Sage of Humanity

On the battlefield that spanned dozens of miles, cultivators from both races fought to the death, shedding blood and dissipating their life forces.

In the Soaring Dragon World, no cultivator had ever experienced a scene so grand.

The battles between cultivators usually didn't involve too many people. The biggest event in the Soaring Dragon cultivation world was nothing more than a power struggle between a few sects, which, too, never reached the point of fighting to the death.

However, the number of cultivators involved in the current battle was incomparable to just a few sects' dispute — over a hundred thousand cultivators from the Soaring Dragon World had gathered.

Although the number of the Blood Race was less than that of the Soaring Dragon side, it was not by much—there were about seventy to eighty thousand of them.

This was no longer a conflict.

This was a true war!

On the battlefield, life forces vanished almost every moment. The situation was tense and critical; it was impossible to tell which side had the upper hand.

Lu Ye was amidst the ranks of the Soaring Dragon cultivators, cooperating with the cultivators beside him to kill the enemy.

Cultivators of the Soaring Dragon had never experienced such a grand scene, and neither had Lu Ye.

The biggest event he had encountered was the last time in the mine, where he alone faced two million Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators. Yet, that situation couldn't compare to the current one.

One side was the invading enemy, and the other was the self-defending warriors. The collision between the two sides of cultivators was like the clash of two colossal waves. Caught in the middle, individuals were like the splashes from the collision, only able to be carried along by the waves, utterly unable to control their fate.

Lu Ye was trying to minimize his own consumption.

He didn't know how long the battle would last, but such a massive scale war would not end quickly. Therefore, how to kill the enemy effectively while conserving his spirit force was crucial.

Moreover, unlike the native cultivators of the Soaring Dragon World, he was earning battle merits while killing the enemy.

So, he abandoned the combat cultivator's usual style of confronting the enemy. On the battlefield, he looked for opportunities everywhere, moving through the throng—never directly colliding with the Blood Race but focusing on one thing.

Opportunistic strikes!

Every time the Boulder Mountain Saber was swung, it reaped rewards; he not only earned battle merits by killing enemies but also helped alleviate the pressure on the cultivators of the Soaring Dragon World—it was a win-win situation.

With this mindset, he continuously earned battle merits for a while.

Amber crouched on his shoulder, her blood Qi melding with his, allowing him to continually borrow strength.

Yiyi weaved underground, closely following his footsteps, never showing herself easily, only appearing when Lu Ye was in danger. She would strike like Thunderbolt, coordinating with Lu Ye to kill enemies.

As time passed, Lu Ye moved around various parts of the battlefield, not knowing how many of the Blood Race he had killed. His entire being was dyed red with blood; the relentless sounds of combat rang in his ears, and everywhere he passed, there were severed limbs and flesh from both races' cultivators.

While killing enemies, he also constantly paid attention to the movements around the Bridging Altar.

To win this battle, killing all of the Blood Race was one option; another was to destroy the Bridging Altar.

Whether he could annihilate the Blood Race wasn't something he could influence in such a large-scale battle—his individual role was too insignificant.

But he could play a key role in destroying the Bridging Altar.

The Blood Race had set up a protective array around the location of the Bridging Altar. That was why the attacks from the spirit arks of the Soaring Dragon World were ineffective. However, if he could break that protective array, then the attacks from the spirit arks could hit the altar directly.

In such a case, even if not all Blood Race members were killed, the Soaring Dragon World could still emerge victorious.

Right when the Array outside the altar was triggered, he had been observing its nodes and flaws. For him, breaking this Formation wasn't too difficult, but the real challenge was how to break through the many defenses of the Blood Race and reach the altar's location.

If he could just get close to the altar, given a dozen or so breaths of time, he would have the chance to break the Formation!

Yet, up to now, he had not found a good opportunity.

In this extremely chaotic battlefield, the Blood Race's defense of the altar was extraordinarily attentive. Should he rashly approach the altar, he would definitely draw the attention of the powerful Blood Race members, and at that time, even ten lives would not be enough for him to escape death.

He needed more time!

Lu Ye suppressed the thoughts in his heart and continued to wander and kill enemies on the battlefield.

As time slipped away, the situation gradually became clear.

Contrary to expectations, it was the Soaring Dragon cultivators who began to gain the upper hand on the battlefield.

Before the great battle began, cultivators from Soaring Dragon had learned much about the Blood Race from various sources, initially fearing them like tigers. But once the actual fighting began, they discovered that although the Blood Race looked different from the human race and possessed many strange Blood Path secret techniques, they too were made of flesh and blood—they felt pain when injured and would die if beheaded. This realization swiftly dispelled much of the fear in their hearts.

Furthermore, in the days leading up to the battle, the Three Great Overlord Sects continuously publicized the crisis facing the Soaring Dragon World and the true intentions of the Blood Race, making every cultivator participating in the battle understand the dire consequences of defeat.

The Blood Race was indeed fierce in battle and fearless in the face of death, but how could the Soaring Dragon cultivators, who had no path of retreat and who were not afraid to die, be easily overcome?

With a sheer cliff behind them, the unity and fighting spirit that cultivators display when pushed to the brink is truly terrifying.

