Chapter 174 The Overall Situation is Settled

Protected by the defensive array, Zhang Teling had only one opening. Guarding this single entrance, Xu Xuan stood alone against ten thousand, an impassable barrier where any single enemy was slain, and any pair was cut down, thoroughly enjoying the thrill.

As the spoils of war poured endlessly into Xu Xuan's pouch, his heart naturally blossomed with joy.

The slaughter continued relentlessly, the battle becoming a completely one-sided affair. Caught in a pincer movement, the morale of the cultivators from the Dongfang family completely collapsed, leaving them helpless against the onslaught. First, Xu Xuan successively beheaded two Divine Awakening stage masters, while the remaining masters either died in the general melee or fled to the entrance, only to be struck down by Xu Xuan's thunderous blows.

Half a cup of tea's time later, the battle degenerated into a unilateral massacre and pursuit.

On Xu Xuan's side, there was zero pressure. He squatted on the ground with a beaming smile, launching ferocious surprise attacks whenever anyone managed to break through the encirclement.

The two Divine Awakening masters stationed at the entrance were deeply frustrated. With Xu Xuan camping out here, they couldn't get a single bite of the action, so they simply joined the general melee instead.

Consequently, only Xu Xuan remained near the entrance, squatting unassumingly on the ground. The fleeing soldiers of the Dongfang family didn't even have time to feel a shred of joy before being struck down from mid-air.

"Hehe, there are simply too many spoils to collect. After this battle, I must enter secluded cultivation to break through to the Silver Astral Body."

Beside Xu Xuan sat a pile of more than a dozen storage bags, an impressive sight that turned many eyes green. Naturally, the storage bags of the Divine Awakening masters were immediately transferred into his memory sea.

The battle lasted for half an hour, and the members of the Dongfang family were wiped out to the last man.

This battle could truly be called a complete victory, annihilating all enemies.

"Not bad, I slew a Divine Awakening master today," Zhang De said, clearing the storage bag in his hand with a hint of complacency.

As a Divine Awakening master himself, killing a peer of the same rank was equivalent to doubling his capital, so naturally, he was overjoyed.

"I successfully killed one as well, and assisted Guest Minister Xu in killing another," Zhang Kuang said with a satisfied expression, checking the loot inside his storage bag.

However, when the two men noticed Xu Xuan squatting on the ground near the entrance, busy sorting through his pile of storage bags, they froze instantly, their expressions turning somewhat unsightly.

Before Xu Xuan lay a pile of more than a dozen storage bags, amassed from slaying several Divine Awakening masters during the skirmish.

"I say, Guest Minister Xu, sitting idly in the rear and picking up easy scraps is hardly the behavior of a true powerhouse," Zhang De said, unable to hide his envy and reluctance.

Xu Xuan slowly stood up from the ground, noncommittally replying, "A powerhouse? I wouldn't dare claim such a title. Without reaching the Condensing Core stage, I'm afraid I can't truly be called a powerhouse. Besides, even if I had plunged into the thick of the melee, I believe my harvest wouldn't have been any less than it is now. Yet who can guarantee that if anyone else had been left to guard this place, they could have intercepted all the fleeing remnants without a single omission, securing the total annihilation of the enemy force?"

At these words, Zhang De was left momentarily speechless. If anyone else had been stationed there, they truly might not have had this capability.

Xu Xuan had guarded the entrance like a solitary pass holding back a myriad foes, slaying enemies cleanly and efficiently. They had to acknowledge his battle achievements, but wasn't his ability to rake in wealth a bit too exorbitant?

"Catch!"

Xu Xuan tossed a spirit weapon to Zhang Kuang and smiled. "Thanks for your assistance earlier when we slew that Dongfang Lin."

Zhang Kuang caught the spirit weapon, overjoyed.

One must know, ordinary Divine Awakening masters generally possessed only one or two spirit weapons. A spirit weapon, if placed among Qi Refining cultivators, was an immensely valuable treasure that would stir the hearts even of Divine Awakening masters.

