Chapter 1831: One-Sided

The meteorite in the crater is still glowing and hot, never stopping for a moment. Isn't this seeking far while neglecting the near?

Wanqifeng couldn't help but say: "But the formation surrounding the Inverted Lake has already been extinguished; Miao Zhantian has no chance to seize the Inverted Lake."

He Lingchuan retorted: "Then what should Miao Zhantian do?"

If he cannot take the Inverted Lake, he cannot break the phantom realm, and thus cannot strike the true form of Qianhuan! At the same time, Miao Zhantian also cannot leave the Inverted Sea.

It seems there is only a dead end ahead.

Time stands on Qianhuan's side.

But the Great Heavenly Demon will surely not surrender willingly; what other tricks does it have? Zhu Xiuer mused: "Then there is only the battle with one's back to the water—defeat Qianhuan before escaping!"

Frankly, Miao Zhantian's combat power is astonishingly strong, far exceeding its expectations. Since entering the Inverted Sea until now, one great divine ability after another has appeared: the True Eye, the Lighthouse Barrier, the Spacetime Rift, the Divine Fire Meteor Strike plus the Divine Fire Grand Formation, all the way to the present manifestation of the Cangxi True Form—Miao Zhantian has fully displayed the formidable might of the Lingxu Great Heavenly Demon.

But Zhu Xiuer does not hold an optimistic attitude toward its ability to defeat Qianhuan.

Compared to Miao Zhantian's dominance, Qianhuan, who prepares before acting, must have gathered full strength to deal with it.

He Lingchuan, however, remained silent.

As an excellent commander, besides observing the immortal-demon war, he must also oversee the entire war situation.

Miao Zhantian's plan to seize the Inverted Lake has already gone bankrupt; the seven pivotal points of the Divine Fire Grand Formation have lost two, destined to fail in enclosing the Inverted Lake.

Why does it not shut down the entire formation? Why are the remaining pivotal points still operating? The whip wounds on the Cangxi True Lord's body have not healed for a long time, indicating that Miao Zhantian's divine power is also strained and no longer abundant—this is the inevitable result of its earlier extravagant expenditure.

Then the wisest course would be to halt the Divine Fire Grand Formation and redirect all divine power to confront the enemy.

Why must it stubbornly maintain this formation?

At the same time he fell into thought, Miao Zhantian began to show signs of strain, starting to fight while retreating. The giant cymbal that had bound the Wind-Thunder Beast was also used by it against the enemy.

Zhu Xiuer muttered: "Looking at this situation, Qianhuan has the upper hand."

Since entering the Inverted Sea, Miao Zhantian has frequently unleashed major moves, consuming heavily; now facing an opponent of similar strength, it begins to feel strained.

The Inverted Sea cannot be seized, and the tactics have failed.

Qianhuan True Person's chances of victory are visibly increasing.

Dong Rui snorted: "Unless it's the final moment, how would it deign to appear?"

Qianhuan is more formidable than a turtle retracting its head; it is a bivalve!

Wang Fuobao quietly gestured to Wanqiliang behind his back: "You're going to lose."

They had placed a private bet.

Wanqiliang gave him a white-eye roll: "What's the rush? It's not over yet."

He Lingchuan ignored the small movements of those behind him, focusing entirely on the battle situation. Whether it was the Heavenly Palace or the Phantom Sect forces, with the naked eye one could only see rainbow light dancing.

Wang Fuobao whispered: "I thought they'd fight until heaven collapsed and earth split."

A true immortal and a great heavenly demon—normally it's hard to even see one, yet now they're locked together in combat; shouldn't they produce heavenly thunder drawing earthly fire? Yet nothing of the sort occurred.

The scene he imagined—where a mighty being waves a hand or stamps a foot and shatters mountains and rivers, rending the void—simply did not appear.

"That would consume too much energy." Zhu Xiuer gave him a look as if he were foolish, letting him realize it himself: "Whether true immortal or great heavenly demon, control over power should be precise and profound, beyond what immortals can achieve; such uncontrolled outbursts as you describe should not easily occur."

"Missing the target yet tearing open the ground—if that's not wasting energy, what is? If that's not loss of control, what is?" Zhu Xiuer said softly: "Gathering and releasing—gathering from afar is harder than releasing from afar. When you attain immortal abilities, you'll understand what I mean."

"But, but earlier Miao Zhantian wasn't..."

Were the great moves Miao Zhantian previously unleashed few in number?

"Each of the great divine abilities it released in succession had ulterior motives and were unavoidable." Zhu Xiuer didn't turn her head, for she also had eyes at the back capable of seeing mirrors: "This is also a major reason for its waning strength. Do you think Qianhuan, as the architect of all this, would make the same mistake as it?"

"Eh."

"Unless absolutely necessary, they won't waste effort."

But even so, the battle between true immortal and great heavenly demon is extremely explosive; observers strain their eyes to the limit and still can't keep up—glance a moment longer and vision blurs.

Fortunately, He Lingchuan has the Haoyuan Golden Mirror to assist, allowing him to oversee the whole situation. In his view, Miao Zhantian fights while retreating, indeed falling to a disadvantage, but with method and without circling.

Where does it plan to retreat to? Zhu Xiuer also said: "It looks like Miao Zhantian still has reserves."

He Lingchuan connected Miao Zhantian's retreat paths into a line and found that although this line had twists and turns, overall it pointed toward the northwest.

He retreated from the Inverted Lake shore toward the northwest—what lies there? Dong Rui suddenly pointed at the mirror and shouted: "Quick, look at the eastern lake battlefield!"

