Chapter 308: Semi-enemy Territory
A craftsman who wishes to do his work well must first sharpen his tools.
Everyone knew this principle, but not everyone could create that tool.
At least, among the many cultivators of Xuanzhen Domain, aside from Ning Qi, none could do it.
Even though many had entertained such thoughts, none had the ability to act on them.
Sword Ancestor leaned in to examine the Soul Seeking Node Disc in Ning Qi’s hand and found that its pointer indicated the northwest direction.
He couldn’t help but say, “Kid, you’re really something!”
Ning Qi smiled, then waved his hand toward the northwest and said, “Set off now!”
Immediately, the Xuanzhen Domain Army uniformly changed direction and flew toward the northwest.
…
A small node in the northwest direction.
At this moment, the remaining two teams of White Crane Immortal Sect had just arrived here.
Among them, two Peak Venerables named Su Haoran and Wu Feiyu were the leaders of the two teams.
Under their command were fully twenty Integration Realm cultivators, over a hundred Void Dao Realm cultivators, and nearly two thousand Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.
However, with so many people gathered together, everyone’s faces showed a trace of hidden worry about the fear of the unknown.
Even Su Haoran and Wu Feiyu, as Peak Venerables, did not look good at this moment.
White Crane Immortal Sect was one of the Immortal Sects in the medium Spiritual Realm Spirit Bird Domain in the northwest region of Haoran Realm. Even in the entire Haoran Realm, its strength was considered mid-tier.
But after arriving in the War Domain, their other two teams had successively met with disaster, not even managing to send back a single survivor to report.
No one alive returned to report, but they hadn’t even received a single piece of related enemy intelligence!
The first team had only managed to crush a Communication Jade Slip, informing them that they had encountered a crisis of annihilation so sudden they couldn’t even send back a message.
Afterward, all three teams rushed toward its location.
At that time, Su Haoran had discovered this small node where they now were and was preparing to capture it.
But due to the urgency of the situation, he directly abandoned the plan to take the small node and immediately went to provide support.
But not long after, the second team sent back a message.
“Dangerous, do not come, we will gather first!”
It seemed that the second team was closer to the first team and had discovered some situation.
But they also didn’t know exactly what had happened, only deciding to gather first before discussing.
So, Su Haoran headed toward the second team’s location, and after one hour, he met Wu Feiyu’s team.
The two teams converged and continued rushing toward the second team’s location.
However, at that moment, the two of them received another message from the second team: “Don’t come, run fast!”
Su Haoran and Wu Feiyu immediately stopped.
The two looked at each other, only feeling a long-unfelt emotion of fear rising in their hearts.
The first team had encountered annihilation, and the second team, even with psychological preparation, still couldn’t send back even a single effective message about the enemy.
This was simply too terrifying!
The two couldn’t help but speculate about the enemy.
They did not suspect Sea of Realms Fierce Beasts or other sects in Spirit Bird Domain.
Sea of Realms Fierce Beasts absolutely could not make two teams of White Crane Immortal Sect led by Peak Venerables unable to send back even a message.
As for Spirit Bird Domain, relatively speaking, the sects within it did not have major issues and could not possibly be slaughtering each other internally.
Moreover, they similarly could not achieve making their two teams unable to send back messages.
So, only one possibility remained: they had encountered Mountain Sea Realm cultivators!
Hadn’t Heavenly Secrets Pavilion in Vast Righteous Immortal Sect passed down the word that the ones they would encounter in the War Domain were merely cultivators from the tail-end Spiritual Realm of Mountain Sea Realm?
If they could leave the War Domain at this moment, they really wanted to grab the cultivator who had sent the message from Vast Righteous Immortal Sect back then and demand an explanation.
Was this the tail-end Spiritual Realm you spoke of?
Could cultivators from a tail-end Spiritual Realm kill people from their medium Spiritual Realm without even letting them send back a message?
Su Haoran and Wu Feiyu only felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
After thinking it over, they no longer dared to go to the place where the second team had met with disaster, even though the two teams had joined together.
What’s more, the second team had told them to run fast!
In the end, Su Haoran decided to go with Wu Feiyu to the small node he had discovered.
Capturing the small node and summoning Haoran Realm Will would allow their sense of security to increase somewhat.
Thus, the two led the remaining people of White Crane Immortal Sect and desperately flew toward the node.
