Chapter 289: The Rise of Dajin Kingdom!

"They did not die?" Gongshu Kuo watched the Great Jin cultivators, each shrouded within a golden aura of light. That barrier had clearly been shattered just moments ago, leading him to believe it was some manner of special protective artifact. Yet now, he witnessed that golden luminescence kindling around everyone once more!

Gongshu Kuo could not have known that in the beginning, the mages of the Divine Dragon Empire had been fragile beyond measure, and it was impossible for an army of hundreds of thousands to forge protective talismans for every single soldier. But relying solely on this Mana Shield, they had survived through countless perilous battles.

"Hahahahaha!" Ji Wu burst into a fit of wild laughter at the sight. Within his laughter, however, lay a trace of the desolation belonging to a mortal emperor. He pointed toward the gray-faced Gongshu Kuo and Gongyang Jun upon the armored war vessel ahead, shouting, "How many years has it been? I have exhausted my mind and body, lying awake at night, even dreaming in fear of the day when the cultivators of your Yundian Region would lead an army to invade, trampling my lands and slaughtering my people!"

"But today, I shall tell you," Ji Wu roared, "the Great Jin Kingdom is no longer the trembling lamb crouching beside a ferocious beast. Our Great Jin Kingdom has risen!"

Ji Wu issued his command: "All armies, charge!"

"Warriors of the Great Jin Allied Army, charge with me!" Yu Chi, the Commander of the Imperial Guard, bellowed out. Countless warriors surged like a rising tide, leaping onto the dharma vessels of the Yundian Region!

The few remaining armored war vessels of the Yundian Region, and even the transport vessels at the rear, began to fall into a slow panic.

The aura skills of the Paladins were infused with spiritual energy, making them essentially a different system of channeling vital energy.

The elite warriors of the Jiuhua Army were distinct from the others; many among them were the earliest to follow Gong He and An Huwei in playing Diablo. Though limited conditions made it impossible to learn every Paladin skill, mastering a single one each was more than enough.

Much like the mercenaries in Diablo, they lacked the innate talent of the Professionals, yet wielding one or two skills posed no challenge.

And at this moment, the advantage became manifest!

"Vigor Aura, activate!"

"Fanaticism Aura, activate!"

Vast amounts of vital energy diffused into the surroundings, gathering about the body of every individual. This energy flowed rapidly around them, so that where their feet touched the ground, the essence coalesced into rings.

The colors were light and faint, but in that fleeting instant, the entire small army suddenly manifested a completely different aura!

This detachment of the Jiuhua Army instantly accelerated, moving like a wild gale, their blades striking like a sudden downpour! They carved into the crowd of cultivators like tigers among a flock of sheep; before many of the cultivators could even react, their entire formation was utterly torn to shreds!

"Hold them! Hold them back for me!" Gongyang Jun roared and bellowed. Despite the state of the battle, the war was not yet lost. He believed in the combat capabilities of the cultivator army; it was absolutely impossible for them to be inferior to these mere warriors!

Before the eyes of all the charging warriors, the crowd of cultivators seemed to disregard the assault entirely. One after another, dense arrays of pale blue trigram runes rose around them, while they focused solely on casting their spells.

Gongyang Jun possessed the confidence that a cultivator's protective artifact was enough to withstand a warrior's attacks for a good while, not to mention that these were the elites of the Gongyang family, equipped with the finest protective gear.

Yet in the next moment, he witnessed a scene that defied his belief!

"Hold us back?!" Gong He sneered. "With what?!"

The warriors in the front row slashed outward with their long blades, and countless massive waves of sword qi pierced straight through the barriers of light, slamming directly into the Yundian Region cultivators who were mid-spell.

On the spot, the front row of Yundian cultivators coughed up blood and were sent flying backward!

The sword qi of the Assassination Sword Technique might have lacked something in sheer destructive power, but it was born specifically to counter mana shields and armored defenses, its highly penetrating force able to pierce most conventional safeguards.

"Kill them all!" Countless Great Jin warriors surged forward; for the Yundian Region, the signs of defeat were already clear.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield of the ordinary elite armies, the cultivator forces of the Yundian Region had initially held the upper hand. Yet the warriors of the Great Jin were as unyielding as chunks of stubborn iron. A warrior would be struck to the ground by a spell, head bloodied, only to climb back up again. They exuded a stirring, hot-blooded passion, shouting at the top of their lungs as if they could fight on and on!

This group of habitually aloof Yundian Region cultivators was finally shaken, gripped by a sudden chill. This army was unlike any Great Jin force of the past; this was a troop that could not be broken, and could not be killed!

Their spiritual power was already nearly depleted, while the counterattack of the Great Jin army had only just begun!

"Hahahahaha!" Even with the battle in such a state, Gongshu Kuo burst into a wild laugh. His smile was crazed, even bearing a hint of disdain as he stared at the Great Jin camp, saying, "To defeat my Yundian Region cultivator army with a mixed force of thirty thousand warriors and cultivators, I must admit, you have surprised me."

