At King Xi's command, the more than ten thousand flying vessels surrounding Sleeping Foothill City-Domain fired simultaneously. Over ten thousand beams of crystal light erupted with fierce radiance, and heaven and earth flashed brilliantly for an instant!
What followed was a thunderous roar that seemed to split heaven and earth. Upon the semicircular crystal curtain formed by the combined flying vessels, rings of light and ripples surged forth, swaying back and forth like bubbles pushed about by air currents.
The light gradually weakened and slowly receded. The armored soldiers aboard the more than ten thousand flying vessels silently watched below. After quite some time, the radiance finally faded completely, and the scene before them became clear.
Yet most of them could not help widening their eyes. Sleeping Foothill City-Domain still stood there utterly unscathed. Auspicious clouds drifted above the city-domain, pure qi coiled and swirled around it, while faintly visible dao talismans flickered in and out from time to time.
King Xi revealed a surprised look within the royal vessel. He raised his hand again, lifting the rod-whip slightly higher. This time, even more flying vessels joined the attack, with the cannon muzzles of more than thirty thousand vessels extending outward.
But he did not bring it down at once. Instead, he raised the rod-whip even higher and left it suspended for a long while. At this gesture, the military officers around him sharpened their gazes. Messages rapidly flew out from the royal vessel, and the thirty thousand flying vessels stationed at the outermost perimeter joined the formation as well.
All sixty thousand-plus flying vessels on this expedition aimed their cannon muzzles below. A solemn stillness filled heaven and earth, as if all things had frozen at that moment.
Within the royal hall, the rod-whip came crashing down. In the