บท 39: A Grand Battlefield

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.* *"For You" by RageMode as well as "Dominate" by Space Laces and "dashstar*" by Knock2 are highly recommended to listen to while reading.*

Stood upon the air within the domain of the golden-masked Stage 6, Qing Fang looked down upon the battlefield with wide eyes.

Frankly, it was absolute carnage.

The gigantic city was drowned in the blood of cultivators and mortals alike as weaklings ran for their lives amidst infernos and massive buildings crumbling to the floor and into a huge cloud of dust.

The battlefield was still raging viciously. After all, Tou City was the capitol of the entire Huoyan Clan. Thousands of Stage 5s, dozens of Stage 6s and the grand Stage 7 head of the Huoyan Clan were all present.

Qing Fang looked to the golden-masked Stage 6 and saw his shining emerald scan the battlefield in a split second. Following that, he turned to the tens of thousands of cultivates suspended around himself and spoke in a gritty voice.

"You will be dropped above the city, and try to create more chaos. Do not disappoint the Patriarch. He is watching." The voice that whispered all throughout the domain of the golden-masked Stage 6 caused the cultivators to become alert, waiting to enter the battlefield.

Qing Fang could see the nervousness on the faces of many cultivators around him. Only Stage 3s and above opted to be taken to another battlefield after the fall of Jiesheng City on Doushan Planet, however, even they couldn't hide the angst in their eyes.

Seeing the massive city clouded by red and the streets drowning in the blood of thousands, they knew that most of them here would die. And like the irrefutable truth of the battlefield, their blood would soon be gazed upon by the next to appear in their stead.

In another world, the golden-masked Stage 6 would've seen this and given an inspiring speech that would prove to be hollow in the end. However, this was not that world. It was far crueller.

And with that, the safety of the domain receded as the Stage 6 exploded into space with a horrifying display of speed, forcefully tearing the very membrane of the world itself as he did so.

The terrifying winds, the heat from the ashy skies, the smell of blood and the smell of burnt and braised flesh all assaulted the cultivators in the sky all at once. They covered their eyes that were filled with ash in a second and protected their bodies from the hellish heat that had risen from the hellscape below.

Qing Fang winced as he washed his eyes that had been layered with a coating of ash out with his law fragments. Finally able to see again, the redness below came to sight once more. He shielded his body from the heat with an indiscernible but immensely dense and thick veil of water that stuck to his skin.

Falling down to the bloody city with speed worthy of a cultivator of his 300-kilogram weight, Qing Fang rapidly approached the ground.

Unlike before, the Stage 6 had dropped him and his comrades much closer to the ground. So much so, that they didn't even need to extend their law fragments to slow their descent and could act like bombs as they smacked the ground and created mayhem.

Increasing in speed and the ground fast-approaching, Qing Fang let his vision wash over the battlefield. His pupils moved in a blur and his powerful eyes pierced the mist of blood hovering over the dreadful city.

'It seems like the Stage 6s haven't taken action yet. That's good... After all, with their mobilisation, the complete destruction of both armies would ensue. Even though they're on their last legs, the Huoyan Clan aren't ready to sacrifice their whole population to kill our army.' Qing Fang thought back to how the golden-masked Stage 6 didn't join the battlefield and shot directly into space, which is likely where the Patriarch was.

'No matter what; once I can see the Huoyan Stage 6s about to move, which they definitely will at some point, I have to get off this planet as soon as possible.' Qing Fang's eyes shone with a glint as the ground could be seen in their reflection.

...

"Mommy, what's happening..?" A small child whimpered quietly as she quivered in the arms of her mother.

Right now, they and other mortals were taking shelter in an orphanage. The cultivators who placed them here hoped that the invading forces would spare it since it was an orphanage.

"Shhh, shhhh baby. Just be quiet for now, m'kay?" The mother of the child who had to bear feeling her child's incessant shivering said in a soothing voice.

"It'll all be over soon, baby. It'll all be over soon." Within the room that contained no more than one thousand women and children, the mother rocked her child in her arms as she whispered the words over and over, trying to soothe herself as well.

However, it was at this moment.

A sharp sound as if the sky was falling sounded directly above the orphanage, causing everyone to look up at the ceiling with distraught expressions. However, the sound only got louder and louder as ringing started to echo in the ears of all present, showing how deafening the sound was.

"Mommy... I'm scared..." The child cried softly as she only shook harder, her little body clinging to her mother desperately.

The eyes of the mother only dimmed as tears threatened to fall in the fear she was feeling. She tried to open her mouth and soothe her baby girl, but her voice was too quiet.

