The Royal Bloodline demons were wiped out!
When that god-demonic figure reappeared, the entire battlefield was shaken! This was a moment of apotheosis for the Star-Sea World. In the contest of peak Gold Core power, the Star-Sea World had achieved a total victory!
Every Royal Bloodline demon had perished. Only a few demons relying on bloodline resonance had barely survived because they were not at the center of the conflict.
Although the results were brilliant, the Star-Sea side had also suffered heavy injuries in that supreme life-and-death struggle. Chang Qing, who bore the brunt of the attack, was not only covered in scars but had half of his head sheared off. His body was riddled with missing chunks of flesh. The four behind him, despite Chang Qing's protection, were also severely traumatized.
Yet, despite this, Chang Qing and his companions didn't even blink.
"Is this all the Royal demons can muster?"
Chang Qing's remaining half-mouth opened slightly, releasing a voice that sounded like it came from the ninth level of hell, making all who heard it shiver.
"Then you can all die!"
As he spoke, an explosion of Life Essence erupted from his body. A startling scene followed! Chang Qing's physical body rapidly broke through the suppression of various Royal demonic powers, restoring itself to its original state in the blink of an eye. The jagged, missing pieces of his form vanished.
After devouring a massive amount of Royal demon Life Essence, his Life Siphoning talent grew even stronger, and his aura became even more terrifying than before!
Seeing this, the bloodlines of the demon commanders trembled. This wasn't just fear; it was because Chang Qing now radiated a pressure similar to that of a Royal Bloodline demon! Even the mindless Gold Core demons shivered slightly—a tremor originating from their very blood.
In contrast to the demons' unease, the Star-Sea side was electrified!
For how long had they felt nothing but despair and suppression since the war began? How many companions had died beneath the demons? The enemy was too strong! Only when the Star-Emperor slew the Supreme Demon Lord did they have a moment to breathe, but even then, Qi Ping was forced into slumber.
But now... the roles were reversed! This was a domineering moment the Star-Sea World had not seen since the war started.
"Kill!"
"Fellow Daoists! Charge!"
Fueled by this momentum, every Gold Core cultivator of the Star-Sea World took the initiative to attack! In an instant, demon heads rolled!
While restoring himself, Chang Qing injected a surge of life energy into his four companions, allowing their wounds to heal rapidly. Though their efficiency in absorbing Life Essence was far below his, and they couldn't achieve instant restoration, the speed was enough to sustain them in battle and preserve their lives.
At this moment, Chang Qing was the undisputed MVP of the battlefield. He was a "Six-Sided Warrior"—combining explosive output, recovery, healing, and support while assisting others. This was his original intent: to ensure fewer of his companions died!
Having healed himself and his companions, Chang Qing led the charge once more. Under the grand array, the Gold Core cultivators became a single entity, slaughtering their way through heaven and earth with exquisite precision under the control of the Formation Masters.
Because the flight speed and abilities of the Gold Core stage were so high, the scope of the battlefield expanded. This indirectly increased the Star-Sea World's advantage, as some demons lacked the flight capabilities of human Gold Core cultivators. This meant they had to face fewer enemies at once.
Thus, the formation's advantages—integrating attack, defense, and support—were maximized, while the demons' numerical advantage was severely weakened. Without being able to bring their massive numbers to bear, the difficulty of breaking the human formation skyrocketed!
Even more terrifyingly, Chang Qing's five-man squad appeared wherever the demon army was toughest to crack. Every strike was a life-risking explosion of power, carrying the additional damage of Life Siphoning. Under his horrific assault, the powerful Gold Core demons fell rapidly, and the threat to the Star-Sea side dwindled.
When he had spare energy, Chang Qing would lead his team to rescue Star-Sea cultivators trapped in dangerous situations. With such a terrifying individual unit, the casualties of the Star-Sea World were kept to a minimum.
As the battle continued, Chang Qing's prestige among the Gold Core cultivators soared.
However, in a war of this scale, even with the formation and Chang Qing's frantic slaughter, sacrifice was unavoidable. The demonic horde was simply too vast. They were everywhere. When crises occurred in multiple locations simultaneously, Chang Qing couldn't be everywhere at once.
Most importantly, if they didn't crush the strongest "hard bones" of the demon army, the Star-Sea casualties would skyrocket. In large-scale warfare, collective combat power was the core. No matter how brilliant he was, he was still just one man. Even if the demons stood still for him to kill, he wouldn't know when he could finish. Eliminating the most dangerous segment of the enemy was already a massive contribution.
Fortunately, the other Star-Sea Gold Core cultivators were no weaklings. Especially the younger generation whose potential and will had been boosted; their Gold Cores were incredibly powerful! One could say that in the hundreds of thousands of years of Star-Sea history, few had been stronger at the Gold Core stage.
The cultivators currently in the Gold Core battlefield were the strongest in tens of thousands of years, each one a peerless genius capable of leaving their name in history. While the war brought tragedy, it was in such desperate straits that so many legendary cultivators were born.
