158: Chapter 158 On the Eve of the Great Battle

The month of preparation flew by in the blink of an eye.

During this time in the East Courtyard, Hun Feng's six wives all made progress.

Yao Yao fully stabilized her foundation at the late Eight Star Dou Sheng stage, and her blood-attribute Dou Qi flowed through her meridians without the slightest obstruction.

Medusa fused the bloodline power of the Nine-Colored Sky Swallowing Python with the secret techniques of the Snake-People Tribe, her cultivation firmly resting at the peak of Seven-Star Dou Sheng, just one epiphany away from the Eight Star Dou Sheng stage.

Gu Xun'er broke through to the late Seven-Star Dou Sheng stage under the tempering of the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame; the golden flames danced on her fingertips more docilely and obediently than before.

Xiao Yi Xian's Calamity Poison Body became increasingly pure under the repeated tempering of the Heaven-Slaying Flame, and her cultivation was likewise stabilized at the late Seven-Star Dou Sheng stage.

Two days before the decisive battle at Duanhun Cliff, the East Courtyard held a simple family banquet.

Six women sat around a stone table; Hun Muxiao was holding the just-turned-one-year-old Hun Muqing, while several younger sisters were being looked after by nannies under the corridor.

Yao Yao spoke first, saying that she, Cai Lin, Xun'er, and Xiao Yi Xian would follow the army to battle, while Yun Yun and Cao Ying would remain at the East Courtyard to look after the seven children.

Hun Muxiao became anxious the moment she heard this.

She stood up and said that her Blood Soul Heavenly Wrath had already reached perfection, and even Ice Emperor Hai Bodong was no match for her, so why wasn't she allowed on the battlefield?

Yao Yao raised her hand and patted her on the head, saying that the battlefield was not a one-on-one fight.

When thousands of troops charged, no one cared how high one's talent was; beneath the chaos of blades, a Dou Zun and a Dou Practitioner would die just the same.

Hun Muxiao looked at Medusa unwillingly.

Medusa put down her teacup and said faintly, "You stay behind," her tone allowing for no rebuttal.

Hun Muxiao turned toward the direction where Hun Feng was in seclusion, seemingly wanting to find her father to back her up, but the gates to the Myriad Soul Origin Pool remained tightly shut.

She sat back down on the stone stool, pouting, and placed her blood abyss sword on the stone table, her peach-blossom eyes full of defiance.

Yun Yun gently placed her one-year-old daughter on her lap, her moon-white dress fluttering slightly in the night wind.

She was now at the Half-Saint cultivation level.

For the past year or so, besides taking care of her daughter, she had focused on cultivation.

The inheritance of the Flower Sect was gradually awakening within her, and the dignified and composed temperament in her every gesture grew increasingly serene.

Cao Ying held the hand of Hun Muying, who was already running around, and sat down beside Yun Yun, chattering on about letting them go without worry, as she and Yun Yun would look after the place, and the seven children would be kept well-fed and chubby.

Yun Yun nodded gently, saying that although her cultivation was not as good as the younger sisters, she was still capable of guarding the home—if anyone truly blind dared to sneak into the East Courtyard during the chaos, the sword of the Flower Sect was not just for show.

Medusa put down her teacup, her gaze slowly sweeping across everyone's faces, and delivered the final verdict: "Xiao Xiao stays, and Yun Yun and Cao Ying stay as well. The seven children at home need someone to look after them; the East Courtyard cannot be empty. As for the battlefield, it is enough that we go."

Duanhun Cliff is located in the northwest of the Central Plains and is a desolate mountain range stretching for hundreds of miles.

On both sides of the main peak, there are steep ridges extending outwards, embracing a vast expanse of rocky beach in the center like two arms, with only a narrow valley entrance to the south for entry and exit.

In ancient times, two Nine-Star Dou Sheng experts fought a decisive battle here.

After both perished, the lingering aftermath of their Dou Qi destroyed all vitality in the entire mountain range.

