Chapter 1082: Fleet Formation
Just as Zhang Ruochen and the others broke into the oasis, intending to capture Princess Baili, the great battle between the barbarian beast clans and the humans officially began outside Yingsha City.
This time, the humans initiated the attack.
The barbarian beasts' actions had reached a level that enraged both gods and men. Not only did they publicly toy with, humiliate, beat, curse, and degrade human cultivators, but they also treated elite human cultivators as food, devouring them through various methods.
They used a one-zhang-two-chi-long iron spike, piercing it from the top of a living young woman's head, driving it through her body until it emerged below, then roasting her over a fire.
As she roasted, the young woman's screams of agony could still be heard.
Once cooked, they would share and eat her.
They threw living people into iron cauldrons, steaming, boiling, and stir-frying them through various means before slowly consuming them.
In the past, within the First Central Empire, when had human cultivators ever witnessed such horrifying scenes?
Some of the outstanding figures among humanity awakened, realizing a grave problem.
If human cultivators could not grow stronger, the relationship between hunter and prey would eventually be reversed.
Those who refused to become food for barbarian beasts should stand up and fight them, to rekindle humanity's morale.
Since they were born human, they should fear no challenge.
This night's battle was led by two Realm Sons, Chi Wansui and Beigong Lan. At the same time, the Ministry of War, the Martial Market Bank, the Black Market First Class Hall, along with some ancient sects and medieval aristocratic clans, all participated.
Their goal was, even if they could not save the captured human cultivators, to make the barbarian beast clans pay a heavy price and display humanity's might.
Chi Wansui took the Kugu Dan, his injuries fully healed, returning to his peak state.
His burly figure stood atop the city wall of Yingsha City, clad in a golden battle armor, exuding a sharp aura as he stared at the barbarian beast clans a hundred miles away.
Beigong Lan stood to Chi Wansui's right, wearing a simple green robe. Her clear, beautiful eyes fixed on the dragon shadow flickering in and out of the clouds, she said, "The Devouring Demon Dragon's cultivation has improved greatly; it should have reached the peak of the Ninth-Step Half-Saint. With its current cultivation, could it claim the top spot on the Half-Saint Ranking?"
"Not necessarily." Chi Wansui's tiger-like eyes blazed with dazzling golden light. "The Devouring Demon Dragon is advancing, but others on the Half-Saint Ranking are also progressing rapidly. Haven't our own strengths skyrocketed compared to when we first entered the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm?"
Chi Wansui looked up at the moon in the sky, squinted his eyes, and raised his voice, "Activate the Half-Saint-class warships."
From the central area of Yingsha City, a series of low rumbling sounds arose.
Then, hundreds of warships soared into the air, passing through the light barrier of the city-protecting grand formation, flying toward the direction of the barbarian beast clans, casting dark shadows on the ground, blocking the light of the moon and stars.
These were forbidden artifacts forged by the Divine Works Ministry, known as "Half-Saint-class warships."
Each warship was extremely costly to build, as massive as a mountain, capable of unleashing attacks at the Half-Saint level.
A fleet formation composed of hundreds of Half-Saint-class warships possessed the power to crush Saint-level beings.
Since they were forbidden artifacts, they could not be used lightly.
However, Chi Wansui's identity was quite special; he was the foremost elite of the imperial clan. Thus, he managed to obtain four hundred Half-Saint-class warships from the Ministry of War camp at the Chaos Myriad Realms Mountain, bringing them to the Yingsha City base.
It was precisely because Chi Wansui controlled these forbidden artifacts from the Ministry of War that he had enough confidence to challenge the barbarian beast clans.
Chi Wansui stood on the deck of a main warship, his gaze sharp, and issued a command: "Attack."
Inside the four hundred Half-Saint-class warships, a humming sound arose. They simultaneously gathered power, forming rings of energy ripples around their hulls.
"Whoosh—"
Four hundred white light pillars shot out from the warships, striking the ground and landing in the camp of the barbarian beast clans.
"Boom."
The earth shook violently, leaving densely packed, charred craters. Hundreds of barbarian beasts were sent flying by the force, reduced to corpses.
The agonized howls of barbarian beasts echoed continuously across the ground.
At the same time, a large number of human cultivators followed behind the Half-Saint-class warships, charging out and entering the battlefield, beginning to harvest the lives of the barbarian beasts.
"Kill them all."
"The moment of decisive battle has arrived. We must make those barbarian beasts understand who the true masters are."
...
The four hundred Half-Saint-class warships led the way, with a massive force of human cultivators closely following, routing the barbarian beasts in panic.
The ground was littered with beast corpses.
In the sky, a ghost-eyed vulture a hundred meters long flew over, its lantern-sized eyes exuding a powerful aura of a beast king. It roared, "Human cultivators dare to take the initiative to charge out of Yingsha City? Today, I will ensure none of you return."
"Since you seek death, I'll grant it first."
Chi Wansui was domineering. He pointed his finger at the ghost-eyed vulture king.
The four hundred Half-Saint-class warships arranged themselves into a fleet formation. Above the warships, a white light pillar, one meter in diameter, shot out simultaneously.
Looking up from the ground, the four hundred light pillars resembled four hundred white rays, all converging on a single point, striking the ghost-eyed vulture king.
"Bang!"
The ghost-eyed vulture king's body exploded, turning into a cloud of blood mist.
A shower of blood rain fell from the sky, producing a rustling sound.
Half-Saint-class warships, known as forbidden artifacts, naturally possessed extraordinary power. Even a beast king could be killed with a single strike.
