Chapter 616
Gazing at the still-standing figure in the center of the battlefield
He further utilized the [Star Gathering Style], inherited from the Tongtian Secret Realm and perfected through countless battles, along with the Flowing Light Battle Blade in his hand—no ordinary spiritual weapon—combining these three elements to unleash a devastating attack far beyond ordinary imagination! Jiang Xuan judged that the enemy was numerous and that he could not afford to get bogged down in a prolonged battle. Therefore, he immediately used his strongest technique in his current state, intending to seize the initiative and crush the enemy's morale and courage in one fell swoop!
The results are remarkable!
This terrifying strike, like a thunderbolt from the heavens, struck the hearts of all the attacking cultivators! Their movements involuntarily froze for a moment, their eyes filled with fear and confusion, and their originally surging offensive came to a halt.
While you are sick, I will kill you!
How could Jiang Xuan let such a golden opportunity slip by? The azure earth energy around him surged even more violently like a storm, and his Flowing Light Battle Blade was so fierce that it emitted a humming sound that yearned to drink blood! He suddenly exerted his strength with his feet, and his figure was as fast as lightning, so he took the initiative to rush into the enemy group that was in a brief state of chaos due to shock!
"puff!"
"Crack!"
"what--!"
Blades flashed like bolts of lightning, whipping up a storm of blood and gore! Jiang Xuan's cold eyes gleamed like lightning, his figure swift as a shooting star, giving his enemies no time to react. With swift strokes of his blade and a flurry of crossbow bolts, in the blink of an eye, more than ten weaker black-clad cultivators were instantly annihilated! He was like a raging dragon, tearing a bloody gash through the dense enemy ranks, charging straight in! Wherever he went, corpses piled up; no one could withstand a single blow, his advance unstoppable!
Entering the Earthly Fiend Realm not only means that one's spiritual energy transforms into a purer and more powerful Earthly Fiend force, but also that one's application of power has reached a new level.
The power of the Earthly Gang can subtly connect with the earth beneath his feet, condensing the great power of mountains and rivers. Although it is only the initial stage, it has already made his foundation far surpass that of ordinary Earthly Gang realm cultivators. His strength, speed, and reaction are all incomparable!
However, Jiang Xuan was not a reckless and impulsive man.
His eyes were as calm as ice. Even amidst high-speed movement and slaughter, he still accurately assessed the situation, made judgments, and specifically targeted the weak points in the enemy's formation and those cultivators who hesitated out of fear.
To conserve his precious energy for dealing with potentially stronger enemies, he frequently used the spirit weapon crossbows he had previously captured and stockpiled. At close range, these powerful crossbow bolts were almost always accurate, becoming efficient tools for reaping lives.
On the other hand, the black-clad cultivators, despite their large numbers, were hampered by their dense formation. They dared not use large-scale spiritual techniques or crossbow bolts for fear of accidentally injuring their comrades. They could only grit their teeth and rush forward one after another, trying to wear down Jiang Xuan with sheer numbers, creating a cruel situation of exchanging lives for lives!
"asshole!!"
In the distance, Xiao Mu watched Jiang Xuan charge in and out of his own camp like a tiger among sheep, unstoppable. His eyes widened in fury, and he was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
He clutched his still-bleeding neck, his voice tinged with shock and disbelief.
"He...he has definitely advanced to the Earthly Fiend Realm! But his combat power...how can it be so terrifying? It's simply...it's almost on par with some who have just entered the Spirit Sea Realm!"
The man in the straw hat had an equally grim expression. He stared intently at Jiang Xuan's figure, which kept flashing through the crowd, each flash bringing with it a splash of blood, and gritted his teeth.
"Don't forget, he was the top scorer in the provincial examination of the Southwest Province! One of only thirty-four outstanding young talents in the entire empire! Even when he was in the Human Realm, he repeatedly caused us heavy losses. Now that he has entered the Earth Realm... this kid is simply a monster!"
Seeing Jiang Xuan fighting more and more fiercely, and knowing that he might actually be able to fight his way out of the encirclement, the man in the bamboo hat could no longer remain calm.
"We can't let him get away! Xiao Mu, immediately send a message to mobilize the teams that have sealed off other areas to converge on this place! Even if it costs us all our lives, we must keep him here!"
Xiao Mu shouted urgently, his voice distorted.
A fierce and resolute glint flashed in the eyes of the man in the straw hat. He suddenly pulled out a strangely shaped, pale white whistle from his pocket, which looked like it had been polished from the bones of some ferocious beast, and gritted his teeth.
