Chapter 924
Even scrap metal wants to hurt people?
The moment these three spirit ships appeared, the air above Hongyun City seemed to freeze instantly. Many new recruits felt a tightness in their chests, and even breathing became difficult—it was the terrifying spiritual pressure generated by high-level cultivators forming an array.
On the main ship in the very center, a huge banner embroidered with white clouds and flying swords was hanging high.
Mo Ku stood at the bow of the ship, his crimson robe fluttering in the wind. Beside him stood a gaunt, black-robed old man with a sinister face. The old man leaned on a cane made from the spine of some kind of demonic beast, his eyes were sunken, and a pair of eyes flickered with eerie green flames.
"Junior Brother Mo, is this the mortal town you mentioned that hides ancient demonic artifacts and tens of thousands of spirit stones?" The old man in black robes looked down at Hongyun City, his tone revealing undisguised contempt.
"Reporting to Senior Brother Yin Feng, this is indeed the place." Mo Ku's attitude was unusually respectful in front of the old man. This black-robed old man was a senior elder of the Qingyun Sect's inner sect, named True Man Yin Feng, with a cultivation level of half-step Golden Core, and extremely ruthless methods.
In order to monopolize the title and to ensure everything went smoothly, Mo Ku went to great lengths to bring out this ruthless character who was in seclusion.
"Judging from the design of this city wall, it's infused with a considerable amount of Xuan Iron essence. And the faint fluctuations of spiritual energy on the city wall suggest that the base of this protective array must be made of at least thousand-year-old red copper." Yin Feng Zhenren's ghostly eyes swept across the city wall, the greed in his eyes growing stronger. "A gathering place for refugees actually possesses such a foundation. Junior Brother Mo, it seems that kid Huang Yifei wasn't lying; there must be a hidden spiritual vein or ancient ruins within this city!"
Mo Ku sneered: "That's why Junior Brother is so eager to ask Senior Brother to come out of seclusion. As long as we take over Hongyun City, all the spirit stones, magic artifacts, and even that demonic treasure that can release purple-gold flames will belong to us two brothers."
Yin Feng Zhenren nodded in satisfaction and slammed his bone staff onto the deck.
"Boom!"
A deafening roar, like muffled thunder, exploded in mid-air. The visible sound waves transformed into a white shockwave that pressed down heavily on Hongyun City below.
"Om-!"
Just as the sound waves were about to hit the city walls, a semi-transparent, pale golden light suddenly appeared above Hongyun City. The light shield resembled an inverted bowl, firmly protecting the entire city within.
The sound waves struck the light shield, producing a teeth-grinding friction sound. Violent ripples spread across the surface of the light shield, but it ultimately withstood the impact steadily.
"Oh? You've got some skill. You actually managed to withstand 30% of my spiritual power in your test." Yin Feng Zhenren raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Senior brother, you mustn't be careless. This formation is rather strange," Mo Ku warned.
At this moment, on the city wall below, Guo Tianyou felt a buzzing in his ears. If it weren't for the city's protective formation blocking it, at least half of the soldiers on the city wall would have been blasted to death by the sonic shock.
"You old fogies up there! Does your Qingyun Sect have no sense of rules? Bringing so many people to my Hongyun City to show off your power, do you really think this Dingzhou territory is your own backyard!" Guo Tianyou stepped to the front of the battlement, gathered all his inner strength, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Mo Ku looked down and recognized the mortal general who had confronted him a few days ago. Immediately, both old and new grudges surged into his heart.
"You ants, how dare you talk to me about rules!" Mo Ku's voice, infused with spiritual power, echoed across Hongyun City. "Hongyun City Lord Zheng Yi colluded with demonic cultivators from the Southern Frontier to slaughter the entire Huang family of Baishi City and seize their property. This is an outrage against heaven and earth! Today, my Qingyun Sect, acting in accordance with the will of heaven, has come to wipe out this demonic den! Mortals in the city, listen up! Immediately dismantle the formations, open the city gates, surrender, and hand over all the Huang family's wealth and the demonic cultivator Zheng Yi. I may spare your lives!"
After hearing this, Guo Tianyou spat out a mouthful of saliva.
"I'll give you my ancestors' legs! You shameless bastards, if you're jealous of what's in our city, just say so! Why are you trying to pin this on demonic cultivators? Even if I die on this city wall today, you won't take a single hair from my head!"
"Stubborn fools." Yin Feng Zhenren sneered, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes. "Junior Brother Mo, why waste words with these mortals who have been bewitched by demonic cultivators? Break the formation directly, and kill anyone who dares to resist with weapons."
Mo Ku had been waiting for these words. He suddenly waved his hand and shouted, "Qingyun Sect disciples, heed my command! Form the formation and break through the city!"
