Chapter 542 - 511: Siege, Assault

It was as if Ping Miaohan's words had been a prophecy. Almost as soon as she finished speaking, another wave of cries rose and fell:

"More Golden Cores have appeared!"

"The West Gate! At the West Gate!"

Chen Che looked back.

Sure enough, amidst the cries, he saw massive figures rising swiftly from the ground like towering city walls. Each massive figure represented a Golden Core True Master.

'Thirty-nine of them.'

As his gaze swept over them, the number of Golden Cores instantly appeared in his mind. With a glance, Chen Che looked at Ping Miaohan beside him. "Are these people from Mist Rain Tower?"

"Yes. Half of them are from the Tower. The rest are likely Loose Cultivator Golden Cores under their jurisdiction."

Ping Miaohan's gaze was somewhat cold.

Mist Rain Tower was, in fact, an alliance. It was originally established by the joint efforts of Golden Cores from four provinces, but its bonds were far tighter than the Hong Alliance's. It governed a total of twenty-one provinces, a territory even larger than the Primordial Sect's.

That was why it could naturally muster so many Golden Cores. In fact, these Golden Cores represented a mere thirty percent of those under its command...

'What a display. It seems Mist Rain Tower is dead set on getting a slice of the pie.'

Chen Che wasn't surprised, however.

After all, from the very beginning of the war between the two sects, large numbers of Mist Rain Tower cultivators had been mixed in with the combatants.

Adding the many Golden Cores appearing now, even an idiot could guess that the Star-Picking Sect had certainly reached some sort of agreement with Mist Rain Tower, wanting to use this opportunity to annihilate the Primordial Sect in one fell swoop.

They had probably even negotiated the division of territory already!

And now, Primordial City had been placed on the chopping block by two master players, and the cultivators within the city were all just pawns.

"Sixty-two Golden Cores. That's almost fifty percent more than our own numbers."

Meng Qianxun's eyes shifted as she analyzed the situation on the field:

"And this isn't even all of their Golden Cores. At the very least, I don't see the Star-Picking Sect's main force, and Right Protector Jiang Shaotian isn't here either... I wonder what will happen at the South and East Gates?"

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, another wave of shouts was heard.

The noise was deafening, as if tens of thousands of people were shouting at once, making it impossible to distinguish what anyone was saying. Yet, the urgency and despair in their cries were conveyed with perfect clarity.

'More Golden Cores must have appeared,' the group thought, their hearts clenching.

Sure enough, when Chen Che turned to look toward the East Gate, he saw, as expected, dozens of Golden Core figures rising from the ground. It was unclear if the enemy was intentionally showing off or if it had been planned, but these Golden Cores also lined up in a single row.

One by one, they continued to appear.

With each figure that emerged, a powerful sense of pressure and a thread of despair descended upon the cultivators in the city.

"Th-thirty-six Golden Cores..."

a stammering voice cried out.

Every cultivator who witnessed this scene turned deathly pale.

'The South Gate is mainly Star-Picking Sect cultivators, the West Gate is mainly Mist Rain Tower cultivators, and the East Gate is mainly Loose Cultivators and Evil Cultivators from various factions. The North Gate... Is there no force there?'

As this thought crossed his mind, Chen Che looked over his shoulder.

At this moment, it wasn't just him. The other cultivators in the city seemed to have had the same idea, as they all turned to look in unison. However, after waiting for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, there was still no movement at the North Gate, and no Golden Cores appeared.

Seeing this, Chen Che couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

This was a clear case of surrounding three sides and leaving one open.

"There's still a way out... The Star-Picking Sect, they haven't completely surrounded Primordial City."

A Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator saw this and said in a voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, "When the time comes, while those Golden Cores are busy at the front, we can call our clansmen to escape through the North Gate."

"Good. Our two clans will escape together then. We can look out for each other on the road."

Beside him, a short, stout cultivator glanced around and lowered his voice, saying:

"We have to escape the city amidst the chaos. If there are enough of us, even the Law Enforcement Team won't be able to catch so many people. The Primordial Sect is finished. The Sect Leader is dead, and the enemy has three times our number of Golden Cores..."

'It's already working!'

Chen Che's Divine Sense was so powerful that even standing on the city wall, he could hear the conversations of the cultivators within the city with perfect clarity.

And conversations just like this were constantly spreading.

For a moment, the hubbub was incessant.

Clearly, the "surround three, leave one open" strategy was already showing results. The escape route the enemy had intentionally left open, in particular, was silently shattering the city's cultivators' will to fight to the death.

'The ailment is beyond cure; the Primordial Sect is unsalvageable.'

Chen Che pondered this and sighed to himself.

"T-Tributor Chen, is there any movement outside the city?"

Just then, a dozen or so figures flew over from within the Primordial Sect. Huang Shiwo was among them, landing on the city wall. He gazed at the scene of the three-sided siege and turned to look at Chen Che.

"The Star-Picking Sect, the Evil Cultivators, and Mist Rain Tower have all appeared, forming a three-sided siege. They're surrounding us but not attacking. The reason is unknown. Perhaps they are waiting for the right moment for an all-out assault..."

