Chapter Eighty-One: The Battle Begins! (Please recommend and add to your favorites!)

Yang Fan and Xie Guotao soared through the sky above the ruins at this moment. Not far ahead, the massive city already revealed its broad walls. As Yang Fan entered Jubei City, a trace of unease surfaced in his heart.

Squad after squad of soldiers stood atop the city walls, weapons at the ready. Groups of cultivators were scattered throughout, wiping their weapons clean. Near the rear city gates, a steady stream of supplies and personnel arrived. Everything was saturated with the tension of an impending great battle.

Xie Guotao, too, found himself momentarily at a loss. The ruins had been here for eleven years. Except for the initial clash when the two worlds first made contact, there had been no large-scale preparations for war like this, despite the ongoing skirmishes between them.

When Xie Guotao led Yang Fan atop the walls of Jubei City and approached the city’s commander, Xiao Deyi, their doubts were finally dispelled.

Xiao Deyi stood alone at the heart of the wall. As Xie Guotao and Yang Fan drew near, he said, “Grandmaster Xie, the great battle is about to erupt. Prepare for combat. The one beside you is from the Special Training Program, correct? Assign him to a regular cultivator squad for the fight.”

Hearing this, both Xie Guotao and Yang Fan felt a weight drop from their hearts. Their suspicions were confirmed—though the news was not good, certainty was preferable to endless speculation.

Yang Fan could hardly believe it. How unlucky could he be? He’d barely been in the ruins a month, still unsure of the lay of the land, and already war was upon them. Judging by the city’s atmosphere, this would be no minor skirmish.

Xie Guotao nodded without speaking, while Yang Fan, lost in thought, gazed into the distance. From the city wall, sixty li away, the silhouette of Po Bei City in the Dark Realm could usually be made out. But now, when Yang Fan looked again, there was nothing but endless darkness. The gloom blanketed everything ahead, forming a clear dividing line that completely cut off the thirty li of territory near Po Bei City.

Just then, a streak of rainbow light shot from behind Jubei City. An elder, accompanied by a young man, entered the city and proceeded straight to the wall.

The elder exchanged greetings with Xie Guotao, then began conversing with Xiao Deyi, who stood before them.

“Commander Xiao, what’s the situation now?” the elder inquired.

“It’s almost certain the Dark Realm intends to attack. They’ve even used the Dark Canopy—anyone would be a fool to believe they have no designs here. Prepare for battle.”

Both the elder and the youth were taken aback. Their suspicions confirmed, they felt a measure of relief, but contemplating the consequences of war still sent a chill through their hearts.

Xie Guotao and the elder then led Yang Fan and the young man away from the wall. On the way, the youth kept glancing at Yang Fan. Once they’d descended, he spoke in a low voice, “You must be Yang Fan. My name is Li Xianyi, from the Magic City Cultivation Academy—two years ahead of you.”

Yang Fan looked at him sidelong. He had heard of Li Xianyi many times before. The “Sword of Magic City” was a renowned title, and Li was also Chen Haoran’s cousin—Chen Haoran, the pillar of the Magic City Cultivation Academy. Li Xianyi had even promised to stand up for Chen Haoran and teach Zhou Ting a lesson. Remembering all this, Yang Fan couldn’t muster much affection for Li Xianyi.

Li Xianyi simply smiled, unfazed by Yang Fan’s expression. “Whatever grievances you and Haoran have, they’re none of my business. War is about to erupt in the ruins, and you and I are both in the Special Training Program. We’ll be in the same squad, so I hope you won’t let your feelings about me and Haoran affect our teamwork.”

Yang Fan nodded, saying nothing more.

At this time, Hu Dao was assembling his squad near the city gate. Xie Guotao and the elder brought Yang Fan and Li Xianyi over, and Yang Fan and Li Xianyi joined Hu Dao’s team. Li Xianyi, at the peak of the Fourth Rank, would act as temporary captain, Hu Dao as vice-captain, and Yang Fan, at the early Third Rank, would temporarily serve as leader of a ten-man unit.

...

The atmosphere at the Magic City Cultivation Academy was equally tense. Many new students began calling home; since the ruins were a secret from ordinary people, the official explanation was that they were going on an expedition. No one knew how long the trial would last—the academy’s administration presented a unified front.

When the truth about the ruins became known, unrest broke out among the freshmen. Some refused to enter the ruins, some were so frightened they shook. All such students were expelled and made to sign confidentiality agreements.

Originally, there had been close to two thousand freshmen; now, over four hundred were gone. This was happening at cultivation academies across the country. Everyone understood—forcing the unwilling onto the battlefield would only create cannon fodder.

On April 22nd, 2019, the global army of cultivators entered the ruins.

They marched to the front lines.

...

April 22nd.

Yang Fan and the others stood atop the city walls, watching as a dark, surging army approached. Yang Fan felt a complex, indescribable sensation: excitement, fear, bloodlust, and resolve.

When the Dark Realm’s army was fifteen li from Jubei City, countless missiles with blazing tails streaked from behind the city into the sky. Explosions of light erupted in the enemy ranks, and then enormous energy shields coalesced overhead.

With a deafening roar, missiles crashed into the shields, sending flames billowing skyward. Cultivators in the Dark Realm’s army fell in droves, as if struck by lightning.

Xiao Deyi observed the scene, murmuring, “I never expected the addition of those special materials to the missiles would make them so much more powerful.”

Then, from behind Jubei City, fifteen immense beams of laser, each ten meters thick, sliced through the vanguard of the Dark Realm army like a plow through earth. As the light faded, the ground was revealed, scorched as if by inferno—nothing but charred earth remained.

The Dark Realm’s vanguard, which had once crowded the field, now seemed to have never existed at all.

From the rear of the Dark Realm, in Po Bei City, a cacophony of furious roars erupted. Many high-ranking figures from the Dark Realm had gathered there. Most had never confronted Earth directly and only knew of it from the accounts of the Grand Elder.

But the Grand Elder was not a permanent resident of the ruins. This massive invasion was meant to be a grand siege, a display for the slumbering Dark God. Every faction had mustered its full might, gathering armies and cultivators.

Yet the reality was beyond anyone’s imagination.

The vanguard’s top combatant was only a single Eighth Rank commander; there were few Sevenths, more Fifths and Sixths, and the rest were regular Dark Realm troops—though vast in number.

This vanguard alone numbered fifty thousand. Yet, just as the march began, it was nearly obliterated.

After the missile bombardment and the laser barrage, fewer than a thousand survived. Among them, only one Eighth Rank, three Sevenths, and a single Sixth Rank cultivator remained.