Chapter 785: The Battle Begins!
Ten successive spell formations protected the Blood Demon Sect. When the 200,000 Southern Domain cultivators inside heard Pill Demon’s proclamation, they opened their eyes from meditation. Their eyes were still bloodshot; their righteous ardor had by no means evaporated.
Although they had been able to rest for a few days, their minds were like taut bowstrings that had not relaxed in the least. Everyone was waiting… for the final battle to begin.
Now the moment was upon them.
No one spoke. The sound of their breathing formed a thunderous, reverberating echo. Each and every cultivator exuded a murderous air. All of it mixed together into a shocking aura that caused everything to tremble.
In this battle, there would be nowhere to retreat to!
In this battle, the ultimate frenzy of the Southern Domain would be unleashed!
In this battle, defeat meant death, and victory meant a chance for life!
No one was confident that they would be alive after the battle was over. Not even Patriarch Song and the other powerful experts had such faith. However, in a battle of this scale, between two major territories and hundreds of thousands of cultivators, anything was possible.
They sat there, taciturn. Many removed jade slips from their robes and inscribed them with their most consummate and powerful abilities, then applied blood curses to ensure that anyone who studied such arts in the future would be forced to view the Northern Reaches cultivators as their ultimate archenemies.
Some people produced magical treasures or other arcane heirlooms that represented important memories. They held them in their hands and stared at them, murmuring.
They appeared to be… making their farewells….
Meng Hao sat motionless in Blood Prince Gorge. During these days of rest, he did not practice cultivation. As for the Blood Demon Grand Magic, it was not fully complete. He still lacked some souls harvested from battle.
He sat there in the same spot where he had held Xu Qing, his mind a blank. It almost seemed as if his aura had vanished.
Time pa.s.sed. On the evening of the second day since Pill Demon’s proclamation, the Southern Domain cultivators’ breathing had grown even louder and hoa.r.s.er. It sounded like m.u.f.fled thunder, echoing about. As before, no one spoke.
Finally… a black streak appeared far off on the horizon!
Soon, it became apparent that the shocking black streak was actually countless Northern Reaches cultivators!
They shot through the air, hundreds of thousands of them, bursting with energy. The clouds churned due to their pa.s.sage, and rumbling echoed out across all the lands.
The ground quaked as the two giants in golden armor ran, stepping over entire mountains with each stride. The mere sight was terrorizing. The three wraiths flew through the air surrounded by swirling emerald mist. Wherever they pa.s.sed, the living things down below died, and the mountain peaks appeared to melt.
Up in front were the six peak Dao Seeking experts, led by the Clan Chief of the Imperial Bloodline Clan. They streaked through the sky, looking almost like a gigantic talon, ready to rip the sky asunder.
The Southern Domain cultivators looked up. They put away the jade slips and the precious heirlooms, and stopped thinking about loved ones. As of this moment, they cleared their minds and allowed the desire for battle to burn hot and bright.
“Fight!”
It was hard to say who said it first, but the cry spread quickly. They had been suppressing themselves for days, and now they could finally vent. The roars grew louder.
“Fight!!”
“FIGHT!!!!” One by one, the Southern Domain cultivators rose to their feet. Their roaring caused the sky to dim as an explosive murderous air surged up, pa.s.sing out through the spell formations to contend with the energy of the Northern Reaches cultivators.
Rumbling filled the air as the energy from the hundreds of thousands of cultivators fought against each other. It was an invisible conflict, but casualties were still inflicted. The Northern Reaches cultivators stopped in place, and there were even some with blood oozing from their mouths. It was the same with the Southern Domain forces.
Suddenly, a cold voice echoed out from the Northern Reaches forces.
“Central regiment, advance! Flanking regiments, form into a blade! Summon the Immortal Gate to smash the entire place flat!” The voice came from a veiled woman who floated cross-legged within the green wraith mist.
In response to her words, three regiments split from the army of hundreds of thousands of Northern Reaches cultivators. The central regiment numbered 100,000, and advanced directly forward. The two flanking regiments had 50,000 cultivators each, and formed together into something that looked like sharp blades that shot forward.
Simultaneously, a rift suddenly opened up above in the sky. An enormous golden door emerged, which then smashed down toward the ground.
The two mountain-like giants in golden armor leapt forward, howling as they stretched their arms out to catch the enormous golden door, which they then hefted on their shoulders!
The door slowly opened to reveal a void of primal chaos, within which was a giant, green tree.
The tree slowly began to emerge from the door, and an ancient, archaic aura spread out to fill the land. It was shocking to the extreme.
“Activate the formations!” said Patriarch Song. Rumbling could be heard as the ten spell formations began to rotate. Innumerable illusory spirit swords flew out, blotting out the sky as they shot toward the Northern Reaches cultivators.
“Break that formation,” the woman in the green mist said indifferently.
Instantly, the two giants with the door on their shoulders began to run toward the Southern Domain’s spell formations. More of the enormous tree had emerged from the door, roughly three hundred meters worth.
The two giants possessed extraordinary strength, and were incapable of being obstructed. In the blink of an eye, they were right on top of the Southern Domain cultivators’ tenth spell formation, which they struck with the gigantic tree.
