Chapter 1158: Hibernation

The Wind Rises in the Nine Provinces

The Nine Provinces cultivation world is currently experiencing a period of unprecedented calm. Four months have passed since the insect plague, making this arguably the most peaceful era in the history of the Nine Provinces’ cultivation world.

Extensive information about the Blood Refining Realm has spread throughout the Nine Provinces, reaching practitioners from the Divine Sea to the Spirit Creek stages, and even some well-informed mortals.

This realm, dominated by the Blood Race, is rapidly approaching the Nine Provinces. Soon, a monumental clash between the two realms is inevitable, posing an immense crisis.

To overcome this crisis, the only path forward is to unite the entire realm's strength for a racial struggle against the Blood Race.

In the face of such an external threat, the conflicts between the Haotian Alliance and the Myriad Devil Ridge now seem insignificant. Given their prior experience of full cooperation during the insect plague, uniting once more against a common enemy has become everyone's consensus.

On the home continent of the Nine Provinces, military hostilities have ceased. All cultivators are preparing for battle, sharpening their skills and making various arrangements for the impending war.

In contrast, the Spirit Creek Battlefield and the Cloud River Battlefield have become increasingly lively.

This is because news has spread that only Cloud River Realm cultivators are eligible to participate in the upcoming expedition to the Blood Refining Realm. This is understandable, as Spirit Creek Realm cultivation is ultimately too low. While suitable for minor skirmishes, it's insufficient for a realm-wide and racial war of this magnitude.

However, Spirit Creek Realm cultivators also harbor aspirations and desires. They hope to advance to the Cloud River Realm as quickly as possible before the great war, thereby qualifying to participate in a conflict that will determine the future of the Nine Provinces. Consequently, they have an intense craving for merit points. To earn merit, they invariably stir up various troubles, which naturally makes the Spirit Creek Battlefield more bustling.

As for Cloud River Realm cultivators, while they are already eligible to participate, who wouldn't want to further enhance their cultivation? Only with higher cultivation can they more effectively slay enemies and gain greater benefits in the future war.

Thus, cultivators in the Cloud River Battlefield are also engaged in various activities, making waves. They missed the counterattack against the Insect Race's Great Secret Realm and do not wish to have any further regrets.

High-ranking cultivators from both factions are well aware of this situation but have no intention of stopping it. They understand that hothouse flowers cannot withstand the ravages of wind and rain; growth comes through struggle. The temporary alliance between the two factions does not mean that cultivators at lower levels must maintain complete peace.

Their ability to contend and strive allows them to grow stronger; otherwise, mere cultivation without practical experience is insufficient for grand endeavors.

This is how generations of Nine Provinces cultivators have grown.

True Lake and Divine Sea cultivators, however, are remarkably stable. They are all secluded within their respective sects, engaged in closed-door cultivation. Thanks to the battle of the counterattack against the Insect Race's Great Secret Realm, the cultivators who participated gained immense rewards, which they have now transformed into their own strength.

The peaceful home continent of the Nine Provinces, however, harbors a hidden ferocity, like a fierce dog quietly sharpening its fangs, waiting for the opportune moment to strike savagely at its enemies.

When that moment will arrive, no one knows, but it shouldn't be too long.

Because the star representing the Blood Refining Realm is gradually growing brighter and larger in the night sky.

Lu Ye of the Blood-soaked Sect has already set off for the Blood Refining Realm. Unfortunately, no news has returned from there, so the Nine Provinces are currently unaware of the situation in the Blood Refining Realm.

However, the Nine Provinces ultimately possess an advantage. According to Lu Ye, there are dozens of senior cultivators of profound skill in the Blood Refining Realm who collectively established a Human Race Holy Land. These dozens of seniors alone represent an incredibly powerful and promising force.

To prepare for this war, the Nine Provinces cultivation world has undertaken extensive preparatory work. For instance, the power of the cultivation world has been organized into nine legions, each corresponding to a major continent, led by the top cultivators of their respective continents as legion commanders. Beneath each legion are further detailed divisions. When the war begins, cultivators can quickly assemble and act in groups.

Ultimately, war is a collective effort, and individual strength appears somewhat insignificant in conflicts of this scale.

Furthermore, alchemists from various major sects are urgently refining various spirit pills, replenishing their sect's inventory for unforeseen needs.

Moreover, the Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance is offering an 80% discount on all outward-bound goods, which has led to a rush among many cultivators.

Such preparations are numerous and varied. Since no news has returned from the Blood Refining Realm, the Nine Provinces are unsure of the exact situation once the war truly begins and can only strive to be as prepared as possible.

It is in this atmosphere that the Nine Provinces cultivation world lies dormant, waiting.

Blood Refining Realm, tens of thousands of miles from the Divine Palace Sea, vast numbers of Blood Race members are gathering from the four directions: southeast, northwest.

Based on previous timelines, it is not yet time for the Blood Race to besiege the Blood-soaked Holy Land.