"...It'll...be...okay." The child, barely hearing the words, looked up to her mother, only to see an expression she had never seen before.

The sound, seemingly bursting the ears of all around, only got louder and louder as the child looked around and saw nothing but the horrors of war.

"Mommy?"

It was at this moment, the ceiling violently caved in and crushed all of the women and children inside into broken skulls and splattered brains. The thick and heavy wooden pillars that made the orphanage immediately collapsed and crushed hundreds of children into two halves as their bodies were squeezed apart with horrifying screams as the accompanying symphony.

The entire orphanage was crushed into a mountain of debris with little trails of blood seeping through the cracks in what seemed to be a disgusting piece of art.

Stood atop the mountain of blood and broken wood that was once the orphanage, a tall blue-armoured figure with visible marks from battle stood lofty, his eyes gazing around the area through the slits of his emotionless helmet.

All around him, explosions of dust and blood suddenly occurred as his bothers landed beside him, bringing chaos in their wake and causing screams to sound over the entire city.

...

After crushing the orphanage beneath his might, Qing Fang looked around to see his brethren killing hundreds; brewing hatred, pain and death.

At this moment, he had never felt so united with his clansmen. Amidst war and blood, they would show their true colours and stand beside him. That, he loved. Although he knew they were still untrue to themselves, he wanted to revel in this moment of unity and horror for as long as he could.

Rushing from the destroyed orphanage, Qing Fang charged forwards with cultivators in front, beside and behind him. Mutilated bodies were everywhere and buildings were falling around them as they ran, making for a scene that greatly excited Qing Fang.

Just ahead, screams of death and indignance, as well as cries for mercy, could be heard for thousands of miles. Hearing this, the ears of every cultivator beside Qing Fang, as well as Qing Fang himself, perked up as they snapped their heads in the direction that the screams were coming from.

They had found one of the thousands of battlefields that were raging all across the city.

And like that, thousands of cultivators were kicked off the ground and rushed with massive speed towards the battlefield. Tens of thousands of feet thumped the earth and caused thunderous earthquakes like a drum of war sounding their arrival.

Above them, powerful cultivators shot through the air and sliced it in two as screeching sounds resounded. Like terrible banshees, they screamed fear-inducing screams that caused many figures around the city to send a look in their direction, aware of their arrival.

Charging through the city and causing buildings to fall before them, the army of reinforcements heard the sounds of the battle louden exponentially before they finally saw something ahead. Huge clouds of dust burst into the air, escaping the dreadful power that has created them. The thuds of bodies hitting the floor as well as powerful attacks engulfing wades of cultivators could be heard.

Before them, thousands of tons of rubble from hundreds of buildings as well as rivers of blood and bodies lay beneath the raging battlefield. It was a cruel and horrific scene, with mortals stuck within it, trying to escape before being ruthlessly slaughtered by a stray attack.

Qing Fang's eyes lit up. There were hundreds of thousands of enemies just here alone. This battlefield was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The pure emotions upon the battlefield could be tasted in the air. The feeling of triumph, the sorrow of death and the fear of impending doom.

They say: you know your enemy better than anyone after fighting a hundred rounds with him. Qing Fang wondered how many bonds had been forged and broken in the fires of war and under the hammer of violence. It was beautiful. Here, there were no pretences.

The army rushed toward the battle with dreadful collective might that could topple Jiesheng City alone.

And as if sensing the arrival of them, a massive forest of wood and leaves suddenly appeared out of nowhere and rushed at them. The curling and twisting branches piled atop one another to form a rushing forest hundreds of meters tall!

Thousands of branches thicker than Qing Fang's waist formed into a pointed end that seemed to lust to impale him on itself. His eyes widened massively seeing the absolutely huge forest that dwarfed him by fifty times suddenly appear.

The forest madly rushed toward the army of reinforcements like a chained demon, wanting to rip them to pieces in a crazed madness of red. The might of the forest was powerful and blunt, crushing many attacks aimed at it as if they didn't exist.

However, before Qing Fang could die with his pitiful Stage 3 cultivation, a mass of raging flames accompanied by a huge pillar of light assaulted the great raging forest. The flames directly overcast the huge forest and covered it, burning it to ashes with immense speed. The pillar of light that was at least fifty meters in diameter directly incinerated over half the forest but vanished a moment after.

