Chapter 181: 【The Trend of the Times, Such is Destiny】 (Second update, begging for votes)

Lu Runping possesses a supernatural power called 【Heavenly Connection Qi Observation】, which allows him to observe the fluctuations of fortune in all things; hence, he was able to observe the fortune of the Lu Family Immortal Clan.

Fortune is not something that remains constant.

A person might have great luck at one moment, and be plagued by misfortune the next.

For cultivators, fortune is even more complex.

Sometimes, a cultivator possesses a supreme treasure and has high fortune, but they themselves are unaware of it and fail to utilize it, leading to it being lost in the end.

This is a type of useless great fortune.

Some people only have small fortune, but it is constant; after a period of time, as their strength grows, their fortune becomes more prosperous, and their cultivation level rises accordingly.

Fortune and cultivation growth can complement each other.

Lu Runping's understanding is that fortune is like a reflection of a cultivator's current state, rather than a decisive factor.

Trying to use fortune to inversely influence a certain person is very difficult, and it carries negative feedback.

After all, it is essentially not a type of energy that can be manipulated; forcibly influencing it requires paying a price.

The final result may not be as desired.

Therefore, Lu Runping had no intention of swaying fortune, but he could observe the situation of the entire battlefield by observing it.

Although he was focused on refining his Dharma treasure, he still had incarnations and clones that could intervene in the battle at any time.

Even though this war only involved cultivators below the Land Immortal realm.

But in the end, it would still require the strongest of this realm, the Land Immortals, to settle the entire event; furthermore, if Lu Runping wanted to counterattack the Twelve Immortal Dynasties, it was impossible to let the situation deteriorate.

With the new Four Great Immortal Dynasties joining the war, the various Immortal Sects of the Donghua Zhenzhou also realized that this was a war affecting the entire continent; they could not escape it, and only by fighting could they secure a glimmer of survival for their sects and themselves.

Therefore, the various Immortal Sects dispatched a large number of cultivators to join the battle.

When the Dragon Emperor Palace oppressed the four seas, it was not just the human cultivators of the Beizheng Sizhou who were frantically improving their strength; the various Immortal Sects of the Donghua Zhenzhou were also rapidly strengthening themselves.

Therefore, in terms of scale, the number of cultivators in the Donghua Zhenzhou was no less than that of the Beizheng Sizhou.

To be precise, it should be more.

After all, the Beizheng Sizhou had always been in the midst of war, and the number of cultivators fluctuated, while in the various Immortal Sects of the Donghua Zhenzhou, except during great catastrophes, there was almost no loss of personnel.

The area of the Donghua Zhenzhou is the largest among the Nine Provinces; although it is only slightly larger, it has more resources, so the mid-level combat power of the cultivators here is more robust.

It is just that in terms of high-end combat power, that is, the number of Land Immortals, the former Donghua Zhenzhou adopted a one-to-one inheritance method, so it was not as numerous as the Beizheng Sizhou's two-to-one method.

But generally speaking, the combat power was about the same.

After Lu Runping's back-and-forth tossing, their number of Land Immortals has increased a lot, but by comparison, it is still roughly the same.

If one were to speak of variables, it actually still lies with the Lu Family Immortal Clan.

The Lu Family Immortal Clan had a million clansmen; by the eighth month of the slaughter, there were still over a million, and even after fourteen months, there were still over nine hundred thousand.

These clansmen all possessed supernatural powers, and each of them, compared to most ordinary cultivators, had means of self-preservation.

Coupled with their origin from the Lu Family Immortal Clan, they lacked neither Spirit Stones, pills, nor Spirit Tool equipment, so in battles of the same level, almost none died.

If it weren't for this being a great melee, they would have had almost no casualties.

This group of stubborn combatants greatly consumed the number of battle troops of the Eight Great Immortal Dynasties of the Beizheng Sizhou.

Naturally, they became the most targeted attack objectives for the cultivators of the Eight Great Immortal Dynasties; many cultivators set their sights on killing this group of people.

Those cultivators were also very greedy for the abilities they possessed, but Lu Runping had already cast the 【Covering the Sky and Hiding the Sun】 supernatural power on the entire Lu Family, so no one could truly find information about their supernatural powers.

But as for the claim of being the "Destined Immortal Clan," everyone firmly believed it.

After all, this Immortal Clan was truly too powerful.

By the time the war reached the sixteenth month, the total number of deaths in the two continents had already exceeded forty million.

Forty million, all of them cultivators!

A very terrifying number.

These were all living beings who had seized the creation of heaven and earth, yet there were so many casualties; the Spirit Qi returned to heaven and earth alone was a not-insignificant amount of energy.

By this stage, the Lu Family Immortal Clan still had over seven hundred thousand people left, of which over five hundred thousand were still fighting on the front lines.

Despite being targeted and hunted, they fought tenaciously; it was not to prove anything, but simply because they were far greedier than they imagined!

What can drive a person to forget life and death, besides hot-headed emotions, is only immense profit.

In the war, relying on the innate supernatural powers within the clan, they achieved much and their gains were very considerable.

Especially those of the young and vigorous faction, each one was in high spirits.

To this day, the Eight Great Immortal Dynasties have already revealed a trend of collapse, and the Immortal Sect Alliance army is pressing straight toward the teleportation array, having occupied over ninety percent of the land in the Beihuang Region.

In the Immortal Sect Alliance camp beside the teleportation array, Li Yue spoke:

"Fellow Daoist Wuquan, the current situation is, I fear, very unfavorable for us. Have you received any news from contacting the other Four Great Immortal Dynasties?"

