Battle

The scene had descended into utter chaos. The people on both sides glared at one another with eyes as big as cow eggs, comparing their glares before the battle had even begun.

"Ding."

Congratulations, Host, you have obtained 5,000 Shock Points from Wang Ba, the Hall Master of a Soul Hall Branch.

Congratulations, Host, you have obtained 7,000 Shock Points from Vice Hall Master Zhou Tong.

"Hm?"

"Are Soul Hall's people nearby?"

The moment Ye Qianqian heard the system notification, she immediately realized the true purpose behind Heavenly Snake Mansion's sudden, inexplicable provocation this time.

So it was those despicable Soul Hall bastards behind this, intending to make Heavenly Snake Mansion and the Misty Cloud Empire fight among themselves before reaping the benefits?

It seemed her worries had been justified. On the Northwestern Continent, certain factions could never tolerate the Misty Cloud Sect growing too powerful, or it would harm their interests.

Even if she treated people kindly, they would mistake her kindness for weakness. Since that was the case, she would fight her way into a new world.

"Sect Master, what should we do now?" A Heavenly Snake Mansion elder was somewhat flustered. The Misty Cloud Sect's strength was also astonishing. If they fought head-on, then even if they won, Heavenly Snake Mansion would suffer severe losses. After hesitating for a moment, the elder gritted his teeth and said, "How about we withdraw?"

"Bullshit!" She Xiuyue's willow brows shot upward as she pointed at the old woman before her and cursed, "My Heavenly Snake Mansion is filled with talent, and we have several times more experts than the enemy. Do you think we'll fear those mongrel dogs thrown together from random pieces? If you dare spout more nonsense and shake the army's morale, this sect master will execute you without mercy!"

"Yes, yes, yes. This subordinate wouldn't dare." The elder hurriedly lowered his head in agreement and did not dare utter another word.

The Misty Cloud Sect began formulating a battle plan.

"There are twenty Dou Zong experts. I should be able to hold off five," Saber said solemnly.

"I can hold off... four, I suppose!" Yan Luotian gave a bitter laugh. Ever since the Yan Luo Empire had been annexed, the entire Golden Goose Sect had moved to Misty Cloud Mountain. Even now, unwillingness still lingered in his heart. But the deed was done—what else could he say?

Xie Biyan said, "I'll take three."

Yun Shan said, "My cultivation is somewhat lacking, but as sect master, I have to risk it for the Misty Cloud Sect. I'll hold off three."

The Mu Lan Three Elders said awkwardly, "One."

Medusa said, "Three."

Xiao Yi Xian glared at Medusa, secretly blaming her for snatching three spots, and said, "I'll take the remaining one. Once I kill one of them, I'll go kill those Dou Emperors and Dou Kings to relieve the pressure on Jia Xingtian and the others, then return to assist you."

"Good. It's settled, then." Saber glanced at the enemy, whose numbers were several times greater than theirs. Her expression was solemn as she said to Xiao Yi Xian, "They outnumber us. Once the battle begins, we'll inevitably be crushed by their assault, so we have to finish this quickly. The key to this battle lies with you. Kill a Dou Zong as soon as possible and do your best to keep the upper-level combat strength evenly matched."

"Don't worry!" Xiao Yi Xian nodded.

After they divided up the opponents, Heavenly Snake Mansion's experts were parceled out like cabbages. She Xiuyue was so furious that her anger shot into the sky.

"A bunch of ants! You're on the verge of death, yet you still dare boast so shamelessly. Today, this sect master will wipe you all out here!"

"Who destroys whom is still uncertain!" Ye Qianqian extended her small hand and clenched it fiercely toward the Heavenly Snake Mansion experts in the sky.

In an instant, the surrounding space twisted violently. Several Dou Emperors and Dou Kings failed to evade in time and were enveloped by Space Turbulence.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang..."

The bodies of many Dou Kings and Dou Emperors exploded into blood mist. The experts who were lucky enough to escape were all terrified out of their wits.

