Fantasy World: I Can Travel To Cultivation World

The western defense zone behind Guang'an Prefecture remained peaceful.

In contrast, the Eastern Defense Zone faced intense battles as the war against the zombie tide from Lotus Island erupted almost immediately.

The Eastern Defense Zone coalition, led by Zhou Mubai, didn't even have time to cultivate spiritual veins or construct city gates before being attacked by the relentless zombie tide.

Fortunately, Zhou Mubai and three Purple Mansion monks from the Zhou family turned the tide of battle, stabilizing the precarious situation.

Eventually, they managed to establish a foothold on four islands near Lotus Island.

Over the next six months, four immortal cities were built, effectively creating a blockade along the route from Lotus Island to Guang'an Prefecture.

Now, if the zombie tide from Lotus Island wanted to reach Guang'an Prefecture, it would have to breach the defense line set up by Zhou Mubai and his coalition.

For an entire month, numerous battles erupted between the two sides around the four city gates.

Countless skirmishes followed, with both sides locked in fierce combat.

One significant turning point came when Zhou Mubai seized an opportunity to annihilate tens of thousands of zombies in a single decisive strike. This forced the Sun brothers on Lotus Island to alter their strategy.

Realizing they couldn't sustain large-scale warfare, the Sun brothers shifted their focus to smaller harassment attacks.

At this point, the conflict entered a prolonged stage of attrition and a tug-of-war around the four city gates.

Each day, monks fell valiantly in front of the city gates, and countless zombies were slaughtered by the Allied monks.

However, in terms of resources and sheer numbers, the monks couldn't compete with the seemingly endless supply of corpse servants from Lotus Island.

According to reports from the Eastern Defense Zone coalition, the corpse refinement grounds on Lotus Island held at least tens of millions of zombies.

Despite the superior strength of individual monks compared to ordinary zombies, they were overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the zombie tide.

This challenge was compounded by the pervasive evil energy emanating from Lotus Island, making it nearly impossible for the coalition forces to launch a counteroffensive.

It's important to note that the entire Eastern Defense Zone coalition had only about 900,000 soldiers, the majority of whom were cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage.

Zhou Mubai wasn't certain how many Foundation Establishment zombies were currently on Lotus Island.

If his suspicions were correct and the island had the capability to mass-produce Foundation Establishment zombies, rushing in recklessly would be a grave mistake.

Last time, he and Luis had managed to fight their way off Lotus Island because the opposing side only had five Purple Mansion zombies.

If there had been ten or twenty more of them, or if the battle had dragged on further, Zhou Mubai's spiritual power would have been depleted. In that case, both he and Luis would have perished on the island.

An island near Lotus Island

At the city gate, a monk clad in spiritual armor approached Zhou Mubai with a purposeful stride.

At this moment, Zhou Mubai, also dressed in spiritual armor, exuded a palpable aura of killing intent.

"Master Commander!"

The armored monk bowed deeply and reported, "The corpse tide at the fourth city gate has retreated."

Hearing this, Zhou Mubai gave a small nod, his clenched fists relaxing slightly.

In the city he guarded, zombies rarely dared to cause significant trouble. However, the other three city gates across nearby islands were under near-constant attack from the zombie tide emanating from Lotus Island.

The reason was simple: the Zhou family's other cultivators didn't have the same level of deterrence as Zhou Mubai.

It wouldn't have been as difficult if the zombies on Lotus Island were just mindless, sinister creatures.

But they had commanders—two of them.
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Every time Zhou Mubai thought of this, he couldn't help but regret it.

He should have pushed himself to kill the white-faced zombie he had clashed with during the earlier battles.

He knew that the coalition was now struggling largely because of that creature, which was orchestrating their every move.

It had all been premeditated. The group led by the Sun brothers had meticulously planned every step.

They started by intercepting and attacking the Wu family's cargo ship, drawing the attention of Guang'an Prefecture. Then, they seized the opportunity to launch a surprise assault on the Zhao family, slaughtering them entirely.

Even the ambush on the Zhou family cultivators investigating the situation seemed more like a calculated act of convenience.

Had Zhou Mubai and Luis not been there that day, the Zhou family cultivators would have undoubtedly been killed.

Zhou Mubai was sure of it.

