readytorunbook Chapter 425 The Coalition Forces Suffered Heavy Losses
Chapter 425 The Coalition Forces Suffered Heavy Losses
Chapter 425: Heavy Losses for the Allied Forces
Outside the protective mountain formation, hurricane winds howled and thunder rained down. Countless transparent and colorless flame dragons rolled and converged, forming an immense ocean of high-temperature purgatory. Under such might, even the structure of the void's laws showed signs of instability.
Looking up, a black and white intertwined, indescribably massive sky curtain enveloped the surroundings. The power of stars, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the Spirit Inspiring Dao Rhyme within a radius of billions of miles were all devoured and plundered, transformed into surging world-incinerating divine flames and destructive thunder pouring down, layer by layer annihilating the thick protective curtain of the mountain formation.
That is the Innate Primordial Supreme Treasure, the Four Symbols Heavenly Diagram, the treasured weapon of the Absolute Beginning Dao Palace.
Although the Beast King Gui Long and the others did not borrow the Monster Emperor Sword, the situation of the Absolute Beginning Dao Palace was different. Even though time was running out, the prestige of Supreme Sect's head, Lu Ye Ming, was still intact. Therefore, he successfully brought this treasure from the sect, along with a large number of elders and elite troops, to assist in the battle.
After all, the Absolute Beginning Dao Palace, which had encountered one disaster after another, could no longer endure. The current plan was to quickly break through the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace's main altar, capture Qin Muling for sacrifice, and possibly resolve this unprecedented crisis of extermination.
In the core area of the allied forces' camp.
"...The power of the Four Symbols Heavenly Diagram, this treasured weapon, is indeed well-deserved. However, breaking through this mountain formation is still not an easy task," said the Beast King Chan Wu Ji, his hands behind his back, observing the mountain formation below that had turned into a sea of purgatory fire. The spectacle seemed truly terrifying, but the damage caused to the protective curtain of the mountain formation was not as significant as expected.
After all, this was a large formation composed of multiple Innate Primordial Supreme Treasures and hundreds of Innate Spiritual Treasures. Moreover, several top experts at the Three Corpse Unified Harmony level were presiding over it. How could it be easily broken?
Defense is always easier than offense, and this principle applies in the cultivation world as well.
Lu Ye Ming smiled calmly, "Without any internal traitors, it is not easy to break through any Transcendent Level force's mountain formation. What we can do now is slowly wear them down. After a hundred or eighty years, we will naturally achieve our goal!"
At this point, he glanced at the Beast King Gui Long and spoke with a meaningful tone, "Of course, if your side can lend us the Monster Emperor Sword as soon as possible, it would greatly help us establish a winning situation! Otherwise, with our current means, it will be difficult to deal with the Female Cultivators Union Alliance."
The Beast King Gui Long's eyes flickered. With the mind of an old monster who had lived for many years, he naturally understood the implications behind Lu Ye Ming's words.
In this comprehensive war, the Absolute Beginning Dao Palace had sent out all its high-level members, but on the side of the Monster Emperor Kingdom, apart from these Beast King giants leading the way, the supreme Monster Emperor himself had never appeared. The difference in status between the two sides was obvious.
Originally, if they had the Monster Emperor Sword and other such treasures in their hands, it could partially make up for this disparity. But now... it was no wonder Lu Ye Ming had doubts about their status and authority.
The Beast King Chan Wu Ji snorted, "This is not a big problem. Our new wave of reinforcements will arrive soon, and as for the Monster Emperor Sword, it won't be long before it comes. Even Her Majesty herself will personally come!"
Lu Ye Ming chuckled, "If that's the case, then it couldn't be better!"
Regardless of whether this guy was bluffing or not, Lu Ye Ming didn't care too much. He naturally had an understanding of the internal power struggles within the Monster Emperor Kingdom.
It would be best if the Ten-tailed Celestial Fox didn't come. When they broke through the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace's main altar, both sides could divide the spoils. The Absolute Beginning Dao Palace could take control of Qin Muling immediately and also seize as many rich additional benefits as possible.
