Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Great Victory, Pursue and Attack the Enemy

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Outside Golden Maple Ridge, bodies were strewn everywhere.

There were the corpses of the Cultivation World’s five major families as well as those of Qiyun Alliance Cultivators, but most were of the latter.

The great battle had ended, with the five major Cultivation families emerging victoriously.

However, although they had won the battle, it was a Pyrrhic victory.

Out of the one hundred and seventy-three Cultivators of the five major families who had participated in the battle, as many as thirty-five had perished on the spot, with another seven being mutilated and disabled, with dozens more sustaining injuries both minor and severe.

Even two Cultivators from the Foundation Establishment Stage had fallen, and many were injured.

“The tally is out—we have slain eleven Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Qiyun Alliance, gravely wounded three, killed one hundred and eighty-nine Qi Refinement Cultivators, and injured countless others!”

“Additionally, most of the spoils from the enemies killed in battle have been obtained by our Cultivators, with only a small portion carried away by the escaping enemies.”

Within the mountain gates of the Sun Family at Golden Maple Ridge, the Sun Family Clan Leader Sun Zhongping hurried into the hall, reporting the battle outcomes to those meditating and healing inside.

At this time, the Cultivator seated at the head of the hall had become Zhou Mingde of the Zhou Family.

As for the Purple Mansion Mid-Phase Cultivator Sun Yaowu, he had returned to the Green Lotus Temple overnight to seek help from the Temple Elders for his injuries.

Previously in the battle, Zhou Mingde had, for the greater good, given up his advantageous position to go and assist Sun Yaowu.

But to everyone’s surprise, Tang Yuan had concealed a secret treasure, the “Sunfire Thunder Bead.”

Seeing Zhou Mingde come to Sun Yaowu’s aid, Tang Yuan immediately targeted Sun Yaowu with the artifact.

Caught off guard, Sun Yaowu was severely wounded by the explosion, nearly destroying his physical body!

After scoring a hit, Tang Yuan didn’t possess the courage to actually kill a core disciple of the Green Lotus Temple and instead immediately switched targets, attempting to slay Zhou Mingde with his sword.

But he had underestimated the strength of the Zhou Family!

At the crucial moment, Zhou Mingde also produced an extremely rare “Heavenly Thunder Talisman” and activated it on the spot, sending it his way.

This “Heavenly Thunder Talisman” had been created by a Golden Core Cultivator who had collected the Power of Heavenly Thunder and sealed it using sophisticated Talisman Making skills, its power comparable to a personal attack from a Golden Core Cultivator.

When Tang Yuan was struck by this talisman, the injury he received was hardly less severe than the one inflicted on Sun Yaowu.

Not daring to remain on the battlefield any longer, he escaped silently using a secret escape technique.

Upon seeing even Tang Yuan, a Purple Mansion Late-Phase Cultivator, nearly killed on the spot by the “Heavenly Thunder Talisman”, the remaining two Vice Alliance Hierarchs of the Qiyun Alliance dared not stay on the battlefield—how could they know if Zhou Mingde had yet another “Heavenly Thunder Talisman”?

Thus, the victory was decided as soon as the battle between the Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators had concluded.

Due to Zhou Mingde’s serious injury to Tang Yuan, it became a matter of course for him to lead the five major Cultivation families.

Hearing Sun Family Clan Leader Sun Zhongping’s report, Zhou Mingde’s gaze swept over the various Cultivators in the hall, and he slowly said, “Taoist friends, although our side has suffered significant losses in this battle, the outcome is nonetheless glorious and grand, a great victory!”

“But if you strike a snake and fail to kill it, you might be bitten in return.”

“After this battle, we have forged a deep blood feud with the Qiyun Alliance. If we do not take advantage of Tang Yuan’s current severe injuries and exterminate him, should he recover from his wounds in the future, the consequences would be unimaginable!”

At this point, Zhou Mingde paused slightly, then continued in a stern tone, “Therefore, I propose that the five major families make a joint attack immediately, surround their headquarters before the Qiyun Alliance’s hounds have a chance to react, and once our main forces arrive, we can launch an assault and annihilate them all in one fell swoop!”

After he finished speaking, the hall was silent for a long time, with no one voicing agreement.

The wisdom behind the idiom about not letting a snake go was not unknown to the Cultivators in the hall.

Yet the prospect of besieging the Qiyun Alliance’s headquarters, with the intent to utterly destroy them, was not an easy task.

Even if they managed to do so, the casualties within the five major Cultivation families would undoubtedly be greater than the losses incurred in this one battle.

It should be noted that the Cultivators who had died in the war were the kinsfolk of those present!

The deaths of a few dozen people had already caused them much distress, and should many more perish, it was feared that the very vitality of their families would be severely damaged.

Even they themselves might not be guaranteed to survive that battle.

So even though they knew Zhou Mingde was right and that his words made sense, the Cultivators of each family did not immediately respond.

After a lengthy silence, Wang Guangping, a Purple Mansion Cultivator of the Wang Family, was the first to speak up softly, expressing her opinion, “Taoist Friend Zhou speaks wisely, but in my opinion, while it wouldn’t hurt to make a demonstration, attacking and breaking through their defenses needs more careful consideration!”

Her words ignited a flurry of agreement from the other Cultivators in the hall.

“Indeed, Elder Wang is right—intimidation will do in fending off those Loose Cultivators, but the attack and breaching of defenses come with great casualties. If we can avoid it, then it’s better not to engage in such actions!”

