Chapter 465: The War of the Two Clans (V)

Qilin Changlan never expected that, behind their Sea Clan, a human Yuan Ying Cultivator would actually appear, causing him to burst out cursing the Sea Clan's monitoring cultivator.

However, it is not easy for the Sea Clan to get behind the human cultivators, because after the Martial Kingdom lies the vast Eastern Border Continent, which is teeming with human cultivators.

But the Sea Clan's rear is different.

Although they left many clansmen in the Endless Sea for supplies, and with the aid of sea beasts, it is indeed generally difficult to get behind them.

But compared to the human cultivators' side, they still have considerable awareness.

Moreover, the black robe worn by the External Incarnation, and the Qinglian Dao Temple hat worn beneath it, are not something an ordinary Yuan Ying Cultivator can detect.

As for how the External Incarnation could know the Sea Clan's escape route,

It is true that Yunhe was unable to completely kill Qilin Changlan due to Qizhou Tianxuan's obstruction, but he did have the chance to leave a mark on Qilin Changlan's Sea Pearl.

If Qilin Changlan were given time to calm down, the mark Yunhe left would naturally be dispelled by him.

But he currently has no such opportunity at all.

And facing him, Qizhou Tianxuan, standing with hands behind his back, also had a solemn expression, but he was clearly far more composed than Yunhe.

Once Qilin Changlan ceased struggling, the External Incarnation then stirred the Beast Soul Banner again, and the rolling corpse-soul energy formed by countless beast souls enveloped him.

The External Incarnation's cultivation base was still only at the early Yuan Ying stage.

Qilin Changlan had just wanted to take a breath when his tone suddenly changed: 'Is it Yun Lao Mo who sent you?! This is Yun Lao Mo's secret sigil!'

He took a slight breath.

"Whoosh——"

"Why have you appeared here?!"

Moreover.

A Fourth Level Late-Stage cultivator's strength lies not only in himself but also in his extensive connections and the Sea Clan cultivators he can command at will.

Merely considering the current state, it would be unwise to expend too much mana, so he did not provoke.

"Just rest easy and sleep; when I free my hands, I'll slowly refine you."

"Heh, we'll see if you can escape." The External Incarnation let out a light laugh.

Even though the Beast Soul Banner is a Fourth Level Upper-Grade Magic Treasure, it cannot truly kill the opponent.

Yunhe, pressing against the Yao Armor, turned slightly pale; the immense force and impact compelled him to retreat to relieve the force.

"Clatter——"

When did even an early Yuan Ying Cultivator dare to attack him?

"Has the tiger fallen to be bullied by dogs?"

He even had the impulse to laugh from extreme anger.

As for Yunhe, Qilin Changlan had lost confidence, but dealing with a mere early Yuan Ying Cultivator, he still felt assured.

The External Incarnation took the Sea Pearl, and his divine sense swept out.

"It turns out it's just."

One must admit, even though his body was destroyed leaving only a Sea Pearl, and no magic treasures or secret techniques could be used, as a Fourth Level Late-Stage Sea Clan cultivator, he is not so easily bound.

If such a powerful Fourth Level Late-Stage Sea Clan cultivator were allowed to return safely, Yunhe would likely not dare to peacefully retreat into seclusion for a long time to come.

Precisely for this reason, Qilin Changlan, although surprised, did not therefore become overly panicked.

His weakness is not a pretense.

"Gu Yan, have you thought through the price of completely offending me?"

Although Qilin Changlan was heavily wounded, his strong body destroyed, yet given time he might not be unable to return to his peak state.

After confirming that no one had noticed what happened here, he rolled up a black escape light, flickered, and vanished from the spot.

Almost like an instinctive reaction, Qilin Changlan subconsciously looked toward the External Incarnation who had triggered the talisman.

Sea Clan cultivators already have relatively weak souls, and with Qilin Changlan having lost his fleshly body, leaving only a Sea Pearl, he is like rootless duckweed; under the effect of two "Five Elements Soul-Capturing Talismans", the soul within his Sea Pearl immediately suffers great influence.

"Boom!!"

Then two talismans flew out.

However, Qizhou Tianxuan also roughly understood Yunhe's current state.

Qilin Changlan said nothing more.

The sound of the talisman swaying.

But he felt more indignation in his heart.

The External Incarnation dared not slight it, immediately pulling out several talismans plus two "Five Elements Soul-Capturing Talismans" and sealing them upon it.

Qilin Changlan roared, the Sea Pearl striving to break free from the black mist and the Beast Soul bindings.

"Five Elements Soul-Capturing Talisman!"

The External Incarnation smiled, said nothing, but the two "Five Elements Soul-Capturing Talismans" in his hand had already been waved out.

Yet Qizhou Tianxuan also dared not act on the thought of fighting Yunhe to the death and slaying him here.

