217: Chapter 218 City Lord Zhou! I kneel before you!

This attempt to shift the blame left the other three city lords speechless.

Seeing that internal discord was about to erupt, the Lord of Nanchang City quickly tried to smooth things over: "Enough! The enemy is right before us; now is not the time to shirk responsibility! The crucial point is whether all this before us is an extremely sophisticated group illusion or some unknown deadly Formation? We have no way of knowing yet."

The Lord of Nanchang City watched the soldiers disappearing one after another, his eyes twitching: "Continuing to feed our troops into this blindly is not a solution. Although, logically speaking, based on the aura that woman displayed, it is almost impossible for her to truly annihilate so many of us; the illusion component must account for at least ninety percent... but we cannot be too careful!"

City Lord Liefeng's face was as dark as water, and he remained noncommittal.

He pondered for a moment, then beckoned a trusted subordinate over, whispered a few instructions, and sent him to relay a message to Celestial Master.

Soon, the subordinate crossed through the chaotic army and arrived before Celestial Master.

"Daoist," the subordinate bowed, his tone carrying a hint of arrogance and urgency, "my City Lord has asked me to bring you a message."

Celestial Master lowered his eyelids slightly, looking at the bamboo staff in his hand: "Speak."

"This sky-covering illusion cast by Flower City must require the consumption of immense spiritual energy or a deep foundation in Formations. Daoist brother, your Yellow Turbans are numerous; as long as you order the entire army to press forward and assault with full force, within half an hour, the opponent's illusion will collapse due to exhaustion of spiritual energy!"

Hearing this, Celestial Master suddenly smiled.

He shook his head, a flash of undisguised mockery passing through his clear eyes.

"Go back and ask your City Lord," Celestial Master said calmly, "if this Flower City is taken after my people have sacrificed their lives to conquer it... will this city belong to Zhang, or will it belong to your Four Cities?"

Upon hearing this, the subordinate's face stiffened, and he slunk back to the war chariot.

City Lord Liefeng's expression remained unchanged after hearing the subordinate's report.

He had actually expected this response from Celestial Master.

He had originally intended to use the lives of those worthless refugees under Celestial Master to forcibly test and assault that light screen.

But Celestial Master was no fool; he was likely unwilling to cooperate as cannon fodder for nothing.

Although, logically speaking, this man-devouring light screen was almost certainly some kind of extremely profound illusion designed to intimidate people.

But no one could guarantee that final 0.1 percent possibility.

More importantly, the Four-City Allied Forces had completely torn off the mask of civility with Flower City and officially declared war.

Today, both sides must determine who lives and who dies!

On the other hand, even if Celestial Master could not take Flower City today, there were still plenty of small cities nearby for him to plunder and settle in.

Flower City was the only target for the Four-City Allied Forces, but it was by no means the only one for Celestial Master.

Therefore, the next choice was already obvious.

City Lord Liefeng gritted his teeth, drew the long sword at his waist, and roared: "Pass my order! Four-City Allied Forces, all troops attack! You must break through that illusionary light screen for me!"

As the order was issued, the war drums of the Four-City Allied Forces thundered.

Celestial Master, with perfect tacit understanding and taking the opportunity, waved his bamboo staff, causing the army of refugees that had been crowding the front lines to retreat to the flanks like a receding tide.

He stood quietly in place, watching the "performance" of the Four-City Allied Forces.

After the Four-City Allied Forces truly launched an "all-out attack," the speed of the assault on the light screen accelerated sharply, and tens of thousands of regular troops swarmed toward the light screen like a dark mass of locusts.

Following this, the rate at which the soldiers disappeared became increasingly terrifying.

Large groups of allied soldiers turned into void-like ink ash the moment they touched the golden light.

On the walls of Flower City, Zhou Yun watched the scene below quietly.

He pressed his lips tightly together, his hands resting on the cold battlements, without saying a word.

Wan'er, in mid-air, saw all of this and could not help but let out a soft sigh.

She understood her City Lord too well.

If he could, he would never want to see any innocent life fade away in vain like this.

Even the soldiers who had been coerced were the same.

Yet the cruel reality before them was that the high command of the Four-City Allied Forces did not care about the lives of their own soldiers at all!

Wan'er knew very well that this was likely a fatal misjudgment by City Lord Liefeng and the others regarding her "Brush Becomes Decree" skill.

They had smugly mistaken this decree of law, capable of severing Karma, for some kind of smoke-and-mirrors illusion!

"Since dying silently makes you harbor hope for luck..."

Wan'er's eyes instantly turned extremely cold.

"Then I will let you witness what true Law of Slaughter is!"

"Wind as blades." "Rain as spears."

She raised her fair hand, and the brush in her hand was fully saturated with spiritual energy in mid-air, the strokes vigorous and powerful, as she wrote four large characters in succession.

Wind and Rain Become Punishment!

Rumble—! As these four characters took form, the gloomy sky, previously obscured by the yellow sand, suddenly erupted with violent winds, and dark clouds pressed down!

Immediately after, an unprecedented storm poured down.

But this was by no means ordinary wind and rain!

