Chapter 1020: Chapter 1014: A Trap
“Kill!”
The mist around Highsun City dispersed, and the Golden Toad Divine Palace outside the city revealed itself.
Before Li Yunbing even finished speaking, the Wu tribesmen, who had long been waiting in the mist, charged out.
Over two hundred thousand Wu tribe cultivators surged toward Bi Shihu’s three armies like a tidal wave.
Bi Shihu could no longer bother to wonder why “Jiang Chenghuan” called himself Li Yunbing, nor could he care about Li Yunbing’s ruthless and arrogant words.
The massive sinkhole beneath the Li Clan’s Chamber of Commerce was right before his eyes.
Bi Shihu didn’t know which bastard had secretly dug such a massive tunnel beneath Highsun City, leading to who knows where.
He merely muttered in despair, “How could they flee? We clearly could have won if they charged at the Wu tribe with me, how could you all flee?!!”
This massive sinkhole not only took away the military and civilians of Highsun City, but it also seemed to suck away his very soul, making him instantly dizzy.
Even his peak Void Refinement cultivation base couldn’t prevent his body from swaying.
He had clearly designed everything so perfectly.
As long as everything went according to his plan, he would be able to live as a clean, honorable man.
As long as the people of Highsun City hadn’t fled, even if Li Yunbing arrived, what could Li Yunbing do to him if he charged at the Wu tribe?
But this sinkhole… this damn sinkhole, these damn deserters!
After charging into Highsun City, all allied forces had fled.
His three armies fell straight into the Wu tribe’s encirclement, leaving Bi Shihu with nowhere to run!
Footsteps, battle cries, and the densely packed dark mass of the Wu tribe.
He looked blankly at Li Yunbing, then stiffly turned his head to look at the Wu tribesmen.
Venerable Elder Yuanliang was glaring at him with both fury and venomous resentment.
Bi Shihu felt disconnected from reality for a moment; noises continuously echoed in his ears, transitioning from a ringing sound to gradual clarity.
It was Ge Li calling out to him, “Marshal, they have already charged at us, we’ve fallen into a trap!”
A trap!
A reaction finally appeared on Bi Shihu’s bloodless face.
He took a deep breath, his expression still calm as he shouted to Venerable Elder Yuanliang, who had already flown overhead:
“Venerable Elder, the Azure Cloud Li Clan has fallen into a trap!
I received news earlier that the Azure Cloud Li Clan had been laying an ambush outside Highsun City the whole time, so I designed a plan to draw out the Azure Cloud people.
Now, you and I…”
“Bi Shihu, you are still playing these kinds of tricks with me.”
Venerable Elder Yuanliang’s eyes were crimson.
He sneered, “A battle raged in Highsun City for two hours; did you really think they fought for two hours?”
The massive hole beneath the Li Clan’s Chamber of Commerce was glaringly obvious.
It wouldn’t take two hours; the people left in Highsun City had fled long ago.
Venerable Elder Yuanliang continued, “For the first hour, the people they left behind used Spiritual attacks just as a smokescreen.
You, outside the cloud and mist grand array, couldn’t tell, but I could see it—they had fled long ago.
During the second hour, the attacks started again. That wasn’t the attacks of the people of Highsun City; it was my order. I wanted to wait for you to show yourself!”
“How is this the time to bicker over such things? There are two hundred thousand Azure Cloud cultivators inside the Golden Toad Divine Palace. You and I must cooperate to find a way out!”
Even at this desperate juncture, Bi Shihu was still trying to bewitch Venerable Elder Yuanliang.
“Heh.”
Unexpectedly, Venerable Elder Yuanliang’s face remained filled with disdain.
He ignored Bi Shihu completely and only glanced at that giant Golden Toad.
The Golden Toad Divine Palace contained its own heaven and earth, and the two hundred thousand Azure Cloud Army soldiers inside were poised for battle.
A Top-Grade Dharma Treasure like the Golden Toad Divine Palace, although lacking offensive combat power, was absolutely a supreme treasure for military marches.
Li Yunbing had too many choices, while Venerable Elder Yuanliang had none.
The Golden Toad Divine Palace could attack, defend, and move.
Li Yunbing could track him continuously, yet he no longer had the strength to surround the Golden Toad Divine Palace. As for cooperating with Bi Shihu again…
It was too late.
He was a Venerable Elder, and there were six other Venerable Elders here.
