Chapter 856: Cut Off
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At the beginning of year 10,013 of the Divine Prefecture Calendar, many powerful cultivators from the Summer State set off on their journey to Nine State City.
Nine State College was very active at the beginning and end of each year, especially the beginning. That was the time when it recruited new disciples.
It caused a sensation every year. The cultivators from the Summer State would come together, and even those from other states would come, all to pass the assessment.
This year the cultivators who had come from all over the Nine States were particularly numerous. Even cultivators from other holy lands in the Summer State had come out, like the Yi clan, the Yue clan, and the Xia clan.
They were of course not coming only because Nine State College was recruiting disciples. In fact, Nine State Colleges recruited disciples every year, so it was quite frequent and the holy lands wouldn’t come to the ceremony. But this time the sacred war between the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and the Holy Zhi Palace Barren State raged from the Barren State to Nine State City. They had all received news that both sides had sent out troops.
And in the capital a battle had even broken out between cultivators of the Saint Plane.
At the same time, Sage Douzhan was breaking through the Divine Catastrophe in Nine State City. It was very likely that soon a new Saint would emerge, and the Great Zhou Sacred King would want to hunt him down. This background had attracted many cultivators to come. It could truly be called a stormy meeting.
The Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty did not have a New Year’s sort of atmosphere. Before the sacred war broke out, the dynasty’s cultivators had not thought the war would be this difficult. They thought the Great Zhou Sacred King could directly lead the army to the Holy Zhi Palace and raze it to the ground and occupy the Barren State. They had never thought they’d be defeated, and never thought that Sage Wuliang would be killed and the three great forces wiped out.
And even less had they thought that the other side would one day launch an attack on the capital.
At that time, in the majestic palace in the Holy Capital, Zhou Yanwang stood before the great hall. Although he was a little old, his manner was still imposing. His long beard flowed, and his phoenix patterned robe fluttered in the wind.
“My Lord, we’ve looked all over for them and have found no traces. And there is news from the Barren State. The Holy Zhi Palace has sent out its troops. They are probably going to Nine State City. How should we respond?” A cultivator stood before Zhou Yanwang making his report.
“No wonder they were wandering around the Holy Capital. Their goal wasn’t to fight, but to contain us.” Zhou Yanwang looked cold and indifferent. He finally understood the Village Chief and Qin Zhuang’s intentions.
Moreover, they could withdraw to Nine State City for support at any time.
“Convey my order, leave a few legions to guard the matrix and resist them making a sneak attack. Prepare the rest of the army to move out towards Nine State City.”
His opponents wanted to distract his army while they advanced and retreated as they pleased, offering support to their army in Nine State City whenever they wanted. How could he let them do as they please?
“I will be one step ahead.”
As he spoke he turned into a lightning bolt and shot into the sky as fast as possible.
The Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty’s army was not afraird of Qin Zhuang and his trivial nine cultivators. Instead they would be contained by the Village Chief, and thus Zhou Yanwang chose to get one step ahead and bypass him.
When one was alone, his goals should be small.
His body continued on towards the sky until he reached the clouds, at which point he changed direction and shot forward.
But he gradually began to feel uneasy. The powerful Divine Path Will covered the vast world, but did not catch a trace of his opponents’ auras.
He frowned slightly. An aura seemed to be spreading. Suddenly Zhou Yangwang’s expression hardened as a boundlessly powerful aura burst forth. Suddenly the space between the heavens and the earth became crimson like blood. It was like the sky was burning.
Suddenly a terrible Sword Qi appeared in the sky. It seemed to be spatial swordsmanship.
The sword turned into the power of the Great Path. It moved between heaven and earth, ignoring the spatial distance as it shot towards him.
“The ghost lingers on!” screamed Zhou Yanwang. The power of the laws of the Great Path flowed forth, and a huge golden phoenix appeared in the sky. As he lifted his hand a void-smashing talon descended upon the sword diagram, causing the void sword to shake and fall.
Divine majesty, from beginning to end, had always descended upon the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty.
Many people looked up into the void. There seemed to be a sword diagram there that would swallow the heavens and the earth as well as a phoenix that had condensed after it had torn through the void. As that monstrous battle broke out, there was a descending aura that made them all feel uneasy.
“They never left.” Zhou Yanwang’s face went cold. The Holy Elder of the Holy Zhi Palace had been hiding in the dark and he had not discovered him.
Obviously his opponent was good at hiding and could hide among the crowds of the Holy Capital.
Countless people in the capital looked up into the sky. That terrible battle shook the void. The Sword Qi swept over thousands of miles. Golden flames burned the heavens. This Battle of Saints was truly a spectacle.
