Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery
Chapter 1029 - 998 West Desert, has always been the ancient homeland of the Human Race

The armies arrange like clouds, thundering as they move.

One after another, Bright Great Halls, resplendent halos, and visions of sword clouds unfold in the sky, flying through the air with neither haste nor delay. From afar, they resembled gods on patrol, purging the sins of the mortal world.

As they passed, evil spirits and monsters were eradicated, and demons and ghosts cowered, daring not to stir any trouble.

Unconsciously, amidst the trembling of countless Cultivators and demons, Tushan Central Court's army had been marching for several years.

Jiang Ding, closed his eyes, meditating in the Sect of Liudao, yet always kept a watchful eye on these developments.

It was indeed a helpless situation. Whether it was the Xianmen Sect navigating through the domains or the grand army of Tushan traversing within a domain, it took a long time.

It wasn't as if two neighboring sects could just decide to fight on a whim. It necessitated spending a considerable amount of time on the move.

A war in the cultivation world often consisted of ninety-nine percent travel time.

The route choice matters as well.

For a few individuals, it is alright, but an army consisting of over a million Cultivators must depend on Spiritual Veins for travel, stopping intermittently to rest and recover.

You cannot just travel any path you wish.

This is a thought only held by cultivators who are ignorant of military strategies.

Ignoring this basic military principle of the cultivation world is possible, but one must bear the consequences of the immense consumption of Spirit Stones from the storage bags of the cultivators.

Bear in mind that these are over a million cultivators!

Even if you carried a mountain's worth of Spirit Stones, over a million Foundation Establishment Golden Elixir Nascent Soul Monks could deplete it within a day.

And this is not about just carrying a few Spiritual Stone Mountains; it is about sustaining several years, sometimes even decades of military campaigns!

How many Spirit Stones would be needed to keep an army of over a million cultivators at their peak readiness?

No amount would be sufficient!

Thus, for short-distance sudden assaults lasting a few months, it wouldn't be an issue. Cultivators have life tenacities stronger than cockroaches; not cultivating for a brief period wouldn't make much difference.

But for military campaigns that cross domains within a realm, relying on Spiritual Veins is essential, which is a disadvantage for huge-scale cultivator armies.

Almost all native powers prefer to focus on individual combat strength development, and this choice is not without reason.

However, despite these disadvantages, Cultivator legions have the distinctive advantage of being able to battle beyond their levels in massive numbers, a trait that continues to attract numerous sects to pour resources into them.

It is an organizational method with clearly visible pros and cons.

After years of marching, the army under Hei Louxi from Tushan finally crossed the Northern Plains and entered the West Desert.

Looking around, the continuous grasslands gradually gave way to a sparser expanse, revealing the shape of the Gobi, with its sweeping sands resembling a desolate wasteland.

However, all Northern Plains cultivators know that beneath these vast, sandy expanses, relying on Spiritual Veins, there are numerous large and small oases scattered around, producing all kinds of Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.

In terms of richness, West Desert is not a bit less fertile than Northern Plains; the sandy desolation is merely a facade.

According to historical records, thousands of years ago, this place thrived with flourishing sects, blooming with many well-known powerhouses.

Among them, the West Desert Thousand Machine Sect was especially renowned, with the Court's Blessed Land's automatic Pill Concoction Formation originally coming from their craftsmanship, universally revered during the prime years of Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch.

However, this period of prosperity did not last long.

Soon, Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch encountered problems in his cultivation. The Northern Plains Families retracted their influence to within the Northern Plains, and Shuoyang himself fell into a seal.

Consequently, various sects in the West Desert gained independence and flourished for a period.

Then, the Ice Field Heavenly Monarch came into prominence, awakening from her self-imposed seal.

After repeated probing and confirming the cultivation issues of Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch, she established the Great Snow Mountain Sacred Land in the West Desert, recruited myriad demons to form the Demon Race Empire, and boldly launched military campaigns to eradicate human sects, dominating the entire West Desert.

Throughout this, billions from the Human Race were massacred, turning West Desert into a playground for the Demon Race.

To this day, the world only recognizes the Western Desert Demon Race Dynasty, unaware of the past human sects.

And now, thousands of years post-Shuoyang era, organized armies of the Human Race once again emerge on the historical lands of Western Desert.

"West Desert..."

"Our ancestral land of Human Race …"

Hei Louxi, somewhat excited, picked up a handful of yellow sand from the ground, sniffed it with deep fascination, and put it into his storage bag.

The surrounding Immortals performed similar acts.

When internal strife is not the primary contradiction, even the cold-blooded and ruthless old demons, old monsters, also have feelings, feel a sense of belonging to the Human Race, and are not cold Cultivation puppets, Supreme Forgetfulness.

"Kill!"

"Attack the territory of the Golden Wing King Clan, the Fourth-grade Prime Spirit Vein Goldwing Oasis!"

Hei Louxi shouted loudly.

"Yes, Army Master!"

The surrounding Immortals and Real People thunderously responded.

...

"My Lord, Gu (poisonous bugs) disasters have started to appear across the Northern Plains."

Inside the Dark Demon Palace, Zhengzong Sect Master Gong Caiyu's avatar bowed and reported.

She took out dozens of Jade Boxes and opened them one by one.

Jiang Ding's gaze fell upon them.

There were insects resembling scorpions, spiders, toads, snakes, beetles, among others bizarre ones, ranging from First-order to Third-order. Most of them, judging by the aura and body structure, were not adapted to the grassland climate but seemed to hail from dense jungles.

"Gu insects …"

Jiang Ding murmured to himself, realizing something.

"My Lord, these Gu insects have recently appeared, specifically targeting the Spiritual Medicine Gardens, Spiritual Plant Gardens, and low-ranking Cultivators like those in Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining across the Northern Plains, spreading and breeding like a plague, uncontrollable by us."

"Currently, just based on current statistics, the Agricultural Sect is expected to produce thirty percent less than usual. If this continues to develop, complete crop failure is possible."

"The Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Cultivators that have died number over ten thousand, with those injured and those with Gu insects lurking within numbering in the hundreds of thousands."

"As for the commoners, casualties have already exceeded a million and continue to rise."

Gong Caiyu stated anxiously.

This is a negligence on the part of the Governance Sect. Without a reasonable explanation, everyone in the Zhengzong might be severely punished.

"What does Great Love Immortal say?"

Jiang Ding asked.

Aside from Sword Dao and Formation Dao, he was not particularly skilled in other areas, so he often sought out experts to listen to their opinions.

"Great Love Immortal said that the level of Gu Dao (Path of Gu) involved surpasses his by a large margin. It will take him decades to deal with it."

"He mentioned that the techniques used in these Gu insects bear similarities to that of the heritage of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect of Southern Border."

Gong Caiyu replied.

"Only surpasses by a large margin?"

"Great Love Immortal is indeed an exceptional figure."

Jiang Ding's gaze turned cold as he remembered the unpleasant memories at the Guishan Tie Family.

That being said, as long as Great Love Immortal didn't break the law, Jiang Ding wouldn't do anything to him, no matter how strange he was—this was a matter of principle.

As for the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect of Southern Border, it's the strongest sect in Southern Border, comparable to Northern Plains' Tushan Courtyard, where humans and demons coexist, all venerating Bai Zu Ancestor as lord, skilled in using poison and Gu. In the Cultivation World, their notorious reputation is far-reaching, causing fear upon mention.

"I'll handle it."

Jiang Ding waved his hand and collected these dozens of Gu insects, saying indifferently.

"Yes, my Lord."

Gong Caiyu sighed with relief internally and bowed to take her leave.