Chapter 485 The War Begins: A Two-Pronged Attack (Transitional Chapter)

Before the Ice River Pass.

The land is frozen solid, snow drifts for miles, and the mighty river is frozen into pale blue crystals by the low temperature, while the surrounding area is swept by extremely cold northerly storms.

This storm is one of the most dangerous environmental hazards in Binghe Pass.

It is said to be an ice storm that swept out from the depths of the endless ice plains, carrying a faint aura of frozen demonic energy. And because further north of Ice River Pass, one will reach the rarely visited North Mist.

It is considered the last threshold for entering the endless ice field on the Taihu Lake side, hence the common name "Beilan Ice Storm".

This perilous environment, imbued with spiritual energy, also affects spiritual sense; cultivators below the Core Formation stage cannot see what lies deep within the ice layer at all.

This leaves room for the "water ghost" tactic to be implemented.

The walls of Binghe Pass are thousands of feet high, all constructed from frozen stones from the northern plains that have been frozen for countless years, and are in no way weaker than the lapis lazuli used to build Dongjikyo.

The Biyun Sect has spent a lot of money over the years to install formations and anti-air spells, thus completely controlling this pass.

Right now.

Under pressure from the Refining Heaven Demon Sect, the main force of the Underworld Mountain Sect had no choice but to send out a full twenty-three Nascent Soul cultivators, thousands of Core Formation cultivators, and hundreds of thousands of Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators.

Besides the high-end combatants, half of them were rogue cultivators recruited from Chi Yuan, which was a great advantage for these low-level demonic cultivators who were always looking for trouble.

War is also a perfect opportunity to increase strength.

Aside from a few naturally wary and suicidal individuals, almost everyone responded, and this ragtag army became the main force attacking Binghe Pass today.

Bishop Youpeng, a cultivator at the Great Perfection stage, and Yin Jiao Demon Lord, the strongest fighter under his command, also focused their combat power on the Ice River Pass battlefield.

The cultivators from Cold Blood Peak, belonging to the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, are nowhere to be seen for the time being.

Inside the Ice River Pass.

The group includes the Hongyun Ancestor of the Biyun Sect, the Yellow River Venerable, the Jinyan Daojun and the Huode Daojun of the Lieyang Sect, one Nascent Soul Grand Perfection cultivator, three Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators, and the Fire Crow King who has reached the Late Stage of the Fourth Rank.

There are a total of five top-level combatants, among whom the Red Cloud Ancestor is the only one at the Great Perfection stage. He is a support force recently deployed to Ice River Pass by the Azure Cloud Sect.

The cultivators at the early to mid-stages of the Nascent Soul realm, along with the two sects and a few Nascent Soul experts who came from the Sword Sect, totaled twenty, barely achieving a balance with the demonic cultivators.

After all, they are the defenders, so they are not under as much pressure as the attackers, and they have the advantage of terrain to defend. Under normal circumstances, it will be a war of attrition.

It all comes down to who has more people and who has a deeper foundation.

It is more resistant to casualties!

In the council hall of Binghe Pass, Ancestor Hongyun, being the most senior and powerful, basically held the power of discourse, and others had to give him some face.

He was the first to speak, without hesitation.

"The Mingshan Sect has been fighting timidly and hesitantly, which shows that it does not want to expend too much power. It is pessimistic about this war between good and evil, and wants to reap huge profits after the war ends."

"The fact that they have come out in full force now shows that the Venerable One of the Refining Heaven Demon Sect is putting pressure on us. In addition to the situation at Ice River Pass, we also need to be wary of Shuiyun Prefecture and Feng Prefecture in the south."

"Young friend from the Sword Sect, do you have any concrete information regarding your sect's support?"

Clearly, in the eyes of Ancestor Hongyun.

No matter how much pressure the Underworld Sect exerted, they were unable to break through the defenses of Ice River Pass.

Therefore.

The focus shifted to the southern part of the Biyun Sect's territory.

