Chapter 1967: The Era Has Changed

“We’re doomed!” Ji Dengtu yelped, turning ghastly pale.

“What’s wrong? Big brother Zu still held the upper hand earlier, right?” Ji Xiaoxi asked, confused.

Ji Dengtu replied with a bitter smile, “It’s hard for an individual to go against an army. Their offensive and defensive capabilities are reinforced to terrifying levels through formations, which is why it’s often said that cultivators can’t triumph over an army. Those as powerful as Zhao Han can subdue armies through sheer power, but the War Priest’s forces can’t be ordinary.”

Even from a distance away, he could feel the suffocating pressure coming from the army. Every soldier was emanating an aura comparable to an eighth rank cultivator, and some of the generals were even grandmasters. How could there be such a powerful force in the world? In contrast, most soldiers in this world weren’t cultivators at all. Even the most elite army only had their foot soldiers at the fourth rank. After all, those who had reached the fifth rank could become minor officials. No one in their right mind would continue being a foot soldier. And yet, every single soldier before them was at least at the eighth rank. How could they fight against such troops?

“Ah! Doesn’t that mean big brother Zu is in trouble?” Ji Xiaoxi asked worriedly. “Father, why don’t we help him with our poison?”

Poison didn’t work well on top-tier experts, but it was a potent weapon when used on a crowd.

Ji Dengtu shook his head and said, “It’ll be hard for us to poison the army under such circumstances. Besides, the army before us doesn’t seem to be alive. Poison might not work on them.”

“What should we do?” Ji Xiaoxi asked anxiously.

Ji Dengtu stared at Zu An’s back and said, “We can only pray that brat has the means to deal with this.” That brat has been a bag of surprise thus far. I wonder if he still has other means in store here.

Zu An eyed the huge black army, asking, “Is this your domain?”

He was trying to determine the nature of the army. Unfortunately, they weren’t undead, or else it would have been much more convenient for him to deal with them. How did it develop such a powerful domain? Any enemy of the same strength would have been decimated by such a huge army!

“Is that what your world calls it? That’s not important. I am the War Priest. Countless worlds embroiled in war pray to me, and I bless them with victory. In return, I take a portion of their souls as compensation. Over countless years, this has given rise to my invincible army.”

The War Priest was in no rush to attack. He took his time to flaunt his powerful army, as this was the creation he was proudest of in his lifetime. It was uncommon for him to have a chance to brag about it to others.

“Ah, so you're an evil god,” Zu An murmured. In his previous life, the eastern world of the past had prayed to heaven before engaging in battle, whereas the western world of that time had worshiped war gods. I've never heard of a War Priest. It’s probably the faith of some unknown world. Does that make it a god?

“How dare you insult me. You shall experience the agony of being trampled by countless soldiers and cavalrymen!” With a harrumph, the War Priest picked a flag with its middle hand and waved it toward Zu An.

The silent army roared into action. The knights on the flanks began their charge, and trailing right behind them were the foot soldiers in the center. Their advance shook the ground so much that any enemy before them would have been driven into despair.

As he stood protectively in front of his daughter, Ji Dengtu’s face paled. He said, “Xiaoxi, I’ll find a way to bring you out of this place. You have to make sure to run as fast as you can. Don’t turn back. Look for your little aunt. She’ll take care of you.” As the academy’s second brother, he naturally had trump cards, but he had to sacrifice his life to use them.

Ji Xiaoxi sensed his intention and anxiously said, “Father, let’s leave together!”

Ji Dengtu felt heartened looking at his daughter’s worried expression. At least you still care about your father as well. He said, “Be good, Xiaoxi. It would be a blessing if any of us could escape from here. You mustn’t waste the opportunity the two of us are creating for you. Deliver this intelligence back to our people, so they can prepare themselves.” Worried his daughter would hesitate to escape later, Ji Dengtu went to the extent of framing it as doing it for humankind.

Ji Xiaoxi felt the burden on her shoulders and wiped her tears. She clenched her jaw and nodded, saying, “I’ll definitely send this piece of intelligence out!”

The War Priest in the sky burst into laughter. “You’re thinking of leaving? No one escapes from my invincible army!” This space was his domain. Nothing here could escape his notice.

“Let’s see then,” Ji Dengtu said. He took a deep breath as a determined glint flashed through his eyes. He began emanating a stronger aura.

Just then, Zu An interjected, “Let me go first.”

He sensed something wrong with Ji Dengtu’s condition. It was similar to Chu Chuyan back then, when she had unleashed a forbidden move to bring her enemy down with her.

Why is it that the cultivators in this world all have some kind of mutually assured destruction move? It’s as if they don’t cherish their lives at all! I could still save Chu Chuyan with that method, but how can I do the same for Ji Dengtu?

