Annihilation

Countless colorful spells rained down upon the sixty thousand Lian Zheng soldiers. They steadfastly advanced, shielding Zhao Yuan Huo, preventing him from suffering any accidental harm.

Mortal soldiers, in the eyes of those lofty figures from Wujian Immortal Sect and Chunyang Immortal Sect, appeared fragile and unbearable. But they were not afraid of death, like moths drawn to a flame. Their sheer numbers, like a swarm of ants gnawing an elephant to death, gradually caused unease among the Immortal Sect members.

A Daoist cultivator bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood onto his spell. Suddenly, the casting became swifter, its power doubling. Five colors of light exploded, turning thousands of soldiers and their weapons into dust.

Before being obliterated by the five-colored spell, the soldiers at the front gripped their weapons, their eyes resolute. Their shoulder armor became blurry, then vanished. Thousands of soldiers behind them continued to advance indomitably, filling the void.

“They are too numerous; our spells are not enough to eliminate them,” a Daoist cultivator said, feeling extremely strained, sweat pouring down his head.

“Continue! If they are not afraid, then make them afraid!” Zhang Shi said coldly, forming hand seals. Suddenly, layers of cages rose from the ground; it was the Great Earth Prison.

“They have been trapped in the Great Earth Prison by Elder Zhang Shi; quickly attack!” A Wujian Immortal Sect Daoist cultivator shouted, continuously unleashing spells down into the Great Earth Prison.

“Good!” The Chunyang Immortal Sect members praised, their spiritual energy forming a sphere of fire, compressed to a terrifying temperature, causing the air to twist grotesquely.

Each Daoist cultivator in Chunyang Immortal Sect cast a Fireball Spell. The Fireball Spell’s power was not considered very strong, but many Fireball Spells combined formed a Great Fireball Spell, with astonishing destructive force. To successfully merge multiple Fireball Spells required a person in the middle to take the leading role, and that was Liu Ran.

Veins bulged on Liu Ran’s forehead. To maintain the connection between the Fireball Spells, he expended a considerable amount of spiritual energy, and to sustain this connection, he had to deplete his external spiritual power.

The Great Fireball Spell, burning with extraordinary heat, floated in mid-air, successfully merged by Liu Ran. Liu Ran pushed it out, and the Great Fireball Spell descended into the Great Earth Prison.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Great Earth Prison formed a cage, preventing them from escaping. The Great Fireball Spell fell, instantly turning the place into an inferno. The red flames burned flesh, causing unimaginable pain. Both men and horses were reduced to piles of black charcoal.

Because the Great Fireball Spell’s power was too immense, the rising heat scorched a Daoist cultivator. The Daoist cultivator controlled his flying sword to dodge away from the internal heat.

“Bind!” Zhang Shi cast his spell. The ground beneath the Great Earth Prison sank another layer. Suddenly, the Great Earth Prison plummeted underground, with earth and sand covering the top, trapping all the soldiers inside an earthen box, forming a cube.

“Save them!” Sixty thousand soldiers was a large number. Zhang Shi could only trap ten thousand soldiers who were shielding Zhao Yuan Huo; the remaining fifty thousand troops tried to break through the Great Earth Prison.

Whoosh!

The Army-Breaking Crossbow pierced Zhang Shi’s left shoulder. Zhang Shi’s face was terrifyingly furious; a mere mortal dared to injure him. He now had only twenty percent of his spiritual energy left, and he cast the Sword Control Art to slash at the soldiers.

Clang!

Yao Long, riding on horseback, his long saber deflected the flying sword. With a crouch, the horse collapsed under the heavy pressure. Yao Long swung his entire body backward, his long saber carrying immense weight.

“Explode!” Yao Long whispered. Then, his long saber blazed with red flames, and armor simultaneously appeared on his body, a sky-covering conflagration burning a vast area.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Like exploding artillery fire, terrifying heat scorched a group of Daoist cultivators above. Their faces were distressed; Zhang Shi’s face was pale, and blood seeped from his ears. There was no trace of immortal grace and Daoist bearing left on him; his long robe was burnt black, turning to dust in the wind. His skin was charred from the high temperature.

Zhang Shi was severely wounded, vomiting a mouthful of blood, powerless to fight again. A Wujian Immortal Sect member controlled a flying sword to fly over; ten flying swords stabbed into Yao Long. Before they could gloat, Yao Long sneered, throwing his long saber. The long saber, like an Army-Breaking Arrow, pierced Zhang Shi’s heart.

“Elder Zhang Shi! How dare you kill an elder, you ignorant mortal!” The Wujian Immortal Sect Daoist cultivator cried out in disbelief, roaring loudly. Ten flying swords were imbued with talismans, their terrifying power stabbing into Yao Long.

Yao Long ruthlessly conjured a hard shield, formed by condensing all his True Essence armor into a single point. The ten sharp flying swords shattered the shield, drawing a trail of fresh blood from Yao Long.

“Lord Yao Long!” It was the Lian Zheng soldiers’ turn to be enraged. They simultaneously broke through the Great Earth Prison and attacked with their Army-Breaking Crossbows.

