Chapter 1171: Defeat

This was an opportune moment to swiftly eliminate the Saint race, and the trio wasn't willing to waste time here. Rather than contending with a Saint race member whose sacred power was so strong that even Lu Ye couldn't suppress it, it would be better to find easier targets.

The elderly human expert, confused, called out from within the Blood River, "What are you doing?" He simply couldn't understand why Jian Guhong and Wu Dezhao, those two old rascals, had entered to observe and then immediately run out again.

This wasn't some common marketplace.

Receiving no response whatsoever, the trio had already rushed to the next sub-battlefield.

Inside the Blood River, the Saint race member's expression turned to one of surprise, suspicion, and gravity. Lu Ye's sacred power, revealed the moment he activated the Blood River, was too significant for him to ignore.

A human cultivator possessing such immense sacred power was truly unheard of.

Among the Saint race members participating in this campaign, aside from himself who could suppress it, only two others could somewhat compare. All other Saint race members were inferior.

A sudden sense of dread washed over him.

His divine sense quickly spread out, monitoring the surroundings. The situation he detected shocked him greatly.

On the main battlefield, the human side had clearly gained the upper hand and was launching a fierce counterattack!

His worst fears had come true.

The moment he perceived Lu Ye's sacred power, he realized the human side was using this to hunt down the Saint race members. He had initially thought that given the short time, any losses among the Saint race wouldn't be significant.

However, the actual situation was far worse than he had imagined.

The trio had already rushed towards nearby Saint race members. Those Saint race members would be utterly unable to resist the powerful sacred power of that human, and with assistance from top human experts, their lives would undoubtedly be short-lived.

He figured the trio was using this method to defeat the Saint race members one by one, causing immense losses to their side.

His eyes almost burst with rage. He had reacted too slowly; otherwise, he would have activated the Blood River to trap the trio just now. That human with sacred power was only at the fifth layer of the Divine Sea Realm; if he had fully focused his power, he might have been able to kill him.

But at that moment, he was truly shocked and hadn't considered this angle at all. By the time he reacted, they had already escaped the Blood River's range.

This battle... couldn't continue!

The human race had unexpectedly concealed a trump card against the Saint race, which had already inflicted immeasurable losses on their side. If the fight continued, few of the Saint race members participating in this campaign would survive.

Once losses at the Saint race level became a collapse, any advantage gained on the main battlefield would be futile.

In fact, current losses were already near collapse: the main battlefield held no advantage, and nearly half of the Saint race members on the sub-battlefields were dead or wounded. This encirclement and suppression operation against the Blood Jade Holy Land had already failed.

They needed to preserve their strength as much as possible. He could disregard the casualties among ordinary Blood race members, but the losses among the Saint race members couldn't be replenished quickly. Even Divine Sea Realm Blood race members weren't easy to nurture.

With that thought, the Blood race Saint had made his decision. A continuous long howl echoed, its sound radiating across the entire battlefield.

All Blood race members who heard the howl paused, stunned, because it was clearly a signal for retreat.

To suddenly retreat during such a fierce battle was not a wise decision. When two armies faced each other, casualties were inevitable on both sides; even the side with an advantage wouldn't find it easy to completely rout the other, and it would come at a huge cost.

But if one side suddenly retreated, the other side would likely be overjoyed, because pursuit battles were when results could be most magnified.

The Saint race had fought against the Blood Jade Holy Land for decades. Even if they had no prior war experience, they should at least know the disadvantages of ordering a retreat now.

Unless there was some irresistible factor...

All surviving Saint race members hurriedly spread their divine sense to scan their surroundings. The next moment, their expressions all drastically changed.

Previously, they had been entangled in combat with their opponents, with no time to be distracted. Moreover, they thought the battle had only just begun, so the situation shouldn't have undergone any decisive changes.

But the reality made them feel a chill to their bones. No one knew exactly what had happened, but it was a fact that the auras of the Saint race members had suddenly decreased significantly. Thus, the surviving Saint race members realized that a force they had overlooked was rapidly eliminating Saint-level experts.

The Saint race members had always been high and mighty; both their bloodline and strength were top-tier in this realm. Even against the elderly human experts, they wouldn't be at a disadvantage, and with the Blood River, they could even briefly contend against multiple opponents.

But if there truly was such a force capable of swiftly eliminating them, then all their advantages would become meaningless.

Without such reliance, they naturally became terrified.

So, after perceiving the situation on the battlefield, almost all Blood race Saints unanimously made a decision: to retract their Blood Rivers and flee outwards.

The top human experts who had been fighting them naturally pursued them relentlessly! With the Saint race members fleeing, how could ordinary Blood race members continue to hold on? After a moment of panic, the vast army formations scattered in all directions.

On the main battlefield, the human army watched in stunned disbelief.