This idea can neither be said to be right or wrong.

After all, this goal has always been one of the strategic objectives of the Refining Heaven Demon Sect. Fighting on two fronts inherently carries the risk of neglecting one aspect for the other.

Furthermore, it's as if the entire Crimson Kite Demon Cultivator camp is attacking the Azure Cloud Sect, an easy target, while the southern battlefield, facing the main forces of the Yellow Spring Temple and the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, is extremely precarious.

This is true even though all seven righteous sects have sent support teams.

The pressure is immense!

Under such circumstances, Ancestor Hongyun could not tolerate the slightest mistake, and he personally oversaw every single matter, no matter how small.

The person being questioned in the hall was one of the seventy-two peak masters of the Sword Sect, a young Nascent Soul cultivator known as the "Ninefold Sword Lord," whose cultivation had just reached the third level of the Nascent Soul stage.

He answered the question from Ancestor Hongyun with great respect.

"This matter is a top secret of the sect, and I cannot reveal too much about it. However, I can give you a heads-up: even if the Demon Lord takes action, the Biyun Sect's battle line will not collapse."

The implication was that the Sword Sect Master had made a move.

These words were spoken.

It was like a reassurance, quickly stabilizing the mindset of the Nascent Soul cultivators in the arena.

"In that case, as long as we hold the Ice River Pass, the battle line will not continue to push back, which is good news."

certainly.

The premise is that we can hold on.

Jin Yan Daojun suddenly spoke.

"The people of Cold Blood Peak have not yet shown any trace. They are probably still determined to take revenge on the bandits of Kuangmei Mountain. There is also the scoundrel, the Extreme Law Demon Lord, hiding among the Northern Demon Clan without revealing his whereabouts."

"These are all targets we need to be wary of. Also... if the Northern Demon Clan makes a move, can we stop them?"

This hits the nail on the head, even though no one mentioned it.

But everyone knows that Wang Yu's relationship with the Northern Demon Clan is ambiguous, and although the Biyun Sect spent some resources to ask the Fire Crow Clan of the Northern Demon Clan for help.

Unfortunately, this alliance was not firm and could be easily torn up unilaterally, as can be seen from the reward given when the Soul Spirit Lord returned.

The fact that no one says anything is actually a deliberate attempt to ignore it.

After all, the reality is that if the Northern Demon Clan were to participate in the war with all their might, they would only have a chance of holding the Ice River Pass if the number of their strong warriors doubled.

And this.

They will also be assigned to two battlefields: Binghe Pass and Kuangmei Mountain.

The decision of what is more important and what is less important needs to be weighed by the leader, adhering to the "simple" idea that saying more will lead to more mistakes, saying less will lead to fewer mistakes, and saying nothing will lead to no mistakes.

Surprisingly, no one mentioned it, except for Jin Yan Daojun, who was eager to make a contribution, who broke through this barrier.

The hall fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, speechless.

at this time.

Hongyun Patriarch stepped forward and said.

"This matter can only be guarded against, not confirmed."

"In addition, there is good news. Some time ago, the people from Zhenbei Tower sent a message that they would send an elite force to reinforce the Binghe Pass battlefield."

Everyone perked up, then looked at each other in bewilderment.

"The Zhenbei Tower? They didn't make a move in the last, the time before last, and the time before that, the great war between the righteous and the demonic forces. They just stayed behind that ruined tower and cultivated in seclusion. Why would they come out of the mountains?"

This person's words are pretty much what everyone is thinking.

After the initial surprise came the worry. Although the Zhenbei Tower was recognized by the Sword Sect as one of the seven righteous sects, its disciples rarely ventured out.

They spend most of their lives in the endless ice fields.

The outside world lacks understanding of them, and whether they have the ability to turn the tide is still unknown. It is only natural that they are questioned and distrusted.

Ancestor Hongyun continued.

"The specifics are unclear, but it seems that the demonic villains did something in the Endless Ice Plains that violated the taboos of the North Town Tower, which is why they took action."

