After hearing David’s telepathic message, he was silent for a moment. “What are you saying?”
“The Heavenly Venerate has gone mad from burning his life essence. If the battle continues, the Heavenly Palace will be completely wiped out, but the Thousand Demon Ridge will also suffer heavy casualties.”
David’s voice remained calm, as if stating an irrefutable fact, “Shenyuan Pavilion and Tiansheng Palace are still waiting. Tianji Palace has been destroyed, and Wanyao Ridge is crippled; they can reap the benefits. We cannot afford that.”
Qingqiu was silent for two breaths.
He knew David was right.
The Guiyuan Sect had suffered over two hundred casualties, the Qingyun Sword Sect had lost over a hundred flying swords and over seventy sword cultivators, and the Wanfa Sect’s array experts had died over a dozen times.
This cost was already quite high for a coalition army of two thousand people.
Continuing the fight would only lead to greater losses. The real threat came from the combined forces of Venerable Xuanbing and Venerable Shengguang.
“Are you going to let the tiger go back to the mountain?”
“The Heavenly Venerate’s essence blood has been burned by more than half. His cultivation will definitely decline after this battle, and it will take at least several hundred years to recover.”
“A disabled Heavenly Venerate is more useful than a dead one. If he were still alive, Xuanbing and Shengguang wouldn’t dare attack us with confidence. If he were dead, the Heavenly Palace’s territory and resources would belong to those two old foxes.”
Qingqiu was silent for a moment, then chuckled softly, “You’re more cunning than I thought. Alright, I’ll give him a way out.”
He raised his hand and cast a spell.
A crack appeared silently on the light barrier screen on the left side of the square. The crack was not big, only ten feet wide, but it was enough for the people from the Heavenly Palace to rush out.
Beyond the gap lay the depths of the Misty Forest, beyond it lay the Barren Desert, and at the edge of the Barren Desert lay the direction to the Heavenly Palace.
As Venerable Tianji was frantically chasing David, he suddenly felt a change in the restriction.
He turned around suddenly and saw the crack, as well as the retreat path that was vaguely visible in the misty forest.
He was silent for a moment.
Then he understood.
David didn’t want to kill him; he wanted to let it go.
This feeling made him angrier than being defeated by David in a direct confrontation.
He, the dignified Heavenly Palace Master, a Golden Immortal, and the master of Seventeenth Heaven, actually needed his enemy to give him a way out.
His pride burned brighter than the blood within himself.
He almost wanted to charge forward recklessly, to perish with David, and use the last of his strength to tear the purple-eyed boy to shreds.
But then I heard the voices of my students behind me.
“Oh my God! Now there’s a way!”
“Oh my God! Let’s go!”
“Sect Leader, I will cover your retreat! You must retreat!”
The Heavenly Venerate looked back.
His old subordinates, who had followed him for ten thousand years, and the disciples he had personally taught, were now using their remaining spiritual power to maintain a thin line of defense.
Their eyes were filled with pleas, not for their own lives, but for their temple leader to live.
One of the elders who had been following him the longest was pierced by a flying sword in his stomach, his intestines dragged across the ground, but he still used his sword to support his body and shouted at him, “Master, let’s go!”
His blood was still burning, but his reason had finally overcome his madness.
He couldn’t let the entire Tianji Palace be destroyed here today.
He gritted his teeth and shouted one word hoarsely: “Retreat!”
The remnants of the Heavenly Palace emerged from the gaps in the barrier like a broken dam, rushing towards the Misty Forest.
The Wan Yao Ling cultivators did not chase them; this was an order from Qing Qiu.
They stood at the defense line, watching as the bloodied enemies ran deeper and deeper into the forest until the last glint of gold disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
Heavenly Venerate was the last to leave. He stood at the edge of the gap in the barrier and glanced back at David.
Those blood red eyes were filled with a complex expression: anger, hatred, humiliation, but more than anything, something indescribable.
He didn’t speak, and neither did David.
The two stared at each other for a moment, separated by a hundred feet, then the Heavenly Venerate turned and disappeared into the misty forest.
The last cultivator from the Heavenly Palace ran out of the plaza, and the gap in the barrier slowly closed.
When the remnants of the Heavenly Palace rushed out of the Misty Forest, they numbered less than eight hundred people.
An army of three thousand had come in a majestic procession, but now only a quarter of them remained, dragging their wounded bodies as they limped across the barren land.
Everyone had injuries, from shattered armor to missing limbs.
Their holy light had dimmed to the point of being almost invisible, they lost most of their weapons, and even the Heavenly Palace’s Holy Light Banner was lost during their escape.
Some people helped their friends who had lost arms, some used broken weapons as crutches, and some coughed up blood while walking.
Fragments of golden armor scattered along the road, like a trail of broken golden tears.
Venerable Tianji walked in the front row.
His golden robe was burnt, revealing his scarred chest.
The impact of burning his essence and blood began to show: half of his hair turned white, several deep wrinkles appeared on his face, and his steps were no longer as steady as a mountain.
With every step he took, sporadic bursts of holy light shot out from his wounds, a sign of excessive burning of his essence and blood as well as unstable cultivation.
An hour ago, he was a peak level three Golden Immortal at his peak, but now his cultivation had fallen to a level two Golden Immortal, and was still continuing to decline.
FAQ NovelQ: How is David countering the Heavenly Venerable’s all-out assault?A: David is utilizing his chaotic strength, which proves effective against the Heavenly Venerable’s holy light. While the Heavenly Venerable is sacrificing their life essence, David’s cultivation allows him to outlast the raw, destructive power.Q: What is the current state of the Heavenly Palace’s defenses?A: The Heavenly Palace’s defenses are severely weakened, with formations being breached and significant casualties mounting. Key formations like Guiyuan Sect’s and Qingyun Sword Sect’s are taking heavy damage, and Myriad Laws Sect’s restrictions are fracturing.As the battle rages and alliances watch from the sidelines, the fate of the Heavenly Palace hangs precariously in the balance.
FAQ Novel
Q: What extreme measure does the Heavenly Venerable take in this chapter?
A: The Heavenly Venerable burns their life essence in a desperate, suicidal assault against David, foregoing all defense to unleash maximum power.
Q: How is David coping with the Heavenly Venerable’s desperate attack?
A: David is matching the Heavenly Venerable’s holy light onslaught with his chaotic power, though the battle is intense and the outcome remains uncertain as the Venerable’s life essence rapidly diminishes.
Join the conversation below and share your predictions on how David will navigate this dire situation and whether the Heavenly Palace can withstand the overwhelming assault!