Each time the Blood Race army comes to besiege, they suffer heavy casualties, especially among low- and mid-level Blood Race members, which are almost incalculable. Although the Blood Race matures much faster than the Human Race, it still requires some time.

Therefore, in the past, the Blood Race's encirclement of the Blood-soaked Holy Land generally occurred once every five years. Five years of recuperation were sufficient for the nearby Blood Race to gather into a large army again.

However, this time the operation has clearly been moved up. Firstly, in the last major battle, the Blood-soaked Holy Land's final line of defense was breached, and the Human Race lost the integrity of its last barrier. The Blood Race was unwilling to wait any longer, so they have been actively preparing for this encirclement since the end of the last war, naturally advancing the timeline.

Secondly, the participating Blood Race members this time originate from a wider area than before, almost spanning half of the Blood Refining Realm's southern territory.

There are over thirty Blood Race Holy Seeds participating alone.

This is an unprecedented number; the number of Holy Seeds in previous campaigns was less than half of this. The Blood Race's encirclement of the Blood-soaked Holy Land primarily relies on numerical superiority, not the power of the Holy Seeds, who are mainly responsible for containing the Human Race's top combatants.

With stronger forces than before and more Holy Seeds, the Blood Race is confident of victory in this encirclement of the Blood-soaked Holy Land.

From their perspective, in such a war, the Blood Race has no possibility of failure.

Their only concern is how to prevent the Human Race's top combatants from escaping while destroying the Blood-soaked Holy Land and eradicating this Human Race cancer.

Each of these individuals possesses strength comparable to a Holy Seed, with the strongest among them even surpassing some Holy Seeds, especially Feng Wujiang, who has a prior record of slaying a Holy Seed.

If they cannot be completely eradicated and scatter across the Blood Refining Realm, even the Holy Seeds would have a headache.

After all, it's easy to be a thief for a thousand days, but impossible to guard against one for a thousand days. When individual strength reaches such a level, if they are determined to hunt and destroy, there's generally no effective way to deal with them.

The Holy Seeds have recently gathered to discuss this issue, but they haven't found a solution.

The summons has been issued, and the armies from the four directions are basically assembled. It will only be a few more days until the appointed time, when the four armies will, as before, march from their respective directions towards the Divine Palace Sea to surround the Blood-soaked Holy Land.

The Blood Race is concentrating its forces mainly in the east, as that is where the breach in the Blood-soaked Holy Land's defenses is located.

All Blood Race members are highly confident in this battle, with no one believing failure is possible. Thus, they are sharpening their blades, and their morale roars.

In the stone chamber, Lu Ye slowly regained consciousness, feeling lightheaded and aching all over.

This reminded him of some experiences on the Spirit Creek Battlefield, specifically when he was relentlessly hunted by a man named Dong Shuye, suffering injuries so severe he nearly died. He was eventually found by Ruan Lingyu and taken back to the Wanderer's Society, where he met Hua Ci and slowly recovered under her care.

It seemed that since then, he had not suffered such severe injuries, especially as his cultivation grew higher; ordinary injuries would not cause him to fall into a coma.

The battle with Holy Venerable Mohai was incredibly intense. Lu Ye had no choice but to fight. Even with the bloodline suppression, which weakened Holy Venerable Mohai's strength, the opponent still held a clear advantage in overt power.

For Lu Ye to win, he had to pay a price.

Facing such an enemy, exchanging his injuries for the opponent's life was already a good outcome. All credit goes to the Soul-Slaying Blade. Without the Soul-Slaying Blade repeatedly damaging the opponent's soul, ultimately shattering Holy Venerable Mohai's soul, Lu Ye could not have won this battle.

In the previous fight, his entire body was practically shattered. Had his physique not been strong enough, he would have been beaten to death by Holy Venerable Mohai.

He could feel that he had been unconscious for several days, but it was difficult to determine the exact duration, as his consciousness had been dormant.

With his current physical strength, combined with his foundation in blood arts, ordinary injuries would heal quickly.

Yet, he still felt his injuries were severe at this moment, indicating how miserable he had been previously.

But his mood was joyful.

To date, among the Human Race, only the Senior Brother had achieved the feat of single-handedly slaying a Holy Seed. None of the esteemed seniors, without exception, had ever accomplished such a glorious feat.

Previously, Jian Guhong, Wuchang, Wei Fufeng, and others did manage to kill one, but it required the combined efforts of three of them, plus her assistance.

But now, Lu Ye could accomplish this himself, achieving the same feat as the Senior Brother, and at the fifth stage of the Divine Sea Realm no less.

If this news were to spread, it’s likely no one would believe it.

However, he knew this did not mean his strength truly rivaled that of the Senior Brother.

His greatest reliance in slaying Holy Venerable Mohai was bloodline suppression, followed by the Soul-Slaying Blade, and then the Blood River. Especially after the Blood River merged, Holy Venerable Mohai simply couldn't easily escape.

The Senior Brother, however, did not have so many convenient advantages. The Senior Brother's success was entirely due to his terrifying innate power, a point Lu Ye could not compare to.