Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 1001 - 857 Confrontation

Chapter 1001: Chapter 857 Confrontation

Dong-dong!

The bell chimes grew more rapid, even piercing into the various Cave Heavens and the closed meditation chambers of the Cultivators.

Escape Lights involuntarily emerged from the different Dongfus, each containing high-ranking Cultivators, either commanding magical artifacts, treading on Spirit Birds, or riding the wind through emptiness, their expressions extremely solemn.

Fang Xi looked up to see, not far away, a beacon platform hanging in the sky suddenly burst into flames, sending a column of smoke straight up into the sky.

Not far from there, another beacon platform emerged.

A series of smoke signals stretched out, resembling a great wall.

"The Extensive Beacon Fire Array! This is Heaven Origin City’s outermost defensive formation, serving as a warning system!"

Having discussed the Dao with Ji Feixue for many days, Fang Xi was very familiar with the defense system of Heaven Origin City.

"Amitabha!"

A flash of golden light, and Jin Gangzi arrived beside Fang Xi, "Qing Hezi... the Monster Army is upon us, it is time for us to fulfill our duties."

Fang Xi nodded slightly and bid Fire Cangzi farewell before flying into the high sky with Jin Gangzi.

At the highest point of Heaven Origin City, a massive chessboard crisscrossed with nineteen aisles stood towering.

In the central position of the chessboard, there was a gigantic white piece, resembling a White Jade Platform.

On the White Jade Platform, two figures stood with their hands behind their backs, overlooking the entire chessboard—it was Mo Yunzi and Wu Xingzi!

Fang Xi and Jin Gangzi arrived atop the White Jade Platform and swept the area with their Divine Thought.

Within each of the chess pieces, a wealth of information and scenes emerged, representing a corner of the battlefield.

This particular chessboard artifact was evidently the total surveillance system for the entire battlefield!

’It seems, being one of the Five Sons of the Human Race does have its advantages...’

’At least, I’ve now become the commander...’

Fang Xi watched this scene with a sense of familiarity and emotion.

Back in the Lower Realm, he too had experienced the great war between humans and demons, but at that time he was just a main force and had never mixed into the ranks of the commanders.

As he continuously improved his Cultivation, he too had ascended in rank.

Clack!

Just then, from the outermost edge of the chessboard, a crisp sound of a piece being placed was heard.

A black chess piece appeared.

Fang Xi’s Divine Consciousness swept over it, and he saw a mass of the Monster Clan’s vast army.

Unfortunately, he could only barely make out the strict military formation and the numerous Monster cultivators... As for what lay hidden within, it was completely inscrutable.

This was different from the white pieces, which could obtain all types of information and intelligence.

Cheep-cheep!

In the high sky, a multitude of flying creatures gathered like clouds, completely obscuring the seven rounds of the Great Sun of the Earth Immortal Realm.

Streams of Demon Qi emerged, transforming into a demon god with a human body and a bird’s head, constantly issuing roars and bellows.

On the ground, behemoths like rhinoceroses bellowed, their backs carrying towers.

Within these towers stood solemn Monster cultivators, each looking extremely grave.

In a confrontation of such hierarchical species, even Transcendent God Returning to Emptiness Cultivators could perish easily, and Integration might, too, risk falling!

Only with Mahayana cultivation did one stand a chance of self-preservation.

This was as brutally true for the human race as for the Monster Clan.

"They are the war beasts!"

Jin Gangzi turned his gaze towards the nineteen giant beasts, each as large as a mountain and on par with Saint Lu Xing’s true form, and alerted, "These are ancient beasts specially tamed by the Monster Clan with secret methods, judging by their aura, they have likely reached the Quasi-seventh level..."

"It must be that they have been fed some secret medicine that boosts their latent potential. After the battle, these ancient beasts will surely be severely depleted of their Primordial Energy, the Monster Clan sure is lavish..."

Mo Yunzi spoke with a cold laugh.

Fang Xi’s gaze fell on a military formation.

It was unquestionably a high-ranking Battle Array, with all Monster Clan Cultivators above the fourth tier, and each had taken on human form.

