Chapter 145: Everyone, Make Way

“What... what is this?”

“What happened? My body feels so strange—hot, almost.”

“Wait. Why does this surge of energy feel so much like the demon arts the demon clans used before?”

“Huh? All my wounds are healed!”

“Damn, mine too!”

“Same here. And... my cultivation realm has risen, and there’s more spiritual energy inside me!”

Everyone in the Vermilion Bird Army cried out in astonishment, their faces filled with disbelief.

After the three successive waves of energy passed through their bodies, they had brought about such a tremendous increase in power.

“Demon Lord Xu...”

The soldiers gradually came to their senses. This was the infamous Demon Lord Xu... No, they ought to address him as Young Lord Xu now.

This was a technique Young Lord Xu had unleashed, and it seemed exactly the same as the one used by the demon clans.

Everyone turned toward Xu Zhe, their gazes burning with joy, excitement, and shock. Without exception, every eye shone with light.

They had seen hope. They had seen the dawn.

Perhaps this battle really could be fought after all!

Not only could it be fought—they might even win!

The demon clans had suddenly seized the advantage by using this method to raise their cultivation realms.

Now the Vermilion Bird Army possessed the same advantage, along with the additional ability to heal wounds and replenish spiritual energy. What could the demon clans possibly use against them?

“Young Lord Xu is mighty!”

“Young Lord Xu is incredible!”

“Young Lord Xu is supreme beneath the heavens, unrivaled throughout the ages!”

In an instant, wave after wave of cheers erupted from the Vermilion Bird Army. They carried gratitude, reverence, and an outpouring of all the frustration they had been forced to swallow.

Even the soldiers of the Vermilion Bird Army aboard the thousands of Blazing Feather Ships in the high-altitude battlefield let out long breaths of relief. Their morale soared, and they raised their arms and shouted.

Qin Wurong was utterly dazed.

“So that’s it... So that’s what he meant...”

Only now did she understand. When Martial God Chu had said that Xu Zhe had brought the means to turn defeat into victory, this was what he had been referring to: using the demon clans’ own methods to defeat them.

This was more than merely turning defeat into victory. At this rate, they could probably march straight into the demon clans’ main base!

“This Young Lord Xu is breathtaking,” Jiang Zhiying exclaimed. She suddenly felt that this seemingly “frail” and handsome young man had become remarkably attractive.

“After this battle, Young Lord Xu will probably be granted the title of War God.”

He Han and the others were overwhelmed by conflicting emotions. They had witnessed Xu Zhe’s terrifying strength earlier and had already judged that he alone was worth an entire battalion.

Yet they had still vastly underestimated him.

It was one thing for this fellow to possess such formidable personal strength. But he actually knew so many things as well. With a mere lift of his hand, he had brought those strange techniques of the demon clans over to the Vermilion Bird Army.

A true monster!

Absolutely incredible!

“Kill! Kill every last one of these beasts!”

“Kill!”

He Han raised his arm and shouted, his voice merging with the roars of countless soldiers around him.

For a time, the Vermilion Bird Army’s battle cries shook heaven and earth, and a fierce counterattack erupted.

Many demon beasts were caught off guard by the sudden reversal.

After all, during the previous two battles, each time the mysterious power enveloped them and temporarily raised their cultivation realms, they had immediately slaughtered the Vermilion Bird Army, leaving it utterly helpless.

The tactic had never failed.

But this time, the Vermilion Bird Army possessed the same method. Not only had it gained the ability to fight back, it had even begun to suppress the demon forces.

Boom!

A three-legged demon beast at the Soul Separation Realm had just desperately blocked a human soldier’s saber when a streak of light pierced straight through its head from behind.

It was a flying sword.

The three-legged beast’s entire head exploded in an instant, bursting into a cloud of blood mist as its enormous body collapsed to the ground.

Not far away, a Vermilion Bird Army company commander, whose cultivation was at the early Soul Separation Realm, had been temporarily elevated to the late Soul Separation Realm by the mid-grade battle formation.

He gripped his spear, feeling an inexhaustible strength surging through his body. Experiencing power such as he had never known before, he suddenly drew a deep breath and thrust forward. His spear moved like a dragon, sweeping horizontally across the battlefield.

Boom!

A furious force surged outward. Many demon beasts at the Soul Separation Realm were blasted backward, while more than a dozen beasts below that level exploded on the spot and died.

“Wonderful!”

The company commander burst into loud laughter, his heart filled with exhilaration and shock.

The physical bodies of demon beasts had always been extraordinarily tough.

Under normal circumstances, with his cultivation at the early Soul Separation Realm, even if he faced a demon beast at the Nascent Soul Realm, he would need at least a dozen strikes to kill it.

But now, with a single sweep of his spear, more than a dozen Nascent Soul Realm demon beasts had been wiped out.

Only at that moment did he understand why the Vermilion Bird Army had been beaten so miserably by the demon army.

Now that he had experienced the increase in power brought about by Young Lord Xu’s secret art, he finally understood how terrifying it was.

