An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 177 Meat Grinder Battlefield
"Clang clang clang!!!"

Under the terrifying power of the demonic blade, Chu Xiu simply slashed upwards, and countless air-tearing slashes appeared out of thin air. A dense sound of metal tearing rang out, and the surface of the tunnel boring machine instantly appeared covered with countless cracks!

Even at a distance of hundreds of meters, the destructive energy condensed to the extreme can still dismember this huge mechanical creation. Steel plates tens of centimeters thick are as fragile as paper in front of it!

At the same time, a large amount of blood overflowed from the tunnel boring machine. The high-level corrupted creatures that had merged with the tunnel boring machine, as well as a large number of corrupted residents who fell from the sky, were all shattered into splattered limbs and blood before this attack.

But amidst this rain of blood, a figure continued its descent from the sky without slowing down!

"clang!!!"

With a deafening roar, the colonel's fist slammed heavily onto the Demon Blade of Judgment. The terrifying force caused the Demon Blade to vibrate like ripples, and the enormous impact sent Chu Xiu flying backward!

"boom!"

He crashed heavily into the rock wall several meters deep, and countless pieces of rock fell down, completely burying him.

At the same time, another road opened up from the side, and another tunnel boring machine crushed a large hole in the side of the cave. Countless corrupted residents rushed out and swarmed towards Chu Xiu like ants, surrounding the collapsed area layer by layer!
But the next moment, the death-slaying strike appeared again. With a tooth-grinding explosion, the rocks covering Chu Xiu, along with the massive amount of corrupted creatures, were blasted outwards and then cleaved into countless pieces in mid-air before falling to the ground!
Chu Xiu stood up from the cave entrance, staring coldly at the colonel not far away. At this moment, he had completely turned into a blood-soaked figure, the blood of the corrupting creature constantly corroding his armor.

But there was no fear on his face. Neither the colonel's heavy blow nor the corrosive blood made him look bad; he was actually not hurt at all.

With Chu Xiu's monstrous physique, which is close to 2,500, rocks that are incredibly hard to ordinary people and can even withstand heavy machine gun fire are as fragile as tofu to him. Even if they are smashed several meters in, they will only loosen his muscles and bones.

but
Chu Xiu looked up at the center of the battlefield. As two new entrances were opened, tens of thousands of corrupted creatures poured in, including many elite corrupted soldiers!

The two ghost generals roared immediately and charged toward one of the cave entrances!
The Warhammer Demon General raised his weapon high, roared, and slammed it heavily onto the ground. The shockwave shattered the rock wall, sending countless fragments of rock flying out like bullets, tearing the charging corrupted creatures to pieces. The power of the shockwave even shattered their internal organs.

With a single strike, hundreds of corrupted creatures were wiped out!

The corrupted warrior was not to be outdone, his figure shifting continuously in the air, each slash accompanied by a dazzling blade of light, cutting a large number of corrupted creatures in two.

At the same time, many ghosts redistributed their firepower, targeting the two newly appeared holes.

Even so, they still couldn't completely block the entrance, and a large number of corrupted residents rushed into the trenches and fought with the ghosts.

Although the average level of these corrupted inhabitants is much lower than that of the elite ghost army, their numbers are almost endless. As the cave entrance is continuously expanded by the blood of the corrupted creatures, the rate at which the corrupted creatures pour in is getting faster and faster!

Then, another loud bang was heard, and the third hole appeared!

A massive tunnel boring machine descended from the sky and crashed heavily into the center of the cave. Behind this behemoth, countless corrupted inhabitants fell from the sky like a torrential rain!

Even if some low-level creatures die from the fall, it doesn't matter. The splattered blood will gradually fill the cave and begin to corrode every creature inside!
"So that's how it is. You're trying to fill the entire cave with corpses in this way?"

"The blood that flows into a river will continuously corrode my ghosts, and the piled-up corpses can also serve as cover, greatly reducing the attack efficiency of the ghost army and providing cover for more corrupted creatures to rush in."

"Even if my ghost army is strong, it will gradually suffer losses. Are you planning to wear me down by a ratio of 10 to 1, 100 to 1, or even 1,000 to 1 in casualties?"

"After holding off the ghost army, it should be time for the 'decapitation operation'."

Chu Xiu narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to look at the colonel. After giving him a blow, the powerful creature did not rush to attack, but instead steadily guarded the retreat route, not allowing Chu Xiu to get any closer, and waited patiently for reinforcements to continuously enter the cave.

This was in case Chu Xiu realized he was outmatched and, before the corrupted creatures could gather in large numbers, used the ghost army's cover to charge back and escape.

If Chu Xiu's prediction is correct, there should be a fourth tunnel boring machine in his escape route, having dug a road from elsewhere. It is currently accumulating corrupting organisms inside the cave, completely blocking his escape route!
Clearly, the calamity from the earth had a well-thought-out plan before it came.

