Ji Xia's broken toes healed in no time.
"So sturdy." Looking at the battlement which was stained by blood, he murmured.
Colorful clouds flew across the sky. One could see a giant screen speedily shrinking towards Yao Mountain City. Following a deep, rumbling noise, the thick screen gradual became a giant beam of light, accurately covering the entire Yao Mountain City.
Seeing the heaven and earth formation shrink, Gong Sun Lang proudly led his army march to the city.
Piji Nu and his non-humankind troop stayed behind, without making any moves. Sitting on the wall of the flying fort, he watched Gong Sun Lang and his army approach the city and said in a scornful tone, "Getting close to this bloody city? No, I won't put the lives of my people under the blades of enemies!"
Piji Nu couldn't understand Gong Sun Lang. He cursed, then the Yao Mountain City shrank its defensive formation, and he actually dared to rush straight to the city with all his warriors. Damn it! If Yao Mountain City expanded the formation now, within its coverage, Gong Sun Lang's army would be wiped out within the span of a few breaths.
On the city wall, Ji Xia pulled out a fire jade dagger for offering ceremony, pointed the dagger tip at the spot between his eyebrows, then made a deep slanting cut on his face. Surrounding him, all Gong Crow Clan warriors did the same. They silently pulled out their weapons and cut their own faces.
Gong Sun Lang insulted the ancestors of Gold Crow Clan, and this was serious.
In Southern Wasteland, when two men from different clans met, if one insulted the other one, an intense conflict would immediately burst between these two brave and wild Southern Wasteland men. However, if one rudely insulted the ancestors or gods or other mysterious beings, which had been worshipped by the other one, a small scale conflict wouldn't be able to solve this. Instead, this would become a bloody war between the two clans; all brothers clans and allied clans of these two clans could even be involved in this war.
Without Ji Hao, Ji Xia was now the most powerful one in Gold Crow Clan.
Just now, the enemies insulted the ancestors of Gold Crow Clan right to Ji Xia's face. If he failed to lead his warriors to kill every last one of these enemies, he would never be able to raise his head again in front of his clansmen anymore.
Face blushed and eyes filled with blood streak, Ji Xia dropped the dagger and licked the blood flowing down his mouth corner. Blood veins bulged from his forehead as he said in a deep voice, "Kill them, kill every one of them. Only their blood can wash off our shame!"
Countless Gold Crow Clan warriors gasped deeply and quickly. Even the group of grey-haired elders had their faces blushed and muscles swelled when facing the enemies coming at the city.
Nothing but blood could wash off the great shame given by Gong Sun Lang. These Gold Crow Clan people believed that they had to rip the enemies' bodies with blades and swords, shed their blood to the earth, and offer their blood and heads to nature, to comfort the souls of their ancestors who were agitated by the shame.
Suppressing the enemies with the heaven and earth great formation?
No. Southern Wasteland warriors needed to wash off their shames with their own swords and blades. If they wiped out the enemies with the formation...In the future, Gold Crow Clan people would be cowards in the eyes of all the other Southern Wasteland people. A brave Southern Wasteland man could not stand such a humiliation.
Above the city, countless Gold Crows in their human shapes raised their weapons and cut their faces, shed their scorching blood to the ground.
Gong Sun Lang and his people not only insulted the ancestors of Gold Crow Clan people, they also humiliated ancient Gold Crows. Those awful words infuriated these Gold Crows, and nearly made their eyeballs pop out of their eyes sockets. These Gold Crows had been living with Gold Crow Clan people for countless years, and the Southern Wasteland rules were imprinted deep in their souls. They clenched their teeth and did what Ji Xia did. Cawing in rage, they swore that they would offer Gong Sun Lang's head to their ancestors and wash off the shame with the blood of all Gong Sun Lang's warriors.
Closer, closer, closer.
Gong Sun Lang's army composed a three-miles-long battle formation right in front of the city. Square arrays, each with ten-thousand warriors lined up orderly at the front line. Every warrior was carrying a heavy shield, which sparkled with dark spell symbols. Over a million shields were put together, releasing a strong dark light screen above their heads.
On the light screen, a weirdly shaped dragon turtle was faintly visible, roaring in the screen. The dark screen seemed to be unbreakable.
"Break!" Ji Xia pointed at the enemies, who were less than ten miles away from the city.
Thousands of enormous stonemen and tens of thousands of giant tree men rose from the city wall simultaneously, raised giant rocks and tree trunks, and threw out with all their strengths.
Countless Gold Crow Clan Maguspriests cast a spell together. Holding the staffs made from Fuso trees, they sent streaks of fire wrap the rocks and tree trunks. The rocks and tree trunks were immediately burned red, falling on the enemies like shooting stars.
The dark screen was vibrated. Within the screen, the dragon turtle roared deeply yet sonorously. The rocks and tree trunks exploded, sending up giant clouds of fire which tore the screen apart and shattered countless shields. Metal pieces darted everywhere, cutting into the heads of many warriors and killing them right on the spot.
Tens of thousands of warriors lost their limbs, and had their chests or stomachs penetrated. They lied on the ground, twitching and screaming in pain. Before long, the ground was covered in blood.
"So crappy shields! These...These are new?" Watching the fight from far behind, Gong Sun Lang was stunned. These shields were high-grade pieces produced in Pu Ban City by human craftsmen, and shouldn't be so fragile. A strong defensive formation was formed with a series of shield through a new technology which was learned from the non-humankind not long ago. How could these shields be so weak?
"Minister Lang..." Murmured a Gong Sun Family manager, "Emperor Xun's father, your brother, Minister Xiong, he took over the administrative works of all factories and workshops in Pu Ban City days ago. He shipped all the high-quality armaments stored in Pu Ban City to his own place, and the ones he sent to you were new."
Laughing embarrassedly, this manager lowered his voice and continued, "Minister Xiong...pays great attention on cost control...And, for things like shields...Things like shields and armors are actually not so useful, as the warriors need to win a battle with their strength and courage, right?"
Gong Sun Lang paused briefly and nodded.
"Attack! Attack! Now!" Pointing at Yao Mountain City, Gong Sun Lang shouted out loud.