Liu Xian'er and Zhang Hong spent a few brief days reunited with Li Xiaoya there, then returned to the Heavenly Dao Sect to report back.
Another year passed in the blink of an eye, and the war seemed trapped in a vicious cycle of stalemate. There were only small-scale clashes, with no sign of a major battle breaking out. There was, however, a change in the confrontation between Bell Sword Mountain, Beast Spirit Valley, and Fire Dragon Palace: Folo Temple had also dispatched an army of cultivators to join the fighting. This left Fire Dragon Palace in a miserable position. With three sects fighting one, its forces were surrounded layer upon layer in Spring Renewal Valley. How could Fire Dragon Palace possibly hold out? If the Four Symbols Spirit Cannon and Old Dragon Head had not been there to deter the three sects, they might already have stormed into Spring Renewal Valley...
Under these circumstances, Li Xiaoya was rather optimistic. As long as Demon Ghost Cliff and the Demonic Sword Sect did not attack on his side, and the First Army could maintain the same situation on the other front, the three sects fighting Fire Dragon Palace merely had to keep holding on. Its destruction would only be a matter of time.
In truth, the Heavenly Dao Sect alone could not withstand a joint assault by the four Demonic Path sects. But the Heavenly Dao Sect had not declared war on them; it was merely defending the Liang Kingdom's border, blocking their advance. None of the four sects wanted to be the first to clash head-on with such a tough opponent. Fire Dragon Palace's situation also gave them considerable pause. Although the Spring Returning Church of the Righteous Path had been destroyed, the overall strength of the two sides remained