Yet, his body instantly dissolved into an illusory mist, vanishing without a trace. Only a shattered talisman paper drifted down.
And Yuntai’s figure reappeared just three zhang away.
However, he too bore a gash on his throat, his face ashen white, glancing back at his opponent with profound dread.
That was a hair's breadth escape; just a moment more, and it would have been a fatal situation.
But even now, things were far from settled. A strange, invasive sword-force had pierced his body, relentlessly striking at his vital essence, causing his true essence to shatter and dissipate.
The wheel meridians within him cracked inch by inch. Nine-tenths of his entire Daoist power was being consumed simply to fight this sword-force, preventing him from collapsing into a near-death state.
This sword intent was Jue Jue (Absolute Severance)!
It surpassed the Sword Intent of Slaughter and had already reached the late stage of the Sword Intent Soul Realm!
What potent swordsmanship! Such a path of the sword, such formidable Royal Way martial arts. Even if he and Yuntai joined forces, they might not be able to withstand it.
He looked again toward the right flank, and a flash of bloody light seared into his vision.
In this brief delay, the sixty-five thousand Purple Scale Flame Spear Cavalry were almost entirely wiped out. And that blood-mist had expanded outwards by several li more!
A searing pain ripped through his chest, exacerbating his injuries, and Yuntai immediately vomited a mouthful of clotted blood.
At this moment, Yin Yu also felt an icy coldness spread through his limbs, staring blankly ahead.
If not for the blood splattered by Yuntai, thick with a foul stench, he would still doubt whether he was dreaming.
“It’s merely a loss of sixty thousand Profound-tier Dao Soldiers; my Great Shang still commands seven hundred thousand troops!”
“There’s still a chance! Only the Purple Scale Flame Spear Cavalry were affected; the right wing still holds one hundred thousand iron cavalry and twenty thousand Profound-tier Dao Soldiers!”
“A chance my foot! That Blood Cloud Cavalry absorbed the pure essence and blood of sixty thousand Sixth-rank experts. Even Dao Soldiers of the same rank would struggle to win against them two-to-one, let alone these ragtag mobs pieced together from various noble clans and magnates?”
“Hold them as long as possible! We can only pray that the Central Army of the Great Shang can break the enemy before the right wing!”
As if to confirm the previous speaker’s words, when the blood-mist dispersed to twenty li away, the aura of the Blood Cloud Cavalry was already unstoppable.
Thirty thousand blood-halberds were reaping lives like the God of Death.
The twenty thousand Profound-tier Dao Soldiers, at least, could barely resist the encroachment of the blood-mist.
But the one hundred thousand Great Shang iron cavalry behind them were mostly no higher than the peak of the Third Rank. Entangled by the blood-mist, their mounts often became utterly exhausted within a few dozen breaths. Their charging speed slowed drastically, and they couldn't even turn to flee.
They were engulfed by the surging crimson tide! Trampled! Crushed into bloody dust!
After effortlessly shattering and annihilating the twenty thousand cavalry on the Great Shang's right flank, the thirty thousand blood cavalry showed no fatigue. Far from being tired, they were instead even more intensely exhilarated!
Using the blood-qi to recover, their stamina and true energy surpassed their pre-battle state, their fighting intent peaking.
Under Zong Yuan’s command, the entire cavalry formation executed an exceptionally graceful pivot and began crashing into the waist and abdomen of the Great Shang's Central Army.
The invincible reputation of the Blood Cloud Cavalry was forged by countless battles and rivers of blood! As long as there was blood-qi to draw upon and living beings to slaughter, they would never exhaust their strength!
“This is sheer villainy!”
On the chariot pulled by forty-nine dragons, Zuo Xin’s body trembled, his face turning purple-gold.
“He truly is a devil, a Demon Lord! Such cavalry is no different from fiends!”
No one spoke, watching the scene in silence. In that very moment, an illusory Buddhist projection descended. Its golden light shone, enveloping the hundred thousand soldiers arrayed at the forefront of the Great Qian Central Army in a layer of golden Brahma light.
