âHeed my orders, Fushen Clan!â
As soon as it descended, the Divine Sun Palace immediately began accumulating the power of its miniature nova sources, preparing to treat the Nonacrypt Fushen Formation the same way it did the Windheed Pavilionâs.
Fortunately, Fushen Gongyi had long since made preparations.
At the head of the over fifty million elites, he flew up, his dark green robes blending in with the black fog. Five different bugs burst out of the soil beneath him. Each was wreathed in green mist, and countless sharp spikes and sinister compound eyes could be made out. As the sect master of the seventh-ranked sect, Fushen Gongyi definitely wasnât weak. Furthermore, in his territory, which was densely filled with insect lifebound beasts, he was completely in his element. âResist it!â
The Divine Sun Palace didnât show any mercy. Its disregard of the Fushen Clan infuriated the three hundred million members of the Fushen Clan. As a clan that lived on the border of the Myriad Solar Sects, the members of the Fushen Clan had grown up tenacious, ruthless, and willing to endure hardship. The Fushen Clan was a place of brutal culture, where murder due to a small disagreement was a common occurrence.
They feared nothing in the world!
âWho cares whether theyâre the celestial orderians or the fucking sun emperor! Theyâre dead if they want to kill us!ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âBrothers, give all your power to the spiritual threads. I donât believe this Divine Sun Palace can break the formation us three hundred million gods are supporting!â
âThe celestial orderians are all dogshit! Tens of millions of them died at the Myriaddragon Mountains and no oneâs dared collect their corpses yet! So whyâre they acting so cocky now? If they step out of the palace, Iâll kill them myself!â
âJust sixty million? Iâm not sure thatâs enough food for my insects. They donât even have lifebound beasts, so they arenât even good as a food source.â
The Fushen Clan cursed the celestial orderians with ugly words, but it was music to Tianmingâs ears. Tianming hadnât known the Fushen Clan well before this, but now he knew they were a fearless and fierce clan. To rely purely on a clanâs might to reach the top ten of the myriad sects required every clan member to be tenacious.
The Divine Sun Palace was testing the strength of the Nonacrypt Fushen Formation. Tianming, Fushen Gongyi, and the troops didnât launch their attack yet. Hence, they all grabbed threads and supplied power too.
The first attack from the Divine Sun Palace would be critical!
âFushen seniors, letâs do this together!â
âAll together now, give the formation all your power!â
Tianmingâs eyes burned with fire as he looked at the golden head, whose radiance could penetrate the mist. Its mouth opened, revealing a raging fire blazing within that was undergoing its final compression. Its golden hair fluttered in the air like golden dragons, like a mockery of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. It was as if it was saying that the strongest sect was only worthy of being the celestial orderiansâ hair!
âItâs coming!â
Within Fushen Valley, hundreds of millions of gods and lifebound beasts simultaneously roared. The formation thickened several times as spiritual threads wrapped around the lifebound beasts and layer after layer of black barriers formed, seeming just like metal shields.
The Divine Sun Palace finally roared, spewing out a golden pillar of flame that descended upon the Nonacrypt Fushen Formation like heaven's wrath.
A world-shaking boom rang out. The golden fire instantly consumed the whole Fushen Valley, furiously spreading into the surroundings and turning the land for tens of kilometers into a sea of golden fire.
The earth cracked and wept, mountains collapsed, and seas hissed. Even the fusion formation deep underground wasnât spared, causing the nova source to shudder and leading to an apocalyptic earthquake across the whole world.
And that was the Divine Sun Palace at half power.
Of course, it also meant that the Divine Sun Palace hadnât broken through the defense, or else the power wouldnât have scattered so much.
When the fire was dispersed by the wind, Fushen Valley still stood there like an impregnable fortress, unshaken!
Laughs of mockery began spreading from Fushen Valley, clear for all in the Divine Sun Palace to hear.
