From Ji City came the loud shout of Yan Dan again, "You are merely a bunch of fools who swarm as flies for good, shamelessly seeking personal gain. How dare you plot a revolt? Do you really think that I, Yan Dan, am a dead man? Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!" The seven 'kill' cries resounded like the roaring of thunder. Among the several cultivators who were now fighting each other above Ji City, twenty-one Human Immortals of peak Gold Core realm were killed by Yan Dan alone with a sword, slicing them into sixty-three pieces of dead meat.
Then, he gave a sonorous laugh, pointed his finger out and unleashed twenty-one streams of greenish-white airflow, wiping out the tiny bit of divine sense hiding within the Gold Cores that just escaped from the bodies of dead Human Immortals. Then, it transformed into a series of twisted runes and sealed off these Gold Cores, before he placed them all into his storage bracelet.
After that, a white ray shot out up into the sky from where Yan Dan broke out from the formation. The diameter of the white ray was merely two to three inches, yet it stretched for several miles. While sending forth a menacing, desolated aura, it streaked through the air at an incredible speed. Within seconds, it had pierced through the dantian of fifty-seven Human Immortals, crushing and shattering their bodies together with their dantian.
The white ray then halted, revealing Jing Ke, who had nothing on his upper body and had his long hairs waving in the strong breeze, holding a dagger in his hand and hovering in midair. In his left hand, he carried a wine dipper made from white jade. Slowly, he drank a few mouthfuls of fine wine out of it, then only let out a wild laugh and said, "Your Majesty, for all these people, they must have thought that for over thousands of years, all of us had grown old and our minds were muddled! Let us slaughter these enemies with one heart today. We'll tell this bunch of fools that Great Yan is still our Great Yan, and not a place they can mess with!"
A deep, muffled ringing of ancient musical instrument came from afar. Subtly, one could hear the clashing of spears and trampling of horse hooves amidst the music. Gao Jianli, with his shirt messily clad and his long hair waving loosely behind his head, was seen sitting on a cushion emitting a faint white glow. On his knees was placed an ancient musical instrument. His left hand was pressing on the strings while he held a small jade bar with the right hand. Using the jade bar, he kept striking the strings, producing vehement and exciting tunes.
The sound wave echoed and lingered in the air above Ji City. Those Human immortals of Gold Core realms who were loyal to Yan Dan suddenly had their bodies emanating a large curtain of white glow. With that, no matter it was their flying or recovery speed, both had increased by double. Meanwhile, the piercing speed of their flying swords had also increased by 1.5 times while the power of thunderbolts unleashed from their palms had taken a great leap, becoming at least three times stronger than before.
On the contrary, the enemy's Human Immortals were seen having their bodies swaying as if about to fall. The spiritual connection between them and their flying swords had become unstable, and even the glow of defensive magical treasures cast out by them had become faded, like a piece of metal corroded by acid, losing all its glow and shine. As the scale of power had now shifted to the other side, the Human Immortals of Great Yan Dynasty began to quickly slaughter their opponents, digging out their Gold Cores, sealing them with runes and handing over to Yan Dan.
Under the lead of Yan Dan, Jing Ke and Gao Jianli, the few hundred Human Immortals transformed into streams of rays and rushed toward Wu Qi's direction. While they were still several hundred miles away, Yan Dan gave a loud cry, "Excellently done, Zi Xuan! Capture all these treacherous ministers and traitors for grandfather. I'm going to kill a whole lot of people today. I swear, I'll slaughter all the nine generations of these filthy people who have no sense of gratitude!"
Upon hearing the words of praise coming from Yan Dan, Princess Zhang Le's spirit was boosted. She let out a loud cry, and the five colored divine rays began to undulate on her back. Then, strong wind started to sweep by, and within the radius of five hundred miles, all wind had now turned into green waves that one could see with naked eyes, blowing and rushing towards her direction. They were swallowed by the seal hovering above her and transformed into countless wind blades that blotted out the entire sky, tightly cutting off any possible routes of escape for Wei Xiaoxiao and her company.
