Star Trace Gate

Chapter 990 Wang Tudou's Iron Rod, Moro's Backup Plan

Beifeng Town, inside the East Gate.

Niu Dali stood in the void beneath the pitch-black night, his sharp gaze fixed on Ren Ye, the young marquis, Wang Tudou, and Chu Daoye. He was somewhat shocked, for he had not expected that among these Divine Court spies, besides the young marquis, there was another fifth-rank expert possessing a supreme treasure.

Damn, this is a bit tricky, but not too much...

After the young marquis left the martial monk's residence, Niu Dali immediately gathered three hundred personal guards, secretly approached the east gate, and met up with the garrison commander Chen Zhiyou in secret. Then, the young marquis revealed his true intentions, and after obtaining Jiu Zhi's information, he swiftly and decisively killed the thirty guards.

Before leaving, each of these guards, at Niu Dali's request, had crafted a soul tablet from a wisp of their true soul. The tablets were linked, and would shatter upon the death of the guard. Therefore, when Niu Dali saw the soul tablets shatter together in a very short time, he knew that his good brother had definitely "betrayed" him and was about to betray him.

Then, Niu Dali sent out scouts to silently surround the empty courtyard, intending to wait for the Netherworld Iron Cavalry to enter the city before personally leading his troops to annihilate these people from the Divine Court. However, he did not expect that as soon as his soldiers set off, they ran into his four "brothers" returning on the long street.

Although things had taken some unexpected turns, they had been developing in a direction favorable to him. Therefore, as Niu Dali floated in the sky, he felt an exhilarating sense of relief, as if all his turbid energy had been released and his luck had turned around.

More than 700 reinforcements arrived at the east gate, and another 500 Netherworld Iron Cavalrymen came from the west. In addition, Niu Dali himself led 300 personal guards. At this moment, there were already 1,500 elite troops gathered here.

Furthermore, Niu Dali had carefully studied a military formation called the Wild Goose Feather Annihilation Formation. This formation was actually of little use to ordinary cultivators, as it required at least a thousand soldiers to unite in Dao cultivation, collectively activate spiritual energy, and enhance the power of the formation's core. Therefore, it was virtually useless against those skilled in individual combat or small groups.

With too few people, it is impossible to revive the core of the formation to the maximum extent.

The Wild Goose Feather Annihilation Formation was specifically developed for leading troops into battle and annihilating those at the high-level cultivation realm. It was further refined by countless renowned generals throughout history. The strength and essence of the Wild Goose Feather Annihilation Formation lie in the "rank" of the soul at its core. If the soul at the core is merely a high-level alien soul of some kind of jackal, wolf, tiger, or leopard, its power is somewhat weaker; however, if it is a naturally born and nurtured innate holy spirit as the soul at the core, its power is immense, almost limitless.

To put it bluntly, if the true souls of the True Dragon and the Heavenly Phoenix are used as the core of the formation, and then tens of thousands of soldiers, or even more, unite to activate and inject spiritual energy, the power of the formation would be unimaginable.

However, Niu Dali didn't have the ability or the prestige to use a primordial holy spirit as the array's core. Therefore, his version of the Wild Goose Feather Annihilation Array used a six-horned blue ox with unparalleled brute strength as the array's core soul. Over many years of leading troops in battle, he continuously refined it, and at least a thousand people could activate its soul, enabling it to unleash a "Transformation of the Dao" strike comparable to that of someone who had condensed their intent.

With 1,500 elite monk soldiers at his command and a strange array around him, how could he possibly be unable to withstand even four Divine Court spies?!

So what if you're a fifth-rank official? So what if you have a priceless treasure?!

Today, relying on the advantages of location and popular support, I'll wear you down with sheer willpower!

Moreover, with the Netherworld Army already inside the city, the four thousand defeated soldiers who escaped from the Nanshan Illusion were practically negligible under the merciless iron cavalry.

When Niu Dali thought about these things, he felt extremely excited and his heart was surging with emotion.

