Sage of Humanity

In the end, it was Feng Wujiang who insisted against the majority, deciding to stay at the Righteous Blood Sacred Land.

It's not that they intended to coexist with the Sacred Land through its demise, but simply fleeing without a fight would greatly damage the prestige of these Nine Provinces elders.

Moreover, even if the Blood Race truly had the capability to conquer the Righteous Blood Sacred Land, these people still stood a significant chance of breaking through the siege.

Just as the Sacred Land was making intense preparations for the battle, Lu Ye arrived.

He brought along the As-Close-As-Siblings Array Disc, which alone increased the overall strength of the Sacred Land by thirty percent, not to mention his ability to control the sealed Blood Race Dao soldiers.

These past few days, Lu Ye had been busy with various tasks, without much interaction outside. However, the Nine Provinces elders had all been observing him in secret, now seeing him in person, naturally scrutinizing him closely.

"Everyone, carry out your tasks as per the previous allocations," Feng Wujiang instructed.

The elders didn't speak much, their spirit force surged, as they swept away in all directions.

Only Feng Wujiang, Mong Jie, and Lady Moon remained.

"Senior Brother, what should I do?" Lu Ye asked.

Feng Wujiang replied, "Eleven islands surround the Sacred Land, forming its defensive line. This defensive line must not be breached, or the Sacred Land would be lost. Junior Brother, I need you to stay on this island, working alongside Senior Mong Jie and Lady Moon to ensure this island is held."

Lu Ye nodded, "No problem." After pausing, he spoke again, "What's our chance of winning this battle?"

Feng Wujiang smiled slightly, "Success depends on our efforts, we'll only know after fighting."

He patted Lu Ye's shoulder and soared into the sky, presumably for a final inspection.

Lu Ye watched him leave, then turned to Mong Jie and Lady Moon, "For this battle, I rely on you, two elders."

Lady Moon smiled softly, "Ultimately, Mong Jie and I are just two individuals. You are the main defender in this battle, which is why your senior brother placed you here. But don't be too tense, if truly formidable Blood Race members appear, Mong Jie and I will take action to resolve them."

While the two elders had profound cultivation, their numbers were limited. Moreover, if experts like them engaged in battle, they would inevitably be targeted and tangled with by Blood Race elites. In such scenarios, the main defenders would still be the Blood Race Dao soldiers under Lu Ye's command.

Over a hundred Divine Sea Realm cultivators, able to form arrays among themselves at any moment, such a force is not to be underestimated.

"Our chances of winning this battle are around sixty percent," Lady Moon answered Lu Ye's earlier question on behalf of Feng Wujiang, "But in war, there are always unexpected changes, so it's not definitive, we just need to give our best."

Currently, the Sacred Land's odds stand at only sixty percent, suggesting how low their chances were before Lu Ye arrived.

It's not that the elders were lacking in strength; it's simply due to their small numbers.

Despite decades of development for the Righteous Blood Sacred Land, with an immensely large human base group, the number of cultivators isn't numerous.

Taking the island Lu Ye needs to cooperate in defending as an example, it has merely one or two thousand human race cultivators.

The situation on other islands isn't much different.

The total number of human race cultivators is around tens of thousands, while the Blood Race army reaches millions.

Even with the defenders having a geographical advantage, it's hard to offset the immense numerical disparity.

This indeed is a battle between vastly disparate forces.

Lady Moon and Mong Jie both conserved their strength to face the upcoming battle, while Lu Ye instructed Dao Thirteen to keep an eye on the Blood Race Dao soldiers, as he inspected the island's fortifications alone.

It must be said, the logistical support from the Nine Provinces was remarkable, each segment of the city walls has imposing and large killing weapons visible everywhere, each accompanied by formations, defended by varying numbers of cultivators.

Moreover, Lu Ye keenly noticed numerous formations laid across the city, including the As-Close-As-Siblings Great Array.

He provided the Sacred Land countless As-Close-As-Siblings Array Discs, enabling array cultivators with some proficiency to easily establish the As-Close-As-Siblings Great Array.

One could say the city is now armed to the extreme.

Lu Ye felt slightly regretful, if he had enough fire spirit stones, he could have supplied the Sacred Land here with one more war-suited killing weapon.

But he had used up all the fire spirit stones he previously accumulated, and the Blood Refinement World itself doesn't produce any Spirit Stones. The material aid from Nine Provinces also didn't contain enough fire spirit stones.

Thinking about these things now is futile, as the Sacred Land has made every effort, and the outcome of the impending battle, whether success or failure, is a matter of fate.

Lu Ye also started conserving his strength.

At some point, dark clouds loomed over the horizon, rapidly rolling in this direction.

"They're coming," came Lady Moon's gentle voice beside him.

Lu Ye opened his eyes and looked ahead, only to see dark clouds covering the sky at the edge of his vision, with more lightning and thunder within the clouds, below which countless figures were either traveling through the air or riding spiritual artifacts.

The Blood Race has little need for combative spiritual artifacts, as few of them employ such, their blood techniques highly corrode the spiritual essence of artifacts.

However, this doesn't mean the Blood Race lacks flying spirit artifacts.