Dense water vapor rose from the Sea Pearl, and he prepared to directly break through the Beast Soul Banner's bindings.

A coral-colored sea beast slammed its claw heavily onto the huge, heavy shield, emitting an extremely deep, muffled, heavy sound.

The originally azure Sea Pearl turned into a black sphere.

"No way."

Although he now has confidence to defeat Yunhe, he lacks certainty to slay his opponent.

He cannot tell whether Yunhe still hides another trump card.

Although Yunhe now looks disheveled, Qizhou Tianxuan's spiritual sense tells him that Yunhe likely hides another trump card, sufficient for self-preservation.

Moreover, even if he truly wanted to slay Yunhe, he would have to exhaust all his own trump cards.

Lacking sufficient certainty, and possibly needing to pay a great price, Qizhou Tianxuan wisely did not take the risk.

This also let Yunhe secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

He no longer wanted to fight desperately.

Because fighting on offered him no chance of victory, the only recourse was to reveal his life-saving trick.

Even if he still had more than one such life-saving trick.

But each time such a trump card is revealed, his future peril in difficult situations rises a notch.

So, although the fight now looks intense and his persistence is grueling, it is already the best outcome.

Of course.

At this moment, the 'disheveled' state seen in Yunhe and Qizhou Tianxuan's eyes appears different to other cultivators.

Five Elements Sword Ancestor Yunhe, the Yun Old Devil, after successively battling two late Fourth Level sea clan great elders without defeat, even destroyed the physical form of the Qilin clan's great elder Qilin Changlan, forcing the opponent to flee via sea pearl to barely save his life!

With such strength, even those few late Nascent Soul great cultivators in the human cultivator alliance might not be able to achieve it, right?

If we say, earlier because Yunhe fought Qilin Changlan outside the Ice Immortal Pavilion, he not only avoided defeat but also injured his opponent, letting many recognize his power and place his status on par with late Nascent Soul great cultivators.

But if we were to rank them, Yunhe would certainly come after all late Nascent Soul great cultivators, merely surpassing mid Nascent Soul cultivators.

But after this battle, in the entire Eastern Border cultivation world, the only ones who could still firmly suppress Yunhe are likely the Righteous Path's foremost, Profound Void Daoist, and the Demonic Path's foremost, Rakshasa Old Devil.

Even the Eastern Border's top sword cultivator, the Formless Sword Monarch, in their eyes Yunhe could match him.

Now Yunhe, based solely on his battle record, could rank among the top five cultivators in the entire Eastern Border cultivation world.

He is still only a mid Nascent Soul cultivator!

This is the crux of the problem.

By now, no one would think Yunhe unable to break through to late Nascent Soul; it's merely a matter of time.

And when he breaks through to late Nascent Soul, what level could his strength reach?

Probably the titles of the leaders of the righteous and demonic paths in the Eastern Border cultivation world should change hands, right?

However, these are matters for later.

Yunhe successively battled two late Fourth Level sea clan great elders, greatly bolstering the morale of the human cultivator side and heavily striking the sea clan side.

This caused the sea clan cultivators, who had originally been resolved to fight to the death, to suffer a massive blow.

Prosperity leads to decline.

Qizhou Tianxuan obviously also sensed the condition of the sea clan cultivators.

He secretly sighed in his heart.

Now the only way is for him to slay Yunhe; even defeating him might not be enough to turn the tide.

Therefore, ordering the sea clan cultivators to launch another fierce attack in this situation is clearly very unwise.

Thus.

After battling Yunhe fiercely for an entire day and night, confirming that the sea clan truly had no chance to break through the Wu Kingdom's defense line, he somewhat helplessly announced the retreat order.

No matter how you say it.

Here there still remains a large number of sea clan fighting forces; as long as this force is protected, the sea clan still has a chance to make a comeback.

Even if this might again require a long time of rest and recuperation, humanity might not grant them that much time.

But if the sea clan cultivators suffer too many losses here, then the entire sea clan's demise is likely not far off.

So even if he is extremely unwilling, he has no choice but to issue the order.

"Retreat!"

Woo—

The sea clan's conch horn emitted their final mournful cry.

Countless sea beasts, driven by the backflowing seawater and sweeping forces, fought desperately toward the human cultivators, like moths to a flame, buying time for the sea clan cultivators to retreat.

At this moment, the human cultivator side is enjoying the feast of victory.

Such a multitude of sea beasts launching suicidal counterattacks is precisely the best time for human cultivators to harvest them.

These sea beasts differ little from demonic beasts; their entire bodies are treasures, so each additional one slain means an extra gain.

Gazing at the seawater dyed red with blood, Qizhou Tianxuan let out a quiet sigh.

If he had arrived earlier, perhaps the situation would have been completely different.

But he had already come as fast as possible; who would have thought Qilin Changlan would be defeated so swiftly?

