Chapter 373

Chapter 373: The Great War Begins

"Fang Lie, how dare you speak to me like this? You have no respect! Is this how your Fang Family is raised?" shouted the old man opposite him in anger.

"You have taken control of Ten Thousand Flower Valley for my Fang Family, but you’ve lost over ninety percent of the Green Fox Demons inside!" Fang Lie yelled back, filled with both anger and grief. "Is this what true lawlessness is? No discipline at all?"

"You, you, calm down and let me explain!" The old man felt a sense of dread as it became clear Fang Lie knew everything. He hurriedly said, "It’s not as you imagine!"

"Then what exactly is going on?" Fang Lie sneered. "You need to explain it clearly to me!"

"In any case, Ten Thousand Flower Valley is under the control of our Jin Family. By both feelings and logic, you have no right to question it!" the old man insisted stubbornly. "Wait until you have the qualifications to take it back, then you can come and inquire!"

Clearly, the old man intended to use a delaying tactic to fool Fang Lie away, and then slowly deal with things. After all, dragging things out was their strong suit among the higher-ups. As long as Fang Lie left, they could delay him for three to five years, or even eight to ten years, and in that time, they could think of a way to make up for it.

Unfortunately for him, his plan was futile against someone as stubborn as Fang Lie. He had no intention of caring about rules or manners; he only knew that his loyal servants were suffering. When it came to matters of life, how could he simply walk away?

So, Fang Lie coldly laughed and said, "You old fool, you truly are naive! Do you think Fang Lie is still a three-year-old child? With just a few of your nonsense words, you think you can make me retreat? You must be dreaming! I’ll tell you the truth, today, if you don’t let me walk in, I will force my way in, and anyone who tries to stop me will be killed without mercy!"

With that, Fang Lie waved his hand and shouted, "Million Army, battle stance!"

With Fang Lie’s command, the Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship began to change.

First, the Earth’s Magnetic Force Puppets hidden within the battleship for thousands of years began to fall from the warship like raindrops.

While the million puppets appeared to drop haphazardly, each puppet had its own landing spot.

With a loud bang, as the million giant puppets landed, they naturally formed a vast Earth’s Magnetic Formation!

All the Earth’s Magnetic Force Puppets towered several zhang tall, their feet sinking deep into the ground like tree roots, merging deeply with the earth.

Then, the Earth’s Magnetic Formation spread out, covering a thousand-mile area, absorbing the endless earth energy into their bodies, causing their earthy yellow bodies to gradually emit a pale light, clearly showing the highly concentrated state of the Earth’s Magnetic Force!

The Earth’s Magnetic Force field formed by the million puppets was formidable. Even an ordinary Wind Tribulation Immortal could be torn to shreds without targeted attacks!

However, in the air, the Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship soared like a fish in water, the divine patterns on its underside gradually glowing, swallowing vast amounts of the Earth’s Magnetic Force beneath it.

Soon, the Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship began to emit Divine Earth’s Magnetic Force Light, a sign of accumulated Earth’s Magnetic Force!

This was the battle stance of the Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship, boasting a million-strong army! It used the army of million Earth’s Magnetic Force Puppets to set up the vast Earth’s Magnetic Formation, massively absorbing raw power to supply the Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship!

With this immense Earth’s Magnetic Force as a backing, the warship’s power would multiply, and with the Eighth-Rank Earth’s Magnetic Force Puppets and the Great Earth General stationed at the core, the current Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship was undoubtedly at Eighth-Rank level!

Of course, the Earth’s Magnetic Army had another wonderful use, which was to protect the Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship. Besides providing strength to the warship, the puppets themselves would also gain power, and combined with the Earth’s Magnetic Formation, even a Fire Tribulation Immortal would not be able to approach!

This was the strongest aspect of the million-strong army, capable of both attack and defense, with endless reserves. It could be said that as long as it was on the earth, it had nearly endless backing of raw power. Even continuous battles for hundreds or thousands of days would pose no problem!

The reason the Great Qian Dynasty’s Great Earth Treasure Ship roamed the world virtually invincible was precisely due to this. It was actually quite similar to this Earth’s Magnetic Force Ship; it just had ten times more puppets and a higher combat power by one rank, making it a hundred times stronger overall.

If the Great Qian Dynasty hadn’t made a blunder and taken the Great Earth Treasure Ship out to sea, thus losing its ground supply, it would never have been sunk even when facing a Ninth-Rank Treasure!

And now, while the Earth’s Magnetic Divine Ship was far from the Great Earth Treasure Ship of the past, it still had remarkable similarities. Let alone facing just a single Fire Tribulation Immortal, even a Thunder Tribulation Immortal would find themselves in a tough battle against Fang Lie!

Seeing Fang Lie’s fierce determination and the reveal of the million-strong army as such a lethal move, the old man immediately turned pale. He finally understood the terrifying aspect of being single-minded—that was, to act first and think later, regardless of the consequences.

