Page 292

However, with the protection of the Nine Yin True Qi, as I peeked through my fingers, I witnessed a scene I could never forget. Lei Men, despite being at the center of the explosion with flesh and blood flying from his wounds, showed no sign of panic. The black light of the Soul-devouring Sword, which had been restrained to its limit, suddenly burst forth, forcibly cutting through the stellar energy. Several black blades, like the fins of sharks parting the sea, burst out from all sides of the light pillar, instantly creating huge cracks in the towering beam of light. They continued upward, defying the torrent of the star sea, tearing countless fissures in the surface of the massive one-mile diameter light pillar.

"Boom———— Boom———— Boom————" The stellar energy, finally free from the confines of the magic array, found its vent and erupted. Streams of stellar energy, each as powerful as a tenth-level spell, erupted in every direction, wreaking havoc without rhyme or reason. Most of it shot toward the sky, but a significant amount also struck the armies on both sides.

The Pope of the Radiant Temple and the Patriarch of the War God Temple each activated their divine artifacts and, together with their subordinates, including Shamans, set up layers of defensive light curtains, managing to protect the majority of their legions. However, the warriors closer to the battlefield still suffered losses amounting to tens of thousands. Of course, the number of humans who perished was more than ten times that of the more resilient orcs.

As the closest to the light pillar, I naturally bore the brunt of the stellar energy. However, my demonic blade, "Tiger Soul," possessed the ability to manipulate pure energy from the "Ten-thousand-year Gold Spirit Tree" and the power of "Devouring the Heavens" from the "Saber-toothed White Tiger," allowing me not only to escape harm but to benefit greatly. This pure energy was beneficial to the body, unlike the energy drawn from living creatures. At that moment, the stellar energy was so abundant that in just a short time, not only did my own battle qi and true qi cultivation surge, but my white dragon, "Winter Night," also benefited greatly. Even so, a large amount of stellar energy remained stored in the "Tiger Soul Blade" for future digestion.

Other top experts near the "Six Stars Demon-slaying Formation" were able to handle the stellar energy eruption, albeit with difficulty, and naturally suffered no harm.

As the starlight faded and the dust and smoke settled, people gradually saw the situation in the center of the battlefield—a semi-circular crater with a one-mile diameter. Several sword saints who were in the formation had vanished without a trace. Only a patch of land about ten feet in diameter remained undamaged, standing like a tower in the center of the pit. Lei Men, the protagonist of the battle, stood proudly upon it. Though battered and holding only the hilt of the Soul-devouring Sword, his divine might remained awe-inspiring, and no one dared to meet his eyes.

This was Lei Men, the White-haired Demon Lion King, standing tall despite his wounds, his presence still commanding awe.

Chapter 112: The Immortal Pattern Can Be Passed Down

In the summer of the Orc calendar year 1402, the most watched battle during the war that erupted on the Golden Great Plains was later called the "Battle of the Nine Saints," also known as the "Star Battle." In this clash, meticulously planned over a century by both sides and considered the pinnacle of confrontation on the continent, a total of nine sword saints participated. Ultimately, seven of them perished, making it the largest battle in the history of the Xinghai Continent.

In the aftermath of the war, although the strongest "War Saint" Lei Men retreated due to severe injuries after breaking the "Six Stars Demon-slaying Formation," the morale on the battlefield was overwhelmingly in favor of the orcs. Moreover, of the remaining two sword saints, the "Dragon Saint" was forced to retreat after being ambushed and injured by the Orc King Samanda. Seizing the opportunity, the elderly Patriarch of the War God Temple blew the divine artifact "Doomsday Horn," causing nearly 100,000 elite orc warriors to go berserk. The human forces could not withstand the onslaught and eventually suffered a complete rout. On the Golden Great Plains, human armies were defeated one after another, with elite troops suffering massive losses. Even the strongest combat weapon, the Crystal Dragon, was captured by the orcs' combined forces of Crystal Dragons and war behemoths. Ultimately, after leaving behind millions of corpses, the human forces lost control of the fertile plains.

However, the orcs also suffered significant losses in this battle. After occupying several key strategic points on the Golden Great Plains, they were forced to slow their advance and consolidate their gains. This behavior gave humans a chance to recover. The Mercenary Empire in the central part of the continent finally recognized the crisis of "a shared peril" and dispatched hundreds of thousands of elite troops to the neighboring Sacred Fasin Kingdom, including the most powerful "Starbreaker Mobile Magic Cannon Legion" with thousands of magic cannons. A month later, during the second wave of orc attacks, they successfully defended half of the Fasin Kingdom, securing strategic depth and buffer zones against the orc alliance. This also turned the once-powerful sacred kingdom into a vassal.

As for the southwest, in the Sacred Roman Kingdom where Saint Spirit Mountain was located, another change occurred. After the defeat on the Golden Great Plains, the Radiant Temple finally activated its darker powers. Most notably, several human modification projects, originally taboo, were launched against the backdrop of human peril. These technologies not only greatly enhanced human power but also introduced significant changes. For example, the "Angel Rebirth" technology allowed humans to grow energy wings like angels, enabling them to fly and possess powerful battle qi and divine arts. Although their flight speed was inferior to that of the eagle tribe orcs, their combined martial and magical prowess was enough to resist an equal number of orc air forces.

However, these technologies came with equally high costs. For the strongest "Angel Rebirth," the success rate was only one percent, with certain death for failures. The mortality rate for other technologies was equally high. If not for the Radiant Temple gathering millions of surviving soldiers and refugees after the war, it would have been impossible to implement such a vast and nefarious project. Ultimately, after sacrificing nearly a million lives, the Radiant Temple managed to raise an elite force of tens of thousands, successfully defending several key strongholds and preserving the Temple's headquarters and last foothold.

After several failed assaults, the orcs abandoned their plans to completely drive human forces out of the western continent, opting instead to consolidate their occupied territories. Nevertheless, by this point, eighty percent of the western lands, originally part of the human world, had fallen under orc control. This 400-year-prepared orc revival war ended with a great orc victory.