"Relying solely on ground forces would result in too many losses, and we probably really can't stop this monster! He's not at the Spirit Sea Realm, so he can't escape by flying! It seems we have no choice but to use our last resort!"
He took a deep breath, brought the bone whistle to his lips, gathered his spiritual energy, and blew it loudly!
"Waaaaaah—!!!!!"
A shrill, piercing whistle, seemingly capable of piercing the clouds and unlike any human voice, suddenly rang out and echoed far and wide! This whistle carried a strange penetrating power, as if issuing a command of destruction to some terrifying being hidden higher up!
"We must deploy the Ziying warship for an air strike! Only the warship's main guns can completely cover and flatten this area! Only then can we ensure that we kill him without fail!"
The man in the straw hat put down the bone whistle and stared at the figure still maneuvering in the center of the battlefield, his eyes filled with madness and cold killing intent.
"We must deploy the Ziying warship for an air strike! Only the warship's main guns can completely cover and flatten this area! Only then can we ensure that we kill him without fail!"
The man in the straw hat put down the bone whistle and stared at the figure still maneuvering in the center of the battlefield, his eyes filled with madness and cold killing intent.
In the center of the battlefield, Jiang Xuan fought fiercely, surrounded by mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
His goal was extremely clear: not to get entangled with these ground enemies, but to be like an incomparably sharp dagger, fiercely piercing through the enemy formation and charging towards the undulating, densely forested mountain range behind the official road.
He knew perfectly well that the enemy had clearly come out in full force, intending to annihilate him completely not far from Huanglong City. Even with his recent breakthrough to the Earthly Realm and his formidable foundation, a head-on confrontation would eventually exhaust him.
The immediate priority was to break through the encirclement, then use the complex terrain to maneuver against the enemy and gradually take action. He trod on the warm corpses and sticky blood of the enemy, each step splashing blood, and every swing of his gleaming sword inevitably brought forth a shower of blood and screams.
Just as he was advancing with unstoppable momentum, about to break through the encirclement and disappear into the shadows at the edge of the forest—
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A terrifying roar, like rolling thunder, suddenly resounded from the sky! This sound did not come from nature, but was the heart-palpitating roar of some behemoth crushing the void and tearing through the clouds!
Jiang Xuan looked up abruptly and saw five enormous ships hurtling towards the battlefield in the distance, crashing through layers of clouds with an incomparably ruthless manner!
Each of them was a hundred feet long, with a dark purple hull. The dense spiritual patterns on the hull flowed like living things, radiating a cold, murderous, and suffocating pressure! These were the Purple Ying warships mobilized by the Chi family! And not just one, but a full five!
Jiang Xuan's heart sank! He knew the power of the Purple Ying warship better than anyone else, after all, he had personally participated in part of the design of this new model! A full-force shot from the main cannon of this warship was enough to threaten or even kill a Spirit Sea Realm expert! Five ships deployed at once were equivalent to facing an aerial encirclement by five Spirit Sea Realm beings simultaneously! The danger of escaping instantly increased several times over!
As the five warships approached like primordial beasts, the hatred that had been building up in Jiang Xuan's chest for so long—hatred for the Chi family's disregard for human life and their willingness to do anything to kill him—flamed up like dry tinder!
But he forced himself to remain calm; the more critical the moment, the clearer his mind had to be. At this moment, his only thought was escape! He absolutely could not be trapped in this relatively open area and become a sitting duck for the warship's main guns!
At the same time, the remaining black-clad cultivators on the ground seemed to have received some kind of instruction. The horn of attack suddenly changed, becoming short and urgent—a signal to retreat! The surviving cultivators were relieved and no longer cared about besieging Jiang Xuan. They retreated like a tide, obviously to avoid being accidentally injured by the incoming warship fire.
A thought flashed through Jiang Xuan's mind for a moment—if he didn't retreat but instead charged into the enemy ranks and fought them hand-to-hand, would that make the warships hesitate to fire?
However, this idea was ruthlessly shattered by reality as soon as it arose!
"Om-!"
A massive, dazzling beam of light, imbued with destructive power, shot out from the turret of one of the Purple Hero warships like a punitive spear hurled by a god, precisely covering an area near where Jiang Xuan had just stood!
"Do not--!"
"Why?! We're still here..."
The dozen or so black-clad cultivators who hadn't had time to completely evacuate the area only had time to let out desperate and incredulous roars before they were instantly vaporized in the blinding light, leaving not a trace behind! All that remained was a charred crater over a hundred feet in diameter and bottomless, with the soil and rocks at the edges melted into a glassy state by the high temperature!
