"Is our ancestor really this powerful when he lets loose?"
"Too powerful!"
"Long live our ancestor!"
At that moment, outside Tailin Town, the Li Family still hadn't made a move. They were waiting for the right moment.
But above Tailin Town, the War Puppet was already locked in a fierce aerial battle with the Wang Family cultivators!
Flames soared into the sky.
Flying swords clashed, trying to break through the War Puppet's defenses. At the same time, the roar of cannon fire thundered through the air!
They had never seen a battle like this before.
The Li Family members could only watch from a distance.
Only the Wang Family knew how troublesome—and terrifying—the War Puppet truly was!
"What is that thing? It's covered in weapons!"
"Get out of the way! Don't let its sword stab you!"
"It has no weak points! I'm behind it, and it's still attacking me!"
Five Foundation Establishment experts darted around, trying to evade it.
They had always thought the War Puppet could only fire blue waves of spiritual energy from its shoulders. But then, a Laser Sword appeared in each of its hands.
They tried to ambush it from behind, only to see the armor plating on its back retract, revealing row after row of pitch-black cannon muzzles!
The spiritual energy blasts from those cannons weren't as powerful as the Laser Cannon, but they were still ferociously deadly!
Even the War Puppet's eyes...
This was a bona fide mobile artillery platform!
[Back-mounted cannons, automatic target acquisition and fire, activated!]
[Guardian Shield defense, small-area protective system, activated!]
[Spinal armor detached, low-load operation, skill deployed—Blade Storm!]
The War Puppet was armed from head to toe.
It spun wildly, whipping up a storm above the Wang Family's territory in Tailin Town.
One Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator couldn't escape in time. In an instant, he was swept into the storm of light-swords and reduced to nothing!
"Damn it, what a pain!"
But there was no joy in Li Xiang's eyes. The War Puppet might seem invincible to these Foundation Establishment cultivators, but in truth, Li Xiang couldn't land an effective hit.
That was because this thing had originally been developed to slaughter weaker races in interstellar wars. The technology had come from a technologically advanced planet Earth had discovered.
Against cultivators who could move with such incredible speed, it was all too easy to get bogged down in a fight!
Especially with the Spirit Artifacts wielded by the Wang Family's two Foundation Establishment Peak experts.
That Seal could grow in size and hit with tremendous force. Even the War Puppet's Laser Sword couldn't destroy it. Worse still, the Seal could unleash a special attack, splitting into ten Seals to strike at once.
Li Xiang had originally thought he could kill more members of the Wang Family.
But this was where the foundation of a centuries-old family showed. The Wang Family seemed to have some kind of legacy for mastering talismans.
The cultivators on the ground were using talismans too.
The five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—kept assailing them. The sky over Tailin Town looked like a festival of fireworks in every color!
[Spiritual energy consumption: 20%!]
Even though Li Xiang was doing his best to conserve the War Puppet's spiritual energy, it was still draining rapidly.
"It's your turn!"
Li Xiang narrowed his eyes. He had never been fighting alone!
As he controlled the War Puppet,
he also monitored the map.
Now that he had tied down the Wang Family's strongest fighters, the Li Family members began to move.
At the gates of Tailin Town,
"Rumble!"
The earth shook.
After zooming in on the map, 0 Li Xiang clearly saw over a hundred cultivators dressed in Hu Family robes appearing atop the houses of Tailin Town. The most striking thing was that each of them carried several long spears on their backs!
The Hu Family cultivators watched warily.
A giant serpent charged from the distance toward Tailin Town. Beneath the blazing sun, the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python was so dark a purple it was nearly black. It roared as it rushed toward the town!
Yet despite the billowing clouds of dust trailing the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python, the cultivators didn't move. Their target clearly wasn't the serpent.
"A Peak Spirit Beast!"
In an instant, an elderly man shot out from the Hu Family ranks on a flying sword. "I haven't fought in two hundred years. Today, I'll show you, you vile beast, that this old man, the Hu Family's clan elder, is not yet past his prime!"
Before he even reached the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python, the ground in front of it collapsed. Spear after spear burst out of the earth, forming a formation that blocked its path!
At the same time, the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python attacked the Hu Family Ancestor.
Thunder Cage!
Arcs of electricity erupted from the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python, enough to easily trap a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage expert. It also spewed thunderous flames at him.
But the Hu Family Ancestor was worthy of his False Core Stage cultivation.
"Xuantong Dao Technique, Spears Become Soldiers!"
With a thunderous shout, the countless spears that had blocked the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python's path rose into the air before him. In an instant, they fused into a massive spear, which surged forth with overwhelming spear intent and pierced through the python's thunderous flames!
The Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python frantically dodged, but the massive spear still slashed through its once-impenetrable hide.
"SKREE!"
Since evolving, the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python had never been wounded before. It threw back its head and roared, sending arcs of electricity surging in all directions. This time, scorching flames were mixed in as well. Even the blazing sun overhead seemed to cast its glow upon the python.
The Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python wasn't called that because it could only wield lightning in battle. It could wield flames too!
"You beast!"
The Hu Family Ancestor knew how powerful the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python was and didn't dare let his guard down for even a moment. He also knew that if the python fought him inside Tailin Town, it would bring the family an irreparable disaster. He drew the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python outside the town to fight.
In an instant, clouds of dust billowed. At the battlefield, there was nothing but arcs of electricity and flames, along with spear-shafts that could burst from the ground at any moment.
"They're evenly matched. Who knows how long the battle between the Temple Guardian Beast and the Hu Family Ancestor will last?"
While fighting the Wang Family experts, Li Xiang watched the distant battle between the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python and the Hu Family Ancestor, frowning.
