Chapter 499: Fierce Battle

Never mind all that. Since the Demon Race Priestess had appeared, it meant the duel between the two commanders had begun.

"Take another one of my attacks!" Lei Zhenhai drew lightning from the lightning-struck wood and struck across the Boundless Mountain.

The Demon Race Priestess subconsciously touched her neck, only then remembering that her necklace had been snatched by that scoundrel. Yet, she wasn't flustered. With a thought, a massive corpse puppet beside her soared into the air, actively lunging towards the lightning.

As the lightning flashed explosively, the corpse puppet shattered into countless pieces, scattering on the ground and burning.

"Hmph! Is that all you've got?" She stomped her foot. The corpse puppet beneath her feet, along with the army, charged towards the peak of Boundless Mountain.

The slope, entirely of frozen earth and rocks, could no longer impede it; carrying the Demon Race Priestess, it easily ascended to the mid-slope.

Meanwhile, the vanguard of the corpse army had already reached the edge of the mountain peak.

Lei Zhenhai deeply cried, "Hold Boundless Mountain!" He then drew a large amount of lightning power and struck towards the Demon Race Priestess.

With a thought, the Demon Race Priestess had several corpse puppets actively block the lightning power. At the same time, she flicked her sleeve, and a mass of black death energy surged into the sky, growing with the wind, transforming into a giant skull ten zhang in size.

It let out a spine-chilling howl and suddenly lunged towards Lei Zhenhai.

Lei Zhenhai's expression changed. He drew several streams of lightning power and simultaneously struck towards the skull.

*Sound of impacts* The death energy within the skull was extremely dense; even such powerful lightning energy could not pierce it.

Bang— The skull, mouth agape, dove down fiercely to bite Lei Zhenhai. This was bad!

Lei Zhenhai quickly dodged away. The ground was immediately shattered into pieces by the skull's impact, and the ten lightning-struck pieces of wood he had arrayed on the ground were all blown away.

His expression changed. The techniques of the True Thunder Sect required borrowing the power of heaven and earth's lightning to unleash their full might. Lightning-struck wood was commonly used by True Thunder Sect disciples to store lightning, and what lay before him were all the pieces he had brought.

At the same time, the corpse army charged forward. The elders and disciples of the four major sects stationed at Boundless Mountain inevitably engaged the corpse puppets in direct combat.

The first to be impacted was the Grand Supreme Sect. Lu Xiunian and two other elders stood at the very front, while disciples like Xia Chaoge, Hua Xiangchen, and Li Shiqian stood behind, delivering finishing blows through the gaps left by the elders.

A Golden Core fifth-layer snake demon, leading the charge, bypassed numerous corpse puppets and was the first to attack.

Its house-sized head slammed fiercely towards Lu Xiunian in the center.

"Hmph!" Spiritual power surged from Lu Xiunian's palms. Combined with his Earth-grade technique, he unleashed a violent surge of air, a nearly materialized palm strike.

Bang— The rotting head of the corpse giant python was instantly smashed to pieces. The residual palm force also knocked down the accompanying corpse puppets on both sides, leaving them lying in a crescent shape.

This strike fully displayed the mighty strength of a Golden Core seventh-layer cultivator!

The elders on both sides and the disciples behind them were all invigorated.

Suddenly, the air exploded with a violent roar! The headless giant python, its skeletal body tens of zhang long, suddenly lashed out!

Lu Xiunian and the two elders were caught off guard. They were sent stumbling backward by a tail whip, knocking down several Grand Supreme Sect disciples.

"Vile beast!" Lu Xiunian cried out in shock and anger, "Smash it to pieces! Let's see if it still moves then!"

One elder followed closely, but the other stood motionless.

Drops of blood gushed from his brow, flowed past his eyes, down his nose, and finally wound its way to his chin, gathering into a crimson stream.

Splashing between his feet.

Lu Xiunian turned his head and his aged eyes constricted sharply.

In the other elder's brow, there was a bloody hole as thick as a rolling pin, going straight through from his brow to the back of his head.

Through the bloody hole, Lu Xiunian saw the terrified and shocked faces of the disciples. The snake tail's previous strike had accidentally pierced his head with a sharp bone spur.

"Lin Zhen!" Lu Xiunian's face changed drastically.

