Hou Yucheng, who was leading the army to attack the city gate, shuddered and then turned his head to meet Hou Yuxiao's gaze, nodded heavily, turned to look at the city gate, and angrily shouted to the surrounding Red Flame Army: "Hou Fei's two battalions accelerate towards the gate, Gao Changlong's three battalions climb the walls into the city, the rest follow me to purge the surrounding remnants!"
The command of the commander sometimes acts as a catalyst on the battlefield. With Hou Yucheng's order, the army's morale was instantly uplifted. The combined force of nearly a million soldiers from the three battalions intensified their assault on the southern gate of the prefectural city, while the surrounding dense Huang Chan Army met with even more brutal slaughter.
"Where is the Honored One, Buddha, World-Honored One, save your disciple..."
"Why haven't the Earthshade Monastic Soldiers of my temple come out to support!"
"Spare me... spare me..."
In the midst of such asymmetrical combat, filled with screams, cries for help, and desperate pleas, the Huang Chan Army suffered numerous casualties, and many soldiers were driven to mental collapse, uttering gibberish in panic. The scene outside the southern gate was already terrifying.
But even so, the Earthshade Monastic Soldiers inside the city still did not come out.
Hou Yuxiao's eyes were cold and sharp, yet his heart was increasingly uneasy. He couldn't understand why, until now, the million-strong Earthshade Monastic Soldiers inside the city still hadn't come out. What was the reason?
Were they reserving them to deal with the masters of the four Holy Lands?
Impossible, even a million Holy Land elites could at most threaten a Sub-Saint of the Martial Dao, but couldn't ensure victory. For a Martial Dao Saint, even millions would be ineffective. Moreover, the Earthshade Monastic Soldiers of Leiyin Temple trained only in the heavenly army's doctrines, not counting as Holy Land elites.
Then why haven't they come out!
The Red Flame Army was less than ten meters from the city gate, and just as Hou Yucheng was about to break into the prefectural city, Shi Tian finally couldn't sit still.
A merciful and aged voice spread in the air. With this voice, a flood of Buddhist light descended, blocking the water-tight soldiers at the gate. The moment they touched the Buddhist light, they all stopped moving.
Yes, they just stopped moving.
No matter what they were doing a second ago, how panicked or terrified they were, the moment they were covered by the Buddhist light, without exception, they all stopped, standing in place as if possessed, unmoving, and just looked up at the sky.
Not only the fleeing Huang Chan Army but the Red Flame Army as well.
A golden mist about ten thousand feet wide had somehow already appeared in the sky. The hundred-mile-wide red cloud of Qi and blood condensed by the million-strong Red Flame Army was still there, presumably larger than the mist's range. But when the golden mist appeared, it blocked the red cloud of Qi and blood. Although it didn't completely obscure it, the disparity in strength between the two was quite obvious.
This wasn't the first time Hou Yuxiao saw the Shitian Buddha; five years ago on Wanglong Mountain, he had seen Shitian Buddha. At that time, it was also this ten-thousand-foot golden mist. If he remembered correctly, Lin Xuangan was at the peak of the Sub-Saint cultivation back then and couldn't withstand even one move from Shitian.
However, in the end, Lin Xuangan self-immolated his Saint Core, detonating the seal known as the Divine Sect Treasure Map, causing considerable damage to Shi Tian.
Hou Yuxiao remembered very clearly; Shi Tian's last scream was quite agonizing.
And he even managed to escape before the other heads of the Holy Lands arrived.
Ever since the incident on Wanglong Mountain, it had been five years since Shitian Buddha had shown himself. Rumors outside claimed he was near death due to severe injuries, but now it seemed that was not the case...
Hou Yuxiao shook his head slightly; Shi Tian being severely wounded was definitely true.
From the moment Shi Tian spoke to request his retreat, he had already understood.
Shi Tian appeared, so...
"Brother Shi, long time no see, I hope you're well!"
"Mr. Wei, greetings to you, Daoist friend Shitian."
Only two voices echoed in the sky, yet four people walked out from the clouds, four elderly figures, each with a different appearance, without any discernible aura of cultivation.
The two elders on the left were both clad in white Confucian robes, surrounded by a pure Confucian Righteous Qi, their temperaments similar and refined.
The third elder, although wearing a golden Taoist robe, was in no way vulgar, walking as if every step sprouted lotuses; Taoist purple rhyme beside him spontaneously unfolded scenes of life and death cycles, ensnaring any who glanced his way.
The fourth elder was clad in white, with sword-like eyebrows piercing the sky, his face aged yet sharp and imposing. His tall figure resembled a supreme Divine Sword, his Sword Intent so dense that it would occasionally manifest as a surge of Sword Qi, slicing through the space around him, so that as he walked, an endless void cleaved by the Sword Qi would occasionally emerge.
Xun Mu, Meng Qu, Wei Xuheng, Jing Yuanxiu.
The heads of the four Holy Lands, gazing at Jianye Prefecture for nearly a year, had finally revealed themselves.
"Hou Yuxiao of Hexi, pays respects to the four Saints!"
The first to respond to Hou Yuxiao was Wei Xuheng. Wei Xuheng had taken over the position of Sect Master from Zhang Daoling four years ago, and Hou Yuxiao had personally attended the ceremony with Zhao Qingxue at the time.
Zhao Qingxue's master, Moxuzi, was Wei Xuheng's direct disciple, making him in turn Wei Xuheng's disciple's grandson-in-law, which was arguably his greatest backing. It was this that gave Hou Yuxiao the courage to refuse Shi Tian face to face; Wei Xuheng was the biggest confidence he had.
"The Five Tigers of the Hou Clan; I've heard numerous things about them. Truly commendable!"
Unexpectedly, Xun Mu, the dean of Yangzhou Academy, also praised Hou Yuxiao, the words "truly commendable" clearly acknowledging Hou Yuxiao's cultivation talent.
"Did the Kirin Child of the Hou Clan, mentioned by Ji Yanzhi, not come today?"