"Yes!"
Hundreds of Qingyun Sect disciples roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens and the earth. They unleashed their flying swords and magical artifacts, and the sky instantly became ablaze with multicolored light. Countless dazzling yet deadly rays of light converged around the spirit boat, forming an extremely powerful torrent of spiritual energy.
At this critical moment, Han Wuhen scrambled to Guo Tianyou's side and yanked open the sandalwood box in his hand.
"Wait! Stop it, all of you!"
Han Wuhen, with his hoarse voice, raised the scroll wrapped in purple-gold silk from the box and held it high above his head.
“We have a personal edict from Lord Tuoba Hong of Dingzhou! Hongyun City is now officially designated as a ‘Major Trading Town of Dingzhou’ by the Lord’s Mansion! It is under the direct jurisdiction and protection of the Lord’s Mansion! If you dare to touch Hongyun City, it is treason and a slap in the face to the Lord’s Mansion!”
Han Wuhen's hands trembled like a leaf, but he still did his best to unroll the scroll.
On the scroll, a massive seal bearing the name "Tuoba," stamped with a mixture of demonic beast blood and cinnabar, emanated a faint aura of power in the dim light. That iron-blooded aura, born from the crucible of countless battles, instantly diluted some of the spiritual pressure emanating from the cultivators in the sky.
On the spirit boat suspended in mid-air, the disciples of the Qingyun Sect unconsciously slowed their movements upon seeing the imperial edict.
Tuoba Hong, the lord of Dingzhou, is not someone to be trifled with. He is a true peak martial arts expert, commanding tens of thousands of black-armored heavy cavalry capable of tearing apart demonic beasts. Although Qingyun Sect is the number one cultivation sect within a radius of ten thousand miles, if it were to openly and completely break ties with the lord's mansion, it would undoubtedly be a tragic end for both sides.
Mo Ku's expression changed instantly.
He stared intently at the purple-gold edict, his back teeth grinding together.
"Junior Brother Mo, what's going on?" Yin Feng Zhenren frowned. "Didn't you say this was just a city of helpless refugees? How could it be related to that madman Tuoba Hong? The blood mark on that edict can't be faked; it's definitely Tuoba Hong's handwriting."
Mo Ku's heart was now in turmoil. He had planned everything meticulously, but he hadn't expected that Zheng Yi, a mere mortal, would be able to board Tuoba Hong's ship in just a few days!
Should we withdraw our troops?
Mo Ku glanced at the black rock city walls below, as if he could see through them to the mountains of spirit stones and the legendary Purple-Gold Fire Sword within. He had already poured most of his fortune into persuading True Person Yin Feng. If he were to slink back today, he would not only become the laughingstock of the entire Qingyun Sect, but he would also be completely cut off from all future cultivation resources.
Greed ultimately and completely consumed Mo Ku's reason.
"Senior Brother Yin Feng! Don't be fooled by them!" Mo Ku suddenly turned his head, his eyes bloodshot, and roared at Han Wuhen below, "Lord Tuoba is far away in Dingzhou, how could he possibly issue a decree for a mere refugee city! This is clearly a forgery by that demonic cultivator Zheng Yi using sorcery!"
Yin Feng Zhenren narrowed his eyes and remained silent. He had lived for hundreds of years; how could he not see that the edict was genuine? But he was equally unwilling to leave empty-handed.
"The methods of demonic cultivators are full of tricks and schemes!" Seeing that Yin Feng Zhenren did not refute, Mo Ku became even bolder. He directly shouted angrily at Han Wuhen below, "You audacious monster! You actually dared to forge the Domain Lord's edict, your crime is doubled! Today, my Qingyun Sect will not only eliminate the demons, but also clean up this bunch of scum on behalf of Domain Lord Tuoba!"
Upon hearing this, Han Wuhen trembled with rage, cursing, "What utter nonsense! Mo Ku! Are you blind or heartless, you old bastard? You dare say you can't tell the difference between a real and fake Domain Lord's Seal? You're just trying to rob me!"
"You're courting death!" Mo Ku completely abandoned all pretense of civility, and with a sudden wave of his right hand, a crimson flame blade instantly materialized, carrying a scorching heat wave, and directly slashed towards the city's protective light barrier, its target being Han Wuhen, who was holding up the imperial edict.
"boom!"
The fiery blade struck the pale golden light barrier heavily, sparks flying everywhere. The barrier shook violently, but remained steadfast.
"Attack! All troops, smash this turtle shell!" Mo Ku had completely gone mad, and he issued the attack order without regard for anything else.
"kill!"
