“Empyrean Sword Sect, we’ll meet our enemies head on! They were the ones that made the first move, destroying General Shi Yan and provoking us. The running dogs of the celestial orderians ride roughshod over us in our territory while these madmen continue aggravating us. Swordpupils, obey my order. Kill these running dogs and drive them out of Azurecloud!” Although the Wind Swordlord didn’t want to go to war, there was nothing he could do but put on a bold face and fight. But in fact, his mind was blank. Had the war broken out just like that?
When the tall wargodeans with their lifebound beasts and the strange bluebloods with their totems charged across Aix Lake and collided with the Empyrean Sword Sect swordpupils’ sword ki, flesh and blood splattered. There was no doubt that war had begun. The scale of this battle was just as impressive as one that involved hundreds of thousands of troops; it was ten times as spectacular as the previous battle.
The tremendous vibrations instantly triggered a massive earthquake. If one were to look down from the Azurecloud Divine Tree, the entire battlefield would appear extremely chaotic. The ethnic characteristics of the three races were particularly obvious, so it was unlikely they would slaughter their own. It was as if a torrent of white, gold, and blue shot had slammed into one another, creating blood-red waves that reached the sky.
Before the lifebound beasts of the wargodeans and Empyrean Sword Sect met, their abilities exploded across the battlefield. Flames swept through, storms crashed, lightning struck, and frost swirled. In addition to the lifebound beasts’ attacks, all kinds of totemic calamities flooded the battlefield. The roars of beasts and the sound of clashing weapons filled the air. As soon as the two sides met, they were red-eyed and completely mad. War was carnage, a bloody quagmire! Once they sank into it, their minds were occupied by one thing: slaughter.
“Die!”
“Scram!”
A large part of the ground was scorched, and the branches, leaves, and roots of the Azurecloud Divine Tree were destroyed during the battle. There was blood everywhere as corpses piled up in Aix Lake. Even top lifebound beasts ended up as mutilated and dismembered corpses. The scene was so horrific that it was suffocating.
Because their numbers were nearly equal, they were evenly matched for the time being and it was impossible to see who had the advantage. But in just a short period of time, there were a large number of casualties on both sides. If Tianming were to set foot on the battlefield, he would be torn apart in an instant. In the center of the battlefield were gigantic beasts thousands of meters in size; the place had become hell on earth.
“As soon as a war begins, everyone is pulled into it. The more they kill, the stronger the flames of hatred burn. There’s no end to it.”
Unless the Rain Swordlord retreated, the battle would continue.
“The more they fight, the more brutal they become.” From the Azurecloud Divine Tree, Tianming could almost see caeli ascending into the sky. This kind of battle was exactly what he wanted.
“Kill….” He watched coldly. They were both his and the Azurecloud Continent’s enemies.
“They’re still holding back. They haven’t completely lost it yet,” Long Wanying commented.
“I can see that. The wargodeans have begun retreating due to casualties, and so has the Empyrean Sword Sect. The Wind and Rain Swordlords seem a little hesitant,” said Tianming. Their position gave them a better view of the changes on the battlefield.
“This is a good opportunity to hit them hard. I don’t think there’s any use in keeping Lan Sha alive, is there?” Long Wanying asked.
“Alright.” Tianming understood what she meant. “Uncle Yang, please light another fire.”
“Of course.” Yang Ce was carrying the unconscious man. Upon listening to the conversation between Tianming and Long Wanying, he carried Lan Sha into the chaotic battlefield without another word, easily moving through the wave of abilities and totemic calamities. During the process, Tianming awakened Lan Sha via the bonegnaw ants.
Lan Sha opened his eyes in a daze, but was suddenly deafened by the battle around him. Out of nowhere, a thread of sword ki stabbed at his eyes.
“Where am I?” Amidst the fear, he recalled Tianming’s torture. After several glances, he was certain this was Aix Lake. The armies on both sides formed dense hordes, and as far as the eyes could see, there were corpses on the ground.
“That’s Lan Sha!” someone shouted.
Lan Sha turned his head abruptly, only to see several Empyrean Sword Sect swordpupils staring back at him, among them a grade-four swordpupil named Feng Guiyu. He was the Wind Swordlord’s chief disciple and was about as strong as Jiang Qingliu. Yang Ce had specifically placed Lan Sha in front of him.
