A hundred miles outside the city, on the peak of a lofty mountain, five flags of five colors were scattered about, forming a small and delicate aura-concealing formation. Leaning against a tall tree, Wu Qi was squinting at the spectacular sight of Great Li’s million-strong army storming into the city.
Guigu’zi, Zhang Yi, and Su Qin stood beside him, looking at the city with a mysterious smile and giving off a faint, chilling, murderous air.
Wu Qi and his men had arrived here three days ago. At that time, Great Li’s army, divided into a dozen companies, was sweeping across towns in He Province. In Guigu’zi’s opinion, it would be a waste of energy for Dong Hai to split up the army and wipe out the enemy. He had proposed to lay an ambush in the city, wait for the enemy to regroup, and then kill them all with one strike.
His proposal was endorsed by all the courtiers and counselors of the six states. Wu Qi naturally listened to good advice and let them do as they pleased.
When Guigu’zi saw that all the enemy soldiers had entered the city, and that all the soldiers defending the city had escaped, he casually scribbled the character ‘fire’ in the air. The earth shook suddenly, and in the blink of an eye, the provincial city was enveloped in an ominous red glow, as if a bowl made of red crystal had covered the whole city.
The soldiers who rushed into the city were crying out in surprise. There was not a single person in the city, not even a cat or a dog, let alone the beauties they were promised of. Meanwhile, the luxurious mansions were as clean as a plate licked by a hundred dogs. There was not even a penny left.
Just as they were shouting with dissatisfaction about the loot, the city, a hundred miles wide and long, was suddenly wrapped in a red glow. In the blink of an eye, all the buildings collapsed with a boom into ashes and scattered around while great flames blazed up on the walls that surrounded the city. Numerous lines of red light that were as thick as a thumb intertwined rapidly on the ground smooth as a whetstone, quickly forming into a huge formation diagram.
The formation was roughly circular, with a phoenix pattern spreading its great wings at its core, and nine tail feathers ripped from Little Que’er’s tail floating in the center. Meanwhile, ninety-nine red pillars—as thick as bowls and a hundred feet high, carved with innumerable fire phoenixes—rose from the ground without a sound, releasing an awfully suffocating heat.
Lao Ai and the other generals who were standing outside the city watched the sudden change in the city and froze in fear.
Lao Ai was not so badly hit. After all, even if Great Li’s million-strong army was completely wiped out, it had nothing to do with him. But, to the generals, the army was ninety-five percent of Great Li’s military force. Outer heavenly realms were barren, and the amount of Pangu Sacred Energy was pitiably scarce. Hence, it had taken Great Li many years and countless efforts to gather up these million troops during the reign of their current emperor, Huo Wuliang.
If anything happened to this army, Great Li would fall apart at once, and there would be no second way out. The generals were shaking with fear. Together, they turned to look at Lao Ai and screamed in unison, “My lord, please hurry up and save our army!”
Lao Ai opened his mouth and said nothing. He looked hesitantly at the city shrouded in red light, but could not muster the courage to strike. The sudden change in the city had brought back memories of long ago. The tactics, the strategy of murdering someone in the dark, made him think of some very terrible figures, someone who had cast a very heavy shadow in his heart.
“People in Great Yu are incapable of such stratagems,” he murmured under his breath. “They will only fight until they die. How could they have evacuated the residents ahead of time and left tens of thousands of soldiers to lure the enemy? How could those stone heads have come up with such a strategy?”
When the generals around Lao Ai saw him brooding with his head down and not respond to their pledge, they cried out in grief and leaped into the air with their few guards, heading straight for the city. While roaring, they lashed out their weapons at the red light screen over the city, and, to their surprise, went straight through it as if it did not exist.
The overexerted generals plunged headlong into the city, and some even nearly broke their necks. They stood up in surprise while swaying, and glanced at their surroundings. When they saw the huge formation on the ground with the phoenix at its core, their faces instantly turned pale. Even the red glow that filled the void could not bring more color to their faces.
“Get out of here! QUICK!”