The relationship between different sects and forces in the cultivation world is similar to that between countries. The so-called friendship does not exist; only interests are eternal.
Therefore, Lu Ye Ming was already considering how to suppress the opponent's counterattack after the two sides turned against each other.
Beast King was about to speak when a sudden sense of danger arose in his heart.
Without any warning, a shadowy image of a three-legged, six-eared, ancient-looking dark golden cauldron appeared in the core area of the Beast Race camp. Within the cauldron, several graceful and terrifying figures emerged, exuding a dreadful aura. The protective formations and restrictions along the way seemed to be nonexistent.
"Quick, get out of the way!" Beast King roared, wielding a fierce and menacing battle axe that seemed to be condensed from blood-red light. He exerted all his strength and slashed towards the dark golden cauldron. The remaining powerful Beast Kings also made their moves to intercept, but it was too late!
Countless chaotic sword qi surged out, followed by substantial waves of silver, and numerous palm-sized green jade lotus flowers flew in the sky, cutting through the void. Wherever they passed, many high-ranking Beast Race members were crushed, both in body and soul, screaming and perishing.
The Great Palace Master, Immortal Venerable Qing Yao, and the three top experts, Quiet Brahman, Heavenly Lady, and Immortal Venerable Qing Yao, exerted their full strength. With the power of the Void Divine Cauldron of the Other Shore, they broke through the multiple defensive formations of the Beast Race camp and launched a massacre in the core area.
"You despicable people! How dare you be so arrogant?" Beast King Ju Mang scolded angrily, summoning his own Innate Spiritual Treasure. A shadowy image of a towering divine wood, thousands of miles thick and of unknown height, appeared. Countless branches and leaves extended in all directions, stabilizing the previously crumbling void structure and calming the raging earth, fire, and water.
For a moment, it seemed that the dark golden cauldron was being restrained by it. Immediately, many elder Beast Kings rushed over, attacking with various Innate Spiritual Treasures and Divine Abilities.
Immortal Venerable Qing Yao sneered. This thing, Ju Mang's treasure, seemed to be a Peerless Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, with decent power. However, in front of the Void Divine Cauldron of the Other Shore, it was just a joke.
"Buzz~"
As if the Great Dao was trembling, the shadowy image of the three-legged, six-eared dark golden cauldron flickered slightly and disappeared from its original position, leaving the Beast Kings' angry counterattacks in vain.
Beast King looked around in confusion. His powerful divine sense swept through the surrounding billions of miles of void, and he saw that the dark golden cauldron had indeed escaped. Only then did he slightly relax and turn back to assess the losses of the Beast Race members.
"There...!"
The horrified and desperate roar abruptly stopped as Beast King suddenly looked up. He saw that in another direction, the shadowy image of the three-legged, six-eared dark golden cauldron reappeared, followed by countless hazy sword shadows enveloping the area. A chilling killing intent filled the void, and wherever they passed, flesh and blood flew, and cries of misery filled the air.
"Die!" Beast King roared loudly. In his blood-red eyes, countless black chains resembling venomous snakes appeared out of thin air, intertwining into a burning cage that trapped the entire shadowy image of the dark golden cauldron.
However, it was all in vain. In just a few breaths, the shadowy image of the dark golden cauldron broke free and disappeared once again, leaving a mess behind. None of the attacks from the Beast Kings seemed to have any effect on it.
In two attacks that lasted less than ten breaths, many ordinary Quasi-Saint Emperors were killed, and hundreds of Beast Race Taiyi and Great Principal Golden Immortals had their souls annihilated. The number of injured Beast Race immortals was ten times that.
"You bastards! Such bastards..." Beast King Ju Mang cursed in frustration. Although the losses seemed insignificant, the fact that they were being beaten without being able to fight back was extremely frustrating.
"Something seems off!"
The Sect Master Lu Yeming, who had been observing silently, asked in confusion, "What is the origin of this dark golden cauldron? It can ignore the barriers of multiple formations and freely enter and exit our camp. Moreover, it can withstand the combined counterattacks of Fellow Daoists. Could its grade be extremely high?"