"We'll leave the strategic pass of Kuang Meishan to them; there shouldn't be any problems."

The meeting at Binghe Pass did not last long.

As the sound of horns rang out in the distance, the commotion grew louder and louder.

A large number of demonic cultivators flew overhead, throwing all sorts of magical artifacts, talismans, and even blood-stained demonic objects and evil things toward Zhenbei Pass.

The high altitude and the gale-force wind layer are the battlefields for Nascent Soul cultivators.

After the Battle of Binghe Pass began, the Battle of Kuangmei Mountain also commenced simultaneously!

…………

…………

On the towering Kuangmei Mountain, the cultivators of Hanxue Peak poured out of their base camp. Wang Yu had already donned the Demonic Dragon Armor, wielding a three-pointed double-edged spear, accompanied by a snow-white fox.

Foxes are also canines, so by all accounts they could be considered a "laughing fox." It followed closely beside Wang Yu, nervously looking around.

For her.

This is the first time we've participated in such a large-scale war, so it's understandable that we have concerns," Wang Yu instructed.

"Stay close to me as the situation progresses, but if things get dangerous, try to stay away from me."

This statement seems contradictory, but in reality, Wang Yu is worried that his fame is too great and he will easily become a target of public criticism. In this case, Xue Yu's help is dispensable.

He still needs to be distracted and taken care of, so keeping him away as much as possible is the right thing to do.

If not surrounded and able to use guerrilla tactics or hunt down enemies one by one, the control capabilities that Snow Jade can provide are quite good.

It's equivalent to making two presets in advance.

This attack on Kuangmei Mountain, like the attack on Binghe Pass, was actually a feint; the main force of the Northern Demon Clan was not there.

Don't forget.

The Northern Boundary Mountains serve as a barrier between Taihu Lake and Chiyuan, but for the Northern Demon Clan, Binghe Pass and Kuangmei Mountain are not insurmountable natural barriers.

They could travel on one side of the entire mountain range.

The traps and restrictions accumulated from numerous battles were no problem at all for the Northern Demon Clan living in the mountains. They knew better than human cultivators which places were dangerous.

Therefore, the Five-Colored Holy Lord wanted to swallow the entire Azure Cloud Sect.

That's why I made that choice.

The demonic path continued its offensive, while the Northern Demon Clan circled around from behind, combining forces to deliver a fatal blow—a simple, brutal, yet highly effective tactic.

They were exploiting the intelligence gap.

This tactic may seem redundant, but it is actually aimed at achieving greater results. Wang Yu also couldn't suppress his desire to collect Nascent Souls, hoping to use the opportunity of the battle to calm his boiling Qi Sea.

He then chose to act alongside his own people from Cold Blood Peak.

The main battlefield is definitely at Binghe Pass. It would be good if Kuang Meishan could keep five or six Nascent Soul cultivators. He killed two of them a few years ago, so his defenses are even weaker.

therefore.

I was just giving Xueyu a heads-up; deep down, I didn't think it would cause him any trouble.

At that time.

The Heavenly Frost Demon Lord, who had crossed paths with Wang Yu several times before, was also wearing a full set of Frost Demon Armor with maximum defensive capabilities and holding his natal magic weapon, the Heavenly Frost Halberd, as he spoke to Wang Yu.

"Brother Wang Dao, if you have the strength during the battle later, please look after the cultivators of the four Cold Blood Clans. Our sect only has the Cold Blood Peak branch that came to Ice River Pass..."

The once arrogant Heavenly Frost Demon Lord is now addressing everyone as "Brother Daoist," and he couldn't have been more enthusiastic.

Wang Yu's collaboration with his alchemy partner went fairly smoothly.

I remember he took several Taiyin Demon Yuan Pills from him. As for the Cheng, Chu, Xue and the other four clans, they also had a good cooperative relationship with Wang Yu.

They provided him with many rare and precious materials with cold and yin properties.

In this matter, Wang Yu could only say that it was a small favor.

