Chapter 1717: 吂砀

Divine Sea Abyssal Race members emerging from the Abyssal passage were almost instantly annihilated upon their appearance. Conversely, their own forces, attacking from a distance, incurred no losses whatsoever.

Yet, neither Lu Ye nor Jade Spiral’s Moonfall cultivators felt any joy.

Everyone had realized the Abyssal Race’s true intentions.

This situation had actually occurred once before, when the Abyssal passage first formed. At that time, the Abyssal Race also sent numerous Divine Sea members through the passage, and the Jade Spiral cultivators defending the area were exhausted from the continuous slaughter.

Initially, Jade Spiral held a complete geographical advantage, and Abyssal creatures emerging from the other side of the passage couldn't gain a foothold. However, as more and more Abyssal creatures died, their corrupting energy diffused, slowly transforming the area around the passage into a corrupted zone.

The Jade Spiral cultivators were forced to retreat outwards.

As the corrupted zone expanded, the Jade Spiral cultivators retreated further and further, their geographical advantage gradually negated. The Abyssal Race then deployed their Constellation and Moonfall experts, steadily reclaiming the strategic positions that originally belonged to Jade Spiral.

That was why, when Lu Ye arrived earlier with Qiu Wu and others, the Moonfall cultivators stationed there appeared somewhat dejected. It wasn't that they weren't strong enough, but rather that the Abyssal Race's invasion method was simply too difficult to resist.

This corrupted domain was the bridgehead established by the Abyssal Race.

Now, the Abyssal Race's plan was very clear: to expand the corrupted domain's range by sacrificing more lower-tier Abyssal creatures.

Theoretically, if enough Abyssal creatures died, this domain could potentially engulf the entire Jade Spiral star system, making it difficult for even strong cultivators like Lu Ye to fully utilize their powers.

Of course, this was only theoretical; achieving it in reality was almost impossible, as it would require the deaths of an exorbitant number of Abyssal creatures.

However, merely expanding the corrupted domain's range to a degree that would leave Jade Spiral cultivators helpless was still a feasible goal.

For instance, if the current domain were to expand by merely three to five times its current size, it would pose an extreme danger to Jade Spiral.

The Abyssal Race had invaded and conquered countless realms, enslaving living beings from innumerable races. Given their disregard for casualties, they were certainly capable of achieving this.

Yet, Jade Spiral could not afford to hold back or stop killing them.

This was the most disgusting aspect of the Abyssal Race's tactics: killing them was bad, but not killing them was even worse. Throughout history, there had been star systems that managed to withstand the Abyssal Race's initial assault, but they often fell victim to such rogue tactics.

The assault continued relentlessly, and Abyssal creatures kept dying.

At one point, a bizarre, pitch-black, rotund creature emerged from the Abyssal passage and was immediately shattered by a warship upon its appearance.

The moment this strange creature died, an incredibly dense wave of corruption erupted from its body, spreading in all directions.

Visibly, the already substantial corrupted domain suddenly expanded outwards in a powerful surge!

The expressions of the Moonfall cultivators all changed.

The deaths of mere Divine Sea Abyssal creatures brought only a small increase to the corrupted domain. However, because so many had died, the domain had been slowly expanding outwards since the Abyssal Race's initial movements, albeit at a slow pace.

But the corrupting energy contained within that strange creature was clearly extremely potent, and its death had brought a noticeable expansion to the corrupted domain.

Now, the situation was looking grim.

Jade Spiral's Moonfall cultivators could certainly charge in and guard the Abyssal passage, and if the enemy dared to send their own Moonfall experts, they could be surrounded. However, fighting deep within the corrupted domain required constant maintenance of protective spiritual power; how long could Jade Spiral's Moonfall cultivators endure such conditions?

Even a slight lapse could allow an Abyssal Moonfall expert to successfully descend. Once the first one arrived, a second, then a third would follow...

“I’ll go take a look,” Lu Ye said, and stepped towards the corrupted domain.

“Be careful!” Qiu Wu said, unsure of Lu Ye's intentions, but since there were only Divine Sea Abyssal creatures there at the moment, Lu Ye would be in little danger, so he didn't stop him.

Lu Ye nodded and swept into the corrupted domain.

The corrupting energy was noticeably denser than before, a consequence of the deaths of countless Divine Sea Abyssal creatures. In such an environment, if Jade Spiral's Moonfall cultivators were to venture deep, they would certainly face greater pressure than before.

Halting his steps, Lu Ye silently activated his spiritual power.

The next moment, his spiritual power burst outwards, and he himself seemed to ignite, as a massive circular fiery aura spread out with Lu Ye at its center.

This was an explosive release of his spiritual power, a state that even with Lu Ye's profound reserves, could not be sustained for long. Therefore, as he activated his power, he simultaneously grasped two spirit crystals to replenish his consumption.

Immediately after, he activated the power of the Talent Tree, and its invisible roots spread out, their tendrils reaching every corner where his spiritual power expanded.

“Ah?” Han Tong, watching Lu Ye from outside the corrupted domain, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

The others also looked surprised, then overjoyed.

Because as they looked, where Lu Ye was, within the fiery red aura, the grey, mist-like corrupting energy was rapidly dissipating, vanishing completely in the blink of an eye and creating a vacuum zone within the corrupted domain.

The scene was as if Lu Ye was using his spiritual power to incinerate the corrupting energy.

The Jade Spiral Moonfall cultivators watched, filled with continuous delight and surprise.

