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Chapter 221: Chapter 218 Choice
"Netherworld Sect!?"
Lu Dengxian and Liu Jingtiao’s faces changed instantly.
Although the Purgatory Sect and the Netherworld Sect both belonged to the Ten Great Demon Sects, they had never gotten along.
After all, being part of the Ten Great Demon Sects did not mean they were a united alliance; each sect still had its own interests to compete for.
Especially since the practitioners of the Demon Path were cruel and brutal in their actions, conflicts often turned into deadly feuds that were not easily resolved—in such situations, making peace was as difficult as reaching for the sky.
Before the great chaos in Star State, the Netherworld Sect Supreme Elder, You Quan Ancestor, once stood in opposition to the Purgatory Sect Lu Zhanxian at Jueyun Peak on the border.
It should be noted that both individuals were equivalent to the Sea Suppressing God Needle Level existence within their respective Great Demon Sects. Every action and word from them could represent the will of the Purgatory Sect and the Netherworld Sect.
If they truly took action against each other, it would be tantamount to a full-scale war.
This goes to show just how bad the relationship between the two factions was.
If it weren’t for the fact that the lucrative Star State had distracted both parties’ attention, the Purgatory Sect and the Netherworld Sect might have already broken into a bloody war by now.
The Netherworld Sect Supreme Elder’s advance to the gates of the city was both somewhat unexpected and yet reasonable to Liu Jingtiao.
"We of the Purgatory Sect invited Venerable Daoist Gu to be our fourth Supreme Elder, and although he was not solely cultivated by our sect, he grew up in our Purgatory Sect before reaching the Refining God Realm, sharing deep affection with us. He controls Star State, which indirectly increases the might of our Purgatory Sect. Not to mention, he also wields vast military power and has the Top-grade Monarch master, Xin Tianqi."
Lu Dengxian took a deep breath, "So, when Venerable Daoist Gu gathered Star State’s forces intending to revenge against Dragon Sparrow Manor, it was completely within reason for the Netherworld Sect to hamstring us, to prevent us from joining forces with Venerable Daoist Gu to take down Dragon Sparrow Manor. Otherwise, once we and Venerable Daoist Gu capture Dragon Sparrow Manor and seize Jiangzhou State, we would effectively control three states. What then could the Netherworld Sect use to confront us?"
Zhang Liefeng nodded, "The Sect Master is right. This time, the Netherworld Sect is certainly not bluffing. If we dare to send anyone into Star State, the Netherworld Sect will most definitely take advantage of our weakened state in Red State to invade with a large army, and even..."
His expression was cold, "At this moment, they’ve already crossed the Red State border. If I’m not mistaken, they intend to fight a controlled limited-scale war, specifically to test the strength of our Purgatory Sect."
The points made by Zhang Liefeng and Lu Dengxian both carried logic.
But...
"So we’re just going to ignore Venerable Daoist Gu’s side? Don’t forget, Venerable Daoist Gu is our Purgatory Sect’s Supreme Elder."
Liu Jingtiao stated gravely, "Our Purgatory Sect Supreme Elder has been attacked by the Dragon Sparrow Manor’s masters twice in a row, yet our Purgatory Sect has done nothing. How immense would the blow to our sect’s prestige be if such news were to spread?"
"The Supreme Elder... If he truly acknowledges himself as a part of our Purgatory Sect, then he should prioritize the overall situation."
Zhang Liefeng said, "In fact, I believe what he should really do is lead his elite forces to join up with our Purgatory Sect, and wipe out the Netherworld Sect once and for all. Keep in mind, though Dragon Sparrow Manor has been greatly weakened during this period, the remaining strength is still not much less than that of the Netherworld Sect. In this situation, focusing our combined force to eradicate the Netherworld Sect, which is a major internal threat, is the correct course of action."
"Focus our combined force? Dragon Sparrow Manor would never let Venerable Daoist Gu concentrate his forces so easily."
