Positioned on the sides and the rear of the crowd, and blocking off the streets—are barriers formed of heavy blast shields.
These tall shields were setup as soon as the military group had entered the ancient city; and judging by the damage on those shields, attacks from lamellar armored ghosts had been a common occurrence.
Standing at the forefront of the crowd to represent the military are Zhou Chen and Yang Ning; those closest to them, can evidently feel the tension that emanates from their bodies.
For the time being, the two have agreed to wait for more people to gather—prior to breaking the gates open.
Dressed in standard military combat attire, which consists of a suit mounted with vital area shielding plating is Jue Yun, who turns to Liang Jin He, and asks—
"So, what happened to those two?"
"Hell if I know. They've been that way since the previous ruin."
Heaving a sigh, and standing beside the two is a white-haired old man with dark eyes, who remarks—
"Ai, if the military needs to drag an old man like me to the forefront, this world really is beyond saving…"
Turning to the old man, Dan Hong raises an eye, and replies—
"Colonel Xiang, we needed someone to give orders, and you happened to be the best option. Those two are the ones fighting at the forefront here."
Believing that there might be a chance for communications to be cut off, colonel Xiang Yu was forced to tag along with the entire military crew—much to the former's displeasure.
"…"
Turning to Dan Hong, who had also been dragged into this excavation—despite being an admiral, Xiang Yu shakes his head.
"I'm just a bag of bones—looking to retire next month."
Averting his face awkwardly, Liang Jin He replies—
"Sorry to tell you this, old man, but your retirement might not be happening."
"Ahn?"
Towards the thuggish look that is being directed at him, Liang Jin He replies—
"Well, what did you expect? There're needs for capable men—now more than ever."
"There're needs for capable men, I'm not a capable man—since even going for a shit is a hassle at my age. Dammit, I didn't step down from being a general to be treated like this…"
...…
Off to the side, Chen Lan looks to Shao Tianming, and asks—
"Shao-laoda, any ideas?"
"Climbing the walls is completely out. We can only choose to breakthrough from the front, but with how heavy those gates are… Ai…"
Yesterday the military had made an attempt to blast the gates open with explosives, but the gates didn't budge at all.
"I think I'm more interested in knowing where those Immortals are…"
Saying this is Li Xue, who has her arms folded with an impatient look on her face. Beside her, Ye Chen shrugs his shoulders.
Seeing the black attired practitioner again after so long, Wang Yongning frowns, and remarks—
"If I recall correctly, the one you were going after, he called the black attired Immortal "senior." I guess he's the one in charge of whatever plans they have?"
"…"
Recalling the strength of the black attired practitioner, Ye Chen frowns as well, and mutters—
"That's a bit unsettling…"
For the time being, Ye Chen and Li Xue have yet to truly join the Ashen River Hall.
Their main goal is to find out more about the Ling Yuan family, and from there, they wish to see if they can understand why Li Qian He's Relic had appeared in the hands of a practitioner.
To do that, they needed to head into the inner domain—where the archive containing more information can be accessed.
However, since the rift that leads back into the inner domain isn't stable, they aren't able to make the journey just yet.
Until then, they figured that they might as well not commit to joining the hall completely.
...…
Looking at the situation from a distance, through the use of binoculars, Yang Hai mutters—
"C'mon, quit just standing there, and do nothing…"
Although the odds of breaking the gates open could be raised with the addition of Zhu Xu and Yang Hai, the members of Nine Lives wanted to see what the apex of the current world—Zhou Chen and Yang Ning are capable of.
Only then, can Nine Lives act appropriately in figuring out how they should interact with the rest of the world—that is in an ununified state.
"Oh?"
Raising an eye, Zhu Xu—who is looking at the situation as well, sees that both Zhou Chen and Yang Ning have activated their Weapon Spirit True Body states.
...…
"Time's up."
Turning to Zhou Chen, Yang Ning asks—
"You first, or me?"
"Go ahead."
Nodding his head, Yang Ning assumes a shooting stance, as he takes aim at the gates, and draws the string of his black bow backwards.
Upon stretching the bow to its limits, an arrow of blue light manifests.
Immediately, all eyes turned towards Yang Ning's direction.
However, in the same instance—
"Uh?"
"…?"
The grounds tremble, as heavy footsteps approach from the rear and sides.
Turning around, a weapon spirit shouts—
"Those ghosts are coming!"
"Here as well!"
Charging towards the crowd of weapon spirits from all fronts were the lamellar armored ghosts.
"Wait, are they riding horses?"
Different from before, some of the ghosts are mounted on top of phantom steeds.
To set the riders apart from the foot soldiers, these ghosts are wearing mantles—symbolizing their higher military status.
Making matters worse—
"Th-The stone soldiers!"
*…!!!…!!!…!!!* as dust falls from the stone soldiers' bodies, they begin to rise from their kneeling postures, while an ominous blue glow emanates from their eyes.