Chapter 224: The Battle of the Ninth Tier

"Who is that person?"

Zhang Suannai turned around and pressed herself against the inner wall of the vehicle, looking through the narrow firing port at the figure in the distant sky, muttering to herself:

"Looks pretty badass..."

Chen Shu sat on the other side, eyes closed in deep thought.

Currently, besides the elite guard teams sent by Yiguo and Lan Country to escort the expert groups, the camp also gathered a portion of the "Mercenary" forces deployed by both countries into Duqin. Combined, the two countries had about two or three thousand people; it wasn't a huge number, but it wasn't small either. Chen Shu didn't know much about the standard of Lan Country's mercenaries, but the personnel and equipment level of Yiguo's mercenaries were very high. Even without relying on the high-level practitioners in the military, their own military strength alone could completely take down the Seventh Stage of the Watcher.

Not to mention anything else, the guard team alone carried at least three Hunting Fighters.

This thing was the highest military technological achievement of the great powers, prepared entirely for high-level practitioners.

Although an Eight-Tier Practitioner was a formidable enemy, it wouldn't be enough to make the commanders of both sides decide to evacuate urgently the moment they saw one. Even if the strength of both sides was unequal, they were roughly at the same level, and there was a possibility of negotiation. Even if a conflict broke out, at most, non-combatants would be evacuated.

What's more, Yiguo also had a Nine-Tier Cultivator present, keeping a low profile.

No matter how strong an Eight-Tier was, as a Nine-Tier of the Dayi Imperial Family, dealing with him would be easy.

Then there was only one possibility.

This person was also a Nine-Tier.

Not only was the arrival ill-intentioned, but there must be some big shot in the military who recognized him, which was why they decisively chose to evacuate all personnel before even stepping forward to negotiate. Otherwise, if they waited until the Nine-Tiers broke out into a direct confrontation, no one would be able to run.

The Lan Country people could already be ruled out.

And the vast majority of Nine-Tiers in this world were born in the great powers, and none of them were unknown figures; relying solely on oneself to reach the Ninth Stage was as difficult as ascending to heaven. But how could a Nine-Tier Cultivator with a large family and business openly provoke the two current superpowers?

What was his purpose?

Chen Shu opened his eyes, thinking of a possibility—

Mengyue Sect!

Heavenly Human Mirror!

Could it be that the Heavenly Human Mirror had appeared here?

The more Chen Shu thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Because from the scale of the Mengyue Sect and the confidence Ms. Jiang inadvertently displayed when communicating with him, they were very confident about obtaining the Heavenly Human Mirror, just afraid to come directly to Dayi's territory to search for it. Furthermore, the reason the Mengyue Sect found him was only because they felt he was easier to bribe. Since that was the case, the targets the Mengyue Sect tried to bribe definitely weren't limited to just him. By comparison, people in the Dukin Government Army and the Watcher were simply the best targets for bribery, and not only could they be bribed, but they could also be subjected to some despicable means that were inconvenient to use in Yiguo or Lan Country.

As for the identity of this Nine-Tier, Chen Shu also had a guess, because he had just faintly seen that this person was a yellow-skinned Wise Human.

……

"Cao Ci."

Another person dressed in classical robes stepped into the sky, as if there were invisible stairs in the air. His voice was steady and powerful, like a greeting to an old friend.

The armed personnel of the Dukin Government Army and the Watcher below finally reacted, beginning to flee in panic.

Yet the sky remained as calm as ever.

The night wind blew, and the land under the moonlight was vast and boundless.

"Meng Kaiyang, before I came, I thought the one coming would be that person from the Royal Court." Cao Ci looked at this last remaining Nine-Tier of the Dayi Imperial Family. They were clearly acquaintances, so a hint of nostalgia appeared on his face. "How many years has it been?"

"Too long, I can't remember."

"Why have you become so old?" Cao Ci narrowed his eyes, his voice gentle. "The last time I saw you, you still looked very young."

"The Imperial Spirit Method is just like that."

