The western region of Mangzhou fell in just one day due to the rapid march of the demons.
The demons took half an hour to rest for this.
A white-haired old man appeared in the city lord's mansion in the fortress city.
The old man looked like a human, but those ferocious demons with different looks were extremely respectful to the old man and respected him, which was quite strange.
If there were an outsider here, he would probably be able to recognize this old man as Elder Jianyang of Dao Sect Huanling.
Of course, although he is Elder Jianyang in name, his real identity should be the "soul" of the inner demon.
Elder Jianyang calmly asked a demon leader with scales on his head and wearing armor, "How much damage?"
The demon leader twitched his lips, revealing a smile that was unclear whether it was happy or sad. "The human cultivators are fearless and some even actively seek death. Just know that our losses are about 70% of the human race's."
In other words, seven sixth-grade demons from the demon race can be exchanged for ten sixth-level cultivators from the human race.
“Seventy percent…” Elder Jianyang frowned, his face solemn, and sighed heavily, “This loss is too great. The human race’s strong will to resist is indeed beyond my expectations.”
Their losses were only 70% of humanity's losses.
Logically speaking, this should be considered a commendable achievement.
But the premise is that the strength of the two is similar.
In fact, the current strength comparison between the two sides is completely one-sided.
Faced with such a huge gap in strength, the weaker party often throws away their weapons and armor and has no intention of resisting. The normal loss ratio should be around 20%.
Elder Jianyang shook his head and suddenly realized that even though he had lived in the human domain for thousands of years as a human, he had never truly understood these weak humans.
Because he focused most of his attention on those human cultivators of higher levels, he never even looked at these lower level cultivators.
So, these low-level monks showed him something unexpected.
However, Elder Jianyang raised his head and looked around the empty city, and said to himself calmly, "But, so what?"
Not to mention a 70% loss ratio, even if theirs was 100% and the human race's was 70%, he still wouldn't care.
Because in terms of basic military strength alone, the number of demon cultivators in their demon race is more than twenty times the number of human cultivators in the western area of ​​the Central Spirit Realm at this moment.
Whether in terms of quantity or quality, it is a comprehensive crushing.
More importantly, the human cultivators are simply fearless and unafraid of death.
They, the demon cultivators of the demon clan, do not take their lives seriously at all.
In the eyes of the Demon Lord and Demon Venerable, they don’t care even if many demon cultivators below the eighth rank die.
People are made of flesh and blood.
The devil's heart is black.
They could send low-level demon cultivators to their deaths without any scruples, and use their lives to capture human cities and break through the large formations of sects.
Moreover, Elder Jianyang also knew that the high-level cultivators of the human race were definitely not fools.
There is no future for this continent anymore.
The battle between Taoism and demons has not officially begun yet.
In such an area where the human race has no advantage and Longcheng Pass has already been lost, should we abandon our lives and property and fight them head-on?
Making such a choice is extremely difficult for any monk.
This is even more true for sects and families.
No force would bet their entire fortune on a place with so little light to see when the battle between Taoism and demons is about to begin.
Not to mention the high-level monks of the sect who have lived for thousands of years, even the gamblers with a little more experience among mortals would not go all out and place all their chips when the gambling game just begins.
In this place, even if you win temporarily, everything will be in vain if you cannot retake Longcheng Pass.
Their demon army will only continue to pour into the Central Spiritual Realm.
Therefore, all the human domains tacitly chose to temporarily abandon the Central Spiritual Domain.
In the battle between Taoism and Demonism, in addition to the game between humans and demons, there is also a game between humans and demons.
Everyone is in the game.
The human cultivators swore to defend their territory to the death, but they also had their own selfish desires.
They do not want their sects and families to become victims in defending the territory.
Compared to the human race, which has numerous sects and families with different ideas, the demon race does have its own advantages in this regard.
That is the strict class structure among the demons.
Therefore, the demon lords can completely disregard the lives and thoughts of their subordinates and send them to their deaths without restraint.
"It's just the futile struggle of some low-level monks," Elder Jianyang sneered, "Continue the attack. We must take Mangzhou within two days."
