Under the command of Yan Hao and Yu Weifeng, the leaders of the Heavenly Demon Alliance and the Heavenly Dao Alliance, nearly seven or eight hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators—twenty from the Old Bright Immortal Palace and twenty from the Heavenly Demon Alliance—each split into two groups, hurled their magic artifacts and charged toward Stone City in a massive assault.

Their objective was simple: destroy the dense stone towers within the city and eliminate the numerous Black-Clad strongmen of the Bone Bow Tribe on the ramparts, thereby capturing this stone fortress built by the Earth Clan strongmen in one fell swoop.

"Who is that?"

Several sharp-eyed young Foundation Establishment cultivators spotted a lone young Bone Archer standing atop the highest point of the city wall, facing them head-on. This Bone Archer held an exaggeratedly large, silver giant bone bow, standing aloof against the sky, seeming to be the sole sovereign between heaven and earth.

All the cultivators hailed from the Immortal Palaces, their eyes held above the common mass, filled with inherent arrogance. How could they spare a glance for an Earth Clan Bone Archer? Seeing the Archer’s immense pride, they were immediately enraged.

"This savage dares to be so insolent! Fellow Daoists, follow me and we shall slay him!"

Someone shouted this rallying cry, taking the lead. A group of dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators instantly responded, soaring on their swords toward the section of the stone city's rampart where the young Bone Archer stood.

The Earth Clan strongman—a handsome figure wielding the giant silver bow, standing on the highest point of the city wall—swept a glance over the charging group of Foundation Establishment cultivators. He let out a cold snort, then drew a single, nearly three-zhang-long silver bone arrow from his quiver, which held barely a dozen shafts on his back.

This bone arrow was simple in appearance; it was unclear from which part of a demon flood dragon it had been refined, but it appeared to be a sharpened rib, emitting wisps of cold air capable of freezing solid.

He raised the bone bow toward the sky and roared! With sheer force, he strained to draw back the Demon Flood Dragon Bone Bow. Under the immense divine power, the silver giant bow slowly opened, its incredibly tough dragon sinews pulled taut to their maximum curve.

"Where I stand, no one has ever managed to charge through. Immortals, perish."

The young strongman narrowed his eyes, emanating an aura of absolute arrogance—a chilling presence.

As the final word faded, whoosh—!

The cold, luminous flood dragon bone arrow, several zhang long, shot forth, leaving the string like a meteor chasing the moon toward the mass of cultivators.

The bone arrow flew through the air, transforming into a cold flood dragon several zhang in length, accompanied by a low, tearing screech. However, halfway through its flight, the Flood Dragon Bone Arrow violently exploded, turning into a massive burst of shattered, icy bone fragments covering an area dozens of zhang wide, plunging into the center of the charging cultivators.

Instantly, the cultivators struck by these fragments had their elemental protective shields pierced with loud crackling sounds. The shards struck flesh, eliciting cries of agony. Their bodies froze black, and one by one, they tumbled toward the ground.

The area covered by the flood dragon bone arrow directly downed the fastest twenty or thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators. Such a fierce attack instantly instilled dread in all the following cultivators.

The Bone Archers on the stone city wall followed suit, releasing volleys of bone arrows.

A wave of thousands of dense bone arrows surged forth, a black curtain that nearly obscured half the sky.

The Immortal Palace cultivators unleashed their magic artifacts, enduring the arrows, and rushed toward the vicinity of the wall and the stone towers to strike at the Earth Clan Bone Archers. But the Earth Clan strongmen were not easy prey, even at close range.

The cultivators could not hold near the ramparts for long; their protective shields were hammered severely, and cries of agony rose and fell rapidly. Three dense volleys of bone arrows shattered their offense, forcing them to retreat in disarray, staggering back outside the ten-li range of the Earth Clan's firing line.

Many cultivators struck by the bone arrows began oozing threads of black mist from the corners of their mouths, forced to expend magic power to suppress it.

The Golden Core cultivators watching the battle could not help but alter their expressions slightly.

"There are too many stone towers in the city, and Bone Archers are everywhere—at least three or four thousand in total."

"Those bone arrows are coated with venomous substances like the Bone-Eating Toxin, Sea Monster Serpent venom, etc., specifically designed to shatter cultivators' protective shields. Once struck by an arrow and contaminated with the toxin, the shield's magic power is rapidly depleted. If the power runs out, the Earth Clan strongmen can slaughter them almost at will. They dare not charge in."

The retreating mass of Foundation Establishment cultivators angrily reported the situation to the two Golden Core leaders, Yan Hao and Yu Weifeng.

"The effective range of a mid-tier Bone Archer is a full five li, exceeding the attack range of Foundation Establishment cultivators soaring on swords by two or three hundred zhang. With such concentrated volleys, breaching the city will be troublesome. I wonder what material their arrows are made of—fetch a few over so I can examine them."

Yan Hao paid little attention to the casualties among the Foundation Establishment cultivators. After estimating the range, he squinted in thought, then spoke to a Foundation Establishment cultivator beside him.

That cultivator cautiously approached the edge of the battlefield and brought back several bone arrows picked up from the ground.

Yan Hao took them and observed: these bone arrows were crafted from the skeletal remains of at least third-tier Sea Monster Beasts, some even from fifth or sixth-tier ones.

In the East Sea, such Sea Monster Beast bones are common; one doesn't even need to hunt the beasts, merely collecting the remains of deceased ones yields sufficient material for bone arrows. Finding the remains of seventh-tier or higher Sea Monster Beasts is not impossible.

Furthermore, Sea Monster Beasts are enormous, and the remains of a single beast can yield a huge quantity of bone arrows, so the Bone Archers likely have no shortage of such ammunition. As for how the Bone Bow Tribe refines the bones into arrows, that remains unknown.

