Sage of Humanity-Chapter 716 - 714: The Great Battle Begins

Beneath Sky Ravine, the Blood River surged tumultuously, with the stench of blood pervading an area of about 30 miles, rich and tangible. In the river, bubbles burst explosively as if tormented souls were wailing.

Celestial Saint stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing upward.

Even during the previous massacre by Sky Ravine Sect's many powerful figures targeting Fa Hua and Liu Tianyi, he had not participated. Decades of plotting had finally brought him to the last step. Now, his eyes saw only the Sky Ravine that spanned the Void, nothing else.

In this world, there was no person or thing that could disturb his grand plan.

A coughing sound approached from a distance. The Great Elder Xing Mo, already frail with age, appeared even more decrepit now.

In the earlier great battle, although only a few elders of the Sky Ravine Sect had died, many were injured, especially Xing Mo who had faced Fa Hua's wrath directly. His injuries were in fact very severe. He couldn't understand how that old monk, nearly at death's door, could still unleash such terrifying and unmatched strength.

But ultimately, even two fists can't withstand four hands.

What he couldn't understand even more was why Fa Hua and Liu Tianyi chose to die here.

Given their strength, plus Huang Liang, if they had intended to flee, they might have had a chance. Yet, from the beginning to the end, neither had shown any intention of leaving. Only at the last moment did they collaborate to create an escape opportunity for Huang Liang.

But thinking about these now was pointless. Xing Mo gathered his thoughts and came to stand beside Celestial Saint, speaking softly.

"Sect Hierarch, the Sixth Elder, the Nineteenth Elder, the Twenty-Seventh Elder… and those who chased after them, they all are dead."

To lose over a hundred men at once, including more than a dozen of elder rank, was something Xing Mo could hardly believe when he first received the news. But eventually, he confirmed that those had indeed met with misfortune.

Just to pursue an severely injured Huang Liang, how could they all have died?

Who in this world could have slain them all in such a short time?

Even if Fa Hua and Liu Tianyi lived again, they might not possess that ability.

Thus, he hastened to report this matter.

"Hmm."

To his surprise, faced with such grim news, Celestial Saint merely responded indifferently, showing no other reaction.

After waiting a moment, with no further instructions from Celestial Saint, Xing Mo spoke, "Sect Hierarch, should I send someone to investigate the situation?"

They needed to know how those people died and by whose hand they fell, so they could respond accordingly.

"No need, let them be dead," replied Celestial Saint indifferently, his tone making it sound like not a group of elders had died, but rather some insignificant dogs and chickens.

A chill ran down Xing Mo's spine. While Sky Ravine Sect might not have the longstanding heritage of the Three Great Overlord Sects nor any fraternity between fellow disciples, having banded together for warmth, such cold indifference seemed out of place.

Xing Mo faintly felt that something about Celestial Saint seemed quite amiss.

This feeling had actually begun when Celestial Saint started implementing the current plan, but it had never been so prominent before.

After a moment of silence, Xing Mo asked, "Sect Hierarch, can we truly glimpse the path beyond Cloud River?"

Even as the Great Elder of Sky Ravine Sect, second only to one, he was unclear about Celestial Saint's plan. The big array covering several miles, built with countless lives and blood, its purpose was completely unknown to him.

But according to Celestial Saint's public statements, this array was the key to breaking free from the constraints of Soaring Dragon World and stepping onto the path beyond Cloud River.

Thus, over the years, these elders had been wholeheartedly assisting Celestial Saint, enduring hardship without complaint.

At their level of cultivation, this was all they aspired for.

"Are you questioning your Sect Hierarch?"

Facing his own subordinates, whose fates he regarded with utmost indifference, Celestial Saint suddenly turned around, his sinister gaze fixating on Xing Mo.

Xing Mo promptly bowed his head: "Your subordinate wouldn't dare!"

With immense shock in his heart... he had never seen such a mysterious light in the Sect Hierarch's eyes.

Celestial Saint looked at him deeply for a long moment, then said indifferently, "Just do your duties."

"Yes." Xing Mo still kept his head low, beginning to report another matter, "The Three Great Overlord Sects have issued a manifesto. A large number of cultivators from various places have responded and will soon arrive at Xuezhou. I seek instructions from the Sect Hierarch on how to deal with them."

"Ignore them. They are but dogs and chickens," Celestial Saint dismissed contemptuously, ready to face the cultivators from an entire domain with utter disregard.

Xing Mo's mind was in turmoil. Although the Sky Ravine Sect had a decent influence, it was not ready to confront the entire cultivation world by itself yet. Once the cultivator alliance forces, led by the Three Great Overlord Sects, reached Xuezhou, Sky Ravine Sect wouldn't be able to resist at all.

From where did the Sect Hierarch derive such confidence to disregard them?

Should he consider leaving this place of conflict as soon as possible?

Yet, being infamously notorious already, and with Sky Ravine Sect acting this way, once he left Xuezhou, there would be no place for him to hide in this vast world.

Despite his age, he was not willing to die so soon; he wanted to live a few more years.

After stepping down, he met Cheng Henfeng who was waiting for him.

"What did the Sect Hierarch say?" Cheng Henfeng asked.

Xing Mo shook his head, "No need to heed it, nor to block the news."

Cheng Henfeng furrowed his brow. "If we do not block the news, there will surely be chaos within the sect."

