Translator: CinderTL
Hong Clan's Lesser Thousand World.
The Hong Clan faced a perilous situation, but they weren't quite on the brink of immediate annihilation.
For various reasons, they had strategically withdrawn, concentrating all their forces within a radius of several thousand miles centered on the Ancestral Temple.
The elite members and key figures had gathered within a thousand-mile radius of the temple, constantly monitored by several True Essence cultivators who had mastered Mind Power, ensuring absolute security.
To an outsider unaware of the circumstances, this strategic retreat might have appeared as a complete rout.
Outside the Ancestral Temple, four figures gathered. Mind Power radiated from each of them, a sign that they had only recently cultivated this force and were still struggling to fully stabilize it.
The man speaking appeared to be in his early thirties. "Clan Leader," he said, "knowing your enemy is the key to victory. We still don't know the full extent of Li Chunjun's group's strength. Launching a rash attack would be unwise. Stranded in this foreign realm, surrounded by Heart Demons, we humans should cooperate to overcome these challenges together, not scheme against each other in the shadows."
"Hong Feng!" Hong Tu immediately rebuked him. "I've told you, never speak of this again!"
A woman dressed in traditional robes added coldly, "The Hong Clan indeed underestimated the Heart Demons. But do you truly believe allying with Li Chunjun's group would protect us from their corruption? Our intelligence suggests their numbers far exceed our initial estimates. In fact, this entire area might be a massive Heart Demon nest!"
"Even if we can't defeat the Heart Demons outright," Hong Feng countered, "combining our forces would undoubtedly increase our chances of survival."
"Hong Feng's words aren't without merit. As fellow members of the Human Race from the Azure Sea Domain, uniting would indeed strengthen our defense against the Heart Demon's corruption. However, you're overlooking a crucial factor," Hong Guang said.
"What factor?"
"The Golden Crow Battleship's capacity!"
The Hong Clan Patriarch stated bluntly, "That warship can only accommodate a million people! Even at maximum capacity, ten million is the absolute limit! Yet our Hong Clan alone has fourteen million direct descendants, not to mention the far greater number of collateral branches!"
Hong Feng's expression stiffened slightly at this figure.
"Li Chunjun's forces undoubtedly have their own personnel to evacuate. If we're lucky, they might allot half the ten million spaces to us—or perhaps only thirty percent, accommodating three million people!"
Hong Guang's gaze settled on Hong Feng. "So, tell me, which eleven million of our fourteen million will you abandon? Which of these people share no bloodline with you? Which are strangers to you? When they come begging at your feet, which among them will you condemn to remain here and die?"
"I..." Hong Feng opened his mouth, struggling to find words.
The words caught in his throat, stifling him completely.
Hong Guang didn't press further. "You're not the Clan Leader, and you've only recently cultivated your Mind Power. The clan hasn't had time to grant you a position of authority yet, so you bear no responsibility for your words. It's easy to casually suggest mutual cooperation and shared benefits, but... space is limited. Where would such widespread prosperity come from?"
The Clan Leader's expression turned icy. "The various branches trust me, and the founding ancestor himself approved my appointment. Having been chosen as Clan Leader, it is my duty to safeguard the security and interests of every member of the Hong Clan!"
He sighed. "We Hong Clansmen must exert every effort to secure our passage home. That means outsiders will have to endure hardship. If future generations condemn me, I will shoulder that burden alone!"
"But Li Chunjun... he's still the Star Brilliance First Rank champion..."
"Star Brilliance First Rank?" The woman scoffed. "In the Profound Yellow Great World, he holds that title. But what does it mean beyond those borders? Ask any other group we've encountered recently—do they even know what the Profound Yellow List is, let alone who holds the Star Brilliance First Rank?"
She scoffed. "In the end, he's just a Nascent Soul cultivator!"
"He's already a True Monarch now," Hong Tu retorted. "I know Li Hentian, the Star Brilliance First Rank holder. His combat prowess rivals that of a Ninth Tribulation True Monarch. Even if Li Chunjun, who defeated him, possesses the full power of a Perfected Primordial Spirit, and even if his recent breakthrough to the Primordial Spirit Realm has elevated his combat power to the Quasi-Sage level within that realm... what about our Hong Yan?"
A smile crept onto Hong Tu's face. "After successfully refining six Heart Demons in succession, Hong Yan has shattered the first bottleneck of her Mind Realm and advanced to the second level!"
"Hong Yan? Second level of the Mind Realm?!" Hong Feng's eyes widened in disbelief. "Does that mean...?"
"Sage-level combat power is now within her grasp," Hong Guang added, his voice tinged with excitement. "If she wields our Hong Clan's Supreme Treasure, she could even unleash Cosmic Radiance-Tier strength!"
"Cosmic Radiance-Tier! Sixth-Rank?!" Hong Feng gasped, drawing in a sharp breath.
But combat power was secondary. The crucial point was that reaching the second level of the Mind Realm while still in the Primordial Spirit Realm meant Hong Yan's chances of successfully bearing the power of the Dao had skyrocketed to ten percent!
Never underestimate that one percent!
For the over ninety percent of Primordial Spirit True Monarchs facing imminent death and forced to gamble everything on a breakthrough, the actual probability of success is less than half a percent.
And that's only for those who have already cultivated Mind Power and reached the Perfected Primordial Spirit Realm.
In reality, over ninety percent of True Monarchs never even reach the stage of comprehending Mind Power or gaining a rudimentary understanding of the Dao before their time runs out.
In other words, on the path to Void Refining, Hong Yan has already left at least ninety-nine percent of all Primordial Spirit True Monarchs in the dust.