“Where did Young Lord Xu learn this demon art? It’s truly astonishing.”

He marveled once, then swung his spear again and slaughtered another demon beast.

...

On the demon side, the smiles on the faces of the many demon lords had long since frozen. Their already enormous eyes widened even further.

Had the human race stolen the method by which the demon clans won?

This was very, very bad!

High in the distance, the Tiger-Headed Demon King, who had been watching the battlefield, also changed expression.

“Impossible. This can’t be...”

He murmured in disbelief, his gaze suddenly falling upon a concealed corner behind the battlefield.

Hadn’t that lord said that the mid-grade battle formation was unique to the Azure Heaven Domain? Hadn’t he said that no one besides them could possibly use it?

Why did the human race possess it as well?

And why had they unleashed three mid-grade battle formations right from the start?

“Was it Blue Town?”

The Tiger-Headed Demon King trembled as he recalled what Xu Zhe had said before unleashing the mid-grade battle formation.

Although the demon clans had gained intelligence relatively late, they were not fools. At first, he had not taken those words seriously at all.

What double-sided traitor? To him, it had sounded like nothing more than a petty trick meant to disgust Blue Town and win a verbal victory. The demon clans would never have believed it.

But now, seeing that the human race could also deploy mid-grade battle formations—and had truly coordinated with Blue Town from within and without, throwing the demon army’s formation into disarray—the Tiger-Headed Demon King could not help but grow suspicious.

Could Blue Town really have pretended to betray the human race, gained that lord’s trust, and then stolen the mid-grade battle formation for the Vermilion Bird Army?

Boom!

At that moment, a tremendous explosion came from the direction the Tiger-Headed Demon King was watching.

A vast divine sense, carrying terrifying pressure, swept over them.

“Capture Xu Zhe alive at any cost.”

The next moment, a cold voice sounded inside the Tiger-Headed Demon King’s mind.

“Yes!”

His body jolted, and he hurriedly acknowledged the order.

After hesitating briefly, he cautiously asked, “My lord, how does the human race possess this technique as well? Could it be Blue Town...”

“Heh. Even after reaching your realm, your clan still leaves you with nothing but a tiger’s head and a tiger’s brains.”

Before he could finish, a mocking laugh rang out in the Tiger-Headed Demon King’s mind.

He froze, then realized that the lord was calling him an idiot.

“Blue Town has not betrayed us. Stop wasting words and bring Xu Zhe back alive.”

The voice sounded again, carrying an unyielding tone of command.

“Yes!”

The Tiger-Headed Demon King did not dare say another word. He immediately released his divine sense and issued orders to the many demon lords.

As for the fact that the Vermilion Bird Army now had the support of three mid-grade battle formations, he was not particularly concerned.

That lord had already revealed that, apart from the three mid-grade battle formations they had displayed, two more were available.

With five mid-grade battle formations in total, once they were all deployed, the Vermilion Bird Army’s three formations would still be no match for them.

Moreover, they had the high-grade battle formation they had carefully planned and arranged over a long period of time.

Although the high-grade formation had not yet reached this area, it already covered most of the battlefield. That ensured the Vermilion Bird Army had no chance of fighting its way back.

Thus, as long as they waited for that lord to deploy more mid-grade battle formations, the demon clans could never lose.

Boom!

Sure enough, the Tiger-Headed Demon King had only just issued his orders when movement immediately came from the rear of the demon army.

That lord had made his move.

The spiritual energy in the region where he stood was instantly drained. In midair, it formed a gigantic vortex that continuously poured down like a torrential waterfall over the rear of the demon army.

Another invisible wave of energy swept across the battlefield. It spread rapidly, sending ripples through the air as it pierced across the entire field.

“Roar!”

Tens of millions of demon beasts threw back their heads and howled as one. Their deafening roars made even the ground tremble.

Strands of blood seeped from the enormous bodies of every demon beast. The moment the blood emerged, it instantly vaporized into clouds of blood mist that shrouded their bodies.

Terrifying ferocity surged from the demon army, accompanied by a thick, stinging smell of blood that spread across the battlefield.

“The Blood Frenzy battle formation of the Demon Sect?”

Xu Zhe was startled as he recognized the mid-grade formation.

This too originated in the Azure Heaven Domain. It had been developed by members of the Demon Sect, and it resembled the mid-grade formation that increased cultivation realms. Both could enhance strength for a short period of time.

The cultivation-enhancement formation borrowed spiritual energy from heaven and earth to create a temporary increase, but the improvement was unstable.

For example, a cultivator at the early Soul Separation Realm might be forcibly raised to the late Soul Separation Realm, yet there would still be an enormous gap between him and someone who had truly reached the late Soul Separation Realm.

The Demon Sect’s Blood Frenzy battle formation, however, used spiritual energy to burn the vital blood within the demon beasts’ bodies, forcibly breaking through their restraints and greatly increasing their strength.

This method was extremely ruthless. Anyone caught within the formation and granted the Blood Frenzy state would indeed become much stronger, but they would also expend a tremendous amount of vital energy and damage their foundations.

