Chapter 1354 (Raw 1344 Repeat): Decisive Battle Approaching
While Xiao Chen guarded the two ladies working on merging the sabers, certain events unfolded in the Kunlun Continent"s Tianwu Domain.
Right now, no ordinary people remained in Supreme Sky Province, the territory of the Supreme Sky Sect. The Supreme Sky Sect had moved them to other places.
Likewise, the surrounding few provinces did not have any ordinary people left, either. Naturally, the reason went without saying.
The war between the Three Holy Lands and the Supreme Sky Sect had already progressed from the initial skirmishes to all-out war. With such a large scale, it affected the area thousands of kilometers around the province. Ordinary people would have difficulty surviving.
The Supreme Sky Sect had sent their disciples to guard all the cities of various sizes in Supreme Sky Province.
If one looked from the sky, they would discover a gargantuan formation spreading outwards with Supreme Sky City as the center.
There were formations within formations, layers over layers. All in all, there was a total of eighteen layers of formations.
The cities, mountains, and rivers were the important nodes of the formations. These nodes were where the Supreme Sky Sect fought with the Three Holy Lands. If the Three Holy Lands wanted to break the formations, they needed to destroy these various nodes first.
However, if the Supreme Sky Sect wanted to protect the sect, they needed to defend as many nodes as they could. One could imagine the intensity of the battles.
The center of the many layers of formations, the place they guarded, was Supreme Sky City, where the Supreme Sky Sect was located. That was the land where the Luck of the sect was anch.o.r.ed.
Once Supreme Sky City was destroyed, the fate of the entire sect would shatter. Its Luck would no longer exist. All the sect disciples would be affected.
Fortunately, while the Three Holy Lands pressed hard, they managed to break only the outer three layers of the eighteen formations. Furthermore, the Supreme Sky Sect even organized counterattacks. The fights were fierce.
The disciples of the White Emperor City, the Phoenix"s Pa.s.sion Palace, and the Divine Martial Gate were densely stationed all about the border of Supreme Sky Province. They all wore uniforms of different colors.
An uncountable number of wars.h.i.+ps filled the sky, blocking out the sun, casting a vast shadow.
Amid the many wars.h.i.+ps were three incredibly huge Emperor Grade wars.h.i.+ps—the Divine Tiger Wars.h.i.+p, the Divine Phoenix Wars.h.i.+p, and the Divine Tortoise Wars.h.i.+p.
These were the flags.h.i.+ps of the Three Holy Lands and could be used for both offense and defense. However, up to now, the Three Holy Lands kept these as their trump cards and rarely used them.
On the Divine Phoenix Wars.h.i.+p of the Phoenix"s Pa.s.sion Palace, the three Holy Masters gathered together. The Martial Emperors of the various Holy Lands stood behind their respective Holy Masters, exuding heavy baleful auras.
A careful look would find that each Holy Land had at least ten Martial Emperors. Their deep acc.u.mulations were clear to see.
Despite such strength, none of the many Martial Emperors evinced any c.o.c.kiness. Instead, they had grave expressions, making the current atmosphere feel very suppressive.
The White Tiger Holy Master sighed, "Three months have pa.s.sed already. The total of all the Martial Emperors from our sects that died is already more than five. As for quasi-Emperors and Martial Sages, even more died, an uncountable number. Unexpectedly, this Supreme Sky Sect is so difficult to deal with."
Under the pressure of the three Holy Masters, aside from the Thunder Sovereign"s Thunder and Lightning Palace, no other sect in the entire Tianwu Domain dared to support the Supreme Sky Sect.
However, the Supreme Sky Sect possessed a Prime, so no sect dared to take the risk of attacking the Supreme Sky Sect with the Three Holy Lands, either.
Even if the Supreme Sky Sect were destroyed, it would be easy to figure out that the Supreme Sky Prime would definitely survive. Likewise, he would have the ability to take revenge on them. Aside from the Three Holy Lands, which had deep acc.u.mulations, no other sect dared to offend a Prime.
The Supreme Sky Sect and the Thunder and Lightning Palace combined had only eight Martial Emperors, not even equal to one of the Holy Lands.
In terms of acc.u.mulations, these two sects were far inferior to the Three Holy Lands of the Tianwu Domain.
Unfortunately for the Three Holy Lands, the Supreme Sky Sect had a Prime. The three Holy Masters had to work together before they could fight on equal footing with Ying Zongtian. Furthermore, Ying Zongtian could leave any time he wanted; they could not delay him at all.
On top of that, the Supreme Sky Sect held the geographical advantage and had defensive formations. Between the attackers and defenders, clearly, the attackers would be under more pressure.
For the past three months, even though the Three Holy Lands held the upper hand, suppressing the Supreme Sky Sect until it could not counterattack, they could not defeat the Supreme Sky Sect, either.
