Witch Wind

Chapter 426 Mechanical Catastrophe (Part 1)

Void.

The war begins.

The Sun Wu fleet, shaped like the Black Tortoise, slowly approached. Along the way, millions of warships roared in unison, and countless heavy crossbows, countless bolts of lightning, and countless immortal secret techniques formed an attack torrent that tore through the void and landed heavily on the Bagua formation, which was centered on the twelve Yuan Chen and composed of millions of giant wooden horse and bull war puppets.

Within the Bagua Formation, auspicious energy rose, and the four colors of auspicious light—earth, water, fire, and wind—flowed. No matter how many attacks comparable to those of a mid-stage Taiyi Golden Immortal landed, the heavy auspicious light emanating from the formation did not even cause a ripple.

Xing Tianli grinned as he watched.

Have all the civil and military officials of the Sun Wu group simply wasted the past million years, waiting to die?

Leaving aside the formidable combat power of the wooden horse and flowing ox war puppets crafted by Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, let's just talk about Xing Tianli. How many years has he cultivated to this day? At most, ten thousand years!
The strange and wonderful war puppets and the powerful Great Yaksha Venerables in his Tower of Creation and Tower of Spirit Control have all been upgraded to the Great Luo realm. As a result, the strongest of the various large warships and war machines in the Tower of Creation have also been upgraded to the Great Luo level.

The fleet that Sun Wu brought out, though seemingly vast and boundless, was actually quite weak in combat!

In such a high-level battle, the destructive power unleashed by these naval formations is merely at the Taiyi level.

“Sun Wu has no talent!” Xing Tianli looked at Prime Minister Zhuge – in terms of formations and weapon crafting, the Prime Minister alone crushed the entire Sun Wu group.

Well, the Prime Minister is an anomaly; in many ways, he can single-handedly dominate an entire era.

Those who use him as a standard to judge Sun Wu seem to be bullying a child!

The naval formation was closing in, ever closer.

A torrent of water raged across the sky, raining down countless arrows, crossbow bolts, and even physical forms of lightning and fire, as well as various talismans and paper talismans—all disposable magical artifacts.

The Bagua formation remained completely still.

When the fleet approached to a certain distance, the illusory image of the Eight Trigrams in the void suddenly expanded outward, giving the Sun Wu fleet no chance to react. The massive fleet, the Xuanwu formation in front, and the three long snake formations in the rear that served as the trump card were all swallowed up by the Eight Trigrams Formation.

In the void, torrents of earth, water, fire, and wind surged and rolled. The sky, the earth, the swamps, and the deserts were filled with numerous strange phenomena, and the strange killing forces triggered by these natural phenomena swept in all directions.

First came a clang of metal, and amidst howling winds, countless golden blades rained down, slicing through the Sun Wu fleet and causing sparks to fly everywhere. Extremely thin cracks appeared on the hulls of the warships.

As the generals of Sun Wu, who were directing the battle, shouted loudly, the fleet slowly changed its formation, devising a special defensive formation to resist the golden swords falling from the sky. Suddenly, the drums and horns in the Eight Trigrams Formation sounded in unison, the gale turned into a cold wind, and countless icebergs the size of small mountains pelted down on them.

As a result, the fleet was riddled with craters. Accompanied by the banners, the massive fleet was struggling to cope with the impact of the cold wind and ice. Amid the sound of drums and horns, the gale became thick with moisture, and a large amount of swamp miasma rose into the air. In the miasma, there were faint traces of things like seven-colored peach blossom miasma mixed in.

Sewage mixed with miasma swept down from the sky.

Unfortunately, the Sun Wu fleet was completely unprepared for this move. On the deck, countless Sun Wu soldiers who were operating large war machines and firing wildly in all directions were swept away by the foul wind carrying the miasma and splashed with the swampy sewage. One by one, they collapsed to the ground, their bones weak and their muscles numb.

Xing Tianli reached out and grabbed a handful from the formation.

The three women, Liu Jing and her companions, also caught a wisp of miasma, such as the peach blossom miasma, from the great formation and sniffed it carefully.

With their expertise in voodoo and witchcraft, they quickly determined that this was indeed authentic, all-natural natural peach blossom miasma from the southern border region of Kyushu. Xing Tianli immediately recalled the story of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang capturing Meng Huo seven times. During the southern expedition, the Shu Han army had encountered many problems with natural miasma in the southern border forests.

Interesting, interesting.

Our Prime Minister is truly unconventional; he actually mixed the miasma of the southern border into the Eight Trigrams Formation.

