Chapter 1078: Storm Summit

A distance of a thousand li passed in an instant.

The Star Destroyer leapt out of the void, reappearing in the Storm Plane, and had already reached the plane's geographic center.

Suo Lim sighed deeply; he had tried many times to assault the Storm Temple, but merely gathering an army and marching it to the front line was a huge problem. Often the army was discovered as soon as it set out, pursued and blocked all the way, losing half its troops halfway, and returning empty‑handed.

But the Star Destroyer, with a hundred thousand troops, bypassed the enemy's defenses and arrived directly at the destination!

This step surpassed all previous efforts.

Amid the raging wind, a strange and majestic peak rose on the horizon.

It sat among endless ranges, yet towered far above the surrounding mountains; its summit was extremely flat, as if a mighty force had sliced off a slab, and the surrounding cliffs rose ninety degrees straight up, like a great table standing on the earth.

Storm Summit!

Lei En's eyes widened with surprise, recalling the "Table Mountain" of his past life.

However, Table Mountain formed over hundreds of millions of years of natural evolution, whereas this "Storm Summit" clearly bore marks of artificial carving.

Seeming to sense Lei En's thought, Suo Lim said, "The Storm Summit was not originally like this; my lord An He Luozi reshaped it with supreme might."

Lei En nodded and looked down at the peak, a true marvel.

The summit of the Storm Summit spanned a huge area, an irregular square over twenty li on each side; the whole mountain seemed a single massive rock, covered with soil and forest, dotted with small rivers, forming a complete ecosystem.

The elevation difference between the summit and the ground was nearly two thousand meters, almost higher than the cloud layer, and from afar it looked as if it floated among the clouds!

At such height, climbing without the ability to fly would be extremely difficult.

The Storm Temple was built atop the summit.

It was a massive palace complex, occupying almost a third of the summit, with a grand temple at its center; its architecture continued the style of the Northern Sanctuary, yet was more spectacular than the Storm Temple, its awe felt even from dozens of li away.

Lei En had never seen such a massive structure and couldn't help but marvel.

No wonder it's the Storm Temple, the former Giant Divine Kingdom!

However, the Storm Temple is now controlled not by giants but by countless flying creatures from the Wind Element Plane; the sky above the temple teems with tens of thousands of silhouettes soaring, their masses like black dots forming clouds that circle the temple.

On the ground, countless beings also dwelled within the Storm Temple's complex.

Outside the temple, tribes and settlements surrounded it, covering the entire summit; the closer to the temple, the denser they became, stretching all the way to the edge of the Storm Summit!

Lei En shook his head.

The Storm Summit's unique terrain created a situation that is easy to defend but hard to attack.

Yet the enemies of the Wind Element Plane are mostly flying creatures, while Storm Giants and their vassal races cannot fly; all giants fight on the ground, as do Frost Trolls, Hill Dwarves, and Orcs, making an ascent to the Storm Summit as hard as climbing to heaven.

Not to mention, the enemy numbers exceed tenfold!

Lei En gave a rough scan and counted at least a million enemies on the Storm Summit.

Once combat began, enemies from hundreds of li would swarm in quickly; at their flight speed, they could face several million foes, which was truly despairing.

No wonder Suo Lim and the Storm Giants, despite their great power, could not seize the Storm Plane and had to turn to themselves for help.

The giants are strong, but the enemies are stronger!

At this moment, the Star Destroyer was about to break through the clouds; it fully activated its Invisibility Field and slowed its speed, gently approaching the Storm Summit. Within a dozens‑of‑li radius around the summit, the air was calm, visibility high, and the sun could even be seen.

A moment later.

The Star Destroyer was only a few li from the summit, and Lei En could already see those Wind Element creatures clearly.

He ordered several Grand Mages to carefully steer the Star Destroyer to avoid breaking the Invisibility Field, while observing the enemies.

They flew between the Storm Summit and the surrounding peaks, each in a different form, but all shared mastery of the Wind Element's power.

The most striking were a humanoid species, roughly human in shape with four limbs and a torso, but bearing a pair of wings on their backs, covered in tough feathers like eagle wings, strong and powerful, allowing them to fly effortlessly.

They are Winged People!

The Wind Element Plane hosts many intelligent beings, the most famous being the Winged People; they possess a unique civilization and lifestyle, are born able to fly, yet almost never leave the Wind Element Plane.

It was Lei En's first time seeing Winged People, so he stared a few more times.