"Fortunately, that guy is still alive."

Qizhou Tianxuan deeply glanced at Yunhe dragging the Xianyao Armor, then said with regret:

"Daoist Yun, we should still have a day to meet again."

Having said that, he flashed his body downward, and amidst the surging mana, he protected many sea clan cultivators as they retreated.

This retreat is not merely a fallback to defend Yu Kingdom; it is a direct withdrawal into the Endless Sea.

Only by relying on the geographic advantage of the Endless Sea might the sea clan still have a chance to negotiate with the human cultivators.

All the efforts made previously are now wasted at this moment.

Yunhe did not obstruct; watching the sea clan cultivators retreat as swiftly as a tide, he also let out a long breath.

"Cough cough cough"

With his spirit slightly relaxed, he couldn't help but cough, spilling large mouthfuls of bright blood from his mouth, his already pallid complexion turning even paler.

"This time the injury is truly quite severe."

He had even forgotten how long it had been since he last suffered such a severe injury.

"Are you alright?"

The Fifth Purple Robe was the first to fly up.

Following closely, Zhang Ding Tian, Gan Bing Lan, and the other Yuan Ying Cultivators all gathered.

From their condition one can see how fierce this battle was.

On the human cultivators' side, including Fu Long Shangren, there were three Yuan Ying Cultivators whose physical bodies were destroyed, stubbornly holding on at the Yuan Ying stage, and two early-stage Yuan Ying Cultivators were killed outright, not even able to escape with their Yuan Ying.

Among the mid-stage Yuan Ying Cultivators, aside from Di Wu Zi Yi's condition still being relatively okay, Zhang Ding Tian and Gan Bing Lan each suffered injuries of varying degrees.

Just from the outcome of the Yuan Ying Cultivators one can see how fierce this battle was.

As for the casualties among Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators, there's no need to even mention them.

However.

The result of this battle is still good.

Not only did they successfully block the Sea Clan's counterattack, but they also inflicted massive damage on the Sea Clan.

Among them, the fact that Yunhe destroyed the physical form of Qilin Changlan was the greatest victory.

"Thank you for your efforts, everyone."

Yunhe forced out a smile and bowed his hands to everyone.

"Daoist Friend Yun, you're too polite."

Everyone dared not be negligent and returned the salute one after another.

Before this, perhaps some people still felt dissatisfied that Yunhe, a mid-stage Yuan Ying Cultivator, was in charge of the overall situation; even if they didn't say it outright, they inevitably had some thoughts in their hearts.

But after this battle, I believe no one will have any objections anymore because of his mid-stage Yuan Ying cultivation base.

"Daoist Friend Yun, the Sea Clan has retreated, we." Zhang Ding Tian couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this, Yunhe's expression turned solemn, his eyes icy, and he said in a deep voice:

"Although the Sea Clan has retreated, there will certainly be cultivators within the Sea Clan who are unwilling to accept defeat or see an opportunity to exploit; therefore, I, Yun, hope that fellow Daoists, if you have any remaining strength, go and slaughter these Sea Clan members."

The Sea Clan suffered a crushing defeat and retreated; at this point, the situation is chaotic, and there are certainly many who would try to profit from the turmoil.

Moreover, the words that Qizhou Tianxuan said while retreating seemed like a trivial harsh remark made in defeat, but he felt there might be deeper meaning.

The Sea Clan might still have a hidden move.

Not just these Sea Clan members.

Those big and small forces and cultivators who had allied with the Sea Clan for temporary gain have now reached the time to be settled.

"What about the Xian State side?"

"Hmph!"

Before Zhang Ding Tian could finish speaking, he heard Yunhe let out a cold snort.

"Qizhou Tianxuan has already appeared before me, Yun; if the Xian State side still suffers a loss like this, then Xiao Lao Guai can just go die."

Without the Fourth Level late-stage Sea Clan Grand Elder's restraint, even with the Dragon Fish Vast Sea Grand Formation, the human cultivators on the Xian State side should also have the advantage.

If even this still results in defeat, then Huangquan Lao Zu can really just go die.

However, only Yunhe can say such things now; others dare not casually criticize a late-stage Yuan Ying Cultivator.

But everyone also had some sense of it.

After this battle, Yun Lao Mo, who now rivals late-stage Yuan Ying Cultivators in terrifying power, and Huangquan Lao Zu of Fengdu City, have developed a considerable conflict.

Without the pressure from the Sea Clan as an external force, Yun Lao Mo and Huangquan Lao Zu may yet have to fight each other.

"In that case, we will go and eliminate the remnants of the Sea Clan." Di Wu Zi Yi stepped forward and said.

Everyone looked at each other.

The situation of Yun Lao Mo together with Wu Xiang Jian Jun of the Formless Sword Sect, and the Human Cultivator Alliance, is likely to undergo great changes.

(End of Chapter)