Chapter 52: Bloody Melee
Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Bloody Melee
The instant those beads appeared, an aura of utter, absolute destruction and annihilation permeated the air.
"Oh no! It’s Yin Thunder Beads! Tier Two!!" A scream of utter terror erupted from within the breach!
But it was too late!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!!!
An indescribably massive sound instantly swallowed every other noise on the battlefield!
A blinding, pure, unadulterated violet lightning, like countless enraged thunder dragons, suddenly exploded from the breach!
The violet light expanded in an instant, completely engulfing a space of several dozen yards around the breach! Whether it was the old Cultivators still charging, the Zhao Family Cultivators attacking from within and around the breach, or even the sturdy fragments of buildings, Magical Artifacts, and Spirit Light... the moment the violet light touched them, they were silently annihilated.
The massive Array Light Shield protecting the entire Zhao Family Marketplace looked as if a huge chunk had been viciously torn from one corner by an invisible, terrifying claw! Accompanied by a heart-pounding roar like mountains crumbling and the earth splitting asunder, the array’s structure in that corner completely disintegrated!
A terrifying gap, over a hundred yards in diameter and edged with flickering, unstable violet sparks, had been blasted into existence!
"Scoundrels!"
A voice filled with majesty and extreme fury suddenly erupted from the depths of the Marketplace! Along with this roar, a terrifying pressure, ten times more powerful than that of the three previous Qi Cultivation Perfection Cultivators, crashed over the entire battlefield like a physical tsunami!
A Foundation Establishment cultivator!
The pressure of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator surged out from within the Marketplace’s Grand Array, attempting to halt the army’s advance.
Two equally majestic waves of pressure suddenly emerged from the Flowing Cloud Ship, one of which far surpassed the pressure coming from inside the Marketplace.
"Zhao Renchang, if you dare to make a move today, you’ll be leaving your life behind!" the Foundation Establishment cultivator with the slightly weaker aura threatened grimly from the ship—this was the Zhou Family Cultivator, Zhou Xianmo, his green robes fluttering and his three-inch-long goatee drifting below his chin.
"Zhou Xianmo! Do you think I’m so easily scared?" Zhao Renchang retorted sharply, the Spirit Light of the Protective Array flickering unstably under the impact of the pressures. "The Chu Family is here! How dare you act so audaciously!"
"Does the Chu Family own all the land in Chen Country?" Zhou Xianmo sneered. "Or does the Chu Family fancy themselves the Bixia Sect?"
Before his voice had faded, two figures stepped off the ship.
The elder on the left had his white hair bound tightly by a golden crown. A flood dragon was embroidered on the collar of his green robe, and the lines on his brow were as deep as carved ravines. He looked like a man long accustomed to a high position. Though his eyes remained closed and he was silent, his imposing presence, as deep as a placid pool and as immovable as a mountain, made it difficult for the other Cultivators to breathe.
On the right was Zhou Xianmo with his three-inch-long goatee, his wide, green-robed sleeves whipping in the wind.
Seeing the attacking Cultivators’ momentum falter slightly, the old man’s eyes snapped open. "Break the array. Slaughter them all!"
The sound wave was like a clap of thunder, and the flagstones of the Marketplace cracked in response!
Zhao Renchang’s face was ashen. Suppressing the urge to attack himself, he roared to those inside the array, "Defend the array, and you will be handsomely rewarded! Fifty Spirit Stones for Early-stage Qi Cultivation! One hundred for the Middle Stage! Three hundred for the Late Stage! For those who fall at the front, regardless of origin, the Zhao Family will provide for their kin!"
As soon as his words fell, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators from both sides were already locked in a standoff in the air.
On the ground below, the Zhou Family’s assault had become a torrent from a broken dam!
On the left flank, more than thirty Cloud Patterned Horses neighed like thunder as their riders were the first to charge violently toward the breach in the array! On the right flank, the Law Enforcement Team advanced, silent as the mountains, pressing forward behind the Cloud Pattern Cavalry with the resolve to crush everything in their path.
In the center, over a thousand Zhou Family Cultivators and Honored Guest Elders formed a surging tide! The mottled Spirit Light of various Magical Artifacts flickered, and the power of the Talismans was uneven, yet they coalesced into a singular will of destruction, rolling toward the Zhao Family Marketplace with the force of an avalanche.