A boom rang out, and cracking sounds could be heard. The tenth spell formation was completely incapable of withstanding the attack, and shattered into pieces.
Inside the spell formation perimeter, Patriarch Song’s and Patriarch Golden Frost’s faces fell.
“What is that!?”
“It"s a Formation Breaking Tree!” said Pill Demon, his face grim. “The Northern Reaches has access to profound resources. I can’t believe they still have one of those trees left!” Even as the words left his mouth, the two giants strode toward the ninth spell formation, followed by a ma.s.sive wave that was the Northern Reaches army. Hundreds of thousands of cultivators prepared to inundate the Southern Domain forces.
At the same time, five of the six peak Dao Seeking experts up in midair flew forward at top speed toward the ninth spell formation. They reached it in the blink of an eye, and employed divine abilities as they joined the two giants in attacking it.
A moment later, the land trembled and the sky filled with rumbling as the the ninth spell formation was destroyed, and then the eighth. When the seventh formation was destroyed, a destructive power hidden within it was unleashed that transformed into an explosive shockwave which roared outwards.
The giants bearing the golden door were incapable of fighting back against the attack. Trembling, they were forced back about three hundred meters. Many of the Northern Reaches cultivators behind them were incapable of standing up to the attack and were destroyed in body and spirit.
As the attack power spread out, the five peak Dao Seeking experts immediately sprang into action. Colorful divine abilities were employed, causing the ground to tremble, and the attacking power to dissipate….
“Charge!” roared Patriarch Song. He, along with Pill Demon and Patriarch Golden Frost, flew out, followed by five Spirit Severing experts and the 200,000 Southern Domain cultivators. This was the opening salvo of the final battle!
Pill Demon and the others headed toward the five peak Dao Seeking experts. Patriarch Song and Patriarch Golden Frost could only fight one enemy at a time, but Pill Demon had two lives worth of cultivation backing him. Although the magical symbols constraining him had not been fully removed, his peak Dao Seeking power far exceeded that of the other two.
When he attacked, the song of a great Dao swirled around him. A pill furnace materialized that seemed capable of refining Heaven and Earth, which he immediately sent against the effeminate Northern Reaches cultivator. At the same time, he waved his sleeve, enveloping the white-robed man who looked like a hopping vampire.
Booms filled the air as the three Southern Domain peak Dao Seeking cultivators waded into battle.
Unfortunately, the Northern Reaches had sent five peak Dao Seeking experts. There was still one left that could not be obstructed. That was the obese woman, who grinned as she shot toward Patriarch Song with a lethal attack.
However, even as she shot forward in attack, her scalp suddenly went numb and her face fell. She stopped in place and then retreated as a wooden sword suddenly materialized and slashed through the s.p.a.ce where she had just been. The sword glittered with the power of Time, which caused the air around it to suddenly pa.s.s through tens of thousands of years of time.
“Who is it?!” she thought.
Meng Hao’s second true self stepped out of thin air. He waved his hand, causing hundreds of magical symbols to appear, and a spell formation shaped like a parasol shot toward the woman.
The woman opened her mouth and spit out a writhing mist that transformed into the shape of a wild beast. It charged toward Meng Hao’s second true self, and rumbling sounds filled the air. The woman’s face flickered. She was not an ordinary peak Dao Seeking cultivator; she exceeded that. Normally, she could easily slay other peak Dao Seeking experts. She could never have imagined that she would meet someone here who was not weaker than her.
“So you’re Meng Hao?” she asked. She wasn’t the only one who had such thoughts. The effeminate man who was fighting Pill Demon looked over. The leader of the Northern Reaches, who had been observing the battle instead of fighting, also glanced over.
“That’s Meng Hao’s clone!” said the old man that looked like a hopping vampire.
Booming could be heard as the peak-level experts’ battle unfolded in midair.
At the same time, the five Spirit Severing experts whistled through the air down below. Unfortunately, the Northern Reaches had sent seven Spirit Severing cultivators to block their way.
Five battles quickly broke out as the remaining two Northern Reaches Spirit Severing experts heading toward the ordinary cultivators from the Southern Domain with evil gleams in their eyes.
On the battlefield, no one discriminated regarding cultivation base, not when it came to killing. Battles were won or lost depending on how many of the enemy you could kill.
It was at this point that the cross-legged woman in the mist once again spoke out coldly.
“Three Elders of the Northern Sky, please make your move.”
Immediately, the three wraiths in the mist began to cackle. Surrounded by swirling mists, they shot down toward the Southern Domain cultivators. Their eyes shone with mysterious light and bloodthirsty intent, as if they planned to consume the life forces of as many cultivators as possible.
The situation did not look good for the Southern Domain. However, there were still spell formations left standing. With that foundation, it was always possible to fall back to safety.
And yet, there still seemed little hope for victory. The most powerful expert from the Northern Reaches still hadn’t made a move yet.
As the three wraiths descended like death toward the Southern Domain’s main army, Meng Hao sat in Blood Prince Gorge. He saw what was happening, and the blankness left his eyes. A blood-like glow suddenly appeared, and then he vanished.
When he reappeared, he was in the middle of the battlefield!