Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Chapter 1963  Losing Territory

As Elder Song was waiting anxiously for Xuan Hao to emerge from the ascension secret realm, the situation in the Blue Sea Empire had escalated far more than what had originally been intended by the demonic cultivators, as it had become clear that they wanted to deal with the demonic cultivators within the half year time before someone from the Star Shattering Sect appeared and joined in on the conflict.

But… Even though the demonic cultivators ended up dedicating another two demonic cultivators with strength comparable to the Land Creation Realm to overwhelm the Blue Sea Empire, they found themselves unable to make much progress as the Blue Sea Empire retreated to the core of their territory where they were able to rely on the countless defensive formations that had been put in place over the years to hold back the now five demonic cultivators comparable to the Land Creation Realm invading their territory.

However, retreating behind their defensive formations also meant that the Blue Sea Empire had essentially been forced to give up the rest of their territory to the demonic cultivators, causing close to three thirds of the territory under the Blue Sea Empire to fall under the control of the demonic cultivators in the past half year.

Such a massive conquest only being possible thanks to the sheer number of demonic cultivators flooding into the Blue Sea Empire, as countless major powers who had once been struggling against the large number of demonic cultivators found themselves capable of pushing back and retaking territory that had been lost as the demonic cultivators originally attacking them had been dragged over to help in taking down the Blue Sea Empire.

Because of this, though some of the major powers wanted to lend a hand to the Blue Sea Empire and help them out, they didnʼt and instead just focused on ensuring that their defenses were strengthened and territory they had already lost retaken before the demonic cultivators returned and attacked them again.

In their eyes, with the Star Shattering Sect about to show up and the Blue Sea Empire still able to keep their core territory intact in the face of the five powerful demonic cultivators, there was no reason for them to risk their lives unnecessarily in a deadly struggle with the demonic cultivators over the Blue Sea Empires already lost territory. Instead of that, it was far better for them to use the opportunity to strengthen their own borders and at the same time also a chance to get a proper look at just how strong the Star Shattering Sect was.

After all, even though most of the major powers that existed within the Northern Central Region were already aware of the Star Shattering Sect and the fact that it was an ancient hidden sect, none of them had any idea about just how strong this ancient hidden sect was. Having only really glimpsed what they perceived to be a fraction of this ancient hidden sectʼs power when Xuan Hao had personally decided to enter the Frozen Wastelands during the upheaval he himself had been behind.

Still, the simple fact that the Star Shattering Sect had apparently declared outright that the conflict was going to end, made everyone in the Northern Central Region feel that the Star Shattering Sect was far stronger than they had guessed in the past. Potentially even having some ancient ancestors who had reached the Star Creation Realm still around.

Amidst this sense of anticipation, the one who was the most nervous about the decision of the Star Shattering Sect to meddle in the struggle between the Blue Sea Empire and the demonic cultivators of the Frozen Wastelands, wasnʼt the demonic cultivators whose invasion was about to be stopped ahead of time by the Star Shattering Sect. Instead, it was the Blue Sea Empire, who already had a rather strained relationship with the Star Shattering Sect from the few interactions they had in the past.

If anything, it could be said that the demonic cultivators were somewhat looking forward to the Star Shattering Sect stepping forward.

After all, so far, the demonic cultivators of the Frozen Wastelands and the Star Shattering Sect had managed to establish a relatively positive relationship with each other over years, as the demonic cultivators had not just ignored the Star Shattering Sectʼs territory and avoided attacking them, but had even provided the sect with a seemingly endless stream of weaker demonic cultivators that the elders and disciples of the sect could use to train themselves against.

For the Star Shattering Sect to step forward and end that chaotic situation, it didnʼt mean that the Star Shattering Sect would just make the two major powers stop fighting with each other. Instead, it almost certainly meant that the sect would take the side of one of the two and help that side deal with the other.

And… To all observers, it was almost certain that the Star Shattering Sect was going to stand on the side of the demonic cultivators and help them in taking down the Blue Sea Empire, something that was by all means out of the ordinary considering one side was demonic cultivators, but then again, the Wei Empire hadnʼt been that much different when it had decided to attack the Blue Sea Empire alongside the demonic cultivators earlier.

The only difference so to speak was the fact that the one from the Wei Empire hadnʼt been strong enough to do any real damage to the Blue Sea Empire after it retreated into the core of its territory and decided to cut its losses and focus entirely on preserving itself.

Of course, there was also the fact that the ancestor from the Wei Empire worried about the demonic cultivators being too powerful, but this kind of worry might not be something an ancient hidden sect like the Star Shattering Sect had.

As for the potential damage the demonic cultivators might do to the mortals and weaker cultivators that had once been under the Blue Sea Empire? That wasnʼt something any of the major powers cared about, as their main worry was and would always be the simple fact that they might end up facing a far stronger competitor within the Northern Central Region. Potentially forcing these major powers to work together to push out this intruder who was undoubtedly eyeing their territories in a similar manner as they were eyeing the Blue Sea Empireʼs territory.

The worry of the Star Shattering Sect potentially also stepping in to help the demonic cultivators again was close to nonexistent, as it was well known among the different major powers from the Northern Central Region that the Blue Sea Empire had already acted directly against the Blue Sea Empire in the past and had formed an enmity with the ancient hidden sect in this manner.

If they avoided making a similar mistake themselves, these major powers felt that it was unlikely for the Star Shattering Sect to step in and help the demonic cultivators attack them.

Not to mention, the Star Shattering Sect aiding the demonic cultivators was ultimately still only a guess from their side and what they believed was the most likely to happen.

For all they knew, the Star Shattering Sect might have some plan that none of them understood, something that the demonic cultivators clearly understood, as though they believed the Star Shattering Sect would help them over the Blue Sea Empire, there might be a chance that the Star Shattering Sect had a completely different plan in mind.

This fact was the main reason behind the demonic cultivators doing their best to take over as much territory as possible before the half year time limit was up. Even giving up on several other fronts against other major powers to make it possible to take over close to 80% of the Blue Sea Empire. In the process also causing the same change that had taken place when they first conquered part of the Blue Sea Empire to spread about the rest of the territory that fell under their control. Changing the normally idyllic environment of the Blue Sea Empire into a frozen hellscape not much different from the Frozen Wasteland. Perfect for demonic cultivators.

Still, it wasnʼt as extreme, as mortals could still survive, though it had become far harder than before.

Speaking of mortals, though there were now countless demonic cultivators swarming the former territory of the Blue Sea Empire, no major slaughter took place. Instead, the demonic cultivators stepped forward and directly helped the mortals throughout the Blue Sea Empire survive, something that was extremely puzzling to the countless major powers, but none of them had time to investigate the reasoning behind this as they were instead far more focused on the battle playing out at the heart of the Blue Sea Empire.

The clash between the eight figures at the Land Creation realm in terms of strength having completely captivated everyone. Making them ignore whatever the weaker demonic cultivators were up to.