Wangdong City was easy to defend and hard to assault.
Daoist Canghong spared no expense, committing virtually all his forces. Meanwhile, Demon Monarch Tongyou had long prepared for a brutal battle and stubbornly held the city, refusing to venture out.
The great battle raged for a day and a night, extraordinarily fierce and bloody.
Yet despite repeated assaults, Wangdong City refused to fall.
Daoist Canghong let out a long sigh, knowing in his heart that the momentum was lost and that he had no choice but to break off the siege.
***
Mount Shuangjing.
Upon receiving the urgent report, Qingjun immediately launched a general offensive.
This time, taking advantage of the enemy's terror and shattered morale, she swore not to rest until Mount Shuangjing fell!
Though their assaults were neutralized time and again, after brief moments of regrouping, they struck once more. While the battle raged, Qingjun ordered the news of Old Demon Ye's rout to be widely disseminated, throwing Sin Abyss's morale into chaos.
A heavy burden rested upon Qin Sang's shoulders.
With Qingjun directing the Xun Wind Grand Formation to unravel the patterns of Mount Shuangjing's spirit array, Sin Abyss's top experts had to be intercepted by him personally.
Fairy Qiuzhi, confident that her divine abilities could counter Qin Sang, entrusted the grand formation to Cultivator Shan and took to the field herself, seeking an opportunity to slay Qin Sang.
Entangled in combat with Fairy Qiuzhi, Qin Sang remained vigilant and brought nearly all his methods to bear. Though he avoided mortal peril, the toll on his energy was immense, and he was hard-pressed to hold out.
Fortunately, as night fell, Jingyu finally arrived upon receiving word. Her entry into the battlefield allowed Qin Sang to breathe a sigh of relief.
The tides of battle gradually tilted in favor of the Two Domains Alliance.
After a full night of slaughter, the reinforcements dispatched by Daoist Zhenyi arrived, becoming the final straw that broke the camel's back.
"This is all we can take."
Cultivator Song presented a jade slip. When the major battle broke out, he had been arranging their escape route.
Recorded upon the jade slip were the items they could take this time. Compared to the resources stored in Mount Shuangjing's treasury, it was a mere drop in the bucket, but with events unfolding so suddenly, there was no other choice.
Seeing the inventory on the jade slip, the Sin Abyss Nascent Souls felt a pang of deep heartache, yet had no better recourse.
Old Demon Ye's rout was something neither side had anticipated. Originally, Sin Abyss could have staged an orderly, unhurried withdrawal, but now all their arrangements had been thrown into utter disarray.
Because of this unforeseen turn of events, the course of the battle took an entirely unexpected direction.
"Retreat!"
Fairy Qiuzhi was exceedingly decisive, though her slightly knitted brows revealed the bitter reluctance in her heart.
*Boom! Boom!*
Tower after tower of Nether Crystal Pagodas rose from the ground.
Within the Xun Wind Grand Formation, Qingjun noticed Sin Abyss's movements. Her gaze narrowed slightly; flicking her slender fingers, several streaks of light shot into the battlefield. At the same time, her hand seals abruptly shifted, and nine massive pillars of wind rose from the flat ground, crashing violently against the Sky Lake.
*Rumble!*
The mountains trembled.
The Xun Wind Grand Formation tore through the Sky Lake. Having deciphered the patterns of the mountain-protecting grand array, Qingjun launched the general assault. Fairy Qiuzhi and Cultivator Shan joined forces to preside over the formation, while the others activated the Nether Crystal Pagodas to cover the army's retreat.
"Kill!"
Unlike the demoralized Sin Abyss forces, the cultivators of the Two Domains Alliance were high in spirits, charging forward with fierce courage.
Qin Sang was just looking for an opportunity to destroy several Nether Crystal Pagodas when he saw a streak of light flying toward him. Catching it in his hand, he found it was an order from his Senior Sister.
Sin Abyss still possessed the Nether Crystal Pagodas, making it unrealistic to wipe them out completely. The most critical objective now was the treasury on Mount Shuangjing; they had to locate it as quickly as possible and prevent the enemy from destroying it.
Jingyu stayed close beside Qin Sang, and the others converged to join them.
With Qingjun providing tactical support, the group joined forces to storm Mount Shuangjing.
Looking upon the mountain's current state, Jing Lin's gaze was complicated.
By now, Mount Shuangjing had been transformed by Sin Abyss into a fortress, with encampments stretching across the entire mountain range. It was completely altered beyond recognition, without a single trace left from his memories.
