676: Chapter 676 Protracted War

The Dao Court held back for so long only to go and attack the Buddhist Sect; it really is inexplicable!

The Western Desert was devastated back then and hasn't recovered even now; even if they wipe out the Buddhist Sect, it is useless. Do they expect those Dao Court Dao Lords to start practicing the ascetic methods of the Buddhist Sect?

Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan felt just as surprised as Liu Xuan, and she tentatively said, "Could it be that attacking the Buddhist Sect is a ruse, and using the opportunity to take action against the Southern Border is the real goal? After all, there is an alliance between the Buddhist Sect and Great Sage Taisui."

After speaking, she immediately shook her head, negating her own guess, "No, against a mere Great Sage Taisui, why would the Dao Court need to beat around the bush? That is not their style."

Since the establishment of the ancient Dao Court, the higher-ups of the Dao Court have always considered themselves the masters of the Cangwu Realm. If they wanted to fight the Southern Border Yao Race, they would disdain playing any kind of roundabout tactics.

Liu Xuan slowly shook his head, his tone grave, "This matter is not that simple; we might have been sold out by the Dao Court!"

"Sold out?"

"What do you mean?"

Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan looked at Liu Xuan with confusion.

Liu Xuan explained the matter of the Long Whale Palace invading the near-sea region to her and analyzed,

"The Long Whale Palace ignores the Dao Court's reinforcements, yet at this very moment, the Dao Court sends all its gathered forces to the Western Desert. It is hard not to let one's imagination run wild."

"That shouldn't be the case!"

After listening, Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan did not agree with Liu Xuan's analysis and retorted, "The Dao Court has no need to target us specifically; these two events should be a coincidence."

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Liu Xuan was being too sensitive, and she laughed, "You are still too young; you simply do not know the power of the Dao Court!"

"The Master of the Dao Court is the number one Cultivator in the world today, invincible under the heavens, a figure with the potential for Immortal Ascension. The foundation of the Dao Court has endured for tens of millions of years without ever changing. If the Dao Court wanted to target our Joyous Union Sect, why would they need to cooperate with the Yao Race?"

"Furthermore, the Dao Court is the Human Race's number one force, and the Long Whale Palace is the Yao Race's number one force. What is the purpose of their alliance? Just because of the Spiritual Qi fluctuations in the Southern Border?"

"Even if the Dao Court really did that, would the Long Whale Palace dare to cooperate with the Dao Court? If the Southern Border Yao Race is wiped out, they might as well surrender directly."

Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan's words made a lot of sense, but all of this was based on normal circumstances, and the world now had become less than normal because of his appearance.

Outsiders did not know the reason for the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi fluctuations, but Liu Xuan, the person involved, knew it very clearly.

The Immortal Artifact wither-thrive life-death cauldron was continuously devouring the vitality of the Cangwu Realm, and Liu Xuan was unsure to what extent the Dao Court understood this matter.

Liu Xuan dared not be careless about any abnormal actions of the Dao Court; he had to consider the possibility that they were directed at him.

'Judging from the current situation, the Dao Court most likely does not know of the existence of the wither-thrive life-death cauldron, nor do they know my true background; otherwise, they would not give me time to develop.'

If the two events of the Dao Court attacking the Buddhist Sect and the Long Whale Palace invading the Joyous Union Sect were not purely coincidental, Liu Xuan guessed that perhaps someone among the Dao Court's higher-ups had realized some issues, but they had not realized much.

Everything was just speculation; Liu Xuan did not know much about the internal affairs of the Dao Court and had no way to guess their purpose.

After pondering for a moment, Liu Xuan said to Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan, "Regardless, there is no hope from the Dao Court for now; prepare for battle!"

Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan nodded, "The Long Whale Palace has no reason to attack us; let's try to communicate with them first; perhaps we can avoid a large-scale war."

Judging from the current actions of the Long Whale Palace, Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan did not think their purpose was to wipe out the Joyous Union Sect; it seemed more like they were forcing the Joyous Union Sect to do something.

Her opinion was not to start a war, but to first communicate and negotiate with the people of the Long Whale Palace. If the conditions were not excessive, they could certainly be discussed; if the conditions were too harsh, it would not be too late to launch a full-scale war then.

