"Success!"
After successfully suppressing the Emperor Flame Immortal Fire, Wu Tao breathed a sigh of relief.
Following that, Wu Tao made further modifications to the great formation.
Originally, the Nàhuǒ Huàzhuǎn Grand Formation was used for differentiation and calming. After Wu Tao's modifications, it transformed into an array for detonation and aggregation.
Having completed this, Wu Tao quietly departed from Chushan City.
Three days later.
Before the army, Wu Tao smiled slightly and waved his hand backward.
"Dong dong dong dong!!!!!"
The cultivators behind him struck earth-shattering drums.
...
"Fellow Daoists of the Chu family, do you surrender or not?"
Wu Tao shouted loudly.
...
"Never! Our Chu family would rather be shattered jade than intact tiles!"
Chu Le, Chu Xiong, and other Nascent Soul stage powerhouses shouted back.
"I'll give you one last chance. Quickly open the city gates, and all past transgressions will be forgiven."
Wu Tao said with a cold, stern face.
"Hahahaha, all past transgressions forgiven? You killed our lord, attacked our city, and now you speak of this? It's rather laughable, isn't it?"
Chu Le, Chu Xiong, and other Nascent Soul stage powerhouses burst into laughter upon hearing this.
"Everyone on the city walls, those who voluntarily open the city gates will be rewarded with a million spirit stones and enfeoffed with a county."
Seeing that threats were ineffective, Wu Tao resorted to temptation.
...
Looking at Wu Tao in the distance, Chu Le, Chu Xiong, and other Nascent Soul stage powerhouses laughed even more heartily.
After all, over ninety percent of the cultivators on the city walls were from the Chu family itself.
Indeed, no matter how high Wu Tao's offer was, very few of the many cultivators on the city walls were tempted.
"Hahaha, Zhong Shan, you can even resort to such a clumsy ploy?"
Chu Le, Chu Xiong, and the other Nascent Soul stage powerhouses seized this opportunity to mock him even more loudly.
However, Wu Tao did not get angry upon hearing these words.
Everything was within his expectations. The primary reason he had spoken like this before making his move was that he did not want to destroy Chushan City, which was recognized as the foremost city in the Chu Domain.
"All cultivators on the city walls, listen up! My previous offer remains valid until Chushan City is breached!"
To maintain his facade of benevolence, Wu Tao finally uttered these words.
Wu Tao repeated the plea for surrender three times at this moment because he feared that the explosion of the giant fire vein would trigger a crustal eruption, incinerating the entire Chushan City and earning him widespread condemnation.
"Breach it? Go ahead and try! Don't just talk,"
Chu Le, Chu Xiong, and the other Nascent Soul stage powerhouses said defiantly to boost morale.
"Raise the battle standard!"
Wu Tao waved his hand and said.
The battle drums roared, shaking the heavens, and the battle flags fluttered like dark clouds pressing down on the city!
"Elder, are they truly going to attack the city now?"
A Chu family disciple of some standing asked with a frown.
Chu Le, Chu Xiong, and the other Nascent Soul stage powerhouses quickly issued orders.
At this moment, the entire Chushan City entered a state of war.
Chu Le, Chu Xiong, Chu Lie, Chu Yuxun, Chu Han, and Chu Si, six Nascent Soul stage cultivators, were on high alert.
The Chu family's elite Flying Bear Army took the front line.
Behind them were tens of thousands of Chu family cultivators.
...
Seeing this scene, Wu Tao patted his storage bag, and a treasure resembling an activation button appeared in his hand.
A cruel smile spread across Wu Tao's face.
As Wu Tao crushed the detonator in his hand, the giant fire vein, which had been flowing normally beneath Chushan City, erupted in a series of violent explosions!
This giant fire vein, which originally flowed towards the Earth's core, changed its direction and began to flow upwards.
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!!!"
A deafening roar suddenly echoed through Chushan City.
Chu Le looked back in surprise, feeling the constantly trembling city walls, and a bad premonition surged in his heart.
Before he could say anything, the ground within Chushan City underwent drastic changes.
The cultivators inside Chushan City stared with wide eyes as they witnessed it.
"Earthquake? Crustal movement?"
The earth split open!
"Crackle crackle crackle crackle crackle crackle!!!!!"
Giant cracks, resembling abysses, suddenly appeared on the ground.
This was only the beginning. Immense cracks spread from the center of Chushan City in all directions.
Within moments, the ground beneath Chushan City became riddled with holes and utterly devastated.
As time passed, large amounts of soil and rock slowly began to bulge upwards...
Most terrifyingly, the color emerging from these gaping mouths was not pitch black but a dark red.
