Qingyu had said that the Bloodbane Barrier was the number one barrier in the Grand-Orient Realm and didn't need to be activated or fueled, for it could power itself. Yet now, it had increased its coverage by sixteen times. In other words, the Bloodbane Barrier wasn't a true self-powered barrier. When it absorbed the life energy of everyone within it, it could expand to protect the whole sect. Tianming finally knew what trump card Li Wudi was holding.
At that moment, Li Wudi's deep, righteous voice rang out within the terrifying barrier. "Jun Shengxiao, Yuan Hun, do you understand now? The Bloodbane Barrier is the most powerful barrier in the history of the Grand-Orient Realm! For tens of thousands of years, nobody dared to attempt to enter it! They were unable to enter Li Mausoleum. But did you really think our ancestors were afraid of people desecrating their graves? Did you think they would value their graves more than the lives of the countless generations of disciples that would come after them? You people just don't understand what kind of righteous people our ancestors were. Their charisma and foresight isn’t something you lot can understand!
"Now, let me show you the true trump card of the Grand-Orient Sect. Want to step onto our turf and end our long-lasting legacy? We'll make sure you die here and now. Your blood shall be sacrificed to the Bloodbane Barrier!"
Everyone in the sect teared up as they finally understood that the ancestors of the Li Saint Clan had predicted that the future generations would eventually decline. So, they had long made preparations and created the Bloodbane Barrier as an ultimate weapon to be passed down through the generations.
If it weren’t for their survival depending on it, Li Wudi wouldn't have brought it out. After all, nobody would dare step into their territory in fear of the barrier if word got out, so they wouldn't be able to heavily wound Heaven's Elysium. When the power of the barrier surged, the Grand-Orient guardians didn't even need to join the fray themselves. All they had to do was become one of the sources of power the barrier could draw from.
"Everyone from the Grand-Orient Sect and Onyx Sect, give the Bloodbane Barrier your power!"
"Yes!"
It was time for their ultimate counterattack. The thick, bloody mist swallowed up the massive invading army. The Bloodbane Barrier had far too many targets to kill, so its retaliation definitely wasn’t as strong as when people entered Li Mausoleum, but even so, it was terrifying enough.
Within the thick, bloody mist, countless rays of blood-colored wind, fire, water, earth, and lightning kunpeng apparitions engaged in an unbridled slaughter. The moment someone was injured, toxin from the bloody mist would enter their bloodstream and cause them to bleed to death from their orifices.
What was more terrifying was that the thick mist caused many people to lose their way within the barrier. The mist covered an area ten times as large as the Grand-Orient Barrier. It was just like a giant bloody beast that swallowed the whole army into its stomach before slowly digesting them all. Just like Li Wudi had said, corpses of their enemies piled up and rivers of blood began to flow.
Even then, the corpses weren't preserved, as the Bloodbane Barrier disintegrated them before absorbing their energy, whether it be the bodies of beastmasters or carcasses of lifebound beasts. The more lives the barrier took, the stronger it became. Though it had only just begun, a staggering number of people from Heaven's Elysium and the Earthorigin Sect were crying out in pain. Blood-colored spirit hazards were unleashed all across the barrier, ushering in even more shrieks of agony. The sight of corpses being absorbed by the barrier made for an even more nightmarish scene.
"The Bloodbane Barrier is the punishment the ancestors left behind for those who attempt to wipe out the legacy of the Grand-Orient Sect."
It was rather fair—anyone that didn't invade them wouldn't be killed. If their enemies still wanted to kill them, they had better be ready to be killed in return. Today, Heaven's Elysium was once more shaken, but far worse than the time before. Within the bloody mist, Jun Shengxiao and Yuan Hun grew ever gimmer. The Elysian Emperor was about to spout blood from rage again.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Even though those words were humiliating, it was his only choice. He almost sounded like he was crying when he ordered the retreat, though he didn't even need to say it, for the Earthorigin defenders and Elysian purifiers had long since started running away. How could they fight an enemy they couldn't even see? Some were so terrified that they even tripped as they ran, only to be trampled to death by the lifebound beasts of their allies.
"Aaagh!"
"Run! Run now!"
"Heaven's Elysium lost! The Grand-Orient Sect won!"
An atmosphere of doom and despair had clouded their heads.
Seeing the huge victory, everyone in the Grand-Orient and Onyx Sect tried even harder to fuel the Bloodbane Barrier with their energy.
"Godfather, will the barrier be able to kill off all the Elysian purifiers and Earthorigin defenders?" Tianming asked as he watched the slaughter.
"There's no way it’ll be able to. Do you think they're helpless? The Bloodbane Barrier is powerful, but its area is too wide. Too much of its power has been spread too thin for it to be able to envelop the entire army. With so many of them, it won't be hard for them to find an exit. The best we can do is kill as many as we can. Killing them all is out of the question; it's not our ancestors that are controlling the barrier, but us," Li Wudi explained.
"Got it." Tianming felt that it would be too terrifying and easy if they could kill off the entire invading army with a single barrier.
"Our goal today is to heavily wound Heaven's Elysium and the Earthorigin Sect so they'll have a hard time attacking the Southsky Sect."
"Won't the Earthorigin Sect come back for revenge for their loss today?"
