Chapter 552: Behind Enemy Lines (Patreon)

Immortal Path Space : Table of Content/Chapter List

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After the Western Demon Tribe had finished discussing the distribution of spoils, they each returned to their own homes and gathered their Demonic Beasts, preparing to converge with other tribes and collectively conquer Qingxu Mountain.

In the southern part of the East Zhou region, there was a vast swamp area, which belonged to the Moonwatch Rhino.

This location was quite distant from Qingxu Mountain, so in order to arrive at their destination as soon as possible, the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch swiftly gathered his subordinates upon his return and set off towards the Qingxu Mountain range.

It seemed as if he feared that if he acted too slowly, others would seize the advantage.

As the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch and his Demonic Beasts left in a grand procession, some black-robed cultivators appeared in this swamp area.

All of these black-robed cultivators had cultivation levels at the Golden Core stage, numbering around sixty or seventy individuals. They concealed their auras and arrived from various directions, converging in the swamp.

"Captain Ye, everyone's here. Where should we start?" a black-robed cultivator asked the leader.

"Let's directly attack the Moonwatch Rhino's lair!" Captain Ye replied succinctly.

"Shouldn't we take the opportunity to wipe out a few third-tier Demonic Beast nests along the way? It's practically effortless," suggested dozens of Golden Core Cultivators.

"No, our main objective this time is to delay the Demon Clan's advance. It's not just this one tribe; there are more than ten Demon Clans waiting for us to visit. We don't have much time to waste. Let's not discuss it further. Ahead is the Moonwatch Rhino's lair, the Black Mist Marsh. Follow me and attack, then retreat swiftly," Captain Ye urged.

Captain Ye led the charge, and the others followed closely behind.

Meanwhile, the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch, leading his Demonic Beasts, was rapidly heading towards Qingxu Mountain. Suddenly, a white light streaked across the sky like lightning, catching up with the procession and revealing itself as a flying creature.

"Patriarch! Patriarch! It's bad news! In the rear, a group of Human Clan Cultivators has appeared and is attacking the Black Mist Marsh. They're about to overwhelm us," the white creature urgently reported to the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch.

"How many of them are there, and when did this happen?" the Patriarch inquired with annoyance.

"Report to the Patriarch, it happened six hours ago. Suddenly, sixty or seventy black-robed Golden Core Cultivators appeared in the Black Mist Marsh and started their attack."

"So many?" The Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch was taken aback. Despite mobilizing his entire clan and the affiliated Demon Clans, they only had a little over a hundred third-tier Demonic Beasts. But originally, when all the Demon Clans had deliberated, the one who killed the most Golden Core cultivators from the other side would receive a Large-sized Spirit Vein. Perhaps this was a heaven-sent opportunity!

"Everyone, stay put. I'll be back," the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch instructed.

After saying these words, he transformed into a streak of rainbow light and disappeared into the horizon. The main group had been on the road for several days, but it only took the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch a moment to return. However, when he rushed back to the Black Mist Marsh in a hurry, there was no sign of the black-robed cultivators.

"Where are they?" he inquired.

"Report to the Patriarch, about an hour ago, for some unknown reason, the black-robed cultivators suddenly withdrew. We suspected they might be up to something, so we didn't pursue them," a rhinoceros cautiously replied, eyeing the Patriarch's expression.

"Where did they retreat to?"

The rhinoceros pointed in a direction with one of its front hooves and said, "They retreated in this direction not too far. I saw them turn to the right."

Before it could finish its sentence, the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch had already transformed into a streak of rainbow light. In the blink of an eye, he had reached the horizon and disappeared.

The Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch was in a hurry to capture the intruders and had no time to listen to his subordinates' ramblings.

The rhinoceros blinked its eyes and muttered, "I wonder if the Patriarch heard what I just said. He's not heading in the direction I mentioned."

The Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch chased after the black-robed cultivators for hundreds of miles but found no trace of them. He circled the area several times but couldn't find any sign of the Human Clan Cultivators. In the end, he had to return empty-handed.

The rhinoceros that had indicated the direction dared not incur the Patriarch's displeasure and remained silent, not daring to say anything further.

To prevent the Human Clan Cultivators from launching another attack, the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch left behind a group of third-tier Demonic Beasts and set up a defensive formation. He was confident they could protect themselves.

As for the Demonic Beasts that had joined the expedition, losing a few wouldn't make a significant difference. After all, there were eighteen Demon Clans in total, and they could make up for the loss.

While the Moonwatch Rhino Patriarch and his Demonic Beasts resumed their journey, a group of black-robed cultivators was attacking the cave mansion of another fourth-tier Demonic Beast.

They repeated the same tactics, withdrawing just before the fourth-tier Patriarch could return, and then moved on to the next target.

After going in a circle like this, they hadn't directly killed any Demonic Beasts, but they had reduced the pressure on the Demon Clan's army by several hundred third-tier Demonic Beasts, which would be beneficial for the upcoming Great Chu Immortal Nation battle.

In King's City of Great Chu Immortal Nation, as the Large-sized transportation Flying Boats brought people from all over, the city was bustling as never before.

Over the years, the once-massive King's City had finally become fully populated.

The relocated population was quickly settled as soon as they arrived on the Flying Boats.

Young men and women from among them were selected and organized into an army. Although time was tight, they were far better off than being completely defenseless.

The newly formed army consisted of five hundred thousand people. Some were drawn from the Demon Subduing Army to serve as the backbone and instructors for the new army.

After selecting the youth, there were still tens of thousands of elderly, weak, and infirm individuals left. These people were also organized to perform tasks within their abilities.

Currently, Great Chu Immortal Nation provided free food and lodging for all the citizens of King's City. As for lodging, there were always empty rooms available in the city.

Regarding food, the crops planted by farmers from various regions had been abandoned, as they had arrived empty-handed. However, this was not a concern because they had accumulated a large amount of Demonic Beast meat from previous battles. Some of it was used as food for the demon-hunting trees, and the rest was used to make Spirit Meals.

Now, the entire nation's populace was consuming Demonic Beast meat, and ordinary mortals who didn't know how to make Spirit Meals could easily find Spirit Meal points within King's City, where these meals were specially prepared and distributed.

Every day, ordinary mortals ate Spirit Meals, a situation they had never dreamed of before. With each serving of Spirit Meal, their strength improved.

The resources previously accumulated by Great Chu Immortal Nation were rapidly being converted into strength.

During this time, Chen Xiaofeng's Ministry of Works was the busiest. They needed to refine Flying Boats according to Wang Hong's requirements, and the newly promoted Golden Core Cultivators required magic weapons. The newly recruited army also needed weapons. Even the entire city's food distribution was under the purview of the Ministry of Works because the Spirit Meal artisans were part of the Ministry of Works.

To accommodate these tasks, the Ministry of Works had recruited many new members, but they still needed time for training, so they were assigned to handle simpler tasks.

The current Ministry of Works was like a colossal magic weapon, constantly supplying blood to Great Chu Immortal Nation, preparing for the battles to come.

"Your Majesty, the materials in the warehouse are running low," Chen Xiaofeng said to Wang Hong. The Ministry of Works had consumed a significant amount of resources during this time, and some materials were now insufficient.

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 553: Gathering Supplies