Chapter 20: The Great Xia Realm-Securing Formation

The Celestial Immortals and loose immortals fled in panic.

“Hahaha…”

“Flee?”

“Die.”

The four blood-cloud puppets slaughtered these Celestial Immortals and loose immortals wildly. In the past, when the Punishing Celestial and the white-faced flood dragon fought, even if severely wounded, only one white-faced flood dragon did the killing. But now, they were being slaughtered by four blood-cloud puppets at once. Though the blood-cloud puppets were weaker than the white-faced flood dragon, they were still powerful enough to kill Celestial Immortals, and they were faster. With four of them, in the blink of an eye, all thousand Celestial Immortals were slaughtered!

Not a single one escaped!

Even those hiding in immortal estates were captured directly by the blood-cloud puppets.

“Damn it!” roared Zhuan Shui Celestial Deity, charging over with the mighty army of gods and demons.

“Zhang Hong.”

“Old Six.”

“Sixth Brother!”

The other Punishing Celestials were red-eyed.

Too fast.

If earlier, when they were in danger fighting the white-faced flood dragon, the Xia Emperor still had time to save them, then now, when the Punishing Celestial Zhang Hong was being slaughtered by four blood-cloud puppets, there was no chance to save him. In a blink, the Punishing Celestial Zhang Hong collapsed and was killed. Too fast, too fast.

…

“Sixth Brother,” Ji Ning’s eyes were also red. Too fast. No one present could do anything.

“Damn it.”

Ji Ning held the Ananda Universal Sword in both hands, frantically attacking the black chains around him. In the distance, the True Immortal Chi Bing struggled to maintain the spell, gritting his teeth: “This Ji Ning is truly mad. He knows he can’t break through, yet he attacks so wildly.” His pure yang immortal energy was constantly being consumed, while Ji Ning consumed more of the power of heaven and earth.

“True Immortal Chi Bing,” Ji Ning hated him even more.

The power of these black chains was too strong…

Ji Ning actually wanted to ask the seven Celestial Deities for help. He believed that with the Great Xia and the Outervoid Gate evenly matched, they could play a decisive role. But first, the seven Celestial Deities had only promised to help him once, which was almost like a life-saving trump card. Second, even though he was furious, his heart force had reached the level of a sovereign, so he could remain absolutely calm and not act rashly out of anger. The seven Celestial Deities were too important to use now.

Because the Great Xia and the Outervoid Gate had clearly not yet reached the most desperate stage.

“If only…”

“If only my sword art had reached perfection, how wonderful would that be?”

“Break for me!”

Ji Ning exerted all his strength in his swordplay, attacking the black chains around him, preventing them from entangling and binding him.

…

Outside, the Great Xia side was even more frenzied, the fiercest being the three divine demon armies. The power of the ‘Pangu Battle Formation’ was truly astonishing, and with their enormous size, even a single palm was larger than a Punishing Celestial. So although the blood-cloud puppets were fast, they sometimes couldn’t avoid Pangu’s giant axe or hand.

Whether touched by the hand or struck by the axe,

the blood-cloud puppets all collapsed, and the Celestial Immortals inside were shaken to death.

“Boom.”

“Boom.”

Every now and then, a loud sound rang out as another blood-cloud puppet collapsed.

In the distance, the True Immortal Bai Ji watched with a cold expression. Although the loss of blood-cloud puppets had always been heavy, in this battle with the Great Xia, they were being destroyed too quickly. Mainly because the three Pangu battle formations occupied too much space. Although the Pangu battle formations advanced slowly, the speed at which ‘Pangu’ swung its arms and giant axe was still very fast.

“Hmph.” A cold gleam flashed in True Immortal Bai Ji’s eyes.

He locked onto the divine demon army led by Celestial Deity Han Zheng.

Then, with a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—thirty-six snow-white immortal swords floated behind True Immortal Bai Ji. These thirty-six swords formed a huge circle in midair, and as boundless power erupted, they transformed into a giant ‘sun’—but a cold sun.

A chilling aura spread, freezing everything to the bone.

Even the endless wilderness quickly froze, covered in thick ice.

“He’s finally making his move.” The Xia Emperor had been watching True Immortal Bai Ji all along. He had long sensed the threat this True Immortal posed—the only one in the Outervoid Gate camp that made him feel threatened. So the Xia Emperor understood that this always low-key True Immortal Bai Ji was the strongest among the Outervoid Gate.

Although the Xia Emperor had been casting auxiliary spells on the side, he had mainly been watching True Immortal Bai Ji.

Now True Immortal Bai Ji made his move, and it was earth-shattering.

“Bai Ji… Under Heaven!” True Immortal Bai Ji stood at the center of the cold sun, like a lord of the sun, then pointed from afar at the divine demon army led by Celestial Deity Han Zheng.

“Swish!”

A streak of icy light shot across the sky, heading straight for Celestial Deity Han Zheng’s divine demon army.

Celestial Deity Han Zheng looked up and roared.

The towering Pangu above the entire divine demon army also roared in anger and swung its giant axe. With a boom, though the axe was covered in frost, it easily blocked the attack.

“Hmph.” True Immortal Bai Ji sneered.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish—

Countless silver-white streaks of light shot across the sky, pouring down madly on Celestial Deity Han Zheng’s divine demon army. The area where that army was located seemed to turn into a frozen hell. Space began to freeze, and ice layers appeared on the towering Pangu. But all the gods and demons roared, their divine power surging.

They had long become one, fearless.

“Drink!” Celestial Deity Han Zheng went wild, and the Pangu above swung its giant axe, its terrifying power frantically blocking the countless streaks of light.