"They could feign disorder as a ruse. After all, the core of Star State consists of only a few key people. If they cooperate with us in secret, our Purgatory Sect could annihilate the Netherworld Sect with the force of thunder. By the time Dragon Sparrow Manor realizes what happened, we could have already subdued the Netherworld Sect. As for Star State..."
Zhang Liefeng paused, "At most, Star State would lose some cities on the eastern side due to Dragon Sparrow Manor’s probing, given that these cities have changed hands several times recently and haven’t received significant investment in manpower or resources for development. Once we stabilize the situation with the Netherworld Sect, our Purgatory Sect can then help them retake these cities."
"How could it be so easy? If Gu Jinlai really did that, he would certainly lose all support from the people."
"Support from the people, what support? He is the Supreme Elder of our Purgatory Sect. He should be siding with our Purgatory Sect! When we speak of earning people’s support, it should firstly be the people of Red State we consider, not those from Star State which we have only occupied for a few months."
Zhang Liefeng sneered coldly.
"Is this Venerable Daoist Lu’s intention?"
Liu Jingtiao looked at Zhang Liefeng.
"More or less."
Zhang Liefeng said, "Venerable Daoist Lu’s idea is that everything should prioritize the interests of our Purgatory Sect."
"After all, Gu Jinlai is our Purgatory Sect’s Supreme Elder. If we show no stance in this operation, I’m afraid it would dishearten Gu Jinlai. Besides, we still need to borrow Venerable Daoist Gu’s power to attempt to master the Tian Ji Sword..."
Liu Jingtiao sighed.
"The Tian Ji Sword..."
Zhang Liefeng frowned and said, "You must have heard that rumor, the Tian Ji Sword... has been lost, apparently stolen by a disciple of Wu Tiandi, the Hall Master of the Human Immortal Hall. And this Divine Sword Convention... it’s still uncertain how things will unfold." 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
"Rumors cannot be fully trusted; for all we know, it could be the Six Immortal Sects stirring up trouble."
Liu Jingtiao said.
Lu Dengxian, who had been pondering for a moment, said, "Regardless, Gu Jinlai is ultimately our Purgatory Sect’s Supreme Elder. We can’t remain indifferent, yet with the Netherworld Sect’s troops invading and laying siege to our city, restraining our main force, we have no spare strength to back up Venerable Daoist Gu. So, let’s have Elders Lu Zhanfeng, Shi Chen, and Sha Wujin, as well as the elders and protectors located in Star State, coordinate with Venerable Daoist Gu’s actions."
"We need to mobilize all our forces to prevent the invasion of the Netherworld Sect..."
Zhang Liefeng said.
Yet before he could finish, Liu Jingtiao had already cut in, "If we really come to an all-out war, we few will be the main force. We won’t lack for a bit of strength from Star State. Let’s proceed with that plan."
Seeing this, Zhang Liefeng did not say more.
Seeing the two Venerable Daoists in agreement, Lu Dengxian immediately said, "I shall relay the message to Lu Zhanfeng right away."
...
Baihe City.
At this moment, the troops had not yet all arrived; the forces gathered beneath Baihe City only amounted to thirty thousand elite soldiers and fifty thousand regular troops.
But even so, the sheer number of eighty thousand people still swamped the outside of Baihe City.
At a glance, there were swarming heads and flags screening the sky, with no end in sight.
Compared to the chaos and lack of order seen in some film and television works from the Blue Star that Gu Jinlai used to watch, the soldiers in this world were generally strong and tall, thanks to the existence of the cultivation system.
Placed in ancient Blue Star, they would definitely be considered fierce generals who could take on ten men each.
Although not every one of them was clad in iron armor, they essentially all wore some form of armor and carried well-polished swords and blades.
As for those thirty thousand elites, they were fully armored in metal and grasped sharp weapons.
Especially the leading six thousand cavalry, the entire person, including the horses, was almost entirely encased in iron armor, looking much like a tin can.
