Chapter 921: Chapter 169: The Blazing Sun Flying Boat
The Sea Clans of the Ding Wei region had almost completely emptied out their five Sea Nests.
Five great armies swept through, driving all the active cultivators of the wild lands back to the Floating Island.
The Ferocious White Elephant King, not pausing for a moment, took the lead as the vanguard, leaving those fleeing cultivators with no opportunity to even send a message before blocking them at the front of Ding Wei Floating Island.
At this point, the armies surrounding the island formed a dense and oppressive mass, casting the skies above the Floating Island into darkness.
The Human Race cultivators were accustomed to forming military arrays, and the Sea Clan also had their own military formations.
The Sea Clan had always relied on their individual strength to survive in the harsh environment of the Cang Sea. When faced with terrifying crises, they tended to scatter rather than gather, lacking the foundation to form large-scale military formations. Sea Race warriors generally formed small squad-based formations.
It was only after the war in the Lost World entered a stalemate phase that this situation began to change gradually.
The Sea Clan’s early large-scale military formations were created in imitation of the Human Race’s formations, which might seem crude to experts in the Human Race’s military ways, but with many years of warfare in the Lost World, the Sea Clan’s military formation system also underwent rapid development. They gradually formed their own unique advantages.
Now, the five Sea Clan armies were split into five formations, and upon each formation, energy converged, forming phantom images of wild creatures: a mad dragon, an Evil Wolf, a strange octopus, and a Ghost-faced Fish Eagle. The formation closest to the Ferocious White Elephant King bore the image of a ferocious white elephant.
Compared to the intricately unpredictable military formations of the Human Race, the Sea Clan’s formations were more wild and fierce.
The booming sound that shook the entire island just before had been the Ferocious White Elephant army manipulating the spirit of their formation to violently strike the Floating Island’s protective barrier with its long trunk, nearly moving the entire Floating Island.
Why did the Human Race cultivators choose to defend the island? On one hand, defensive formations had been laid out on the Floating Island, saving the defenders much energy.
On the other, as mentioned before, both Floating Islands and Sea Nests require a large amount of Lost Crystals for construction. The Human Race returning to the Floating Island, the Sea Clan returning to the Sea Nest—both would eliminate the effects of the Lost World’s Alienation. And the principle behind this elimination of Alienation is that the environment of the Floating Island is nearly equivalent to a miniaturized ordinary world.
Already adapted to the Cang Sea, the Sea Clan, upon entering the ordinary world, would naturally be subject to rules suppression, and their strength would be diminished. Just as the Human Race would be suppressed upon entering the Cang Sea.
This form of "suppression" made the Floating Islands and Sea Nests into fortresses in the Lost World, hence having a crucial influence.
For this reason, in areas where the power balance was unequal, the isolated side could rely on the Floating Island or Sea Nest to hold their ground, preventing an easy ousting.
At this time, the Sea Clan armies formed their military arrays, continuously bombarding the island’s protective barrier.
The Floating island monks also formed their battle arrays, under unified command, overlaying defenses on the protective barrier and infusing it with strength.
The island defense array had its limits and could not support indefinitely, but the Ding Wei Floating Island needed it to last even longer, depleting more of the Sea Clan’s energy and thus gaining an opportunity for a close-quarters confrontation later on.
Though the Ferocious White Elephant King seemed both furious and hurried, when he actually launched the assault, he was unusually steady. Three formations were always on standby, ready to act at a moment’s notice, with only two formations attacking in rotation at any one time.
He not only prevented the Ding Wei Floating Island’s defensive barrier from having a chance to repair but also left no opportunity for a counter-attack.
Meanwhile, he didn’t forget to continue his psychological assault, "Ding Jingshan. It seems your grand formation is about to fail. How many have bled and sacrificed to keep this Floating Island? It grieves me to think that because of your one wrong decision, it will be destroyed today. Was it worth it for an insignificant little cultivator?"
Amid the continuous bombardment, his words undeniably carried more weight.
"Because of our presence, the Human Race in the Ding Wei region exists. All these years have passed; I don’t contemplate whether it’s worth it. I only think about how much you will have to pay."
