Beastmaster of the Ages

Taixi City was on high alert, with every able fighter and astralship ready to deploy. Countless nova wildbeasts formed beast waves of terrifying magnitudes, surrounding the city with walls of flesh. No doubt, Yi Daiyan's Infinitum Army would suffer quite a few casualties just fighting through the waves of wildbeasts to reach the city.

The ebons within the city were dressed in crimson and gold war robes and their soul eyes were pulsing with a terrifying power. They were connected to the formation threads in the city and their spirit to defend their home was raging.

"Historically, there’s been sieges against Taixi City and Ebonopolis, but they've never been successful."

"They're trying to breach the Taixi Guard Formation with a mere force that's three times our numbers without any infinitum-class astralships? Forget it!"

"The number of wildbeasts we have is millions of times their forces'! They'll no doubt be worn out!"

It was the first time in recent history that the ebons were on the defensive. They were usually the aggressors, though even with their victories, they still suffered substantial casualties. But even then, they never really feared being attacked, having their terrain, formation, and wildbeasts to count on. The underground world had belonged to the ebons for tens of millions of years for good reason. They faced the incoming army of three million without a single shred of fear.

"Is Yi Daiyan trying to eliminate us for good?"

"Ebonia is our realm! I'm betting that before she even starts to fight, our forces will have attacked her from the rear!"

"That's right. Who could be prepared for a surprise attack from behind? Bust through her rear, if you know what I'm saying!"

"Haha!"

"What a dirty fellow you are."

"The deaths of countless innocents in Ebonia are on her head! Who asked her to instigate a war against us ebons alone?"

"Yi Daiyan's a heinous villain the likes we've never seen before. All those baleful souls will haunt her from this life to the next!"

The rage of those in Taixi City only kept building. The angry cries of its inhabitants echoed with the howls of the beasts outside. Traces of volatile frost and flame filled the surrounding area, creating quite a hellscape. Amidst the chaos, the two top beauties of the Shenxi Clan, Shenxi Xuanxi and Shenxi Ling'e, gave orders to their elite ebon cultivators.

Shenxi Xuanxi was the epitome of the virtuous mother, being the mother of Shenxi Tianxi and Shenxi Shang. Shenxi Ling'e, on the other hand, had a similar aura to her daughter, Shenxi Yao. While she was by no means young, she looked like a vigorous, alluring maiden. Shenxi Xingtian's lucky stars hadn’t disappointed him in that department.

Shenxi Xuanxi sternly watched the countless beasts before them as the other cultivators waited alongside her. Then her transmission stone lit up, projecting Shenxi Xingtian's figure atop it. Many elites nearby knelt.

"At ease," Shenxi Xingtian said.

"Affirmative!" the rest passionately answered.

"We have good news," Shenxi Xingtian said, building anticipation. Everyone perked their ears up to listen. "The two infinitum-class ships of the Sun are forcing their way through Ebonia's astralguard formation. Yi Daiyan isn't in the formation and is with her army of three million, so there's nothing she can do to stop them."

"In other words, Lin Xiaodao still took action even though he didn't agree to the alliance. He can't be honest with himself, can he?" Shenxi Ling'e said with a chuckle.

"That's hardly surprising for the Swordgod Lin Clan," Shenxi Xuanxi said.

"It's normal. Everyone wants to avoid death. They’re right to fear someone as powerful as Yi Daiyan. Considering Lin Xiaodao's personality, even if they attack her army, they'll find their own justification for doing so as long as they can claim that they aren't siding with us, but why does that matter?" Shenxi Xingtian sounded a little gleeful.

"Then... what do we do next?" Xuanxi asked.

"I've hinted to him that we should mount a pincer attack on Yi Daiyan's army," Shenxi Xingtian said.

"So we shouldn't implode the underground caverns and let them enter?" Ling'e said, eyebrows raised.

"Let's leave them alone for now. We'll implode them once all of them have entered, trapping the army for a pincer attack," Shenxi Xingtian said. He was confident that Tianming and Xiaodao's combined might could handle that, having been on the receiving end of it himself.

"The most important thing to Yi Daiyan is the three million elite astral gods. Once they’re wiped out, the remnants of the Infinitum Regal Clans won't dare to leave their nests at all. She'll have completely eroded her power base. On the other hand, despite our casualties, we'll end up the most powerful force in the Infinitum Bodhimanda," Shenxi Xuanxi said, eyes narrowed.

"That's right. This is our chance to get rid of her power base for good. Here in the underground, they’ll be facing us in the front and have infinitum-class ships coming at them from behind. We'll implode the caverns after that. That way, the ships' attacks will easily be able to wipe out countless astral gods," Shenxi Ling'e said, her eyes brightening. That was the unique advantage of the underground terrain. Most conventional ships were unsuited for cruising underground, as there simply wasn't enough space.

"Rex Mundi, you’re truly wise. Before the reinforcements from the other three factions arrive, let's make use of the Swordgod Lin Clan and let them and Yi Daiyan fight each other!" Many other ebons also agreed with that sentiment.

"Let's consider what happens afterward, then! Yi Daiyan herself probably won't be able to eliminate those two astralships today. However, we’ll still have to bury the three million astral gods and three million ships of the enemy while we wait for our allies. We’ll use their blood as a sacrifice for the late taixi fiendbeast and the other young ebons who were sacrificed for our kind's future!" Shenxi Xingtian's voice was filled with endless resentment.

"What about you and the Ebonfiend, Rex Mundi?" someone asked.

Shenxi Xingtian snickered, "You all should be able to hold the Taixi Guard Formation on your own. Once they’re all underground, we'll implode the cavern routes. Then I'll use the Ebonfiend to carry five hundred thousand astral gods from Ebonopolis and four infinitum-class warbeasts to attack the bases of the Greenhill Yushan Clan, Yishker Clan, sanctlighters, and other regal clans.

“Each of them have less than two hundred thousand astral gods and their defensive formations can't hold up against the Ebonfiend at all. The longer the siege of Taixi City lasts, the more time I’ll have up here. I want to destroy all their formations and wipe out their legacies so that only the ebons are left to rule the Infinitum Mundus!"

"Doesn’t that mean that the three million astral gods of the Infinitum Army will lose all their family and friends before they die fighting?" someone in the crowd asked.

"The Ebonfiend hasn’t shown its might for a long time. I might’ve failed to conquer the Sun, but how could measly defensive formations hold up against me?" Shenxi Xingtian menacingly snickered.

The regal clans' home bases were weakly defended after most of their forces joined Yi Daiyan's army. The army's movements would also be far more obvious than the Ebonfiend's. The astralship could move far more quickly than the army, and was better equipped to undertake rapid course changes. The pincer attack on top of devastating the home bases of the other regal clans seemed capable of causing Yi Daiyan's plans to collapse.

"Even if Yi Daiyan doesn't die, she'll at least be horribly crippled!"

"Just you wait, Yi Daiyan...."

This was the best odds Shenxi Xingtian had found so far, or at least he believed that. The Infinitum Army headed deeper underground, 'manipulated' by the ebons. Right after that, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb and Gladean Ruins successfully breached the astralguard formation of Ebonia!

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