"Hahaha, I'll do it again!" Ye Qianqian laughed loudly, without stopping her movements.

This time, she clapped her two small hands from a distance. The spatial barriers on both sides collapsed with a thunderous boom, like the two halves of a hamburger about to crush the people from Heavenly Snake Mansion into meat patties.

"Wretch, how dare you act so brazenly!" She Xiuyue flew into a rage. A silver-white crescent saber appeared in her hand. Fiendish energy boiled along its edge, while ice-type Dou Qi coiled around the blade and glimmered with cold light. She swung it horizontally at the two spatial barriers.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The spatial barriers were shattered. The saber's radiance transformed into ten thousand silver-white ice snakes, chilling the entire sky.

She Xiuyue immediately engaged Ye Qianqian in battle. The two fought to a standstill.

That single move by the two of them instantly triggered a full-scale war between both sides.

The ice snakes She Xiuyue had unleashed began sweeping wildly across the ground. Wherever they landed, they froze many disciples on Misty Cloud Mountain into lifelike ice sculptures before shattering them into powder. The area facing the Jia Ma Imperial Family's formation suffered the worst.

"What a great opportunity! While their formation is in chaos, follow this old man and slaughter the Misty Cloud Sect disciples!" A white-haired Dou Ling elder from Heavenly Snake Mansion shouted from an elevated position. Countless disciples behind him responded in unison and charged toward the Jia Ma army opposite them with savage cries.

"Re-form the ranks, quickly!" Jia Ma Yaoye was horrified as she watched the sea of enemies concentrate in one place and surge toward her.

"Clack, clack, clack!"

The shield soldiers raised their shields once more. A commander behind them shouted orders.

"Hold steady! Three hundred meters!"

"Two hundred meters!"

"One hundred meters!"

"Fifty meters!"

"Prepare to receive the impact!"

"Kill!" The Heavenly Snake Mansion disciples brandished their long blades wildly. The moment they reached the shield soldiers, they hacked and slashed in complete disarray.

They slammed into the shields with all their might, throwing various Dou Techniques at them without pause. The Jia Ma soldiers behind the shields were shaken until they spat blood, but they still withstood the assault.

These shields were third-tier defensive weapons forged by an artifact refiner. Because they were expensive to produce, the Jia Ma Imperial Family's imperial guards had equipped only ten thousand of them. It was impossible for the Da Dou Shi experts charging at the front to shatter them easily.

"Qi-Breaking Spear Unit, advance!"

The commander behind the shields shouted again. The spear troops behind the shield soldiers began thrusting fiercely at the enemies in front.

"Ah! My eye!" A Da Dou Shi was careless and had one eye pierced blind by a spear from behind the shields. Even so, he was incredibly lucky, because the Heavenly Snake Mansion disciples who had charged at the very front alongside him had fallen one after another. Some who leaped high into the air were directly impaled through the groin, rolling across the ground in agony and wishing they were dead.

"Qi-Breaking Crossbows, fire!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The Jia Ma Imperial Family showed no mercy. The crossbowmen behind the spear troops fired volleys of bolts, causing another swath of Heavenly Snake Mansion disciples to fall.

"Prepare the catapults!" Seeing that the situation was overwhelmingly favorable, the Jia Ma Imperial Family pressed its advantage and prepared to use the immensely powerful iron-core stone balls to smash the enemy's attacking formation.

"A mere military formation? Watch how this old man breaks it!"

At that moment, numerous Dou Ling experts from Heavenly Snake Mansion charged forward ferociously, their Dou Qi surging violently. One of them struck the Jia Ma Imperial Family's formation with a palm.

"Boom!"

A gap was blasted through the shield formation. Large numbers of Heavenly Snake Mansion disciples poured into it like madmen, cutting down anyone they saw and killing anyone who drew a sword. The Jia Ma Imperial Family's soldiers suffered heavy casualties.

Jia Ma Yaoye hurriedly drew the sword at her waist and warily scanned her surroundings.

"Princess Yao Ye, don't panic! I, Hutou, have come to assist you!"

