The sounds of battle echoed relentlessly, rising and falling without a single moment of pause.
At this moment, beneath the compound walls.
The attackers proved they were no fools. They didn’t necessarily have to smash through the main gates; many simply chose to scale the walls. But the moment they vaulted over, they were mercilessly slaughtered by the Gongsun Clan Members hiding on the other side.
After all, the Gongsun Family boasted a population of over a hundred thousand. This massive number of people was more than enough to man every inch of the perimeter. In their hands, they wielded the Celestial Secret Divine Crossbows crafted by the Celestial Secret Pavilion. These crossbows possessed immense power, capable of slaying even experts of the Demon Spirit Realm.
However, the Gongsun Family’s estate was simply too vast. While the defenders could easily dispatch the weaker assailants, how could they possibly hold their own against true experts? The Elders and Patriarchs of the major clans disregarded all martial honor, opting to scale the walls alongside their men. Once they breached the perimeter, it was like wolves descending upon a flock of sheep.
After slaughtering the nearby Gongsun Clan Members, they unleashed their Spiritual Qi to outright demolish the courtyard walls. No matter how incredibly sturdy the Gongsun Family’s walls were built, they still couldn’t withstand the full-force strikes of Earth Spirit Realm experts. With gaps forced open in the defenses, the outsiders swarmed in.
The true battle had begun.
Blood bloomed endlessly. Casualties mounted on both sides, claiming lives from both the Five Great Clans and the Gongsun Family. Even though the Gongsun Family’s overall strength surpassed that of any of the Five Great Clans, they couldn’t withstand such a concentrated bombardment from all five simultaneously.
What was most astonishing was that the Five Great Clans weren’t the only ones attacking. The other major clans had joined the fray as well. Though their strength paled in comparison to the Five Great Clans, they all harbored the same greedy hope: what if they got lucky and succeeded in the end?
Meanwhile, in the main courtyard.
"Reporting to the Young City Lord! The west gate has been breached, and the He Family is charging in!"
"Young City Lord, the north gate has fallen! The Yun Family is massacring their way inside!"
"Young City Lord, the south gate is broken!"
"Young City Lord, the east gate has fallen..."
Gongsun Xin listened to the scouts’ reports, his expression icy and stern. Standing beside him were Gongsun Ancient Formula and the other Elders of the Gongsun Family.
"Gongsun Xin, are you still not going to let us out to intercept them? It hasn’t even been two hours, and they’ve already broken through from all four directions!" Gongsun Ancient Formula gritted his teeth as he spoke, clearly possessing a rather impatient temperament.
Gongsun Xin replied coolly, "Them breaking in is entirely within my expectations. The Gongsun Family’s estate is so expansive; with them launching an assault from within the city, how could we possibly block them all? Our courtyard walls aren’t city walls towering hundreds of meters high."
"So we’re just going to stand here and watch them charge in?"
"Of course not. I’ve already sent Gongsun Qingyue, Gongsun Yanran, and the others to activate the Arrays. The deeper our enemies push, the more of them will die!"
At this moment, within the various large courtyards.
The enemies who had rushed into the Gongsun Family estate successively fell into the Arrays. Some of these were Killing Arrays. Over the past millennium, the Gongsun Family had meticulously blanketed their courtyards with countless Arrays. Some were Illusion Arrays, and others were Trapping Arrays. All of these Arrays had been set up by the capable men and Abnormal Warriors of the Celestial Secret Pavilion.
Between the deadly Arrays and the ambushes set by the Gongsun Family, the invaders from the major clans suffered catastrophic casualties in an instant.
"Reporting to the Young City Lord! The He Family has stopped advancing. The Arrays have blocked their path, and they are suffering heavy casualties!"
"Young City Lord! The Tenth Elder of the Yun Family has been slain by the Wooden Man Array!"
Reports of victory came pouring in one after another. Only then did the Elders of the Gongsun Family finally smile.
"To think this swarm of ants actually tried to swallow an elephant! Now they’re reaping what they sowed."
"Our Gongsun Family spent over a thousand years setting up countless Arrays, all for this very day."
Gongsun Xin, however, shook his head. His expression was still tinged with worry. The Gongsun Family indeed possessed a vast number of Arrays, but the Five Great Clans had just as immense a vanguard. While the Arrays could temporarily halt their advance, how long could they truly hold out? As time passed, the Arrays would inevitably be broken. When that time came, the true storm of blood and gore would descend upon them.
