All a Misunderstanding? Harmony Above All?

The illusion array and the Linked Grand Array behind it are only ten miles apart.

But for the Ice Crystal Jellyfish, it seemed endless.

As a Fourth-Order great demon with exceptional rationality, it not only practiced illusion techniques but also acquired a technique of escape to deal with special situations.

The problem is, what happens when special circumstances actually occur?

It then realized with despair that even with the aid of stealth techniques, it still wasn't fast enough.

"Wait a minute, I have a big secret to tell you... um~!"

The Ice Crystal Jellyfish attempted to negotiate, thus delaying rescue efforts.

However, the Azure Wave Piercing Bone Needle pierced through its skull without mercy.

Xiao Chen wouldn't give it a chance to speak, nor did he care what it was going to say.

All he knew was that this place was very close to the Sea Race Grand Array, and other Great Demon might come out to provide support at any time.

They don't even need to leave the formation; they can use their Divine Sense to remotely guide Law Technique for rescue.

Therefore, in this situation, the Optimal Solution is to not give the enemy any time to react.

"Click! Click!"

Along with the death of the Ice Crystal Jellyfish, several Core Array Foundation nearby actually cracked.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Xiao Chen had originally planned to dismantle them one by one.

Before he could even make a move, the illusion array collapsed on its own, from the inside out.

Even more strangely, the surrounding fog also began to collapse inexplicably.

In just a few breaths, the dense fog that covered hundreds of miles shrank into the body of the Ice Crystal Jellyfish, turning into a gray-black gem.

"Oh~?"

Xiao Chen blinked. "Could it be that this is actually a spiritual material?"

If that's the case, then it's truly a pleasant surprise.

He had initially thought that no useful spiritual materials could be extracted from the jellyfish.

I never expected that I'd be guaranteed at least one special spiritual material now.

"The fog has dissipated!"

The Human True Lord were on the perimeter also noticed the anomaly in time.

Everyone quickly perked up and looked inside, only to see Xiao Chen slowly walking out, dragging a jellyfish with one hand.

At this moment, everyone's feelings were somewhat complicated.

As for Qian Shu True Monarch, he had just personally experienced the power of the Ice Crystal Jellyfish.

Even Crane Cry True Monarch, with whom they had fought many times before, felt only admiration at this moment.

Gang Yuan True Monarch and Han Chuan True Monarch were slightly taken aback.

They weren't surprised that Xiao Chen broke the illusion array, but they really didn't expect it to happen so quickly!

Regardless of the circumstances, it was a Fourth-tier Grand Array presided over by Fourth-Order great demon.

But Xiao Chen only took a short quarter of an hour to resolve everything.

This speed is even faster than dismantling the Defensive Formation guarded by Golden Core Demonic Beast.

To be honest, it's a bit ridiculously fast.

"Daoist Xiao is truly exceptional!"

Iron Fan True Monarch praised, "Not only is your Cultivation Method fast, but your mastery of various Secret Method is also truly profound!"

Following his lead, those around him began to praise him.

But while some are happy, others are sad.

Hai Hong, inside the Linked Grand Array at the rear, watched the situation outside from afar, her face devoid of any smile.

It had just received the cry for help from the Ice Crystal Jellyfish, and before it could even lend a hand, it saw the illusion array collapse with a crash.

This specially constructed defensive line was supposed to hold off the Human Race for at least five days.

As a result, they didn't even last half a day before being completely trampled flat.

"Sigh!"

Hai Hong sighed deeply before slowly saying, "Is he Xiao Chen, the one who has repeatedly ruined our clan's affairs?"

"She does look exceptionally young."

"His vital energy is incredibly abundant; I can feel his vitality even from this distance. He's practically a born cultivator!"

The Six-fin Barracuda next to him nodded. "That's right, it's him!"

He immediately became somewhat indignant. "We've contacted all our inside contacts, but we still don't know which faction he belongs to."

"However, it is certain that he was carrying many treasures."

"Furthermore, intelligence indicates that he carried nearly Ten Million Spirit Stones with him even before breaking through to the Nascent Soul, which he squandered throughout the Human Race, suggesting that his background must be quite extraordinary."

