Sage of Humanity

Kill the enemy, regroup, set off, kill again, regroup…

The number of people in our team continued to grow; around the outer perimeter, all Haotian Alliance cultivators who received the news were converging towards this area. Some made it successfully, while others encountered ambushes, suffering heavy losses.

The Spirit Stream Defense Battle had never developed like this before.

In previous Spirit Stream Defense Battles, even when cultivators from the same camp cooperated, at most they would form a squad of no more than ten people. After all, with more people, many things could become chaotic, and it wasn't easy to distribute the spoils of war, the good things found, and merits and such.

But this time, under the pressure created by Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, the entire Haotian Alliance had been mobilized.

A proper Spirit Stream Defense Battle was forcibly turned into a war by both sides' cultivators.

In the beginning, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge didn't realize the severity of the situation. The active troops of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge were all advancing triumphantly, sweeping everything before them. In their minds, with the role played by the bone fragments, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had already gained absolute superiority.

After the final merging of the provincial state, all they needed to do was to wipe out the remaining enemies, and the entire provincial state would be theirs.

However, as time passed, and messages were continuously relayed and fermented, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge suddenly found that there was a Haotian Alliance squad with hundreds of cultivators, continuously sweeping around the outer circle. Multiple Ten Thousand Demons Ridge squads had encountered them, each time suffering heavy casualties.

The situation was different from what they had expected. Not only had Ten Thousand Demons Ridge failed to control the situation, they were instead being beaten into a retreat.

Squads of varying numbers from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge also began to converge, but by now, gathering enough manpower to contend with the Haotian Alliance was obviously no longer possible.

After several days of extermination and slaughter, the original numerical advantage of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had vanished. Around the perimeter, it was the Haotian Alliance that now had the numerical upper hand.

The situation eventually evolved into both sides' cultivators chasing and fleeing around the outer perimeter of the provincial state.

On the sixth day after the formation of the provincial state, the weary Haotian Alliance cultivators stopped. The number of cultivators in our camp had already reached a thousand.

These cultivators were not only from the original outer areas but also those who had run out from closer to the inner circle. Their cultivation could be Level 8, Level 9, and there were even those who had switched to cultivating Heaven Rank techniques…

Recently, their days had not been easy. Under the pursuit and killing by the strong cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, they had made a sorry escape. Hearing that their own camp was doing well in the outer circle, they came to seek refuge. Of course, everyone welcomed them.

Although under the tuning of Heaven's Augury, these cultivators with profound cultivation, once in the outer circle, could display strength that was not much different from everyone else, having one more person always meant additional strength.

Otherwise, relying solely on the survival rate of the outer circle cultivators at present, it would have been impossible to exceed a thousand in number.

The numbers continued to increase, as Haotian Alliance cultivators continuously ran out from the inner parts of the provincial state. In past Spirit Stream Defense Battles, these high-level cultivators would only operate in areas where they could fully utilize their strength and would not easily go to areas where low-level cultivators were active.

This is the same reason why cultivators of Cloud River Realm and True Lake Realm generally would not force their way into the Spirit Stream battlefield.

Cultivation is difficult. If you die at the hands of an enemy of the same level, you can only blame your lack of skill. But if you are carelessly killed by someone with much lower cultivation, death the dying cultivator would not rest in peace.

Within the Spirit Stream battlefield, there had been a precedent where a True Lake Realm strong cultivator was slain by someone from the Spirit Stream Realm, resulting in that sect losing face and becoming a laughingstock within the cultivation world.

Right now, the Haotian Alliance was pursuing a group of about six hundred Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators—the only ones left from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge on the outskirts.

The reason they stopped was that some intelligence had been relayed by ghost cultivators who were temporarily acting as scouts.

Among the six factions of cultivators, each had their strengths. Ghost cultivators were the fastest runners and were adept at infiltration, assassination, tracking, and so on. Naturally, the tasks of scouting the enemy's intelligence and tracking their movements fell on the ghost cultivators.

Furthermore, the Haotian Alliance's forces had expanded to a thousand people. Considering this was a war, a temporary decision-making circle was elected by the people several days ago. This circle was made up of nine individuals, representing the Nine Provincial States.

The strength of these nine people was no stronger than others, and it was all about the prestige of their sects and their own connections. Eight of them came from 7th grade sects, with the only exception being Lu Ye who came from a 9th grade sect, representing Bingzhou, and also had the lowest cultivation.

But no one objected because the current situation the Haotian Alliance found itself in could be said to have developed step by step around the two people from the Righteous Blood Sect. Without Lu Ye and Hua Ci's various ingenious methods, the Haotian Alliance might have long lost the capital to compete with Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

At this moment, the nine individuals gathered in one place, standing at a high point, looking into the distance.

A young-looking cultivator said, "According to the intelligence transmitted by the ghost cultivators, quite a few people from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge have also run over from the inner circle to join them. Right now, their numbers are around eight hundred, and they're regrouping. It looks like they intend to fight us in a decisive battle."

