Chapter 2026: Tide Song

The drumbeats continued to sound, and once they reached a certain density, the rhythm was maintained.

The shimmering starry sky became increasingly ethereal, as if an invisible ocean had truly descended, enveloping all the cultivators who were fighting.

Lu Ye's eyebrows raised slightly, as he discovered something very interesting: with the sounding of the merfolk's drums, a strange power seemed to settle upon him out of nowhere. It made his spiritual power flow more smoothly, cleared his mind, and even invigorated his vitality.

His overall strength significantly increased out of nowhere. Although the boost was not as great as Amber's personal enhancement, it was still quite considerable, approximately a ten percent improvement.

The Jade Snail Cultivator Allied Army already had their strength greatly augmented by the Soul Race's soul possession ability. Now, the Merfolk also possessed a similar skill. Under this dual enhancement, every cultivator's strength saw a massive increase.

The Demon Lords of the Demon Race were already perplexed as to why they couldn't defeat the Pygmy Race's Sun-Grade cultivators. Now, they were likely to become even more bewildered!

Compared to the Soul Race's soul possession technique, the Merfolk's enhancement effect, though slightly inferior, covered a sufficiently large area.

How could this enhancement differentiate between friend and foe? After all, with such a vast area encompassing both sides, it was impossible for Yan Miao to distinguish them one by one.

Lu Ye suddenly recalled that Yan Miao had previously approached him, requesting a drop of essence blood from every cultivator. At the time, he didn't know what Yan Miao intended, but he readily agreed and ordered the cultivator army to cooperate.

Now, observing the blood-red surface of the great drum before Yan Miao, Lu Ye immediately understood: Yan Miao needed the cultivators' essence blood precisely for this moment. This was the fundamental reason why the Merfolk's secret enhancement technique could distinguish between friend and foe.

The collected essence blood must have been absorbed by this great drum, and only cultivators whose essence blood had been absorbed could receive the Merfolk's secret technique enhancement at this moment.

Was this the surprise Yan Miao spoke of?

This was indeed a pleasant surprise.

No wonder Yan Miao had said she couldn't directly participate in the battle. Leading the Merfolk now, and using their clan artifact to perform such a secret technique, brought far greater benefits than her fighting personally.

The drumbeats continued to resonate. The entire battlefield was enveloped by the invisible ocean, and the Demon Lords of the Demon Race finally realized something was amiss. As the drumbeats sounded, their opponents seemed to suddenly grow stronger!

This was quite incredible.

They were already suppressed, and with their opponents growing stronger, the suppression became even more severe.

But it wasn't over yet!

Suddenly, ethereal singing accompanied the drumbeats, resounding through the starry sky. The song was wondrous, like an obscure chant, yet no one could make out what exactly was being sung.

This strange chant had little effect on the Jade Snail Cultivator Allied Army; they only found the ethereal melody pleasant to the ear.

However, for the Purple Xuan demon cultivators, it was a different story.

As the singing entered their ears, it abruptly transformed into a piercing sound, as if someone were yelling and shrieking right beside them. It disturbed their minds, made them agitated, and even caused their Sea of Consciousness to become turbulent. This effect was more pronounced in cultivators with lower cultivation levels.

Only the powerful Demon Lords remained largely unaffected.

Other demon cultivators, even if they channeled their spiritual power to block their ears, found it useless. The drumbeats, which felt like they were pounding directly on their hearts, effortlessly sent the chant into their minds.

On the deck, five great drums vibrated ceaselessly. Nearly two hundred Merfolk women, with devout expressions, chanted in unison. They seemed less like they were singing and more like they were worshiping.

The cultivator groups from both sides finally made direct contact. After losing their warships, the demon cultivators had hastily organized a defense that should have been somewhat effective. After all, despite many casualties inflicted by Lu Ye, their numbers still matched those of the Jade Snail Allied Army.

Under normal circumstances, the Jade Snail Army could have won, but they would have certainly paid a certain price.

However, with the Merfolk's dazzling appearance, the demon cultivators' organized defense instantly became a joke.

The dual enhancement from the unique secret techniques of both the Soul Race and the Merfolk instantly boosted every Jade Snail cultivator's strength by at least thirty percent. Meanwhile, the demon cultivators, affected by the Merfolk's chants, experienced a decline in their strength. This combination of increase and decrease created a vast disparity.

The moment they engaged, the Jade Snail Allied Army shattered the demon cultivators' defenses with overwhelming force. The entire force of thousands, led by numerous Moon-Grade cultivators, transformed into a sharp blade, plunging fiercely into the enemy ranks.

Amidst the hum of war drums, the slaughter began!

"The Song of Tides! The Merfolk?" A furious roar echoed through the starry sky. It was Bi Chen, the most knowledgeable among them. As he fended off Chen Xuanhai's frantic assault, he stared in disbelief at the location of the Merfolk.

Even after living for tens of thousands of years, he had never imagined he would encounter the legendary, long-extinct Merfolk in his lifetime, let alone personally experience the terrifying profundity of their secret techniques.

He had read some records about the Merfolk in ancient texts. This race's greatest strength was not in direct combat but in their auxiliary role in warfare, just as they were demonstrating now.

