Chapter 823: Prelude to the Great Battle

The night has no moon. The wind is like a blade.

Xiong Feiyu stood alone atop a high mountain, gazing out over the border of Luohuang Zhou. There, the auras of human cultivators glittered like countless stars, and the distant sound of war drums could be faintly heard. A faint smile curled his lips, and a trace of coldness flashed in his eyes.

"Wusu Zi," he called softly.

From the shadows, a middle‑aged scholar's figure slowly materialized. Wusu Zi bowed and saluted, his voice hoarse: "Sir, everything has been arranged properly."

Xiong Feiyu's fingertip brushed a blood‑colored jade tablet, upon which strange patterns swirled as if blood were flowing.

"Three days later, on the night of the lunar eclipse, can the 'Blood Eclipse Spirit‑Calling Array' be completed?"

Wusu Zi sneered: "I have secretly altered three array eyes of the border great array; when the yin qi of the lunar eclipse peaks, the array will surely collapse."

Xiong Feiyu nodded, his gaze turning to the distant human camp. There, the crimson banners of the Heavenly Punishment Palace fluttered in the night wind, like waves of blood.

"Has Old Chi Xiao shown any recent changes?"

"Sir, the cultivators of the Heavenly Punishment Palace train day and night, as if preparing for war," Wusu Zi whispered, "but they only attribute it to celestial changes and have not yet sensed the array anomaly."

Xiong Feiyu sneered coldly: "Foolish beyond reach."

He raised his hand and waved; the jade tablet turned into a stream of light that vanished into the clouds. The night wind gusted sharply, lifting a strand of ash‑colored hair at his temple.

"Chaos approaches; only blood can cleanse."

Three days later, at the hour of the Rat.

The border great array of Luohuang Zhou had originally hung like a celestial curtain, its bluish light veil bearing flowing runes that sealed the inside from the outside. Yet now the array patterns flickered, and spiritual energy surged like boiling water.

Within the human camp, Chi Xiao suddenly opened his eyes. The Elder of the Heavenly Punishment Palace, his beard and hair all white and his face resolute, now had a fierce glint exploding in his eyes.

"The great array has weakened!"

The cultivators inside the tent changed color at the words. Elder Xuanji of the Fa Tian Sect snapped his fingers and calculated, then said gravely: "The lunar eclipse approaches, yin qi surges into the array; this is a heaven‑bestowed opportunity!"

"Do we really intend to fight?"

"There's no way the demon tribe could truly seize the Source Origin, right? Do you expect to see a saintly sage of the demon tribe reappear from antiquity?!"

The surrounding powerful cultivators' faces changed; indeed, they could not allow the ancient events to recur.

If not for that, they would not have gathered here.

Of course, who hasn't harbored a thought? Now the demon tribe, so dominant, forbids them from exploring the anomalous zones of Luohuang Zhou and is determined to monopolize the Source Origin; how could these powerful ones simply give up?

Meanwhile, after the great array was erected, the demon tribe periodically launched attacks on the human cultivators' garrisons, inflaming many of them!

To make matters worse, they turned the tables, claiming the humans had first invaded their territory!

Chi Xiao rose abruptly, the Demon‑Slaying Sword at his waist humming incessantly.

"Give the order!" his voice rang like a great bell, "Break the array!"

"Boom!"

Hundreds of sword beams slashed the night sky, talismans rained down, and artifacts chimed in unison. The great array shuddered violently, its patterns cracking inch by inch. When the final strand of moonlight was devoured by darkness, the border great array shattered with a thunderous collapse!

"Kill!"

Human cultivators surged in like a tide. At the forefront was a squad of Heavenly Punishment Palace sword cultivators, each bearing a crimson sword; their sword qi criss‑crossed, instantly cutting the stationed demon guards into blood mist.

However, just as the vanguard pressed a hundred li deep, the ground suddenly trembled!

"Roar!"

A chilling wolf howl rang across the four directions, and countless black shadows surged from the earth. Leading them was a silver‑backed wolf demon, over a zhang tall, its claws like knives, unmistakably the Peak of Dao Harmony!

"Ambush!" Xuanji's expression shifted sharply, and he hurriedly summoned a Bagua Mirror to shield himself.