Confronted with such an obstinate foe, the only option was to overpower him; otherwise, no matter how strong their backing or how eloquently they spoke, they wouldn’t be able to stop him!

With no choice left, the old man had to show weakness and called out, "Fang Lie, please pause for now. Let’s discuss things calmly. We can request the sect’s judgment. If the sect agrees, we are willing to give up Ten Thousand Flower Valley and accept any punishment!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Lie hesitated. He always believed in righteousness and never walked the path of evil. The old man’s suggestion to seek sect arbitration was indeed the correct way, and Fang Lie couldn’t refuse!

However, after a moment’s hesitation, Fang Lie resolutely said, "The sect can arbitrate, but before that, you all must leave. I want to reclaim Ten Thousand Flower Valley right now!"

"On what grounds!" The old man was furious, agitatedly stating, "This is against the rules!"

"No, this complies with the rules. You have slaughtered my loyal servants; this is a capital crime that violates the sect rules. To prevent you from silencing the remaining survivors, it is only reasonable that I take residence in Ten Thousand Flower Valley. This is precisely what ‘extreme urgency permits bending the rules’ means!" Fang Lie coldly laughed. "If you feel this is unfair, you can also request sect arbitration! But before that, you should leave as far away as possible!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man beside the old man could no longer hold back. He leaped forward and summoned a hundred-zhang-long bronze ship with antique design and ancient patterns, clearly a treasure ship from ancient times, at least Sixth-Rank or higher.

Standing at the ship’s bow, he pointed at Fang Lie and shouted, "Fang Lie, you’re quite arrogant! If you have the guts, come out and duel me! If you can defeat me, you can enter Ten Thousand Flower Valley at will!"

"Good~" Fang Lie readily agreed, sneering, "Then prepare to die!"

With that, Fang Lie raised his hand and revealed the Blazing Dragon Cannon, attacking without any hesitation!

Everyone witnessed Fang Lie pull out a terrifying dragon cannon over a zhang long and over a foot thick, then fired directly.

A red light surged from the cannon, and indeed, from the dragon’s head, a crimson meteor shot out. However, strangely, this meteor disappeared without a trace the moment it flew out, as if it had hit another world!

But just when the crowd was puzzled, the provocative middle-aged man suddenly found a red meteor appear before his chest, just inches away!

At such a close distance and high speed, even he couldn’t escape, let alone the Thunder Tribulation Immortal. He barely had time to let out a heart-wrenching scream before the cannon shell struck him in the chest.

As a result, in front of a dumbfounded crowd, that man was instantly turned to ashes by the blast!

The terrifying cannonball exploded into a spherical fireball several zhang wide, and within its beautiful petals, not only was the middle-aged man reduced to dust, but his treasure ship also suffered heavy damage, with over half of the upper platforms shattered.

Then, the heavily damaged treasure ship let out a mournful cry and plummeted from the air, crashing hard onto the ground.

"My son~" The old man finally reacted, crying out in sorrow, his face covered in tears!

It turned out the one who died was his own son, who had come with him to guard this place. Originally, his son had already reached the late stage of Wind Tribulation; just a few decades more, and he would become another Fire Tribulation Immortal!

Unfortunately, now he had met a tragic end right before him!

The pain of losing one’s child caused the elderly man to nearly go mad. He glared venomously at Fang Lie and shouted, "You, you are so cruel!"

"I’ve only taken down one scoundrel from your Jin Family; are you really this heartbroken?" Fang Lie coldly laughed. "But have you considered how I would feel when you slaughtered thousands of my loyal servants?"

"Just a few demons; how could they compare to my son?" the old man snarled fiercely. "Even if I kill them all, they won’t equal a hair on my son’s head!"

"You are mistaken!" Fang Lie coldly retorted. "In my eyes, the scoundrels of your Jin Family are worth less than a single hair from any member of the Green Fox Clan!"

"You scoundrel!" The old man roared, "I’ll fight you! Activate all Divine Lightning Towers; kill this dog thing!"

As soon as the old man’s words finished, the Divine Lightning Towers at the pass behind him began to operate, each emitting different glimmers. Some radiated a silver-white glow, unleashing lightning bolts like long dragons, some were a deep purple, sending out clouds of purple mist, while others were a fiery red, launching lightning balls about five feet in size!

These Divine Lightning Towers were no ordinary machines; they had all been expanded by the Jin Family over the years, each possessing different Thunder Laws with powers comparable to a full-strength attack from a Wind Tribulation expert!

What was more critical was that there were hundreds of these towers, rooted under the Spiritual Veins with boundless Spiritual Energy to support them, enabling their strikes to continue endlessly!

In the blink of an eye, thousands of various Divine Lightning bolts rained down upon the Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship!