Chapter 2029: Great Victory

Two great Demon Sovereigns of the demon race had fallen in battle, one after another! Both had met incredibly ignominious ends.

Lu Ye quietly watched the rapidly receding firelight. Compared to the bloody fireworks he had unleashed earlier with his nine Bloodline Avatars, Mo Xuan's end was no less spectacular.

"Are you alright?" Su Yuqing asked, looking at Lu Ye with concern. His aura was somewhat weak, clearly due to excessive exertion.

"I'm fine, go assist them!" Lu Ye patted the back of her hand.

Su Yuqing nodded and immediately turned to rush towards the nearest battle group.

Lu Ye, meanwhile, sat down directly, took out a large amount of spirit jade from his storage ring, and activated the power of his Talent Tree to absorb it, recovering himself.

In this battle, he had first spearheaded the attack by detonating his nine Bloodline Avatars, then destroyed Purple Jade's remaining four warships, assisted Chen Xuanhai in killing Bi Chen, and helped Su Yuqing eliminate Mo Xuan. He had undoubtedly made enormous contributions and endured great hardship.

He should not need to do anything further now; he could simply rest and recover.

In terms of overt power, Purple Jade was now at an absolute disadvantage. With two Great Demon Sovereigns having fallen one after another, there was no longer any chance of turning the tide.

While recovering, he finally had time to survey the battlefield where the Jade Snail Allied Forces were fighting.

Upon observation, this part of the battlefield was a complete one-sided slaughter. If the Purple Jade army had still been supported by their warships, the Jade Snail Allied Forces might have struggled to overcome them, especially the Sun-Illumination-level warship, which was beyond the current combat capability of Jade Snail's cultivators.

However, after their warships were destroyed, the Purple Jade demon cultivators had no choice but to abandon their ships and engage in direct combat.

The numbers on both sides were not vastly different; the Purple Jade demon cultivators were slightly more numerous, but not significantly so. Even at the Moon-Reflector level, their numbers were roughly equal.

Without any external interference, such a confrontation would most likely have been an evenly matched situation.

However, the Jade Snail Allied Forces had the Soul Clan's possession abilities and the Mermaid Clan's secret arts boosting them, allowing each individual to unleash power far beyond their normal level.

In contrast, the Purple Jade demon cultivators were constantly being disturbed by the Song of Tides, causing them to become agitated and disorganized. With these opposing forces, the gap between the two sides quickly widened.

As the two armies clashed, the Jade Snail side maintained strict formations, advancing and retreating in an orderly manner. The Purple Jade demon cultivators, however, were in chaos; once their initial defensive lines were breached, they were no longer able to resist.

The great battle had not been going on for long, yet when Lu Ye observed it, the Purple Jade demon cultivators had already suffered 30% casualties. The Jade Snail Allied Forces had split into several groups, moving like great dragons across the vast battlefield, continuously eroding Purple Jade's combat strength.

Some Purple Jade demon cultivators, seeing the unfavorable situation, had already begun to flee, and this phenomenon intensified as time passed. However, in such circumstances, even if they wanted to escape, it depended on whether the Jade Snail Allied Forces would allow it.

The overall situation was settled!

Lu Ye withdrew his gaze, no longer focusing on it.

Below the Sun-Illumination level battlefield, Purple Jade's forces were collapsing like a landslide. At the Sun-Illumination level, things were no better.

The successive deaths of Bi Chen and Mo Xuan had already shocked and terrified the numerous Demon Sovereigns. And as Chen Xuanhai and Su Yuqing freed themselves to provide assistance, the precarious situation that the Demon Sovereigns had struggled to maintain instantly crumbled.

One after another, the auras of Sun-Illumination cultivators vanished. Six of the eight Lesser Demon Sovereigns had fallen in less than half an hour.

Only two remained, fighting like cornered beasts. In this situation, even if they wished to flee, they no longer had the opportunity.

They clearly knew this, and thus their faces were ashen, their eyes filled with despair.

They had initially believed that this expedition would be without incident, as Purple Jade had undertaken many such campaigns, never before experiencing failure. Repeated victories had forged Purple Jade's peerless reputation.

No one had expected that in this remote corner of the starry sky, Purple Jade would suffer such a massive loss and such extensive casualties!

This was something that had not occurred in tens of thousands of years.

A few breaths later, accompanied by a tragic scream, one of the two remaining Lesser Demon Sovereigns also fell. The last remaining one, seeing no hope of escape, directly detonated his demonic core, his expression resolute.

He undoubtedly intended to take an enemy with him, but unfortunately, his power was ultimately limited, and even detonating his demonic core did not achieve his goal.

It was unclear if it was a coincidence, but the one still alive was the Deer Demon Sovereign, who had been the first to appear and had clashed with Lu Ye's Bloodline Avatar.

His power was among the weakest of all the invading Demon Sovereigns, roughly at the mid-Sun-Illumination stage. Yet, ironically, he had the best luck, surviving until the very end.

With his demonic core detonated, the Deer Demon Sovereign's aura plummeted to the point of near extinction. After all, the demonic core was the essence of his lifelong cultivation; its detonation was equivalent to him crippling his own cultivation. Although his mid-Sun-Illumination physical strength remained, he could no longer be considered a Sun-Illumination cultivator.

Furthermore, with such extensive damage, he would not live much longer, unless he received immediate treatment.

Looking at the Deer Demon Sovereign, Wu Qimo sighed, "Why bother? We had originally planned to spare one Demon Sovereign's life to send a message back to Purple Jade. You've... you've been too resolute!"

