Up, down, left, right, all around them was churning sand. Countless black silhouettes could be seen on the sand, rapidly growing larger and larger as they approached, causing the ground to rumble and rumble.
Xu Xian soon saw the first Hu horseman. He was riding a sturdy steed and his hair was disheveled. He was dressed like an ordinary Hu, but there was a strange blankness in his black eyes.
Pan Yu wanted to turn around to calm the soldiers, but she saw that the soldiers' eyes were similarly blank. Without waiting for Pan Yu's order, someone shouted, "Kill!" Instantly, the sound of killing filled the air. The army swept past them like a gust of wind, recklessly charging at the enemy.
The two opposing waves crashed into each other, giving off a heaven-shaking roar and sending up a scarlet spray.
The two armies had completely abandoned their usual battle tactics. They were like two berserk beasts fighting each other, only caring about plunging their sharp fangs into each other's bodies.
Pan Yu quickly noticed that the Hu army did not seem to have truly gone berserk. It was as if they were being commanded by someone, constantly changing their formation.
Like two wild beasts tearing at each other, one was always able to cleverly avoid the other's vitals and deliver a greater blow to the other. The Han army had instantly fallen into an extremely disadvantageous position.
But Pan Yu had no way of commanding the army to change this situation. She was well aware that if not for the influence of this formation, the Han army would already be on the verge of collapse. Even so, they would not be able to hold out for long.
And according to her understanding, the stronger the enemy was, the more powerful the formation would be.
Xu Xian's hand was still on his sword, but he had no intention of making a move.
At that moment, there was a deafening roar as a white tiger the size of a small mountain descended from the sky. At the same time, a blazing vermilion bird appeared in the southern sky, and a black tortoise with a snake tail let out a low roar.
Three sacred beasts formed from the five elements howled as they charged at Xu Xian and Pan Yu.
Xu Xian couldn't help but recall what Yu Xuanji had said to him a few days ago. Although the Southern Heaven Seventy-two Formations were extremely profound, the only ones that could truly threaten Xu Xian were the four formation platforms at the core, which gathered the five elements of heaven and earth and transformed the four sacred beasts.
Lu Dongbin clearly didn't waste his time and effort in activating other formations to deal with Xu Xian.
White light, crimson fire, and black water simultaneously engulfed Xu Xian and Ye Zichen.
From time to time, the earth would be torn apart by the Gold Spiritual Qi, from time to time, it would be melted by the raging fire into lava, and from time to time, it would be frozen by the black water. In an instant, it had experienced countless changes. Even if one had an indestructible body, it could still be completely destroyed.
The two horses that Xu Xian and Pan Yu were riding on disappeared in the blink of an eye. Xu Xian carried Pan Yu and flew up into the sky, avoiding this disaster.
However, Xu Xian did not lower his head to look down. Instead, he raised his head and looked at the sky with his dark eyes.
The three sacred beasts roared and pounced forward again.
Xu Xian passed an item to Pan Yu and said, "Go!"
He then tossed her into the distance. Pan Yu landed on the ground steadily and turned back to look. Xu Xian's figure was covered by the three huge beasts and the dazzling lightning that was bursting out from them made her relax.
A dozen or so cavalrymen roared and charged at her, the blades in their hands slashing down. Pan Yu's sword flashed, and the dozen or so cavalrymen were beheaded. But at the same time, hundreds of cavalrymen surrounded her.
She didn't want to continue fighting and leaped onto her horse, galloping towards the depths of the formation.
Pan Yu swung her sword and killed three captains of the Hu army. Suddenly, she heard cries of pain and felt dizzy. The Han soldiers beside her all fell to the ground and fainted.
Pan Yu knew that she had encountered a formation. She silently recited the incantation passed down by Yu Xuanji and hurriedly urged her horse forward. She kept changing the direction of her advance and went around the formation.
Just as she left the cries behind her, a few golden lights came from all directions and surrounded Pan Yu. Over ten red lights shone around her like the eyes of a ferocious beast.
The horse neighed and raised its front hooves up high. It couldn't take another step forward.
Although Pan Yu was shocked, she didn't panic. She took the bow by the saddle and pulled out an arrow. She shot a few arrows into the sand and extinguished the red lights one by one. Just as the horse's hooves touched the ground, Pan Yu urged it to gallop forward again. A group of demons appeared in the yellow sand. They panicked and wanted to use the red lanterns in their hands. So the red lights were these lanterns and they were the eyes of the formation.
Pan Yu slashed and killed. The horse's hooves broke one of the lanterns and she galloped away.
She encountered several formations. If she could avoid them, she would avoid them. If she couldn't, she would break them by force. Finally, she arrived at the center of the formation. She saw seventy-two platforms surrounding four altars. In the middle, there was a tall platform. It was dozens of feet high. She didn't know how the Hu people built it in such a short time.
Even with Pan Yu's willpower, she couldn't help but be overjoyed. She passed the platforms and altars and went straight to the tall platform.
As soon as she entered the altar, she felt the spiritual power in her body disappear. She couldn't use any of it. It was obvious that she was being suppressed by the formation. She sighed. Sure enough, this formation couldn't be broken by force. Otherwise, Lu Dongbin wouldn't have used it as a trump card.
