Chapter 667 Guarding the Vermilion Bird Star Palace

Outside the grand hall, Eldrin and over 30 other True Monarchs gathered to begin deliberating on the candidates for guarding the various territories.

Eldrin glanced at the 7 fifth-rank spirit islands in the Starry Sun Horse region, pondered for a moment, and said, "Within the Starry Sun Horse zone, the main island—Starry Sun Island—is a superior fifth-rank spirit island and also 1 of the 7 key formation anchors of the Vermilion Bird Star Archipelago. It requires a substantial garrison to ensure absolute security."

Magnus the Virtuous Lord (Person Name) nodded and said, "This old man is tasked with guarding the entire Starry Equine Region, and cannot remain confined to a single spirit island."

"This Star Sun Island is jointly guarded by Ji Province, The Vast Sea (Location), and Heavenly Abode Continent (Location). What do you think of it?"

Hearing this, everyone felt a subtle stir in their hearts. The 30-8 True Monarchs present hailed from over a dozen major continents.

However, the most crucial forces clearly originated from the 3 continents: Jizhou, The Vast Sea (Location), and Heavenly Abode Continent (Location).

Because of this battle, the Chen Family dispatched 7 True Lords, while the Heavenly Abode Continent (Location) sent the Heavenly Abode Sect Master—a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator—accompanied by 2 True Lords.

Not to mention the 5 True Monarchs: Yan Zi Ji, Ling Ji, Lingxu Xianzi, Mo the Ancient 1 (Person Name), and Qiu Daoyi.

It can be said that this force was exceptionally formidable, already comprising 70 percent of the military strength present.

However, as the core formation anchor, Star Sun Island's strategic importance far surpassed that of the other spirit islands, and it truly required a heavily reinforced garrison.

At this thought, everyone nodded in agreement. The master of the Heavenly Star Sect then declared, "In that case, our Heavenly Star Sect shall take responsibility for guarding 1 of the fifth-grade spirit islands."

"Our Heavenly Wasteland Continent shall guard the secondary formation eye."

The Sect Master of Tianhuang Province spoke up. As 1 of the major provinces among the 3 Veins Ancient Domains, Tianhuang Province boasted 3 Nascent Soul-level immortal clans and sects.

The Tianhuang Sect alone now boasts 6 Eldrin Lords, with their Patriarch being a late-stage Eldrin great cultivator. In this battle, 5 Eldrin Lords from this lineage have joined the fray, shouldering the crucial responsibility of guarding the secondary formation eye—a testament to their all-out commitment.

With 3 of the 7 fifth-order spirit veins already claimed, the remaining cultivators divided the tasks among themselves. The most powerful took sole dominion over an island, while those of lesser strength joined forces to guard a single spirit island.

After the tasks had been assigned, Magnus the Virtuous Lord finally spoke, "The 18 treasure ships we brought can also unleash significant combat power at critical moments."

"Each treasure ship shall retain 100,000 cultivators as a mobile reserve force for the younger generation, tasked with providing support to various spirit islands."

"We understand."

Eldrin nodded. He had already assigned the less combat-proficient Lior and Elara to guard the Crimson Flood Dragon Treasure Ship and the Golden Rhino Treasure Ship, ready to provide support to all fronts at a moment's notice.

With these assignments settled, everyone immediately set out to arrange the defense of the spirit island.

However, Lior retained 4 late Nascent Soul stage combatants: Eldrin and his Dao Companion, the Heaven’s Abode Sect Master, and the Heaven’s Desolation Sect Master.

With a faint smile, he said, "The entire Vermilion Bird Star Palace region is guarded by our 3 Meridians Ancient Domain. While we still have some time, let us cultivators at the Late Nascent Soul stage and above convene first."

"Very well."

Eldrin nodded and followed Magnus the Virtuous Lord into a secluded courtyard.

Before long, numerous great powers whose prestige shook the 3 Veins Ancient Domain had gathered. Among them were some fellow cultivators Eldrin (Person Name) recognized, as well as others who were mighty figures that had just emerged after years of secluded cultivation.

The crowd gathered, exchanging smiles and greetings in small clusters.

For instance, the renowned Ivy the Verdant Fairy (Person Name), along with the familiar 9-River Daoist (Person Name), gathered around Eldrin (Person Name) with warm smiles, sharing tales of recent years.

