Chapter 457: Chapter 457: The Hunt
He locked onto several of the fastest-fleeing Priests, gathering and compressing the Power of his Heart Image.
The second form of Golden Crow Burning Heart—"Extreme Flame."
A pinprick-sized seed of dark gold fire materialized in the chests of those Priests, then detonated.
POP! POP! POP!
Three Priests stiffened in unison as dark gold flames erupted from their chests, sending them plummeting from the sky.
The remaining Priests were scared out of their wits. They abandoned their troops and scrambled to flee into the distance.
Xu Wuyi didn’t give chase.
His goal was to inflict maximum casualties, not to hunt down stragglers.
He turned to look down at the cluster of Feathered Warriors still mounting a desperate defense. About five hundred of them had gathered, attempting to form a defensive line.
Xu Wuyi took a deep breath, unleashing the full Power of his Heart Image.
The Dark Gold Mountain Body trembled violently in his sea of consciousness. At its peak, the Golden Crow Illusion raised its head and cried out, the flame runes on its feathers blazing with ultimate brilliance.
The next moment, in the sky within a three-hundred-meter radius of the five-hundred-warrior cluster, more than three hundred dark gold embers ignited at once.
This was Xu Wuyi’s current limit.
Three hundred Flame True Seals, like three hundred stars of death, blossomed in unison.
A sea of dark gold flames engulfed the entire cluster.
...
When Shi Yue arrived at the battlefield with the third squadron, he was met with a hellish sight.
Wind-Erosion Valley was littered with the charred corpses of the Feathered People. The acrid stench of burnt flesh hung in the air. Fewer than three hundred of the Feathered People remained, scattering in every direction as Federation Martial Artists hunted them down.
Xu Wuyi stood atop a tall rock pillar in the valley, his dark gold spear angled toward the ground. Molten metal dripped from its tip—the remains of a Feathered Priest.
His black training uniform was spotless, unstained by even a drop of blood.
But the embers of a fire still burned in his dark gold pupils, sending a chill through all who met his gaze.
Shi Yue swallowed hard and walked to the base of the rock pillar.
"Martial Artist Xu... the casualty report is in."
Xu Wuyi looked down at him.
"The Feathered People deployed 2,107 troops. We have 1,834 confirmed kills, and 209 are too severely wounded to escape. Fewer than three hundred managed to flee. Of their forty-seven Priests, forty-one were killed, and six escaped."
Shi Yue’s voice trembled slightly. "As for our side... the bait unit suffered twenty-one dead and thirty-seven severely wounded. The rest have minor injuries. The third squadron sustained no casualties."
A kill ratio of almost ninety to one.
It was a massacre.
Xu Wuyi was silent for a moment before leaping down from the rock pillar and landing before Shi Yue.
"Clean up the battlefield. Treat the wounded." His voice was calm, betraying no emotion. "The Feathered People shouldn’t dare to mass their forces again anytime soon."
Shi Yue nodded emphatically and turned to relay the orders.
Xu Wuyi walked out of the valley alone, the "Liaoyuan" spear in his hand reflecting the dim yellow sunlight with a dark gold sheen.
In his sea of consciousness, the Bronze Ancient Volume vibrated faintly.
[Martial Art: Golden Crow Burning Heart·Raging Fire]
[Current Realm: Great Success (37.1%)]
’One major battle, and my proficiency has already increased by nearly 3%.’
’As I thought, real combat is the best form of Cultivation.’
He looked up at the murky yellow sky of the Flowing Sand Star Realm.
’This is just the beginning.’
’Feathered People Civilization... we still have a long war to fight.’
...
By that afternoon, news of the battle at Wind-Erosion Valley had spread throughout the Federation’s entire defensive line in the Flowing Sand Star Realm.
Inside the command hall of Sandstone Base, the blue zones representing territory controlled by the Feathered People were visibly shrinking on a massive holographic map.
Nearly thirty percent of their once-dense network of strongholds had vanished in just half a day.
"Confirmed evacuation of forward outposts B-7, C-3, and D-11."
"Patrol in Sector E reports no contact with any Feathered People units. They only found a torched temporary encampment."
"Aerial reconnaissance indicates forces on the outskirts of the Feathered People’s main camp are pulling back, shrinking their defensive perimeter by approximately fifteen kilometers."
The intelligence officer’s voice echoed through the hall, each report lifting the spirits of the officers present.
Zhao Rui stood before the holographic map, his arms crossed and his face impassive, but a glint deep in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.
"It seems we’ve really scared them."
The aide beside him spoke in a low voice, his tone thick with unconcealed excitement. "The battle at Wind-Erosion Valley broke at least a third of the Feathered People’s backbone in the Flowing Sand Star Realm. At this rate, we’ll drive them out of this plane completely in less than a month."
Zhao Rui didn’t answer right away.
He stared at the deep blue area on the map representing the main camp of the Feathered People. It remained as impenetrable as ever, and the surrounding Energy readings were unnervingly dense.
"Don’t celebrate too soon," Zhao Rui said slowly. "The Feathered People Civilization isn’t like those Celestial Wolf brutes. After taking a loss this big, they won’t just let it slide."
"You’re worried... they’ll bring in experts from their homeworld?"
"They will," Zhao Rui stated. He turned, his gaze falling on a figure meditating in the corner of the hall.
"Xu Wuyi has proven to be too great a threat. An Innate expert who can single-handedly massacre entire troop formations is a strategic weapon on a small-plane battlefield. The Feathered People won’t just let him keep running rampant."
The aide followed his gaze.
Xu Wuyi sat in a chair against the wall, his eyes gently closed and his breathing even. His black training uniform was still immaculate, but the faint, scorching aura he exuded made the very air within a three-meter radius around him seem to warp.
"Then... should we have Martial Artist Xu withdraw from the Flowing Sand Star Realm for now?" the aide asked tentatively. "If the Feathered People really do send experts, it’ll surely be for a decapitation strike aimed at him."
Zhao Rui was silent for a few seconds.
"Let’s wait for the detailed report. Also, notify Intelligence to gather everything they can on the Feathered People’s movements. I want to know how they’re going to react."
"Yes, sir."
...
「Meanwhile, at the other end of the Flowing Sand Star Realm, in the main camp of the Feathered People.」
It was a fortress built inside a giant mountain of rock. The mountain had been completely hollowed out, creating an internal space a hundred meters high, crisscrossed by dozens of passages, both natural and artificial.
At this moment, in the command hall deep within the fortress, the atmosphere was so heavy you could cut it with a knife.
Seven Feathered Priests sat around a circular table, their expressions terrifyingly grim.
A Crystal hovered in the center of the table, replaying footage from the final moments of the battle at Wind-Erosion Valley. In it, the black-clad figure stood on the rock pillar, dark gold flames swirling around him like a grim reaper.
The footage looped three times before the old Priest in the head seat waved a hand, shutting it off.
"The report is in." The old Priest’s voice was as hoarse as rubbing sandpaper. "Of the two thousand one hundred and seven troops deployed, fewer than three hundred survived. Forty-one Priests were killed, including one High Priest."
A dead silence descended upon the table.
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