Chapter 2028: Chapter 2026: Song of the Tides
The sound of drums continued to echo, and once the drumbeats reached a certain intensity, they maintained this rhythm.
The shimmering stellar space grew increasingly illusory, as if an invisible ocean truly descended, enveloping all cultivators engaged in combat within it.
Lu Ye raised his eyebrows slightly, having noticed something quite interesting: with the drumbeat from the Merfolk Race, a mysterious force seemed to fall upon him out of thin air, causing his mana to flow more smoothly, thoughts to become clearer, and even his blood Qi to surge significantly.
His strength experienced a considerable boost, although not as significant as the amplification from Amber, yet still quite remarkable—about a ten percent increase.
The Jade Conch cultivator allied forces already benefited from the Soul Race’s Soul Possession, which greatly enhanced their strength, but now it seemed the Merfolk Race possessed similar abilities. With this dual enhancement, each cultivator’s strength saw a substantial increase.
The Demon Venerables of the Demon Race struggled to understand why they were unmatched against the Dwarf Race’s Peak Sun Blaze. Following this, they were bound to be even more perplexed!
Compared to the Soul Race’s Soul Possession Technique, the Merfolk Race’s amplification effect might be slightly inferior, but its range was extensive enough.
How did this amplification distinguish between friend and foe? After all, in such a vast range, both allies and enemies were present; Yann Miao couldn’t possibly discern each one individually.
Lu Ye suddenly remembered when Yann Miao approached him before, requesting a drop of Essence Blood from each cultivator. He didn’t know what Yann Miao intended to do at the time but agreed readily, ordering the cultivator alliance forces to cooperate.
Now, observing the blood-red surface of the large drum before Yann Miao, Lu Ye immediately understood that Yann Miao needed the cultivators’ Essence Blood precisely for this moment. It was the fundamental reason for the Merfolk Race’s secret technique to differentiate between allies and enemies.
Those cultivators whose Essence Blood was taken must have had their blood absorbed by the large drum, and only those whose Essence Blood was absorbed could receive the Merfolk Race’s secret technique amplification at this moment.
Was this the surprise Yann Miao mentioned?
It was indeed a surprise.
No wonder Yann Miao mentioned she couldn’t participate directly in the battle; her leadership of the Merfolk Race to perform such a secret technique using their tribal artifact brought far greater benefits than if she joined the battle personally.
The drumbeats persisted, and the entire battlefield was shrouded by an invisible ocean. The Demon Venerables of the Demon Race finally realized something was amiss—their opponents seemed to suddenly grow stronger along with the drumbeats!
This was quite incredible.
Originally, they were already suppressed, and with the opponents growing stronger, the suppression intensified.
It wasn’t over yet!
Suddenly, ethereal singing accompanied the drumbeats, echoing throughout the stellar space. The singing was mysterious, like a cryptic chant, yet no one discerned what specifics were being chanted.
This strange chant didn’t significantly impact the Jade Conch cultivator allied forces; they merely found the ethereal singing pleasing to the ear.
But for the Zixuan demon cultivators, it was different.
As the singing reached their ears, it abruptly transformed into a sharp sound, as if someone was shrieking beside them, disturbing thoughts and causing irritation, even making their Divine Sea begin to stir. The lower the cultivation level, the more obvious these effects.
Only Demon Venerable-level experts remained largely unaffected.
For other demon cultivators, no matter how much they mobilized mana to block their ears, it was to no avail, as the drumbeats seemed to resonate within their hearts, effortlessly delivering the chant into their minds.
On the deck, five large drums vibrated ceaselessly, with nearly two hundred merfolk women singing reverently in unison. They didn’t appear as though singing but rather as if worshipping.
The cultivators from both sides finally engaged head-on. The demon cultivators, having lost their battleship, hastily organized defenses that should have played some role; after all, their numbers were substantial. Despite Lu Ye having slayed many, they still matched the numbers of the Jade Conch allied forces.
Unexpectedly, the Jade Conch could achieve victory, but undoubtedly, they would have to pay a certain price.
However, with the dazzling entry of the Merfolk Race, the demon cultivators’ organized defenses suddenly became a joke.
With the dual enhancement of the Soul Race’s and Merfolk Race’s secret techniques, the strength of each Jade Conch cultivator increased by at least thirty percent out of thin air.
Meanwhile, the influence of the merfolk’s singing on the demon cultivators led to a decline in their strength. This rapid increase and decrease widened the gap significantly.
Upon initial contact, the Jade Conch allied forces easily crushed the demon cultivators’ defenses, with thousands of troops, led by numerous Moon Jade cultivators, transforming into a sharp blade that pierced fiercely into the enemy ranks.
Accompanying the resonating sound of war drums, the slaughter began!
"Song of the Tides! Merfolk Race?" An enraged roar echoed across the stellar space. It was none other than the most knowledgeable Bi Chen, who, while resisting Chen Xuanhai’s fierce assault, gazed incredulously towards the Merfolk Race’s location.
Despite having lived for tens of thousands of years, he never imagined he’d encounter the legendary Merfolk Race thought to be extinct in this lifetime, nor personally experience the terrifying intricacies of the merfolk’s secret techniques.