"Ah—!!!" The shrill screams instantly tore through the battlefield.

The raging winds that blew past were truly like steel blades that had been sharpened. The falling rain was truly like sharp spears!

Wind Blades whistled, Rain Spears pierced!

Landing on the charging soldiers, it was like invisible scythes of death were crazily mowing grass.

Severed limbs and broken arms, accompanied by warm blood, instantly gushed out onto the muddy wasteland!

Compared to the almost merciful "painless erasure" of "Those who trespass shall die" from before, the visual effect of this Wind and Rain Become Punishment was simply too cruel and too bloody!

On the city wall, Minister Wang Fugui, Tie Shan, and others gasped, their scalps tingling.

In terms of absolute lethality, this move might not necessarily compare to that light screen.

But in terms of visual impact and the sense of fear created, it was simply like a living hell!

On the battlefield, the soldiers of the Four-City Allied Forces who were crazily attacking were completely terrified by this scene.

"We can't block it... we absolutely can't block it!"

"What kind of magic is this?! Even a mage's forbidden spell isn't this terrifying!"

"This is clearly the might of heaven and earth! What do we have to block the power of heaven and earth?!"

Panic spread rapidly like a plague. In this moment, the hundreds of thousands of Four-City Allied Forces actually showed signs of a total collapse.

On the war chariots at the rear of the army, the four city lords of the Four-City Allied Forces were in an even more wretched state.

Because those terrifying Wind Blades and Rain Spears were also carrying deadly killing intent, sweeping toward them crazily!

"Protect us! Quickly, protect us!"

Bronze Rank and Silver Rank shield soldiers held their heavy shields tightly, surrounding the four city lords completely.

The priests' Healing Spell was cast desperately on the shield soldiers struggling to hold on, as if it cost nothing, barely maintaining this last line of defense from collapsing.

Yet even while surrounded in the most core safe zone, the four city lords were now shivering and pale as sheets.

Only after watching the surrounding soldiers being ground into pulp by the wind and rain did they finally wake up from their dream.

What that woman was casting was not some bullshit illusion at all!

That was a genuine, death-dealing art capable of slaughtering cities and destroying armies!

On the walls of Flower City, Zhou Yun remained silent.

He kept his eyes on the battlefield, watching the allied soldiers falling into pools of blood, wailing and rolling.

He also watched the four city lords struggling bitterly amidst the Wind Blades and Rain Spears.

Compared to when the war first began, his face now looked somewhat pale.

Wan'er in mid-air, while maintaining the operation of the massive Law rules, glanced quietly at Zhou Yun's face.

She knew that Zhou Yun was definitely not afraid at this moment.

If one had to use a word to describe Zhou Yun at this moment, it would probably only be "heart-wrenching."

If he loses, he is hurt. If he wins, he is still hurt.

For Flower City, and for those four cities with ulterior motives, this war had a very clear distinction between victory and defeat.

But for their own City Lord, as long as weapons were drawn and lives were lost, that was an unacceptable "inevitable defeat" in his heart.

It is truly a case of: I did not kill Boren, yet Boren died because of me.

Wan'er knew deeply the pain and torment in Zhou Yun's heart at this moment.

And this heartache for the City Lord was fully converted into endless hatred for those four city lords who had started the war!

"Since it was you greedy wolves who started this calamity, then use your lives to quell it!"

Killing intent surged in Wan'er's eyes, and she swung her brush again!

Die! Die! Die!

Three "Die" characters, scarlet as blood, were like three bloody decrees, pressing one after another into the dark clouds of the firmament.

Whoosh—! The violent wind and rain blew even more shrilly and fiercely at this moment, almost turning into a tangible torrent of metal!

The rate at which the Four-City Allied Forces soldiers died instantly doubled.

No matter how they cried out, how they fled, or how they raised their shields to defend, in front of the Wind Blades and Rain Spears that seemed capable of splitting the sky, all struggle was futile.

The only place that could barely hold on was the area around the war chariot where the four city lords were.

But even with the protection of heavy troops and a group of priests, this line of defense was already crumbling.

The outer shield warriors were shredded along with the steel tower shields in their hands, and the priests and knights were also falling miserably one after another.

The fear of being pushed to the brink of death by the Grim Reaper finally completely destroyed the hypocritical alliance of the four city lords.

On the war chariot, they erupted into a fierce argument, disregarding their image.

"Liefeng! Didn't you swear that it was an illusion?! What is going on here!" The Lord of Qinghe City roared with bloodshot eyes.

"Flower City has no Gold Rank? It's a lie! The intelligence is all fake!" City Lord Fengye was so scared he was almost crying.

The Lord of Nanchang City even grabbed City Lord Liefeng by the collar and cursed angrily: "I said back then that the time wasn't right, don't attack Flower City! Don't attack Flower City! You insisted on acting now! I shouldn't have listened to your son-of-a-bitch instigation! Now look, I'm going to die, and everyone is going to die here!"

Facing life and death, City Lord Liefeng, who usually prided himself on being extremely calculating, completely lost his composure.

