Chapter 1657: Huang Paopao

Once these words were uttered, the cultivators present didn't react much; they had long anticipated it. If they could invade the Eastfence Realm, the Eastfence Realm could also invade them; it was just a matter of different methods.

Shangguan Tianhong slowly spoke: "They used a Sky-reaching Spirit Treasure and a Rank-Five Talisman to temporarily open a spatial passage. To return, they'll still need a Rank-Five Talisman. The number of Soul Transformation cultivators they sent won't exceed five. Pass down the order: withdraw personnel, especially high-level cultivators, from non-critical areas. If they want those places, let them have them. How is the situation on the front lines?"

A beautiful young woman in a blue dress frowned and asked, "Senior Brother Lei and his group have thoroughly disrupted the Eastfence Realm. Millions of specters have surged out from the Myriad Ghost Sea. However, we've also paid a considerable price; Junior Brother Sun and Junior Sister Long were severely wounded, while Fellow Daoist Yan and Junior Sister Li, who joined us, sustained minor injuries. Senior Brother Shangguan, are you not concerned about the Eastfence cultivators?" Long Hanji and several other Soul Transformation cultivators caused havoc in the South Sea, successfully breaking the seal of the Myriad Ghost Sea and releasing millions of specters. However, two Soul Transformation cultivators suffered severe injuries, so the losses were not small.

Shangguan Tianhong's tone was indifferent. "Therefore, we should withdraw elite forces from various branch offices and consolidate our supply routes and a few critical locations. Other areas can be abandoned. Hmph, most of the natural treasures from the Heavenly-grade secret realms have already been plundered by us, and the forbidden grounds sealing demonic creatures have been leveled. At most, they will kill some low-level cultivators. Issue the order: all branch offices are to relocate to the main headquarters. First, high-level cultivators and their immediate families will move, and other disciples will either return to the main headquarters or be reassigned to those critical locations." The Heavenly Ripple Sect had unified the Heavenly Ripple Realm, but it was impossible for millions of cultivators to be confined within the main sect's mountain gate, nor could the protective array encompass an entire realm. The 'branch offices' he referred to were, in fact, the former strongholds of other factions.

After unifying the Heavenly Ripple Realm, the Heavenly Ripple Sect dispersed cultivators from all sects and cultivation families to different areas. This weakened the original forces' control over them and made it easier to manage these cultivators. For example, the Zhao family of Thousand Spirit Mountain, known for controlling insects and beasts, had its disciples dispersed after the Heavenly Ripple Sect's unification, assigned to various places. Thousand Spirit Mountain itself became a branch office, with other cultivators stationed there.

Furthermore, all texts and scriptures from various sects and families were collected to establish a massive scripture repository. Heavenly Ripple Sect disciples could access relevant texts based on their cultivation level, thereby sharing resources regardless of race or surname.

A realm of this size makes it difficult to find foreign cultivators if they intend to hide. It is better to abandon less important areas and firmly hold the supply routes and critical locations.

"But this means abandoning many cultivation resources, such as metal ore veins and spirit stone mines," the blue-robed woman frowned.

Shangguan Tianhong said dismissively, "Have high-level cultivators expedite mining operations. All personnel must evacuate within three days. As long as the people are safe, it's not worth sending people to defend inanimate objects, only for Eastfence cultivators to launch sneak attacks." The Heavenly Ripple Sect had been unified for over six hundred years, and disobedient disciples had already been severely punished; no one dared defy Shangguan Tianhong's orders.

The Heavenly Ripple Sect could abandon most of its branch offices because, over these six hundred years, they had extensively plundered various cultivation resources. The sect's treasury stored vast amounts of strategic resources. In contrast, the Eastfence Realm was like scattered sand, with major forces dispersed in different locations, having too many places to defend, and thus full of vulnerabilities.

In other words, Eastfence cultivators coming to the Heavenly Ripple Realm could, at most, kill a batch of Heavenly Ripple Sect cultivators. There were no forbidden grounds sealing demonic creatures, no Heavenly-grade secret realms, and opportunities for breaking through to the Soul Transformation stage were non-existent. Eastfence cultivators could only try their luck in the three dangerous places within the Heavenly Ripple Realm.

"But these individuals always pose a hidden threat. If we don't eliminate them, we cannot invade the Eastfence Realm with peace of mind," the blue-robed woman said with a frown.