With great hatred, Wei Xiaoxiao gave a screech. She turned to the numerous personal guards following behind the coach and said furiously, "Spill your blood and burn your soul, charge out from here! I'll definitely treat your clan members well. But if all of us are fall into the hands of Great Yan Dynasty, none of us will be able to stay alive!"
Following the loud screech of Wei Xiaoxiao, thirty-six golden-robed cultivators, having cultivation bases ranging from Respiration tier of Xiantian realm to beginner tier of Gold Core realm charged out from the parade. They sprung into the sky and formed a strange, square-shaped formation. Together, they drew out a pitch-black bone knife. Then, exerting their full force, they stabbed the knife into their eyes, throat, heart, dantian, left and right ribs; all vital parts of their bodies received several stabs. Each stab pierced a hole on their bodies. Vaguely, numerous green colored runes emerged on the dark blades while miserable howling of devils kept ringing out in the air. As the invisible howls of devils resounded, all thirty-six cultivators started to recite bizarre spells using a strange tone.
Wu Qi had no idea how these men could still make a voice, as their throat had been stabbed by themselves. However, the reciting of spells that sounded like the deadly hiss from thousands of foul ghosts did come right out from their mouths. As the recitation went on, their skin, flesh, internal organs, all began to fall off from their bodies. Yet, before they could touch the ground, they had already turned into grayish-white ashes, blowing in the wind.
Thirty-six pale skeletons were now hovering in midair while a great amount of blood was wheeling around these skeletons. Shivering evil energies kept rushing out from the air, quickly injecting into these skeletons. Wei Xiaoxiao gave a strange laugh. Then, she fished out a black talisman made using some unknown bones from her sleeve. With a shake of her hand, she threw it into the sky.
The talisman was one foot and two inches long, six inches wide and one inch thick. Rather than mentioning it as a talisman, it was more appropriate to call it a brick. On the surface of the talisman, some runes were branded using white tendons and hairs of humans. Between these runes were several hundred heads of devils, each as small as a sesame seed. Yet, they could be vividly seen by Wu Qi even from one thousand feet away. These pale-green heads of devils kept baring their white fangs, as if they were alive, while emanating a shivering devilish air that soared high up into the sky.
Gently, Wei Xiaoxiao waved her fingers, let out a ferocious laugh and said, "Bring forth the sacrificial offerings! These damn fools, it is all because of them who delayed my time. Or else, I would have long made my escape from Ji City. Then how would I have been trapped here?" Throwing a glance over her shoulder at the large parade of men behind her flying coach, Wei Xiaoxiao puckered her face into a cruel and merciless smile.
Those who followed behind Wei Xiaoxiao's coach were the top warriors and cultivators which Wei Merchant had hidden in Ji City. In addition to them were the prince hostages from several dozens of vassal kingdoms who Yan Dan had declared as traitors, their retinues, and personal guards. As Wei Xiaoxiao waved her hand gently in the air, all the cultivators of Wei Merchant acted at the same time, unleashing their flying swords and instantly killing over three hundred prince hostages and their followers.
With that being done, Wei Xiaoxiao laughed out loud and followed it with a nearly hysterical scream.
The sword beams of Wei Merchant's cultivators flashed again as they sliced and hacked the dead bodies of all prince hostages and their followers into pieces, throwing bloody internal organs, bones, and flesh over to the sky. From the bodies of thirty-six skeletons, faint black mist suddenly burst out, coiling up and circling around these sacrificial offering in a quick motion. Within a blink of an eye, all the blood and flesh and bones were swallowed by the black mist. More ashes were seen falling off from the sky, as the offerings of blood and flesh had all their essence sucked out, leaving nothing but ashes behind.
Indistinctly, a satisfying burp came from the sky, then an enormous pressure gradually spread out from the high altitude. Suddenly, all thirty-six skeletons converged inwardly, clashing with each other and smashing into pieces. After that, they quickly assembled into a gigantic skeleton like building blocks. It stood thirty feet tall, with all its bones pitch-black, and enshrouded in wisps of dark smoke. It had an enormous skull, at least three times larger than those ordinary human skulls.
