Seizing Destiny From Heavens Hands

Chapter 369: Full Retreat—Who Is Willing to Stay Behind with Me?

However, within the tribe, a blood-red barrier suddenly rose up.

The barrier was like an inverted giant bowl, covering the ground below.

Not just the human cultivators—even many of the demon race members were caught off guard.

Boom!

The energy pillar struck the barrier.

Surprisingly, it failed to penetrate and was instead blocked by the barrier.

Ripples spread across the barrier’s surface, gradually dimming.

Yet, all nine energy pillars lost their brilliance, completely exhausted.

And still, the barrier stood firm!

Before the human cultivators could react, two massive, terrifying blood-colored beams shot out from within the tribe!

Each beam was more than a hundred feet in diameter!

Lin Dongtian, Xue Ziyi, and the others immediately sensed the overwhelming threat.

They swiftly activated their defensive martial techniques to resist.

Ji Quan’s pupils shrank sharply, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Activate the defensive array! Hurry!”

But his warning was still too late.

Boom!

The blood-colored beams surged forth.

In an instant, they engulfed nine armored cloud ships and a vast number of cultivators!

Within the blinding blood-colored light, agonized screams erupted.

Cultivators at the Divine Transformation stage could still protect themselves.

But those at the Nascent Soul and Core Formation stages, facing such an attack from a Gold-Crowned Emperor, had no choice but to rely on the armored cloud ships for protection.

However, the armored cloud ships had just endured a full round of attacks and had already depleted their supreme-grade spirit stones.

Now was precisely the time they needed to replace them.

These two blood-colored beams came so suddenly that no one had expected them.

The main forces of the Ten Thousand Demons Nation were clearly in the South Sea.

At most, this large tribe should have had only two demon emperors.

How could such a terrifying attack be launched from here?

The armored cloud ship carrying Ji Quan, Xue Ziyi, and their group was exceptionally disciplined—whenever their supreme-grade spirit stones were depleted, they replaced them immediately. As a result, they could barely activate their defensive array.

But the other armored cloud ships were not as fortunate.

Faced with such a sudden and devastating attack, all they could do was watch as the blood-colored beams consumed them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four armored cloud ships exploded violently, plummeting straight toward the ground.

Most of the cultivators aboard perished instantly, and only a few Divine Transformation-stage cultivators managed to escape, severely wounded.

The casualties were immense!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, ten figures shot up from within the tribe, hovering in midair.

Each of them radiated a surge of overwhelming blood energy, like towering demonic giants.

The two leading demon emperors had particularly massive bodies, making them the most eye-catching.

On the left stood a giant eagle over fifty feet long, its body covered in golden feathers.

This was none other than the Tenth Prince of the Ten Thousand Demons Nation—Ying Ti.

On the right stood an enormous black bear over eighty feet tall! A white arc-shaped marking stretched across its chest.

Around its neck was what appeared to be a string of white beads.

There were at least five hundred of them.

But on closer inspection, they were no mere beads—they were dried, skinned human skulls!

Strung together, they formed his necklace!

This uniquely gruesome accessory immediately revealed his identity—one of the most notorious demon emperors of the Ten Thousand Demons Nation.

Xiong Luan!

Lin Dongtian, Xue Ziyi, and the others were all struck with shock.

Ji Quan’s eyes burned with fury.

Wasn’t Xiong Luan still in the South Sea, aiding Gu Ming in his campaign against the sea dragons?

How had he suddenly appeared here?

It was well known that Xiong Luan was an extremely powerful Gold-Crowned Emperor.

And he was a bear demon.

Bear demons were most feared for their sheer brute strength!

A single slap from his paw could shatter an entire mountain!

In the eyes of many demons, Xiong Luan had always been the strongest beneath Gu Ming!

There were even rumors that he was the one who should have ascended to the throne of the Supreme Emperor, not Gu Ming.

But Xiong Luan himself had admitted he was no match for Gu Ming, so he relinquished his claim to the throne.