"To put it bluntly, he's just relying on his ancestors' wealth to gain attention."

"If it weren't for those external interferences, I could crush him like a bedbug."

The Six-fin Barracuda said this because it harbored deep resentment towards Xiao Chen.

It should be noted that, in recognition of its years of hard work, His Venerable One had promised to bestow upon it a Fifth-Order Spirit Crystal after dealing with the Cloud Wave Sword Abode.

But when they went back this time, they didn't even mention it.

Since things have come to this point, there's no need to say or ask; it's definitely over.

That's Fifth-Order Spirit Crystal!

Because of that damned Xiao Chen's meddling, he missed out on such a treasure.

The resentment in the Six-fin Barracuda's heart was almost tangible.

"Don't get angry!"

The Thousand-Year Sea Turtle on the other side advised, "Whether it's an external object or genuine skill, we will eventually have to face a formidable enemy."

"Don't lose your sense of proportion because of this."

"Furthermore, I've heard that Xiao Chen possesses a rare treasure that can penetrate Defensive Formation and directly capture enemies to his side."

"Now that he has passed through the illusion array, I urge Hai Hong to activate her Treasure Talisman as soon as possible, and not give him the opportunity to use his magical treasures to defeat him one by one."

As expected of a tortoise, it speaks so hesitantly.

The Six-fin Barracuda cursed under its breath, but did not utter a word in rebuttal.

Although it was angry, it could still tell what was important and understood that what the Thousand-Year Sea Turtle was saying made sense.

Therefore, at most they'll complain a bit, but they won't actually drag their side down.

"Golden Talisman... Let's wait a bit. If we hide ourselves, they might not dare to attack directly."

After thinking it over, Hai Hong decided to keep the golden talisman bestowed by the Venerable One for a while.

You should know that the task assigned to it by His Venerable One was to hold out for at least six months, but only two months have passed so far.

The main reason was that Xiao Chen and his group arrived too quickly, more than half a month earlier than expected.

Furthermore, the illusion array failed to last for more than five days as planned.

This means we'll need to hold on for at least another three months.

Although the duration of the golden rune is sufficient to cover this period.

However, if they reveal this trump card right away, it will create a new problem.

The Human Race has far too much time to research and develop a countermeasure!

If the other side manages to develop a method to dispel or suppress it within a month or two, the situation could become quite dire.

Although this is unlikely.

However, a small leak can sink a great ship, so to be on the safe side, we should try to avoid it if possible.

Therefore, Hai Hong immediately ordered Demonic Beasts to hide their positions.

Then he took out a Bright Pearl from his pocket, rubbed it vigorously, and tossed it down.

The Bright Pearl fell into the sea and immediately absorbed the surrounding water, transforming into a human form in an instant.

However, above its neck, it grew a crab head that looked exactly like Hai Hong.

At first glance, they look incredibly lifelike, almost as if they were carved from the same mold.

"Go outside and have a good talk with them."

Hai Hong nodded in satisfaction and immediately commanded the Water Person to come outside the formation.

He took off running and charged towards the Human Race.

"Watch out, enemy attack!"

Although Gang Yuan True Monarch was joking, he was constantly paying attention to the situation inside the Linked Grand Array.

Seeing something suddenly run out from inside, before he could even see what it was, he immediately raised his voice to warn others.

The True Lord's reaction was incredibly swift.

The moment they heard the word "be careful," the Spirit Artifact of Iron Fan True Monarch and the others shot out.

"Whoosh! Swoosh! Bang!"

In an instant, an Iron Fan, a Flying Sword, and a Bright Pearl struck the Water Person simultaneously, instantly obliterating it on the spot.

A moment later, everyone took a closer look and realized that what had emerged was just a Water Person.

"Wait, something's not right, it's still moving!"

The Silver Hair True Monarch pointed to the sea below.

It turns out that after the bursting water droplets fell into the sea, they miraculously reformed into human shapes.

Then, it slowly surfaced and waved to the Human Race, saying, "Good morning, everyone."

