Chapter 330: Battle Flames Scatter, the Roar of the Vast Ocean (Combined)

The Human Race's fortress, after being built for just two or three days, suffered a joint siege by the other five races, but Qin Chuan had no intention of hiding the news.

While he was discussing a counterattack with Feng Yin, the world fell into an uproar because of this battle.

They were both shocked by the ruthlessness of the other races' attacks and astonished by the astonishing battle results they ultimately achieved.

Everyone knew where such results came from.

On this day, the name Luo was constantly mentioned throughout the world.

The Human Race's fighting spirit raged and quickly swept across the Heavenly Stairway.

With everyone united, more and more Epic Stage and Legendary Stage cultivators emerged, and thanks to the advantage of more easily obtaining the Mythic Core within the Heavenly Stairway, the number of Mythic Stage powerhouses also kept rising.

In just four days, the Human Race, relying on the massive resources gained from the fortress defense battle, produced six brand-new Mythic Stage powerhouses, and the Human Race's counterattack officially commenced.

Under Qin Chuan's command, the first thing the Human Race did was to take White Jiao Territory as the center and radiate outward to the surrounding territories.

They intended to sweep clean the five territories adjacent to White Jiao Territory, seize the lordship, and allow more Humans to enter the Heavenly Stairway.

However, when they actually began this, Qin Chuan surprisingly discovered that, in just four days, the Moon Spirit Clan, as if foreseeing it, had the entire clan withdraw from the five territories bordering White Jiao Territory.

The other several races had lost many Mythic Stage powerhouses in the previous fortress defense battle, suffering grievous losses, and still had not recovered; facing the Human Race's revenge, they had no capacity to resist.

Soon, the five territories all fell, the lordship was handed to the Human Race's Mythic Stage cultivators, the territories controlled by the Human Race increased from one to six, allowing 1,200 individuals below Legendary Stage to enter the Heavenly Stairway.

The remaining Epic Stage cultivators and some Hall Tier players smoothly entered the Heavenly Stairway, and with the abundant resources gathered from the five territories, their strength surged; the number of Legendary Stage cultivators officially exceeded one hundred, and the number of Mythic Stage players also successfully broke into double digits.

Such a great commotion once again caused a stir in the Heavenly Stairway, but this time the five races that had previously acted chose to endure.

After all, the Human Race was obviously taking revenge for the previous incident, and now was not the time to provoke trouble.

The races still licking their wounds tacitly pretended not to have seen this, feeling that the Human Race's counterattack would stop here, and that a relatively peaceful period would follow.

Even the Moon Spirit Clan, which had early withdrawn from other territories, returned to their own lands.

But unfortunately, the expectations of the six races came to nothing.

After completely occupying the six territories, merely a week later the Human Race again launched a new battle, using the six occupied territories as a base and continually devouring the surrounding territories.

However, this time their strategy had a certain adjustment: they did not expel other races, but only demanded to hold the lordship.

Incidentally, they looted all the other races except the Moon Spirits.

This made all the races angry.

They felt that their own concessions had made the Human Race's arrogance so extreme that occupying six territories was not enough, and thus they decisively chose to counterattack.

But after the three Second Realm beings who had descended were instantly slain by the manifest Qin Chuan, the counterattack collapsed once again without even attacking.

The Human Race's power, centered on White Jiao Territory, began a frenzied expansion; each time they seized a territory, they would loot and digest the gains, quickly giving birth to more powerhouses, and after a brief buildup of strength, they would launch another conquest without pause.

It seemed that unless they occupied all the territories of the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway, they would never cease.

Such an offensive left all races dazed.

Over the ten-thousand-year history of the Heavenly Stairway, no race had ever been this frenzied.

After all, no race could claim to be able to stand above all races and defeat many with one.

But now, the Human Race has appeared.

They are not stronger than other races overall, but they possess individuals with extremely formidable combat power.

One month after the fortress defense battle, the Human Race had already secured lordship over more than half of the territories in the Heavenly Stairway's First Level, possessing nearly thirty Mythic Stage powerhouses and thousands of Epic Stage powerhouses, and their strength in the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway approached the result of other races having operated for thousands of years.

The name Luo struck terror into all races upon hearing it.

And as time passed, the powerhouses of all races who came to their senses also fell into genuine panic.

If the lordship of every territory in the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway were held by Humans, what would be the consequence? The answer is simple: besides the Human Race, all Second Realm powerhouses of the other races would be unable to descend to the First Level.

