Chi Xue, Meng Du, and the others each had their own thoughts and schemes. While they were busy plotting against one another, cultivators from both realms continued to face off before the passage connecting Northern Profound and the Profound Realm. Both sides were cautious and refrained from attacking rashly, probing each other only with long-range archery.
The two sides were far apart, so most of the energy arrows they exchanged canceled each other out. Both also had powerful defensive methods, so no one was injured or killed in the short term.
Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, several years passed.
During this time, neither side had ever stopped firing arrows. Though everyone had reached a high cultivation realm and they were only using ordinary archery techniques, the expenditure was still considerable—especially the toll on their minds. Staying fully alert to guard against an enemy attack was a painful ordeal.
Both sides continued to probe each other cautiously, but they had increased the intensity. Some cultivators put more power behind their arrows, and at times even used Four Consecutive Arrow Strikes. The two sides had also drawn much closer. At their nearest, they were only two or three hundred thousand zhang apart, a distance at which certain powerful archery techniques could already show their might.
The last time the two sides drew closest, tempers flared on both sides. It was then that they unleashed the powerful Four Consecutive Arrow Strikes. Caught off guard, some cultivators on both sides were injured. Fortunately, everyone had good defensive methods, and the commanders on each side kept their cultivators in check and promptly increased the distance between them. No one died.
"What a shame. The other side didn't keep charging forward. If they'd come within two hundred thousand zhang, we could