The Fierce Tiger Descended the Mountain
The claim of tens of thousands of demons wasn't just something Li Fan made up. Although the Divine Cult has been constantly attacked and blamed, it's still Three Great Sects, you know. What do you think?
At this moment, the Blood-Eyed Crow rode the wind, gliding over the snow-covered mountains of the northern foothills of Kunlun with the ceaseless howling of the gale. At a glance, one could see the sky filled with demonic energy soaring into the heavens. When the Demon-Suppressing Seal was broken, the crimson light and blood aura bursting out of the sky were as dazzling as an inverted sword of light. Beast roars filled the sky, boiling over the mountains, as if the entire Kunlun were howling, and the sleeping earth was also shaking and gradually awakening.
Li Fan flew around the Kunlun Mountain and saw followers of the Divine Cult rushing to various spiritual veins, caves, cemeteries, ancient immortal caves, and ruins of old immortal Immortal Palace to unseal the seals on demons and monsters.
If these demonic beasts were allowed to roam freely outdoors, they would not only risk going out of control and rampaging, but would also require a large amount of blood and food to sustain them, and they might also be discovered by spies from the Xuanmen sect or scouts from the Immortal Palace.
Therefore, over the years, the cult has mobilized its followers in batches to secretly seal these demons in the Kunlun Mountain through missions, using various equipment, medicines, and spiritual techniques in conjunction with a grand array to seal them, thus putting these demons into a state of hibernation.
Although such a seal would certainly deplete the power of demonic beasts and gods, even with the help of a magic array to restrain them, it would take at least several hundred or even a thousand years for these Divine Transformation and Nascent Soul Stage level monsters to be completely destroyed. The Divine Cult is not trying to eliminate them, but only to preserve them for a short time. Conversely, they can also maintain the supply of evil energy through the array, so that the seal can be opened at any time when it is fresh and usable.
Of course, these magical beasts had been sleeping for a long time and were definitely hungry, losing a lot of weight, but as Qiongqi said, what's there to be afraid of? This is a battlefield, and everywhere you look there are people.
There was no other way. Li Fan did some mental calculations and realized that although he could kill them one by one with each move, he could only kill a hundred demon gods at most before he had to slow down. With this level and this number, even if a peak Xuan Tian were to come in person, it would probably be impossible to kill them all in an instant. Moreover, this was only one place in Kunlun. The destruction of the Three Enclosures was a sudden event for the entire world, and the Divine Cult was obviously not prepared. There were still many demons in the main altars and branch altars of the Divine Cult that had not yet been transferred.
Such demons, if even one escapes, are enough to destroy cities and mountains. If they were to break through the celestial army's defenses and storm into the Central Plains, they would bring about a true cataclysmic disaster. It would be entirely possible to reboot the map, shattering the map of the Immortal Palace's nine provinces Twelve Countries, and creating a game setting that is 'divinely ordained'.
Looking at the arrangement on the Hetu diagram, Li Fan finally understood.
The Legion and the Cult had been secretly plotting their big move for a long time, but the company had been watching closely with satellites in the sky and cruisers overhead, keeping track of everything and understanding perfectly well, yet they remained silent, inactive, and uninterrupted.
Instead of saving the people from their suffering, they're going to capitalize on the situation by becoming game designers and releasing a brand new version. They'll not only avoid losses but also make a fortune. How shameless!
Alright, the Divine Cult is serious this time, and the company will probably tacitly allow the Divine Cult to completely unite the Nine Provinces and create a new order.
To defy the heavens, the entire Xuanmen sect must join forces.
The Xuanmen sects joining forces? Ha! If you're hoping for the Xuanmen sects to join forces, you might as well hope that Ink Bamboo Mountain will grow bigger and stronger.
However, to be fair, the Xuanmen sect does indeed have the ability to save the world. Even without going all out, those old beasts could resolve the current situation.
To shoot a man, shoot his horse first; to capture a thief, capture his king first. Emulate the Sword Ancestor Xuantian, go straight to the central government, and destroy the Divine Cult's headquarters once more.
After all, based on what Guiche had seen and heard in the Tianshan Kunlun Mountains over the years, the Divine Sect had been destroyed so many times that its top combat power was indeed a level below that of the Xuanmen. A large group of Blood God Child who had been reborn and reforged through self-disintegration were temporarily powerless to contend with the Xuanmen, which had so many Dao Lords in charge.
Therefore, after some deliberation, Li Fan felt he had to follow the will of Heaven and assist the Divine Cult.
It's a very simple principle: the cult can at least control these demons and monsters.