The First Level of the Heavenly Stairway is not where each race's strongest forces reside, but it is the location of the entrance to the Heavenly Stairway for each people, and also the foundation of each people.

If only the Human Race's Second Realm beings could descend, then the Human Race would have absolute authority in the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway! Such a situation is absolutely unacceptable to any race.

The Human Race completely disregarded conventions; this was practically stirring up the Race War in advance.

Before this, nobody had imagined that the Human Race would choose such an extreme approach, and yet they actually succeeded in doing so.

The Second Realm powerhouses of all races unhesitatingly chose to descend once again, but this time they did not come for battle. —

On a seemingly endless expanse of ocean, a sapphire figure sat solemnly upon the sea surface, its treasured appearance solemn and stern; the restless waves beneath it were instantly calmed, and all living beings within the sea surged, submitting to the will to follow.

Qin Chuan and Lin Yue silently watched this scene from above, their faces simultaneously showing an expression of anticipation.

"Shui Hua is finally about to break through." Lin Yue gave a light laugh, "Among all the rituals currently, hers should be considered the most troublesome."

"After all, it requires not only a sea area of a hundred thousand li, but also making every living being within that sea submit." Qin Chuan couldn't help shaking his head, "Finding the sea area isn't hard; making all its living beings submit is the real difficulty."

Merely touring this sea area once took the two of them a full four Heavenly Stairway days.

Now, at last, all the conditions for the breakthrough have been fulfilled.

Shui Hua, seated upon the sea surface, sensing something, slightly raised its head toward Qin Chuan and Lin Yue, let out a long howl, and then without hesitation began the final evolution.

Beneath it, a huge azure dragon carcass slowly surfaced—it was a water-system dragon clan Mythic Stage, and also the preparation Qin Chuan and Lin Yue made for Shui Hua's ritual.

Continuously drawing power from the Mythic Stage corpse, Shui Hua's momentum rose steadily; the sea surface became unsettled, raging waves surged without cease, and after accumulating to the extreme, a dazzling light of evolution shot up into the sky.

When the light faded, all wind and waves instantly ceased, and the entire ocean became clear as a mirror.

Shui Hua, reborn in form, sat upon the sea surface, raised its head, and let out an excited and uplifting howl.

"Wang!!!"

At the position of the water-drop mark on its forehead, a slender horn made entirely of water flowed with a azure glow; above the horn, water vapor gathered into uneven shapes, forming a water crown hovering in the air.

On Shui Hua's body, its now extraordinarily long hair curled like water waves, covering its whole form and shimmering with a faint clear glow in the sunlight; behind it, its original two long tails had completely transformed, spreading out like fish tails.

A mighty vigor never before seen burst from Shui Hua's surroundings, making the sea seem to become part of Shui Hua's body, obeying its command like an arm directing a finger.

At this moment, it truly was the King of Water. Carefully examining Shui Hua's new panel and feeling its power after breaking through to Mythic Stage and evolving into its final form, Qin Chuan's face involuntarily broke into a delighted smile.

It was no waste that he specially sought the corpse of the strongest individual combat power of the dragon clan Mythic Stage to serve as the material for Shui Hua's ritual advancement.

After the breakthrough, Shui Hua's increase in strength far exceeded expectations.

"Feng Yin sent a message." Lin Yue spoke softly, "Each of the six major races has descended a Second Realm being, intending to negotiate peace with us."

As the fact that Feng Yin was not the Gatekeeper was discovered, Feng Yin, who had rebuilt his account and again broken through the Mythic Stage, no longer needed to hide his identity while wandering the Heavenly Stairway; he returned to the Human Race camp to take charge.

"Peace talks?" A strange flicker appeared on Qin Chuan's face. "They've only taken half the territory, and they already want peace talks?"

It must be said, getting something for nothing is addictive.

In this month of looting the other races, the Human Race's strength increased so quickly that even Qin Chuan felt a bit heady.

If possible, he hopes to continue looting like this.

"They probably can't sit still any longer." Lin Yue said helplessly, "We can't just watch as we seize the lords of all territories."

"In that case, the other races wouldn't even be able to carry out a Descent, and they'd truly be at our mercy."

"Since they've all come, let's go take a look."

Qin Chuan spread his hands, took Lin Yue's hand, brought along the recently broken‑through Shui Hua, and vanished instantly.

Yage Territory, a territory located on the border of the area currently occupied by the Human Race.