One hour later.
The two teams of cultivators arrived at the small node. There were also Sea of Realms Fierce Beasts here, three Sea of Realms hungry wolves.
However, with their two teams of cultivators, they quickly slew them and seized the Node Bead.
The method they used to summon Haoran Realm Will was the same as Ning Qi and the others.
Su Haoran and Wu Feiyu joined forces and rapidly injected power into the Node Bead. Heaven and earth instantly changed color.
Invisible power surged in, drilling into the Node Bead. Then the Node Bead flew into the high sky, transforming into a Heavenly Star fixed on the Sky Boundary Wall above.
The power of Haoran Realm Will instantly projected down, relieving the pressure on the people of White Crane Immortal Sect and reducing the strength suppressed by the realm by thirty percent.
Then, Su Haoran and the others led the congregation of cultivators to begin constructing the altar.
Only after the altar was also completed and the Boundary Sea Energy and Mountain Sea Realm energy in this place were thoroughly drained could Haoran Realm Will completely occupy this territory.
Just as they were constructing the altar.
Ning Qi had already silently led the Xuanzhen Domain Army to approach within ten thousand meters. The Stealth Formation concealed their figures, so the people of White Crane Immortal Sect had not yet discovered them.
He paused slightly, and the Xuanzhen Domain Army also silently halted.
Everyone looked at the Heavenly Star on the Sky Boundary Wall ahead, their expressions slightly changing.
The people of White Crane Immortal Sect had already turned the Node Bead into a Heavenly Star and summoned Haoran Realm’s will.
Mountain Sea Realm Will had naturally also taught them how to seize territory occupied by Haoran Realm cultivators.
Among them, the worst situation was that the opponent had already activated the Heavenly Star and Earth Star, allowing Spirit Realm Will to thoroughly occupy the territory.
Mountain Sea Realm Will named such territory Enemy Realm.
Even though it had explained that conquering an Enemy Realm was extremely difficult!
A slightly better situation was that the opponent had only captured the Node Bead and had not yet fully allowed Spirit Realm Will to gain a foothold.
Such territory was named Half-Enemy Realm by Mountain Sea Realm Will, and the situation Ning Qi and the others were facing now was precisely this.
Sword Ancestor was beside Ning Qi. Seeing Ning Qi also gazing at the Heavenly Star, he couldn’t help but ask, “What are your plans?”
Ning Qi said, “Now they have summoned Haoran Realm Will. Although it is not complete, it has already restored thirty percent of their cultivation.”
“If we charge into the central area now, under the scrutiny of Haoran Realm Will, I cannot keep you all concealed. We will inevitably reveal ourselves midway.”
“Moreover, once we enter that area, our strength will be weakened by thirty percent by Haoran Realm Will. Under such circumstances, it will be extremely disadvantageous to us.”
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned.
Sword Ancestor, Niu Ding Tian, and the others all furrowed their brows one by one.
If the current Half-Enemy Realm was already so difficult to attack, how much more difficult would it be to conquer a true Enemy Realm?
Niu Ding Tian said, “Their numbers are fewer than ours. We will ultimately win. If we wait any longer and let the Half-Enemy Realm turn into a complete Enemy Realm, it will be even more troublesome. Our Demon Race has stronger defenses, so let us take the lead!”
After he said this, everyone’s favorable impression of him increased by a point.
To voluntarily step forward to take the lead in the face of battlefield disadvantage and willingly serve as the front shield for everyone was worthy of admiration no matter what.
But Ning Qi shook his head, then scanned the crowd of Xuanzhen Domain and continued,
“Even if we can win, many of us will definitely die in this battle. As Alliance Leader, I understand that in a great battle, there will always be deaths, but… I want to preserve as many lives as possible!”
Hearing this, a wave of emotion rose in everyone’s hearts.
Especially those Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, whose strength was the weakest in the War Domain. If a battle truly broke out, they were the most likely to die.
And among Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, there were also multiple levels.
The true disciples of Boundless Sword Sect were the strongest, followed by those from other sects, with many from minor sects and rogue cultivators as well.
If the Alliance Leader disregarded their lives and directly launched an attack, who would die the most? Everyone knew it in their hearts without needing to say.
Therefore, after Ning Qi said this, the weaker in cultivation felt even more that they had followed the right person.
These cultivators of theirs had long surpassed mortal lifespans in age, with extremely rich experience, knowing the consequences of following the wrong person.
