Within an unimaginable great hall that was built from pieces of bright black jade, covered in ruby-like dazzling red crystal fire-shaped runes, there was a throne sculpted entirely from red crystal.

The high crowned, red divine robed Purgatory Mountain Patriarch Shentu was currently seated on this gemstone throne.

In front of him, on the bright and clean black jade ground, stood six Purgatory Mountain elders holding black gemstone bone staves.

These individuals who were most respected in all of Purgatory Mountain, when Li Ku was surrounded back then, their bodies were wrapped within black energy and flames. Right now, the black energy and flames were restrained from their bodies. The skin that they exposed was a type of strange dark blue color that seemed to come from silver ashes.

“Patriarch.”

Right now, the six Scepter Elders from Purgatory Mountain all bowed respectfully. The elder at the very front whose eyes seemed to have two flame-shaped runes continuously flickering within said, “Yunqin’s great army has already surrounded Moon Seizing City. Are we still not going to provide any assistance?”

Purgatory Mountain Patriarch bathed in the fiery light released by the gemstone throne.

He still maintained a furrow browed thinking state. A dignified voice sounded from the bright red curtains. “Yunqin has sent close to four hundred and fifty thousand troops in total. Wenren Cangyue only used two hundred thousand troops. In the past few days, the mortality rate of Yunqin’s troops has already exceeded a hundred thousand. Wenren Cangyue’s losses were only a hundred thousand.”

“Before this great battle erupted, Wenren Cangyue already asked me for large amounts of Black Phosphorus, Ghost Oil Wood…. These things have long been sent north, but it hasn’t appeared in any battle yet.”

After just calmly saying these two sentences, Purgatory Mountain Patriarch stopped talking.

He didn’t even express any opinions on the current situation. However, all of these demonic god-like Purgatory Mountain Scepter Elders instead obtained some type of precise information, inwardly coming to a certain conclusion.

Without saying anything else, these Purgatory Mountain Scepter Elders whose skins were all flickering with a dark blue color carried out another bow of respect and then withdrew from this great hall.

The instant they walked out of this great hall’s gates, there were strong winds that swept out from these six black robed individuals’ bodies. Black mist and flames once again covered these six individuals, making their figures appear incredibly mysterious, powerful and dignified.

This great hall behind them made of black jade and red gemstone was built on the highest point of a giant dormant volcanic crater.

In the surroundings of this volcanic crater were dozens of volcanic craters that already ‘died’ for a long time, as well as some active volcanoes that still flowed with scarlet red magma.

The other volcanoes weren’t small either, but compared to this one, it was as if Yunqin infants encountered the largest and strongest cave barbarians, appearing extremely insignificant.

Further south of these volcanoes was an expanse of black color, the limits impossible to see. The skies were covered in countless terrifying red wastelands.

Right now, this giant volcano and the dozen or so smaller volcanoes surrounding it, along the area these six Scepter Elders whose entire bodies were filled with black energy and flames again were standing in, was precisely Great Mang’s most mysterious and most powerful cultivation land, Purgatory Mountain. Further south of Purgatory Mountain, the endless wasteland filled with flames and death was the Sky Devil Prison Plains no cultivators in this world dared venture into.

At the waist of this giant dormant volcano, as well as Purgatory Mountain’s remaining small volcanoes, there were layers of stepped fields and workshops.

There were countless ordinary serfs and Purgatory Mountain disciples who were carrying out bitter labor to provide for and maintain this cultivation holy land’s operations.

Right now, the dark red Zhang Ping[1] dressed in ordinary Purgatory Mountain disciple clothes was precisely a member of the countless lower level individuals who supported this cultivation holy land’s operations.

He held two large wicker baskets that were filled with heavy ores, walking out from a mine within one of the dormant volcanoes.

After washing his face by a hot spring filled with the smell of sulfur, he continued to hold this heavy carrying pole, heading towards a workshop not too far away that was taking in and sending out pillars of black flames.

This spring, under extremely precise arrangements, he who was looked favorably upon by Green Luan Academy first obtained a Thousand Devil Nest outer disciple identity, and then after a series of annexations Purgatory Mountain had with Thousand Devil Nest, he ended up becoming an odd jobs disciple in Purgatory Mountain. In this spring season that wasn’t calm at all, he only dug ore day after day, smelted ore and did extremely difficult odd jobs only cultivators could do. He spent half his time in the pungent mines where there was no daylight to be seen, the work extremely arduous. This type of lifestyle would easily make one feel that there was no end to it, Purgatory Mountain’s natural hostility and victorious disdain toward Thousand Devil Nest also continued. Right now, his home empire and the enemy country he was in right now were carrying out an unprecedented great war, so there were already many youngsters like him who might have already risen above others in this great battle, rushing far ahead of him. However, in the past few days, he didn’t voice the slightest complaint, only silently completing the things he was told to do day after day.

Just like before, Zhang Ping brought the ore into the devil nest-like metal smelting workshop.

After meticulously placing all of the ore into their designated positions, moreover about to take over someone’s position to pull the giant windboxes at a set rhythm, a black crowned, black and red robed individual walked up to his side, giving him a look of admiration and saying, “You’ve done well… starting from tomorrow, you will report to the higher forging workshop.”

