NOVPUB
Chapter 306: Chapter 303: Overwhelming Power
The island master of Black Shark Island had died.
Together with two Peak Monarchs, he had fallen.
Witnessing the three great Peak Monarchs seemingly swept away by a stream of light and taken directly, all the Peak and Divinity Transformation Cultivators, as well as the Refining God Immortals, were stunned.
It took a whole second before a burst of angry shouting suddenly erupted from Yuan Zhenhai, the leader of the Tianhai Gang.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Under the tremor mixed with the power of Divine Thought, several Peak Monarchs and Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators abruptly woke up.
"From the west, the attack originates from the west! Lingxiao City is launching an attack on us!"
"How could this be... Didn’t the advance fleet just send a message saying they had detected traces of the war Spiritual Artifacts called ’Mystic Birds’? Based on the speed of these war Spiritual Artifacts, they should take at least thirty seconds to reach the battlefield..."
"Believe it or not, the attack from Lingxiao City has already arrived. If we don’t want to end up like the island master of Black Shark Island, caught completely off guard and powerless to resist, we need to be fully alert."
Every Peak Monarch lost their previous confidence and assurance of victory.
Chaotic Divine Thoughts filled the airspace above the fleet.
Though some still felt that the deaths of Hei Jing and the other two Peak Monarchs were unexpectedly sudden, losing three Monarchs all at once...
This was a crippling blow for the Overseas Alliance.
Facing such devastating losses, no Peak Monarch dared to relax even a fraction.
One by one, at the first instance they controlled their swords with their Primordial Spirits, and flying swords crisscrossed through the air.
Their powerful Divine Thoughts spread out like streams of light, wildly extending towards the direction from which the attack had come.
Almost simultaneously with their activation of Divine Thoughts, streaks of light again passed across the horizon.
This time, they finally "saw clearly" the culprits behind the attack.
But as their Divine Thoughts captured these culprits, the expressions of the Peak Monarchs turned deathly pale, and they cried out in shock.
"How can it be so fast!?"
"This speed... is it Devas Defend Sword!?"
"Too fast! Watch out! Dodge!"
Frantic shouting and chaotic Divine Thought transmissions filled the void.
Even though these Peak Monarchs, through their mysteriously fine-tuned Divine Thoughts, managed to capture the trajectory of the second volley of eight cannon rounds, the rounds were too fast.
So fast that even those Peak Monarchs traveling at full speed on their swords, which was only four to five times the speed of sound, or even three times, found it impossible to intercept them.
Moreover, this level of attack, surpassing the Peak Monarchs and equivalent to the Devas Defend Sword level, completely disrupted the battle plans of the Peak Monarchs of the Overseas Alliance.
They had anticipated scenarios where the Mystic Bird fighting machines and Xin Tianqi, Cheng Lixue, Jing Yunshan—the three great Peak Monarchs—would attack simultaneously.
They had anticipated scenarios where the Mystic Bird fighting machines and the Peak Monarchs would protect Gu Jinlai as he led the charge.
They had even anticipated strategies where Gu Jinlai might opt for hit-and-run tactics and break them one by one.
They had even prepared for the worst-case scenario where Gu Jinlai would abandon Fish Dragon City and not confront them directly, instead sending a small number of experts to stealthily attack Lizhou State.
But none of these plans had considered a situation where the enemy wasn’t even visible yet, and the attack had already arrived.
Especially not one with a speed comparable to the Devas Defend Sword.
"Boom!"
In the ensuing chaos, three out of the eight cannon rounds were intercepted, four were dodged, but one still struck a Peak Monarch.
The horrific strike, which equated in power to a hit from a Peak Monarch wielding a sword, directly burst the modestly equipped island master of an island in mid-air.
Following in the footsteps of Hei Jing and the other three Monarchs.
"Damn it! What in the world is this thing!"
"Heavy cannon! It’s Lingxiao City’s heavy cannon! But... this cannon’s speed is many times faster than expected!"
"Everyone gather together, form a formation. These cannon shots come straight forward; if we adopt a regional defense tactic, with each person responsible for an area and executing a saturation interception, we can definitely cut down all these cannon shots!"
"If we keep defending, we will fail. Control the swords with your Primordial Spirits, take the initiative to strike—we can’t keep getting passively hit like this."
The Peak Monarchs quickly discussed tactics.
In the end, compared to defending, everyone still preferred to attack.
One after another, the Peak Monarchs quickly controlled their swords with their Primordial Spirits, racing towards the direction from which the cannon rounds had come.
Meanwhile, their True Bodies rapidly went into hiding.
Unrestricted by their physical bodies, the speeds of the many Peak Monarchs in the state of controlling swords with their Primordial Spirits significantly surged. Combined with their powerful Divine Thought powers, it wasn’t long before...
The Mystic Bird fighting machines, sixty miles away, had appeared within their perception.
However, when they "saw" the number of Mystic Bird fighting machines, everyone’s heart instantly sank. 𝚗𝚘v𝚙𝚞b.𝚌𝚘m
"Eight... eight machines!?"
"Every time we encounter almost Devas Defend Sword-like attacks, I have a bad feeling, wondering if in this period, Lingxiao City completed the mass production of these war Spiritual Artifacts and acquired eight Mystic Bird fighting machines. I didn’t expect... the guess to become reality so quickly!"
"Eight Mystic Bird fighting machines... according to intelligence, each one of these machines has a deterrent power not inferior to a top-tier Monarch, and eight machines equate to eight top-tier Monarchs..."
