The chasing soldiers were surprised to see what was happening and shouted out commands simultaneously, instructing everyone to halt their pursuit.
What was the use of giving chase now?
Could they stop the wind and clouds or destroy water and flame?
The Ziyou army no longer had the ability to kill Supreme Cloud. It was a cold, hard truth that they had to recognize even if they did not want to.
Although they had stopped, the natural occurrences in the sky did not. For a moment, the wind and clouds surged violently as ominous grey clouds gathered above them.
Bolts of lightning zigzagged and split the air like large silver snakes.
The wind bellowed while thunder roared as if the heavens were raging, looking to vent immortal fury on the tens of thousands of soldiers beneath it.
An indifferent voice echoed in the air, "It has probably been too long since you all have tasted this... Now, remember this for whatever remains of your life."
"You can do anything, but never stoop lower than a man's lowest limits, no matter what it is!"
Clouds were made of water, but it was far lighter and lither than water, soaring above the nine heavens!
Since Yun Yang had cultivated the Holy Water Charm, he had a deeper understanding of his cloud manifestation method and had even improved after cultivating the Holy Water Charm to the second stage during the trip to the Lunar River.
It was a linked enhancement for all his manifestation powers!
Yun Yang used his own cloud cultivation method as the foundation, and the Holy Water Charm as the catalyst to cast the endless grey clouds and urge the wind and thunder into unleashing this current storm, peppered with bolts of lightning and roaring thunder. It was a combined showcase of the four manifestation powers altogether.
Yun Yang had turned into grey clouds before, but the manifestations previously focused more on concealing his own traces and camouflaging his presence. With the Holy Water Charm to assist, the grey clouds manifested were truly borderless, ominous entities that came together with billowing wind and thunder.
With a loud roar in the sky, thunderbolts streaked down. Countless shards of lightning strikes and thunderbolts painted the entire sky as they continued to rage.
The army that had gathered below was in havoc; even the warhorses that were well trained were panicking from the strange phenomena as they ran amok and stampeded uncontrollably.
Innumerable soldiers had been struck by the lightning and thunder. Those bleeding from their wounds were considered lucky as there were those who got turned into charred remains. A short while later, the gale swept fiercer. The Ziyou army swayed and fell all over the place alongside their horses; they could not even stand upright nor open their eyes. People were also rolling on the ground, a testament to the strength of the gale. Under such circumstances, it was a truly terrible experience as the thunder and lightning continued to hit savage the ground.
Unfortunately, this was not the worst that the Ziyou army had to face... yet. Although they were already experiencing such havoc, the ground began warming up as the snow collected on it began to melt. After a quick moment, the bushes and trees around them started to dry up.
With a loud boom, a ball of flame appeared and began to spread. In the blink of an eye, a prairie fire had erupted!
The time taken for Supreme Cloud to vanish, for the weather to change, for the grey clouds to spread and for the wind and thunder to ignite the prairie fire took no longer than the duration to make and drink a cup of tea. Tens of thousands of the Ziyou army were severely disarrayed; there was no military discipline to speak of.
Supreme Cloud appeared again; he was still wearing his usual linen gown as he walked forward slowly and collectedly. He was walking slowly, yet no one dared to give chase.
Ziyou's mystical cultivators who had arrived outside the city stood rooted as well; they wore a mix of expressions on their faces, but no one dared act recklessly.
Such natural occurrences were evidence that Supreme Cloud's powers had been recovered and proof that he had indeed cultivated the rest of the Nine Supremes' manifestations in addition to merging them. The ease with which he was able to use those skills were uncanny and more than a little frightening.
Faced with such power, no one in this world dared to say that they were brave enough to make any sort of move.
"I will come again an hour later!"
A cold voice laced with immense cruelty came from afar, "By then, I hope that there's someone I can speak to!"
"I believe that you all know what I want!"
Supreme Cloud disappeared once more before his words faded away.
Everyone stood rooted to the ground, frozen and dazed!
They were all thinking, "What does he want? What does his last line mean? What do we know? Believe us about what? Supreme Cloud, this devil, what is he talking about?"
Some generals or leaders who were more astute looked aghast as they whipped their horses, racing back to relay the message.
This message was overly important. If Supreme Cloud came later and there was no reply to his words, the consequences... could be unimaginable.
The havoc earlier was merely Supreme Cloud's warning.
He had not executed it with his full power; he was not yet merciless.
What he wanted must be especially important then.
The generals felt their hearts grow cold.
If they could not produce the answers he wanted, they honestly could not imagine what would happen.
…
Zilong City was in unprecedented mayhem; it was like it had just been through a devastating calamity. The battle had destroyed almost half of the city; everything was in ruins.
The pitiful state was almost unbearable – it was the end of the world!
Supreme Cloud had entered the city alone and done battle here, but the damage was massive. Even worse, this was when Supreme Cloud was handicapped and had not used any of the powers that he was adept at. If Supreme Cloud were to come for revenge, would the situation be worse?
Supreme Cloud, the think tank of Nine Supremes, was truly a devil! A devil of pandemonium!
The people in the city and the soldiers outside the city concluded unanimously that Supreme Cloud, or rather, Yun Yang, had affirmed the thinking of Ziyou's people and everyone in the world aside from Yutang – the idea that Yun Yang a devil!
The Empire of Ziyou's emperor was now standing at the highest point of the Zilong City, overlooking the ruins without a word; he looked at the dozen miles of road painted in blood and flesh, he listened to the endless moans and groans of pain, he could not help but slowly shut his eyes.
Right now, emperor of Ziyou who was once praised for having a bold vision and great talent by Yun Yang felt waves of helplessness wash over him.
It was a helplessness and disappointment that came from the bottom of his heart.
His gaze was a little empty… unfocused and lost. More than anything else, it held resentment and despair.
His gaze slowly scanned the faces of the twenty officials beside him. The think-tank of Ziyou, leader of the civil officials – Chancellor Lan Wuxin was ashen-faced and blank; he looked like he had aged a hundred years in just one day!
It was an expression that spoke of having nothing to live for any longer.
The Empire of Ziyou's emperor was clear that the source of this incident was a problem stemming from a few noble young masters and ladies out hunting away from the city. He was certain that Chancellor Lan Wuxin was the main culprit behind this incident.
It was this old thing who had invited their enemy Supreme Cloud into the securely guarded Zilong City with his own hands!
It was him who confirmed that Supreme Wind was the so-called Phantom Physician God of Wine, Feng Xiange!
It was also him who spurred the emperor into saving Feng Xiange so they could utilize the favor to recruit him for Ziyou's perusal!
He was the one who sent the national heirloom treasure, core of siderite, and the imperial jade seal into the enemy's hands. The national heirloom was destroyed while the jade seal seemed to have been returned in a perfect state... but in reality? Elder Yun had said openly that he was to take Ziyou's national fate, so it was mostly true and he would never actually be as kind to only absorb only a tenth of it. He must have taken it all…
Lastly, he was the one who had escorted Supreme Cloud to the Board of Punishment and let him meet the assassin.
It was him, everything was because of him… Chancellor Lan Wuxin had no one else to blame for everything that had transpired!
Such a wrongdoing should be heinous; a hundred deaths would not be able to redeem him and that was the lightest way to put it – he should be sentenced to nine familial exterminations!
At any other time, the Emperor of Ziyou would have acted upon it long ago.
Now, though, he had no thoughts of penalizing Lan Wuxin.
What was more, he actually felt sympathetic.
A while later, the emperor's gaze turned sharp, as dangerous as a hawk.