If they encountered a ruthless person, using them as cannon fodder would not be enough; they would even have to be grateful for it!
Ning Qi continued, “Let me think for a moment and come up with a better way.”
Thus, everyone quietly waited.
Although there were still some belligerent ones among them who agreed with Niu Ding Tian’s proposal and wanted to charge directly to stop the people of White Crane Immortal Sect from continuing to build the altar, since the Alliance Leader had spoken, waiting a bit longer was no harm.
If there was no good method in the end, they could still adopt the earlier proposal.
Among the congregation of cultivators, Fu Chen sat in one area. Now he had also become a captain in the cultivator army, commanding several Void Dao cultivators and a hundred Nascent Soul Realm ones.
Seeing the previous scene, his understanding of Ning Qi deepened somewhat.
Fu Chen was extremely grateful at this moment that he had fortunately listened to his teacher Wei Wu Ya’s words back then and come to join Ning Qi.
Otherwise, if he had insisted on staying in Fuyao Region and chosen to join Qingxuan Immortal Sect, it absolutely would not be as comfortable as now.
Fu Chen had spent half his life as a rogue cultivator and knew that rogue cultivators were not even considered people in the eyes of sects!
The stories he had heard were mostly of rogue cultivators being driven by sect members and then betrayed, so he had always been unwilling to join any sect.
With his talent back then, many sects in Southern True Domain had invited him to join, but he had refused them all.
If not for the Spirit Realm War starting this time, he absolutely would not have joined any sect!
But now Fu Chen took pride in joining Boundless Sword Sect and was proud to follow Ning Qi.
Ahead, Ning Qi slightly narrowed his eyes, staring at Su Haoran and the others.
Most of the cultivators of White Crane Immortal Sect were gathered around the altar, extremely focused, wanting to complete the altar construction as quickly as possible.
Another portion of them were surrounding the periphery, vigilantly watching all around, afraid that someone would kill their way in the next moment.
Ning Qi glanced at the Heavenly Star again.
The Heavenly Star flickered with bewitching light, and that light was spreading further, meaning Haoran Realm Will was condensing more and more.
As long as they waited for the ground altar to be completed, the Heavenly Star would link with the Earth Star, and Haoran Realm Will would completely descend, turning this place into an Enemy Realm for Mountain Sea Realm cultivators!
Ning Qi finally had an idea in his heart.
He turned to the crowd and said, “Set up the Great Formation here. Attack only after I make my move!”
Everyone was shocked.
Sword Ancestor said, “Are you going alone?”
His expression showed some worry.
Although now the cultivators of Xuanzhen Domain all revered Ning Qi as Alliance Leader and Domain Lord, and even all sects had nearly become one body.
But in Sword Ancestor’s heart, Ning Qi was always the Sect Leader of Boundless Sword Sect!
Therefore, he cared about Ning Qi’s safety more than anyone.
Ning Qi laughed, “What, Old Man Jian, you don’t believe in me?”
Sword Ancestor was helpless.
Was this a matter of belief or not?
He had always believed in Ning Qi, but he was still worried for him.
Not only him, almost everyone in Boundless Sword Sect held the same thoughts as Sword Ancestor.
Especially those closer to Ning Qi: Lu Ziyue, Vice Sect Master Cang Wanhe, True Person Ziyang, Jiang Ruhai, and the former top ten true disciples.
Only the reincarnated ones from True Martial Realm were completely calm in their hearts. Although Qin Minghao was not a reincarnated one from True Martial Realm, he was the same as them, after all—he had long known Ning Qi’s true identity.
True Martial Realm Master!
People from other sects actually also felt some worry.
After all, since following the Alliance Leader, everyone had gained immense benefits.
Even without mentioning the benefits from following Ning Qi, just the fact that Ning Qi treated them the same as Boundless Sword Sect made them extremely grateful.
Such a leader was extremely rare.
They were unclear about the situations in other domains, but they dared to guarantee that the sects dependent on Immortal Sects in other Spiritual Realms would absolutely not be treated this way by those Immortal Sects.
What’s more, facing a Half-Enemy Realm that was forming, the Alliance Leader did not send them ahead but prepared to go alone!
Ning Qi naturally saw Sword Ancestor’s thoughts.
He said, “Old Man Jian, before I make my move, I need your One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws. Don’t drop the ball later!”
