1076 Heaven, Earth, & Yin-Yang
Tie Gang stopped the moving legions due to the intense fog. The lack of visibility or detection abilities worried him, and he feared whatever traps his enemy was planning for them.
"Should we remove the fog?" asked Tie Gang.
"It could be what they expect us to do," stated Ao Shen.
"So, gathering more information before acting is the best option?"
"I found a human town nearby," said Huo Fenghuang, activating her Heavenly Eye to its full extent. "Let's check it out."
Jian Sha and the Sea Race Immortal Sovereign named Jiao Qiu stayed behind to protect the troops as the three rushed to their destination. The moment they landed outside the village, they detected an anomaly. The mortals in this town looked weird; some people had old faces with young bodies, old bodies with young faces, normal bodies with baby arms, faces that were part old and part young, and many odd-shaped bodies.
"This should be the adverse effect of forcefully messing with the entire world's time," commented Huo Fenghuang.
"We need to calculate how long has passed, as this could affect the battle's tide," added Ao Shen.
"My eye can't see anything, and this place is disturbing any divination," said Huo Fenghuang, looking at the sky. "It will take me a little while to find the answer. It's best to take a sample of the temporal energy in the world and have Xu Shi or the Heavenly Emperor analyze it."
"I'll do that," said Tie Gang.
"No need," suddenly said Wang Wei. "It's been a little over 75,000 years."
"That's long enough to make a difference," muttered Ao Shen.
"Your majesty, what should we do next?"
"Disperse the fog and prepare for the real battle," replied Wang Wei, and the two Eternals immediately acted. They flew into the hair and used absolute force. Huo Fenghuang released a flame that burned everything in its path, while Ao Shen released a devouring power that swallowed the fog.
As expected, some weird creatures from the fog had the power to affect the mind or senses, but with two top Eternal Powerhouses, they posed no issues. Soon, the entire world was cleared as divine sense, and other senses could function as usual.
That's when everyone saw it-a giant shield that separated the Martial Hegemony World into two: one side was still blocked by fog, and the other cleared. The world's composition was basic: an enormous consecutive continent with a few scattered islands. So, the separation was easily accomplished and apparent.
"So, that's their tactic," muttered Ao Shen. As he scanned his side of the formation, there were only sick mortals. All the cultivators moved to the other side; they even moved the location of their lineages to the other side.
"A Yin-Yang Formation?' thought Huo Fenghuang. She noticed the difference between their sides, which represented Yin or evil, and the martial artist's side, which represented Yang and everything good. 'Why does this array look even more powerful than the world protecting one?' She frowned at this thought before voicing her concerns. Tie Gang swiftly called the Array Masters to give an analysis and summary.
"Brilliant," said an elderly Dao Ancestor wearing blue clothes, long white hair floating in the hair, and caressing his long white beard. "I thought their development of Profession Dao was subpar, but they developed such a brilliant array. You can see the obvious Taoist ideologies in it."
"Can you explain?" asked Tie Gang.
"This array combines Heaven, Earth, and Yin-Yang," explained the Array Master. "The one we destroy to enter this world is Heaven, and this one is Earth. It uses Yin-Yang to strengthen Earth further, with a secondary boost from Martial Art Will. Furthermore, Heavenly Dao might be providing them with World Sources to aid them further."
Tie Gang groaned, "This is getting annoying. Can you break it?"
"Yes, but⌜"
"But it will take time. What about the Array Virus?"
"Yin-Yang does not only represent the opposite but also changes," replied the Array Master. "And that's one weakness of the Array Virus, so it will still take some time."
"Do you have a way to accelerate the process?"
"Disintegrate it from the inside, send more powerhouses, or have his majesty act personally."
Tie Gang waved, "Do your best, and I'll see what I can do about more powerhouses." He communicated with the War Room for the next step. He needed more resources, more soldiers, more everything. Additionally, Tie Gang needed to know what to do with this conquered land as they technically owned half of the world. The War Room agreed to send the Void Time Empress to heal the mortal's sickness as they are valuable.
"Alert! Enemy Attack!"
Tie Gang rushed over and saw what was happening. The sky turned dark because an incalculable amount of creatures rushed out of the formation. Due to the sudden attack, many of the Array Masters close to the shield were killed.
"Damn it, why are those people so careless,' muttered Tie Gang, who knew why. The war has been proceeding so smoothly that some people have relaxed their guard or become arrogant. He swiftly mobilized all the legions to prepare for war.
Tie Gang frowned as he saw the enemy. "Are those demon races?" He hesitated because these creatures had glowing red eyes, and their bodies released a dark, eerie, shadowy aura. Tie Gang suddenly felt his body tremble and the surrounding temperature dropping to a freezing degree.
He looked around to find the source and saw an irate Ao Shen; he sighed.
"Damn you," roared Ao Shen, shaking the entire world.
"Calm down, or you'll destroy the world," said Huo Fenghuang.
How can Ao Shen calm down? He knew the plight of the demon race in this world and planned to lure them to migrate to the Northern Continent. Additionally, he owed a few of them karma for saving him when he was here. But now, he saw his plan fail, and his people turned into mindless killing machines and cannon fodder.
Ao Shen exhaled to calm down, "Is it possible to save them? After all, we need them for the Demon School." His only chance was for the War Room to see his point and agree.
"You should understand with their destroyed or corrupted souls, it's no longer worth the effort to save them," said Huo Fenghuang, making Ao Shen snort coldly.
"You should watch out," Huo Fenghuang told Tie Gang. "These creatures contained terrifying poisons, curses, and diseases."
"I understand." Tie Gang ordered Alchemy and Talisman Legions to act as aid for this battle, reducing the casualties from these causes. Even with these preparations, the loss was more than he had anticipated. After the battle, Tie Gang instructed the Array Masters to place formations to prevent another sneak attack while also gathering these demons' bodies to see if they would be of use. He expected this was only the first wave and more was to come.
Tie Gang suddenly sensed a shift in the world and looked in the distance. There it was, a handsome man in white clothes with flowing silver-gray hair-the Heavenly Emperor. He did not release any aura or make his presence known, but his every existence changed the fundamental concepts of the world, such as matter, energy, space, time, and fate. So, all eyes were immediately on him.
"All hail his majesty."
"Be at ease," said Wang Wei calmly before looking at the shield. "Sir Qian Heng, how about a conversation."
After a few seconds, the fog cleared briefly as a man in red armor appeared floating in the sky.
"Wang Wei," said Qian Heng with gritted teeth and hatred in his eyes, his arm crossed before him. No one knows this is just a facade, that this proud martial artist had to use every ounce of his willpower to prevent his body from trembling out of pure fear.
Martial artists have a naturally sharper instinct than many other paths or systems, and Qian Heng, one of the best in this system, shared this ability. So, he knew how scary this man was the moment he laid eyes on him.
He knew this person could kill him by simply breathing a little harder; he knew that this formation, which was the embodiment of their world's civilization and their hope, could not protect him.
The fear was so intense that Qian Heng felt his body, mind, and soul collapsing. He felt ashamed, so he did everything to resist that fear. To his surprise, he discovered his Willpower being tempered at a tremendous speed.
Wang Wei smiled, "You should now understand how pointless your resistance is. So, why not stop wasting each other's time."
Veins appeared on Qian Heng's neck as he realized this war was nothing but a game for this man. He could have conquered this place alone in less than a few minutes if he wanted to. Qian Heng realized the ease at which this man could conquer his home; this news devastated him. Regardless... "We will never surrender," replied Qian Heng. "Death is better than subjugation."
