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Chapter 632 Decision
🕑 Added 2024-04-30 00:33:27 +0000 UTCImmortal Path Space : Table of Content/Chapter List
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After the Human Clan army crossed the great river, taking advantage of the fact that the Demon Clan had not yet assembled effective resistance, they swept through the enemy's defenses, reclaiming all the lost territory in the Southern Region in just over a month.
Now, at the border between the Southern Region and East Zhou, all the high-ranking members of the Human Clan were gathered in a large tent to discuss their next move.
"We are deeply grateful to Fellow Daoists from the Great Chu Immortal Nation for their assistance. We Southern Region cultivators cannot thank you enough!"
"Thanks to the wholehearted assistance of all Fellow Daoists, otherwise our Southern Region Human Clan might have faced the danger of extinction!"
"Senior Zhang, may I ask whether we should take advantage of this great victory to attack East Zhou, or should we consolidate our position in the Southern Region?"
After expressing their gratitude to the Great Chu Immortal Nation, many cultivators from the Southern Region inquired about the next strategic move.
Through several battles, the Great Chu Immortal Nation had demonstrated its formidable combat power and an unwavering determination to prevail.
The Southern Region cultivators were deeply impressed and now looked up to the cultivators of the Great Chu Immortal Nation.
"Now that the Southern Region has been fully recovered, we need to hear the opinions of Fellow Daoists from the Southern Region on what to do next."
Although Wang Hong's suggestion was to pursue the enemy and strike back at East Zhou, it still needed to be discussed with the Southern Region cultivators to ensure unity and cooperation in breaking through East Zhou.
"Friends, now that the Southern Region has been ravaged by the Demon Clan, we need a considerable amount of manpower and resources to rebuild. I believe that for now, stability should be our priority. We should first consolidate the territory of the Southern Region and deal with East Zhou gradually in the future."
This was the opinion of a cautious cultivator, who only sought to protect their own interests. The phrase 'deal with it gradually in the future' was essentially meaningless.
"I believe that we should capitalize on our current victory and pursue the enemy. Even if we cannot fully reclaim East Zhou, we must inflict heavy damage on the Demon Clan. Otherwise, once they recover, they will again invade our Southern Region."
This was a more proactive approach, willing to take risks even if they were already heavily wounded, in order to gain an advantage over the enemy.
"I suggest that we leave some manpower behind to recover and develop the Southern Region, which can serve as the foundation for our long-term combat support. Then, we can deploy some elite forces to attack the Demon Clan, not aiming for a decisive victory but constantly harassing them, so that the Demon Clan will be too busy to bother us."
This was a moderate viewpoint, combining elements of the previous two opinions, neither seeking great achievements nor making great mistakes.
"I wonder what decision Senior Zhang will make?"
Zhang Chunfeng paused, seeing everyone looking at him, before speaking:
"My Great Chu Immortal Nation will advance boldly this time, vowing to break through East Zhou and the Demon Clan, and elevate the prestige of our Human Clan. I wonder if any of you are willing to fight alongside me?"
"I am willing to lead the cultivators of the Beast Spirit Sect personally, following General Zhang, to exterminate the Demon Clan."
At this moment, the purple-bearded middle-aged man was the first to express his support. As the Beast Spirit Sect was once a force in East Zhou, their mindset was more urgent regarding reclaiming East Zhou.
"I, from the Red Leaf Mountain, also pledge to follow General Zhang and reclaim East Zhou, avenging the grievances of the Human Clan in East Zhou!"
"Poison Mist Valley is also willing..."
Although there were different opinions before, as soon as Zhang Chunfeng proposed attacking the Demon Clan to the north, he immediately gained the support of the five major sects.
This was partly to strengthen ties with the Great Chu Immortal Nation, and partly because since the Great Chu Immortal Nation was willing to attack the Demon Clan in East Zhou, they naturally welcomed it.
