Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Xu Jiezhong.

This is a typical Minor Thousand World within a Domain, before it was named Xu Jiezhong, its name was the Hundred Thousand Mountains Realm. Its feature is its abundance of mountains—various kinds of mountains that produce a variety of stones: greenstone, blackstone, jade, and bloodstone, ranging from first to fifth order, and they sell well between Domains.

Two thousand years ago, the Hundred Thousand Mountains Minor Realm belonged to the Xianmen Sect, seized during the internal war of the Eight Great Immortal Sects.

It was roughly one hundred years later that Xu Yan, Xu’s Transmutation God, under the seduction of Xuanwu tiangong’s Great Expert, driven by his own desire for Refining Nothingness, and confident in his own talent and wisdom, brazenly launched a rebellion. He successfully split the Hundred Thousand Mountains Minor Realm and Wang Realm from the Xianmen Sect and became the master of a Domain.

In that era, Xu Yan received the joint support of eight Great Experts, and they signed a peace treaty with the Central Array Spirit Computer, becoming a thorn buried within Xianmen Sect.

The eight Great Experts hoped that this would cause more divisions within Xianmen Sect so they could reap the benefits of others’ battles.

But the result that followed came to naught.

Not only had Xianmen Sect not fallen into internal chaos, but amid concealing its brilliance and nourishing its capabilities, Immortal Dao industry, Immortal Dao technology, and Army Formations kept upgrading, iterating, improving, until several decades ago, in the Domain battles, it successfully repelled the joint forces of the Eight Great Immortal Sects. The Domain’s range of influence had expanded by more than double.

Xianmen Sect welcomed a revival.

And it was from that moment that the Xianmen Sect’s armies blockaded the Domain passages of both Xu and Wang Realms under the guise of military exercises, isolating both realms.

They did nothing, said nothing, just blockaded, preventing ingress and egress.

This silent coldness brought fear, driving people mad.

No matter how the people from both Xu and Wang Realms protested and denounced, it was useless; there was no response from Xianmen Sect.

Even more frightening was that the Eight Great Immortal Sects, which had always been in close contact with them—even after the Xianmen Sect had won the Domain war—were still in close contact, encouraging them to counter-attack the Xianmen Sect Minor Thousand World and Mother Star. Yet, abruptly, over ten years ago, there came no response at all.

No matter how the major families of both Xu and Wang Realms begged and tried to make clear their interests, the Eight Great Immortal Sects remained silent.

This silence was terrifying.

In the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, within the Heavenly Realm Mountain.

This is the location of the highest peak in the Hundred Thousand Mountains Minor Realm as well as the site of a Fifth-Order Spiritual Vein, where the noble-blooded direct lineage of the Xu’s proliferates, with the old ancestor stationed here.

”Kill!”

”Fire in unison!”

”Boom, boom boom!”

Within the Heavenly Realm Mountain, warships spanned the sky, war machines pierced through the clouds, and the patterns of various Army Formations densely covered the area, forming Formation Methods that blasted out beams of magic, demolishing swaths of space.

If one did not look closely, one would almost think they had arrived at the training grounds for Xianmen Sect’s warships.

But upon closer inspection, clear differences emerged.

The Air-Space Warplanes piloted by Foundation-building cultivators weren’t too bad; their speed, missile attacks, Army Formations, and so on were only about ten or so versions behind the Xianmen Sect, still somewhat of the same era’s creation.

However, a distinct gap appeared with the Air-Space Warships piloted by Golden Pill Monks.

Though the warships looked much the same on the outside—metallic hulls, similar exhaust flames—their speed was completely on par with the speeds of the Eight Great Immortal Sects’ towering ships, palaces, flying boats, and other heavy Army Formations.

No, it was even slower by a great deal.

Even if the Eight Great Immortal Sects no longer focused on developing Army Formations as their Sect’s main direction, the sheer mass and accumulation of years stood firm, something that couldn’t just be matched by some small-scale workshop.

The ’warships’’ attack, defense, and mobility were not only incomparable to those of Xianmen Sect but even fell short compared to those of the Eight Great Immortal Sects.

After two thousand years of devolution, the Xu Jiezhong’s military forces had reverted to the level one might expect of a Minor Thousand World’s power.

Forget the comparison with Xianmen Sect or the Eight Great Immortal Sects, if the Divinity Transformation Heavenly Monarchs of the Northern Plains’ minor realm united, they probably wouldn’t fear Xu Jiezhong.

The only thing worthy of praise was that among the so-called ’warships,’ occasionally one or two ships appeared that moved significantly faster than the ones around them, the Air-Space Motherships. These ships all emanated an aura of ancient years. Many warships even bore obvious signs of repair.

These were the warships of the Immortals of Nascent Soul from Xianmen Sect that had defected with Xu and Wang two thousand years ago.

Although they were now dead, their descendants all dead or reduced to mortals, yielding positions to the descendants with Xu Family and Wang Family bloodlines, their warships and Air-Space Motherships were retained. They had been inherited by the true Immortals and true men of the two families, becoming the absolute main force warships within the two realms’ armies.

”Boom!”

The final volley from the millions-strong army shattered hundreds of miles of space, even invoking the great forces of heaven and earth, with a pressure that was overwhelming, surpassing the limits of Nascent Soul.

”Wan Sheng!”

”Wan Sheng!”

”May the noble blood of Xu and Wang flow eternally, enduring through the ages!”