The attack had already been launched, and the Wu tribe had prepared this for an hour.
In their eyes, the Golden Toad Divine Palace no longer mattered; the scene of Bi Shihu betraying and slaughtering the fleeing Wu tribe cultivators was vivid in their minds.
“Ribbit!”
Outside Highsun City, the Golden Toad Divine Palace let out another croak.
The Azure Cloud Army soldiers leisurely revealed themselves only after the Wu tribe cultivators had charged at Bi Shihu.
That insidious villain Li Yunbing held absolute initiative.
“You…” As the Golden Toad Divine Palace pulled back again, Bi Shihu’s face filled with despair.
“Kill them all!”
As the Wu tribesmen surrounded and attacked, Bi Shihu’s heart pounded wildly.
Venerable Elder Yuanliang, with a ferocious expression, had already shattered the void to pull Bi Shihu into his Void Refinement Space.
Gritting his teeth in the face of his subordinates’ cries, Bi Shihu glanced around at his three armies desperately defending against the enemy, and spoke words that left Guan Mingxuan, Ge Li, and Cai Yongzhen in utter disbelief.
“Pass down the order: Cultivators above the Divinity Transformation realm, carve a bloody path out with me!
We still have a chance to stage a comeback. We must preserve our useful bodies to avenge our brothers!”
As his words fell.
Bi Shihu unhesitatingly fled with his junior sister, leaving behind the dumbfounded soldiers of his three armies.
The battlefield instantly devolved into utter chaos. A three-way melee erupted, leaving behind nothing but brutal slaughter.
The Wu tribe cultivators had waited for an hour.
The moment Bi Shihu’s three armies charged into the city, they launched their attack.
The Spiritual power of over two hundred thousand exhausted Wu tribe cultivators completely submerged Bi Shihu’s three armies.
The Azure Cloud Army silently marched out of the Golden Toad Divine Palace.
As the two armies slaughtered each other, they silently grabbed one of the three long spears slung across their backs, channeled their Spiritual power, and hurled them toward the city.
Two hundred thousand long spears floated in the air, emitting a fierce, piercing whistle as they rained down like a torrential downpour.
Meanwhile.
A massive hole tore open in the ground behind Highsun City.
Li Changyao, pushing Li Changsheng, was the first to emerge, closely followed by the fleeing cultivators of Highsun City one after another.
Feng Tu, who had fled alongside Li Changsheng without a second’s hesitation, saw the sky-filling rain of spears link their Spiritual power the moment he emerged.
In an instant, they formed an array formation that suppressed downward into Highsun City.
The combined Spiritual power of two hundred thousand cultivators, spearheaded by numerous Divinity Transformation cultivators, was enough to even suppress Void Refinement experts!
Feng Tu was covered in cold sweat.
“I’ve long known that the combat power of the Azure Cloud Army was astonishing, but to think your grand array is this formidable?”
“How could it not be formidable? This is the foundational array formation every Azure Cloud person must learn upon joining the Azure Cloud Army—the Spear Forest Array Tactics.
I heard from the elders that our Li Clan obtained it from a Foundation Establishment clan when we first rose to power.
It has been improved and brought to great heights over hundreds of years, costing the diligent efforts of who knows how many generations.”
Li Changyao said this while unhooking her pink longbow from her back.
This minister of the Heavenly Principle Hall’s Shadow Division casually remarked,
“City Lord Feng, tell the cultivators of the city to encircle them alongside our Azure Cloud Li Clan. Do not let a single Wu tribe cultivator or anyone from Bi Shihu’s three armies escape.”
“This time…”
Li Changyao drew her bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at Divine Archer Guan Mingxuan, who had taken to the sky. “I want to see how they escape!”
“Alright.”
Feng Tu nodded without hesitation and hurriedly made the arrangements.
He also secretly rejoiced; if Li Changsheng hadn’t led them to escape into the tunnel, he feared he would have been the one suffering right now.
Taking another look at Li Changsheng, he saw that the man sitting in the wheelchair had already changed into a new set of clothes, smeared himself with blood from who knows where, and was leaning on a crutch as he blended into the crowd.
“…”
The corners of Feng Tu’s mouth twitched. “What a talent.”
As the City Lord of Highsun City, Feng Tu had been in utter disbelief when Li Changsheng opened the massive cavern beneath the Li Clan’s Chamber of Commerce.
