Chapter 1 A Barrage of Enchanted Arrows
After the first enchanted arrow was shot, a series of twangs followed, echoing one after another.
An untold number of enchanted arrows rained down, dense as a swarm, blotting out the sun and sky!
The sound of tearing air, "chichichi," layered upon itself.
Each enchanted arrow that landed inevitably detonated in a burst of fire, its immense power far exceeding that of ordinary talismans.
...
Every soldier of the Yellow Crystal Pangolin Army wielded an enchanted bow, unleashing a relentless volley of triple shots. One wave nocked arrows, another prepared, and a third loosed them, almost without pause.
Wherever the enchanted arrows could reach, no cultivator could survive.
The counterattacks launched by the defending cultivators were blocked by a yellowish-brown aura emanating from the Yellow Crystal Pangolin Army.
This was the terrifying might of cultivators formed into an army; once their battle formation was set, their defense increased exponentially, and their offensive power was greatly amplified.
After a wave of arrow rain, the thousand-strong Yellow Crystal Pangolin Army, like starving wolves smelling fresh meat, raised their butcher knives against the thoroughly routed defending cultivators.
The battle blades, top-grade magical artifacts, gleamed with a bone-chilling cold light, accompanied by soul-stirring shrieks as they spun and slashed!
Large heads soared skyward, trailing trails of warm blood.
Even the most resolute cultivator would break under the pressure of such futile, suicidal actions.
This was especially true after watching hundreds of their companions annihilated in mere seconds.
In an instant, all the defending cultivators fled.
Only Liu Shou Song, gravely wounded, stood with a cold, resolute expression, devoid of fear.
Seeing Gong Liang Yue approaching with a thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers, Liu Shou Song let out a bitter laugh and declared loudly, "As a member of the Liu Imperial Clan, Liu Shou Song dies today, a coward who flees will not be found!"
Upon hearing Liu Shou Song's words, the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers began to unleash their spiritual energy with full force. They raised their battle blades, spears, enchanted bows, and enchanted arrows. All their killing intent and spiritual energy merged into one, creating a truly astonishing display.
Although Gong Liang Yue respected Liu Shou Song's disregard for life and death, he showed no mercy in his actions.
Admiration aside, the fight had to be fought.
...
Just as Gong Liang Yue was about to cleave off Liu Shou Song's head, he suddenly sensed something. He looked up at the sky but saw nothing.
However, a growing unease settled in Gong Liang Yue's heart, as if something terrifying lurked in the dark, unseen night.
It felt as though an invisible danger lay in wait in the sky, poised to strike.
"Something's wrong, halt everyone!"
Gong Liang Yue, with a sense of urgency, ordered the Yellow Crystal Pangolin Army to stop.
After all, the Yellow Crystal Pangolin Army was the most elite force of their Gong Liang family; its loss here would be a tremendous blow.
"Do you feel that something is off? There isn't a single star in the sky, and there are no dark clouds today."
Gong Liang Yue gazed suspiciously at the pitch-black sky above, which felt as heavy and solid as lead.
"Boom boom boom boom boom!!!!!"
The sky tore open.
Continuous, thunderous roars rolled in, followed by the sensation that the entire sky was pressing down and sinking!
Looking up from the ground, it was as if the heavens were collapsing!
Amidst the swirling winds and surging clouds, earth-shattering rumblings shook the heavens and earth. Ship after ship of terrifying, flame-yellow warships emerged from the darkness, soaring and weaving through the sky like colossal nine-clawed golden dragons.
A high-pitched, icy voice rang out, as if an Emperor from a celestial palace was looking down upon the ants below, issuing a judgment with the weight of divine decree!
"Rebellious ministers and traitors, how dare you conspire and rebel? You court death!"
"By the decree of the Imperial Court, the Yan Han Fleet has specifically arrived to eliminate these rebels."
The darkness was dispelled as the massive hulls of the Yan Han Fleet gradually revealed their outlines. Row upon row of black turrets were aimed downwards, ready for pinpoint strikes at any moment.
Gong Liang Yue and the thousand-strong Yellow Crystal Pangolin Army, along with cultivators from other factions, all looked up, dumbfounded, at the Yan Han Fleet floating upside down in the sky.
Gazing at the Yan Han Fleet, whose sheer size was incomprehensible, all the cultivators on the ground were utterly stunned.
As he looked at each Yan Han warship suspended in the sky, Gong Liang Yue's pupils contracted slightly. As the head of a second-tier family, he was well aware of the terrifying power of Yan Han warships.
Without a moment's hesitation, Gong Liang Yue immediately led the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers to burrow underground, attempting to preserve this elite fighting force.
Unfortunately, it was no longer his decision to make. He could not escape even if he wanted to.