If the Xuanmen were to organize Daojun tactical squads to raid and destroy the Divine Sect's command system, these demons would be left without a controlled organization, making it impossible for them to form a large army to attack the mountain. They would then pose no real threat to the various sects of the Xuanmen. As for the collateral damage caused by the demons going out of control and wreaking havoc on the world, that would be none of the Xuanmen's business. After all, this calamity was caused by your Demonic Sect, so it wouldn't be the Xuanmen's fault, would it?
On the contrary, in order to continue fighting against the Xuanmen (mystical sects), the Divine Cult, which rules the world, would at least need to convert a large number of people in the Central Plains into members and soldiers of the Divine Cult. Therefore, the Divine Cult would not go around massacring cities and destroying countries, nor would it allow demons and monsters to destroy everything. It is possible that the Divine Cult could actually establish a system like the one depicted in the Hetu (River Diagram), where humans, Demon Race, and monsters coexist in the world, with each being divided and ruled.
Moreover, even if the core of the Divine Cult were destroyed now, killing all those Dharma Kings and Venerables would probably be useless.
Since the company has also made a comprehensive plan, and these demonic monsters can be controlled by a 'computer', and Li Fan can easily control the Guiche into his puppets, then destroying the high-ranking members of the cult is simply helping the company. The system only needs to take over all these demonic beasts and then, according to its will and plan, destroy the native humans, terraform the earth, and restart the timeline.
Damn, this is really tough... This situation is practically unsolvable; one wrong move and the world could restart...
"Calm down! Quack!"
Li Fan gave himself a buff and calmly thought it over.
The only option is to find a way to restore the balance of power among the three powers.
At least for now, he's shut down the department manager, eliminated the outsourced team, and even attracted the Security Bureau to search for prohibited technology. The company's system shouldn't be under any major disruption in the short term.
Three sect leaders from the Xuanmen sect have been captured. Perhaps we can spare their lives for now and use them as leverage, or even release two of them. The key is to disrupt the Xuanmen sect and prevent them from becoming too powerful. No matter how strong the mountain people are, they won't care about the lives of people outside the mountain.
The Divine Cult appears to be the strongest at the moment, but it is actually the weakest. After all, once the company intervenes, the legion becomes nothing, and these magical beasts become mere tools for others. Once the Xuanmen intervenes, those Blood God Child will have no other options but to escape and reincarnate.
Alright, let's help the cult first, inherit the legacy of the Immortal Palace, and devour the corpses of the powerful clans.
By this time, having completed a near-circle, Li Fan had essentially used his Guiche Divine Sense to scan the nearby divine beasts prepared by the cult. The primordial spirits of these demon gods had been sealed by the cult, and even when summoned, they were in a state of slumber. Normally, the legion's sensor chips were directly installed in their brains, and as long as the injected drugs were controlled, the demon gods would be like zombies, with their self-awareness replaced by the chips, and their actions controlled.
Those dissatisfied followers of the cult can manipulate demons with computers, let alone masters of the Guiche Primordial Spirit Technique. As long as they can be continuously supplied with combat enhancement potions and demon-compressing potions, these demons can be used as puppets or tanks to charge into battle.
Li Fan also made some attempts, such as packaging the Qingxu Second Yuanshen into the Blood Raven Puppet. In this way, as long as the Guiche occupies the memory of one head and keeps the demon god within the range of the Divine Sense connection at all times, it can continuously control these demon god puppets.
Under such extreme circumstances, by hiding the Guiche itself, it is possible to simultaneously maintain nine demon gods as puppet henchmen to assist Qiongqi in besieging the agents from the three locations!
However, now is not the time for battle. Let's conduct some conservative training first. The nine heads of the Guiche also need to take turns resting and remain vigilant. So, after careful selection, Li Fan first found two ancient great demon birds and had the Guiche control them using the "Second Blood Raven! Caw!" technique. This was to test the strength of the new magic puppet.
These two birds, one resembling a crow with three heads and six tails and a fondness for laughter, is named Qutu; the other resembling an owl with human feet is named Shusi.
Because they are ancient and Transformation Stage, although their strength is average, they are surrounded by immortal energy and full of spiritual energy. They were probably captured by the ancient sects in Kunlun Mountain long ago to be guarding the mountain, and now they have been captured by the Divine Sect to be used as cannon fodder.
Of course, the so-called "average strength" refers to its relative strength compared to the Divine Transformation Realm. Whether it's the Qutu or the Shusi, when they reveal their true forms, they are behemoths with wingspans of twenty or thirty zhang. A single claw could easily tear apart a city wall. If they were to break free from the control of the 'Second Blood Raven Frog' puppet and go berserk, it would be quite troublesome. Let's start by practicing with just two of them. It will be about right when we can control seven or eight demon gods at the same time.
