Chapter 595. Military Preparations, Beyond the Ridge of the Black Fiend (Location)

After a brief exchange, the group settled on a plan.

Soon, Lior and the old clan leader began issuing conscription orders, mobilizing the immortal clans of The Vast Sea and Ji Province to prepare their forces for battle.

Mobilizing cultivators from 2 great continents for war preparations was no easy task. Whether it was The Vast Sea (Location) or the Ji Continent, both lay millions of miles away from Heaven's Spine Mountains (Location).

Even with the speed of a fourth-grade treasure ship, a round trip would still require 3 months.

Fortunately, after the Battle of The Vast Sea (Location) 30 years ago, the Chen Family had slain numerous demon kings and had since forged over 40-some fourth-grade treasure ships.

Combined with the treasure ships accumulated over the years by Chen Kingdom and The Vast Sea (Location), these war treasure ships numbered a total of 90-7.

During the wartime period, these war treasure ships became strategic assets. Chen Changxu directly commandeered them by force, then compelled the major immortal clans to provide both funds and personnel.

Eliminating demonic cultivators is a matter of grave importance. If you don't eradicate them today, tomorrow these very practitioners might slaughter your entire clan to refine a single demonic artifact.

In the face of such a critical matter, the major immortal clans still knew what was at stake, and most of them cooperated fully.

Some contributed manpower, while those unwilling to provide personnel offered resources instead—lending out war treasure ships, formation banners, magical artifacts, spirit stones, and even materials reserved for post-war rewards. Every member of the human race had to contribute their share in eradicating the demonic cultivators.

After a full year of tireless efforts, Chen Immortal Clan (Organization) not only amassed supplies worth hundreds of millions of spirit stones, but also recruited over 600,000 cultivators.

Among these 600,000 cultivators, even the weakest had reached Qi Refinement, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm). Many were elderly practitioners of advanced age, clearly prepared to face death in this impending battle.

"Who knows how many will fall in this battle."

Eldrin sat cross-legged atop the Azure Jade Phoenix Feather Boat, gazing down at the nearly 1 100 Tier-4 war treasure ships below. An involuntary sigh escaped his lips.

How could a forbidden land of demonic cultivators be so easily eradicated? The Ridge of the Black Fiend spanned over several million miles, gathering demonic cultivators from multiple neighboring continents. It would be no exaggeration to call it a veritable kingdom of demonic practitioners.

Although they had gathered supplies worth several 100 million spirit stones, if the war went poorly, even these billions might not suffice for compensation, let alone rewards.

Seeing this, Lyra (Person Name) nearby quickly grasped his hand and comforted him, "Do not worry. For this battle, dozens of Golden Core immortal clans from Yan Country, Ling Country, and even the 6 nations of Ji Province have been summoned. Our strength is more than enough to suppress the Ridge of the Black Fiend (Location)."

"Now the key lies in whether Magnus the Virtuous Lord (Person Name) can suppress and slay the Old Fiend of Black Malice."

Eldrin nodded upon hearing this. The key to subduing the Ridge of the Black Fiend lay with the Black Fiend Patriarch. Unless this individual were eliminated, the low-level Qi Refining demonic cultivators would likely replenish their ranks within 2 to 3 100 years.

After all, the lifespan of Qi Refining Demonic Cultivators was inherently short. Even if they weren't slain, they would naturally be replaced by a new batch within 1 100 years.

Not to mention these demonic cultivators routinely turned on each other as a matter of course; sacrificing the blood and bones of their own sect brethren to refine demonic artifacts was all in a day's work.

Once the Black Fiend Ancestor (Person Name) was eliminated and the demonic spring at the Black Fiend Ridge (Location) destroyed, the ridge would no longer produce the baleful energy required by demonic cultivators, thus preventing the emergence of more practitioners of the demonic path.

To return to our story, the treasure ship sailed onward and before they knew it, they had arrived at Heaven's Spine Mountains (Location).

With Eldrin (Person Name) and Lyra (Person Name), 2 Nascent Soul True Monarchs, providing protection along the journey, they encountered no attacks from demons or monsters.

In truth, the sight of nearly a 100 fourth-grade treasure ships dominating the skies was even more awe-inspiring than facing a 100 Golden Core, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm) great demon kings. Ordinary demons and monsters dared not approach at all.

It was not until the treasure ship crossed the Heaven's Spine Mountains and arrived at the periphery of the Ridge of the Black Fiend that Eldrin encountered the receiving True Lord Qingling.

Upon meeting the Verdant Spirit True Lord, Eldrin (Person Name) inquired without preamble, "How goes the situation?"

