Chapter 503: The Battlefield
Three Golden Core–level venomous serpents, each enormous like an elephant, rushed forward at astonishing speed, pursuing and attacking from behind.
Diao Ye withdrew into the purple-black poisonous fog, casting spells to stir the miasma so that it swept across the ground like a rolling tide.
Wu Lan held a venom-spiked spear, constantly circling on the outskirts. From time to time he hurled the spear, and almost every throw claimed the life of a soldier.
Ahead lay poisonous fog; behind, venomous serpents; to the left and right, Golden Core barbarian cultivators harassed them. The Three Generals Camp was like a black bear that had stepped into an ambush circle, now suffering attacks from all directions.
Zhang Hei could no longer endure it. The veins on his neck bulged as he roared in fury, “A bunch of despicable rats!”
He swung the Black Serpent Spear in his hand and directly activated the Military Art contained within the weapon.
Military Art—Army Pressing the Borders!
In an instant, forty percent of the Three Generals Camp’s military strength, together with his own mana, dropped sharply and condensed into soldier after soldier formed of black water.
The soldiers surged outward like a tidal wave, rushing in all directions.
They crashed into the purple-black poisonous fog. Though they immediately dissolved one after another, they also neutralized large amounts of the poison, causing the fog around the Three Generals Camp to disperse rapidly. The air cleared, allowing the camp to temporarily escape this danger.
The soldiers continued charging toward Diao Ye. A powerful pressure suddenly descended upon him, forcing him to retreat again and again.
Wu Lan shouted loudly while moving about rapidly. Feeling the invisible pressure crushing down upon him, he struggled to resist the tremendous force and had no choice but to retreat as well.
His face turned dark purple. The venom-spiked spear in his hand kept forming and reforming as he repeatedly hurled it.
But every spear was pressed to the ground by the invisible force halfway through its flight, producing no results at all.
More soldiers formed a massive black wave and rushed toward the three Golden Core–level venomous serpents.
The serpents hissed and opened their mouths wide, swallowing soldiers one after another. Their tails swept sideways, blasting apart a chain of soldiers and clearing large patches of empty ground.
Weapons from the soldiers struck the serpents, tearing open wound after wound. From those wounds, large quantities of venom gushed out, covering nearby soldiers and instantly dissolving them.
Although the soldiers were no match for the venomous serpents in single combat, their advantage lay in their overwhelming numbers. They rushed forward one after another without end.
The momentum of the venomous serpents was successfully stalled. As the fierce battle continued, their massive bodies slowly shrank, and their aura steadily fell from its peak.
“General Zhang is mighty!”
“Wuhu!”
The real soldiers of the Three Generals Camp cheered loudly. Their morale stabilized, and their military strength began recovering more quickly.
Seeing this, Wu Lan felt indignant, his face filled with resentment.
Poison Art—Poison Spike Piercing the Heart!
Wu Lan extended five fingers and clenched them in the air, forming another venom spear with his mana and grasping it in his hand.
But this spear was far smaller than before, no thicker than a chopstick.
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he stared fixedly at the Three Generals Camp, his expression savage and his eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
Large numbers of soldiers from the Three Generals Camp appeared within his sight.
Wu Lan extended his left palm.
His palm was pitch-black, and the palm lines glowed with blood-red light. The blood light flowed along the lines and gathered at the center of his palm, forming the shape of a heart.
Wu Lan tightly gripped the small venom spear with his right hand and viciously stabbed it into his own left palm.
The spear pierced directly through the blood-red heart-shaped glow in his palm.
Wu Lan’s expression did not change; he merely let out a muffled grunt.
Compared with him, many soldiers suddenly clutched their chests and screamed in agony.
Most of them cried out only once before collapsing to the ground, dying from the poison.
Without any visible attack, their comrades died mysteriously beside them. Many soldiers were struck with fear, and the morale of the Three Generals Camp began to waver.
Wu Lan pulled the venom spear from his palm and stabbed his left palm again.
Blood splattered as intense pain surged once more.
At the same time, more casualties appeared among the soldiers of the Three Generals Camp.
Wu Lan continued stabbing through his own palm with swift movements and a ruthless expression. The tightly furrowed brows he had earlier gradually relaxed.
The intense pain kept surging, yet he quickly adapted—from enduring it to actually enjoying it.
More than a dozen holes had appeared in his left palm. The entire hand was nearly shredded.
The results he achieved were also the highest so far—at least eighty soldiers had died because of him.
“Heart poison?!” Liu Er activated both his spiritual sense and his innate talent simultaneously, finally discovering the cause of death from the corpses.
A sense of helplessness rose within him.
Relying solely on his own defensive methods, it would be extremely difficult to guard against such a bizarre attack.
Innate Talent—Purple Beard Astonishing Radiance!
Guan Hong suddenly took action.
He frantically circulated the Red-Faced Blood Calamity Scripture, causing his entire body to emit blood-red light.
The light was deep crimson—so deep that it turned purple.
The dazzling purple radiance shone directly upon Wu Lan, freezing his movements for a brief instant.
