After the spiritual race's great loss of luck, their threat to the three races diminished significantly. Both the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin races believed that even if they emerged victorious in the end, they would still be unable to contend with a spiritual race that had already suffered a severe blow to its luck.
Thus, the brief alliance that had previously formed rapidly dissolved.
The three races once again plunged into a cataclysmic war.
Moreover, this war was no longer solely about mutual slaughter but also about territorial conquest.
The Xuanwu race, which had always guarded the continent's water veins,
found themselves unable to escape the conflict. After all, when the world falls into chaos, one cannot always remain a bystander simply by wishing to. With the Dragon race already dominating the seas and certain islands, and aiming to invade the five continents and conquer the world,
the optimal invasion route
was invariably through the various water veins.
This is because the continental water veins are connected to the ocean's water veins. If they could capture all the continental water veins, they would no longer need to invade the five continents from the coastlines, but could do so at any time.
Therefore, the Xuanwu race, which guarded the continental water veins, was naturally a target they had to secure. If they couldn't win them over, destroying them and occupying them themselves would be even better for the Dragon race.
As a result, no matter how much the Xuanwu race proclaimed their desire for peace, it was futile. They were quickly drawn into the conflict between the three races. The Dragon race sought to win them over through persuasion and coercion, and the Phoenix and Qilin races did the same, offering benefits while also applying pressure.
The general proposition was: you help us guard these, and we will provide resources and assistance. If you dare to betray us and side with the Dragon race, given the Dragon race's current limited power on land, the combined might of the Phoenix and Qilin races would be more than enough to annihilate your Xuanwu race with ease.
The Dragon race's persuasion and coercion tactics were similar: if your Xuanwu race pledges allegiance, we Dragons will certainly grant you a favorable position, second only to our own race, making you our foremost subordinate race. However, if you refuse and we are forced to take them by force, your entire race will be exterminated.
We urge you to consider carefully.
It can be said that none of the three races were benevolent. The Xuanwu race itself was in a state of deep dilemma and hesitation, unsure of what to do.
They were caught between a rock and a hard place, finding it difficult to make a choice.
In contrast, the White Tiger race
truly remained completely outside the conflict.
This was because, apart from their direct descendants, all the remaining members of the tiger race with a slight trace of White Tiger bloodline, as well as their vassal races like the leopard and lion, were disbanded by the White Tiger Ancestor, who sent them to pledge allegiance to the Qilin race. Although the White Tiger Ancestor was not entirely alone, the total population of his entire race did not even reach three digits. Simultaneously, he had abandoned their ancestral land.
They wandered everywhere without a fixed abode.
It was difficult for the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin races to even find the White Tiger Ancestor, let alone try to entice or threaten him.
Nowadays, the White Tiger Ancestor spent his time with Daoist Creation and the others. He even abandoned his original title and began to call himself White Tiger Daoist. In addition, he also discarded the method of proving the Dao through luck, and together with Daoist Creation and his group, who had also abandoned the method of proving the Dao through luck, they began to collaborate on deducing new methods of proving the Dao.
They firmly believed that the so-called proving the Dao could not possibly be a one-way street, nor could it be limited to only one individual.
Apart from the method of proving the Dao through luck,
there must be other ways to achieve enlightenment.
After all, the ancient times were vastly different from the present. In ancient times, the world was not yet complete, nor were the Three Thousand Laws perfected. But now, both the world and the Three Thousand Laws were complete. There might be a path forward, and who could say for sure?
Of course, apart from them, all those who were not among the three races and harbored the desire to prove the Dao were either devising new paths to enlightenment or believed they had found the correct method and were diligently pursuing it.
However, some firmly believed that the path of proving the Dao through luck was flawed and unworkable, while others felt they had no hope of following this path and thus had to change their approach, endeavoring to find a new way.
…
Returning to the Xuanwu race.
After delaying for some time and giving no reply to the Dragon race, nor to the Phoenix and Qilin races, their attempt to walk a tightrope and maintain balance ultimately became unsustainable. All three races gave them a final deadline.
They were no longer allowed to procrastinate.
In the end, under duress, they pledged allegiance to the Dragon race, as they felt they had a greater advantage and their conditions were more agreeable. It wasn't that they were entirely satisfied, but compared to the Phoenix and Qilin races, the Dragon race indeed showed a little more sincerity.
For example, in addition to promising that the Xuanwu race would become the foremost subordinate race under the Dragon race, the Dragon race also promised that all the younger generation of the Xuanwu race could enter the Dragon Palace and would not participate in any wars, big or small.
Setting aside other preferential treatment, this point alone
made it difficult for the Xuanwu race to refuse.
The agreement for the Xuanwu race's younger generation to enter the Dragon Palace and not participate in wars was essentially a form of protection for them, and more importantly, a protection for the entire lineage of the Xuanwu race. This was far better than the Phoenix and Qilin races, who only offered promises of resources and threats.
Furthermore, the Dragon race's overall strength, when considered individually, was already superior to that of either the Phoenix race or the Qilin race.
The probability of achieving victory was indeed higher.
With the Xuanwu race officially pledging allegiance to the Dragon race, the Phoenix and Qilin races were naturally furious. They immediately slowed their assaults on the Dragon race and instead diverted a significant portion of their forces to surround and suppress the Xuanwu race and other freshwater species in various water veins across the continent.
The Dragon race, of course, could not stand idly by.
If the Xuanwu race were to be annihilated by the Phoenix and Qilin races immediately after pledging allegiance, how would the Dragons save face? Who would dare to pledge allegiance to them in the future?
Therefore, the Dragon race also swiftly mobilized a large number of their own kin, as well as aquatic races capable of surviving in freshwater, to assist the Xuanwu race in defending the continental water veins. Concurrently, using those continental water veins as a base,
they launched counterattacks against the Qilin and Phoenix races.
In addition, they also mobilized some mutated fire dragon bloodlines to attack and occupy the fire veins beneath the continent, such as volcanic magma and the like.
Or the earth dragon and spiritual dragon races,
to occupy the earth veins and spiritual veins beneath the land.
Sometimes, having many descendants leads to the mutation of peculiar bloodlines. Some mutated bloodline descendants, which seemed useless in the ocean, were now like geniuses once they came ashore.
Suddenly, the important earth veins, water veins, and spiritual veins beneath the continent were in constant danger of being occupied by the Dragon race. Once occupied, those Dragon races could directly refine the earth veins, water veins, and spiritual veins, gaining a home-field advantage to a certain extent and unleashing attacks far exceeding their own strength.
This caught the Phoenix and Qilin races completely off guard, causing the overall balance of the war to gradually tilt towards the Dragon race, and the Phoenix and Qilin races appeared to be in some danger.
(End of this chapter)