Martial Peak

Chapter 3693: Gradual Deterioration

Following a failed attempt, the assassin immediately fled from the scene. Apparently, he was an expert. Even though he had fled, he had been injured by Qiong Qi. The blood on the ground was proof of that.

Just then, the Division Commander of the Flying Hawk Division, Ying Fei, approached Yao Si from a distance with an anxious expression. When he arrived, he cupped his fists and said in a fluster, “Sir, Supreme Commander Li has informed us that some of the enemy Half-Saints have gone missing, so he…” Before he finished speaking, he took a look at the blood on the ground. Judging from the expressions of Yao Si, Yang Xue, and Yang Xiao, he realised what had happened, “He was here?”

Yao Si nodded, “Thankfully, Senior Qiong Qi saved me.”

Qiong Qi wouldn’t take the credit as he waved his hand and stood among the other soldiers before concealing his aura. Apart from his fierce-looking face, he appeared to be just like everyone else.

Yao Si took a look at Ying Fei and asked, “Has the Supreme Commander said how many Half-Saints have gone missing?”

“Five in total, all of them Shadow Demons.”

Yao Si sneered, “I knew it.” Just now, the assassin was able to silently approach Yao Si, and it wasn’t until he made a move that Yao Si became aware of his existence. Other than Shadow Demons, no other clan was able to achieve this.

Shadow Demons were extremely difficult to deal with. Moreover, the assassin earlier was a Half-Saint. If it wasn’t because Qiong Qi had been keeping guard on the side, Yao Si would’ve suffered a severe setback. Certainly, he wouldn’t get killed as he had some life-saving treasures, but he would become battered.

While they were speaking, a gigantic figure suddenly appeared in a place that was a few thousand kilometres away. Like a giant, the figure’s head seemed to have reached the sky as he stood firmly on the ground. However, the figure appeared somewhat see-through, so it was apparent that it wasn’t a real person. Anyone would be shocked to realise that the figure looked just like Serene Soul Great Emperor.

Some time ago, Serene Soul Great Emperor had left to chase race after one of the Demon Saints, so it was impossible that he was still on the battlefield. The figure that was a few thousand kilometres away must be the result of one of the Army Commanders using the Great Emperor’s Divine Ability inside their Command Token.

Nevertheless, Serene Soul Great Emperor’s phantom soon disappeared from their sight.

Looking from afar, those from the Sixty-First Army understood that the five Shadow Demons must have fled from the battlefield and dispersed to assassinate different Army Commanders. The Sixty-First Army had Qiong Qi as a protector, so the Shadow Demon who had come to kill Yao Si was forced to retreat. On the other hand, the other Army Commanders didn’t have someone like Qiong Qi to protect them.

At the most critical moment, the Army Commander over there had no choice but to activate the Divine Ability stored inside his Command Token. However, it wasn’t certain whether the Army Commander was still alive. 

Noticing Yao Si’s concern, Ying Fei cupped his fists, “Sir, I’m willing to go over and investigate the situation.”

Yao Si gave it a thought and nodded, “Be careful, and come back quickly.”

Ying Fei nodded his head as a huge pair of black wings expanded from his back. Following a howl of wind, he shot into the sky and headed in that direction.

Yao Si stopped paying attention to the incident a few thousand kilometres away as he turned back to the battlefield where the Sixty-First Army was fighting. Presently, the Demons were powerless to resist the Sixty-First Army’s charge. The first three Divisions darted around while Raging Flood Dragon, Heavenly Fox, Falling Flower, and Spirit Snake were keeping a tight perimeter. Even those from Heavenly Phoenix Division, who were responsible for military enforcement, had charged towards the battlefield under the leadership of Liu Yan and Su Yan.

More than nine hundred thousand people were having a life-or-death battle within a radius of a few dozen kilometres around this area. The ground was covered in red mud as corpses could be seen everywhere.

After just a moment of observation, Yao Si knew that the outcome had been decided. It was just a matter of time before the Sixty-First Army killed all six hundred thousand enemies.

A moment later, Ying Fei returned, and upon noticing Yao Si’s attention, he immediately reported, “The other four Shadow Demons have shown up, but they haven’t managed to kill anyone. Besides the Army Commander of the Forty-Seventh Army, Ma Qing, who was severely injured by one of the assassins, the other three assassins failed in their attempts.”

Yao Si nodded gently, “Is his life at risk?”

Ying Fei replied, “Sir may rest assured. When I arrived at that place, the Matriarch of the Wood Spirit Clan, Mu Na, was already treating him. Even though he won’t recover quickly, he isn’t at risk of losing his life at any moment.”

“That’s for the best.”

Ying Fei turned his head to look at the battlefield that was hustling with noises, then he shifted his attention to Yao Si with a fervent gaze, “Sir, now that there’s no mystery as to what the outcome would be, do you think…”

Yao Si put on a smile, “You want to kill some enemies?”

Ying Fei replied, “It’s boring to watch from the side.” After all, he was a Monster King who loved to kill; however, he was appointed by Yang Kai to be the Division Commander of the Flying Hawk Division that was responsible for collecting and disseminating information. Now that the Demons were on the losing side though, there was no need for information exchange. Therefore, he wanted to go to the battlefield and satisfy his killing intent.

After giving it a thought, Yao Si waved his hand and said nothing.

An elated Ying Fei said, “Many thanks, Sir!” Then, he turned around and joyfully shot towards the battlefield. In just a short moment, he reached his destination, and as he clawed at his enemies, blood was seen spurting out of their bodies.

