Chapter 717: Energy-Eroding Cannon Nest

Xue Wanshan stood in the wind and snow, his gaze passing over the ice wall, fixed on the figure on the city tower.

A flash of fighting spirit crossed his eyes.

A powerful figure from the Shattered Void beside him whispered, "Commander Xue, it seems the intelligence is true. The commander on the other side is no longer Grum."

"Oh?" Xue Wanshan raised an eyebrow. "Then do you know who the new commander is?"

The powerful figure pondered for a moment, then said with a hint of certainty, "I heard he's just a newly advanced human apostle, and his strength is probably not as good as Grum's."

Xue Shuai should have no problem dealing with him.

A newly promoted high-ranking apostle...

Xue Wanshan's eyes darkened for a moment.

In the battle of Cold Moon City, the sect blocked any unfavorable news in order to stabilize morale, but as the frontline commander, he naturally knew the details of the person on the other side.

Thirty-five shattered voids, four of which were at the second level, were mostly killed by one person.

Xue Wanshan slowly clenched his fist, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"With ease?" he repeated softly, his tone unreadable. "I hope so."

The powerful man was taken aback, failing to grasp the deeper meaning behind those words. He assumed that Xue Shuai was laughing contemptuously and echoed the sentiment.

"Don't worry, Commander Xue. A mere newly promoted apostle can't cause any trouble."

Xue Wanshan didn't reply, and turned his gaze back to Lin Feng on the city wall.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly raised his hand and gestured to the generals behind him.

"Pass down the order: the vanguard battalion will advance first to probe the city's defenses, while the other battalions will advance according to their formations. There is no need to rush."

"After the battle begins, you may attempt to break through the formation."

The powerful figure beside him was taken aback: "Commander Xue, aren't you going to take action yourself?"

"No rush," Xue Wanshan interrupted him, his voice cold. "Pass on the order."

"yes."

The sound of horns tore through the wind and snow.

The next moment, tens of thousands of grandmasters moved in unison, their auras surging towards the central city like a tidal wave.

The powerful beings who had shattered the void were scattered in front of the formation, the space around them distorted, and every step they took created visible ripples.

Xue Wanshan stood at the back, coldly watching the torrent crash into the city wall.

...

On the city wall, Lin Feng stood atop a hundred-meter-high ice wall, his gaze turning somber.

On the top of the 500-meter-wide ice wall, Nightmare Clan ranged units were already densely packed together.

Behind the ice wall, a slope extends to the ground every three hundred meters.

The reserve force crowded the slope, a dark mass of shadow wolves, rotting men, and wriggling shadows, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Lin Feng's senses were firmly locked onto Xue Wanshan in the distance.

As the bugle call faded, the opposing air force slowly advanced, unhurriedly, while the ground troops had already begun to move.

The frozen soil is shaking.

Millions of disciples emerged from the frozen ground, their gray leather armor forming an endless tide in the wind and snow.

Behind them were hundreds of thousands of innate disciples, their steps more steady, scattered on the flanks and rear of the charging formation.

Further on, various siege weapons were slowly advanced, dragged along by the red-hoofed beasts.

When the front row of post-natal disciples rushed into the two-kilometer line, the entire ice wall lit up at the same time.

Every 500 meters, there is an energy-corroding cannon nest. Those huge, nest-weaver-like organs protrude from inside the city wall, their abdominal sacs suddenly contract, and dark purple light seeps out from the gaps in their shells.

After charging for a second and a half, a deep, long cry rang out, and a dark purple beam of light shot out from the cannon muzzle, trailing granular flashes as it crashed into the area where the most concentrated group of acquired disciples were located.

The dark purple shockwave exploded from the point of impact, vaporizing the disciples within a five-meter radius before they could even scream.

A dozen or so people were thrown out by the shockwave and died in mid-air.

Then came the second, third, and fourth shots.

Hundreds of energy-corroding cannon nests fired in turn, their dark purple beams slicing through the snow like rows of burning arrows, each clearing out an area.