Elder Qingling declared, "We have already surrounded the demonic cultivators atop the Ridge of the Black Fiend (Location), awaiting your arrival."

Eldrin nodded slightly. The Vast Sea was the farthest from this location, making their group among the last to arrive.

Although the Ridge of the Black Fiend (Location) was said to span over several million li in territory, its demonic spring was comparable to a top-grade, fifth-order spirit vein, with its influence actually concentrated within a core radius of just 10,000 li.

Beyond the influence of the demonic spring, only trace amounts of Demonic Fiend Qi (Spiritual Root) scattered sporadically. Thus, most demonic cultivators practiced within the domain shrouded by Demonic Fiend Qi (Spiritual Root).

Earlier, the first wave of cultivators from the 6 nations of Ji Continent arrived and, joining forces with Magnus the Virtuous Lord, managed to trap most of the demonic cultivators within the Ridge of the Black Fiend inside those 10-1000-mile demonic mountains.

With that thought, Eldrin declared, "Then let us depart at once and swiftly encircle the Ridge of the Black Fiend."

The Tier-4 War Treasure Ship could only travel 200,000 li per day. After 20-some more days of flight, they finally arrived at the Ridge of the Black Fiend (Location).

Eldrin met with Magnus the Virtuous Lord, only to find that Violet Enchantress, Freya, and the Transcendent Mistweaver had already gathered there.

Of course, the Chen Clan contributed the most in this battle. Aside from Eldrin and his 2 dao companions, Chen Changxuan, Elara, and Qiu Daoyi—who participated as a guest elder of the Chen Clan—had all gathered here for the conflict.

Together with Magnus the Virtuous Lord (Person Name) and his disciples, the number of Human Race True Monarchs participating in this battle had astonishingly reached 12.

Of course, the Chen Clan did not deploy their entire force. Lyra (Person Name) remained stationed at Immortal Apricot Island with her Natal Origin Embryo, ready to reinforce the clan's various spirit mountains through teleportation formations at any moment.

With the power of her second Nascent Soul, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm) activating the formation array, even if the Purple Jade Demon Emperor (Demon Beast) were to attack at its peak strength, it would sustain the assault for some time—long enough for Eldrin (Person Name) to return with reinforcements.

The various True Lords gathered together, and Magnus the Virtuous Lord smiled, saying, "Now that you have arrived, we can begin planning the commencement of this battle."

"Mm." Eldrin nodded, then asked, "How many have come?"

Lady Yan Zi had arrived a step earlier and already tallied the personnel. With a light laugh, she said, "The 6 nations of Ji Province have sent 500,000 cultivators. Our Yan and Ling countries have smaller populations—combined, we've mustered just 40,000 practitioners."

"By that calculation, including the human cultivators from Heaven's Spine Mountains (Location), there should be over 1,200,000 cultivators."

Eldrin nodded slightly, feeling a faint sense of calm settle in his heart.

1 million 2 100 1000 cultivators—and all of them seasoned veterans, with most at the Qi Refinement, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm). This force had already drawn away more than half the strength of Ji Province and The Vast Sea (Location).

Although the Black Fiend Mountains were said to harbor several million demonic cultivators, the actual number likely did not exceed 2,000,000. Moreover, their cultivation levels varied drastically. In a true confrontation, they would stand no chance against these 1,200,000 seasoned human cultivators.

"It's hard to say," he murmured. "The demonic cultivators have their Demonic Springs to replenish them. The longer this drags on, the greater their advantage becomes. There's no guarantee we'll emerge completely unscathed."

"It seems I must end this swiftly and shatter the Demonic Fiend Qi (Spiritual Root) without delay."

With these thoughts in mind, Eldrin asked, "Has anyone from the neighboring Tianxing Province or the Heavenly Abode Continent come to participate in the exhibition?"

"We don’t have many coming." True Monarch Qing Ling shook his head and spoke helplessly, "The Heavenly Star Province is caught between the demon sovereign territories of the Great Peng Ridge and the Great Qian River, making it impossible to divert troops for a distant campaign."

The Heavenly Abode Continent (Location) fared even worse, for within the Flaming Prison Sea of Fire (Location), the Infernal Demon (Race) clan had emerged, plunging the Tianlu Sect (Sect) into mounting pressure.

"Fortunately, the Ji Clan dispatched several True Monarchs to help us hold off the Crane Demon Emperor and the Tengshe Demon Emperor, allowing us to concentrate our forces on striking the Ridge of the Black Fiend (Location)."

Hearing this, Eldrin sighed, "Had it not been for the contract signed with the Purple Jade Demon Emperor, I'm afraid even I would have struggled to mobilize all 600,000 cultivators from The Vast Sea."