Chapter 3: Rescue (Part 2)

Guo Shieru carefully observed and found that the fiercest fighting was taking place in the central area. Due to the Rock Dragon’s attacks, the central zone was in complete chaos, while the sides were merely exchanging attacks, stuck in a stalemate with neither side gaining a significant advantage. Behind both sides, large reserve forces kept reinforcing the battlefield. The central area had become a meat grinder, with countless casualties.

Guo Shieru nodded and said, “I’ll go to the right.”
Elder Nan Qiang replied, “Good. Then the left is on me…” With a loud roar, he unleashed his altar and charged toward the left. Only then did Guo Shieru see that Elder Nan Qiang’s altar indeed had five layers, as Old Shuai had guessed.

Old Shuai said, “This guy must be quite strong.” It was rare for him to give praise—when he said someone was good, they truly were good.

Guo Shieru looked up at the sky. It had already darkened, but thanks to the countless glowing runes, the battle between the two sides could still be seen clearly.

Old Shuai said gravely, “Kid, just fly close to the ground—about ten meters above it. Don’t worry about anything else.” As he spoke, the runes flashed, and the altar’s defenses activated. He shouted, “Let’s go!”

Guo Shieru turned around and said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, you’re on my left, Nan You, you’re on the right. Form a triangular formation. Stay organized and watch out for ambushes!”

When Guo Shieru’s massive altar appeared on the flanks, the professionals of the Gu Nan family let out wild cheers. In this era, those skilled in altars truly stood at the pinnacle of professionalism—at least here and in their hometown. As for other places, he hadn’t been there and didn’t know the situation.

The altar resembled a floating warship, and the most terrifying part were the countless tentacles extending from its sides and bottom, like a giant broom. Wherever the altar passed, all professionals were flung aside. Though they wouldn’t die, they would soon be slaughtered by the Gu Nan family’s army, suffering heavy losses.

The altar swept back and forth, causing chaos wherever it went. Guo Shieru hadn’t even used his sacred treasure yet; just by using the tentacles on his altar, he had achieved such great results. If he used his sacred treasure, even without Old Shuai’s help, just the Moon Blade alone could kill thousands. But he didn’t do this because he didn’t want to be a butcher. He wasn’t here to slaughter—he was here to take advantage of the chaos.

The defense on the right was thrown into disarray by Guo Shieru, and the professionals of the Gu Jin family immediately retreated in panic.

Old Shuai exclaimed excitedly, “Head toward the central area!”

Guo Shieru flew all the way, with countless tentacles seizing the opportunity to collect the scattered souls. The handsome old man was beaming with joy—this time’s harvest was far greater than the last. When An Qiang’s ancestor and Guo Shieru joined the attacking force, the entire Gu Jin family’s army collapsed. Without their own ancestor to hold them back, those at the ancestor level became a disaster once they joined the battle. In the chaotic crowd, only professionals above the rank of Great Sage had any chance of protecting themselves; others could only drift along, relying entirely on luck. With omnipresent virtual talismans, countless talisman arrows and spears, and various attribute attacks, a single moment of carelessness could mean death. Sitting atop the altar, Guo Shieru’s face was pale as steel. He stopped using his tentacles to attack the professionals below, as the scene was far too bloody. Suddenly, he saw a squad trapped in a siege, everyone fighting desperately. He recognized the members of that squad. He immediately used the altar to teleport there, and in an instant, Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles pulled the seven people onto the altar. He asked, “Nan Feng, what are you doing here?” Nan Feng was almost collapsed on the ground. Though he was a high-ranking Great Sage, he had been exhausted from protecting his six teammates. After catching his breath, he said, “Ancestor, we rushed too fast…” Guo Shieru was surprised, “Damn it, Nan Bao? A kid like you actually dared to join?” Nan Bao was only twelve years old, a high-ranking Talisman Martial Master, holding a talisman sword almost as tall as himself. He was the only one among the seven who wasn’t injured. Nan Bao smiled shyly and said, “My father said… to absorb the inheritance as soon as possible.” The handsome old man took control of the altar. He needed more souls, so he wanted the altar to fly toward areas with many dead. Guo Shieru never met his demands. Dissatisfied, the old man seized the chance while Guo Shieru was talking to the squad and took control of the altar. Guo Shieru didn’t mind; he knew what the old man wanted. Nan Xiaotong hugged Nan Bao affectionately and said, “Xiao Bao is our lucky star.” She was a low-ranking Great Sage with considerable strength in the team. Guo Shieru understood that the mission of this squad must have been to protect Nan Bao at all costs—otherwise, they wouldn’t all be injured while the kid remained unharmed. It wasn’t just luck. Nan Feng supported Nan Zhao, gave him a talisman pill, and then bandaged his wounds. He said, “I almost couldn’t hold on. It was too chaotic; there was no time to defend at all.”

Nan Zhao had one arm broken and a deep wound on his face; his injuries were the most severe. The others also had some injuries, but after using the potion, they were mostly fine. With the protection of the altar, their small team was relatively safe.

