Zhong State, Shenmu Sect
Ancestor He never expected that the first to fall would be the frontal battlefield of the human race, as the fall of Shenmu City made the human raceâs tactics extremely precarious.
Now they are even more anxious than the demon race. What is more important than cutting off the demon raceâs retreat, if they die, it doesnât matter if the demon race is wiped out.
"Ancestor Wu, howâs the situation?"
"The demon race has already taken over the outskirts of Shenmu SectâŠ"
"I know more about that than you. Iâm asking about Yun State, what does Cao Ying say?"
"Cao Ying refuses to come to Zhong State."
"How dare she, how dare sheâŠ"
"Why be afraid, what can we do?"
Wu Zilin said coldly, he was also very angry, the deteriorating situation on the battlefield made him unable to calm down, the Yun State is not under your command, so why be afraid to come.
"What should we do, Taoist Friend Wu, if Cao Ying doesnât come, we will all die."
"I donât know what to do either."
Wu Zilin shook his head, feeling confused, they had run out of ideas, they had tried every method, but their strength was no match for the demon clan, and any strategies were useless.
"Are we really going to seal off the mountain?"
"Sealing off the mountain is useless, Pure Jade Sect is already gone."
"Then why donât we break through, is breaking through a good idea?"
"Without Ancestor He of Shenmu Sect, you are the only one left, whatâs the use of that, are you going to abandon the ancestral legacy?"
Wu Zilin was furious. Everyone was from the same family, inheriting the family business from their ancestors. Could they really bear to give it up?
Since Wu Zilin couldnât do it, and the Danxia Sect had been passed down for so many years, if it was destroyed in his hands, how could he face his ancestors? He couldnât bear to lose that respect.
"What should we do now?"
"I have already spoken to the people from the Qingchen Sword Sect. They agreed to withdraw, and move to the area near the Shenmu Sect, resisting step by stepâŠ"
"Qingchen Sword Sect is willing to leave. They are abandoning their mountain gate?"
"Do you think they are willing? They canât hold on anymore. That Demon Queen is very powerful, you just canât beat her."
Wu Zilin was speechless. Unless absolutely necessary, who would be willing to leave and hand over the mountain gate to the demon tribe? The Qingchen Sword Sect was also unable to hold on. As soon as he mentioned it, they agreed. If they could hold on, would they agree?
"Ah, Taoist Friend Wu, why is this happening?"
"How would I know?"
Wu Zilin shook his head, he didnât know why the cultivation world had become like this.
In Wu Zilinâs opinion, the cultivation world hadnât done anything major wrong. After Xia Qingshanâs strengthening, their power was even stronger than before. Although the beginning of the war was chaotic, now they were united. However, during the fighting, Tao Achieving had already lost half of their members, including his Danxia Sect.
"Friend Wu, TaoistâŠ"
"Letâs not talk about this anymore. Gather all the flying boats and head to Qingchen Sword Sect. Take as many people as possible with us, because we canât use the teleportation array for too many people."
Wu Zilin shook his head, feeling mentally exhausted. They could only do their best to evacuate people now. The remaining people huddled together for warmth, making their final struggle.
·······
"The situation has changed. Qingchen Sword Sect reached an agreement with Shenmu Sect and they have withdrawn."
"Whatâs going on? Why did Qingchen Sword Sect suddenly withdraw?"
A shocking news arrived, the high-ranking officials of the allied forces were stunned. Qingchen Sword Sect, who was resisting the demon clanâs invasion in the eastern part of Zhong State, had retreated. This undeniably disrupted their plans.
"I wasnât aware of the specific situation. Shenmu Sect didnât report any information to us. I confirmed the news myself. Just yesterday, thousands of airships from Qingchen Sword Sect appeared and took away people from various major sects in Zhong State. They captured independent cultivators and small factions. When the demon army noticed, they immediately attacked. Qingchen Sword Sect fell, with at least twenty-five deaths. However, the Demon Queen didnât stay long, and instead of advancing east, she headed south towards us."
Lin Jiang said. The big shots in Immortal Alliance are not considering others. They evacuated without informing independent cultivators and small factions, only taking their own people with them. They also lacked a proper evacuation plan.
"How much further is it?"
"We can reach Bing State in less than 30,000 miles. We are currently over 40,000 miles away. At the speed of the demon army, they could arrive in no more than two weeks."
"We need to change our plan. We canât be caught between the demon army; we must defend a strategic position."
"Yes, our family canât withstand the full force of the demon army. We must be cautious."