Ji Dengtu was stunned, but he could sense the self-assurance behind Zu An’s words. Thus, he nodded and said, “All right, you go first.”

The massive army had already covered half the distance to them, and it wouldn’t be long before it overran them.

Zu An stared at the incoming army and shook his head, saying, “It’s arrogant of you to call yourself the War Priest when you’re still resorting to such a primitive form of warfare. The era has changed, sir!”

Golden ripples manifested in the area behind Zu An, and weapons of peculiar design emerged from them.

Ji Dengtu and Ji Xiaoxi were confused. What weapons are those? Why do they look so weird? Why do those chariot-like vehicles have so many cylinders reminiscent of firework tubes behind them?

The Rune Weapon Chart and the Forging Diagram allowed Zu An to recreate weapons he had seen before, and it just so happened he had previously lived in the Digital Age and had seen plenty of modern-day weapons. Rows of Katyusha rocket launchers fired in unison, and countless rockets whizzed into the sky, lighting up the dim surroundings.

The War Priest was startled. He waved his flag, and the army immediately began erecting a formation. Soon, a light blue barrier formed above the army. Countless rockets crashed into the barrier, producing brilliant fireworks; it shook a little, but it remained as sturdy as a mountain.

The War Priest burst into laughter. “I didn’t expect this world to possess the means of a technological civilization, but such primitive technology can’t possibly defeat the invincible army under my command!”

Zu An was stunned. It would appear the War Priest had seen other technological civilizations before. All along, he had thought that he'd transmigrated to this world, but could it be that Earth was just one of the countless worlds in this galaxy, and he was just transported over to this world for some reason?

Does that mean I can return to Earth?

…

Zu An was filled with excitement. He didn’t panic in the face of the War Priest’s taunting.

“Father, what are those weird birds in the clouds?” Ji Xiaoxi asked.

Ji Dengtu looked at the sky and saw silhouettes of massive pitch-black birds appear in the clouds. The birds had peculiar shapes, and they looked as if they were made of metal. He muttered, “Are those the subordinates of the War Priest? No, they’re currently headed toward its army!”

The 'birds', a fleet of Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirits, released a barrage of bunker busters. Bunker busters were intended to deal with enemy targets hidden in underground fortresses bolstered by many meters of reinforced steel. They were the best option to deal with such massive barriers.

The War Priest sensed danger from the bunker busters, so he waved his flag and commanded his army to attack them before they could pierce through the barrier. Countless ki skills surged into the sky to destroy the bunker busters above. Some of them even struck the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirits, knocking them out of the sky.

However, there were simply far too many of the aircraft and too ma, so it was impossible to stop all of them. A bunker buster finally slipped through the army’s defense and struck the barrier. It spun rapidly, making the barrier tremble.

The barrier was truly formidable, though. Even when the bunker buster finally ran out of energy and eventually exploded, the barrier merely shook, showing no hint of damage at all. The War Priest was just about to mock Zu An for his futile attempt when his eyes widened in shock. Many more bunker busters were being dropped from the sky as if they were free!

The bunker busters crashed into the barrier, making it shake violently. When they exploded, cracks appeared on the barrier. It didn’t take long before the barrier shattered into countless fragments.

Zu An heaved a sigh of relief. It was a pity he wasn’t a military buff in his previous life, so he wasn’t familiar with modern-day weapons. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought out antiques like the Katyusha rocket launchers.

To be fair, those should have been enough against an average army, but the War Priest’s army was simply too strong. Even its defensive measures were on par with modern-day armies. It took mere moments for the other party to destroy a huge number of his Katyusha rocket launchers and Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirits.

It was lucky that the Rune Weapon Chart allowed Zu An to produce countless weapons at an extremely low cost. On top of that, he could control the weapons at will, so he didn’t have to worry about casualties either. As soon as the barrier shattered, he rained aerosol bombs and munition bombs on the army before the formation experts could erect a new barrier. The scene of the meme explosion gif was thus reenacted.

Blinding light and searing heat erupted outward. It was as if hell had broken loose on the army's formation. Despite being protected at the heart of the army, many formation experts immediately disintegrated into bits.

The army hadn’t expected Zu An to unleash an aerial bombardment targeting thee formation experts; without their protection, the army faced a one-sided slaughter. Countless rockets bombarded the army formation, and military helicopters were dispatched to gun down the soldiers.

May the Gatling guns bring mercy upon this world! Let the Maxim guns save lives![1]

Just like that, the incomparably powerful army was reduced to cinders.

The War Priest was speechless.

1. This is a Chinese meme mocking Gatling, the creator of the Gatling gun, who claims that he created the gun to reduce the size of armies and reduce the number of deaths by combat and disease. ☜