Chapter Seventy-Five: Pressing Forward with Full Force

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The sky stretches high for birds to soar, the sea vast for fish to leap—if only that were true!

“Catch him!”

Wei Yan flung a handful of lotus seeds. With the magic of scattering beans to create soldiers, every blade of grass and tree became a weapon—behind Xu Zhong and his companions, an army of cultivators formed from lotus seeds surged forward to attack. At their head, the general pointed at a lotus seed, transforming it into a steed—horse ears and a tail sprouted, and it became a warhorse before their eyes.

Seizing the reins, the general vaulted onto the horse’s back, wielding a spear as long as ten feet, and charged at Xu Zhong and the others. Though the general’s cultivation was modest—the average bean soldier was at the Five Luminaries stage, and the general stood a notch above at the Guardian of Unity realm—he commanded the field. The other bean soldiers followed his lead, transforming their own into horses, mounting up and adjusting their formations under his command.

They moved like an elite cavalry, swift as the wind, ravaging as wildfire, coordinating attacks with ruthless efficiency. The killing array they formed bore down on Xu Zhong and his companions.

Xu Zhong spun around, summoning the Cloud-Swallowing Sword. In a flash, the sword drew in boundless spiritual energy, forming a celestial constellation of blades that rained down upon the bean soldiers. It was as easy as slicing melons or chopping vegetables—each lotus seed cleaved in two, its spirit dissipated.

But the momentum of the battle formation did not flag with the loss of a few soldiers. True slaughter in war is relentless, an unfeeling machine, devoid of mercy—this was both the most primitive and the purest path of massacre.

In plain terms: overwhelming numbers oppressing the few.

The murderous intent radiating from the battle formation even suppressed Xu Zhong’s sword intent.

Crack! Crack!

His sword aura was instantly quelled by the killing intent; the sword-light he’d gathered shattered inch by inch, the dissipating energy lost to the wind.

Hoofbeats thundered like rolling storms, a deafening roar. The bean soldiers’ intelligence was formidable—one team tangled with Xu Zhong’s group while another flanked them, galloping for miles to encircle them.

The four-pronged formation conjured a terrifying aura, coalescing in the clouds above into an immense guillotine.

In that instant, Xu Zhong and his companions felt their hearts pounding like thunder, goosebumps prickling their skin—they sensed their life force had been locked onto, as if the blade would fall at any moment, heads rolling in its wake.

Xu Zhong pulled the Purple Jade Gourd from his belt, unleashing the sword energy within.

It surged forth like a mighty river, unstoppable. The formation was thrown into chaos—men and horses tumbled—but in the next breath, the rear ranks surged forward, determined to trap them.

In the distance, Dingling and Wei Yan’s battle drew ever closer, thunderclouds and surging blood visible to the naked eye. Further off, Wei Yan’s limbs crawled toward him.

Once trapped here, escape would be meaningless.

“Let me handle this!”

A spear’s gleam erupted behind Xu Zhong.

The weapon blossomed with sparks and dragons, and Yun Yong, gripping his spear, thrust forward—each spear-flower transformed into a deep, swirling vortex, colliding with the killing intent.

Yun Yong flicked his spear, stabbing and sweeping, and in a flash, the weapon became a ferocious dragon, tearing through the formation. Like a nail, it bit into an opening, widening it with each strike.

“The spear is the true weapon of war!”

Yun Yong’s spear art was on full display—the tip cold as the moon, the shaft writhing like a dragon. The divine spear’s power was awe-inspiring, a peerless weapon.

Alone, Yun Yong tore open gap after gap in the formation, and Xu Zhong’s group pressed forward, using their own techniques to widen the breach into a passage.

Through it, they moved unimpeded.

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Yun Yong led from the front, clearing the path. Xu Zhong brought up the rear, protecting their escape. Li Feiyu, with the highest cultivation, stayed in the middle with Tang Yuan and Fang Yuan, slaughtering enemies wherever Yun Yong and Xu Zhong couldn’t reach.

The five of them advanced steadily, forcing their way out of the battle formation.

At that moment, the guillotine above their heads shifted soundlessly.

A flash of silver swept overhead.

Xu Zhong hastily summoned the Six-Foot Pearl.

Six bone forks erupted from the pearl, each riding a pillar of water, trying to quell the tempest. But the storm from the guillotine was too fierce; the bone forks could not hold it. Cowed by the blade, they retreated and whirled back into Xu Zhong’s hand.

Fang Yuan removed her hairband and tossed it skyward. It expanded instantly, circling the guillotine and holding it for a moment, but not for long.

Xu Zhong summoned his tricolored water lotus, but it too failed to block the blade for long.

