FIMA Ch175: Surprise

“Exactly as you predicted, this is the last wave. As long as they endure one more round of attacks, the grand formation won’t be able to hold. The city’s fall is right in front of us.”

On the enormous spirit ship, a late-Golden Core cultivator from Chaotian Sect who specialized in formations looked toward the person beside him, his voice unable to conceal his excitement.

“Mm.” Gu Siyuan gave a calm nod, his gaze still fixed on the sea of blood and mountain of corpses below.

Under that calmness, the Chaotian Sect Golden Core cultivator also reined in his emotions a little, but the admiration and respect in his eyes never left Gu Siyuan.

Ever since half a year ago, the offensive campaigns in the Third War Zone—and even throughout the entire righteous alliance—had become far more targeted.

That was also when he, together with two other great formation masters, had accepted a transfer order from the righteous alliance and come to Gu Siyuan’s side.

At the beginning, he had been deeply unconvinced.

His name was Yin Xuezhen. He came from Mingguang Immortal Sect and was extraordinarily gifted in formations, acknowledged as the number one formation master in his sect. Although his cultivation was only at late Golden Core, his status stood equal to those senior Nascent Soul elders.

The other two formation masters transferred alongside him had much the same standing.

As for Gu Siyuan…

Naturally, they all knew this most famous rising genius of the cultivation world, and they knew his talent in cultivation could be called unparalleled beneath heaven.

But cultivation was cultivation, and formations were formations.

How could a green youngster like Gu Siyuan possibly compare to them in military arrangement and battle deployment?

Yet after only a few short days of contact, the several of them had completely changed their minds.

From then on, they followed Gu Siyuan’s instructions without the slightest reservation.

Demonic cultivators trained through cruel methods and crooked shortcuts. At the start, their cultivation speed was often much faster than that of ordinary cultivators—but because of this, their foundations were unstable. Combined with the heavy karma of killing they carried, the heavenly tribulations and heart-demon backlash they faced upon major breakthroughs were also much stronger.

Because the failure rate was so high, once one looked above Foundation Establishment, the total number of demonic cultivators was always much lower than that of the righteous path, no matter what.

But everything had its pros and cons. Because of this very fact, once a demonic cultivator did survive tribulation successfully, their individual combat strength was usually noticeably higher than that of a righteous cultivator.

And so, in the earliest direct clashes, both righteous and demonic sides suffered enormous losses.

That continued until Gu Siyuan appeared.

With genius-like brilliance, Gu Siyuan designed multiple offensive battle systems suitable for cultivators. As long as the formations were coordinated properly, they could not only use fewer to defeat more, but also use the weak to overcome the strong.

Even before that, the righteous side already held a massive numerical advantage. Now, that advantage had been magnified to the extreme.

From then on, the efficiency with which righteous cultivators killed enemies increased severalfold.

More importantly, their personnel losses were cut by at least more than half.

And if every battle meant half as many deaths, then over time that advantage would grow without limit. In a situation where battle formations met the enemy and all hearts were united, the righteous forces advanced almost unstoppably.

In only a few short months, the demonic side had already lost city after city.

Especially three months ago, when the grandest battle since the war began took place.

In that battle, both sides committed nearly half of all their forces—from Nascent Soul above to Qi Refining below, everyone was thrown fully into the battlefield.

Gu Siyuan had been the supreme commander of that campaign.

In the end, the righteous side won a crushing victory.

And it was precisely after that battle that the demonic side suffered a major wound to its vitality and all but collapsed. Gradually, all demonic forces were left with no choice but to contract in the direction the righteous side kept driving them.

And in the very end, they had contracted here—into the place before their eyes, into this final city, Xueling City, where the last remaining demonic cultivators had sealed themselves up with impenetrable protection.

Seven days ago, the entire righteous grand army had assembled and launched the final assault on this city.

And now, if they simply carried out one last wave of impact, the city-protecting grand formation would break, and this war that had mobilized the strength of the entire continent would finally be nearing its end—far sooner than any of them had imagined.

Yin Xuezhen could not help turning to look at Gu Siyuan again.

Gu Siyuan’s gaze was fixed on the distance. Everything was proceeding within his calculations. At least before the city fell, there would be no more accidents.

In the place where his eyes rested, a figure in red moved with a whip like a dragon, brilliant and proud like living flame.

Yin Xuezhen and the other formation cultivators nearby exchanged glances, smiles of gratification curving their mouths.

“Now this is what a young man should look like.”

“Even looking at his dao companion has to be done in hesitation. Really not easy.”

“He has to keep controlling the whole battlefield…”

Thinking these things, their eyes once more filled with that habitual pity.

The war had advanced this quickly entirely because of the immeasurable role played by the young man at their side.

All of them drew strength from Gu Siyuan, and then went on to fight and to die with open hearts.

Almost everyone across the entire righteous battlefield had gone through a psychological process similar to Yin Xuezhen’s: from initial condescension because of his age, to facing him seriously, to admiration, and finally to deep-hearted ache and pity.

It sounded a little absurd. They were the weak ones, relying on Gu Siyuan’s planning and battle formations to stay alive—yet somehow, they had turned around and begun to pity and ache for him.

