Shoudi Laoren's sudden appearance instantly rekindled a sliver of hope in many of the remnant souls on the Sword Realm Continent, who had already fallen into despair and were preparing to flee.
The army that followed behind Shoudi Laoren, moving like an inexorable tide, appeared to possess considerable strength. Moreover, everyone could tell that the beings in this army all seemed to prioritize the cultivation of earth energy and earth-based laws.
'This old fellow isn't too bad. In a situation like this, he actually brought reinforcements,' the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm couldn't help but remark.
'Indeed. Knowing full well that their opponents are the Blade Realm and the Divine Sword Sect, and yet still bringing reinforcements to return requires both boldness and courage. I believe the vast majority of forces in the Chaotic Void Sea wouldn't dare bring people to battle two major factions like the Blade Realm and the Divine Sword Sect. Of course, this is also because Shoudi Laoren holds a great deal of enmity towards these two factions.' Hun Lao nodded in agreement.
'Whatever the reason, he still returned.' Ye Yunfei looked at the vast, endless army trailing behind Shoudi Laoren and revealed a smile.
Soon, the army brought by Shoudi Laoren descended onto the Sword Realm Continent. The moment Shoudi Laoren's feet touched the land, the ground around him began to undulate gently, like a sea surface.
Once his army landed on the ground, it was as if they had taken root in the earth. Rich yellow Earth Qi Energy seeped from beneath the feet of every being, merging them with the surrounding land.
Ye Yunfei saw that many among them were Geomancers. These Geomancers were beings of various races. Some held T-squares in their hands, some had divination compasses hovering above their heads, others carried mirrors etched with the Eight Trigrams, and still others held jade artifacts and ancient coins.
As a Geomancer himself, Ye Yunfei could naturally recognize these as the common tools used in the Art of Terrestrial Divination.
Aside from the Geomancers, Ye Yunfei also saw many races related to the earth. Among them was one race whose entire bodies seemed sculpted from stone, emanating an aura of stone. This was the Stone Saints race, beings born from sentient rocks. Naturally, those who evolved into Stone Saints were precious gems of exceptional quality.
Ye Yunfei also saw a race whose bodies seemed molded from clay—this was the Earth Spirit race.
Yet another race appeared as if piled together from sand—the Sand Spirit race.
Next, Ye Yunfei spotted a race with bodies, limbs, and even heads that were squarely shaped, wielding thick stone clubs—the Earth Fiend race.
'Where did Shoudi Laoren gather so many earth-related races? It seems all of them cultivate earth energy and earth-based laws,' the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said in surprise.
'His nickname is Shoudi Laoren, so it's not strange that he has contact with so many earth-related races,' Hun Lao said with a smile.
Boom... Rumble...
After Shoudi Laoren led his army down onto the Sword Realm Continent, the Earth Qi Energy of the entire continent seemed to rise significantly. This was because all those who came were earth-related races or Geomancers. Their cultivation was almost exclusively focused on earth energy and earth laws, making them profoundly compatible with the land.
'Shoudi Laoren, you actually dare to return?' Zhou Duantian, seeing Shoudi Laoren and the ocean-like army behind him, looked somewhat displeased. He certainly understood Shoudi Laoren's foundations. In the past, he had been a renowned Divine Geomancer within the Chaotic Void Sea. Had the Divine Sword Sect and the Blade Realm not schemed and ambushed him covertly back then, capturing Shoudi Laoren would likely have been far more difficult.
Especially on a high-level continent like the Sword Realm Continent, Shoudi Laoren was like a tiger returning to the mountains, a dragon back in the sea—truly hard to deal with. Any Divine Geomancer, as long as their feet are on solid ground, is effectively on their home turf.
'Shoudi Laoren, since you had the chance to escape, you should have hidden far away, clinging to your wretched life. I never imagined you would dare to return and deliver yourself to the snare. Do you truly believe that by bringing along this third-rate rabble, you can simply raise your arms to stop a chariot and oppose the armies of our Blade Realm?' Xing Wu swept his sharp gaze over Shoudi Laoren and the army behind him, speaking coldly.
As the representative of the Blade Realm, Xing Wu did not believe Shoudi Laoren had the strength to oppose the Blade Realm and thus didn't hold him in high regard.
'Third-rate rabble? Who exactly is the third-rate rabble here remains to be seen. I still haven't settled all the accounts your Blade Realm owes me over the years, of course I must return. Those who provoke this Shoudi Laoren must pay the price!' Shoudi Laoren responded with a cold laugh.
'In the face of absolute power, everything else is illusion. Shoudi Laoren, thinking you can oppose our Blade Realm? Utter wishful thinking. Attack! Kill them all!' Xing Wu grew impatient, raising his voice to issue the battle command.
The Blade Realm army erupted with power simultaneously. All bearing long swords, they formed one sword formation after another and charged forward like a tidal wave.
'Attack!' Zhou Duantian also waved his hand, leading the Divine Sword Sect's forces forward to charge and slaughter.
On the Sword Realm Continent, several Sword Dao sects with relatively weaker strength saw their headquarters completely submerged and directly destroyed by the combined onslaught of the Divine Sword Sect and Blade Realm armies.
Witnessing this, Ye Yunfei hastily activated the Realm-Stabilizing Dragon Vein Formation and began attacking the armies of the Blade Realm and Divine Sword Sect.
'Attack!' Shoudi Laoren waved his hand. The army behind him surged forward with a thunderous roar, resembling a vast expanse of yellow ocean churning up billowing dust on the land.
However, after advancing only a short distance, Shoudi Laoren's entire army, including the Geomancers, all vanished into the ground, disappearing from sight.
'They've all gone underground!' The Blade Realm and Divine Sword Sect forces couldn't help but be taken aback, having lost their combat targets.
But in the next instant... Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground beside the Blade Realm and Divine Sword Sect forces erupted. Figures shot up from below the earth. Rumble! Rumble! Earth Dragons soared into the sky one after another, with Geomancers standing atop each dragon's head. Then, the various earth-related races also began surging up from beneath the ground.
The Stone Saints were seen wielding various weapons, unleashing formidable strength as they clashed with the Blade Cultivators and Sword Cultivators. The greatest characteristics of the Stone Saints were their immense, boundless physical power and extraordinarily sturdy bodies. Each Stone Saint evolved from high-grade precious gems, making them a naturally noble race.
The Earth Fiends brandished their stone clubs. Looking square-headed and somewhat blockish, even a little goofily cute, they had one crucial trait: whenever they made contact with the earth, the entire land became their source of energy. In battle, they possessed tremendous strength and were also skilled in secret techniques and skills related to earth energy and earth laws, making them both mysterious and formidable.
The bodies of the Sand Spirits appeared quite fragile, easily shattered by enemy attacks. However, when a Sand Spirit's body was destroyed, it didn't truly vanish but instead transformed into a cloud of yellow sand, which would then reform into a new body.
The other earth-related races similarly, during combat, drew incessantly from the energy and laws of the earth beneath their feet.
For a time, the forces of these earth-related races brought by Shoudi Laoren all surged forward, fighting frantically.
Meanwhile, Shoudi Laoren himself roamed continuously across the Sword Realm Continent, employing the Art of Terrestrial Divination specifically to target the opposing Chaos Gods.
With Shoudi Laoren and the army he brought, Ye Yunfei now found dealing with the forces of the Blade Realm and Divine Sword Sect considerably easier.
However, at this moment, the armies of the Blade Realm and Divine Sword Sect swept back and forth across the Sword Realm Continent, inflicting heavy damage upon the various Sword Dao sects. Several Sword Dao sects had already been annihilated, all their accumulated resources utterly destroyed.
'It seems that even with Shoudi Laoren's return to aid us, we still face great difficulty in achieving victory,' Sword Elder could not help but sigh inwardly.
'Shoudi Laoren, I'll take you myself!' Zhou Duantian, seeing Shoudi Laoren continuously employing terrestrial techniques against the Chaos Gods on their side and having already wounded, even shattered, several Chaos Gods in a short span, scowled. Grasping his long sword, he immediately soared into the air and charged toward Shoudi Laoren.
'Good then, let's join forces and finish off this old fellow.' Xing Wu also soared upward, standing upon that ancient long sword. He charged toward Shoudi Laoren with astonishing speed.
Next, several Chaos Gods from both the Divine Sword Sect and the Blade Realm moved simultaneously, all charging to attack Shoudi Laoren. At least seven or eight Chaos Gods prepared to join forces to deal with Shoudi Laoren.
Witnessing this, Ye Yunfei stomped his foot. A dense multitude of Sect-Stabilizing Treasures were directed to slash towards those Chaos Gods.
'It seems I have no choice but to use my trump card,' Xing Wu said angrily as he watched the densely-packed, whistling mass of Sect-Stabilizing Treasures. Then, with a thunderous crash, a black stele shot out from within his body.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Billions of domineering blade lights instantly erupted from that black stele.
'Be careful! That's the famed Black Demon Blade Stele of the Blade Realm. Legend says it was left behind by the ancient Demon Blade Ancestor,' Shoudi Laoren's brow furrowed upon seeing the black stele, and he immediately sent a Sound Transmission to Ye Yunfei.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The black stele radiated rolling waves of tyrannical blade radiance, continuously enlarging as it collided with the onrushing Sect-Stabilizing Treasures. Xing Wu then felt a terrifying deluge of Sword Dao energy rushing towards him, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.
'Damn it! These treasures are powered using the Earth Vein Energy of the Sword Realm Continent. I alone cannot stand against them,' Xing Wu snarled.
'Use the sword formations immediately! Channel all your Sword Dao energy into the Black Demon Blade Stele!' Xing Wu turned and roared to the armies of the Blade Realm.
Immediately, the countless sword formations formed by the Blade Realm army began erupting with rolling surges of Sword Dao energy. These energies transformed into streams of power that charged forth, pouring into the Black Demon Blade Stele.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The energy pressure released by the Black Demon Blade Stele began to grow increasingly terrifying.
'You Ye bastard! You think just because you have this earth formation, I have no way to deal with you?' Xing Wu let out a roar. He pointed a finger, and with a thunderous crash, the Black Demon Blade Stele locked onto Ye Yunfei's aura and smashed towards him.
Ye Yunfei immediately felt an endless torrent of Sword Dao energy crushing down upon him. With a flash, Ye Yunfei dived beneath the ground.
However, the Black Demon Blade Stele, having seemingly locked onto Ye Yunfei's aura with no intention of letting him go, transformed into a streak of black blade radiance and directly burrowed into the ground. Moving like thunder through the subterranean world, it continued its pursuit, relentlessly chasing after Ye Yunfei.