On the other side, the wargodeans and people from the Blueblood Starocean had also discovered his presence. Although they didn’t understand why Lan Sha had suddenly appeared in the middle of the battlefield, one glance was all it took for them to notice his sorry state. The bluebloods immediately rushed toward him.
“He’s severely wounded. Kill him and avenge General Shi Yan!” Feng Guiyu shouted. He was also covered in blood and wounds, and many of his compatriots around him had died in battle. At this moment, Feng Guiyu’s mind was dominated by hatred and violence. Being the closest to Lan Sha, he made the first move, slashing with his sword.
“Die!” Feng Guiyu roared.
“You think you can kill me?” Lan Sha sneered. Despite his injuries he was still stronger. In his eyes, Feng Guiyu was no match for him.
Sword ki surged as the white sword flickered. Lan Sha let out a low roar, retreating as he prepared to block his opponent’s sword. But at that moment, his expression drastically altered.
“Li Tian—” Before he could finish cursing, the bonegnaw ants and Imperial Sword Prison in his body attacked at the same time, unleashing exquisite agony. Lan Sha instantly lost all his strength, his limbs and torso twitching uncontrollably. Even without any enemies attacking him, he would perish in no time at all.
In a duel between experts, a moment made all the difference. Feng Guiyu didn’t expect his sword to slash Lan Sha’s neck with such ease. Although there was barely any sound, it was extremely harsh to the ears of the people around him. With wide eyes, they witnessed Lan Sha’s large, iconic shark-like head fly off. A stunned Feng Guiyu held the severed head in his hand. Even though he had been severely injured, Lan Sha should have been difficult to kill, yet he had shown no resistance.
Feng Guiyu hovered in mid air with Lan Sha’s head in his hand. Lan Sha’s mouth was open, his sharp teeth exposed and eyes desperate. He had died in pain; however, no one had noticed the metal ants crawling out of his broken neck and into Aix Lake.
Many gasped. Feng Guiyu and Lan Sha weren’t at all equal in strength. He never imagined he would ever slaughter such a powerful person that was known for their ferocity. Lan Sha, a brave warrior, had perished at the hands of a man he scorned. It was unbelievable to everyone present.
Lan Sha’s death caused an unprecedented shock. Feng Guiyu was surging with blood. Having accomplished such a great feat on this bloody battlefield, he was so excited he couldn’t help but raise Lan Sha’s head and shout, “The Blueblood Starocean’s Lan Sha is dead. I killed him. Surrender at once!”
His words were earth-shattering, attracting countless stares. Many saw the fear and unwillingness in Lan Sha’s eyes. This outcome was something Lan Sha never could have foreseen. He had thought Tianming would use him, but he was different from Yun Tianque. A strategic death was more valuable.
“It’s Lan Sha!”
“My God, Feng Guiyu….”
“I heard he fled after being severely injured earlier….”
The wargodeans were speechless.
With that one kill, the Empyrean Sword Sect’s morale had greatly increased, while the bluebloods went mad at the sight of their commander’s death.
“Avenge him!”
Feng Guiyu hoped the bluebloods would surrender once their leader had been killed. However, Lan Sha’s death only ignited their anger. Still immensely proud of himself, Feng Guiyu held up the head for all to see when a cold white light hit him from behind, piercing a bloody hole more than ten centimeters wide in his chest. When he weakly turned around, an indifferent Yun Tianque snatched Lan Sha’s head from him.
“You—” Feng Guiyu fell into Aix Lake. Others watched as Yun Tianque took away Lan Sha’s headless body, but no one noticed the inconspicuous metal ants that fell below and disappeared.
Lan Sha’s death was like a bomb that blew up the battlefield, breaking the impasse. His status was just as important as Shi Yan’s. After all, Lan Sha was the Deluge Emperor’s younger brother. Not to mention, Shi Yan wasn’t actually dead, but Lan Sha had breathed his last. It was far more serious than having lost three thousand bluebloods in the previous battle.
The eyes of the Blueblood Starocean cultivators turned dark blue. Even the wargodeans were enraged by the Empyrean Sword Sect’s show of arrogance.
“Kill them all!!”
The battlefield exploded into chaos.