According to the Human Race's plan, it should have become the next territory they occupied, but because six Second‑Realm powerhouses simultaneously Descended here, the Human Race's advance had to stop.

The Descended Second‑Realm beings did not attack the Human Race; they simply calmly requested that the Human Race's spokesperson come forward, as they represented the six races and wished to hold talks with the Human Race.

Upon hearing the news, Feng Yin led the Human Race Mythic Stage cultivators to rush to Yage Territory immediately, and simultaneously sent an urgent message to Qin Chuan.

After Qin Chuan stepped into Yage Territory, Feng Yin immediately informed him of the situation.

"Let's discuss it then." After a moment's thought, Qin Chuan nodded slightly and then led the crowd into the main city area of Yage Territory.

Six figures of the Mythic Stage Second Realm appeared simultaneously.

Qin Chuan glanced at one of them, a smile touching his face, "Ke Laiyi, long time no see."

"Yes." The Blue Moon Chief Priest who had come representing the Moon Spirit Clan looked at Qin Chuan, his eyes holding a hint of complex light.

Even she had never imagined that the Human Race, under the leadership of the person before her, would achieve its present accomplishments.

"This time, the Moon Spirit Clan is merely a witness." Ke Laiyi spoke softly, "I will not voice an opinion on the discussion's content."

"You're here for peace talks?" After greeting an acquaintance, Qin Chuan turned his gaze to the other five Mythic Stage Second Realm powerhouses whose expressions were not pleasant, smiled, and asked, "How shall we discuss?"

"Before the Human Race arrived, each race's number of lords was roughly equal, with each occupying about one‑sixth of the Heavenly Stairway." The Half Demon Clan's Second Realm powerhouse spoke slowly, "We acknowledge the Human Race's strength, but the lordship must be reclaimed."

"The Human Race may only occupy one‑seventh of the territory."

"Oh?" Qin Chuan looked intrigued at this Half Demon Clan Great Demon God he had never seen before, and asked, "How should I address you?"

"Hollow Pupil Demon God Pasiya."

"So it's you." Qin Chuan showed a look of realization.

During this time, he had gained some understanding of the various races' Second Realm powerhouses; Pasiya was the Half Demon Clan's Second Realm member with the sharpest mind, acting cautiously, and was one of the few Half Demons who possessed both courage and strategy.

"You few, is that also your meaning?" Qin Chuan glanced at the other few Second Realm beings.

"Not bad, the Crystal Clan feels the same."

"The Dwarf Demon Clan is the same."

"The Nether Ghost Clan and the Half Demon Clan share the same view."

"The Dragon Clan is the same."

The Second Realm beings of all races spoke at once.

Even the Nether Ghost Clan, which is least on good terms with the Half Demon Clan, rarely reached a consensus in the face of the terrifying pressure brought by the Human Race.

After patiently listening to each race's statement, Qin Chuan smiled, though the smile was cold, "And what if I disagree?"

As Qin Chuan's words fell, the atmosphere instantly grew a bit more solemn.

"The Human Race has never had the habit of spitting out meat once it's in the mouth." Qin Chuan looked at the five clan leaders whose faces were worsening, "Territory already taken by the Human Race cannot be given up."

"You…"

The Nether Ghost Clan's Second Realm powerhouse, his red eyes blazing with anger, was about to erupt when the Pasiya beside him forcefully pressed him down.

"Are you really going to keep going like this?" Pasiya looked at Qin Chuan with a solemn expression, "You should know we could never allow the Human Race to occupy all of the Heavenly Stairway's territory."

"If it truly comes to that, we will also adopt extreme measures to prevent the Human Race from entering the second level of the Heavenly Stairway!"

Qin Chuan's eyes flickered slightly.

Earlier, when he and Feng Yin had discussed this, he had already considered this possibility.

The Human Race had caused such a huge commotion in the Heavenly Stairway that the various races could not simply stand by.

If they could not stop the Human Race on the first level of the Heavenly Stairway, their means would inevitably appear on the second level.

You should know, there is only one entrance from the first level to the second level.

If the races intended to block them, bringing Third‑Level powerhouses to Descend together, even Qin Chuan would feel uneasy.

Therefore, the Human Race never intended, from the start, to fight to the death with the other races on the first level of the Heavenly Stairway.

Even if they wiped out all the strong beings on the first level, the Human Race would still be unable to enter the second or third levels, which would be pointless.

"Wanting the Human Race to stop? That's possible." Qin Chuan said in a low voice.

"But I have one condition—you must agree."

(End of Chapter)