Chao Zhu, the Immortal Sect Master, suddenly kicked off hard, spread his wings, and flew straight into the air, looking into the distance.
Watching several thousand enormous objects, each several times thicker than a bucket, fly toward them, he said gravely:
"Are these the weapons Father God spoke of?"
"We must intercept them! They're so fast!"
"But I probably can't stop them alone. It looks like we'll have to use that move again."
At that thought, Chao Zhu immediately shouted, "Immortal Race, heed my command! Take to the air immediately and help us cast a defensive array!"
"They may be attacking the spirit vein. We must stop them!"
The sect masters of the Heaven and Earth Sects immediately understood what he intended. They quickly flew into the air and joined forces once again in tacit accord, all three rapidly forming hand seals.
This was the first large-scale defensive array they had comprehended from the Immortal Stele of Enlightenment after advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm: Nine Suns Firmament Array.
All three had to form seals together to cast it. The more spiritual energy they poured into it, the stronger its defenses became.
That was why they had called their disciples over to help, feeding spiritual energy into the array to strengthen its defenses.
During their civilization's advancement Star War, they had relied on this skill to block every ranged attack from the opposing side, allowing the Immortal Race to close in for hand-to-hand combat and win the Star War.
They had never cast this array again after the last Star War. They had not expected to join forces once more today against an invasion.
Nine energy spheres slowly condensed before the three of them. Guided by their divine senses, the spheres linked together and wove themselves into a square formation, then rapidly became a thin red membrane of energy that spread outward.
The membrane spread quickly, forming a glowing red energy wall covering several hundred square meters.
The Immortal Race disciples who received the order immediately flew into the sky and circulated all their spiritual energy, pouring it into the membrane, which expanded again.
1,000 square meters, 2,000 square meters, 3,000 square meters.
With tens of thousands of Immortal Race disciples working as one, an enormous energy wall spanning over 3,000 square meters formed before them, large enough to intercept the approaching cylinders.
They drew close, then closer still.
More Immortal Race disciples kept taking to the air, pouring in all their spiritual energy, determined to stop every enemy attack.
On the ground, hundreds of thousands of Immortal Race troops formed a great battle formation and watched the distant dwarf army warily.
Just as Father God had predicted, this might be the enemy's tactic of making a feint in the east while striking in the west.
As Star Lord Cross transmitted his message to the Three Great Sect Masters, the dwarf army finished assembling and slowly marched forward, though their pace was very, very slow.
They were probably trying to make them hesitate again, afraid of smashing the vase while striking the rat, to see whether they would defend against the objects in the sky.
"Hmph, we won't fall for it again."
"We'll defend both fronts at once and give you no chance to exploit an opening."
"Fight us head-on if you have the guts! Why resort to schemes and tricks?"
"We've got this! It's in the bag."
Through the satellite feed, Bai Qi could naturally see the Immortal Race working together to create an enormous defensive wall in the air, hoping to intercept the missiles.
Whether or not that wall could stop the missiles, he could not take the risk.
Bai Qi clapped his hands, picked up the microphone, and said, "Activate Plan B."
The smug Immortal Race disciples suddenly saw the enormous cylinders in the distance make impossibly sharp turns, changing their trajectories and thrusting skyward. This maneuver left the Immortal Race bewildered once again.
"Brother, have you ever seen a missile descend from the heavens?"
"Today, you will!"
The missiles accelerated straight into the upper sky, then their warheads suddenly split into five, curving down toward the Immortal Race army on the ground.
Boom, boom, boom!
Boom, boom, boom!
For a moment, the Immortal Race seemed to glimpse Father God. As vast numbers of them died and turned into energy drifting through the sky, the Immortal Pool absorbed it, causing the rate at which new members of the Immortal Race were born to surge. Sadly, it no longer meant much.
Countless warheads flew toward different targets. The entire sky above the Immortal Race had become a storm of metal, the warheads weaving past one another yet each finding its place and striking its target precisely.