He shoved the Lord of Nanchang City away and cursed like a madman: "You three wastes who fail at everything! You know how to blame me now? What were you doing before? Why didn't your hands soften when you were taking benefits from Flower City? Without me leading the way, you would just be three piles of dog shit that can speak human language!"

"You—!" The Lord of Nanchang City was trembling with rage.

City Lord Fengye's choice was more direct and even more despicable.

Extreme fear caused him to completely lose his sanity, and he actually rushed to the edge of the war chariot, raised his hands high toward the direction of the city wall, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"I surrender! I admit defeat! Stop fighting!"

"City Lord Zhou! Lady Wan'er! Everything was instigated by that bastard, City Lord Liefeng!"

The other two city lords saw this and, as if grabbing at the last straw, scrambled toward the edge of the war chariot and chimed in unison:

"Yes! It was all him! It has nothing to do with us!"

"We have always wanted to be friendly with Flower City for generations; we never thought about attacking Flower City!"

"We were all coerced by Liefeng City! City Lord Zhou, I beg you, for the sake of our past trade relations, please spare us!"

"City Lord Zhou! I am kneeling before you! I am kneeling!!"

With their cultivation as Bronze Rank experts, even in the storm, these desperate cries for help carried far to the walls of Flower City.

However, facing this extremely ugly begging, Zhou Yun, just like before, watched quietly and remained silent throughout.

Wan'er in mid-air, feeling Zhou Yun's silent yet firm intent, saw the last trace of hesitation in her eyes dissipate, and the intensity of her magic increased by another half!

"Ah!!!" Another large group of outer defensive soldiers fell.

At this critical moment of life and death, City Lord Liefeng finally showed the most ruthless and heartless side of him as a generation of warlords.

Listening to the shameless betrayal and begging of the other three city lords, a flash of extremely resentful and vicious light shone in City Lord Liefeng's eyes.

"Since you are so eager to be dogs for Flower City, then die for this City Lord first!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Without any warning, City Lord Liefeng's Battle Qi exploded violently, and with three consecutive kicks, he ruthlessly kicked the backs of the three unsuspecting city lords!

The three city lords of Qinghe, Fengye, and Nanchang never dreamed that while they were joining forces to fight the external enemy, City Lord Liefeng would suddenly strike them with such a poisonous hand!

Losing their balance, the three were kicked directly out of the defensive Formation constructed by the shield soldiers and priests!

The moment they were exposed to the Wind Blades and Rain Spears, even with their Bronze Rank protective Battle Qi, they only lasted for less than the blink of an eye.

Sss-sss-sss—!

"Ah—! Liefeng, you old thief, even as a ghost I will..."

The shrill scream came to an abrupt end.

The three high-and-mighty city lords were instantly shredded into severe wounds by the invisible Wind Blades and Rain Spears, falling into the mud, bloody and mangled.

They used their last breath to struggle to reach a bloody hand toward the defensive Formation, staring fixedly at City Lord Liefeng, who was safe and sound inside.

In those unfocused eyes, they were filled with extreme shock, regret, and a resentment that seemed to want to swallow City Lord Liefeng alive!

Dying with eyes wide open!

Because of this crazy backstabbing by City Lord Liefeng, the surrounding defensive Formation immediately began to waver violently.

You must know that these soldiers responsible for holding shields and healing were not all from Liefeng City; there were also a large number of elites belonging to the other three cities.

Seeing their own city lords murdered by a sneak attack, these soldiers' eyes turned red, and the Formation was in chaos.

"What are you panicking about?!"

City Lord Liefeng wiped the rain off his face, drew his dripping long sword, and shouted sternly at the wavering soldiers:

"Your city lords are dead! Now, only by protecting this City Lord with your lives will you have a glimmer of survival!"

"I am your last hope for survival! If you want to live, hold the line for me!"

Under the immense threat of death and the weighing of the desire to survive, those soldiers who were already terrified finally numbly raised their heavy shields again, stabilizing the crumbling defensive Formation once more.

After barely saving his own dog life for the moment, City Lord Liefeng turned his head and looked at the unscathed Yellow Turbans camp at the edge of the battlefield.

Like a drowning person grabbing the last piece of driftwood, he abandoned all dignity and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Celestial Master! Leader Zhang!"

"Help me—!!! Quickly, save me!"

However. Celestial Master, standing in front of the Yellow Turbans army, was not affected by the wind and rain at all overhead.

Flower City's Law killing intent precisely avoided the retreating refugees.

Celestial Master held his bamboo staff, looking through a layer of blood-colored rain at the Wind Blades and Rain Spears close at hand, listening to the pig-like cries for help from City Lord Liefeng.

His face, as withered as dead wood, remained extremely calm.

Not only did he have no intention of saving him, but he also tilted his head slightly, letting a few drops of rain falling from the edge hit his cracked lips.

"Good wind. Good rain."

Celestial Master gazed at Wan'er, who was stepping in the air like a judge, a strange light flashing in his cloudy eyes.

He seemed to be looking at someone he had never seen before in his life, and let out a low sigh:

"I didn't expect that in such a desolate place..."

"I could actually meet someone who, like me, is capable of bearing the Mandate of Heaven."