"That's fine too. Back then I was Ninth Stage, and you were only Seventh Stage; now you've caught up." Cao Ci's voice was carried away by the night wind. He asked again, "Your eldest brother is dead now, right?"

"Dead."

"Sigh, you people of the Imperial Family, you're all like this."

"This is righteousness; you wouldn't understand."

"Dayi? Oh, so it's that 'righteousness'..." Cao Ci revealed a smile, then said faintly, "I actually quite miss your eldest brother."

"Let's get straight to the point."

"Very well."

Cao Ci had a rather square face with stubble, looking a bit unkempt, but he had a pair of exceptionally soul-captivating eyes, and the voice he used to speak was extremely gentle: "I want to borrow the Heavenly Human Mirror. The time is indefinite; I will use it until I am finished, and after I am finished, I will return it to Dayi."

"You should know that for Dayi, the Heavenly Human Mirror is far more important than the Mijing."

"You should also know that it is equally important to me."

"Give up; you will not succeed."

"My lifespan only has a dozen years left. A dozen years from now, I will enter Spirit Decay. Giving up and dying—what is the difference?"

"You will never be able to step onto the God Altar."

"How would I know without trying? I'm going to die soon anyway." Cao Ci looked at him faintly. "Let it go to me. Although you are also at the Ninth Tier Peak, you will never have the slightest chance of winning against me. Fighting this battle will bring disaster to thousands of miles; there is no need."

"How would I know without trying? I'm going to die soon anyway."

"Ha! Hahaha..."

"Are you laughing at yourself?"

"So there is no room for negotiation?"

"There never has been. Whether out of national interest or national dignity, I will not let you take it away."

"What are your odds of winning?"

"And what certainty do you have that you can step onto the God Altar?"

"Five out of ten."

"I also have five out of ten."

"You Meng Family members are indeed all the same, each one so arrogant, thinking they are the best in the world."

"Are you not arrogant?"

"I am not arrogant," Cao Ci said faintly. "I am the best in the world by nature; I should become the Martial God, immortal for ten thousand years."

"It is precisely because of this that you cannot become a god."

"There is no point in saying more, how much longer must we wait?"

"Let's wait a little longer."

"That works too."

This man, once the number one of the Ming Sect, was full of composure: "How much further away is your Aircraft Carrier Formation? And what about the Sky Carrier secretly deployed at Lu'an Base? You aren't waiting for them to arrive, are you?"

"I am waiting for people to evacuate."

"Good! Good!"

Cao Ci rarely revealed a hint of a smile, as if he were looking at an ancestor of the Meng Family, or perhaps the Dezong Emperor who had abdicated not long ago; he had not seen these old acquaintances for many years and felt quite a bit of nostalgia:

"Then I shall accompany you and wait a little longer."

"Agreed."

Ten minutes later.

The Spirit Power of heaven and earth trembled faintly.

A point of light flew from the eastern horizon at a speed far exceeding a Flying Sword.

Yet Cao Ci remained calm and composed, merely pushing out with his hand, and a sun bloomed in the distance, instantly illuminating the Gobitai as bright as day.

Everything on the ground was destroyed in an instant.

The battle was on the verge of breaking out.

More than ten meters away, as the younger brother of the Dezong Emperor and the only Ninth Stage currently in the Dayi royal family, Meng Kaiyang summoned a relatively thick Long Sword; almost the moment he grasped the Long Sword, a set of pitch-black armor appeared on his body, covered in scars, each one a piece of history.

The Sword was a nameless sword.

The armor was also nameless.

In this current era, they looked somewhat outdated, common only in movies. However, the power accumulated through the support and maintenance of successive emperors over eight hundred years could not be replaced by the technology of the last few decades or a century of the new era.

When the various emperors personally led their troops into battle, this was how they defended this country.

Meng Kaiyang gripped the sword in his hand tightly.

Chen Shu gripped the War Chariot's seatbelt tightly, feeling the earth tremble violently, more intense than any earthquake.

Immediately following—

A shockwave rippled out instantly along the ground.

"Boom!"