Upon asking, he found out that in the decades since this kid Li Changsheng had arrived in Highsun City, he had only studied one thing: how to stay alive.
For decades, right under everyone’s noses, Li Changsheng would show his face in the city at random times every day, and immediately afterward, he would return to the Chamber of Commerce and dig tunnels.
The tunnels beneath Highsun City were a labyrinth of twists and turns, with a total of three exits.
The furthest one was eight hundred miles away from Silver Wolf Lake.
But how could Feng Tu know that ever since Li Changsheng came out of the Tian Xing Grotto-Heaven, no matter where he stayed for an extended period, he would always leave himself a way out.
Digging tunnels was one of Li Changsheng’s most fundamental survival skills.
On his very first day in Highsun City, he had strolled around the city with Li Changyao and had explicitly stated that he needed to leave a way out for their clan members.
…
Meanwhile.
In the void above the cloudy sky of Highsun City, a man was drenched in sweat: Li Wei.
“Phew.”
Looking at Bi Shihu’s three armies, who were already encircled and being slaughtered by the Wu tribe with nowhere to run, and then at the Azure Cloud Army that had completely surrounded both sides, Li Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“This kid Changsheng… he’s capable.”
Thinking back to how Li Changsheng had been continuously digging tunnels for the past few decades, Li Wei had felt somewhat speechless.
But today, even Li Wei had to admit that this kid was simply a genius.
And the Golden Toad Divine Palace…
Li Wei raised an eyebrow, glancing at the Spiritual power within his body, which was almost entirely depleted.
Over these past thirty-odd years, the clan hadn’t just been cultivating using Yaoqing’s pills; they hadn’t slacked on their scheming either.
Since Ba Siyu didn’t favor the Azure Cloud Li Clan, they went to cooperate with Spear Saint Gu Fenghua.
Compared to Ba Siyu, Gu Fenghua truly treated their Azure Cloud Li Clan as human beings.
[Special Event — Lightning war against the Wu Tribe]
[Your clan has cooperated with Spear Saint Gu Fenghua.
Your descendants, Li Yunlin and Li Yunbing, have become Spear Saint Gu Fenghua’s confidants, scheming alongside the Spear Saint for years to launch a Lightning war against the Wu tribe.
Spear Saint Gu Fenghua has entrusted the heavy responsibility of guarding the rear of Deston Prefecture to the Li Clan.]
A trap.
This was inherently a trap that Spear Saint Gu Fenghua and the Li Clan had plotted for decades.
Deston Prefecture was commanded by the Imperial Protectors Guard, and there were three mighty figures among the three cities; how could the Li Clan’s only choice be Ba Siyu?
This time, regardless of what Bi Shihu did, the Azure Cloud Army in Sunfall City was equally a chess piece!
“With the rear emptied out, only by keeping the Golden Toad Divine Palace far away could these people be lured out!”
And Li Wei was the key!
Li Wei let out a long breath.
For over thirty years, he had been continuously strengthening himself through spiritual medicines. Unwittingly, he had already reached the peak of the Void Refinement realm.
His spatial Spiritual power had also grown increasingly formidable.
Yet, even so, he had to re-enter the game world three times before finally managing to use spatial laws to bring the Golden Toad Divine Palace to Highsun City within a short period.
Carrying the Golden Toad Divine Palace was like carrying a massive mountain on his back…
“Whoosh!”
The sound of something tearing through the void interrupted Li Wei’s thoughts.
Li Wei narrowed his eyes and looked down. He saw Bi Shihu and the others fleeing rapidly.
Li Changyao had fired her first arrow at them, a Blue Phoenix streaking across the vast sky.
Back in the Shadowfell Prefecture, when Bi Shihu became a deserter, if he claimed it was to preserve the lives of the soldiers of his three armies, Li Wei, although unable to forgive him, could at least understand it.
But this time…
Bi Shihu abandoned even his own subordinates and chose to flee without the slightest hesitation.
“Trying to escape?”
At this moment, the gazes of the numerous Li Clan members in Highsun City were all fixed upon Bi Shihu.
Li Wei had been refined and scholarly for centuries, but today, he broke character. “Fuck your grandmother, Bi Shihu!”
At the same time.
Among the Wu tribe, Venerable Elder Yuanliang took to the sky wielding his twin swords.
“Bi Shihu, don’t you dare run!”
—
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