It was only because Chang Qing's performance was so dazzling that the others seemed ordinary in comparison. But when watching them cleanly slaughter demons with powerful bodies and immense strength, their own terrifying power was clear.
Through the combined efforts of these powerful cultivators, the demons chasing into the sky were slaughtered. Blood, corpses, and shredded flesh fell like rain, blasting massive craters into the ground—a frantic song of slaughter and protection!
As time passed, life vanished at a startling rate. Every collision represented a life snuffed out. After a period of soul-deep exhaustion and killing, the horror finally ended.
There were no protracted wars here, only the sudden disappearance of countless lives in a single moment. The so-called "Gold Core geniuses" were but slightly larger ants here.
Fortunately, no unexpected incidents occurred. The Star-Sea World won!
By the time the last enemy was slain, Chang Qing didn't remember how many times his body had collapsed and recovered. He only knew that the four behind him—top-tier geniuses in their own right—could no longer hold on and had fallen into a deep sleep.
If they were in such a state, one could only imagine the exhaustion of Chang Qing, who had absorbed most of the damage and unleashed countless ultimate moves. Yet, he persisted until he dragged the last critically wounded comrade back from the brink of death before he finally began to waver.
The exaggerated will granted by his horrific vow was on full display. Only when he saw that no more partners were in danger and saw his sister, Chang E, still alive, did he peacefully fall asleep beside her.
Watching her brother's face, exhausted to the extreme even in sleep, Chang E couldn't stop her tears from flowing. She didn't blame him; no one understood his heart and will better than she did. She was genuinely happy for him, but as his sister, seeing him suffer such hardship broke her heart.
Regardless, the Gold Core battlefield was won by the Star-Sea World! The spiritual flames still burning on the demon corpses illuminated the survivors.
They had won! In this battle, about thirty percent of the Star-Sea Gold Core cultivators had perished. This was a cruel number. But considering the disparity in strength, it was a miracle. While the ratio of Gold Core demons was ten to twenty percent lower than at the Foundation Establishment level, their individual combat power was entirely different.
Gold Core demon bloodlines were far stronger, with numerous elite and Royal demons. This ensured that the demons weren't just numerous; their top-tier power was also significant. Had the formation not boosted the humans' mobility, and had the five-man squad led by Chang Qing not acted as an unstoppable decapitation team, the battlefield would have been infinitely more tragic.
Most of those who died were older Gold Core cultivators. Their strength was lower, and while the formation helped, its efficacy depended on the individual. They were more easily breached. However, some died protecting the younger geniuses. This wasn't purely out of nobility; it was an agreement made before the war. If they died, those they saved were obligated to protect and provide resources for their bloodline descendants. For those with no hope of further breakthrough, securing the protection of a future Star-Sea powerhouse was a worthy trade.
Regardless, the Gold Core battlefield was won against all odds, with casualties far lower than predicted. The name of the Demonic Physician, Chang Qing, was destined to echo through the Star-Sea—not for his farming or medicine, but for his peerless combat power. For years to come, no one would likely surpass him in the Gold Core rank.
Compared to the previous three ranks, the Nascent Soul battlefield followed a completely different pattern. At the Nascent Soul stage, even in the Demon Realm, numbers began to plummet. At this level, the gap in individual power and the enhancements granted by one's "Nascent Soul Fruit" were staggering. Elite demons were the norm, and Royal Bloodline demons were numerous, many possessing bizarre and eerie abilities.
Across the Nascent Soul battlefield, many demons with overwhelming auras appeared. Their pressure was no less than that of the Star-Sea World's top cultivators, and they were more numerous! This was the source of the greatest dread.
While the mobility of Nascent Soul cultivators under the formation was extreme, making them too fast for elite demons to catch, the Royal demons were different. Some were faster, and some possessed means the humans couldn't defend against—such as killing from within the formation!
This meant the defensive arrays were useless against certain techniques. Furthermore, these top Nascent Soul demons had not only been buffed by the Supreme Demon Lord but had also retained high combat awareness. This was terrifying. It meant the effectiveness of flexible battle arrays was significantly reduced.
Consequently, the primary role of the formation in this battlefield was limited to enhancement and support. Winning required pure, top-tier power. Heavy casualties were inevitable. Even a top-tier Nascent Soul cultivator could be killed instantly by a demon's bizarre trick without even knowing how it happened.
Thus, the Nascent Soul battlefield was the most unpredictable. No one could be sure if either side would produce a "World-Destroying" entity. Even such an entity could be killed in an instant. The Royal demons had eerie methods, but the Star-Sea cultivators, enhanced by Providential Power, were no pushovers. Their mysterious spells were just as lethal.
The battlefield was chaotic, filled with too many powerhouses. No one knew what would happen once the fighting started. But regardless of the uncertainty, the moment the invisible war horn sounded, the most unpredictable conflict began. The death knell had officially been rung!