Tsk, what a pity. Prime Minister Zhuge doesn't seem to be very interested in witchcraft. With his extraordinary wisdom, if he were to focus on witchcraft and medicine, tsk tsk... Xing Tianli looked at the three women who were chattering about the story of 'Seven Captures of Meng Huo'. Hmm, Prime Minister Zhuge would probably surpass these three in witchcraft and medicine in just a few years, right?
The drums and horns changed again, and within the Eight Trigrams Formation, auspicious clouds churned, quickly turning purplish-black. A myriad of lightning bolts twisted and roared down. The lightning exploded on warships, shattering countless armor plates, and large numbers of Sun Wu soldiers convulsed and collapsed on the decks.

The generals commanding the naval formation under Sun Wu were practically insane. They were gesticulating wildly, drenched in sweat, and almost fainted from the unpredictable Eight Trigrams Formation.

The massive Sun Wu fleet, if it wanted to change its formation and respond to a specific change in the Bagua formation, would require at least an hour of maneuvering and maneuvering to complete the transformation of the entire formation.

As for Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's Eight Trigrams Formation, the speed at which the power of its formation changes is a hundred times, a thousand times, or even ten thousand times that of Sun Wu's naval formation... As soon as the drums sound and the horns blare, all the celestial phenomena within the formation change accordingly.

Sun Wu's fleet was completely helpless against them and could only silently endure the beating.

Even more pitiful was that outside the Eight Trigrams Formation, they watched helplessly as so many enormous humanoid war puppets floated in the air. When they were swallowed up by the Eight Trigrams Formation, all they could see was an endless sky, a vast and boundless land, a turbulent sea, and a muddy swamp.

They couldn't see a single Shu Han soldier in sight; they were completely bewildered, confused, and helpless, passively taking hits.

Back on his flagship, Sun Ce took some pills to regulate his fluctuating blood and energy, restoring his full strength and spirit. After reorganizing his armor, spears, and various weapons, he strode out of the cabin with great pride and led over ten thousand elite soldiers, all carefully selected and at the mid-to-late stage of the Great Luo Realm, into the air.

They crisscrossed in the void, creating a powerful beam of light that struck randomly at various points on the Eight Trigrams Formation.

Sun Ce was knowledgeable in military formations.

However, he didn't understand formations.

In the cultivation world, basic array books like the Five Elements Array aren't exactly easy to obtain, but they're not rare either. However, basic arrays like the Five Elements Array are easy to learn; almost any cultivator can master a few techniques... But to reach the level of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, who elevated the art of arrays to such an inhuman level...

In the vast land of China, among countless cultivators, how many are as monstrous as the Prime Minister?

Sun Ce was not completely ignorant of the art of formations in the cultivation world; he was probably only at the level of understanding four or five of the seven orifices.

Of course he knew about the Prime Minister's famous Eight Trigrams Formation, but Sun Ce had never taken it seriously in the long years before—the way of formations was just a 'minor art'. A true man should cultivate boundless laws, possess boundless strength, and wield a sword and spear to roam the world!
Pure personal power was what Sun Ce pursued.

The Way of Formations—bah! Sun Ce thought—even the dogs of Sun Wu wouldn't bother to study the so-called Way of Formations.

It's fine now.

A vast expanse of confusion filled the air, the heavens and earth swirled in chaos, and countless attacks rained down upon us: golden blades, thunder and fire, mysterious ice, magma, and even invisible, soul-scattering winds and silent, colorless, fragmented magnetic fields, all sweeping fiercely from all directions.

With the sound of a drum and horn, three to five hundred of the hundreds of thousands of elite armored soldiers behind Sun Ce fell like meteorites.

Two drumbeats sounded, and three to five thousand more people fell behind Sun Ce.

Three drumbeats sounded, and only three to five thousand men remained behind Sun Ce.

Sun Ce frantically swung his spear into the void, while his two innate treasure-level swords slashed and hacked wildly at the void...

Xing Tianli's eyes flashed with a chilling light as he locked onto the two longswords beside Sun Ce that slashed wildly like two raging dragons—oh my, these are divine weapons of the innate supreme treasure level! Although the world from which these two longswords originated was obviously not very powerful, probably just an innate supreme treasure born from a middle-level world, their killing power was still truly terrifying.

Such innate treasures, born from medium-sized worlds, are prestigious even if held by a sage.

In Xing Tianli's hand, the Tongtian Miaozhu (a magical bamboo) clanged loudly, its hunting spirit gleaming.