The Deer Demon Sovereign's already deathly pale face, from detonating his demonic core, suddenly contorted in extreme astonishment. He stared wide-eyed at Wu Qimo, his eyes brimming with vexation, fury, and regret.

If he had known earlier that the Sun-Illumination cultivators of the Small Human Race had such intentions, how could he have detonated his demonic core? A miserable life is better than a good death; it was precisely because he perceived no hope of escape that he had staked everything on that desperate act.

His mouth twitched, as if he wanted to ask something, but he couldn't open it.

Wu Qimo understood his meaning, nodding with a sigh. "I wasn't lying to you. That was indeed our plan. After all, the outcome of this battle needs to be proclaimed by someone, otherwise, this fight would lose much of its significance."

Lu Ye's original plan was to severely cripple Purple Jade and establish Jade Snail's reputation. This wasn't the Myriad Forms Sea, where there were bystanders or anyone who would proactively publicize the battle's outcome. Therefore, their side had indeed intended to spare a Sun-Illumination cultivator's life, allowing them to escape back to Purple Jade, to achieve the goal of publicizing the battle. At the very least, Purple Jade needed to know that Jade Snail was not a place they could simply come and go as they pleased.

Who would have thought that this Deer Demon Sovereign would be so resolute?

After hearing Wu Qimo's words, the Deer Demon Sovereign's face suddenly went from pale to ashen, and he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. His entire appearance rapidly became corpselike, and his aura, like a deflating balloon, plummeted at an astonishing speed.

He clearly couldn't withstand this truth. He had already lost much of his foundation by detonating his demonic core, and this sudden mental shock meant he had no chance of survival, even if he didn't want to die.

"Pathetic..." Wu Qimo watched him quietly, then suddenly smiled at him. "I was just messing with you. Did you really think you had a chance to live?"

The Deer Demon Sovereign was completely disoriented by him, no longer knowing which of his words to believe.

However, there was no need to ponder further; his aura rapidly weakened to its extreme, and his life force dissipated.

While Wu Qimo was speaking with the Deer Demon Sovereign, the other Sun-Illumination cultivators of the Small Human Race had already fanned out, quickly entering the final battlefield.

Purple Jade's demon cultivator army had suffered immense losses. As the Demon Sovereigns fell one by one, they lost all will to fight and scattered in all directions, fleeing. The Jade Snail Allied Forces divided their troops to pursue and kill, and even Lu Ye joined the chase.

However, such a pursuit alone would ultimately make it difficult to annihilate them all. But with the addition of the Small Human Race's Sun-Illumination cultivators, the situation changed.

In terms of speed, Sun-Illumination cultivators were simply beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators. Anyone caught by them faced certain death.

This pursuit lasted for half a day. Every single Purple Jade demon cultivator who had attacked, whether Moon-Reflector or Constellation, was slain.

It could be said that in this battle, Purple Jade was utterly annihilated from top to bottom. Such a result was rarely seen in any battle throughout the starry sky where the strength and numbers of the opposing forces were comparable.

After the great battle, it was naturally time to clean up the battlefield.

Demon cultivators all possessed demonic cores, which were valuable resources usable in many ways. Although many demon cultivators had detonated their cores during the battle, a significant portion still remained, especially the demonic cores from Sun-Illumination level cultivators, each of which was extremely precious.

There were also the Purple Jade demon cultivators' storage rings. They always carried some valuable items, which now became spoils of war for Jade Snail.

Besides these, only two slightly damaged Moon-Reflector-level warships remained.

The Purple Jade fleet consisted of one large and four small warships. Lu Ye had initially detonated his Bloodline Avatars to destroy one. Then, a giant blade shattered another. The largest one had its defenses broken by the sword qi from the Sword Gourd and was also cleaved open by his blade. Only two remained relatively intact.

These were all recoverable resources.

Outside Fangcun Mountain, on the central warship, the cultivators of the Mermaid Clan were resting and recuperating. Although they had not directly participated in the fighting, both the use of their clan artifacts and the chanting of the Song of Tides had imposed an immense burden on them.

Yan Miao, their leader, was particularly pale. In truth, her contribution to this great battle had been far more exhausting than direct participation. This was because the Mermaid Clan's numbers were too small, yet their secret arts covered a vast area and many individuals. The enhancements provided to the Sun-Illumination cultivators, in particular, were all orchestrated by Yan Miao.

The struggle over such a short period had almost completely depleted her Sun-Illumination level reserves.

Qin Yi stood beside Yan Miao, somewhat dazed as she watched the many busy cultivators around them, feeling as if she were in a dream.

She had previously been entrusted by Lu Ye to oversee Fangcun Mountain, with her main task being to look after the many medical cultivators. After all, once the battle began, people would inevitably be injured and would return to Fangcun Mountain for healing.

She understood, of course, that Lu Ye's arrangement was to keep her from exposing herself, preventing Purple Jade from bearing a grudge and subsequently implicating the Four Directions Star System.

While staying within Fangcun Mountain, she had actually been very worried. Purple Jade was a formidable power, and even though she had seen many Sun-Illumination cultivators from the Small Human Race earlier, she wasn't sure if Lu Ye's side could truly contend with them.

During the battle, she and the many medical cultivators waited and waited and waited inside Fangcun Mountain...

Yet, not a single person returned for treatment.

This gave Qin Yi a very uneasy feeling. Such a situation meant one of two things: either the battle hadn't truly begun, so no one was injured, or the fighting was incredibly fierce, and injured cultivators had no time to return for healing, still desperately fighting on!

If it was the first scenario, there was nothing to worry about. But if it was the second, the outcome would be dire.