Although the Blood Flame and Bone and Flesh Fire carried a portion of vitality and flesh, they were nothing compared to those clumps of incomparably pure Soul Energy.
With a wave of his hand, Li Chang’an absorbed four of the energy clumps. They trickled into his Sea of Souls, and that ethereal sensation washed over him once more. Li Chang’an’s soul had grown significantly stronger again!
The benefits of a stronger soul were intangible.
But Li Chang’an could distinctly feel his perception of his surroundings growing much keener.
Nearby, Lu Shang waved his hand and absorbed the remaining three clumps of energy. He pouted and grumbled indignantly, "I did all the dangerous work, but you ended up with a bigger share."
When they were surrounded by the seven Cultivators just now, Lu Shang had felt like he was about to suffocate. He was like a lone boat in a storm, in constant danger of being wrecked and sunk. Yet Li Chang’an had just stood by, completely unmoved.
This left Lu Shang feeling rather disgruntled.
Of course, he knew that Li Chang’an had indeed contributed more to the fight; he just wanted to complain a little.
Li Chang’an smiled. "A little hardship builds character for a young man. Don’t be so petty..."
Lu Shang said nothing.
To be honest, he’d never once gotten the better of Li Chang’an.
He was already getting used to it by now.
After resting for a while in the Da Yuan Imperial Palace, the two continued their journey, rushing relentlessly toward the Northwest Region, the location of the Qiangman Royal Tent.
According to Elder Hun’s intelligence, nearly twenty Cultivators from the Cultivation Realm frequently visited the Jiuzhou Continent. These twenty individuals were the targets Li Chang’an and Lu Shang now needed to eliminate.
When the two arrived outside the Qiangman Royal Tent, they found it empty. Li Chang’an dragged out the Qiangman Leader and, after applying some... pressure, began to interrogate him.
He soon learned that the Qiangman Ancestor had already left for the front lines with several other Cultivators.
Hearing this, both Li Chang’an and Lu Shang were taken aback. ’They didn’t leave anyone near the Royal Court at all?’
After a moment’s thought, they figured out why.
The Cultivators here must have gotten news that they were headed for the Da Yuan Imperial Palace. The ones stationed at the Royal Court must have assumed they were doomed, with no hope of escape, and so had gone straight to the battlefield.
Great Zhou was currently at war with the Qiangman and Great Yuan. The front lines were overflowing with the essence of blood and qi. The Cultivators had come to the Lower Realm precisely to seize the Elixirs refined from this essence. Naturally, they wouldn’t neglect their main objective over a minor hiccup.
Upon learning this, Li Chang’an and Lu Shang immediately headed back.
It was even better that they had gone to the battlefield.
After all, Elder Hun had instructed Lu Shang to lay some groundwork near the borders of the various countries.
In fact, according to the original plan, the very battleground Elder Hun had prepared for Lu Shang to deal with the Cultivators was located near the border front.
Now, all those preparations could finally be put to use.
...
「On the battlefield.」
The soldiers of Great Zhou were battling the allied forces of the Qiangman and Great Yuan. Hundreds of thousands of troops were arrayed on both sides of the border, locked in a frantic tug-of-war of offense and defense centered on the boundary line.
At first, the soldiers of Great Zhou were able to hold their own.
After all, of the three key elements of war—favorable timing, advantageous terrain, and the will of the people—Great Zhou possessed at least two. Even with two nations allied against them, breaking through Great Zhou’s defensive line was no simple task.
But as the battle intensified, a rain of fire suddenly began to fall from the sky for no apparent reason!
This bizarre rain of fire covered a vast area, stretching for dozens of miles, and it was deliberately drifting toward the Great Zhou army’s formations and their fortified passes.
Watching this phenomenon that could only be described as an act of the gods, the soldiers on the Great Zhou front lines thought they were suffering divine retribution. Panic spread through the ranks, throwing them into disarray as morale plummeted.
Inside the command tent, Li Yuanqing looked up at the rain of fire, an expression of fear and bewilderment creeping onto his face.
After watching in silence for a long time, he muttered dejectedly, "To influence the course of a battle involving hundreds of thousands without even showing themselves... is this the power of a Cultivator?"
Of course, Li Yuanqing knew this rain of fire was no divine miracle.
It was the work of Cultivators, skulking in the shadows.
But the power they displayed was simply too immense; so great that even Li Yuanqing could not help but feel a wave of Despair.
The fire clouds stretched for dozens of miles across the sky, and the fiery rain fell as if it were free. The impact and destruction caused by the roaring flames were no different from a catastrophe sent down by a Celestial God.
Other than pulling back the front lines as much as possible and explaining the situation to his soldiers over and over, there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Beside him, Li Shiran, the man in charge of logistics, also looked grim. He sighed. "Our supply lines to the rear have been cut. It’s clear they have no intention of letting us retreat!"
Li Yuanqing wasn’t surprised by this news, but he couldn’t stop his fists from clenching. "These damn Cultivators are going too far!"
"In the past, we could let it slide when they hid behind the scenes, pulling all the strings. Everyone knew about it, but we could still turn a blind eye and pretend not to see..."
"But now, these bastards aren’t even bothering to pretend anymore! They’re brazenly interfering in the wars between nations. Have they decided to wipe our Great Zhou from the rolls of the Twelve Countries?"
For Great Zhou, this was obviously not good news.
After all, now that the Cultivators were acting without restraint, it meant they would likely show no mercy this time. Great Zhou was poised to become the first of the Twelve Countries to be annihilated.