He wouldn't save someone if it would endanger his own safety.

The Heavenly Frost Demon Lord fully understood and agreed with this point. Even though he was the eldest brother of the four Cold Blood Clans, he would not risk saving them.

Simply put yourself in their shoes.

After the Heavenly Frost Demon Lord left, the Ice Soul Fairy, for the first time ever, took the initiative to approach him, after the effects of the Flood Dragon Pill over the years had been fully absorbed.

The two only had one accidental dual cultivation experience.

There was no further communication after that.

"Wang Yu, after this battle, I will be able to cultivate to the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul Realm within twenty years, and I believe I will have few rivals on this Kuangmei Mountain."

"If you encounter danger, I can save you once for Bao Dan's sake. After that, we will be even and the favors will be settled."

Having said that, he didn't wait for Wang Yu's response.

He then turned and fled to the front of the group without looking back, which surprised Wang.

The Ice Soul Fairy's words revealed her concern for his safety.

certainly.

You could say he's just being delusional, but judging from his experience... it doesn't seem likely.

Wang Yu was pondering this in his heart.

Another bigwig from the Zhuo family on Cold Blood Peak, Elder Lanxin, also came to his side and chatted with him as if they were lining up.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, seeing you in person is truly an honor. You are indeed a man of outstanding talent and remarkable bearing."

"Senior Lan Xin, you flatter me."

Although he assisted in killing the arrogant old demon of the Zhuo family, Wang Yu's relationship with the Zhuo family was still close on the surface, and this matter was never exposed.

The blame was placed on Chitian's head.

If we were to say who hates Chi Tian the most, it would undoubtedly be the lineage of the Proud Sun Demon. Although this Elder Lan Xin is not from that lineage, he still maintains a friendly attitude towards Wang Yu.

After some pleasantries and casual conversation.

Old Man Lan Xin also hinted to Wang Yu that he could ask him for help if he encountered danger, and he would take action!

This is one of the advantages of being in the company of a powerful force.

Unlike independent cultivators who, even if recruited, rarely reach the true core circle and often end up as heavyweight cannon fodder.

Wang Yu's desire to return to the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect was not due to a strong sense of belonging to the sect, but rather to leverage its influence as one of the five major sects of the demonic path.

It possesses the ability to consistently produce Nascent Soul cultivators.

There are also hidden secrets within the Ice Prison Realm, profound and core inheritances, and numerous networks of connections cultivated over centuries—all things that are difficult to relinquish.

Once he leaves this circle, he's like a blind man.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to obtain top-tier intelligence; this is determined by the power structure of the Ice Prison Realm, and cannot be changed by one person alone.

Let's get back to the main topic.

The thousands of elite troops from Cold Blood Peak marched straight in, only to be surprised to find that there wasn't a single cultivator stationed there when they passed through the previous battle zone.

The lower and middle sections of Kwong Mui Shan are almost entirely vacant.

“Something’s not right. I’ll go to the top of the mountain to investigate first. You all set up a defensive line on the mountainside and be wary of ambushes below or on the mountain.”

The old man Lan Xin took on the heavy responsibility, transforming into thousands of ice birds the size of fingers, stirring up layers of cold mist, and swiftly fleeing towards the mountaintop like arrows released from a bow.

The sound of wings flapping rapidly was like a thousand birds singing in unison.

The chattering was extremely loud, a deliberate attempt to alert the enemy and force them to surface.

Wang Yu's eyelids twitched slightly, and he had a bad feeling.

As expected.

Less than half an incense stick later, a violent roar came from overhead. In the blinding white light and cold current, Elder Lanxin rushed down in a disheveled state, exclaiming in alarm.

"Zhenbei Tower! It's someone from Zhenbei Tower!"

Wang Yu's heart stirred. The Five-Colored Holy Lord had previously warned him that the Zhenbei Tower was likely involved in the war and had some connection with the son of the Ice God.

We are already prepared in this regard!

(End of this chapter)