Chương 70: The Tide Breaks

Blood Lion Mountain towered over a three thousand meters into the heavens. The entire mountain was shrouded by the Nine Star Black Glass Array, which from a distance looked like a gigantic silver white eggshell. The formation consisted of nine main formation flags and forty nine secondary flags, each one guarded by a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Beyond drawing spiritual power from the mountain's own spirit vein, the Nine Star Black Glass Array could also absorb the power of the stars themselves.

The core treasure of the formation was a Tier 3, Low Grade spirit artifact, the Black Glass Mirror. This artifact had been seized as spoils of war during the Spirit Beast tide over a hundred years ago. In the end, it was used as the centerpiece to lay down this formation. In the century since, the Black Glass Mirror had never been used. No one knew just how much energy it had stored up over all that time. But when it activated, even a mid stage Purple Mansion Realm spirit beast would be forced to flee in terror.

And now, atop Blood Lion Mountain, two mid stage Purple Mansion Realm cultivators stood guard, alongside more than fifty Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Nearly ten thousand Qi Refining Realm cultivators were also present. The formation was absolutely impenetrable. Blood Lion Mountain was the main battlefield for the nine counties of Qingtai Prefecture. Unless this mountain fell, the Purple Mansion Realm spirit beasts of the three great clans would not withdraw.

The Purple Mansion Realm forces on both sides were relatively evenly matched. Thus, this war would ultimately be decided by the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Not far from Zhang Huaijin stood the three great Foundation Establishment Realm families of Langya County. The Tian family had sent Tian Jianwei. His strength was at the second level of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and by the look of it, he had already reached the peak of that level.

He would likely break through to the third level within two years. Tian Jianwei's gaze was cold and indifferent. He glanced at Zhang Huaijin once, then quickly looked away. No one saw the killing intent hidden in his eyes. The Yan family had three Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators in total. Their representative was Yan Siyan. His strength was at the third level, also at the peak of that level, only a single step away from the mid stage. But that bottleneck had plagued him for three long years.

Not everyone was like Zhang Huaijin, untroubled by such barriers. A single, seemingly small bottleneck could trap a cultivator for an unknown span of time… Sometimes, even until their dying breath… Nearby stood the Gao family. The Gao family was the strongest Foundation Establishment Realm family in Langya County. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. They boasted five Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators in total.

Two of them had been sent to Blood Lion Mountain. The stronger the family, the greater their contribution, that was only right, given the resources they controlled. The two Gao cultivators were at the fifth level and the third level of the Foundation Establishment Realm. The fifth level cultivator, Gao Zhengxin, was also a Tier 2 Formation Master. It was he who had repaired the Zhang family's Geng Metal Profound Light Formation. Gao Zhengxin noticed Zhang Huaijin as well.

Curious about the rising star of Langya County, he offered a slight smile. Zhang Huaijin nodded in return. In total, Langya County had sent five Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Adding the Qi Refining Realm cultivators and independent cultivators, the number approached two hundred. Langya County's strength ranked in the middle among the nine counties of Qingtai Prefecture. Zhang Huaijin did not wander. Instead, he focused on refining his own cultivation.

For an ordinary five spirit root cultivator, even after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, it would take more than twenty years to advance a single level if they relied solely on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Though Zhang Huaijin had five spirit roots, he possessed an Earth Fiend Spirit Body. The Realm-Breaking Pearl was constantly refining his physique. And the Primordial Tai Chi Visualization Diagram continuously tempered his soul.

—— Now, Zhang Huaijin's cultivation speed has surpassed even that of a two spirit root genius. And that was without even considering his ample resources. Once the Tier 2, low grade Azure Spirit Peach ripened and he consumed it… Zhang Huaijin estimated he could advance one level every three years. Zhang Lixian, by comparison, had three spirit roots. An ordinary three spirit root cultivator took about ten years to advance one level.

But Zhang Lixian lacked nothing in resources, and the spiritual energy on Green Bamboo Mountain was abundant. Thus, he could advance in five years. As long as he stayed on Green Bamboo Mountain, Zhang Lixian could break through to the next level every seven or eight years. Of course, bottlenecks were a separate matter. —— Three days later. Outside Blood Lion Mountain, baleful energy gathered in the void. An endless killing aura surged into the sky. The ground began to tremble. Five terrifying auras manifested.

These were the five Purple Mansion Realm spirit beasts on the enemy's side. Behind them, the number of Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beasts exceeded one hundred. As for the Qi Refining Realm spirit beasts, their numbers were fast approaching one hundred thousand. The reproduction rate of some spirit beasts was simply too fast. Even without launching a beast tide, they would inevitably squeeze out the other races in the surrounding area.

It was better to launch the tide directly and engage the human cultivators in battle. This tempered the spirit beasts themselves, birthing more powerful individuals. And it depleted the human cultivators' strength. This was the root of the Spirit Beast Tide. The Raging Blood Lion clan fielded three Purple Mansion Realm spirit beasts. The strongest was at the sixth level of the Purple Mansion Realm. The remaining two were at the fourth and third levels.

The Purple Mansion Realm spirit beasts of the Goldback Mantis and the Blood Jade Spider were both at the second level. Though they had five Purple Mansion Realm spirit beasts to the humans' two, the two human Purple Mansion cultivators were both at the fifth level. Furthermore, armed with spirit artifacts and relying on the formation, they could block even a late stage Purple Mansion Realm spirit beast. The spirit beasts clearly understood this. Roar! A roar shot into the sky, the command to attack.

The spirit beasts surged forward like a tidal wave, crashing toward the Nine Star Black Glass Array. In addition, more than a dozen Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beasts led ten thousand Qi Refining Realm beasts, breaking away from the main force. They swept past Blood Lion Mountain and rampaged toward Qingtai Prefecture. The cultivators within Blood Lion Mountain paid them no mind. The news had already reached the major cultivation factions of Qingtai Prefecture.

The nearly thirty Foundation Establishment Realm powers across the nine counties… for these Foundation Establishment Realm beasts to break through a spirit mountain would be incredibly difficult. Every established Qi Refining Realm family possessed a protective Tier 1, Upper Grade formation. Even a Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beast would struggle to breach it. By then, reinforcements from the Foundation Establishment Realm families would have long since arrived.

That was what the protection fees paid by Qi Refining Realm families to Foundation Establishment Realm families were for. Some veteran Qi Refining Realm families, relying on their formations and spirit artifacts, could even slay a Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beast. The Miao and Yang families of Langya County had once achieved such a feat. —— Within less than a quarter hour of battle at Blood Lion Mountain, the ground was already soaked in blood.

Thanks to the protective formation, the cultivators on the mountain had yet to suffer any casualties. But the beasts constantly bombarding the formation had already taken heavy losses.