Lord of the Desert

Chapter 570 Iron Venerable
Inside the Xuandan Fortress, the atmosphere was oppressive and somber.

The giants have always been known for their dynamic and extremely diverse tactics and strategies; in Shuoshui's vision, those defensive fortifications laid deep within the territory would be enough to drain the blood of human soldiers.

Unfortunately it backfired.

Faced with the ever-expanding line of fire, it could only order a retreat.

"The enemy is coming up the Shuoshui River, led by Song and Wang."

The honeycomb pattern projects a light screen, expressing intense emotions with more vibrant colors.

"Shuoshui, what do we do?"

"Shuoshui, the enemy's artillery has only 10% of its ammunition left, about 120 rounds."

Shattered Light added.

It is specially designed with optical observation capabilities, whether it is microscopic or long-distance vision, and can count the number of ammunition on the ammunition car of the Chisha Army's artillery battalion from miles away.

"Groups one and two, guard the temple gate; the rest, retreat into the mountains."

Shuoshui hesitated for a moment before issuing the order.

"Activate the grand formation, everyone connect!"

"Shuoshui, the great formation is not complete. Full activation will severely damage the circuit; all our hard work over the past two years and the investment of a lot of resources will be wasted."

As the person in charge of the Suspended Gallbladder Fortress formation project, Shattered Light reminded his colleagues.

"I know we have no other choice."

The latter replied.

So all the giants silently complied.

Along the grand array, energy and information began to flow at an accelerated rate.

[Temporary loop construction in progress, 73% complete.]

Each individual takes its place, bridging unfinished circuits and even contributing to the energy supply.

[Spiritual energy load increased to 53%; Contingency Plan Seven: Simulated Shaping.]

The silent command was instantly synchronized with the consciousness of all the giants.

Inside the mountain, the circuits carved into the ground and walls suddenly lit up; outside the mountain, the innate spiritual energy vibrated violently, stirring up waves upon waves.

[Simulated subject, the Ancient One, Iron Venerable...]

As more than 150 giant spirits fully gathered their spiritual and computational power, the earth of Xuandan Fortress began to tremble.

After advancing a thousand meters and breaking into the inner layer of the fortress, Wang Xiaodan suddenly stopped, sensing an invisible and colorless vortex of spiritual energy above the fortress.

"This scale far exceeds the Innate level..."

Leaning on his heavy staff, he turned around and exchanged glances with Song Qiwu and the other two Qi Realm warriors.

Hundreds of meters away, the towering cliffs of Xuandan Mountain suddenly cracked and crumbled, shedding a shower of stone dust; the metallic elements within various ores separated out, turning into trickles of different colors that dripped down.

Under the watchful eyes of numerous human warriors, the liquid metal twisted, converged, and solidified, eventually taking the shape of a fifteen-meter-tall, hollow-faced humanoid colossus.

"Iron Venerable".

Song Qiwu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Among the giants, those who have lived for over a hundred years can be called ancient, and Iron Lord is one of the "ancient ones" who is famous for his close combat skills.

Of course, what you see in front of you is not the real thing.

"Get ready for battle!"

Wang Xiaodan shouted loudly and pulled down his helmet and faceplate.

Tie Zun slowly took his first step, his foot sinking two feet into the ground, producing a deep, heavy rumbling sound.

The swirling, boiling innate spiritual energy suddenly calmed down, converging into an invisible cable of unknown length, connecting the back of the giant statue into the void.

Wang Xiaodan took the lead and started running.

Hair stood on end, skin hardened, muscles bulged; the dragon-shaped staff swept across the ground, continuously absorbing soil and rocks, until it weighed ten thousand pounds.

"Drink!"

At a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, Wang Xiaodan pulled the staff from the top of his head and swung it with both hands.

Then, Tie Zun casually tossed him more than 30 meters away, where he crashed into the mountain rocks.

"Damn it, ugh..."

Wang Xiaodan pulled off his helmet, turned his head, and spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling a dense, sharp pain from broken bones in his right ribs and left shoulder.

As a top-tier expert in the Innate Realm, he was certain that the power of his all-out attack was close to the limit of his realm, and even Kou Yong and Qu Luoyi would be seriously injured if they had taken it.

Without a doubt, the enemy possesses at least the strength of a magnetic element.

He struggled to lift half his body and saw Tie Zun advancing straight ahead, beginning the massacre.

