1070 Death Ring
Tie Gang frowned as he noticed a slight change in the battlefield. Numerous golden lights emanated in scattered places throughout the void. The martial artists had become ruthless and burned their golden bodies to launch suicidal attacks at their enemies. In other words, they were fighting desperately. So, he ordered his men to fight more carefully and be on the lookout for these desperate tactics.
On the other side of the battlefield, Qian Heng watched everything while clenching his fist. They were losing this fight, which could be said to be a one-sided massacre. These origin cultivators were as versatile in their methods and tactics as the Taoists. Still, on top of everything else, they also had a powerful body with great defense, stamina, and regeneration.
'Is the fate of our world be subjugated?' thought Qian Heng, clenching his fist even tighter to the point of causing small explosions.
"Sorry," he said to the other three, and they nodded to show they understood.
"What should we do?" asked Lighting Fist.
"We can only continue with the original plan," replied Qian Heng, sighing deeply. He suddenly paused as he received a communication from the Celestion Demon Cult.
"If you guys had something like that, why wait so long to reveal it?" he asked with an ugly expression.
"We're revealing it at the correct time. Your majesty, you should be happy we're willing to show you our deep background."
Qian Heng exhaled deeply, "Fine. Send it out."
"What are these demons playing at?" asked Lighting Fist.
"My concern is why now?" asked Purple Dragon.
"Isn't it obvious?" sneered Snake Saber. "They need us to buy enough time to gather enough merit for their Cult Leader."
"You really shouldn't have revived him," complained Lightning Fist. "Once he proves the Dao, he will definitely compete against you for the Heavenly Emperor Position."
"You saw how much resources and manpower they provided for this war," explained Qian Heng. "Plus, I never care about this damn position."
"You may not care, but we do. I would rather we have no leader than those demonic bastards ruling over us," sneered Lightning Fist.
The void before them trembled before something materialized - a white ring obviously made out of bones.
"The Underworld Martial Emperor's Proving Dao Artifact," muttered Saber Snake. "It's as beautiful and powerful as I envisioned."
The Underworld Martial Emperor was a legend in the Martial Hegemony World because of his strength and the devastation he caused the world. After the Null Era, the world entered the Martial Origin Era, where their cultivation system was created and perfected. Then, near the end of the era, came the madman, the Underworld Martial Emperor.
He is the first person to show how terrifying it is to use Death Qi to create legions of undead. With his Death Dao, the madman went on a rampaging path to conquer the world and turn it into a world of the dead with him at the top while farming the world for Heaven's Will.
The terrifying thing was he almost succeeded. The Martial Origin Era was a prosperous time with numerous Immortal Sovereigns, Insurgents, and Immortal Tier Powerhouses. But they were no match for the Underworld Martial Emperor due to his personal strength and large army. This confrontation resulted in these powerhouses' deaths and turning into the enemy's undead soldiers.
Luckily for this world, a betrayal from the Underworld Martial Emperor's closest friend and ally allowed them to seal and exile him. After his departure, the tactic of using the dead as cannon fodder was popularized until a Great Emperor facilitated the Death Forbidden Treaty.
Without wasting time, Qian Heng put the ring on and activated one of its abilities:
[Immortal Curse]
All the mortal martial artists in this war soon discovered a black mark on their forehead, followed by a message of what was happening: they were not immortal. Their enemies could not kill them no matter what. So, they went mad, attacking their opponent with unrestrained hatred and anger; this was an opportunity to avenge their loved ones, brothers, friends, and fallen comrades.
'This is not good,' thought Tie Gang, noticing the situation. 'This Emperor Artifact seemed to have been nourished by Death Energy for billions of generations.' His eyes brightened as he thought his boss should be interested. However, this was for later, as he still needed to deal with the situation.
Although this technique only applied to the Mortal Cultivators, it was enough to reverse the war.
"Talisman Legion: provide everyone with Sealing Talismans. Although we can't kill them now, we can seal them to kill later," ordered Tie Gang before focusing on Wu Ming's Totem Legion.
"You're up. Use the legion with the Sealing Array to deal with the situation." Wu Ming immediately acted, summoning his legions with Sealing-based Totem on their bodies to move forward.
"Wait," said Tie Gang, who suddenly received orders from the War Room. "Forget it. We will take a defensive position. Meanwhile, let's begin the Immortal Tier battles."
"Why the sudden change?" asked Wu Ming, but Tie Gang had an inkling. This decision was made either as a precautionary measure to save as much love or the war was proceeding too smoothly, and there was a need to slow down things and gather more data using different tactics.
Under his order, all legions formed defensive stands and created interconnected energy shields to protect themselves from these mad martial artists. They were ordered not to worry about energy reserves as the Alchemists would provide them with as many pills as necessary for a prolonged battle.
"Li Jun, protect the other Heaven Chosens," ordered Tie Gang.
"You want me to babysit? I refuse."
"Why?"
"If these people are not adept at dealing with an 'Immortal' opponent, they should not call themselves Heaven Chosen."
"Fair point. Do you guys hear this?" said Tie Gang, and these people became riled up, calling out Tie Gang for even suggesting such a thing. The only calm response was the number 2 position, Di Jiaying.
A smile crept on the corner of Tie Gang's mouth. "Now, it's time for me to move." Without hesitation, he released his aura to call for a challenge A towering martial artist who was 3.5 meters tall and holding two large hammers. The man released a projection of his Inner World to show his strength as a first-class Dao Ancestor Insurgent.
'Let's use this fight to dampen their high morale,' thought Tie Gang as he rushed toward his opponent.
[Strings of Fate]
Tie Gang moved his fingers as if he were a puppeteer controlling strings. Then, before the small giant man could respond, invisible strings around him became visible, cutting off his body, soul, and even his inner world. The martial artist looked at Tie Gang in shock, not thinking he would die so easily. Then, his body split into hundreds of pieces before the void energy in the surroundings finished it off.
"What is this?" asked Tie Gang, who discovered a glowing yellow mud from this guy's Inner World. "Immortal Earth Essence? So, that's how he became first class." He smiled as this was a great fine. He could leave it to cultivate a first-class Dao Ancestor Insurgent for his next life or trade it to the sect for something of equal value.
"Who else?" asked Tie Gang, looking at the crowd.
"I will be your opponent," said another first-class Insurgent, but he was skinny with a third eye on his forehead. Tie Gang could not tell whether he was a subhuman race or this was a technique. This was unimportant as this man was just another dead opponent. He used the same technique without hesitation, but this man could see his fate strings and evaded.
'Good job,' thought Tie Gang. 'But what about the vibrations that come with the strings?' But to his surprise, his opponent could detect or even see his hidden attack and evade. Furthermore, this martial artist was extremely fast.
[Kinetic Vibration]
Tie Gang siphoned vibration from everything that moved, and in this battlefield where gods, demons, and monsters were trying to kill each other, he had too many sources of vibrations. Even the rapid movement of his opponent was a source of power for him.
"Don't you get it?" sneered the Three-Eyed Martial Artist. "Anything I can see cannot hurt me." In his eyes, everything around him had turned into vibrations and fluctuations, but it did not matter. He navigated through like he was walking in his house. It did not matter whether the vibrations originated from subatomic particles or some unknown ethereal or nonphysical concept; he would evade it as long as he could see it.
'This is annoying,' thought Tie Gang. This technique reminded him of the Battle Maniac Source Technique. 'He still needs to move so I could land a hit as long as I'm faster than him.' However, this plan was flawed because he would need to be significantly faster than his opponent, which he was not.
'In that case, the only solution is to take away his sight,' thought Tie Gang, who immediately formed a tactic to end this fight as soon as possible.
