122: Chapter 122 Asura's Counterattack, a Grinding Mill of Flesh and Blood

Wang Shan's words, "Martial Ancestor, nothing more than that," spread throughout the army Formation, and the Battle Intent, previously suppressed by high-level pressure, surged onto the wasteland.

Twenty thousand armored soldiers struck their heavy shields with the backs of their blades, the sound wave pressing toward the opposite bank of the Blood River. The Asura Survivors carried their wounded back into the mountain path, with no units turning back to charge the Formation.

Wang Mu opened the wartime ledger, checking off casualties, Medicinal Pill, Formation Plate, and artillery shell inventory one by one.

"Those with heavy injuries retreat to the passage; the Extreme Realm units rest for six hours. The Artillery Battalion will change the Formation patterns; the vanguard must not pursue into unfamiliar terrain."

Wang Shan's breastplate still had a crack, but he didn't argue after hearing the military order, simply handing his broken crimson flame saber to the Casting Battalion for emergency repairs.

The body of the Martial Ancestor commander had his Qi and blood sealed by the Formation Hall; the nether bone mysterious armor, broken blade, and residual Law were all dismantled and sent to the Hundred Arts Hall in the rear for research.

Six hours later, the Medical Cultivator Camp completed the triage of the wounded, the second generation nether-bone xuan armor had its damaged bone patterns replenished, and the army Formation regained its ability to advance.

Wang Mu first sent scouting Cultivators to search along the Blood River, confirming there were no blood caves or detonating Formation patterns at the bottom of the water before the Engineering Battalion began erecting three pontoon bridges.

When the vanguard crossed the river, the shield soldiers maintained a three-layered defense line throughout. The Artillery Battalion built positions relying on the high ground of the riverbank, locking their cannons onto the barren mountains and valley entrance on the opposite bank, then followed the army Formation in batches.

The Asura Survivors did not come to intercept; bone horns sounded intermittently from the distance, and each time they rang, the position was further away.

Crossing the Blood River, the terrain rose on both sides, the red plain gradually narrowed, and only one canyon leading to the hinterland of the fragments remained ahead.

The cliffs on both sides of the canyon were hundreds of zhang high, dark red rock layers covered with traces of excavation, and dense caves lined up from the foot of the mountain to the top of the cliff.

The scouting team approached the valley entrance, but there were no footsteps inside the caves, and the Asura scouts responsible for patrolling did not appear either.

A Formation Cultivator placed a Spirit-detecting Plate on the ground, and the scale on the plate turned directly to the maximum. A massive amount of blood Qi was hidden inside the cliff walls, the number impossible to determine clearly.

"There is an ambush in the valley; the left and right cliffs are full of Asura. There are also large blood cores in the depths. Once the legion enters the valley, it will be attacked from both sides."

Wang Mu took the Spirit-detecting Plate and looked at it for a few moments, ordering the Formation Hall to map the canyon terrain and mark all cave locations on the wartime Formation map.

Bypassing the canyon would require traveling more than two thousand li, and they would have to pass through the Blood Sand Zone where residual Laws gathered; the heavy artillery carried by the legion could not pass through.

This canyon was both a passage and the core defense line that the Asura Survivors were determined to hold. Retreated to this point, they were already prepared to trade their lives to seal the road.

Wang Pingan's will hung high in the sky, his Divine Thought passing through layers of rock walls, confirming that the back of the canyon connected to the outer cities of the Asura race.

To enter the fragment hinterland, this defense line had to be broken through head-on. Detouring would only expose the logistics and the Artillery Battalion to the Blood Sand Zone.

Wang Mu mobilized the twenty thousand main combat troops to close the Formation lines, the Artillery Battalion followed in batches relying on the valley entrance, and three thousand shield soldiers formed the Immovable Wisdom King Army Formation to enter the valley first.

Wang Shan put on the repaired nether bone mysterious armor again, and the crimson flame saber had its spare blade body replaced. He walked to the center of the vanguard, checking the shield buckles and Formation positions one by one.

"Lock the shield buckles tight. Enemies might come from overhead, underfoot, or the cliff walls. No unauthorized pursuit after entering the valley; anyone who dares to leave the Formation will receive military lashes upon returning."

The team advanced to the middle of the canyon; there was still no movement from the left and right cliffs, but the Asura blood patterns on the ground were becoming denser.

The blood patterns extended along the stone crevices toward the depths; every time the Formation Maintenance Team discovered one, they would cleanse it with pure yang fire liquid before nailing in a Spirit-sealing Formation Nail.

