The Divine Halberd Breaks the Formation, Shaking the World; The Entire City Fears the Blood-Clad Lord

The winds and clouds changed in an instant. Wild sand swept shattered stones into the sky, and the once fairly bright heavens were swallowed by darkness in the blink of an eye.

Then came a thunderous, ear-splitting boom. Lieren City's walls shook violently, dust sifting down from the bricks. The dirt in the streets was jolted into the air, and even the ground beneath the city folk's feet trembled.

Inside and outside Lieren City, whether they were the wealthy nobles atop the walls, the scattered soldiers and commoners at the gates, or the Blood-Clad Army that had just entered the city, all had their minds seized by that world-ending commotion and instinctively looked beyond the city.

The twenty thousand troops that had previously been charging toward Lieren City like black clouds bearing down upon it had now been utterly annihilated beneath the boundless Vast Sea Raging Tide.

Outside the city, nothing remained but a crimson sea of blood. Thick droplets seeped down through the cracks between shattered stones, mingled with minced flesh and broken weapons. Not even a single intact corpse could be found.

Above that sea of blood stood a towering figure, gripping a ten-foot halberd in reverse. The hem of his robe was still stained with fresh blood, yet he stood firm amid mountains of corpses and seas of gore like a Yama who had stepped out of hell, every movement radiating the majesty of one who ruled life and death.

The situation had taken a sharp turn in an instant, too fast for anyone to react.

Only the time it took for an incense stick to burn ago, when Zhao Cheng had ridden alone to meet twenty thousand troops, the wealthy men atop the walls and the commoners within the city had still been secretly mocking him.