"By the way, why is there no news of the Sun Family?"
"To answer the Young City Lord, we haven’t spotted the Sun Family among the attackers."
"Hmm?"
The pupils of everyone from the Gongsun Family contracted sharply. The Sun Family was the absolute strongest among the Five Great Clans. Yet not a single trace of them could be seen?
Meanwhile, at the Sun Family’s grand estate.
Sun Zhenwu sat in the main hall. Every few minutes, scouts would return to report.
"Patriarch, the forces of the Four Great Clans have all fought their way into the Gongsun Family estate."
"Patriarch, the Four Great Clans have fallen into the Arrays and are suffering heavy casualties."
"Patriarch, latest news! The Sixteenth Elder of the He Family has been killed in action."
"The Ninth Elder of the Yun Family has perished."
Listening to these reports, a satisfied smile crept onto Sun Zhenwu’s lips. "Die. The more of them that die, the better. Only then can my Sun Family swoop in and reap the rewards while the rest tear each other apart."
Sun Zhenwu would forever remember the words passed down by his ancestors. On the day they vied for control of the city, they had to remain absolutely calm! Under no circumstances were they to let impatience drive them to be the first to enter the main courtyard. Even if they possessed the power to completely annihilate the City Lord’s Mansion’s forces on their own, they still had to stay calm and strike only at the very last moment. Otherwise, whoever occupied the main courtyard first would find themselves besieged on all sides.
In truth, every major family had similar ancestral teachings. However, on the day of seizing the city, with blood boiling and adrenaline surging, hardly any of the families could suppress their impulsive desires. They were all terrified that if they arrived too late, they would miss the golden opportunity. Families like the Sun Family, who remained entirely unmoving, were practically non-existent.
A full day passed.
In the main courtyard of the City Lord’s Mansion.
"Report! The He Family in the north destroyed three hundred and twenty-eight Arrays overnight, advancing one and a half kilometers! They are now a mere five kilometers away from the main courtyard."
"Report! The Yun Family marched through the night, advancing thirteen hundred meters."
"Report..."
As the night passed, all sorts of news poured in consecutively. After a full day of fierce, bloody battle, the Four Great Clans were drawing ever closer to the central main courtyard.
"Gongsun Xin, are we going to make our move?" Gongsun Ancient Formula spoke up once again.
Gongsun Xin shook his head. "All the Arrays combined should be able to hold them off for three days. Even if they manage to reach the vicinity of the main courtyard, it will take them at least that long."
"But how many of our people will have to die during these three days?" one of the Elders asked through gritted teeth. He glanced at the elderly man beside him who was in charge of keeping the population registers. The Gongsun Family’s population registers spanned several hundred volumes. Both the Direct Lineage and the Side Branches were recorded within them.
"The entire lineage of the Zhou Shen Side Branch has been wiped out."
"Of the Liu Dequan Side Branch, only a three-year-old child named Liu An remains."
The record-keepers were frantically busy. Every time someone died, they would draw a red cross over their name. For some branch families, everyone except the young children had perished.
Every single cross in the population registers broke their hearts. The eyes of the elderly men brimming with tears had long since overflowed. These people had all sacrificed themselves for the sake of the family. They were all members of the Side Branches. They held the lowest status within the Gongsun Family, yet whenever a major crisis arose, they were always the ones charging at the very forefront.
As time marched on, the slaughter continued unabated.
Three days later.
The outer perimeter of the Gongsun Family estate had long since transformed into a river of blood. Countless buildings had been smashed to pieces. The Side Branch courtyards in the far north had suffered the most catastrophic casualties.
Of the one hundred and eighty thousand Gongsun Clan Members, only eighty thousand remained after a mere three days. One hundred thousand deaths in three days—an absolutely horrifying figure.
Of course, the casualties suffered by the Four Great Clans were more than triple that of the Gongsun Family. Each of the clans now had only ten to twenty thousand men left. Naturally, those who had died were the weak; the ones still standing were all elite experts.
"Young City Lord! The Side Branch clan members can no longer hold them back and have suffered disastrous losses. The He Family is now only three kilometers away from the main courtyard!"
"Young City Lord! The Yun Family is a mere two kilometers away!"