Over a dozen Yan Han warships began to vibrate violently. A flame-red spiritual light flowed up and down their hulls.
The Yan Han warships, operating at full capacity, accelerated at an unimaginable speed!
Unlike human bodies, warships could unleash several times, even hundreds of times, their usual power under special circumstances.
Especially when the spiritual stone furnaces within the warships continuously burned spiritual stones, the vessels would surge with endless, boundless energy, ensuring an inexhaustible supply of power.
In this regard, the Yan Han warships were at least a full tier above the warships newly assembled by Wu Tao!
The Yan Han warships, being the highest-grade vessels, towered over all others, their mighty divine power cascading downwards, unstoppable.
"Kill them all, leave no one alive."
After the fleet commander uttered these cold words.
More than a dozen Yan Han warships moved as one, as if the heavens and earth were collapsing. The surrounding void began to buckle and fracture, then burst into nothingness with a roar.
"Retreat!!!"
"Run quickly!"
"It'll be too late if we don't run now!"
"Damn it, the Liu Imperial Clan truly intends to kill everyone..."
"Don't block my path..."
"If only I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have gotten involved..."
On the ground, over ten thousand cultivators, finally snapping back to reality, scattered in all directions, believing they could escape.
Unfortunately, they were mistaken.
They could not escape.
...
Prohibitory runes flickered as the annihilation-class top-grade magical artifact cannons on the Yan Han warships began to activate.
"Boom boom boom!!"
The dense barrage of fire shattered the earth, its terrifying might capable of destroying the heavens and earth once more, reducing them to primordial chaos!
Explosion after explosion erupted, scattering flames.
In the face of the annihilation-grade artillery fire, all was destroyed. Immense power spread out, forming colossal mushroom clouds that billowed into the sky.
These over ten thousand cultivators, without so much as a ripple, were annihilated without any resistance. In the span of a single incense stick's time, they were reduced to ashes, scattered across the heavens and earth.
...
After dealing with these cultivators, immense suction forces emanated from the undersides of the dozen or so Yan Han warships, as if they were trying to extract something.
This irresistible suction force, with unimaginable speed, forcibly pulled the thousand-strong Yellow Crystal Pangolin Army, which had burrowed deep underground, out into the open.
"Ah!!!"
"How is this possible? How can you possess such immense power to pull us out from deep underground?"
Gong Liang Yue and the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers let out terrified roars in unison.
Even if the Yan Han Fleet had arrived, they wouldn't have been afraid. After all, even if they couldn't win, they could still escape.
And the Yellow Crystal Pangolin Army, if nothing else, was unparalleled in their ability to burrow underground and flee.
It was with this thought in mind that Gong Liang Yue had dared to lead the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers to attack Su Xing City so brazenly.
How could he have ever imagined that the Yan Han Fleet possessed such terrifying power, capable of extracting them from beneath the earth?
Sensing that escape was impossible, Gong Liang Yue gritted his teeth and glanced back at the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers behind him. He decided to make a final stand.
"Hmph!!!"
"So what if we can't defeat you? Today, even if I die, I will take a few of you down with me."
"Just because you have warships doesn't make you invincible. I'm not afraid of you. Today, I'll see who lives and who dies."
Facing a desperate situation, Gong Liang Yue did not truly despair.
At this moment, he and the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers behind him were united in spirit, spiritual energy, and killing intent.
Although he was only a cultivator in the middle Nascent Soul stage, with the support of the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers, even a powerful cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage would have to die if they encountered him now.
Gong Liang Yue's eyes gleamed with divine light, his battle spirit and killing intent reaching their peak.
"First-Grade Divine Ability - Houtu Crystal Breaking Blade!!"
Empowered by the battle formation, the strength of the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers merged with Gong Liang Yue.
The first-grade divine ability he unleashed this time contained the supreme power of the earth, capable of splitting heaven and earth.
The blade light was further intertwined with countless yellow energies. The strike unleashed was so powerful it altered the very colors of the sky, as if the earth itself was ascending above the heavens...
...
"Presumptuous."
"Today, I will let you traitors witness the true might of the Yan Han Fleet, the pride of my Liu Imperial Clan."
The fleet commander, upon seeing this, let out a disdainful snort and said.
Immediately after, over a dozen Yan Han warships unleashed their full firepower, not by firing their cannons, but by activating their restrictive formations with all their might.
One by one, the Yan Han warships accelerated like meteors towards the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers.
As they collided, Fleet Commander Liu Po's mouth curved into a cold smile; it was clear he was supremely confident.
Gong Liang Yue and the thousand Yellow Crystal Pangolin soldiers, relying on their battle formation to launch their ultimate attack, struck the hulls of the Yan Han warships. Their attack visibly twisted and instantly collapsed, shattering into countless fragments.