"Gaa—screee—boom—"
The enormous city-destroying cannon had its barrel blown off by Sun Cheng'en, the half-broken barrel crashing to the ground, gouging a huge pit and kicking up clouds of dust.
Because he was so close to the blast, half of Sun Cheng'en's body was blown into a bloody, charred mess.
But he was, after all, a Martial King; his vitality was stubborn. He did not die on the spot.
"You bastard! What did you do!!"
The Dragon Saint responsible for guarding the cannon lunged forward, its razor-sharp demonic claw stabbing into Sun Cheng'en's wound and hoisting him up.
Such agony would make any ordinary person die or faint, but Sun Cheng'en still managed to sneer at the Dragon Saint.
"What noble race of the Void Realm? In my view, they're just a bunch of frauds!"
"You're asking for death!!"
"Pfft!!"
A jet-black arrow suddenly flew through the air, piercing clean through the enraged Dragon Saint's head.
"That damned human race... ambushing me..."
The Dragon Saint had to release Sun Cheng'en and try to patch itself up.
Just then, a huge flaming arm descended from the sky, and a fiery fist slammed the Dragon Saint straight into the earth's crust.
"General Sun!"
You fired a dozen trait tags in one breath with the Trait Slingshot, finally freeing yourself from the five Venerables' entanglement and rushing to support Sun Cheng'en.
By the time you were digging out healing pills for Sun Cheng'en, he had already breathed his last.
"Chen Yi... don't lose..."
Sun Cheng'en was dead.
Raging, you turned and ripped apart the Dragon-Men who were trying to repair the cannon, demolishing the city-destroying cannon itself into scrap.
The Dragon-Men were adept at soul-refining techniques, which made the Trait Slingshot's effect on Venerable-level enemies extremely weak.
So the five Venerables soon broke free of the heavy control and, like a stubborn leech, charged at you again. You had no choice but to turn and fight.
There was more than one Dragon-Man war machine similar to the city-destroying cannon.
Afterwards, they attempted again to use these weapons to destroy the terrain around the Formation Core.
But they never succeeded.
Because people kept throwing themselves into the breach, willing to die to stop them.
Every member of the human world's allied forces, human or demon, carried a star explosive to be used as a last-resort suicide device.
To stop the Dragon-Man army from activating their war machines, everyone imitated what Sun Cheng'en had done.
Get close and detonate!
Long-range throws could be intercepted.
But closing in with agile movement and detonating at point-blank could still kill battle beasts, demon spirits, and even Dragon-Men themselves.
"Zhao Deguang from Hongdong County, Bazhou! Don't forget me! In my next life I'll be a Martial King too!!"
"Ma Yongchang from Qinghe County, Qingzhou! Father! Mother! Your son is unfilial!!"
"Li Xiaoyu of Mingsu City, Jizhou! Ancestors above, this unworthy descendant comes!!"
"Suzhou..."
One life after another hurled themselves at the enemy, turning into smoke amid thunderous explosions.
These people were fortunate; their sacrifice cost the enemy dearly.
But some were killed by the enemy's long-range methods before they could close in. Even if they detonated, they only blew a hole at their original spot and did not harm the enemy.
Those people died with unfinished business.
The human world's allied forces suffered sharp casualties from this suicidal tactic.
You watched martial artists from the Five Regions and demons from the Great Wastes—the familiar and the unfamiliar—fall and die without pause, and your hatred and fury toward the Dragon-Men surged to the heavens!
At this moment, you didn't want to care whether this was some damn simulation.
They were all people!
They all had families!
They had people waiting for them at home, just like you!
But they couldn't go home!
If they lost, every living being left would either die or become slaves!
"I cannot lose!!!"
You entered a state of rage that came from the depths of your soul, the hidden effect of Irritable Constitution activating—Extreme Fury:
All trait tags related to anger had their effects multiplied tenfold.
The tenfold boost to the Green Giant trait meant your height instantly surpassed one thousand meters!
"Get lost!!!"
With one palm you slapped the Moss Earth Venerable flying; the force was so great his body split clean in two on impact!
The other four Venerables were stunned and hurriedly backed away, unwilling to confront you head-on.
Their proud heads now had to look up at you.
"What... what is this..."
"How can he grow so huge! No human race has this kind of power!"
"His strength is at least Late Stage Martial God now! Don't go toe-to-toe with him, retreat!"
The four Venerables bolted toward the no-fly perimeter and ordered the entire army to withdraw.
You chased after the rears of the four of them.
"Where are you running!!"
Every step you took made the ground tremble like an earthquake.
Each footprint you left could carve out a valley or a river.
Every strike you threw whipped up terrifying, typhoon-level winds.
Every roar from you echoed through heaven and earth!
The Venerables ran exceedingly fast; it looked like you couldn't catch them, when Hua Wuyan appeared on your shoulder.
Whoosh!
You vanished from where you stood and then suddenly reappeared in front of the four Venerables.
"What?!"
The four Venerables panicked and scattered, each launching their own escape techniques toward four different directions.
You grabbed across the void, pinching Broken Star Venerable directly in your hand.
"Die!!"
You crushed him into a pulp!
His soul slipped free of its shell, and the Ten Thousand Souls Golden Banner had already waited a long time.
"That green brother's waiting inside for you! Come on then!"
The Green Giant's tenfold enhancement also meant your reason dropped tenfold; you no longer used spirit artifacts, only knew destruction and slaughter.
Fortunately, spirit artifacts housed Artifact Spirits that could exercise some initiative.
With Hua Wuyan assisting at your side, she helped focus your attacks on enemies rather than slaughtering friendly forces.
In the end, you destroyed the physical bodies of three of the five Venerables, and captured the souls of two of them.
This wave wiped out about two and a half Venerables.
After that, you continued to wreak havoc through the Dragon-Man ranks.
Without Dragon-Man Venerables to tangle you up, you ran rampant.
What war machines, what battle beasts, what demon spirits.
You simply swept across the field with your invincible body, crushing them all—smashing them to pieces! Stomping them flat! Biting them apart! Ramming them into dust!
Before leaving the no-fly area, any Dragon-Man soldier near you could not escape death unless they were far enough away.
Once they left the no-fly area and took to the air, flying off in all directions, you couldn't slay whole swathes with one blow. Still, you chased and killed for a long time, breaking their formations into utter chaos.
