By the time the light faded, the front ranks of the Demon Race had been completely emptied, leaving behind nothing but craters of varying sizes and emerald-green poisonous gas that filled heaven and earth!
Of the one hundred thousand Red and Green Demons, at least thirty thousand had been wiped out in that single volley of concentrated fire.
"Pathic!" Yang Kai let out a cold snort. His voice wasn't loud, but amplified by his Emperor Essence, it rang out clearly enough for all one hundred thousand Northern Territory cultivators to hear.
The Northern Territory army's morale surged. Hearing it was one thing, but seeing it with their own eyes was another. Before, when Yang Kai had spoken of the million-strong Demon Army and all that, they hadn't been entirely convinced. But now, watching Demon after Demon fall, tens of thousands annihilated in the blink of an eye, the fear and dread in their hearts dissipated considerably.
If this was how all Demons were, then winning this battle shouldn't be too difficult.
With renewed confidence, their attacks grew even more ferocious. The battlefield, which had barely fallen silent for three breaths, erupted once more with beams of concentrated fire that sent the Red and Green Demons tumbling, explosions erupting without end.
After three or four rounds of volleys, the charging Red and Green Demons had been completely wiped clean.
Looking out toward the horizon, the world ahead was shrouded in an emerald haze, obscuring whatever lay beyond. But the rumbling sound was rapidly closing in — the Demon Race's main force was clearly bearing down at full charge. A hundred thousand pairs of eyes stared past the green veil, and every hand tightened around its Artifact.
Yang Kai raised the Million Sword high, his voice rumbling like thunder as he issued his command: "Prepare the flanks!"
Only at his reminder did the others shift their attention to the sides of the emerald world.
And in that very instant, two iron torrents of Demon cavalry surged out from both flanks.
The lethal poison bursting from the Green Demons was something even the Demons themselves dared not lightly touch. Why would they charge through poison-tainted ground? They would simply circumvent it and strike from the sides.
Yang Kai's knowledge of his enemy proved invaluable at this critical moment.
The Northerners, already prepared, needed no further orders. Power surged through their ranks as wave after wave of attacks lashed out at the Demons riding their monstrous steeds.
In an instant, it was another scene of chaos — Demons falling left and right, war beasts shrieking, their inky-black blood staining the earth into dark soil. But these Demons were clearly no cannon fodder. Despite heavy casualties, they pressed forward relentlessly, a far cry from the Red and Green Demons before them.
During the charge, the Demons finally launched their counterattack. Their powerhouses unleashed terrifying strikes — pitch-black energy spheres hurtling through the air, each one harboring unimaginable destructive force.
Yang Kai turned his head toward Luan Feng and the others. Luan Feng understood immediately. With a piercing phoenix cry, the three Holy Sovereigns of the Ancient Lands, along with thirty-six Monster Kings, surged forward in unison, deploying their various techniques to intercept every last Demon attack.
Boom, boom, boom…
The black spheres detonated midair one after another, and not a single strike managed to penetrate into the Northern Territory army.
With the Ancient Lands' powerhouses guarding their defenses, the formation was practically impregnable. Even the occasional stray attack that slipped through was easily handled by the other Northern Territory cultivators. All the rest had to do was attack.
For the hundred thousand strong Northern Territory army, this was an almost blissful arrangement.
The Demons continued pressing forward relentlessly, carving their path with the bodies of their own kin — a true embodiment of the phrase "fearless of death." Every moment, hundreds of Demons fell upon this barren wasteland, yet their deaths did nothing to halt the charge. Instead, it only inflamed their demonic nature and ferocity, making their auras ever more savage.
After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the two forces finally clashed in close quarters.
The Northern Territory army, fighting fresh and rested, had already slain over two hundred thousand Demons before suffering a single casualty among their own ranks. While that figure included the hundred thousand demon cannon fodder, such a feat was nonetheless astonishing.
And this result pushed the Northern Territory cultivators' morale to its absolute peak.
Fear and dread were long gone. The roars and clashes of battle sent blood boiling through every vein. Anyone with even a shred of fighting spirit wanted to charge forward and fight the Demons to the death — and even if they perished on this battlefield, they would have no regrets.
Yang Kai's aura shifted abruptly — ancient and desolate, as though he had stepped straight out of a primordial scroll.
Yu Rumeng stared at him in utter astonishment, and before she could even begin to understand what was happening, complex incantations rang out across heaven and earth.
Yu Rumeng's expression shifted subtly. Her beautiful eyes fixed deeply on Yang Kai, as though trying to gaze into the depths of his heart, unearthing the secrets hidden within.
A burst of radiance bloomed from Yang Kai's hands and swept over the Northern Territory army, enveloping all one hundred thousand within it in an instant.
In the very next moment, every person among them — save for those whose cultivation exceeded Yang Kai's — felt their blood suddenly begin to boil. A crimson glow permeated their skin, and an irresistible surge of battle intent ignited within them. Even their breathing grew heavier and more ragged.
Many opened their palms in wonder, examining their own transformation with astonished gazes, finding nothing wrong — in fact, they seemed to have grown stronger.
"The Bloodlust Art!" Yu Rumeng's pupils contracted sharply as she stared fixedly at Yang Kai.