"Oh! This place seems to be fun."
Just as Erbec was about to give orders for them to retreat, a new group of cultivators appeared in the distance. In an instant, the Lakure Race members and the Jialin Country ones looked in their direction. Both sides didn't know whether they were enemies or not.
Finally, Erbec recognized the Soul Forging Realm cultivator leading them.
"Suan Foiu from the Kuman Sect! It's the Guntao Country!"
Suan also noticed Erbec and couldn't help but laugh.
"Erbec, you seem to be in a tight spot. Do you need help?"
Erbec gritted his teeth but nodded in the end.
"Shut up and help us already. This thing also involves your Guntao Country."
Suan smiled as he and his group stepped forward. Back when the formation was about to close again, Tuise and the two other Saint Realm experts quickly made a group so that they could investigate the inside of the formation. Even though Droman might not be able to open the formation again, it would still be better to have some of their experts inside.
That being said, Suan was sent in with quite a few Nascent Soul Realm cultivators and below to verify what was happening. They knew that the target was the valley in Qerlen Country as well. That's why they ended up meeting Erbec's group here after they had battled for a long time.
'Ruin of the Sun!'
Fire Element and Spiritual Energy gathered around Suan as he joined hands with Erbec to attack the enemy's Soul Forging Realm cultivator. The same things happened all around, with lower-level cultivators helping the Jialin Country members. In fact, they had no other choice other than to help. After all, Jialin Country's forces had bigger numbers inside this natural formation. If even they lost, the Guntao Country forces would have a lower chance to achieve anything. They would need to join hands to be able to proceed.
The situation on the battlefield quickly turned around as the Lakure Race members were gradually being suppressed. However, that didn't make them give up. Instead, they began to attack with even more fervor.
"For a place under the sun!"
"For freedom!"
"No more of that shitty underground world! Brothers and sisters, kill!"
*Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!*
The area soon turned into a forbidden zone as many casualties piled up from both sides. It went totally against what Erbec and the others thought would happen.
"Fuck! These guys are crazy!"
"Focus! If they really continue like this, it will be them who'll lose."
"Don't fall for their suicidal attacks! Make sure to preserve your own lives!"
The battle continued for another hour. Only when less than 20% of the Lakure Race members remained did their Soul Forging Realm leader issue an order.
"That's enough! Retreat!"
Immediately, the enemies turned around and ran back in the direction of the valley. As for Erbec and Suan, they immediately gave up any ideas of pursuing them. They were all tired and lost more than 30% of their own forces in this first clash. The survivors of the enemy side were mostly their elites as well. If they forced the other side, they might pay a very high price to kill them.
"Who the hell are those guys? They didn't run away when they were at a disadvantage. Instead, they began to sacrifice themselves to kill us."
Erbec shook his head as he said.
"I don't know. This was the first time I've met them. If you guys hadn't appeared, the ones who would have to retreat would be us instead of them."
Tiria and Juvian weren't that well-off either. Tiria had suffered quite a few grievous wounds, while Juvian had even lost an arm in a suicide attack from a Nascent Soul Realm enemy. The two of them quickly sat down and swallowed a few healing pills. The same scene could be seen in all the other powers around them.
"How are our losses?"
A slightly well-off subordinate quickly made the count before informing Tiria and Juvian.
"Three Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators from our sect died. As for the Core Formation Realm cultivators, we lost 27 of them."
"Three Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators? Were they all disciples, or was there any Inner Sect elder between them?"
The subordinate immediately answered.
"Two of them were Initial Stage Core and Soul Fusion Realm disciples of the Inner Sect. The remaining one was an elder at the Middle Stage of the same realm, Elder Odeni."
Juvian and Tiria narrowed their eyes. Core Formation Realm cultivators weren't that hard to train. However, Core and Soul Fusion Realm ones were quite difficult to nurture. Between the tens of thousands of disciples of the Dalamu Sect, only 45 were at the Core and Soul Fusion Realm. That already included Inner Sect elders like Hulian and Zaia. Each loss at that level was a sting to them.