The reason why the Pure Dharma King used Qiongqi as the vanguard general this time was probably to use this ancient ferocious beast to suppress the arrogance of these demon gods, so as to prevent the demon gods from going out of control and causing heavy damage to the divine sect's own army. Therefore, many of the powerful siege beasts under the command of the Kunlun Dharma King were incorporated into the Qingyang Branch Altar.
Li Fan roughly estimated that under the Qingyang Altar alone, there were more than twenty Blood God Child Protectors and Guardian Demon Gods at the Divine Transformation Realm, such as Qiongqi and Guiche. As for Qutu Shusi, because they were recently captured or had just given birth, they had not yet joined the Divine Cult's organization, and their primordial spirits were sealed by secret talismans. They were also remotely controlled by the legion's equipment and the Divine Cult's primordial spirit techniques. There were at least forty Nascent Divine Transformation Realm Great Demon Gods and Great Monsters.
Those at the Spirit Race Demon Race Nascent Soul Realm transform into human form and include over two hundred rogue cultivators from various sects, including demons and spirits, and various cave masters and kings. Those at the Nascent Soul Realm cannot transform into human form but are controlled remotely using secret techniques and equipment; these are seven or eight hundred giant demons equipped with various armors, cannons, and powerful crossbows. In addition, there are thousands of demons at the Golden Core stage, Protectorate Army with Divine Hardness Body and Overlord Physics, and engineering and technical troops composed of sect members providing support.
This is the configuration of a Qingyang Biti heavy assault cluster.
Other Biti battle groups may not have the luxurious and complete configuration of a main battle group like the Qingyang group, but they only have fewer demon gods. In this Tai Su era, the Demon Race is thriving, and it is easiest to attain the Dao. Moreover, they are in a place as rich in resources as Kunlun Mountain. Under the command of each altar master, there can probably be as many as three to five hundred Nascent Soul Stage level demons and monsters.
Thus, the Pure Dharma King has organized about forty combat groups of this kind, based on the division of altars. Now, hundreds of the Divine Cult cultivators are traveling to and from the Kunlun Mountain, unsealing and assigning demon gods, and allocating various military equipment. It is likely that at least half of the demon gods in Kunlun will be sent on this expedition.
Judging from this show of total mobilization, it seems the Divine Cult is not only going to support Kun, but also intends to launch a full-scale attack into the Central Plains and annihilate the former Immortal Palace General of Anxi's group, whose retreat has been cut off.
Frankly speaking, even if the entire elite force of the Immortal Palace were to be deployed, it would be difficult to withstand the massive army under the command of the Pure Dharma King. Moreover, now that the Immortal Palace's main base and production base, the Three Enclosures, have been destroyed, who would have the will to continue fighting?
Whether or not the destruction of the Three Walls was planned by the company, the consequences were disastrous.
The Divine Cult reacted extremely strongly, launching a massive all-out attack, clearly determined not to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to allow the remnants of the Immortal Palace to recover.
The cult now indeed has a huge chance of winning.
Because the Immortal Palace forces currently only have three armies left, the Conquering West General in Liangzhou City is nominally in charge of the various units of the Western Army, but in reality they are a disorganized mess, and they are facing the might of the Divine Sect Leader, and the day when they break through ten thousand is just around the corner.
The governor of Duizhou's imperial guards are still in the Western Imperial Guards region. These people were transferred from Zhen to the western border, and many of their families and relatives are in the Three Palaces. At this moment, who knows how much fighting strength they still have? It wouldn't be surprising if they scattered like birds and beasts at any time.
General of Anxi of Kun had long been at odds with the Kun Divine Sect, using its high mountains, strategic passes, and fortified formations to block the sect's advance. He relied entirely on the Three Enclosures for supplies, and his army passed through Xuanmen territory multiple times along the way. Now, with the Jingji region fallen and him attacked from both sides, and the Pure Dharma King leading a large army to attack, what could he possibly use to defend himself?
At this point, if the Divine Cult's army is fast enough and launches a two-pronged attack, they could probably break through the pass and sweep Central Plains.
The Xuanmen sect, huh? These days, the Xuanmen sect has no time to deal with religious sects.
Penglai is far away, vying for first place; Songshan was just massacred; the head of Hengshan was kidnapped; and the Three Palaces are all dead. Doesn't the Immortal Palace's legacy need to be fought for? Doesn't it need to be seized?
So what if the Divine Cult sweeps across the world? If we can't beat them, we can just join them. We can take off our clothes, put on blood-red robes, and we'll all be part of the Demonic Cult!
