# Chapter 1942: Launching the Attack
The eight groups of war boats were all moving extremely fast. In a matter of moments, they successively arrived at the location of the Death Clan's military camp.
The eight camps built by the Death Clan were constructed with great care, serving as the eight gates leading into the core area of Immortal Machine Mountain. They fully integrated the mountain and river terrain, making them extremely difficult to breach.
The reason Zhang Ruochen had been able to infiltrate deep into Immortal Machine Mountain silently earlier was, first, because his mastery of the Way of Space was extremely profound, and second, because the Death Clan had been relatively relaxed at that time, not on high alert as they were now.
Trying to infiltrate again now was no longer possible.
"Commander, what should we do? Attack directly?" Tu Tian asked.
Zhang Ruochen was the commander of their team, so the specific course of action could only be decided by him.
Standing at the bow of the boat, Zhang Ruochen fixed his gaze on the war fortress built by the Death Clan. This war fortress was enormous, like an ancient divine beast coiled there, making people feel incredibly oppressed.
After pondering for a moment, Zhang Ruochen said, "Activate the war boats and launch a full-force attack. Let me first see just how sturdy this war fortress really is."
Tu Tian did not hesitate at all and immediately passed down the order.
The war boats provided to them by the Northern Domain Camp were not just for travel; they themselves possessed astonishing offensive power, enough to kill Saint King-level experts.
On the Merit Battlefield, this type of war boat was extremely valuable, a true killing weapon. A single strike could wipe out large numbers of Hell Realm cultivators.
However, refining such war boats came at a tremendous cost, and not just anyone could possess them.
Zhang Ruochen actually had better war boats on him, obtained as spoils of war from the Sword Grave battle, called Saint-Annihilating War Boats. If wielded by a Great Saint, they could pose a threat even to Great Saints.
Unfortunately, the fighting back then had been too fierce. Of the four Saint-Annihilating War Boats, one was nearly completely destroyed, two were heavily damaged, and only one had suffered relatively minor damage.
These involved Great Saint inscription runes, and even if the Divine Sword Sacred Land's people took action, repairing them would take an extremely long time, and they might not even be restored to their original state.
"Boom."
At the same time, the four war boats all erupted with terrifying sacred might, firing brilliant, blazing sacred light beams one after another.
Numerous secret patterns immediately appeared on the surface of the war fortress, forming a tough protective barrier that blocked all the war boats' attacks.
"Continue," Zhang Ruochen said.
Immediately, the four war boats launched another attack, firing fifteen consecutive strikes without any concern for the consumption of sacred stones.
Each war boat was equipped with a limited number of sacred stones and could not launch too many attacks.
Unfortunately, although the war boats' attacks were powerful, the consumption of sacred stones was simply too great. If dozens were deployed simultaneously, even Zhen Yuan and Xuan Yuan Lie Kong would have to consider the cost.
Starting from the eleventh strike, the sacred stones consumed were provided by Zhang Ruochen. He was wealthy and didn't care about such a small amount of sacred stones at all.
After the war boats fired a few more strikes, the Death Clan finally made a move. A gate opened in the war fortress, and a squad of Death Clan soldiers walked out unhurriedly.
Seeing this, Zhang Ruochen immediately ordered the attack to stop.
Having the war boats continuously attack was purely to provoke the Death Clan, to lure them out. Otherwise, how could this battle be fought?
Clearly, his goal had been achieved, and everything was unfolding as he had anticipated.
"Daring to enter Immortal Machine Mountain, you are seeking death. None of you will leave alive," a burly Death Clan member clad in battle armor said coldly.
Tu Tian flew out of the war boat, looking down from a height at that Death Clan expert, and said icily, "Arrogant words! We have come today to flatten Immortal Machine Mountain. All you Death Clan members will be utterly annihilated."
"What do you think you are? Die."
The burly Death Clan member's eyes flashed with killing intent. He reached out and grasped, and Death Evil Qi condensed into a short spear, which he hurled at Tu Tian.
An extremely powerful aura emanated from this burly Death Clan member. Tens of millions of rules could faintly be seen manifesting outside his body, with the Heaven and Earth Rules completely revolving around him.
Seeing the short spear flying through the air, Tu Tian's expression tightened. He quickly circulated the sacred qi within his body, forming dozens of protective layers around himself at the fastest possible speed.
"Plop."
The short spear's power was astonishing, unstoppable. It instantly pierced through the dozens of protective layers.
Finally, the short spear struck Tu Tian's body and was blocked by the battle armor he wore.
The short spear shattered, and the terrifying force sent Tu Tian flying backward.
"A Lintao Realm expert," Tu Tian said, staring intently at the burly Death Clan member.
Before the other party had made a move, he truly hadn't been able to see through their cultivation level. He had assumed they were at most a Jietian Realm expert, someone he could easily crush with his strength. He never expected to have kicked an iron board.
"Who are you?" Tu Tian asked coldly.
The burly Death Clan member said proudly, "I am He Yu, one of the three great commanders under His Highness, the Source Demon Divine Son. I am stationed at Immortal Machine Mountain by order of His Highness, the Source Demon Divine Son. Any Heavenly Court cultivator who dares to set foot in Immortal Machine Mountain will be killed without mercy."
Hearing this, Tu Tian's expression shifted slightly, and a hint of wariness arose in his heart.
A Death Commander held an extremely high status. On the Merit Battlefield, they could command a million-strong Death Clan army.