They wore dark green armor, with their Demon Qi rising up to the heavens, carrying a scent eerily familiar to Fang Xi.

"Sky Demon Slaying Immortal Tactics..."

"It seems that this must be the Monster Clan’s most elite ’Sky Demon Guard,’ right?"

He murmured, recalling the contents he had read in ancient books.

Among the Monster Clan, each race had its unique cultivation techniques, but there were also some common techniques, not constrained by race, and all demons could cultivate them!

Sky Demon Slaying Immortal Tactics was one of the most famous among these texts!

Because of this, it became the first choice for those lower-class cultivators!

After all, their bloodline heritage was weak, and they didn’t have as powerful cultivation methods as the four King Races.

The level of Sky Demon Slaying Immortal Tactics was sufficiently high!

This Monster Clan technique was widespread among their kind.

Monster cultivators who practiced the same technique could more easily unite their Magic Power and display the greatest power of their Battle Array!

This ’Sky Demon Guard’s’ ’Sky Demon God Slaying Battle Array’ had a notorious reputation both among the human and demon races, having caused countless humans to bleed rivers!

The next moment, before the Sky Demon Guard, numerous dark green lotus stands rose, blossoming with a misty green radiance.

Within the radiance, the figures of five great individuals suddenly appeared.

Their appearances varied, but all of them were beings at the peak of Integration.

One of them, a gorgeous woman with her shoulders half exposed, leisurely puffed on a long-stemmed pipe. Her captivating eyes seemed to penetrate the Great Array directly, gazing upon Fang Xi and the others on the chessboard below.

"The Monster Clan’s Five Great Saints!"

Fang Xi muttered under his breath, his gaze lingering a moment longer on the figure of an ape wearing golden chain mail.

After all, this ’Tungbei Great Saint’ was reputed to be the best in combat among all the saints, with exceptional prowess in battling with magic.

He was one of the Monster Clan Saints he needed to avoid as much as possible.

"The five great saints of the Monster Clan coming together is troubling... Changqingzi should not have only held Twin Banyan City."

Mo Yunzi murmured to himself.

"Hehe... Qing Hezi, this time we’ll have to rely heavily on your strength. Though the saints of the Monster Clan may appear harmonious on the surface, they have no shortage of secret schemes against one another. As long as you can display the strength you used to exterminate Saint Lu Xing, and catch one of the Monster Clan Saints off guard, dealing them a heavy blow or slaying them outright, the remaining four Saints will surely feel threatened and may even turn on each other..."

Wu Xingzi said with a laugh.

Fang Xi shot the old man a look and shook his head in response, "The fact that I was able to eliminate Saint Lu Xing was nothing more than a serendipitous coincidence. I’m far from capable of repeating such a feat... In terms of strength, I can barely hold my own against one Monster Clan Saint at best... The rest is up to you, my fellow cultivators."

He felt Wu Xingzi might be probing, but clearly, he was not about to agree to such a thing out of some grand notion of human righteousness, to simply reveal his hand.

"Each of us will face one Monster Clan Saint, but we are still one short..."

Upon hearing this, Jin Gangzi couldn’t help but frown deeply.

"If there’s really no other option, we’ll have to rely on the Gao three brothers. They’ve awakened the same kind of Spirit Body, adept in joint combat techniques. If I hand them the ’Three Immortal Ring,’ with their cultivation, holding off a Monster Clan Saint shouldn’t be too difficult," Mo Yunzi stated.

"Amitabha, we have no choice but to proceed in this manner..." Jin Gangzi said, somewhat helplessly.

The human race’s defense of the city this time was already at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, with the advantage of the terrain and the ability to neutralize some of the Monster Clan’s edge, the situation was more or less matched in term of strength.

If victory seemed hopeless, it was uncertain whether the cultivators would flee from battle given their nature.

Fang Xi remained silent, just thoughtfully lifting his head.

...

Above the Nine Heavens Gang Wind.