A general swung his long sword across the void, striking a heavy blow on the light screen. But, a nightmarish scene played out before his eyes. Just now when they were outside, the light screen seemed like an illusion, broken by a single blow. But, when they had entered the city and were trying to break through it, they could not reach it at all, no matter how hard they tried.
The group of generals kept swinging their swords, unleashing sword beams that could cut through the air into the sky. But, no matter how high they went, the light screen was always thousands of feet away. Even when they had reached the height that they were lost to the naked eyes, they still failed to touch the light screen.
An Oracle who entered the city with the generals did not believe it to be true. He leaped into the air, flying up toward the sky in a gust of wind. But, no matter how high he flew, the light screen was still over his head; no matter how hard he tried, he could never touch it.
The few Supreme Oracles of Great Li roared furiously and produced their seven-storied pagodas, speeding up into the sky. But, they also faced the same result. Since they could not break through the light screen, they could not rescue the soldiers in the city. If it were Great Yu’s Supreme Oracles, they would have been able to shatter the void with their Supreme Towers and escape. But, as the cultivation techniques and the pagodas of these Supreme Oracles from outer heavenly realms were discounted by Heaven and Buddhist League, they were unable to do so.
The men trapped in the city uttered cries of despair as they all rushed to the nearest city wall, trying to break through it and escape from the perilous situation.
But, the same thing that happened to the light screen in the sky happened to the walls as well. No matter how they ran and jumped, even to the point of coughing blood, being drenched in sweat, and no longer having the slightest strength, they could never approach the walls. All this while, the walls were just right in front of them. It was a nightmare, something that could only happen in a nightmare; and yet, it had happened to them.
Outside the city, Lao Ai heaved a long sigh as he shook his head and said, “Great Li is finished!”
The solid ground in the city suddenly collapsed and dissolved, turning into a sea of lava, a hundred miles wide and long, spewing out columns of fire. With a shrill cry of the phoenix, a square pillar of lava, purple-cyan and almost transparent, rose a good dozen miles into the sky before engulfing the million-strong army of Great Li.
Whether they were generals or soldiers, Supreme Oracles or ordinary apprentices, no one could last more than the span of two to three breaths in the column of fire. The whole army was reduced to ashes. A million souls flew up into the sky while screaming and howling, but a flash of lightning flickered through the void, and they were all devoured by Lei Meng.
The column of fire slowly retreated, and the raging lava quickly solidified. Calm returned to the city. The four walls stood alone, while both the inside and outside of the city were completely empty; the ground was flat, without anything on it. The million soldiers who were roaring furiously a few moments ago had vanished without a trace like a beautiful soap bubble.
A shrill howl came from afar. Huo Wuliang, in the form of a flaming cloud, flew back screaming.
After circling in the sky for a while, he landed in front of Lao Ai, shivering and screaming, “My lord, how did this happen? How did this happen? My army… where is my million-strong army?
Lao Ai gave Huo Wuliang a cold look and turned away with the black-clad monks. “You are one country bumpkin who has never seen the world. Your million-strong army? Hah, any province in Great Yu can easily assemble an army of several-million-strong. Your Great Li is merely a stone used to probe the path, an insignificant pawn. Do you really think you are someone important?”
After criticizing the emperor, Lao Ai suddenly turned and smiled, “By the way, Your Majesty, I’ll bring your few youngest princesses with me. Don’t worry, I’ll treat them well. When they give birth to a son or a daughter, the children will have your blood flowing in their veins. So, take care, Your Majesty, I’m leaving now!”
Huo Wuliang stared blankly at Lao Ai as he turned and left. His face slowly turning red, then purple; finally, he coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood. Pointing at Lao Ai, he snapped, “My lord, how can you be so heartless!”
Lao Ai sneered, never looking back. “Heartless? What kind of relationship do I have with you? I’m not into men, so what kind of relationship do I have with you?”
Laughing coldly, Lao Ai and the group of a hundred and eight black-clad monks rose into the air, stepping on clouds and ready to leave this troubled land.