“He’s dead!” The Daoist cultivators from both sides, Wujian Immortal Sect and Chunyang Immortal Sect, breathed a sigh of relief. Yao Long was too terrifying; he was just a martial practitioner from the mortal world, yet he repeatedly rose again and again, even killing Elder Zhang Shi.

Zhang Shi’s corpse still had Yao Long’s long saber embedded in it. Although the Wujian Immortal Sect members had avenged Zhang Shi, their faces were grim and dripping with sweat; after all, Wujian Immortal Sect suffered too great a loss this time, even an elder had died.

Only the Chunyang Immortal Sect members had lost only one Daoist cultivator; the rest were fully intact, and Liu Ran was still full of vigor.

A Daoist cultivator noticed Zhang Shi’s corpse and suddenly saw a slight movement from the long saber embedded in Zhang Shi. It weakly twitched; the Daoist cultivator felt he was hallucinating. On the other side, a blood-soaked figure staggered to his feet, with ten flying swords embedded in his body; it was Yao Long.

His aura was sometimes faint, sometimes dense, making it unclear what his true condition was. As Yao Long’s opponents, the Immortal Sect members couldn’t help but feel a chilling fear.

“Is he a monster?”

“He’s exhausted!” Liu Ran shouted, a sneer on his lips. Yao Long might be able to scare others, but he couldn’t scare him. He saw at a glance that Yao Long was at his last gasp.

Yao Long’s eyes were hazy; indeed, at this moment, he was utterly spent. The Undying Dragon had reached its limit, but within him remained something worthy of the title “Undying”: the Undying Spirit, which would never fall as long as the battle was not over.

Yao Long’s physical condition was extremely poor. Liu Ran realized his true state, fearing that next time he would not be able to resist. The soldiers’ eyes were bloodshot; they also realized that next time, Yao Long would likely die under Liu Ran’s attack.

“Lord Yao Long, we will clear a path for your retreat; quickly escape!” The Lian Zheng soldiers roared loudly, gripping their weapons and batting away flying swords.

“What foolishness are you speaking! I, Yao Long, one of the Nine Fire Dragons, how can I be defeated?” Yao Long’s entire body blazed with battle aura, shaking the leaves of the trees. He roared loudly, deafeningly.

“Showing off!” The Daoist cultivators on both sides ignored him, colorful spells rising, layer upon layer, terrifying to behold.

At this moment, the upper layer of the Great Earth Prison suddenly cracked and shattered. From within, a dazzling red light shot forth; the scene was like ten thousand feet of mortal dust illuminating, something they would never forget.

A pair of red wings, covered in countless illusory feathers, appeared. They exuded an aura that twisted space with terrifying heat, burning the heavens, as if a celestial being had broken free from its cage. Zhao Yuan Huo was not angry but possessed an inherent majesty; the wings behind him flapped, bringing with them oppressive heat. His right hand transformed into a giant lava hand.

Blazing Flame Wings!

Flame Emperor Spiritual Arm!

Zhao Yuan Huo absorbed all the Great Fireball Spells, not dying but instead breaking through his realm, entering the Martial Body Realm, soaring to the heavens. A power no one on the field could resist.

“This is bad, run! He has broken through to become a Martial Body martial practitioner!” The Chunyang Immortal Sect members exclaimed in horror.

“We can’t run; we’ve run out of spiritual energy. He has just broken through, and his aura is still unstable; we must quickly kill him to have a chance at survival!” Liu Ran said in a deep voice. Just as he said, Zhao Yuan Huo’s aura was extremely chaotic, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, which was a sign of an unstable realm.

Countless terrifying colorful spells from the Daoist cultivators on both sides surged towards Zhao Yuan Huo. The Lian Zheng soldiers were anxious; would their lord, who had just broken through to the legendary realm of the Four Nations War Monarch, die now?

“Lord Zhao Yuan Huo!”

The soldiers roared, but the spells’ power was too great, and their casting speed was even faster; the target was predetermined and unchangeable. The Lian Zheng soldiers were not fast enough to shield Zhao Yuan Huo.

The light shattered; all the spells were blocked by the two Blazing Flame Wings. The two large, fiery red wings, completely unharmed, enveloped Zhao Yuan Huo. The Spirit Wings spread open, and Zhao Yuan Huo moved at a speed the naked eye could not follow, leaving only an afterimage in his original position.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhao Yuan Huo appeared before them, his two arms closing to raise flames, then pushing his arms forward, like a Fire God walking the mortal world; red flames exploded, engulfing a vast area.

Liu Ran and all the Immortal Sect Daoist cultivators were swallowed by the red flames, leaving nothing behind in the world.

Their flying swords, due to their sturdy material, were not immediately melted but turned into piles of black charcoal in the shape of flying swords, scattered across the ground.

“Let’s go!” Zhao Yuan Huo retracted his Spirit Wings, his Spiritual Arm disappearing. He clapped Yao Long’s shoulder and said.

Initially, he had easily defeated the Three Great Generals Bai Ze, so he had looked down on the people of the mortal world, but what Yao Long had done earned his respect.

“Good!” Yao Long took a deep breath and said.

The entire Wujian Immortal Sect and Chunyang Immortal Sect armies were annihilated. The mission to rescue Fan Ri failed.