Chapter 409: Chapter 403: Fierce Battle Before the Gate_1
The Sword Pavilion Pass, serving as the eastern gateway to the Kylin Domain, was exceptionally grand. Measuring a thousand zhang high and hundreds of li long, it possessed unparalleled defensive strength. Every brick of the pass wall had first been refined by an Artifact Refiner and then augmented with a Formation, rendering it exceptionally resilient. Outside the pass wall lay a Six Dragons Gold Formation, nurturing six golden dragons. After countless ages, and having absorbed nature’s spiritual energy for a hundred million years, no one knew just how powerful these six golden dragons had become. Furthermore, atop the pass walls stood tens of thousands of magic crystal cannons. Most formidable were the hundred cannon emplacements, each housing immense magic crystal cannons thousands of zhang in size. Their dark, ominous barrels radiated a dangerous aura.
Countless Disciples from the Kylin Sacred Land, clad in armor and armed with bows and arrows, stood sternly prepared. Murderous intent filled everyone’s eyes.
Lin WuFeng stood atop the pass tower, gazing down at the seemingly endless ranks of enemies outside the gate. Internally, he felt a heavy sense of foreboding. Yet, on the surface, he remained calm and composed. As the supreme commander of Sword Pavilion Pass, he had to set an example for his soldiers.
Three thousand zhang outside the pass, the Water Bear King surveyed Sword Pavilion Pass, raised his plump right hand, and coldly ordered, "Send the command! Attack the pass!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sound of war drums thundered, roaring like thunder!
The blare of horns echoed to the heavens!
"Kill!"
With the resounding cry of "Kill!", millions of alien soldiers surged with fervor. With killing intent as their armor and Evil Qi as their weapons, they pushed their movement techniques to the limit, lunging towards Sword Pavilion Pass. The entire territory of Sword Pavilion Pass began to tremble slightly.
"Relay the order! The army is to prepare for battle!"
"Relay the order! We will support the advance of the Thousand Demon Saint’s Court!"
Rong Zu and Star Lord Kai Yang looked up, their eyes gleaming with excitement. They gathered their troops, preparing to cross the hundred-li stone road. The war had begun, and they would not let the Thousand Demon Saint’s Court fight alone, for two main reasons. Firstly, the three major powers were now allied and aimed to jointly conquer the pass. Secondly, they didn’t truly trust the Thousand Demon Saint’s Court. If the Kylin Sacred Land turned out to be a paper tiger and the Thousand Demon Saint’s Court managed to seize Sword Pavilion Pass, then trying to enter the pass later would be immensely problematic.
The East Border contained over six hundred domains, but only one was a Saint-grade Domain: the Dragon Origin Land. Although the Battle of Cold Water had shaken the foundations of the Kylin Sacred Land, a starved camel is still larger than a horse. It still possessed rich Fortune, coveted by all the major sacred lands. Facing the allure of the Kylin Domain’s Fortune, they couldn’t guarantee that the Thousand Demon Saint’s Court would continue to honor the alliance. The three major powers had formed an alliance based on their inability to breach the Kylin Domain’s border defenses alone. Once Sword Pavilion Pass was breached, the alliance would become superfluous.
"Magic crystal cannons, fire!" Lin WuFeng drew his sword and commanded loudly.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...
One after another, fiery red cannonballs tore through the air, blanketing the area outside the pass. The tremendous power shattered the charging alien soldiers, reducing them to a bloody pulp. The entire battlefield looked as if it had been plowed. Fortunately, the ground outside the pass was connected to a Formation; otherwise, it would have collapsed under the artillery barrage.
The fierce bombardment didn’t make the alien troops retreat. Instead, they grew even more ferocious. Through the thick smoke, countless pairs of crimson eyes flickered, filled with bloodlust. The aliens were a savage race! The lust for slaughter flowed in their very bones. The reek of battle drove them into an utter frenzy.
"Archers, prepare!" Lin WuFeng issued another command as he watched the enemy’s continued charge.
Millions of soldiers drew their bows and nocked their arrows, their movements in perfect unison. They emanated a red glow that coalesced above them into the phantom of a Kylin, its divine light shimmering.
"ROAR!"
The Kylin phantom roared, dissolving into red light that suffused the arrows. The snow-white shafts instantly turned blood-red, radiating an extreme sharpness.
"Fire!"
At Lin WuFeng’s command, a million arrows pierced the sky.
The sky turned black!
Dense arrows, wreathed in blood-red light, rained down. With terrifying force, they pierced the charging alien soldiers, pinning them to the ground. As far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with corpses. A dense, sanguine mist rose from the corpses like vapor, swirling and morphing into myriad shapes. Its scarlet hue alone was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.
"Continue the charge!" The Water Bear King’s brow furrowed slightly. Despite the massive casualties, he chose not to order a retreat. After all, those dying were not his own tribesmen.
"Pick up the corpses! Use them as shields! Charge!"
Some of the more cunning alien soldiers used the larger corpses as shields, charging headfirst to avoid the arrows raining down from above. Indeed, this tactic drastically reduced the casualty rate among the alien soldiers.
Soon, the alien soldiers reached the walls of Sword Pavilion Pass. Their next task was to demolish the pass wall and destroy its defending Formation. In this aspect, the aliens were truly masters! Due to their physical limitations, alien tribes rarely used weapons. This put them at a disadvantage in sieges, as they couldn’t engage in long-range warfare. Their physical attributes were innate, unchangeable! But in their years of conflict with the human race, they had developed methods to destroy pass walls.
This method was the use of totem power!
Alien tribes revered their bloodlines; a nobler lineage signified more potent ancestral power. Beyond their standard battle formations, they possessed the unique ability to invoke totem power. This "totem power" involved channeling the might of their bloodline. The strongest among them could even summon ancestral phantoms to fight alongside them. Crucially, totem power could penetrate defensive Formations. However, its effects were limited to the totem’s domain and could not be projected over long distances. But for demolishing pass walls, it was remarkably effective.
"Black Tiger Tribe, summon your totem!"
"Blood Crab Tribe, summon your totem!"
"Ghost Cat Tribe, summon your totem!"
"Tianxuan Bird Tribe, summon your totem!"
As the commands rang out, multicolored Spiritual Energy erupted from all the aliens. It was intensely dazzling, exuding an ancient, wild, and formidable aura. When these auras converged, they coalesced to form numerous domains. Some domains were only several hundred zhang in size, while others spanned tens of thousands of zhang. Within each domain, a mighty totem took shape, as if stepping forth from the depths of antiquity. Wreathed in Rhymes in Dao, every movement it made exuded a kingly aura.
"Black Tiger Palm!"
"Blood Crab Claw!"
"Ghost Cat Claw..."
The totems of the various tribes began their assault, their power bypassing the defensive Formation to strike the pass wall directly. Each blow left deep gouges on its hardened surface.
"Quick, pour the burning oil!" Lin WuFeng, a seasoned commander, immediately saw through the aliens’ stratagem and urgently commanded. The Six Dragons Gold Formation was anchored to the pass wall. If the wall was destroyed, the Formation itself would disintegrate.
Soldiers, working in small groups, hastily carried buckets of oil and poured it down the pass wall. Once the oil was poured, soldiers tossed down flaming torches.
Instantly, a raging inferno erupted at the base of the pass wall, as if countless fire dragons had been unleashed. It engulfed millions of alien soldiers, their horrific screams tearing through the air. The temperature within the Void skyrocketed! Some powerful alien soldiers used their Spiritual Energy to extinguish the flames and reluctantly retreated.