Dust and sand rose to the heavens from the ground, some abrupt mountain rocks and mounds were leveled directly, the desert poplars disappeared instantly in the shockwave, and even the infantry War Chariot, weighing over ten tons with its Spiritual Energy Shield at full power, was tossed away, spinning in the air like a toy.

The people inside the vehicle felt the world spinning, and a shrill, urgent alarm echoed within.

"Shield ruptured! Shield ruptured!"

"Vehicle damaged! Vehicle damaged!"

"Vehicle flipping! Vehicle flipping!"

Fortunately, the vehicle was no ordinary vehicle, the soldiers were no ordinary people, and the driver was even less of an ordinary soldier; he managed to stay clear-headed while the vehicle was spinning at high speed, observing the environment outside while activating the vehicle's stabilization system.

"Poof!"

The Spirit Repulsion Force rippled out.

In the chaotic air at this moment, the War Chariot gradually stopped spinning and stabilized, but it was still falling at high speed.

"Vehicle falling! Vehicle falling!"

The driver remained calm, keeping a firm eye on the environment below and the altitude of the War Chariot, and just as it was about to crash, he decisively pulled a lever.

"Poof!"

A brief moment of weightlessness, then the vehicle crashed to the ground with a bang.

The few people were all jolted.

The driver did not hesitate, trying to restart the defense system while accelerating sharply, continuing to flee from this place.

"Is this the Ninth Stage?"

Zhang Suannai still had the mood to ask idly.

Chen Shu turned his body to look out through the firing port.

The elite army of Dayi was truly not to be trifled with; amidst this world-destroying aftermath of battle, most of the combat vehicles had also landed steadily and were gradually re-gathering into a convoy in the Gobitai. But some transport vehicles still could not resist the terrifying shockwave; some were destroyed until only the frames remained, or were smashed into scrap metal upon landing after being tossed, lying scattered across the Gobitai, with no telling how many people killed in action.

Fortunately, the buses carrying the experts were specifically protected by High-level Practitioners, so they were unharmed.

And they had already fled some distance away.

It was hard to imagine what the scene at the center of the battle would be like.

"Attention everyone! Evacuate quickly! Evacuate quickly! Ignore the vehicles on the side of the road, the primary goal is your own evacuation!"

The driver accelerated in silence, merging into the convoy.

A transport vehicle from Lan Country blocked the road, and he rammed into it without hesitation—for ordinary soldiers, without a vehicle-mounted Spiritual Energy Shield, there was only death in the shockwave just now; at this moment, the living were more important.

"Boom!"

Another sound like the heavens and earth shattering, very close to the War Chariot.

The driver quickly stepped on the brakes, even activating the Spirit Repulsion Device to provide reverse force, causing the high-speed War Chariot to stop in just a few meters.

Among the people in the vehicle, only Zhang Suannai let out a cry, while the others all kept their mouths tightly shut.

If it had been ordinary people, they would likely have fainted by now.

Immediately, the vehicle body seemed to be under constant bombardment, with a cacophony of clanging sounds of all sizes ringing out, and the interior also trembled continuously.

"What's the situation?" Zuo You asked.

"A great canyon has been slashed open in front, several vehicles have been destroyed, and we have been cut off from the troops ahead," the driver said while maneuvering the War Chariot to spin ninety degrees in place, changing direction to continue speeding away, "We have to go around."

"Good!"

No one spoke inside the vehicle after that.

From the distance above, massive sounds continued to arrive, more terrifying than thunder and deafening to the Ear Desire; occasionally, the few people peeked at the outside world through the firing ports, and the scene in their eyes was like the end of the world.

Inside the vehicle, alarms for damage to various parts and systems of the vehicle body kept sounding.

The yellow sand soon spread over, with a momentum even stronger than a normal sandstorm, sweeping across this land and blotting out the sky. The driver could no longer distinguish direction through vision, the navigation and detection systems were almost entirely disabled, and even the connection with the command vehicle was lost.

Below the Ninth Stage, all living beings are but ants.