Xiong Luan saw the grim faces of the human cultivators and immediately burst into loud laughter. “Humans, you didn’t expect this, did you? You must have thought I was still in the South Sea!”

“In truth, the one in the South Sea was just a clone of mine. The real me is right here!”

“These demon emperors had already left the South Sea in batches some time ago and arrived here!”

“His Majesty was right—you cunning humans would surely take advantage of the moment when the Ten Thousand Demons Nation's main army was occupied, launching a large-scale offensive to the south!”

Prince Jing’s expression turned extremely grim.

“Commander, what should we do now?” He looked at Ji Quan.

Ji Quan’s usual carefree demeanor had completely vanished.

In its place was unshakable resolve.

“Full retreat!”

“Who is willing to stay behind with me to cover the rear?”

Ji Quan roared.

Prince Jing first sighed in relief, but when he heard the latter half of Ji Quan’s words, he was momentarily stunned.

Cover the rear?

In this situation, staying behind was no different from signing one’s own death warrant.

Moreover, if Ji Quan, the chief commander, died, then as the deputy commander, he would be the one held responsible!

“No! You can’t die! Come with me—we still have time to retreat!”

Prince Jing grabbed Ji Quan’s arm.

However, Ji Quan was as immovable as a mountain, refusing to budge.

“I can’t leave. I am already a condemned man.”

“We fell into the demon race’s trap this time, losing five out of ten armored cloud ships. My sins are unforgivable—even if I return alive, His Majesty will have me executed.”

“But if I die in battle, His Majesty will at least show mercy to my family.”

Ji Quan spoke solemnly. “You are different. You are His Majesty’s own younger brother—no matter what, he will never hold you accountable.”

“Run. Just run.”

He looked toward Xiong Luan and suddenly let out a bitter chuckle. “Ling Xuan, Ling Xuan… I didn’t expect everything to be exactly as you predicted—there really was an ambush here…”

Prince Jing saw the ten demon emperors closing in and felt the weight of fear sinking deeper into his heart.

“My lord, we have replaced the supreme-grade spirit stones in the cloud ships—we can retreat at full speed at any time,” a cultivator shouted.

“Hurry! Retreat now!” Prince Jing growled.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The four cloud ships turned around, preparing to escape at maximum speed.

Lin Dongtian, Xue Ziyi, and the others stood on the deck, watching Ji Quan hover in midair, facing Xiong Luan. Their expressions were complicated.

“Don’t let them escape!”

Xiong Luan roared.

Like a falling meteor, he charged straight toward the four retreating cloud ships!

“My lord, we’ll help you!”

A fifth cloud ship did not retreat. Instead, it accelerated, rushing toward Ji Quan’s position.

It was aiming to collide head-on with Xiong Luan!

Ji Quan hovered in midair, looking at the approaching cloud ship with a smile. “Good. You are truly worthy of being a Golden General!”

The captain of that armored cloud ship was one of the few survivors from the Mist Province, a general under the command of Governor Ji Shilong, one of the Golden Generals.

During the battle of Cangming Valley, nearly the entire army was wiped out. Very few survived—he was one of them.

“A mere armored cloud ship…”

Xiong Luan sneered.

He raised a massive paw, blood energy surging wildly, forming an enormous claw that covered nearly half the sky, slamming down fiercely!

With just one strike, the defensive array of the armored cloud ship shattered instantly.

All the lower-level cultivators aboard exploded into blood mist on the spot.

Only one Divine Transformation cultivator and a few Nascent Soul cultivators barely managed to keep the cloud ship operational.

“If I have to die, I’ll die standing!”

The Golden General roared, overloading the ship’s speed formation, charging straight toward Xiong Luan.

Ji Quan laughed heartily and leaped onto the cloud ship. “If we die, let’s die with style!”

Xiong Luan shrieked in frustration. “Damn it, these humans must be insane!”

He had no choice but to retreat—facing a suicidal collision from an armored cloud ship, even he didn’t dare to take it head-on.

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