"Over there!"
Jingyu swept her gaze across and locked onto a cluster of palaces.
Dust billowed there as halls collapsed one after another, either blown apart or engulfed in towering flames; someone was clearly destroying them deliberately.
According to information from their inside contact, that was precisely where the treasury stood!
"Quick!"
Seeing this, the group hurriedly flew toward the treasury.
When the Sin Abyss cultivators caught sight of Qin Sang and the others, their faces drained of color. In a flustered scramble, they activated the defensive restrictions to buy time, frantically wrecking the treasury.
Right at that moment, the treasury's restrictions suddenly dimmed. A cultivator rushed out, shouting, "Junior Fang Qi greets you! Seniors, please enter quickly!"
It turned out this man was an inside operative planted by the Two Domains Alliance, who had slipped in amid the chaos and seized the opportunity to shut down the restrictions.
"Traitor!"
"So it was you!"
The Sin Abyss cultivators cursed Fang Qi furiously, but it was already too late to remedy the situation, and they scattered in flight. Qin Sang and the others rushed inside, and upon seeing that less than half of the treasury had been reduced to ruins, they felt secretly relieved.
In the end, powerless to turn the tide, Sin Abyss abandoned Mount Shuangjing.
Even so, under the protection of the Nether Crystal Pagodas, Sin Abyss's battle arrays managed to remain intact. The Two Domains Alliance pursued them for some distance, but once they passed outside the range of the Xun Wind Grand Formation, seeing that further gains would be difficult to achieve, they sounded the gong to recall their forces and returned to the mountain to recuperate.
Mount Shuangjing had changed hands.
The Nascent Soul cultivators gathered in the great hall at the mountain peak, their faces radiant with joy.
"We must hurry to Wangdong City at once; we leave the remaining matters to all of you."
The cultivators who had arrived as reinforcements took their leave.
At this moment, Wangdong City was vulnerable, with Demon Monarch Tongyou and the others struggling to hold it. They had to rush back to support them as soon as possible and by no means allow Wangdong City to fall.
"Many thanks for your trouble, fellow Daoists."
Qingjun cupped her hands and requested the Castellan of Yinshan Pass and several others to accompany them to Wangdong City. Originally, dispatching Qin Sang and Jingyu would have ensured absolute success, but considering the bad blood between him and Dongyang Bo, she had no choice but to choose someone else.
After the great battle, Mount Shuangjing was left in shambles.
After taking inventory of the treasury's resources and resting briefly, Qingjun gave the order for the army to march!
Speed is precious in war; opportunity is fleeting.
With Old Demon Ye severely injured, Sin Abyss had retreated a thousand li, their morale in the gutter. Taking advantage of Sin Abyss at its most chaotic, they had to cling tight to their foes and deny them any chance to reorganize.
From then on, they truly advanced like a split bamboo, sweeping all before them; the three armies marched in unison, triumphantly pressing forward.
The enemy's defeat collapsed like a landslide.
Several times, Old Demon Ye and Daoist Canghong attempted to rely on strategic passes to rally their scattered forces and stage a comeback. Yet before they could secure a firm footing, the armies of the Two Domains Alliance were hot on their heels, unleashing fierce onslaughts without a moment's pause.
Sin Abyss suffered rout after rout.
Old Demon Ye's words proved prophetic: it seemed they truly would have to flee all the way back to Yucheng in a single breath.
***
After several months of bitter fighting, the Tianxing Plateau was finally fully reclaimed, driving Sin Abyss back into the plains.
Between the Tianxing Plateau and Sin Abyss lay a long, narrow strip of plains acting as a buffer zone between the two regions. The plains were sparsely populated, yet rich in spirit mine resources.
It was precisely over the resources here that the Celestial Alliance and Sin Abyss fought year after year, their grievances mounting deeper and deeper over time.
Across the vast plains, it was the turn of spring into summer. A gentle breeze blew, caressing the tender green blades of grass. Insects had begun to stir, and birds, beasts, and bugs played the symphony of nature together.
Everything appeared so peaceful and serene.
Just then, a white cloud flew over at high speed from afar, skimming low across the terrain.
A bird noticed the white cloud and glanced up, but sensed nothing unusual about it, perceiving not the slightest anomaly, and continued chirping merrily.
Yet within that white cloud were several figures—all of them Nascent Soul Patriarchs, including Qin Sang.
While the two armies clashed elsewhere, they had snuck into this region with the purpose of taking back the mineral veins occupied by Sin Abyss.
Chapter 1289