Roar!
A dragon's roar echoed through the sky. The golden imperial soul power within Lin Qian transformed into nine dragons that circled around him before finally condensing behind him into a throne of imperial intent.
The Nine-Dragon Throne!
Lin Qian took a step back and sat firmly on the Nine-Dragon Throne. The golden imperial soul power condensed into an imperial robe of intent, and the throne slowly lifted him into the sky, stopping only when he was positioned higher than Bai Ximing and Wu Zhanshuang.
How could an emperor allow himself to be beneath others?
At the same time, the golden imperial soul power emanating from Lin Qian resonated with the completed Huaxia Realm Formation, creating a mysterious connection between them.
As they observed the aura emanating from Lin Qian and the yellow dragon beams soaring into the sky, Bai Ximing and Wu Zhanshuang could no longer deny it—they had been outwitted by this man.
Initially, in their fury, both of them had believed Lin Qian's arrogant claim that they should bring as many people as possible. Naturally, they obliged his foolish request. Since he invited them to come, they thought the more, the better, so Bai Ximing and Wu Zhanshuang brought everyone from the other cities, eager to see the fear on Lin Qian's face.
But now, in the blink of an eye, the entire Third Space had become his!
"How... how could this happen?" Bai Ximing was utterly stunned. When the Xunyin and Wuxing tribes had taken control of the Battle Plains, they had painstakingly dismantled the formations piece by piece. Only after completely breaking the formations did they rebuild the cities and set up their own formations. The entire process had taken over a hundred years to complete.
But now, from the time their forces had begun gathering to their arrival at City Two, only an hour had passed in total.
How had Lin Qian managed to take control of all the cities in such a short time and claim the entire Third Space Battle Plains as his own?
Seated high on the Nine-Dragon Throne, Lin Qian looked down at the furious Bai Ximing and the expressionless Wu Zhanshuang. Propping his head on one hand, he chuckled. "By the way, if you're thinking of surrendering now, I'm afraid I won't accept it."
Hearing his own words thrown back at him by Lin Qian, Bai Ximing's face darkened even further, his voice hoarse with suppressed soul power. "Even if you used some unknown method to seize all the cities while they were undefended, how do you plan to deal with my six million soldiers and eighty million soul beasts in battle?"
"And when we capture you alive and extract the secret of how you controlled the cities, that will be quite the prize," Wu Zhanshuang added, stretching his shoulders.
As Bai Ximing and Wu Zhanshuang spoke, the massive army of the two tribes surrounding City Two began to stir restlessly. Waves of soul power surged as they gazed at the city with murderous intent.
The soul beasts controlled by the Wuxing tribe also had their eyes turn blood-red again, their auras becoming increasingly violent. It was clear that as soon as the Wuxing tribe released them, they would charge en masse, throwing themselves against the city's formation barrier.
From Bai Ximing and Wu Zhanshuang's perspective, City Two was defended by only Lin Qian and the strange old man with the ethereal form beside him. As for the busy figures inside the city, they were merely craftsmen working on renovations. How could they possibly put up a fight?
"I'll see if you can maintain that calm demeanor when we start the real battle!" Bai Ximing shouted, pointing angrily at Lin Qian.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Just as Bai Ximing extended his hand and roared, several openings suddenly appeared on the walls of City Two, and black metal tubes emerged from the gaps. The sound of metal striking brick echoed loudly.
Not only on the wall facing Bai Ximing, but also on all sides of the city where the six million troops were advancing, similar openings appeared on the walls.
"Boom!" Lin Qian mimicked the sound with a smile as he looked at the stunned Bai Ximing and Wu Zhanshuang.
The next moment, the soul cannons, glowing an intense yellow due to the rapid increase in temperature, fired searing beams of soul power. The beams shot out from the barrels and blasted toward the masses of enemy troops.
Both Bai Ximing and Wu Zhanshuang's pupils contracted as they watched the soul cannons fire toward them. Their soul power surged instantly in response.
Enveloped in a green wind, Bai Ximing's body twisted and turned, narrowly avoiding the soul beam just before it could pierce him.
The scorching beam of soul power brushed past him and shot toward the rear.
Wu Zhanshuang channeled dark soul power into his arms, wielding his small daggers with lightning speed despite his large, stone-like body. The daggers, though seemingly like toys in his hands, created a flurry of black blades that met the searing soul beam, emitting clouds of black smoke.
Realizing that blocking the attack head-on wasn't wise, Wu Zhanshuang quickly dodged to the side. The black blades he had unleashed also disintegrated, scattering toward the ranks of his clansmen behind him.
Neither Bai Ximing nor Wu Zhanshuang had time to react, let alone stop the soul beams from tearing through their forces.
"Everyone, move! Don't try to block it!" Bai Ximing's shout echoed across the sky, and the Xunyin and Wuxing clansmen instinctively obeyed, scrambling to evade the attack.
However, caught off guard by the sudden barrage and without the strength of Bai Ximing and Wu Zhanshuang, many of the clansmen couldn't dodge in time. They were either pierced by the soul beams, dying instantly or falling heavily injured, plummeting from the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The soul beams that tore into the enemy ranks exploded in rapid succession, shaking City Two to its foundations with their deafening blasts.
Flames and smoke billowed into the sky, forming dense clouds that obscured the battlefield, making it impossible for the enemy to see what was happening.
Unwilling to let the situation continue, Bai Ximing quickly ordered his forces to disperse the smoke with their soul power.
As the air cleared, Bai Ximing saw the chaos that had overtaken his forces. Although they had lost only around a hundred thousand troops—merely a drop in the ocean compared to their total of six million—the fact remained that this had happened before they had even launched their attack.
"Shameful!" Bai Ximing's chest heaved with rage as he turned his gaze back to Lin Qian. But when he saw what lay before him, his expression froze.
He wasn't the only one. Even Wu Zhanshuang, standing beside him, was left speechless and in disbelief.