âAh, so this is the famous Divine Sun Palace!â
âIt wasnât even enough to knock a fart out of me!â
âGet lost sooner rather than later! And you call yourselves celestial orderians? Bunch of mental patients.â
Fushen Valleyâs mockery seemed to incite the wrath of the Divine Sun Palace. It didnât pause before gathering power for round two. The golden head heated up once more, gradually taking on a reddish hue that signaled its rage.
âSenior Fushen, how is it?â Tianming was familiar with astralships. The formation had indeed endured that blast and no one had been hurt; everyone believed they were safe now, but Tianming wasnât so optimistic.
âThis is troublesome. It was a very close thing. If they have just a bit more power or hit us more times, it could threaten us. We didnât actually lose nothing just now, itâs just that the ordinary citizens didnât notice.â Fushen Gongyi frowned.
âYes. And we had fifty million helpers this time. If sixty million enemies invade, we wonât be able to help the formation.â At that time, the formation would weaken.
âYes, so the situation isnât optimistic. However, we still have a chance to resist! It depends on whether the opponent wants a head-on confrontation. If their army invades, thereâll be one of two results. First, we get tied down and the Divine Sun Palace easily overwhelms us and annihilates Fushen Valley. Or second, we trap and kill the sixty million, our protective formation holds, and the enemy is forced to retreat with heavy casualties,â Fushen Gongyi said. A head-on confrontation, in this case, was the enemy using their manpower to attack Fushen Valley, whereupon the formation would automatically attack them.
âWhat do you think the chances of winning are based on your understanding of Fushen Valley and the Fushen Clan?â Tianming asked.
âSixty percent, if they show nothing new,â Fushen Gongyi said.
âThat isnât high.â Tianming frowned. âHonestly, Fushen Valley isnât the site of the final battle. If the sovereign doesnât die and the Divine Sun Palace remains intact, their threat will forever remain. Since this isnât the decisive battle, letâs play defense and keep this place.â
âI get it.â
The Myriad Solar Sects and Tianming both needed time the most right now.
The Divine Sun Palaceâs second attack arrived at that moment as golden light pierced through the darkness, landing on the formation once again. The resounding boom was so loud that perhaps even the Empyrean Sword Sect could hear it.
Everyone was anxiously asking Tianming about the situation over here.
The Fushen Clan had endured the second hit as well. The Windheed Pavilion had lasted nine hits, which heavily increased the Fushen Clanâs confidence. Letting go of their fear would indeed strengthen a personâs conviction. Every hit survived emboldened both the Fushen Clan and the Ninedragon Army soldiers. After every hit, they would mock the Divine Sun Palace and celestial orderians.
However, the Divine Sun Palace only had one response: continuing to charge its miniature nova source. The Divine Sun Palace wasnât afraid of such consumption; at most, it would just have to head back to its base and recharge, which would only take four or six hours with its speed.
The third hit!
The fourth hit!
One attacked and one defended. The dark world was repeatedly lit up by golden light.
It didnât take long before the Divine Sun Palace had struck a total of thirty-eight times. Every hit may have looked apocalyptic, but the Nonacrypt Fushen Formation would always be revealed to be unshaken and the mockery continued from the Fushen Clan. Surviving thirty-eight attacks was a point of pride for them.
The Divine Sun Palace would have already long since destroyed the formation if it werenât using a back-up core.
âTheir inability to use the Divine Sun Palaceâs full power is important to us,â Tianming sighed with heartfelt feelings. He best understood the difference between half and full power as another astralship controller. Many things that could be broken in one punch at full strength would need more than a hundred if they were at half strength.
âEven so, everyone is exhausted after enduring thirty-eight attacks, and the formationâs foundation has been shaken as well. Iâm scared theyâll never come out and just keep attacking a hundred, or even hundreds of times until weâre exhausted while their sixty million troops havenât even moved.â Fushen Gongyi was far from as optimistic as his clansmen. He had slowly concluded the sun emperorâs goal: exhaust without any casualties!
Tianming had also assumed the sun emperor would lead the troops to attack. However, it turned out that the sun emperor and celestial orderians were better at mental endurance than expected. They had resisted the mockery of the Fushen Clan. After thirty-eight failures, they were preparing for a thirty-ninth attack.