"To facilitate our communication, let me start by introducing myself."

"You can call me Hai Hong directly, or I don't mind if you want to call me Crab General."

"I am now in full charge of everything here in the Shallow Sky Sea."

It remained stationary, not moving any closer.

Iron Fan True Monarch and the others also withdrew their Spirit Artifact and temporarily ceased their attack, wanting to hear what the newly arrived Sea Race leader had to say.

Qian Shu True Monarch and Iron Fan True Monarch exchanged a glance.

He then whispered a reminder to everyone, "We've never seen it before in the Shallow Sky Sea. It looks like it's reinforcements sent by the Sea Race."

"The reinforcements arriving at this time are definitely not weak; they are most likely Nascent Soul Late Stage."

Hai Hong continued, "There's something I'm about to tell you that you might not want to believe."

"Actually, I've always believed that fighting and killing are wrong."

"The path of cultivation is extremely difficult, and everyone has undoubtedly put in a great deal of effort to reach their current level."

"We've come this far, why turn on each other now and fight to the death?"

"If you ask me, we should just shake hands and make peace."

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone could guard their respective Defensive Formation and remain safe and sound?"

Um?

The Human Race were all stunned upon hearing this.

What is it saying?

What the hell is this handshake and reconciliation? What the hell is this "everyone's fine"? Is that even possible?

"Has this crab gone mad?"

Silver Hair True Monarch scoffed, "I thought it came out to say something important, but it turned out to be nothing but nonsense."

The people nearby nodded slightly, clearly in agreement.

"Everyone, I know you may be a little surprised, and perhaps a little confused about what I mean."

Hai Hong disagreed and continued, "But think about it carefully, do we really need to continue fighting to the death?"

"Actually, our purpose in coming to the Compassion Sea of Compassion is simply to settle our score with Universal Salvation Temple."

"All the previous situations were caused by misunderstandings due to a lack of communication."

"Fortunately, we have finally gotten a chance to communicate."

"Please think about this, everyone. Please, all you Daoist Sect True Lord, think this through carefully. Do you really want to risk your lives to help Universal Salvation Temple?"

"I heard that before we arrived, you had already been pushed to the southwest corner by them."

"The wealthiest and most prosperous central areas are firmly occupied by the Buddhist Sect, who frequently try to undermine them through so-called ' World Crossing Assembly '."

"Then let me put it bluntly: wouldn't it be a good thing for you if Universal Salvation Temple had to bleed a little more?"

"Everyone, these are my heartfelt words, spoken from the bottom of my heart. What do you think?"

To be honest, the first half of Hai Hong's story was pure fabrication.

The idea that they "just wanted to settle their score with Universal Salvation Temple" and the so-called "misunderstanding" were not believed by any of the Nascent Soul True Lord present.

Whether it's bribing the Illuminating Void Sect or invading the Listening Wave Sea.

It's not something that can be easily dismissed with just the word "misunderstanding."

However, the latter part of Hai Hong's statement seems to make some sense.

It's quite a coincidence that if the Shallow Sky Sea were to cease hostilities now, and the Ink Barrier Sect were to retreat...

That would indeed allow the Daoist Sect to disengage from the battle and watch as the Sea Race besieges the Buddhist Sect, thus depleting the strength of Universal Salvation Temple.

If you can seize a sufficiently appropriate opportunity.

That way, the invasion of the Sea Race can be repelled at the same time, and the power of the Buddhist Sect can be weakened, thereby reshuffling the overall situation in the Compassion Sea.

Leaving aside the distant ones, let's just talk about the ruins of Bitter Silence Temple and Awakening Sea Temple, which have already been destroyed.

Although the house is gone, the Fourth-Order Spirit Vein still exists.

After the war ends, should we rebuild the Buddhist Sect there, or convert it into a Daoist temple?

That's very interesting.

The Human True Lord present exchanged glances, and some unusual thoughts suddenly arose in their minds.

It must be said that Hai Hong's words were indeed powerful.

