After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 66: Chapter 67: Fearless

The area below the city gate was thick with gunpowder smoke, obscuring the ground.

Hee Lingchuan wasn’t idle either. He waved to his men. ”Alright, time for round two!”

He had sharp eyes and saw that the first few Fire Crossbow bolts had been deflected by Nian Songyu. That bastard was truly formidable after going berserk. Hee Lingchuan believed in finishing what he started—thoroughly.

Anyway, they had already fired the first round, completely burning their bridges with the National Preceptor. A second or third round was just going for broke. No one objected; they all just lowered their heads and reloaded.

The second round was fired off smoothly.

Hee Lingchuan then realized that while the Nail Bombs were the loudest and most deafening, the Catapults were probably more terrifying in terms of sheer power. Although their projectiles didn’t explode on impact, the modified Catapults on the city wall actually had a rapid-fire function. Once fully loaded, they could launch twenty-four rolling boulders in a row!

If operated by hand, there would inevitably be errors. But in Panlong City, controlled by the Black Flood Dragon, all twenty-four shots landed in almost the exact same spot—right where Sunx Fuping stood.

Hee Lingchuan put himself in Sunx Fuping’s shoes. ’If I were standing there, I wouldn’t even be able to block the fourth Fire Stone before being flattened like a paper doll... or, well, ground into meat paste.’

So, had they actually interrupted Sunx Fuping’s evil spellcasting or not?

Demon Apes and Sand Leopards formed from the scorched earth and magma, rushing forward to tear at the debris.

Stone balls, Nail Bombs, and all sorts of other junk had turned the open area into a ruin again, piled high with rubble.

Even the Black Flood Dragon lowered its head, wanting to see if the two were dead or alive.

...

Ignoring the gasps around him, Hee Chunhua’s mind raced.

The Blood Sacrifice Array was already active and would take effect any moment. ’What should I do? Is there any way out?’

His gaze fell on the Great Wind Army Commander, who was about a hundred feet away.

These Resentful Souls hadn’t gone far; they had only retreated a short distance and stood there, coalesced.

An idea suddenly struck Hee Chunhua. He made another gesture at them—

Attack!

Attack the Celestial Thunder Array!

In life, the Great Wind Army would never have turned their weapons on Zhong Shengguang. But now, one of the lingering wills of these Heroic Spirits was to obey orders and advance without fear!

Thousands of Heroic Spirits turned as one, once again gathering the nearby Resentful Souls and rushing toward the Celestial Thunder Array, with the spirits themselves following close behind.

Soon, nearly a thousand Resentful Souls slammed into the Array and were instantly annihilated.

There were no more wandering Resentful Souls nearby. The battle cries of the Great Wind Army’s officers and soldiers tore through the Celestial Vault.

Then, they raised their sabers, spears, and pikes, and charged at the Array!

The thunder of hooves, the charge of dragons.

Facing such an army was like standing on Guan Tang Bridge and watching the great tide of the sixteenth day of the eighth lunar month crashing toward you.

Hee Chunhua roared, ”Stop resisting! Focus on dodging!”

Then, the Great Wind Army crashed headlong into the Celestial Thunder Array.

This time, the Array’s tremors were far more violent than the previous two times.

The first three ranks of Heroic Spirits were reduced to dust before they could even cry out.

Those behind filled their places without a hint of hesitation.

The Celestial Thunder rumbled, but the number of Heroic Spirits it dispersed was visibly decreasing.

Finally, as the sixth rank of Heroic Spirits charged, Hee Chunhua’s Society Command lost its last trace of green light.

The Magic Staff Beast Head finally opened its mouth, and the yuan coins dropped to the ground, their clatter drowned out by the thundering hooves.

The Celestial Thunder Array was broken.

This was partly due to the Black Water City Army giving up resistance, their morale shattered, but it was even more thanks to the overwhelming, powerful charge of the Great Wind Army.

Hee Chunhua had no time for anything else; he strode quickly out of the Array.

His urgency was the best example, and the others mirrored his actions, even trampling one another in their haste.

He had barely made it twenty feet out of the Array when agonized screams erupted from behind him.

Hee Chunhua turned back, and the sight made his blood run cold:

The red light of the Blood Sacrifice Array shot into the sky, more than ten times stronger than before!

Of his hundred or so men, some had been faster to escape the Array than others. When the red light flared, dozens who hadn’t made it out in time collapsed to the ground, as if all their strength had been drained away.

But no one dared to enter the Array to help them, for their skin was rapidly shriveling. After three breaths, they were nothing but skin and bones, their fingernails falling off and their hair turning white, withered like dry straw.

Hee Chunhua watched as one of his trusted men pleaded for help, his hand already stretched past the Array’s border. He normally had small, narrow eyes, but as his face withered into a skull, his eyeballs bulged out, perfectly round.

Hee Chunhua started to pull the man out, but he reached the edge of the circle and drew his hand back. In the end, the man’s eyeballs rolled out of their sockets and onto the ground.

Situ Han was faster. Seeing his brother-in-arms fall at the very edge of the Array, he quickly used the back of his saber to drag him out. But the man was crippled from the waist down and could only wail on the ground in agony.

When the red light faded, only dozens of clothed skeletons remained within the Array, their hair fluttering in the wind.

Sometime during the chaos, a ball of white light had appeared in the Array. Before anyone could get a clear look, it shot toward the Pool Well with a WHOOSH!

Strangely, the Pool Well that both Resentful Souls and humans could enter, this ball of white light could not.

It was repelled.

The white light seemed to be in disbelief. It rammed the entrance twice more, failing each time.

When the Blood Sacrifice Array activated, the Great Wind Army had kept its distance, as if aware of its power. Only after the red light vanished and the Celestial Thunder Array lost its effect did the Great Wind Army close in.

The ball of white light seemed to attract their attention. As the light hit the ”wall” of the Pool Well, several of the Great Wind Army’s leaders exchanged a look of tacit understanding, and the first one threw out a large net.

The white light dodged as if it had eyes, but the net suddenly expanded several times in size and still managed to ensnare it.

The Great Wind Army pulled the net taut, and then sabers, spears, swords, and pikes were thrust through the mesh, each strike landing solidly on the white light.

Their weapons were not physical, but they shattered after just a few strikes. Even the arms wielding them began to turn translucent. Nearby soldiers raised their sabers and severed their leaders’ arms at the shoulder, halting the disintegration of their Soul Bodies.

For Heroic Spirits, such an injury was not a major concern; it would heal with time.

Seeing this, the Great Wind Army Commander who had first clashed with Hee Chunhua and his men once again hurled his weapon like a javelin, striking the white light dead-on.

The other commanders followed his lead.

Seeing this, Situ Han also threw his Long Saber, but it passed straight through and fell into the Pool Well, doing no damage to the white light at all.

Hee Chunhua said, ”A purely physical weapon won’t work.”

Just as the Great Wind Army was about to launch a second wave of attacks on the white light, the latter suddenly erupted in a brilliant flash.

The radiance was so intense that not only humans, but even the Heroic Spirits had to turn away.

Fortunately, the intense light lasted only for a moment. By the time everyone came to their senses, the white light had vanished.

The Great Wind Army commanders stood still for a few breaths, as if they had received some news or made a decision. Then, they led their respective troops and charged into the Pool Well.

Since they had no physical bodies, there was no need to jostle for position. Their return to the Pool Well was as swift as their initial exit had been grand.

In just over ten breaths, not a single Heroic Spirit was left in front of the Divine Temple.

The men stood at the edge of the Array, panting heavily, speechless for a long time.