He had not flown very far when Wu Qi appeared alone in front of him with a big smile. He shuddered with fear and hurriedly turned to fly in the other direction. But in that direction, Jing Ke was waiting for him with a small, shinning dagger in hand. Lao Ai whimpered and led the monks to another direction. Before he had gone two miles, Qin Wuyang stopped him with a group of fierce men who rolled their sleeves up to their shoulders.
With an awkward smile, he cupped his fist at Wu Qi and said, “Prince Tianyun, long time…long time no see? Hehe…I heard Prince Tianyun already have the cultivation base of a Supreme Oracle…This…well…haha!”
Under such circumstances, Lao Ai could only laugh. Buddhist League’s intelligence network was still very sensitive. The news that Wu Qi had broken through to the realm of Supreme Oracle had been sent back to the Gridhrakuta Mountain long ago. Now that Lao Ai had boarded their ships, and as their vanguard on Pangu Continent, he was certainly informed of this update.
In the face of Wu Qi who had become a Supreme Oracle, and as Lao Ai knew of his ruthlessness, he did not dare to speak any nonsense.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Wu Qi looked at Lao Ai, whose face had turned dark, and said slowly, “Hey, Prince Changxin…long time no see!”
Waving his hand, Wu Qi said in a flat voice, “Kill those bald donkeys around you, and you and I can still sit down to have a good chat. Otherwise, don’t blame me when I take away your manhood and make you a eunuch for the rest of your life!”
Lao Ai screamed as a pink, almost transparent wheel came flying out from behind him, from which shafts of pink Buddhist light shot out. Caught unprepared, the group of one hundred and eight monks around him howled miserably as they were struck by the light.
The pink Buddhist light was actually a very vicious attack. When the monks were struck, their genitals exploded, and their veins burst at the same time. Eventually, even the tops of their heads were shattered. Barely had the one hundred and eight fist-sized natal relics flown up into the sky when Lao Ai sucked them into his mouth, then chewed and swallowed.
Wu Qi burst into laughter and applauded. But, Lao Ai’s face turned extremely unsightly, as if his whole family had just died.
A hundred miles outside the city, on the peak of a lofty mountain, five flags of five colors were scattered about, forming a small and delicate aura-concealing formation. Leaning against a tall tree, Wu Qi was squinting at the spectacular sight of Great Li’s million-strong army storming into the city.
Guigu’zi, Zhang Yi, and Su Qin stood beside him, looking at the city with a mysterious smile and giving off a faint, chilling, murderous air.
Wu Qi and his men had arrived here three days ago. At that time, Great Li’s army, divided into a dozen companies, was sweeping across towns in He Province. In Guigu’zi’s opinion, it would be a waste of energy for Dong Hai to split up the army and wipe out the enemy. He had proposed to lay an ambush in the city, wait for the enemy to regroup, and then kill them all with one strike.
His proposal was endorsed by all the courtiers and counselors of the six states. Wu Qi naturally listened to good advice and let them do as they pleased.
When Guigu’zi saw that all the enemy soldiers had entered the city, and that all the soldiers defending the city had escaped, he casually scribbled the character ‘fire’ in the air. The earth shook suddenly, and in the blink of an eye, the provincial city was enveloped in an ominous red glow, as if a bowl made of red crystal had covered the whole city.
The soldiers who rushed into the city were crying out in surprise. There was not a single person in the city, not even a cat or a dog, let alone the beauties they were promised of. Meanwhile, the luxurious mansions were as clean as a plate licked by a hundred dogs. There was not even a penny left.
Just as they were shouting with dissatisfaction about the loot, the city, a hundred miles wide and long, was suddenly wrapped in a red glow. In the blink of an eye, all the buildings collapsed with a boom into ashes and scattered around while great flames blazed up on the walls that surrounded the city. Numerous lines of red light that were as thick as a thumb intertwined rapidly on the ground smooth as a whetstone, quickly forming into a huge formation diagram.
The formation was roughly circular, with a phoenix pattern spreading its great wings at its core, and nine tail feathers ripped from Little Que’er’s tail floating in the center. Meanwhile, ninety-nine red pillars—as thick as bowls and a hundred feet high, carved with innumerable fire phoenixes—rose from the ground without a sound, releasing an awfully suffocating heat.
