“Five years ago, it was the Temple of Immortals that stirred up trouble on Iron Plateau and nearly triggered a great war between Iron Plateau and the six sects of Heavenly Saints City. Xiao Xuance has been proved to be the leader of the Temple of Immortals. He is every Iron Plateau native’s mortal enemy!
“Qi-trainers! Even the apocalypse failed to wipe us out. What can this scrap iron and copper do?
“Today, let our valor flourish in the heart of the Flying Star Sector!”
One was most motivated when looking for revenge. Yan Chihuo’s father had died in the scheme of the Temple of Immortals, and the leader at the back of the Temple of Immortals was Xiao Xuance!
The ten thousand qi-trainers led by Yan Chihuo were like torrents that were rushing everywhere inside the first space ring, raising sparks of iron and blood in their crashes. They guarded the most important warehouses stably and earned precious time for the Cultivators to gather!
…
In the second space ring, Wu Mayan was taking action, too.
The second space ring was the educational district of Heavenly Saints City. It was occupied by Flying Star University, Heavenly Saints Institute, and the various research centers, schools, and neighborhoods affiliated with the two supreme colleges.
The students of Flying Star University and Heavenly Saints Institute were all one-in-ten-thousand elites. Even the first-year students boasted tremendous capabilities. The faculty, especially the professors of the Combat Department, the Battlesuit Department, and the Firearms Department, were mostly the top-tier experts in the world of Cultivators.
Li Yao had informed Wu Mayan through Xiong Wuji more than half a month ago and asked him to make preparations in case Xiao Xuance suddenly rebelled.
However, considering the gossip in the college, he did not tell Wu Mayan that he was back.
During the five years, Wu Mayan had finished courses that would usually take more than ten years for other people. He had earned diplomas from the Combat Department, the Battlesuit Department, and three other departments. He was currently working at a research center affiliated to the Flying Star Sector on the subject of the reverberation of spiritual energy.
The reverberation of spiritual energy could only be performed by qi-trainers in the past, which meant that only the spiritual energy in the gaseous form could resonate.
Wu Mayan’s goal was to extrapolate the technique to the Building Foundation Stage and the Core Formation Stage so that the spiritual energy in the liquid and solid forms could resonate, too!
Barely anybody had been match for Wu Mayan five years ago. Now, after five years, he was unquestionably number one in the younger generation of the two colleges.
In a private competition, he had even defeated the rest of the ‘top ten experts of the two supreme colleges’ all by himself!
The Glorious Sunlight Group and Iron Plateau provided astronomical resources for him. The noble families of refining expressed their support for him because of Xie Anan, his junior sister, too.
Therefore, Wu Mayan was quite influential in the two colleges.
So, after Professor Mo Xuan told Wu Mayan what had happened in the central area, it had only taken him half an hour to gather the most capable teachers and students of the two supreme colleges and inform them of everything.
“Xiao Xuance is an Immortal Cultivator. The Grand Illusionary Soldiers have rebelled!”
As an educational district, the second space ring did not have many military ports or Grand Illusionary Soldiers.
The few Grand Illusionary Soldiers there were destroyed by the teachers and students quickly.
Those Grand Illusionary Soldiers that had apparently gone out of control further proved Wu Mayan’s words.
“March to the first space ring! Protect Heavenly Saints City! Protect the Flying Star Sector!”
The shuttles at the periphery of the second space ring had mostly been destroyed by the Grand Illusionary Soldiers together with the space ports.
But it was not important.
The second space ring and the first space ring were very close. Cultivators could fly over directly after they put on their crystal suits.
Hiu! Hiu! Hiu! Hiu!
Outside the second space ring, countless colorful mystic rays soared into the sky and darted toward the first space ring like a brilliant meteor shower!
…
While a heated battle was underway in the central area of Heavenly Saints City and the first space ring, Li Yao and his companions were involved in trouble in the tenth space ring, too.