"Brother Weifeng, it seems we must have all the Deputy Captains from the Immortal Palaces..."

Yan Hao turned and spoke to Yu Weifeng.

Yu Weifeng, having witnessed the combat, stroked his beard and nodded.

"Let's rest for now, and attack again after an hour. The Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Old Man Immortal Alliance cannot manage the Earth Clan strongmen inside this stone city."

At this point, only the Deputy Captains at the Golden Core stage could be sent to assault the city.

The main Golden Core Captains remained stationed over ten li from the stone city, observing the battle from a safe vantage point.

Zhou Yao was the Deputy Captain of the Purple Sword Palace.

Zhou Yao, with her bright, watery eyes, gazed expectantly at Ye Qin, hoping he would lead the charge to take the city. After all, the fat man from Treasure Gathering Palace, Liao Anzhe from Mending Palace, and other Golden Core figures were Deputy Captains but weren't required to storm the stone city.

She did not wish to be seen as inferior to the other Golden Core cultivators, even implicitly.

Regrettably, Ye Qin pretended not to notice her.

She snorted in dissatisfaction, and, having no choice, led the cultivators of the Purple Sword Palace toward the stone city.

This time, under the leadership of forty Golden Core Deputy Captains from the various Immortal Palaces, hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators launched an even fiercer assault.

Inside the stone city, atop the central high tower, the worried Saintess, the ice-faced Yellow Robe Elder, and the Sea Rushing Tribe strongman holding a cyan ancient halberd, Jing Bo, along with dozens of other high-ranking Earth Clan strongmen, were observing the battle.

"The Golden Core Immortals are moving! Liang Rong, immediately take all the high-ranking Bone Archers of the Liang Clan tribe to support Liang Gong!" The Yellow Robe Elder's expression changed drastically upon seeing the large contingent of Golden Core Immortals approaching in the distance, and he quickly barked at a middle-aged archer beside him.

"But the Clan Chief previously said he would guard the city gate alone, and no one else was allowed to approach." The middle-aged archer hesitated.

"Go quickly! He cannot hold off so many Golden Core Immortals alone! If you fail to bring back your Clan Chief alive, you will pay for it immediately!" The Yellow Robe Elder brandished his black wooden staff and shouted fiercely.

The middle-aged archer finally realized the gravity of the situation and dared not delay. He led a dozen high-ranking Bone Archers down from the stone tower, rushing at great speed to the high rampart near the city gate to take up defensive positions.

"Who allowed you up here?"

Liang Gong, who had been focused on the movements of the distant cultivators, turned his head when he sensed activity and his face instantly chilled upon seeing the high-ranking Bone Archers.

"Clan Chief, this was ordered by the Great Shaman. He said there are too many Golden Core Immortals coming, so he ordered us to support the city gate defense." The middle-aged Bone Archer spoke through clenched teeth.

"This old fool, just because his Shaman Tribe produced a Saintess, he dares to recklessly interfere in the affairs of other tribes! Now he dares to command the people of my Liang Clan tribe! One day, I will let him know that the might of the Bone Bow Tribe will far surpass the Shamans."

Liang Gong coldly glanced at the Yellow Robe Elder hiding on a distant stone tower with a dissatisfied snort, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes. However, when he looked toward the Saintess, his gaze held respect and tenderness.

Ultimately, he did not send the dozen high-ranking archers away.

With the great battle imminent, it was best to focus entirely on repelling the Immortal assault.

"Draw!"

Liang Gong stood proudly on the rampart and once again drew his silver giant bow, facing the Immortal host.

The more than ten high-ranking Bone Archers of the Bone Bow Tribe, centered around Liang Gong, drew their bows. Though their formation appeared somewhat loose, it formed a circle of extremely rhythmic archery positions. Once targeted by them, escape was impossible.

The directions aimed by these dozen or so bone arrows converged into an intensely dense aura of killing intent.

The leading Golden Core cultivators, whose spiritual senses were exceptionally keen, could not help but sense the imminent danger.

The bone arrows of the high-ranking Bone Archers were crafted from raw materials of seventh-tier or higher, with sixty percent made from seventh-tier materials. Such arrows—the Golden Core cultivators might not withstand them! The direction pointed by the arrows was permeated with a fierce killing aura, causing the Golden Core cultivators to change expressions in horror and swiftly dodge.

Moreover, the range of the bone bows was significantly farther than the attack range of magic artifacts—the Golden Core cultivators could not guarantee that they could strike the Bone Archers before being hit by their arrows.

The Golden Core Deputy Captains, upon approaching within a few li of the stone city, were vaguely targeted by Liang Gong and the dozen or so high-ranking Bone Archers, their aura of attack shocking them into changing course and evading.

Unless one Golden Core cultivator was willing to take a reckless risk, charging to the front to intentionally absorb the barrage from the high-ranking Bone Archers, thereby creating an opportunity for the other Golden Core cultivators, the threat posed by these high-ranking archers could not be broken.

But which of the Immortal Palace's Golden Core cultivators was willing to sacrifice themselves for such a dangerous task?

For a moment, the cultivators' charge formation became chaotic. The enemy soldiers fought fiercely atop the stone city, and coupled with the widespread indiscriminate arrow fire, another bitter battle ensued.

Because of private matters spanning a hundred miles, updates have been paused for several days. I know this likely caused a significant loss in subscriptions. However, sometimes one must sacrifice one thing for another of greater importance.

For this, whatever the loss, I do not regret it.

My uncle’s surgery went smoothly; he needs time to recover, and my current girlfriend and her family’s emotions have calmed down.

I can now sit before the computer and write with peace of mind. Thank you all for your understanding and support these past few days.

Updates resume today.

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