Zhang Ping didn’t stop, because he knew that for the other party, the thanks from someone of his status didn’t possess any significance. Moreover, the other party didn’t want him to stop either, not wishing for him to cause the slightest influence on the metal smelting here. After saying this to him, this black crowned Purgatory Mountain personnel in charge of this workshop already indifferently walked past his side.

In this workshop filled with broiling heat, he only continued to silently pull the windbox, thinking about that place covered in ice and snow, thinking about that almost perfect face.

…

In deep spring, after wiping out several Great Mang’s reinforcement armies, Yunqin’s great army of two hundred thousand began to attack Moon Seizing City.

Moon Seizing City was a great city that had already been established during Nanmo Country’s[2] phase. It was just like Meteor City was the fortress of Yunqin’s south, Moon Seizing City was Great Mang Dynasty’s northern provinces’ speartip and fortress. When Nanmo Country’s army of three hundred thousand attacked Yunqin, suffering a great defeat under Principal Zhang and the seventeen experts that came from the academy, Nanmo Country whose internal situation was already in imminent danger, out of fear that Yunqin would take the initiative to launch a large scale offensive, they used endless wealth and manpower to repair and fortify Devil Altar City, Moon Seizing City and other cities. This was also what led to Nanmo Country’s lack of ability to support itself financially, equivalent to burning themselves alive, causing this dynasty to perish. Zhantai Mang led troops in the chaos, seizing a great victory and establishing Great Mang Dynasty.

Moon Seizing City’s walls reached thirty-five meters into the air, almost no city climbing military equipment could reach this height, directly allowing the soldiers to charge over the city walls. The outer walls of the city were completely made from several meters of long and wide moon white boulders. The city wall’s thickness was astonishing, it was wide enough for more than thirty people to move together side by side. In order to build this city wall, they dug up an entire mountain ridge from Devil Moon Mountain that was originally next to this city, which is how Moon Seizing City obtained this name.

As early as fifty years ago, after Principal Zhang began to officially enter the view of everyone in this world, all of the country’s military officers were affected by the way he led troops. In war that was originally extremely cruel to begin with, they threw aside all hypocritical and unctuous things, threw away the needless convoluted written war challenges, instead pursuing the killing of enemy troops and seizing victory as their first priority.

That was why when Yunqin’s army of tens of thousands and large amounts of military equipment began to gather, pressing towards Moon Seizing City’s southern gate, Moon Seizing City’s southern wall city guarding giant crossbows, the small scale Stone Catapult Carts and large scale Stone Catapult Carts all began to start rumbling.

A group of ravens that had just begun to flutter about underneath were instantly smashed into bloody past and fluttering feathers by large boulders.

All of the other ravens and vultures immediately released alarmed cries, doing their best to move their wings and raise their bodies.

The giant black swirling clouds above the city immediately rose. Below, house-like giant boulders and cart shaft-like giant steel crossbow arrows carried terrifying wind sounds and air streams as they smashed down from above, crushing towards Yunqin’s military.

Yunqin’s great army’s point of advance was Moon Seizing City’s southern gate.

Moon Seizing City’s southern city walls faced Great Mang’s interior, so the defensive fortifications were a bit inferior to the north facing walls. Right now, Yunqin’s great army already completely surrounded Moon Seizing City. By choosing only one point of advance, they could focus all of their advantageous military force and large scale military equipment on this side. Meanwhile, for Great Mang’s military, no matter how wide the city gates were, the amount of Great Mang forces this wall could hold was still limited.

The giant boulders flung out by the Stone Catapult Carriages inside the city fiercely slammed into the ground. Because of the great inertia, the giant stones would either roll on the ground or slide forward. Whenever it moved, there would be fresh waves of blood released, pouring into the already damp earth.

More than ten arrow platforms that still hadn’t been fully built came crashing down under the rumbling noises of the first wave of military equipment.

The thick and heavy wood came crashing down, causing waves of blood to surge, crushing quite a few Yunqin soldiers who were currently building the arrow platforms. However, the other Yunqin soldiers who were currently building these archer platforms didn’t stop in the slightest, not caring about the roaring giant boulders and heavenly judgement giant crossbow arrows, only focusing on the task before them.

Yunqin’s Stone Catapult Carts began a counterattack.

Under the scalp numbing rotations and rumbling noises of huge equipment operating, giant boulders were flung high into the air in a seemingly slow manner. Then, like small mountains, they smashed down viciously.

Under the bombardment from both sides, Yunqin army Stone Catapults that were like sky raising giants advanced to the outside of Moon Seizing City’s southern gate. These large scale military equipment that were normally rarely seen immediately towered like trees in a forest, actually over there hundred sets of them in total!

The densely packed Yunqin soldiers around these towering arrow towers and giant Stone Catapult Carts were like crammed black ants.

Under the continuous trembling of the ground and the shouting of two hundred thousand Yunqin soldiers, three hundred sets of giant Stone Catapult Carts that represented the national strength of the massive Yunqin Empire continuously sent giant boulders into the air, sending them smashing into Moon Seizing City’s walls and the city interior.

1. B10C21

2. Nanmo Country is the previous name of the area Great Mang Dynasty currently occupies