Commanders of various warships from both families cheered excitedly, roaring like a tidal wave, revealing the inner turmoil in their hearts.

This level of Formation Method was not something that could be achieved under normal circumstances. After many years of practicing formations, tirelessly day and night, they finally made a breakthrough.

”Our dear friends have worked hard, take some time to rest now, the family has a great reward...”

Immortal Tianfang and Wang Clan’s True Monarch Gui Wang looked at each other, both seeing the joy in the other’s eyes, and a sense that the constantly tense spirits were somewhat relaxed.

The warships and army formations of the two major families had, after many years of rehearsals, finally qualified to set foot on the battlefield of Divinity Transformation.

The various warships dispersed orderly.

”Tianfang, it hasn’t been easy,” True Monarch Gui Wang said with a sigh.

True Monarch Gui Wang, a Peak Nascent Soul Cultivator of the Wang Clan, unlike Immortal Tianfang who obtained his immortal path name due to the social influence of the Tianfang Group, claimed his name himself, which wouldn’t be recognized beyond the two realms, where he was often addressed by his personal name.

”Indeed, it hasn’t been easy.”

”With this army formation, the Eastern Devil School will no longer dare to act recklessly.”

Immortal Tianfang was also elated, ”Our ancestor has signed a treaty monitored by the Central Array Spirit Computer with them. Citizens of the Eastern Devil School are not allowed to attack us actively, otherwise, they will certainly be blocked by the Central Array Spirit Computer.”

”If they leave the Starry Sky Fortress and the warships, we are not afraid either!”

”Standing behind us are the Eight Great Immortal Sects, supporting us. What’s there to fear from those Eastern Devil School cultivators who rely on external objects and are weak in strength?”

”Hahaha...”

Immortal Tianfang laughed heartily, his laughter echoing a hundred miles around, carrying a contagious effect that dispelled some of the gloom that hung over the cultivators of the two major families.

”Hahaha...”

The surrounding Immortals and True Ones also laughed heartily, seemingly without any concerns, showing no sign of worry.

Only when Immortal Tianfang, Elder Jia Nian, True Monarch Gui Wang, and a few other high-ranking, powerful descendants of the two major families entered a luxurious palace within Heavenly Realm Mountain, did the relaxed smiles on the faces of the many Immortals slowly fade.

”How did the investigation go?”

True Monarch Gui Wang asked in a low voice, ”Why did the Eight Great Immortal Sects suddenly disappear more than ten years ago, ceasing to respond to us?”

”What happened here?”

”One sect doing so is one thing, but all eight? Acting exactly the same, when have they ever been so united in their actions?”

The direct lineage True Immortals of both families showed signs of panic and unease.

The Xu and Wang families were able to rule over their respective minor worlds not because they were particularly strong,

but due to the support of the Eight Great Immortal Sects!

Now, that support had ceased in an instant. Not just for them, it was likely that even the two Spirit Transformation Heavenly Monarchs were in a state of panic and anxiety, perhaps having tried to flee more than once before inevitably returning.

”We can’t find out anything.”

Immortal Tianfang spoke with a bleak tone, ”Our countless spies and undercover agents, developed over the past two thousand years, have been systematically captured these past years. Even those not captured can’t transmit any information; they are nowhere near as efficient as before.”

”Looking back now, the Eastern Devil School has been feigning weakness for the past two thousand years.”

”They took advantage of us and used various methods to conceal their power and develop in secret without arousing the suspicion of the Eight Great Immortal Sects.”

”Without significant external pressure, the Eight Great Immortal Sects had deep internal conflicts, and a united army could never be formed—until the Eastern Devil School made a shocking move decades ago.”

”When the Eastern Devil School truly revealed its fangs, its mother star had become an information black hole where nothing could be transmitted, not even a simple greeting, let alone information of the utmost secrecy.”

An increasing unease filled the hearts of the True Immortals from both families.

”Is there really no information at all?”

True Monarch Gui Wang couldn’t help but ask.

”There is still a little.”

Immortal Tianfang said, ”Over ten years ago, Dari Swordsman patrolled the domains with the Great Sun Heavenly Pond. At that time, some speculated that he might have been at the early stage of Nascent Soul and, given the rate of cultivation of Taoist disciples, he might now be in the mid-stage of Nascent Soul.”

”Mid-stage of Nascent Soul?”

True Monarch Gui Wang felt his heart sink.

”Dari Swordsman...”

Elder Jia Nian, the grandson of Xu Yan, a Nascent Soul Cultivator, and an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator Xu Jianian, felt a complex mix of emotions.

Recalling hundreds of years ago, the first time he met that youth in green, he could still exchange a few moves with him, sometimes appearing equally matched.

He had even once threatened the other with the status of a descendant of a Spirit Transformation cultivator.

Looking back, how ridiculous it was of him when he was young.

A third-generation descendant of a Spirit Transformation cultivator confidently threatening a disciple of a Domain Overlord, believing that the other would cower in fear and beg for mercy upon hearing his name.

At the time of his threats, he must have been observed by countless True Immortals and Heavenly Monarchs of the Eastern Devil School, right?

His survival then was all due to the legal system of the Eastern Devil School being paramount.

Had it been within the Eight Great Immortal Sects, a disciple threatened in such a way would have resulted in severe punishment for a Spirit Transformation Heavenly Monarch, and in necessary cases, the direct execution of a Spirit Transformation Heavenly Monarch could be possible; the feeling of belonging to a sect or family must be absolutely protected for a disciple.