The battlefield had just been cleaned up, and the spoils from the fallen troops of Heaven's Elysium and Earthorigin Sect combined caused the wealth of the Grand-Orient Sect and Onyx Sect to skyrocket.
Spoils like these were crucial for the development of generations to come. While Heaven's Elysium was weakened from the loss of so many resources, the Grand-Orient Sect would only grow stronger. Currently, the entire sect was in a festive mood. Not only had they emerged victorious, but they hadn’t lost a single fighter. There wasn't a better pleasure than that.
"Jun Shengxiao's Elysian purifiers are basically wiped out! They and the Earthorigin defenders combined have only around two hundred and twenty thousand men, which is no longer enough to attack the Grand-Orient Sect and Southsky Sect!"
"They have no choice but to retreat. Given that the Earthorigin Sect already has the Cloudmist Sword School's territory, they might no longer want to continue this farce."
"With the sect master leading us, and the junior sect master as our shining beacon of hope, our future is bright."
"After a thousand years, we'll once again be the rulers of the Grand-Orient Realm!"
As far as the Grand-Orient Sect was concerned, this victory was theirs. However, an elder announced at that moment, "Sect masters, the invaders haven't retreated yet. Instead, they're headed in the Southsky Sect's direction. Word has it that Jun Shengxiao intends to destroy the Southsky Barrier!"
"What?" Li Wudi, the Onyx Emperor, and the Onyx Empress were all equally shocked.
"Have they gone insane? How are they going to destroy the Southsky Barrier with so few combatants? They only barely have double the number of Southsky sentinels. Even if they succeed, they'll almost entirely die out! What's the point of that?" It just didn't make sense to the Onyx Emperor.
In fact, not even Li Wudi and Ye Shaoqing knew what they were up to. "Please double check if that’s true," Li Wudi said.
Not long after, more scouts returned. "Sect Master, they are indeed headed for the Southsky Sect." Their expressions all shifted.
"Has Jun Shengxiao gone mad? Then again, why would the Earthorigin Sect join him in his fool's errand?" Ye Shaoqing wondered.
"No matter what, we can at least be sure Yuan Hun isn’t one to lose his cool like that," Li Wudi said.
"Perhaps it's a tactic to lure us away from the Bloodbane Barrier so they have a chance to get us," said the Onyx Empress.
"Impossible. They have too many troops with them, so their movements can't easily be hidden. Outside the barrier, both sides can easily tell where the other is at all times," the Onyx Emperor said.
"Perhaps they have a trick up their sleeve we haven't thought about," Ye Shaoqing suggested.
"That's what I believe, too," said the Onyx Emperor.
"What about you, Wudi?"
"We'll send someone to monitor them for now. Report everything they're doing. I believe I'll make a trip to Southsky Sect myself," Li Wudi said with a furrowed brow.
"With all your troops?" asked the Onyx Emperor.
"No need. I have another idea in mind."
"What is it?"
"We'll send out an elite force of Saint stage experts. That way, we'll be able to travel much faster and arrive at the Southsky Sect before them. They'll take part in defending the sect, and we'll only need to leave a few behind here."
"Will all the saints be leaving?"
If that was the case, they would be able to gather around two thousand people who could fight against twenty to thirty thousand enemies from within the Southsky Barrier.
"That's right."
"What about the Bloodbane Barrier?" asked the Onyx Empress.
"The Bloodbane Barrier is a self-powered barrier to begin with. While it can grow stronger with active support, it’s still powerful enough without it. Not to mention, it just absorbed near a hundred thousand enemies. The barrier should be able to hold up at its most powerful for more than a month. Even if all of their troops return, they'll have no way of taking the sect," Li Wudi boasted.
"Amazing!" The Onyx Empress and Emperor exchanged an impressed glance.
"This might be the right thing to do. An elite force of saints is far more mobile than a full army. They're also powerful enough. Not to mention, the Southsky Sect already has a thousand saints of their own. With you there, too, it should be more than enough," said the Onyx Emperor.
While it would be quite obvious that the Grand-Orient Sect was sending reinforcements if they sent all fifty thousand of their fighters, an elite team of saints would be almost impossible to detect, and it was equal to half of their fighting strength in reinforcements. Not to mention, if they really did send out the bulk of their fighting force, it would be hard for them to retreat if this ended up being a trap.
"Shaoqing, you and the Onyx Empress shall take care of the battlefield cleanup and take charge for now. The Onyx Emperor and I will leave immediately with the other saints. The scouts will keep you updated on our whereabouts," Li Wudi said.
"No problem." The two of them nodded.
With the Onyx Empress' arms having just recovered, she still couldn't fight quite yet. As for Ye Shaoqing, he was about the only person Li Wudi could trust to hold the fort.
The saints of the Grand-Orient Realm included the elders and around three hundred hall masters from all thirty-three immortal mountains. In total, they numbered about seven hundred. The Onyx Sect, on the other hand, had quite a bit more. In total, the two sects had around two thousand saints.
"We're heading out now!" Li Wudi stepped out of the sacred hall as his kunpeng flew in from the distance and landed.
"Have the fastest lifebound beasts carry us toward the Abyssal Battlefield. We'll only need around two hundred for all two thousand of us!"
"Understood!"
The fast lifebound beasts, such as Huangfu Fengyun's Aircloud Godcrane, could fly at high speeds and carry around twenty people. It shouldn't be a problem for them to share during such an urgent time. One giant lifebound beast after another appeared, most of them avian types.
