79: Chapter 79 The Black Army Presses Down on the Island, A Fragmented Map Opens the Eye

The Black Armor Elites did not attack the island immediately.

They stopped thirty li outside Xuangui Island.

The sea surface was pressed down by black mist like a slab of heavy iron.

The front row of bone shields stood up.

The rear row of spears lowered.

Further behind, one could vaguely see black boats without sails.

The black boats did not rely on the wind.

It was as if living things were pushing from underneath.

With every rise and fall, a ring of black-red water ripples would seep from the boat hulls.

On the ramparts of Xuangui Island, no one spoke.

When the low-level devilish sea beasts rushed over last night, there were at least beast roars.

Now, there were none.

The silence was even more oppressive.

Lu Changyuan stood on the high platform of the Northern Ridge, watching the Black Army array itself.

He did not count them.

There were too many to count.

Just looking at the shield lines and black boats, there were at least ten thousand.

Among them were many with auras far higher than the sea beasts from last night.

Deeper within, there were several shadows that pressed the sea mist down.

They were not ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The two flanks of the Black Army also dragged dozens of thick bone chains.

One end of the bone chains sank into the sea.

The other end was hooked to the hulls of the black boats.

Every time they pushed forward a zhang, a muffled sound came from the seabed, as if something was scraping across the reef veins underwater.

Li Heng heard that sound, and his expression became even uglier than before.

"They are not just here to attack the island."

"They are probing the stone veins underneath."

Lu Changyuan did not respond.

The unease in his heart was confirmed.

This Black Army had come all the way around the sea trench; the place they were truly eyeing was deeper than Warehouse No. 3.

Lu Hu tightened his grip on his blade.

"Master, Golden Core aura?"

"At least one."

Lu Changyuan said.

He did not say a second sentence.

Because saying it was useless.

Xuangui Island did not even have a complete third-tier Formation right now.

Whether there was one Golden Core aura or three, it made little difference to the low-level defending troops.

They were all things that would make people's legs go weak.

In the middle of the Black Army, the bone shields slowly parted.

A tall figure clad in heavy white bone armor stepped out over the waves.

It was not like an ordinary black-scaled Cultivator.

The bone armor hung from its shoulders to below its knees, and it dragged a long white bone blade behind it.

The blade was not unsheathed.

But the Formation screen outside Xuangui Island had already begun to tremble.

That person looked up.

A pair of dark red eyes looked across thirty li of sea mist toward the high platform of the Northern Ridge.

The voice followed.

It was not loud.

Yet it pressed painfully against everyone's eardrums.

"Open the warehouse."

"Surrender and you will not be killed."

Many people on Xuangui Island changed their expressions.

It was not because this sentence was new.

But because the other party's first sentence was to open the warehouse.

It knew the value of Xuangui Island.

It also knew the most painful spot on the island.

Lu Changyuan did not respond.

He raised his hand.

The first thunder-fire Formation platform on the Northern Ridge lit up.

A cannon blast was fired.

The thunder-fire landed thirty li away, missing the White Bone Armored General.

It only exploded in front of the front shield line.

The sea surface was blasted into a burst of purple light.

The Black Army shield line did not move.

The White Bone Armored General chuckled.

"Broken Formation remnant thunder."

"You dare to show it?"

It raised its hand.

A grey-black bone nail flew out from its sleeve.

The bone nail did not strike toward the Formation platform.

Instead, it pierced into the sea surface.

The next moment, five sections of the active line on the north side of Xuangui Island trembled simultaneously.

Li Heng's expression changed drastically.

"It is probing the Formation veins!"

Lu Changyuan's gaze sank.

"Cut the first line of the Northern Ridge for half a breath."

Li Heng was stunned.

"If you cut it, a gap will be exposed!"

"Cut it."

Li Heng gritted his teeth and waved the Formation Flag.

The purple light of the first section of the Northern Ridge suddenly dimmed.

The black line pulled by the bone nail hit empty air.

The purple light on the shoal on the east side suddenly erupted and bit back.

A soft sound came from the sea surface.

The bone nail cracked.

The White Bone Armored General finally looked up.

Lu Changyuan looked at it across the sea mist.

He did not speak.

The Formation was not solely Li Heng's skill.

Nor was it the skill of the old Formation of Xuangui Island.

It was because he knew the other party would probe.

The remnant commands in the grey bone fragment from last night had already made it clear that this Black Army liked to look at the Formation first before striking.

Then let it look.

And let it bite.

As long as it did not bite the life gate.

The White Bone Armored General did not speak again.

Behind the Black Army shield line, the first batch of Black Armor Elites began to press forward.

The speed was not fast.

Like a wall.

On the ramparts, several young defending soldiers began to breathe in disorder.

Chen Mo stood by the talisman line, his talisman pen hovering in his hand.

He did not comfort others.

He himself was also afraid.

At this moment, a burning sensation came from Lu Changyuan's sleeve.

It was not the military talisman.

It was the cracked grey bone fragment.

The grey bone fragment had clearly already shattered.

But at this moment, a wisp of black light seeped out from the cracks, being pulled by the aura on the distant White Bone Armored General.

Lu Changyuan pressed down on his sleeve.

The next moment, the heavenly secret jade slip also vibrated gently.

There was no moonlight.

There was no complete three pieces of intelligence.

Only a line of extremely fine blood-red words appeared on the surface of the Jade Slip.

As if forcefully polished bright by the Devilish Qi within the grey bone fragment.

