"What!"
Gongsun Xin felt his head spin. Then, his body flashed as he quickly ascended the high platform. The Unmoving Bell was struck once again.
This time, it was the bell for retreat.
At the resource vault.
The Supreme Elder’s expression shifted slightly. "Why is the bell signaling a retreat to the main courtyard? Could it be that all four fronts have been defeated?"
"What? The retreat bell... Mother!" Ye Xuan’s expression changed; he no longer cared about comprehending the intent. He hurriedly got up and rushed toward the south.
The Supreme Elder said, "None of them are a match for the enemy. What use is there in you going? Your cultivation is too weak."
"I know, but my mother is there. I have to go see her." Ye Xuan’s voice still echoed in the air, but he had already swiftly departed.
The Supreme Elder wanted to follow him, but his duty was to guard the resource vault. The resource vault was more important than human lives.
"Mother, please be safe!" Ye Xuan sprinted all the way. Soon, he spotted fleeing Gongsun Clan Members scrambling back in a panic.
"Have you seen my mother, Gongsun Yanran?"
"I don’t know, I don’t know! Hurry back to the main courtyard! The enemy is too strong; Grandpa Four is dead!" This member of the Direct Lineage was clearly scared out of his wits, babbling as he fled.
Ye Xuan furrowed his brows. He pressed onward, his face fraught with worry.
"Mr. Xuan, don’t worry. Mrs. Ye is blessed by heaven and will surely be fine. I’ll go check over there." Hua’s body flashed, and she quickly disappeared.
Not long after she left, she shouted, "Mr. Xuan, Mrs. Ye is here!"
Ye Xuan quickly ran in Hua’s direction. Soon, Gongsun Yanran appeared in his line of sight. Her face was a bit pale, and her eyes were slightly red, clearly having cried.
"Xuan’Er, why are you here? Hurry and leave! Go back to the main courtyard!"
"Mother, are you all right?"
"I’m fine. It’s just that your Grandpa Four... to save me, he self-destructed his Dantian and perished together with the Sun Family’s Supreme Elder!" Gongsun Yanran said this and shed tears again.
"Grandpa Four..." Ye Xuan clenched his fists. Although he was not close with Grandpa Four—and the only thing he knew about him was that he had many women and had fathered many children—at this moment, he already considered him his benefactor.
"Mother, where is Liu Ruoxi?" Ye Xuan suddenly asked, as he didn’t see her around.
Gongsun Yanran said ashamedly, "It was too chaotic just now, and I couldn’t keep an eye on her. She must have fled."
"Fled?" Ye Xuan frowned. To think that Liu Ruoxi actually managed to escape. If he had known this would happen, he would have kept her by his side.
"Xuan’Er, it’s for the best that she escaped. We still don’t know if the Gongsun Family can survive this ordeal. If she died in our Gongsun Family, we would have failed the Liu Family. Let’s not talk about this anymore. Hurry back to the main courtyard."
At this moment, the Gongsun Family members from all four directions were routing. Ye Xuan was quite puzzled. Were the Five Great Clans really this strong? Was the Gongsun Family actually no match for them?
Soon, Ye Xuan and the others returned to the main courtyard, which was filled with wounded soldiers.
Gongsun Clan Members from the east, south, west, and north had all returned. The main and inner courtyards were packed with people. The Side Branches and the Direct Lineage were all gathered in this space. Out of eighty thousand people, only fifty thousand remained. Far too many had died in this battle.
"Third Elder, why was your side defeated?" Gongsun Xin’s voice rang out.
The Third Elder answered, "It was the Sun Family. They didn’t participate in the battle for the past four days because they were waiting for experts! On my side, there were three unfamiliar faces, but they were all at the Earth Spirit Realm cultivation level. The Sun Family must have promised them something for them to help out this much."
"Fifth Elder, what about you?"
"It’s about the same on my end. The damn Sun Family hid their strength far too well! Their power is not weaker than ours, and even the other Four Great Clans willingly took their orders. The Sun Family promised that as long as the Four Great Clans put in the effort, they would remain the Four Great Clans of Dapeng City in the future. They pledged that as long as the Sun Family is not destroyed, even if the Four Great Clans suffer heavy losses in this battle, they can peacefully rest and recuperate."
"The Sun Family!" Gongsun Xin’s expression turned incredibly ugly. "Right, where is the Great Elder?"
"I am here!" Gongsun Ancient Formula stepped out from the crowd. His right hand was already gone.
"Great Elder, someone actually severed your hand!" Gongsun Xin gasped.
The Great Elder’s cultivation was not weaker than that of the Patriarch, Gongsun Wenjin. In Dapeng City, he was undoubtedly one of the strongest fighters. It was absolutely impossible for anyone from the Sun Family to chop off his arm. Could the Sun Family have invited a 4th Layer Earth Spirit Realm expert?
"My hand was not severed by a person."
"Great Elder, what do you mean?"
"Mine was chopped off by a war machine."
"A war machine? The Celestial Secret Pavilion!"
"Uncle Xin, what is a war machine?"
"War machines are created by the Abnormal Warriors of the Celestial Secret Pavilion according to ancient formulas. War machines are born specifically for combat."
As soon as Gongsun Xin’s voice fell, the ground began to tremble. It seemed some colossal behemoth was approaching the main courtyard. The tremors grew louder and faster!
"What is that!" someone in the courtyard exclaimed in shock.
In their line of sight, a massive steel giant came charging toward the main courtyard. Its speed might not have been fast, but with every step it took, it leaped a distance of a hundred meters. The steel giant was twenty meters wide and eighty meters tall, resembling a small mountain. Every time it took a step, the earth shuddered.
Upon nearing the main courtyard, the steel giant stomped down with one foot, and its massive body leaped high into the air, blocking out the sunlight. While still mid-air, the steel giant drew a fifty-meter-long broadsword from its back. With the blade pointed at the main courtyard, this single strike could kill hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
"This is the war machine!" Gongsun Ancient Formula gritted his teeth as he spoke. His hand had been severed by this very broadsword. Of course, he had only taken the blow to save his descendants! Otherwise, he could have easily dodged it.
Although the war machine was terrifying, its speed was not very fast. That was because it was controlled by humans. Inside it were hundreds of Cultivators pedaling with all their might. Their feet spun rapidly like a whirlwind.
CLACK CLACK.
The massive chains began to turn, and the war machine made the corresponding movements. The internal structure of this war machine was nothing short of exquisite. No matter which part it was, someone was controlling it. These were all based on mechanical principles. The dense cluster of steel gears was enough to make one’s scalp tingle just by looking at it.
Seeing that the war machine was about to crash into the courtyard, Gongsun Xin suddenly let out a cold shout, "Guardian Array, activate!"
A layer of Guardian Barrier suddenly appeared over the massive main courtyard.
BOOM!
The broadsword slashed against the barrier, and the immense rebound force knocked the war machine back. It stumbled back several steps before finally steadying its body.
It didn’t continue its attack; instead, it moved to the main entrance of the courtyard. Plunging its sword into the ground, it stood guard like a door god.
As time passed, more and more people gathered at the main courtyard. There were no less than twenty thousand of them. A small portion belonged to the Four Great Clans, while the vast majority were experts from the Sun Family. Sun Zhenwu stood at the very front, his eyes flashing with a sharp gleam.