The island Lu Ye was tasked with defending was located north of the Sacred Land, meaning it faced the forces of the Blood Race's northern front, led by the Star Moon Saintly Venerable.

When tens of thousands of Blood Race members gathered under the Star Moon Sacred Land, it wasn't too noticeable, but now as the army pressed in, the pressure felt was indescribable.

Blood Race forces crossed the Empyrean Sea on the northern front, advancing forward, and at the same time, from the eastern, southern, and western directions that Lu Ye couldn't see, armies were similarly advancing.

There was no concealment over the ocean; besides, such large-scale marching couldn't be hidden, and the Blood Race had no need to hide anything.

Arriving so openly, if not for the Righteous Blood Sacred Land here having repulsed the Blood Race several times, perhaps many people would have lost their sanity.

Compared to the oppressive feeling brought by the Blood Race armies, Lu Ye was more concerned about another matter.

In the depths of his mind, he sensed a faint malice surging from all directions, as if an invisible eye was spying on him, wanting to harm him.

The Origin of the Soaring Dragon World within him was throbbing.

It was a phenomenon never experienced before.

Lu Ye immediately understood that the unseen, intangible malice came from the Heaven and Earth's Will of this realm!

The Heaven and Earth's Will here is amorphous, imperfect, incomparable to the intense clarity of the Nine Provinces; previously, Lu Ye didn't feel it because Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury had made some concealments when sending him here. Furthermore, relative to the vastness of the Blood Refinement World, he, just a True Lake Realm, wasn't worth much attention from this realm's Heaven and Earth's Will.

But now the situation was different; the Blood Race armies were mounting pressure, enveloping the entire Blood Refinement World, invisibly making this realm's Heaven and Earth's Will much clearer.

To the Blood Race, the Righteous Blood Sacred Land is a tumor; Blood Refinement World is the domain of the Blood Race, so naturally, the Heaven and Earth's Will of this realm stands with the Blood Race.

But that's all.

Unlike Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury, which can directly interfere with cultivators' actions, the Heaven and Earth's Will of the Blood Refinement World doesn't have such power; it can only instinctively create momentum for the Blood Race armies, psychologically pressuring the human race.

Just like the dark clouds accompanying the Blood Race armies.

The reason the Origin of the Soaring Dragon World was throbbing is that the Soaring Dragon World was annihilated by the Blood World.

The relationship between the Blood World and the Blood Refinement World is unknown, but the existence of the Blood Race in both is a common point. Faced with this Heaven and Earth's Will seemingly linked to its own world's destruction, the Origin of the Soaring Dragon World naturally had some unusual reactions.

Blood Race armies mounted pressure at the borders.

On eleven small islands, the human race was ready and waiting.

The distance between was continually closing, faintly hearing the thunderous cries for battle from the Blood Race armies.

The sky-covering dark clouds quickly advanced with the Blood Race armies, until they overshadowed the Righteous Blood Sacred Land and its surrounding islands.

The sky showed no trace of light, plunging the entire world into gloomy darkness, an oppressive atmosphere weighing down like having ten layers of quilts on one's body.

Roaring sounds emitted, as intricate Dao Runes rapidly lit up, piercing the oppressive darkness, transforming into the brightest light in this world.

It was the human race cultivators on the city walls responsible for formations who activated the big array.

In an instant, a profoundly intricate Formation covered the entire city, everyone within shook with a sensation born from the depths; instinctively feeling they could infuse their power into the Formation beneath their feet for others to borrow, or withdraw power others had infused.

The As-Close-As-Siblings Great Array was the first to activate.

Eleven small islands, eleven As-Close-As-Siblings Great Arrays, like eleven lamps lighting up the vast Empyrean Sea.

Buzzing sounds kept occurring, followed by the activation of defensive arrays in sections of the city walls.

A crunching sound resonated.

Standing on either side of Lu Ye, Lady Moon and Mong Jie both turned their heads towards Lu Ye, their eyes twitching at a glance.

Lady Moon couldn't believe her eyes: "What are you eating?"

Lu Ye handed her the half-eaten Blood Crystal: "Would you like some, senior?"

Even with Lady Moon's wide experience, she couldn't help being deeply shocked: "You eat this... is it okay?"

"I have a good appetite, good digestion." Lu Ye smiled slightly, swallowing the Blood Crystal and continuously channeling his spirit force into the array beneath, facilitating it for others within.

Lady Moon somewhat stiffly shifted her gaze away.

Without the intention to persuade, despite Lu Ye's youthful face, he was, after all, of the True Lake Realm, without needing her guidance on what to eat.

"Monster!" Even the usually silent Mong Jie couldn't help but comment.

Having come to the Blood Refinement World for so many years, he had not seen the human race capable of consuming Blood Crystals.

Is this even human?

It's hard to understand what kind of prodigies are emerging from the current Nine Provinces, Feng Wujiang aside, though immensely powerful, he still resides within a normal range; his junior brother, however, is evidently anomalous.

Suddenly, violent vibrations sounded, followed by a light beam erupting from the city wall, the beam straight and sharp as a sword, fiercely shooting into the advancing Blood Race armies ahead.

Wherever it passed, the Blood Race turned to dust.

The battle had begun!