In recent days, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge was truly infuriated. Somehow, their great advantage had turned out like this, and they were being chased by the Haotian Alliance like dogs, which was extremely frustrating.

Seeing that the remnants of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge left on the outskirts no longer had the strength to contend with the Haotian Alliance, the inner circle cultivators couldn't sit still. They pulled together some manpower to join their lower-level cultivators, preparing to confront the Haotian Alliance. After the two squads merged, they had a number around eight hundred.

With that, the difference in numbers between the cultivators of the two factions wasn't that significant anymore. Even though the Haotian Alliance had some advantages, in an actual battle, they wouldn't be able to gain much ground.

Moreover, the cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge weren't just waiting idly on their side. They would be setting up various measures as well, such as having array cultivators set up formations. As long as they had enough time, they could establish all kinds of formations on that side, wait comfortably, and reduce the disadvantage of having fewer numbers.

If the Haotian Alliance dared to attack, they would surely suffer heavy casualties.

Under normal circumstances, neither side would dare to make any rash moves in such a situation.

But the ghost cultivators discovered another interesting thing, which was the position Ten Thousand Demons Ridge currently occupied.

After the young man finished speaking, he turned his head toward Lu Ye, "Junior Brother Yiye, don't you find that location somewhat familiar?"

Lu Ye was already using his full Ocular Power to observe that direction, comparing the terrain around him, and even considering the position of the sun overhead. He nodded and said, "That's the very Chess Island we were on before!"

He and Hua Ci had arrived at the Chess Sea and appeared there. They had stayed for nearly twenty days, so they were more familiar with the location than anyone else. Many times, they had stood on the high points there to observe their surroundings. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"Does that mean we've circled back to where we started?" A short-statured man rubbed his head.

The young man smiled, "Exactly, we've come full circle."

"I get it!" another woman's eyes shone, "It's the Spirit Gathering Array that Junior Brother Yiye left behind! These Ten Thousand Demons Ridge bastards have been fleeing all this time and have expended a lot of energy. Suddenly finding such a feng shui treasure ground, of course they wouldn't want to leave. Staying there, they would recover faster, no wonder they dared to stop."

Lu Ye had a strange expression on his face. After the final merging of Chess Island, they had decided to take the initiative and attack. The various measures he and Hua Ci had set up were all left on the island. Unexpectedly, these measures now served as a reason for the enemy to stay.

This was truly a case of ignoring the open gates of heaven to break through the nonexistent doors of hell!

If the people of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge continued to flee, the Haotian Alliance really wouldn't have much chance of doing anything. But of all places, they chose to stay there.

"Junior Brother Yiye, you have really made a great contribution this time!" the female cultivator exclaimed excitedly.

"My friends, the time has come for us to elevate the might of our Haotian Alliance," the young man's demeanor became solemn, "We should not delay. I think we should immediately initiate an attack on them. What do you all think?"

What else could they think? Everyone agreed, and the sooner the better, for if they delayed, the enemy's preparations would become increasingly formidable.

This battle might be the last large-scale clash between the two factions. The number of participants could approach two thousand. If everything went smoothly, then in the outer circle, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge wouldn't have the strength to stand against the Haotian Alliance anymore.

To inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible, they would need to plan carefully.

The nine of them gathered and discussed plans, when Lu Ye suddenly checked his battlefield marking and received a message.

A moment later, he frowned, "Everyone, that may be a trap over there."

"What do you mean?" they all looked towards him.

"My Fourth Senior Brother just sent me a message. He found a group of about three hundred Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators lurking in a jungle, seemingly waiting for something. Judging from their position, they are only about twenty li from us! And those people are likely to have gathered from the inner circle."

Upon hearing this, they exchanged glances, immediately realizing Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's intentions.

The message came from Li Baxian, so it was unlikely to be incorrect.

If three hundred reinforcements from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge arrived during a major battle, they could easily catch the Haotian Alliance off guard.

"Have they discovered the arrangements we left behind?" They immediately thought of this possibility.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "That's unlikely. The mushrooms Hua Ci planted are real mushrooms, and even if the people from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge notice them, they wouldn't think too much of it as Hua Ci's measures have not been exposed.

Moreover, even if they do sense something unusual about the mushrooms, with Senior Brother Loo's mechanisms in play, we could still compensate in time. So, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge is simply looking to calculate against us."

"In that case, let's use their plan against them!"

Soon, a plan was developed. Lu Ye also contacted Li Baxian to keep an eye on that three-hundred-strong troop and communicate with him at any time.

Li Baxian had no objections; after all, he also came to seek refuge with Lu Ye. When he first entered the Chess Sea, he had stated that he would find Lu Ye after the provincial state was established. At the time, he thought he would be able to protect Lu Ye, but events had unfolded in an unexpected manner.

Now running to Lu Ye, he actually needed Lu Ye's protection, which made him, as a senior brother, feel slightly embarrassed.