"No accurate reply yet."

Daoist Wuquan shook his head and sighed.

Li Yue said with dissatisfaction:

"Fellow Daoist, you were the one who swore with certainty at the time that we would surely win this campaign; even if we couldn't reap the greatest benefits, we could at least obtain a portion of the gains.

Now that things have come to this, we only see losses, and the sects of the Donghua Zhenzhou seem to have a trend of counterattacking. Do not forget, you attained the Dao through this fortune; if we fail, your Dao will be destroyed!"

Daoist Wuquan, however, suddenly laughed out loud.

Li Yue felt somewhat confused by this smile and couldn't help but frown:

"Why does Fellow Daoist laugh?"

Daoist Wuquan said with a smile:

"Now that things have come to this, everything is as I expected. The trend of the times is such, and my Dao has already neared maturity; of course, I should laugh."

Li Yue suddenly stood up from his meditation cushion and shouted:

"What!? Could it be that you...?"

Before he could finish, Daoist Wuquan continued himself:

"Correct, the fortune I cultivate is not the Twelve Immortal Dynasties attacking the Donghua Zhenzhou, but the Immortal Sects counterattacking the Beizheng Sizhou! Those Four Great Immortal Dynasties are currently overwhelmed dealing with internal strife and will not come to support again.

This matter of the Beizheng Sizhou moving south has already failed; next, the Donghua Zhenzhou will counterattack the Beizheng Sizhou. Fellow Daoist, you must prepare yourself!"

"You! You actually schemed against me—no, you schemed against the Land Immortals of the two continents!"

Li Yue said angrily.

Daoist Wuquan laughed loudly:

"No, I did not scheme against any of you. Attacking the Donghua Zhenzhou by moving south was one of your choices, and I merely helped you make this choice.

You came to attack, so this side naturally had to resist; and I estimated the strength of both sides and determined that with the existence of the Lu Family Immortal Clan, you could not achieve victory.

Years ago, when Xuanjizi appeared, there was once a prophecy saying that the Lu Family Immortal Clan was the Destined Immortal Clan.

Through my years of investigation, I learned that the Lu Family Immortal Clan is very terrifying; they rose in a mere eight hundred years and already possess the foundation to command the entire Donghua Zhenzhou.

Especially their Ancestor, who suddenly appeared with unfathomable cultivation; I estimate that even the once-peerless talents Lv Gong and the Xuan Bing Dragon Emperor were no more than this.

Hence, I reached the conclusion that if the Lu Family Immortal Clan participated in this war, a counterattack on the Beizheng Sizhou would be an inevitable trend.

Because the Lu Family Immortal Clan has also developed to a bottleneck period; the Lu Family Ancestor who could develop the Lu Family to its current state could not possibly keep his sights only on the corner of the Lianze Domain.

They must expand outward.

Considering all factors, once you moved south to attack the Donghua Zhenzhou, the Lu Family Immortal Clan counterattacking the Beizheng Sizhou, occupying land, and developing the Immortal Clan is the trend of the times!

Fellow Daoist, such is destiny; accept your fate!"

These last three words boomed in Li Yue's mind like a great bell.

He suddenly laughed loudly and said:

"Haha! Good, Fellow Daoist truly has good schemes! But my Guyou Immortal Dynasty has never believed in so-called destiny! Isn't it just a mere Lu Family Immortal Clan? Watch me kill them all!"

Daoist Wuquan shook his head and said:

"Fellow Daoist, a final piece of advice: never provoke the Lu Family Ancestor, otherwise..."

He shook his head and said nothing more, remaining seated steadily on his meditation cushion.

Li Yue did not dare to attack him, because Daoist Wuquan had once demonstrated the terror of this array group to him; relying on the array group, even if Daoist Wuquan could not kill Li Yue, it was enough to trap him here, preventing him from harming himself.

"Hmph! We are both Land Immortals; back then I could suppress the Lietian Corpse King, and now, against a Lu Family Ancestor, even if I cannot win, I am enough to match him. I will kill his Immortal Clan's combatants, and he can kill my soldiers; we shall see who can hold out until the end.

I do not believe he can sit by and watch his own clansmen die miserably before his eyes!"

Daoist Wuquan looked at Li Yue's departing back and sighed:

"But, he will kill you directly!"

He did not go to persuade him again; perhaps this was also part of destiny, and he was merely following the trend.

On the other side, Li Yue flew out of the array group, looking at the already collapsing Eight Dynasty Allied Army; the anger in his heart grew even more intense, and his eyes quickly locked onto one person.

A First-Turn Heavenly Monarch, standing before the cultivators of the Donghua Zhenzhou, faintly possessing the aura of a leader.

Li Yue recognized this person: Lu Yi Shiliu of the Lu Family Immortal Clan. It is rumored that his father, in order to obtain a high-quality descendant, worked very hard at having children but was too lazy to name them, hence such a casual name.

As the name implies, Lu Yi Shiliu is the sixteenth child in the ranking.

His talent is very good, a superior Gold-Earth dual spirit root, only slightly worse than an extreme single spirit root.

Now over six hundred and sixty years old, he has been a First-Turn Heavenly Monarch for sixty years, and since childhood, he obtained the supernatural power 【Fractal Phantom】, making him a rare Sword Cultivator of the Lu Family.

During this period, he actively participated in the war, and in the past ten-plus months, three Second-Turn Heavenly Monarchs have died at his hands!

"Let's start with you!"

Li Yue released his Land Immortal level aura.

Apologies, too many things to do, delayed. ===== CHAPTER 182 =====