The Final Battle (8)

Realm Gate, the vast army of the Nine Phoenix Realm was dejected. Even the leaders of their clans, such as the Sky Fox Saintess, the King of the Divine Wind Clan, and the Fire-Bathing Tribe Chief, had gloomy faces. They had never imagined such a crushing defeat.

"I never expected that the Martial Ancestor wouldn't return to the Immortal Realm, and I certainly didn't expect his strength to have reached the Body Integration Realm — the Power of Principle..."

Daoist Taiyi sighed, saying that compared to others, he was in the best condition, and the Eastern King Sect had not suffered much loss, so he was relatively calm.

"Now that we've suffered a crushing defeat, what should we do next? Should we gather our strength and continue the attack, or should we give up and recuperate?" the Giant Spirit Sage asked in a deep voice.

"Of course, we'll leave it at that. What? You don't actually intend to take over the Lu Wu Realm, do you?"

The King of the Divine Wind Clan's tone was somber. In this great battle, their Divine Wind Clan had suffered heavy losses once again. Fortunately, they weren't the only ones who were unlucky. If they could maintain the status quo and slowly recuperate, there wouldn't be too much of a problem. Therefore, the King of the Divine Wind Clan was absolutely unwilling to provoke the Lu Wu Realm again.

He wasn't the only one with this thought; the Sky Fox Saintess immediately echoed, "Our Demon Race will not participate in any offensive wars going forward. If you still wish to attack the Lu Wu Realm, please do so, but don't even think about dragging our Demon Race into it."

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances and unanimously looked at Prince Wu Feng.

The latter's face darkened, and he remained silent, which was practically an admission of guilt.

But at that moment, the Spatial Fluctuations, and the Nine Phoenix Emperor face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water, stepped out of the space.

'Waste!'

The Nine Phoenix Emperor cursed inwardly, but forced a grim smile onto his face.

Fellow Daoist Friends.

The Nine Phoenix Emperor bowed to the crowd.

"If Your Imperial Lord still wishes to persuade us to attack Lu Wu Realm, then please refrain from speaking, lest it damage our relationship," said the Daoist Taiyi with a cold face.

"Damn old man!"

The Nine Phoenix Emperor cursed inwardly, but showed no anger on his face. "What my Daoist Friends can think of, I am naturally no exception. I will not attack the Lu Wu Realm again."

"Oh? What does Your Imperial Lord mean?"

Daoist Taiyi spoke up, and at this moment, he seemed to have become the representative of everyone, speaking on their behalf.

The Nine Phoenix Emperor naturally noticed this scene as well. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he said with a smile, "Everyone, although we suffered heavy losses in this battle, in terms of strength, we are still greater than the combined strength of the other two realms. We still have much to achieve."

"Your Imperial Lord, please speak your mind directly, don't beat around the bush," the Daoist Taiyi said impatiently.

"Hehe, what I mean is, since we can't take over Lu Wu Realm, why don't we attack Qiongqi Realm instead?" A cunning glint flashed in the eyes of the Nine Phoenix Emperor.

"Attack the Qiongqi Realm? Don't be ridiculous! What's the difference between that and attacking the Lu Wu Realm? Everyone knows that these two realms are now in cahoots. If we attack the Qiongqi Realm, the Lu Wu Realm will definitely rush to our aid!" The hot-tempered Fire-Bathing Tribe Chief couldn't help but retort.

However, Daoist Taiyi and the Sky Fox Saintess seemed to be deep in thought. Given the Nine Phoenix Emperor's cunning and treacherous nature, there must be a deeper meaning behind his words.

Daoist Taiyi was the first to realize what was going on, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his deep eyes, "Does the Imperial Lord mean to unite with the Lu Wu Realm to divide up the Qiongqi Realm?"

"Good!"

The Nine Phoenix Emperor nodded slightly, then added, "The war between us and the Lu Wu Realm is ultimately about seizing resources; it's a public feud, not a personal grudge, and everything is for the development of our respective realms."

"Since we can't take over the Lu Wu Realm now, why not take a step back and unite with the Lu Wu Realm to divide the Qiongqi Realm? A Middle Thousand Worlds, even if it's split equally with the Lu Wu Realm, is still a huge resource. What do you all think?"

As soon as the Nine Phoenix Emperor finished speaking, the eyes of several high-ranking members of the Nine Phoenix Realm lit up. "That's right! We might not be able to defeat the Lu Wu Realm, but surely we can handle your Qiongqi Realm?"

The Fire-Bathing Tribe Chief, who had previously scoffed at the Nine Phoenix Emperor, clapped his hands excitedly and exclaimed, "Taking over half of the Qiongqi Realm will not only make up for all our losses over the years, but also allow us to make a fortune! Brilliant!"

"But will the Lu Wu Realm agree to our suggestion? After all, we just fought a war, and once they lose the Qiongqi Realm as their flank, the Lu Wu Realm's strength will be far inferior to ours. Aren't they afraid that we will take the opportunity to devour them in one fell swoop?" The Sky Fox Saintess frowned slightly and asked hesitantly.

"At worst, we can sign Cause-and-Effect Contract with the Lu Wu Realm and let them draft the terms. Isn't that enough? I don't believe the Lu Wu Realm can resist such a huge piece of meat as the Qiongqi Realm." It was King of the Divine Wind Clan who spoke. He had originally planned to rest and recuperate, but his greed made him speak.

Just as he said, no one could remain unmoved by the resources of half of the Middle Thousand Realms, especially since these resources were almost readily available. With the Lu Wu Realm and the Nine Phoenix Realm joining forces, the Qiongqi Realm simply could not withstand them.

"Alright, let's do it this way, let's unite with the Lu Wu Realm and divide up the Qiongqi Realm!" Daoist Taiyi decided.

"That damned old bastard really knows how to take advantage of a situation. It was clearly me who proposed it." The Nine Phoenix Emperor's anger surged. As the strength of the Nine-Phoenix Dynasty and the Human Race continued to narrow, the status of the Daoist Taiyi was also rising higher and higher. Now, he was even issuing orders in a blatant manner, which was truly infuriating.

"How should we get this message to the Lu Wu Realm?"

"That's simple, the key is to avoid letting the people of the Qiongqi Realm notice."

When would be a good time to deliver the message?

"Let's wait a bit. The shadow of war has just lifted. Let's wait until both sides have calmed down before discussing this further."

"That's good; we can use this time to adjust our plans."

The group chatted amongst themselves, completely oblivious to what would happen if Lu Wu Realm disagreed.

Alliance Headquarters

The rosy clouds obscured the sky, ethereal music filled the air, and the aroma of wine wafted through the air. Countless unrestrained cultivators revelled on the ground, in the sky, among the clouds, on the branches, amidst the birdsong and fragrant flowers, indulging themselves to the fullest.

They have been suppressing their emotions for far too long. The vast majority of Low-Rank Cultivators have faced the terrifying prospect of Interface Wars since birth, not to mention that their side is the weaker party. Every day they are either on the Front Lines or on their way to the Front Lines, living in constant fear of losing their lives and the cultivation they have worked so hard to gain.

Now that dawn is breaking, it's time to relax.

The path of cultivation emphasizes a balance of tension and relaxation; this balance is the true way of cultivation. Now that their tense nerves have relaxed, thousands of cultivators who were stuck in their current realms have suddenly broken through. Spiritual Qi surges and roars, thunder rumbles, and the Mirror Spirit rises and falls, creating a magnificent spectacle.