Chapter 96: He Died Before Victory Could Be Won

Clear Brook said nervously, “Pipi Assistant, could it be that you are so shameless even the laws of cultivation heaven can no longer stand you?”

Little Assistant nearly collapsed. “I am telling the absolute truth, all right? Besides, no matter how shameless I may be, the Host is definitely a little worse than I am.”

“All right, all right. We can leave the question of who is more shameless for next time. Hurry up and see what is happening up there.”

Clear Brook immediately cast his ultimate technique, Earth Escape, and returned to the surface.

...

At that moment, in Five Blessings City.

Li Kantian, Du Liang, and the other great masters of the Innate Realm had all ascended the city walls, their expressions growing grim as they watched the meteors streaking across the heavens.

From the sky they could see alone, at least several dozen meteors had already flashed past.

That meant at least several dozen fiends from beyond the heavens had invaded.

As a true disciple of the Spirit Origin Sect, Li Kantian knew much.

Every fiend that descended to the mortal world possessed at least early Innate Realm cultivation, no matter how weak it might be.

Now that so many had appeared at once, if they all besieged Five Blessings City, the people within might not be able to hold out.

What unsettled everyone even more was that many more meteors now cut across the firmament and plunged toward the central region of Cloudriver Prefecture.

Even from ten thousand meters away, Li Kantian could still feel the terrifying aura released by those meteors.

“That is a fiend on par with the Spirit Force Realm!”

Li Kantian’s eyelid twitched violently.

Fortunately, that fiend had not descended upon the eastern region, but had headed for the central region, where the three major two-star powers stood.

Cloudriver Prefecture was divided into five regions: east, south, west, north, and center. But at present, only the central region possessed medium-sized earth veins, which made the aura there the most tempting.

With every fiend invasion, the central region became the main battlefield.

Still, Li Kantian dared not let down his guard.

The eastern region had only four one-star powers, and the strongest among them was no more than the Essence Force Realm. If a top-tier expert at the Golden Force Realm were to appear, the situation would become extremely dangerous.

At the thought of this, Li Kantian looked up at the sky with even greater anxiety.

And just then, an incomparably massive meteor, wrapped in a momentum like mountains collapsing and the heavens crashing down, swept across the firmament, sending countless shockwaves raging in all directions.

Wherever it passed, the huge clouds were shattered outright, turning into a torrential downpour.

“A top-tier fiend of the Golden Force Realm!”

Li Kantian’s mouth twitched as he cursed himself for having the mouth of a crow.

But that meteor did not pay the slightest heed to Five Blessings City below. Instead, it streaked across the sky, crossed the West Sand River, and with unstoppable force smashed toward the center of the eastern region.

The Land of Ancient Luo!

In bygone days, the Ancient Luo Dynasty had been incomparably prosperous, possessing a small but peak-level earth vein; otherwise, it would never have given birth to a top-tier expert of the Golden Force Realm.

If not for the fact that this place had been occupied by earth demon beasts, the four great sects of the eastern region would never have let such a treasured land for cultivation remain untouched.

To that fiend, whose power rivaled the Golden Force Realm, the rich spiritual energy radiating from the Land of Ancient Luo was the most delicious delicacy under heaven.

The meteor soon approached the royal palace of the Land of Ancient Luo, and its terrifying aura pressed down, destroying vast stretches of ancient architecture.

Inside the central hall, the Diamond Ape, Da Huang, felt a horrifying pressure; his body could not move. Thankfully, the golden light from the stone walls radiated outward, offsetting more than ninety percent of the oppressive force.

The entire palace remained utterly still beneath that golden radiance.

“Hm? Indeed, this is a treasured land. Then let this be the base for this invasion.”

From within the meteor came the extremely arrogant laughter of that Golden Force Realm fiend.

However, before it could land, the earth behind the royal palace suddenly exploded apart. A mountain-sized claw burst from the ground, its surface covered in black scales as large as washbasins, exuding a heavy, domineering kingly aura.

“Hiss... an imperial-tier powerhouse!”