Moreover, even in terms of numbers, the Soaring Dragon cultivators greatly outnumber the Blood Race.

If it weren't for the heavy losses at Medicine Valley, the outcome of this battle would be uncertain. However, the Blood Race had suffered greatly during the battle at Medicine Valley, and the supposedly cornered Soaring Dragon cultivators received reinforcements. With their roles reversed, Soaring Dragon now had the capital to resist the Blood Race.

Beneath the Sky Ravine, Blood Owl hovered in the air, looking indifferently at the chaotic and brutal battlefield, and hummed lightly, "Those are some decent ants."

When the Blood Race invades various domains, they often crush the opposition with overwhelming force, but there are rare instances when they encounter fierce resistance from local cultivators.

Even rarer are the cases where the local cultivators still manage to have the upper hand in direct confrontation.

But such instances have indeed occurred before.

Blood Owl spoke in a calm tone, but his expression carried a hint of annoyance, as if the bravery of the Soaring Dragon cultivators was a slight to his pride.

As the leader of the Blood Race's invasion of this world, the effort and gains he made in Soaring Dragon would become his assets in vying for status within the Blood World. Naturally, excessive losses would be detrimental to him.

Such situations might be rare, but why wouldn't the Blood Race have a way to deal with them?

"Ultimately, it's all pointless!" Blood Owl's voice, amplified by spirit force, spread to every corner of the battlefield. No matter how noisy the clamor of battle was, it couldn't mask his scorn.

As his words fell, an abrupt change occurred throughout the vast battlefield.

Somewhere on the battlefield, Yiyi emerged from the ground, frantic and panicked, beside Lu Ye, and said urgently, "Lu Ye, the Blood Race has set up some kind of Formation here."

Before Lu Ye could react, he saw thick blood mist rising from the ground and spreading in all directions.

The source of the blood mist was, astonishingly, the blood that had flowed from the cultivators who had fallen in battle.

He even saw not far from him the body of a dead member of the Blood Race emitting blood mist as well. As the blood mist surged out, the corpse, which he had only beheaded recently, quickly withered as if it had been left to dry for countless years.

Previously, Celestial Saint used the power of the Blood River Great Array to stand firm against the joint attack of Huang Liang and two others with his own strength. He could also fully activate the Blood River Great Array using the fresh blood of the fallen Sky Ravine Sect and Soaring Dragon cultivators, summoning the Blood Race to descend.

These methods were all taught to him distantly by the Blood Race.

What Celestial Saint could perform was merely the basics.

The true essence of the mysteriously triggered great array that the Blood Race was now activating was far more profound.

Even the bodies of the dead could serve the Blood Race, as long as there was blood within them!

In just a dozen breaths, the entire battlefield was shrouded in blood mist. The thick stench of blood almost materialized, making one feel nauseated just by smelling it.

The envelopment of blood mist was just the beginning.

When the blood mist filled the entire battlefield, all members of the Blood Race became excited, breathing greedily. The blood mist flowed into their bodies through their mouths and noses, pores all over their bodies, darkening the crimson in their eyes even further.

The Soaring Dragon cultivators were horrified to discover that after devouring the blood mist, the Blood Race seemed to be invigorated, their strength significantly enhanced.

If that was all there was to it, it would be bearable.

Within the shroud of blood mist, many Soaring Dragon cultivators began to experience illusions and restlessness in their hearts and minds.

The blood mist not only strengthened the Blood Race's power but also had a strong disturbance effect on the Soaring Dragon cultivators' minds!

Yiyi, who had been hiding underground, had emerged in a hurry precisely because of this.

Ordinary powers truly posed no threat to her hidden form, but a pervasive entity like the blood mist was everywhere, and even a Spiritual Body like Yiyi could be affected. Sensing something wrong, she hurriedly retreated into Amber's body.

With the situation worsening and an oversight in their vigilance, countless Soaring Dragon cultivators met untimely deaths. Moreover, the fresh blood within the bodies of the fallen Soaring Dragon cultivators was rapidly extracted by some force and added to the thickening blood mist.

The original advantage of the Soaring Dragon cultivators was being lost at an alarming rate, and without intervention, they would likely collapse completely in less than the time it took for one incense stick to burn.

At the critical moment, it was the Three Great Overlord Sects that stood out.

When the resonant Buddhist chanting filled the air, when the inspiring aura of righteousness spread, and when the Imperial Heaven Sect displayed the Mysterious Secret Technique, all Soaring Dragon cultivators felt as though their souls were being cleansed by an extremely gentle force, sweeping away all disadvantages.

Their minds instantly became peaceful, and the rampant illusions vanished.

In peaceful times, who knows how many sects were unwilling to acknowledge the status of the Three Great Overlord Sects. After all, in terms of individual cultivator strength, nearly every notable sect had Level 9 Cloud River cultivators presiding, with the only difference being in their numbers.

Within the Soaring Dragon World, there were several sects whose power could rival that of the Sky Ravine Sect, and these sects had always sought to replace the Three Great Overlord Sects.

If others could sit as Overlords, why couldn't they?

But it was not until this moment, during this pivotal war that would determine the future of the Soaring Dragon, that the cultivation world of Soaring Dragon truly recognized what it meant to be an Overlord Sect and what a millennium of heritage entailed!