Sword Ancestor had a half-dark face and ignored Ning Qi changing his address from Sword Ancestor to Old Man Jian, only responding, “Go ahead.”
He knew he couldn’t dissuade Ning Qi and could only assist him with all his power.
Ning Qi scanned the crowd again, and everyone was staring at him, their gazes complex, filled with various emotions.
Worry, reverence, admiration, trust… and so on.
Immediately after, they saw Ning Qi’s figure completely disappear.
Everyone completely could not perceive how Ning Qi had disappeared, nor did they know where he had gone.
But the Concealment Grand Array on them had not disappeared, so the people of White Crane Immortal Sect did not know that the army was just ten thousand meters away, silently watching them.
The only thing the crowd understood was that Ning Qi would definitely appear at that altar location.
Thus, everyone pinched hand seals, each unleashing their abilities, accumulating power, preparing to immediately follow up when the Alliance Leader made his move and eliminate the most enemies.
Meanwhile, Sword Ancestor Jian Jingjue silently moved to one side, away from the crowd.
When Ning Qi left, he had set up a small Invisibility Array on him alone, so he could detach from the army.
His task was different from the army’s; he would act first before Ning Qi, attracting the attention of White Crane Immortal Sect’s crowd and creating an opportunity for Ning Qi.
At the same time, Ning Qi had also given him a Magic Jade. As soon as this jade vibrated, he would immediately launch a sword strike toward the people of White Crane Immortal Sect.
Jian Jingjue quietly arrived at the direction opposite the army, silently staring toward the altar.
He thought to himself, “Kid, you have the talent to ascend to immortality, yet you always rush to the forefront in everything. I don’t know if your rapid progress is related to this.”
As a sword cultivator, he actually also believed in this creed.
Fearless in heart, charging forward without hesitation!
But now he always felt that Ning Qi’s sword heart was even more transparent than his.
Ning Qi had laid upon himself the most profound Invisibility Technique he could currently grasp.
Isolating aura, scent, mana, Nascent Soul, rules, life, and all fluctuations…
Then he cast the Space Travel technique, quietly approaching the crowd of White Crane Immortal Sect.
In fact, he was also testing.
Testing whether he could avoid being perceived by Spirit Realm Will under full effort.
This was very important to him, relating to the future battles with Mountain Sea Realm and Haoran Realm.
The War Domain could be said to be the best place for him to understand the two Spirit Realm Wills, where he could make various attempts to test Spirit Realm Will.
The current Heavenly Star on the Sky Boundary Wall had summoned Haoran Realm Will but had not fully descended, making it an excellent testing opportunity.
Ning Qi hid in the void, shifting his body segment by segment.
From ten thousand meters away to nine thousand meters.
Neither the crowd of White Crane Immortal Sect cultivators nor the Haoran Realm Will above sensed his existence.
Ning Qi shifted again to eight thousand meters, and there was still no quick reaction from the opposite side.
Seven thousand, five thousand, three thousand…
Ning Qi had entered the two-thousand-meter range, entering the alert range of the White Crane Immortal Sect cultivators defending outside.
The opposite side still had not discovered his existence.
Ning Qi silently perceived everything, especially the Haoran Realm’s will on the Heavenly Star in the sky.
Haoran Realm Will was continuously gathering, and that Heavenly Star was becoming more brilliant.
Its light sprinkled down every place below, spreading further.
To occupy territory in the War Domain, this Heavenly Star was naturally not just for decoration.
The starlight it cast down was also an embodiment of Spirit Realm Will and could perceive everything beneath it.
The starlight formed beams, first falling on the altar construction site.
Thus, this place was the most important and the place Spirit Realm Will paid the most attention to.
Afterward, the starlight would spread outward continuously with the altar as the center.
The important levels it focused on would also change according to distance—the closer, the more importance; the farther was not without importance, but the distance was its alert range.
At this moment, the starlight had spread to five thousand meters out, not yet reaching where the Xuanzhen Domain Army was.
And Ning Qi had arrived at two thousand meters, hiding within the void. Haoran Realm Will still had not discovered his existence.
Next, Ning Qi began shifting inward using hundred-meter intervals as the benchmark.
He originally wanted to combine Space Travel with Earth Escape to go from underground, which would be the safest.
However, this was the War Domain, a special space established by the two realms within the Sea of Realms.