It must be said that this method of using sheer numbers to wear down Chu Xiu, and then finally using high-level combat power to behead him, is indeed the safest strategy if it were to deal with the combat power he had previously demonstrated.

But for Chu Xiu now, this is exactly what he wanted!

Chu Xiu had anticipated the opponent's various combat methods and had prepared corresponding contingency plans in advance!

"I'm afraid you won't have enough people to provide enough flesh and blood."

"But now is not the time to use our trump cards."

Chu Xiu raised his hand and swung the Demon Blade of Judgment, slicing the corrupted creature that charged at him to pieces.

As the decaying creatures continued to pour in, the entire cave was almost filled with them, and the ground was covered with layers of corpses. Every step you took would land on soft, greasy flesh and severed limbs.

Just as Chu Xiu had predicted, a large number of corrupted creatures suddenly emerged from the passage he had originally planned to use for retreat!
Now, six cave entrances were continuously spawning new creatures. The ghosts' firepower could no longer stop them. After filling every corner of the cave, these corrupted creatures began to climb along the stone walls and look for opportunities to jump down, attacking any lone ghosts in numbers many times over!
Even if the ghost army is strong, it is gradually losing its strength under these circumstances. Some low-level ghosts are being torn apart, and the two ghost generals are being enveloped by layers of corrupted creatures. Their energy levels are dropping at an extremely fast rate!

However, Chu Xiu continued to wait patiently.

When the number of decaying creatures in the mere 5,000 square meter cave exceeded 30,000, a cold smile finally appeared on his face.

"it's time."

As soon as Chu Xiu had a thought, the array flags of the [Eight Desolate Netherfire Array] planted around the cave suddenly lit up!
In an instant, crimson flames rose throughout the entire cave!

Before the decaying creatures could react, they were engulfed by the surging flames and carbonized in the high temperature of thousands of degrees Celsius, emitting a shrill scream!

Compared to the Bloody Arena, Chu Xiu expanded the range of the [Eight Desolate Netherfire Array] by fifty times!
In exchange for reduced power, it gains an extremely large attack range!

As eight fire dragons rose into the cave, their terrifying breath instantly turned the entire cave into a sea of ​​fire!
As if it had been rehearsed long ago, all the ghosts floated into the air and, with the two ghost generals coming together, formed two huge "dark clouds".

In the center of the cave, there was a space that Chu Xiu had specially prepared. The average height inside the cave was about ten meters, but the height here reached thirty meters! The ghost army could gather here to minimize the damage from the flames.

Furthermore, the gathered ghosts can transfer and digest the heat internally, making the weakened [Eight Desolate Netherfire Array] able to withstand it.

But these flames are deadly to the corrupting creatures!

The raging fire engulfed the entire cave and began to climb up the rock walls, leaving the decaying creatures clinging to the walls nowhere to escape!
A foul, acrid smell filled the air, and the scene before me was filled with the screaming, decaying creatures struggling in the flames.

In just a few breaths, tens of thousands of corrupted creatures were burned alive!
This horrific scene even changed the expression of the colonel guarding the cave entrance.

Clearly, he never expected that Chu Xiu would possess such terrifying weapons of mass destruction!
Chu Xiu, on the other hand, showed an expectant expression.

He noticed a change in the colonel's expression compared to before. He wondered if it was due to the enhanced intelligence brought about by the [pollutants], or if the proximity to the pit allowed him to directly connect with the calamity at the bottom.

Either way, it shows that the other side is also making adjustments in real time based on Chu Xiu's methods. "So, what's next? Will they retreat in such a sorry state, swallowing the losses head-on, or will they continue to commit troops to fight a war of attrition against me?"

And the result is quite obvious.

Having paid such a high price, the calamities underground will not stop!

With a sharp whistle, the rate at which the corrupted creatures poured into the cave did not decrease, but instead continued to increase!
They wanted to extinguish Chu Xiu's flames with sheer numbers of people!

The corrosive creatures were covered by thick stone armor, which was not a suitable flammable material. Therefore, Chu Xiu needed to consume a certain amount of magic power to burn each corrosive creature to death.

The other side must have realized this as well, which is why they chose to continue the war of attrition with him.

But
"You don't think I only have this one trump card, do you?"

"You wouldn't think I'm a [Summoner] type class that mainly fights with ghost legions, would you?"

Chu Xiu could barely keep his smile going.

This is the allure of information asymmetry: it can mislead the enemy into believing that success is just around the corner, causing them to continuously increase their investment under the drive of sunk costs, ultimately resulting in them losing everything.

He looked up and saw that, under the constant onslaught of the corrupted inhabitants, the original six-meter-wide and four-meter-high opening had been forcibly enlarged three or four times, which greatly increased the speed at which they poured in!

Countless corrupted creatures rushed in, using their own flesh to fight against the flames!
Chu Xiu remained calm and silently activated the [Eight Desolate Netherfire Array].

