Jade Sword Sect truly employed clever tactics, seemingly pacifying Elder Beast Fury on the surface to avoid any disturbances caused by him.
Elder Beast Fury, after all, is a formidable expert at the mid-stage of Primordial Spirit. Even though he may have died during meditation, no one knows the extent of his abilities.
If he were to unleash a final burst of power before his death, it might cause significant losses to Jade Sword Sect.
Once everything was prepared, Jade Sword Sect suddenly launched an attack and directly took control of the entire Beast King Mountain.
You Hongzhi True Monarch was, indeed, Elder Beast Fury's old friend, but looking at the actions of the Four Seas Commercial Firm, it seems that years of friendship couldn't withstand the lure of profits.
You Hongzhi True Monarch betrayed his old friend, and it is likely that the Four Seas Commercial Firm gained substantial benefits from this betrayal.
Elder Beast Fury is a cunning individual, not easily calculable. He discreetly entrusted a legacy to Meng Zhang, which suggests he had some suspicions.
Unfortunately, the power gap between them is too vast. Even if Elder Beast Fury becomes aware, what can he do?
Perhaps, for the safety of the Beast King Mountain cultivators, Elder Beast Fury can only pretend to be clueless and accept his fate silently.
He left himself an escape route by seeking Meng Zhang's help, but it is uncertain if he left behind the Beast King Mountain's heritage somewhere else.
Meng Zhang no longer has the luxury to concern himself with Beast King Mountain; instead, he worries about his own and Taiyi Sect's situation.
Before Jade Sword Sect took action against Beast King Mountain, they had sufficient reasons not to inform Taiyi Sect to maintain secrecy.
Likewise, this proves that Jade Sword Sect lacks enough trust in Taiyi Sect.
The close relationship between Meng Zhang and Elder Beast Fury is an indisputable fact.
Considering Jade Sword Sect sent Taiyi Sect back to defend the Endless Sea of Sand without providing enough assistance, it seems that in the eyes of Jade Sword Sect's higher-ups, the best outcome would be if Taiyi Sect could stop the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan in the Endless Sea of Sand.
Even if Taiyi Sect were to lose the battle and the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan advanced into the Endless Sea of Sand, there is still the nearby Demon Wind Gobi. With such vast territory, it should be enough to keep the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan occupied.
This time, when the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan launched their attack, Meng Zhang even had a feeling that they have become smarter and no longer rely solely on brute force like before.
There might be some tacit understanding between Jade Sword Sect and the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Of course, this is Meng Zhang's personal feeling, and he hasn't disclosed it to anyone.
Book Mountain True Monarch's reinforcement to Meng Zhang this time was his own voluntary action, not arranged by Jade Sword Sect.
From this, it can be seen that the members of the Dark Alliance branches are still clear about their grudges and know how to take care of their friends.
Compared to Jade Sword Sect's vigilance towards Taiyi Sect, Meng Zhang feels dissatisfied.
Jade Sword Sect's decisive handling of Beast King Mountain is reasonable in terms of logic; after all, they cannot afford internal issues when directly facing Dali Dynasty's North Sweeping Grand Army in such a dangerous situation.
Even if Beast King Mountain is entirely loyal and trustworthy, one cannot overlook the possibility of unexpected events. Dealing with Beast King Mountain in advance is a way to eliminate all hidden dangers.
Meng Zhang can understand Jade Sword Sect's approach, but he still can't help but feel a sense of sorrow for the tragedy of the hare and the fox.
Years later, when Meng Zhang recalls these events, he might consider this as the catalyst that led to Taiyi Sect and Jade Sword Sect going their separate ways.
Regardless, Taiyi Sect is powerless in these matters and can only strive to do its job well, putting all efforts into defending against the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan's invasion.
Both the Endless Sea of Sand and the Demon Wind Gobi belong to Taiyi Sect's territory, and Meng Zhang certainly does not want to see these places ruthlessly destroyed and ravaged by the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan.