A young man from Mu Lan Valley led its disciples over as reinforcements.

All of them had practiced the first layer of the Three Beast Savage Art. In groups of three, they poured the power of two people into the person at the front. In an instant, a tiger's head condensed from Dou Qi above that person's head and repeatedly blasted at the enemies. Amid the cries of "Hah! Ha!" many enemies were blasted apart limb from limb.

"Golden Goose warriors, charge with me!" The disciples of the Golden Goose Sect rode golden geese and dove toward the Heavenly Snake Mansion disciples below. With a single sweep of their long blades, bloody heads fell to the ground.

The Misty Cloud Sect disciples' swordsmanship was graceful and fluid. Led by Na Lan Yan Ran, they plunged into the enemy ranks like butterflies dancing lightly, elusive and hard to predict. Their targets were mostly the heads of enemy commanders.

The ground forces of both sides clashed in a chaotic battle, fighting until the sky darkened and rivers of blood flowed. The disciples of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate had it much easier. They casually hurled bottles filled with poison, and the poisonous powder and liquid corroded countless people. Almost no enemy squads dared to swagger in their direction.

The battle among the lowest ranks was fiercely deadlocked. The middle-level battle had only just begun. Yun Yun organized the Cloud Smoke Covering Sun Array, sending countless cloud swords slashing continuously at the Dou Kings and Dou Emperors.

Jia Xingtian, Hai Bo Dong, Xie Shan, and the others worked hard to maintain the array's operation, while the Abyssal Sea Flood Dragon Beast and Four-winged Sky Demon Scorpion guarded the left and right sides. They intended to use the array to trap the Dou Kings and Dou Emperors.

Only by trapping these people could the battle situation turn around.

"Useless! Useless! You're all a bunch of useless fools! You can't even break a mere sword formation, bringing shame upon my Heavenly Snake Mansion!"

She Xiuyue was beaten back repeatedly by Ye Qianqian, and her long hair had become a tangled mess. She loudly cursed her subordinates.

Her outburst caused the twenty Dou Zong experts who had been held back to release their Dou Qi in full and attack Yun Shan and the others with all their might.

Faced with their crazed assault, Yun Shan, whose cultivation was the weakest, was the first to falter. With his strength, barely managing to hold off two was already difficult. Suddenly, a Heavenly Snake Mansion Dou Zong attacked from behind and struck him with a palm, sending him tumbling down while vomiting blood.

Medusa and the others all changed expression dramatically as the pressure increased sharply.

"Not good!" Ye Qianqian cried out inwardly. Once Yun Shan fell, the situation had completely changed.

What should she do?

"Right, didn't I draw a B-Class Bodyguard Card? I wonder if the bodyguard will appear immediately. I'll use it first and worry about the rest later."

"Ding."

Congratulations, Host, you have successfully used a B-Class Bodyguard Card. The bodyguard is expected to arrive in five minutes.

Ye Qianqian was overjoyed. It seemed her luck was pretty good. Unlike when Saber had first appeared, this bodyguard would not make her wait two days.

"Hmph. Your Misty Cloud Mountain is about to become a mountain of corpses, yet you can still laugh?" She Xiuyue looked coldly at Ye Qianqian.

"What's it to you, you old hag?" Ye Qianqian sneered.

"You wretched girl! This sect master will kill you!" She Xiuyue flew into a rage. She hated being called old more than anything. Although she was already several hundred years old, she was skilled at maintaining her appearance and still looked to be in her thirties. How could she tolerate Ye Qianqian calling her an old hag? She swung her saber at Ye Qianqian.

"Smack!"

Ye Qianqian grabbed her wrist and forcibly snatched the crescent saber away. Seeing how icy cold it was, with a powerful energy attached to its blade, she decided that the weapon had to be extraordinary.

"Give me back my saber!" She Xiuyue shouted angrily.

"Give it back?" Ye Qianqian smiled. She waved the crescent saber, finding it quite comfortable to use, and said, "It would be a waste to let you use this saber. Let this throne teach you how to wield it!"