Ten thousand, twenty thousand, one hundred thousand!

A massive amount of corrupted creatures were burned to ashes in the raging fire, and a series of notification sounds kept ringing in Chu Xiu's ears.

[Professional Experience +3]

[Item Obtained: 6 Causality Points]

[Acquired Equipment: Granite Heavy Armor (Collector's Edition)]

[Item Obtained:]

[Level Up!]

[Current Level: Rank 6 (Fierce)]

[Level Up!]

[Current Level: Rank 7 (Fierce)]

Fifteen minutes later, there was no oxygen left in the cave. Instead, there were toxic substances produced by the carbonization of flesh and blood, and the suffocating stench filled every corner of the cave.

At the bottom of the cave, there was a layer of rock, half a meter thick, that had melted into a semi-solidified magma-like state! On top of that was a large amount of dust, ashes, and carbonized flesh and blood, and on top of that were layers upon layers of charred corpses, piled up to a height of three meters!

In that short quarter of an hour, Chu Xiu burned a total of 230,000 corrupted creatures to death!
It's worth noting that the Battle of Verdun, known as the meat grinder of World War I, only killed 250,000 people after ten months of fighting!

Chu Xiu felt that his merits had skyrocketed to the point of overflowing.

The Hundred Soul Banner was saturated with living souls, and its dense demonic energy uncontrollably emanated from it.

Of course, the opponent's strategy was also effective. After burning so many creatures alive, even though Chu Xiu kept using recovery items, he only had one-third of his energy left.

He stopped supplying magic power, and the array flags of the Eight Desolate Netherfire Array immediately dimmed. The phantom of the fire dragon also stopped spewing flames and shrank back into the array flags.

This scene finally made the colonel's eyes light up, and he let out a sharp whistle as if he had seen the dawn of victory.

Driven by him, a large number of corrupted creatures continued to rush into the five cave entrances, stepping over the carbonized corpses of their companions, and surging towards Chu Xiu and the ghostly army in the air!

However, the next moment, something devastating happened to them.

As soon as Chu Xiu had a thought, a huge plant shot into the sky and grew to more than ten meters in the blink of an eye!
At the same time, a surge of life force emanated from it and poured into the ghostly army at the center!

In an instant, the injuries of these ghosts healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and as if they had taken stimulants, they charged wildly toward the corrupted creatures at the five cave entrances!

Compared to before, the rate at which corrupted creatures are flooding in has increased many times over, with thousands of corrupted creatures rushing in almost every second.

However, in this situation, the corrupted creatures were actually suppressed by the ghost army!
With the blessing of the [Heavenly Blood Vine], no matter how serious the injury to the ghost, it can recover quickly!
This is Chu Xiu's second trump card!
The Eight Desolate Netherfire Array is not just an offensive magic weapon; it can also extract life energy from flesh and blood. Chu Xiu used all of this life energy to cultivate the Heavenly Blood Vine!

The blood and flesh of over two hundred thousand beings unleashed an incredibly terrifying power in this [Mythical] item! It created a group healing buff covering thousands of ghosts!

And this is far from over!
Without the slightest hesitation, Chu Xiu channeled his magical power into the Hundred Soul Banner, activating his skill.

[Command - Charge!]
At the same time, he took out [Oswell's Roar] with his other hand and put it to his mouth!
With a deafening roar, the call to counterattack was officially sounded!

With multiple buffs, the ghost army's combat power instantly surged several levels. They completely suppressed the rampaging corrupted creatures, turning the cave into a complete meat grinder!
No matter how many corrupted creatures flood in, whether they are ordinary corrupted residents or elite corrupted soldiers, they are all torn to shreds in less than ten seconds!

This scene made the colonel standing to the side look extremely ugly!

At that moment, he fully realized that Chu Xiu had been hiding his strength all along! His true combat power was far more terrifying than he had shown before!
To think that Chu Xiu could be worn down by low-level creatures is utterly delusional!

But now that we've lost nearly 300,000 corrupted creatures, including many elite ones, as well as three tunnel boring machines, it's impossible to just give up like this!
The colonel roared and finally stopped waiting, charging towards Chu Xiu. At the same time, ten hidden Corruption Awakeners suddenly rushed out from the three passages near Chu Xiu!
However, after realizing that the war of attrition had failed, the opponent directly launched a decapitation tactic! They wanted to take advantage of the fact that summoners are generally not very strong in their physical bodies to forcibly kill Chu Xiu!

"One King-level and ten Corruption Awakeners, they really think highly of me."

"However, I showed a little weakness earlier, so you didn't really think I was a weak [Summoner], did you?"

Chu Xiu smiled faintly, mobilizing the Golden Embryo Source within his body, and the True Demon Blade condensed in his hand.

The next moment, the emerald green demonic blade rose and suddenly fell towards the colonel and the corrupted awakener who were charging forward!

(End of this chapter)