When the last heavy cannon entered the canyon, dozens of giant rocks rolled down from the mountain pass ahead, blocking the road to the hinterland.

The valley entrance behind them also collapsed at the same moment. The pre-hollowed rock layers smashed toward the Artillery Battalion, and the outer defensive Formation curtain was pressed to less than ten zhang above the gun mounts.

Wang Mu raised the command flag, and nine sets of second-tier Formation diagrams jointly supported the top of the valley. The Formation Cultivators pulled the falling stones, pushing them to both sides of the army Formation.

Long howls came from the depths of the cliff walls, blood-colored light lit up in thousands of caves, and the Asura Survivors hidden within leaped down in groups.

These Asuras abandoned their armor, their bodies carved with blood-burning patterns, their eyes covered by blood Qi, and heat rising from their flesh.

They waved war blades in mid-air, and many held fist-sized blood cores in their arms, charging straight at the center of the army Formation.

"Form a circular Formation, raise shields to seal the top! Blade soldiers guard the second layer, spear soldiers focus on killing those carrying blood cores, everyone hold the Formation base!"

As the military order fell, the three thousand shield soldiers closed inward. Heavy shields stacked from the ground to the top, shielding the twenty thousand armored soldiers into the circular Formation.

The first batch of berserk Asuras smashed onto the shield top, blood blades scraping across the shield surface, dragging out sheets of sparks. The impact pressed down, and the front row of shield soldiers bent their knees in unison to discharge the force.

The spear soldiers hidden behind the shields thrust their spears through the gaps, the long spears piercing the Asura bodies, the spear shafts rotating to fling the enemies to the outside of the circular Formation.

Dozens of Asuras holding blood cores rushed to the front of the Formation, allowing the long spears to pierce their bodies, still smashing the blood cores in their arms against the shield wall.

The blood cores ruptured, and the accumulated Qi and blood swept across the surroundings. More than a dozen mysterious iron heavy shields were flipped away, exposing gaps in the outer Formation positions.

The rear row of shield soldiers stepped on the Formation patterns to fill the gaps, and the blade soldiers pressed up from both sides, cutting the berserk Asuras who rushed into the gaps in half.

The second batch of blood cores shattered one after another, and the Qi and blood drilled into the nether bone mysterious armor across the shield wall. The Martial Masters at the edge of the Formation felt a tightness in their chests, the Qi and blood in their bodies surging accordingly.

The conduction Formation in the nether bone mysterious armor lit up, splitting the power that invaded the armor and channeling it into the Immovable Wisdom King Army Formation under their feet.

Wang Mu stood in the center of the circular Formation, changing the command flag several times. The Formation Hall spread out nine layers of Spirit-gathering Formations, and Spiritual Qi poured into the armored soldiers' bodies along the Formation patterns.

The Rejuvenation Formation operated alongside the Spirit-gathering Formation, and the Medical Cultivator Camp split into a hundred small teams to move among them, sending Pulse-protecting Pills and Soul-stabilizing Powders into the mouths of the wounded.

A shield soldier had two ribs broken by the shock of a blood core; just as he retreated from his position, a replacement had already raised a shield to seal the gap, and the Formation line was unaffected.

The Medical Cultivator dragged him into the inner Formation with a traction rope, cut open his deformed breastplate, and fixed the injury. Only after three Medicinal Pills fell into his stomach did his breathing stabilize.

"Can you still stand?"

"I can stand, but I can't lift the shield."

"Go help the Formation Hall carry the Formation Plate. There is no room for idle lying in the army."

The shield soldier sat up, holding his breastplate, took two Spirit-gathering Formation Plates, and followed the Maintenance Team to another damaged node.

The Asuras on the cliff walls gathered more and more. The front row had just been cut down by the blade Formation, and the back row stepped on the corpses to leap toward the shield top, not giving the army Formation a moment to catch its breath.

Wang Shan did not lead the Extreme Realm Martial Masters to rush out of the circular Formation. He guarded the thinnest part of the Formation line, only dealing with Asura commanders capable of piercing the shield wall.

A half-step Martial Ancestor Asura fell from the cliff top, a heavy axe smashing through three layers of shields, the axe blade only a few feet away from the inner Formation.

Wang Shan stepped out from the Formation, the crimson flame saber supporting the axe handle. Twenty Extreme Realm Martial Masters pushed the shields simultaneously, trapping the opponent in the broken shield wall.

The blade Formation pressed down from both sides, continuously breaking through the armor of the half-step Martial Ancestor Asura. Wang Shan raised his blade to pierce through its chest and abdomen, pushing the corpse back outside the Formation.

