Chapter 1498: Playing for Real
Yang Haoran's expression remained unchanged, and Bai Xue could not fathom his thoughts. This couldn't help but make Bai Xue feel a flicker of unease. While she usually joked and bantered with Yang Haoran, daring to say and do anything, that freedom was predicated on her not making a mistake. With such a major incident occurring this time, she felt herself entirely culpable as a commander, and thus, a degree of apprehension still lingered in her heart.
"Great Emperor, I apologize. Your subordinate is willing to bear all responsibility."
After thoroughly reporting the entire sequence of events, Bai Xue voluntarily admitted her error and expressed her willingness to bear all responsibility.
Yang Haoran, hearing this, smiled and waved his hand, then spoke.
"I know Zhong Siyu's personality; therefore, you are not to blame for this."
Upon hearing Yang Haoran's words, a sigh of relief escaped Bai Xue, and her apprehension gradually faded. Given her understanding of Yang Haoran's character, she had guessed he likely wouldn't blame her, but hearing him say it himself brought her much greater peace of mind.
"Then what should we do now? If this matter isn't handled promptly, I'm worried that Young Miss will be harmed."
Bai Xue continued. Yang Haoran nodded in response, then took out several Communication Talismans. After whispering a few words to each, he would activate it. In just a short while, all the Communication Talismans had been sent forth.
"Heh, gather our forces. I will lead the team personally to meet this Sea Demon Alliance."
Of the Communication Talismans Yang Haoran had just activated, one was sent to Zhong Siyu, telling her to withdraw quickly, as charging in alone was very dangerous. Although he knew that nine times out of ten, this Communication Talisman would be like a stone sinking into the sea, getting no reply from Zhong Siyu, and even if he did, Zhong Siyu might not necessarily withdraw, he still had to try. What if Zhong Siyu had a sudden change of heart and actually withdrew?
His order to assemble forces and his decision to personally lead the team to confront the Sea Demon Alliance was driven by a desire to take control of the entire center of the Eastern Sunrise Ocean in one fell swoop. Bai Xue had already made it clear that this Sea Demon Alliance was formed by the forces in the center of the Eastern Sunrise Ocean that the Great Night Empire had not yet subdued. If that was the case, taking down the Sea Demon Alliance would mean taking down the center of the Eastern Sunrise Ocean, and once that was secured, the entire Eastern Sunrise Ocean would soon follow, becoming the domain of the Great Night Empire.
Therefore, regardless of whether Zhong Siyu would withdraw after receiving the Communication Talisman, Yang Haoran would launch an attack on the Sea Demon Alliance. Since he had come to the front lines today, he might as well personally lead the team to handle this matter.
However, the Sea Demon Alliance's strength was also formidable. After all, it was an alliance composed of multiple forces, making it difficult for them to be anything but strong. Therefore, Yang Haoran did not overreach. To ensure the absolute success of this operation, he decided to mobilize more forces for this grand battle. The several Communication Talismans he had just sent, aside from the one to Zhong Siyu, were sent to Old Master Wu, Tang Shi, and the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao, ordering them to dispatch more powerful experts for support.
Except for Old Master Wu, who was left behind to manage the overall situation of the Great Night Empire, even Tang Shi and the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao were required to participate in this battle. Yang Haoran also specifically reminded Jing Miao to bring the Heart Demon Flute. Although it was unlikely that Jing Miao would ever part with such a precious treasure as the Heart Demon Flute, Yang Haoran still gave the reminder out of caution.
Waiting for reinforcements to arrive before setting off was certainly the prudent approach, but time waited for no one. Zhong Siyu had already gone ahead. If Zhong Siyu didn't intend to withdraw after receiving his Communication Talisman, then, as Bai Xue had said, Zhong Siyu's situation would be perilous. No matter how strong Zhong Siyu was now, Yang Haoran didn't believe she could challenge the entire Sea Demon Alliance by herself.
Moreover, Zhong Siyu might already be at the Sea Demon Alliance's location, having engaged them. If Yang Haoran waited for reinforcements to arrive before setting off, it would definitely be too late. He might not even get a chance to collect Zhong Siyu's body, because by the time he arrived, Zhong Siyu would likely have undergone Soul Transformation.
It was precisely because he considered this, and did not want anything to happen to Zhong Siyu, that Yang Haoran ordered the assembly of forces and an immediate departure for the Sea Demon Alliance's location.
Since Bai Xue was able to thoroughly investigate the Sea Demon Alliance's strength, she naturally knew where their main base was. Yang Haoran had no need to worry about this point.
Indeed, Bai Xue knew the Sea Demon Alliance's main base like the back of her hand. With Bai Xue leading the way, reaching the Sea Demon Alliance's lair directly would pose no problem.