The Absolute Beginning Dao Palace was covered by the Four Elephant Heavenly Diagram, and there were also numerous Innate Spiritual Treasures in the allied camp serving as the hub of the formations and restrictions. In theory, even a powerful Three Corpse Unified Harmony expert would not be able to easily break in like this.
Beside him, the deputy sect leader, Lan Qin, softly said, "Even if it is an Innate Primordial Supreme Treasure, it seems impossible for it to possess such heaven-defying means, unless..."
"Unless what?"
Beast King Chan Wuji impatiently asked. It was already so late, and these human bastards still wanted to keep them in suspense?
Lu Yeming coldly said, "Unless it possesses Innate Primordial Treasure Seal Restrictions of forty-six levels or above, and it must be a supreme treasure that contains the laws of spatial dao. Only then can it possibly render all our formation restrictions ineffective."
"How... how is that possible..."
Dragon Qi Emperor, who had remained silent before, widened his beautiful eyes and said incredulously, "Whether it's the Divine Phoenix Palace or the Buddha Domain Pure Land, we have never heard of them possessing such a treasure before. Where did this thing come from? Did they only obtain it from the depths of the chaotic void in recent years? Why haven't we received any news?"
In the upper realm, the number of Innate Primordial Supreme Treasures is limited, and what kind of treasures each faction possesses is actually a semi-public secret. Due to the immense power of these treasures, each additional one has the potential to change the strategic balance of power between different Transcendent Level forces. Therefore, those powerful beings are particularly sensitive to information in this regard.
The power of this three-legged and six-eared dark golden cauldron is truly unimaginable. At least in terms of defensive capabilities and the ability to traverse space, there seems to be no greater treasure in existence.
"No matter where it came from, we now..."
Before Lu Yeming could finish speaking, a flash of golden light appeared at the edge of their vision, followed by countless sword qi mixed with ripples sweeping through the void, and then a continuous stream of screams.
By the time the Beast Kings went crazy and launched their counterattacks, the detestable shadow of the dark golden cauldron had long disappeared without a trace. Only a large number of incomplete corpses and injured Beast Race remained in the void.
In the following three months, the Grand Palace Master, Immortal Venerable Qing Yao, and others took turns controlling the Void Divine Cauldron of the Other Shore, launching numerous assassination operations outside the protective barrier of the mountain guarding formation, causing significant losses to the coalition forces.
Guilong, Lu Yeming, and other powerful beings joined forces multiple times to intercept, trying various hidden methods, but they were always unable to do anything against this mysterious dark golden cauldron.
Even the Four Symbols Heavenly Diagram, with its sealing and defensive capabilities, was far from enough against this dark golden cauldron, as it only had thirty-eight levels of Innate Primordial Treasure Seal Restrictions.
Apart from that, there was no second Innate Primordial Supreme Treasure available in the coalition forces.
Of course, the main hall of the Absolute Beginning Dao Palace still had two even more powerful treasures, but they couldn't be easily used because they had to protect the foundation.
The Monster Emperor Kingdom also had an Innate Primordial Supreme Treasure, but unfortunately, the Ten-tailed Celestial Fox wouldn't let go, and the Beast Kings could only watch helplessly.
After persisting for more than half a month, seeing their own casualties increasing, Beast King Guilong no longer had the mood to get angry. He could only grit his teeth and order a temporary halt to the offensive, retracting their formation and strengthening their defense.
After weighing the situation, Lu Yeming also chose to retrieve the Four Symbols Heavenly Diagram and strengthen the defense of their own camp. The previous counterattacks by the Female Cultivators Union Alliance were mainly aimed at the Monster Emperor Kingdom, but no one could guarantee that their next major target wouldn't be the immortals of the Absolute Beginning Dao Palace.
"... Is it finally quiet? I thought they would hold on for a while longer."
Inside the Void Divine Cauldron of the Other Shore, Qin Muling looked at the coalition forces that had stopped their offensive and started to retreat, feeling somewhat unsatisfied as she spoke.
