25: Chapter 24: The Battle to Support Cloud City

Yunzhong City.

The entire populace was at war; anyone who could pick up a firearm was flooding into the battlefields of the outer city districts in a continuous stream.

The sky was shrouded by Yao clouds as four Yao Kings and six Daoists engaged in a fierce battle at the horizon, causing the heavens and earth to tremble as terrifying Daoist Magics blanketed the sky.

The sound of violent explosions never ceased.

Roar—

Ancient beasts bellowed as three more Yao Kings arrived to join the fray of this war.

In the eyes of the Yao Race, this war was a feast—a feast of devouring flesh and blood.

The pressure on the six Daoists grew heavier and heavier.

Amidst an earth-shattering explosion, an elderly Daoist was the first to succumb to the pressure; while entangled with a Yao King, he chose to self-detonate.

The powerful energy of the explosion directly shattered half the body of the Yao King he was fighting, spraying blood everywhere in a truly wretched sight.

But even so, the Yao King with only half a body remaining did not die.

It frantically retreated from the combat zone, desperate to escape.

"I will go and slay it..."

A Daoist roared, and at the risk of being heavily wounded by the Yao King beside him, he unleashed a technique—[Heaven-Shaking Thunder]—blasting it directly toward the target.

Boom—

Thunderous light illuminated the horizon.

The Great Roc King, already heavily wounded by the self-detonation energy, had no time to dodge and was struck directly by the lightning; amidst terrifying crackling sounds, its bones shattered and its flesh disintegrated.

Its already heavily damaged body could no longer hold out, and it died on the spot.

"Kill them all."

The leading Yao King's eyes gleamed with ferocity; its strength was the highest among the several Yao Kings. Even now, fighting three Daoists alone, it did not fall into a disadvantage.

In this Peak-level battle, the Nine Heavens Taoist Sect was at an absolute disadvantage.

The remaining five Elders were being beaten back step by step; they looked at each other, their eyes filled with the resolve to die.

Following five consecutive earth-shaking blasts, all five men self-detonated. The immense power instantly killed three of the Yao Kings surrounding them; only one, who was further away, escaped death.

Heaven and earth fell silent.

Everyone still fighting began to feel despair.

The Nine Heavens Taoist Sect forces were completely wiped out; in this battle, there was no longer any possibility of change.

"Activate the nuclear weapons plan; we'll take these sons of bitches down with us!" someone in the command center roared, and various orders were quickly dispatched.

Just as the City Lord of Yunzhong City was about to press the nuclear detonation button...

Nine rays of divine light pierced through the Yao clouds shrouding the outer city, descending like divine soldiers from the heavens to begin a frantic slaughter of the Yao Beasts.

"Second Junior Brother, Third Junior Brother, Fifth Junior Brother, follow me to slay the evil Yao; the rest of you, support the battle below," Elder Song commanded. He then took the lead, charging toward the four Yao Kings in the sky.

The three Elders similarly transformed into streaks of light and followed him.

Within the Yao clouds.

As the four of them charged in, violent rumblings echoed once more.

The Qingcang Daoist Sect primarily focused on Taiji and Bagua Daoist Magic.

All four were Personal Disciples of Master Zhang, and their Taiji Daoist Laws were incredibly profound.

The leading Dragon King was locked in a fierce battle with Elder Song. A terrifying Taiji True Intent suppressed it completely; no matter how it attacked, its strikes were neutralized by the Taiji Diagram.

Below, Ye Xiu watched clearly.

His brow couldn't help but furrow. This power system of the Cultivators was truly strong; with the power of heaven and earth and the power of Daoist Magic, even a member of the Yao Race with an incredibly tough Physical Body like the Dragon King was being suppressed firmly.

Within the same Realm, Cultivators were indeed much stronger than Martial Practitioners.

Perhaps only a Martial Practitioner like himself, who had achieved a Peak Bloodline Awakening, could contend with them head-on.

But how many Martial Practitioners like him were there among humanity? The God-Slaying Guards of Tianfu City were considered strong, but they were only barely a notch above the King-tier bodies of the Yao Race.

If they faced a Cultivator of the same Realm, would they be suppressed just like the Dragon King?

Ye Xiu sighed in his heart.

Perhaps Cultivation was truly the choice of the era.

Although the threshold for Cultivation was also shockingly high, it was somewhat negligible compared to Martial Practitioners.

After all, among the over one hundred million people in Tianfu City, only a seven-man unit of God-Slaying Guards could be formed alongside himself. Yet, there were over three thousand people in Tianfu City who had awakened a Spiritual Root for Cultivation.

