NOVPUB
Chapter 218: Chapter 215: Return Trip
"The efficiency of individual killing and destruction simply cannot match that of a war machine," he said.
Gu Jinlai glanced around.
In just that brief clash, the battlefield had spanned over several miles.
Within those miles, overturned soil and large pits ranging from several meters to dozens of meters in diameter were everywhere, with soil thrown about in circles.
Many tall trees, some over ten meters high, had been snapped in half, their splinters scattering everywhere.
As for the smaller bushes and grasses a few meters high, they were uprooted and shredded to bits.
Due to the energy released by the fusion of heavy hydrogen and super heavy hydrogen inside his body through transmission, creating startling flashes of intense light and heat, one could see clumps of charred blackness in some areas.
Some trees still bore flames that burned fiercely.
The area for miles around looked as if it had been bombed.
If it weren’t for the early spring weather and the continuous drizzle recently, the surrounding area would probably have erupted in raging fires.
However...
Even though he had displayed almost the strongest state he had aside from his trump card, he still had not managed to kill all those who ambushed him.
Even among the hundreds from Dragon Sparrow Manor, quite a few had managed to escape with their lives.
Dozens scattered in all directions, and Gu Jinlai alone, regardless of how fast or powerful he was, ultimately could not catch and kill them all.
"Ultimately, this world is not a high-martial world, not even a middle-martial world; cultivators’ power is limited, especially me, who hasn’t even reached the upper limit of low martial. Otherwise, one punch down, Quan Zhen Mountain River..."
Gu Jinlai looked into the distance, "Even a mundane mountain range, hundreds to thousands of miles long, could be reduced to dust with one punch, where could people from the Yellow Sky Sect, the Ouyang Family, the Tianhai Gang, the Dragon Breath Sect, the Xingtian Sect hide? All would be annihilated under the fist force along with the mountains across thousands of miles."
Instead of just watching these people who ambushed him escape with their lives.
"However, you can run from the monk, but not from the temple, Yellow Sky Sect, right? Ouyang Family, right? Tianhai Gang, right? And places like Dragon Breath Sect... I will start by wiping out Dragon Sparrow Manor, and after dealing with Dragon Sparrow Manor, I’ll go one by one to settle the debts,"
Gu Jinlai shifted his gaze then began to survey the battlefield.
A Divinity Transformation Great Cultivator would often exchange all their possessions for a Spiritual Flying Sword, thus their equipment rate with spiritual artifacts was very high.
Although many spiritual artifacts were damaged in the fight, they were made of extraordinary materials, inherently very valuable.
In addition, Refining God Immortals often used top-grade Treasure Swords, and the wealthier ones even possessed Supreme Treasure Swords, sometimes even paired with a piece of top-grade Treasure Armor. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Any of these items, if put up for sale, were worth hundreds of thousands, even millions of taels.
Gu Jinlai planned to use Immortal Essence Gold to refine the Cheng Ying Mecha, which required funds amounting to several billions.
Even just the costs amounted to several billion.
In this situation, he had to find ways to make money, to prepare for the refining of this massive project.
Therefore, Treasure Swords and Treasure Armor, even worth hundreds of thousands or millions of taels, he did not disdain but collected them all.
After cleaning up the battlefield, he gathered all the equipment. Despite the weight, with his Upper level Great Demon physique, lifting all of them hardly required much effort.
Having discerned the direction, he quickly chased after the direction where Cheng Wanli, Gu Chifeng, and others were headed.
...
Elsewhere.
The Yellow Sky Sect’s convoy was in full flight, not daring to slacken at all along the way.
This frenzied sprint continued for nearly half a day, until they were hundreds of miles away from the battlefield, that the team leader, Yu Fan, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But just thinking back to that scene still left him with lingering fear.
"Terrifying! Too terrifying!"
Twelve Divinity Transformation Cultivators launching their flying swords simultaneously, what an incredible sight!
Someone as strong as a Primordial Spirit Real Person wouldn’t dare to assault a position held by twelve Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators.
Even, forget about twelve Divinity Transformation Cultivators, even if you halved that number to six, the Primordial Spirit Monarch would still need to consider his tactics, relying on his longer range advantage and the True Qi bursts carried by his Primordial Spirit Sword Control to continuously break through and probe for an opportunity.
Otherwise, facing six Divinity Transformation Great Cultivators launching their flying swords simultaneously could flip his boat in the gutter.
But Gu Jinlai...
He not only forcefully charged the defensive position formed by twelve Divinity Transformation Cultivators, but he also overpowered the collective sword launch of twelve Divinity Transformation Cultivators!
Such power...
Completely surpassed his imagination.
"Wrong! Wrong! Terribly wrong! Gu Jinlai being able to kill Wang Yinfeng and Ye Wuxia, two Primordial Spirit Monarchs — the Slaughter Spiritual Artifact Heavenly Sword might’ve contributed, but these Slaughter Spiritual Artifacts at most only provided him the ability to chase down Primordial Spirit Monarchs, ensuring they don’t simply fly away to escape. He himself is of paramount importance on the battlefield,"
Yu Fan’s mind flickered with insights.
Over the years, the intelligence collected and the scenes he had personally witnessed had gradually merged to form one truth.
"I should have realized it earlier, during the battle at Baihe City, Gu Jinlai was able to kill the Demon Ape Commander who had cultivated the Undying Demon Body. Even though outsiders kept spreading the story that it was because the Demon Ape Commander had previously been severely wounded by a War Spiritual Artifact, thereby allowing Gu Jinlai to win, perhaps this... perhaps this was just a fact these forces were unwilling to accept due to the huge disparity. The real reason is that Gu Jinlai had long possessed a power comparable to an Upper-level Great Demon, including one who had cultivated the Undying Demon Body!"