Of course, Xu Xuan didn't think much of most spirit weapons, nor were they suited for him. For a Divine Awakening master, spirit weapons accounted for at most a quarter of a storage bag's value; what Xu Xuan truly cared about were spirit stones, raw materials, medicinal pills, and other resource items.

Once the enemies were completely slain, Xu Xuan called out, "Leave some men to guard this place, and the rest follow me to reinforce the fighting in other areas."

After that storm, the Dongfang family had launched a total counteroffensive, and the attack on this sector was merely one of them.

Presumably, fierce battles were raging in other sectors as well, though the specific situations remained unknown. Soon, some of the injured or more conservative cultivators stayed behind to garrison the defense.

Xu Xuan led thirty or forty people charging toward the frontlines of Qingmu Town, which was the absolute priority.

When he arrived at the scene, he couldn't help but be deeply startled. Dozens of large flying magic artifacts hovered in mid-air, while spells and magical treasures filled the sky, colliding amidst a continuous roar of explosions.

Among them, even the Clan Head Zhang Tianlun had joined the fray, locked in high-altitude combat with Dongfang Wei. Their shifting figures stirred roaring gales and swept shockwaves outward, forcing other cultivators to keep a distance of a hundred zhang.

In addition, the two clans each had a seventh-layer Divine Awakening powerhouse battling in mid-air, likewise dominating their respective zones.

The number of Divine Awakening powerhouses committed to this side exceeded twenty, alongside three to four hundred other cultivators. It seemed the reinforcements mobilized by both clans over these past days were far from negligible.

The cultivators who had rushed here alongside Xu Xuan were dumbfounded.

"Brother Xu, you've arrived just in time. I assume things went smoothly over there."

Chu Dong, who had been observing the battle from mid-air, let out a long sigh of relief upon seeing Xu Xuan and the others.

Xu Xuan nodded, suddenly realizing the truth. Chu Dong's strategic deployment had clearly pinned a large portion of the victory condition on his end.

"Kill!"

Without a second word, Xu Xuan led Zhang Kuang and several dozen men into the charge against the Dongfang family.

In a clash involving three to four hundred people, adding thirty or forty might not seem like it would make much impact, but the reality was quite the opposite.

With each side numbering fewer than two hundred, adding forty men was equivalent to injecting a fifth of a faction's total force into one side.

Moreover, Xu Xuan was the sole body-cultivator on the field. His immunity to immortal spell attacks far surpassed that of ordinary people, allowing him to pierce into the Dongfang family's formation like a sharp dagger and throw them into chaos.

The Dongfang family was forced to dispatch additional immortal masters and troops just to keep Xu Xuan in check.

Chu Dong floated in mid-air, gazing into the distance at Master Shuo on the other side.

When Xu Xuan suddenly charged in, Master Shuo's expression changed drastically, a bad feeling gripping his heart.

"If this campaign is a chessboard, everyone else can be reduced to mere pieces in the hands of the immortal tactician, but Xu Xuan alone is an exception—alongside those aloof figures at the Condensing Core stage..."

Chu Dong's lips moved softly, making no audible sound, yet Master Shuo opposite him understood his meaning instantly, his body trembling.

With that, Chu Dong raised his head and languidly gazed toward two figures high above the clouds.

Dong Bingyun and Uncle Diao overlooked the myriad living beings below from the clouds. Two powerful auras collided, causing the surrounding winds and clouds to churn, while countless fierce gale currents were pushed aside by an invisible force.

Down below on the battlefield, Xu Xuan faintly sensed these two distinct presences.

He understood in his heart that once a Condensing Core expert intervened in this campaign, the entire battle would be instantly overturned. Although high-level experts of the Condensing Core stage could view the battles below as mere child's play, they still had to abide by the rules of this game.

Xu Xuan's blood boiled with excitement. Viewed this way, within this grand Huanglong campaign, the role and weight he would play would far surpass anyone else's.

At the same time, he harbored a deep anticipation: if one day he reached a high enough level, would he be able to knock these aloof Condensing Core experts down from the clouds?

"We have arrived... Kill!"

At that moment, another team of twenty to thirty cultivators surged out from Qingmu Town. Leading them was Zhang Feng, his body covered in blood and bearing several scars.