Ordinary Martial Practitioners would never be able to stand against Cultivators.

The Command Center.

Over a dozen Advanced generals watched the battlefield on the projection screen, their faces flushed with excitement.

Yunzhong City was saved.

They looked at Ye Xiu, who was wearing a military uniform among the nine, with incredibly complex expressions.

"It's the reinforcements from Tianfu City."

"That is Daoist An of the Nine Heavens Taoist Sect; she brought the reinforcements."

On the projection screen, the battlefield that had long since become one-sided had gradually stabilized since the arrival of the nine, even showing signs of a counter-offensive.

The Yao Kings in the sky were being beaten back repeatedly.

On the ground battlefield.

The massive army of Yao Beasts was also falling in large numbers under the frantic slaughter of Ye Xiu and the other four.

Across this battlefield stretching a hundred miles, the massive Yao Beast army was already showing signs of defeat under the five's butcher blades.

"Send the word down: the elderly, weak, women, and children are to withdraw from the combat zone first. This war is about to end." The City Lord of Yunzhong City let out a long breath and spoke to the messenger.

As the combat orders were issued, people were gradually withdrawn from the battle zone.

Time passed.

The battle in the sky also entered a white-hot stage.

Elder Song's Bagua Daoist Magic had captured the essence of Master Zhang; with every move, he suppressed the Dragon King so much it could hardly fight back.

Even when the Dragon King revealed its thousand-meter-long true form, it still could not break free from the Bagua Seal.

"Three Junior Brothers, this Dragon's Physical Body is too powerful and difficult to obliterate. Set up the Four Symbols Array!" Elder Song pulled the combat zone closer to his three Junior Brothers.

Immediately, four pillars of light soared into the sky from the four of them.

The Taiji Diagram that was originally suppressing the four Yao Kings instantly expanded over a dozen times. The obliterating force within it transformed into lightning, crackling down from the Taiji Diagram that blanketed the sky.

The four Yao Kings suppressed beneath the Taiji Diagram struggled frantically. But no matter how they struck, the Taiji Diagram covering the sky remained as stable as Mount Tai.

As time went by.

The flesh and blood of the four Yao Kings suppressed by the Taiji Diagram began to shatter, showing signs of being obliterated.

Furthermore, they could no longer maintain control over the Yao Beast army; as time passed, the Yao Beasts on the ground began to scatter and flee.

The five people engaged in the slaughter saw this and chose not to pursue.

Instead, they all flew into the sky, using their own Spiritual Qi to reinforce the stability of the Four Symbols Array.

As a Martial Practitioner, Ye Xiu had no Spiritual Qi in his body.

While the eight of them stabilized the array, he stood guard to one side, coldly watching the Dragon King's movements.

This Yao King seemed to be suppressed, but according to his observations, although this great array was very strong, most of its power was primarily focused on suppression.

The obliterating force within it only occupied a small fraction of its power.

This level of power was not yet enough to kill the Dragon King.

Roar...

Inside the Four Symbols Array.

A Leopard Yao had already been completely obliterated, its flesh, blood, and bones transforming into blood Qi that merged into the array.

The Dragon King gave a furious roar: "Brothers, even if we have to self-detonate, we'll drag them down with us. I'll count to three..."

The remaining two Yao Kings were clearly nearing their limits as well; they steeled their hearts, looked venomously at the nine people outside the array, and agreed to the Dragon King's proposal.

One.

Two.

Three.

Boom—

The heaven and earth shook as two Yao Kings self-detonated simultaneously. The immense power directly blasted a gap in the Four Symbols Array.

The bodies of the eight people maintaining the array's operation jolted, and they immediately increased their Spiritual Qi output to maintain the array's normal functioning.

"Idiots."

The Dragon King cursed under its breath and transformed into human form, rushing out of the array area in an instant.

It did not dare to fight any longer; after picking a direction, it fled without looking back.

Ye Xiu had been paying attention to the movements inside the array. Although he was also startled by the self-detonation of the two Yao Kings...

He still gave chase immediately.

Swoosh—

Two streaks of light cut through the sky, quickly disappearing at the horizon's end.

Both were practitioners who relied primarily on their physical bodies; their full-speed sprint left the eight people, who had just realized what was happening, completely stunned.

"I will go and lend General Ye a hand."

An Qingyi didn't care whether she could catch up to the two; the war started by the Dragon King had resulted in the death of every member of the Nine Heavens Taoist Sect. She had to have her revenge.

The remaining seven people sighed in their hearts and chose not to pursue.

Although the current battlefield had been won, Yunzhong City was now riddled with holes and needed them to stay behind to stabilize the military's morale even more.