Thus, the mission given to the Qingyang Assault Group by the Pure Dharma King was very clear: vanguard assault! What are the dangers of the Kunlun Mountains? Just spread your wings and fly over them! Qiongqi himself led a large group of winged demons and monsters, braving the strong winds, flying over the Kunlun chasm, straight to Kun, and assaulting General of Anxi's army with lightning speed!
Of course, flying isn't so easy. Even in the world of cultivation, the only ones who can fly from one end of the earth in one breath are probably overpowered characters like Li Fan who don't need to catch their breath. Besides, he's now jumping directly on his membrane, so we can't use Li Fan as an example for comparison.
Normally speaking, even for Divine Transformation cultivator, flying long distances in the wind for a long time consumes far more energy than marching the same distance on the road. If speed is a requirement, it becomes even more problematic. Apart from those old Xuanmen sects, most cultivators don't even know how to use escape techniques, let alone continuously.
On this basis, it is also necessary to ensure multi-person coordination and guard against surprise attacks, making it even more difficult for legions to march in an organized manner.
Although everyone knows the principle of bullying the weak with the many, organizing a large group of people to fight, organizing forces to fight each other, organizing an army, and even how to march are all complex matters.
Take the Immortal Palace as an example. The Imperial Guards can all fly, but how long can they fly while wearing armor? How much strength will they have left to fight the enemy upon arrival? What if they are ambushed? What if they don't know the way?
Therefore, in most cases, the Immortal Palace has to use flying ships to transport troops. These ships can not only provide the Celestial Army with rest and healing to maintain combat effectiveness, but also provide a certain degree of protection and can transport food and equipment.
What? Storage Jade? Please, Storage Jade of thing does a common soldier have? How many disciples of the Xuanmen Sect are there in the world? Even a rogue cultivator could keep a Storage Jade as a family heirloom!
Even troop transport ships are a privilege reserved for the Immortal Palace Imperial Guards. The servants of ordinary vassal states usually walk. Elite scouts guard the outer perimeter, armored weapons are transported separately, and the soldiers in the central army each hold a marching pill in their mouths to quench their hunger and thirst, relying on their strength and stamina to walk to the war zone and set up camp.
Although everyone knows that using magical cloud formations, treasures, and flying Immortal Palace to transport troops is faster and more convenient, do they have the financial resources? A person only needs one coffin in their lifetime, yet some live in mansions and luxury homes, while others can't even afford a toilet. Like I said, who doesn't know meat porridge is delicious? Who doesn't know how powerful cruisers are? Can you afford the military expenditure?
In short, with the strength of the Divine Sect as one of the Three Great Sects, plus the support of the legion system behind it, the Kunlun Diocese of the Pure Dharma King has mobilized the main force of twenty to thirty branch altars, claiming to have 100,000 divine soldiers, to send troops to the Central Plains.
Of course, this "divine weapon" refers to the Divine Cult Army, specifically the Divine Hardness Body Warriors. Besides various plate armor, talismans, divine weapons, and sharp blades, each warrior is also equipped with a weapon-refining pill—a powerful enhancement pill that transforms them into a demonic corpse, temporarily boosting their combat power to the Nascent Soul Stage Demon God realm. Whether this pill was specifically formulated by the Divine Cult themselves, an improvement on the Dragon Fetus Feathering Pill formula, or whether it was a leaked product line from the company, remains unknown.
The Nascent Soul Stage Divine Transformation level demon gods and monsters also reached tens of thousands. The vanguard Qingyang assault group received major transportation support. Not only were soldiers transported using specially made flying warships that could withstand strong winds, but the demon beast commanders trained by the legion were also placed in the warship cabins and controlled to fly together in large numbers of demon gods through 'computer' links.
The entire legion was surrounded by numerous Blood God Child protectors who held banners and rode the wind to obscure the dark clouds and blood-red winds, concealing their movements while leading the large fleet. They set out from the Kunlun headquarters, taking the military road from the Qingyang Altar, and headed straight for Kun.
Qiongqi spread its wings and flew ahead, huffing and puffing.
Since Qiongqi is a ferocious beast and demon lord protected by the gale, and it is traveling along the Qingyang Sect route, it is the first to lead the way. Naturally, it can lead the army to avoid the endless invisible gale at the summit of Kunlun, reducing the impact and damage of the wind force on the army fleet.
Guiche, along with Qutu and Shusi, flew behind Qiongqi, scanning the military forces behind them with his Divine Sense. The number of heads was only three or four thousand, which was indeed not many, but it was more than enough to destroy a sect of the level of Ink Bamboo Mountain.
Perhaps, if it weren't for the sudden appearance of an excellent opportunity in the Central Plains, this iron fist would have been smashing into the head of the Li Country.
Of course, the days of being Li Country won't last long.