Hide in the world of gods and demons

Chapter 164 The War (Part 1)

They said they were going to start a war, but the sect has been slow to act, clearly waiting for the right opportunity.

Influenced by the atmosphere of war, even Zhou Hong, who had become somewhat lax in her cultivation, became unusually diligent. She resolutely went into seclusion for more than half a month and finally broke through the seventh level of Qi Refining, advancing to the eighth level.

Only two steps remain to reach the foundation stage.

The whole summer passed by in a flurry of activity.

……

night!

"It's been dragging on for so long, do you think they might give up?" Zhang Shuniang lay in Chen Li's arms, gently drawing circles with her hands, and whispered with a hopeful expression.

"Sigh, I guess so," Chen Li sighed.

But deep down, I know that this possibility is unlikely.

The blood feud between the Red Mountain Sect and the Heavenly Star Sect is not so easily resolved; a major battle is inevitable sooner or later to determine who lives and who dies.

And their own sect leader obviously wouldn't let go of this opportunity to profit from both sides.

He guessed that the war would begin no later than before winter.

Otherwise, it will have to be delayed until next year.

Winters here are quite harsh; once the snow covers the area, everything becomes very inconvenient.

Even the most powerful cultivators eventually have to come down to earth.

“I’ve always been afraid of being alone since I was little. My mother passed away early, and my father raised me all by himself. Every time my father went out to sell talismans, I would be locked at home and couldn’t even leave the house. I was always overthinking and living in fear,” Zhang Shuniang said softly.

Chen Li felt a pang of sympathy and put his arm around Zhang Shuniang to comfort her, saying, "Don't worry, even if war breaks out, I'll come back alive. Back in Green River Village, monsters roamed everywhere, eating people. It was even more dangerous than this, but we still made it through!"

Zhang Shuniang nestled into Chen Li's arms: "I just can't help worrying about Uncle!"

"Ah! What do you mean, 'uncle'? Call me husband!" Chen Li's face flushed red.

"Whee!"

……

Chen Li's guess was correct.

Not long after autumn arrived, the war began.

"This battle won't last long. I estimate I should be back in a month or so. Don't worry about me. Nothing will happen. Just live your life as usual."

The sky is still bright.

Chen Li and his wives and concubines bid each other a reluctant farewell.

The two women had tears in their eyes, looking as if they were facing a life-or-death separation.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, I'm off!"

In the distance, the five enormous flying ships of the Zhen Huan Sect, as large as mountains, were already positioned across the mountaintop.

Countless cultivators, resembling ants, rode their magical artifacts, streaking across the darkness of dawn, and flew into the cabin of the airship.

Due to concerns about leaks, the operation was not carried out with great fanfare. Apart from the high-ranking cultivators above Foundation Establishment, most Qi Refining cultivators were not informed of the impending battle until just before boarding the ship.

"Senior, you are boarding the Ding-class flying boat, located at the top control center, personally led by Uncle-Master Xiao Yuan." A servant disciple in charge of overall arrangements hurried over and respectfully greeted Chen Li upon his arrival.

Chen Li nodded.

Upon entering the airship's control center, he looked around.

There is a huge array plate here.

Inside the energy tank the size of a washbasin in the center of the array plate, a hazy glow permeated the air. Countless spirit stones were placed inside, and a dozen or so middle-aged and elderly Qi Refining cultivators were busy moving around, each holding a control token.

It looks similar to manipulating an array.

However, it's much more complicated.

At this moment, Xiao Yuan was chatting and laughing quietly with several Foundation Establishment cultivators. He showed no signs of pre-battle tension. Upon seeing Chen Li enter, he greeted him warmly:
"Fellow Daoist Chen, come, come, sit here!"

Chen Li quickly exchanged pleasantries and greeted each of the Foundation Establishment cultivators before sitting cross-legged to the side.

Four Foundation Establishment cultivators have already arrived.