"Hmm! I will leave this matter to you. No matter what their conditions are, prioritize stabilizing them; if we can drag it out until Jiang Xingwan advances to the Late-stage Soul Transformation, that will be a success."

Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan had extensive social connections and was most skilled in negotiations.

Speaking of Jiang Xingwan being about to advance to the Late-stage Soul Transformation, a trace of envy immediately appeared on Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan's face.

Her eyes flickered slightly as she looked at Liu Xuan and asked, "Is Senior Sister Jiang really able to break through the Late-stage Soul Transformation Bottleneck because of your help?"

Liu Xuan looked her up and down for a moment, "Wouldn't you know if you tried it yourself?"

Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan stepped back two paces and rolled her eyes at Liu Xuan, "I am timid; it will not be too late to try later."

"Suit yourself!"

"Remember to notify me promptly if there is any situation."

Liu Xuan could not be bothered to chat nonsense with her; after giving a word of advice, he quickly executed an evasion technique and returned to the Yin-Yang Great Island.

This recent series of abnormal events gave Liu Xuan a hint of crisis.

Regarding the changes in the overall situation, he currently had no good solutions; the wither-thrive life-death cauldron could not be turned off, so the only thing he could do was help Jiang Xingwan break through as quickly as possible.

As long as Jiang Xingwan advanced to Soul Transformation, the two of them could execute a combined attack technique, and coupled with the Joyous Union Sect's Yin-Yang Great Formation, even if the situation became worse, there would still be room to delay and maneuver.

However, after the Realm reaches the Nascent Soul, the advancement of cultivation is not just a simple increase in mana and qualitative change, but mainly the comprehension of the Heaven and Earth Dao.

With his help, Jiang Xingwan's mana could break through her own limits, but the comprehension of Laws still had to be done step by step.

Fortunately, Jiang Xingwan's Realm comprehension was not weak to begin with; she was only stuck at the Late-stage Soul Transformation due to the limits of her own talent and the lack of Cultivation Techniques.

With Liu Xuan's full assistance, whether fast in a year or slow in two years, a successful Breakthrough would not be a problem.

One month later.

A piece of good news and a piece of bad news came from the front line of the Chaotic Sea Region.

The good news was that the Long Whale Palace still had no intention of expanding the battlefield on a large scale; they were only slowly advancing along the border. It looked like a fierce battle, but in reality, all those dying were low-level Cultivators.

Because many frontline Sects had long since evacuated, apart from losing territory, the losses were not serious.

According to the Long Whale Palace's current speed of advancement, just occupying the border sea area would take years, and as for reaching the Yin-Yang Great Island, who knew when that would be; there was plenty of time.

The bad news was that Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan's negotiations with the Long Whale Palace had failed; the other party simply would not talk to her.

In order to stop this war, Red Dust Daoist Lord Su Qingyan had even actively offered many conditions, but the Long Whale Palace side still did not have the slightest intention of discussing.

"Since they want to fight a war of attrition, then let's fight them!"

The negotiations failed; there was only one way to delay the Long Whale Palace's approach: send a Cultivator army to fight them.

The Joyous Union Sect occupied the entire near-sea region and had a strong foundation. It was difficult to repel the Long Whale Palace Yao Race, but by relying on the home-field advantage and the Sect's Formation, slowing down their advance was not a problem.

As long as one was willing to pay the rewards, there were countless low-level Cultivators willing to take risks.

As the Heaven-Seizing One Qi Secret Art spread through the East Sea, along with the generous profits brought by the expansion of the Merchant Alliance, more and more Cultivators in the Joyous Union Sect's territory were in favor of war.

In order to boost the morale of the East Sea Cultivators who were accustomed to a stable environment, Liu Xuan increased the deployment of the Liu Family Army from the Southern Border to support the East Sea.

This batch of the Liu Family Army had already been fighting the Yao Race in the Endless Demon Court territory for several years; they had rich experience in large-scale warfare, and all of them had refined True Qi, with extremely high demands for resources.

As long as the war could yield sufficient returns, this group of people would fight with absolutely no regard for their lives.