Shangguan Tianhong's face was filled with killing intent. "I will personally lead the team to encircle and annihilate them. If they seek death, then I shall grant it. Once they are eliminated, the Eastfence Realm will likely have little resistance left." He didn't care about the lives of Nascent Soul cultivators; what he cared about was the fate of the Eastfence Realm's Soul Transformation cultivators.

To conquer the Eastfence Realm, they needed to display absolute power. Destroying the entire Eastfence Realm was unrealistic. Their plan was to force the Eastfence Realm to submit to the Heavenly Ripple Realm, then invade other realms until they found a special passage or transfer station to ascend to the Spirit Realm. If all else failed, they would plunder rare artifact-forging materials to craft powerful treasures and, when their lifespan was nearly depleted, seek out spatial nodes to sneak through—this was their last resort.

Shangguan Tianhong still had over a thousand years of lifespan; he could fully afford to wait. Conquering the Eastfence Realm, sustaining the war with its resources, and then invading other realms—all of it was for ascension. As long as he could ascend to the Spirit Realm, he didn't care how many cultivators died.

Eliminating the Eastfence Realm's Soul Transformation cultivators was intended to force its surrender.

Due to the power of the realm, he was temporarily unable to cross into the Eastfence Realm. Hence, any Soul Transformation cultivators from the Eastfence Realm who came here were simply seeking death.

Shangguan Tianhong commanded coldly, "Issue the order: expedite the extraction of strategic materials. Within three days, all personnel from non-critical branch offices must return to the main headquarters. If Eastfence cultivators want to mine, let them. All spirit medicines from the spirit gardens must be taken, or destroyed if they cannot be transported. Absolutely nothing should be left for the Eastfence cultivators." He found it laughable to imagine Eastfence cultivators traveling all this way to the Heavenly Ripple Realm just to mine rocks.

Rank-five mineral veins or large spirit stone mines were either guarded by Soul Transformation cultivators or had long since been depleted.

"Yes, Senior Brother Shangguan (Senior Uncle Shangguan)," the cultivators responded in unison, then went to convey the orders.

The Heavenly Ripple Sect had established large communication arrays, allowing orders to be issued to most branch offices at the fastest possible speed—this was the benefit of unification.

In a vast, endless expanse of sea, the sky was cloudless and the waters were calm. A blue giant boat, over a hundred zhang long, swiftly glided across the sky.

Wang Changsheng and others stood on the deck, their expressions grave.

It was truly strange. They had flown hundreds of millions of *li* but had only encountered low-level demonic beasts. Demonic beasts above Rank Three were extremely rare, and there wasn't a single Rank-Four beast.

Such a situation would be impossible in the South Sea of the Eastfence Realm.

According to Venerable Qianli's explanation, all demonic beasts had been domesticated and transformed into spirit beasts. Heavenly Ripple Sect cultivators fed low-level spirit fish with spirit grain and then used those spirit fish to feed higher-level spirit beasts.

A burly, dark-faced man smiled joyfully, "Finally found them. There are traces of three Foundation Establishment cultivators 300 *li* to the southeast."

Liu Shuo, a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator from the Divine Weapon Palace, possessed an exceptionally powerful spiritual sense, comparable to a peak Nascent Soul cultivator.

Huang Fugui volunteered, "Senior Fu, I'll go capture them." His escape speed was no slower than a late-Nascent Soul cultivator's, so capturing a few Foundation Establishment cultivators would certainly be no problem.

Fu Wen ordered, "Little Friend Liu, you go with Little Friend Huang! Be quick and return swiftly." His spiritual sense had also detected the three Foundation Establishment cultivators. Sending two Nascent Soul cultivators to capture three Foundation Establishment cultivators showed how highly they regarded the Heavenly Ripple Sect.

"Yes, Senior Fu," Huang Fugui and Liu Shuo responded in unison. They transformed into two streaks of light and shot through the air. Huang Fugui's escape speed was slightly faster than Liu Shuo's.

True Immortal Bloodflame joked with a smile, "If Fellow Daoist Huang advances to mid-Nascent Soul, his escape speed probably won't be much slower than a peak Nascent Soul cultivator's."

Shen Wenbin said dismissively, "He can only run that fast because of his magic treasure. He's just quick; his divine abilities aren't strong. He even earned the nickname 'Huang the Runner,' truly an embarrassment to us Nascent Soul cultivators." Shen Wenbin accompanied the main force to cause trouble in the Heavenly Ripple Realm.