The only difference between Foundation Establishment experts and Qi Refining experts
was that Foundation Establishment experts could harness the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to a certain extent, fly on swords, and use spells. They were nimble and adaptable, and when their strength was evenly matched, it was incredibly difficult to decide a winner.
"Boom!"
Although Li Xiang was watching the battle in the distance, he hadn't let up on his assault against the Wang Family's stronghold!
Of the five Foundation Establishment experts, he had already killed one at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
Under the wide-area attack of Blade Storm, the other four could only avoid its sharp edge. Even the Seal, a low-grade Spirit Artifact, couldn't stop it.
Another cannon blast.
The Hu Family's defensive formation was completely shattered by Li Xiang!
"You've destroyed my family's home! Die!"
Although nearly all the Wang Family members had already been moved elsewhere, the two Hu Family Ancestors were still furious as they watched their family's estate reduced to ruins.
"Keep him tied down! Not one member of the Li Family will survive!"
But before he could finish speaking, Li Xiang found an opening and fired another Laser Cannon, killing the weakest of the Wang Family's Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators.
With another man dead,
the Wang Family's attacks grew even more intense. They gradually discovered the War Puppet's weakness. Taking advantage of their small size, they kept harrying Li Xiang in a running battle. After all, the Laser Cannon needed time to charge. Li Xiang understood what they were trying to do too, so he minimized the mech's energy consumption as much as possible, relying on the Laser Sword and the cannons that used relatively little spiritual energy.
"The War Puppet and the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python have tied down some of their top fighters. The rest is up to you!"
"Th-this is the Li Family's true strength?"
Outside Tailin Town, more than thirty members of the Chen Family had joined the battle!
At first,
they hadn't held out any hope for this fight at all. After all, the Li Family had only been on the rise for just over twenty years. They had started out in the countryside, and all their resources had come from the Silver Iron Forest.
But when the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python appeared, they were stunned.
That was a terrifying giant beast capable of fighting a False Core expert!
And that wasn't all.
The most shocking sight was the towering silver figure above Tailin Town. It was holding off most of the Wang Family's Foundation Establishment experts almost single-handedly. Even while facing two Foundation Establishment Peak experts wielding Spirit Artifacts together, it had managed to kill two Foundation Establishment cultivators!
"We knew nothing about the Li Family's true strength."
Chen Chuang rubbed his face.
But the two members of the Chen Family realized just how little they knew!
"It's our turn!"
Li Dalong called from beside them.
Chen Chuang and the Chen Family Ancestor looked to the right together. At Li Dalong's command, the Li Family members, who had been poised and ready, sprang into action.
But the armed villagers of Zhien Village didn't move right away.
To their surprise, someone stepped out alone.
It was the rarely seen woman of the Li Family. Born to a rural farming family, she spoke softly and treated everyone kindly. Judging by her aura, she seemed to be no more than a mere fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator.
"Ancestors, bless the Li Family with victory in every battle!"
At Xu Cuihua's fierce cry, a phantom appeared around her—
the Heavenly Moon Fox!
Its fur was pure white, with a Moon Mark between its brows. Two fluffy tails stood upright toward the sky, as if beseeching the heavens for strength.
"Demon Cultivator, beast-taming arts, Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!"
The Chen Family Ancestor was well-informed and recognized Xu Cuihua's true strength at a glance. What he saw shook him even more.
At Xu Cuihua's piercing cry,
the woods outside Tailin Town stirred with the wind, and the trees swayed.
One demon beast after another appeared!
"Hundred-Eyed Demon Spider, Gale Winged Tiger, Chaoyang Beast!"
Chen Chuang's expression changed dramatically. They knew these spirit beasts too. They were creatures of the Silver Iron Forest!
The children of Tailin Town's four great families trained in the Silver Iron Forest too. Countless disciples and subordinates had died at the hands of these demon beasts, yet the families had never been able to do anything about them. Who would have thought that these fearsome creatures had quietly become the Li Family's guardian beasts!
It wasn't just the few Chen Family members who found it unbelievable.
The Hu Family members, who had laid a tight net inside Tailin Town, were also stricken with terror.
"Quick! The demon beasts are attacking the town!"
"The Hu Family's Spear Forest Formation is ready!"
"Damn the Li Family! How can they have so many demon beasts?!"
Xu Cuihua had taken the form of a fox. Leading over a hundred demon beasts, she charged toward Tailin Town through the sky and across the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
Over at Tailin Town,
spears rose into the air one after another, raining down on the beast horde!
The true battle began at that moment!
"Kill!"
Li Dalong narrowed his eyes. On this battlefield, he no longer had any time to worry about his wife's safety.
The demon beasts bore the brunt of Tailin Town's first wave of traps.
Watching beast after beast fall into pools of blood,
he led everyone from Zhien Village without hesitation in a desperate assault on Tailin Town!
"Let's kill the bastards!"
The Chen Family Ancestor's eyes reddened at the sight. He soared into the air on his flying sword and led the Chen Family's last thirty-odd fighters in an assault on their homeland!
Inside Tailin Town.
Amid the sounds of battle,
a maid from Zhien Village pushed Li Yaowen along the empty streets.
Li Yaowen stared expressionlessly at the tall mansions ahead.
She slowly raised her head.
Her gaze settled on the plaque above a courtyard gate.
"So this is the Su Family?"
Several guards stood before the Su Family's gate, warily watching the activity around them. They were just about to ask what the woman in the wheelchair wanted.
But Li Yaowen was already smiling as she said,
"I am the Li Family's fourth daughter, Li Yaowen. I request an audience with the Su Family Head. I can offer the Su Family a way to survive."
Before you continue