[Year 1030]
[After over a century of probing, the Southern Frontier, beginning with the Xuanyuan Clan in Clearpeak Prefecture, has established the first line of defense against the Blood Moon.
Your family has entered a state of war!]
Azure Cloud Prefecture, City of Merit.
Li Wei emerged from his secluded cultivation and appeared within the family estate.
He saw numerous spirit boats docked within the grounds.
Cultivators of Azure Cloud Prefecture were bustling about, arriving through secret teleportation arrays scattered throughout the City of Merit to deliver reports.
In the family hall, numerous descendants were gathered together.
Li Yaoqing had already ended her secluded cultivation. She sat in the seat of honor; possessing an ancient immortal within her body, she could also perceive the situation inside the Blood Moon.
Seated below her were Li Yunlin, Li Kuanghua, Li Chang'an, and a host of other children.
As for the rest, they were either out wandering the world seeking a method to resolve the Blood Moon, or at the critical juncture of breaking through in their secluded cultivation.
Li Xinghuo said in a deep voice,
"The Xuanyuan Clan has deployed their clan's war Dharma Treasure, the 'Verdant Bamboo Forest'.
The commoners of Clearpeak Prefecture are being evacuated to Westfall Prefecture.
At least thirty percent of the cultivators have retreated. However, Senior Xuanyuan Liqun possesses considerable prestige. He has prepared for many years, and Clearpeak Prefecture has already formed a united front."
"The Zhangsun Clan is wavering. They helped us deal with Jade Mist Valley back then, but the Zhangsun Clan has no foundation in Clearpeak Prefecture."
"We cannot just sit and wait for death."
The crowd exchanged glances, agreeing deeply.
Over these years, they had all been searching for strategies to deal with the immortals, and the same was true for all the major factions in the Southern Frontier, regardless of size.
However, aside from the Mad Blood Demon Lord and the Seven Ironclads who charged into the Blood Moon two years ago, there hadn't been a single true, large-scale battle with the immortals within the Blood Moon.
The Old Ancestor said that two years had passed, and Li Yundou and his group were still fighting the likes of the Flame Sage Elder...
"What is certain now is that the Demon Race is unaffected by the Blood Moon. Over the past two years, we sent some prisoners into the Blood Moon.
Foundation Establishment cultivators resisting with all their might will become slaves beneath the Blood Moon in one to three days at most.
Dao Seeds will be planted in their bodies. However, those who have Dao Seeds planted in them by the Blood Moon cannot leave the Blood Moon's perimeter; the Dao Seeds inside their bodies possess some sort of rule."
Li Chang'an added,
"Golden Core realm cultivators cannot last past ten days, and Nascent Soul cultivators two months... This is assuming they steady their minds.
If they use Spiritual power or sustain injuries, the speed at which the Blood Moon plants a Dao Seed will increase.
Under these circumstances, we simply cannot fight the millions upon millions of kin within the Blood Moon. Furthermore... going deeper in, the situation is even worse."
The crowd wore gloomy expressions. How could they fight in a place an ordinary person couldn't even enter?
"Kin."
Suddenly, Li Yaoqing spoke this single word, prompting everyone to turn their heads.
Li Yaoqing continued,
"Lu Niang told me that she can sense an immortal in the direction of the Western Frontier that she has never seen before.
Everything beneath the Blood Moon is caused by this immortal. Generally speaking, even for a Great Golden Immortal, encompassing the kin of an entire prefecture is an exceedingly difficult task."
"But what if... we became the kin of another immortal?"
Li Chang'an's eyes lit up. "Right, the kin of other immortals have never entered the Blood Moon before!"
"An immortal's kin refers to special existences possessing immortal bloodlines, traits, and the like.
They swear loyalty to the immortal, and the immortal's consciousness will influence their hearts, turning them into running dogs for the immortal.
This achieves the same result as the Blood Moon planting a Dao Seed."
Li Yunlin's face was dark. "We are fighting for ourselves, not for an immortal."
Hearing this, the clan members woke up as if from a dream. Kin were no different from spiritual slaves.
"You only have this choice."
Lu Niang suddenly appeared in mid-air within the hall, sitting on a roof beam.
Swinging her legs, she looked down at these numerous Li Clan descendants she had watched grow up bit by bit while residing inside Li Yaoqing's body.
She smiled, "You should trust me. I can use my immortal power to make the Ancient Tree of Delusion Breaking bear fruit.
Those who consume the fruit will become my kin, and will also receive my protection."
The clansmen wore ugly expressions and completely ignored Lu Niang.
Li Chang'an said, "Let us set this matter aside for now. What we need to do currently is sustain war through war."
"Right." Li Yuanshang smiled bitterly.
"Over the years, our resources have been mostly depleted.
Forging the Heavenly Fire Dao Field, the Corpse Mountain Dao Field, the Life Dao Field within the city, and acquiring the materials to isolate demonic qi within the divine tower... our family doesn't have many resources left."
Li Yunlin agreed,
"There are also the immortals. Tianming has been very successful in suppressing the White Jade Immortal.
Capturing immortals, whether to devour them or force them to aid our cultivation, is an absolute top priority. Only by doing so can we truly deal with immortals."
As the crowd discussed.
A paper kite was seen flying through the cloudy sky. Li Yuanshang caught the paper kite, startled for a moment. "The Xuanyuan Clan... had the exact same thought we did."