Chapter 156: Raising the Monument

Flames splashed in all directions as eighteen metal warships exploded simultaneously. Each vessel blew out from the bottom of its hull, the immense explosive force tearing through their keels and destroying the vital grand arrays that converted the natural essence of heaven and earth. A chain reaction reduced the three-li-long warships into countless fragments.

Amidst the roaring flames, innumerable broken limbs were hurled out along with scattering debris.

The bodies of the Jialue warriors were exceptionally tough. The ones thrown clear tended to remain relatively intact, having suffered little more than severed arms and legs, with very few being blown directly to pieces.

The servant-soldiers were far less powerful than the Jialue warriors. Even though they possessed the same level of Great Wizard cultivation, their physical strength was two tiers weaker. Thus, when those dark-skinned servant-soldiers were blasted outward, their bodies shattered into dozens of pieces.

There were even more humanoid creatures with pale green skin covered in colorful spots, who belonged purely to the lowest class of slaves. They were blasted into nothingness silently amidst the flames, turning into wisps of green smoke that drifted away.

The merchant caravan's fortress housed numerous experts. All those whose physical strength had reached the Great Wizard level possessed extremely sharp eyesight. The moment the explosion occurred, they could clearly see through the slowly expanding and fracturing ship decks how those Jialue warriors, servant-soldiers, and lower-tier slaves were blown apart within the cabins.

Flames, debris, and shrill shrieks—this triumphant, haughty Jialue fleet was annihilated in a single instant.

Only a tiny handful of a dozen Jialue commanders, clad in heavy armor whose quality was clearly a cut above the rest, had their lives saved by their defensive gear. Though their armor was breached and they suffered horrific wounds, they managed to preserve their lives, struggling as they fled into the distant void.

"You cannot escape... Kill them all!" Si Wenming commanded with his hands behind his back, his voice booming with supreme majesty.

Clanging sounds filled the air as the guards of the Turtle Spirit Caravan, led by ten Wizard King-rank captains, ruthlessly fell upon the dumbfounded Jialue warriors and servant-soldiers stranded inside the city without a word.

The city's defensive wizard array activated, and the powerful binding force slowed the movements of the Jialue warriors who had entered the city, reducing the display of their full strength to less than thirty percent. Facing the all-out purge by the Turtle Spirit Caravan, the longest any of these Jialue warriors could hold out was a mere seven or eight breaths before having their heads hacked off by two of the caravan's Wizard Kings acting in unison.

Ji Hao's eyelids twitched violently.

The warriors of the Kangyue Legion were formidable indeed; the fact that he had managed to slay four enemies earlier was truly a stroke of sheer good luck.

The very last Jialue warrior to be executed was equivalent only to a high-tier Great Wizard of the Southern Wasteland in terms of rank. Yet, facing the joint attack of two Wizard Kings, he stubbornly blocked dozens of moves before finally being exhausted and killed!

Every defensive move and every counterattack he made was entirely natural and near-perfect. Especially when he was finally slain, his dying counterattack severely wounded one of the Wizard Kings, almost cutting him in half at the waist!

Such terrifying strength caused Ji Hao to silently raise his estimation of the threat posed by the Jialue warriors by a wide margin.

With the Jialue warriors inside the city completely wiped out, the survivors among the metal warships outside the city tried their utmost to flee, yet they still could not escape the giant turtle's pursuit. Treading the void, the giant turtle covered hundreds of li with a single step, its speed vastly outstripping that of the heavily injured Jialue warriors.

Catching up to the Jialue warriors, the giant turtle drew in a deep breath. The surrounding void plunged into chaos as starlight of seven colors transformed into a massive vortex enveloping a radius of a hundred li. Within the hazy starlight vortex, a dozen Jialue warriors roared in despair, pouring their remaining strength into a final strike against the giant turtle before their bodies were simultaneously ground into pieces.

The dozen desperate attacks landing on the giant turtle merely kicked up a flurry of sparks across its hide, adding a few scars to its heavy shell without managing to pierce its skin in the slightest.

As the void returned to tranquility, Old Man Gui and the other senior leaders of the caravan approached Si Wenming with distressed expressions. Cross-folding their hands over their chests, they bowed deeply to Si Wenming. Without uttering a word, they gazed pitifully at the tips of Si Wenming's boots.

"The ships were blown up by me, and the people were killed by me. What does that have to do with the Turtle Spirit Caravan?" Si Wenming smiled gently, completely devoid of the towering killing intent and boundless majesty that had erupted just moments earlier when the eighteen metal warships were destroyed.

"Remember, you passed by here three days ago, and you know nothing of what happened here. Everything that transpired was done by me alone."

As he spoke, Si Wenming reached out and beckoned toward the empty void.

To his astonishment, Ji Hao saw a fist-sized, earthy-yellow star radiating an exceptional heaviness suddenly emit a faint yellow beam from the distant starlight, crossing boundless space to shine directly upon Si Wenming's palm.

"This is my destiny wizard star, the 'Thick Earth' star," Si Wenming said with a smile as he looked at Ji Hao. "The Lesser Wizard realm tempers the meridians of inherited power; the Great Wizard realm opens up all the wizard apertures across the body; and as for the Wizard King realm, it is about finding one's destiny wizard star, harvesting a wisp of starlight power to integrate into oneself, thereby enabling one to cultivate and do battle using the power of the destiny wizard star from then on."

"Wizard humans, Lesser Wizards, and Great Wizards all rely on the physical strength and wizard power accumulated within their own bodies when fighting. Only upon reaching the Wizard King realm and locating their destiny wizard star can they draw upon its power for combat. With the aid of this external force, a newly-advanced Wizard King who draws starlight into their body can easily contend with hundreds of Great Wizards once they unleash their stellar power."

Si Wenming spoke slowly as the thick, heavy starlight of the Thick Earth star condensed in his palm. Like light and mist, the stellar power rapidly formed a solid entity within his hand, and amidst a rushing sound, a heavy stone tablet standing three zhang and six chi tall was condensed out of thin air.

Though not massive in volume, the stone tablet possessed astounding weight. Just by approaching it, Ji Hao found himself suppressed by the invisible gravity radiating from it to the point of breathlessness. The tablet was so overwhelmingly heavy that it caused a prominent gravitational vortex to form in the surrounding space.

Ji Hao's eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Could a single stone tablet like this easily suppress an entire expanse of Great Wizards? This tablet, condensed purely out of thin air, could be directly utilized as a magical treasure. Was this the true power of a Wizard King?

The two Wizard Kings from the caravan earlier had merely refrained from unleashing their stellar power; otherwise, that Jialue warrior could never have held out for so long.

Si Wenming tossed the stone tablet into the void, where an invisible force field caught it, causing it to hover amidst the countless ship fragments.

With a flick of his finger, Si Wenming inscribed several bold and vigorous characters onto the stone tablet:

The one who kills is Si Wenming! If you are unconvinced, come to Puban to find me!

An awe-inspiring majesty surged directly into the void, and the stone tablet abruptly exuded an overwhelmingly powerful aura of life.

Old Man Gui and the others bowed repeatedly in gratitude to Si Wenming, after which the giant turtle mustered every ounce of its strength, fleeing with all its might into the depths of the void.

Half a day later, a fleet composed of hundreds of metal warships roared over, tightly surrounding the stone tablet. A Jialue warrior, beside himself with rage, smashed a fist against the tablet. The stone tablet suddenly exploded, and nearly a hundred metal warships were completely obliterated in the blast.