The fall of a beast king boosted the morale of the human cultivators. They advanced triumphantly, aiming to completely scatter the barbarian beast clans in one go.
"Roar!"
From underground, a furious roar erupted, forming a bloody gale.
Beneath the yellow sand, the massive body of the golden-armored scorpion king slowly crawled out. Its pair of sharp giant pincers rose, emitting golden flames, striking at the Half-Saint-class warships flying at low altitude.
From the fleet formation, four hundred light pillars shot out again, colliding with the golden-armored scorpion king's attack.
The golden-armored scorpion king let out a pained cry, its massive body flying backward.
A bloody hole appeared on its back, with blood gushing out like a spring.
"Even the defense of a primordial relic descendant can't withstand the fleet formation's attack."
"Excellent. Now let's see how those beast kings can still be arrogant."
The human cultivators were all excited, brimming with confidence as they continuously unleashed their attacks.
What human cultivators feared most were the beast kings. Yet, as soon as two beast kings appeared, one was dead and the other wounded.
So, what was there to fear?
The four hundred Half-Saint-class warships began gathering power again, preparing to annihilate the golden-armored scorpion king and establish humanity's might.
"Shua!"
The Devouring Demon Dragon transformed into a human form, wearing a black mysterious robe, descending from the sky and landing on the golden-armored scorpion king's head.
Wispy black demonic mist condensed into hundreds of dragon shadows, flying around him.
Like a world-dominating demon god, the Devouring Demon Dragon exchanged a glance with Chi Wansui, who stood on the main warship's deck, and laughed, "Empress Chi Yao is indeed one of the strongest beings born in the Kunlun Realm since the medieval era, capable of forging such formidable war weapons."
"However, as the foremost elite of the human imperial clan, you need to rely on treasures forged by the empress to dare to fight the barbarian beasts. That disappoints me greatly. After the Nine Emperors and the Empress, has humanity truly run out of successors?"
Chi Wansui remained calm, unprovoked by the Devouring Demon Dragon's sarcasm, and said, "Setting up formations, using warships, or employing sacred artifacts—all are part of one's own strength. Isn't that so?"
"You're right."
The Devouring Demon Dragon nodded, then added, "But although the fleet formation of four hundred Half-Saint-class warships is powerful, I don't take it seriously."
Among the human cultivators, a wave of uproar arose. Everyone felt the Devouring Demon Dragon was too arrogant.
The power unleashed by the fleet formation was evident to all; even the golden-armored scorpion king had been severely injured.
Even a Lower Realm Saint would likely hesitate to clash with it.
Was there any being below the Saint realm that could withstand it?
"Then let's see if you can block the fleet formation's attack," Chi Wansui said solemnly.
Above each of the four hundred Half-Saint-class warships, a circular formation diagram condensed, spinning rapidly, gathering power to its peak.
Before the fleet formation's attack wave was even launched, a vast aura that oppressed the soul had already spread, falling upon both the human cultivators and the barbarian beasts.
The Devouring Demon Dragon chuckled lightly, extending his right hand to touch his navel.
"Whoosh!"
From his navel, rings of black light emanated.
His hand reached into his body and pulled out a dragon bone.
The dragon bone had seven hundred and twenty-eight segments, with ancient black patterns emerging on its surface.
As the Devouring Demon Dragon drew out the dragon bone, violent dragon roars erupted across thousands of miles.
Seven hundred and twenty-eight dragon shadows flew out from the clouds and the ground, all converging toward the Devouring Demon Dragon.
The dragon bone grew increasingly massive, as if transforming into a mountain range, connecting the ground and the sky.
It was imaginable that this dragon bone was not the Devouring Demon Dragon's own bone but the main bone left by a Great Saint of the Dragon Clan, akin to a dragon vein.
The Devouring Demon Dragon swung the dragon bone, attacking the fleet formation of four hundred Half-Saint-class warships.
The power unleashed by the dragon bone shattered the space of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, creating dozens of spatial cracks.
The fleet formation of four hundred Half-Saint-class warships launched an attack wave, striking at the Devouring Demon Dragon.
"Boom."
The dragon bone descended, hitting the fleet formation's protective formation, causing it to tremble violently.
The attack launched by the four hundred Half-Saint-class warships failed to hit the Devouring Demon Dragon.
The fleet formation's weakness was revealed.
Its offensive power was indeed formidable, capable of killing Saints, but its attack method lacked flexibility. It was easy to deal with ordinary beast kings but completely ineffective against the Devouring Demon Dragon.
"Boom!"
"Boom, boom."
...
The Devouring Demon Dragon struck the dragon bone seventeen times, finally breaking through the protective formation and landing among the four hundred Half-Saint-class warships.
In that instant, over twenty Half-Saint-class warships shattered, turning into piles of mountain-sized scrap metal, crashing to the ground.
With the loss of over twenty warships, the fleet formation developed a massive vulnerability, no longer posing a significant threat to the beast kings.
At the same time, ten beast kings led ten barbarian beast clans, charging toward the city gates of Yingsha City, cutting off the human cultivators' retreat.
The Devouring Demon Dragon stood in the air, holding the dragon bone, looking down at the humans and barbarian beasts below, and said, "Tonight, let us annihilate all the human cultivators at the Yingsha City base. From now on, everyone, slaughter to your heart's content."
Endless waves of barbarian beasts surged from all directions, surrounding the human cultivators, launching a frenzied massacre. (To be continued.)