The Deston Prefecture was plunged into war in all directions.
Spear Saint Gu Fenghua led a massive invasion into the Shadowfell Prefecture, igniting the flames of war on all fronts.
Even Body Integration realm experts could not escape the brutal fighting.
Such an unprovoked attack ironically plunged the entirety of Deston Prefecture into a state of chaos.
In the cloudy sky.
A team formed by experts was currently rushing toward Highsun City.
Every single one of them was a top-tier expert, and all were using treasures to accelerate their journey.
At the very front was Ba Siyu's subordinate, Zhou Chengli.
This scholarly cultivator advanced anxiously. A Void Refinement cultivator beside him said in a deep voice,
"Mr. Zhou, there is no need to be so anxious. Otherwise, even when we reach Highsun City, our forces will be exhausted, which would conversely put us at a disadvantage."
"How can I not be anxious? If Highsun City falls, our rear will be defenseless.
Once the Wu tribe's Body Integration experts arrive, the Wu tribesmen scattered throughout the dynasty will converge on Deston Prefecture.
When that time comes, we will face a pincer attack from both the front and the rear, and then it will be the Central Plains' turn..."
Zhou Chengli's old face was filled with worry.
It was also Ba Siyu's fault for being a poor judge of character, trusting the Yun Clan and Bi Shihu.
Ba Siyu was too eager for quick success and instant benefits; he wanted the Earth Virtue so badly that he went mad.
He placed his trust in a "thief" and a "deserter," refusing to listen to any advice, ultimately reaping such a bitter harvest.
Having followed Ba Siyu for many years, this was the first time Zhou Chengli realized that Ba Siyu was so "incredibly brilliant."
Carrying a heart full of anxiety.
The reinforcements finally arrived at Highsun City.
However, there were no battle cries in Highsun City; all that remained were ruins and lingering Spiritual power filling the sky.
The Spiritual power from the battlefield had spread to every part of Highsun City, leveling the area outside the city to the ground as well.
"It's over."
Zhou Chengli's expression turned ugly. Not only were there Wu tribesmen here, but also... Demonic Cultivators!
At this moment.
The Old Drunkard held his wine gourd. The Divinity Transformation demonic technique within his body sucked corpse after corpse into his wine gourd to be refined.
The Old Drunkard licked his lips.
"Good, good, good. Refining these corpses will yield at least a century of cultivation base each. Haha, a world in chaos truly is an excellent place to do whatever one pleases..."
Just as he smiled, the Old Drunkard's expression changed.
He looked up, only to see a group of useless dynasty cultivators charging toward him.
"One of our own! Don't shoot, I'm on your side!"
...
Atop the ruins of Highsun City, one could see the Azure Cloud Army, clad in black armor, cleaning up the battlefield.
There were some experts among them—old veterans from the Azure Cloud Region who had fought the Wu tribe back in the day—instructing the younger soldiers in the army who had only undergone training and hadn't experienced many actual battles.
"Strip off anything valuable from the Wu tribesmen; don't let it go to waste.
Strip these bastards naked and see if there are any inscriptions painted on their skin.
If there are, cut that piece of skin off. That is the source of the Wu tribe's Spiritual power.
Use it to refine your artifacts; there might be an unexpected delight."
"Use your Spiritual power to sense their bodies. The Wu tribesmen rely on their physiques; their origin essence comes from their Wu bones.
If you find a Wu bone, you've struck it rich. You've killed a genius; even if they aren't one now, they definitely would have been a core member of the Wu tribe in the future.
Wu bones cannot be refined, but you can display them at home—they work even better than a Spirit-Gathering Array Formation for increasing spiritual Qi concentration."
"Hearts can be used to refine medicine, eyeballs to refine artifacts. The liver? You can steam it if you like."
"What are you keeping the meat for? We aren't Demonic Cultivators! There must be something wrong with your head."
"..."
Zhou Chengli, who had returned from Shadowfell Prefecture, stepped into Highsun City under the guidance of the Old Drunkard.
His two thousand experts drew sidelong glances from the Azure Cloud Army.
The scene of two hundred thousand Azure Cloud Army soldiers cleaning up the battlefield, with the older generation instructing the younger ones, entered their eyes.
The Azure Cloud Army soldiers after the great battle lacked their awe-inspiring presence from the battlefield; the younger ones were filled with restraint and awe in front of their seniors.
If they weren't presently flaying skin and extracting bones, they would actually look somewhat simple and honest.
"A three hundred thousand-strong Wu tribe grand army, entirely annihilated?" Zhou Chengli looked blankly at the Azure Cloud Army in all directions.
That was three hundred thousand men!
Moreover, the Wu tribesmen possessed methods of affinity with heaven, earth, and nature.
Through their Wu Spiritual power, they could turn stones and wood into soldiers.
The Wu tribe's totems could control beasts and spirits.
Every single one of them was a natural-born warrior, a darling of the forest.
If it weren't for this, they wouldn't have caused such massive chaos and trouble for the dynasty after invading the Central Plains.
Completely annihilating a three-hundred-thousand-strong Wu tribe grand army—this was a merit unseen in decades.
In the face of such merit, Zhou Chengli, a scholarly cultivator harboring kind thoughts, entirely disregarded the Azure Cloud Army's demonic methods of using body parts for refinement.
"Yeah, annihilated 'em."
The Old Drunkard grinned, took a gulp of wine, and secretly muttered a curse under his breath.
"Popping up out of nowhere, you almost scared this old man to death. Good thing my reaction was fast.
Damn it, didn't see you guys when we were fighting, but now that the fight's over, here you are.
Don't even think about snatching our spoils of war, or I'll definitely go tattle to Holy Maiden Yaoqing."
He then casually spun a lie.
"It's like this: our Azure Cloud Army heard that Bi Shihu was colluding with the Wu tribe. A grand army of a million men rushed over, but the journey was far.
Sigh, to save Highsun City in Deston Prefecture, eight hundred thousand of our grand army sacrificed their lives just to deliver us here.
We have a few tricks up our sleeves and used some array formations... You know how it is, our losses this time were too heavy."
"It seems Your Lordship's status is quite high. When the time comes, please put in a good word for us with the higher-ups so we can get more rewards.
I, Old Liu, am an honest man, so I can only shamelessly come and ask. You can't let our Azure Cloud Army's hearts turn cold, My Lord!"
"Take this lowly one, for example. In order to kill the enemy, I lost a Spiritual Treasure! That was a precious artifact!
This lowly one only hopes the dynasty can compensate me with a Dharma Treasure; that would be enough."
"..."
The "lowly one" chattered endlessly.
As Zhou Chengli listened, let alone being shameless, this crazy old cultivator had thrown his face entirely out the window.
How on earth was this suffering heavy losses?
Looking at the ruins everywhere in Highsun City and the scattered corpses of the Wu tribesmen, it was clearly a scene of them fleeing.
It was evident that the Wu tribe cultivators inside Highsun City had fallen into a trap. This was an out-and-out massacre!