Jiang Xuan's pupils constricted sharply, and his back was instantly soaked with cold sweat! The enemy was sparing no expense, completely disregarding even the lives of their own people! They regarded this encirclement and annihilation as a final, decisive battle that could not be lost! Either they succeeded, or... they, the executors, would likely face severe punishment!
There can be no more wishful thinking!
"Whoosh!"
Jiang Xuan pushed his speed to the limit, ignoring the scattered enemies fleeing in all directions. He transformed into a blurry black lightning bolt and plunged into the depths of the dense forest! Relying on his agile movements and the powerful strength brought by his Earthly Martial Realm, he leaped between thick tree trunks, crushing the occasional corpses and limbs beneath his feet, and desperately charged deeper into the forest at top speed!
"Target location locked!"
"Full speed ahead! We can't let him escape using the mountains and forests!"
"Main guns charging! Secondary guns firing freely, covering the area!"
High in the sky, the five massive Purple Ying warships resembled five floating death fortresses, their cold hulls adjusting their course and firmly locking onto Jiang Xuan, who was moving at high speed through the forest.
The combined pressure emanating from them was like a solid mountain, pressing heavily on one's heart, ten or even a hundred times more terrifying than the oppressive feeling brought by Xue Jin's dilapidated treasure ship back then!
As Jiang Xuan ran, information about the warship flashed through his mind.
Forged by the empire's most elite team of spirit pattern masters, their power has indeed altered the balance of power among cultivators to some extent. A skilled Human罡 Realm cultivator, proficient in maneuvering a warship, could indeed potentially kill a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator by leveraging the warship's strength!
Most of the Empire's powerful warships are controlled by high-ranking officials and military forces, and are in fact mostly owned by members of various powerful clans. The six Purple Elite warships that the Chi family has deployed this time are the latest models crafted by the Imperial Divine Crafts Institute, representing one of the Empire's highest achievements in the field of spirit-patterned warships!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Without further hesitation, the five warships unleashed destructive beams of light from their menacing cannons! These beams of light, like comets falling from the sky, carried terrifying power capable of burning mountains and boiling seas, and poured down upon the area where Jiang Xuan was located!
In an instant, vast swathes of primeval forest were reduced to ashes in the light, and raging flames soared into the sky! The ground was blasted into shocking craters, soil was churned up, rocks crumbled, and the entire forest seemed to be wailing in agony!
Amidst the dense, overwhelming artillery fire, Jiang Xuan's figure was like a small boat in a storm, or a reptile caught in a net, relying solely on his extraordinary senses and extreme speed to dodge each and every one of the most perilous maneuvers!
He changed positions seven or eight times in succession, barely managing to avoid the first few rounds of the most intense bombardment.
However, the warships' firepower is getting stronger and stronger, and their coverage area is getting wider and wider!
"Oh!"
In a near-perfect sidestep, a blazing beam of light grazed his back and slammed into him! Although he wasn't directly hit, the terrifying heat and shockwave from the exploding beam still slammed into his back like a giant hammer!
"puff!"
Jiang Xuan felt a sweet taste in his throat, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. He was thrown forward like a kite with a broken string, and his internal organs were torn apart by excruciating pain! But he gritted his teeth and used the huge recoil to forcefully adjust his posture in mid-air. After landing, his speed did not decrease but increased, and he ran forward even more frantically!
Ahead, the trees began to thin out, and a relatively open slope could be vaguely seen in the distance.
This means he is about to break out of the forest's coverage area, but at the same time, it also means that his figure will be completely exposed under the unshielded sky, and facing the lock-on of five Purple Ying warships will be even more dangerous!
But he had no choice!
At this moment, Jiang Xuan's clothes were already tattered from the battle and artillery fire. His exposed skin was covered with charred marks and fine wounds, especially his back, which was a bloody mess, with blood mixed with dust and sweat constantly flowing down.
His appearance was utterly disheveled, yet his face, covered in soot, showed no trace of panic or fear. Only his eyes remained astonishingly bright, burning with an unyielding and resolute flame, and deeper within them lay an extreme calm, like a still autumn lake, honed by countless life-and-death trials, especially the profound torture of death he had endured in the "Hundred Battles Secret Realm."
Driven by his will to survive, Jiang Xuan unleashed his potential. The power of the Earthly Qi within him roared, his blood boiled, and his speed increased once more.
Five Purple Elite warships pursued closely, their spirit-patterned cannons unleashing full firepower. The beams of light were terrifying, shattering the earth and reducing rocks to dust; wherever Jiang Xuan passed, the land was riddled with holes. The warships' combat methods were simplistic, requiring cultivators to operate them, which provided Jiang Xuan with an opportunity to escape. However, he found no escape route and could only continue advancing. (End of Chapter)