Chapter 1359 (Raw 1349): Trying One's Utmost
"Azure Dragon King, this way, please. I need to discuss some of the matters regarding the handover. I will send for people to arrange individual accommodations for Miss Mo Chen and Miss Bingyun. What do you think?" the purple-clad old man suggested respectfully. Although he was a Martial Emperor, he had to be respectful to Xiao Chen, who could easily kill two First Heaven Martial Emperors.
However, even so, the purple-clad old man still felt the rumors were exaggerated.
Looking at the strength that the Azure Dragon King showed, he was only equal to a peak Minor Heavenly Martial Emperor. The Emperor's Might and aura that he showed displayed a clear difference from that of a Fourth Heaven Martial Emperor.
Perhaps, when the Azure Dragon King killed the Fifth Heaven Martial Emperor, he used some Secret Treasures or Secret Techniques.
Of course, no matter which it was, his having the strength of a peak Minor Heavenly Martial Emperor was already sufficient for the purple-clad old man to respect him. There was no need to think so much.
Xiao Chen nodded and followed the purple-clad old man, heading to a pavilion on the island in the middle of the lake. Meanwhile, a small courtyard nearby was prepared for Mo Chen and Yue Bingyun.
Inside the pavilion, the purple-clad old man brewed a pot of tea for Xiao Chen. After personally filling Xiao Chen's cup, he said, "Azure Dragon King, it's like this: while the handover procedure is not complicated, it is extremely important, so we cannot be careless about any part of it. I hope the Azure Dragon King understands this responsibility."
Xiao Chen nodded, indicating his understanding. "Elder Ma, there is no need to keep calling me the Azure Dragon King. Just address me by my name. Now, we all stand on the same frontline; there is no need to be so polite. There is also no need to remain silent about anything."
Elder Ma smiled and said, "In that case, I'll not stand on ceremony. Brother Xiao Chen, it's like this: there are two main points to defending Maple Leaf Lake. The first was what you experienced, blocking the sneak attacks from the Deity Dao Union, preventing them from breaking the node of the formation. This is rather common.
"The second is the large-scale attacks of the Deity Dao Union. You will need to activate the formation plate that correlates with the entire ninth layer of formations. This is normally the most problematic. Once the other side starts an all-out attack, there will be great pressure. We can only resist it by relying on the formation."
After Elder Mo finished speaking, he handed a fiery-red formation plate to Xiao Chen. There were mountains and rivers imprinted on the obverse of the formation plate and a blazing red sun on the reverse.
Xiao Chen received it and refined it. As he held it in his hand, he immediately sensed a connection between the Maple Leaf Lake and his entire body.
Within Maple Leaf Lake, Xiao Chen could drive a vast amount of energy, which would amplify his offense and defense tremendously.
"This is the formation plate for Maple Leaf Lake. All the Supreme Sky Sect disciples in the formation will receive a boost from the formation. As you are holding the formation plate, the boost you receive will be even greater. Furthermore, you can call out the Formation Spirit to fight at any time."
Elder Ma seriously explained the various functions of the formation in great detail.
Xiao Chen was very intelligent, after just hearing it once, he remembered all of it by heart, understanding most of it. All that was left was to try it for himself to thoroughly understand everything.
"These are the two main things that you normally need to know. Now, we cannot afford to lose even a single layer of formations. With every layer lost, the might of the overall formation will decrease significantly. The boost that the Supreme Sky Prime and those other Martial Emperors receive from the formation will decline even further."
Elder Ma smiled and added, "However, with the Azure Dragon King defending Maple Leaf Lake, this node should be safe."
After that, the two chatted for a while. Xiao Chen raised the topic of military merits. Earlier, Elder Ma casually mentioned ten Primordial Pills. Xiao Chen remembered this since then.
The Primordial Pills from the Flame Rock Sovereign had brought Xiao Chen great benefits and given him a deep understanding of the importance of Primordial Pills.
Elder Ma said, "Since this is the battlefield, both sides have military merits as motivation. I'm not sure about the Deity Dao Union, but the Supreme Sky Prime said that for every First Heaven Martial Emperor killed, he would give five Primordial Pills as a reward.