Winged People are lithe and agile, averaging about 1.7 meters tall, slightly shorter than humans; their most notable facial difference is a beak‑like sharp mouth, clearly a weapon.

Their wing colors vary—white, gray, black, red, and so on—apparently denoting different bloodline branches.

An individual Winged Person is far from weak.

They possess at least the power of a novice Transcendent, wield simple wind spells, wear light leather armor, and can forge and use weapons. The proportion of legendary warriors among Winged People far exceeds that of humans; the leader of each Winged flight squad is a legend, with many Mid‑stage and High‑stage legends as well.

According to Elder Suo Lim, Winged People also produce Saint Rank warriors, whose combat style is similar to that of the human Swift‑Wind Sword Saint.

Winged People are one of the two ruling races of the Wind Element Plane.

Thus, all Winged People in the Storm Plane reside on the Storm Summit, numbering about three hundred thousand.

Another kind is the Wind Element.

However, Lei En had not yet seen the gaseous "Wind Element"; he first spotted the Alaka Crowfolk, the Windstorm Dwarf, and the Eagle‑bodied Harpy.

These three races rank just below the Winged People on the Wind Element Plane, but their numbers far exceed the Winged People, especially the Alaka Crowfolk, which are everywhere; the massive black clouds seen earlier in the distance were these noisy crowfolk.

Alaka Crowfolk are also indigenous to the Wind Element Plane, likewise an intelligent race, building nests in the forests beyond the temple.

Crowfolk are shorter than Winged People and less human‑like.

Their bodies are hunchbacked, hands ending in sharp claws, wings fused together, heads fully avian, eyes fierce yet ignorant, wrapped in crude cloth garments, some with leather headgear, slightly more intelligent.

Alaka Crowfolk are extremely numerous; beyond the summit, the surrounding peaks are riddled with massive crow nests in cliff caves and forest trees.

Among the crow nests, foul‑smelling eagle nests—homes of the Eagle‑bodied Harpies—are interspersed.

Eagle‑bodied Harpies are even dirtier than crowfolk and are all female.

They cohabit with crowfolk, occasionally clashing in aerial brawls, and some Eagle‑bodied Harpies lure male crowfolk into their nests to mate and lay eggs.

Lei En also saw Windstorm Dwarves.

They are a dwarf sub‑species, resembling Prime Material Plane dwarves, with pale skin and short stature, yet clearly more civilized than crowfolk and Eagle‑bodied Harpies, having built their own villages on the Storm Summit.

Windstorm Dwarves are few, but each is a born wind mage, smarter and dexterous, thus permitted by Winged People to reside outside the temple.

Beyond the intelligent races, the skies host countless other flying creatures.

There are weaker wind‑demon bats and ash‑feather arrow‑sparrows, but they are countless, and there are also powerful feather‑snakes, eagle‑horses, swift‑wind eagles, as well as the massive Rift‑sky Dragon‑Eagle and Wind Riders, soaring high and nearly colliding with the Star Destroyer several times.

All these flying creatures are subservient to the demigod Luoha Xiya, under the control of the Winged People.

No wonder they are enemies from the Wind Element Plane.

They are all air force!

Lei En sighed inwardly, glanced at Sorim and felt his difficulty: the enemy, more than ten times their number, still held air superiority, with greater mobility and stronger attack—how can they fight? The Storm Giant has endured ten thousand years and still protected the northern temple, truly a miracle!

Of course, there are also reasons for the Thunder Element Plane enemies' containment.

Silence fell over the bridge.

Lei En had already set the attack plan with Sorim yesterday, so no further discussion was needed; just execute the plan.

The Star Destroyer arrived directly above the summit of the Storm, then descended.

First, the giant army must be dropped down.

As the Star Destroyer slowly descended, getting ever closer to the mountain top, even with the Invisibility Field masking it, the massive weight's effect still alerted some flying creatures, causing them fear and instinctively to fly farther away.

But not all the flying creatures fled; some were fearless.

Whoosh!

A Rift‑sky Dragon‑Eagle let out a sharp screech, surged at high speed toward the Star Destroyer's position, but before it could hit, it was struck by a silent spell.

Expulsion Technique!

The Rift‑sky Dragon‑Eagle vanished instantly, expelled back to the Wind Element Plane.

Everyone on the Star Destroyer breathed a sigh of relief; the disappearance of the Rift‑sky Dragon‑Eagle caused a stir, and soon more flying creatures approached to test. Not far away, a squad of Alaka Crowpeople shouted and swooped in to scout.