The strange looking skeleton gave a savage laugh, opened its mouth and swallowed the talisman thrown out by Wei Xiaoxiao. After that, its body suddenly transformed, turning into a state which looked half-liquid and rippled like water. Then, it opened its mouth again, and there was a ball of dark smoke forming quickly and subtly inside it. In just a few seconds, while Yan Dan was still several miles away, the gigantic skeleton opened its mouth widely and shot out a stream of dark gas straight towards Princess Zhang Le.
Countless ghostly howls soared high up into the sky. Bringing together a vast shivering and evil energy, the black gas rushed straight towards Princess Zhang Le. Along its way, numerous wind blades tried to stop it, yet all of them were shattered by the gas. Princess Zhang Le gave a shocked cry, controlled the dark cloud and hastily fled to the side. However, the black gas did not give up and followed her, eventually slamming forcefully onto her protective green light.
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!* Countless deep yet rapid booms of explosions rang out. A mouthful of blood was forced out from Princess Zhang Le's mouth, and she was knocked flying back by the black gas. The defensive seal of hers burst out with a layer of dazzling green halo, then it suddenly blinked, as the small-sized seal was thrust several thousand feet high into the sky by the tremendous force, flying and falling to an unknown destination. The divine sense Princess Zhang Le left in the seal was destroyed by the powerful force, which made her cough out another mouthful of blood. The dark cloud underneath her seemed like it was going to dissolve.
The surrounding wind blades began to press inwardly, flying and slicing towards the gigantic dark skeleton in a messy order. But the bones of this skeleton were extremely sturdy and tough. Although eight flying swords which almost reached the quality of lower tier magical treasures kept impacting onto its body, they could only produce sparks from it, but failed to leave even a tiny scratch.
The bizarre skeleton with huge bones opened its mouth and gave a soundless cry, stretching both claws out and grabbing in the air. Eight flying swords were now caught by its claws, and with a casual rub, it crushed them into powder. A dark wind of evil came out of nowhere as the dark skeleton ripped apart the green winds blotted the sky, cupping Wei Xiaoxiao's coach with the evil wind. Together with all the men of Wei Merchant following behind the coach, they transformed into a clump of black gas and fled towards the south.
Quickly, Wu Qi raised up the Nine Cloud Piercing Crossbows, and in an instant, he unleashed all the loaded bolts on over twenty crossbows.
Explosive Talismans exploded on the surface of the dark gas, yet they could only stir up tiny wisps of dark gas, failing to hurt any people hiding within.
It seemed like the black skeleton had sensed Wu Qi's hostility. Suddenly, it bowed its head and thrust its palm forcefully toward Wu Qi. A shrill noise rang out as a large palm, several hundred feet in circumference, burst out, bringing together deep rumbles of wind and thunder and a flame several thousand feet long. They slammed right towards Wu Qi's head. Wu Qi did not have the courage to stand against this huge palm. Without hesitation, he threw away the crossbows, and with a blink of his body and the help from Sword of Greedy Wolf, he made an escape to a distance several thousand feet away.
A loud boom rang out, as the ground shook and vibrated violently. A shape of a palm, several hundred feet in circumference, was branded deeply onto the ground, sinking several thousand feet deep into the underground. From the earth at the bottom, dark smoke billowed up, as it had been corroded by some unknown evil power and become a molten substance that gave forth a stinking smell, and was sticky like dark ink.
The black gas flew past over Wu Qi and disappeared without a trace within a blink of an eye.
Yan Dan, Jing Ke and few other men quickly jumped onto their flying swords and went in the direction where the black gas fled.
After approximately two hours, Yan Dan and his brothers made their return to Ji City slowly, each with an unsightly expression. They said nothing but went straight back to the Imperial Palace.
Out of several thousand men who fought with Blood Swallow Army, more than eighty percent were killed on the spot, while the rest had their cultivation base destroyed, sent to the Great Jail built underneath the Imperial Palace.
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