Chapter 1115: Third Stage

The battle was fierce, but the war's trajectory favored the human race. As long as the insect tide couldn't break through the defensive lines of the Nine Provinces, they would only continue to die in endless waves. Given the current situation, it was only a matter of time before the humans could eradicate the insect race entirely.

No matter how numerous the insect race, their numbers ultimately had a limit, and there would come a time when they were all slain.

As time passed, the insect tide's offensive grew weaker and their numbers dwindled. Ten days after the war began, the insect race could no longer mount large-scale assaults.

The human side realized that the time for a counter-offensive had arrived. From this moment, the war would officially enter its third phase.

The cultivators' armies from the Nine Provinces would advance from nine directions, sweeping away any insects encountered along the way, destroying the towering insect nests on the ground, and resolving the insect plague at its root.

While the plan seemed straightforward, its execution would be anything but simple.

First, a certain force had to remain guarding the portals to prevent any insects from escaping.

Currently, nearly eighty percent of the elite cultivators from the Nine Provinces were concentrated within the Grand Insect Secret Realm. While a portion of Divine Sea Realm cultivators remained in the Nine Provinces, their numbers were small and served only for emergencies.

For instance, Li Taibai's clone did not follow the main army deep into the Grand Insect Secret Realm this time. The Myriad Demon Ridge highly valued him and didn't want him to take unnecessary risks, so they ordered him to remain at Darkmoon Forest Pass to deal with any potential stragglers.

However, since array formations had been set up by the armies of each province before the portals, not many people were needed for defense. If any insects did appear later, the formations alone could withstand them.

Furthermore, the nine cultivator armies could not advance in a straight line. If they did, too many insects would slip through. As they advanced, they would have to stretch their battle lines as much as possible to cover a wider area.

In essence, the entire Grand Insect Secret Realm was divided into nine sections. Each cultivator army would be responsible for one section. Before advancing, all cultivators were to position themselves at the edge of their respective sections, awaiting orders. Once the command was given, they would simultaneously push inward, thoroughly sweeping through the entire Grand Insect Secret Realm without blind spots, resolving as many hidden dangers as possible.

Debating the marching plans was a matter for the higher echelons of both factions. With the battle insignia, communication between cultivators of the Nine Provinces was extremely convenient, greatly facilitating joint large-scale operations.

The high command was efficient, devising a plan of action in just half a day. When the order was given, countless cultivators from Bing Province's position soared outwards in two directions.

From a high aerial view, streaks of light radiated left and right like celestial maidens scattering flowers, gradually disappearing into the distance.

At regular intervals, a team would remain behind, and further on, a Divine Sea Realm cultivator would stop. These areas were their designated zones of responsibility.

There were no specific orders on who stayed or who continued. At this point, cultivators, all above the True Lake Realm, acted entirely on their own judgment, knowing what was required without needing extraneous instructions.

Such dispersion of forces would undoubtedly be fatal in the early stages of the war, but at this juncture, it was the only option. Adapting different strategies for different periods was essential to maximize the cultivators' capabilities.

Thus, as they proceeded, forces were continuously left behind along the way, while the rest continued to advance along the edge of the Grand Insect Secret Realm.

Lu Ye headed to the right, flying at the very front. This wasn't because he had the highest cultivation; there were many cultivators with higher cultivation levels than him in this area. It was simply because he had experience exploring the entire Grand Insect Secret Realm, so Bing Province had entrusted him with a specific task.

His mission was to link up with the army from the adjacent province, ensuring a seamless connection between their battle lines. Someone on their side had also taken on this task. As the front continued to advance, the number of cultivators following him gradually decreased. Occasional skirmishes erupted, but before such a magnificent army of cultivators, vast as a locust swarm, a few scattered insects could not make any impact.

After flying for a full day, with fewer than two hundred cultivators remaining behind Lu Ye, he finally saw a large expanse of flowing lights approaching in the distance.

The Divine Sea Realm cultivator leading the other group exchanged a divine sense with Lu Ye, and both stopped. The cultivators behind them continued forward, filling in the empty areas of the battle line. In this way, the front between Bing Province and the neighboring province was fully established. All that remained was to await further orders.

The leading Divine Sea Realm cultivator flew over and landed beside Lu Ye, examining him with interest. "You must be young friend Lu Yiye from the Azure Blood Sect, correct?" Lu Ye silently chewed on a spirit pill, preparing for battle, and glanced at him. "Do we have a grudge?"

The adjacent province was Leizhou, which was under the control of the Myriad Demon Ridge. This Divine Sea Realm cultivator was undoubtedly from a sect within the Myriad Demon Ridge, so Lu Ye couldn't help but be wary of his unprovoked approach.

One couldn't assume that past grievances truly vanished just because the two factions were now allied.

Within his own faction, Yu Huajin had even betrayed his sect just to find a way to kill him. Although Lu Ye was young, his vigilance was strong. However, the other party's cultivation was at the seventh level of the Divine Sea Realm, and even if they did have a genuine feud, Lu Ye wasn't concerned.