The situation at the eastern lake battlefield had already changed; earlier, Heavenly Palace demons came to obstruct the Phantom Sect elders digging for meteorites, but since Miao Zhantian and Qianhuan clashed, the Heavenly Palace demons wanted to rush back to aid Miao Zhantian, only to be firmly held back by Phantom Sect immortals.

Whether in strength or number, the demons are no match for their opponents, especially since Meiwei Shen is injured, yet they are determined to flee, and Phantom Sect immortals find it hard to stop them.

When Dong Rui cried out in alarm, the mirror happened to show two demons breaking through encirclement, while another was jointly confronting Elder Xue with the Cave Infant demon.

The fierce battle raged on; the Cave Infant dodged Elder Xue's pestle strike, then flipped to the demon's rear.

This move was utterly natural; even as it reflexively spread its wings, bared its claws, and charged forward, the demon thought the Cave Infant would attack Elder Xue again.

Who knew it would tilt its body, extend its steel claws, and directly seize the demon's nape!

Though it was merely a wound to the immortal's mortal frame, its movement was controlled; Elder Xue seized the chance, smashed a pestle onto its forehead, directly cracking it open, brains splattering.

He still feared it might not die, so he drew his long sword and wrapped it once around the neck.

Heavenly Palace lost another great general.

Seeing this, Dong Rui said to Zhu Xiuer: "That ferocious bird is actually a spy! Look—is Miao Zhantian going to lose?"

Now Miao Zhantian has only two demons, one yao immortal, and Meiwei Shen is still severely wounded. Besides that, there are the four hundred-plus members of Bai Ziqi's Heavenly Palace troop.

In contrast, Qianhuan's side still has five immortals, the suddenly defected ferocious bird of unknown kind, and Zhu Xiuer as a mere observer.

From this strength comparison, Heavenly Palace is at a disadvantage.

Moreover, the prolonged duel between Qianhuan and Miao Zhantian, viewed over time, gives Qianhuan a greater probability of victory.

Seeing this, Zhu Xiuer also drew a conclusion: "Barring accidents, Qianhuan True Person should be the final victor."

She added: "As long as Miao Zhantian doesn't unleash some mutual-destruction great move."

Upon hearing this, Dong Rui felt a chill: "Then perhaps we should return to the mine cavern depths to watch the battle?"

If Miao Zhantian fails to defeat Qianhuan and decides to self-destruct, that power would surely exceed even the Divine Fire Meteor Strike!

Only a few hundred zhang apart, he still felt unsafe.

Even the Wind God in the heat of battle mocked Miao Zhantian: "This scene feels like a replay of the past. You too have come all this way just to throw your life away—only this time, Lady Lady Lady Mitian isn't here to save you!"

Three thousand years ago, Qianhuan ambushed Miao Zhantian and nearly succeeded, but Lady Lady Lady Mitian arrived and ruined his plans.

Three thousand years later, it is Miao Zhantian who has developed a different mindset toward him, yet again found himself in the same situation as before.

The long-awaited conclusion after three thousand years has finally arrived.

Miao Zhantian, however, remained silent.

Perhaps the battle was too intense for him to spare attention, or perhaps now there is nothing left to say.

He simply retreated silently another hundred or so zhang, with the Wind God shadowing his every move.

He Lingchuan, however, grew increasingly uneasy. After some thought, he directed the Haoyuan Golden Mirror to focus on Bai Ziqi.

This person had likewise withdrawn far away and chosen a high vantage point to observe the battlefield. The Tiangong troop showed signs of worry, and even the most loyal Baiwei now wore frowns.

Bai Ziqi, however, had summoned a sand table and often gazed upon it.

Dong Ruiqi remarked: "How is it that he, like you, ignores Qianhuan and Miao Zhantian, yet keeps staring at the sand table or the mirror?"

"That shows he has other calculations."

That shows Miao Zhantian still has other calculations!

Interesting—given the current situation, does Miao Zhantian still have a chance to turn the tide?

At this moment, a subtle change appeared in the Haoyuan Golden Mirror—something seemingly no one now pays attention to—but the mirror flickered twice, as if reminding He Lingchuan to take note:

A certain region's terrain had vanished from the Haoyuan Golden Mirror!

This is Yaoci Lake.

Compared to Dian Dao Lake, Yaoci Lake's surface is small; the Divine Fire Array needs only three foundation points to encircle it.

One of those foundation points lies precisely in the meteorite crater that Zangxi Zhenjun had previously defended to the death.

From beginning to end, these three foundation points have never been extinguished.

Over time, Miao Zhantian finally brought this region under his control.

But what use is it? Yaoci Lake is a one-way passage; even if Miao Zhantian seized control of it, he could not use it to attack Qianhuan's true form.

This differs from the strategic significance of Dian Dao Lake.

He Lingchuan drew a deep breath.

Really? Is Yaoci Lake truly useless? Though Miao Zhantian's past methods were fierce, their purpose was too obvious—whether it was He Lingchuan, Qianhuan, or even Xiao Wencheng, all could see at a glance what he intended.

But in fact, concealing one's true objective is a vital skill for any excellent commander.

If Miao Zhantian still hopes to reverse defeat into victory, he must strike the enemy with something utterly unexpected—deliver a deadly gift when Qianhuan believes the threat is gone and victory is within grasp!

He Lingchuan noticed once more that Miao Zhantian had retreated to Yaoci Lake.

That is, the very region he had just seized.

Naturally, Qianhuan's three avatars followed as well.

At this moment, the elders of the Phantom Sect also trailed the Demon Lord. Once they arrive, Qianhuan's side gains five more powerful fighters, and the battle could completely reverse—just as Zhu Xiuer said: if Miao Zhantian has no backup plan, no ultimate move, then defeat is truly sealed.