After all, nobody wants to have a powerful Demon Clan lurking around them, eyeing them menacingly all the time. Previous hesitations mainly stemmed from the Southern Region's cultivation world's own insufficient strength.
Since they had garnered unanimous support, the group immediately deliberated on the attack plan.
The final decision was to mobilize only the elites from each sect for this expedition. All Qi Cultivation stage disciples would remain at their sects, responsible for post-war reconstruction.
The army, composed entirely of elite cultivators, saw a significant reduction in numbers, with just over twenty thousand remaining from the five major sects combined.
This was partly due to the large quantity of Foundation Establishment Pills traded from the Great Chu Immortal Nation before.
In just over a decade, the Southern Region's cultivation world had gained one or two thousand Foundation Building cultivators. Considering the losses in battles over these years, retaining this many was already considered good.
Now with only these elite cultivators, unburdened by Qi Cultivation stage disciples, their mobility was greatly enhanced. They could strike or retreat as swiftly as the wind.
Once the team was assembled for the assault on the Demon Clan, time was precious. They only made a brief stop in the border region before heading north.
It took them only a day to reach a swampy area where, according to intelligence, a group of red-tailed vipers resided, the strongest among them only at the third-tier cultivation level.
Wang Hong looked down from a flying boat; this place used to have a large spirit vein and was once the nest of a fourth-tier demonic beast, housing a large population of its offspring.
He had raided this place twice before, and on the last occasion, he had depleted most of the spirit vein, taking it back to Qizhou Island for cultivation.
He never expected this place to decline to such an extent, leaving Wang Hong sighing with regret, pondering the vicissitudes of life.
Facing a nest of the strongest being only at the third-tier demonic beast level, the Human Clan army didn't even pause. They dispatched a small team, and with one assault, they slaughtered them all.
As the Human Clan army swept back and forth in the southern part of East Zhou, they destroyed hundreds of Demon Clan nests within half a month, including three fourth-tier demonic beast nests, killing three fourth-tier demonic beasts.
Soon, a large area in the southern part of East Zhou was cleared of Demon Clan influence.
This was a rare major victory in the nearly hundred-year struggle between the Hezhou cultivators and the Demon Clan.
After being oppressed by the Demon Clan for so many years, they finally got a chance to hold their heads high. Every cultivator who participated in the battle was flushed with pride and a sense of glory.
After suffering some losses, the Demon Clan finally reacted. They had organized a large army and stood in the way of the Human Clan's advance.
This force was even stronger than when they invaded the Southern Region before, with a greater number of high-tier demonic beasts.
Furthermore, Demon Clans from other regions were also gathering here. The longer they delayed, the stronger the opposition would become.
Now the Human Clan faced two choices. One was to strike while the Demon Clan's gathering was incomplete, launching an all-out assault to disperse them and achieve a major victory.
However, the current strength of the Demon Clan was not weak, and the chances of victory were fifty-fifty. If they suffered a major defeat in this battle, the Southern Region's cultivation world would be seriously injured, and they would no longer be able to resist the Demon Clan's invasion in the future.
The other choice was to seize the opportunity and withdraw now, taking the spoils of war back to the Southern Region.
However, their willingness to stop the war did not mean that the Demon Clan was willing to do so. If these assembled Demon Clans descended again, another battle would be inevitable, and the outcome might be even worse.
Moreover, since the Demon Clan had already gathered, there was a high probability of them directly attacking the Southern Region.
After much deliberation and difficult decision-making, the Southern Region cultivators finally decided to follow the army of the Great Chu Immortal Nation and engage in a decisive battle with the Demon Clan here.
If they won this battle, the Demon Clan would suffer heavy losses, securing over a hundred years of stable development for the Southern Region's Human Clan.
If they lost, the Southern Region's Human Clan would be seriously injured, unable to resist the Demon Clan any longer, and would withdraw from the Hezhou continent alongside the army of the Great Chu Immortal Nation.
From then on, there would be no more Human Clan in Hezhou.
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Next Chapter >>Chapter 633: The First Battle