"No matter how powerful Li Chunjun is, he only recently broke through from Star Brilliance First Rank to True Monarch. The best he can hope for is to rival a Quasi-Sage-level genius among Primordial Spirit cultivators! If he had joined an Overlord-level power in time and received their full support, he might have quickly grown into a Sage-level prodigy. But... fate has dealt him a cruel hand!"
Hong Guang was in high spirits. "How can a Peerless Prodigy stranded in a foreign land, deprived of the nurturing of any major power, possibly compare to the Heaven's Chosen of our Hong Clan?"
"Misfortune" was putting it mildly.
The tallest tree in the forest catches the wind.
Cultivators who ascend the Profound Yellow List face a far greater risk of premature death than those who remain unlisted.
The vast majority of Nascent Soul and Primordial Spirit cultivators who aspire to reach the Void Refining stage fall short of achieving it.
This holds true even for those backed by Great Sects and protected by Dao Protectors.
For someone like Li Chunjun, who had just risen to the top of the Star Brilliance List but hadn't yet formally joined a Great Sect or been assigned a Dao Protector...
His premature demise would hardly be surprising.
"Alright, the Azure Star Minor Realm has agreed to send reinforcements. Now it depends on how many they deploy and whether Li Chunjun will come."
Hong Guang calmed himself. "If Li Chunjun joins us, it will make seizing the Golden Crow Battleship much easier for Hong Yan and our Hong Clan's elite forces, who have already set sail. Even if they refuse to send reinforcements, we can at least weaken their forces beforehand."
"Sword Prodigy Li Chunjun was quick to invoke the 'when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold' analogy. I doubt he'll stand idly by."
Hong Tu remained confident that the Azure Star Minor Realm would provide aid. "After all, if our Hong Clan falls, the Heart Demons will inevitably target them next. By then, they'll face a fully recovered horde of Heart Demons, putting them under even greater pressure. Helping us now is essentially helping themselves."
Hong Guang nodded in agreement.
He shared the same sentiment.
Humans, after all, are prone to overthinking. The more they dwell on possibilities, the more anxieties and burdens they accumulate. And that, he realized, was their vulnerability, the point where they could be manipulated.
Just then, as if receiving a message, his eyes lit up. "Yu Jin's warship is approaching."
"Has Li Chunjun arrived yet?"
"We can activate our disguised battle site now! We'll lure them straight there. Trapped in a Heart Demon encirclement, they'll have no choice but to fight to the death, even if they sense something amiss!" Hong Tu and the woman declared in unison.
"I've confirmed..." Hong Guang, who had been communicating with Yu Jin, now beamed. "Li Chunjun is coming!"
"Excellent! Hong Yan's operation is guaranteed to succeed now!" Hong Tu exclaimed triumphantly. "Even the finest resources are useless if you don't live to enjoy them! With the Golden Crow Battleship as our escape route, we'll first focus on suppressing and refining these Heart Demons to strengthen ourselves. If we can't refine them all, we'll simply retreat. By then, these Heart Demons won't stand a chance against us!"
"They responded a bit too eagerly," Hong Guang chuckled. "They set off almost immediately after receiving our distress signal. Hong Yan's warship still needs a little more time to reach the Azure Star Minor Realm."
"Is that so? I thought our previous rejection might have angered them and prompted them to demand concessions in exchange for their aid. We even discussed which terms we could feign acceptance of. Now, none of that's necessary," the woman remarked.
"It seems Li Chunjun truly has the big picture in mind," Hong Tu replied, his eyes narrowed with a smile. "A good man."
"Who isn't a 'good man' in their own way?" Hong Guang chuckled lightly. "We're doing everything we can to protect our clan. Is that truly evil? It's simply a matter of differing perspectives."
Hong Feng, standing nearby, sighed inwardly. "A future Void Refining seed..."
Yet in this harsh, alien land where survival was a constant struggle, even Peerless Prodigies met their demise.
For the sake of the Hong Clan...
"Now that we've decided to act, we must prepare meticulously. If Li Chunjun survives, he'll become a major threat later on," the Primordial Spirit True Monarch, who had recently mastered Mind Power, declared solemnly.
"Rest assured, we've devised a flawless plan! We've stockpiled numerous talismans and intend to unleash the Supreme Treasure left by our founding ancestor! Absolute success is guaranteed!" Hong Tu nodded approvingly at Hong Feng, pleased to see him fully committed to their cause.
Just then, Hong Guang seemed to receive another message. "It appears Li Chunjun is being exceptionally cautious," he remarked. "Instead of rushing to the fake battlefield we prepared, he's demanded a map of the Heart Demon distribution, asking us to mark the completely overrun areas where they swarm."
"So, what about the map...?"
"Naturally, I gave it to them," Hong Guang replied with a grin. "But I swapped some locations. Areas near us with few Heart Demons are now marked as heavily infested, while the truly overrun zones are labeled as lightly infested."
He glanced toward the distant horizon. "Marking our Hong Clan's elite training hideout—where we've been conserving our strength—as a fallen territory isn't too much of a stretch, is it? After all, given our story about other areas being overrun, forcing us to seek their aid, that area should logically be a Heart Demon hotspot."
"Isn't that a bit too obvious?" Hong Feng cautioned. "If they realize we've tricked them, they might turn back."
"No matter," Hong Guang replied confidently. "Once they arrive, our plan will already be in motion. From then on, we'll control the game."
As he spoke, he gazed toward the points marked as lightly infested on the map. "I'm curious to see which area Sword Prodigy Li intends to enter the fray from..."
(End of the Chapter)
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