251: Chapter 251 Clear Goals

Above the swamp.

The lingering echoes of Demon Power and spiritual light colliding were spreading outward; puddles on the muddy ground were shaken into fine droplets, only to fall back into place.

Shi Yuan's brown Demon Power pushed to the front of the Moon Guards' defensive line, where it was blocked by a streak of cyan spiritual light. The two forces pressed against each other at the point of contact, emitting a continuous low-frequency hum that made the gravel on the ground vibrate slightly.

Commander Su Qin stood behind the Moon Guards' line, his gaze fixed on E Kuang. The two stared at each other for a moment across the combatants, neither speaking again.

E Kuang withdrew his gaze from the gap and returned it to the battle line.

"These people are secondary."

He swept a glance over the engaging Moon Guards' line, then looked toward the three Cultivators from the Tiangong Bureau. His iron jaws clamped shut for a moment, and he pointed a claw in that direction: "Those few, deal with them first."

As his voice fell.

The squad of Yao soldiers behind him, who had remained motionless until now, moved.

Xi Sha was the first to respond. His figure slid out of the shadows, skimming across the ground toward the Formation base, his speed as fast as a taut string being released.

The twenty-plus Yao soldiers behind him followed simultaneously, spreading out in an arc to surround the Formation base. They crushed the dry mud crust on the ground, and the debris was pushed to the sides by the wind they kicked up.

Mo Lin and Shi Yuan did not move, continuing to pin down the frontal Moon Guards' line, locking the Moon Guards' attention in place.

Commander Su Qin saw the squad of Yao soldiers turn and frowned: "Protect them well."

The situation with the Formation had not been completely resolved, and these three were experts from the Tiangong Bureau; if they were to die, Commander Su Qin would be in real trouble.

"Leave it to me."

Liu Ruobing was the first to move. She broke away from the Moon Guards' line and landed in front of the Formation base. Forming a seal with her hands, a layer of pale cyan spiritual light spread from beneath her feet, unfurling along the ground to cover the front half of the Formation base area.

"Azure Wood Sealing Boundary!"

The spiritual light formed a thin barrier in front of the Formation base. It wasn't very thick, but it was wide enough to block most of the path for Xi Sha's frontal advance.

Colonel Liu Zhong followed closely behind. Drawing his narrow-bladed short sword, he stepped forward to block the right side of the barrier, the blade glowing with cyan-gray spiritual light.

"Azure Demon Slash!"

A cyan-gray blade aura flew from the edge, skimming along the ground toward the front of the advancing Yao soldiers. It forced the two leading Yao soldiers back; one was grazed by the edge of the aura, a bloody gash tearing open on its shoulder as it retreated to the rear ranks.

Colonel Zhao Yuanan did not step forward. Standing behind Liu Ruobing, two Talismans flew from his sleeves.

"Mountain Suppressing Talisman!"

"Appear!"

The Talismans flew out, landing on both sides of the Formation base, transforming into two rising pillars of earthy-yellow light that sealed the entrance at the edge of the Formation base.

Xi Sha paused half a step before the barrier, lowering his body as his Demon Power gathered throughout his frame.

"Hiding away, are we?"

"Then you'd better... hide well."

Xi Sha sneered, his body crouching low as his Demon Power contracted violently within his body before suddenly exploding outward.

A layer of moist, cold light shimmered on the surface of his dark cyan fine scales, the edges of which tilted slightly, revealing a paler color beneath.

He opened his mouth, and a mass of dark cyan mist surged from the depths of his throat. The mist did not disperse but condensed within the square inch before his mouth, forming a thin, long Qi blade with edges glistening with a moist, cold light.

"Cold Water Fracture!"

The Qi blade shot from his mouth, its speed so fast that its trajectory was almost invisible, crashing into Liu Ruobing's Azure Wood Sealing Boundary.

A dull thud of impact echoed from the barrier's surface. Pale cyan spiritual light began to crack outward from the point of impact, the fissures rapidly extending along the surface as if something were prying its structure apart from the inside.

"Hum!"