The Zhao Family Cultivators’ desperate counterattack erupted in an instant! Within the narrow space, the light of multicolored Magical Artifacts flashed, collided, and extinguished madly! Fireballs exploded, their flames devouring figures; Ice Cones rained down; phantasmal boulders fell with immense weight; sharp Wind Blades shrieked as they tore through the sky... All the attacks fell like a torrential downpour, madly lashing the charging Zhou Family Cultivators!
The roar was deafening! Magical Artifacts, Talismans, and Magic from both sides clashed violently, erupting with a cataclysmic boom! Red, yellow, blue, and violet Spirit Light shattered across the sky—the state of the battlefield was clear at a glance. The Zhao Family was already at a disadvantage!
Just as the Zhao Family Cultivators were attempting to regroup, the Cloud Pattern Cavalry and the Law Enforcement Team struck like two sharp blades, viciously hacking into the Zhao Family’s formation from the left and right!
In an instant, over a hundred Magical Artifacts slashed in fiercely from both sides! Before the Zhao Family Cultivators could react, dozens had been killed on the spot! Severed limbs and shattered Magical Artifacts exploded outward in a spray of blood!
Amid the chaos, the head of the Zhao Family’s law enforcement, Zhao Yonglin of the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer, roared with his eyes nearly splitting with rage, "Law Enforcement Team! Hold the line!" Several dozen valiant disciples charged out in response. The weakest among them had a Cultivation of the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer. Each wielding their Magical Artifacts, they desperately entangled the Cloud Pattern Cavalry!
On sheer fierce courage, these few dozen men actually managed to temporarily stall the advance of the Cloud Patterned Iron Cavalry. However, the Zhou Family’s Law Enforcement Team was now unstoppable, taking the opportunity to pierce deep into the Zhao Family’s lines like a sharp cone!
Immediately after, the main force of the Zhou Family’s central army crashed down like a tsunami. A sky full of Five-Colored Spiritual Light converged into a storm of destruction, smashing viciously into the Zhao Family’s Broken Array!
Just then, a shocking change occurred!
Among the Zhao Family’s vassal families, a portion of the cultivators suddenly turned on their allies, their Magical Artifacts stabbing straight at the unsuspecting Zhao Family Cultivators beside them!
Caught completely off guard! More than ten Zhao Family Cultivators were killed on the spot!
The betrayal was like a barb piercing their heart, and the Zhao Family’s lines instantly fell into chaos! Even the Law Enforcement Team, which had been tying up the Cloud Pattern Cavalry, was stunned into a daze, and several of them were cut down in succession.
Internal strife and external invasion! Under the absolute crushing force of the Zhou Family’s three-pronged attack, and under this fatal, backstabbing Thunderous Strike, the Zhao Family’s teetering defensive line—like glass struck by a heavy hammer—shattered with a roar and utterly collapsed! The resisting Cultivators fell in droves, like wheat stalks reaped by an invisible scythe! The once-indestructible defensive line was now torn to shreds, riddled with fatal gaps!
High in the sky, Zhao Renchang witnessed this scene, his face as black as charcoal. He stared intently at the betraying families, took a deep breath, and his voice carried a bone-chilling coldness and resolve:
"All members of the Zhao Family, fall back and defend the Marketplace!"
Meanwhile, Lu Zhao was with the other cultivators of the Hundred Arts Camp, at the very rear of the central army, advancing on the Zhao Family’s members.
And his greatest feeling at that moment was: ’It’s great to know the Cultivation Hundred Arts. You’re always put at the very back.’
Lu Zhao advanced with the cultivators of the Hundred Arts Camp, positioned at the very rear of the central army’s formation, charging toward the Zhao Family Cultivators’ defensive line.
Spirit Light crisscrossed and exploded overhead, and shockwaves carrying the stench of blood washed over him. He gripped the Magic Disc in his hand so tightly his knuckles turned white.
A complex emotion began to well up inside him: ’Knowing Artifact Refining, Talismans... these Cultivation Hundred Arts... it really is a good thing. At least on a battlefield of flying flesh and blood like this, we’re always protected at the rear, never having to face the fiercest part of the fight.’
As the thought passed through his mind, a bitter taste rose in his throat. It was relief, but also self-mockery.