"Sky Demon, this won't do! Those demonic energies only held back some of the human cultivators. The situation is very unfavorable for us now, and our tribesmen are about to collapse!"
Di Mo barely managed to block an attack from all directions and retreated rapidly to Sky Demon's side. The bloodthirsty ferocity that had once characterized his face was gone, and a hint of apprehension could be seen within his blood-red eyes.
The human race was far more powerful and terrifying than he had imagined.
Only now did Di Mo awaken from his fantasy of dominating the Kyushu Continent.
His response was a slap that whistled through the air.
"Shut up!"
Di Mo was almost sent flying by the merciless blow.
He managed to steady himself, lowered his head, his heart feeling as if it had been thrown into a boiling oil pot, repeatedly fried and tormented.
Sky Demon ignored Di Mo's expression and surveyed the entire battlefield.
From his elevated position, he could easily see that the situation was, as Di Mo had said, very unfavorable for them.
Although the numbers on both sides appeared comparable, the human cultivators possessed an endless stream of strange magical treasures and talismans.
When human and demon cultivators of similar cultivation levels clashed, it was always the demon cultivators who fell.
Because of this, the human cultivators' morale soared, while the battle-hungry demon race showed signs of exhaustion.
Sky Demon's eyes swept across the battlefield, and the corner of his mouth twitched fiercely.
Of the eighteen Demon Lords, only half remained.
The casualties were heavy.
"Sky Demon, save me! Ah—"
The cry for help abruptly ceased.
Sky Demon looked towards the sound and saw the Yinshan Demon Lord being reduced to ashes under the combined assault of three cultivators.
Yinshan's death seemed to trigger some sort of special switch. The demon race's morale plummeted, and they began to show signs of a rout.
Sky Demon knew that if this continued, the demon race would surely be defeated.
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth fiercely. "Retreat!"
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Upon receiving Sky Demon's command, the demon race lost all will to fight. They retreated while fighting, and within moments, they had ebbed away like a tide.
"Ancestor Jingzhi, should we pursue?"
After a silent, mid-air clash of gazes with Sky Demon, Jingzhi's gaze slowly withdrew. She shook her head. "We will also withdraw."
This battle had already raged on for long enough.
If they were to pursue further, the demon race might fight back desperately in their death throes, leading to even greater casualties.
Ancestor Jingzhi had never expected the decisive battle against the demon and monster races to go so smoothly.
Since that was the case, she did not mind if it continued to be smooth, cutting off the hopes of the demon and monster races at the smallest cost.
Though a withdrawal was ordered, they could not all pull out at once.
Severely injured and incapacitated cultivators would be sent to healing grounds, while the remaining mobile cultivators would need to clean up the battlefield and collect the bodies of their fallen comrades, which was also a monumental task.
When Xu Yi returned to the Kyushu Alliance, she saw Bei Xinghan and the others looking as if their spirits had been entirely drained.
"What's wrong with you all?"
The Kyushu Alliance had once again gained the upper hand in the racial war. Thus, Bei Xinghan, Xiong Zhuangzhuang, and the others had decided to hold a small gathering to relax their minds.
Xu Yi and Ji Buwang had been invited. Seeing their dispirited state, Xu Yi was somewhat surprised.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang waved his hand, a look of exhaustion on his face. "I knew I should have applied to help clear the demonic energy. Xu Yi, you wouldn't believe it, but when I came off the battlefield, my thigh was almost severed at the root. Bei Xinghan had it even worse, besieged by over a dozen demon cultivators, his body riddled with dozens of holes."
Xu Yi glanced at their unusually pale lips and nodded in understanding. She placed the spirit wine from her storage ring on the table. "Thank you all for your hard work."
Yu Xiaoyu, having witnessed life and death frequently in the past few days, was no longer as timid and reserved as before. She proactively took the wine pot and began pouring for everyone.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang picked up his wine cup and took a large gulp before Yu Xiaoyu could even try to stop him.
Her eyes widened. "Xiong Zhuangzhuang, we agreed you could only have one cup. Now that you've finished it, there's none left for you."
Xiong Zhuangzhuang had been seriously injured, and his leg had only just been reattached. Teacher Jing had instructed him not to consume anything that would interfere with the medicine's efficacy.
This single cup of wine was something Xiong Zhuangzhuang and Yu Xiaoyu had begged for with great difficulty.
The smile on Xiong Zhuangzhuang's face froze, and he then stammered, "Xiaoyu, I just got so happy seeing Xu Yi and Ji Buwang that I forgot. Can I have another cup? Just one, I promise not to drink any more!"
"No! You promised the same thing before!"
Yu Xiaoyu was very angry and maintained a firm stance.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang could only resort to coaxing her from the side. After much effort, he finally managed to persuade Yu Xiaoyu to relent.
Xu Yi and the others watched their interaction, their strained expressions gradually easing, their gazes becoming gentler.
At a time like this, their playful bickering not only failed to annoy them but actually helped to further relax their minds.
Once the six of them were seated and had shared recent events, Xiong Zhuangzhuang carefully sipped his wine. He suddenly brought up a name that had been absent for a long time.
"That fellow Bai Shan hasn't contacted us since he went to Shenzhou. We also didn't see him during this monster race war. I wonder if he's dead or hiding somewhere, secretly observing us."
Hearing Bai Shan's name, Xu Yi's brow furrowed slightly.
That guy had indeed been missing for a long time.
Ji Buwang said, "He'll be fine. Shenzhou is his territory, and coupled with his special bloodline, I actually think he might be the monster race's hidden card."
As his words fell, they all sighed almost in unison.
Before Bai Shan's identity was exposed, the seven of them had spent a considerable amount of time together.
Apart from his flamboyant personality and blunt speech, Bai Shan had several likable qualities, and their bond was forged through shared experiences of life and death.
The thought that they might have to face Bai Shan with weapons in hand caused their hard-won relaxation to turn heavy once more.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang knew he had spoken out of turn. He reached under the table to tug Yu Xiaoyu's hand, hoping she would break the awkward silence.
However, Yu Xiaoyu was currently quite annoyed with him and simply pulled her hand away.
After being rebuffed by Yu Xiaoyu, Xiong Zhuangzhuang extended his foot to kick Xu Yi opposite him.
But having grappled with demonic energy daily in recent days, Xu Yi's sensitivity to threats was exceptionally keen.
The moment Xiong Zhuangzhuang's foot came towards her, she instinctively reacted and kicked back with even greater force.
"Ouch!"
Xiong Zhuangzhuang cried out in pain and hopped up from his chair on one leg, tears welling up in his eyes.
"What happened? What happened? Did the wound split open again?"
Yu Xiaoyu was startled and rushed forward to check on him.
Without needing Xiong Zhuangzhuang to explain, everyone saw blood seeping through his clothes from the inside.
Xu Yi felt both embarrassed and guilty. "Let's go, quickly take Xiong Zhuangzhuang to Teacher Jing."
Hong Jing and Bei Xinghan put down their wine cups and immediately stepped forward, supporting Xiong Zhuangzhuang from either side. They then lifted his arms and rushed towards Teacher Jing's residence.
Yu Xiaoyu followed closely behind, hurrying after them.
Xu Yi and Ji Buwang exchanged a helpless glance and followed.