Every Monarch felt a chill run down their spine.
Under normal circumstances, it would take two ordinary Monarchs to just tie down a top-tier Monarch.
And even that’s just managing to tie them down.
Eight top-tier Monarchs, that’s tantamount to the combat power of sixteen ordinary Monarchs!
With their fifteen allied forces already down by four Monarchs, the remaining nine...
It was almost equivalent to a one-on-one confrontation with a top Monarch!
What could they use to withstand it!?
"Retreat! Retreat! Withdraw to the fleet and use the power of the Divinity Transformation Cultivators to assist in defense!"
Long Ao, the leading Monarch, made a decisive decision.
As soon as he spoke, the remaining Monarchs immediately turned and left.
Even under the Primordial Spirit Sword Control, achieving three to four, even four to five times the speed of sound, the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine controlled by Gu Jinlai might not be able to shoot them down.
But, Gu Jinlai did not need to shoot down the Primordial Spirits controlling the flying swords.
The retrofit of the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine not only involved replacing the short-range defense cannon with a railgun but also included adding radar onboard.
Moreover, due to the previous lessons from Gu Chifeng and others, the new onboard radar could scan not only the Qi Blood Power of devils but also the Divine Thought Fluctuations of the Primordial Spirit Monarchs.
In such times, as each Monarch employed Primordial Spirit Sword Control and Divine Thoughts scattered, the positions of each of their true bodies were practically exposed.
"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!"
Streams of light shoot forth.
Projectile after projectile, propelled by electromagnetic force at ten times the speed of sound, crossed the void, instantly surpassing each sword-controlling Primordial Spirit Real Person, aiming directly at their true bodies.
This scene left the Monarchs, who clung to their flying swords evading frantically, somewhat astonished.
But then, they realized something.
"Not good!"
"The Mystic Bird Fighting Machine is targeting our true bodies!"
"Run! Run! Run fast!"
The faces of the Primordial Spirit Monarchs changed drastically, filled with terror and despair in their Divine Thoughts.
Compared to the Primordial Spirit, the true body was their real foundation.
If the Primordial Spirit were destroyed, although the Monarch would suffer backlash, they could still recover after some time.
But once the true body was killed, the Primordial Spirit would become rootless drifters, and once the energy was exhausted, all that awaited them was oblivion.
In an instant, the Primordial Spirit Monarchs, who had shot out with their flying swords, frantically dashed at their utmost speed towards all directions.
Almost simultaneously with their flight, eight streams of light broke through the sky.
Although the projectiles from the railgun were not large, when they hit the warships where those Primordial Spirit Monarchs were, they exploded with astonishing mass-energy effects.
It was as if tungsten rods cast down from the Nine Heavens, the warships of the five targeted Primordial Spirit Monarchs were pierced straight through, the tremendous and wild forces erupting upon impact.
The entire iron armored warship, over 160 meters long, seemed as if cut in half, with the struck section sinking towards the seabed under the force of inertia, while the bow and stern rose sharply upward at angles of thirty, fifty, even seventy degrees...
Thousands of soldiers and sailors responsible for operating and controlling this warship, during its tilt, slid down from both ends of the bow and stern like ants.
Those more agile managed to grab some supports in time, delaying their deaths, while those less skilled screamed upward as they slid into the sea, splashing huge waves.
Amidst countless screams of terror and agony, three of the Primordial Spirit Monarchs’ true bodies were directly shot down.
The other two Primordial Spirit Monarchs were merely luckier, preserving their lives.
At this time, those with better vision could already see the eight Mystic Bird Fighting Machines flying in from forty leagues away in the void.
But...
the Overseas Alliance had totally lost their courage to confront Lingxiao City and those eight Mystic Bird Fighting Machines.
"Quick! Gather! All Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators gather around me for defense! Let’s hold them off together!"
"We can’t stop these eight Mystic Bird Fighting Machines, run! Run fast!"
"How could this be, how could this be, why does Lingxiao City have so many Mystic Bird Fighting Machines!?"
Fear and chaos rapidly spread among the Overseas Alliance.
Not just cultivators, Refining God, Divinity Transformation, even the Primordial Spirit Monarchs felt the same.
Why wouldn’t the Overseas, despite having eighteen Primordial Spirit Monarchs, dare to truly advance onto Jiangzhou?
It was because these forces were essentially a mob.
Not to mention the Eastern Sea Twelve Islands, even on Lizhou State, there were six major forces, none acknowledging the other, even constantly waging war against each other.
Without unified command, lacking a leader with sufficient prestige, coupled with centuries-old grudges persisting...
This was indeed the epitome of a mob.
This kind of army could easily prevail in a favorable fight, but as soon as they faced a stronger opponent, all their weaknesses would be exposed.
Just like just now, some wanted to concentrate their forces to defend, while others wanted to strike proactively.
And now...
Similarly, some wanted to organize a defense, while others abandoned the fleet and fled for their lives.
The scene was utterly chaotic.
However, their chaos did not affect Gu Jinlai’s efficiency in killing.
Using True Spirit Possession to control the eight Mystic Bird Fighting Machines, he continuously shot one projectile after another.
Propelled by electromagnetic force and under the effect of mass-energy, the power of these projectiles was in no way inferior to the Sword Heavy Cannon.
Under such terrifying attacks, whether iron armored warships or wooden vessels, all were smashed into pieces.
Death and screams enveloped every corner of the sea surface.