“Taoist Friend Sun makes a good point—the Loose Cultivators are generally easily frightened, so by making a grand display, we might force the Qiyun Alliance to disband on their own!”

“I also believe that if we can avoid attacking and breaking their defenses, it is best not to do so indeed!”

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Aside from the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Zhou Family who did not speak up, the majority of Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the other families agreed with what Wang Guangping had said; none of them wished to fight another tough battle.

It was not that they lacked vision; rather, it was simply the reality of the situation.

The reason they had gone to war with the Qiyun Alliance in the first place was merely because the Alliance’s arrogant attitude had challenged their status, prompting them to teach the Qiyun Alliance a lesson.

Now that they had already proven their strength and status to the entire Cultivation World of Lanzhou with a decisive victory in a direct conflict,

it could be said that their goal in starting the war had been achieved.

In such circumstances, why would they be willing to risk a large number of lives in a fight to the bitter end with the Qiyun Alliance?

Facing the wave of opposition, although Zhou Mingde felt some regret, he did not actually ignore the majority’s opinion.

He promptly nodded in acquiescence, saying, “Since all the Taoist friends believe that the situation is not suitable for another assault on fortified positions, let us surround them and make a show of force for now!”

After a short rest in meditation to replenish their Mana, the elite Cultivators from the five great Cultivation families of the Sun group flew together toward the headquarters of the Qiyun Alliance.

Meanwhile, the Family Cultivators of the five great Cultivation clans who were on standby received the news quickly and also sent people along with some Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators to the Qiyun Alliance headquarters, creating the impression that they intended to annihilate the Alliance.

This momentum made the forces who had been closely watching both sides feel uncertain and unable to determine whether their threat was genuine.

And just shortly after returning to the Qiyun Alliance headquarters, before the two Alliance Vice Hierarchs had time to warm their seats, they became as anxious as ants on a hot pan, unable to sit still or relax.

“What should we do? The Alliance Hierarch is not here; how should we handle this?”

Vice Hierarch Wei Feng said with a gloomy expression and a low voice, as if muttering to himself.

Although he didn’t mention any names, since there were only he and another Vice Hierarch, Zhang Zixuan, in the room, it was clear he was seeking the latter’s opinion.

But Zhang Zixuan was equally panic-stricken and had no answer to his question.

All he could do was to respond softly, “Let’s wait for now. The Hierarch might not be here, but we’ve already notified him using the Thousand Mile Transmission Talisman. Even if he’s in closed-door cultivation, he wouldn’t ignore the Transmission Talisman!”

Hearing this response, Wei Feng’s mouth twitched as if he wanted to say something, then restrained himself.

In the end, he could only let out a long sigh, saying, “Sigh! There’s nothing else we can do!”

Even a mighty Purple Mansion Phase Cultivator could only sigh in resignation at this moment.

And as for the news of Qiyun Alliance’s crushing defeat and the siege at their gate, Zhou Chun, who was in the Marketplace, also received it quickly.

They say good news never goes beyond the gate, while bad news spreads a thousand miles.

In less than twenty years, the Qiyun Alliance had risen swiftly, making countless enemies along the way.

Many people, although unable to take revenge on their own, found it easy to spread the word upon seeing the Alliance in disarray.

Moreover, the five great Cultivation families themselves were making an effort to publicize the results of the battle at Golden Maple Ridge and the fact that the gate of the Qiyun Alliance was being besieged.

“Even the gate has been surrounded; it seems that even if the Qiyun Alliance isn’t exterminated this time, it will definitely suffer a great decline and will have to lie low for a while!”

“The five great Cultivation families truly live up to their reputation as long-standing family powers; indeed, their foundation is not something that a nouveau riche like the Qiyun Alliance can match!”

Inside the Spirit Beast Restaurant, Zhou Chun came to a judgment after synthesizing the news from various sources.

Then he thought of another thing that was being hotly discussed in the Marketplace: the Clan Leader of the Zhou Family, Zhou Daoyi, harnessing a Flood Dragon to kill three of the Qiyun Alliance’s Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Zhou Chun of course knew that Zhou Daoyi did not tame any Flood Dragon; he had only tamed a Sky Azure Cloud Python.

Therefore, the “Flood Dragon” mentioned in the news was most likely the transformed Sky Azure Cloud Python, temporarily enhanced by some secret technique rather than a true evolution into a Flood Dragon.

“If the Clan Leader’s Sky Azure Cloud Python can be temporarily transformed into a Flood Dragon using a secret technique, then my Silver Lightning Python should be able to do the same after it grows to the second stage, right?”

“Did the Third Elder tell me to pay special attention to acquiring Spiritual Objects like Dragon Blood Grass and Dragon Blood Stone because he knew there were such secret techniques within the family, in order to prepare me in advance?”

Zhou Chun felt that this was very likely the case.

His heart then filled with excitement.

Transforming the Silver Lightning Python into a true Flood Dragon was extremely difficult, if not impossible.

But if it could be temporarily transformed into a Flood Dragon, gaining some of the Divine Skills of a Flood Dragon, that would be an impressive ability indeed.

This was evident from Zhou Daoyi, with his mid Foundation Establishment strength, being able to consecutively kill a late Foundation Establishment Cultivator and two other Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

If Zhou Chun could master this secret technique in the future, then after his own successful Foundation Establishment, his strength would be even greater than Zhou Daoyi’s.

After all, the Thunder Spells wielded by the Silver Lightning Python were much stronger than the Wind Walking Techniques used by the Sky Azure Cloud Python!