In fact, at this moment, some information had already begun to circulate within the Sky Ravine Sect, leaving many cultivators of the sect in a state of panic.

Xing Mo said leisurely, "Perhaps... this is what the Sect Hierarch hopes to see?"

Initially, Cheng Henfeng did not quite understand, but then he realized the implication and shuddered, "Are you saying, the Sect Hierarch, he..."

Xing Mo's eyelids drooped. "By now, if we want to stay alive, we have no choice but to follow this path to the dark. Those of lesser renown can flee, hide their names and perhaps survive, but us elders, other than coexisting or perishing with the Divine Sect, what choice do we have?"

Cheng Henfeng was silent.

As time passed, the Blood River grew thicker with the blood of kidnapped mortals being slaughtered and their blood fed into the river.

Not only that, but many of the Sky Ravine Sect cultivators who had heard some rumors and attempted to flee Xuezhou were also captured and mercilessly killed beside the Blood River.

The many surviving elders of the Sky Ravine Sect personally took action, and heads rolled in a massacre.

The blood of cultivators was far superior to that of mortals. With the large amount of blood from the Sky Ravine Sect cultivators being added, the Blood River, covering about 30 miles of land, seemed almost sentient, churning tumultuously and emanating an extremely ominous aura.

"It's almost time, nearly there!" the Celestial Saint gazed toward the Sky Ravine, his eyes brimming with fervor.

For countless years, he had been contemplating the mysteries of the Sky Ravine, and one day, he had an epiphany, which was when he began to plan this grand scheme.

Years of preparation for a moment's action, it was as swift as a thunderbolt; the Soaring Dragon cultivation world reacted swiftly, but they were already unable to stop it.

The big array was nearly ready; just waiting with the preparation complete, he would then execute the final plan, shattering the confines of this world and glimpsing the mysteries beyond the Cloud River.

"Sect Hierarch, led by the Three Great Overlord Sects, the cultivator alliance forces have entered Xuezhou, and they will attack within a day," Xing Mo reported back.

"Let them come!" the Celestial Saint responded resolutely.

Xing Mo opened his mouth, at a loss for words.

As the cultivator alliance forces drew nearer, the atmosphere within the Sky Ravine Sect grew ever more tense; if not for the earlier actions of many elders killing a group of deserters, the sect might have already self-destructed by this point.

Even so, morale was disintegrating.

Their own Sect Hierarch was inactive, and many elders were equally bewildered, facing such a calamitous disaster, the Sky Ravine Sect was utterly clueless on how to defend.

Three thousand 'li'...

One thousand 'li'...

Five hundred 'li'...

New updates kept coming, and the cultivator alliance forces drew incrementally closer to the location of the Sky Ravine Sect.

Until a large fleet of tower ships entered their line of sight, they were arranged in battle formation, having been waiting for a while, the cultivators of the Sky Ravine Sect were all pale.

The three leading ships, each bearing the emblem of one of the Three Great Overlord Sects, followed by tower ships behind them, not a thousand, then at least eight hundred...

Almost every cultivation sect in the Soaring Dragon world was involved in this, showing the influence of the Three Great Overlord Sects.

"Amitabha!" A loud Buddhist chant resonated, and on the tower ship of Vajra Temple, the figure of a great monk appeared; it was Monk Guangjing, the abbot of this generation's Vajra Temple.

Gazing at the blood-qi reaching the sky ahead, even from almost thirty miles away, he could distinctly smell the strong scent of blood. Even someone like Guangjing, a highly cultivated monk, felt a surge of intense anger.

Over the years in the Soaring Dragon world, there wasn't a shortage of sinister and vile individuals, but never had there been anyone like the Sky Ravine Sect, slaughtering the creatures of an entire continent.

On their journey here, the whole of Xuezhou was dead silent, let alone living humans, not even a few wild animals could be seen.

And looking at the surging Blood River before them... How many lives had to be taken to amass such an enormous scale?

Moreover, Guangjing knew Fa Hua died here.

Personal grievances and great hatred, Guangjing was aware, today there might indeed be the need to vanquish demons.

On the tower ship of the Imperial Heaven Sect, a highly cultivated cultivator stepped forward, holding a proclamation. He recited it loudly, condemning the evil deeds of the Sky Ravine Sect and enumerating their crimes. All the cultivators who came to quash the rebellion listened with righteous indignation, their anger boiling.

And as the proclamation was recited, it seemed the heavens and earth also responded, an inexplicable power gathering on the side of the cultivator alliance forces, stabilizing their hearts and boosting their morale.

"The Sky Ravine Sect acts perversely, their crimes unforgivable. Today, led by the Imperial Heaven Sect, Vajra Temple, and Haoran Academy, we unite with all fellow daoists to eradicate demons and punish the wicked, restoring a just universe to the cultivation world, and justice to the heavens, witnessed by all 984 cultivation sects of the Soaring Dragon world!"

There were no offers to surrender, nor negotiations. With such egregious actions from the Sky Ravine Sect, there was no longer any need for persuasion or discussion—only complete eradication. Annihilating the Sky Ravine Sect thoroughly was the only way to honor the creatures of the continent.

The cultivator alliance forces approached with a morale soaring to unimaginable heights.

"Attack!" From nowhere, a shouted command was heard, and from each and every tower ship, figures darted out, swooping towards the Sky Ravine Sect to launch an assault.

The grand battle began!