That guillotine was the essence, energy, and spirit of the bean soldiers—the crystallization of their morale. The stronger their spirit, the more powerful the blade; the greater their numbers, the fiercer its force. In the history of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, there were tales of armies conjured from beans, each at the Five Luminaries stage, slaughtering cultivators at the Equalization stage.

“Strike while the iron’s hot, then wane, then exhaust!”

This guillotine was the first strike—morale at its peak. Destroying it meant breaking the spirits of the bean soldiers—leaving them spent.

Fang Yuan produced another defensive treasure—a jade pendant radiating golden waves, forming a divine shield that blocked the blade.

Tang Yuan laughed heartily and performed the Furnace of Vitality technique; his body grew mighty, seized the guillotine, and stuffed it into his chest, his flesh becoming a furnace that smelted the blade into mana, strengthening his own vitality—a terrifying sight.

With the guillotine gone, the battle formation’s momentum collapsed.

“Good, that’s how it should be!” Yun Yong in the lead sensed the weakening power.

The bean soldiers were no longer fearless—they hesitated before death, though the formation kept them fighting with desperate courage.

“Wajiwaji! (Don’t panic, change formation!)” barked the general, instantly shifting the battle lines.

Suddenly, waves of terror radiated from the bean soldiers—they no longer sought to merely entrap but to kill outright.

Another guillotine began to form overhead, this time much faster.

But Li Feiyu was faster still; having formed his Golden Core and mastered the Five Luminaries, his mana was inexhaustible.

He summoned a true dragon from his five elements; it merged with his sword, the embodiment of his power.

Unlike Xu Zhong, he walked the path of unity with the sword.

In a flash, he released his blade.

—Roar!—

A dragon’s cry echoed from the heavens.

Li Feiyu’s sword transformed into a ferocious dragon—jaws snapping, breath blazing—and bit the guillotine in two, severing it with a single strike.

With that, the formation’s power was spent; it could barely hold together.

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Yun Yong seized the moment.

With a deft thrust, his spear danced; in an instant, he became a rampaging beast, tearing into the formation, scattering bean soldiers with every blow. The formation broke, its soldiers terrified, fleeing in disarray.

“Wajiwaji! (Retreat and die!)” the general bellowed, spearing several of his own men in an effort to restore order.

But the rout was irreversible—no single soldier could turn the tide.

Desperate, the bean soldier general devoured his own troops, swelling into a colossal figure whose power surpassed Xu Zhong’s group.

But before he could wield his newfound strength, Yun Yong was upon him. His spear pierced the general’s brow, energy spilling out, and at that moment, Li Feiyu’s sword split the giant in two.

In an instant, all the bean soldiers reverted to round, rolling lotus seeds, their essence dissipating into nothing.

“They’re coming!” Fang Yuan pointed to two drifting clouds overhead.

They broke into a run.

Along the way, they passed many curious cultivators.

Baffled, the cultivators watched Xu Zhong’s group fleeing for their lives, two thunderclouds in pursuit.

“Friend, what’s happening?” one called out.

“Run! Now!” Xu Zhong only had time to shout a warning.

Seeing their grim faces and frantic escape, the cultivator’s expression changed; he too turned to flee.

As he ran, he shouted, “Wang Er! Li Si! Run!”

Wang Er and Li Si, hearing their friend, joined the flight, calling out to others as they ran.

Soon everyone was fleeing, though none knew what they ran from.

Dingling and Wei Yan in the sky never harmed a single cultivator; any who were injured had stumbled and been trampled in the panic.

All across the prairie, fear spread like wildfire.

Everyone followed Xu Zhong’s group; from above it looked like a herd in flight, a river of dark heads flowing across the grasslands.

They crossed mountains and rivers, fleeing a nameless terror.

Yet Xu Zhong and his friends were just as bewildered.

“They’re running faster than we are,” Tang Yuan remarked, glancing at those ahead.

“They seem even more afraid than us,” Fang Yuan added.

“Could Dingling and Wei Yan be after everyone?” she muttered.

“Damn it!” Wei Yan looked down to see only a churning black mass of people, unable to spot Xu Zhong’s party. With a powerful enemy nearby, he couldn’t afford distraction.

“I must catch that brat and force him to reveal the location of my heart. Without it, even if I recover my body, I cannot return to life. Only with a whole body can I revive; without it, I’d be nothing more than a half-man, half-corpse ghoul.”

He scattered another batch of lotus seeds, conjuring another army.

The new army waved flags and shouted, descending to attack, terrifying the bewildered cultivators, who believed the master of this magic intended to harvest them as ingredients for some great elixir.

Instantly, they ran even faster than Xu Zhong and his companions.

“Demon, how dare you commit such evil!” A sword-light slashed from the horizon, scattering the bean soldiers, and another beam spiraled upward, cleaving toward Wei Yan.