Xing Tianli bowed respectfully to Prime Minister Zhuge, who chuckled and nodded silently. Then, Xing Tianli let out a loud shout, his figure blurring as chaotic energy surged around him. He transformed into a giant hundreds of miles tall, his body wreathed in raging dragons formed from chaotic energy, his feet treading on earth, water, fire, and wind, forcefully breaking into the Eight Trigrams Formation.

Inside the great formation, a bright, straight road appeared beneath Xing Tianli's feet, leading directly from outside the formation to Sun Ce.

Xing Tianli pounced in front of Sun Ce, his Tongtian Miaozhu, which was also a hundred miles long and as thick as a small mountain, swayed with a sword light. In an instant, the sky was filled with sword intent, and trillions of sword lights soared into the air.

Trillions of sword lights.

With Xing Tianli's current cultivation level, he easily deduced the "Boundless Sword Scripture" to a scale of trillions. Trillions of sword beams, shaped like willow leaves and no more than a foot long, floated in the air. Instantly, a magnificent and brilliant river of sword light appeared in the Eight Trigrams Formation—its sword intent was so grand and fierce that it even made the entire Eight Trigrams Formation tremble slightly.

Even Prime Minister Zhuge Liang couldn't help but change color.

Sun Ce's realm and cultivation were clearly far superior to Xing Tianli's, but even with all his might, Sun Ce could not shake the Eight Trigrams Formation in the slightest.

Xing Tianli only swung his sword once, and before the sword force was fully released, and the sword force was not even aimed at the Eight Trigrams Formation, it already made the huge Eight Trigrams Formation tremble slightly, and the base of the formation was even slightly shaken!
It is evident that Xing Tianli's fundamental cultivation method and the sword techniques he used were far superior to those learned by Sun Ce.

"You little thief!" Sun Ce saw Xing Tianli and shouted, spurring his horse to gallop towards Xing Tianli.

Arrows rained down from the sky.

Sun Ce, who was rushing forward, was beaten up by the torrent of sword light. He groaned incessantly, and countless sparks flew from his armor. His protective treasure and his heavy armor struggled, trembled, and wailed in the torrent of sword light, constantly losing vital energy. Even the spirit of the weapon was almost shattered by the extreme sword intent that annihilated all living beings.

This is……

The Supreme Killing Sword Dao of the Jie Sect is the most destructive method in the world!

Sun Ce retreated, retreated, retreated, and retreated again and again.

The few treasures and spiritual artifacts protecting his body could barely hold on, emitting a thick spiritual light to protect Sun Ce's entire body. However, the set of spiritual artifact-grade armor he wore had taken the most damage, and was covered in wounds, with extremely fine sword marks all over his body.

Sun Ce's powerful body was riddled with holes, and large amounts of blood splattered everywhere.

If it weren't for those few protective treasures that were wailing and crying, tightly wrapping his physical body and protecting his immortal soul, Sun Ce's physical body would have been completely destroyed by Xing Tian Li in this wave of attack.

Xing Tianli was also startled by his own all-out attack.

Sun Ce, a peak Quasi-Saint.

Moreover, given his talent, aptitude, and special status, his strength is absolutely among the top tier of normal quasi-saints.

Such a person was almost killed by his own all-out sword strike?

Xing Tianli looked up at the unpredictable sky, and he seemed to see the lofty and majestic figure of a saint, wielding a sharp sword and freely wielding it among the endless chaotic monsters.

We kowtow in gratitude for Your Majesty's grace.

Xing Tianli's true cultivation level was incomparable to that of Sun Ce.

The reason he was able to defeat Sun Ce so badly with a single sword strike was not because Xing Tianli's cultivation level was so high, but because the fundamental law he inherited and the sword path he cultivated were too terrifying and too powerful!
That's overwhelmingly powerful!
Xing Tianli released the Tongtian Miaozhu, letting it bring a strong light as it rushed straight towards the two bewildered innate treasures.

Xing Tianli let out a loud roar and charged straight at Sun Ce.

The enormous fist, carrying with it a torrent of chaotic energy, slammed fiercely towards Sun Ce. Fearing that his fist wasn't heavy enough, he forcibly split the now extremely heavy Tongtian Seal into two parts, holding one in his left and one in his right palms.

Thus, a heavy punch, like a meteor, whistled down upon Sun Ce.