Lao Ai and the other generals who were standing outside the city watched the sudden change in the city and froze in fear.
Lao Ai was not so badly hit. After all, even if Great Li’s million-strong army was completely wiped out, it had nothing to do with him. But, to the generals, the army was ninety-five percent of Great Li’s military force. Outer heavenly realms were barren, and the amount of Pangu Sacred Energy was pitiably scarce. Hence, it had taken Great Li many years and countless efforts to gather up these million troops during the reign of their current emperor, Huo Wuliang.
If anything happened to this army, Great Li would fall apart at once, and there would be no second way out. The generals were shaking with fear. Together, they turned to look at Lao Ai and screamed in unison, “My lord, please hurry up and save our army!”
Lao Ai opened his mouth and said nothing. He looked hesitantly at the city shrouded in red light, but could not muster the courage to strike. The sudden change in the city had brought back memories of long ago. The tactics, the strategy of murdering someone in the dark, made him think of some very terrible figures, someone who had cast a very heavy shadow in his heart.
“People in Great Yu are incapable of such stratagems,” he murmured under his breath. “They will only fight until they die. How could they have evacuated the residents ahead of time and left tens of thousands of soldiers to lure the enemy? How could those stone heads have come up with such a strategy?”
When the generals around Lao Ai saw him brooding with his head down and not respond to their pledge, they cried out in grief and leaped into the air with their few guards, heading straight for the city. While roaring, they lashed out their weapons at the red light screen over the city, and, to their surprise, went straight through it as if it did not exist.
The overexerted generals plunged headlong into the city, and some even nearly broke their necks. They stood up in surprise while swaying, and glanced at their surroundings. When they saw the huge formation on the ground with the phoenix at its core, their faces instantly turned pale. Even the red glow that filled the void could not bring more color to their faces.
“Get out of here! QUICK!”
A general swung his long sword across the void, striking a heavy blow on the light screen. But, a nightmarish scene played out before his eyes. Just now when they were outside, the light screen seemed like an illusion, broken by a single blow. But, when they had entered the city and were trying to break through it, they could not reach it at all, no matter how hard they tried.
The group of generals kept swinging their swords, unleashing sword beams that could cut through the air into the sky. But, no matter how high they went, the light screen was always thousands of feet away. Even when they had reached the height that they were lost to the naked eyes, they still failed to touch the light screen.
An Oracle who entered the city with the generals did not believe it to be true. He leaped into the air, flying up toward the sky in a gust of wind. But, no matter how high he flew, the light screen was still over his head; no matter how hard he tried, he could never touch it.
The few Supreme Oracles of Great Li roared furiously and produced their seven-storied pagodas, speeding up into the sky. But, they also faced the same result. Since they could not break through the light screen, they could not rescue the soldiers in the city. If it were Great Yu’s Supreme Oracles, they would have been able to shatter the void with their Supreme Towers and escape. But, as the cultivation techniques and the pagodas of these Supreme Oracles from outer heavenly realms were discounted by Heaven and Buddhist League, they were unable to do so.
The men trapped in the city uttered cries of despair as they all rushed to the nearest city wall, trying to break through it and escape from the perilous situation.
But, the same thing that happened to the light screen in the sky happened to the walls as well. No matter how they ran and jumped, even to the point of coughing blood, being drenched in sweat, and no longer having the slightest strength, they could never approach the walls. All this while, the walls were just right in front of them. It was a nightmare, something that could only happen in a nightmare; and yet, it had happened to them.
Outside the city, Lao Ai heaved a long sigh as he shook his head and said, “Great Li is finished!”
The solid ground in the city suddenly collapsed and dissolved, turning into a sea of lava, a hundred miles wide and long, spewing out columns of fire. With a shrill cry of the phoenix, a square pillar of lava, purple-cyan and almost transparent, rose a good dozen miles into the sky before engulfing the million-strong army of Great Li.
