Chapter 830: Battle of Will
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhou Mian still stood upon the high ground and observed the battlefield. When he saw Zhuge Qingfeng and You Chi providing support to Ye Futian and intercepting the army of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, he realized that they wanted to finish off the great army of Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty in the shortest amount of time possible.
No one expected the battle matrix from Ye Futian to be this powerful; the control system rules sorcery exploded and put the Xuanwu army of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty in danger. But to try demolishing the Xuanwu army when the army of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was at an advantage was a little too ambitious.
“Cultivators of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, hear ye this order: obliterate Ye Futian and his cohort,” Zhou Mian ordered. Suddenly all the top clan principalities within the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty started moving towards Futian. In no time at all, the army pressed forward, the forces of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and the sage army of the Holy Zhi Palace now engaged in a full-blown war.
The onlookers, who came with the armies to watch the battle from afar, felt their hearts beating. They were merely watching from the sidelines, but they were extremely nervous and clenched their fists.
“The Holy Zhi Palace must win,” someone whispered. This was the thought of many from the Barren State. Although they did not have the ability to participate in the battle, the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was ultimately an intruder. As cultivators of the Barren State, their natural desire was for the Barren State to emerge victorious.
Furthermore, Ye Futian was now an iconic figure within the Barren State. He had inherited lordship of the Holy Zhi Palace while still in the noble plane, and all principalities within the Barren State had unified their wills and submitted to him. Rumor had it that when Ye Futian held his wedding in the Eastern Barren Territory and made the announcement that he would take over the position of the palace lord of the Holy Zhi Palace, he was congratulated by all the powerful figures of the Barren State, who came and witnessed the birth of a legend.
But even before that, Ye Futian had not disappointed the people of the Barren State. In just two years, he led the people of the Barren State to venture forth and take first place in the Nine State Forum and had given the most dazzling performance there. He had even defeated a saint of legends, whose existence was looked upon by the world, and brought a cultivator of the saint plane to the Barren State.
All of this was a sign prophesizing the rise of a legend. As long as he was given time, the people of the Barren State were willing to believe that on the bleak and impoverished soil of the Barren State, there would rise a hero known throughout the Nine States.
Perhaps not just one.
It was precisely because of this that when the Holy Zhi Palace faced this great adversity, and when the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty launched a Sacred War, prolific figures of the land were willing to come and lend their support in the bloody battle; it was a belief.
Now that they witnessed this battle, they were all moved deeply and hoped that the Holy Zhi Palace could defeat the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty.
“It will,” someone answered.
The cultivators led by Kong Yao of Zhisheng Cliffs and the people of Xihua Sacred Mountain, led by Liu Zong, were somewhat dismissive. Indeed, the resilience of the Barren State had surprised them, but the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty still retained an obvious advantage on the battlefield. With their great army pressing toward Ye Futian, even if Ye Futian were to demolish the Xuanwu Army he would still be at a disadvantage.
What was more, at this time, the Golden Phoenix Army led by Zhou Mian had entered the scene; they did not attack Ye Futian to support the Xuanwu Army, but instead moved in the direction of the Heavenly Battle Matrix. If they wanted to make a move on the Xuanwu Army, he would first destroy the tenacious Heavenly Army.
At this moment, above the void, Great Zhou Sacred King and the old Village Chief were separated from the battlefield, playing chess quietly.
Great Zhou Sacred King dropped a chess piece. His style of chess was sharp and domineering, sweeping through the game with extremely strong posture, intent to take the pawn of the old Village Chief.
“Although I have never seen it, I am still in awe of the legendary Sword Saint of the Void, who was called to be the first person under Emperor Xia. Just exactly what was she like back in those days?” Great Zhou Sacred King asked nonchalantly while putting down a chess piece. “However, since she has already died, as sword slave, shouldn’t you be looking for the strongest successor to the master? There were many saints in the Nine States, as it was with the Eastern State. You don’t need to bother looking afar to select an heir. There are many within the generations of the Nine States for you to choose from and a few others who can prove the Divine Path.”
“If this is the case, then the Chess Saint should have been selected. After all, he was the first person in the Nine States matrix.” The old Village Chief lightly put a chess piece to defuse the other’s fierce offensive. He quietly said, “Unfortunately, the Chess Saint did not solve the secret of the sword matrix, but Ye Futian did, so this is the reason.”
“It’s an old story.” Great Zhou Sacred King smiled sarcastically. “What can it prove?”
“As one grows older, this is the story one likes.” The old Village Chief smiled.
“I don’t like it.” Great Zhou Sacred King slammed down his chess piece and sounded extremely cross.
“Whether you like it or not has nothing to do with me.” The old Village Chief still looked calm, but both of them exuded traces of sacred authority that were extremely terrifying.
“Do you think I can’t kill you?” Great Zhou Sacred King looked up and stared at the other.
“Naturally, you can’t.” The old Village Chief looked up. “Never mind if you are stronger than me, even within the two great saint planes of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, if I want to leave, you cannot stop me.” A strong spatial volatility permeated upon him. He was different from Great Zhou Sacred King. He did not care about dignity and did not care about winning or losing. All he cared about was that what he wanted to accomplish was being manifested step by step.
“Old fool.” Great Zhou Sacred King admonished, “Then witness their total destruction.”
In the battlefield below, Zhou Mian led the Golden Phoenix Army towards an attack in the direction of Sage Douzhan. Sword Demon, who was currently engaged with Zhou Huang, swung out in a fierce blow. He wanted to stop Zhou Mian’s attack toward Sage Douzhan.
“Leave this to us. Don’t forget your mission,” Sage Douzhan said clearly and loudly. The eyes of Sword Demon, Xu Shang, and the others lit up; Sage Douzhan wanted them to leave this battlefield.
