Chapter 415: Chapter 390: Gu Family Comes To Invest_1
As the wars in the west and north were locked in a stalemate, the Mansion of King Youwang was fully occupied by the joint armies of Zhou Yuandao, Tianjian Sect, and Nineyou Sect.
After occupying the Mansion of King Youwang, the joint tripartite army regrouped and marched southwest, proceeding to attack the Zhang family in Jiangzhou.
Meanwhile, the Shengwu Sect, Yu Lei Sect, Tianjian Sect, Nineyou Sect, Yunhai Sect, Cao Family, and the Zhenxi Army announced to the world that they had all pledged allegiance to Zhou Yuandao. They had joined the Da Zhou Dynasty, becoming members of it.
As such, the Da Zhou Dynasty now controlled half of the nation.
This news shook the entire world.
Upon receiving the news, King Ming immediately sent envoys to various major powers in the southeast of Da Chu.
The main ones being the Martial Alliance, Dongfang Family, and Wandu Cave and Corpse Ghost Cave in the five states of Nanjiang.
Wandu Cave and Corpse Ghost Cave refused outright, citing their reason as not wanting to get involved in the disputes among the feudal princes.
As for the stance of the Dongfang family, it was ambiguous.
This made King Ming’s heart sink.
It was evident that both Wandu Cave and Corpse Ghost Cave, relying on the complex terrain of Nanjiang, wanted to stay out of this.
"Short-sighted fools! Once Zhou Yuandao unifies the realm, how could they hope to stay out of it in their southern province?"
Chu Tianjiao roared in anger.
As for the attitude of the Dongfang Family, it swayed back and forth.
Perhaps, they had already considered the thought of surrendering.
In this way, the only party that the Mansion of King Ming could ally with was the Martial Alliance.
The Mansion of King Ming promptly sent another envoy to the north, attempting to form an alliance with the Heavenly Dragon Army, Yuan Clan, and Yin Clan.
The three major feudal princes were quite straightforward in their agreement, but they had one condition - they hoped that the Mansion of King Ming could send troops north to support them.
But the Mansion of King Ming needed to be constantly on guard for the Da Zhou Dynasty to march east, so how could they spare forces to support the north?
Furthermore, there was Nineyou Sect standing between them. How could Nineyou Sect agree to the deployment of troops north?
Therefore, the alliance between the two sides was only in word.
...
Within the White Tiger Immortal Ruin to the west of Da Chu,
Twelve giant twin-headed white tigers simultaneously activated the Lifeblood Sword. The bloody sword light, reaching up to a thousand feet, seemed to want to split the entire ruin in half.
Ding!
The bloody sword light struck the chain, causing a colossal shock.
Clink!
Cracks began to appear on the chain.
This chain, connected to the body of the White Tiger Immortal Master on one end, and the void on the other.
Roar!
A twin-headed white tiger, standing at three hundred meters high, and almost a thousand meters long, howled into the heavens, shaking the earth for hundreds of miles. Its massive immortal body struggled forcefully. Its immortal power boiled over, and in conjunction with the sword light, struck the shackles that bound the heaven and earth.
Ding! Ding! Ding....
The Lifeblood Sword continued to strike the heavenly chains.
Bang!
Soon, the first heavenly chain was broken, followed by a strike on the second one.
In the beginning, the Lifeblood Sword was completely blood-red, with chilling screams emanating from within the sword. It was as if countless tormented souls were wailing inside.
However, as the Lifeblood Sword continued to hack away, the blood light within the sword gradually dimmed, and the chilling screams grew softer and softer.
Clang! Clang!...
One chain after another, were severed.
When the blood light within the Lifeblood Sword was about to run out, finally, only one chain was left.
Whoosh!
The Lifeblood Sword unleashed all of the remaining energy it had, striking the last chain. The chain shook violently, covered in cracks.
Roar! Roar!
The twin-headed White Tiger let out a heaven-shaking roar. Two dazzling sword lights spouted out from the big mouths on its two heads, striking the chain.
The chain couldn’t hold up any longer and burst apart.