Any knowledgeable person would recognize this as the protective spell of Buddhist monastic soldiers, who had just chanted the Vajra Wrathful King Wheel Mantra, bestowing the Diamond Body upon the Great Qian army.
At this point, even those ignorant of military strategy knew that the two hundred thousand Yellow-tier Dao Soldiers of the Central Army could not possibly shatter the opposing Qian Central Formation within half a quarter of an hour.
The fortunes of war changed rapidly; moments ago, victory seemed assured, but now they were trapped in a desperate situation.
Could it be that the Great Shang was destined for utter defeat here today?
Just then, a flash of golden light shimmered in the void. A fissure was torn open in the azure sky three li away, revealing over a hundred figures crossing through into their space.
“Hmph? Those are the Great True Martial Swordsmen of the Daoist Sect!”
“One hundred and forty-two people—that’s three sets of the Great Dipper True Martial Sword Formations!”
The officials and generals gathered around Yin Yu suddenly gripped a lifeline, their spirits slightly lifted.
That’s right! Besides the annihilated Purple Scale Flame Spear Cavalry, the Daoist Sect still possessed over a thousand Heaven and Earth Second-tier Dao Soldiers.
This battle was far from hopeless.
However, Yuntai felt no optimism. In the battle for the Azure Realm of All Beings, the Daoist Sect had suffered the greatest losses among the True Martial Swordsmen and the various Second-tier Dao Soldiers from different sects and schools.
Of those who followed the several Ultimate Realm masters into the Azure Realm of All Beings, less than one-tenth survived.
Although the Daoist Sect had acquired over a thousand slave cultivators years ago, those forces were now also depleted.
After that battle, the power balance among high-tier Dao Soldiers within the Six Sects of the Cloud Realm was re-established.
Therefore, the entire Daoist Sect had never placed their hope on those Heavenly-tier Dao Soldiers; merely keeping each other contained was sufficient.
The intervention of these three Great Dipper True Martial Sword Formations meant that the situation on the periphery of this void would become even more strained.
The Azure Realm Sect and the Sword Sect Buddhists would certainly press their counter-attack fiercely.
He looked across the field again and saw, behind Zong Shou’s chariot, seventy-two Immortal Realm cultivators slowly ascending. Their auras were similar to one another, bearing a resemblance to the sword intent Zong Shou had just employed.
“Source Sea Demon Slayers!”
True Man Yuntai’s pupils contracted. He had vaguely heard of the battle leading to the fall of the Nine Capitals Immortal Dynasty.
The group of Source Sea Demon Slayers under Zong Shou's command had become famous throughout the land because of that war.
Indeed, what Shi Ruolan brought back to the Cloud Realm could not possibly be limited to just those fifteen Earth-tier aerial warships!
Seventy-two Source Sea Demon Slayers, even if their combat power wasn't as exaggerated as the legends claimed, were enough to tie down the three Great Dipper True Martial Sword Formations.
His gaze shifted to what lay behind that chariot.
“Your Majesty, may I ask how much longer until the Yin-Yang Nail Heart Technique of the Grand Preceptor Chong Xuan will be complete?”
Even if they lost today, they had to eliminate that Blood Sword Demon Lord!
Yin Yu’s eyes flickered, his expression calm: “The Grand Preceptor began preparations before the forty-ninth day. Completion is due at the seventh ke of the Si hour!”
He was, after all, a monarch who had weathered countless storms; facing such peril, he settled down, displaying the demeanor of a wise ruler.
The nearby Scholar of Snow Abode, Liu Li, observed this and showed approval.
Neither arrogant in victory nor disheartened in defeat—he truly was the restorer of the Great Shang!
“Your Majesty need not worry. This demonic sovereign acts against all natural order; the Heavenly Scourge will find him sooner or later. Heaven will surely bless the Great Shang, ensuring the longevity of its dynasty!”
