Combat

"Attack!"

Following Jun Mukong's command, the two teams moved simultaneously.

Nearly fifty figures shot forward like arrows released from their bowstrings, charging toward the four battle general phantoms from two directions.

Gongsun Qingling charged at the very front. At this moment, the dual-attribute power of her Azure Abyss Dao Body erupted completely.

Pale green wood-attribute spiritual energy surged from her body, lingering around her like a thin mist.

The wood spiritual energy circulated within her, nourishing every inch of her meridians and every muscle, granting her enough stamina to sustain herself through the entire battle.

At the same time, a faint, silvery-white wisp of mental energy spread outward from her glabella. Formless and intangible, it accurately locked onto the auras of the four battle general phantoms.

The opponents were remnant souls, lacking complete divine spirits.

Gongsun Qingling needed to sense them—to perceive their intentions and anticipate their movement trajectories and attack targets in advance.

She raised her right hand and lightly tapped her fingertips. Countless pale green vines broke through the soil, tangling toward the bronze-armored general holding a sword and the black-iron-armored general wielding an axe.

The surface of the vines was covered in dense, fine barbs. Once they wrapped around a target, they would tighten continuously. Though not enough to completely trap the two generals, they effectively hindered their movements.

Simultaneously, pale cyan, soul-state phantom branches emerged across the battlefield ground.

The moment all the disciples came into contact with those soul-state phantoms, they felt a gentle, healing power take effect on their bodies.

Her offensive power might not be the strongest, but she could elevate the entire team's combat endurance to another level.

Her mental perception was fully unleashed.

The intentions of the four battle general phantoms formed clear images in her mind.

"Bow-wielding battle soul, target locked on the backline, firing in three breaths.

Axe-wielding battle soul, targeting the front-left, currently charging power.

Sword-wielding and spear-wielding battle souls haven't locked targets yet, but the spear-wielder's attention is shifting to the right."

Gongsun Qingling precisely relayed this information to every teammate through their internal communication artifact.

"Lin Yue, Zhao Chuan, the axe-wielding battle soul is targeting you, focus on defense.

Su Yao, the bow-wielder fires in three breaths. The arrow is aimed at your current position, move three steps to the left immediately."

Before her voice even faded, the giant axe resting on the axe-wielding battle soul's shoulder swung down fiercely.

Before the axe blade even arrived, an invisible axe gleam had already slashed across the ground. Carrying a devastating momentum, it rushed straight at Lin Yue and Zhao Chuan on the front-left.

Having been warned in advance, the two showed no panic and simultaneously erected their spiritual energy shields.

The axe gleam slashed against the shields, emitting a harsh metallic clash and sending sparks flying.

The two were knocked back several steps, their feet plowing two shallow trenches in the ground, but their shields remained unbroken and they were unharmed.

Meanwhile, Su Yao in the backline had moved three steps to the left according to Gongsun Qingling's instructions. Just as she steadied herself, the spot where she had been standing was pierced by a ghostly blue arrow.

Shot from the bow-wielding battle soul's bowstring, the arrowhead sank deep into the ground. Blue flames burned around the arrow, scorching the rocky ground until it sizzled.

On the other side of the battlefield, Jun Mukong led his team charging in from the flank.

The spatial perception of his Void Dao Body gave him a thorough understanding of the entire battlefield.

He didn't need to use mental energy to predict like Gongsun Qingling did; every ripple in space was within his perception.

Which direction the spear-wielding battle soul thrust its spear, when the sword-wielding battle soul swung its blade, and even the flow of spiritual energy within their bodies—he could see it all.

He weaved among the four battle souls, his figure like a ghost, appearing only in the gaps between their attacks.

The two teams coordinated perfectly, balancing offense and defense orderly.

The four battle general phantoms possessed formidable combat strength, but they seemed restricted by their remnant soul state.

Their movements were slightly stiff, with obvious delays between attacks; they also lacked coordination with one another.

These were their flaws.

Jun Mukong rapidly analyzed the situation during the battle, already making a decision in his mind.

The ink-jade armored general holding the bow was the most troublesome of the four.

Its arrows had a long range and high accuracy.

With it around, the team's formation would be continuously suppressed, unable to unleash their full offensive power.

It had to be eliminated first.

Jun Mukong's figure flashed as he pulled out of the frontal assault, circling to the battlefield's flank and sprinting toward the bow-wielding general.

The bow-wielding general seemed to sense the danger. Its ghostly blue pupils turned toward Jun Mukong's direction, its bowstring drawn fully once more as an arrow took shape.

But Jun Mukong was faster.

"Space Freeze, Realm Shatter!"

Spatial power gathered around the bow-wielding general, instantly freezing the space around it.

The general's body was locked in place, unable to release the fully drawn bowstring. The arrow gathered on the string but could not be fired.

Immediately after, the surrounding space began to twist and shatter. The fierce spatial power acted like sharp blades, shattering the ink-jade armor on its body and exposing the illusory remnant soul within.

Before the ink-jade armored general could break free from the confinement, Jun Mukong had already teleported to its side, raising his right hand and summoning his longsword.

"Void Rending Slash!"

A condensed spatial sword qi slashed down around the general. A tiny void rift instantly appeared, neatly slicing the entire general's remnant soul in half.

Its upper body slowly slid off, while its lower half remained standing in place.

A complex light flashed in the eyes of the bow-wielding general's phantom—it looked like relief, yet also like unwillingness.

It glanced at Jun Mukong, the youth holding the sword reflected in those ghostly blue pupils, and then slowly closed its eyes.

The phantom dissipated.

The ink-black battle flag remained completely unharmed amidst the attack, planted quietly in the ground, the character Cloud on its surface fluttering gently in the wind.

With the dissipation of one battle general, the pressure on the battlefield sharply decreased.

Without the harassment of the ranged archer, the disciples' morale surged, and the frequency and intensity of their attacks noticeably increased.

However, the remaining three battle generals simultaneously underwent a transformation the moment their companion dissipated.

Dark red light seeped from the cracks in their armor. Their speed abruptly rose to another level, and the delay between their attacks vanished, replaced by a near-insane brutality.

Berserk state.

Jun Mukong frowned slightly.

The three battle generals no longer bothered defending, instead launching fierce attacks on their surroundings.

In an instant, the tide of the battlefield reversed, forcing the disciples from proactive offense into passive defense.

The sudden shift in rhythm not only caught the disciples off guard but also caused Gongsun Qingling's perception to lag a beat.

Just as she was busy warning a disciple to defend against the sword-wielding battle soul's attack, the giant axe of the black-iron armored general swung silently toward her with majestic force.

Gongsun Qingling's heart tightened. With no time to think, her body instinctively retreated rapidly.

But the axe-wielding general's giant axe had already swung down, its speed so fast she simply could not fully evade it.

The axe blade carried the sound of tearing air, chopping straight toward her face. The biting gale had already blown back the hair on her forehead.