Chen Che replied, his face devoid of expression.

A hint of sorrow appeared in his eyes. Huang Shiwo let out a long sigh and said:

"They're probably waiting for the Star-Picking Sect's main force to arrive. Vice Sect Leader Yu Yunko can't command these three factions. For a formation this large, it seems they're still missing a figure of great authority..."

"Could it be the Star-Picking Sect Leader?"

Chen Che's gaze sharpened.

"Most likely... But with such a large-scale mobilization, they probably won't delay for long. The final assault could come as early as today."

Huang Shiwo's tone was cold and desolate. As he finished, he couldn't help but look back at Primordial Mountain.

The day had finally come.

The Primordial Sect had scraped together everything it had, revealing its entire foundation, just to barely assemble over forty Golden Cores. But now, with the three factions opposite them joining forces, their numbers were several times greater. How could they possibly resist on their own?

Besides, he also knew that these cultivators the sect had summoned would not necessarily live or die with the Primordial Sect.

'Can they even hold them off for three days?'

"This is no time for sentimental melancholy."

Duobao glanced at Huang Shiwo, then looked away. Cupping his hands to those around him, he forced a smile. "Fellow Daoists, the battle is about to begin. I ask you all to hold your positions. Once we overcome this tribulation, there will surely be great rewards in the future."

'We don't even know if the Primordial Sect will survive today. What future is there to speak of?'

The corner of Chen Che's eye twitched, and he couldn't help but shake his head.

The others were also cursing inwardly, but being masters of hiding their emotions, they showed nothing. They each gave their assent and returned to their assigned posts on the city walls.

Landing on the wall, he watched as Ping Miaohan, seemingly in a fit of pique directed at the Mist Rain Tower members opposite them, also released her True Essence, her figure abruptly rising higher. Chen Che followed suit, sitting cross-legged and slowly releasing his own True Essence. He looked at Xiao Chan, Chen Xi, Meng Changtu, and the others beside him who were doing the same, and sent a voice transmission:

"Act according to the situation."

"Preserve your strength for now... The day the city falls is the day we leave. Also, tell our clansmen not to stray too far from the west wall, so we can look after them when we make our move."

Hearing this, they all nodded secretly and passed the message on via voice transmission.

For a moment, when the Jinyun Valley cultivators heard the voice transmissions from their Golden Cores, they were slightly stunned. Then, they began to surge toward the West Gate.

"The movement over there..."

Sensing the disturbance, Duobao turned his head.

"Those are the cultivators brought by Jinyun Valley. Isn't it normal for them to look after their own people?"

Huang Shiwo saw this but thought nothing of it. He formed a seal technique, revealed his figure, and simultaneously sent a voice transmission to the Primordial Sect disciples behind him, telling them to gather closer to him, as he couldn't protect them if they were too far away.

...

It did not last long.

A commotion arose from the Star-Picking Sect's side as several more Golden Cores arrived. Chen Che, perched on the city wall, immediately felt a cold gaze land directly on him.

'Is that... Jiang Shaotian?'

Chen Che's eyes narrowed slightly.

A powerful being was as conspicuous as a torch in the dark. The newcomer wore a robe similar to Dou Shanhe's, but his was a more imposing Xuan-gold color, and his aura completely overshadowed everyone else on the Star-Picking Sect's side.

"Duobao!"

Jiang Shaotian was seated cross-legged, but his figure rose from the ground. His voice boomed from the heavens as his eyes flashed with a menacing light:

"The Primordial Sect is already at the end of its rope! Your Sect Leader and my Sect Leader both went into seclusion at the same time and have not been heard from since. The odds are against them. Are you still going to put up this futile death struggle?"

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, cultivators compete with strength, not sharp tongues."

Duobao cut him off directly. "The Primordial Sect is right here. If you have the guts, then attack. If you don't, then just wait outside the city and respectfully welcome my Sect Leader when he emerges from seclusion..."

Duobao said with a cold laugh, simultaneously flipping his hand up to form a seal technique.

BOOM—

Centered on Primordial Mountain, the Magic Patterns that had been showering down like rain suddenly came to a halt.

Then, the Magic Patterns began to rotate rapidly, and a murderous aura surged forth.

Furthermore, boundless lightning began to coil and snake rapidly between the Magic Patterns.

This immense array directly sealed off heaven and earth. The power it emanated caused the expressions of the Golden Cores from the three factions outside the city to change. Clearly, this was the Primordial Sect's Mountain Protection Array...

"You won't shed tears until you see the coffin."

Jiang Shaotian took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing.

Following his words, the auras of the Golden Cores outside the city began to rise steadily...

'It's starting!'

Feeling the steadily climbing auras of the Mist Rain Tower Golden Cores opposite him, Chen Che narrowed his eyes.

Clearly, the Star-Picking Sect was about to launch a full-scale assault on the Primordial Sect. It seemed the centuries of resentment between these two great Golden Core sects would be settled today!