He had initially been astonished by Master Chu's fifth-grade cultivation and his supreme treasure, and also felt both fear and amazement at Wang Tudou's bizarre blood soul true form. However, after careful consideration, only boundless excitement remained in his heart. Because the higher the opponent's cultivation level and talent, the higher their status in the Divine Court, and thus their greater value…

If you're going to do something, do it big! If you're going to gamble, be prepared to go bankrupt and bet everything on the sky!

A real man must have a big appetite and a big ambition. If you don't reach the top of the official ranks, you'll always be a damn ant beholden to others! If a military officer in a town can embezzle 30 million star resources a year, then the highest commander of a city or prefecture can embezzle 50 million or even 80 million a year!

The great event of our migration is approaching; time waits for no one! If we don't fight hard now, when will we?!

"boom!"

High above the sky, a surge of heroic spirit inexplicably ignited in Niu Dali's heart, causing the spiritual energy within his body to burst forth invisibly, blotting out the sky and the sun.

"Brothers! Two fifth-rank officials, two supreme treasures, a messenger from the Divine Monk's Mansion with a Blood Soul Body whose strength is unfathomable... and a leader of the Divine Court's spies who is secretly orchestrating the whole affair. If we can capture these four alive here today, when we return to Tianzhao City in the future, the Buddha himself will surely come to commend our achievements and make us famous throughout the Migration!"

Niu Dali roared passionately, "Let's achieve fame and glory immediately! Gentlemen, fight me and let's settle this battle in one fell swoop!!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!!"

"Boom boom boom...!"

The shouts were deafening. More than a thousand monks and soldiers surged with spiritual energy, making the entire formation seem like a pot of boiling water, with the energy boiling intensely.

"Buzz!"

Chen Zhiyou activated his magical weapons and entered the formation from the outside, shouting, "I'll hold off that fourth-rank enemy. You all take this opportunity to revive the Azure Ox Formation Eye and launch an attack on him!"

Not far away, Wang Tudou coldly watched Chen Zhiyou fly over, thinking to himself speechlessly, "Does he think I'm the easiest target?"

"Potato Brother, this guy clearly looks down on you, why aren't you going to take him down?!" Ren Ye stared at Chen Zhiyou and immediately sent a telepathic message to Wang Potato.

"You don't need to tell me, I can do it myself." Wang Tudou found this woman annoying, and damn well, she was a bit of a chatterbox.

In mid-air, the fourth-rank guard general Chen Zhiyou first raised his left arm and waved it, then summoned six sinister soul-piercing nails and threw them from a distance.

"Whoosh...!"

A whooshing sound came as the six Soul-Slaying Nails moved with incredible speed, instantly disappearing into the void, making it extremely difficult to detect their trajectory with the naked eye or the divine soul.

"Ong!"

Immediately afterwards, Chen Zhiyou raised his gleaming fourth-grade martial spirit blade high above his head and slashed down vertically like an immortal splitting a mountain.

Hundreds of blade beams surged forth simultaneously, indistinguishable from the real ones, and slashed towards Wang Tudou's true blood soul form.

"Draw upon my spiritual energy, awaken this six-horned blue ox, and summon the gods to descend upon the mortal realm...!"

Around them, more than a thousand monks simultaneously immersed themselves in their spiritual thoughts, drawing upon their own spiritual energy to jointly perceive the key point of the formation, while chanting incantations in a mystical manner.

"Boom!"

A moment later, the clouds in the sky churned, and a dazzling blue light suddenly appeared, transforming into an extremely solid blue bull horn, which shot towards Wang Tudou from a distance.

Ren was shocked and transmitted his voice again, "Brother Potato, it seems they're determined to kill you! Do you need help?"

The divine light surged, blotting out the sky and completely enveloping Wang Tudou's true form, as well as his blood soul true body whose depths were unfathomable.

"Damn it, I have to help him, otherwise if this kid dies, we won't be able to break the seal and rescue Jiuzhi from the Blood Soul Jade Pendant!" The young marquis shouted, turned around and flew away, ready to help Wang Tudou.

"Wait a minute, no rush!" Lord Chu also wanted to see how deep the potatoes were, so he immediately used telepathy to stop the young marquis.