Right as Li Wudi was about to depart, Tianming suddenly flew onto the Ancient Infernalblood Kunpeng.
"What the heck are you here for?" Li Wudi asked, not knowing how to respond.
"Helping out the Southsky Sect of course."
"Let's be real. You're treating this like a field trip, aren't you?"
"Haha, don't accuse me without evidence! I'll just go and test my strength. Don't worry, I'll make sure to stay far away from those dragon pulses. I won't even give them a single look," he promised.
"Fine. Don't doom me now, you hear?"
The next moment, the lifebound beasts all dove into the bottomless hole that led to the Abyssal Battlefield. It would be much easier for them to travel swiftly there, as their enemy was bound to have fewer scouts on that side.
The group of elite saints ignored the wildbeasts and the thunderclouds as they streaked across the skies. Tianming had heard their discussion back in the sacred hall, and also believed that Jun Shengxiao was attempting a desperate final struggle.
......
This elite unit was so quick that they soon arrived at the black seas near the Southsky Sect. The island on the Flameyellow Continent was completely enclosed by the Southsky Barrier, so the passage leading out of the Abyssal Battlefield was cut off. However, the island on the flip side wasn't protected by the barrier.
All they could do was surface through another abyssal hole near the island back on Flameyellow Continent, then fly to Southsky Island proper. For now, the barrier still seemed rather peaceful.
"Weisheng Tianlan!" The moment Li Wudi called out, quite a number of people showed up within the barrier, including Weisheng Tianlan, his father, and several elders.
"Why are you here?" he asked, surprised.
"There's been a change! We're here as reinforcements!" Li Wudi replied.
"Li Wudi, aren't you a badass? We just heard you used the Bloodbane Barrier to take out more than a hundred thousand of them! We were just cheering for you!" Weisheng Cangyuan said.
"Uncle Weisheng, you flatter me. The Bloodbane Barrier is something my ancestors left us. I'm just one of their descendants. If you really need to praise someone, praise our founding ancestor, Li Shenxiao."
Li Shenxiao was the ancestor of both the Li and Weisheng clans. The Weisheng Clan was fully justified in feeling proud of the Bloodbane Barrier's strength.
"They've already lost so many. Has Jun Shengxiao really gone mad?" Weisheng Tianlan asked. They had just been discussing what happened at the Grand-Orient Sect.
"I suspect that's the case too, but I feel things aren't that simple. What they're doing basically amounts to suicide on all counts. So, I figure they're trying to lure us into reinforcing you. That's why I decided to come here with only the saints ahead of them instead."
"Oh, Wudi, you're sounding like a mastermind now. Come to think of it, we should be ashamed to have been sitting here doing nothing while you were killing them. We didn't even send you reinforcements, yet you came for us," said Weisheng Cangyuan.
"By the way, what about your sect? How's it faring, now that you're gone?" Weisheng Tianlan asked.
Li Wudi explained how the Bloodbane Barrier worked to him.
"The founding ancestor really played favorites. The barrier they gave you is so powerful..." Weisheng Cangyuan said.
"Of course! It's a premarital asset!" Li Wudi joked. He looked toward the sea and continued, "Let us into the barrier, quick. Deactivate it first, and make sure to lead the azure dragon pulses away first before letting us in."
"Why?" Weisheng Tianlan asked.
"Just do as we say," Li Wudi said with a glance at Tianming.
"Sure!"
Finally, they managed to set foot on Southsky Island after having traveled so far across the ocean. The sky here seemed like a reflection of the ocean; it was a complete picture of endless blue. It was so beautiful that it would be easy to lose oneself while staring at it.
"The Southsky Sect is truly beautiful," Tianming said.
"I'm sure the people here are more beautiful, right?" Feiling teased.
"Haha, ahem...." He pretended to not hear it.
All of a sudden, he felt the third egg pulsing nonstop. It almost seemed like it was excited to come to the Southsky Sect. Ying Huo and Meow Meow watched the egg roll about in the lifebound space as if they were bored. All of a sudden, a fragrance could be smelled within the lifebound space.
Meow Meow stretched its neck out, sniffed, and said, "It smells so good...."
"What's going on? Did someone fart?" Ying Huo asked.
"Chicken Bro, nobody can have farts that smell so good." It kept looking around before it spotted an egg near the Prime Tower. It was the smallest egg of them all and looked to be about the size of a chicken egg. While it was small, its color was incredibly vibrant. It almost looked like a precious gem.
"This fellow's been farting the whole time!" Ying Huo came up to it and saw a slight crack on the egg.
Thick fragrance came through the crack, filling the lifebound space entirely with an intoxicating smell that made them think of a boundless sea of flowers.
Before Ying Huo could react, the colorful little egg 'jumped' and knocked him flying on his head.
"Is that a mutiny? I'm your captain!" Ying Huo said as it got up and rubbed its swollen head.
The little egg just wiggled from side to side, like an energetic young girl poking her tongue out, then rolled its way back to the Prime Tower.
The huge, two-colored egg, on the other hand rolled toward Ying Huo so quickly and excitedly that it almost flattened the poor chick.
"They're all rebelling! Watch your back or I'll cook you!" the little chick snapped.
"Chicken Bro, only sneaky fellows need to watch their backs. Are you a sneaky fellow?" the black cat asked.
"You watch out, and buzz off too." Ying Huo didn't know how to react. "Damn these little pesky critters.... Being the eldest isn't easy. I knew I shouldn't have hatched first."