Even if Xu Xian was surrounded by the four sacred beasts, he wouldn't be able to survive.
But Pan Yu immediately pulled herself together. She looked solemnly at the black mass of elite soldiers of the Hu people. There were thousands of them. They separated her from the tall platform.
Pan Yu jumped off the horse and used the ridge of her sword to slap the horse's rump. The horse ran away in pain. She walked to the tall platform. Her inner breath surged. Her long black hair flowed out from the side of the Yong's helmet and floated slowly with her footsteps.
Under the burning of the Nanming Li Fire, Xu Xian stomped Black Tortoise into the ground. His left hand clutched White Tiger's neck. With his right hand, he swung the Tianxing Sword toward the fire-breathing Vermilion Bird.
Black Tortoise's armor cracked, White Tiger's neck snapped, and Vermilion Bird's wings snapped.
In an instant, Xu Xian had severely injured the three sacred beasts. The price he had to pay was that the Black Tortoise's tail had bitten his left leg and injected a terrifying cold poison into it. He had almost lost all feeling in his leg. The White Tiger's sharp claws had left crisscrossed wounds on his chest, and the Vermillion Bird's Nan Ming Li Fire had burned a large part of his skin.
And this was the result of him using the three stars of water, gold, and fire to the extreme. These sacred beasts formed from the purest power of the five elements were extraordinarily powerful.
But Xu Xian didn't relax at all. He still raised his head and looked up at the sky.
It was like a paradise. Outside the hustle and bustle of the battlefield, under a big tree, black and white chess pieces were scattered all over the bluestone board. Only Lu Dongbin was beside the chessboard. He stared at the chessboard and carefully placed a black chess piece on it.
The black chess piece was like a huge dragon rampaging on the chessboard. It completely disrupted the white chess piece's formation. The white chess piece was already in a precarious situation.
Lu Dongbin stared fixedly at the huge dragon. It was as if he was pouring all of his energy into it. His eyes became hazy. He was no longer Lu Dongbin. Instead, he was a huge green dragon. The chessboard was no longer in front of him. Instead, it was a battlefield with hundreds of thousands of people fighting for their lives.
But he only saw one person. It was the muscular man who suppressed the three sacred beasts. And that man only saw him.
Their gazes were separated by a distance of a thousand miles, and sparks flew in the blink of an eye.
The Azure Dragon let out a dragon roar and dived down like a meteor.
Xu Xian let out a low roar. The ground beneath his feet cracked and collapsed. His figure shot up into the sky and stabbed toward the Azure Dragon.
Their figures were engulfed by golden and azure light. They shone like stars.
They were the most dazzling stars of this world. They lived three lives, fell and rose again. In every life, they stood above the people, the deities, and the gods. They were so similar yet different. Some people had once mistaken them as brothers. But fate wanted them to be enemies.
The golden star and the green star collided in the most violent way. The most dazzling light bloomed and illuminated the entire sky.
Even the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the ground who had lost their sense of self and were fighting together involuntarily raised their heads to look at this scene. They temporarily forgot to fight.
Pan Yu also looked at this scene. Then, she resolutely turned around. She killed four elite Hu soldiers and stepped onto the last step of the platform.
Behind her, the corpses of the elite Hu soldiers covered the ground. Blood flowed down the platform like a stairway paved with corpses.
The elite Hu soldiers held their weapons and surrounded her, trembling. They regained a trace of consciousness after such a brutal massacre. They revealed a shocked expression and instinctively wanted to get away from this black armored god of death.
Pan Yu came to the center of the platform. There was a strange and profound formation drawn there. She could vaguely make out the four symbols. There were dots and some lines that looked like a chessboard.
Pan Yu took a deep breath. A bright light shone from her palm and she disappeared from the platform.
The yellow sand battlefield disappeared like an illusion. What unfolded in front of her was a pleasant picture of green mountains and clear waters. She immediately saw the chessboard under the big tree at the foot of the mountain and the person sitting beside the chessboard. It was a handsome and elegant middle-aged Confucian scholar.
Lu Dongbin raised his head. There was no surprise on his face. Instead, he seemed to be disappointed. "What's the use of you coming here? Did he place his hope here?"
The weak spiritual power on Pan Yu naturally could not be hidden from his eyes. Not to mention that she was already exhausted after a great battle. She had no strength to fight anymore.
As for the shallow wisdom of mortals, he did not care about it at all.
Pan Yu did not answer. She calmly took off the black armor stained with blood and threw it to the ground with a clang. She only had a white shirt on and slowly walked to the chessboard. She knew who she was going to face. To be precise, it was the god. Even in the world of gods, he was one of the best.
But she did not feel the slightest fear in her heart. Instead, she had a high fighting spirit. She sat in front of the chessboard and smiled. "Sorry, that person really doesn't know how to play chess. Don't you think it's too boring to face a chessboard without an opponent?"
Lu Dongbin finally revealed a strange expression. "Who are you?" Except for Xu Xian, he did not care about anyone else.
Pan Yu said, "I am Pan Yu. I am the commander of this battle!"
As she spoke, she picked up a white chess piece and put it on the chessboard. "This is called eating!"
On the battlefield, the situation suddenly changed. The three Han armies, which were originally leaderless and only knew how to kill each other, suddenly joined forces and surrounded the Hu army.