Chapter 1038: Act According to Plan

The Rise of Kyushu

As the first beam of light erupted, the power of the magic arrays on the eleven small islands surged, and instantly, overwhelming streams of light blasted towards the enemy, continuously.

The Blood Tribe suffered heavy casualties in an instant, with severed limbs and a rain of blood.

This was not their first major battle with the Crimson Blood Holy Land, so the Blood Tribe had experience in responding. Against such an offensive, the best strategy was to scatter and never concentrate their forces.

However, even so, they still suffered significant casualties under the dense onslaught of the human forces.

The subsequent forces of the Plate Tribe, however, rushed forward without the slightest hesitation.

The cores of these arrays were equipped with powerful artifacts specifically designed for siege warfare. Amplified by the arrays' power, each strike, while not world-ending, was far more potent than that of ordinary artifacts, almost comparable to the explosive power of spiritual treasures.

From a high-altitude perspective, the entire elliptical arrangement of the outer islands seemed to transform into a glowing hedgehog. The rapidly flickering spikes were the unleashed power of the island's arrays.

Many Blood Tribe members disintegrated into bloody rain before they could even scream. Those who miraculously survived and fell into the Divine Palace Sea slowly sank into silence amidst their wails.

The Divine Palace Sea served as a natural barrier. The blood within it was like boiling oil to ordinary Blood Tribe members, and falling into it was essentially a death sentence.

This was the fundamental reason why Feng Wujiang chose this location for the Crimson Blood Holy Land back then. Without the Divine Palace Sea as a natural barrier, even with dozens of revered elders stationed there, the Crimson Blood Holy Land would have long been submerged under the Blood Tribe's human wave attacks.

No Blood Tribe member could approach within a thousand feet of the islands; all were intercepted beyond that range.

Casualties continued to mount, yet the Blood Tribe's forces seemed inexhaustible.

Lu Ye slowly began to understand their strategy.

The Blood Tribe's vanguard consisted of weaker members, primarily those in the Cloud River Realm. No matter how numerous these Blood Tribe members were, they clearly couldn't achieve anything significant.

However, the Blood Tribe evidently didn't expect these Cloud River Realm members to successfully assault the islands. Their sole purpose was to deplete the human forces.

In short, they were cannon fodder.

Only when the human forces were depleted to a certain extent would the true core of the Blood Tribe strike.

In previous wars, the Blood Tribe always employed this tactic. So, while the Blood Tribe army numbered over a million, more than half of them were used as cannon fodder.

The Blood Tribe also understood that the biggest weakness of the human side was their limited numbers. Currently, human defenses had no blind spots, but given enough time, the human defensive power would gradually weaken.

For this, the Blood Tribe needed to pay a certain price, which was unavoidable.

Fortunately, Blood Tribe members were easy to nurture, so despite heavy battle losses each time, they would always return a few years later.

Through successive major wars, the Blood Tribe had chipped away at most of the outer islands of the Crimson Blood Holy Land. Now, only the defensive line formed by the last eleven small islands remained. This time, if they could tear open a breach in this line, they would have hope of annihilating the Crimson Blood Holy Land.

Therefore, for humanity, the eleven defensive islands absolutely could not fall.

The battle raged fiercely. This offensive and defensive struggle continued for three days and three nights without pause.

During this time, the Blood Tribe's assault never stopped, and the human islands' counterattacks never ceased. The thousand-foot radius around the outer islands was the boundary between life and death. Without exception, all Blood Tribe members who crossed this thousand-foot threshold perished.

Yet, despite this, new attackers surged forward relentlessly.

The Blood Tribe was undoubtedly a highly warlike race; this was the madness in their bones. The deaths of large numbers of their kin could not stop their determination to advance.

Perhaps it was also related to the absence of visible corpses. All dead Blood Tribe members either turned to dust or fell into the Divine Palace Sea, leaving no bodies visible.

If corpses remained, piled high like mountains, it might have created some deterrence for the Blood Tribe, but this situation did not occur.

On the northern battlefront, aboard a massive warship in the central army, the Star and Moon Holy Venerable stood at the bow, hands clasped behind his back, observing quietly.

He did not frown or show any distress. To him, the fallen Blood Tribe members had fulfilled their duties, and there was no need for regret.

A Divine Sea Realm Blood Tribe member who had been observing from a forward position returned to report: "Holy Venerable, three days have passed. Please give your instructions."

The Star and Moon Holy Venerable calmly stated: "Proceed as planned."

"Understood!" The Divine Sea Realm Blood Tribe member immediately retreated. At the same time, on the island city wall, Meng Jie, who had been silently observing the battle, also spoke: "Three days have passed."

"Then let's proceed as planned," Yue Ji replied.

Meng Jie slowly raised a hand and gently clenched it.

Lu Ye looked at them in confusion.

Yue Ji explained: "According to the rhythm of previous wars, three days is precisely when our human forces begin to falter."

After all, prolonged operation of arrays and their core artifacts placed a massive burden and consumed immense energy from human cultivators. In previous major battles, the first three days marked a critical point; after this point, the human side's defensive strength would sharply decline.

This change was precisely the opportunity the Blood Tribe had been desperately waiting for.

During these three days, the Blood Tribe suffered immense casualties, yet the human side had not sustained any losses. After all, all incoming enemies were annihilated beyond a thousand feet, making it difficult for humans to suffer losses.