With a kick, the heavily armored warriors charging with axes were sent flying into a cloud of blood mist. With another stomp, a dense barrage of spikes shot forward dozens of meters, piercing through more than a dozen men.

He leaped, the rock beneath his feet cracking and splintering, traversing two hundred meters in one bound, landing outside the fortress.

The shockwave spread out, and the earth trembled.

Soldiers within a radius of tens of meters all fell.

The enormous humanoid figure stood backlit, its arms hanging down, casting a long, inhuman shadow high above.

Two hundred meters away, Wei Zheng, the captain of Duanhong City, drew his thousand-pound bow and fired a heavy iron arrow, which pierced a foot into the giant statue's leg.

The clanging sound reverberated through the air.

Unfortunately, it was all meaningless.

Tie Zun glanced at him, slowly released the iron arrows, then looked at the many corpses of his own side that had died from the artillery fire on the mountain road and were slowly getting up, and finally focused on the Chisha Army's artillery position two miles away.

When Gan Deshou saw the faceless face looming over him from afar, his hair stood on end.

Tie Zun slowly stepped forward, crushing a dire wolf, its belly hanging from its belly, as it crawled up from the loose soil into a bloody pulp—Wei Zheng, intimidated by its power, dared not approach to stop it.

Ignoring all obstacles along the way, it sped off.

Just then, Fire Stream arrived, accompanied by a sonic boom.

Golden clouds burst open.

Six hundred meters away, Hong Fan, heavily armed and deployed, activated Vulcan, engulfing the Iron Venerable with flames and shockwaves six times per second.

The people of Northern Xinjiang witnessed the legendary super-grade killing technique "Vulcan" for the first time, and were amazed by its destructive power, which can be described as the ultimate innate ability.

Its metallic body shattered and then reformed.

[Energy multiplier: 270 percent.]

The information surfaced in the minds of the giants.

Tie Zun was forced to change his objective and advanced towards Hong Fan under heavy fire.

[Shuoshui, I am overloaded.]

The two newly formed giant spirits could not withstand the pressure, their bodies collapsed and they lost their abilities, breaking free from the great formation.

Pressing forward for 300 meters, the Iron Throne's right hand liquefied and extended, shaping into a slender iron spear ten meters long.

In that instant, a strong sense of crisis pierced Hong Fan's mind like a needle; he stopped firing and focused all his efforts on maneuvering the sand flow.

Lunge, pause, throw.

Yellow clouds rose from beneath the iron statue's feet, and the earth trembled violently.

Red streaks burst forth in the atmosphere, like slicing cuts, and a series of ring-shaped sonic booms shot straight toward Hong Fan.

In the final fifty meters, seven sand walls rose up in succession, pierced one after another by iron spears heated to red-hot.

The loud noise temporarily robbed everyone of their hearing.

In the near-vacuum impact zone, the atmosphere suddenly rolled back, triggering strong convection that blew the loose sand into a dust storm.

A moment later, the world settled and became clear.

A straight trench, about a foot deep, stretched for 300 meters, spanning the battlefield.

At the end, Hong Fansha's armor melted, and he held a crystallized heavy shield that was only half left. Half a meter of the 270-degree area in front of him was scraped away out of thin air, leaving only the original 90-degree area behind him.

This earth-shattering blow calmed the battlefield.

Lu Yunshi was standing closest to the source of the tremors. Although his hearing had not yet returned, he was awakened by the increasingly intense vibrations beneath his feet.

Looking up, the five-zhang-tall iron vessel was striding forward, already approaching.

"Protect the captain!"

He roared with all his might, his palms carrying the force of Hunyuan Qi, and took the initiative to meet the attack, but the metal giant ignored him and sent him flying far away.

Braving the fiery energy blades and roars of the Hong Lie, Tie Zun broke free from the sand currents binding him on all sides and bent down to punch.

This punch was as big as a water vat and over a meter high.

Having withstood a supersonic spear throw, Hong Fan had no time to dodge and could only parry with his arms crossed.

The earth shook again.

The earth and stone deformed like dough, and Hong Fan was blasted into the ground.

Dizziness and tinnitus suggest a moderate concussion; the humerus and ulna are fractured.

He experienced the pain all over his body in the silence.

Its output power is at least at the high level of the elementary magnetic field...

(End of this chapter)