# Chapter 1386: A Brutal and Fierce Battle
"Fight for the Crown Prince! Long live the Crown Prince! Long live the Crown Prince!"
"After enduring humiliation for hundreds of years, it is time to use the blood of the Chi Clan to wash away the shame upon us. Fight! Even death brings no regret!"
More and more remnants of the Sacred Bright forces gathered from all directions within Sacred Bright City, quickly exceeding a million in number. Their momentum was like a rainbow, their battle cries shaking the heavens as they followed the "Sacred Bright" war banner closely, erupting into fierce combat with the five imperial armies.
After the Dragon-Protecting Pavilion appeared and broke through the Sun-Moon Gate with overwhelming force, the morale of the Sacred Bright remnants soared. They fought so fiercely that the very ground beneath them collapsed inch by inch.
Even the cultivators in Sacred Bright City who had not joined the battle were moved, feeling a sense of shock.
"The Dragon-Protecting Pavilion... the legendary Dragon-Protecting Pavilion actually has a terrifyingly powerful peak Saint King. Today, Lingxiao Heavenly King may have met his match."
"Could Zhang Ruochen truly rise today, conquer Sacred Bright City, and reestablish the Holy Bright Central Empire?"
...
Some tried to send messages out, only to discover that the entire Sacred Bright City was shrouded by a strange power, preventing any information from being transmitted.
Above Sacred Bright City, twelve unfamiliar stars had appeared.
These stars were arranged in a ring formation, precisely encompassing the city that spanned tens of thousands of miles.
They were twelve Buddha beads refined by the Buddha Emperor. Zhang Ruochen had entrusted them to the Vice Pavilion Master, who personally controlled them with powerful Sacred Dao cultivation, sealing off the entire Sacred Bright City.
Around the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion, the great battle had reached a fever pitch. Over two hundred Saints were locked in deadly combat—a true, legendary sacred war. Had this been fought outside the city without defensive formation patterns, the heavens would have shattered and the earth would have split, turning ten thousand miles into scorched soil.
The imperial court was truly a gathering of experts. All the Saints from the government offices, the Ministry of War, and the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion had entered the fray, holding a significant numerical advantage in Saints.
However, the Sacred Bright side boasted a large number of True Saints and Ultimate Saints, each a powerhouse capable of sweeping through an entire region.
White Li Princess, a primordial descendant who had undergone the baptism of heaven-splitting and earth-cleaving, wielded the Yin Kong Tower and fought fiercely against the severely wounded Red Dragon Army Commander.
The fact that the Red Dragon Army Commander had survived White Su Granny's attack meant his cultivation was extraordinarily profound.
"Following Zhang Ruochen will only lead to death. Why not surrender to me and become my mount?" the Red Dragon Army Commander roared coldly.
"How dare you speak such words to this princess! Today, I will make sure you die without a complete corpse."
White Li Princess's eyes flashed with a chilling light as she poured all her Saint Qi into the Yin Kong Tower. Instantly, all seventy-two tower doors swung open.
The Yin Kong Tower spun as it rose, transforming into a metal mountain that pressed down upon the Red Dragon Army Commander's head.
The Yin Kong Tower ranked second on the *Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact Ranking*, capable of contending even with some weaker Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifacts.
"Boom."
The Red Dragon Army Commander failed to block the Yin Kong Tower, and his sacred body shattered into four or five pieces. The flesh on his body burst apart, leaving only a set of crystalline sacred bones. He was dead beyond death.
By forcefully unleashing the semi-perfect power of the Yin Kong Tower, White Li Princess had expended most of her Saint Qi with this single strike. Her face turned pale as she entered a weakened state.
"Legend says that only Saint Kings can effortlessly unleash the perfect power of a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact. It's true. The Yin Kong Tower is only comparable to a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact, and I only drew out its semi-perfect power. After one strike, I can barely sustain myself."
White Li Princess quickly consumed a pill to restore her Saint Qi, then charged back toward the Sun-Moon Gate, following closely behind the Sacred Bright war banner.
Of course, she dared not use the Yin Kong Tower's semi-perfect power again. She merely activated three thousand inscription patterns within the tower to continue fighting and attacking.
"The Army Commander has fallen in battle!"
"Red Dragon Army Commander was killed by the Sacred Bright rebels. A legendary figure in the military has fallen, reduced to white bones."
The death of the Red Dragon Army Commander threw the imperial army into chaos, with fear gripping everyone.
The Azure Dragon Army Commander stepped forward to stabilize morale, roaring: "Activate the Half-Saint-class warships and the Artificer Warriors! Exterminate the Sacred Bright rebels!"
From every district of Sacred Bright City, warships rose into the air one after another.
These warships, forged from dark iron, had powerful formations rotating around them, casting enormous shadows on the ground.
They were the military's forbidden artifacts—Half-Saint-class warships. Not only did they possess strong defensive capabilities, but they could also kill Half-Saints.
A single Half-Saint-class warship might not be a threat, but with over a thousand such warships advancing simultaneously, the scene was earth-shattering and deeply shocking.
"Heavens! Half-Saint-class warships again! There are over a thousand of them in Sacred Bright City!"
"The imperial court must have hidden these Half-Saint-class warships underground. They were a concealed measure specifically prepared to deal with us."
...
For the Sacred Bright remnants, Half-Saint-class warships were a nightmare.
