Chapter 1990: Reentering the Wood Clan

Volume Ten: War in the Demon Realm - Chapter 1964: Re-entering the Wood Clan

"I secretly came to this realm, hiding from the other old geezers, not to cower and stay hidden. Instead, I came to secure greater benefits for us. According to the original agreement of the Sacred Ancestors, whoever conquers human territory will have the right to dispose of half of its area when establishing their clan's stronghold in the Spirit Realm. With such a significant benefit, I naturally must fight for the greatest interests of our faction!" the black-armored woman said with a solemn expression.

"So, what do you mean, Sister?" Yuan Sha asked, her delicate brows furrowing.

"After I return, I will take the Dragon-Locking Pill to unleash the potential of this avatar, allowing it to temporarily regain eighty to ninety percent of its magical power. This way, as long as I'm not facing an excessively powerful opponent, I can still act secretly." The black-armored woman said after a slight pause.

"The Dragon-Locking Pill! Doesn't that mean, Sister, you'll have to enter seclusion for a thousand years a century from now for your injuries to truly heal?" Yuan Sha seemed startled.

"It doesn't matter. As long as we gain enough benefits this time, what's a mere avatar entering seclusion for a thousand years? However, during this period, I will need your strong protection, sister, to prevent this avatar from truly perishing." The black-armored woman said slowly.

"Rest assured. My descent to this realm was originally to assist your actions. I just never expected to encounter Baohua. Thinking back to our relationship all those years ago, it truly is regrettable!" Yuan Sha said with a bitter smile.

"Hmph, since Baohua chose a different path from ours, there's no camaraderie left to speak of. The principle that 'the victor is king, the vanquished is bandit' has always been an ironclad rule of our Sacred Clan. If we had failed that day, our fate would have been far more desolate than Baohua's is now!" The black-armored woman snorted, speaking coldly.

"Perhaps. But Baohua is, after all, one of our Sacred Clan's three founding ancestors. It's quite unlikely to completely erase her influence. Many, though it may not seem so on the surface, remain secretly loyal to her," Yuan Sha said with a light sigh.

"As one of the founding ancestors, her influence is naturally incomparable to that of ordinary Sacred Ancestors. But no matter how great her influence, it cannot withstand the erosion of time. Thirty thousand, forty thousand years, perhaps some will still remember their loyalty to her, but once a hundred thousand, a million years pass, her influence will naturally vanish like smoke. However, we cannot allow her to simply roam freely in the vicinity. Once a high-level main body can descend, I will organize a team specifically to deal with her. Even if we cannot utterly eliminate her then, we absolutely will not allow her to ruin our grand plans!" The black-armored woman said, her face filled with a murderous aura.

"Hmm, since you've made your decision, little sister naturally has no objections. Now that your injuries are suppressed, let's immediately return to the human realm. When I departed, the Heavenly Spirit City's defenses were almost breached. Perhaps by the time we return, the city will have been completely occupied," Yuan Sha nodded, a hint of excitement suddenly appearing on her face.

"The army commanded by my other avatar consists of elite forces I personally selected, capable of ranking among the top three of all armies that have descended into the Spirit Realm. If they still couldn't take a mere human major city, that would be truly strange!" The black-armored woman said indifferently, showing no surprise.

"That's true. Otherwise, your avatar wouldn't have had the leisure to send me to disrupt the humans' minor schemes," Yuan Sha chuckled.

"Let's go. I hope things proceed as smoothly as we anticipate!" The black-armored woman looked up at the sky, her gaze flickering as she spoke.

"It's a pity, though, that the boy named Han got off easy this time, escaping with his life for nothing," Yuan Sha said, recalling their primary target from the pursuit, expressing a bit of vexation and resentment.

The black-armored woman smiled slightly, offering no response, but then opened her mouth and spewed out a ball of red light.

Within the red light was a translucent red flying chariot, several inches in size and exquisitely crafted. With a flick of a magical art, it instantly expanded to several yards.

Yuan Sha moved without hesitation, her figure instantly appearing on the flying chariot.

After standing up, the black-armored woman lifted her long, slender legs and slowly floated onto the chariot as well.

The next moment, the chariot's surface shimmered, transforming into a crimson rainbow that shot into the sky, streaking towards the horizon.

Five months later, Heavenly Spirit City, one of the human race's three imperial cities, was finally overwhelmed by the boundless Demon Realm army.

In this battle, not only did all the cultivators in the city perish, but even several Integration Stage elders were forcibly cornered and slaughtered by high-level demons.

However, these top-tier human cultivators launched a desperate and fierce counterattack in their final moments, dragging down an equal number of Demon Lords of the same level and thousands of high-level demons with them in self-detonation.

Only the newly appointed Spirit Emperor, unexpectedly, utilized some incredible divine ability, suddenly boosting his magical power to an astonishing degree. He forcefully carved out a bloody path through the Demon Realm army and escaped, albeit heavily wounded.

But after the battle, there was no further news of this Spirit Emperor.

The high-level demon commanding the Demon Realm army, enraged, not only massacred all captured human cultivators in the city but also ruthlessly chopped down the symbol of Heavenly Spirit City, the colossal sky-pillar tree that reached straight into the heavens.

