187: Chapter 187 Seven-Day Countdown: Full Military Preparation

The morning light tore through the darkness, yet it could not illuminate the hundred-zhang-wide crimson rift hanging over the Burial Dragon Abyss.

The rift was like a hideous scar stretching across the horizon, with dark red evil qi pouring down like a waterfall, staining the surrounding hundred miles into a bloody Hell.

Frontline Command, Temporary Main Hall.

The atmosphere was as heavy as a block of lead, pressing down on everyone's hearts.

Lin Yue sat in the main seat, his face still pale, but his eyes had regained their sharpness.

The Star Track Pavilion Master, Sword Origin Master, Ancestor Chi Yang, Xuan Mingzi, and other Spirit Transformation Ancestors were lined up on both sides.

Immortal Master Qingluan, Sect Master Mo Chen, Little Star, Lin Mo (seriously injured and not yet recovered), and other core members stood solemnly below.

Heavenly Craftsman (comatose and not yet awakened after being rescued).

On the sand table in the center of the hall, red light spots representing the Spirit Devouring Clan army were continuously pouring out from the hundred-zhang rift, dense and boundless.

"The statistics are out."

The Star Track Pavilion Master's voice was dry and hoarse; this elder, who was usually detached from worldly affairs, now had eyes bloodshot with fatigue.

He raised his hand, and the light and shadow on the sand table shifted, revealing rows of shocking data.

"In yesterday's core bloody battle, our army lost... eight hundred and seventy-three Cultivators."

"Among them were forty-one Golden Core Cultivators, seven hundred and thirty-two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and a hundred Qi Refining Disciples."

"Those seriously injured and having lost their combat capability exceed two thousand."

"On the alliance side, twenty-eight Golden Core Cultivators and over five hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators were lost."

"As for the enemy..." The Star Track Pavilion Master paused, his voice deepening further, "Five Late Nascent Soul Stage war generals were completely annihilated, Golden Core-level demon losses exceeded three hundred, and Foundation Establishment-level demons are countless."

The data was cold, yet it spoke of yesterday's tragic intensity.

Using the lives of nearly a thousand Cultivators, they had exchanged for the destruction of the altar and the interruption of the Commander's descent.

But the price was... the Seal had completely collapsed.

"Senior Star Track, what are the results of the deduction?" Lin Yue spoke, his voice calm and rippleless.

The Star Track Pavilion Master took a deep breath and formed hand Seals. A streak of starlight flowed from his fingertips and fell onto the sand table.

The light and shadow on the sand table changed again, manifesting a deduction of the scenes for the next seven days.

In the hundred-zhang rift, the speed at which demons poured out grew faster and faster, their numbers increasing geometrically.

On the first day, about ten thousand demons emerged; the second day, thirty thousand; the third day, fifty thousand... by the seventh day, the number of demons emerging in a single day will exceed a hundred thousand!

And on the seventh day, deep within the rift, three shadows even more massive than the previous Commander were slowly coalescing.

"Based on the deduction of residual evil qi fluctuations and star orbits..."

The Star Track Pavilion Master said each word with the weight of a thousand catties: "In seven days, the main army of the Spirit Devouring Clan will launch a full-scale invasion of this world through the hundred-zhang rift."

"The initial invasion force will include at least a hundred thousand demons, with an estimated three thousand Golden Core-level and no fewer than thirty Nascent Soul-level demons."

"As for Commander-level existences... at least three, one of whose aura is suspected to be... at the Late Deity Transformation Stage!"

Late Deity Transformation Stage!

Inside the hall, the air instantly froze.

A Mid stage Soul Transformation could already crush an ordinary Early Spirit Transformation Stage. A Late Deity Transformation Stage... that would be a terrifying existence capable of changing the course of a war!

"Sev... Seven days..." Ancestor Chi Yang clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, but he couldn't utter a single harsh word.

Facing an enemy of this scale and level, any grand rhetoric seemed pale and powerless.

"What about the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array?" Xuan Mingzi looked at the unconscious Heavenly Craftsman nearby, his brow furrowed.

Little Star stepped forward, his voice carrying a heaviness rare for a youth: "Reporting to Senior, the central formation eye of the Great Formation was completely destroyed yesterday after Senior Tiangong forcibly triggered it by burning his Lifespan. Seventeen of the thirty-six Heavenly Stem auxiliary formation eyes have collapsed, and over half of the seventy-two Earthly Branch auxiliary formation eyes are damaged... The Great Formation can no longer operate."

The final layer of defense had also shattered.

"How much combat power do we have left?" Sword Origin Master asked.

The Star Track Pavilion Master quickly calculated: "Combining the Southern Territory and Central Region alliance forces from the Luoxia Sect, Qinglan Sect, Seven Star Alliance, Star Track Pavilion, Ten Thousand Swords Sect, Qingyang Sect, Xuantian Sect, Heavenly Talisman Sect, Beast Taming Sect, and Pill Cauldron Pavilion... we have a total of five Soul Transformation Cultivators, fifty-three Nascent Soul Cultivators, over nine hundred Golden Core Cultivators, over twelve thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and over thirty thousand Qi Refining Disciples."

"It sounds like a lot," Xuan Mingzi gave a bitter smile, "but the opposition is a hundred thousand demons, three thousand Golden Cores, thirty Nascent Souls, and three Commanders... one of whom is at the Late Deity Transformation Stage."

"How do we fight this battle?"

No one could answer.

A deathly silence filled the hall.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Lin Yue slowly stood up.

He walked to the sand table and looked at that hundred-zhang rift for a long time.

Then, he turned to face everyone.

"This battle will be very difficult."

His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"So difficult... that we might lose."

