The surging waves, reaching dozens of feet high from the enemy's development of the Misty Sea Technique surrounding the area for hundreds of miles, crashed against the shore like mountains, roaring and boiling. They completely encircled the seven to eight hundred cultivators and the thousands of strongmen scattered across the entire island.

At this moment, no cultivator remained on the sea surface or at the island's edge; everyone had gathered at the mountain peaks, engaged in fierce combat with the Earth Tribe strongmen, vying to control the highest mountain passes. The hot mist and the fog blanketing the archipelago were intensely thick, making it difficult for the cultivators, even if they broke through the island’s perimeter, to escape the thousands of miles encompassed by this misty group of islands.

“Quickly. Over here, concentrate our strength and eliminate these few isolated immortals!” “Liang Rong, divert your high-tier Bone Archers here. Guard this stone tower.”

Amidst the throng of Earth Tribe strongmen, an unremarkable old man in a dark robe jumped about incessantly, shouting loudly and issuing sharp, strange whistles, directing the Earth Tribe strongmen to intensify their frenzied assault on the cultivators.

The cultivators launched a full-force attack on the mountain passes, attempting to destroy all the stone towers located there.

But the Earth Tribe strongmen held a distinct advantage.

The Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Alliance were plunged into chaos. Foundation Establishment cultivators perished intermittently, their protective shields shattered and their physical bodies destroyed by the Earth Tribe strongmen's Black Iron Spears and bone arrows, falling into the mountain passes. Occasionally, even a Golden Core cultivator fell under the combined siege of several high-tier strongmen.

Naturally, the number of Earth Tribe strongmen falling was incalculable. Masses of Earth Tribe strongmen from the stone city surged toward the mountain passes like ants, fearlessly disregarding their own casualties in their pursuit of killing the immortals, even going so far as to sacrifice two or three mid-tier strongmen’s lives to take down one Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Ye Qin dared not be careless either. Relying solely on the Southern Bright Flame Sword was insufficient to block the pervasive hail of random arrows and the charging Heavenly Cavalry Tribe. He cautiously deployed several low-tier shield magic tools to guard the space within a few dozen feet around him, strengthening his surrounding defenses against sneak attacks from stray arrows or the Heavenly Pride Tribe.

While forming hand seals with one hand to control the Southern Bright Flame Sword as it furiously hacked down at a high-tier strongman directly ahead, he coldly surveyed the battlefield. Over two hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators had already perished. At this rate, he estimated that within one or two hours, all eight hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators would be completely wiped out, and it remained unknown how many of the surviving Foundation Establishment cultivators could escape.

Under the combined assault of hundreds of high-tier strongmen and over three thousand mid-tier strongmen from the Sea Plunderer Tribe, the Bone Archer Tribe, the Heavenly Cavalry Tribe, and the Wu Tribe—the four major Earth Tribe clans—the casualties among the cultivators were truly devastating.

Even they, the Golden Core cultivators, were having a terrible time, having already lost six or seven Golden Core members.

However, although the battle was arduous, the main strength of the Golden Core cultivators remained intact; they had not yet reached a point of complete collapse. If Yan Hao and Yu Weifeng, the leaders of the Heavenly Demon Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Clan, directed the battle well, there was still a possibility of turning defeat into victory.

“Brother Ye, when did you become a Golden Core cultivator of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, also joining this expedition against the Earth Tribe clans here?”

A low, somewhat hoarse middle-aged voice suddenly transmitted directly into Ye Qin’s ears via secret message.

Ye Qin abruptly looked toward his side, dozens of feet away, and his heart tightened as he recognized the middle-aged man.

It was Shi Hanyang.

He didn't know when Shi Hanyang had arrived near him; he was currently fighting off Earth Tribe strongmen while secretly relaying this message to him.

The battle between the cultivators and the Earth Tribe strongmen was raging fiercely, and no cultivator was paying undue attention to their exchange.

“Brother Shi, haven’t you also become a Golden Core cultivator of the Heavenly Demon Alliance!” Ye Qin replied blandly, unsure why Shi Hanyang was contacting him at such a moment and what he wanted. After a moment's thought, he transmitted his reply calmly.

“Heh heh. I owe much of that to Brother Ye for helping me obtain the Water Spirit Fruit back then. This story is long; let's leave it for later. Brother Ye, what do you make of the current situation?”

Shi Hanyang said with a smile, effortlessly deflecting the attacks of a high-tier strongman and the pervasive bone arrows using a pair of brilliant, glittering Sun and Moon twin-wheel divine artifacts.

“Looking at the situation, it seems we are most likely heading toward defeat,” Ye Qin replied, using the Southern Bright Flame Sword to forcibly suppress the high-tier strongman on the ground, while simultaneously transmitting, “Brother Shi, what are your thoughts on the Earth Tribe’s Sacred Artifacts? Do you have a way to locate the main one within the stone city?”

Ye Qin felt somewhat frustrated at the moment. The cultivator camp was already showing signs of defeat, with the Earth Tribe strongmen gaining the upper hand. This was not a situation a single Golden Core cultivator could reverse; he was powerless to perform heaven-defying feats alone. He was regretful that without Zi Youhuang, this entire expedition against the Earth Tribe might have been for naught.

