For the 15 minutes, Spiritual power continued to collide within the grand array, accompanied only by the sounds of brutal slaughter echoing from inside.
After 30 minutes, the Spiritual power and sounds of combat in the city gradually weakened, punctuated by Feng Tu's hoarse, exhausted roars.
1 hour passed. The noises within grew lower and lower, and even the thick mist was gradually dispersing. Fewer and fewer Wu tribesmen were running out of the grand array.
In just 2 short hours, Bi Shihu's three armies had slaughtered a staggering twenty thousand Wu tribesmen who fled out of the city.
Then, the sounds of slaughter within the city surprisingly rang out once more.
Spiritual powers collided again, even more massively this time, as if the human side had retreated and launched another desperate counterattack.
And then, it weakened again.
"Marshal!"
The way Ge Li looked at Bi Shihu had completely changed.
Their three armies had remained outside, leaving the people of Highsun City and the Wu tribe to slaughter each other in the bewitching array for two whole hours!
Bi Shihu remained expressionless, but Ge Li seemed to understand his intent.
What Bi Shihu wanted was the result: the more people died in Highsun City, the more tragic and heroic this battle would appear, and the greater Bi Shihu's merits would be in the eyes of the world.
At the same time, their own casualties would be minimized.
The Wu tribesmen had already been scared out of their wits; after fighting a bloody battle in the bewitching array for two hours, one could well imagine their level of exhaustion.
Finally, just as Ge Li could no longer hold back his angry reprimand, Bi Shihu merely glanced at him and raised his hand.
"The mist has dispersed. Charge into Highsun City, annihilate the Wu tribe grand army, and save our compatriots."
"Advance!"
With Bi Shihu's command, the three armies rode their flying guillotines, soaring over the toppled city walls of Highsun City.
The ground was covered in ruins and the corpses of both the human and Wu races.
As the three armies advanced, their initial excitement of soon acquiring merits gradually turned solemn, until their hearts were filled with apprehension.
As they ventured deeper inside.
The already weakening battle cries completely vanished. Even the sounds of Spiritual power colliding disappeared.
"Halt!"
The ruins of Highsun City were terrifyingly quiet. A trace of doubt flashed across Bi Shihu's expression.
The mist that had previously blocked their probing was dispersing at a visible rate, and everything around them gradually became clear.
Doubt turned into horror.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, massive Wu tribe totem pillars descended from the sky.
The entirety of Highsun City was filled with the Spiritual power of the Wu tribe.
"How is this possible?!!"
Bi Shihu's face instantly turned pale.
In the dissipating mist, the entirety of Highsun City—both the inner and outer cities—had been reduced to ruins.
Standing atop the ruins were Wu tribesmen, fully armed and waiting for battle!
Venerable Elder Yuanliang stood at the forefront of the Wu tribesmen, glaring furiously at Bi Shihu with a savage and resentful sneer.
The Wu tribe's Void Refinement cultivators stared fixedly at Bi Shihu, wishing they could slice him into a thousand pieces.
Meanwhile, the building in the inner city that belonged to the Li Clan's Chamber of Commerce had been completely leveled.
Beneath the building was an empty space—clearly a bottomless tunnel.
Engraved around the edges of the abyss were runes that concealed auras.
Sweeping the area with a Primal Soul revealed that this cavern, wide enough for dozens of people to stand side by side, was filled with footprints.
The tunnel snaked beneath the entirety of Highsun City, reaching depths of a hundred meters, leading to who knows where.
In all directions around the tunnel lay the aftermath of continuous Spiritual bombardment.
Floating in the cloudy sky were puppets; these puppets were still continuously executing the motions of expending tiny bits of Spiritual power to activate talismans.
The ground was covered in deep craters, traces of impacts from talismans and cultivators.
At the same time, rune array formations were engraved all over Highsun City.
These were the array tactics used for the bewitching mist array, with withered red leaves acting as the array bases to isolate auras.
"Marshal, we've fallen into a trap!" Ge Li's face was pale. "Feng Tu... they've escaped!"
"Hahaha!"
No, not everyone had escaped. Loud laughter rang out.
Both the combat-ready Wu tribesmen and Bi Shihu's three armies looked toward the location where Bi Shihu's forces had originally been stationed.
They saw dust and sand kicking up as a giant Golden Toad descended from the sky, letting out a loud "ribbit."
A handsome middle-aged man with greying hair was sitting atop the head of the hundred-meter-tall toad.
His left leg dangled casually, while his right leg was bent so his hand could rest on his knee.
With his chin propped on his arm, he gazed mockingly at the panicked Wu tribesmen and Bi Shihu's three armies inside the city.
At this moment, the entirety of Highsun City was quiet.
There was only the heavy breathing of the people in the city, and the sound of the fierce wind—stirred up by the Golden Toad Divine Palace's descent—flapping their robes.
This person's face was unfamiliar, but Bi Shihu was absolutely certain: this was Jiang Chenghuan, whom he had met in Cloudsummit Region all those years ago!
Over thirty years had passed, and this bastard was once again in the shadows, using his underhanded schemes to play with his toys!
Bi Shihu's eyes turned bloodshot.
Li Yunbing slightly raised an eyebrow.
"It's been over thirty years. Greetings, Marshal Bi. Oh, right, let me introduce myself again. This time, my name is Li Yunbing."
"You don't need to remember it too clearly. You and I won't have the chance to meet again."
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