Chapter 97: The Cultivation World Arrives

The war between the two sides continued unabated—one could almost call it a one-sided slaughter, for the individual combat prowess of the cultivators far surpassed that of the Church's vast army.

For this Crusade, the Church had assembled a million believers. Roughly one-fifth possessed the strength of Silver-armored Warriors, another one-fifth surpassed that level and reached the rank of Holy Knights, while the remaining three-fifths were even stronger still. Most of these were ascetics, though a small number belonged to special divisions of the Church.

Now, after the one-sided slaughter at the hands of the Eastern cultivators, the Silver-armored Warriors had clearly become cannon fodder. And what cannon fodder—fully two hundred thousand of them! Even the act of slaughtering them all would leave one's hands weary. Corpses floated across the sea's surface, numbering perhaps ten thousand or so, but the vast majority of the slain had been reduced directly to dust, leaving not a trace behind.

The Pope watched the battle before him with cold eyes, his face utterly devoid of expression. He merely gripped his scepter, a chill emanating from his body.

"Faithful warriors of my Lord, for the victory of this Crusade, for the doctrine of my Lord!" He raised the scepter aloft—the supreme symbol of the Church's authority.

The Holy Knights moved. The ascetics moved. Fully two hundred thousand Holy Knights, and over three hundred thousand ascetics! They were the soldiers of the Church, its backbone! The Order of Holy Knights, serving as the guardian force of the Church's headquarters, typically revealed no more than a thousand or so members before the eyes of ability users. Yet now, suddenly, over two hundred thousand had been deployed—who knows how the Church had managed to conceal them all this time. As for the ascetics, they had continually tempered their wills through suffering and hardship; their combat ability was in no way inferior to that of the Holy Knights, if not superior!

Hundreds of thousands of Church troops surged forward in a single wave. To describe the scene as blotting out the sky and covering the sun would be no exaggeration—a vast, dark expanse that could completely encircle the Eastern cultivators without a gap.

Gu Danqiu suddenly felt the pressure multiply. Nearly all the cultivators shared the same sensation.

Though their individual combat strength was formidable, they were outnumbered. Facing enemies hundreds or thousands of times their number, without an absolutely overwhelming advantage in power, mounting an effective resistance was no easy task.

Joseph Peter XVI nodded to himself, then raised his voice on behalf of the Church: "You Eastern heretics! Today the Church once again marches east, determined to wash away the shame of countless past Crusades. We shall spread God's radiance across the East and deliver you heretics straight into hell!"

"Wretched mongrels of those bastard angels..." Bian Xingzhao roared. The shout caused the Church side's expressions to change dramatically, while the cultivators found it quite satisfying.

Gao Zhuyi touched his forehead and quietly shook his head. "All you Church folk, let me tell you something. Ignorance is a fault, but don't be upset, because sometimes, ignorance is also a blessing!"

The cultivators couldn't help but laugh at his words, struggling to suppress their urge to burst out. But the most brilliant part was Gao Zhuyi's next line. He waved his hand and struck an extravagantly stylish pose: "Don't be obsessed with bro, bro is only a legend. Bro hasn't been in the jianghu for many years, yet his legend still circulates within it. I'm merely speaking the truth."

The Church forces flew into a rage: "Kill these heretics!"

They surged forward all at once, and now the battle truly became a chaotic melee. Since we were few against many, let the storm rage all the more fiercely!

In midair, because of the sheer number of combatants, little light leaked through to the sea's surface below.

War is cruel. At every moment, several lives departed this world—some without even leaving a complete corpse, reduced entirely to specks of dust. One after another, figures plummeted down, sank beneath the waves, and never rose again.

Before long, all the cultivators felt their hands growing weak, their strength flagging, and it became difficult to unleash any more power. Looking over at the Church's army, they were shocked to see that the enemy still had more than half their numbers remaining. Everyone's pupils contracted—this was no way to fight!

Horses neighing, weapons clashing—in war, death is the eternal theme. Either the enemy dies, or we do.

"Heaven-Splitting Slash!" A flash of glorious light swept through, countless figures were cut clean across the waist, severed limbs and broken bodies falling one after another into the depths of the sea.