Under his disbelieving gaze, Lin Zhen slowly fell onto the cold snowy ground, his eyes remaining open, reflecting the dark night sky, devoid of starlight or moonlight.

He ultimately did not live to see the dawn, falling before daybreak.

"No!!!" Lu Xiunian roared in grief and indignation.

His junior brother, with whom he had spent many years, had unexpectedly fallen, just like that!

He was angry, sad, but more than that, he was filled with self-reproach.

If he hadn't been so careless, Elder Lin wouldn't have died!

Whoosh— The snake tail struck again. Lu Xiunian, overwhelmed by grief and indignation, roared, "Die!!"

Terrifying spiritual power and domineering palm force instantly pulverized the giant snake tail that was attacking again into countless bone fragments.

Inside the snake's belly, the faintly shimmering mass of death energy controlled a remaining bone spur, which twitched, attempting to stab again!

Crack! A large foot stomped down on it, crushing both the bone and the death energy!

Lu Xiunian charged down the slope, his eyes red. Staring at the approaching beast horde, he actively charged into it: "Damn you! You all deserve to die!!!"

Disciples like Xia Chaoge, Hua Xiangchen, and Li Shiqian also had red-rimmed eyes.

Elder Lin Zhen was usually the gentlest towards disciples, even caring for those from other peaks. Yet, he had died so suddenly.

Hua Xiangchen's eyes reddened, and he roared as he charged forward, taking Lin Zhen's place, angrily slashing at a wolf demon that was trying to sneak attack Lu Xiunian's flank.

Xia Chaoge and Li Shiqian then successively filled Lu Xiunian's position, angrily attacking the charging demon beasts.

This scene was not an isolated incident.

The members of the four sects, who had never directly faced corpse puppets before, were instantly met with a massive impact.

These corpse puppets, even with shattered heads or bodies torn apart, remarkably retained their combat capability. Lacking experience, their defensive line was immediately broken.

The most severely affected was the Giant Sect. Engaged in close-quarters combat, they were already at a disadvantage. Unwary, they were caught off guard when a leopard demon, missing half its body, charged into the group of disciples behind them.

Its body's sharp bone spurs were like scythes, wounding eight disciples, and two were even struck in vital spots, dying instantly!

"Vile beast!" By the time the elders arrived and pulverized the leopard demon, the disciples had already suffered heavy casualties, with more than half instantly losing their combat capability.

The Myriad Sword Sect was no better off. Previously, the suppression by masculine vital energies like fire and lightning had given them a false impression that the corpse puppets were easy to deal with.

However, only in direct combat could their troublesome nature be truly felt. They feared neither pain nor death, and even with their bodies torn apart, they remained undead.

In a single encounter, the Myriad Sword Sect's defensive line was repeatedly pushed back by several massive corpse puppets. Three disciples were injured by splattered bone fragments, and one even had a finger severed.

Liang Feiyan angrily unleashed sharp sword qi, chopping the corpses into pieces, but these bone fragments continued to attack relentlessly.

Even more troublesome was that before the corpse puppets in front were dealt with, more corpse puppets from behind surged forward!

The only ones doing slightly better were the True Thunder Sect. The elders and disciples unleashed bolts of lightning, directly causing the corpse puppets to collapse on the spot, unable to move.

However, the defensive lines of the three sects beside them were successively pushed back. Corpse puppets appeared on both their flanks and launched attacks against them.

Under attack from three sides, the True Thunder Sect could no longer hold out. One elder, desperate to save a disciple, had his heart ripped out by a bone claw!

Lu Xiunian, whose eyes were bloodshot from killing, was forced to retreat back to the mountain peak, fighting and falling back as the beast horde approached.

The situation was collapsing. They were on the verge of annihilation!

"Sect Master Lei! Think of something quickly!" "The defensive line... is about to break!"

Lei Zhenhai was somewhat bewildered. He never imagined that the corpse army, which they had previously easily decimated by more than half, could have such an effect.

With just a single engagement, it had completely shattered the human defensive line!

If this continued, defeat was inevitable! And with the army pressing in, they wouldn't even have a chance to escape!

Just as he was at a loss, a loud voice suddenly echoed across the battlefield.

"Attack their death energy!" "That's their only weakness!"