Seeing that their elder had taken the lead, the hundreds of Qingyun Sect disciples no longer hesitated. A barrage of flying swords, fireballs, ice spikes, and wind blades rained down like a storm.
"Rumble, rumble—"
Deafening explosions echoed continuously over Hongyun City. Under such a dense barrage, the pale golden light shield began to ripple violently on its surface, and its light dimmed at a visible speed.
"They're really daring! These crazy lunatics who don't care about their lives!" Zhao Sanhuai wiped the rain splashed on his face (the moisture from the attack on the shield) and roared, "Crossbowmen, get ready! As soon as the shield breaks, shoot down those flies in the sky!"
"Hold your ground! Everyone, hold your ground!" Guo Tianyou drew his sword and paced back and forth behind the crenellations. "No one is allowed to fire an arrow without my order!"
At the core of the array within the city, Elder Liu sat cross-legged on a massive bronze array platform, his brow beaded with sweat. His hands moved swiftly, forming various intricate hand seals, his face as pale as paper. Around the platform, more than a dozen boxes filled with mid-grade spirit stones were already half empty; the spiritual energy within the stones was being frantically drained, turning them into powder.
"Hold on... I have to hold on..." Elder Liu gritted his teeth, a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of his mouth. Although he had improved the formation, adding a large amount of red copper and the Huang family's resources, the formation was still being consumed faster than he had anticipated when facing the relentless bombardment of hundreds of cultivators and two half-step Golden Core and Foundation Establishment stage elders.
"Crack..."
A faint yet crisp cracking sound stood out starkly against the deafening roar.
Guo Tianyou suddenly looked up and saw a small crack appear on the light shield directly above him. Then, the crack spread rapidly like a spider web.
"The formation is about to break!" someone exclaimed.
Seeing this, Yin Feng Zhenren on the spirit boat curled his lips into a cruel sneer. He raised the bone staff in his hand, and an extremely dense black evil aura condensed at the tip of the staff, transforming into a huge black skull.
"Break for me!"
The black skull let out a piercing shriek, opened its blood-red maw, and slammed into the area with the most dense cracks on the light shield.
"Boom—crash!"
Like the loud sound of shattering glass.
The pale golden light shield finally gave way and exploded into countless points of light.
The violent aftershocks of spiritual energy and wind blades instantly swept across the city wall. Several recruits who couldn't dodge in time were sliced in half by the wind blades, their blood instantly staining the black stone bricks red.
"Shoot the arrow!!!"
Guo Tianyou's eyes were bloodshot as he roared furiously.
"Swish swish swish——"
The long-suffering garrison of Hongyun City finally erupted. Hundreds of heavy crossbows and ballistae unleashed their power simultaneously, the thick, finely crafted iron bolts tearing through the air with piercing whistles, shooting fiercely towards the cultivators in the sky like a black torrential rain.
"A mere trick! You think your mortal's scrap metal can hurt people?" Mo Ku said with disdain, casually setting up a wall of fire in front of him.
However, when the first bolt from the ballista struck the wall of fire, Moku's expression changed.
The crossbow bolt was not melted by the flames; instead, a faint, eerie blue light shimmered on its tip—a specially made arrowhead infused with the essence of red copper and some kind of armor-piercing rune.
"Pfft!"
The crossbow bolt pierced through the wall of fire, grazed Mo Ku's shoulder, and flew past, leaving a trail of blood.
"what!"
Screams echoed through the air. The lower-level disciples at the forefront hadn't taken the crossbow bolts seriously at all, until they were pierced through their spiritual energy shields and pinned to the ground, only then did they reveal expressions of disbelief and terror.
In this single volley of fire, at least twenty or thirty Qingyun Sect disciples fell off their flying swords and crashed into the Juma Ditch outside the city wall like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
"Damn it!" Yin Feng Zhenren was furious. He, a dignified inner sect elder, had led a team, yet so many of his disciples had been killed and injured by a group of mortals.
With a wave of his bone staff, dozens of pale green ghost flames crashed down like meteors onto the ballista positions on the city wall.
"Boom boom boom!"
The violent explosion shattered the heavy ballista into pieces, and the soldier operating the ballista was reduced to charred remains before he could even scream.
"Hold on! Raise your shields!" Zhao Sanhuai, his eyes red, raised his saber and cleaved away a cloud of flying sparks.
The two sides instantly engaged in an extremely fierce and brutal battle.
The aloofness of the cultivators and the fearlessness of the mortal warriors clashed on this section of the black rock city wall, creating the bloodiest sparks. Cultivators were constantly shot down by specially made heavy crossbows, and defenders were constantly blasted into pieces by magic.
Just as the defensive line on the city wall was about to be completely torn apart by the cultivator's magic, a person walked up the ramp leading to the city wall. (End of this chapter)