"Yes." The demon leader responded loudly.
Then, the demon army started to move, like a wave, rolling eastward, with turbulent waves.
No one can stop such a terrifying torrent of demons, not even a cultivator in the ninth realm.
…
The Sword Sect's cross-domain teleportation formation was built by the Yan family, a formation family under the Sword Sect with a thousand-year-old heritage.
No sect would build a teleportation array within its own sect.
Because if this is the case, some hostile forces with ulterior motives can first attack the station of the teleportation array, quickly capture the station, and then use the teleportation array to bypass the sect's mountain protection formation and reach the interior of the sect.
The Sword Sect's cross-domain teleportation array is located in Qiuyan City, which is under the jurisdiction of the Yan Family.
This day.
Lu Qingshan led hundreds of sword cultivators from the Sword Sect and left the Sword Sect without looking back, heading for Qiuyan City.
In the Sword Sect, only his two young disciples, who were no older than five years old, were left.
Although the Sword Sect still has a large formation running, the formation is ultimately dead.
Without the sword cultivators guarding the Sword Sect, can the large formation alone really stop those with evil intentions?
Under the pressure of the Sword Sect's power for thousands of years, no one would dare to have any ideas about the Sword Sect's blessed land for a while.
But who wouldn’t be tempted by the Sword Sect’s ten thousand year heritage?
It is true that cultivators from all over the world do not dare to have any bad intentions towards the Sword Sect's blessed land for the time being, but it seems inevitable that some cultivators will take advantage of the situation and sneak into the Sword Sect's blessed land to steal some of the inheritance.
However, the sword cultivators of the Sword Sect no longer care about these things.
At least I don't care at this time.
As for whether there will be a reckoning later.
Of course they will.
…
On the northern plateau of Zhongling, in a towering green ridge.
Yang Tianqing, the commander of the Great Xia Qingwei, led the Great Xia monks in several battles with the invading enemies from the Huanling Sect.
In the Zhongling area, Daxia has the largest number of cross-domain teleportation arrays, with one set up in every provincial capital.
But almost at the same time, these cross-domain teleportation arrays were all destroyed by the carefully prepared attack by the demons of the Huanling Sect.
But for a country as great as Great Xia, it is obviously impossible to put all the cards on the table.
Therefore, in addition to the magic circle in the provincial capital, Daxia also set up another large-scale cross-domain teleportation magic circle in secret, and handed it over to the Tianqing Guard to guard it in case of war.
However, at this moment, Da Xia’s last cross-domain teleportation formation was also facing continuous attacks from the monks of the Huanling Sect.
The Tianqing Guards were a veteran army, and faced with the attacks of the Huanling Sect's evil cultivators, they were extremely powerful. With the help of their defensive formations, they fought off wave after wave of demons and tenaciously defended the teleportation formation.
Until a middle-aged man wearing a robe embroidered with a blue dragon pattern slowly climbed up the Pamir Mountains.
At this time, the group of demon cultivators dispatched by the Huanling Sect were about to be annihilated by the Tianqing Guards.
However, this middle-aged man seemed to be unable to see these scenes, nor did he seem to be in the fierce battlefield. Instead, he was strolling around the garden as if he was sightseeing.
He walked towards Daxia's magic circle with slow but firm and powerful steps.
Countless attacks suddenly fell three feet in front of him and were unable to penetrate.
Countless magical instruments hummed and were blown back in the path he walked.
The middle-aged man did not fight back, but walked slowly and steadily to the front of the formation.
Then he stretched out his hand and tapped gently.
The defensive formation that the Huanling Sect's demon cultivators had tried to break through in dozens of attempts was invincible. It was like a solid wall of steel and shattered into pieces in an instant and vanished into thin air.
The middle-aged man continued to move forward, towards the Tianqing Guard, and towards the leader of the Tianqing Guard, Yang Tianqing.
Yang Tianqing bit his lips so hard that he even broke the skin, and scarlet blood oozed out.
He seemed unaware.
Finally, he smiled helplessly.
The smile was a little bitter.