Liu Ruobing maintained her seal-forming posture, her body leaning forward half an inch as if she were using her own body to shoulder the impact.

Spiritual light continued to pour from her feet into the barrier. The cracks stopped spreading halfway, but several fissures remained on the surface, continuing to widen, their edges still slowly expanding.

Xi Sha did not wait for the barrier to shatter completely.

He dug both claws into the ground simultaneously, the dark cyan Demon Power seeping from his fingertips into the soil, extending forward along the veins of the earth, bypassing the front of the barrier and surging back out behind it.

"Earth Vein Pierce!"

Two streaks of dark cyan Demon Power exploded from the ground behind the barrier, shattering the earthy-yellow light pillars sealing the Formation base's entrance from the bottom.

Colonel Zhao Yuanan's Mountain Suppressing Talisman lit up on the surface of the paper, then dimmed; the light pillars began to shrink from the base, their edges curling.

"You Yao Race are truly despicable!"

Colonel Liu Zhong struck out in anger, the cyan-gray blade light cutting toward the Yao soldiers that had bypassed the flank of the barrier.

The blade light was intercepted in mid-air by Xi Sha's tail, which whipped in from the side, knocking it off course. It dragged a shallow mark into the muddy ground, missing its target.

Xi Sha did not pause, charging through the gap in the shattered barrier into the Formation base area. Raising both claws, he pressed toward the Gray-robed Elder standing at the edge of the Formation base: "Old thing, your Formation cultivation ends here!"

The Gray-robed Elder did not retreat. Flipping the jade disk in his hand, a layer of dense spiritual light sprang from the edge of the disk, condensing into a thick spiritual light wall before him.

"This Formation wall of mine is not so easily shattered."

Xi Sha's Yao soldiers followed up from both sides, engaging in a melee with Colonel Zhao Yuanan and Colonel Liu Zhong.

Colonel Liu Zhong twisted his blade, the cyan-gray spiritual light re-solidifying on the edge: "Azure Demon · Whirling Slash!"

The blade light traced an arc, forcing back the two Yao soldiers lunging forward.

Colonel Zhao Yuanan stood to his side and rear, a Talisman flying from his sleeve.

"Mountain Suppressing Talisman!"

After the Talisman landed, an earthy-yellow light pillar rose, sealing the entrance to the Formation base.

Xi Sha was blocked before the spiritual light wall, pressing his claws against the surface and applying continuous pressure. The fissure that had appeared on the surface of the spiritual light wall was slowly extending to both sides.

Xi Sha gritted his teeth, dark cyan Demon Power continuously injecting from his fingertips: "How much longer can this broken wall of yours hold out?"

The Gray-robed Elder did not answer. His knuckles gripping the jade disk were white, but the spiritual light wall did not shatter.

Liu Ruobing stood at the front of the Formation base, her hands still maintaining the seal-forming posture. The remnants of the Azure Wood Sealing Boundary still maintained a limited coverage on the ground: "I can't hold on anymore; I can block at most one more round."

Commander Su Qin stood behind the Moon Guards' line, his gaze passing over the combat area to land on the spiritual light wall and Xi Sha, who was continuing to apply pressure. His voice was low: "Hold on for another half a cup of tea; the front line will soon decide the outcome."

Demon Power and spiritual light continued to collide on the battlefield. Forces on the secondary battle lines on both sides were slowly being drawn away, gradually converging toward the direction of the main battlefield.

Personnel on both sides were dwindling rapidly.

Blood spilled onto the earth.

In the distance, the morning light was slowly spreading across the edge of the swamp. A corner of the bloodstains on the rocky surface was illuminated by the morning light, only to be covered by subsequent trampling, leaving a blurred reddish-brown mark.

Xi Sha's fingertips were still applying pressure. The cracks on the wall surface were extending to both sides, like a door gap being slowly pried open, the spiritual light at the edges receding layer by layer.

The jade disk in the Gray-robed Elder's hand emitted a faint vibrating sound. A tiny crack had already appeared at the edge, slowly extending along the patterns on the jade disk's surface; every inch it extended, the spiritual light on the wall dimmed by a fraction.