Whether they were generals or soldiers, Supreme Oracles or ordinary apprentices, no one could last more than the span of two to three breaths in the column of fire. The whole army was reduced to ashes. A million souls flew up into the sky while screaming and howling, but a flash of lightning flickered through the void, and they were all devoured by Lei Meng.
The column of fire slowly retreated, and the raging lava quickly solidified. Calm returned to the city. The four walls stood alone, while both the inside and outside of the city were completely empty; the ground was flat, without anything on it. The million soldiers who were roaring furiously a few moments ago had vanished without a trace like a beautiful soap bubble.
A shrill howl came from afar. Huo Wuliang, in the form of a flaming cloud, flew back screaming.
After circling in the sky for a while, he landed in front of Lao Ai, shivering and screaming, “My lord, how did this happen? How did this happen? My army… where is my million-strong army?
Lao Ai gave Huo Wuliang a cold look and turned away with the black-clad monks. “You are one country bumpkin who has never seen the world. Your million-strong army? Hah, any province in Great Yu can easily assemble an army of several-million-strong. Your Great Li is merely a stone used to probe the path, an insignificant pawn. Do you really think you are someone important?”
After criticizing the emperor, Lao Ai suddenly turned and smiled, “By the way, Your Majesty, I’ll bring your few youngest princesses with me. Don’t worry, I’ll treat them well. When they give birth to a son or a daughter, the children will have your blood flowing in their veins. So, take care, Your Majesty, I’m leaving now!”
Huo Wuliang stared blankly at Lao Ai as he turned and left. His face slowly turning red, then purple; finally, he coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood. Pointing at Lao Ai, he snapped, “My lord, how can you be so heartless!”
Lao Ai sneered, never looking back. “Heartless? What kind of relationship do I have with you? I’m not into men, so what kind of relationship do I have with you?”
Laughing coldly, Lao Ai and the group of a hundred and eight black-clad monks rose into the air, stepping on clouds and ready to leave this troubled land.
He had not flown very far when Wu Qi appeared alone in front of him with a big smile. He shuddered with fear and hurriedly turned to fly in the other direction. But in that direction, Jing Ke was waiting for him with a small, shinning dagger in hand. Lao Ai whimpered and led the monks to another direction. Before he had gone two miles, Qin Wuyang stopped him with a group of fierce men who rolled their sleeves up to their shoulders.
With an awkward smile, he cupped his fist at Wu Qi and said, “Prince Tianyun, long time…long time no see? Hehe…I heard Prince Tianyun already have the cultivation base of a Supreme Oracle…This…well…haha!”
Under such circumstances, Lao Ai could only laugh. Buddhist League’s intelligence network was still very sensitive. The news that Wu Qi had broken through to the realm of Supreme Oracle had been sent back to the Gridhrakuta Mountain long ago. Now that Lao Ai had boarded their ships, and as their vanguard on Pangu Continent, he was certainly informed of this update.
In the face of Wu Qi who had become a Supreme Oracle, and as Lao Ai knew of his ruthlessness, he did not dare to speak any nonsense.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Wu Qi looked at Lao Ai, whose face had turned dark, and said slowly, “Hey, Prince Changxin…long time no see!”
Waving his hand, Wu Qi said in a flat voice, “Kill those bald donkeys around you, and you and I can still sit down to have a good chat. Otherwise, don’t blame me when I take away your manhood and make you a eunuch for the rest of your life!”
Lao Ai screamed as a pink, almost transparent wheel came flying out from behind him, from which shafts of pink Buddhist light shot out. Caught unprepared, the group of one hundred and eight monks around him howled miserably as they were struck by the light.
The pink Buddhist light was actually a very vicious attack. When the monks were struck, their genitals exploded, and their veins burst at the same time. Eventually, even the tops of their heads were shattered. Barely had the one hundred and eight fist-sized natal relics flown up into the sky when Lao Ai sucked them into his mouth, then chewed and swallowed.
Wu Qi burst into laughter and applauded. But, Lao Ai’s face turned extremely unsightly, as if his whole family had just died.