If these six thousand cavalry charged with full force, the earth itself would tremble.
Even if dozens or even hundreds of Qi Refinement, Gang Condensation, and Hugging Pill Masters dared to block their path, they would be mercilessly trampled into dust.
Besides the cavalry, the army from Lingxiao City also had a large number of archers.
Three thousand of these archers were dressed distinctly from the others.
Not only were all of them elite warriors with successful Body Refinement, but they also carried longbows with a maximum range of two miles when shooting.
In addition to standard arrows, they also used rockets mixed with gunpowder.
By their side, there were six hundred Crossbow Carts.
These Crossbow Carts, utilizing gears and other mechanisms, could fire arrows over a meter in length, forty at a time, and with six hundred carts firing simultaneously, it was like over twenty thousand archers releasing volleys at once, creating a barrage of arrows that no one could block.
Not even a Divinity Transformation Cultivator could withstand it.
Of course, a Divinity Transformation Cultivator had an attack range of ten miles and could easily destroy these Crossbow Carts with controlled sword strikes.
Moreover, since every Divinity Transformation Cultivator had an exceptional movement technique, it was nearly wishful thinking to try to kill a Divinity Transformation Cultivator with these Crossbow Carts.
Gu Jinlai had never once thought to threaten Divinity Transformation Cultivators with these weapons.
His true killing move was artillery.
Thirty-six guns with a caliber of 150 millimeters and a range of forty miles, each an Artillery.
Twelve guns with a caliber of 200 millimeters and a range of sixty miles, each a Sword Heavy Cannon!
And as for the Justice Heavy Cannon with a 240-millimeter caliber and a hundred-mile range...
Due to the opening of the Aries Star Palace, many Heavenly Masters followed him on a trip to Moon State, which caused production efficiency in the Military Workshop to suffer, and to this day, they have not finished the co-spirit.
Of course, with the large number of Heavenly Master Apprentices from the Great Sun Heavenly Sect joining, they had almost thoroughly understood the technology contained in these heavy cannons.
With some issues that could be resolved by the co-spirit of Heavenly Masters, even producing the Justice Heavy Cannon would not take much time.
The only reason they had not been produced was that the sixty-mile range Sword Heavy Cannons and the forty-mile range Artillery were sufficient for now.
Gu Jinlai glanced at the artillery base.
He then looked at the Heavenly Master Apprentices who would be responsible for operating the heavy cannons and the accompanying Heavenly Masters and then turned his attention to the area surrounding the position.
Or rather...
The Demon God Guards protecting this position.
To ensure victory in this battle, this time Gu Jinlai’s Demon God Guards had almost completely emerged from their nest.
All the people who had cultivated the Demon God Body were brought out, totaling one thousand three hundred.
Most of these one thousand three hundred or so people were equipped with longbows and rockets, with a few wielding "Thunder" Gatling Guns.
The leading figures even carried Short Range Defense Cannons, specifically for anticipating flying sword attacks.
With them guarding the artillery position, it would be no easy feat for Divinity Transformation Cultivators to break through their barrage.
...
"State Governor."
"Patriarch."
"Master."
"Venerable Daoist."
Xin Tianqi, Cheng Wanli, Nian Buwang, Su Nanxing, Lu Zhanfeng, and others gathered around Gu Jinlai.
Cheng Wanli even brought some news: "Dragon Sparrow Manor seems to have withdrawn from Que Xian City and wants to face us in a decisive battle in the Capital."
"Very good," Gu Jinlai said and glanced at Nian Buwang, "How long before the other two groups arrive?"
"It will take two more days from Changjun City, and five days from the furthest, Yuanhua City," Nian Buwang said.
"Let them follow later; we will take the lead."
Gu Jinlai looked up, scanning the distance.
The Yunqi Mountain Range stretched out vast and endless.
He raised his right hand and with a sweeping motion exclaimed, "The army sets out, march towards Jiangzhou State!"