Even now, the sword marks and palm prints left by that great war can still be seen on the cliff walls.

The cold wind of late autumn, carrying grit, poured in from the valley entrance, swirling on the rocky beach, the desolate whistling sound like thousands of troops neighing in the distance.

On the eve of the decisive battle, the forces of both sides set up camps on the north and south sides of Duanhun Cliff.

The sixty-thousand-strong army of the Flame Emperor Alliance covered the plains outside the south valley entrance like a dark tide, with campfires stretching like stars.

This army was scraped together by Yao Chen using all the resources of the Flame Emperor Alliance—the three thousand Red Flame Army of the Burning Flame Valley, the twenty thousand coalition army of the Jia Ma Empire, the fifteen thousand mercenaries of the Black-Corner Region, the five thousand cadet guards of the Jia Nan Academy, and over ten thousand troops from the Starfall Pavilion and other affiliated forces.

Although numerous, more than half were low-level cultivators below the Dou Wang level, and many had not even adapted to the heaven and earth energy of the Central Plains.

But there was a single flame burning in their eyes—their Alliance Master Xiao Yan was a legend who walked out of the Jia Ma Empire.

From a piece of trash in Wutan City to the Flame Emperor who shook the continent, this glory was worth their lives to defend.

Outside the north valley entrance, the forty-thousand-strong army of the Soul Clan Alliance pressed down on the wasteland like a silent, dark cloud.

In terms of numbers, they were inferior to the Flame Emperor Alliance; in terms of quality, the difference was like heaven and earth.

The forty-thousand-strong army was entirely composed of experts above the Dou Zong level, including no less than five thousand high-level Dou Zun, and hundreds of experts at the Dou Sheng level.

The black phalanx of the Hun Clan main force was in the center; though less than ten thousand, they were like a poisoned dagger, each one an elite who had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

The elites of the Gu Clan, Yan Clan, Lei Clan, Void Ancient Dragon, and Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan were arrayed on the left and right, looking like a torrent of steel from the valley entrance.

Void Swallowing Flame stood with his hands behind his back in front of the central command tent, with the Four Demon Saints lined up behind him.

Their gazes passed over the desolate, rocky beach at the valley entrance and fell upon the flickering campfires of the Flame Emperor Alliance.

Yao Yao stood in front of the Gu Clan phalanx on the east side, a bone whip wrapped around her wrist, her peach-blossom eyes surging with irrepressible fighting spirit.

Behind her were Gu Xun'er and Xiao Yi Xian, and further back were the Void Ancient Dragon guards personally led by Zi Yan.

Medusa and Gu Yuan were on the west side, with the elites of the Snake-People Tribe standing shoulder to shoulder with the Gu Clan's Black Annihilation Army.

Hun You disappeared silently on the edge of the camp—she would lead the Assassination Department to bypass Duanhun Cliff after the decisive battle began and gallop toward the Jia Ma Empire.

Outside the south valley entrance, Yao Chen stood on a temporarily constructed command platform, the night wind blowing his white hair into disarray.

He gazed at the silent campfires on the north side, his aged fingers slowly clenching in his sleeves.

Wind Idle stood beside him, his armor still carrying the frost and wind of the overnight journey.

Yao Chen knew this battle was a life-and-death struggle, but he had no way out—with Xiao Yan gone, he was the final backbone of the Flame Emperor Alliance.

He turned to look at the countless young faces in the campfires behind him and suddenly remembered the first time he saw Xiao Yan in Wutan City; that young man had also stood by the campfire like this, with an unyielding flame burning in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and straightened his aged figure.

No matter if he lived or died tomorrow, this old bag of bones would hold this flag for Xiao Yan.

As the night deepened, the campfires on both sides gradually extinguished.

Even flying birds dared not approach the airspace above Duanhun Cliff; only the cold wind of late autumn, carrying grit, swirled on the rocky beach.

Tomorrow, this ancient battlefield, which had been desolate for thousands of years, would be soaked in blood once again.