"So difficult... that the Southern Territory, and even the Central Region, might see their living beings plunged into misery."

"So difficult... that everyone here, including myself, might... die on the battlefield."

With every sentence, the faces of the crowd grew a shade paler.

But then Lin Yue's tone shifted.

"But, so what?"

His gaze swept over the crowd; there was no fear or despair in his eyes, only an ice-cold calmness.

"Are we not going to fight just because it's difficult?"

"Are we going to surrender just because we might die?"

"What the Spirit Devouring Clan wants is not our submission, but our everything—our Spiritual Qi, our Bloodline, our souls, and this world we live in!"

"Surrender is a slow death. Resistance might still offer a glimmer of hope."

Lin Yue paused, his voice suddenly rising: "Everyone, we have no way to retreat."

"Behind us are our Sects, our Families, our Disciples, our loved ones, and our Legacies!"

"This battle isn't for some grand Human Race righteousness or for eternal fame."

"It is simply... to survive."

"So that the people we care about can survive."

As his words fell, heavy breathing echoed one after another in the hall.

Ancestor Chi Yang slammed the table, his hair and beard bristling: "Well said! I've lived for nearly two thousand years; I've had enough! But those little brats in my Sect haven't had enough yet! The Qingyang Sect will see this through to the end!"

Sword Origin Master slowly unsheathed his sword, the blade letting out a clear ring: "The Ten Thousand Swords Sect is willing to live or die with the Southern Territory."

Xuan Mingzi nodded: "The Xuantian Sect shall do the same."

Sect Master Mo Chen, Immortal Master Qingluan, and the others all cupped their fists: "We are willing to follow Sect Master Lin's orders!"

Lin Yue nodded heavily.

"Good!"

"Then, I announce."

"The Luoxia Sect will immediately enter 'Highest Wartime Status'."

"All Disciples, whether inner or outer court, regardless of cultivation level, must participate in the war."

"All resources are to be unified and dispatched, with priority given to the front lines."

"All Legacies, except for core forbidden techniques, are fully open."

He looked at Lin Cang: "Grand Elder."

"Present!"

"Erect the 'Blood Oath Stele' at the mountain gate square."

Lin Yue said word by word: "Every Disciple of my Luoxia Sect must swear an oath before the stele. If the Sect exists, the Disciples exist; if the Sect perishes, the Disciples perish. We swear to live and die with the Sect!"

"Yes!" Lin Cang's eyes were red as he took the order and left.

"Senior Star Track, Sect Master Sword Origin, Senior Chi Yang, Senior Xuan Ming."

"The four of you please coordinate the alliance forces to set up the 'Nine Palaces Demon Slaying Great Array', 'Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Ancestor Sword Array', 'Crimson Sun Heaven-Burning Fire Array', and 'Xuan Ming Sea-Suppressing Great Array' before the defensive line within seven days."

"We do not seek to kill the enemy, but only to... delay the demons' advance to the greatest extent possible to buy us time."

The four Spirit Transformation Ancestors solemnly accepted the order.

"Little Star."

"Your Disciple is here!" Little Star stepped forward.

"Your Formation attainments have reached the half-step fifth rank. I appoint you as the 'Chief of Formation Dao' to lead all Formation Masters in repairing and strengthening all defensive Formations on the front line. Whatever Materials you need, go directly to the Grand Elder for allocation."

"Yes!"

"Immortal Master Qingluan, Sect Master Mo Chen."

"The two of you please coordinate all Golden Core and Foundation Establishment Cultivators, grouping them into teams based on cultivation and specialties, and formulate rotation and coordinated defense plans."

"Understood!"

Orders were issued one by one in an orderly fashion.

The atmosphere of despair in the hall was gradually replaced by a tragic resolve.

Indeed, they might not win.

But... so what?

At least they must fight!

At least they must let the Spirit Devouring Clan know that the Human Race... is not a lamb to be slaughtered at will!

After all the orders were issued and everyone hurriedly left to execute them...

Only Lin Yue, the Star Track Pavilion Master, and the unconscious Heavenly Craftsman remained in the hall.

"Young Friend Lin..." The Star Track Pavilion Master hesitated.

Lin Yue raised his hand and interrupted him.

"Pavilion Master, I know what you want to ask."

He walked to the window and looked deep into the Sect, toward the "Ancestral Land Secret Realm" shrouded in mist.

That was the disguise for the entrance to the Grotto-Heaven.

"If it truly comes to the final moment..."

Lin Yue's voice was very soft, yet it carried a decisive resolve: "I will activate the... ultimate plan of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array."

The Star Track Pavilion Master's pupils shrank: "Void Banishment? But the Great Formation is destroyed, and the Void Seed is also..."

"I have another way." Lin Yue didn't explain. "The price will be great, but... it's the final trump card."

The Star Track Pavilion Master gave him a deep look and ultimately didn't ask further.

Everyone had secrets.

As long as this secret could buy a glimmer of hope for the Human Race, it was enough.

"I... understand."

The Star Track Pavilion Master turned and left to begin arranging the defensive line.

Lin Yue stood alone in the hall for a long time.

Then, he turned to look at the unconscious Heavenly Craftsman, took out a bottle of treasured "Star Marrow Spiritual Liquid," and gently dripped it into his mouth.

"Senior, have a good rest."

"Leave the rest... to us."

He walked out of the hall, the sunlight dazzling.

In the mountain gate square, the massive "Blood Oath Stele" was being erected.

Before the stele, countless Luoxia Sect Disciples formed a long line, one after another, cutting their fingers to swear an oath with blood.

The sounds of the oaths gathered into a tragic and grand torrent, soaring straight into the clouds.

Lin Yue watched silently.