During the disaster of the extraterrestrial devils five years ago, it was the Grand Illusionary Soldiers who had banished all the enemies once and for all.
Therefore, the residents of the tenth space ring particularly appreciated and trusted the Grand Illusionary Soldiers.
Also, since this place was the outermost part of Heavenly Saints City and habituated mostly by civilians, not many Cultivators lived or were asked to be stationed there.
Therefore, the Grand Illusionary Soldiers were the best choice of guardians for the tenth space ring. 70% of the defensive work was carried out by them.
Right now, the Cultivators were swallowing the bitter fruit that they had grown themselves.
All the Grand Illusionary Soldiers deployed in the tenth space ring crowded toward the northwest district. They surrounded the hundreds of Cultivators like a cold tsunami.
Although there were almost ten Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, they felt unease when they were faced with tens of thousands of Grand Illusionary Soldiers.
Besides, a lot more Grand Illusionary Soldiers were reinforcing nonstop. Observed from afar, they looked like an ever-expanding cloud!
“There are too many Grand Illusionary Soldiers. Our spiritual energy is dropping fast!”
“My crystal suit is already overloading. Luo Xingzi, cover me while I put on my second crystal suit. I only brought three crystal suits with me in total!”
“All the space ports of the tenth space ring have been destroyed by the Grand Illusionary Soldiers. Even if our crystal warships arrive in time, they will have no place to dock!”
There was nothing except bad news in Li Yao’s communication channel.
He gritted his teeth and waved his saber forward, extending the aura until it was dozens of meters long.
In front of him, all the Grand Illusionary Soldiers in the shape of a sector were like bamboo crafts that had been stomped on. They exploded amid cracking noises, their components flying everywhere.
One attack eliminated almost thirty Grand Illusionary Soldiers.
However, more Grand Illusionary Soldiers quickly filled the vacancy like mercury. They marched onward fearlessly and emotionlessly, draining Li Yao’s spiritual energy and crystal suit.
This is not going to work!
After almost three thousand Grand Illusionary Soldiers had been destroyed, many Cultivators were running out of spiritual energy. There were even casualties.
“Leader Si, have the crystal warships of the Star Fighters’ Alliance not arrived in the tenth space ring yet?” a Cultivator shouted in the communication channel.
“The main force crystal warships of the Star Fighters’ Alliance and the six sects of Heavenly Saints City are the important targets of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers. They are all being harassed!
“The Grand Illusionary Soldiers have also occupied the artilleries of several space rings. They’ve blocked the sailing route with railguns. The crystal warships will suffer heavy losses after they pass each space ring!”
Si Koulie’s throat sounded like smoking.
“A starship of the Glorious Sunlight Group has broken through the eighth space ring. It is arriving in the tenth space ring soon!” Li Yao roared, refreshed.
All the Cultivators were delighted first, but doubts surfaced very soon.
“The starship is going to carry us all through the ten space rings. It will be blocked and hunted. Therefore, it must be tough enough,” Si Koulie said straightforwardly “I’ve never heard that the Glorious Sunlight Group has ever refined any powerful crystal warships. What is the level of this particular starship?”
“Believe me!” Li Yao declared confidently. “It is definitely the best starship in the world! We should go to the No.17 space port right now to meet the starship!”
Si Koulie and the rest of them considered for only three seconds before they accepted Li Yao’s plan.
They had no other options.
“March toward the No.17 space port!”
When the dozens of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Core Formation Stage Cultivators went on a rampage, even all the Grand Illusionary Soldiers in the world were not enough to stop them!
In that moment, flying swords were raging, magical equipment was roaring, and smoke was rising nonstop. An iron forest seemed to be burning, and molten steel was flowing everywhere like magma!
Almost a hundred experts broke out of the siege!
But hundreds of Cultivators in the Building Foundation Stage were still mired in the swamp, unable to move.