Military Art—Single Blade Charge!
This was the Military Art contained within the Blood Dragon Blade, allowing Guan Hong to unleash an explosive assault and seize the initiative.
This was precisely the advantage of mastering a powerful weapon!
A blood-colored blade radiance condensed and shot toward Wu Lan with lightning speed.
“Damn it!” Wu Lan’s expression was frozen, yet his emotions still shifted.
Intense terror swept through his entire body.
But in the next moment, venom swirled around his feet and rapidly formed a spherical barrier to protect him.
Innate Talent—Thousand Whiskers Reflect Blood!
Guan Hong glared fiercely as several strands of his eight-foot beard snapped apart.
Those strands reverted into large amounts of vital blood essence and poured directly into the Blood Dragon Blade.
The aura of the blade surged violently, causing the blood-colored blade radiance to become even more powerful and sharp.
The blood blade pierced through the pitch-black venom barrier and continued forward without losing momentum, splitting Wu Lan into two halves!
“Wu Lan” turned into two pools of poison water and fell to the ground.
Guan Hong had been certain of success, but his attack missed its true target. A trace of surprise appeared on his face.
In the next moment, Wu Lan was squeezed out from a nearby pool of venom rain.
His entire body was drenched as he knelt on the ground and stared at Guan Hong again, his face filled with lingering shock.
Just now, facing Guan Hong, he had almost no ability to resist.
The coordination between Guan Hong’s innate talents allowed him to unleash an extreme burst of offense in an instant—something few could withstand.
Wu Lan had always believed that his combat strength among Golden Core cultivators was quite formidable.
But when compared with Guan Hong now, he immediately realized that the latter was far stronger than himself!
However, Guan Hong did not look at him. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Tu Ming in the distance.
The one who had just saved Wu Lan was precisely this Poison Belly High Priest of the Hundred Venoms Tribe.
Tu Ming stood seven feet tall, with bronze skin and a powerful physique.
He wore animal hides and stood barefoot. A dead serpent corpse was wrapped around his body.
Numerous snake bones and viper scales formed various ornaments decorating him from head to toe.
Around his neck hung a necklace bearing snake fangs and numerous venom sacs.
After fighting for so long and witnessing the renewed combat power of the Three Generals Camp, Tu Ming knew that unless he used some trump cards and paid a certain price, it would be impossible to easily defeat this enemy army.
Thus, he tore off one of the venom sacs from his necklace and poured mana into it.
The venom sac returned to the size of a palm and rested in his hand.
He pressed and kneaded it with his fingers.
Under the kneading, the sac slowly emitted a stream of yellow-brown poisonous gas.
Poison Art—Rotting Flesh Sores!
The poisonous gas drifted rapidly through the air. No matter what methods the three generals or Ning Zhuo used, they were unable to completely disperse it.
Soon, several strands of the gas entered the noses of the soldiers.
The poisoned soldiers screamed miserably as they tore at their own skin.
Poisonous sores appeared all over their bodies, itching unbearably.
But once scratched open, the sores leaked pus continuously, corroding the surrounding healthy skin and expanding rapidly.
The sores soon spread across the entire body. Large chunks of flesh rotted away from the soldiers, exposing white bones beneath, and they died miserably on the spot.
Even the three generals began to feel itching all over their bodies as sores started forming.
Liu Er, Guan Hong, and Zhang Hei immediately used their own methods to attempt treatment.
But not only were their treatments ineffective—the condition grew worse.
The three generals’ expressions changed drastically.
Tu Ming sneered. “My Poison Art—Rotting Flesh Sores is specifically designed to counter those with a body cultivation foundation. The stronger the body cultivation, the harder the sores are to suppress and the faster they spread.”
“Enjoy it well, Liu, Guan, Zhang!”
“This time is different from the previous ambush.”
“You have no reinforcements! Even if you send for help, the other three armies are likely struggling for survival themselves.”
Under the planning of Lu Hongtu, the Thousand Peaks Forest had executed a precise counterattack.
Tu Ming, Diao Ye, and Wu Lan were merely one of several attacking forces.
Azure Sky Giant Tree Mountain.
The Golden Halberd Army encountered a wolf pack while circling the mountain.
Wolves covered the mountains and plains, forming wave after wave of attacks as they assaulted the Golden Halberd Army.
Sun Gan, clad in full armor, wore a cold expression.
“This is nothing but the same old trick.”
“Lone Fang, it seems you’re treating my Golden Halberd Army as if it were the Barbarian-Demon Army.”
“How could such wolf packs possibly stop my Golden Halberd Army?!”
As he spoke, he activated Military Arts and maintained the battle formation, leading the Golden Halberd Army forward with unstoppable momentum.
The entire Golden Halberd Army resembled an incomparably sharp golden halberd, cleaving through the blue-and-gray tide of wolves and advancing without obstruction.
Wherever they passed, Military Arts raged, and countless wolves fell dead.
“Unless you bring out those Golden Core–level wolf guards of yours, sending more troops will only be a meaningless sacrifice,” Sun Gan mocked mercilessly toward Lone Fang in the distance.