Lu Ye immediately understood: "Feigning weakness." If he had not brought the "Common Spirit Affinity Array Disk" to the Crimson Blood Holy Land, this time point would indeed have been the opportunity the Blood Tribe eagerly awaited. But with the Common Spirit Affinity Array Disk, the situation was different.

During these three days, the human cultivators responsible for operating the defensive structures had indeed consumed a great deal of energy, but they were constantly drawing power through the Common Spirit Affinity Array. So, although their consumption was immense, they were not yet exhausted.

Lu Ye had also consumed a large amount of blood crystals during these three days, pouring all the refined power into the great array. Not only him, but the hundred-plus Blood Tribe Dao Soldiers were also ingesting blood crystals, allowing the human cultivators to draw power from them.

It was important to note that they were in the Divine Sea Realm, and the assistance they could provide was substantial.

As Meng Jie gave the command, the intensity of the counterattack on the islands slowly began to diminish.

They couldn't make it too obvious, or the Blood Tribe would spot the flaw. For humanity, such a trick could only be used once, so they naturally had to maximize its effect.

Not only Lu Ye's island but all ten other islands followed suit.

As time passed, the intensity of the counterattack further weakened. From a high-altitude view, one could see the Crimson Blood Holy Land, like a hedgehog, appearing to have fewer and much shorter quills.

After observing for most of a day and confirming that the human cultivators were now weakened, the Blood Tribe's first counterattack began.

Amidst the mass of cannon fodder Blood Tribe members, many auras of True Lake Realm Blood Tribe members clearly emerged. They mobilized their power and, using the cannon fodder as cover, swiftly charged towards the islands.

The human counterattack continued, but it was now difficult to stop all of the Blood Tribe's advances.

The thousand-foot boundary of life and death constantly shortened. Nine hundred feet, eight hundred feet, seven hundred feet... In just under two hours, the Blood Tribe's front line advanced to within five hundred feet of the islands.

The Blood Tribe could finally retaliate, no longer merely passive targets.

Beams of blood-light erupted from the Blood Tribe's ranks, an overwhelming wave of blood-light covering the islands.

The grand array hummed, and the protective magic array activated, enveloping the islands.

The blood-light struck the protective barrier, leaving small, crimson splatters, as if red dye had been splashed onto the barrier.

Hissing sounds continuously echoed as the light of the protective array rapidly dimmed.

The Blood Tribe's blood arts were highly effective against protective arrays.

It should be noted that the arrays on the islands were personally set up by an elder array master and his disciples, offering protective power no less than the mountain-guarding arrays of Kyushu's top sects.

Even so, the first layer of the protective array was broken in less than half an hour.

During this time, although the Blood Tribe suffered continuous casualties, the appearance of a large number of True Lake Realm Blood Tribe members pushed their front line another hundred feet forward.

The second layer of the protective array activated. In less than half an hour, it too was broken. The Blood Tribe's front line closed in to within three hundred feet of the islands.

The third layer of the protective array enveloped the islands. This was the last protective array on the islands. If it were also broken, the Blood Tribe's blood arts could fall unrestrainedly upon the islands.

At that point, all defensive structures would be destroyed in a very short time. If such a situation occurred, with the Blood Tribe's current forces, the Crimson Blood Holy Land would be close to collapse.

Within the Blood Tribe army, auras of Divine Sea Realm members had appeared. Though few in number, the blood arts they cast were incomparable to those of the True Lake Realm and Cloud River Realm, possessing stronger corrosive properties against the protective arrays.

Two hundred feet!

This was an extremely dangerous distance. The Blood Tribe army seemed to glimpse the hope of victory and charged forward with even greater ferocity.

Compared to the Blood Tribe's surging morale, the human forces on each island clearly appeared dispirited, their counterattacks sparse and lacking the initial grandeur.

The moment the last layer of the protective array was shattered, all Blood Tribe members who witnessed this scene had glowing eyes, their speed dramatically increasing. As they rushed forward, intricate secret arts swiftly brewed.

Almost all Blood Tribe members envisioned the destruction of the Crimson Blood Holy Land, the eradication of this persistent thorn. Many Blood Tribe members even showed expressions of joy in their eyes.

However, in the very next instant, joy turned to horror.

As the magic arrays hummed, overwhelming streams of light erupted from the city walls of the small islands, blasting unrestrainedly into the Blood Tribe army.

The Crimson Blood Holy Land, like a hedgehog, instantaneously launched the quills it had previously retracted into its body.

Many Blood Tribe members still had joyful expressions on their faces, but their bodies were incomplete as they plummeted downward, falling into the Divine Palace Sea and creating a splash.

In a single moment of change, death swept through the Blood Tribe ranks like a hurricane. In that instant, an unknown number of Blood Tribe members died tragically on the spot, and even many of the Divine Sea Realm Blood Tribe members perished.

The Blood Tribe members within five hundred feet of the islands were cleared out in a very short time, and this cleared distance continued to expand.

Most Blood Tribe members had no idea what had happened, vanishing in mid-rush. A few Blood Tribe members who sensed danger quickly moved to dodge, but if they dodged once, they couldn't dodge twice or thrice.

Blood Tribe corpses rained down like a downpour.