Lu Ye had previously demonstrated his ability to incinerate the corrupting energy that had invaded their bodies. So, upon witnessing this extraordinary scene now, while surprised, they also felt it was only natural.

If even the corruption within their bodies could be incinerated, then incinerating the external corruption was naturally not an issue.

Only Qiu Wu, after his initial surprise, showed a worried expression.

Because if Lu Ye possessed this ability, why hadn't he used it from the beginning? It wasn't that he was holding back a valuable secret; it must be that the consumption was immense, which was why Lu Ye hadn't used it at first. But now he had no choice, as the corrupted domain was expanding, and if left unchecked, Jade Spiral's situation would become dire.

Qiu Wu's guess was correct, but not entirely so.

Lu Ye's action indeed incurred massive consumption, but it wasn't the spiritual power consumption that Qiu Wu imagined. If it were merely spiritual power, Lu Ye would have no concerns, as it could be replenished by refining spirit jade.

However, incinerating the corrupting energy consumed the Talent Tree's fuel reserves!

Moreover, the consumption rate was terrifying; Lu Ye could feel the Talent Tree's fuel rapidly diminishing.

Fortunately, he had replenished the Talent Tree's fuel before leaving the Myriad Elephant Sea; otherwise, Lu Ye truly wouldn't have dared to do this.

Lu Ye moved without pause, constantly moving through the corrupted domain, and everywhere he went, the corrupting energy was completely incinerated.

The efficiency of fuel consumption was terrifyingly high.

It was dozens of times faster than when he cultivated beneath the Myriad Elephant Sea!

This wasn't because the corrupting energy was stronger than the water in the Myriad Elephant Sea, but because the area he was covering was too vast. The situation when cultivating beneath the Myriad Elephant Sea was different from now: during cultivation, he only needed to incinerate the impurities that entered his body, but now he was incinerating the corruption within a large area around him.

He wasn't burning spiritual power; he was quite literally burning money! Lu Ye felt an unbearable heartache.

Soon, Lu Ye passed through the corrupted domain, and everywhere he went, a massive hole appeared directly within the once-seamless corrupted domain.

Turning around, Lu Ye charged back into the corruption.

At the Abyssal passage, Divine Sea Abyssal creatures continued to pour out ceaselessly, but the corrupted domain could no longer expand. Instead, as Lu Ye moved back and forth, strip after strip of purified land appeared.

After working for almost half a day, Lu Ye finally reached the Abyssal passage. By this time, a vast expanse of the corrupted domain had been thoroughly incinerated by him. However, as long as Abyssal creatures continued to descend from the passage, the corruption could never be fully purified.

The Abyssal Race, perhaps unaware of the situation on this side, continued to send Divine Sea Abyssal creatures without any intention of stopping.

Lu Ye knew that the matter was not yet resolved, so he only paused briefly at the Abyssal passage before turning and sweeping back.

A group of Jade Spiral cultivators watched him as if he were their savior.

Lu Ye, however, felt little joy, and simply looked at Qiu Wu, saying, “Sector Lord Qiu, I need to leave for a while.”

Qiu Wu was startled. “Where to?”

“To get reinforcements!”

Jade Spiral's own strength alone would not be enough to solve the Abyssal Race problem. Currently, the Abyssal Race showed no intention of closing the passage, clearly still harboring malicious intentions towards Jade Spiral.

The previous battle hadn't truly hurt them!

Since that was the case, they had to gather more and stronger forces to make the Abyssal Race understand that Jade Spiral was not a weak persimmon to be casually squeezed.

Furthermore, his Talent Tree's fuel needed replenishment.

He could purify the corrupted domain once, or even a second time, but as long as the Abyssal Race's invasion continued, he would have to keep purifying, so the Talent Tree's fuel needed to remain abundant.

They could ask the Jade Spiral realm to help gather fire-element treasures; they should have quite a few here.

The Talent Tree's fuel issue was easily solvable, but their current strength alone was not enough to deter the Abyssal Race or truly inflict damage upon them. Lu Ye pondered deeply and concluded that to solve this problem, they would need to borrow the power of the Soul Clan.

If they could invite a Sunlit Realm expert from the Soul Clan, the Abyssal Race should then recognize the difficulty and retreat.

The only concern was whether the Abyssal Race would make any major moves during his absence. However, to thoroughly solve the Abyssal Race problem, this risk had to be taken.

“Reinforcements...” Qiu Wu was perplexed. “Where would you get reinforcements from?”

In this star system, Jade Spiral was the strongest. He had heard of the Chaotic Blast Zone and the Thousand Hills Graveyard, and a boundless star system beyond them that possessed Sunlit Realm experts, but the journey there would be too far.

“I have my plans!” Lu Ye said, offering no further explanation. “I'll need to take Ma Shangsi with me for this trip, so I'll have to rely on you all here. No matter what, do not allow the Abyssal Race to stabilize the Abyssal passage!”

The reason he wanted to take Ma Shangsi was because his speed was greater, which would save time.

Qiu Wu looked worried. “How long will you be gone?”

Lu Ye silently calculated. “About a month should be enough!”

“A month…” Qiu Wu was stunned for a moment. Where could Lu Ye possibly get reinforcements in just one month?

However, since Lu Ye didn't elaborate, he found it awkward to press for details. His expression turned serious: “This concerns the very survival of Jade Spiral, so rest assured, Junior Brother, Jade Spiral will not allow the Abyssal Race to stabilize the Abyssal passage, even if we must fight to the last person!”