The twin-headed white tiger let out an excited howl, skyrocketing into the air. A terrifying aura spread out, covering the heavens. It seemed as if the rules of gold throughout heaven and earth were cheering and leaping, converging upon the twin-headed white tiger, encircling it, and forming into various types of weapons.
"After being trapped for more than five thousand years, this Immortal Master has finally broken free. Hahaha, this world belongs to my Immortal Clan after all, and the will of Heaven and Earth can do nothing to me. . ."
The White Tiger Immortal Master laughed wildly, utterly elated.
"Congratulations Immortal Master on your breakout, your future immortality and dominance over the world."
The twelve twin-headed fierce tigers lay in front of the White Tiger Immortal Master, prostrate on the ground.
"Follow me, we march on the Ji Family, continuing the refining of the Lifeblood Sword."
The White Tiger Immortal Master commanded.
Shortly afterwards, a piece of news swept across the world.
The number one feudal lord in the world, the Ji Family, had been annihilated.
Even their patriarch, a Seventh Transformation of Primordial Spirit, did not escape. The entire family was slaughtered.
And the one who acted was a twin-headed white tiger, suspected to be the Immortal Master of White Tiger Immortal Ruin.
When Lu Yan received the news, his face was extremely grave.
"An Immortal Master has broken free of his shackles? So soon."
Lu Yan’s face was gloomy.
What he was worried about had still happened.
The reason he had been training so hard without joining in the wars waged by the major feudal lords was precisely because he knew very well that the current victories and losses meant nothing.
What truly determined victory or defeat was the outcome between the top powerhouses.
Even if the Da Zhou Dynasty currently sweeps half the nation, as long as he breaks through, no matter how much territory the enemy occupies, no matter how many armies they have, he would be fearless.
Similarly, even if he could sweep across the world right now, once the Immortal Master of the Immortal Ruins emerges, all his efforts would become futile.
In the end, it all comes down to the top powers.
He wanted to seize time, to reach the Fifth Transformation of Primordial Spirit before the Immortal Masters broke free.
However, it seemed he was still a step too late.
The Soul Crystals in his possession were almost completely refined, but he was still far from reaching the fifth transformation of his primordial spirit.
"This is terrible, Yinuo and the others..."
Lu Yan wore a look of worry.
After the Da Zhou Dynasty annihilated the Ji Family, the next targets were likely the Gu Family and Zhang family of Jiangzhou.
Once the Gu and Zhang families were eradicated, they would then concentrate their forces to wipe out the Yin Clan, Yuan Clan and Heavenly Dragon Army in the north. Finally, they would confront the Mansion of King Ming and Martial Alliance, Dongfang Family, and Nanjiang.
At this moment, Li Quan hurriedly rushed in to deliver a letter.
It was sent by Shen Yinuo.
The letter informed him that the Gu Family has decided to abandon Guyue City. The elites of the family were heading to the Martial Alliance, intending to regroup with Lu Yan and form an allied force to resist the Da Zhou Dynasty.
However, the Gu Family and the Martial Alliance were far apart, making it not an easy task to join forces.
In the letter, Shen Yinuo simply outlined her plan.
Her plan was straightforward: to disband the Gu Family’s military forces, have them disguised as refugees and ordinary citizens, scatter, and then regroup in the Martial Alliance’s region.
The strong martial artists of the Gu Family would also disperse and secretly make their way towards the Martial Alliance.
Under such circumstances, it would naturally be impossible to bring all hundreds of thousands of the Gu Family’s elite army to the Martial Alliance.
But now he had no other option—the more he could bring, the better.
With a flick of True Vigor, the letter turns to dust.
"According to the date specified in Yinuo’s letter, they must have already set off. They are operating separately, their tracks hidden, even if I try to meet up with them, I wouldn’t be able to find them. I could only patiently wait."
Lu Yan pondered in silence.
He instructed Li Quan to dispatch men to provide support, while he entered the Practice Room once more. His Primordial Spirit rose to the sky and entered the Nine Layer Heaven.
Riding on the Thunder Bell, he delved a thousand miles into the Ocean of Thunder before he stopped.
At this location, the might of the thunder was exceedingly terrifying.
The moment Lu Yan’s Primordial Spirit left the Thunder Bell, it was struck severely, causing smoke to pummel his body. His body surface exhibited cracks as if it were porcelain, nearly exploding.