He also firmly believed that the Sun brothers' attack on the Zhao family was not an impulsive decision but part of a larger, calculated strategy.

The coalition forces in the Eastern Defense Zone were desperately in need of supplies, particularly two critical elixirs: Detoxification Pills and Evil Breaking Pills.

If the Zhao family were still around, they would undoubtedly be able to provide the coalition forces with vital medicinal resources.

But unfortunately, the Zhao family was no more.

Although the Zhou family was also a prominent alchemy family, they alone could not supply the Eastern Defense Zone coalition with sufficient medicine.

Without Detoxification Pills or Evil-Breaking Pills, the danger faced by Qi Refining Stage monks when battling zombies increased drastically—by more than two levels.

Many monks didn't die from zombie attacks themselves but succumbed later to the effects of corpse poison.

This situation left Zhou Mubai deeply frustrated.

Yet, there was little he could do.

While his power was formidable—capable of wiping out tens of thousands of zombies in a single explosive attack—that was his upper limit. Even then, it required the enemy to present an opportunity.

Since the enemy realized how fearsome Zhou Mubai was, they rarely launched large-scale attacks. Instead, they resorted to persistent small-scale harassment.

No matter how powerful Zhou Mubai was, it was impossible for him to manage four islands and their numerous battlefields simultaneously.

"Master Commander,"

Wu Guangyi, clad in spiritual armor, hesitated slightly before speaking.

"The elixirs shipped from Guang'an Prefecture have run out again."

"What?" Zhou Mubai frowned as he turned to face him. "It's only been a few days. How have we run out so quickly?"

Wu Guangyi offered a wry smile, his expression grim. "Commander, this month, the first, second, and fourth city gates have all endured over ten harassment battles each.

"Every day, these three gates consume at least 10,000 pills. With the current rate of refining in Guang'an Prefecture, it's simply not enough!"

Zhou Mubai inhaled deeply, his frustration evident. "They're draining our military's logistics," he said gravely.

He understood all too well that this was an intentional strategy by the zombies from Lotus Island.

Once the Eastern Defense Zone coalition's supplies were exhausted, the monks would become vulnerable.

Without Detoxification Pills, Evil-Breaking Pills, or Energy-Restoring Pills, the sustained combat capability of Qi Refining Stage monks would plummet.

When that happened, the balance of victory would inevitably tilt toward the zombies of Lotus Island.

In a battle of attrition, how could human monks hope to compete with an endless horde of organized, obedient zombies?

To make matters worse, the coalition forces had to burn the bodies of their fallen comrades after every battle to prevent them from becoming new additions to the enemy ranks.

Even so, there were still instances where the bodies of Qi Refining Stage soldiers were snatched away by the enemy.

If logistics could not be secured, such incidents would only become more frequent.

In the end, the enemy's numbers would grow, while their own forces dwindled. How could they possibly continue fighting this war under such conditions?

"No! We can't go on like this!" Zhou Mubai's eyes narrowed as a grim determination settled over him.

At the current rate of consumption, the four city gates wouldn't hold for more than ten years before every monk was exhausted.

But what troubled him even more wasn't just the dwindling resources—it was the issue of morale.

Zombies felt no fear. They existed only to obey their master's orders.

But monks were different.

Faced with heavy casualties and insufficient supplies, fear would creep into their hearts. Some might even choose to desert.

If the logistics problem persisted, Zhou Mubai estimated that deserters would begin to appear in the Eastern Defense Zone within a year at most.

For now, morale remained high—soldiers were earning military merits by killing zombies, and casualties were relatively low. Everyone still felt a sense of accomplishment.

But when the supplies ran out, and the casualties skyrocketed, even the lure of military merits wouldn't be enough to quell the fear of war.

We need to request support from the rear.

At the very least, the rear lines must ensure that logistical resources for the front line are secured.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Mubai strode toward a palace within the city gates.

This palace served as the headquarters of the Eastern Defense Zone Coalition Forces.

The interior was sparsely decorated. The only item of note was the communication formation situated at its center—a vital tool for coordinating with other regions.

Zhou Mubai approached the formation with steady steps.

Standing before it, he activated the formation and sent a message to Zhou Minghao in Zhou Main City.