It was essentially a matter of consuming their future potential in advance in exchange for a few short hours of power in the present.

Few people would normally make such a choice. No matter how one looked at it, the price was too high.

But members of the Demon Sect basically did not care.

As long as it made them stronger, even if only for a brief moment, they would charge forward without hesitation. If there was a shortcut, they took it. If there was no shortcut, they created one.

“So the person behind this belongs to the Demon Sect?”

Xu Zhe frowned.

Still, the Blood Frenzy battle formation alone could not prove anything. At most, it showed that his opponent was ruthless and willing to stop at nothing.

“Forget it. I’ll find a chance to take a look for myself later.”

Xu Zhe shook his head and continued throwing punches, slaughtering demon beasts.

Although the demon army had used the Blood Frenzy battle formation and greatly increased its overall strength, it had merely managed to recover some of its lost ground.

Taken as a whole, the two armies were still evenly matched.

The Vermilion Bird Army’s battle formations were gentler in nature. They could continuously heal injuries and replenish spiritual energy.

If the battle continued in its current state, the Vermilion Bird Army would certainly be the one standing at the end.

Moreover, the demon army’s formation was in terrible disarray, with large numbers of Vermilion Bird soldiers having already penetrated deep into its territory.

If the Vermilion Bird Army had been weaker, it would undoubtedly have been surrounded and annihilated.

But now that the two sides were roughly equal in strength, the Vermilion Bird Army had truly achieved an attack from within and without, forcing the demon army to face enemies on both sides.

With the support of the Immortal Spirit cannons on the Blazing Feather Ships in the aerial battlefield—and Xu Zhe, a “human-shaped Immortal Spirit cannon”—the Vermilion Bird Army only grew more ferocious as the battle continued.

Boom!

But at that moment, a massive black shadow broke through the sound barrier in the clouds, triggering a sonic boom as it dove straight toward Xu Zhe.

“Not good! A Demon King is coming!”

“Young Lord Xu, watch out!”

Several company commanders at the Integration Realm changed expression and immediately rushed toward Xu Zhe.

That was a Demon King, a terrifying existence at the Tribulation Transcendence Realm.

Xu Zhe was not only the Vermilion Bird Army’s greatest contributor; he was also the key to whether it could defeat the demon army. If a Demon King assassinated him, the Vermilion Bird Army would be finished as well.

They could not allow such a thing to happen. One after another, they charged forward as if they did not care about their lives, attempting to use their own bodies to shield Xu Zhe from the Tiger-Headed Demon King.

Boom!

High in the sky, several Blazing Feather Ships were also temporarily redirected by Qin Wurong. Countless Immortal Spirit cannons swung around, locked onto the Tiger-Headed Demon King, and fired in unison.

“Hmph. Child’s play.”

Yet the Tiger-Headed Demon King merely snorted. He did not make a single move.

More than a hundred cannon shells had only just reached him when they were annihilated in an instant by that cold snort, vanishing without a trace.

“This is bad!”

Qin Wurong’s face went pale at the sight.

This Demon King was even stronger than she had imagined.

“Xu Zhe, run!”

Qin Wurong shouted at once, simultaneously diving down from the sky.

At that moment, she understood clearly that even if she had to die, she had to buy Xu Zhe enough time to escape. Otherwise, the Vermilion Bird Army could not win.

Besides the company commanders on the ground, many soldiers beside Xu Zhe held the same thought.

Everyone charged recklessly in front of him.

“Everyone, get out of the way! Don’t throw your lives away for nothing. A mere early-stage Tribulation Transcendence Demon King—I have a way to deal with him.”

Xu Zhe immediately shouted. With a flash of his body, he avoided the soldiers’ attempt to provide him with a “suicidal” shield.

“What?”

Everyone froze, then collectively stared in shock.

This time, they were genuinely frightened.

They had already thought Xu Zhe terrifying enough when, despite being at the Nascent Soul Realm, he had killed cultivators at the Soul Separation and Spirit Severing Realms.

But now this fellow was claiming that he could deal with a Demon King?

Damn it, he had not even killed anyone at the Integration Realm, and now he was telling them he could handle a Tribulation Transcendence Demon King?

Was that for real?

Boom!

While they stood stunned, they watched Xu Zhe blast several demon beasts apart with a single punch, clearing a vast open space before him.

A powerful gust swept across his face. He stepped forward, his robes fluttering, his presence vast and imposing as he stared straight at the Tiger-Headed Demon King diving toward him from the sky.

At that moment, Qin Wurong, Jiang Zhiying, and the others were all struck speechless.

Countless company commanders and soldiers were thoroughly won over. Admiration and reverence filled their hearts.

Young Lord Xu possessed the makings of a War God!

A man of such bearing was worthy of bearing the title of War God alongside Martial God Chu.

Facing a Tribulation Transcendence Demon King, Xu Zhe showed not the slightest fear or panic.

His expression remained calm. He drew his breath down into his core and shouted in a thunderous voice:

“Brother Tong, save me!”

…