Chi Xiao, furious, sneered: "Well done, demon tribe, daring to set an ambush!"

The silver‑backed wolf demon bared its fangs, speaking human words: "Human ants, trespassers shall die!"

Before the words finished, thousands of elite demon troops surged from all directions. These demons were clearly pre‑prepared, each clad in black armor, wielding poisoned weapons, forming a battle formation to charge.

For a moment, the sky was stained with blood!

At the same moment, within the capital city.

Qing Xuan was meditating in the cultivation chamber, eyes closed, when inspiration struck. Her phoenix eyes snapped open, her jade hand flicked, and a water mirror materialized before her.

The scene in the mirror made her pupils contract sharply!

The border great array shattered; human cultivators launched a massive invasion!

"Audacious!"

She sprang up abruptly, her teal skirt fluttering without wind. A guard outside the hall hurriedly knelt: "Sir!"

"Give the order!" Qing Xuan's voice was icy, "Gather all cultivators above the Transformation God realm in the city and follow me into battle!"

The guard, having received the command, prepared to retreat, but saw Xiong Feiyu hurrying in, his expression solemn: "Sir, I have urgent matters to report!"

He presented a blood‑stained jade tablet with both hands. Qing Xuan took it, her spirit sense sweeping it, and her complexion turned iron‑blue instantly.

The jade tablet contained a recorded vision:

Dozens of human cultivators were slaughtering a demon tribe settlement, leaving no old or weak alive. The final frame froze on a Heavenly Punishment Palace sword cultivator sneering as he decapitated a demon child, personally refining the demon crystal.

"How can this be!" Qing Xuan, enraged, watched the jade tablet turn to powder in her palm.

Xiong Feiyu bowed his head, his voice heavy with grief: "Sir, the humans have gone too far! If we do not retaliate, where will the demon tribe's dignity lie?"

Qing Xuan's murderous intent surged in her eyes: "Give the order, kill every invading human, leave none alive!"

"Yes!"

Xiong Feiyu bowed and stepped back, and as he turned his lips curled slightly. The footage was, of course, a fabrication he had meticulously crafted, but it no longer mattered.

The flames of war have already been lit.

The border battlefield is strewn with corpses.

Human cultivators fought while retreating, the demon tribe grew bolder with each clash. When the situation grew critical, a flash of azure light appeared in the sky!

"It's the Qingluan Clan!"

Amid the demons' cheers, Qing Xuan stepped onto the air. Azure flames encircled her, and with each step the void birthed a blue lotus.

"Qing Xuan!" Chi Xiao Zhenren barked, "Your demon tribe set a trap first, and now you still dare to appear?!"

Qing Xuan sneered, "You humans slaughter our tribe's people; today the blood debt will be repaid with blood!"

"Nonsense!" Xuan Ji Xianzi scolded angrily, "Clearly it was you......"

Before the words finished, Qing Xuan already struck boldly!

A sky‑full of blue flames turned into sharp blades that rained down; wherever they passed, human cultivators instantly turned to ash. Chi Xiao Zhenren hurriedly summoned the "Demon‑Slaying Sword"; its light shone like a rainbow and collided with the blue flames with a thunderous crash!

"Boom!"

The explosion's aftershock swept ten li around, cracking the ground and causing rocks to collapse.

At the battlefield's edge, Xiong Fei Yu concealed his form, watching coldly. He held a black talisman in his hand and silently crushed it.

"Kill, the more ruthless the better......"

The talisman turned into black mist and vanished, while the slaughter on the battlefield grew even more brutal.

After the great battle.

The war between humans and the demon tribe began, inevitable.

Upon learning this, the major forces' expressions changed sharply, each calculating what position they should occupy if the war started.

However, some extreme human cultivators began to indiscriminately hunt demon tribe cultivators still within Zhong Tian Zhi Yu, and even some Otherworldly Race cultivators were dragged in.

"The heart of the demon tribe is laid bare! Yesterday they dared to break the pact and drove our human forces out of Luohuang Zhou; today they dare to raise troops and fight our border cultivators, tomorrow they might even breach the Central Continent!!"

"Human lands cannot tolerate the chaos of the demon tribe!"

"Those with guts, come with me to the border to support, wipe out those demons!"

"Kill kill kill!!!"