hotmtlnovel Chapter 157 Confrontation
Chapter 157 Confrontation
Five thousand li west of Posuo Island.
A group of thirty-two had completed their assembly.
At the same time, a powerful Divine Sense enveloped the void where the thirty-two were located, concealing their emitted auras, fluctuations in spiritual power, and signals.
This was Ma Ke, a Great Cultivator from Xuanming Sect.
A Primordial Spirit Cultivator who could easily temper with the Scorching Sun Heavenly Thunder.
"For this competition, so much manpower and resources had been invested by the higher-ups, yet it has resulted in such heavy losses. There has already been considerable dissatisfaction within the sect, especially as this defeat might cause our allied sects to perceive Xuanming Sect as weak and hold us in contempt.
However, we know that as a sect with an ancient heritage, Xuanming Sect is unimaginably powerful!"
His Divine Sense contained a power that bewitched the mind, igniting the battle spirit of everyone present: "Sect Master Song You has personally ordered, we must achieve a resounding victory, to fully demonstrate the great strength we inherently possess and astonish those sects around us who act like mere clowns! The falcons and Bai Ge from the Nine Cauldrons Sect are our prey!"
"Kill! Annihilate them all!"
"The treasures of the world belong to the virtuous! Since we Xuanming Sect have occupied this sea area, it belongs to us, and no one else should even think about taking it away!"
"Damn Nine Cauldrons Sect, isn't the land you control enough for you? How about making the Eastern Sea ours too! Kill! Let their blood flow like rivers! Only then will they know to retreat, to fear, to dread!"
The murderous intent and battle spirit of the thirty-two elite Sword Cultivators were fully aroused, and their killing aura was overwhelming.
"Good, I have already sensed the Divine Sense of the opposing Great Primordial Spirit Cultivator probing around. To prevent them from escaping, now, follow my command, target..."
Ma Ke's Divine Sense surged in the void.
However, before he could finish speaking, a Divine Sense as strong as a storm swept over.
The collision of Divine Senses seemed to scatter a series of formless ripples.
In the minds of all the elite Sword Cultivators, it seemed as though a loud clang as of great bells and drums resonated, causing those with weaker mental fortitudes to feel dizzy and nearly lose control of their Flying Swords.
"Bai Lu!"
Ma Ke's eyes sparkled with rage as he quickly gathered the scattered Divine Sense from the earlier direct collision.@@@@
But as he gathered his Divine Sense, twenty sword lights in two groups pierced through the clouds with unbelievable speed and were already upon them, mere tens of li ahead!
This discovery slightly shocked Ma Ke.
Immediately, he vibrated his Divine Sense: "Flying Swords incoming!"
"Prepare for combat!"
Instantly, all thirty-two elite Sword Cultivators soared into the sky, their Sword Qi piercing the heavens.
Among them, one Sword Cultivator quickly inquired, "Elder Ma, where is the enemy!?"
In fact, as soon as Ma Ke sensed those Flying Swords, his Divine Sense had rapidly spread out—but despite that...
Even though he extended his Divine Sense over hundreds of li, he still could not sense any figures.
"How is that possible!?"
The enemy was launching swords from a hundred li away!?
How could a Flying Sword, which loses agility and travels in almost fixed trajectories, possess any killing power?
"Thinking they can conduct a surprise attack with a speed advantage? Under my Divine Sense, all your attack trajectories are inevitable and observable!"
Ma Ke sneered, his potent Divine Sense swiftly enveloping the thirty-two: "They have carried out an extreme distance attack. Their speed is fast, but I will guide you to sever their Flying Swords! Once a Lifebound Flying Sword is broken, that High-Rank Sword Cultivator will be virtually useless for a long time!"
"Extreme attack distance? Do they think we are made of clay!?"
"Nine Cauldrons Sect is just sowing chaos within their own ranks now, victory will belong only to Xuanming!"
"All forces, attack and crush their Lifebound Flying Swords!"
Thirty-two High Rank Sword Cultivators simultaneously summoned their Flying Swords, the sword light overflowing.
In the scenario where there are Primordial Spirit Realms against non-Primordial Spirit Realms, launching a surprise attack beyond the limits of their perception could still be reasonable.
After all, many Sword Cultivators' perception relies solely on "sight;" if there are also clouds for cover, it might be the case that the enemy's Flying Swords could approach within ten miles before they can precisely detect them.
And ten miles...
Even if they drew their swords to intercept, they might not be able to accelerate the Flying Swords to their maximum speed.