Whenever such warships appeared, it meant many more families would be destroyed. Normally, even ten Half-Saint-class warships constituted a large-scale operation. Now, with over a thousand advancing, it was clear that countless cultivators would be crushed.
At this moment, the full might of the Ministry of War was laid bare.
"Kill! Slay all Sacred Bright rebels! Earn unparalleled merit! Be enfeoffed as princes and granted noble titles!"
The Flame God Grand Formations on the more than one thousand Half-Saint-class warships were all activated, powered by spirit crystals and sacred stones. They launched fireballs a hundred zhang in diameter, raining down upon the earth.
"Boom, boom, boom."
Each fireball that landed annihilated a large swath of Sacred Bright remnants, reducing them to ashes.
In moments, the area outside the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion was transformed into a sea of fire. Countless Sacred Bright remnants fell, killed by the Half-Saint-class warships.
Following that, each warship dropped iron balls.
Every iron ball that hit the ground transformed into a three-meter-tall steel warrior, which then surrounded the Sacred Bright remnants from behind.
This was another military forbidden artifact—the Artificer Warrior.
Artificer Warriors possessed attack power comparable to Fish-Dragon realm cultivators. Tens of thousands of them appeared simultaneously, combining with the imperial army's Battle Saints and the Half-Saint-class warships above. They were like a legion of death gods charging out of hell, madly reaping the lives of the Sacred Bright remnant army.
Moreover, the warships continued to drop iron balls, rapidly increasing the number of Artificer Warriors.
The Artificer Warrior legion soon exceeded one hundred thousand.
The appearance of the Half-Saint-class warships and Artificer Warriors changed the course of the battle, placing the Sacred Bright army in a dangerous pincer attack that threatened total annihilation.
"The First Central Empire's imperial court is indeed the most powerful force in the Kunlun Realm. That saying is true. Compared to the court's power, the gap between the other ancient sects, ancient clans, and medieval aristocratic clans is truly too great."
The cultivators within Sacred Bright City were all stunned by the Half-Saint-class warships and Artificer Warriors. They felt that Zhang Ruochen should not have attacked the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion and that he would likely be defeated and killed today.
The Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion had been able to garrison Sacred Bright City and suppress the Sacred Bright remnants for hundreds of years precisely because it possessed formidable strength. How could it be so easy to conquer?
At that moment, a member of the Dragon-Protecting Pavilion made his move, unleashing a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact and activating its perfect power.
"Boom."
With a single strike, over a hundred Half-Saint-class warships were damaged or destroyed, some even melting into molten iron, crashing down from the sky like steel mountains.
Then, the perfect power of the Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact erupted again, bringing down another large batch of warships.
The Dragon-Protecting Pavilion member exuded an aura that could sweep across the world. Alone, he seemed capable of annihilating an entire legion of Half-Saint-class warships.
"To use a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact and unleash its perfect power twice in succession requires at least the cultivation of a peak Ultimate Saint. The Sacred Bright remnants have produced another terrifying figure."
A peak Ultimate Saint represented the strongest power below the Saint King realm. Such a figure possessed terrifying deterrent force. Standing there with a Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact in hand, he could make even Battle Saints tremble in fear.
"Destroy these scrap metals as quickly as possible!"
More than ten other Dragon-Protecting Pavilion members joined the fray. Some unleashed sacred arts, while others activated Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts, attacking the Half-Saint-class warships in the sky.
"Boom, boom, boom."
In just one quarter-hour, all the thousand-plus Half-Saint-class warships were shot down, lying across the city like a thousand steel mountains, all battered and broken.
The imperial soldiers stood amidst the flames of war, dumbfounded, their terror deepening.
The Dragon-Protecting Pavilion members lined up and pushed forward, sending over one hundred thousand Artificer Warriors flying in all directions. Some were melted, others were dismantled.
Too fierce, too domineering. The Dragon-Protecting Pavilion had only a few dozen members, yet they were invincible, conquering all before them.
Zhang Ruochen and the others charged into the Sun-Moon Gate but encountered resistance.
The palace-protecting ancient formation had indeed been broken at one corner, but ninety-nine percent of it remained intact. It could unleash attack power capable of killing Saint-level figures.
In the central area of the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion, the palace-protecting formation was even more powerful, enough to crush Saint Kings.
At this moment, on the outer perimeter of the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion, Yan Kaixuan was struck by a formation attack. His chest was pierced, and he suffered severe injuries.
Even a True Saint could not withstand it. What kind of fate awaited the other cultivators under the attack of the palace-protecting ancient formation?
Zhang Ruochen was decisive. "Head to the Imperial Ancestral Hall! Use the Great Saint inscription patterns left by the successive Bright Emperors to counter the palace-protecting ancient formation."
The Imperial Ancestral Hall was the forbidden ground of the imperial Zhang Clan. Every successive Bright Emperor had inscribed Great Saint inscription patterns there, empowered by the strength of all the emperors. Even Chi Yao, before she became a god, could not break in or destroy it.
Of course, as the Sacred Bright Crown Prince, Zhang Ruochen naturally knew how to enter the Imperial Ancestral Hall and how to activate the Great Saint inscription patterns.
Only by breaking into the Imperial Ancestral Hall could they secure victory.
Zhang Ruochen handed the Sacred Bright war banner to the Demon Ape, then summoned the Buddha Emperor Relic. Holding it in his palm, he activated the source power within the relic to resist the palace-protecting ancient formation, charging forward with great strides.