Venerable Qing Yao smiled and said, "Countless Great Principles and Taiyi Golden Immortals have perished. Even for Transcendent Level forces, this loss is enough to make them feel the pain! Moreover, these powers belong to their own ethnic groups. If they suffer too much damage, how can they ensure their own influence in the Monster Emperor's kingdom?"
Qin Muling nodded and said, "That's true. So now... let's go cultivate for a while? We'll help you recover the lifespan you've lost."
"Alright, we'll deal with them once we've recovered!" Immortal Venerable Qing Yao said with a smile.
Even with the protection of the Void Divine Cauldron of the Other Shore and the support of the Innate Primordial Good Fortune Azure Lotus, frequent attacks under the watchful eyes of several Apex Level experts still posed a great risk. Therefore, the Female Cultivators Union Alliance had encountered dangerous situations before. They had dealt with them by consuming their lifespan to increase their combat power. As a result, they had lost dozens of Yuan Hui in lifespan, and their physical bodies and divine souls had also suffered some injuries.
Of course, this was not a big problem for Qin Muling. He could recover in just a few days of cultivation.
Two days later, the women, who had returned to their peak state, launched another attack, repeating their previous killing spree and continuously bleeding the allied forces.
After a month, a considerable number of Quasi-Saint Emperors and Great Principle-level powerhouses from the two Transcendent Level forces had perished, while the Female Cultivators Union Alliance had suffered almost no losses. Apart from the consumption of the superior spirit veins that supported the mountain protection formation, there were no casualties among the female cultivators.
At this time, the state of Sect Master Lu Yeming had become unsustainable. His luck had weakened to the extreme, to the point where his Dao Foundation showed signs of collapse. His cultivation level had also declined to that of an ordinary Quasi-Saint Emperor, and any means of concealment were ineffective.
Not only him, but more than ten high-ranking elders and Saint Daughters within the sect were in the same state. Their luck was exhausted, and their deaths were imminent.
Reluctantly, under the strong demand of the elders, Lu Yeming had no choice but to agree to return to the sect's headquarters in the Upper Realm and convene a high-level meeting, relinquishing his power and retiring in disappointment.
As a result, the third Supreme Sect Master of the Absolute Beginning Dao Palace in recent years, Ji Yungui, emerged. The vacant positions of the core elders and Saint Daughters were also filled one by one.
As for how long this guy could hold the position of Sect Master, no one could say for sure.
Of course, Qin Muling didn't care about this at all. He was still with Venerable Qing Yao, the Great Palace Master, and the Venerable Qing Yao, frequently using the Void Divine Cauldron of the Other Shore to attack and gradually wear down the living forces of the allied forces.
In each attack, the number of high-level immortals who perished was not particularly high. However, this slow and painful bleeding strategy was the most painful for the high-level members of the allied forces.
After enduring for another two months, the number of senior Quasi-Saint Emperors from the Beast Race who perished had reached a level that even the Beast Kings could not bear.
In fact, in the history of wars between Transcendent Level forces, it was not like this at all. Strong cultivators above the Quasi-Saint Emperor level were not so easily killed, and even among the immortals below the Great Principle level, the casualty numbers would not be so exaggerated.
However, when facing the Female Cultivators Union Alliance, the high-level members of the two Transcendent Level forces were frustrated to find that they seemed to have lost the ability to fight!
Seeing that this kind of attrition was not a solution at all, under the proposal of the newly appointed Sect Master Ji Yungui, the high-level members of the allied forces requested a ceasefire negotiation with the Female Cultivators Union Alliance.
"It's just a temporary measure, nothing more than a trick!" the Great Palace Master sneered. She didn't believe that the other side would surrender so easily. They were probably just trying to deceive the Female Cultivators Union Alliance with false promises in order to seize an opportunity for other schemes and tricks.
Immortal Venerable Qing Yao agreed, "Yes, let's not pay attention to them. We just need to continue bleeding them."
(End of this chapter)