"Buddha's light? Cultivating Buddhism? And they're from the Ghost Clan?" Shi Li exclaimed in disbelief at Ye Du Ye's words. Buddha is supposed to be the embodiment of purity, purifying all the filth in the world. Ghost energy, the toxins of the Jiang Dao, the demonic essence of the Demon Clan—these are all the things Buddha is meant to purify.
Yet here they were, the Ghost Clan cultivating Buddhism? It sounded utterly absurd.
"Yes, that golden light we just saw should be the legendary 'Duhua' or 'Purification.' In just that single instance, at least one hundred million soldiers from our side were 'purified' by the enemy and turned into one of them, attacking us."
"Furthermore, the number of Buddhist cultivators on the enemy side is estimated to be around one hundred million. Out of that golden light, no more than ten million Buddhist cultivators were actively involved in the purification," Ye Du Ye explained to Shi Li, acting like his assistant.
"Ten million Buddhist cultivators can purify one hundred million? That means each one can purify a hundred thousand of our people? Does that imply they can purify at least ten billion soldiers?" Shi Li felt a surge of annoyance. So, all this time, they were fighting their own people?
"That's not an absolute certainty. It also depends on the relative strengths of the individuals involved. If their strengths were equal, they would struggle to purify even one, let alone ten."
"That's a relief. In that case, since we have the numbers, I'll just see if they can purify all of them," Shi Li said indifferently. As long as it didn't threaten him and they could still defeat the enemy, he wouldn't care if billions of his soldiers died.
Unfortunately, they were unaware of the existence of five supreme powerhouses among the five major legions of the Ten Directions Empire. If they had known, their sentiments would have been entirely different.
The "purified" Mang Shan soldiers fought like they were injected with adrenaline, like unfeeling killing machines that didn't care about pain. They launched frenzied attacks without any regard for defense, biting and tearing at anyone they could find, only moving on to a new target after the previous cultivator was thoroughly annihilated.
This sudden turn of events threw the entire army into chaos.
Frenzied and brutal!
The one hundred million soldiers purified by the Ghost Clan, under the onslaught of billions of cannon fodder, held out for less than fifteen minutes. Then, to the astonishment of all the allied forces, the Ghost Clan army, leading the charge, cut through the disorganized rabble and advanced towards the Hundred Regions army.
Hei Yi, leading the Demon Clan army, was positioned to the left and rear of Di Zang. The dense demonic energy enveloped the entire battlefield, even obscuring half of the Ghost Clan's "Buddha's light."
"Holy crap, this monk is quite something! He's my kind of guy! Xing Lei, you take charge of the troops, I'm going to help that bald guy!"
"Yes, Demon Lord!"
Behind him, Xing Lei, the commander of the Demon Clan's First Legion, quickly moved to Hei Yi's position. Hei Yi, with a flash, appeared before Di Zang.
"Benefactor Hei? Why have you come over?" Di Zang asked, puzzled, upon seeing Hei Yi.
"Benefactor Hei"?!
Hei Yi's already dark face grew even darker at Di Zang's words. Ignoring the monk, he positioned himself at the very front line.
Among the five major legions, Hei Yi might rank at the lower end in terms of cultivation, but in terms of combat prowess, he was undoubtedly number one. This was because his greatest strength wasn't his internal cultivation, but his external, physical body!
Having cut through the rabble, the army soon clashed with the vanguard of the Hundred Regions army.
The vanguard was composed of five star domains designated by Shi Li, totaling five hundred million elite soldiers, all of whom were at the Moon Realm.
Unfortunately, the lowest-ranking soldier in the five major legions far surpassed them in strength. Thus, in a single exchange, all five hundred million vanguard soldiers of the Hundred Regions were annihilated without so much as a pause in the enemy's advance.
The immense disparity in power left Shi Li and the other high-ranking officials of the allied forces utterly bewildered.
The billions of soldiers at the front had only managed to make Di Zang and his group pause for a few seconds. These five hundred million? They were just a blip. Moreover, the one leading the charge was Hei Yi, the notorious war fanatic; it was impossible for their advance to be slow.
Having breached the enemy's vanguard, Di Zang, advancing at full speed, shook his Vajra Pestle, and a wave of Sanskrit chants reverberated through the entire sky. Instantly, the Hundred Regions army was bathed in golden light as twelve terrifying figures ascended into the sky. The soldiers in that area were engulfed in a melee.
"Damn... Monk, you always appear like a virtuous master, but who knew you were so insidious," Feng Xi and Mo Li also rushed to the front. Witnessing the widespread "beacon fires" spread across the vast allied formation, they couldn't help but feel a prickle of unease.
"Benefactor, you shouldn't say that. If you advocate for peace talks, aren't you afraid of excessive casualties and losses to my empire? Then this humble monk must sacrifice himself." Di Zang smiled somewhat bashfully.
"That's a statement worthy of a high monk!" Hei Yi turned his head and grinned.
At this moment, the Hundred Regions allied forces were also thrown into disarray. Although the number of "purified" individuals this time was only in the millions, their morale was shattered.
Look at them, twelve great masters at the Monarch Completion realm, hiding amongst their own troops and secretly purifying so many people, completely disregarding their dignified facade. Were these truly cultivators of benevolence and righteousness?
"Six Monarch Completion experts and six at the Middle Monarch stage?!" The twelve figures ascending into the sky startled Shi Li and his group. It's worth noting that the Hundred Regions combined had only a little over two hundred Monarch realm experts. Even the Jiang Dao had only four Monarchs, with just one at the Completion stage. This painted a grim picture for other star domains.
"Didn't our previous reconnaissance indicate that the highest Monarch realm expert on their side was only at the Middle stage? Now that Completion stage experts are involved, how can we fight? Should we even fight?" Ye Du Ye was also dumbfounded at this point. As a legion commander, Monarch realm experts rarely intervened. The Monarch realm represented the final dignity of a star domain. If Monarchs engaged in battle, it signified that the warring parties had reached a point of no return.
"Fight! Why wouldn't we fight? It's just a few more Monarch Completion realm experts. We have over a hundred Monarch realm experts on our side. I refuse to believe they can turn the tide!" Shi Li's expression was calm, but the corpse poison halo emanating from him revealed his killing intent.
He needed this war. He needed to showcase his combat prowess, his courage, and his leadership. Only by doing so could he re-establish his foothold in the Tianchi Star Domain, fulfill his ancestor's wishes, unify the Jiang Dao and Tianchi, and become the undisputed King of the Hundred Regions!
Boom…
Suddenly, in the dark expanse of the starfield, over a hundred spheres of light erupted, illuminating the entire domain. Five of these lights were like blazing suns, their boundless energy flowing terrifyingly throughout the starfield, causing nearly thirty percent of the Hundred Regions army to collapse under the pressure. Tens of millions of soldiers directly perished from this immense power.