Chapter 674 Taking the Initiative

"Third Elder, mind your words!"

The Sect Master of Tianlu quickly cut him off, though his own expression was equally grim.

Not long before, a Domain Fiend from the Nascent Soul Realm had suddenly assaulted the Archipelago of the Black Tortoise Star Palace, successively breaching 2 major Astral Islands.

Seeing that his opponent was merely a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator, the Wang Clan Dao Lord immediately left the spirit island, intent on eliminating him.

Little did they expect that the enemy had laid an ambush with no fewer than 4 Nascent Soul Dao Lords. After a fierce battle, the Wang Clan Dao Lord managed to escape only at the cost of his physical body being completely destroyed.

However, after his physical body was destroyed, Daoist Master Wang clearly lost all combat capability. No 1 knew where he had fled now, and this ultimately triggered the collapse of the Archipelago of the Black Tortoise Star Palace.

After everyone had finished reading, Eldrin said, "Currently, the 4 Outer Demons are leading the demonic army in pursuit of the defeated forces of the Black Tortoise Star Palace. Within 6 months to a year at most, they will inevitably turn their attention to the rest of our Star Palaces."

"The meaning of Eldrin's words is that he will activate the Starfall Array to hold off the 4 Outer Realm Demons, while we must defend our spirit islands with every ounce of our strength."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Once the Human Race's 4 Astral Palaces Grand Formation was activated by a Nascent Soul Dao Lord, it could summon the true spirits of the 4 Astral Palaces into battle. Each of these 4 true spirits could unleash combat power at the Nascent Soul level.

Now that the Black Tortoise Starry Archipelago had been breached, 1 of the 4 Symbols Star Spirits had already been lost. Yet, they could still summon the true spirits of the 3 great star palaces—the Vermilion Bird, the Azure Dragon, and the White Tiger.

Back then, the human race had laid down 2 contingency measures within the peripheral 4 Directions Star Palace Archipelago, capable of awakening the true spirit of the star palaces.

1 was the Eldrin of the White Tiger Star Palace, and the other was the Wang Eldrin of the Far North Ice Plains. Now, the Wang Eldrin of the Far North has had his physical body destroyed and gone missing, but the Eldrin remains to oversee the situation.

With Lu Jiuyuan's cultivation at the third level of the Nascent Soul realm, once he summoned the 3 4 Symbols Stellar Spirits, his confidence in confronting the 4 newly-ascended Nascent Soul Heavenly Demons was by no means insignificant.

However, this hinged on ensuring the 2 great archipelagos of the Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird Star Palaces remained unbreached. Otherwise, even with Lu Jiuyuan and the star spirit of the White Tiger Star Palace joining forces, they would likely be unable to withstand the 4 Outer Sky Demons.

At this thought, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief. The current situation still offered at least some chance of redemption.

Seeing that everyone had somewhat settled their hearts, Eldrin spoke up, "Everyone, I have an idea and would like to seek your opinions."

"Please speak, Eldrin."

The recent great victory in battle had earned Eldrin a newfound respect from everyone, and now they instinctively looked to him as their leader.

Seeing this, Eldrin nodded and said, "Although Dao Lord 9 Abyss intends for us to hold our position, I believe prolonged defense inevitably leads to vulnerability."

"While we have this great victory and the Outer Realm Demons haven't yet recovered, why don't we swiftly relieve the siege on the major constellation array eyes of the Vermilion Bird Star Palace? Then we can concentrate our forces to completely eliminate the demon clans surrounding the Vermilion Bird Star Palace beyond Zhen Water Island?"

Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions shifted abruptly. The master of the Heavenly Abode Sect said uneasily, "With the demonic forces now at the peak of their power, engaging them in open battle without the protection of our formation would be far too perilous."

"Indeed, the complete victory in this battle was entirely due to the formation's power."

The Heavenly Star Sect Leader could no longer restrain himself, his expression fraught with anxiety as he wished to persuade further.

Eldrin’s gaze sharpened as he interrupted the words of the Heavenly Star Sect Master, then declared directly, "Everyone, hear my analysis."