There was fundamentally no underground, only the Realm Wall.
So Ning Qi had no way to cast Earth Escape.
If he passed through the Realm Wall, beyond it was the endless Sea of Realms.
With his reincarnated body’s ability, he obviously could not pierce the Realm Wall jointly constructed by the two realms.
What’s more, a place like the Sea of Realms, even his main body would not fare well if entering it.
Within it were endless Sea of Realms Fierce Beasts and unknown bizarre dangers.
Ning Qi did not know much about the situation within the Sea of Realms; probably only large Spiritual Realms like Mountain Sea Realm and Haoran Realm understood the Sea of Realms more deeply.
Therefore, Ning Qi’s main body had no intention of exploring the Sea of Realms.
It would not be too late to explore the Sea of Realms after truly capturing Mountain Sea Realm.
Ning Qi gradually shifted toward the inner layer.
Nineteen hundred meters, fifteen hundred meters, eleven hundred meters, one thousand meters…
At the one-thousand-meter range, Ning Qi temporarily stopped. The starlight from the Heavenly Star within the thousand meters had clearly become deeper.
Ning Qi extended his finger and lightly touched the starlight ahead with his fingertip.
After waiting a moment, Haoran Realm Will still did not discover him.
Ning Qi breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
It seemed Spirit Realm Will’s perception was not as strong as imagined; this was good news for him.
Ning Qi continued shifting forward.
Nine hundred fifty meters, eight hundred meters, five hundred meters…
He had entered the range of the White Crane Immortal Sect cultivators constructing the altar.
Ning Qi continued using the previous testing method to probe the starlight.
Only after no reaction did he continue.
Three hundred meters, one hundred meters…
At the one-hundred-meter range, the starlight ahead clearly showed more brightness.
Ning Qi reached out to probe. This time his sensation was different.
When his hand touched the starlight within the hundred-meter range, he clearly felt the starlight like water, seeming to flow up and down, detecting anomalies, but it still did not discover his existence.
Ning Qi continued.
Eighty meters, fifty meters, thirty meters…
The starlight ahead was bright as daylight. Ning Qi probed with his hand.
The flowing sensation of the starlight became more frequent. Ning Qi, as Domain Lord and World Lord, could clearly perceive from it that faint World Power was mixed with the starlight flowing together, but it still failed to discover his existence.
Ning Qi proceeded with reassurance.
Twenty-five meters, fifteen meters, ten meters…
Ning Qi truly shifted to the core area.
He hid in mid-air, about twenty zhang high from the ground below.
The ground below was full of Integration Realm cultivators.
He reached out again. The starlight ahead already had a scorching sensation; he didn’t know if it was because he was a Mountain Sea Realm cultivator or because of the grand array established by Haoran Realm cultivators.
In any case, when Ning Qi had previously built the altar at that medium node and activated the Heavenly Star, he had not felt this scorching heat.
A question also rose in his heart: or did Spirit Realm Will also have its own attributes?
Without continuing to think, Ning Qi knew what was most important at the moment.
He perceived Haoran Realm’s will. Within the ten-meter range, aside from the starlight’s scorch, the World Power within was denser.
Haoran Realm’s World Power, true to its name, gave Ning Qi a clear sense of vast righteousness when he touched it.
This feeling was extremely wondrous. That vastness was not the vastness of a mortal standing at the peak of mountains, overlooking the mountains below, seeing the boundless expanse at his feet, gazing up at the sky, and piercing the starry void—that kind of vastness.
Rather, it was an extremely miscellaneous vastness: the vastness of humanities, the Cang Sang-like vastness of history, the vastness of aura, the vastness that accommodates everything…
Ning Qi clearly felt that Haoran Realm Will seemed somewhat more upright and open compared to Mountain Sea Realm Will.
This was a particularly strange feeling, which deepened his previous thoughts.
Spirit Realm Will definitely had its own attributes!
The Mountain Sea Realm Will that Ning Qi had contacted had a sense of Heavenly Dao’s impartiality, so it would plunder surrounding small worlds to constantly enrich itself, and thus it would intercept Haoran Realm in the Sea of Realms and launch the Spirit Realm War.
Whereas Haoran Realm Will seemed to lack such thoughts as Mountain Sea Realm Will.
Ning Qi took a deep breath and began breaking into the ten-meter range.