At the eye of the storm surging with divine light, Wang Tudou stood in the void, looking calmly at Chen Zhiyou who was rushing towards him. His eyes were completely empty, without any emotion.

In terms of natural talent, he was indeed inferior to the young marquis, the crown prince, and others, and even to most ordinary cultivators. As for his undefeated record, it wasn't just due to brute force, but also to his intelligence, his scheming, and his patience that far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Wang Tudou's journey has been far slower than that of ordinary people. He was trapped in the second-grade realm for a very long time, and even felt several times that there was no hope of advancing to the next grade, and that his path of cultivation was completely over.

Because his lineage was unordered, when he reached the second rank, there were no guidance on any advancement tasks, nor any prompts from the Heavenly Dao. It was as if all paths ahead had been cut off, and the second rank was the end of his life.

Without direction, one doesn't know which direction to strive in, nor what one needs to do to reach the third rank!

The despair he felt was beyond anyone's comprehension, and only he himself knew how he managed to survive the second rank.

However, this "slowness," this all-out sprint without any direction, allowed him to walk the path he had come from with great steadiness and complete a solid accumulation that ordinary people do not possess.

This accumulation is far beyond what a fourth-rank secret realm general can easily challenge!

Each time he ventured into a secret realm, he would only act when he was confident of victory. This didn't mean he lacked the ability to fight directly. He chose to remain hidden because he knew that only by surviving did the myriad opportunities in this world have meaning. Death meant losing everything; it was all for naught.

"Whoosh...!"

Six Soul-Destroying Nails shot out of the void in an instant, aiming straight for his face and vital points.

"Ong!"

Hundreds of blade beams, some real, some fake, some illusory, came with the force to split mountains.

Wang Tudou's hair fluttered and his face trembled as the chaotic and violent aura of divine magic blew through him, but his eyes were empty as he stared at the blade light and soul nails in front of him. He raised his right arm somewhat clumsily and swept it across the air with an extremely simple movement.

"Ding ding ding...!"

A pleasant metallic clang rang out as the pitch-black, rusty iron rod accurately knocked away the six Soul-Slaying Nails.

With a single sweep of the staff, all six nails instantly turned to dust and scattered, without any sudden impact or earth-shattering clashing of divine techniques.

At the same time, a hundred blades of light fell, aiming straight for the forehead!

"brush!"

Wang Tudou slightly moved his right leg back, revealing the posture of an ordinary martial artist practicing a horse stance, and then raised his stick, pointing the tip of the stick towards the sky.

"Boom! BOOM!"

A deafening roar shook the earth, and the black iron rod, devoid of any divine light, precisely blocked the truly solid blade of light in the sky. Then, the clouds surged, and the blade of light dissipated without a trace.

"ah?!!"

Chen Zhiyou held the knife in both hands and looked down in utter astonishment, only to see Wang Tudou standing still, his body completely unmoved as the blade's light dissipated.

"You're dead...!"

A cold voice rang out, and Chen Zhiyou was shocked. He realized that Wang Tudou was someone he could not defeat. He turned around and ran away, shouting, "Quick, use the Green Ox technique to stop him and help me escape!"

"Whoosh!"

Azure light filled the sky as the azure ox horn, comparable to a strike from a cultivator who had achieved the Dao Transformation Realm, twisted the void and arrived.

Wang Tudou faced Chen Zhiyou. Although he did not turn around, he could feel that the attack from the green ox was far superior to the blade light from before. Then, with a solemn expression, he raised his hand and waved it, causing the Blood Soul True Body to return.

"Hurrah!"

A cloud of blood mist rose, and the true form of the Blood Soul instantly appeared behind Wang Tudou. Its outline and figure grew infinitely, rising into the sky like a crimson giant, stretching out its hands and clumsily and simply pouncing towards the blue ox horn in the sky.

"Boom! Rumble!"

The Blood Soul, transformed into a crimson giant, stood with its feet on the ground and the night sky above its head, and caught the blue ox horn with both hands in mid-air.