Instead, the Three Holy Lands suffered heavy losses. More than five Martial Emperors had died.
The Three Holy Lands were suffering unspeakably. If they continued to attack, even if they destroyed the Supreme Sky Sect, they would suffer grievous losses.
They simply could not afford the loss. However, the Three Holy Masters, who had joined the Deity Dao Union, were left with no other choice. The arrow already left the bow; there was no taking it back. They needed to take down the Supreme Sky Sect.
"Why are the Deity Dao Union"s people not here yet?" a Phoenix"s Pa.s.sion Palace"s elder asked very unhappily. They joined the Deity Dao Union over two months ago, but they still had not seen any reinforcements.
These words echoed what many of the elders were thinking. All of them were worried that the next to fall might be themselves.
The stronger one was, the more one treasured their life.
Although the Three Holy Lands toned down their attacks after joining the Deity Dao Union, Martial Emperors still occasionally fell. It was hard to avoid feeling fear.
The Vermilion Bird Holy Master said, "There is no need for you to worry about this. The organization of the Deity Dao Union requires some time. They need to discuss how to split the benefits and be wary of the Fiend Race"s Spirit Fox King, as well as some unstable factors of the Ghost Race.
"The Deity Dao Union is just not making a move yet. When they do, they will definitely destroy the Supreme Sky Sect."
Suddenly, the expression of the Vermilion Bird Holy Master, who was speaking, changed. He closed his eyes as though he was communicating with someone.
After a while, the Vermilion Bird Holy Master opened his eyes, showing joy on his face. "Pa.s.s down the orders. Tell all the Holy Land cultivators to stop attacking and just defend the nodes that we already occupy. For three days, do not make any move. Just turtle up and defend."
The moment these words were spoken, they triggered shocked discussions among all the elders present.
"Holy Master, is the Deity Dao Union on their way?" someone could not resist asking.
The Vermilion Bird Holy Master said indifferently, "There is no need to ask so much. You will know everything after three days. All of you can withdraw. Just wait quietly for news."
Although these elders did not know what the news was, at least they did not need to fight for now. This rare rest was good news.
After these elders all left, the White Tiger Holy Master and the Black Tortoise Holy Master asked, "What did the Heaven Abandoning Deity Sovereign say? Are they going to make a move?"
The three of them were peak Ninth Heaven Sovereign Martial Emperors. They looked at the problem from different angles, from a much further viewpoint than that of those Martial Emperors who just left.
They were not anxious over the tardiness of the Deity Dao Union at all.
The Vermilion Bird Holy Master"s smile vanished. He replied sullenly, "There are two pieces of news—one good and one bad. The good news is that with the Deity Race"s interference, the internal conflicts of the Ghost Race and Corpse Race are basically settled. The formation of the Deity Dao Union is nearly complete, and they will arrive in the Tianwu Domain three days later."
"Good, that means that the Deity Dao Allied Army will definitely have experts from the Ghost Race and Corpse Race."
"What is the bad news, then?"
At the mention of bad news, the Vermilion Bird Holy Master"s expression turned somewhat unsightly. However, he still had to say it in the end. "The bad news is that the Divine Daughter Tian Youxi"s activities in the Heavenly Starry Ocean were generally a failure. That brat Xiao Chen managed to obtain the support of the many Holy Lands of the Heavenly Starry Ocean."
"What?!" the other two Holy Masters exclaimed involuntarily, somewhat shocked. The Deity Dao Union"s momentum was already formed, yet those Heavenly Starry Ocean Holy Lands actually dared to resist.
"However, fortunately, Xiao Chen did not manage to convince the Lunar Palace. Furthermore, the Lunar Palace"s Palace Master promised that as long as the Supreme Sky Sect is destroyed, they would immediately join the Deity Dao Union," the Vermilion Bird Holy Master said after a pause.
The White Tiger Holy Master smiled and said, "This Lunar Palace"s Palace Master is still as astute as ever. However, the Lunar Palace does indeed have the strength and acc.u.mulations to put forth such a condition."
The Black Tortoise Holy Master nodded slightly, agreeing with the White Tiger Holy Master"s opinion. However, when he recalled Xiao Chen, he felt it was strange. "This fellow Xiao Chen is truly the Azure Emperor"s descendant. To think that he is so horrifying! It looks like our move of cutting off all retreat and working together to make Di Wuque the one favored by Luck is the correct decision."
"That"s right. If we really let him advance to Martial Emperor, we will not be able to live. Ten thousand years ago, the Azure Emperor treated us as horses and cows. Our Three Holy Lands absolutely cannot experience this again."
A heavy murderous intent flashed in the Vermilion Bird Holy Master"s eyes. His voice was cold as he continued, "Hence, we must destroy this Supreme Sky Sect. We must cut off his Luck and make sure he can never advance to Martial Emperor!"