77: Chapter 77 Retreat

"Retreat." In the distant horizon, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from Xuantian Sect shouted loudly.

He had just learned from the Sect that the Azure Wolf Demon King was leading one hundred thousand Yao Beasts to attack Taihe Prefecture City, and that place was already exhausted and had no surplus energy to support this side.

Following his order, a group of Cultivators fought and retreated.

Just then, Chen Xuanyi and Zhou Mingsui returned to Chen Yuanjin's side and retreated together with them.

After a while, more than a dozen Foundation Establishment Cultivators gathered around the Foundation Establishment Cultivator of Xuantian Sect.

Looking at the remaining Foundation Establishment Cultivators, he said, "Where are Fellow Daoist Lin and the others?"

"They died in battle," said a middle-aged Cultivator, who was Fan Yunsheng of the Fan Family in Longchuan County.

Chen Xuanyi's gaze showed surprise; a few people had actually died.

But it made sense; even he and Zhou Mingsui joining forces had almost died at the hands of a Foundation Establishment Silver-backed Demonic Ape.

Although those Foundation Establishment Cultivators also teamed up to fight the enemy, most of them were not very strong.

"Since that is the case, let's ignore them. We must retreat now. There is no time. Taihe Prefecture City is besieged by the Yao Race, and we cannot wait for reinforcements," said the old man.

"Fellow Daoist Yang, where can we retreat to? And what about Senior Master Lingxiao of your honorable Sect?" Zhou Mingsui asked.

"Junior Martial Uncle Lingxiao has already returned to Qinghe County to set up the Formation, just waiting for us to retreat back," Yang Zhen said.

"Qinghe County?"

"Right, now we only have Qinghe County as our only path to retreat. Qingzhou is also besieged, and Qinghe County is maintained by a Tier 4 Formation, coupled with several Purple Palace Cultivators. Although it cannot resist a Tier 4 Yao King, it is more than enough to resist Tier 3 Yao Beasts at the time," Yang Zhen continued.

Although these words were a bit too idealistic—after all, even Tier 4 Yao Kings had appeared, and there was more than one, the crucial point was that they were currently at Taihe Prefecture City behind Qinghe County.

It was hard to guarantee that the other party wouldn't join forces with the Wanshou Mountain Range to swallow up Qinghe County.

Hearing this, the crowd visibly calmed down a lot, but they still had some worries.

After a while, Yang Zhen led all the Cultivators back to Qinghe County, leaving behind a portion of the Cultivators to cover the rear and buy time for the others to retreat.

The next day, they returned to Qinghe County.

Yang Zhen and the five major families together settled these Cultivators.

After the settlement, all the Foundation Establishment Cultivators went together to the Qinghe County City Lord's Mansion to pay respects to the Purple Palace Cultivators like Master Lingxiao.

"Mhm, you've returned, Junior Martial Nephew Yang." Master Lingxiao nodded and said.

"Junior Martial Uncle." Yang Zhen respectfully bowed.

"How are the casualties this time?" Master Lingxiao asked.

"According to this Junior's statistics, a total of 2,700 people participated in this battle, including eighty-three Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The Cultivators under Taihe Prefecture totaled 1,500 people, with forty-seven Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

A total of 429 Cultivators died in battle, including eleven Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The supporting Cultivators from the Yuxu Sect totaled 1,200, among whom thirty-six were Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

A total of 375 people died in battle, including seven Foundation Establishment Cultivators," Yang Zhen reported truthfully.

Hearing this, all the Purple Mansion Masters fell somewhat silent in their hearts.

The losses to the Human Race from this participation in battle were too great, especially since the upcoming combat strength would still be one of the most important forces guarding Qinghe County.

To say nothing else, the Yuxu Sect currently could not support Qinghe County at all.

That is to say, the upcoming war could only rely on all the Cultivators here in Qinghe County to sustain it.