Three men and one woman.

Besides Xiao Yuan, the other three are Peng Yan and Wen Hui, a married couple, and Hu Buwei.

“Speaking of which, Fellow Daoist Chen has been at the Foundation Establishment stage for five years now. Your cultivation level should be at the second level by now, right?” Xiao Yuan inquired.

"My cultivation has been going smoothly since I reached the Foundation Establishment stage, and I recently advanced to the third level!" Chen Li said with a smile. After all, he was about to go to the battlefield, and he couldn't hide his cultivation level, so he told the truth.

The cabin fell silent for a moment.

All eyes turned to her, and Wenhui's face lit up with delight.

The entire True Sect, including those independent cultivators who established families, comprised thirty to forty Foundation Establishment cultivators. Among them, one was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, six were at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and the rest were at the early Foundation Establishment stage.

At the third level of Foundation Establishment, one is already above average among all Foundation Establishment cultivators.

It has only been five years.

"I never expected you to have such talent, fellow Daoist. I'm afraid that in less than ten years, our True Sect will have another mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator." Hu Buwei sighed. Thinking of himself, he had been at the Foundation Establishment stage for a hundred years, and his lifespan of three hundred years was almost halfway over, yet he was still only at the third level of Foundation Establishment. He couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness in his heart.

"Not at all! The early and middle stages of Foundation Establishment are almost like an insurmountable chasm. It's not so easy to cross. Otherwise, with so many Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect, there wouldn't only be six people like Fellow Daoist Xiao at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. It all depends on fate!" Chen Li quickly said modestly, while subtly praising Xiao Yuan.

"Oh, you're too modest, too modest. What's the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment? It's just a little bit of cultivation!" Xiao Yuan shook his head repeatedly, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

"This is more than just a little bit of skill..." Hu Buwei joined in the praise.

“Yes, yes!” Peng Yan, who was somewhat hesitant to speak, chimed in agreement.

Soon, no one paid any attention to Chen Li anymore.

During this time, two more Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived at the controlled warehouse. One was an elderly cultivator named Song Zhi, whose face was covered in age spots, and the other was a middle-aged female cultivator of average appearance named Huang Qin.

Chen Li had little contact with these two people; he had only seen them a few times.

As everyone was talking, a voice came from the control array panel:
"Everyone in position, let's set off immediately!"

With the hum of the array plate, the energy bar shone brightly.

The airship finally began to move slowly.

“This thing flies too slowly, it will probably take a whole day and night to fly. Why don’t we gamble a few rounds? Come on!” Song Zhi’s old face beamed with a smile, revealing his two-hundred-year-old yellow teeth.

He took out a set of gambling equipment from his storage bag.

"Oh, you even brought gambling equipment. How much are you betting?" Hu Buwei immediately became interested.

"A little gambling is harmless fun! As long as it doesn't hurt our relationship, how about a maximum bet of one high-grade spirit stone?" Song Zhi chuckled.

"Too little, it's pointless." Xiao Yuan said disdainfully, "Why set an upper limit? If we win this battle, we won't be worried about money. If we don't return, what's the use of having more money in our hands?"

“That makes sense!” Wenhui said with a smile.

Everyone thought it made sense and immediately nodded in agreement.

Not wanting to appear out of place, Chen Li quickly familiarized himself with the rules and began to enter.

Although it was his first time using this gambling device, thanks to his clear and agile thinking after training his mind, his superior sense of timing, and his steady playing style, he never got greedy or reckless. He had both wins and losses, but lost less and won more. After playing all day, he won three high-grade spirit stones.

Xiao Yuan won the most, with about six high-grade spirit stones, while the others also won some to varying degrees.

Only Hu Buwei was a loser; Chen Li estimated that he lost more than ten.

"I never expected to win a high-grade spirit stone too!" Wenhui happily counted the spirit stones, then put them into her storage bag and laughed.