The tragic losses among the wolves filled Lone Fang with rage.
He gritted his teeth. “Sun Gan, do you think I’m the main force? My task is merely to hold your army here.”
“The one who will truly deal with you is someone else!”
As he spoke, the invisibility technique behind him gradually faded, revealing a Nascent Soul–level powerhouse who had been hiding until now.
His body was extremely robust, his chest broad like a city gate. He had the head of an elephant and the body of a man, with limbs thick as tree trunks and pale blue skin.
Two snow-white tusks curved outward like twin crescent moons, resembling a pair of scimitars.
“The current Elephant King?!” Seeing the silent giant demon, Sun Gan’s heart skipped a beat.
Boom!
The Elephant King crashed into the formation of the Golden Halberd Army like a falling mountain.
Sun Gan was pushed by the charge from the very front of the formation all the way into the middle ranks.
Blood seeped from his mouth and nose as he slowly raised his head.
Before him stood the Elephant King, massive as a mountain, standing beneath the blazing midday sun and gazing down at him coldly.
Moon Hook Giant Tree Mountain.
An enemy suddenly appeared on the mountain peak.
His eyes were covered with a black cloth. His upper body was bare, marked with blood totems, and two massive crescent blades were strapped across his back.
It was Di Lu!
The Red Flower Camp quickly formed its battle formation.
Just as the Red Flower Avatar began to condense, heaven and earth suddenly changed.
The bright daytime sky abruptly transformed into a moonlit night.
Above the deep night sky hung a crescent moon shaped like a hook.
With a gentle sway, the crescent hook snatched away the half-formed Red Flower Avatar above the Red Flower Camp.
The Red Flower Avatar was hung upon the crescent moon in the sky, becoming a rootless existence that quickly began to dissipate.
Chaos erupted within the Red Flower Camp.
Even veteran soldiers had never encountered such a situation before.
“Stay calm!” Mu Lan shouted loudly while activating her methods.
Military Art—Morale Boost!
After stabilizing the army’s morale, Mu Lan mobilized the soldiers again and gradually formed a second Red Flower Avatar.
But before it could fully take shape, the crescent moon swayed again and hooked away the second Red Flower Avatar!
The morale of the Red Flower Camp dropped once more, and even Mu Lan rarely showed a frown.
She had not expected the Thousand Peaks Forest to suppress the Red Flower Formation to such a degree!
“This is a Dao-Field!”
“The ancient god worshipped by the Cangyue Tribe has finally taken action.”
Mu Lan immediately guessed the truth.
A Dao-Field was not something that could easily be established.
Generally speaking, a cultivator had to reach the Soul Formation level before they could create their own Dao-Field.
But there were exceptions.
The greatest exception was the gods.
Gods could naturally wield certain laws of heaven and earth. When their mastery reached a clear and profound level, it became known as a Divine Ability.
By manifesting their understanding of the world’s laws, they could reshape a portion of heaven and earth, forming a Dao-Field.
The Dicebone Demon God and the ancient god of the Cangyue Tribe were such examples.
For a moment, Mu Lan felt at a loss.
Within the Dao-Field of the ancient Cangyue god existed special rules.
Although she had not yet fully discovered them, one thing was certain—the Red Flower Avatar could not even complete its formation.
“This will be an extremely difficult battle.” Mu Lan’s face grew slightly pale, her expression solemn.
Boar-Bristle Giant Tree Mountain.
The Barbarian-Demon Army was also encountering trouble.
Wild boars attacked.
The boars formed a massive torrent, charging out of the sparse forest and smashing directly into the Barbarian-Demon Army’s camp.
Traps were flattened, trenches quickly filled, and the fences and chevaux-de-frise were smashed apart by the charging boars.
Xu Dali had already left the formation and challenged the culprit controlling the boar herd—Giant Bing!
Giant Bing and Lone Fang were both famous within the Thousand Peaks Forest as the strongest beast tamers.
Lone Fang specialized in wolves, while Giant Bing controlled wild boars.
Facing Xu Dali’s challenge, Giant Bing crossed his arms and looked completely indifferent.
In his view, a beast tamer dueling a body cultivation general was the most foolish thing imaginable.
Xu Dali soon fell into a bitter struggle.
While retreating, Giant Bing could continuously command the boars to assault the camp, inflicting massive casualties on the Barbarian-Demon Army.
If things continued like this, Xu Dali would inevitably suffer a disastrous and direct defeat.
This battlefield scene fell into the eyes of certain observers.
“Xu Dali is truly foolish—he has an army but only borrows its strength before acting alone!”
“If this continues, the Barbarian-Demon Army will soon be overrun by the boar herd and collapse in a rout.”
“Not necessarily.”
“You’ve forgotten an important factor.”
“The Barbarian-Demon Army has suffered heavy casualties and has been constantly replenished with new soldiers. Many of them are barbarians or demon cultivators. Because of their intelligence, customs, and nature, they require real combat training. Otherwise, once they step onto the battlefield, they’ll simply become cannon fodder.”
“That should be enough.”
“It’s time for us to make our move.”