The Divine Sea Realm cultivator chuckled. "Young friend, do you have too many enemies?" Lu Ye replied nonchalantly, "No choice. I offended quite a few from Myriad Demon Ridge when I was younger, so I always have to be careful with strangers." The man chuckled, "You're still not old now."

Without further pretense, he said, "Perhaps there is a feud, but in places like the Spirit Stream Battlefield and the Cloud River Battlefield, conflict is unavoidable. Only through conflict can one grow better. Where in cultivation is there no struggle? We all came from such conflicts, caught in the situation, unable to help ourselves. I am Yu Shen from the Myriad Techniques Sect. I have a disciple who once worked alongside you for a period and highly praises your abilities."

"Myriad Techniques Sect?" Lu Ye instantly reacted. "Lu Qing?"

Back then, in the shattered Peerless Continent, one of his team members was indeed from the Myriad Techniques Sect, Lu Qing. He was considered one of the most elite young talents of his generation in the Nine Provinces and had achieved a respectable ranking in the Cloud River Hegemony Battle, holding himself in high regard.

However, after encountering Lu Ye in the Peerless Continent, he realized he was somewhat a frog in a well. Ashamed, he then bravely strived for self-improvement.

"He's good!"

Yu Shen said, "In ordinary times, Lu Qing would indeed be excellent, but in an era with you, young friend, he seems somewhat unremarkable. Comparatively, you have already surpassed all your peers, becoming someone unreachable for others."

Although Lu Qing had diligently cultivated for several years, he was still only in the True Lake Realm. In contrast, Lu Ye was already at the fourth level of the Divine Sea Realm.

When it came to cultivation speed, no young person from the same period could compare to him.

Of course, the Myriad Demon Ridge now had a Li Taibai, who was said to be a peerless genius whose cultivation speed could constantly keep pace with Lu Yiye's.

Yu Shen had no specific purpose in approaching Lu Ye.

Lu Ye's reputation was well-established. Although he was still young and only at the fourth level of the Divine Sea Realm, who could underestimate his future? It was safe to say that in the future, the dual prodigies of Bing Province were destined to shine brighter than anyone else in the Nine Provinces, and the Nine Provinces would ultimately be theirs. Thus, Yu Shen simply came to exchange a few pleasantries.

Regardless of how the two factions would interact in the future, for now, they were allies, not enemies.

Besides Lu Qing, Lu Ye knew one other person from the Myriad Techniques Sect: Tofu Ji, who was far away in the Blood Refinery Realm. Among the dozens of old seniors in the Azure Blood Holy Land, Lu Ye had interacted quite a bit with Yue Ji, mainly because he often dragged her along to sell tofu.

Lu Ye had greatly benefited from Yue Ji in learning how a weapon cultivator should counter spell cultivator attacks and how to effectively and quickly eliminate spell cultivators. For this reason alone, Lu Ye himself harbored no strong ill will towards the Myriad Techniques Sect and was quite willing to chat with Yu Shen.

However, there was ultimately a significant age gap between them, and after a few exchanges, the conversation quickly ran dry, leaving a somewhat awkward silence.

Searching for a topic, Lu Ye said, "I heard that the Myriad Techniques Sect once had an extraordinary figure, and she was a woman?"

Yu Shen smiled slightly. "Young friend, despite your youth, you are quite knowledgeable. Few people nowadays know about that senior from my Myriad Techniques Sect. Indeed, our Myriad Techniques Sect's current first-grade status is largely due to the strong foundation she laid." "Where is that senior now? By her age, she should still be alive, right?"

Yu Shen shook his head. "That, I don't know for certain. However, it is said that she has been in secluded cultivation for many years. Whether she is alive or dead, only the Sect Master and a select few others are privy to that knowledge. In fact, it's not just my Myriad Techniques Sect. Over the years in Bing Province, top sects always have monstrous talents who emerge in a certain era. If you calculate their ages, many of them should still be alive, but what they pursue is different from us. So, they are essentially in life-and-death seclusion, hoping to comprehend that profound layer of mystery."

Lu Ye thought to himself, 'Life-and-death seclusion, my foot. She's already off selling tofu in another realm, and a bunch of her disciples and grand-disciples are none the wiser...' Still, he began to grasp something.

Figures like Yue Ji and Jian Guhong had lived for an immensely long time, hundreds of years at the very least, often over a thousand. It was indeed difficult for their disciples and grand-disciples in the current era to know their recent circumstances.

Those from their own era had likely all perished. In the eyes of their descendants, these seniors were all in life-and-death seclusion, and who would dare to disturb them rashly?

This explained why the ancestors of various sects had been sent to the Blood Refinery Realm, yet their respective sects remained completely in the dark.

There was no need to tell Yu Shen about this; he wouldn't believe it anyway. But then again, could he use the token Yue Ji gave him to bring a batch of reinforcements from the Myriad Techniques Sect to the Blood Refinery Realm?

The only reinforcements he could currently muster were from Mount Tai. Lu Ye wasn't sure how many could go, but it certainly wouldn't be many. After all, the journey was long and teleportation was inconvenient, so they would have to select the best of the best, preferably powerful cultivators.

If he cooperated with the Myriad Techniques Sect, he could surely bring more people over.