Aspiring to the Immortal Path

Flames blazed across the heavens, engulfing the entire firmament.

The accursed demon flames of the Primordial Fog.

Han Haisha wiped the sweat off his forehead and silently cursed.

From the moment the Red Cloud Ancestor went crazy, the human–demon war officially entered a new phase of intensity, which could most directly be seen by the fact that the battle had already lasted for thirty days without a break.

Both sides were trading spell arts, and those that ran out of energy would rotate out for a new group. The battle was at a stalemate, but nobody had any plans of stopping.

The greatest difference between localized battles and full-scale battles was that the former could be controlled while the latter could not.

It was clear that the battle was headed in that direction, for there were already signs that there was no way to stop this thirty-day-long battle.

Han Haisha had already mounted the walls for the thirteenth time. He had been rather lucky the last twelve times, his shifts daunting but not dangerous. There was only one time where he took on a demon attack and injured his arm, but that was quickly healed after he took some medicine. But two of his good friends hadn’t been so lucky. One had been turned to ash by an arrow of scarlet flame, while the other was even worse off, the Divine Connection of a Devil Chief instantly obliterating him such that not even a corpse was left behind.

“When is this going to end?” he grumbled.

“You’re already complaining about being tired? It’s only the beginning!” Lu Hongyang laughed.

His mouth was a little crooked when he smiled, which made him seem rather comical, but he still insisted on giving his toothy grins as if he didn’t realize his own problem. The waves of heat from above made his hair a little curly and covered his face in soot, but he didn’t mind any of this, firing off spell art after spell art from the walls. He was even excitedly keeping count: “42! 43!”…

Han Haisha rolled his eyes. “You’re having a fun time killing, not like me.”

His hands were placed on the wall, which pulsed with runes. Two palm-sized vortices at the point of contact were channeling his energy into the formation.

This was how Army Anchor City’s formation got its energy, as it cost too much to use spirit stones alone. Spirit stones were normally used when facing powerful foes or at key moments.

But as an energy supplier, he couldn’t enjoy himself as much as Lu Hongyang, which made the grimace on Han Haisha’s face understandable.

Lu Hongyang was still grinning. “You can only blame yourself. You were the one who chose the Spiral Essence Mantra, which is all about supplying a constant flow of energy, making you perfect for supplying it. I chose the Grotto Metal Mantra like the Domain Lord, so my spell arts are all a bit stronger than normal, which is perfect for the free attack role.”

The Rosecloud Domain naturally assigned people according to the posts that suited them. Those skilled in recovering energy would be energy suppliers and those skilled in attack would be free attackers who killed low-level demons. Those skilled in combination formations would be organized into special units to deal with powerful foes, and those skilled in using tools would be either piloting Void Shuttles or operating the cannons.

Under Tang Jie’s leadership, the Rosecloud Domain was showing a completely different style of warfare to the demons, unlike any other domain they had faced before, which was a big shock to them. As for Han Haisha and Lu Hongyang, they were just a microcosm of the greater army.

Boom!

Amidst the cannon fire, another high-level devil was slain.

“Yaaaah!” A cheer came from the walls.

This was a ten-man formation led by a delicate girl called Yue’er. She was none other than the girl who had followed her master to join the army but had been refused, so she secretly joined the puppets.

In the battle of Skybrink Ridge, her master was slain in battle, but the girl had led puppets in killing quite a few demons and gaining a lot of merit.

And Tang Jie had established a contribution list where one could exchange merit for cultivation resources. Yue’er had worked hard and fought hard, and in less than twenty years, she had reached Celestial Heart.

Times of great crisis were also times of great opportunity, and in war, there were also new heroes emerging. When the old heroes fell, the new heroes stood up.

Yue’er couldn’t be considered a hero yet, but she was already the leader of a ten-man squad. She had led them to deal the fatal blow against that high-level devil, and for this, the badge on her chest flashed with a golden line.

This was a merit badge, an art relic that Tang Jie had designed. It had no combat power and only served to record one’s contributions in battle.

Of course, every design had its flaw, and not even Tang Jie could make a perfect merit badge. The way this treasure evaluated one’s merit could not be considered entirely fair and sometimes became a point of contention.

Indeed, a thick-browed man from the ten-man squad next to them angrily grunted, “Cen Yue’er, you stole our merit again. It was clearly us who heavily injured this devil.”