Tiria then looked at Juvian and his missing arm.
"Elder Juvian, how are you faring?"
"I'm fine. I already stopped the bleeding, and I'm closing the injury. However, I won't be able to recover my arm without paying a very hefty price in the Empire's capital."
Tiria nodded.
"It's fine. Sect leader will definitely compensate you for that."
Juvian nodded. From the Nascent Soul Realm onwards, the loss of a limb wasn't completely impossible to recover. However, that required a very expensive pill that he wouldn't find anywhere else other than the capital. The type that he couldn't buy without Rank 4 Spirit Stones, at the very least.
A few moments later, one of Erbec's subordinates brought one of the Lakure Race members' corpses to him. He wasn't the only one, though. Tiria, Juvian, Galo, and the other sects' Nascent Soul Realm cultivators took their time to check the enemies' bodies.
Sure enough, they quickly noticed that those red lines were not just decoration but part of their bodies to start with.
"Are these meridians?"
"Should be. At the very least, it works in a similar fashion."
"You all saw how these things shone every time they were about to attack, yes?"
"No wonder they're so strong. They had extra help absorbing and using Spiritual Energy."
"Here's the question. Are they really humans? Has anyone ever seen this kind before?"
Everyone shook their heads. None of them know anything about these people.
In the end, Erbec got up again before offering.
"I think we should go back and talk to our leaders. Just this group alone already gave us so many problems. We don't know if they have more members or not. However, I doubt those that fled were all of them. We're at a serious disadvantage here."
Suan bitterly smiled before saying.
"You can't. The formation protecting this place has changed. The guy called Droman tried to use the same method again, but it didn't work. From the looks of it, the enemies changed the properties of the Natural Formation. Our group got inside just a few moments before the gap had closed."
The Jialin Country forces were taken aback by that news.
"What?! Then how are we going to leave this place?"
Suan shook his head as he responded.
"We were expecting to find the core of the formation and turn it off. However, this plan seems highly unlikely considering the enemy's forces."
Juvian then mentioned.
"From the looks of it, they can't tell where we are all the time. Otherwise, they would have arrived way earlier, considering the time and speed difference. That being said, we should leave this location straight away before more reinforcements come."
Erbec and Suan agreed with Juvian. They all got up, gathered what they could from the corpses, and left the place straight away. Along the way, the leaders of each power in this place discussed the next step.
"So, what should we do now?"
"There's a city that got dragged into this Natural Formation. Should we go there?"
"That's a bad idea. I doubt they would leave the cities out of their perceptions. At most, we can only send two or three cultivators to check the situation, but no more than that."
"From what Droman and the other Formation Masters told us, this Natural Formation uses up a ridiculous amount of energy. As good as its core might be, it will eventually dry up. However, it all depends on how good the core is. It might take a few days, or it might take several years. However, it will definitely run out at some point."
"There is also the Sasamil Imperial Family. We already told them about it, so they should be sending their experts here. Perhaps their Formation Masters can deactivate the Natural Formation when they arrive."
"We should also consider a longer stay. After all, we don't know when the Natural Formation will open again. Perhaps moving like a group is a bad choice as well."
"What will happen if a huge force appears then? We need numbers to contend against them."
"No, it's more of the opposite. Since they can't tell where we are, staying together will only attract more attention."
"He's right. There's only one good thing about this situation. This Natural Formation is just way too big. You will need several armies if you want to comb through such a huge place. I doubt the enemy has this many members. Separating seems to be the best choice for us. That will force the enemies to separate as well. Even if some of us are found, it will be much easier to escape or maybe even get rid of them."
"There's also the option to head to the valley to test things out. Well, that will be up to each power's own choices."
In the end, everyone agreed with that decision. And just like that, each power took its own members and left the place in different directions.