Just as the gap was filled, another round of long howls came from the depths of the cliff walls. More Asuras burning their lifespan leaped down from the caves.

The first day ended, and the canyon floor was already covered in corpses. The Asura corpses piled up several layers around the circular Formation, blood flowing along the Formation patterns to lower places.

The Immortal Martial Legion did not advance forward, and the shield wall did not retreat. The Artillery Battalion was protected at the rear of the circular Formation, still retaining its full firing capability.

On the second morning, the Asura Survivors began to climb by stepping on the corpses. The outer layer of corpse piles gradually approached the height of the shield wall, and the berserk Asuras could leap onto the shield top by lifting their legs.

Wang Mu ordered the fire-element Cultivators to burn the corpse piles in sections, prohibiting lighting the entire area at once to avoid the fire draining the Spiritual Qi in the canyon.

The Artillery Battalion changed the pure yang explosive shells to close-range scattering. The muzzles avoided the army Formation, concentrating on bombarding the cliff caves and the gathered Asura teams in the distance.

Each round of artillery fire could collapse large areas of caves, and the passages deep in the rock layers connected to each other; it wouldn't be long before the Asuras would pour out from new cave entrances.

This battle had no command core that could be beheaded. The Asura Survivors were long prepared to fight to the death, just wanting to use their lives to exhaust the legion's inventory.

On the second night, the conventional artillery shells carried by the legion were more than half consumed, Pulse-protecting Pills were only 60% left, and the front-row heavy shields also needed to be replaced in batches.

Wang Mu recorded the military supply figures in the general ledger, still not withdrawing the army. He ordered each battalion to recycle damaged armor, and the quartermaster organized the wear and tear, waiting for the God Kingdom's supply.

Wang Pingan anchored the God Kingdom's delivery port in the center of the circular Formation, activating the time authority. The Hundred Arts Hall within the God Kingdom repaired armor, refined pills, and manufactured shells day and night, sending batches of military supplies into each battalion along the delivery port.

The Asura Survivors wanted to exhaust the legion, but what they faced was an Immortal Martial God Kingdom capable of production, repair, rescue, and rotation.

On the third day, the offensive of the berserk Asuras reached its peak. Hundreds of blood cores fell from the cliff top, and four layers of the nine-layer Formation curtain were broken one after another.

The outer edge of the circular Formation was pushed back more than ten zhang by the blood Qi, and the armor of hundreds of Martial Masters was damaged. Most of the Formation Cultivators guarding the Formation eye vomited blood, yet no one left their position without authorization.

Wang Mu personally sat into the fifth-layer Formation hub, half-step Golden Core spiritual power poured into the ground, connecting the damaged Formation patterns one by one.

"Vanguard continue to rotate, Formation Hall hold the Spirit-gathering nodes, Medical Cultivator Camp send the heavily injured into the inner circle. The army Formation cannot be chaotic!"

Wang Shan led a thousand Extreme Realm Martial Masters to the outer shield wall, the crimson flame saber wedged into the heavy shield joints, enduring the final round of impact from the berserk Asuras.

Blood cores shattered one after another outside the shields, the second generation nether-bone xuan armor was covered in cracks, but the muscles, bones, and Qi and blood meridians under the armor plates were still firmly protected.

Three days and three nights passed, the Asura corpses in the canyon were higher than the shield wall, and the army Formation was buried in a deep pit surrounded by flesh and broken armor.

The long howls in the cliff caves gradually became sparse, fewer and fewer Asuras fell onto the shield top, and at the end, only scattered figures were still crawling among the piles of corpses.

Wang Shan kicked away the broken blade pressing in front of the shield, the twenty thousand main combat troops still guarding the circular Formation, the shield soldiers, blade soldiers, Artillery Battalion, and Medical Cultivator Camp each in their respective positions.

Just as the frontal impact of the Asura Survivors weakened, the blood mist above the canyon gathered toward one cliff wall, and the killing intent scattered across the battlefield was also drawn toward it.

Wang Mu looked up to check the Formation map. The blood Qi scale on the Spirit-detecting Plate was falling, but the other row of scales representing Divine Soul fluctuations was climbing all the way up.

The three-day desperate charge was only the first layer of the killing move. The Asura priest hidden in the depths of the cliff never appeared, always using the residual blood patterns in the fragments to collect the residual souls and killing intent left by the dead.

After the canyon was filled with corpses, it finally activated the Divine Soul killing Formation buried in the heart of the mountain.

"Please, foster fathers and foster mothers, give some five-star reviews; there have been too many bad reviews lately."

"Foster son bows in thanks; also, 'generating electricity with love' is free, oh."