The Golden Force Realm fiend was so alarmed that sweat poured down its face. It immediately changed direction and flew north, shouting, “Forgive me, the scenery here is far too beautiful. I merely happened to pass by by mistake!”

Yet the owner of that mountain-sized claw paid it no heed at all. A tremendous field of force erupted from the claw’s palm, pinning the Golden Force Realm fiend in place, and then it struck with a savage grab.

Crack!

The Golden Force Realm fiend, which had just moments ago been so mighty and imposing, ready to make a great show of itself, was crushed to pieces and turned into countless fragments that fell into the Land of Ancient Luo.

The giant claw withdrew into the ground, the entire process effortless, as if swatting a fly to death.

The torn earth gathered itself closed on its own.

The Diamond Ape, Da Huang, looked toward the direction in which the giant claw had vanished, his face full of reverence.

Outside the Land of Ancient Luo, two figures were standing rigidly in place.

One wore a black robe; it was Qiu Yingying, who had intended to slay demons alone.

The second wore a narcissus-colored dress. Her normally cold and beautiful face was now filled with shock.

Wang Shuiling drew back her gaze in astonishment. After exchanging a look with Qiu Yingying, the two of them turned and left at once.

They had intended to hunt the fiends that entered the Land of Ancient Luo, but who could have imagined that they would witness such a soul-shaking scene the moment they arrived?

With an earth demon beast present, they were not qualified to intervene in matters here.

For the two women, the most important task now was to bring news back to the sect that the earth demon beast had broken through and become a true king-tier beast.

On the city wall of Five Blessings City, Li Kantian was still looking at the sky.

He stared blankly in the direction the Golden Force Realm fiend had gone, then swallowed hard and said, “What a terrifying aura. If that fiend were to descend upon our eastern region, it would surely be a calamity of mass death and misery!”

If he knew that the Golden Force Realm fiend had already been crushed to death by the earth demon beast in a single claw strike, becoming a model for “dying before the campaign has even begun,” who knew what he would think.

Beside him, the city lord Du Kang wore a grave expression. Looking at the fiends that kept streaking across the sky and descending in advance, his eyelids twitched incessantly.

“Everyone, the fiends have invaded. Even if our bodies perish and our Dao is extinguished, we must fight to the end!”

“Prepare yourselves. We must give these invaders a crushing blow!”

Du Liang unleashed all the aura of a late-Innate expert, as though a gale were roaring all around him.

More than ten Innate Realm experts behind him also drew their swords, their eyes filled with determination.

At that moment, a meteor abruptly turned in midair and, bearing blazing flames, crashed into the dense forest outside Five Blessings City. Within a radius of a hundred meters, all the trees ignited at once.

Fortunately, the sky was pouring with torrential rain, which quickly put out the blaze in the woods.

But the fiend stood upright, and the flames burning on its body could not be extinguished even by the downpour.

Behind it, more than a dozen meteors smashed into the same forest, assembling into a small squad made entirely of fiends from beyond the heavens.

They looked at the people upon the city wall as though looking at prey ready for slaughter.

Each fiend was comparable to the Innate Realm.

The one leading them, with flames raging all over its body, radiated an astonishing aura no weaker than that of the peak of the Innate Realm.

Lin Feng, Wan Hu, Zhou Yuanlong, Du Kang, and the others had also climbed the walls. Upon seeing that flame-wreathed fiend, their pupils all contracted sharply.

Too strong.

That was a top-tier expert comparable to a Great Elder.

Looking across Five Blessings City, no one could match it.

Du Liang’s face darkened like ink, the sharp sword in his hand trembling as it rang. He shouted, “Fellow Daoist Li Kantian, I ask you to join me in holding back that flame fiend.”

Though he was at late-Innate cultivation, he was absolutely no match for the flame fiend.

But if Li Kantian, a quasi-heavenly prodigy, joined him, they might still be able to fight.

Li Kantian nodded, feeling pressure unlike anything he had ever known.

Yet he also felt somewhat strange. Looking around, he frowned and said, “Where is Junior Brother Clear Brook? Could he have run for it?”