Even if it's for the sake of upholding righteousness, the Daoist Sect wouldn't agree to its proposal on the spot; they would even righteously rebuke it.

But what are you actually thinking?

Will they continue to fight with the same intensity as before?

That's a completely different matter.

There's a phrase called "tacit understanding," which describes this very situation.

Moreover, as long as the Daoist Sect doesn't agree to the Sea Race's demands and continues to pretend to fight hard, the Buddhist Sect won't have much of a solution.

Because if the acting is good enough, there's simply no way to tell whether it's real or fake.

"Hai Hong, huh? Stop talking nonsense!"

Gang Yuan True Monarch stepped forward and loudly proclaimed, "Those who Non-Self kind have always harbored different intentions. You, a Demon Race, would care about us? Bah!"

"Such divisive rhetoric can only fool a three-year-old."

"Trying to fool your grandpa with that? You're still too naive."

"Let me tell you, stop dreaming!"

"Slaying demons and eliminating evil is the duty of all Human Race; why should it be divided into Buddhist Dao?"

That's a very eloquent way of putting it; at least it sounds perfectly reasonable.

"Hmph, you'd better think this through."

Hai Hong's smile faded, "It's not just you Human Race who have treasures; we also have Secret Treasure to help us."

"I'm not bragging, but if it really came down to a fight, you guys would be no match for us."

As he spoke, he looked at Xiao Chen: "Especially this young friend Xiao, so young, he may have a bright future ahead of him."

"I've heard you're not a native cultivator of the Compassion Sea, so why are you risking your life for them?"

"I'm not afraid to tell you, before I came here, His Venerable One entrusted me with two supreme treasures, specifically for taking your life."

"But I've always been soft-hearted; I can't bear to see a genius die young, nor can I bear to waste a precious treasure."

"I'm offering you kind advice today, hoping you'll turn back in time."

Throughout history, countless young people have died young simply because they couldn't understand this principle.

"Young friend Xiao, in the end, harmony is still the most precious thing in this world."

The so-called sowing of discord naturally involves first sowing discord between Buddhist Dao and Daoism, and then sowing discord between Xiao Chen, an outsider who does not belong to the Compassion Sea.

Hai Hong's words were a combination of persuasion and pressure.

In particular, it revealed that it possessed a supreme treasure, specifically designed to deal with Xiao Chen.

If it were most cultivators, they would probably have to think about it carefully.

However, it was unlucky enough to encounter that small group.

"You say 'harmony is precious,' but I have two questions."

Xiao Chen nodded first, then asked in return, "When you put me on the Wanted Notice, why didn't you think of prioritizing peace?"

"When you sent Yun Qing to ambush me, why didn't you think of the importance of peace?"

"Oh, now you finally know?"

"I'm telling you, it's too late!"

Now that things have come to this, Xiao Chen is a staunch advocate of war.

Even if it's just for hunting spiritual materials, he can't possibly negotiate with the Sea Race.

Moreover, he is not afraid of so-called supreme treasures, nor is he afraid of being targeted.

Hearing Xiao Chen's resolute words, the other Human True Lord were also moved.

If an 'outsider' is so resolute, these local cultivators naturally cannot lag behind.

So they all spoke up to express their stance.

"Daoist Xiao is right!"

Gang Yuan True Monarch responded loudly, "Hai Hong, listen carefully! It's too late to ask for peace now!"

Cloud Vortex True Monarch also shouted, "That's right, you bunch of beasts, you'd better wash your necks clean and wait to die!"

Next up was Iron Fan True Monarch: "Stop daydreaming."

"You've killed so Human Race cultivators over the past two years, it's time to pay the price."

Qian Shu True Monarch said, "I also want to give you a piece of advice: don't bother with these fancy tricks, they're useless."

Crane Cry True Monarch concluded. "Buddhist Dao are one family, but humans and demons cannot coexist."

"Words are useless; let's see who's the real deal."

Upon hearing this, Hai Hong frowned deeply.

These people are now all leaders of their respective sects, and together they fully embody the will of the entire Daoist Sect.

They've all said so much that there's no room for negotiation.