The incomparably terrible wave of turbulence spread towards the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty palace like a devastating beam of light descending from the sky. It was accompanied by a loud noise like a collision between divine implements. A beam of red light shot down from the sky. But the Sword Qi kept moving through the air as the sound of collisions continued to spread.
Finally, a line of light descended upon the palace, completely destroying one of the halls. At the same time the light of the matrix shone out.
The Village Chief stood in the void wielding the Divine Sword. He cast a cold glance below him, then turned to leave.
Zhou Yanwang stood up from the rubble and slowly rose into the air. His face was hideous.
This time there were even marks left upon his body. His opponent was determined to leave him there. He was not permitted to have any thoughts of leaving here to go to Nine State City for support.
“Yanwang.” A cultivator’s figure flickered into being. He noticed the bloody sword mark left on Zhou Yanwang’s body. If he had not had a divine implement body he would be afraid that he was seriously wounded.
Zhou Yanwang had been completely suppressed by the Holy Elder of the Holy Zhi Palace.
“Don’t worry about me. The Sage Army is ready to go. If Qin Zhuang and his nine swordsmen dare to fight us face to face we will be able to completely slaughter them,” said Zhou Yanwang coldly.
“Yanwang, that time when Qin Zhuang and the others killed three powerful forces from The Infinite Palace it was to prevent their battle arrays from combining together and to sweep away three top forces with their power. If we rush to Nine State City we can only weaves matrices along the way, otherwise Qin Zhuang will ambush us,” someone bowed and said.
Qin Zhuang and the others would of course not face them head on, but would want to break them one by one. Once they left the battle matrix they would become their opponents’ prey.
“Then weave matrices along the way, and don’t leave any weak points,” Zhou Yanwang said coldly. He obviously had no way to travel with them, as that guy from Tombkeeper village was guarding him.
“Of course.” The man in front of him nodded. This was the only way. They would lay out matrices all the way to Nine State City. This time it was said that the Holy Zhi Palace had dispatched half their army. If they didn’t go to support the dynasty’s army in Nine State City they might not be able to cope with the situation.
Soon the army gathered, opened up a large matrix and then marched splendidly out of the palace and hurried towards Nine State City.
Outside the palace, countless people looked at the spectacular scene taking place in the void. The army had been sent out. Would they destroy Ye Futian in one fell swoop?
The army passed through the sky like a black cloud over the city. All along the way a demonic beast followed along at a distance.
“Go over there and destroy it,” a Sage mounted on a demonic beast ordered his mount. Suddenly the mount rushed towards the demonic beast. Just a moment later a demonic best fell from the sky.
Over the past few days they had seen traces of demonic beasts and they suspected their opponents were using beastmasters to monitor their movements.
Behind them, Qin Zhuang and the others followed them on the sword. The people Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty found this out, but they did not care. Qin Zhuang and the others would not directly face them.
A demonic beast swooped down in front of Qin Zhuang and the others.
“What do we do?” Qin Zhuang asked the beast.
A strange light flashed in its eyes. “Follow them,” it said in a human voice.
“Alright.” Qin Zhuang and the others nodded. Their figures flashed, and they continued to follow the cultivators of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. Their opponents had sent out their army and their goal was great. It was absolutely impossible to shake them off.
……..
At that time, Ye Futian, who was cultivating at Nine State College, opened his eyes and a little bit of talent flashed out.
Did the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty have another army to send out?
If so, they should fight the first battle earlier.
He closed his eyes again, and perceived where the Black Wind Condor was. He conveyed an order.
The Black Wind Condor was accompanying the Barren State’s army. They were heading for Nine State City, and powerful cultivators such as Sword Saint, Huang Xi, Yun Shang and You Chi were leading the army.
The Black Wind Condor spread its wings and flew before Sword Saint and You Chi and said, “Change directions. Don’t go to Nine State City.”
Everyone’s eyes flashed as they looked at the Black Wind Condor.
They naturally understood this was not the will of the Black Wind Condor, but Ye Futian’s.
“Where do we go?” asked You Chi.
“The Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty has sent out another army towards Nine State City. We will go to cut them off. We will fight them before they get to Nine State City to join up with the Great Zhou Sacred King. Get ready to fight. Qin Zhuang and the others are there and will fight with you,” continued the Black Wind Condor, but the words were spoken with Ye Futian’s tone.
“Very well.” You Chi and the others all nodded.
The reason why Ye Futian was prepared to cut them off in advance was very simple. Both the Holy Zhi Palace and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty had left behind a strong garrison.
They had almost no strength in Nine State City. Sage Douzhan, the Undying Old Man, Yuan Hong and the rest were not equal to the forces of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. Therefore, it would be beneficial to cut them off before the two sides met!