Among the gods in the sky, none is more precious than the Azure Dragon, also known as Tianyi or Taiyin.
There is only one person in Huanling Sect who wears the indescribably expensive Qinglong costume.
The leader of Tianyi Sect of Huanling Sect, also known as the Lord of Azure Dragon.
A monk from Zhonglingqian Town.
He can't retreat.
The people are in the formation.
People died and the formation was destroyed.
In that case, then let me die here in battle.
…
The situation in Zhongling was proceeding in an orderly manner, just as the two venerables of the Heart Demon Clan had planned.
They didn’t know that the only accident happened at the Yishuitai of the Sword Sect.
Even if they knew, they wouldn't take it as a big deal.
With such a vast layout, there will always be some variables.
But that little variable cannot change the overall situation or the unstoppable trend.
…
…
It’s snowing?
In Qiuyan City, Yan Guang, the current head of the Yan family, and his son Yan Dou stood side by side on the top of the city wall, looking up at the sky that was whitened by the snow.
Qiuyan City is not majestic.
Because in the Eastern Region, majestic city walls are not important.
The two words "Sword Sect" behind Qiuyan City are the highest city wall.
In the Eastern Region, the Sword Sect is the undisputed overlord, an existence that no one dares to provoke.
"The heavy snow covers the bows and swords, the armor is heavy and the swords are even heavier." Yan Guang murmured.
The young Yan Dou was not in the mood to feel sad, and asked anxiously: "When will Jian Zong come?"
"It will be soon." Yan Guang said.
"The war is about to break out. The Sword Sect dares to divide its forces despite being at a disadvantage in terms of military strength. This is a big taboo." Yan Dou couldn't help but say.
Young people always "know" everything.
"The reason why Yumen Pass can be defended is that it is due to the Changfeng formation set up by Daozu Xia, and the three thousand sword cultivators of the Sword Sect who are holding back their attacks, thus forming a strong deterrent to the entire demon race. Both are indispensable. If any one of them is missing, Yumen Pass may be lost."
"Once Yumen Pass is lost, even if the Sword Sect kills hundreds of people with one man in Zhongling and has made numerous military achievements, what is the point?"
Yan Dou was spitting all over the place, extremely excited, and looked like he was very disappointed with someone.
Yan Guang just remained silent.
He waited until Yan Dou's mouth was dry before he slowly spoke.
"You don't understand."
"Did I say anything wrong?" the young man asked unconvinced.
"The Sword Sect is the upper sect of our Yan family. Don't discuss the upper sect anymore, otherwise it will be a crime of disrespect." Yan Guang did not explain to Yan Dou, but just warned him.
Because there are some things that you will understand naturally only when the time comes, otherwise it’s useless to talk about them.
Just like telling a couple to cherish the people around them, it is always useless.
But by the time they understand this truth, it is often too late.
This is the most contradictory thing about the world.
Yan Dou wanted to say something.
Yan Guang, the head of the Yan family, suddenly became solemn and said sternly, "Shut up, someone is coming."
Yan Dou was startled and looked up at the sky.
There, hundreds of sword lights broke through the air.
The sword energy was like heavy snow covering the sky.
But only a moment.
Hundreds of sword lights were approaching the outside of Qiuyan City, and suddenly stopped, revealing a human figure among them.
Yan Dou frowned as he looked at the nearly four hundred figures, some old and some young, but not a single swordsman in his prime.
What is even more bizarre is that these sword practitioners all carry a sword box made of red sandalwood on their backs.
The leader of this group of sword cultivators was actually a very young and strange man.
The man was wearing a black shirt with dark golden dragon patterns embroidered on it.
The man in black shirt and black hair not only has an extraordinary temperament, but also has an extremely handsome appearance.
"Isn't it the Sword Sect's expedition to the west? Who is this young man?"
Before Yan Dou could react, his father Yan Guang said respectfully: "Under the command of the Sword Sect, Yan Guang of the Yan family and his son Yan Dou greet Master Lu!"
Yan Dou was shocked and finally remembered who the young man was.