Just then, the 9-River Daoist greeted Eldrin and said with a smile, "The territory I guard is the Zhang Moon Deer Territory, merely 5 million li away from yours. I hope we fellow cultivators can support each other in critical times."

"So it shall be."

Eldrin nodded slightly. A distance of 5 million li was but a 2-day journey for 1 possessing the combat prowess of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

It was a pity that the space near the Sky Scar was too unstable to set up a teleportation formation. Otherwise, traversing a mere few 100 li of territory would have significantly eased everyone's burden.

Seeing this, Palace Master Qingyao offered a slight bow and said, "The region I guard, the Zhen Water Worm sector, lacks a Half-Step Primordial Spirit (Cultivation Realm) powerhouse to oversee it. Should a crisis arise, I must humbly request your assistance."

"Rest assured, Fair Immortal, we shall by no means stand idly by."

Jiudao Taoist smiled faintly. Palace Master Qingyao was among the top 10 great beauties of Eastern Wastelands (Location), and her cultivation had recently broken through to the Great Perfection of Nascent Soul realm. Naturally, she was adored by many True Lords, among whom was this very Jiudao Taoist.

However, a proud daughter of heaven like Palace Mistress Qingyao typically had exceedingly high standards. Without extraordinary qualities, winning her favor would be no easy feat.

All those present seized this opportunity to build rapport with others, hoping to have someone to rely on when the great battle commenced.

Meanwhile, Magnus the Virtuous Lord (Person Name) and several other experts with Half-Step Primordial Spirit (Cultivation Realm) combat prowess also gathered to discuss countermeasures.

The master of Feiyun Pavilion spoke with a grave expression, his brows furrowed deeply: "Though our Vermilion Bird Star Palace lies on the periphery, we lack a Primordial Spirit Dao Lord to guard our grounds."

"If a Domain Outer Demon at the Nascent Soul realm comes to kill us, I'm afraid we'll be in grave danger."

Upon hearing this, the group nodded in unison. Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) spoke with a grave expression, "Should even a single Primordial Spirit Heavenly Demon breach our defenses, none of us would be able to withstand it."

"Aside from relying on formations, only by joining forces with the power of 2 pure-yang spirit treasures could they barely hold their ground."

Magnus the Virtuous Lord also drew a deep breath, glancing at Maris the Sea Steader as he said, "If it truly comes to that, only by joining forces can we hold our ground for a brief moment—to secure the focal point of the Vermilion Bird Star Palace's formation."

"I truly hope it doesn't come to that."

The master of the Featherflight Pavilion let out a sigh. With their combat prowess, as long as no Soul Projection demonic cultivators showed up, their chances of survival were overwhelmingly high.

But once they took that step, their hope of returning alive would become exceedingly slim.

The gathering lasted for 3 hours, and after finalizing the plans for mutual offense and defense, Maris the Sea Steader (Person Name) produced a set of communication talismans and distributed them among the group.

"Although communication artifacts exist on every spirit island, just to be safe, these message talismans are more reliable in crucial moments."

With that, the crowd dispersed.

Eldrin returned to the Scarlet Serpent Treasure Ship and commanded the vessel to set course for the Vermilion Bird Star Palace. After flying for over half a month, the group finally arrived at the Starfire Island.

After arriving at Star Sun Island, Eldrin gathered the numerous Nascent Soul True Monarchs together and unfurled a map of the entire area surrounding Star Sun Island.

"Esteemed colleagues, take a look at these small islands. How should we arrange them?"

Eldrin gazed at the map, his brow slightly furrowed in contemplation. "As a core formation anchor, the Star-Moon Isle is surrounded by over a 100 fourth-tier spirit islands," he murmured thoughtfully.

These spirit islands served as the formation eyes of the Moonfall Islands. Should they be completely breached, it would inevitably diminish the potency of the Moonfall Islands' grand formation. Therefore, it was imperative to dispatch a considerable number of cultivators to garrison them.

The Sect Master of Tianlu fell into contemplation for a moment before declaring, "With a force of 3,000,000 at our disposal, we shall deploy 2,000,000 cultivators to garrison these subsidiary spirit islands."

"Then we shall station 3 Golden Core cultivators on each spirit island. What say you?"