He had seen records of the Merfolk Race in ancient texts, noting that the race’s greatest strength lay not in direct confrontation but in their auxiliary role during warfare, just like at this moment.
Merely less than two hundred merfolk were capable of exerting far more influence than their numbers alone could account for.
Where exactly was this place? Why were there first the Blood Race, then the Dwarf Race, and now the emergence of the Merfolk Race?
They were headed for the Jade Conch, but ended up plunging into such a dangerous place, unknowingly facing the Sun Blaze of various races, who were out to make things difficult for their Zixuan.
In his perception, the vital forces were continuously vanishing, and Bi Chen knew those were the demon cultivators dying one by one. After this battle, how many of the nearly ten thousand demon cultivators would survive?
Moreover, their Demon Venerables’ battlefield was at an absolute disadvantage. Continuing to fight like this, not only the underlings of the Demon Venerables would be unable to escape, even they might suffer battle damages.
"Retreat!" Bi Chen transmitted his voice in all directions, making a swift decision.
The fight today was chaotic and messy, and it couldn’t be prolonged any further. For now, it was crucial to retreat and at least find out which Star System this place belonged to.
Although he was not a match for Chen Xuanhai now, as a Peak Sun Blaze, if he truly wanted to retreat, he was confident that no one on this battlefield could stop him — it was merely a matter of paying some price.
Zixuan suffered such a great loss because they were unprepared. It’s not too late to seek revenge after being fully ready in the future.
As his words fell, he immediately activated a secret technique, forcefully confronting Chen Xuanhai’s strike. His figure, using the force of the counter-shock, rolled outwards, with blood Qi dispersing as a wound appeared — caused by Chen Xuanhai’s talisman sword.
In the next instant, blood Qi enveloped his body as he immediately prepared to escape.
However, looking up unexpectedly, he saw a young figure suddenly behind him, dressed in black and red close-fitting clothes like a combat cultivator, with a long saber at the waist, playing with a gourd in his hand, gazing at him with a blank expression.
Seeing the young man’s face, Bi Chen was momentarily stunned: "Lu Ye!"
Though he had never met Lu Ye before, he recognized him instantly because Black Cloud had shown them images of Lu Ye earlier.
Black Cloud had long suspected the Dao Tree legacy was with Lu Ye, so naturally feared this realm’s Demon Venerables might accidentally kill him. By showing them Lu Ye’s image in advance, they could capture him alive if encountered.
After recognizing Lu Ye’s identity, Bi Chen was bewildered.
With Lu Ye here, this must be the Jade Conch Galaxy, but this Jade Conch didn’t match the intelligence provided by Black Cloud at all.
Without time to think further, Bi Chen reached out towards Lu Ye with a quick grab, his hand swiftly enlarging into a furry beast claw with a sky-covering stance, clearly aiming to capture Lu Ye first.
To Bi Chen, this was an opportunity; though he wasn’t a match for Chen Xuanhai, he surely could handle Lu Ye, who according to his intelligence, was merely Moon Jade.
If he captured Lu Ye, surely Chen Xuanhai would be worried, ensuring the Demon Venerables could retreat safely.
Even with the current double empowerment, and greatly increased strength, Lu Ye couldn’t help but feel an unavoidable sense when Bi Chen’s random grab just before his escape.
Peak Sun Blaze was indeed extraordinary, and he still fell quite short.
But it didn’t matter; he dared to stand here to impede Bi Chen, obviously having some reliance.
Where cultivation fell short, magic treasures compensated.
A gentle tap on the sword gourd released a sweeping sword light.
Bi Chen’s expression drastically changed, hurriedly drawing back the beast claw, while fiercely urging his Demon Origin.
Yet it was too late; the sword light pierced into his palm, rapidly cutting upwards, penetrating his entire arm. Just as it seemed it would reach the heart, it was finally halted by his formidable cultivation.
Decisively, Bi Chen raised his other hand to mercilessly hack down, directly severing his damaged arm at the root, with blood streaming.
"Affiliated treasure?" Bi Chen’s face turned pale, shocked; he hadn’t expected to encounter affiliated treasure here. If he had known earlier, he would definitely have brought one; Zixuan Demon Planet had an abundant family property, possessing affiliated treasures.
Not far across him, Lu Ye regrettably sighed.
The sword light nurtured within the sword gourd was powerful but consumed rapidly.
He had tested before, nurturing a complete sword light required treasures worth about five billion spirit jade.
Each use drastically diminished the sword light’s power; replenishing the depleted power required one billion spirit jade.
In other words, the sword light in the sword gourd could be activated five times at most before vanishing completely.
Moreover, the power weakened with each use.
Previously, dealing with Zixuan’s largest battleship, he used the sword light once; this was the second time... far less powerful than the first, though catching Bi Chen off guard yielded this result.
If he hadn’t used the sword light from the sword gourd prior, this strike could have killed Bi Chen outright.
But... it didn’t matter.
Because as Bi Chen was stunned, Chen Xuanhai was already standing behind him, thrusting the talisman sword forward.