"You Western barbarians! Even if every last one of us Eastern cultivators dies in battle, we won't let you gain any advantage!" Gu Danqiu declared loudly. By now his true essence was nearly depleted; the Heaven-Splitting Slash just now had been a desperate gamble. Even remaining suspended in midair was taking everything he had.

Situ Lanya's hair was in disarray. The battle had left her no time to worry about her appearance. She cried out in a charming voice: "Brother Danqiu is right! Even if we all die in battle, we cannot let the Western barbarians gain a single advantage!"

"Yes, let's fight to the death!" Gao Zhuyi was young, with a natural drive and fervor in his bones. Now was the perfect time to shed blood and proclaim such bold words of valor.

White-Browed Daoist exchanged glances with the senior cultivators, and from their eyes he saw resolute determination. He nodded and declared sternly: "Very well! We cultivators have always relied upon the spiritual energy of the Divine Land to attain our cultivation realms. Today, let us do our part and jointly protect the peace of this sacred land!"

All was staked on a single throw. Everyone was fully committed. Of the thousand-odd cultivators, nearly a third had already been lost. Yet they had steeled themselves for total annihilation and were determined to fight a proper final battle.

On this side, morale blazed. On the Church's side, weapons were being sharpened for the clash. The two forces immediately dissolved into a tangled melee.

The cultivators did not fear death. Cultivation itself was defying heaven, rewriting fate—through the calamities of threes and threes, the tribulations of nines and nines, they had never feared death. The Church was equally fanatical; for the faith in their hearts, they too could cast aside life and death. They swung their long spears and thrust their pikes, unleashing blade after blade of radiant holy light.

The scene grew even more chaotic. Everyone had bloodshot eyes, their faces twisted with savage ferocity.

A series of thundering booms rang out across the chaotic battlefield—a Golden Core cultivator had self-detonated. Self-detonation was a last-resort method of killing the enemy. Though its power was immense, the user would also die. Had it been a Nascent Soul cultivator or above, things might have fared better—the Nascent Soul could escape during the detonation, potentially preserving one's life. But this cultivator was only at the Golden Core stage; detonating his core meant his soul would be scattered to the winds, utterly annihilated.

The force of the self-detonation was ferocious. At the heart of the blast, Church soldiers were blown into shredded limbs and broken bodies.

But the Church had overwhelming numbers, and they pressed forward in force once more. Forced to the brink, many cultivators chose to self-detonate as well; for a time, thunderous booms rang out in endless succession.

Just then, lightning flashed crackling in the distant sky, instantly drawing the gaze of everyone present. The cultivators turned to look at the sight before them and found themselves stunned speechless—then overwhelmed by a joy beyond words, a joy that sprang from the very depths of their hearts!

From the west of the Eastern Sea, a layer of cloud-mist was drifting closer at a speed almost beyond belief. Looking more carefully, they realized it wasn't cloud-mist at all—it was clearly an endless expanse of human figures!

From the excited expressions of the cultivators, it was easy to tell which camp the newcomers belonged to. The cultivators—the true cultivators of the cultivation world—had finally appeared.

Led by Qingxu, the sect master of Yuxu Palace and standard-bearer of the cultivation world, nearly a hundred thousand cultivators flew in. What kind of formation was this? Let alone the sheer number, the terrifying strength radiating from each and every one of them was enough to inspire dread.

Qingxu, as the head of Yuxu Palace, had reached the mid-Tribulation Crossing stage—an undisputed titan of the cultivation world. Flanking him were his seven disciples, including Daoist Mufan, all of whose cultivation levels hovered around the Unity stage.

Before them, Daoist Luyang, White-Browed Daoist, and Bian Xingzhao were nothing at all.

Aside from Yuxu Palace under Qingxu's leadership, the other sects of the cultivation world had also dispatched many members. The Butian Palace, a sect composed mainly of female cultivators, had sent its palace master Qingxuan, whose cultivation had reached the late Unity stage, along with disciples ranging mostly from the Nascent Soul stage to the Spirit Separation stage. The Zixiao Sword Sect cultivated sword immortals—sword immortals being the most offensively powerful among all immortals. Its sect master Qu Xinghua, also at the late Unity stage, was in combat prowess not the least inferior to an expert at the early Tribulation Crossing stage. Then there was the Chaos Demon Sect, which focused on demonic cultivation, supplemented by numerous independent cultivators. In this day and age, immortal cultivation and demonic cultivation were no longer irreconcilable; whether one followed the immortal or demonic path, all roads led to the same destination—the pursuit of higher realms. This time, the Chaos Demon Sect had made a grand gesture, dispatching over sixty experts at the Extinction stage—equivalent to Unity-stage masters—led by the sect master himself.