Qing Fang's eyes followed the huge sea of fire and pillar of blinding light to see two Qing Stage 5s hovering over the newly arriving force that he was a part of. Their robes fluttered madly in the winds and their long hair swayed as it was draped over their backs. Stood in the sky of fire and ash, they looked to be demons descending from the sky to crush the mortal world. One of them had a mocking gaze in his eyes while the other was extremely cold and apathetic, a dim glint deep within his icy gaze.

Looking over a thousand meters into the distance, Qing Fang followed the deadly gazes of the Stage 5s to see just a pair of legs fall to the ground. The robes on its body fell to leave the pair of legs naked and bare as they fell to the bloody floor and embarked on the cruelty of war. The flesh where its upper body once was sizzled loudly, as if it had just been incinerated.

The gazes of many within the army were horrified to see such a powerful figure reduced to such a pitiful and dishonourable death. What of them? What would their fate be if such a cultivator had died like that?

'What power...' Qing Fang marvelled and looked to the Stage 5 that conjured the devastating light pillar. That Light path Stage 5 had just instantly reduced another Stage 5 to a disgusting corpse without an upper body. Such power was inhuman.

However, admiring the scene no more, Qing Fang turned his gaze back onto the battlefield. The charging army was encroaching upon the battlefield between the two pagodas now, attracting the gazes of nearly all upon it.

The proud and vicious gazes of the Qing cultivators as they saw thousands of cultivators flood onto the battlefield and bring cruelty and carnage in their wake put a smirk upon the face of Qing Fang. The despairing and empty gazes of the Huoyan cultivators as they realized that the end was truly near made more faces than just Qing Fang's grin.

As the army swarmed onto the battlefield, Qing Fang saw a fight going on between two cultivators right before him on the outskirts. With the enemy cultivator's attention distracted by the Qing cultivator fighting with him to the death, Qing Fang directly killed him by shooting a spear of water through his heart.

His opponent suddenly dying, the Qing cultivator was not angry but joyous.

Qing Fang only continued to rush forwards as the army aimed to strike the heart of the battle. The Qing cultivator just turned and ran with the ranks of the army, wanting to swiftly kill any and every Huoyan cultivator that dared stand in their way. Like a tidal wave, they smashed into the battlefield and changed the very landscape.

Ahead, Qing Fang saw a Huoyan cultivator about to kill his fellow Qing clansman while he was rushing forwards. And like a heavenly spear that pierced the war, the hundreds of rushing Qing cultivators directly tore his body to pieces and continued to rush forwards ruthlessly. They fought like demons, impaling Huoyan cultivators on their arms, smashing their heads to pieces and tearing them into ribbons of flesh and blood as they rushed forwards like horses of war.

The wave of Qing cultivators that pierced the battlefield only got more traction and charged through nearly half of it, reducing countless Huoyan cultivators into heartless bodies, limbless flesh bags and headless dolls that fell limp as if their strings had been cut.

The two huge pagodas towering on either side of the battlefield acted like adjudicators as they washed their sights over the carnage, the large red constructs piercing the sky for thousands of meters. It was almost as if they were trying to attract the attention of heaven itself onto this place.

Qing Fang rushed forwards with unparalleled force, trampling over bodies and crushing them into paste. His eyes darted from right to left as he reduced hundreds of Huoyan warriors into soulless corpses, their mouths open to cry injustice towards heaven amidst the calling of hell.

With thousands of Qing cultivators rushing beside Qing Fang as part of the shock force, he smiled. At this rate, the entire battlefield within the two pagodas will be over right after they'd arrived.

However, as if by heaven quelling their ungodly might, the earth beneath their feet suddenly shook with immense force as a cracking sound assaulted the ears of all present.

And then, under the incredulous gazes of thousands of cultivators, the earth before them directly fractured and split open like the eye of the world was awakening to deliver judgment. Hundreds of buildings and tens of thousands of corpses fell into the eye of the world and toward the raging firey magma that was churning beneath the earth.

Thousands of unlucky cultivators of both sides had their faces suddenly notice something then rush away at their fastest speeds with desperate expressions. However, when they fell into the eye of the world, they clawed and screamed for help and salvation, their voices scraping the ears of all who battled and watched.

Those who managed to escape the grip of certain death felt no pity for those unfortunate but just basked in the fact that they could live on, even though they could die within the next hour; they didn't care.

However, the eye of the world had not dispensed its punishment yet.

All of a sudden, long snake-like ropes of earth slowly slithered out of the eye of the world that seemed to lead all the way to hell. And like the demons of hell ignited by magma and fire, the snakes of earth suddenly rushed forth with speed that caused the air to screech in pain.