Under his leadership, several elders of the Gongshu and Gongyang families took to the sky together, their robes billowing in the wild wind as they hung high in the air.

Every single one of them exuded an aura that surpassed the Divine Sea Realm. Not only that, but some had even reached the Fourth Heaven of the Divine Sea, while Gongshu Kuo and Gongyang Jun were as high as the Seventh Heaven of the Divine Sea.

Over a dozen masters of the Divine Sea Realm suspended in the heavens caused a terrifying pressure to abruptly crash down. At this moment, it was as though deities had descended to the mortal world!

"However, if you truly believe you can win like this, you are far too naive!" Gongshu Kuo scoffed. "With just the likes of you, can you contend against the masters of our two families?"

"What do you think?" Su Tianji stood aloft in the void, pointing her sword toward the heavens. From all directions, countless terrifying torrents of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, along with every ounce of formidable power, converged in the sky above!

The clouds in the sky were drawn in, and the thunderbolts above were dragged down!

Even the scattered spiritual energy from the battles of the countless surrounding cultivators seemed to be forcibly gathered by a mysterious force. Heaven and earth appeared to lose their color, leaving only the radiance of this single sword!

"Does anyone in your Yundian Region dare to take a strike from my sword?" Su Tianji's expression was icy cold, standing suspended in the void like a fairy from the highest heavens. Pointing her sword upward, there formed a terrifying, immense sword capable of splitting the heavens, forged and condensed from the power of heaven and earth!

The supreme sword technique of the Shushan Sect, the Heavenly Sword, had manifest!

And at that very moment, another equally massive Heavenly Sword condensed into form beside her. Ye Songtao shouted loudly, "Does anyone else in your Yundian Region dare to take a strike from my sword?!"

The second Heavenly Sword had manifest!

As elders and leaders of their respective sects, their natural talent was inherently extraordinary. Furthermore, they belonged to the very earliest batch of Legend of Sword and Fairy players, and had subsequently observed the Heavenly Books to comprehend the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. By now, they had reached the stage of perceiving the Heavenly Sword!

At this juncture, Jun Yangzi gave a sweep of his wide sleeve, and the entire sky became carpeted in a sea of blue flames! In this instant, it was as if the whole world had turned into a realm of fire!

"Since my sect's Blue Flame Heavenly Net was refined, it has never been tested on anyone. Would you gentlemen care to try it?"

Simultaneously, the elders of the Wuwei Daoist Alliance and the generals of the Jin army revealed the aura of their cultivation bases. In an instant, a presence even more terrifying than that of the Yundian Region enveloped the entire sky!

"To think the Yundian Region is nothing more than this!"

"Do you dare to wage war against us?!"

The faces of Gongshu Kuo, Gongyang Jun, and the others changed dramatically in an instant: "Retreat! Yundian cultivators, withdraw the army! Retreat immediately!"

Seeing this spectacle that instantly stirred the wrath of heaven, the hearts of the two men thumped, sinking nearly to the very bottom!

They could fight no longer!

"Stop right there!"

"Do not run!"

Looking back, two terrifyingly massive Heavenly Swords came crashing down, causing them to flee even faster!

Gongshu Kuo bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood: "Use the escape arts! Quickly! We will be safe once we return to the Yundian Region!"

His entire being transformed into a streak of bloody light, flying toward the direction of the Yundian Region!

His speed was incredibly fast, swifter even than when the large dharma vessels of his Gongshu family traveled at full capacity. Before long, he had arrived before the border of the Yundian Region!

Traveling alongside him were Gongyang Jun and several elders.

"Once the two of us return to the Yundian Region, we will surely have the Gongyi family dispatch a massive army to slaughter your Great Jin cultivators and warriors until not a single piece of armor remains!"

The two men appeared crazed, their eyes blood-red. "With just you rustic minor cultivators, you expect to catch up to us? Quickly! We are almost back to the Yundian Region!"

Just then, the group suddenly heard a burst of loud laughter:

One voice called out loudly, "Riding the sword upon the wind, treading the world to eliminate demons!"

Another voice followed, "With wine, I enjoy wandering at ease; without wine, I am still mad!"

"One drink drains the rivers, a second swallows the sun and moon."

"Unfallen after a thousand cups, I alone am the Wine Sword Immortal!"

"Who?! Just who is it?!" By now, the group was like birds startled by the twang of a bow, looking around in utter panic.

As the voices faded, several Wuwei Daoist Alliance cultivators were seen stepping upon swords like shooting stars, soaring through the sky, cutting off the path ahead of the group almost in an instant!

They landed lightly upon the blades of their swords, unmoved and unshaken by the howling astral winds of heaven and earth, looking exactly like sword immortals descending to the mortal realm!