Chapter 654 Arrival at the Sixteen Provinces

In the center of the Sixteen Provinces.The Great Fortune Pillar stood tall, its silver surface covered with dense divine runes.These pillars were like extractors of all things, gradually turning the land within a radius of ten thousand miles barren, even threatening to swallow the soil.An invisible net expanded ever wider, reaching further and further, extracting more and more things. The area around the pillar was no longer just barren, but empty.Utterly and completely empty.Approximately 2.5 million troops from the Celestial Realm surrounded this pillar, and among these troops were not a single mechanical warrior, but all celestial beings of flesh and blood.They stood before legion commanders, clad in heavily armored silver suits.This attack by the Celestial Realm, besides the 20 Celestial Realm commanders with adaptive power, also included a total of 500 Divine Realm commanders, roughly divided into two ranks:Legion Commanders and Junior Commanders.The commanders were high-ranking gods, the junior commanders were mid-ranking, and there were almost no lower-ranking ones.Just outside this pillar alone, nearly 50 gods were stationed, equipped with at least five celestial weapons, plus an army of 2.5 million cultivators, and various formations.This was the source of Lu Chen's confidence that Li An couldn't break through their defenses.The first phase of the war had passed, and the situation in the Heavenly Realm was clear. From Li An's perspective, their casualties were numerous and tragic.However, from a macro perspective, almost only Li An had an advantage; other areas were difficult to attack.After three days and three nights of slaughter, the Zhenjie Shadow's fusion rate reached 45%.The second phase officially began.If these nine Great Fortune Pillars couldn't be dealt with, all the elite forces in the heavens, including Shen Ji, would perish.Li An was well aware of the gravity of the situation.He had arrived before the massive enemy army.However, he wasn't alone.Ten thousand miles away.The celestial army had already assembled, with dozens of celestial sects and millions of immortals gathered here.It was a visually stunning scene: the auras of both sides soared to the heavens, the earth ripped apart, and stars fell. The numbers of both sides were countless, stretching as far as the eye could see. And there were eight such battlefields—this was the scale of the War of the Kings, truly vast."I've already used my immortal magic to contact all the surrounding celestial sects. Wait a little longer, and more reinforcements should arrive," said Huang Li, the Grand Elder of the Sword Sect, as he approached Li An, who had taken his place.Li An frowned, asking, "How many Divine Realm cultivators do we have here?""Less than 40, and most of them are lower-level," Huang Li replied, looking troubled.Li An, however, laughed heartily, patting the Grand Elder on the shoulder, "It's safe!""Huh?" Huang Li was taken aback.Li An quickly said, "Tell everyone, in ten minutes, the entire army will attack. Time is not on our side; we can't delay, we must fight. Don't worry, we'll win." Huang Li, however, shook his head frantically, saying, "No matter what, I won't let my disciples go to their deaths!""Their Divine Realm experts are several times stronger than ours, and their warriors are twice our number. We only have a little over a million, they have over two million, and even their equipment is far superior.""Even if you're incredibly strong, you can't possibly break through." Faced with the doubts, Li An didn't explain. He simply flipped his hand and produced a token.Huang Li's pupils suddenly contracted."The Immortal Ancestor's Token!?"Li An calmly repeated, "Tell everyone, in ten minutes, follow me in the attack.""Trust me, I'm confident."Since the Third Great Wall War, Li An had developed a habit: no matter what battle he fought, he needed to obtain supreme command, a Tiger Seal or some other token.He didn't want to experience that feeling of helplessness, of no one obeying his orders, a second time.A single Immortal Ancestor's Token silenced Huang Li.He turned and reported the matter to the elders of each sect.Each sect formed a battle formation; there were over 100 sects in total, half of which didn't even have a Divine Realm elder.Huang Li summoned all the sect elders."Ten minutes later, the entire army will attack with Li An."The sect elders' expressions varied upon hearing this order.Those below the Divine Realm hadn't planned to return alive anyway, so their attitude was indifferent.They were going to die anyway, so they might as well do what they could.Those above the Divine Realm shared Huang Li's attitude."How are we supposed to fight?""Their combat power completely overwhelms us. Aren't we just throwing our lives away?!""Nonsense! Without reinforcements, I'm not going."Huang Li: "Li An has the Immortal Ancestor's Token.""What?!" Xia Yan, the most furious of the elders of the Blazing Flame Sect, roared, "Even if he has the Immortal Ancestor's Token, I won't listen!""Is he blind?""Can't he see this absolute disparity?" Xia Yan pointed to the situation at the Great Divine Pillar tens of thousands of miles away. That massive army, blotting out the sky, countless formations, celestial weapons, and superior equipment—we can't compare to any of them. How can we possibly fight?!"He turned to look at Li An.Li An sat cross-legged at the forefront of the battle formation, head bowed, seemingly dozing.Xia Yan angrily approached him, wanting to question Li An about his intentions, but suddenly, the sound of a wind flute drifted from afar.The Flute Immortal of the Seventeen Provinces, riding on a celestial sword, played a melodious song, coming against the wind.Xia Yan looked up.Behind the graceful Flute Immortal, sects from the seventeenth, eighteenth, and even nineteenth states appeared one by one.Countless flying swords crossed the sea, arriving just as dawn broke, the sky ablaze with rosy light—a magnificent sight of reinforcements.The Flute Immortal landed beside Li An, bowing his head and asking, "When do we fight?""Seven minutes later," Li An replied."Understood," the Flute Immortal nodded.Xia Yan was stunned, saying, "Flute Master, you…""What is it?" The Flute Immortal stood with his hands behind his back. He was a tenth-level Divine Realm expert, arguably the strongest below the elite in combat, and highly respected in the Immortal Realm for his detached, unworldly, and detached virtue.Xia Yan couldn't help but use telepathy to say, "The disparity in numbers between us and the enemy is huge. We probably don't have enough reinforcements. Shouldn't we wait a bit longer?""If we fight now, I feel many disciples will die as cannon fodder," the Flute Immortal replied."Which is more valuable in the eyes of the Heavenly Realm: our heads or Li An's?"Xia Yan's body stiffened.The Flute Immortal stopped explaining, wiping his jade flute. He pulled out a sheet of music, preparing to play a song that would instill fierce fighting spirit.This time, Xia Yan also fell silent.He turned his head.If we charge alongside Li An, the enemy will definitely focus the vast majority of their forces on him.Without him drawing fire, we'll only lose more men.The greater the disparity in numbers, the greater the pressure on him, and the less pressure on us.