But now, with Great Cultivator Ma Ke providing support six hundred miles behind them, using such an extreme long-range attack, wouldn't that be like sending themselves to their deaths?
With this thought, the thirty-two Sword Cultivators simultaneously drew their swords, and following Ma Ke's rapid calculation of the flight paths of the two batches of Flying Swords and providing guidance, these sword lights tore through the clouds and struck toward the twenty incoming Flying Swords.
"What incredible speed!"
Having calculated briefly, Ma Ke felt chilled.
Although the thirty-two Sword Cultivators he brought were the elite of the elite, equipped with Superior Grade Spiritual Flying Swords, their Spiritual Sword speed was at most 3.6 times the speed of sound, but these Flying Swords...
This was only the beginning!
The slightly slower second wave of flying swords took advantage of the breakthrough made by the first wave and continued their onslaught, claiming eight more lives!
And while their lifebound flying swords were returning to defend, they swiftly turned at a large angle and retreated, their speed not reducing at all during the change of direction.
"Bai Lu!"
Fourteen people!
In one round of attack, fourteen out of thirty-two sword cultivators on their side were slain, and this heavy loss made Ma Ke roar in anger.
A massive divine sense surged like a tsunami towards the direction from which the flying swords were coming.
But Bai Lu also met it head-on without any fear.
The clash of divine senses in the void was fiercely intense.
Meanwhile, the energy of the returning flying swords, now in the hands of Yun Qing's team and other sword cultivators, was quickly restored with True Yuan nurtured, repaired, and infused by them.
"Hahaha, did you see that, one-shot kill!"
"Beautiful!"
"Hey, two of the Xuanming Sect's guys even tried a long-range blind shot at us. The flying swords targeted them hundreds of meters away, and I directly used my spare flying sword to make a huge cut in it, the power dropped by at least forty percent."
"So thrilling, is this the Third Generation flying sword crafted by the Chief of Purple Cloud? We can hit them at will, but they can't touch us at all! This kind of battle is exhilarating!"
The numerous sword cultivators of the Nine Cauldrons Sect could not contain their shouting.
Each one was visibly exhilarated.
"Zhang Lie, Bai Ge, how are your flying swords that got intercepted?"
Yun Qing inquired.
"Give me thirty seconds to nurture the flying sword!"
Bai Ge responded quickly.
"Forty seconds."
Zhang Lie's reply was also very brief.
"Okay, you two prepare for the next round of attack, everyone else, continue to strike, Tu Hong, keep using your flying swords that practice the Heavenly Extermination Beidou Sword Technique as the vanguard to lead their first interception, others... push forward full force and kill the enemy!"
Yun Qing's divine sense immediately suppressed the other chatters.
Upon receiving the command, all sword cultivators swiftly got into formation.
In a life-and-death struggle, there was no room for even a moment's negligence.
In less than three seconds, the flying swords once again shot out from their hands, accelerating crazily, and in three to four seconds, reached their optimal speed of over four times the speed of sound, continuing towards the Xuanming Sect's camp.
"Damn it!"
Ma Ke, one of the Great Cultivators of the Xuanming Sect, exerted all his effort for divine sense interference.
In such a situation, the limited divine sense that Bai Lu could draw upon to crucially guide the flying swords to change their trajectories resulted in four swords being intercepted and knocked away, while five swords were successfully dodged.
Even so, the remaining nine flying swords still wreaked havoc among the Xuanming Sect's sword cultivators.
With two rounds of attack, the Xuanming Sect directly lost a total of twenty-three high-ranked sword cultivators, leaving only nine!
Yet frustratingly, until now, they hadn't even located the enemy.
This vast disparity instilled a kind of despairing pressure among the sword cultivators of the Xuanming Sect.
"Damn it! We can't fight! Retreat, retreat!"
Ma Ke made the decision on the spot.
...
Meanwhile, Alkaid, who was observing this, didn't bother to watch any longer.
He already knew the outcome.
Twenty against nine.
And since his side's flying swords were obviously faster than those of the Xuanming Sect, the remaining nine couldn't escape.
He predicted the outcome of this 20 versus 32 battle would be a loss ratio of 0:32.
The Nine Cauldrons Sect's side had just a few minor wounds, and nurturing their damaged lifebound flying sword would suffice.
This was the cruelty of battles among sword cultivators.
Being slightly stronger, the final casualty ratio could be so overwhelming that it brought despair.