More Grand Illusionary Soldiers were marching close from the flanks unstoppably, like the fangs of a viper that were biting together.
“If the Grand Illusionary Soldiers keep following us, there is no way that we can all board the crystal warship.”
Looking at the overwhelming Grand Illusionary Soldiers, Liao Huagu, a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Furious Bears Union, suddenly said calmly, “The number doesn’t matter in the assault of Heavenly Phantom, but the speed must be high!
“Fellow Cultivators, leave now. I will cover your retreat!”
“Fellow Cultivator Liao!”
All the Cultivators were yelling. They knew what Liao Huagu meant.
Even though he was a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, nothing but doom awaited him if he was attacked by tens of thousands of Grand Illusionary Soldiers simultaneously.
“Leave now! Stop wasting your time here!”
Liao Huagu opened his arms. Flames of light leaked out of his crystal suit and formed a giant dozens of meters tall in midair. It could vaguely be seen that a light ball that looked like a baby was crouching in the center of the giant.
The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator had started burning his life and soul. He was releasing the spirit and will that he had accumulated over his entire life!
“Even the Immortal Cultivators can defend their beliefs at the cost of their life. Are the Cultivators no match for them?
“No matter what, I will not let any Grand Illusionary Soldier pass by me before you all board the crystal warship!
“Go now! Go assault Heavenly Phantom and execute Xiao Xuance!” Liao Huagu roared almost crazily.
Above his real body, the giant, which was dozens of meters tall, was also thundering. The soaring flames of light were both like wings and a pair of hands that were going to rip apart the darkness of night!
“Let’s go!”
There was no time to dawdle. More arduous fights were awaiting them. All the Cultivators gritted their teeth and darted toward the No.17 space port.
Liao Huagu smiled. Faced with the tens of thousands of Grand Illusionary Soldiers, he closed his eyes and reminisced about his life, his eyes somewhat wet.
Right then, he sensed unfathomable strength appearing behind him. He opened his eyes and immediately frowned.
Another Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, Zhuge Ci from the Silver Moon Clan, had left the team and returned to him.
“What are you here for? You don’t believe that I will stop them?” Liao Huagu burst into fury.
“Exactly, I don’t believe in your soft bones,” Zhuge Ci scoffed. “In all the time I’ve known you, have you ever won a single competition between us? During the share meeting of the Furious Bears Tribe and the Silver Moon Clan, you even wept after you failed. Haha. Covering the retreat is such an important task. How can I trust that you will handle it well?”
“Bullsh*t! Bullsh*t! Bullsh*t! That was more than a hundred years ago. It doesn’t count!” Liao Huagu was more than angry. “You are shameless enough to talk about the fights when our spiritual roots had not even awakened yet more than a hundred years ago. Why don’t you talk about the competitions after we advanced into the Nascent Soul Stage? Have you ever won any of them?”
Zhuge ci smiled. “That’s because I went easy on you. You are more or less a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator and an elder of your sect. I was merely helping you preserve your face in front the juniors.”
Liao Huagu laughed so crazily that there were tears in his eyes. “Hahahaha. It’s been two hundred years. You have not changed at all. Shameless and rodomontade. One look at you is enough to piss me off. Just get out of here and stop being a nuisance!”
“What will you do if I don’t?” Zhuge Ci asked calmly.
Liao Huagu’s laughter came to an abrupt end. He was silently briefly, before he took a breath and said, one word after another, “Then let’s have one last competition and see who the better one is!”
“Alright. Then I’ll show you the latest accomplishments of my training over the past few decades,” Zhuge Ci said. “However many Grand Illusionary Soldiers you kill, I will kill one more!”
The two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators stopped talking.
A monolithic giant gradually formed above Zhuge Ci’s real body, too.
The two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were dozens of meters away from each other.
But the two giants were very close to each other because of their enormous size.
Shoulder to shoulder, and the furious flames interweaving together, they confronted the sweeping black clouds alongside one another!