338: Chapter 338 Sword Formation Like Rain, Slaying Countless Enemies

500 meters.

The three-headed Yao Beast of the enemy vanguard breached the final boundary of the Spirit Array, cracks spreading like spiderwebs beneath its hooves, and dust billowed three zhang high.

Chen Wuwang stood on the city wall command platform, the blue light in his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye constricting as data streams flashed across his vision: "Targets have crossed the boundary, authorization unlocked—executing Level 1 combat readiness protocol."

He did not speak again, merely raising his right hand, spreading his five fingers, and then clenching them into a fist.

"Hum—!"

The city gates opened with a boom.

A figure charged out first, silver armor reflecting the sun, long hair trailing in the wind. Chen Xiaodao tapped his toes against the ground, and his entire body shot up like an arrow released from a bow, straight into the clouds.

"Three hundred Sword Cultivators!" he shouted sharply, "Form up—ascend!"

Before his voice had even faded, a thunderous roar erupted from within the city gates behind him.

"Yes!"

Three hundred figures leaped in unison, laser swords unsheathing simultaneously. Blue light tore through the sky like three hundred bolts of lightning piercing the clouds. They changed direction rapidly in mid-air, instantly forming a triangular assault formation, diving straight toward the junction of the enemy's left flank.

"That ten-zhang gap between the Chuanyun Sect and Leiyin Pavilion!" Chen Xiaodao stood at the heart of the array, his sword tip pointing toward the ground below, "Tear it open for me!"

"Understood!"

"Coordinates locked!"

"Charging complete!"

High above, three hundred laser swords rose in unison, their blades humming incessantly. Spiritual energy resonated through the networked "Galaxy Sword Control Protocol," and the Sword Intent wove into a web, descending like a dark cloud.

In the enemy ranks, the coalition leader suddenly looked up, his pupils contracting sharply beneath his mask.

"That is... a Sword Array? But this speed, this precision—it is not something humanly possible!"

A Leiyin Pavilion Elder beside him turned pale: "Something is wrong! Their swords are charging in sync, as if coordinated by something... This isn't cultivation at all, it's machine operation!"

"Bullshit!" the leader roared, "Hold the formation! Move the shield wall forward, protect the war drummers! Quickly!"

The moment the order was given, the sky suddenly darkened.

"Fall!"

At Chen Xiaodao's command, thousands of Sword Qi poured down from the clouds like a torrential rain, so dense that there was no time even to breathe.

The first wave of Sword Qi rain hit the junction between the Chuanyun Sect and the West Desert Sand Clan with precision, instantly filling the ten-zhang gap with a mist of blood.

Dozens of Cultivators who had not yet finished setting up their defenses fell on the spot, their armor pierced through, their chests charred black; they didn't even have time to finish a single scream.

"Ah—!"

"My leg! My leg is gone!"

"Shields! Raise your shields quickly!"

The shield formation closed in haste, but the Sword Qi specifically targeted the gaps, piercing through the spiritual light barriers from above, the sides, and even from below.

A West Desert Sand Clan cavalryman had just reined in his startled spirit horse when a streak of Sword Qi pierced upward through the horse's belly, pinning both man and beast to the ground.

"Hold the line! Everyone hold the line!" the leader roared. The three-headed Yao Beast threw its head back and roared, attempting to take flight to intercept.

But as soon as it leaped three zhang into the air, the high-altitude Sword Array immediately adjusted its angle, and thirty streaks of Sword Qi swooped down in a fan shape, aiming straight for its heads.

"Roar—!" The Yao Beast shrieked in pain and rolled upon landing, all three heads slashed with bloody wounds, its green flame-like pupils filled with terror.

"Don't let it fly again!" Chen Xiaodao sneered, lifting his laser sword slightly, "Rotating Slash, second wave—press the attack!"

"Yes!"

The fifty Sword Cultivators in the front row retracted their swords and retreated, their spiritual energy chains automatically connecting to the high-altitude energy storage rings to begin recharging; the fifty in the back row immediately moved into position, their sword tips pointing downward in unison, Sword Qi condensing once more.

"Prepare for the third wave—target moving units, prioritize killing the drummers!"

"Received! Thirty-seven paces to the rear right of Leiyin Pavilion, a three-man team is setting up war drums, energy fluctuations rising!"

"Fire."