'Thump, thump thump thump!'
On the Purple Mansion of Xingtian Carp's Spirit Platform, millions of Great Dao Lotuses bloomed simultaneously, and the Heavenly Dao essence of more than a hundred small and medium-sized worlds blossomed at the same time, providing Xingtian Carp with unpredictable destructive power.

Sun Ce stared blankly at Xing Tianli's fist—he was horrified to discover that he couldn't understand Xing Tianli's fist at all.

With a simple, heavy punch, Xing Tianli actually saw clearly different worlds in Xing Tianli's fist, from the birth of the world to the final annihilation of the world!
Furthermore, there are countless wondrous innate beings born from chaos, struggling to survive within chaos, breaking through the illusion within chaos, and creating the entire process of the world.

Those strange, innate beasts.

Those terrifying innate gods and demons.

Their figures, their great path, and their power were all clearly projected onto Xing Tianli's fist, giving it an unreserved boost.

The fist that came down on him wasn't a fist.

It represents the past of each world, the present of each world, and the future of each world!
As the fist fell, the lotus of the Great Dao bloomed. Between birth and death, the infinite mysteries transformed into visible Dao rhythms that permeated everywhere. This incredible, profound, and mysterious Dao directly crushed Sun Ce's Dao!
This is not scary.

Even more terrifying, Sun Ce clearly saw the shadow of a sage in Xing Tianli's heavy punch.

This is not an exaggeration, but the truth.

Within Xing Tianli's fist, he saw two sages smiling and holding flowers.

Within Xing Tianli's fist, he saw a saint wielding a sword to slay demons.

He saw a serene and inactive saint in Xing Tianli's fist.

He saw a majestic and dignified saint in Xing Tianli's fist.

Stuck in Xing Tianli's fist, he saw a benevolent and serene saint who was creating all living beings to ward off evil spirits.

This fellow clearly possesses the blessings of the legendary sages of the Nine Provinces—due to some strange cause and effect that Sun Ce could not imagine, Xing Tianli has become connected with those sages.

The Dao that permeated the void, originating from over a hundred small and medium-sized worlds, only suppressed Sun Ce's own Dao to the point of almost extinguishing it and almost collapsing... The blessings these saints bestowed upon Xing Tian Li, or rather, the protection they bestowed upon Xing Tian Li from a higher dimension, directly caused Sun Ce's several protective treasures to collapse.

Including those two innate supreme treasures with murderous aura, all of Sun Ce's protective treasures and spiritual artifacts are lying flat, lifeless, they're on strike...

The heavy punches landed squarely and without deviation on Sun Ce's body.

His armor, already riddled with holes, shattered with a crash. Heavy fists left Sun Ce bruised and swollen. His petite figure resembled a delicate, helpless begonia in a storm, his haggard appearance revealing a poignant and pitiful beauty.

The sound of bones cracking echoed through Sun Ce's body. He coughed up blood and flew backward.

A mournful cry rang out, and the two innate supreme treasure-level swords were swallowed whole by the Tongtian Miaozhu.

The two swords trembled violently, still trying to resist, but within the Tongtian Miaozhu, the essence of the supreme treasures such as the Qingping Sword, the Seven Treasures Tree, and the Blessing Pestle shone brightly, and strands of saintly power rippled out. In the blink of an eye, the true spirits of the two swords were obliterated, shattered, and swallowed whole by the Tongtian Miaozhu.

The two swords began to merge into the Heavenly Bamboo.

The Tongtian Miaozhu hummed contentedly, as if it had returned to the bamboo forest behind a small courtyard in Xiaolongqiu Town, quietly absorbing the metal powder sprinkled by Xingtian Carp, nourishing and strengthening itself little by little.

Strands of terrifying innate sword energy spread out from the Tongtian Miaozhu body, and the terrifying sharp aura rose into the air, cutting out dark cracks in the void.

Even this Eight Trigrams Formation was cut open with extremely fine cracks.

With the sharpness of the innate treasure combined with Xing Tianli's supreme swordsmanship, even though Xing Tianli's true cultivation had not yet reached the Quasi-Saint realm, he already had the ability to tear apart this Eight Trigrams Formation.

Even Prime Minister Zhuge was shocked.

He nodded and smiled at Liu Huangshu, "Li Daoren is indeed a direct descendant of the sage. Terrifying, terrifying! I wonder what kind of power the sage would possess if he were to personally take action!"

The next instant, a thin stream of light tore through the void, leaping hundreds of millions of light-years in an instant, carrying a terrifying killing intent that could destroy everything, and aimed directly at Liu Bei's heart!
(End of this chapter)