The epic battle lasted for the entire night. When no more Demons could be seen on the battlefield, those from the Sixty-First Army slowly calmed down. Looking around, they realised that all of them were engulfed in murderous intent, and every one of them seemed to have just emerged from a sea of blood. The red on their bodies belonged to their enemies, as well as their own.

After a moment of silence, all of them started cheering so loudly that the sky seemed to be shaking. As the sounds of the drums were heard, they returned to their camp to recuperate.

Then, they began counting the number of people who had lost their lives. As Yao Si listened to the report, he nodded lightly. Faced with an army that was two times larger than their own, the Sixty-First Army had showcased unimaginable resilience. The price they had to pay was thirty thousand lives for defeating six hundred thousand enemies.

This number was within Yao Si’s expectation and acceptable range; however, most of those who had survived were injured. 

Even though the first battle for the Sixty-First Army was over, the war between the two Great Worlds raged on.

The Dragon continuously swirled around the Two Worlds’ Passage to kill the invaders; however, there didn’t seem to come a day when all the Demons would be killed as an inexhaustible number of Demons continued to spurt out of the black hole.

Even though the Coiling Dragon Grand Formation was formed by more than twenty armies, with over ten million soldiers powering it, there had been several times when it showed signs of collapsing under such intense pressure.

Some of the Demons would be released from the Grand Formation to ease the burden on it, and the other armies, who had been standing guard outside the formation, would react quickly to clear out the escaped Demons.

After just one day of rest, the gap that was facing the Sixty-First Army in the Grand Formation was opened up again. However, the number of Demons that had been released was smaller than previously as there were only about two hundred thousand of them.

One day of rest had allowed them to become energised again as they confronted their enemies. At the end of the day, they managed to destroy the Demons after paying a small price.

At that instant, the army’s morale had been boosted as some of the Monster Kings loudly asked Yao Si to inform Li Wu Yi to release more Demons to them. Certainly, Yao Si directly rejected this kind of ridiculous demand.

These powerful Monster Kings were excited at the moment as killing the Demons was just like cutting vegetables for them. Even the Demon Kings were easily defeated by them.

However, not everyone from the Sixty-First Army was a Monster King. Even though most of them were strong, they were not that powerful. After two battles, regardless of whether they were injured or not, everyone needed time to restore their energy.

Frequent battles were not beneficial to the armies at all. In order to kill more Demons, they had to take a rest from time to time. Certainly, both Li Wu Yi and Yao Si understood this.

With that said, the people from the Sixty-First Army as well as the other armies that were keeping guard outside the Grand Formation had some time to rest, but what about those in the formation?

With a worried expression, Yao Si looked at the crouching Dragon on the battlefield.

If the Two Worlds’ Passage wasn’t sealed again, the Coiling Dragon Grand Formation would eventually be worn down by the Demons. By then, no would be able to stop the Demons from devastating the Star Boundary.

As time passed, Yao Si could clearly feel that the formation had been weakened. The most obvious sign was that the gaps in the formation had been opened up more frequently.

Barely half a day after the second battle, the Sixty-First Army was faced with their third battle. This time, only a hundred thousand Demons were released from the formation; however, it was more difficult to deal with this smaller number of enemies than the previous two hundred thousand.

It couldn’t be helped, as the Sixty-First Army had gone through two battles in a short period of time. Even though they were still enthusiastic, they were exhausted. On the other hand, the Coiling Dragon Grand Formation was overburdened. The formation might appear to be running smoothly, but that was because the Shamans had continuously been using Bloodlust Spells to ignite everyone’s potential. Life Chains was also a ticking time bomb.

With the Life Chains’ blessing, even though the damage they suffered would be equally shared, it would accumulate and explode at some point. When the Life Chains collapsed, the formation would as well.

According to Yao Si’s estimation, the formation could only last for two more days. If they couldn’t come up with a solution in two days, they would have no choice but to retreat. By then, billions of Demons would be free to storm into the Star Boundary, and the Western Territory would quickly be lost.

Within the Sixty-First Army, only the thirty thousand people from the Colour Guard were in perfect condition. It wasn’t that Yao Si didn’t have the heart to let the Colour Guard join the battle; however, after a few days of intense battle, he wanted to keep the Colour Guard as a trump card, which might become incredibly useful at the most critical moment.

Seeing as the Grand Formation was deteriorating, Yao Si was hesitating whether he should get the Colour Guard to join the battlefield, but just then, an agitated voice could be heard saying, “Junior Brother?”

Yao Si turned around and saw a familiar face, then he said through clenched teeth, “Sir, you’re finally back.”

It was Xia Ning Chang who called out to her Junior Brother as Yang Kai appeared beside her.

Yang Kai flashed a gentle smile at her, but it wasn’t the right time to have a chat with her. With a helpless expression, he said, “I just saw your message, then I immediately rushed over. What’s the situation now?”

After he finished speaking, he took a look at the battlefield and became astounded.

Even though he had taken part in the Two Worlds’ Great War before, he hadn’t seen such a magnificent sight. More than ten years ago, he had led an army to fend off the Demons in Tiger Roar City, but that paled when compared to the scene before his eyes.

Knowing that it wasn’t the right time to reprimand him, Yao Si suppressed his anger and said, “Sir, just like what you can see, the Coiling Dragon Grand Formation is on the brink of collapsing, and all the armies are exhausted. If we don’t come up with a solution quickly, defeat is inevitable.”