As the word fell, seven specialized armor-piercing Sword Qi streaks broke away from the main array, diving in an arc and striking the war drum formation with precision.

The drum surfaces exploded, the Talismans disintegrated, and the three Cultivators, along with their Magical Artifacts, were blasted into fragments, flesh and blood flying everywhere.

"My god..." a Chuanyun Sect Sword Cultivator slumped to the ground, "Is this really a Sword Cultivator? These are flying Talisman artillery turrets!"

"Shut up!" the leader roared, grabbing his adjutant, "Pass the order down, stack the shield walls! Three layers, hold this wave for me! Everyone get down, and when they pause to catch their breath—charge!"

The order was passed down, and hundreds of Cultivators forcibly gathered, stacking spiritual shields layer upon layer in an attempt to construct a temporary barrier.

But Chen Xiaodao had already calculated the rhythm.

"Third wave over, interval for the fourth wave—0.8 seconds." He whispered to himself, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, "That's enough."

"Attention everyone, compress the interval, activate combo mode! Give them no chance to catch their breath!"

"Yes!"

The Sword Array rotated half a circle, and the Sword Cultivators in the front row, whose energy was not fully charged, forcibly released low-power Sword Qi, forming a continuous suppression.

The rain-like Sword Qi kept crashing down, the shield wall trembling violently under the high-frequency impacts, the spiritual light flickering unsteadily.

"Can't hold it!"

"The spiritual shield is about to crack!"

"I don't want to die—!"

Finally, with a crisp "crack," the outermost shield formation disintegrated, and the Sword Qi drove straight in.

The crowd fell into instant chaos; some turned and fled, some knelt and begged for mercy, and more were trampled underfoot by their own panicking companions.

"Trash! All of you are trash!" The leader's eyes were bloodshot, and he crushed the head of a fleeing soldier beside him with a single palm, "All of you, charge forward! Whoever dares to take a step back, I will kill them with my own hands!"

He raised his halberd, pointing toward the sky: "Chen Xiaodao! If you have the guts, come down and fight me! Hiding in some cloud like a coward—what kind of Sword Cultivator are you!"

Chen Xiaodao hovered at the heart of the array, looking down with cold eyes.

"You're right," he said indifferently, "I am not a Sword Cultivator."

He flipped his wrist, brought up his tactical panel, and tapped it with his fingertip.

"But I am—a Commander."

The next second, he whispered the order: "Target the leader, low-power piercing shot, target—the face. Leave him alive."

"Lock confirmed."

"Charging 15%, launch angle calibrated."

"Fire."

A streak of Sword Qi as thin as a hair slid out from the clouds, silent and soundless, so fast that even the wind could not react in time.

"Ssh—!"

The bronze mask cracked open in response, a fissure running straight from the center of his forehead to his jaw.

The leader stumbled back two steps, the mask falling off to reveal a face covered in scars, his pupils trembling violently.

That sword strike had grazed his nose; a hair's breadth closer and it would have cost him his life.

"You..." his voice trembled, carrying fear for the first time, "You didn't want to kill me at all?"

"Of course," Chen Xiaodao sneered, "I want you alive to see clearly—how we take your 'rules' and hack them into ash, one sword strike at a time."

He raised his hand, his sword tip pointing toward the battlefield once more.

"Fifth wave, area-of-effect clearance. Do not stop until they can't even crawl."

"Yes!"

The Sword Array churned again, dark clouds pressing down, Sword Qi like rain.

On the ground, wails rose everywhere, and a mist of blood filled the air.

The Chuanyun Sect's Sword Cultivator formation completely disintegrated, the Leiyin Pavilion's war drums were all destroyed, and the West Desert Sand Clan's cavalry horses panicked and lost control, colliding and trampling one another.

The tight formation that the seven-faction coalition had been so proud of was now, like a field upturned by a giant plow, torn to pieces.

On the city wall, Chen Wuwang stood quietly, his cloak fluttering in the wind, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye constantly refreshing battlefield data.

"Left flank disintegrated, war drums disabled, cavalry out of control," he whispered to himself, "Psychological defense line broken, organizational integrity dropped to 41%."

He did not smile, nor did he order a pursuit.

He knew that this was only just the beginning.

The Sword Array remained in the sky, Chen Xiaodao still hovered at the heart of the array, and the three hundred swords had yet to be sheathed.

On the ground, the enemies were still struggling, but no one dared to look up at the sky anymore.