Guo Shier repeatedly dragged severely injured professionals onto the altar. As the altar drifted, more and more professionals from the Gu Nan family gathered there, and Luo Zhan also began to help with the treatment. These people were all seriously injured, and without Guo Shier’s help, they would surely die.

As the number of people increased, even the enlarged altar became insufficient. Guo Shier said, “Let’s go back for now.”

There were also many severely injured people on the altars of Ying Mo and Nan You. Since Guo Shier’s altar couldn’t hold them all, Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles were used to throw them there, and now those altars were also packed with injured people. In total, there were about eight hundred injured people on the three altars, and the members of Nan Feng’s team almost became paramedics.

The three altars rushed back to the camp at lightning speed. Once they found an open area, Guo Shier shouted, “Someone here!”

Immediately, many support soldiers rushed over, all of them low-level disciples. Guo Shier used Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles to place the injured on the ground and said, “Organize people to treat them.”

Nan Feng said, “Ancestor, let me take care of this place.”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “Okay, you organize the people. I still need to go back to the battlefield.”

Although the old man was impatient, he didn’t lose his temper or curse. Only after Guo Shier left the injured in the camp did he control the altar and fly back to the battlefield. By then, the army of the Gu Jin family had completely collapsed, and it was completely dark. This was the perfect time to collect souls.

Sitting on the altar, Guo Shier said, “Uncle Luo, I hope the war doesn’t reach our hometown. Sometimes I think it would be better to keep the continent where the North Seal Sect is located closed off. If giants like the Gu family discover it, the North Seal Sect has no chance of resisting.”

Luo Zhan thought for a moment and said, “No, actually… If the Gu family takes an interest in us, I’d rather join them. I’m afraid if the sects from the intermediate continents notice us, that would be disastrous.”

Guo Shier said, “Hmm, that makes sense too. The Gu family has a complete set of methods to exploit and develop lower-level continents. They can conquer without resorting to bloody battles, unlike the sects from the intermediate continents…” He remembered from his past life that if a remote area was developed by the state, the local residents could still benefit a bit. But if it were developed by towns, the difference would be huge.

The main force had already chased after the retreating soldiers, and the battlefield fell silent, with only faint glows of talismans shining in the distance and occasional explosions heard. Guo Shier’s altar followed slowly behind, as the old commander controlled its spirit-catching tentacles to swiftly collect souls amidst the countless corpses along the way.

Behind the altar were numerous lower-ranked disciples, tasked with gathering corpses and searching for those seriously injured. Illuminated by talismanic lamps, one end of the camp was brightly lit.

Guo Shier’s altar moved very slowly, as it was controlled by the greedy old commander, who collected the scattered souls bit by bit. The altar drifted back and forth, with countless tentacles fluttering in the air. Although Eagle Demon and Nan You had doubts, they did nothing but follow Guo Shier’s altar.

Gradually, they could see the large force pursuing ahead as well as countless captives.

The professionals guarding the captives began ordering them to carry corpses, collect storage bags and talismanic items from them, dig large pits to bury the corpses of the Gujin family’s dead professionals. The corpses of the Gunan family’s professionals were set aside, waiting to be taken back.

The Gunan family’s army had pursued for over a hundred kilometers in one night. The Gujin family’s army kept retreating until they finally stabilized their positions about a hundred kilometers away and established a makeshift defense line.

In this battle, the Gujin family lost three experts wielding Void Form altars and two experts using first-tier altars were seriously injured. Their army suffered 270,000 casualties, including 90,000 deaths, with corpses scattered everywhere, and about 100,000 captured.

The Gunan family also suffered heavy losses. In addition to losing one expert with a Void Form altar, one expert using a second-tier altar was seriously injured. Their army suffered 150,000 casualties, including 60,000 deaths.

Guo Shier had already retracted his altar. He stood in the temporary camp, where both Ancestor Nan Qiang and Ancestor Nan Qin were present. When the statistics were brought in, Guo Shier was shocked—combined, the death toll on both sides reached 150,000. No wonder there were corpses everywhere; war was truly cruel.

Ancestor Nan Qiang said, “In a while, the reinforcements will arrive to replace our heavily damaged vanguard, and we can launch another attack.”

Guo Shier noticed that the army here had exceptional endurance in continuous combat. Before the battlefield here was even cleared, more troops kept arriving at the front line.

Rows of tents were set up in the temporary camp for senior commanders to rest. Even altar experts like Guo Shier were assigned a tent each. Guo Shier wasn’t tired, but he wanted to check the results of the night’s battle.

Guo Shier called out, then turned and went back to his tent, while Luo Zhan and Eagle Demon stayed at the entrance to watch. Nan You left, and his family also sent a team over, so he had to go arrange things. Once inside the tent, Guo Shier immediately set up the altar and asked, “Elder Shuai, how’s it going?” Elder Shuai sneaked his head out, smiling broadly. “Kid, you’ve made a fortune… Hehe, this time we’ve got a lot—tons of soul fragments that we can use to create many… many soul beads.” Guo Shier asked, “About how many?” Elder Shuai replied with a grin, “Guess!” Guo Shier was confused. He tapped his forehead and said, “Why bother guessing? Just tell me, how many?” Elder Shuai said, “You’re really boring!”