I Can Replicate Martial Arts

"I’m already straining my Divine Power to control this many Exotic Beasts. I estimate I have three hours at most before I lose my grip on the High-tier ones."

Beside him, an even taller giant—a full five meters tall, with blue runes on his skin and a ghostly light gleaming in his eyes—spoke, his expression weary.

"I never expected their weaponry to be so formidable. If the Great Shang also possessed weapons like these..."

The bearded man’s eyes grew cold. He felt the Nine-Clan Elders needed to completely re-evaluate their assessment of the Central Plains and the Great Shang.

"That’s only a fraction of it. They have many other weapons of immense power that they didn’t use because they’re too terrifyingly destructive and indiscriminate..."

Just then, another man beside them frowned and interjected.

"To think they have such things!"

The bearded man’s expression darkened. The strength of the Central Plains Dynasty had far exceeded his expectations.

"According to our spies, the Great Shang fought them fiercely for a time but ultimately chose to compromise because their weapons were simply too powerful."

"So, the Central Plains are the toughest nut to crack?"

"We’ll see. If this is true, we may have no choice but to revise our battle plan."

With that said, the bearded man narrowed his eyes, gazing at the distant battlefield and waiting for the situation to change.

’In any case, it’s only Exotic Beasts dying. Our own forces haven’t suffered a single loss. We’ll watch from the sidelines for now and probe the enemy’s actual strength.’

The battle was brutal. Countless Exotic Beasts fell, their blood staining the surface of the sea red.

Thanks to the suppressive heavy firepower, the common Exotic Beasts couldn’t get close. They were consumed by artillery fire before they could even make landfall.

However, many Exotic Beasts could also unleash Divine Techniques. The techniques used by the High-tier Beasts, in particular, were no weaker than the shore-based heavy artillery. In fact, their destructive range was even slightly greater.

Moreover, with their colossal size, a single casual movement from these High-tier Beasts could cause the ground to split and mountains to crumble. For ordinary soldiers and Martial Artists, even a glancing blow meant certain death.

If the True Dharma Masters weren’t tying them down, these High-tier Beasts alone could have shattered the entire defensive line.

To prevent the Exotic Beasts from breaching the defensive line, some soldiers donned newly developed portable support mechs and wielded the latest close-quarters weaponry.

Powered by their True Qi Inner Power, even ordinary Second- and Third-level Martial Artists could unleash the strength of Sixth- and Seventh-level Martial Artists.

At that level of power, their survivability took a quantum leap.

But even so, a great number of soldiers and common Martial Artists were still killed in the fighting.

The brutality of the scene was difficult to behold.

Fortunately, the Qingcheng Sect had a relatively high number of True Dharma Masters. It wasn’t long before they managed to suppress the powerful High-tier Beasts.

This gave the heavy artillery an opportunity to mop up the smaller Exotic Beasts.

Combined with the mopping-up operations by the common Martial Artists and soldiers, the tide of battle quickly turned in favor of the Central Plains.

"Pull them back."

Seeing this, the bearded man’s brow furrowed. He waved his hand, signaling the giant beside him to order the Exotic Beasts to retreat.

"Yes, Master!"

As a strange ripple emanated from the giant’s eyes, the surviving Exotic Beasts on the shore turned and leaped into the sea, vanishing into the vast expanse of the ocean.

"They’ve fled?"

Everyone on the shore breathed a collective sigh of relief, especially Cang Zhenzi and the other Dharma Masters.

They had been under the most pressure, facing Exotic Beasts of nearly equal strength. They hadn’t dared to relax or underestimate their foes for even a moment.

The Qingcheng Sect had two True Dharma Masters injured in the battle. If even they were wounded, the losses among the common Martial Artists and soldiers must have been far greater.

Everyone stared at the coastline ahead, which was littered with corpses, human and Exotic Beast alike. The surface of the sea was a carpet of floating bodies, among which lay the colossal carcasses of the giant Exotic Beasts, like small islands breaking the waves.

No one felt any joy in this victory.

After all, they hadn’t even laid eyes on the people from the Great Shang yet.

Cang Zhenzi and several other blood-soaked True Dharma Masters took to the air, flying out over the distant sea.

Soon, they spotted three figures in the distance, standing motionless. They were the Great Zhou Martial Artists, the true masterminds behind the slaughter.

’Driving Exotic Beasts to attack... It’s practically cheating. It’s no wonder the Song Realm Martial Artists couldn’t win. Even the Great Shang, with their formidable Martial Dao, were sent fleeing in disarray.’

’If the Huaxia Central Plains didn’t possess modern military weapons—technology that even surpassed this era—then relying on Martial Artists to simply throw their lives away would have given them no chance of victory at all.’

"I must admit, you’ve surprised me!"

The bearded man smiled faintly. He pointed a finger, and a beam of True Qi shot across several nautical miles of open sea, heading straight for Cang Zhenzi, who was at the lead.

Cang Zhenzi hastily swung the Divine Weapon Floating Dust to intercept the beam of True Qi. The weapon had been passed down to him by Zhao Rui and was once wielded by his former senior brother, Cangwu Zi.

From that single, long-range strike, he felt an immense force transmit through the beam of True Qi, knocking him back a dozen meters.

’Such incredible Manipulation Power! He must be a Domain Realm master, at least.’

Cang Zhenzi was horrified.

"You have some skill, but it’s not enough to impress me. We’ll leave it at that for today."

The bearded man chuckled, and with a wave of his hand, the three of them vanished before the eyes of Cang Zhenzi and his companions.

"Senior Brother!"

The other True Dharma Masters turned to Cang Zhenzi in horror.

"It’s fine. A single Domain Realm expert is nothing to be afraid of. We’re pulling back as well!"

With that, Cang Zhenzi led the others, turning to fly back toward the shore.

This massive battle wasn’t confined to the Fuzhou region protected by the Qingcheng Sect. The entire coastal area was under assault.

Without a recent technological breakthrough, the Central Plains would never have detected the surprise attack. The reconnaissance satellites—which had been thrown into disarray by the return of Gui Xu—had only just been restored to functionality.