Before the Sacred War, they had already decided upon the tactics, and in this tactic, Sage Douzhan and his team would be in the most dangerous position. It was possible they’d be sacrificed. The sword matrix, which was condensed by the swordsman of the nine great peaks, had its own mission.
“Go!” Yuan Hong also shouted, and the countenance of Sword Demon suddenly became extremely determined. When they had reached this plane, their temperament became extremely resolute. Even when they knew that some decisions may lead to terrible conclusions, they would still stay the course.
“I’ll man the matrix,” a voice called out. It was one of the nine people within the sword matrix, the peak swordsman from Tombkeeper Village, Qin Zhuang. His strength was definitely no less than Sword Demon or Xu Shang, and was, perhaps, even stronger.
“Very well.” Sword Demon and Xu Shang knew Qin Zhuang’s strength and vacated the main position of the battle matrix for Qin Zhuang.
When Qin Zhuang stood in the middle with the Divine Sword in hand, the entire sword diagram changed and madly evolved. In an instant, a trace of the tremendously powerful space sword way undulated between heaven and earth.
Zhou Huang held the Golden Phoenix Sword and struck. A dazzling golden ray penetrated the void, aimed toward the center of the sword matrix. However, just at the moment the Sword Will was about to descend, a blinding glare burst forth and the sword matrix suddenly disappeared.
In another direction, the forces of the major clans besieged the army led by Ye Futian, but in one position there suddenly came an explosion of a terrifying atmosphere.
“Watch out!” someone cried out, but there was no time to react. A space Sword Will had pierced through everything, and where the blade of light had passed through, there was a great brilliance that threw many sages back.
This time, the sword matrix that formed by the nine had only one task: to slaughter and continuously diffuse the strength of the opponent, disintegrating their defense.
The Golden Phoenix Army led by Zhou Mian and Zhou Huang was the most elite army of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. It was impossible to destroy. If they got into a war of attrition, they would only impede their own progress with an unfavorable outcome.
“Set up the matrix to intercept them!” someone screamed loudly, but the sword matrix could be seen hurtling through the army. Wherever it passed, a rain of blood splattered, and their shadows could hardly be seen. Even though these clans were some of the most powerful in the Eastern State, they lacked strong and comprehensive battle matrices. It was impossible for them to resist the power of the sword matrix formed by the nine-person team.
Only in a short while, they had charged into the belly of a clan formation. Qin Zhuang waved with both hands, and just like that, the Sword Will that surrounded the sword diagram around the sword was sky high. Within the sword diagram, a divine implement of sage level could be seen vaguely looming and resonating with the Divine Sword.
“Destroy them,” Qin Zhuang said. Many sages with divine implements combined with the Sword Will of the Divine Sword penetrated this place. Wherever it passed, no one could stop it.
“Retreat!” The clan leader of this clan saw this scene and barked out the order loudly; the dead were all his people.
Even if the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was to win, there would be no benefit to them, and this is why they were reluctant to participate in the Sacred War. No one dared to disobey the order of Great Zhou Sacred King. But now, seeing the people of their clan being slaughtered by the sword matrix, their dismay was not hard to imagine.
At the same time, in another position, the Sword Saint with a demonic blade in hand had also charged into the crowd, not allowing any clan forces to reinforce the Xuanwu Army in order to provide an opportunity to engulf one of the opponent’s legions.
Zhou Mian glanced indifferently at the battlefield, then looked down at the Heavenly Battle Matrix below. This group included Ye Futian’s teacher, Sage Douzhan, and Yu Hong, who were both the top figures on the Barren Sky Ranking.
They would sacrifice the Heavenly Battle Matrix for the sake of destroying the Xuanwu army?
Indeed, all means were fair in war, and the Barren State was no exception.
If so, then let it be destroyed.
“Attack!” Zhou Mian commanded. He and Zhou Huang each led a large battle matrix, along with the Infinite Body cast by Sage Wuliang. Three superior camps surrounded the Douzhan Body and launched the fiercest attack yet.
Sage Douzhan watched the attack coming down from the void, but did not fight back. His body exploded with endless radiance; the Seven Star acupoints were fully open, and there was armor from a divine implement upon his body. This was the divine implement that Yu Hong had borrowed from You Chi, and this time, it was relegated to be used by Sage Douzhan.
The Heavenly Battle Matrix was unparalleled in attack, but their mission this time was not to attack but rather defend and sap away the strength of the opponent.
When the three major attacks came at the same time, it was a terrible sight to behold. The Douzhan Body collapsed and was destroyed. Sage Douzhan spat out a mouthful of blood. The bronzed body under the divine implement seemed to crack, for this time he bore the full brunt of the attack. To concentrate all the power of the Heavenly Battle Matrix upon himself, even with the protection of the divine implement, was still too much to bear.
The cultivators in the void gathered again when they saw this scene. Sage Douzhan was seeking his own death.
“Allow me,” Yuan Hong said to Sage Douzhan, wanting to replace him and pilot the Superior Heavenly Battle Matrix. With Sage Douzhan alone, it was very possible that he would perish under the attack.
“No need.” Sage Douzhan looked up at the firmament, his body once again shrouded in dazzling brilliance, and his eyes showing extreme determination. Back when he was the lord of the Battle Sage Palace of the Holy Zhi Palace, and when he was caught in the middle of the battle of life and death between the Palace and Ye Futian, he chose to follow his own belief and stood by Ye Futian. The Palace saw it as a kind of betrayal, but because it was not the Palace, he wanted all to see that he did not regret his choice.
The Holy Zhi Palace of today was the palace that he had always hoped for, so he had to be firm in his own beliefs and protect all of them!