A disciple wielding a long sword was running forward with the group when suddenly the sky darkened overhead. He tried to look up, but a dark purple light filled his vision.

He was blown backward, knocking over a row of his companions behind him, and was already dead when he landed.

The Blood Demon Sect was not to be outdone, and hundreds of Blood Howl Cannons opened fire simultaneously once they entered a two-kilometer range.

Five hollow skeletons joined together form a cannon barrel that spewed out dark red flames, and a blood-red bullet the size of a watermelon streaked in a parabola as it crashed into the ice wall.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The blood-red shockwave spread outwards from its point of impact, instantly shattering the defensive formation within a five-meter radius.

A dark red, viscous liquid covered the ground, bubbling with tiny bubbles, and a pungent smell of blood filled the air.

Shadow Wolves and Corpse Men standing within the liquid area lose health points per second, and their movement speed drops drastically.

But the Nightmare Clan soldiers have no intelligence and know no fear.

Once a section of the city wall is cleared of soldiers, the Shadow Weavers behind it will immediately use mental pulses to bring up the reserve force to fill the gap, all within a few breaths.

One shot clears out an entire area.

Anyone below level 20, whether from the Nightmare Clan or the Blood Demon Sect, will die if they get close, or be crippled if they are grazed.

"Holy crap... what the hell is that cannon?" A disciple who had reached the Acquired stage was lying in a frozen pit when a dark purple beam of light flew past his scalp and exploded a dozen steps behind him, splashing mud and ice shards all over his back.

He looked up and saw a group of his fellow disciples being wiped out in a single shot, their health bars all reduced to zero. His legs trembled.

"I'm only level 19! 1200 HP, this cannon will kill me! I don't want to die here!"

The veteran next to him yanked him out of the ditch, yelling as he ran, "Don't lie down! It's easier to get aimed if you lie down! Follow me, don't run in a straight line, circle around a couple of times!"

Before they could finish speaking, another energy-corroding cannon shot landed to their side, sending a dark purple shockwave crashing over them and instantly depleting their health bars.

"I don't want to play anymore... I want to go home..."

"Go home? Try running away! The supervisory team is right behind us. Running means death."

"Charging will only lead to death!"

"Charging might give you a chance to live, running will definitely kill you!"

"But...but that cannon was too powerful!"

"Nonsense! You think I'm not afraid? Charge!"

Amidst the wind and snow, countless Blood Demon Sect disciples struggled forward amidst the gunfire. Some fell, some gritted their teeth and continued, some cried out, and some became numb.

Just as the artillery fire between the two sides reached its peak, a long, drawn-out bone whistle came from behind the Blood Demon Sect's formation.

"Blood Spider Ladder, leap!"

Thousands of commanders of the Blood Spider Ladders received orders simultaneously.

The giant bone spiders with eight supporting legs slowly opened their arms, and then they exerted their strength, pushing off with all eight legs at the same time, and the entire ladder jumped out of the army and landed in front of the formation.

The Blood Fiend Curtain opened instantly, and a dark red, semi-transparent light membrane enveloped the main staircase and the two secondary staircases.

Then they began to accelerate, at twenty meters per second, rushing towards the ice wall.

The energy-corroding cannon immediately turned its muzzle, and the dark purple beam slammed into the protective barrier of the first row of blood spider ladders.

The light membrane suddenly dented, and cracks spread outward from the point of stress. The entire protective screen changed from dark red to grayish-red, but it did not break.

The ladder-like legs plowed deep furrows in the frozen ground and continued forward.

"boom!"

The second shot, the third shot.

The first ladder in the first row was hit by four cannon shots in succession. The protective curtain finally couldn't hold on and shattered with a "crack," destroying all the crystals.

The disciples who had acquired their skills and were climbing the ladders were instantly exposed to the firepower from the city walls.

The next energy-corroding cannon shot followed closely behind, a dark purple beam of light piercing through the entire cloud ladder. Hundreds of post-natal disciples were instantly vaporized, and limbs and bone fragments mixed with ice shards fell from the sky.