The youngest sect leader of Dao Sect, the holder of the title of the strongest in the fourth realm and the strongest in the fifth realm, the holder of Dao Sword, the first disciple of the Fairy Luoshen... a long list of titles flashed through his mind, and the last name jumped out.
Lu Qingshan!
Yan Dou was full of thoughts in his mind, but he reacted very quickly and followed his father to pay his respects.
Lu Qingshan paused for a moment, looked at Yan Dou and Yan Guang, and then said: "The rest of the Sword Sect will be here later."
"I understand." Yan Guang was extremely respectful in front of this extremely young young master, who was even much younger than his own son. He did not have the slightest intention of looking down on him because of his youth.
There was no change in Lu Qingshan's expression. He nodded to Yan Guang and flew straight into Qiuyan City.
The sword cultivator from the Sword Sect followed closely behind him.
The expression on Yan Guang's face became more respectful. He stood quietly on the top of the city wall, silently watching the sword cultivators from the Sword Sect enter the city.
His gaze finally fell on the exquisitely carved rosewood sword cases carried by the sword practitioners, and he let out a long sigh.
How long has it been since I last saw the Sword Sect’s rosewood sword case?
The Sword Sect has a tradition that whenever there is a fight to the death, regardless of the outcome, one must die for a good cause, with a worthy death, and return to one's roots.
However, on the battlefield, it is extremely difficult to bring back the bodies of your companions.
Since that’s the case, if I can’t bring the person back, I’ll just bring the sword back.
When the sword returns, the man returns.
Therefore, those from the Sword Sect who go to war must all carry a rosewood sword case.
The sword box does not contain the sword practitioner's own sword, but the sword of his companion.
Every time a sword master collects a companion sword, he will engrave the name of the sword master, as well as the time and place of birth, and the time and place of death on the sword case.
Once the rosewood sword box is carried on the back, it means that the Sword Sect will face the most difficult but most determined war.
But, this time, with the Sword Sect’s 2,000 sword masters heading west on their expedition, how many of them will be able to return only with this sandalwood sword box?
Yan Guang couldn't help but think about it.
…
From the seventh year of Tianyuan to the eighth year of Tianyuan, a lot of things happened in just one year.
Xuanzun entered the domain.
Prince Qing massacred people in Chang'an.
Xuanzun fell.
Li Qiubai's sword opened the gate of heaven.
Chu Mushen achieved semi-ancestor status.
The soldier demon, the inner demon, and the giant spirit all approached the city at the same time.
The war is about to begin.
It was a time of storm.
Immediately afterwards, the Huanling Sect rebelled.
Longcheng Pass fell into the hands of the enemy overnight.
Hundreds of thousands of cultivators in the Central Spiritual Realm were killed in one battle.
The high-ranking monks of Huanling Sect showed their fangs, and the Zhongling cross-domain teleportation formation was attacked and destroyed at the same time.
The master of the Sword Sect’s Haoran Peak reached three realms in one day and defended the Yishui Terrace.
The news was transmitted to various domains through the only cross-domain teleportation array guarded by the Sword Sect.
The world was shocked.
Then, Shanhaiguan, Zijingguan, Hanguguan and Wushengguan successively announced that they would give up supporting Zhonglingyu.
The demons, with millions of troops, marched across the Xiantian Ridge, blocking out the sky and the sun.
Mangzhou has become a scorched earth.
The Central Spiritual Realm seems doomed to destruction.
At this time.
The most powerful sword-cultivating sect of the human race made a decision.
Western Expedition.
Therefore, Yanlan Pass sent out the Yulin Guard and the Chang'an Guard.
The Candle Dragon Hall gambled with its own future and the life of a patriarch.
An old monk from Longxiang Chicken Soup Temple walked out of the Western Regions.
He, he, and they didn't know if they could change all this.
But only by doing it can you know the answer.
On the New Year's Day of the eighth year of Tianyuan, Lu Qingshan, the young master of the Sword Sect, led the first batch of sword cultivators of the Sword Sect on the Western Expedition, and walked into Qiuyan City in the flying snow, carrying a rosewood sword box that was destined to be filled with his companions' natal swords.