, these aliens had long known of the existence of the starlight divine crossbows and the starlight giant crossbow—they were half the anchor holding Hongli City steady!

Firing the starlight giant crossbow once consumed twenty fifth-rank star jade tablets, and it took a hundred breaths to condense a single starlight giant bolt.

Within five hundred meters, it could strike these sixth-rank aliens with perfect accuracy.

In earlier sieges, countless sixth-ranks had died under its bolts.

One well-used starlight giant crossbow could match several sixth-ranks!

But now, all of them were destroyed!

Just by watching Ji Cheng's expression, the Earth Spirit King knew he had guessed correctly.

"Ji Cheng, it seems heaven favors me! How about I give you a chance—you surrender and die, and I won't slaughter the city. What do you say?" The Earth Spirit King grinned slyly.

As he laughed, he continuously ordered his troops to split into ten squads, encircling Hongli City.

Each squad was led by a sixth-rank.

On Ji Cheng's side, he began coordinating the defense, but his four sixth-rank aliens moved with obvious sluggishness!

Domain Lord Ji Cheng noticed this too.

But now was not the time to act.

If he punished these four sixth-rank aliens now, morale might collapse instantly.

But Ji Cheng knew better—soon, these four sixth-rank aliens would certainly hold back and do nothing.

And the Earth Spirit King knew this too.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have directly offered Jin Fan terms of surrender.

These aliens always acted this way.

When Ji Cheng was strong, they behaved like obedient grandchildren, fighting with all their might.

Now that Ji Cheng was weak, they were all looking for chances to betray him!

Right now, they only obeyed because Ji Cheng controlled their soul cores—their lives and deaths rested in his hands.

But now, he had no way to deal with them.

If Ji Cheng openly threatened them with death now, the fifth- and fourth-rank elite aliens might mutiny.

In an instant, Ji Cheng made his decision: if the city fell and he died, in the final moment before death, he would detonate the soul cores of these four aliens!

"All four of you—fight to the death! Otherwise, before I die, I'll detonate your soul cores, and we'll all perish together!"

"My lord, rest assured—we will fight to the death!"

In response to Ji Cheng's soul transmission, these four sixth-rank aliens replied with fierce determination, as if they truly meant it.

But Ji Cheng, who knew them well, knew they would hold back.

Suddenly, Ji Cheng sighed inwardly—twenty years of painstaking effort, all about to be destroyed.

"Hongli, this city may not hold—but we can still buy a little time. Flee now—head toward the Star Gate, then contact Qi Tian Sheng to rescue you!" Ji Cheng sent a soul transmission to Ji Hongli behind him.

This was Ji Cheng's only personal wish.

As for everyone else, they could only fight to the death!

If they didn't fight, leaving the city would only mean dying faster.

"Beat the war drums!"

At Ji Cheng's roar, the deep, stirring sound of war drums thundered across the battlefield!

As the drums sounded, over a thousand human warriors grew grim-faced, their star energy rising.

"Stubborn fools!"

The Earth Spirit King sneered, "Kill! Leave not a single soul alive!"

In the next instant, ten sixth-rank aliens led their ten squads in a pincer assault from all directions into Hongli City!

A flash of earth-yellow light—then the Earth Spirit King himself transformed into a small mountain and charged straight at Domain Lord Ji Cheng.

Ji Xiuchuan roared as he charged toward a sixth-rank, eighth-layer alien.

Cui Chongguang, Li Zhen, and other powerful fifth-ranks formed squads to face their own fifth-rank opponents, but their hearts were hollow.

Two or three of them together could handle a single sixth-rank without issue.

But the problem was, every one of these sixth-ranks was followed by at least two hundred aliens!

Neither strength nor numbers favored them—in an instant, they were trapped in utter despair.

"Comrades, fight with me to the death!"

In the next instant, Ji Cheng roared and launched himself into a suicidal clash with the Earth Spirit King.

At that very moment, Xu Jin was using Double Flow Flash, carrying Ning Yuchan as he raced toward Hongli City—but Xu Jin did not yet know Hongli City's condition.

Suddenly, Xu Jin's Star-Picking Token flared violently.

He had entered the eight-hundred-li range of Hongli City—the Star-Picking Token had entered the coverage of Hongli City's Star-Picking Tower branch.

A second-rank Star-Picking Token had a range of four hundred li; as a Silver-Rank Authority Holder, Xu Jin's coverage doubled to eight hundred li!

【Senior Brother, where are you? Hongli City is surrounded, and all siege weapons have been destroyed—the situation is dire. Can you return in time?】

The moment Xu Jin saw this star-transmitted message, his gaze froze.

Hongli City is surrounded!

All siege weapons destroyed?

In an instant, Xu Jin thought of Jin Fan.

Only that bastard could have done it.

But now—how could he save Hongli City?

【Hold on—I'm coming. Use up every one of your tokens!】

In the next instant, Xu Jin accelerated violently.

Quadruple Flow Flash!

The sonic boom behind him erupted like rolling thunder—but it always remained behind him.

(End of Chapter)