"You're absolutely right, my lord," Jia Xu nodded in agreement. "Lu Bu was once a warrior who could take on ten thousand foes. With his strength, had he truly wanted to flee, no one in the world could have stopped him. But in the chaos of war, facing endless schemes and tides of enemies, he still ended up dead on the battlefield. There is no right or wrong in war—only victory or defeat. As for Gou Buli's death, he brought it on himself."
Being shot to death by a barrage of arrows was a wretched way to die, but no matter how humiliating it was, it had nothing to do with the human race.
"Withdraw the formation. Let the alien races witness firsthand what fate awaits those who dare oppose the Human Race and my Xuanhuang City. Don't even talk about a dog growing tusks. Even if it could, I'd rip them out myself."
Yi Tianxing's voice was calm, yet cold.
As the formation was withdrawn, what emerged was a scene of countless corpses and rivers of blood.
He wanted all the alien races to see with their own eyes that the Human Race was not to be trifled with, and that Xuanhuang City was no soft target.
"Withdraw the formation!"
Jia Xu echoed the command, nodding once more.
In just a short span, hundreds of thousands of kobold warriors had been buried here. The human side suffered minimal losses. This kind of victory was enough to shake the four directions, instilling awe in all alien races and showcasing Xuanhuang City's might.
Not something to be casually challenged.
Especially since maintaining the Eight-Gate Golden Lock Formation constantly consumed the true qi and cultivation of all the soldiers involved. Prolonged use would drain them entirely.
Shua!!
With the command given, the formation diagram was stowed away, and the formation dispersed. Instantly, the fog-shrouded valley was revealed in full clarity.
The alien races watching in the shadows felt a chill crawl up their spines. A biting cold, enough to raise every hair on their bodies. Some even refused to believe what they were seeing.
"No way... The entire army of kobolds—hundreds of thousands of them—dead! The valley's littered with corpses!"
"They were all cultivators! And to be wiped out so completely in such a short time... That formation—was it a slaughterhouse?"
"Twenty thousand humans went up against hundreds of thousands of kobolds, with even a powerhouse like Gou Buli, who was at the Life Aperture Realm. And yet, not a single one survived? This feels like a nightmare... That formation is terrifying. Truly a display of the weak defeating the strong. What kind of power is behind it?"
"Thank the heavens it was the kobolds charging in first. Otherwise, it'd be us facing that hell."
Numerous alien cultivators inhaled sharply, their hearts shaken. The valley, now stripped of the fog, was a mass grave. Blood soaked the earth, and many bodies were nothing more than mangled flesh. Corpses were riddled with crossbow bolts.
Especially Gou Buli—a Life Aperture Realm powerhouse—reduced to a porcupine, bristling with arrows. One could imagine just how wretched and unwilling his death had been.
Yi Tianxing and his two thousand troops stood tall amidst this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, exuding a chilling killing intent.
Shua!
Sweeping his gaze around, Yi Tianxing ignored the countless alien eyes hidden in the shadows. A flash of light danced in his hand, and the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Tower appeared, transforming into a streak of light that rapidly circled through the valley. It radiated divine brilliance, and wherever it passed, the kobold corpses began vanishing at a visible speed.
They were being absorbed directly into the tower.
Most of the flesh and blood was immediately devoured and refined, turning into nourishment. Only a portion of special materials remained within the tower, preserved for future use.
Additionally, the kobolds carried a great number of treasures and rare resources. After all, kobolds were expert miners, possessing an almost instinctive ability to detect and extract minerals.
Red Copper Ore, Square-Inch Gold, Ice Iron, Warden Stone—all kinds of minerals had been found on them. This alone proved just how formidable kobolds were in locating mineral veins.
And now, everything they had became Yi Tianxing's spoils.
These kobolds were all battle-hardened cultivators, trained in dou qi, with strong physical bodies and vigorous blood qi. To the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Tower, they were a feast of unmatched quality. As it devoured their corpses, the internal space of the tower expanded rapidly—the heavens rose higher, the earth grew thicker.
Even though many treasures and materials were preserved, the tower's foundation surged dramatically.
Its power was growing every moment, constantly evolving.
Inside the tower, primordial divine weapons emitted dazzling light, not only supporting the heavens and earth but also acting as the core that stabilized the entire world. They were central to reinforcing the tower's internal space.
As the world expanded, so too did these divine weapons evolve, growing more powerful.
This battle had been a massive gain.
By the time all kobold corpses—and even undead skeletons—had been devoured, only one remained:
The chieftain—Gou Buli, whose corpse had been pierced like a beehive by crossbow bolts.
At that moment, the tower's inner space had expanded to a radius of 3,300 li.
But just as the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Tower hovered over Gou Buli's corpse, a strange phenomenon occurred.
The countless bolts piercing his body began to push themselves out, as if some invisible force was ejecting them one by one.
"This isn't right—he's not dead!"
Ye Zhiqiu's eyes flashed with surprise.
The movement clearly signaled a resurrection attempt. Or perhaps he had never died at all, merely pretending to be dead.
"He's faking it—or worse, he has the power of resurrection," Jia Xu said grimly.
"A fake corpse? Then I'll make sure he becomes a real one."
Yi Tianxing's eyes narrowed, his voice cold with murder.
Had it not been for his habit of "cleaning up corpses," Gou Buli might have really escaped death. But now that he had been discovered, Yi Tianxing felt obligated to kill him for real.
"HAHA!!"
Gou Buli suddenly sprang up. All the bolts embedded in him blasted away, disintegrating into dust midair.
The wounds on his body rapidly healed, vanishing in mere breaths. It was as if he had never been injured at all.
"I—Gou Buli—am BACK!"
He howled to the heavens, gripping his scythe as his fur bristled and danced without wind. His eyes burned with rage.
Inwardly, he roared: Just as I thought! This battle formation couldn't last forever. It consumes tremendous energy. Once all enemies were dead, it would collapse. My decision to play dead may have been humiliating—but it worked. Now I've escaped the formation! With my strength, I fear no one! Even if I can't win, I can flee!
He had been consumed by rage and despair watching his warriors fall like wheat before a scythe. Fear of death had made him choose to play dead. And it had worked—until Yi Tianxing tried to collect his corpse.
The moment the tower appeared, he had no choice but to revive.
"He really came back! This Gou Buli isn't simple at all—no wonder he could command so many undead."
"Oh, this will be good. He won't take this lying down. There'll be a brutal showdown for sure!"
"Perfect, we'll get to see what the human army can really do outside the formation."
The alien races were surprised at his revival, but quickly turned to anticipation, eager to witness a real fight between Gou Buli and the human army.
"Yi Tianxing! I, Gou Buli, will fight you to the death!"
With a roar, he launched his Soul-Shaking Bell into the air. It flew straight toward the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Tower hovering overhead.
DONG DONG DONG!!
The pitch-black bell rang out violently, slamming forward with fierce momentum.
BOOM!!
With a deafening clang, it smashed into the tower.
Yet, the devastating force behind the bell collided with the tower like waves against a rock—completely ineffective. Instead, under the tower's radiant divine light, the bell was blasted aside.
"You should've stayed dead," Yi Tianxing sneered. "Just because the formation's gone, you think you can act like a god now? Fine. Then I'll make sure you stay down for good."
He raised his finger toward the tower and barked a command:
"Suppress!!"
The tower flared, divine radiance pouring forth. Beams of multicolored light shone brilliantly as it expanded in mid-air, growing to four or five meters tall, and then slammed downward, aiming straight for Gou Buli.