“Tsk!” Cen Yue’er smirked. “More than ten squads took part, so who’s to say that your merit was greatest? Moreover, it’s not like you didn’t steal from us. We were the main attackers in yesterday’s battle against that three-headed demon, but didn’t you get the merit?”

“You…” The young man could only glare back in anger, but Cen Yue’er ignored him and ordered her squad to continue the attack.

At this moment, there was a scream:

“Watch out! A Night Terror!”

All the cultivators immediately focused. Nearby, a horned, bat-shaped demon rapidly flew over, and as it neared the walls, it opened its mouth and screeched.

A black wave assailed the walls.

After thirty days of battle, the Supreme Unity Celestial Water Formation had greatly weakened, and the wave passed through its barrier toward the cultivators on the walls. It was on the level of a Deification attack, far more than a ten-man squad could handle.

“Capturing Gust!” A white-clothed cultivator appeared on the scene, summoning a wind against the black wave. At the same time, Cen Yue’er, the thick-browed man, and four other ten-man squad captains all acted, sending energy into that man’s body. The gale suddenly increased in strength and thus managed to hold off the attack.

This was a handsome man, though his expression was icy cold.

“Senior Brother Qin!” Cen Yue’er shouted in glee.

“Heaven Circuit Fire—hurry!” Senior Brother Qin shouted.

Several arms extended again, beams of spiritual energy linking to Senior Brother Qin, and the wind suddenly transformed into an intense flame that blasted the Night Terror. The Night Terror staggered and flew away with a howl, but it was only injured, not dead. After flying in a circle, it flew back.

Senior Brother Qin drew back his hand and said, “Cut the chattering and kill more enemies.”

“Mm.” Cen Yue’er and the thick-browed man both silently bowed their heads.

They had been distracted by their quarrel, and if Senior Brother Qin hadn’t intervened in time, they would probably have all died to the Night Terror.

The two looked at each other and then looked away with a snort.

While the battles of the lower cultivators were important, the outcome was really being decided among the Titans.

In the sky, another great battle was taking place.

On the human side were Yun Tianlan, Fairy Gu Ye, Blossom Queen Ran Qing, Mu Ziyang, Ye Yun, Huang Wuji, Ji Wenzhang, and several others, for a total of thirteen Supreme True Immortals. Meanwhile, the demons had a full eighteen Demon Lords of the True Immortal level.

The human side was clearly at a disadvantage, but with the support of the formation, they were still putting up a good fight.

As a Demon Lord summoned a mighty wind, a female Immortal laughed, “Again with this Black Death Gust? Shimoto, is that the only trick you know?”

She raised an ancient lantern, and its harmonious light instantly dispelled the wind.

This woman was Fairy Yunlu, a Supreme True Immortal of the White Mountain Domain.

On the Rosecloud Domain’s path of the stars, when it arrived at the White Mountain Domain, it happened that Fairy Yunlu’s sole descendant died a tragic death at the hands of the demons. Filled with hatred, she joined the Rosecloud Domain and became one of its True Immortals. Her Righteous Lantern was a Dao armament which had the special ability to suppress demons, and it had proved very effective against Shimoto’s Black Death Gust.

But the demons always found a way.

As the light of the lantern radiated, a dark cloud swept out, corroding its light.

“Lanshenlo, you’re as shameless as ever, always preferring sneak attacks. But with me around, don’t even think of succeeding,” Huang Wuji’s voice rang out. With the Measure Heaven Ruler, he ignored distance and appeared right over Lanshenlo’s head, giving him a hearty smack.

Blood splattered.

“Awooo!” The Demon Lord howled in pain. “Huang Wuji, you deserve death!”

He thrust out a claw, but space rippled, slowing Lanshenlo’s claw to a crawl, and Huang Wuji easily evaded the strike.

“Damn it;

this formation is so annoying! When is the sovereign going to act? So long as he intervenes, all of the humans will be dead in no time!” Lanshenlo called out in anger and panic.

Huang Wuji laughed. “That old baldy of yours fears my Domain Lord and doesn’t dare to come.”

“Is that so?”

Huang Wuji suddenly saw the giant face of the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk appear in the void, looking over the entire world with eyes of cold disdain.

Everyone shivered in terror at the sight of that world-spanning, emotionless face.

Huang Wuji stammered, “This… this can’t be real. An illusion, it’s an illusion!”

A moment later, the Nine Disaster Fiend Monk raised a finger and thrust it down at Huang Wuji like he was crushing an ant.