But from within the great tree, an energy immediately surged and repaired his Primordial Spirit.
"Come at me!"
Lu Yan gritted his teeth, directly faced the sky filled with thunder without the Thunder Bell’s protection.
Boom, boom, boom...
The immense thunder, densely packed, continuously struck him. Each thunder strike brought unimaginable pain, as if he was constantly being mutilated with thousands of blades.
But Lu Yan gritted his teeth and persevered.
If he wanted to rapidly improve his cultivation, he could only push himself to his limit, endure and persist.
Time was not on his side, and he had no way back.
This war, he must not lose.
If he lost, the efforts of the past decades will be gone in an instant.
His family, disciples, and friends would all plunge into purgatory.
He didn’t have to wait too long, as he finally received a piece of good news.
Shen Yinuo, together with several other Primordial Spirit Realm experts from the Gu Family, had arrived at the Martial Alliance first.
Lu Yan immediately halted his cultivation and met with Shen Yinuo.
In a room, only Lu Yan and Shen Yinuo were present.
"Lu Yan, we discovered an astonishing secret during our journey here."
Shen Yinuo said.
"What secret?"
Lu Yan asked.
"I would like Elder Lin Yan to explain it to you personally."
Shen Yinuo’s body emanated light, the Great Sun Melting Furnace appeared, and Lin Yan stepped out from it, landing on the ground.
Having studied the Great Sun Melting Furnace for a long time, Lin Yan’s spiritual state seemed significantly better than before.
"Lu Yan, during our journey to the Martial Alliance, we encountered a few Immortal Servants. After subduing them, we interrogated and extracted some secrets."
"It’s true, the Spirit Sect and Fairy Ruins conspired with each other. They orchestrated the war and instigated the killings to forge a wicked weapon known as the ’Lifeblood Sword’."
"The Lifeblood Sword requires the fresh blood and souls of the living for its forging. Once completed, it can aid the Immortal Lord of the Fairy Ruins in shattering the shackles of Heaven and Earth. The White Tiger Immortal Master escaped thanks to the Lifeblood Sword."
"However, after the Lifeblood Sword is used just once, its energy would be depleted, requiring replenishment. Therefore, among the Immortal Masters that have so far escaped confinement, there is only one. This can be considered good news for us."
Lin Yan explained.
"There is indeed a shred of good news within the plethora of bad ones."
Bitter laughter appeared across Lu Yan’s face.
"Of course, the nine Fairy Ruins are not completely united. They have their hidden agendas; whoever wishes to escape confinement first. Hence, they’ve drawn a lot to decide the order of release among the Immortal Masters on a first-come-first-serve basis. The White Tiger Ruins were first, while the second one is the... Red Flame Immortal Ruins."
Lin Yan continued.
Lu Yan’s face changed abruptly.
The Red Flame Ruins were just fifty to sixty miles away from Jinzhou across the water.
Between Lu Yan and the Red Flame Ruins, it was a do-or-die situation. The Immortal Lord Red Flame would love nothing more than to flay Lu Yan and tear him into pieces.
It could be imagined that once the Immortal Lord Red Flame broke free, his first target would be Lu Yan and the Martial Alliance.
"Absolutely cannot let the Immortal Lord Red Flame break free, at least not now."
Lu Yan’s eyes flashed with intense murderous intent.
"You’re right. The Spirit Sect and Fairy Ruins have laid their plans for a millennium, and the wheels are already in motion. Once all the Immortal Lords have broken free, there would be no hope for us. Our only option now is to prevent the Immortal Lords from freeing themselves."
Lin Yan said.
"Elder, do you have a plan?"
Lu Yan asked.
"The Spirit Sect and Fairy Ruins are currently replenishing the Lifeblood Sword’s Sword Embryo with fresh blood and souls. The moment the replenishment is complete they will surely escort the sword to the Red Flame Ruins."
"My plan is very simple: invade the Red Flame Ruins and eliminate the Red Flame Ruins first, then set a trap and wait for them to hand over the Lifeblood Sword to us. This way we can severely delay the time for the Immortal Masters to break free, buying us enough time."
Lin Yan said.