But the truth was exactly that.

Ever since the offensive warfare began, Gu Siyuan had scarcely had a single night of true rest.

Almost all his blood, sweat, and focus had gone into the battlefield.

Any combat arrangement made by his hand was always the one with the smallest losses, always the one that ended the fastest.

Most importantly, he was the fairest and the calmest.

No matter what situation he faced, no matter who stood before him, Gu Siyuan always made the most fitting decision in the greatest interest of the whole.

Perhaps it was because of the righteous side’s relentless pursuit—especially after that grand turning-point battle three months ago—that the demonic cultivators’ madness had also been pushed to new extremes, like trapped beasts making a final struggle.

At some point, a strange secret medicine began circulating among demonic cultivators, one that could instantly increase battle strength and also strip them of fear of injury, fear of pain, and fear of death.

After that, the war became much harder.

Even though Gu Siyuan labored almost without sleep, arranging battle formations as quickly as possible in order to make those unfeeling demonic war-machines lose mobility in the shortest time—

still, in the bloody slaughter of this latter half of the war, the righteous side lost very, very many people.

Every sect did. The four great immortal sects did. Taixuan Immortal Sect especially did.

Among the dead were quite a number of Qingchen Mountain disciples—Gu Siyuan’s own junior brothers and sisters.

Some of them had even, under Gu Siyuan’s own arrangements, taken the initiative to become moths plunging into flame, sacrificing themselves so the formations could advance more effectively.

Watching those young, familiar figures fall, quite a few immortal sect elders changed expression and even wanted to slow the pace.

But Gu Siyuan never showed the slightest ripple.

There had even been a battle of annihilation in which the one leading the charge was Gu Siyuan’s dao companion, Xie Xueyi.

In that battle, the enemy had sent out their most elite death squads, and both sides fought with terrifying difficulty and deadlock.

Xie Xueyi’s Golden Core nearly cracked apart. He almost died, bathed in blood.

Yet Gu Siyuan, as battlefield commander, still did not so much as furrow a brow, and kept directing the army to advance.

Only after that annihilation battle ended in final victory—

only then did they see this battlefield commander who never lost control, rushing forward like some impetuous youth to hold his blood-soaked dao companion tightly, his voice trembling softly.

“This is my fault. I still did not do enough. I still did not think thoroughly enough…”

Everyone was stunned.

How could it still not be enough?

A single person able to stand against a million troops would hardly be more than this, would they?

And scenes like this had happened more than once over these past days.

Because Xie Xueyi was strong—among his generation, one of the strongest—many of the most dangerous vanguard assaults and offensive battle formations simply had to be led forward by him.

And Gu Siyuan, being the most exceptional commander and the person who understood Xie Xueyi best, naturally knew how to use him to the absolute limit.

Only then did people realize that Gu Siyuan was in fact the same as everyone else.

And so, even cultivators who prided themselves on being familiar with mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and slaughter without blinking began to admire him—and ache for him.

All of them relied on Gu Siyuan.

Then who, exactly, could Gu Siyuan rely on…?

A glint passed through the eyes of Yin Xuezhen and the other cultivators maintaining the formation beside him.

Still, it was alright.

Very soon now, it would all be over.

And after it ended, Gu Siyuan would finally be able to rest properly.

…

Xueling City lay between the Blood-Colored Wasteland and the Frozen Snow Plains, and the terrain between them was extremely complex. There were mountains within the city, waters within the city, and also open plateaus.

But at this moment, a gray light barrier like a turtle shell covered the entire mountain-city completely.

And according to Gu Siyuan’s calculations, the entrance to the Lingting secret realm would also remain in this area for the next half year.

About this, Gu Siyuan found himself rather puzzled.

The demonic side were not fools. They could not possibly be unaware of the real purpose behind the righteous side’s attack on this line. If that was the case, then with defeat already proven in front of them, why were they not escaping as quickly as possible? Why insist on defending this place to the death?

Could it really be because they could not bear to leave their homeland?

That was ridiculous.

“It’s opening… it’s opening!”

“The grand formation’s open!”

Amid one cry after another—

the protective barrier above that enormous city flickered several times, then burst apart with a bang like a bubble swollen to its limit.

Countless righteous cultivators shot forward like falling meteors, pouring into the city in a storm of stars.

At some point, Xie Xueyi had withdrawn from the battlefield and now stood at Gu Siyuan’s side. “I’m going in with you.”

Gu Siyuan lifted a hand and wiped the blood from his pale skin, then said calmly, “Good. It’s what my hero deserves. You’ve worked hard.”

Xie Xueyi wrinkled his nose, looking very cute. “Hmph. Who’s worked harder than you…”

Gu Siyuan took Xie Xueyi by the hand and entered the city together with the sect masters of the four great sects and the others.

Though he was still young and lacking in seniority, his extraordinary combat strength—and his contribution throughout this long war—had already elevated him to stand on equal footing with these people.

In fact, among ordinary cultivators, his prestige had long surpassed these old monsters who had lived in the world for a thousand years.

Contrary to expectations, the city was not filled with grieving troops.