"I've had such bad luck today. Everyone else has won, but I've been losing the whole time." After the game ended, Hu Buwei exclaimed how unlucky he was.

Fortunately, he was wealthy and ran a brothel in Luanluo City. He was also a senior Foundation Establishment cultivator with substantial assets. Chen Li couldn't tell how much he cared about winning or losing a dozen or so high-grade spirit stones.

Of course, given his shrewd and worldly nature, it's possible he deliberately lost to everyone.

"Your card skills aren't very good. You need to practice more. That's enough for today. You need to rest and recuperate tonight. Come back another day when you have time," Xiao Yuan said with a smile, stroking his long beard.

After that, the relaxed atmosphere disappeared.

Everyone closed their eyes to rest and prepare for the upcoming battle.

The flying boats flew all the way, and at night they joined the Red Mountain Sect's team. The dozen or so flying boats formed a mighty formation, emitting a dim spiritual light in the darkness, like dark clouds pressing down, heading straight for their target.

After another night of flying, they finally arrived at their destination in the early hours of the morning.

Through the porthole, the Tianxing Sect's protective array shone brightly in the distance, forming a thick protective shield.

A moment later, two Golden Core cultivators flew out of the magic array, one after the other:

“Ao Xiong, how dare you! Are you going to fight me to the death? And He Zhao, you are despicable and shameless, with wolfish ambitions. The Tianxing Sect and your Zhenhuan Sect have no enmity and have never interfered with each other. If you retreat now, I will pretend that nothing happened.”

His voice was thunderous, and it resounded in all directions.

Even after being filtered through the flying boat formation, it was still clearly audible.

Chen Li felt somewhat ashamed upon hearing this.

Sigh, this is really not in the right!
"Hmph, Cao Wu, you are tyrannical and domineering, instigating disputes and killing excessively, disturbing the peace of the surrounding neighborhoods. Heaven will not tolerate this. My assistance to Fellow Daoist Ao is merely acting on behalf of Heaven. If you surrender now and beg for forgiveness, we may spare your life." He Zhao flew out of the flying boat upon hearing this, his expression unchanged.

"Hahahaha, turning black into white, despicable and shameless, come on if you want to die!" Cao Wu was so angry that his hair and beard stood on end, he gritted his teeth and laughed in extreme anger.

He had never seen such a shameless person.

If we're talking about killing...

You truly believe He Zhaolun is number one; who dares to claim second place?

The remains of the Longevity Sect members are not yet cold.

"Fellow Daoist He, why waste so much breath on these dying people? Come on!" Ao Xiong also flew out of the flying boat, sneering, "Two against two is fair enough. How about we settle this now, so we can avoid innocent deaths and injuries when we break the formation later? Do you dare?"

"Are you afraid of me? What wouldn't I dare to do?"

He Zhao and Ao Xiong exchanged a subtle glance and nodded almost imperceptibly.

next moment.

The four people from both sides transformed into four streaks of light and approached at high speed. Halfway there, Ao Xiong threw out an umbrella-shaped magic weapon to protect his body. Then he took the hit of Cao Wu's flying sword and his body suddenly turned towards the newly promoted Golden Core cultivator.

He circulated all his spiritual power, his aura surged, and the pressure of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator enveloped the entire battlefield.

Clearly, they were thinking of clipping the wings first.

"Not good!" Cao Wu's expression changed drastically, and he frantically gave chase.

But it was too late!
He Zhao and Ao Xiong formed a team.

It's unintentional!
Two more mid-stage Golden Core cultivators unleashed a thunderous attack.

The newly promoted Golden Core cultivator was completely caught off guard.

Just a face to face.

A blinding light appeared.

His defenses crumbled instantly, and he was killed on the spot by the two men.

Blood spilled into the sky.

The entire battle lasted only a fleeting moment, a mere blink of an eye!

One of the Golden Core cultivators has already perished.

(End of this chapter)