The Chu family cultivators on the city walls, preparing to defend against the enemy, had no time to react.
Violently explosive fire attribute spiritual energy erupted from the cracks like a tide, a tsunami, a mountain flood, carrying with it a terrifying power and spraying out in full force.
Countless underground fires and lava surged up from the depths of the earth, gradually spreading throughout Chushan City.
At this moment, Chushan City was like a cauldron of boiling fire.
Innumerable ground fires and lava spewed upward, accompanied by poisonous black smoke, engulfing everything.
The Brahma Pure Fire Grand Formation, the city's protective array, known as the "Impassable Barrier Array," had guarded Chushan City for tens of millions of years without incident.
Alas, it seemed that all of this was about to disappear.
Chushan City, spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, still sat on its land, but it was now vanishing at an incredibly rapid pace.
This giant city, home to tens of millions of people, was now completely engulfed by underground flames.
What had been a peaceful Chushan City moments ago now bore little difference to a hellscape.
"Heavens, this is... this is the Earth's Eruption Tribulation..."
Chu Xiong, utterly dumbfounded, suddenly seemed to recall something. He pointed at the sea of lava and flames below and said tremblingly and stammeringly.
Approximately three hundred thousand years ago, a similar Earth's Eruption Tribulation had occurred in a neighboring fire domain.
Lava and flames surged to the ground, turning everything they touched into a sea of fire, with dust filling the sky and black smoke obscuring the sun.
It was a catastrophe that spanned half the fire domain, displacing tens of billions of people.
It must be known that during an Earth's Eruption Tribulation, not only did the flames and lava from the depths of the earth surge upwards, but there were also poisonous dusts containing terrifying fire toxins. Ordinary beings would die upon inhalation.
Even cultivators who reached the Core Formation stage could not survive. Furthermore, there were many dangerous elements within an Earth's Eruption Tribulation, some of which could even claim the lives of Nascent Soul stage powerhouses.
Upon Chu Xiong's reminder, everyone recalled the terrifying rumors, and fear appeared on their faces.
"Earth's Eruption Tribulation..."
"It really seems to be an Earth's Eruption Tribulation, my heavens?"
"How could this happen? Why would an Earth's Eruption Tribulation occur here..."
"Run, we must run! If we don't run now, we'll lose our lives."
A large group of Chu family cultivators began to chatter amongst themselves, with some already preparing to flee Chushan City.
Amidst the chaos, Chu Le took a deep breath and shouted, "Everyone, shut up!"
"The enemy is outside, watching us covetously. What's the difference between rushing out like this and throwing our lives away?"
Chu Le's words momentarily silenced the chaotic scene.
However, the next second, someone retorted.
And it was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
The speaker was none other than Chu Lie.
"Under the Earth's Eruption Tribulation, the entire Chushan City will be ravaged by flames and choked by poisonous dust. Staying here is also death. It's better to go out and take a chance; there might be a possibility of survival."
Chu Lie said with a death wish in his eyes.
...
Chu Yuxun sighed softly, parted her red lips, and spoke.
"I am certain that the Nascent Soul stage cultivator named Wu Tao must have tampered with the giant fire vein beneath our Chushan City."
"Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible for it to have been fine for tens of millions of years and suddenly have problems today."
"He is truly ruthless! Chushan City has at least tens of millions of mortals. To conquer Chushan City, he is willing to burn tens of millions of mortals to death."
An Earth's Eruption Tribulation triggered by a giant fire vein is beyond human control.
The armies outside the city also murmured amongst themselves upon witnessing this scene.
Many even cast furtive glances at Wu Tao.
Seeing Wu Tao seemingly unfazed, some astute individuals inwardly gasped and felt a sense of dread.
Of course, many more did not consider this possibility.
At least eighty percent of them were still gloating and discussing the events unfolding in Chushan City.
"The Chu family members in Chushan City are truly unlucky. The Earth's Eruption Tribulation is far more terrifying than the eruption of a thousand volcanoes."
"So it was an Earth's Eruption Tribulation. No wonder the Chu family had no time to react and even their city's protective array was destroyed."
"The Chu family has committed evil deeds and acted arrogantly for years. Isn't their current fate a cause for rejoicing?"
"Tsk tsk, it's a pity. Chushan City is probably the foremost city in the Chu Domain and is home to numerous heaven and earth spiritual treasures. After this, they will all be destroyed."
"What's wrong, aren't you happy?"
"If it weren't for this Earth's Eruption Tribulation, who knows how many brothers we would have lost trying to capture this city?"
"It's even uncertain whether you or I could have survived this siege."
...
The towering flames slowly began to cover the entire Chushan City.