"Hehe, Young Master Zhang, seeing you arrive tells me the outcome of this battle is already sealed."

Chu Dong smiled faintly, glancing once more at the opposite Mister Shuo.

Mister Shuo's face was ashen. He already understood that in the clashes on the other two fronts, the Dongfang family had suffered a total collapse.

In large-scale warfare, the Dongfang family and the Zhang family were evenly matched, but losing on the other two fronts was enough to tip the scales of the entire campaign.

Overall, Chu Dong had been extremely steady in his grand strategy while achieving unexpected victories through smaller tactical maneuvers, steering minute details to create a momentum that ultimately dictated the overall development of events.

When Zhang Feng and his dozens of men joined, they not only overwhelmed the Dongfang family in sheer strength but also inflicted immense psychological pressure upon the enemy troops.

"Kill!"

Xu Xuan's confidence soared. Charging alongside Zhang Kuang into the enemy formation, he carved open a breach, prompting the cultivators in the rear to surge forward in a wave.

"All forces, retreat!"

Clutching his formation banner, Mister Shuo squeezed out those few words with arduous difficulty.

When a routed army collapses, it is like a falling mountain. Without even needing his command, local factions within the Dongfang family were already fleeing in disarray.

Amidst this chaos, Xu Xuan naturally did not forget to slay another Divine Awakening master or two.

Pursuing them for a hundred miles in one breath, the Dongfang family suffered nearly fifty percent casualties before the Zhang family finally recalled their troops.

Today's battle could well be considered the final act of the Defense of Qingmu Town, and it would profoundly influence the entire Huanglong campaign.

Initially, only a tenth of each side's forces had been deployed to the Qingmu Town conflict, a number later increased to a third.

The victory or defeat of a third of their forces carried momentous significance for the entire campaign.

Upon returning that evening, Qingmu Town erupted in joyous celebration, hosting a grand victory banquet.

In terms of merit, Chu Dong, Xu Xuan, Zhang Feng, and others naturally claimed the highest honors, and the clan head immediately rewarded them with substantial amounts of spirit stones and precious materials.

Although Xu Xuan received a reward of tens of thousands of inferior-grade spirit stones and various materials, it still fell far short of what he had plundered from the battlefield.

Following this battle, Qingmu Town shifted entirely from defense to offense, dispatching forces in different directions to hunt down the retreating remnants of the Dongfang family.

Losing interest in the subsequent pursuit battles, Xu Xuan simply chose to remain at Zhang Teling to cultivate, taking time occasionally to visit his parents.

On this day, Xu Xuan informed Zhang Feng, Chu Dong, and others that he was entering secluded cultivation.

Through the successive battles, Xu Xuan's cultivation had been thoroughly honed and advanced. Having acquired so many materials, the timing was perfect to promote to the second layer of the Divine Awakening stage and forge the Silver Astral Body.

Upon hearing the news, Chu Dong smiled indifferently, "This is my first battle since becoming an immortal tactician. Next, I too must enter seclusion. My calculations indicate that in ten days, I will advance to the Divine Awakening stage."

Xu Xuan was momentarily speechless; the fellow could calculate even the exact time of his own breakthrough with such precision.

Ignoring outside affairs, Xu Xuan retrieved his True Fire Furnace, several bottles of Blazing Spirit Condensing Elixir, and various fire-attribute materials, beginning yet another round of closed-door cultivation.

Xu Xuan estimated that in half a month at the shortest, or a month at the longest, he would successfully advance.

Ten days later, a wave of Divine Awakening spiritual sense emanated abruptly from a certain location within Zhang Teling, distinct from ordinary cultivators. The person who had broken through was none other than Chu Dong.

By the twentieth day, a powerful aura surged from a secret chamber in Zhang Teling. At first touch, it felt like the second layer of the Divine Awakening stage, but upon closer perception, it was truly startling: that intimidating pressure faintly surpassed even cultivators of the fourth layer of Divine Awakening and above.

Inside the secret chamber, Xu Xuan had not yet emerged. His eyes remained closed, and the original bronze hue on his skin was gradually fading, replaced by a faint, translucent layer of silvery luster...!