Fewer than two hundred Merfolk were able to exert an influence far exceeding their numbers.

Where exactly was this place? First, there were the Blood Race, then the Pygmy Race, and now even the Merfolk had appeared.

They were headed for Jade Snail, yet they had blundered into such a perilous den. Crucially, they didn't even know why the Sun-Grade cultivators of these various races were making trouble for their Purple Xuan.

In his perception, life forces were constantly vanishing. Bi Chen knew these were demon cultivators dying ceaselessly. Of nearly ten thousand demon cultivators, how many would survive this battle?

Moreover, the battlefield of their Demon Lords was at an absolute disadvantage. If the fighting continued like this, not only would those below the Demon Lord rank be unable to escape, but even the Demon Lords themselves might suffer casualties.

"Retreat!" Bi Chen transmitted to all directions, making an instant decision.

This battle today was utterly confusing and could not be prolonged. The immediate priority was naturally to escape, and at the very least, to figure out which star system they were in.

Although he was no match for Chen Xuanhai at present, as a peak Sun-Grade cultivator, he was confident that if he truly wanted to leave, no one on this entire battlefield could stop him; it would merely come at some cost.

Purple Xuan had suffered such a great loss this time mainly because they were unprepared. It wouldn't be too late to seek revenge later, once fully prepared.

As he finished speaking, he immediately activated a secret technique, forcibly countering Chen Xuanhai's attack. His body rolled away, propelled by the recoil, his vitality scattered, and a wound appeared on his body, inflicted by Chen Xuanhai's talisman sword.

The next instant, he enveloped his body in blood energy and moved to flee without stopping.

However, as he looked up, he found that a young man had appeared behind him at some unknown point. The man wore a tight-fitting black and red outfit, dressed as a weapon cultivator, with a long saber at his waist and a gourd in his hand, looking at him expressionlessly.

Upon seeing the young man's face, Bi Chen was startled. "Lu Ye!"

He had never seen Lu Ye before, but he recognized him instantly because Black Cloud had previously shown the Demon Lords an image of Lu Ye.

Black Cloud had long suspected that the Dao Tree inheritance was with Lu Ye, and naturally feared that the Demon Lords of this realm might accidentally kill him. So, he had the Demon Lords view Lu Ye's image in advance, so they could capture him alive if they encountered him.

After recognizing Lu Ye, Bi Chen was bewildered.

If Lu Ye was here, then wasn't this the Jade Snail star system? But this Jade Snail was completely inconsistent with the intelligence provided by Black Cloud.

Without time to think further, Bi Chen reached out and grabbed at Lu Ye. His hand rapidly enlarged, transforming into a furry beast claw that seemed to blot out the sky, clearly intending to capture Lu Ye first.

For Bi Chen, this was an opportunity. He was no match for Chen Xuanhai, but he surely couldn't be inferior to a mere Lu Ye. According to the intelligence he had received, Lu Ye was only a Moon-Grade cultivator.

If he could capture Lu Ye, Chen Xuanhai would undoubtedly be constrained. While he couldn't guarantee much else, he could at least ensure the Demon Lords' complete retreat.

As this claw extended, even Lu Ye, with his greatly increased strength from the dual enhancement, felt an inescapable sensation. And this was merely a casual grab from Bi Chen before his attempt to flee...

A peak Sun-Grade cultivator was indeed extraordinary. He still had a long way to go to reach that level.

But it didn't matter. He dared to stand there and block Bi Chen because he had something to rely on.

If his cultivation was insufficient, magical treasures would compensate.

With a light tap of his sword gourd, a sword light swept forth.

Bi Chen's expression drastically changed. He hastily tried to retract the beast claw he had extended, while furiously channeling his demon energy.

However, it was too late. The sword light pierced his palm, swept rapidly upwards, and penetrated his entire arm. Just as it was about to strike his heart, it was finally blocked by his powerful cultivation.

Bi Chen was decisive. He raised his other hand and fiercely chopped down, severing his damaged arm at the root, which bled profusely.

"An attributed treasure?" Bi Chen's face was pale, filled with horror. He hadn't expected to encounter an attributed treasure in such a place. If he had known, he would have brought one out no matter what. The Purple Xuan Demon Star had vast resources and was not without attributed treasures.

Not far across from him, Lu Ye inwardly sighed with regret.

The sword light nurtured within his sword gourd was indeed powerful, but its consumption was too rapid.

He had tested it before: nurturing a complete sword light to maturity required magical treasures with a total value of approximately five hundred million spirit jades.

Each time it was used, the sword light's power suffered significant depletion. To replenish the depleted power, one hundred million spirit jades were needed.

In other words, the sword light within the sword gourd could be activated at most five times before completely disappearing.

Moreover, its power weakened with each subsequent use.

He had used the sword light once before to deal with Purple Xuan's largest warship. This was the second time, and its power was far less than the first, even catching Bi Chen by surprise.

If he hadn't activated the sword gourd before, this strike could have directly killed Bi Chen.

However... it didn't matter.

Because while Bi Chen was still stunned and distracted, Chen Xuanhai was already standing behind him, his talisman sword thrusting forward.