…

For a time, this divine demon army was completely locked in a stalemate with True Immortal Bai Ji.

“Impressive.”

“A mere Pure Yang True Immortal actually stalemates a Pangu battle formation formed by a Celestial Deity leading countless gods and demons.” The Great Xia side was all shocked. When the venomous white-faced flood dragon rampaged, no one on the Great Xia side dared to say they could block it. Even the Fire Cloud Celestial Deity, who had once tried to hold it off, was sent flying with a single blow.

But True Immortal Bai Ji could do it.

“Good.” The Xia Emperor’s eyes lit up. “Now’s the time.”

Rumble—

The void where the black-robed Xia Emperor stood seemed to collapse. Within a hundred zhang around him, it fell into absolute darkness. Space twisted and warped, and then from that collapsed absolute darkness, a black dragon began to crawl out. As it emerged, its golden-glowing eyes scanned the surroundings.

“Roar—” A sky-shaking dragon’s cry.

Then, from the absolute darkness, one black dragon after another began to crawl out.

“All Clans Come to Court!” the black-robed Xia Emperor roared hoarsely, his eyes turning wild.

Boom, boom, boom—

Nine black dragons crawled out of the darkness, their aura overwhelming. Then they slithered swiftly, charging straight at the distant blood-cloud puppets.

This was a secret art exclusive to the ancient imperial clan. The Xia Emperor was still weak and could barely execute the first level. If a great power from the ancient imperial clan used it, they could release ten thousand black dragons.

“Green Fox, help the blood-cloud puppets,” True Immortal Bai Ji sent a message urgently. As soon as he saw the Xia Emperor use this secret art, he was shocked. His intelligence didn’t include which secret arts the Xia Emperor could use. This ‘All Clans Come to Court’ art was extremely difficult to master, an exclusive technique of the ancient imperial clan. Yet the Xia Emperor could execute the first level.

Those nine black dragons were comparable to nine Celestial Deity puppets—and fast ones at that. Once the blood-cloud puppets were tied up, the other two divine demon armies and the Punishing Celestials could easily destroy them.

“Alright.” The Green Fox saw this and dared not hesitate. He also went all out.

The Green Fox Sect Leader transformed into a huge green fox.

The green fox stood in the void, radiating green light.

“Change.”

Her tail suddenly split into nine, becoming nine tails. The nine huge green fox tails madly chased in different directions, pursuing the nine black dragons. The Green Fox Sect Leader was not actually a nine-tailed fox of the highest bloodline, but as a Celestial Deity, she could temporarily transform into a nine-tailed form. However, her nine tails were somewhat weaker than the legendary nine-tailed fox, but they should be able to hold off the Xia Emperor for a while, giving the blood-cloud puppets a breather.

If it were a true nine-tailed fox at the Celestial Deity level, it might have been able to contend with the Xia Emperor using its innate abilities.

The Green Fox Sect Leader?

She was still somewhat lacking.

…

In the Great Xia capital, at the Heavenly Mang Hall in the imperial palace.

The white-robed Xia Emperor stood at the highest point of the Heavenly Mang Hall, overlooking the endless land.

“The Celestial Immortals from the Outervoid Gate who joined the battle, including the dead, number less than ten thousand. They mainly rely on the Celestial Deity puppets and the special nature of the blood-cloud puppets to stalemate with my Great Xia,” the white-robed Xia Emperor murmured to himself. “Among these nearly ten thousand Celestial Immortals, three thousand were originally from my Great Xia who defected. That means the Outervoid Gate itself sent even fewer Celestial Immortals—probably around five or six thousand. This is likely not all of the Outervoid Gate’s strength. To attack my Great Xia, this branch of the Outervoid Gate led by Green Fox must have prepared a considerable number of Celestial Immortals!”

“Since you won’t come out, I’ll force you out.”

The white-robed Xia Emperor knew well.

A hidden blade is dangerous; no one knows when or where it will strike.

Only by forcing it out and bringing everything into the open could he feel at ease.

“Rise.”

The white-robed Xia Emperor extended his right hand, and in his palm appeared a faint, dazzling black light.

“Rumble—” The entire Heavenly Mang Hall, and even the whole imperial palace, began to tremble. The ancient patterns on the palace square lit up, and the Heavenly Mang Hall itself shimmered with black light, dazzling and bright.

…

Ancheng City.

Although the Great Xia was now at war, the ancient Ancheng City remained very calm. This was not a battlefield.

But at this moment—

The entire Ancheng City trembled.

Hum—

Suddenly, Ancheng City burst into brilliant light. Countless rays of light swirled over the city, and a surge of power shot into the sky.

…

Huoshan Prefecture City also had light shooting into the sky.

…

Countless cities across the entire Great Xia—the prefecture cities of all three thousand six hundred prefectures—simultaneously erupted with overwhelming power. Even the ‘Baiji City’ beneath the Outervoid City gathered power.

At that moment,

With the Heavenly Mang Hall imperial palace as the core and the three thousand six hundred prefecture cities as formation bases, the Great Xia Realm-Securing Formation, originally refined by the Dao Ancestor Yinglong, was truly activated. This was the formation the Xia Emperor had asked Yinglong to refine after the vassals rebelled. Since then, no one in the Great Xia dared to rebel—until this great calamity.

After countless ages, the Great Xia Realm-Securing Formation once again displayed its power.

“Go.” The white-robed Xia Emperor sat at the core of the formation, the Heavenly Mang Hall, channeling the majestic power of heaven and earth toward the battlefield in Baiji Prefecture.

…