Ding Jingshan also tried to undermine his opponent’s fighting spirit in return, "To give the Blood King an explanation, you have crippled your own direct strength. Even if the Ding Wei region falls completely to the Sea Clan, who will come to take charge with the army? Have you ever considered whether your sacrifices are worth it?"
The Ferocious White Elephant King laughed, "You make a fair point. How about this: hand over that young friend, and I will immediately withdraw the troops. Neither side needs to suffer any further, wouldn’t that be joyous for all?"
Ding Jingshan also smiled and said, "I’ve already said he’s just a kid, you’re so much older, bullying the young isn’t appropriate! Why not let him off this time, let him get close to you another day, wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds?"
Two core figures of the human and Sea Clan, the supreme power-holders of the Ding Wei region, were actually chatting leisurely during the heat of battle. But even though their conversation was light-hearted, the war did not slow down for an instant.
"You truly are obstinate."
"You’re the one stuck in your ways."
"If my forces really suffer heavy losses just for an ordinary little cultivator, it would certainly not be worth it." The Ferocious White Elephant raised his right hand high and made a forward gesture, "I just fear you won’t be able to do it!"
The Sea Clan’s military formation changed immediately thereafter, leaving only one on standby while the other four began to rotate in their attacks, with the frequency and intensity of the attacks suddenly increasing!
Ding Jingshan said nothing, as his subordinates adjusted the island’s defenses on their own.
At that time, five Sea Clan armies formed military formations outside the Floating Island, utilizing the spirits of various terrifying giant beasts to launch a frenzied assault on the Floating Island.
Loud booms were continuous and unending.
Above the Floating Island, human cultivators formed small formations, taking control of various nodes of the island’s protective formation, bolstering the defense. Continuously, cultivators whose Path Origin was exhausted retreated, with others immediately taking their place.
The thin layer of light that seemed so fragile served as a barrier between the human and Sea Clan, marking the divide between life and death, safety and peril.
Everyone knew that when it shattered, it would be the most brutal moment of the war.
"Open the armory, pull out all the Sunburn Warships! Load up the Star Shatter Crossbows!" Ding Jingshan suddenly shouted.
The Star Shatter Crossbow was a unique military weapon from Yang Valley, its secret manufacturing technique handed down from the era of Yang Country and improved over generations. It used Prime Stones as an energy source, and its might was terrifying; one shot was comparable to a full-power strike from a warrior of the four realms’ Outer Building.
It was indeed a massive killing device.
The Sunburn Warship was even more significant, a military weapon that served as the hallmark of Yang Valley and its affiliated powers, used by these groups to travel between the mortal world and the Lost World.
This warship, along with the Diao Hai Building’s Dragon Fishing Boat and JueMing Island’s Thorn Boats, was said to possess the power of the great sun, capable of scorching everything—though that was an exaggeration. Still, when the Sunburn Warship was activated, crushing a few Commander-level Sea Clan was not an issue.
To counter such a level of Sea Clan army, ordinary weapons would be of no great use; it required these bottom of the box treasures to be effective.
But pulling out all the Sunburn Warships and Star Shatter Crossbows also meant that Ding Jingshan was prepared for mutual destruction, no longer leaving any room for compromise.
The Ferocious White Elephant once again raised his right hand high, his fingers slowly clenched, forming a fist!
In each of the five military formations, a Sea Race Warrior riding a huge white elephant-shaped Sea Beast emerged. In front of each formation, three massive white elephant Sea Beasts were lined up.
These white elephant Sea Beasts were different from ordinary Sea Beasts; judging from their aura, each possessed combat power close to a Commander-level Sea Clan member. It is worth noting that ordinary Sea Beasts wandering in the wilderness are usually below the level of the Ascending Dragon Realm.
Their appearance, coinciding with the name of the Ferocious White Elephant, further emphasized their extraordinary nature.
But to see the fifteen white elephant Sea Beasts at once raise their long trunks, issuing cow-like bellowing sounds.
Bellow!
Then one after another, they all exploded!