"I doubt they'd dare. They only came because they thought we were easy pickings. If we didn't give them a show of force, they'd think the Grand-Orient Realm was full of pushovers. Not to mention, while it looks like the Earthorigin Realm is unified on the surface, internal conflict isn't uncommon there. They also have quite a few enemies in hiding, waiting for them to suffer a huge loss. The only way to deal with greedy folks like them is to rip their talons out and get them to flee. If we show weakness, they'll double down on us, understand?" That was the reason Li Wudi had gone all out and allowed Tianming to kill Yuan Chen, luring the Earthorigin defenders into the Bloodbane Barrier's range.
"I didn't know that before, but now I do." Tianming agreed with Li Wudi's assessment of the situation. There were many people who didn't know when to stop for their own good; their greed couldn't be sated by anything other than a sound beating.
"Our ancestors’ foresight truly is impressive. As their descendants, we have to continue their legacy and protect the sect, so as to not disappoint them," Li Wudi said with a tear in his eye as he beheld the majesty of the barrier from afar. He should no longer have any regrets, having lived up to the name he shared with his ancestors.
"Godfather, you and Uncle Yang are both people who have influenced me deeply. Uncle Yang taught me to righteously wield my sword, while you taught me to be bold, ruthless, and live uncompromisingly to my own principles."
"Who's Uncle Yang?"
"My mother's friend, the potentate of Vermillion Bird's Heaven's Sanctum."
"Haha, that's actually your..." Li Wudi suddenly shut his mouth as he thought, Wait, that's your dad, Li Muyang, right?
"Godfather?"
"Come, let's see how badly they've lost!" Li Wudi pulled him onto his Ancient Infernalblood Kunpeng and entered the Bloodbane Barrier. Though the mist was quite thick, they were able to see the battle clearly. Heaven's Elysium was losing just as badly as they had thought, and the Earthorigin Sect wasn’t faring any better, either.
"Haha, the Earthorigin Sect dared lust after the Grand-Orient Realm's lands.,.. They'll be spitting it all back out now. As for Jun Shengxiao, Heaven's Elysium's achievements over the past millennia have been ruined by his hands alone," Li Wudi said. He didn't care about holding back against the Earthorigin Sect, for showing weakness would only cause their foes to grow bolder. The only way to prevent future invasions was to utterly crush them here and now. The kunpeng flew out of the barrier and they saw many Elysian purifiers and Earthorigin defenders that managed to escape. Even though there were injuries here and there, they were all pale from the shock.
"Damn, the barrier's range is too small. Otherwise, at least two hundred thousand of them would've been killed!" Li Wudi snapped. Even so, he knew he was already pushing the limits of what the barrier could achieve.
"Heaven's Elysium lost at least sixty thousand, and the Earthorigin Sect lost around fifty thousand, yet we didn't lose a single soldier. This is truly magnificent. I wonder what Jun Shengxiao and Yuan Hun's expressions are like now?" Li Wudi said after a little more thought.
"Only two hundred thousand of their troops remain. Heaven's Elysium had two hundred and fifty thousand purifiers, but now a hundred and thirty thousand of them are dead. They're not much stronger than the Southsky Sect now. As for the Earthorigin defenders, fewer than a hundred thousand of them remain." Tianming was once more awed by how impressive the Li Saint Clan's ancestors were.
"If you hadn't killed Yuan Chen, the Earthorigin defenders definitely would’ve hidden on the sidelines, given how opportunistic they are. You truly did well, luring them in. You basically killed twenty thousand of them alone," Li Wudi said, patting his shoulder.
"Godfather, were you serious about challenging the Elysian Emperor?"
"Of course not. I knew that fellow wouldn't dare. Jun Shengxiao has always been a careful person. It's too bad that anger has clouded his judgment. I only challenged him to set things up for you."
"Set up?"
"That's right. While Jun Shengxiao could endure my first provocation, their group as a whole wouldn't be able to endure a second. As a natural consequence, Yuan Chen took the provocation and came out to die, dooming twenty thousand of his own in the process."
"Truly impressive." Tianming was quite impressed by Li Wudi's understanding of the enemy.
"That's a given. I’ve been looking into Yuwen Taiji and Jun Shengxiao for years. I know which buttons to push to get them to dance to my tune." Li Wudi was no doubt a most patient predator. It must have taken a lot of restraint for him to not use the Bloodbane Barrier during the first battle of the sect war. That had allowed him to rope the Earthorigin Sect into the slaughter as well.
The two of them headed toward the retreating enemy. When they arrived, those that had managed to retreat were gone while the ones left behind in the barrier had already been absorbed.
"That idiot Jun Niancang... He's escaping with his frozen seafood again," Tianming said.
"That's awkward."
"Huh, so he wants to bury Yueling Long on the sacred mountain? Think he might try again?" Tianming wondered, watching the terrified enemy forces.
"Jun Niancang does sound like he has some spunk, unlike his father. However, he now suffers from a stigma. I'm not saying he's necessarily evil. Heck, he might've been your friend had you met under different circumstances. It's just a shame that things played out the way they did."
"I know. People are varied and different. They might have the same goals, but entirely different ways to achieve them. Even so, no matter who it is, I will eliminate those who wish me dead."
That was his driving principle. He could accept Jun Niancang as he was, and even believed that he was a good person at heart, but that wouldn't stop him from killing him if the need arose. The only way out of an inevitable clash was for him to let go of Yueling Long, but was that even in the realm of possibility?