Military Battle

On the battlefield, three eighth-rank officials stood facing each other, locked in a fierce battle.

However, while fighting, the two eighth-rank demons didn't stop talking.

While suppressing the eighth-rank cultivator, a demon with an eagle's head and a human body said, "Zhang Lan, even the Hundred Forests Kingdom doesn't care about these people, so why bother with their business? You might as well retreat now and save your life."

The other demon was not human, but a terrifying giant ape, wielding a stone club and roaring angrily, "What nonsense! This scum of the Righteous Sword Palace has already killed two of our brothers! Today he will die here!"

"Shut up!" The eagle-headed demon was secretly annoyed, and whispered, "This person's cultivation is profound. Don't force him to fight us to the death. This time, the kidnapping of people is just—"

But before the eagle-headed demon could finish speaking, the giant ape demon ignored him and used its Divine Ability to grab a small mountain next to the battlefield and pull it up with a jerk!

That small hill is over a hundred meters high, winding around the hillside. Standing on the top, you can see beautiful scenery all around.

However, the mountain suddenly began to move.

The wild beasts in the mountains howled incessantly! Their mournful cries could reach Li Qi even from this distance. Then, the earth trembled, and a silver light hundreds of meters long flashed through the mountains, striking the giant ape. However, the giant ape grabbed it with its other hand, squeezed it gently, and it fell silent.

"Haha, a ninth-rank mountain god, you don't even have to run away, yet you dare to block your grandpa?" The giant ape laughed loudly, then casually tossed aside a silver lizard he had crushed.

As the silver light dissipated, only the rumbling of rocks echoed through the ravines. The ferocious beasts that had been wailing fell silent, not daring to utter a sound.

Immediately afterwards, the mountain was completely uprooted! The ground cracked open, and the mountain range collapsed! Rolling earth energy surged upwards, and the Earth Vein Qi that had been suppressed in the soil suddenly erupted, but it was all collected by that Divine Ability and transformed into a long snake that coiled above the mountain.

Then, the giant ape swung the mountain peak and fiercely struck at the eighth-rank cultivator.

An entire mountain, carrying the earth's energy, crashed down in one fell swoop!

The eighth-rank cultivator, while resisting the interference of the eagle-headed demon, made a hand Hand Seals with his other hand and whispered to the mountain, "Go!"

As he spoke, his Lung Qi seemed to burst forth.

The lungs belong to the metal element. The energy of Geng metal condenses in the lungs and transforms into Geng metal Sword Qi, which is expelled directly with each exhale.

All the energy in the exhaled air gathered together. What had just been released was a small golden sword, but after flying only twenty feet, it gradually expanded, and the boundless Sword Intent surged out like a river.

The sword light was unavoidable, Sword Qi soared into the sky. The small golden sword gradually expanded until it was level with the mountain peak. Then, the two swords, one horizontal and one vertical, drew a cross.

Two sword strikes cleaved the mountain peak into four pieces!

Even the earth itself was etched with a massive cross-shaped indentation, as deep as a canyon! The demonic tide below fled in terror, and those that were slow to escape were sliced into four pieces by the overflowing Sword Intent. The wounds were identical to the cross-shaped indentation in the canyon, differing only in size.

Even the giant ape had a deep cross-shaped wound on its body, from which blood gushed out, staining the ground red and even turning into a small river that washed away some of the army's formation.

The giant ape collapsed to the ground, unable to catch its breath.

"I told you not to push him too far!" The eagle-headed demon was furious, but he didn't stop casting Technique Method.

With a wave of his hand, he saw the surging demons below seem to have received some kind of command, forming ranks and no longer charging. Instead, they formed Soldier's Qi, condensing it into a solid, fortified formation. The aura was black, round and swirling, with red energy within it, resembling a rainbow, drifting without wind.

The Soldier's Qi gathered, but it was not used in the battle formation. Instead, it gathered in the hands of the eagle-headed demon, turning into mixed energy that flew down from the sky like a flock of birds, obscuring the day and darkening the night, covering the Geng metal Sword Qi in a dark and turbulent manner.

The Sword Qi was originally bright and shiny, but it immediately became dull after being tainted by this impure energy.

The blade wailed! Several small gaps even appeared, and the energy released swept outwards, directly creating a wide and clear sky in the center of the battlefield.

The dissipated energy even surged downwards, but most of it was blocked by the condensed demonic Soldier's Qi, causing only a minor impact on the demons' formation.

Seeing this, the Human Race officers immediately shouted at the top of their lungs, "Assault battalion, follow me! Fight for Mr. Zhang's life!"

