Battle erupted

With Futu Yijing joining them, the Sword Domain expeditionary army's overall strength rose another notch.

After all, besides the sword seals the Sword Domain cultivators carried, there was also the vast spiritual energy Futu Yijing had brought with him.

After a brief round of preparations, the army began its march.

Futu Yijing stood at the front alongside Yi Jian Heavenly Sovereign and the others.

What surprised Futu Yijing most was that Yi Jian Heavenly Sovereign even had a map of this region.

It seemed the Sword Domain had sent quite a few expeditions here. The map even marked which areas had been cleared and which still harbored the Outer Realm Evil Clan.

The Sword Domain had certainly come well prepared for this expedition.

Their journey proceeded without obstruction, but half a day later, Futu Yijing and the others finally began to slow down.

This region was utterly desolate. The earth was faintly black, deepening the oppressive atmosphere between heaven and earth. After entering this region, Futu Yijing could clearly sense that the cold, sinister aura permeating it had grown even denser.

The Outer Realm Evil Clan was here.

Futu Yijing and the others paused here for a moment before the surrounding silence was abruptly shattered by the sound of figures cutting through the air, echoing across the land. Everyone looked up to see a great mass of streaking lights approaching from afar, finally landing atop the city wall ahead.

The two sides faced off, killing intent filling their eyes. The fierce battle intent they faintly radiated was enough to make the spiritual energy in the surroundings fluctuate.

Atop the Outer Realm Evil Clan's city wall, five figures with immense auras stood at the very front.

After only a brief examination, Futu Yijing and the others could tell that they were all Demon Emperors!

"You people of the Great Thousand World certainly have some nerve, daring to invade my Demon Domain!" the leading Demon Emperor said in a low voice.

"This was our territory to begin with. We merely let you eke out an existence here for a time. Now that we've come, we hope you will all leave and let us reclaim our land," Futu Yijing said calmly.

"Hahaha! Just four Heavenly Sovereigns and a pack of Earthly Sovereigns, and you think you can make us leave? What a flight of fancy. You think you can accomplish what even your ancestors failed to do?" the Demon Emperor laughed, his eyes brimming with mockery.

Though his tone was mocking, his gaze was full of ferocity.

They knew all too well what the Great Thousand World's Heavenly Sovereigns were capable of. The slightest opening could spell defeat at their hands.

"Why not try and find out?" Futu Yijing's expression was cold.

"If you have no interest in kindly persuasion, then I do know a little about letting my fists do the talking."

"Since you're so confident, let us see what gives you that confidence!" The Demon Emperor grinned savagely, then stamped his foot. As the earth shook, he roared, "Xuan Mo Guards!"

"Roar!"

Behind him, the hundreds of Xuan Mo Guards also let out low roars, with faint hissing cries woven through them. Streams of gray-black battle intent suddenly swept out of their bodies.

That battle intent coiled above the Xuan Mo Guards. Surging fluctuations of demonic energy rippled outward, whipping up hurricanes across the land.

These Xuan Mo Guards were all equivalent to Earthly Sovereigns in cultivation.

Moreover, they could tell that every one of these Xuan Mo Guards was a veteran of a hundred battles.

As expected, without some real ability, they could never have held a position here on the border with the Great Thousand World.

This army and these five Demon Emperors clearly belonged to a powerful race the Outer Realm Evil Clan had stationed here to guard the region.

"They even have battle intent?" Futu Yijing was somewhat surprised.

"Be careful, Heavenly Sovereign Futu. The Outer Realm Evil Clan's armies cannot be underestimated. They too have methods for cultivating battle intent," Yi Jian Heavenly Sovereign warned.

Futu Yijing nodded.

"They did wrest half our land from our ancestors' hands. They certainly have some ability."

As he spoke, Futu Yijing brought out the Long Spear and shot toward the Xuan Mo Guards.

"Then I'll break their formation first!"

Circulating his spiritual energy, Futu Yijing charged in first, accompanied by a colossal dragon of spiritual energy.

One of the five Demon Emperors atop the city wall stamped his foot and rushed out to meet Futu Yijing.

They all understood Futu Yijing's aim.

War erupted in an instant!

The Earthly Sovereigns of the Sword Domain expeditionary army likewise formed ranks. Battle intent imbued with fierce sharpness burst from their bodies, forming an enormous azure sword.

Yi Jian Heavenly Sovereign flew up into the sky, then swept his hand. Battle intent surged in rolling waves, and the azure sword seemed poised to cleave the heavens. Vast, razor-sharp battle intent spread outward with astonishing force.

On the other side, the Demon Emperor who had spoken earlier also took his place above the Xuan Mo Guards.

He controlled the battle intent with both hands, forming an enormous demonic figure that blotted out heaven and earth. Terrifying demonic energy swept across the land, and the figure seemed to reach out to crush the azure sword.

The two Spirits of Battle Intent slammed into each other. At the point of impact, ferocious battle intent swept outward without end, splitting enormous cracks across the earth.

The Demon Emperor shouted, and a Demon Emperor Spirit Body behind him kept expanding as demonic energy poured into it.

Yi Jian Heavenly Sovereign refused to be outdone. He took out a sword seal and crushed it outright. Vast spiritual energy surged forth, and he too unleashed the hallmark of a Heavenly Sovereign: the Heavenly Sovereign Spirit Body!

An azure Heavenly Sovereign Spirit Body grew ever larger, dazzling against the land shrouded in demonic energy.

Yi Jian Heavenly Sovereign raised his hand, azure battle intent flowing around his fingertips like running water.

"Let the battle begin in earnest!" Yi Jian Heavenly Sovereign's voice seemed to come from the edge of the sky, resounding throughout heaven and earth.

Nearby, Wine Sword Heavenly Sovereign and Blood Sword Venerable both drew their weapons and followed Futu Yijing into battle.

By now, Futu Yijing had already engaged his opponent. Relying on his supreme path of attack, bolstered by the True Dragon Precious Technique, he had firmly suppressed the Demon Emperor.

It was obvious who held the upper hand.

When the other three Demon Emperors atop the wall saw Wine Sword Heavenly Sovereign and Blood Sword Venerable join the battle, they could no longer stand idle and flew down from the wall.

Demonic energy clashed with spiritual energy, and the ringing of colliding weapons never ceased.

Nine experts at the Heavenly Sovereign Realm fought, each clash gouging terrifying ravines into the earth.

Four battlefields had been carved out across this land.

One of them was where Futu Yijing fought two Demon Emperors alone.

In a one-on-one fight, Futu Yijing could pin his opponent down and hammer him without trouble. But against two at once, he was forced into a stalemate.

As for Black Piece and White Piece, he had no intention of summoning them.

This was the Demon Domain, and Black Piece and White Piece were both Heavenly Sovereigns. There was no telling when this expedition would end, so while Futu Yijing could still handle things with room to spare, there was no need to summon them.

After all, although the expeditionary army had brought a vast amount of spiritual energy, that supply was ultimately finite.