My Beasts Grind Proficiency For Me

Chapter 369 - 227: The Melee Begins

Yinjiao cast his Cloud Escape, silently vanishing from the Flying Boat. After reaching Foundation Establishment, his mastery of the technique was so profound it left no trace.

The battle had escalated to a fever pitch the instant it began.

Beams of Divine Light, highly concentrated streams of Spiritual Qi, clashed and shot across the sky. Spirit Soldiers, coalesced from Spiritual Mechanisms and Restrictions, whistled through the air. The Demon Sect Flying Boats maneuvered ceaselessly, dodging the terrifyingly powerful Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Divine Light.

Under these conditions, Foundation Establishment Cultivators didn’t dare use their own Spiritual Qi to attack. Instead, they relied on their powerful Divine Sense to manipulate the Arrays’ Restrictions.

In such an environment, an ordinary Tier Two Magical Artifact would be utterly destroyed if so much as grazed by the Divine Light crisscrossing the battlefield. Even a Spiritual Artifact would be severely damaged.

Besides, the power of a single Spiritual Artifact was hardly enough to inflict any effective damage on a target like a Demon Sect Flying Boat. It was far better to focus one’s energy on manipulating the Array Restrictions.

The Demon Sect Flying Boats had only gained the upper hand during the initial sneak attack; they soon began to falter.

After all, most of the Arrays on the defensive line were powered by Spirit Veins, giving them a virtually inexhaustible supply of Spiritual Qi. The Flying Boats in the air, however, had to rely on the limited Spiritual Qi provided by their Spiritual Eye Objects.

Iron Head commanded his Flying Boat to take cover behind the Spiritual Light barrier of a Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Array, preventing his vessel from being hit by concentrated enemy fire. Though his side had many Grand Arrays, they were all fixed in place along the defensive line. This Flying Boat was their only mobile asset.

"Demon Patrol Envoy, the Extinction Cold Light Array is fully charged with Spiritual Qi. It’s ready to fire at any moment."

A soldier reported loudly.

"Hold."

Iron Head said.

He commanded the Flying Boat to climb abruptly, activating the Divine Crow Flying Fire Formation on its flank.

Under his control, a great flock of Fire Crows flew toward the Demon Sect Flying Boat that had been pierced by the Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Divine Light, swarming inside through the breach in its hull.

An intense light erupted from the breach. The entire Demon Sect Flying Boat shuddered violently and began to lose control, plummeting to the ground like a bird with a broken wing.

The Flying Boat’s hull and its Dragon Bone, both reinforced by Restrictions, withstood the immense impact. The intricate Arrays on board, however, did not. Upon impact, dissipating Demonic Qi arced and crackled across the vessel like bolts of lightning.

It was Demonic Qi, rapidly leaking from the damaged Arrays.

With one enemy Flying Boat sunk, the morale of the Demon Suppression Army soldiers along the defensive line soared.

Iron Head, however, remained calm. ’This group of Demon Cultivators clearly planned this for a long time. Their commander couldn’t possibly be ignorant of the foolishness of using Flying Boats to charge a Grand Array head-on.’

’The very reason I’ve kept the Extinction Cold Light Array charged, even at the cost of constantly draining Spiritual Qi, is to guard against whatever trick the Demon Army has up its sleeve.’

Suddenly, he looked up, focusing all his attention on a Flying Boat lingering at the rear of the enemy fleet. It had stayed back since the battle started, only making a few half-hearted attacks with its secondary Arrays—attacks as useless as trying to scratch an itch through a boot. And yet, the Demonic Qi emanating from it was no weaker than any of the other vessels.

"Attack that Flying Boat!"

Iron Head made his decision in an instant. On the battlefield, even a reckless decision was far better than indecision.

The Flying Boat immediately rose from behind the Defensive Spirit Light of the Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Array, ascending into the open sky.

The Extinction Cold Light Array immediately fired a beam of frost-white Divine Light straight at the targeted Flying Boat.

The surprise attack startled the Demon Sect fleet. One Flying Boat immediately moved to shield the target.

The Extinction Cold Light struck the Flying Boat’s activated Defensive Spirit Light head-on.

That Flying Boat’s Defensive Spirit Light was already failing after weathering numerous attacks, its Demonic Qi reserves running low. A few moments after the beam struck, the light shattered.

Unlike the Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Divine Light, which merely punched a hole through a vessel, the terrifying chill of the Extinction Cold Light instantly encased the entire Flying Boat in ice. Most of the Demon Cultivators aboard were frozen solid in an instant.

The entire vessel, now a frozen chunk of ice, plummeted to the earth.

"Activate the Void Five Weapons Array! Press the attack!"

Iron Head’s judgment was instantaneous. ’That Flying Boat is their trump card.’

The adjacent Seven Luminaries Demon-Slaying Array was under the command of Zhu Xuanling. His own instincts were just as sharp, and he had also noticed something unusual about that particular Flying Boat.

"Attack that Flying Boat! Signal the auxiliary Arrays to attack it in unison!"

The commander of that Flying Boat was equally decisive, immediately activating their Array.

BOOM!

A massive boom erupted, and intense fluctuations of Spiritual Qi immediately pulsed from the Flying Boat.

"The Heaven-shattering Earth-collapse Array!"

The more knowledgeable Cultivators on the defensive line turned pale with fright. This Array could shake the very ley lines of the earth, destabilizing a Grand Array’s foundations and temporarily severing its connection to the Spiritual Qi within the Spirit Veins. It was a powerful counter to almost any kind of Array.

The Heaven-shattering Earth-collapse Array installed on this Flying Boat was of a high caliber—at least Tier Two. Even though it was activated hastily, it still caused a violent tremor.

The earth began to ripple out from the Flying Boat’s position, undulating like the surface of water.

This region was already unstable from the clash between Spiritual Qi and Demonic Qi. Triggered by the Heaven-shattering Earth-collapse Array, some mountain peaks shattered outright. Giant boulders were blasted from the mountainsides, tumbling down with a roar amidst an avalanche of rubble and dirt.

The shockwave spread rapidly across the ground, reaching the defensive line in an instant. Although the Qi Mechanisms of the Grand Arrays along the line were linked, the Spiritual Light of some of the Tier Two Arrays still flickered violently from the tremor.