Chapter 832: Reinforcements!

The Rise of Kyushu

By then, they would no longer be fighting alone; instead, they would have the entire Kyushu as their backing and support! With the portals now manifest, were reinforcements still far off?

The appearance of the portals put the Corpse Clan on high alert. Many scattered members of the Corpse Clan near these portals attempted to charge through and investigate, but even when they passed through, it was as if they had merely gone through an invisible barrier, with no discernible effect.

Just as the Corpse Clan members were filled with doubt and apprehension, the space enveloped by the portals suddenly twisted, and then a figure abruptly appeared.

One figure was followed by a second, then a third... In the blink of an eye, an endless stream of cultivators appeared one after another. Every portal was like this!

Yuan Lie hailed from a fifth-rank sect in Wuzhou. His talent was considerable, and he had reached the sixth level of the Cloud River Realm. However, at this point, such cultivation didn't offer much competitive advantage. He hadn't gained significant benefits in the recently concluded Cloud River Hegemony, so he could only set his sights on the next one.

The next Hegemony was five years away, enough time for him to raise his cultivation to the peak of the Cloud River Realm and accumulate a strong foundation. But to achieve this goal, he needed ample cultivation resources. The monthly stipend from his sect wasn't enough for his cultivation needs. This was a common method employed by the major sects of Kyushu to train their disciples; even first-rank sects never provided their disciples with sufficient resources for cultivation.

Only by lacking cultivation resources could disciples truly hone themselves. If cultivation resources were truly abundant, it would only produce a group of incompetent individuals with cultivation but no battle prowess. The various fortuitous encounters and opportunities in the Cloud River battlefield, along with the struggles and skirmishes against cultivators from opposing factions, were all means and paths for cultivators to temper themselves.

The former, in particular, was a rare opportunity. So, when a portal suspected of leading to a certain secret realm appeared within the Heavenly Secret Alliance, Yuan Lie also joined the throng and stepped inside.

The teleportation process was accompanied by a dizzying discomfort, and during the transmission, a piece of information exploded in his mind!

He had entered several secret realms before and naturally knew that when entering realms set against a particular world, the Heavenly Mechanism would sometimes bestow cultivators with special identities to facilitate their actions, while also providing them with a general understanding of the realm's basic situation. So when this information burst into his mind, Yuan Lie remained calm and quickly investigated.

However, the result surprised him because he had not been granted any special identity or basic information about the secret realm. The message was simple and clear: Exterminate the Corpse Clan!

What were these Corpse Clan? He had never heard of them before.

Before Yuan Lie could figure it out, the long teleportation, which normally seemed to take ages, had already ended in his vision. Experienced cultivators knew to activate their spiritual artifacts and spiritual energy to protect themselves at such a moment, as no one knew what dangers they might encounter upon entering an unknown place. Yuan Lie was no exception. He immediately activated his spiritual energy and summoned his spiritual artifact.

Howls and cries of battle filled his ears. Looking around, many Kyushu cultivators who had arrived before him were already locked in combat with a group of unknown enemies. The air was filled with a putrid stench. Yuan Lie was no stranger to this smell; it was the stench of decaying corpses, of people long dead. Looking at the enemies before him, many appeared as rotting corpses, their bodies covered in decaying flesh, while others resembled dried-up mummies, gaunt and skeletal. So these were the Corpse Clan—a fitting name indeed.

“Ugh...” Not far away, a seemingly delicate female cultivator bent over, her expression strained and face pale. She clearly hadn't experienced such a scene much before, nor seen such repulsive enemies.

“Roar!” A gaunt Corpse Clan member lunged forward, reaching for the female cultivator. Yuan Lie, quick as lightning, leaped forth and thrust his sword at the Corpse Clan member. The enemy, however, did not dodge, allowing the sword to pierce its chest, while fiercely clawing at the female cultivator's head. With a crunch, like a watermelon splitting open, Yuan Lie's eyelids twitched.

In their initial encounters with this peculiar race, the Corpse Clan, many cultivators from Kyushu suffered heavy losses. This was because what were considered vital points in normal combat meant nothing to the Corpse Clan. They were, in essence, an undead race, beings brought back from the dead. To truly kill a Corpse Clan member, one had to sever their head or completely pulverize them.

Many Kyushu cultivators who had arrived first had already suffered casualties, but more continued to pour in, one after another. Facing the Corpse Clan as a common enemy, no one bothered about the rivalry between the Vast Heaven Alliance and the Myriad Demon Ridge anymore. They each displayed their skills and abilities. Experienced and capable cultivators shouted commands, leading the newcomers to solidify their defenses near the portals, establishing a steady foothold.

After the initial chaos, in front of each portal, the Kyushu cultivators formed their own barriers, and with the continuous arrival of newcomers, the barriers grew stronger, gradually enabling them to counterattack.

Rarely did secret realms immediately trigger such large-scale warfare. Previously, Kyushu's secret realms were usually temporal snippets of already destroyed domains, allowing cultivators a period of adaptation upon entry. However, the Peerless Continent was naturally an exception. Thus, the cultivators from Kyushu were caught off guard and suffered some losses.