The entire spirit city subsequently collapsed, with less than one-tenth of its buildings remaining.

However, this Demon Realm army also suffered significant losses in the battle for Heavenly Spirit City and did not immediately continue sweeping into adjacent areas. Instead, they encamped on the ruins of Heavenly Spirit City to rest and recuperate, continuously replenishing their demon forces and beasts from the Demon Realm passage.

What surprised the remaining human factions in the Heavenly Spirit Realm even more was that these demons began extensive construction in the occupied territories, erecting more demon flag fortresses and strongholds. They also planted strange, dark demonic trees nearby that emitted faint demonic energy, appearing as if they intended to settle permanently in the human realm.

In their panic, these human factions desperately transmitted this news to human strongholds in other regions.

Before long, several major super strongholds, including Heavenly Abyss City, all received this news. On the surface, there was no significant reaction, but secretly, a new wave of turmoil began!

In the Savage Wilds, at the center of a dense primeval forest on the outskirts of the Wood Clan's territory, a small fortress, roughly a mile in diameter, was formed by over a dozen hundred-zhang-high towers and segments of grayish-white city walls.

Within this fortress, demonic energy swirled, and faintly visible teams of armored demons patrolled the city walls.

Above the fortress, a dark, shadowy hole, about an *mu* in size, flickered in and out of sight amidst the demonic energy. This was one of the convergence points between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm.

However, this node was incredibly small compared to the super "nodes" in the human territories; it simply couldn't be compared.

The ordinary demons patrolling this fortress also had pale red skin and low cultivation levels, appearing not to be true elite demons.

This was normal; such a small node naturally couldn't be guarded by much demonic power.

This was also because the number of "nodes" appearing in the Wood Clan's territory was far fewer than in the Human and Monster Clans' territories; otherwise, this demon fortress wouldn't even exist.

However, from the large areas of charred trees and the pitted ground around the fortress, it was clear that this place had undergone more than one struggle, but the losers were obviously not the demons stationed here.

Of course, this was also because the major Wood Clan powers didn't even bother with such small demon "nodes," instead focusing their true strength on lightly attacking the gigantic "nodes" that genuinely threatened the Wood Clan's survival.

But for some local Wood Clan factions, this node was like a thorn in their eye, something they naturally wanted to remove quickly. Therefore, almost every so often, they would organize a group of people to attack it.

Unfortunately, each time they failed at the last moment.

Meanwhile, the demons in this fortress, continuously reinforced by the node, gradually showed a tendency to grow stronger with each battle.

This caused even greater panic among the nearby Wood Clan factions, leading to increasingly frequent attacks.

One day, in the dense forest dozens of miles from the fortress, teams of Wood Clan members, clad in yellow and green wooden armor, appeared mysteriously and slowly advanced towards the demon fortress using wood evasion techniques.

Although the cultivation levels of these Wood Clan members varied, they all moved silently, appearing well-trained.

Among them, an old man at the Integration Stage and a middle-aged man and woman at the late Nascent Soul Stage had the highest cultivation levels, clearly leading the group.

The three not only used evasion techniques to lead the team but also cautiously communicated with each other through sound transmission.

"Elder Zhu, we are very grateful for your assistance this time. As long as you help us take this demon fortress, our families will surely reward you handsomely upon our return," the refined-looking middle-aged man said to the elder with great gratitude.

"It's nothing. I am also a member of the Wood Clan, and it is only right to exert more effort in dealing with the demons. However, I traveled a long distance to reach this place, risking my family's absence, which is extremely dangerous. This battle must be concluded quickly," the elder said, shaking his head, seemingly worried.

"Don't worry, Elder Zhu. Our families have brought almost all of our forces this time, intending to decide the outcome in a single decisive battle. If this drags on, it will be detrimental to us. According to our last skirmish, the highest cultivated demons in the fortress are only four high-level demons at the Nascent Soul Stage. With your intervention, dealing with them this time will certainly not be a problem," another Wood Clan woman, whose skin was exceptionally pale with no color in her face, also said via whispered sound transmission.

"Hmm, if there are indeed a few high-level demons, just leave them all to me. You all should first destroy that demonic node. Without the node, even if these demons escape, they won't be a threat," the elder nodded, but then added a worried instruction.

"Alright, we'll follow Elder Zhu's instructions. After we destroy the node, we'll return to assist you in eliminating those high-level demons as much as possible."

The Wood Clan man and woman exchanged glances, then readily agreed.

Upon hearing this, the elder's expression finally relaxed.

After the three conversed quietly for a few more sentences, they fell silent and focused on leading the team on their journey.

However, neither the three high-level Wood Clan members nor the thousands of ordinary Wood Clan members behind them realized that within a gloomy cloud mist high above the dense forest, a pair of spiritual eyes, flickering with blue light, were faintly observing them.

The owner of these spiritual eyes wore a green robe, his face appearing like that of a youth in his twenties. It was Han Li, who hadn't appeared for several months.

At this moment, he was observing the Wood Clan team below while glancing towards the distant demon fortress, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Suddenly, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's lips. His figure blurred within the cloud, eventually transforming into a faint, almost invisible, azure shadow that shot out of the gray cloud.

He floated slowly at a low altitude, closely following the Wood Clan members as they flew towards the demon fortress.