But then they saw that about a thousand soldiers no longer held their ground, but instead charged out fearlessly and bravely to confront the demonic tide head-on.

Upon engaging in battle, the Soldier's Qi of both sides became intertwined and could no longer be separated, allowing the Gengjin sword Sword Qi to finally break free from the mixed energy.

The Human Race soldiers charged into the demon's territory, temporarily tying up the enemy's Soldier's Qi, preventing them from jointly suppressing the Righteous Sword Palace cultivator whom the demons called Zhang Lan.

However, the consequence of the forced assault was the rapid loss of a large number of soldiers, with casualties increasing rapidly and cries of agony constantly heard.

About a dozen ninth-rank officers struggled to hold out on the battlefield, but the enemy outnumbered them. They faced almost twice the number of enemy troops, and each ninth-rank officer had to face two or even three ninth-rank demons at the same time.

It is difficult to sustain.

Battle losses are continuing to mount.

It won't last much longer.

Although the officers did not give up, they began to suffer losses one after another. Officers were killed in action, their bodies torn apart and devoured by the catching-up demons.

The physical body of a ninth-grade cultivator is extremely nourishing!

Although the eighth-rank cultivator named Zhang Lan in the sky remained silent, he still activated his Sword Qi and even used other Divine Ability to try his best to block the two opponents of the same rank.

The outcome of the battle is clear.

The defeat is inevitable, and the lives of the more than 100,000 people behind him will likely be in jeopardy as well.

These people trembled with fear, unable to hide or escape. Some wept, some trembled, and some tried to flee for their lives, but how could they possibly escape the overwhelming demons?

But then—

Suddenly, two golden lines appeared, one bright and one dark, on the battlefield!

Two golden lines stretched for miles in an instant, endlessly glowing as if they were real.

The golden thread swiftly traversed a distance of three or four miles, then turned back before any of the soldiers and demons below could react.

This back and forth took only two breaths.

The gold thread slowly disappeared.

Instead, hundreds of demons found two additional blood lines on their bodies.

Then, as they moved, the blood vessels gradually burst open, and their bodies broke into several pieces without them even realizing it. The demons' muscles were still twitching and their eyes were still moving.

"With the help of a master! Lin Ye, the commander of the Hundred Forests Kingdom, thank you! Brothers, charge with me!" The demons in front of an officer were instantly cleared away, and he was overjoyed. He shouted loudly towards the place where the golden thread came from.

He immediately picked up his spear and charged again without hesitation!

The demons were terrified, and some of the ninth-rank demon leaders even began to retreat.

However, those two golden threads struck again.

However, in the sky, the eighth-rank eagle-headed demon narrowed its eyes slightly and then lightly tapped the ground below.

The Soldier's Qi he had extracted returned to normal, and even increased, causing the demons' power to suddenly surge and overwhelm the army.

The excess Soldier's Qi, like umbrellas or canopies, swirls and tumbles, its momentum is like a fortified city wall, strong and impregnable.

The two golden threads crashed into it with a bang, their force greatly reduced, and they returned defeated, revealing their true form.

If someone has good eyesight, they can see that these two golden lines are actually two small knives flying through the air at extremely high speed, leaving behind a solidified and persistent trace.

Now, the demon army's Soldier's Qi has forcefully stopped the two small knives, preventing them from attacking.

However, the price that the eagle-headed demon paid for doing this was that the cultivator named Zhang Lan finally had a chance to catch his breath.

He seized the opportunity, leaped back, took out a pill, swallowed it, and refined it. His injuries immediately improved significantly.

The giant ape, which had been knocked down, stopped bleeding and got up.

The situation was initially one-sided, but after the two golden threads pierced through, it became even again, and the attack on the besieging demons was also halted.

"Which fellow Daoist is meddling in this matter? Why not come out and meet me?" The eagle-headed demon did not move again, but instead descended from the sky and stood on the giant ape's shoulder.

"Roar!" The giant ape roared furiously as soon as it recovered, grabbing a stone club and smashing it around wildly. It was about to charge at Zhang Lan, but after the eagle-headed demon stood on its shoulder, it had to suppress its anger, baring its teeth and looking around angrily.

Just then, a Dragon Horse rode down from the sky, carrying a young man with slightly dark skin. He was dressed neatly and had a quick wit. He bowed to the three eighth-rank experts and greeted them, saying, "Greetings, seniors, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ninth rank? I thought that Law Treasure was eighth rank, and that you were also eighth rank. A mere ninth rank dares to meddle here? Aren't you afraid of death?" The eagle-headed demon frowned, his expression displeased, but he still didn't make a move.

The giant ape demon was even more direct; he simply stared angrily at Zhang Lan, as if he cared about nothing else but him.