Everyone knew that the human side could not possibly lose this war; with the addition of the Bingzhou Legion, the Holy Land's defenses were not easily breached, and victory was only a matter of time. However, the Blood race army's immense size meant they wouldn't be easily wiped out.

But no one had expected the Blood race to make such a decision at this particular moment.

How long had the battle even been going on?

Barely more than an hour had passed since the Blood race launched its general offensive and the Saint race members and top human experts entered the fray, and the Blood race army was already retreating!

In previous wars, an hour or so was merely enough time for both sides to exchange initial probes; it wasn't even time to reveal their true strength.

It could be said that this was an unimaginably short war. After a brief moment of astonishment, roars of fury erupted from various parts of the Holy Island's outer defense line. In summary, there was only one command: "Kill!"

The soldiers and body cultivators, who had been idle for a long time, were the first to charge out. During the previous clashes between the two armies, they truly couldn't intervene much; at most, they could activate spiritual power to replenish energy for the defensive formations. For soldiers and body cultivators accustomed to close-quarters combat, this was simply torture.

They had originally thought that once the enemy army approached to a certain extent, they would have room to exert themselves. But who would have thought that after Lu Ye had taken action to eliminate many Saint race members, and the freed-up elderly experts joined the battle formations, the Blood race army actually showed signs of being suppressed? They had even fewer opportunities to strike.

Having traveled millions of miles from Kyushu to the Blood煉 Realm to participate in such a massive war, surely, they couldn't just remain spectators, could they?

Every soldier, body cultivator, and even ghost cultivator had long been itching for action. So, when the order to pursue was given, they charged the fastest and most fiercely. To them, the fleeing Blood race figures before them were not just enemies from another realm, but a source of battle achievements to be claimed!

Who wouldn't want a piece of that?

Fortunately, despite the pursuit, their formations did not fall into disarray. The cultivators were all in groups of three to five, forming battle formations using Cohesive Array Discs. In an instant, what charged out from the small islands of the Holy Island's outer defense line were not individual figures, but phantoms of ferocious beasts formed by linked battle formations.

It was as if invisible ancient gates had opened, and ancient ferocious beasts had burst forth. The phantoms of these beasts were diverse and varied.

Some were not phantoms of ferocious beasts, but condensed into shapes like sabers, swords, or hammers, appearing strange and radiating a fierce, aggressive aura.

In terms of escape speed, the Blood race had an advantage, because almost every Blood race member who reached a certain level of cultivation could use Blood Escape Arts. The speed of Blood Escape Arts ranked among the fastest of all escape techniques, and at critical moments, they could even be used to save lives.

Therefore, under the premise of being at the same cultivation realm, if the Blood race members were determined to flee, human cultivators might not have many good options.

It was at this moment that the human cultivators, forming various formations, cut into the Blood race ranks like surging waves, unleashing boundless slaughter.

In an instant of collision, a large section of the Blood race formation's edge dissolved, and an unknown number of Blood race members perished.

After a long, arduous wait, the soldiers, body cultivators, and ghost cultivators could finally fight without restraint. Each of them was like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, unstoppable.

Flashing blades and sword light intertwined, mixed with various magical attacks, ruthlessly harvesting enemies from all directions.

On the small islands of the Holy Island's outer defense line, Feng Wujiang stood suspended in the air, watching this dramatic scene with a wry smile.

He had not participated in the battle because he needed to remain here to oversee the entire situation.

The remaining Holy Land cultivators all looked eagerly at Feng Wujiang, their eyes filled with anticipation, just waiting for the Holy Master's command.

Feng Wujiang sensed their feelings and said, "Then go and kill to your heart's content!"

In any case, judging by the current situation, no forces were needed to remain on guard anymore.

As his words fell, cheers erupted, and the remaining Holy Land cultivators all charged out.

Only some medical cultivators and wounded cultivators remained on the small islands. The medical cultivators were fulfilling their duty, needing to stay there to receive and treat wounded cultivators at any time to preserve the strength of the human side as much as possible. The wounded, however, were forced to stay back, as having been injured in the previous battle, it was naturally not advisable for them to rashly charge out again.

Yet there were also those who disregarded caution; after all, if they missed such a grand event, they might never get another chance to make up for it in their lifetime.

A cultivator, almost entirely wrapped in bandages like a rice dumpling, struggled to get up. Hua Ci, who was treating other cultivators nearby, turned her head to look at him, smiling sweetly, "Friend, where are you going?"

The cultivator raised his arm and declared, "I can still fight!"

Hua Ci decisively raised her hand and pointed a finger at him, "No, you cannot!"

The cultivator, who had just managed to get up, immediately collapsed limply. For a moment, his eyes were askew, his mouth was crooked, and his face was covered with a layer of green...

Hua Ci then turned again, smiling, to look at the person currently receiving treatment, "Friend, you seemed to have something to say just now?"

The cultivator immediately shook his head like a rattle-drum, "No, I have nothing to say."