Inside Xueling City it was strangely empty. The streets were spotless, almost showing not a trace of human presence. Only within the tall, sturdy buildings lurked a small number of low-level demonic cultivators.

It seemed they had been ordered to stall for time, for every now and then they would rush out to launch some useless wave of attack against the righteous grand army.

Naturally, the righteous cultivators noticed this, and because of that, their methods became especially explosive.

Under their nearly brutal advance, the army reached the foot of that famous mountain city.

And then all of them changed expression at once.

They were all corpses.

From the foot of the mountain all the way to the waist of it, corpses hung everywhere—far more than hundreds of thousands of them. Their long black hair hung upside down and swayed lightly in the wind.

People often spoke of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Only after seeing this scene with one’s own eyes could one understand what a true mountain of corpses really meant.

No wonder the city had felt so empty before.

It turned out everyone was here…

“There are people. There are people in the fog.”

At someone’s sharp cry, everyone looked up toward the corpse-mountain.

The sky today was unusually overcast. There were almost no clouds to be seen, and not a trace of the sun remained. At some point, a thick fog had also arisen.

It did not feel at all like a day welcoming victory.

And within that dim and murky haze, a group of cultivators in identical black robes stepped forward. Their appearances were also rather similar, and they stared fixedly at the righteous side with eyes full of inexpressible hatred and resentment.

Xie Xueyi leaned close and whispered, “It’s the Xiao family.”

Gu Siyuan nodded lightly. He had already guessed.

At that moment, the crowd of black-robed cultivators suddenly split apart from the middle like receding tidewater.

A straight path opened through the center, and a handsome middle-aged man slowly stepped out. He wore white robes, his black hair draped lazily across his shoulders.

“So, you’ve come? Faster than I imagined.”

Looking at the people opposite him, his tone was light, as though he were greeting familiar guests or friends.

Gu Siyuan’s gaze swept once over the corpse-mountain, then over the people gathered there, and he asked bluntly, “You look very pleased. You… have a backup plan?”

The middle-aged man was clearly startled, then smiled. “What a clever person. I’d long heard your great name. A pity that I am only seeing you today.”

Gu Siyuan’s expression stayed calm. “That is your good fortune.”

“What an arrogant young man,” the middle-aged man said with a smile and a shake of the head.

But then, perhaps thinking of something, he sighed again very quickly. “Still, with talent and accomplishments like yours, a little arrogance is only natural. A genius like you would stand out even in our Spirit Realm.”

Gu Siyuan was naturally no ordinary person, and before such high praise from an enemy he remained unmoved. From beginning to end, not the slightest change touched his expression.

Xie Xueyi and the righteous cultivators beside him, however, could not help feeling a little smug, as though they felt it more deeply than Gu Siyuan himself. Someone like Gu Siyuan ought to be praised. No matter how highly, it would not be excessive.

Watching the contrast before him, the middle-aged man’s eyes only grew more appreciative.

It was not difficult to remain calm.

But when surrounded by praise, and still remain this calm—that was far from easy.

He said to Gu Siyuan, “Before all of us die, I hope you will remember my name. I am Xiao Qi. I’m very glad that in this unfamiliar world, I had the chance to know someone like you.”

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes slightly, catching the key word at once. “All of us die? By all of us, do you mean only your side—or everyone present?”

Xiao Qi burst out laughing immediately. “Of course I mean everyone.”

At that very moment, the spiritual power of the black-robed cultivators standing behind him suddenly changed.

Because Gu Siyuan’s soul and mental force far surpassed that of others, he was the first to realize what was happening.

They were burning themselves.

Not merely burning the body, and not ordinary flames either.

The flames were extraordinarily strange. No one could see them with the naked eye. Only spiritual perception could detect them. What they burned was the cultivator’s most important and deepest essence—spiritual power and bloodline.

At the same time, their bodies began giving off a bright light, and this light carried a faint fragrance.

The faces of those Xiao family cultivators began turning pale.

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes. “If this continues, they will die. Aren’t you trying to leave Canglan World?”

The middle-aged man sighed. “I want to leave very much. But they probably do not want it as much as I do. They were born in this world, cultivated in this world… ten thousand years is simply too long.”

The sect master of Mingguang Immortal Sect said calmly, “A struggle that has gone on for ten thousand years truly should come to an end.”

The middle-aged man smiled. “The war of today no longer means the same thing as the war at the beginning. They are all fighting for themselves now. They are fighting only for their own right to survive. Otherwise, did you really think those demonic cultivators, who usually act so wildly, willingly bowed their heads and accepted the command of my Xiao family just because they heard we came from the higher Spirit Realm—and then fought without fear of death? Heh. Not even mythology is that naïve. In truth… everyone simply happened to gather together because they shared the same enemy.”

“There is some truth in that,” Gu Siyuan nodded.

Then he looked toward those people still burning themselves. “What you’re doing looks like a sacrifice. And all those being burned are members of your own family. In that case, who exactly are you trying to summon? Could it be an expert of your Xiao family from the Spirit Realm?”

Xiao Qi let out another sincere sigh of admiration. “You really are full of surprises.”

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