Yuntai listened while watching the sky, letting out a faint sneer. If they retreated today, the entire Cloud Realm would likely fall into the hands of that demonic figure across the field!
Heavenly Scourge? He might as well place his hopes on those foreign barbarian races.
But, the seventh ke of the Si hour? Judging by the time, it was already past the sixth ke of the Si hour. Just a little more time, and Chong Xuan’s Yin-Yang Nail Heart Curse would be complete.
There was still a chance!
Less than half a quarter of an hour remained—enough time for that incantation to complete.
But in the very next moment, a thought suddenly pierced into his Sea of Consciousness from beyond the void.
Yuntai instantly froze, his entire body petrified. A second later, he felt an overwhelming sense of absurdity.
How could it be? That person who single-handedly slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Daoist disciples, committing monstrous slaughter; who was rejected by the entire Confucian School, deemed a Confucian enemy and a corrupt ruler—how could that person possibly be—
Yuntai lifted his head, instinctively looking across the field. He saw Scholar of Snow Abode Liu Li’s expression was even more horrified, as if he had seen a ghost, mixed with a faint trace of panic and dismay.
“Impossible? How could a ruler of the savage lands possibly compare to the Sages of antiquity?”
Before the Wine Pool Palace, upon his imperial chariot, Zong Shou sat upright on the throne, his brow tightly furrowed.
Yuntai’s final escape did not entirely exceed his expectations.
The Daoist Sect’s Substitution Talisman had always held a great reputation. Especially the talismans crafted by those two Ultimate Realm masters, which truly possessed the power to substitute life and death.
Seeing that the two opponents were no longer interfering in the battle, Zong Shou also ceased his assault, returning his sword to its scabbard.
He was not rushed for the moment; his mind was made up. Here, before the Wine Palace today, within a hundred li, no one above the Spirit Realm would escape his blade!
Not even a Saint Rank!
What concerned him more, however, was the anomaly within his body, which filled him with both vigilance and confusion.
The sense of chilling coldness inside him was growing stronger for some unknown reason.
The stinging pain in his heart became more pronounced. And the jade pendant necklace on his chest emitted a crisp crack, fine fissures appearing on its surface, as if it might shatter with a touch, while more red light shone forth.
Kong Yao noticed immediately. Turning back, a slight look of astonishment crossed her starry eyes.
After all, having come from the Kong Family, she sensed something amiss.
“It seems he has been struck by a forbidden art, its aura extremely malevolent, capable of striking directly at the heart!”
Unfortunately, since she had crippled her Heavenly Eye, her battlefield intuition was extremely sharp, but at this moment, she could not discern the true nature of Zong Shou’s condition.
The Howling Sun also seemed to sense something, lowering its body again and roaring angrily toward the direction of the Shang Emperor. Not only did its body begin to swell, revealing patches of purple-gold scales, but the majesty of the Divine Beast King gradually spread out.
Strangely, with the Howling Sun’s roar, the icy energy within Zong Shou instantly receded considerably.
The stinging pain in his chest also gradually faded, almost disappearing.
“A curse? Could it be Chong Xuan?”
Zong Shou’s expression was grim. The forbidden spells of a Master of Arts and Divination were no joke.
But usually, such curses required a person’s birth date, or even hair and flesh, didn’t they?
“I’m not sure about that, only that this particular curse is extremely wicked and requires a massive number of living souls and spirits!”
Kong Yao shook her head, unconcerned, and continued to focus on the battle ahead. However, with her peripheral vision, she noticed Zong Shou’s face turning pale and ashen, and she couldn't help but chuckle, letting out a soft laugh.
“What are you afraid of? Although Kong Yao doesn't know the specific technique, it is difficult for those with extremely tough fates to be deeply affected by such forbidden arts. Take Xiang Wang or the Heavenly King Ran Wutian, for instance; their imposing murderous aura makes it difficult for malevolence to invade. You, Zong Shou, are much the same—” (To be continued)