Lin Jiang nodded. Once they entered Bing State, they would launch attacks all around, spreading their forces. But if the troops were ambushed by Demon Queenâs forces, they would be defeated. They had to regroup.
The troops of the allied states quickly regrouped, and the Formation Masters urgently stepped in to build advanced formations. Meanwhile, Lin Jiang and others secretly headed for Zhong State.
Lin Jiang no longer trusted those Immortal Alliance scoundrels, so he needed to personally scout the battlefield to feel more confident about the situation.
"People from the Immortal Alliance are already frightened, Tao Achieving are too scared to go to battle."
Lin Jiang and Cao Ying were observing the battle in front together, and they saw a large number of monster beasts attacking the Shenmu Sectâs mountain gate. The outer perimeter of Shenmu Sectâs mountain gate has been breached, leaving only a hundred miles of the core area.
"There are too few Tao Achieving, going out would only result in being killed."
"I see that even Shenmu Sect is considering giving up. They must be using a strategy of fighting while retreating. If we are not careful and the Demon Emperor turns back on us, we will be in trouble."
"Yes, itâs a shame that Lin Die isnât on our side. Otherwise, we could take advantage of attacking the back of the monster clan."
"Donât count on her. We should be grateful if she doesnât kill us when the time comes."
Lin Jiang shook his head, not knowing if Lin Die is an enemy or a friend, how can we rely on her.
"Have there been any developments on the forty-eight Tao Achieving and the Demon Emperor that Lin Die mentioned?"
"Thereâs some information, but we canât be sure. I donât dare to risk it, if we lose the bet, youâll die."
Lin Jiang said that he had a guess about the Tao Achieving and Demon Emperor mentioned in the Lin Die, but he was afraid to gamble. If he lost the bet, Cao Ying would definitely die, just like Lin Ying.
"Iâm not afraid of death as long as you are alive."
"Little Ying, immortality is a great gift for some people, but a terrifying punishment for others, you know?"
"Is it a gift or a punishment for you?"
"I donât know, but I do know that if I lost my loved ones, I would be very unhappy."
Lin Jiang shook his head. His closest ones were still by his side, so he couldnât feel that pain now. But if Cao Ying, Lin Ying, and Small Shadiao all died, Lin Jiang would be extremely sad.
"Then I will try to stay alive."
"Yes."
Lin Jiang nodded, determined to live on. Barring any accidents, Cao Ying would be the one who stayed with him the longest.
·······
"Boom, boom, boom"
"Enemies are attacking"
"Take positions, Formation Master take positions, quickly"
"God Slaying Crossbow ready"
"Any archers, quickly take positions"
Several days later, at the Bing Stateâs allied camp, a sudden alarm bell rang, followed by the restlessness of cultivators. Lin Jiang and others were quickly alerted and went to investigate.
Just as they ascended, they saw a fierce flame spewing towards them, luckily, they had formations to defend against it, temporarily safe.
"Nirvana Spirit Fire, is it from the Phoenix clan?"
"No, itâs Demon Queen, Golden-winged Peng Bird."
Lin Jiang saw the visitor through his eyes. It was Lin Fanghua, who originally was a Golden-winged Peng Bird. She learned the skills of the Phoenix family through a special method after marrying into the Phoenix clan.
"Demon Emperor, little Peng Bird?"
"Yes, for her grandfather."
"What should we do?"
"Letâs see first."
Lin Jiang was feeling a bit troubled. He was planning to seek help from Lin Fanghua, but now that her grandfather was killed, he didnât know what to do. He felt trapped with no way out.
Lin Fanghua transformed into her true form and relentlessly attacked outside the cultivator camp. She breathed fire, pecked with her beak, and struck with her claws. None of the campâs defenses seemed to work against her. The weapons of the cultivation world could only handle up to Soul Changing level; they were ineffective against anything higher.
"Are you just going to watch? Why arenât you fighting back?"
Zhou Huaiying said that he heard Lin Jiangâs words and thought that Lin Jiang must know the little Peng Bird.
"If you want to fight, why donât you go ahead?"
"I canât win, the little Peng Bird is the Demon Queen, very powerful."
Zhou Huaiying shook his head and said. Just watch the show, why go up there?
"Peng Bird Clanâs Lin Fanghua is here, who dares to come out and fight?"
After a while, when Lin Fanghua saw that no one from the human camp was coming out to fight and she couldnât break through the formation, she provocatively challenged them.
"Oh, Lin Fanghua, still using the Lin surname, such a coincidence."
Zhou Huaiying was even more amused, wondering if all the powerful people were surnamed Lin in the world.