Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Chapter 487 Battle of Life and Death (Part 1)

Sunset twilight, Town Sand Pass.

The afterglow of the setting sun illuminated the majestic Guan Wall, and the black rock bricks shimmered with a metallic lustre. The True Seal Talisman Script engraved on the surface began to quietly emerge, exuding an incomparable sense of mystery.

Fully armed battle cultivators patrolled back and forth on the vast city wall, vigilantly watching over the Gobi desert ahead.

"What is that?"

Suddenly, a battle cultivator halted his steps, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

At the junction of the sky and the wasteland, it was as though raging flames had ignited, with huge swathes of skyfire rising up, casting myriad beams of light.

The burning clouds grew more numerous by the moment, swiftly seizing a vast expanse of the sky.

And rapidly advancing toward Town Sand Pass!

This bizarre sight naturally caught the attention of the battle cultivators defending the Guan Wall.

They instinctively sensed danger, and the runes on the surface of the wall lit up one by one.

This signified the activation of the City-Protecting Array.

Under normal circumstances, to reduce the consumption of the Spirit Vein and Spirit Stones, the core of the City-Protecting Array set up beneath Dayi City lay dormant, with only a portion of its secondary arrays maintaining low-level operation.

However, in the event of danger or under attack, this powerful large-scale array would activate automatically.

This highly spiritual defense mechanism was jointly formed by the Array's spirit and the battle cultivators guarding Town Sand Pass.

That is to say, when a large number of battle cultivators sensed danger, the City-Protecting Array would enter a defensive state on its own, without the need for authorization from the Great Commander or the Chief Town Heavenly Master.

And the power would elevate in sync with the level of threat!

The true controller of this array, in fact, was the Array Spirit!

As the array activated, the battle cultivators felt safe, each diligently stationed at their posts.

Ready to fight at a moment's notice.

But the anticipated attack did not occur; instead, after spreading over hundreds of miles in the sky, the skyfire halted its advance, and countless golden Udambara Flowers fluttered down.

These Udambara Flowers were not real, but manifestations of mana.

Silently, they fell on the barren and dry land, sinking into the soil and sand, vanishing in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, they spawned vast expanses of green grass and wildflowers.

Due to the enormous quantity of Udambara Flowers, extensive patches of green emerged.

The lifeless Gobi had, astonishingly, turned into grassland!

At the same time, waves of Buddhist chanting drifted, reaching the ears of all the battle cultivators!

Tranquility, serenity, compassion, mercy...

The power contained in these sounds made one want to lay down their weapons and kneel on the ground in devout worship.

"Thieving bald donkeys!"

Some battle cultivators with strong willpower disdainfully spat out a few phlegm, letting it go in one ear and out the other, unaffected.

Yet a few battle cultivators showed signs of struggle, beads of cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Just then, a profound and powerful drumming resounded from behind the city wall.

The sound of the drums was magnificent and uplifting, stirring the blood to surge with fervor.

Easily overpowering the chanting from beyond the heavens!

Many who had nearly been beguiled by the enchantment were instantly awakened.

The Great Commander, Kou Shihai, appeared on the city wall.

Upon receiving the news, he immediately hurried over, watching the anomalies in the western sky under the protection of dozens of cultivators.

The scene before his eyes caused the Purple Mansion eight-tier cultivator to frown.

There was no doubt that such trickery, the doing of an Evil Wraith, could only be orchestrated by the Buddhist Sect of the Western Region; the Sand People didn't have such capabilities.

```

The problem is that the Buddhist Sect of the Western Region has always prided itself on being non-competitive with the world, never openly participating in the wars between the Sand Tribe and Dayi City, constantly putting on a compassionate and kind-hearted face.

Although everyone was aware of the nature of the Buddhist Sect, Kou Shihai couldn't figure out why they would put on such a massive, yet useless display of force. Perhaps they had eaten too many melons and were feeling bloated?

Despite this, Kou Shihai still ordered everyone to be on guard and urgently summoned a group of elite Taoist Soldiers to the city walls.

Taoist Soldiers were the protectors of the Taoist Sect, usually meticulously chosen from Battle Cultivators, trained in combat formations and secret techniques, and equipped with high-tier weapons and Magic Artifacts, specifically for fighting and confronting the enemy.

Compared to ordinary Battle Cultivators, a group of Taoist Soldiers could defeat three to four times the number of same-tier Battle Cultivators.

When Taoist Soldiers formed an array, they could even slay enemies from a different realm!

Just as Kou Shihai was deploying his troops, a golden Udambara Flower slowly floated down towards the city wall.

It wasn't blocked by the City-Protecting Array's Mana Barrier.

Kou Shihai's gaze sharpened, and he reached out across the distance to capture the Udambara Flower in his palm.

The moment he touched it, the Udambara Flower transformed into a thin piece of golden paper, branded with two vermilion True Seal Talisman Scripts for "life" and "death," as well as a swastika stamp!

Kou Shihai narrowed his eyes, swept his Divine Sense over the golden paper, and immediately understood its content.

At that moment, the fiery clouds that thickly blanketed the sky quickly receded, while the lush green grass and wildflowers on the Gobi desert floor withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

With a gust of wind, they turned to ash.

The chanting from beyond the heavens and the Udambara Flowers disappeared altogether.

Kou Shihai waved his hand, signaling everyone to stay alert, while he communicated with the Array Spirit to lower the alert level.

To activate Dayi City's City-Protecting Array even once, even at a mid-to-low level of defense, consumed a large number of Spirit Stones.

With the danger gone, there was no need for such wastefulness.

The next moment, the great commander soared into the air, transforming into a streak of light that flew towards the Seven-Star Pavilion.

At the top of the Seven-Star Pavilion, Kou Shihai met Wang Chen.

At the time when the City-Protecting Array was activated, Wang Chen had been cultivating in his meditation chamber.

Feeling the alert from the Array Spirit, he immediately stopped his cultivation and rushed to the top floor of the Seven-Star Pavilion to take charge.

Instead of the enemy showing up, Kou Shihai did.

"Junior Brother Wang..."

Kou Shihai didn't waste words. He handed over a piece of golden paper to Wang Chen, saying with a smile, "You've really agitated those sand eaters."

After Wang Chen read through the content on the golden paper, he finally understood what was going on!

Discover exclusive tales on empire

Recently, he had been stationed at the Seven-Star Pavilion, practicing the Thunderbolt Sword Technique day and night.

The Thunderbolt Sword Technique had actually been mastered by Wang Chen to the level of Great Perfection a long time ago, but now, with the help of the Array's power and the might of the Upper Clear Qiankun Mirror, he had displayed a terrifying killing power using this not-so-high-tier Swordsmanship.

Any Sand People who entered within a hundred miles of Town Sand Pass, once targeted by Wang Chen, were instantly killed with a single sword strike.

Furthermore, as he deepened his mastery of the Array and the power of the mirror, the range of his Flying Sword attacks grew larger and larger.

One hundred miles, one hundred fifty miles, two hundred miles...

This had scared several tribes of the Sand People out of their wits, all wanting to abandon their homes and flee!

The arrival of this golden paper, or rather, the challenge letter, indicated that the higher echelons of the Sand People could no longer sit still and wanted to deal with this calamity.

A duel to the death?

Wang Chen chuckled, "Senior Brother Kou, can I refuse?"

Kou Shihai hesitated for a moment before replying, "Of course!"

Wang Chen keenly picked up on his hesitation and couldn't help asking, "Is there a problem?"

Kou Shihai replied with a wry smile, "There is indeed a little problem."

----------

Here's the first update.

```