The remaining sects need not be described in detail. In summary, the cultivation world had dispatched nearly a hundred thousand cultivators this time, an unprecedented event.

Among those hundred thousand cultivators, there were three at the Tribulation Crossing stage, led by Qingxu, who served as the soul of this operation. There were one hundred and twelve at the Unity stage—every single cultivator in the entire cultivation world who had reached that realm! Next came three thousand five hundred and sixty-three at the Spirit Separation stage, the vast majority of those at that level. Then sixteen thousand four hundred and seventeen at the Out of Body stage—truly a frightening number. The remaining eighty thousand or so were all Nascent Soul cultivators. Not a single Golden Core cultivator had been brought along; they had all stayed behind to guard the major sects. What were they staying behind to do? To watch over the house, of course.

From this, it was clear that common-world cultivators truly could not compare with those of the cultivation world—the disparity in numbers alone was an insurmountable chasm. Dispatching this many cultivators was, in itself, a first in recorded history.

The moment the swarm of cultivators arrived, they plunged immediately into battle. Experts like Qingxu, however, were far more leisurely. With a flicker of movement, he appeared before White-Browed Daoist and the others, clasped his hands in greeting, and said: "We poor daoists have arrived late. Please forgive us, fellow daoists!"

White-Browed Daoist was overwhelmed with flustered deference. How could he possibly bear such a solemn salute from Qingxu? Although he held some status among the common-world cultivators, compared to true cultivators of the cultivation world, he was nothing at all. Even in terms of cultivation level, White-Browed Daoist was merely at the late Spirit Separation stage—a far cry from Qingxu's mid-Tribulation Crossing stage. To describe the gap as the difference between heaven and earth would be no exaggeration. It was the gap between a sturdy grown man and a newborn infant!

White-Browed Daoist hastily returned the salute. "Fellow daoist, you are too kind. I am deeply honored and humbled."

Qingxu gave a hearty laugh. "All cultivators under heaven are one family. Our sects residing in the cultivation world have long enjoyed great advantages. Now that there is a place where old fogies like us can be of use, how could we dare not do our utmost?"

White-Browed Daoist chuckled as well, then together with Qingxu, turned his gaze back to the battle against the Church's army.

With the influx of so many cultivators, the tide of battle instantly reversed. Only by witnessing the current scene of war could one truly understand what it meant to bully the weak, to oppress the feeble with overwhelming force, to engage in one-sided slaughter!

One should understand that the cultivators of the cultivation world rarely involved themselves in mundane affairs; they were, for the most part, practitioners whose principal task was the pursuit of the Heavenly Dao. In their eyes, pursuing the Heavenly Dao was the greatest joy in life. In the previous Crusades, not many from the cultivation world had participated—the common-world cultivators had shouldered the burden of resistance on their own. The key reason was that cultivators' individual strength was simply too great. If they descended upon the mortal world in large numbers, the impact on ordinary society would be far too severe. Imagine them casually engaging in battles that could overturn mountains and drain seas—where in the mortal world was there space to accommodate such fights? Thus, the cultivation world had an unwritten rule: strict prohibition against interfering in mortal affairs!

This was the primary reason the previous Crusades had seen so little involvement from the cultivation world.

But why were they participating now? The reason was that the previous Crusade had inflicted tremendous harm upon the Chinese people—to describe it as laying waste to all living things would not be an overstatement. Furthermore, in recent times the cultivation world had recruited many disciples from the mortal realm, quite a few of them young people who had received higher education. These youths felt deep attachment to the mortal world. With their behind-the-scenes efforts, together with the aforementioned reason, the cultivation world had decided to intervene comprehensively in this Crusade.

And if they were to intervene, they would do it thoroughly and earth-shakingly. As the Chinese saying goes: "A bird that does not sing may surprise all when it finally does!" So this time, the cultivation world had mobilized the entirety of its strength—a full-scale deployment.

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