As for retreating back to Taihe Prefecture City or even the rear of Cang Prefecture, there was no chance now.

Because whether walking through Taihe Prefecture City or Qingzhou, one would encounter a large batch of Yao Beasts, and with bad luck, it was even possible to be targeted by a Yao King.

"Mhm, I know, you may withdraw first!" Master Lingxiao waved his hand.

After he withdrew, the other Purple Mansion Masters slowly spoke.

"Fellow Daoist Lingxiao, this war definitely cannot be resolved in a short time. Qinghe County is only this big, how do you plan to settle this group of Cultivators?" a middle-aged-looking Purple Palace Cultivator asked.

"The Yuxu Sect had already anticipated this at the very beginning. They originally intended to use Qinghe County to block the beast tide, so they planned to build more Tier 2 Spiritual Veins and Tier 3 Spiritual Veins here. That batch of Spirit Stones and Formations to upgrade Spiritual Veins have also been sent to Qinghe County City. However, that group of Yao Kings actually crossed the Qing River to directly attack Taihe Prefecture. Are they not afraid that going too deep into the Human Race territory will leave them unable to escape in the end?"

"No matter what, as long as we persist until all the Sects of Dayan provide support, it will be fine," another Purple Palace Cultivator spoke.

Next was several people discussing which Spiritual Vein to upgrade and how to properly settle these Cultivators.

After several hours of discussion, they decided to create five more Tier 2 High Grade Spiritual Veins in Qinghe County and upgrade one Tier 3 High Grade Spiritual Vein.

In the following month, the entire Qinghe County spent a relatively peaceful time.

The Spiritual Veins were successfully upgraded.

Most of the Cultivators who originally retreated from the battlefield went to the upgraded Spiritual Veins, and those Cultivators who were previously on the territories of the five Foundation Establishment Families all descended the mountain to head towards the new Spiritual Veins.

After all, everyone had to survive and cooperate here in Qinghe County in the future.

The six Purple Palace Cultivators naturally had to have strict control and management over the Cultivators below, and they also disposed of some Cultivators who violated the rules according to the law.

This move completely pacified the grievances of all the Cultivators in Qinghe County, and also stopped some acts of burning, killing, and looting.

During this month, on Qingyang Mountain.

Chen Xuanyi led the participating Cultivators back into the Family.

In this battle, the Chen Family lost one Qi Refining Cultivator—Chen Yuanwu.

He was ambushed and killed by a Tier 1 High Grade Yao Beast, the Shadow Ghost Cat.

At that time, Chen Xuanyi was not by their side, and the others failed to react in time.

Fortunately, the rest of the people only suffered some injuries and had no other problems.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Chen Family members staying on Qingyang Mountain also returned to their respective posts.

Although the Family had suffered considerable damage during this period, several forces like the Xuantian Sect took out a batch of resources to compensate them.

Moreover, that group of Cultivators who originally stayed on Qingyang Mountain were all summoned down the mountain, so they spent this period very peacefully.

Chen Changqing took out a Tier 3 Concealment Formation and ordered people to set it up around Qingyang Mountain.

As long as this Formation was triggered, even Tier 3 Yao Beasts might not be able to find Qingyang Mountain.

Although the crowd wondered why Chen Changqing had such a Formation, no one asked.

Now, as the Foundation Establishment Stage of the Family and also the strongest combat strength of the Family, Chen Changqing required some respect.

Now, any major Family affairs had to be nodded by him and Chen Xuanyi before they could proceed.

In addition, Chen Changqing also took out a batch of resources for the Family Cultivators to Cultivate.

Just Spirit Stones alone numbered one hundred thousand, along with a bunch of century-old Spirit Medicines, a few millennium-old Spirit Medicines, and some Medicinal Pills that increased mana.

Of course, these were not all given for free; a portion needed to be exchanged with contributions.

Overall, the Family's strength rapidly increased under the Tier 3 Formation.