"As you know, Primes have already cultivated their Primordial Energy to the limits and cannot improve any further. Hence, they have no problem refining Primordial Pills. Furthermore, I heard that the Thunder Sovereign handed a large number of Primordial Pills to the Supreme Sky Prime before he left. Hence, the rewards for military merits are pretty good on our side." Elder Ma looked at Xiao Chen somewhat enviously. He was a Martial Emperor himself and naturally knew about the wondrous uses of Primordial Pills.
After chatting awhile longer, Elder Ma took his leave. Elder Ma still had many things to do, so Xiao Chen did not keep him.
After Elder Ma left, Xiao Chen exited the pavilion as well, walking out alone. He wanted to see for himself what Supreme Sky Province was like now.
Actually, Maple Leaf Lake was already very far from Supreme Sky City. An ordinary person would take three days and three nights to reach it, even on horseback.
However, there was an even broader territory in front of Maple Leaf Lake. That place used to be peaceful.
Now, Xiao Chen stood on the summit of one of the tall mountains by the lake. As he looked into the distance, he saw that everything had turned into rubble. Cities, mountains, and rivers were all destroyed beyond recognition. Any place still intact was occupied by the Deity Dao Union.
The sky was covered in a dense dark cloud made up of the various warships of the Deity Dao Union. They hung up their banners, which flapped loudly in the wind.
When Xiao Chen looked at all this from the tall mountain, his personal strength felt insignificant.
Given the scale of this huge battle, his personal strength was extremely limited. Even if it took place within the ninth layer of formations, he could not do anything significant and could only do his best.
This battle took too long and involved too many cultivators. He could only rely on the strength of his team.
Xiao Chen watched for a long time from this tall mountain covered with maple trees before withdrawing and returning to Maple Leaf Lake.
When the sun set in the west, the stars appeared; night arrived silently.
Xiao Chen calmed himself and started practicing the Void Breaking Stance, the first move of the Flawless Saber Technique. At the same time, he also meditated, trying to form the second move. He was rather free.
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As for the Deity Dao Union, the main camp responsible for breaking the formation showed a completely different scene.
In an average-sized room, four Greater Heavenly Martial Emperors—one each from the Corpse Race, the Ghost Race, the Deity Race, and the human race—sat in the front. Behind each of them were the Minor Heavenly Martial Emperors of their respective races.
A quick count gave a total of four Greater Heavenly Martial Emperors and forty-six Minor Heavenly Martial Emperors. Nearly all the Martial Emperors that the Deity Dao Union sent to break the formation were gathered here. As for the stronger Martial Emperors, they waited and dealt with the situation as it developed, just like the Supreme Sky Sect. Now was still not the time for them to take action.
In reality, this was an intangible competition as well. Whichever side could not endure and sent up their peak Martial Emperors first would be immediately disadvantaged.
For example, if the Supreme Sky Sect could not maintain their formation and needed to activate the Greater Heavenly Martial Emperors to resolve the situation, the Deity Dao Union's Greater Heavenly Martial Emperors would laugh as they watched these Greater Heavenly Martial Emperors exhaust their energy.
The Deity Dao Union's elites would wait and conserve their energy. When the enemy exhausted themselves, they would attack in one fell swoop, which would be much more relaxed for them.
"On Maple Leaf Lake's side, two Martial Emperors of the Corpse Race died. This is rather irregular. None of the accompanying Corpse Race cultivators returned alive, either. This is even more irregular. We need to clarify the situation. Otherwise, it will affect the main attack tomorrow."
The one seated in the center was a Deity Race Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor named Leng Zhengyang, the nominal commander of the allied army of four races.
"What is there to investigate? The Corpse Race's Martial Emperors only possess average strength in the first place. They are greedy and take risks. I feel that it is rather normal for their entire group to be wiped out," the Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor of the Ghost Race said uncaringly, causing the Corpse Race's Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor incredible frustration.
Everyone knew that the Corpse Race and the Ghost Race did not get along. Now that they are together in the same place, it would be strange if they did not bicker with each other.
Leng Zhengyang shook his head and looked at the human race's Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor, an elder of the Phoenix's Passion Palace. "Brother Qianxing, what do you think?"
This old man was called Su Qianxing. He held a rather high position in the Phoenix's Passion Palace, so this Deity Race Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor did not dare to underestimate him.
Su Qianxing replied, "That is not a big problem. Maple Leaf Lake is not the main node. Our primary target is still Meteor Trail City. That is the main node of the ninth layer."
"Good. It is settled, then. The plan for tomorrow's attack will not change. We will do our best to break the ninth layer of formations."