Unless they completely disregard their reputation and break their word, they certainly won't deliberately weaken their offensive.

In other words, its elaborate Stratagem of Sowing Discord sow discord is unlikely to be effective.

It's all that damned Xiao Chen's fault! He's clearly not a cultivator from the Compassion Sea, so why is he so determined to be an enemy of the Sea Race?

They've gone to such lengths, even invoking the Venerable One for intimidation.

But the other party didn't hesitate at all.

Instead, this set an example, prompting others to also express their views and draw a clear line.

If I get the chance later, I must find a way to get rid of this despicable guy.

The negotiations have failed.

Hai Hong also voluntarily dispersed the Water Person, abandoned the idea of fake peace talks, and began to focus on preparing for war.

He was just trying it out; even if it failed, it wouldn't be a big problem.

With the Linked Grand Array in place, they might be able to hold out.

At the same time, the Human Race also approached the outer perimeter of the great formation.

Without the protection of the illusion array and the mist, they finally saw part of the true nature of the Linked Grand Array.

"What a massive formation!"

Xiao Chen looked around and saw nothing but array Formation Flag and array Array Foundation, stretching as far as the horizon where the sea met the sky.

To be honest, this Linked Grand Array was the largest covering area he had ever seen.

In fact, not only him, but many of the True Lord present were also encountering such a massive formation for the first time.

Gang Yuan True Monarch flew slightly higher.

Based on the sea charts I had seen before, I roughly estimated the range of the formation.

Then they discovered that this super- Linked Grand Array actually encompassed all the Spirit Vein in the area.

Its construction is also extremely complex.

Nine different Medium Array were set up along the two third-tier Spirit Vein and the seven Second-Order Spirit Vein, respectively.

Then, using the Pseudo Spirit Vein at the center as the core, everything was connected together.

To balance the number of formations on the left and right, the Sea Race even built an eleventh formation using Spirit Stone.

In this way, each side of the core contains five medium-sized arrays, each shimmering with five colors of spiritual light: gold, cyan, blue, red, and brown.

Clearly, they are each based on one of the five elements.

Even more astonishingly, after careful examination, Gang Yuan True Monarch found that the formations on both sides were similar in spirit but different in form.

In the dim light, the shapes of Yin Yang Two Forms were faintly discernible.

Indeed, the Sea Race not only set up two sets of Great Dao of the Five Elements on the island, but also specially arranged different Yin and Yang Two Forms Array.

Therefore, this is not only a Linked Grand Array, but also Array within Array.

The eleven formations not only support each other, but also have two additional nested layers among themselves.

It truly brought the concept of "interlocking links" to its fullest potential.

It appears to be only eleven large formations, but there are actually a full fifteen.

Moreover, under such circumstances, no matter which formation is attacked, it will suffer coordinated suppression from at least more than half of the formations.

Because the Formation Power is intricate and includes all five elements.

Those who venture into the formation will suffer extremely severe Attribute Restraint, and may only be able to unleash less than 50% of their full strength.

"Oh no, this place is practically impregnable now."

Gang Yuan True Monarch was unwilling to boost the morale of others while diminishing his own prestige.

But he can't just not tell the truth for that reason.

So he reluctantly explained his predicament to everyone in detail.

"I have a question. In a formation like this, where formations are interlocked, are there any particularly critical weak points?"

Xiao Chen took the initiative to ask, "It's the kind of core part that absolutely cannot be damaged, the part that, if destroyed, could affect the operation of the entire formation."

Gang Yuan True Monarch shook his head. "This... I'm afraid not."

"The Linked Grand Array rely on each other; even if individual Array Foundation are damaged, they can continue to function thanks to the remaining arrays."

"And given their multi-layered nested arrangement..."

"Non-Self can destroy one array on the left and one on the right, and those arrays must be of the same Five Elements Attributes, we cannot disrupt its structure."

"This structure, which combines Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, means that even in the most extreme circumstances, if more than half of the formation is destroyed..."

"As long as the remaining five formations can still gather the five elements, they can continue to function."

"And it can retain more than 70% of its full power."