As Bai Xue's command was issued, the Flock of Demons Society members stationed on Fire Rock Island quickly assembled. The leaders of Myriad Ghost Grotto and Iron Blood Demon Hall also gathered their respective forces. The grand army quickly assembled. The respective commanders tallied their numbers, and once confirmed, at Yang Haoran's command, the entire space of Fire Rock Island trembled. Spatial rifts appeared one after another, and the army entered them in an orderly fashion for teleportation.
In just a brief moment, Fire Rock Island, which had been bustling moments before, became utterly empty. Aside from the ability to sense residual power fluctuations from numerous different individuals, Fire Rock Island appeared no different than usual.
According to Bai Xue, the Sea Demon Alliance's main base was temporarily established on an island named God Dragon Island. Unlike Fire Rock Island, which was barren and resource-poor, God Dragon Island possessed abundant resources of all kinds, with numerous types of ores and spirit herbs. The area of God Dragon Island was also several times that of Fire Rock Island. The disparity between the two was stark.
The reason God Dragon Island was called God Dragon Island wasn't because there were actual divine dragons on it, but because the island's terrain remarkably resembled a giant dragon baring its fangs and claws. If one looked down upon God Dragon Island from high in the sky, they would find this lifelike giant dragon seemingly embedded in the ocean.
Without wasting much time, Yang Haoran led the grand army to God Dragon Island. Above God Dragon Island, spatial rifts appeared one after another, and dense masses of figures swept out, hovering like a massive dark cloud above the center of God Dragon Island.
Since God Dragon Island was the Sea Demon Alliance's main base, even if only a temporary one, it should, by rights, have had a restrictive barrier. Even if they couldn't afford to expend massive resources to set up a grand island-protecting array like the Great Night Empire, at the very least, a restrictive barrier should have been deployed in the area where the main base was located. However, at this moment, God Dragon Island had no restrictive barrier, not even in the area of their main base.
Everyone who had used a restrictive barrier knew of its numerous benefits. The Sea Demon Alliance's main base currently lacked a restrictive barrier not because one hadn't been set up, but because the one that had been was forcefully breached.
At this very moment, a great battle was raging at the Sea Demon Alliance's main base. The one who initiated this battle was none other than Zhong Siyu, who had unilaterally left the main force. And it was also this Young Miss who had forcefully breached the restrictive barrier here.
Zhong Siyu truly didn't play games. After leaving the main force, she immediately rushed to God Dragon Island, and without a single word of nonsense, she directly used brute force to breach the restrictive barrier the Sea Demon Alliance had set up there. As this was merely a temporary main base for the Sea Demon Alliance, and they hadn't been stationed on God Dragon Island for long, the restrictive barrier they had deployed could only be considered average. It couldn't compare to a grand array constructed with vast resources. The restrictive barrier released by such a formation naturally couldn't stop Zhong Siyu. Zhong Siyu didn't even use her full strength, yet she shattered the restrictive barrier covering the area with a single strike.
However, although the restrictive barrier was shattered by Zhong Siyu's single strike, Zhong Siyu immediately faced a siege from the Sea Demon Alliance. Initially, the Sea Demon Alliance was unaware of Zhong Siyu's true strength, so the ones besieging Zhong Siyu were six experts below the Demon Saint realm.
Although these sea demon experts were all formidable, they were still far inferior to Zhong Siyu. The disparity in their realms created a massive power gap, and the number of these sea demon experts was insufficient to bridge this gap. As time slowly passed, Zhong Siyu was not subdued by these sea demon experts; instead, many of them tragically died at her hands.
Although the six Demon Saints didn't act against Zhong Siyu immediately, they had been observing the battle in secret. After a period of fierce fighting, the six Demon Saints came to a conclusion they were unwilling to accept: the experts besieging Zhong Siyu could simply not subdue her. If it continued, the ultimate outcome would be that their subordinate experts would successively meet tragic ends at Zhong Siyu's hands.
This loss was immense, something the six Demon Saints could not bear. So, to cut their losses in time, the six Demon Saints withdrew their experts and personally confronted Zhong Siyu. They did not choose a one-on-one combat mode; instead, all six simultaneously attacked, launching a concerted siege against Zhong Siyu.
When Zhong Siyu faced the siege of experts below the Demon Saint realm, she not only held her own but even gained the upper hand, taking the life of a sea demon expert every short while. However, facing the siege of the six Demon Saints, the situation immediately reversed. Zhong Siyu no longer held the upper hand; instead, she quickly fell into a disadvantage, struggling to parry the fierce onslaught of the six Demon Saints.
Zhong Siyu's strength was indeed formidable, but no matter how formidable she was, she wasn't strong enough to simultaneously contend with six Demon Saints. If these six sea demons had only just entered the Demon Saint realm, it might have been manageable. But the crucial point was that these six Demon Saints were not newly arrived in this realm; they had cultivated within it for an unknown number of years. Some of the Demon Saints' strength even far surpassed that of Lei Bao and Hou Yu. Facing such a siege, it was perfectly normal for Zhong Siyu to be overwhelmed.
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