Although the Outer Fiends possessed formidable power, the number of demons that managed to breach the outer defenses was limited.

He spoke thus, conjuring an illusory map with his magic power. "Look," he said, "the main force of the demonic army—nearly 2 100 demonic ships—is attacking the routed troops of the Black Tortoise Star Palace. They've also deployed over a 100 fifth-rank demonic ships at Zhen Water Island."

"With the additional defenses at the Azure Dragon Star Palace archipelago against the demons, how many of them do you think remain?"

Everyone was momentarily stunned, then gradually regained a measure of composure from their panic.

Seeing this, Eldrin finally spoke, "Thus I conclude that the demon clans occupying the Zhangyue Deer Archipelago and surrounding islands must be bluffing to deter us from sending reinforcements. The 6-Winged Demon Race we eliminated was likely already 1 of their elite forces."

"If we miss this window of opportunity and allow the main demonic forces from the Black Tortoise Star Palace to march upon us, do any of you truly believe we could still hold our ground?"

"Indeed." Ethereal Void Immortal took a deep breath before speaking uncontrollably, "Had you not reminded us, Fellow Daoist, we would likely have remained trapped on the spirit island, clinging to futile hope."

"When the demonic legion launches its assault, we would only watch helplessly as they systematically divide and encircle our spirit islands 1 by 1. By concentrating forces severalfold—even tenfold—to crush each isolated stronghold, we'd likely lose even the chance to break through their siege."

Eldrin nodded slightly; it seemed the Ethereal Mist Fairy had finally grasped his intentions.

In this realm, cultivators revere strength above all. Many never bother to study battle strategies, but as a modern man, he deeply understood 1 truth.

That is to stake everything on a single throw, concentrating superior forces to engage the enemy, and never fight a battle you are not sure of winning unless absolutely necessary.

And for this very reason, if 1 were to carefully tally it up, the Chen Clan had mostly relied on overwhelming their opponents with numbers in battles over the years.

In his early years, whether it was the Celestial Python Demon King (Demon Beast) or the Earth Lion Demon King, and later whether it was the Purple Jade Demon Emperor (Demon Beast) or Patriarch Black Fiend—all of these individuals possessed strength that was insurmountable to Eldrin (Person Name) back in those days.

Yet even such formidable foes from back then, under the siege of Eldrin and others, either met their bitter end on the spot or suffered devastating losses.

Upon careful reflection, Eldrin, despite his astonishing combat prowess, had rarely engaged in solo battles. This clearly indicated his strong aversion to fighting uncertain wars.

Even in the face of overwhelming adversity, he must now concentrate every ounce of his available strength to establish at least a localized advantage over the demonic forces before engaging in battle.

Only by achieving this can 1 remain undefeated in battle, and even when facing defeat with superior strength, the losses are often not severe.

Seeing that everyone was persuaded by his words, Eldrin said, "Speed is crucial in warfare. The cultivators aboard the treasure ship need not disembark. Let them rest on the vessel tonight, and tomorrow we shall reinforce Brother 9 Rivers and the others."

After the crowd had dispersed, Lyra glanced at Eldrin and noticed his expression had grown somewhat somber.

Seeing this, she couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Still worried about this battle?"

"Mm." Eldrin nodded, then said, "The Outer Demons are advancing with overwhelming force. I fear the 9 Abysses Dao Lord may not hold them back."

"And I fear that in tomorrow's battle, our opponent's strength may far exceed our expectations."

Lyra’s brow twitched slightly, then she frowned and said, “Didn’t you already analyze that the remaining forces of the demonic race should be no more than a few?”

"I was deceiving them."

Eldrin shook his head and said, "The demonic races haven't attacked the White Tiger Star Palace, so it's highly likely there's another army hidden in the shadows."

"Their target is either spying on our Vermilion Bird Star Palace, or they are focused on the Azure Dragon Star Palace."

"This..."

Lyra was slightly taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "Then why did you deceive them?"