However, no one retreated, because almost everyone discovered something immediately: killing these Corpse Clan members yielded battle merits! The Kyushu cultivators' desire for battle merits was unimaginable. So, even though many pioneers had fallen and the fighting was incredibly fierce, the enthusiasm of the Kyushu cultivators steadily rose. Like scattered sparks igniting in the wilderness, the Kyushu cultivators unleashed their spiritual energy, radiating the rising flames outwards in all directions.

Outside the Hunyuan Holy Temple secret realm, on the battlefield where the Dao Palace cultivators and the stronghold cultivators were located, three Soaring Dragon Boats were almost completely destroyed. The defensive line formed by these three Soaring Dragon Boats was also rapidly on the verge of collapsing under the Corpse Clan's assault. If it weren't for their unwillingness to abandon Lu Ye and others who had already ventured deep into the Hunyuan Holy Temple secret realm, Pang Huanyin would have long ordered a retreat.

But Lu Ye and his companions hadn't reappeared since entering the Hunyuan Holy Temple secret realm. How could Pang Huanyin abandon them? While Lu Ye and his companions were in precarious straits inside the Hunyuan Holy Temple, the situation here was also grim.

Until the sudden arrival of the Kyushu cultivators. In mid-air, Pang Huanyin, Old Xiao, and others watched in stunned silence as unfamiliar figures charged out from the portals, their shock beyond words. Originally, they had been at an absolute disadvantage, with countless cultivators from both the Dao Palace and the strongholds having fallen. But at this moment, with the help of these suddenly arrived reinforcements, the tide of battle seemed to have turned in a short time.

“Fellow Daoist Hua, they are...” Pang Huanyin suddenly realized something and turned to look at Hua Ci, who was heavily guarded. As the only healer capable of dispelling the Origin Corpse Poison, Hua Ci was naturally protected with extreme vigilance. Since the start of the great battle, a group of Dao Palace personnel had been assigned to guard her closely.

At this moment, Hua Ci was detoxifying a cultivator afflicted by the Origin Corpse Poison. With her bare hand placed on the person's chest for only a moment, the Origin Corpse Poison was completely dispelled. No one noticed that as she was detoxifying, Hua Ci's cultivation was subtly increasing at an almost imperceptible rate. Her lineage and origins were unique; she could cultivate using poisons, and the effects of her cultivation were even better than relying on spiritual energy. Corpse poison... was also poison! For Hua Ci, the current Peerless Continent was actually more suitable for her cultivation than the Five Poisons Pond. Moreover, during the detoxification process, she could also gain a certain amount of battle merits! This was an unexpected bonus. However, unlike ordinary cultivators, her desire for battle merits wasn't very strong.

Upon hearing Pang Huanyin's question, Hua Ci smiled faintly and said, “They’re all from Kyushu. Lu Ye must have succeeded. Let’s await his good news.”

Even though she had suspected it, when Hua Ci confirmed her conjecture, Pang Huanyin couldn't help but lose herself in thought. Old Xiao, standing beside her, mumbled repeatedly, “So, Kyushu truly exists!” Pang Huanyin had previously told him about Kyushu and that Lu Ye and his companions came from there. Because it was Pang Huanyin who said it, Old Xiao chose to believe it. Moreover, Lu Ye and his group indeed didn't seem like individuals who could have originated from the current Peerless Continent. But he hadn't seen it with his own eyes! Until now!

From those portals, an endless stream of unfamiliar cultivators continuously emerged. While their individual strengths varied, their sheer numbers were unimaginable. They were dressed in vibrant attire, and their spiritual artifacts were of excellent quality. They seemed to practice different schools of thought, so even though their origins and backgrounds differed, in such a chaotic battle, they could quickly coordinate and form tight battle formations. These cultivators from Kyushu seemed like a group born specifically for war.

Sweeping away the various distracting thoughts in her mind, Pang Huanyin's expression became resolute, and her heroic voice rang out: “Fellow Daoists from the Dao Palace and various strongholds! The Corpse Blight has plagued the Peerless Continent for too long. Today is the day to eradicate it! We now have guests from Kyushu lending us a hand. As native cultivators of the Peerless Continent, are you willing to fall behind others?”

“Kill!”“Kill!”“Kill!”

Pang Huanyin slowly raised her longsword, pointing it towards the battlefield ahead: “This is our homeland, this is the Peerless Continent, and we are Peerless cultivators. Others are risking their lives to protect our home; shall we merely stand by and watch?”

“Kill!”“Kill!”“Kill!”

A corner of Pang Huanyin’s mouth curled up. Her impassioned voice, now calmer, became resolute: “Then... kill!” As her words fell, she was the first to charge forward.

They had been in a state of passive defense; now, at this very moment, it was finally time to counterattack. Behind her, cultivators from both the Dao Palace and the strongholds transformed into streaks of colorful light, like a sea of stars pouring forth, plunging into the vast battlefield!

Before each portal, the Kyushu cultivators also noticed the situation with Pang Huanyin. They were somewhat puzzled and curious, wondering where this seemingly formidable force had come from. But they soon felt relieved. No matter where they came from, they were human after all! And the Kyushu cultivators had only one mission on this expedition: to exterminate the Corpse Clan!