The explosions sent the Immortal Race fleeing in every direction, but unfortunately, the warheads were guided, following right behind them until they struck their targets.
The Immortal Race disciples still maintaining the energy wall in the sky were dumbfounded. They looked at one another. Was there any point in keeping it up? They were defending against nothing!
Let it all be destroyed! I'm tired! My heart is exhausted!
Before one wave had subsided, another rose.
The next round of attacks flew in from the distance, once again leaving the Three Great Sect Masters casting the array caught between advancing and retreating. Why was fighting this battle so agonizing?
They had not even seen the enemy, yet their own side was almost wiped out.
Some missiles in this wave changed direction, climbing skyward and altering their trajectories to attack the army on the ground.
They were afraid! This time, they were truly afraid. Staying alive came first, and the surviving members of the Immortal Race flew in every direction. Everything else could wait until they survived.
Several hundred more missiles headed straight toward the Three Great Sect Masters.
"Hmph. Let's see whether the Immortal Race can defend against these," Bai Qi said, watching the screen disdainfully as he used a small number of missiles for an experiment.
If he could take out all three leaders in one wave, that would be worth it too.
Who would have thought that, as they watched the missiles draw closer, the Immortal Race would lose their nerve? Some turned and fled.
Finally, the Three Great Sect Masters exchanged glances, withdrew their energy, and immediately flew away, leaving behind nearly ten thousand of their people who had yet to flee.
With a thunderous boom, the defensive wall shattered, and the enormous shock wave blasted all the Immortal Race disciples away.
They fell to the ground like dumplings dropped into a pot.
With this new round of missile strikes, the ground had become a hellscape. Some members of the Immortal Race were so terrified that they had already abandoned resistance, remaining where they stood, scared senseless.
"Launch the full assault!" At General Bai Qi's command, large numbers of fighter jets took off from the base.
Each formation began hunting freely, splitting off in groups of three and scattering in every direction.
The Immortal Race, frightened into losing all will to fight, were nothing but lambs waiting for slaughter.
Under satellite surveillance, who could escape?
Eliminating the entire Immortal Race was only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, the elders of the Three Great Sects flew swiftly toward the Star Gate.
They knew they had lost the Star War, but they were determined to make the enemy pay.
They wanted to charge through the Star Gate and see exactly what kind of civilization the enemy was, and why the gulf between them was so vast.
They wanted to understand why they had lost.
Unfortunately, the Human Race would never give them that chance as they watched the Three Great Sect Masters fly rapidly toward them.
Large numbers of fighter jets had already taken off or converged from elsewhere, surrounding the three in their midst.
"Alas, if we had developed the small spirit vein together, would today's outcome have been different? We wasted ten million years!" Chao Zhu could not help feeling a surge of emotion, along with some regret.
Learning was like rowing upstream: if you did not advance, you fell back. Wasting ten million years merely to win a petty rivalry had been far too irrational.
"Perhaps. But there was still too little time. I really want to know how many years their civilization has been developing."
"Forget it, forget it. It looks like reaching the Star Gate is impossible. In this final battle, let the enemy know that we of the Immortal Race aren't molded from clay either."
The Three Great Sect Masters exchanged glances, then suddenly flew ten thousand meters into the sky. Hovering at that altitude, they watched the Human Race fighter jets pursuing them from afar and began casting their skills in unison.
Foundation Establishment fusion skill: Myriad Swords Return to the Source.
This was also an offensive skill the Heaven Sect Master had comprehended from the Immortal Stele of Enlightenment just after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Whenever someone broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm or another major realm, they could comprehend one skill. The three had comprehended different skills.
During the last Star War, they had learned from one another and developed fusion skills.
When all three unleashed it together, they could produce an enhanced version with three times the power.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, their hands moving at exactly the same speed. Then they pointed in front of them, and an enormous transparent lightsaber condensed into shape.
The lightsaber was white and transparent, barely noticeable in the air, so much so that the Human Race had not detected it even through their satellites.
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