Zhang Lan was initially pleased to see Li Qi appear, but upon seeing Li Qi's cultivation level, he sighed helplessly, "Young brother... you, sigh, you should leave quickly. With me here, they won't be able to break through in a short time. Take this opportunity to take as many people as you can."

But Li Qi remained calm, urging his Old Ma forward a few steps, and said to the eagle-headed demon, "Senior, why are you so calm? Aren't you afraid I have reinforcements behind me?"

"Haha, you're quite an interesting junior. If we didn't have confidence, do you think we would dare to stand here?" the eagle-headed demon laughed.

He didn't rush to make a move because the giant ape's injuries were still healing. Since he had already waited, he might as well wait until the giant ape had fully recovered before making a move.

However, as the four were talking, the situation on the ground below was becoming increasingly dire. The battle that Li Qi had just helped to turn the tide of the war was being pushed back by the demons.

"Oh, I see." Li Qi clapped his hands, his expression suddenly enlightened. "If the seniors dared to make a move, there must be more than just the two in front of us, right? There should be an even stronger eighth-rank demon nearby, covering for you and keeping an eye on whether any powerful figures are coming. If any powerful figures come, or if any other unexpected events occur, you will immediately retreat, right?"

"You're quite perceptive, but it's useless. You're just a ninth-rank official; you have no right to speak here. Get out of here." The eagle-headed man seemed to sense that the giant ape's aura had almost recovered, and waved his hand at Li Qi.

Li Qi felt a heavy pressure fall on him, and he hurriedly spurred his horse to dodge, but the force of the pressure followed him like a shadow.

Forced to jump around in frustration, Li Qi had no choice but to unleash two breaths of golden energy, enduring the injury to withstand the damage. The golden energy dimmed slightly and was somewhat damaged, requiring two or three days of gentle nourishment to recover.

The difference in skill was too great; with just a casual wave of his hand, Li Qi was forced to exert all his strength to resist.

However, this surprised the other three.

How could a mere ninth-rank cultivator withstand an attack from an eighth-rank cultivator?

Even if it's just a casual strike.

With this ability, it's no wonder that others would mistake him for another eighth-rank soldier participating in the battle.

"Hmm, you've got some skill. How about this one?" The eagle-headed demon became interested and made a move to strike again.

Zhang Lan had recovered his energy and immediately made a move to intercept, but at the same time, Zhang Lan hesitated for a moment and was a beat too slow, almost failing to block the attack.

If they hadn't stopped him, Li Qi would most likely have been thrown into the underground horde of demons and besieged by several ninth-rank demons.

But Li Qi remained calm and showed no fear. He cupped his hands and asked, "Senior, look behind you. Is that your reliance?"

The eagle-headed demon was still secretly laughing at Zhang Lan's loss of composure, but when he heard Li Qi's question, he immediately frowned and turned his head to the side almost simultaneously with the giant ape to look back.

But behind them, a waning moon shone with a clear, pale light.

In the moonlight, a beautiful woman with a refined and elegant demeanor stood, holding a Silver-furred Rat in her hand.

The eagle-headed demon and the giant ape demon's expressions changed, their faces filled with horror!

Without any hesitation, the two instantly Hand Seals, and the eagle-headed demon immediately transformed into a streak of light and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The previously arrogant giant ape simply lay down, dug into the ground, and its massive body melted into a wisp of yellow smoke, quickly escaping along the earth's veins.

Zhang Lan wanted to give chase, but Li Qi stopped him. "Senior, wait a moment. Don't pursue a desperate enemy. The people are more important."

Zhang Lan stopped, glanced at the battlefield below, nodded, and without saying anything more, immediately bent down and charged down to begin slaughtering the demons.

Without the support of an eighth-rank demon, and with an equally powerful army entangled in their Soldier's Qi, the battlefield immediately turned into a slaughterhouse.

Without much thought, Li Qi landed and manipulated the golden energy. Two golden lines darted and spun across the battlefield, creating loop after loop.

Zhang Lan was even faster. With a flick of his finger, countless Sword Qi crisscrossed, plowing through the battlefield in the blink of an eye. These ordinary demons were no match for him.

If a demon were to simply condense its Soldier's Qi, it wouldn't be impossible to contend with it using that Soldier's Qi. However, at this moment, the demon's Soldier's Qi is entangled with the Soldier's Qi of the Human Race army, which means it has nothing to protect it. Facing an eighth-rank demon, it would only be slaughtered.

Shen Shuibi, on the other hand, hadn't moved much since she appeared, looking rather dazed.

The battle was over in just a few minutes, and all that was left was to clean up the battlefield.