"Hu Lifu has been captured, and fifty thousand troops have vanished into thin air. Commander, it is time to march north, defeat the Yan Python army, and seize the Blood Python clan's stronghold!"
Xun An looked at the terrified Hu Lifu, his eyes narrowing slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"All troops, heed my command!"
Meng Tian scanned Du Guxin, Fu Hao, Hua Mulan, Zhang Han, and Lu Junyi: "The Qiongqi Legion will march north immediately and annihilate the Yan Python army in one decisive battle!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
......
"Slash!"
On the opposite bank of the great river, countless soldiers of the Blood Feather Crane clan, having fallen into the river, desperately resisted the impact of the elemental energy carried by the currents. Suddenly, a blue radiance flashed ahead; it was incredibly cold.
"Slash!"
On the riverbank, Ying Bu commanded a hundred thousand soldiers. They occupied the bank, wielding long sabers that gleamed with a chilling light. The moment Ying Bu gave the order, the hundred thousand soldiers acted as one, unleashing a saber's might.
This saber's might, as it swept across, churned the water into waves thousands of feet high. A crescent-shaped streak of starlight directly cleaved across the river.
"Pfft~~"
In an instant, thousands of heads flew off. Soldiers of the Blood Feather Crane clan, struggling against the current, were reduced to bloody mist.
Unending sharpness, from both front and rear directions, unleashed sharp arrows like two black shrouds, attempting to extinguish the sea of fire in the middle.
The sharp arrows tore through the dense flames, momentarily eclipsing the firelight that illuminated all directions.
"Ah......"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~"
Endless wails echoed amidst the flames of war, sorrowful cries. Bodies plummeted from warships, swallowed by the waves in a single breath!
"Humans!"
"How dare you ambush this old man!"
"Boom!"
A figure, dark and indistinct, mingled with wisps of blood, hairless and entirely bare.
"Whoosh......"
A splash of water surged forward, striking the black silhouette in mid-air, making it sway. Its turbid form gradually became clearer.
It was Yu Xin, the Second Elder of the Blood Feather Crane clan. Washed by the water, the black soot was removed, and his ruptured flesh bled crimson.
The wounds were substantial, clearly inflicted by a large rock; the arrows' damage was far from comparable.
Yu Xin's current appearance, in terms of his body, resembled a beggar. Yet, his head looked like that of a monk who practiced abstinence and chanted prayers, but his face was incredibly ferocious. His eyes gleamed with a cold light, and for a moment, he saw Ying Bu, who was commanding his army to slaughter soldiers.
"A mere Creation Realm cultivator, how dare you commit such atrocities! Humans, how dare you ambush this old man!"
"Kill!"
He stepped into the void, shattering the cascading water from above. His ruptured wounds gradually widened. Gritting his teeth, he gripped his long sword and thrust it out, instantly crossing several streams of water and shattering thousands of arrows.
His sword thrust out, resembling a crane's cry with wings covering the sky. The long sword shimmered with a lengthy beak, sharp as a blade.
The river below was directly split open, but it quickly sealed itself back together!
Ying Bu suddenly felt a chill and hurriedly looked up. Gao Changgong stepped out, his spear, faintly like a roaring dragon, emitting a crackling sound as lightning condensed on its tip, tearing through the void with rumbling echoes.
The moment the spear's might condensed, it collided with the long sword. With a roar, a massive elemental energy impact finally tore through the rushing river, revealing a bottomless depth where streaks of blue elemental energy still shimmered with the current.
"Huff...... huff......"
The violent bombardment intensified the fierce winds above the raging river, causing the sea of fire in the river's center to burn even more intensely.
"Bang!"
"Hiss, hiss, hiss~~"
A blurry figure exploded outward, crashing directly into a distant mountain peak. In the firelight, a dense plume of smoke and dust could be vaguely seen.
"Boom!"
Following that, Gao Changgong tore through the sea of fire, raising his spear and bombarding the mountain peak where the figure had crashed. He leaped forward.
"No......"
With a final, irrepressible roar of unwillingness, the Second Elder of the Blood Feather Crane clan, Yu Xin, vanished in a burst of roaring noise.
Meanwhile, Han Shizhong and Liang Hongyu, while directing their army's archery, were searching everywhere for Blood Feather Crane soldiers escaping the sea of fire.
The endless flames burned ever brighter!
......
"Boom!"
In the residence of Bao Zheng, Minister of Rites of the Great Han's Chang'an City, powerful surges of elemental energy crisscrossed the sky above the mansion like dragons.
In the secret chamber, Bao Zheng closed his eyes tightly, sweat beading on his forehead. The dense elemental energy within the chamber gradually liquefied, dripping onto Bao Zheng's body, only to be completely absorbed by his weakened form.
"Drip, drip..."
"Drip, drip..."
A heavy aura, far surpassing Bao Zheng's current realm, began to diffuse through the void. A strong wind suddenly swept through the secret chamber, billowing Bao Zheng's clothes.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Streaks of pale blue light flickered on and off Bao Zheng's body.
"Break!"
Bao Zheng, who had kept his eyes shut, suddenly opened them. His gaze was incredibly resolute. With a loud shout, a formidable wave of elemental energy, as if having been suppressed within him for too long, erupted.
"Boom!"
It surged outward like a geyser, causing the walls of the sealed, quiet room to crack extensively.
Heavenly Transformation Realm!
Bao Zheng stood up, carefully examining the powerful elemental energy within him, and couldn't help but shake his head. "Finally, I have broken through to the Heavenly Transformation Realm. It's not too late."
A few days prior, Zhu Sheng, Wu Yong, Wan Mizhai, Yuwen Kai, Wei Zhongxian, Di Renjie, and Chen Gong, who were all at the same realm, had successively broken through to the Heavenly Transformation Realm.
He was the last among the summoned heroes to reach the Heavenly Transformation Realm.
Bao Zheng let out a long sigh. After tidying himself up slightly, he walked out of the secret chamber.
......
"Ding! Congratulations to the host. The summoned hero Bao Zheng, through his own diligent efforts, has broken the barrier of the Heaven Merging Realm and advanced to the Heavenly Transformation Realm!"
"Ding! Congratulations to the host. All summoned heroes have now reached the Heavenly Transformation Realm or above!"
In the imperial palace's sleeping quarters, Yang Hao was reviewing official reports and military intelligence from various border regions when a cold voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Finally, the breakthrough!"
Yang Hao closed the memorial, a smile on his face. The ancient heroes who had been stuck at the Heaven Merging Realm for the past few days had, through their dedicated cultivation, managed to shatter the barriers of that realm.
His own realm had also made significant progress. Since entering the Heaven Connecting Realm, his meridians had been nourished by fortune and destiny without cessation. His blood was now a dark gold, and his bones emitted a golden light, like divine artifacts.
He had a feeling that the Great Emperor Golden Body, as described in the Universal Azure Emperor Scripture, would soon be perfected.