[Star-Falling Sea Eye.]

[Three years later, the Black Tide opens the eye.]

[Xuangui Northern Vein, is one of the remnant keys.]

There were very few words.

And it was not complete.

Subsequently, a fragmented star sea map flashed through Lu Changyuan's Sea of Consciousness.

The Outer Sea on the north side of Xuangui Island.

An undercurrent.

Several broken earth veins.

Further away, a deep-sea vortex marked with a black circle.

The map only shone for half a breath.

Then it shattered.

Lu Changyuan's knuckles tightened slightly.

He did not show any unusual expression.

This was not a complete Opportunity.

Nor was it a treasure that could be taken now.

But it explained one thing.

The Black Armor Elites came around to Xuangui Island not just to cut off logistics.

It also wanted the Xuangui Island Northern Vein.

Or rather, it wanted to borrow this old hub of Xuangui Island to pry open a sea eye that was only supposed to appear in three years.

Lu Hu said in a low voice: "Master?"

Lu Changyuan released his sleeve.

"The Northern Vein cannot be broken."

"What?"

"The old earth vein behind the Northern Ridge reef line."

Lu Changyuan looked at Li Heng.

"Is there an old Formation eye there?"

Li Heng's expression changed.

"Yes."

"It has long been abandoned."

"The Zhao family has disliked it for consuming Spirit Stone all these years and never maintained it."

"Location."

Li Heng immediately pointed out a spot on the Formation map.

Behind the Northern Ridge reef line, not in Warehouse No. 3, nor in the Outer Port.

It was an Old Turtle Head Stone that was almost ignored by everyone.

If viewed from a military perspective, it was just an abandoned Formation point.

If viewed from the perspective of earth veins, it was pressing right on the joints of the Xuangui Island Northern Vein.

Lu Changyuan immediately changed the order.

"Chen Mo."

The old man looked up.

"Move the Northern Ridge talisman line thirty zhang behind the Old Turtle Head Stone."

"Li Heng, dismantle half a thunder-fire Formation platform to protect the Old Turtle Head Stone."

Li Heng almost blurted out.

"Dismantle the cannon platform?"

"Dismantle it."

Lu Changyuan said: "The other party does not want the cannon platform."

"It is the Northern Vein."

Li Heng did not know where he saw that from.

But the scene of the bone nail probing the Formation veins just now was still before his eyes.

He did not dare to ask again.

"Yes!"

The order spread, and a low chaos arose among the defending troops again.

The enemy army was in front.

Dismantling the Formation platform and changing the talisman line at this time looked like madness.

A former member of the Zhao family could not help but say: "Deputy Envoy Lu, the enemy has already pressed up!"

Lu Changyuan looked at him.

"That is why we must dismantle it now."

"Wait until they fight to the Old Turtle Head Stone, and then you dismantle it for them to see?"

The man choked.

Chen Mo had already taken people to move.

The old man knew he could not understand the big picture.

But he could understand Lu Changyuan's orders all along the way.

From saving his grandson, to distributing medicine, to the night battle at the Northern Ridge, and then to just now cutting the line to bite back at the bone nail.

Every time this Deputy Envoy made people feel it was unreasonable, there was a reason behind it.

So he moved first.

Once Chen Mo moved, the Northern Ridge Loose Cultivator camp followed.

Li Heng also began to dismantle the thunder-fire Formation platform.

When the Formation platform was half dismantled, the front row of the Black Army finally entered within twenty li.

The White Bone Armored General raised its hand.

The first row of bone shields fell into the sea simultaneously.

The sea surface shook with a boom.

A black tide pushed toward Xuangui Island along the shield line.

It was not a sea beast.

It was a wave pressed by Devilish Qi.

The Purple Thunder Exorcism Array outer circle lit up immediately.

As soon as the thunder silk and the black tide touched, more than thirty thunder-struck wooden piles on the Northern Ridge smoked simultaneously.

Li Heng roared: "Replenish the sand!"

The young Loose Cultivator rushed out holding the Evil-Suppressing Sand.

As soon as one person reached the pile, he was knocked flying by the aftermath of the black tide.

The one-armed man pounced over and dragged the person back, but his own shoulder was grazed by the black gas, and the flesh immediately turned black.

Chen Mo's grandson saw it by the medicine shed, grabbed a pack of purification powder, and was about to rush out.

Chen Mo turned back and roared.

"Stop!"

The youth froze in place.

Lu Changyuan raised his hand.

"Move the medicine shed forward five zhang."

"The youth stays at the shed entrance to distribute medicine."

"If you go to the battlefield again, half your merit will be deducted."

The youth's eyes were red, but he did not rush out again.

He tore open the purification powder and handed it to the first wounded person who was dragged back.

The black tide hit the first section of the active line.

The purple light was pressed down.

Then it rebounded.

At the Old Turtle Head Stone, the talisman line that had just been moved lit up with a thin light.

The White Bone Armored General's gaze finally turned toward there.

It confirmed something.

It slowly drew the long white bone blade from its back.

When the blade light was unsheathed, the black mist above Xuangui Island suddenly sank downward.

Lu Changyuan gripped the military talisman.

"All lines prepare."

The White Bone Armored General raised the blade.

The rear row of the Black Army's spears raised simultaneously.

A rhythmic sound of stepping on waves came from the sea surface.

Its voice pressed over again.

"Break the Northern Vein."

"Slaughter this island."