This place was already at an extremely high elevation in the Earth Immortal Realm, where many flying creatures of the Monster Clan couldn’t even reach; hence the seven rounds of the Great Sun shone unobstructed.

’Nine Heavens God Xie Lei Gang’ and ’Three Mysterious Xun Wind Violent Gang’ swept violently and indiscriminately, such that even high-ranking cultivators hardly dared to fly so high.

Therefore, neither of the two armies, on the verge of immediate confrontation below, realized that at the extremely high sky, a colorful phoenix and an immense Xuanwu were floating in midair.

Fierce Gang Winds howled relentlessly, yet a mysterious force automatically parted them, preventing any intrusion.

By the side of the two great True Spirits of the Monster Race stood a man in yellow robes.

His head was as big as a bucket, his forehead rugged, with only a few sparse hairs.

Yet in terms of aura, it faintly overshadowed the two True Spirits at his side.

"Di Jiang!"

Opposite the two True Spirits, four streaks of Escape Light flashed, revealing the figures of four great Mahayana cultivators of the human race.

Master Bu stood with a sword on his back, Master Meng was surrounded by a halo of multicolored thunder light, and Master Che held a silver-white treasure mirror in his hand.

At this moment, the Qingxu Child, who carried a huge banana leaf fan, was the first to speak, "The Jiuchi Clan has always dwelled deep in the wilderness. Why bother with this unnecessary conflict?"

"Qingxu, why deceive me?" a member of the Jiuchi Clan known as ’Di Jiang’ scoffed. "The Earth Immortal Realm is vast, but it is always beneficial to claim more land... During the time of the Immortal Realm, a ’Book of Jade from the Immortal Clan’ was passed down, documenting the mysteries of the Earth Immortal Realm... In this realm, the power of the land is paramount; by occupying the broadest expanse of land, one can amass the fortune of a clan, and give birth to a True Immortal... For generations, the human, Monster, and Demon clans have held the core essence of the Earth Immortal Realm, never lacking in fortune, with a succession of Mahayana cultivators, and even predecessors who ascended..."

"My Jiuchi Clan has lived in seclusion; if we want to grow now, we can’t do it without dealing with the three clans..."

"Moreover... As the three clans continue to expand, they will eventually border my Jiuchi Clan. Given your natures, how could you possibly spare my Jiuchi Clan? Rather than be displaced and end up like the Mong and other Alien races, it’s better to take the initiative now..."

"Our levels of cultivation are not too different. Although I, by luck, have survived six Mahayana tribulations, I still cannot defeat you who hold the treasures of the Immortal Mansion..." Di Jiang said coolly, "How about the proposal I made last time? What do you think, Sir? As long as the Mahayana and Integration-level cultivators among you swear an oath to the Dao to confine themselves within the Nine Regions for a hundred thousand years, my Jiuchi Clan can immediately stop the war..."

"Confine ourselves within the Nine Regions?"

Qingxu Child burst into sardonic laughter, "Even if the human clan were to suffer a major defeat at Heaven Origin City, we would lose at most half of our territory, merely fifty regions at most... And you’re asking my human clan to give up the majority of our territory with just a word. Don’t you think it’s too much to ask?"

"No matter, we’ll still have to fight a battle anyway..."

Di Jiang’s body circulated with Chaos Energy, revealing the true form of the Jiuchi Clan, resembling a yellow sac, red as core fire, with six legs and four wings, "Fine then, let’s stick to the original agreement and determine the rightful claim through the outcome of the war below..."

The two great True Spirits of the Monster Clan also possessed a mocking look in their eyes.

Among Mahayana cultivators, the differences in strength were actually not that significant.

Unless they encountered an opponent with much higher cultivation, were ganged up on by others of the same rank holding the treasures of the Immortal Mansion, or found themselves in a desperate situation, it was extremely difficult for them to fall.

Even the last time they were betrayed by the Monster Clan, the three Mahayana cultivators of the human race still managed to escape after paying a certain price.

This time’s contest of magical power was evidently the same.

Both parties were almost evenly matched in strength, able to suppress but not defeat each other.

The key to the real battle lay with the armies below!