Deep Earth Spirit General and Wen Qiansun acted swiftly, skillfully setting up formations and establishing tight defense mechanisms.
Outside Yellow Sand Ridge, they deployed the Six Spirits Golden Light Formation and Ten Directions Absolute Killing Formation, both of which are third-rank formations.The Third Rank spirit vein here provides insufficient spiritual energy. Taiyi Sect also prepared a considerable amount of spirit stones as a supplement.
Both Taiyi Sect and the cultivators from the Hanhai Alliance entered the defensive range of the great formation, relying on its power for defense.
Fire Cloud Sect only recently joined Taiyi Sect, and Meng Zhang doesn't fully trust them yet, so he is unwilling to place them within their own great formation.
Instead, Daoist Master Firecloud leads the cultivators of Fire Cloud Sect to form a separate army near Yellow Sand Ridge, serving as a mobile force and reserves.
Daoist Master Firecloud naturally has no objections to Meng Zhang's arrangement and dutifully follows the orders.
Meng Zhang and Book Mountain True Monarch are stationed at Yellow Sand Ridge, patiently awaiting the arrival of the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan.
Unexpectedly, instead of the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan, a group of other guests arrived.
This group consists of defeated soldiers who barely escaped from the hands of the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan.
Initially, when the Grey Mountain School colluded with the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan, True Monarch Hundred Battles of the Hundred Battles Gate fell in battle.
However, under True Monarch Hundred Battles' protection, many cultivators from the Hundred Battles Gate and other forces of the Jiuqu League managed to escape.
Later, the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan and Grey Mountain School swept through the entire Yuantu Great Prairie, causing almost the entire area to fall under their control.
Many cultivation forces on the Yuantu Great Prairie had their cultivators scatter and flee, hoping to escape far away from the area.
Some were in a panic and fled randomly, while others were reluctant to return to the Jiuqu League's territory.
In any case, due to various reasons, many fleeing cultivators escaped to the border between the Yuantu Great Prairie and the Endless Sea of Sand.
Meng Zhang certainly didn't want to see these people wandering around and causing trouble in the Endless Sea of Sand.
Taiyi Sect dispatched teams of cultivators led by various Gold Core elders to patrol the border of the Endless Sea of Sand, bringing back and settling any cultivators they encountered.
Though these cultivators were somewhat disheveled, their numbers were significant, and they managed to make it this far, showing some level of ability or luck.
With a major battle approaching, it was just the right time for cannon fodder.
Meng Zhang naturally accepted the willingly offered cannon fodder.
However, to prevent any spies from the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan among these cultivators, following the lessons learned from the Grey Mountain School, Meng Zhang diligently put aside his Primordial Spirit True Monarch status and personally examined each one of them.
Fortunately, the highest cultivation base among these cultivators was only at the Foundation Building stage. With the strength of a Primordial Spirit True Monarch, using Mind Reading, a gifted Divine Ability, there would be virtually no room for mistakes.
After careful examination, Meng Zhang found no spies from the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan among these cultivators.
Additionally, what pleasantly surprised Meng Zhang was that among them, there was a group of cultivators from the Hundred Battles Gate, which turned out to be an unexpected gain.
This Hundred Battles Gate group consisted of less than a hundred individuals, but they were mostly elite cultivators. Despite their defeat and escape, their spirits were high, and they showed no signs of losing heart.
Even when the Gold Core elders from Taiyi Sect came forward, they refused to surrender.
If not for Zheng Chao, who led the team, invoking Jiuqu League's command and stating that Taiyi Sect was responsible for guarding this area and had the authority to deal with all suspicious cultivators, they might not have submitted easily.
Even as prisoners, they showed little signs of surrendering completely.
If this group of Hundred Battles Gate cultivators were properly trained, they would be of great use, and Meng Zhang hesitated to consider them mere cannon fodder.
[Yay! 800 Chapters Done!]