The commotion here attracted further attention.

On the other side, a group of Winged People also flapped in, led by a Legendary High‑rank, whose eyes flashed with light as they scanned back and forth.

Lei En acted decisively, ordering the Star Destroyer to accelerate its descent, and the hangar doors opened early.

Bang bang bang bang……

One by one the flying creatures slammed into the Star Destroyer's force field, instantly shattered to pieces. After a dozen seconds, the Invisibility Field of an Empire‑class Star Destroyer finally broke, revealing its massive outline.

The sky was silent for a heartbeat, then a chorus of screams rang out.

The surrounding flying creatures turned and fled; the approaching Crowpeople and Winged People, eyes filled with terror, frantically beat their wings to halt, but they did not recognize the Star Destroyer, unsure whether to advance or retreat, and froze in place together.

That hesitation sealed their fate.

Two Electric Light Cannon shells were fired, each landing among the Winged People and Crowpeople, and with a booming crash they were blown to pieces, turning the sky into a rain of flesh.

At this moment, the Star Destroyer landed only a few dozen meters above the ground.

Bang bang bang bang……

The Giant Legion surged out of the hangar first.

Frost Giant Trolls and Hill Dwarves followed closely; the beasts rode Ice‑throat Bears and Frost Giant Wolves, pouring out of the Star Destroyer like a torrent, charging toward the Storm Temple.

In less than half a minute, the area within a kilometer of the landing site was filled with the giant army.

At this point, the enemy finally reacted.

Amid the howling gale rose a strange, melodious voice, vague and indistinct, as if speaking with a long exhalation, bearing terrible pressure that made souls tremble.

It was the language of the Wind Tribe.

The intelligent race of the Wind Element Plane had used this language, which Lei En had mastered long ago, so he could understand what was being said.

"Children of the raging wind, annihilate the invaders!"

A massive silhouette rose in the Storm Temple, hovering mid‑air over three hundred meters high, its body formed of cloud clusters, vaguely humanoid, surrounded by a vortex dozens of meters in diameter, with a bright orb of light at its head—presumably its eye.

The Wind Element Lord, demigod Luoha Xiya!

A terrifying power radiated from Luoha Xiya, centered on the Storm Summit, whipping up dreadful gales.

With its roar, wind‑element energy boiled within a radius of several hundred li.

Countless beings obeyed the demigod's command.

Figures rose—Winged People, Alaka Crowpeople, Wind Dwarfs, and Harpies—forming a massive army that rushed the Giant Legion. Countless other flying creatures surged from all directions, cloaking the sky like a tide set to drown the enemy.

The Storm Temple erected a protective shield, and simultaneously thousands of "Wind Elements" surged from it, like spirals, rapidly sweeping the temple.

In an instant, it seemed the whole world had turned against them.

Yet the Star Destroyer stood firm, continuing its descent onto the mountaintop ground, while the hundred‑thousand‑strong Giant Legion had already burst from the hangar.

Behind them, twenty‑five thousand Thundercast Celestial Soldiers moved out.

Each Thundercast Celestial Soldier had cast a Flight Technique on themselves, then opened portals, quickly gathering outside the Star Destroyer. In just a few seconds, all the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers left the Star Destroyer, forming combat squads of ten, racing ahead of the Giant Legion as the spearhead of the whole force toward the Storm Temple.

After deploying the army, the Star Destroyer immediately rose upward.

At this point, the Invisibility Field had been withdrawn, exposing the Augustus and four Empire‑class Star Destroyers, whose massive steel fortresses made the charging enemies' hearts waver.

The wiser one becomes, the more prone to fear.

The high‑speed Winged People unconsciously slowed, the Crowpeople and Harpies clustered together, emitting a cacophony of cries.

Luoha Xiya exclaimed in surprise, "Humans of the Prime Material Plane?" He read the enemy's origin from the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, but knew nothing of the Star Destroyer, and roared like a gale, "Ignorant humans, how dare you meddle with the Storm Plane!"

The reply was the booming of cannon fire.

Five Star Destroyers together unleashed 256 Electric Light Cannons, firing in various patterns simultaneously.

Electric Light Cannon shells, beams, and bolts erupted instantly, clearing away enemies near the Star Destroyer; at once, a rain of blood fell from the sky. Simultaneously, the main guns of the five Star Destroyers began charging, all aimed at the demigod hovering above the Storm Temple!

(End of Chapter)