The pupils of countless Qing cultivators shrank as they opened their mouths to scream. However, they were too late and the snakes of earth dragged them into the eye of the world and down to hell before they could even let out a sound.

The scene of their brethren being snatched away by the demonic grasp of hell and spirited away to a land of torture and pain caused the hearts of the Qing cultivators to skip a beat. However, those flying within the sky cast gazes across the battlefield with cold and serious expressions.

Just as Qing Fang had slaughtered a few Stage 3s and Stage 2s, he suddenly saw a snake of earth turn towards him from the corner of his eye. And with an aghast expression, he turned towards the snake just before it rushed at him with the speed of a Stage 5 cultivator.

It thrashed upon the ground and impaled dozens of cultivators on itself as it madly rushed at with a demonic bearing, wanting to pull him into the eye of the world, beneath the earth and into the sea of magma below.

It got closer and closer as Qing Fang tried to run into the army of cultivators, using them as human shields in the hope that the snake would choose somebody else to drag down to hell. He ran past hundreds of people, brushing shoulders with them as they sent him a glance only to see his despairing eyes.

Seeing this, the many cultivators Qing Fang brushed past felt an uncomfortable and foreboding feeling and suddenly appeared to be extremely wary. However, moments later a flash of brown came past their eyes before they were pulled along, their bodies impaled through the abdomen on the snake of earth.

Looking around himself, Qing Fang saw hundreds of his brethren screaming and clawing at the rope as they were flailed about in the air before being dragged beneath the earth and into the chasm that was formed, never to be seen again.

He breathed a sigh of relief that the snake of earth realised it had enough impaled bodies and ignored himself, disappearing into the eye of the world where its roped body stretched from.

Qing Fang had thought he managed to avoid the demonic snakes of earth, however, a tremor much stronger than when the eye of the world opened suddenly assaulted the earth beneath his feet. The ground for hundreds of kilometres trembled violently and the worldview of every cultivator unnaturally shook vigorously.

Looking over his shoulder as he retreated away from the eye of the world, Qing Fang's breath sped up as he lost all colour in his face.

And under the similar gazes of hundreds of thousands of Qing cultivators, uncountable numbers of snake-like ropes of earth suddenly ascended from the eye of the world and thrust themselves into the sky. They intertwined with each other and formed into an absolutely massive snake that seemed to use the very world itself as its nest.

The diameter of the huge snake's neck was easily five hundred meters as it looked down upon the battlefield with a lifeless gaze. The master of the snake and the opener of the eye of the world, the cultivator that had conjured them, was being searched for tirelessly by the Qing Stage 5s who had a ruthless glint in their eyes.

Seeing that glint, one would know that if they managed to lay their hands on the Huoyan Earth path Stage 5, he would be torn apart into hundreds of tendrils of flesh and blood, used like confetti to celebrate his death.

And under the gaze of the entire battlefield, the huge snake suddenly thrust itself downwards and unto the ground.

The very sky itself distorted around the falling mass of power that was going to shake the earth. The two pagodas surrounding the battlefield were knocked to the ground like towers of straw, the rubble burying thousands of mortals and cultivators.

However, before the snake could split the ground in two with its power, the head of it was suddenly incinerated into nothingness by a huge pillar of light that was a few hundred meters in diameter. The heat of the pillar was so devastating that it directly melted the earth that comprised the snake into lumps of magma that fell to the ground and burnt cultivators alive as they screamed dreadful songs.

This was the fight of two geniuses that could transcend Stages. One Huoyan and one Qing.

And as if rising to the challenge, the head of the huge snake materialised out of thin air to stare murderously at a small robed figure flying thousands of meters above the earth. The snake swayed menacingly, its movements not allowing its opponent to predict when it will strike.

But before the snake could even attack the small figure in the sky, a huge sea of fire suddenly exploded on the other side of the battlefield!

And as if the gong of heaven sounded, the huge snake made of earth turned into lifeless dirt once again. The millions of tons of earth fell down to the battlefield with amazing might as they blocked out the sun and divided the clouds above the ground.

'It's those two Stage 5s that I saw earlier... They are unimaginably powerful, much more so than Qing Bai and Qing Su Jie...' Qing Fang thought as he stood in the centre of the battlefield and looked to two figures floating above the sky.

From this, it was clear that the Fire path Stage 5 that Qing Fang had seen earlier managed to find the Huoyan cultivator who had conjured the snake while the Light path Stage 5 distracted it.

However, after but a moment, Qing Fang dismissed it and turned his sights onto enemies upon the battlefield once again.

*3,807/3,000 words*