"Fire!"
Commanding the military soldiers near him, Liang Jin He has them fire off their mortars.
Unlike the weapon spirits of the various Guilds and the villagers, Liang Jin He and his troops stayed back on the village's shorelines to provide ranged support.
*Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!* as earsplitting blasts—both from divine arts and explosives, go off on the opposite shoreline, Jue Yun raises a frown.
Turning to Liang Jin He, Jue Yun remarks—
"General Liang, something seems off…"
"Indeed. None of those Immortals are charging at us. The ones here, they seem much more passive than the ones we've dealt with on the frontlines."
As some of the weapon spirits—who are incapable of Partial-Apotheosis are cut down, Liang Jin He's eyes flashed with a hint of glee, but he is quick to suppress his personal emotions.
The reason Liang Jin He possesses hatred towards Sinners—despite being one himself, is because a rogue Sinner had killed one of his sons. Such an experience had caused him to question who his enemies truly were.
Was it the Immortals, or was it his peers?
Till this day, Liang Jin He doesn't have an answer to this question; however, since his other son is still alive, he figured that he may as well make the Immortals his priority for the time being.
Still, a person cannot possibly turn their emotions off at the flip of a switch; hence, the tactics deployed by Liang Jin He, they tend to center around the idea of throwing bodies at the Immortals to eventually wring the enemies dry.
...…
*Klang!!! Klang!!! Klang!!!* fighting back with desperation, Qing Ming Yang is somewhat at a loss—as to why there are two weapon spirits targeting him with such ferocity.
(Dammit, the black one has gravity manipulation, and this other one… Is that cold Qi? Tch!)
*Klang!!!!!* knocking Ye Chen and Li Xue back, Qing Ming Yang shrouds his sword in flames, and stabs it into the ground.
And in a rapid manner—
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* blazing pillars erupt from the earth—splitting Ye Chen and Li Xue apart!
"…"
Turning to Ye Chen, Qing Ming Yang presses his left-hand outwards—throwing a handprint of concentrated fire elemental energy towards the former!
Redirecting his attention towards Li Xue in the next instance, Qing Ming Yang throws his jade sword in her direction, and as the weapon closes in on her, its form changes into a greatsword—that is two meters in length.
"Uh!"
*Klang!!!* caught by surprise, and having confirmed this sword to be her father's Relic, Li Xue—who is astonished by this turn of events, widens her eyes, and is thrown back by the weight of the weapon!
"Die!"
"…!"
Leaping into the air, Qing Ming Yang presses his right hand downwards—sending out a handprint of spirit Qi to crush Li Xue!
"Get a hold of yourself!"
Having dealt with the fiery handprint, Ye Chen rushes over to Li Xue's side, and splits the incoming attack apart!
"Tch."
Clicking his tongue, Qing Ming Yang has his weapon reappear in his grip, and taking hold of it with both hands, he cleaves it towards Ye Chen.
*Klang!!!* receiving the strike with his Relic, the ground gives way beneath Ye Chen's feet.
"Sorry about that."
Getting off her knee, Li Xue approaches Qing Ming Yang from the side with her spear pushed forth; however—
"Qing-xiong, be careful!"
*Klang!* Su Xuan rushes in, and deflects Li Xue's spear with a sword!
"…"
Glancing at Su Xuan, Qing Ming Yang grabs the former by the back of their collar, and says—
"We're withdrawing."
Using Ye Chen's Relic as a piece of footing, Qing Ming Yang leaps backwards, while dragging Su Xuan along.
"…"
Looking at the number of weapon spirits that are still on the bridge, or are already in the waters, Qing Ming Yang feels like it's still a bit too early; however, with how outnumbered they currently are—
"Destroy the bridge! Ice elemental divine art users prepare yourselves! The rest of you—push as many weapon spirits into the river as possible!"
Turning to Su Xuan, Qing Ming Yang continues to say—
"Su Xuan, Lin-xiong will probably be preoccupied by the big guy for a while. We'll head over to that statue in his place. Replenish yourself with spirit stones in the meantime."
"Understood."
...…
As soon as Qing Ming Yang had given the order—
*Klang!!!!!* Lin Yu Heng raises a roar, and pushes back Zhu Xu's battle axe with a swing of his spear!
Kicking himself off the ground, Lin Yu Heng ascends into the air, and shouts—
"Bridge demolition group—with me!"
Heeding to Lin Yu Heng's calling, numerous practitioners ascended into the air—gathering themselves around him.
"Careful, they're planning something!"
"Uh?"
Raising his spear—in reverse grip, over his head, and directing it downwards at an angle, while aiming it at the bridge, Lin Yu Heng closes his eyes.
Upon returning to the Ling Yuan family's estate, his father had given him a new divine art to cultivate, and the name of it is—
"Earth Dragon's Charge!"
Snapping his eyes open, Lin Yu Heng hurls the spear downwards!
Amidst the spear's angled descent, the head of a dragon—with a massive horn protruding from the tip of its nose, manifests around it; and with an earsplitting roar—
*Boom!!!!!* the upper level of the watermill tower is erased, along with a portion of the bridge, as pieces of it are thrown into the air!
"Look out!"
"Scatter!"
However, things didn't end there, as the dragon head continues to charge towards the military troops!
And in the same instance—
"Flood them!"
"Show no mercy!"
*Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!* the Ling Yuan family's practitioners—who are gathered near Lin Yu Heng, bombarded the bridge from above using their divine arts!
And as weapon spirits filled the river—
"Freeze them!"
"On it!"
The ice elemental divine art users charged forth, and began to freeze the river through their individual means.
"Ahhh!"
"Shit, shit!"
"M-My foot is caught in the ice!"
Unable to get out of the river on time, numerous weapon spirits were frozen inside of it, or had a portion of their bodies sticking out from its surface.
"Dammit!"
Noticing how quickly the river was being frozen, Zhu Xu, who is preoccupied by more than 20 practitioners cursed aloud, and just as he thought to withdraw—
"Ropes!"
Amidst the act of replenishing his spirit Qi with spirit stones, Lin Yu Heng shouts this.
And immediately, the Ling Yuan family's practitioners took out the specialized ropes, and tossed them outwards.
Rather quickly, these ropes automatically lock themselves onto the nearest weapon spirits, who are still capable of movement.
And similarly to a swarm of snakes, the vast majority of the ropes wrapped themselves around Zhu Xu's limbs and neck!
"Pull! The rest of you—use your talismans!"
Retrieving his spear, and taking out a handful of talismans from his storage pouch, Lin Yu Heng knows that he'll have to leave the task of destroying that statue to Qing Ming Yang and the others.
"Accursed Immortals!"
With his lower body trapped in a block of ice, Zhu Xu grinds his teeth together, as he struggled against the practitioners, who were attempting to pin the rest of his body onto the frozen river's surface.
Deciding to release his Weapon Spirit True Body state, Zhu Xu's stature shrinks within an instant—allowing him to escape from his bindings.
However—
"Uh!"
Almost as soon as he had escaped from his bindings, talismans flew forth from various directions, and as several of them stuck themselves onto his body, Zhu Xu felt as if an entire mountain had just been dropped onto his shoulders, causing him to trip and fall.
"…!"
Struggling to lift even a finger, Zhu Xu grits his teeth, as he attempts to peel himself off the ice.