When he thought about how his own group had been deceived by Ye Dongliu, and had participated in this assassination attempt against Gu Jinlai even under immense pressure from the Yellow Sky Sect, if Gu Jinlai were to use this as an excuse to lead troops northward...
The Yellow Sky Sect would be in danger of being wiped out, attacked by even more demons from the Champsosaurus Swamp and caught between forces from the north and south of Star State.
"No, there’s still room for easing tensions. Though I accepted Ye Dongliu’s invitation, I never truly took action. As long as our Yellow Sky Sect can show some sincerity, it might be possible to turn hostility into peace, and just endure this period. After the Divine Sword Conference of the Ten Demonic Sects is over and the demons from the Champsosaurus Swamp return to Tianhe, the pressure on our Yellow Sky Sect will be greatly reduced..."
Thinking this, Yu Fan suddenly made up his mind.
To go back and discuss with the elders and even the Supreme Elders—no matter what, they must stabilize Star State and endure these few months.
...
Compared to the Yellow Sky Sect.
Other forces with Divinity Transformation and Refining God experts were also in turmoil.
However, most of these forces were located north of Tianhe, facing Star State across the river, looking at each other from the north and south.
Gu Jinlai, a Heavenly Monarch, would not dare approach the Tianhe region if it weren’t for the Divine Sword Conference of the Ten Demonic Sects being held and the retreat of the demons, enabling communication between the north and south.
Otherwise, if the demons sensed the thick spiritual aura on him, even the Demon King would be restless and come surging over to attack.
The remaining Ouyang Family and Tianhai Gang were not only stranded overseas, located at Lizhou State, but also had a Primordial Spirit Monarch backing them.
Besides, the local forces of Lizhou State were extremely xenophobic. If Gu Jinlai really dared to trouble them in Lizhou, it’s unlikely other forces would simply stand by and watch.
The worst-case scenario would be them fleeing deep into the ocean.
The people of Lizhou State were very familiar with the outer seas.
Once they hid on a small island deep in the ocean, how could Gu Jinlai and his outsiders ever find them?
All they needed to do was hide for a year or two, and they didn’t believe that Gu Jinlai, as the Lord of Star State, would abandon his base in Star State to block them in Lizhou for that long.
Under these circumstances, they just returned home as quickly as possible without further contact with Gu Jinlai.
...
Gu Chifeng, Si Tianyan, Guan Xingyun, and others deliberately slowed their pace.
Gu Jinlai caught up with the caravan in just one day.
Seeing Gu Jinlai arrive with large and small packages of spoils of war, Gu Chifeng, Gu Qingmei, and others were simultaneously overjoyed, exclaiming with excitement, "We won! We won! The Patriarch won!"
"I knew it. With the Patriarch’s capabilities, a bunch of worthless scum from Dragon Sparrow Manor, no matter how many plots and schemes they have, would all be crushed."
Hearing the joyful shouts of Gu Chifeng and others, Si Tianyan, Guan Xingyun, and the rest also heaved a sigh of relief.
While they had great confidence in Gu Jinlai’s strength, hearing things is one thing, seeing is another. The fact that he managed to safely return made them comprehend his power more deeply.
Gu Chifeng and the others quickly rode their T-Rexes forward, bowing from afar, "We welcome the Patriarch, who has triumphantly crushed the enemy forces and returned fully loaded."
Gu Jinlai nodded.
Without needing his instruction, Gu Chifeng went forward and started collecting the spoils of war.
"The twelve Divinity Transformation Cultivators assembled by Dragon Sparrow Manor have been defeated by me, with Ye Dongliu and two others being killed on the spot by me. You don’t need to worry about the journey back," Gu Jinlai told Guan Xingyun, Si Tianyan, especially Xiang Fengyun, and a few others.
The Heavenly Masters had been pursued by demons for years and lacked a sense of security.
People like Xiang Fengyun were willing to serve under Gu Jinlai partly because he was the first in forty years to achieve the status of a Heavenly Monarch, and importantly because he alone, when faced with two True Monarchs and seven Divinity Transformation Cultivators, had brilliantly killed six of them in an assault.
Otherwise, with the status of a Great Heavenly Master like Xiang Fengyun, which force wouldn’t welcome him with open arms?
Hearing what Gu Jinlai said, they breathed sighs of relief as well.
"Directly crushing twelve Divinity Transformation Cultivators... Heavenly Monarch Gu is truly valiant to the extreme. With Heavenly Monarch Gu stationed in Lingxiao City, the vicinity of Lingxiao City can surely sleep without worry," the group said courteously.
"As you join Lingxiao City, without mentioning other things, regarding personal safety, I will not disappoint you. If any demon dares to enter Lingxiao City or even within the territory of Star State to run amok, they will definitely face the thunderous wrath of our Star State forces," Gu Jinlai said.
"We naturally trust Heavenly Monarch Gu," the crowd replied.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the team set off again.
Gu Jinlai then returned to Gu Chifeng’s side and ordered, "Use the Thousand-mile Light and Shadow Mirror to send a message to Star State to gather forces for war mobilization."
Saying this, he paused and looked in the southeast direction, "Though I still wanted to wait, Dragon Sparrow Manor has repeatedly engaged in these collusions with demons... It’s time for them to pay the price for their actions."