Those who could become commanders all had cultivation at the Lintao Realm and generally took orders directly from Death Clan Great Saints. Even a Divine Son would find it difficult to deploy them.
Even after entering the Kunlun Realm, Death Commanders still held considerable authority and would not casually obey the orders of any Divine Son.
Some weaker Divine Sons only had Death Generals and Death Captains under their command and could not command Death Commanders.
That the Source Demon Divine Son had three Death Commanders under him showed just how powerful the Source Demon Divine Son himself was.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze swept over He Yu, then over the several Death Clan experts behind him.
Those several Death Clan experts were clearly somewhat different. They wore standard-issue armor, wielded standard-issue weapons, and their power essences were similar.
"Death God Knights."
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen discerned the identities of those several Death Clan experts.
All Death God Knights had cultivation above the Daoyu Realm. They were carefully cultivated by the Death God Temple and possessed the potential to become Great Saints.
The cultivation of these Death God Knights before him was at least at the Daoyu Realm peak, with two of them already having reached the Jietian Realm. Their strength could not be underestimated.
Besides these Death God Knights, there was another squad of Death Clan experts behind them, emitting equally terrifying auras, all with cultivation above the Daoyu Realm.
In other words, the fifty-eight Death Clan members who had walked out of the war fortress were all top-tier experts with cultivation above the Daoyu Realm.
If one camp had so many experts, how astonishing would the eight camps combined be?
"It seems the intelligence we obtained is correct. The Death Clan can indeed use Death Altars to cultivate experts, and the results are significant," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
At this moment, the expressions of the many cultivators on the four war boats were somewhat grim.
In terms of top-tier combat power, their side was clearly at a disadvantage. The situation was quite unfavorable.
Such a situation was probably something even Zhen Yuan and Xuan Yuan Lie Kong had not anticipated.
Looking at the group of Death Clan experts outside the war fortress, Xiang Chunan's eyes lit up. "Big Brother, so many merit points!"
Hearing this, Tu Di and Tu Jun both showed stunned expressions. They felt that Xiang Chunan's nerves were far too thick. Those Death Clan experts could indeed be exchanged for a large number of merit points, but only if they had the ability to annihilate them all.
With such a disparity in strength, the two of them certainly couldn't be optimistic. If they really fought head-on, their side would likely suffer heavy casualties.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Ruochen also showed a smile and said, "Indeed, a lot of merit points. If we annihilate them all, we can exchange for at least one hundred and eighty million merit points. So, what are we waiting for?"
"Haha, you little Death Clan brats, your Grandpa Xiang is here!" Xiang Chunan laughed heartily and immediately charged out of the war boat.
A Daoyu Realm Death General flew out, emitting vast Death Evil Qi from his body, and threw a very contemptuous punch.
With his Daoyu Realm cultivation, he could indeed look down on Xiang Chunan, who had not yet condensed his Daoyu.
Xiang Chunan had no intention of dodging. Instead of retreating, he actively met the attack.
"Take your Grandpa Xiang's punch."
Xiang Chunan roared, opening all his acupoints, and surging demonic qi pillars emerged, making him seem about to transform into a peerless demon king.
"Bang."
Their fists collided, and demonic qi clashed with Death Evil Qi.
Xiang Chunan stood firmly in midair like a divine mountain, while that Death General was sent flying backward, crashing into the war fortress like a cannonball.
After just one exchange of punches, that Death General was severely injured, one arm exploding into pieces, and he was almost unable to move.
Xiang Chunan did not stop. He immediately wanted to throw another punch to kill him.
"How dare you."
A Death Captain shouted, swinging a battle axe to chop at Xiang Chunan.
Xiang Chunan roared, "Get lost."
Countless demonic patterns appeared on his metal demon crown, releasing strands of supreme power as it crashed toward the Death Captain.
At the same time, Xiang Chunan punched through the air, and demonic qi condensed into a demon mountain that slammed into the severely injured Death General.
"Ten Thousand Layers Demon Mountain Fist" was his most adept fist-type sacred art, a Tongxuan-level mid-rank sacred art whose power was not much weaker than some weaker high-rank sacred arts.
"Bang."
That Death General's body shattered, and his sacred soul was crushed by the demon mountain.
Killing a Death General with two punches was undoubtedly an astonishing achievement.
On the other side, the Death Captain was knocked back by the metal demon crown and could not get close to Xiang Chunan.
Seeing their own expert killed, a Jietian Realm Death God Knight immediately shot forward, swinging a Death God Scythe to reap Xiang Chunan's life.
The meaning of a Death God Knight's existence was slaughter. They were the embodiment of death.
In comparison, this Death God Knight was far stronger than the Death Captain who had just acted.
As he struck, a huge Death God shadow appeared behind him, also swinging a Death God Scythe. A deathly aura was released, locking onto Xiang Chunan.
"Dragon-Elephant Reaching Heaven."
A dragon and an elephant flew out, soaring into the nine heavens, illuminating this stretch of heaven and earth, presenting an extremely terrifying phenomenon.
"Oh?"
The Death God Knight's expression changed. He abandoned his attack on Xiang Chunan and instead focused all his power on blocking the dragon and elephant's assault.
"Bang."
The Death God Knight could not withstand this strike and was sent flying backward. The Death God shadow behind him directly collapsed.
"Want to touch my brother? Did you ask me?"
Zhang Ruochen stood beside Xiang Chunan and said coldly.