CHAPTER 904: CHAPTER 903: BATTLE PREPARATIONS 1

Yue Duo and the others were the first batch to enter the Green Mist of the Medicine King Furnace, the first to enter the space rift, and the first to battle the monsters.

Compared to Hou Niao, their speed was much quicker, which is something determined by strength.

Together with the cultivators who later followed, they pushed the monsters back into the space from the corridor, achieving this just a month ago; but upon reaching here, advancing became difficult, nearly ten thousand monsters blocked them, making any progress nearly impossible, and they didn’t even have a chance to reach the pestle over these days.

"Advancing forward has become very difficult. We can’t achieve our goal through any single desperate advance, and there are many reasons, the main one being too few people and a lack of follow-up support; so we changed our strategy, hoping to reduce their numbers through daily depletion, but as it stands, it hasn’t been quite satisfactory. The pestle continues to summon monsters at all times and from the passage behind it, more monsters keep coming, forcing us to engage, even though slaying large numbers each day only barely keeps the number of monsters unchanged."

Hou Niao understood; this is a process where both sides are dynamically adding reinforcements. The human cultivators went from actively reducing to now passively reducing. However, the increase of human cultivators is limited, while the monsters seem endless,

"We are waiting, waiting for you to arrive. The number of cultivators gathered here has exceeded a hundred. We estimate that there are nearly three hundred outsiders on Hell Star, but not more than two hundred will actually make it here, so we still need to wait a while before launching a full-scale attack."

Hou Niao sighed, "Still two months to gather around two hundred people, but we don’t even know if we can actually kill that pestle when we rush to it?"

Yue Duo chuckled, "What are you thinking? With our current realm, we can never kill an Innate Spiritual Treasure. It’s just that, with the suppression of the Medicine King Furnace, we can see if we can manage to move it. Our goal is to pass through, not to kill the Innate Spiritual Treasure."

Nearby, Fei Bai Fairy politely asked, "Sister Yue, how confident do you feel? Are there any other passages?"

Yue Duo shook her head, "No other passages, this is the only one. Of course, the universe’s space rifts are interconnected, theoretically, there’s always a second or third route, but we don’t have the time, only two months, it’s simply too late."

Qi Zheng Daoist nodded in agreement, "I just tried, taking a detour isn’t a matter of two months, it could be a matter of twenty or even two hundred years, meaningless."

Yue Duo looked at the crowd, "Here, there’s no issue of who orders who or who commands who; but such battles are not about fighting solo, they require organization and cooperation. Since we all have one purpose, we need to work together and listen to arrangements. Of course, you have the right to express your wishes, and we’ll discuss them together."

The group had no objections, understanding the larger picture; knowing when to be independent, and when cooperation is necessary, was clear in everyone’s mind. Those who were confused would not have been sent here. When opening up a New Territory for a cult or sect, seeing the big picture is often more important than individual strength.

Some cultivators came over to connect and communicate—two familiar faces, Zhi Xuan Daoist and Supreme Rong Guang; they were indeed the outstanding figures among the Cosmic Daoists, conducting themselves with such grace that neither felt overbearing nor without substance, adequately showcasing their profound foundations.

No one would submit to them, but in this particular operation, no one would secretly play tricks either. These were mutual interests at stake, and no one would want to remain space rats within the rift forever.

The group of a hundred cultivators here was divided into three groups: one was the attack group, comprised of cultivators with strong offensive power, tasked with breaking through the defenses; another was the defense group, currently engaged in battle, tasked with guarding the corridor entrance, continuously depleting the number of monsters. They mostly hailed from Daoist Sect or Buddhist Sect, possessed significant mana, and specialized in wearing down opponents effectively.

The last group was the reserve group, with the fewest numbers, only about ten, tasked with immediate response in case of anomaly, such as if the defense group’s formation was breached by monsters, or if the attack group occasionally opened a gap during advancement, they had to be there to immediately fill it.

Hou Niao was assigned to the reserve group because, in Zhi Xuan Daoist’s view, he still lacked the independent strength, and his cultivation was relatively weak. Such a realm achieved through Spirit Plant energy was unreliable.

He didn’t mind much, except for the regret of not being able to stay with his senior sister.

Yue Duo was very busy, engaged in tactical discussions with Zhi Xuan and others, so Hou Niao could only mingle with Fei Bai Fairy, as they were both assigned to the reserve group.

"Daoist Yue is truly a model for all cultivators, sincere, with exceptional Sword Technique..." praised Fei Bai.

Hou Niao was puzzled, "Aren’t they all Sword Cultivators, why favor one over the other?"

Fei Bai snorted disdainfully, "They’re both jade, can Immortal Jade and Mixed Jade be compared? Besides, you aren’t from Qingkong, just a countryside bumpkin from across the universe. Whether the Qingkong Sword Vein acknowledges you is debatable, you just love plastering a false facade, incessantly calling ’senior sister, senior sister,’ it’s disgusting."

Hou Niao didn’t want to argue too much with this opportunistic woman, but he was curious, "Have you asked them? How many people have felt changes in the Purple Mansion after consuming large doses of Spirit Plants?"

Fei Bai’s expression turned somber, "Not everyone is willing to share, but about half felt something, and the other half, I suspect, are just pretending to be strong; in the space of Medicine King Furnace, we flew for nearly nine years, and most people did too. In such a long time, even those with complete cultivation couldn’t help but use large doses of Spirit Plants to replenish energy, so no one escaped it."

Hou Niao asked with intrigue, "What will the outcome be?"

A voice interjected, "The outcome is that everyone returns to the same starting line!"

Wei Yi and Gu Zai approached, among Hou Niao’s few friends, nodding at each other in greeting,

Fei Bai, eager to know, asked, "What do you mean by that, Daoist Wei?"

Wei Yi smiled, "We were the first ones in and the first to contact these energies, so we have a general judgment, of course, it’s for reference only.

This energy does no harm, at least as far as cultivation is concerned, there’s no distinction between good and bad, nor is there any hidden mysteries, this is a judgment based on the inheritance of the largest Daoist Sects across the universe, including The Three Pure Ones, Supreme Taixuan, Huangting, etc.

However, Spirit Plant energy will open up the Purple Mansion Secret Realm of cultivators, that’s also a fact!

We estimate that when we enter the Jinxiu Continent, Purple Mansion cultivation will inevitably become an essential part in the ascent to Upper Realm for cultivators; in other words, those of you whose cultivation is complete, just a step away from entering the Nascent Soul Realm, probably won’t fulfill your wishes immediately, you’ll have to prioritize cultivating the Purple Mansion until it’s complete, only then will you be able to achieve Nascent Soul,

So, it’s back to the starting line for everyone: those lacking in cultivation accumulate cultivation, those without a complete Purple Mansion build a Purple Mansion; when you reach the Jinxiu Continent, no one should expect to achieve Nascent Soul immediately!"