“Sacred Artifacts? You mean the Sacred Artifacts of the Sea Plunderer Tribe, Bone Archer Tribe, Heavenly Cavalry Tribe, and Wu Tribe? Earth Tribe Sacred Artifacts are useless to me, so I haven’t paid much attention to that aspect. I didn't come here to find the Earth Tribe’s Sacred Artifacts either,” Shi Hanyang paused briefly, transmitting his reply slowly.

He suddenly waved his hand, sending a dim crescent silver ray shooting toward a Heavenly Cavalry strongman rapidly approaching dozens of feet away. With a thwack, the silver ray cleaved the high-tier strongman and the demonic bird he was riding into two halves, transforming into a large spray of blood mist.

“Oh? Then why did Brother Shi risk coming here to campaign against the Earth Tribe clans?” Ye Qin smiled faintly, using a white-armored shield artifact to block the random arrows shooting up from the ground. He tossed a small green sword from his storage pouch, which transformed into a swift streak of light, slaying a mid-tier strongman on the ground who was attempting to sneak attack him.

“A year ago, I observed the stars at night and detected an anomaly in the vicinity of these Misty Archipelago Islands. However, no matter how many times I performed deductions, I couldn't calculate what kind of anomaly it was, nor its precise timing. I suspect it might be the emergence of a rare treasure or something else. Do you think, Brother Ye, that we could cooperate and help each other?”

Shi Hanyang sounded quite serious now. Among the seventy or eighty Golden Core cultivators present, very few were trustworthy. Ye Qin was the only one he was relatively familiar with, shared some past connection with, and deemed fairly reliable. Having one trustworthy Golden Core cultivator was extremely important at a crucial juncture.

“The Art of Heavenly Deduction!”

Ye Qin’s heart stirred. He knew Shi Hanyang had mastered many obscure arts, especially the Art of Heavenly Deduction. He recalled that during the risky exploration of the Sacred Emperor’s underground palace, he had relied on Shi Hanyang's secret art to guide the cultivators through the subterranean rock-fire cave and infiltrate the palace.

It wasn't surprising if Shi Hanyang had discovered some rare, extraordinary item in these Blue Mist Archipelago Islands.

Since they were seeking different things, there was no need for excessive suspicion; cooperation would likely benefit them both.

“Fine, Brother Shi, tell me your plan,” Ye Qin nodded, thinking it over. “I will help as much as I can.”

“Good. Since arriving here, I’ve been searching for clues about the anomaly, but I haven't found sufficient leads. However, I discovered a very crucial situation: although the Blue Mist Archipelago Islands have always been the territory of the Earth Tribe clans, there have been no large-scale cities here for a long time. The materials used for this stone city and the stone towers appear very new, clearly constructed within the last few years. The sudden large-scale construction of a stone city and heavy garrisons by the four major Earth Tribe clans on this island must, I suspect, be largely related to the anomaly I deduced. The Earth Tribe clans likely discovered the anomaly as well, which is why they hastily constructed the stone city here,” Shi Hanyang said, glancing toward the mountain pass in the distance. “On this island, the strangest place, without a doubt, is this mountain pass that vents the blue mist. Furthermore, judging by how the stone city is built to encircle and guard this pass, the Earth Tribe’s objective is likely this very pass as well.”

Ye Qin looked toward the mountain pass with doubt.

The mountain pass that spewed blue mist was indeed strange, everyone knew that. But aside from venting massive clouds of blue mist, no one could ascertain anything special about it. If Shi Hanyang hadn't been so certain the pass was problematic, Ye Qin wouldn't have suspected it either.

“We cooperated in the Sacred Emperor’s underground palace, you and I, alongside the Lü Family Fort from Nanliang Kingdom—we know each other thoroughly and trust each other. The other cultivators are unaware of the relationship between us and won't be overly wary of us. If we manage to find a rare treasure, we two will cooperate and split the rewards equally.”

Shi Hanyang wasn't presumptuous; Ye Qin's cultivation level and status were now equal to his, so equal division was only fair.

“Equal division is acceptable. However, if we find the Earth Tribe’s main Sacred Artifact, it belongs to me. If we find any other rare treasure, Brother Shi gets priority. We each pursue what we need,” Ye Qin quickly stated.

“Agreed!”

Shi Hanyang thought for a moment and then consented. He didn't care about the Earth Tribe Sacred Artifacts; this arrangement benefited them both.

Both Golden Core cultivators were focused on probing the anomaly within the mountain pass, and it was clear they were not exerting their full effort in the battle, holding back their strength.

In fact, it wasn't just them. The other Golden Core cultivators, seeing the grim situation, were also not fighting with full commitment, holding back some strength in case they needed to retreat from the Blue Mist Archipelago Islands at any moment.

The Golden Core cultivators were not overly concerned with winning or losing this battle. If they lost this time, they could always return later; there would be plenty more opportunities to campaign against the Earth Tribe. There was no need to sacrifice their lives for this specific engagement.

What concerned them more was whether they could gain any profit.

The few Golden Core cultivators who had died had done so because of some unexpected circumstance, getting ambushed and attacked by several high-tier strongmen simultaneously, leaving them no time to escape while others couldn't render timely aid.

However, Yan Hao and Yu Weifeng, the two Golden Core leaders, dared not concede defeat easily. They rushed back and forth across the entire mountain pass battlefield, giving their all. This battle was tied to their future status within the Heavenly Demon Alliance and the Heavenly Dao Alliance; winning would allow them to continue leading, but losing would certainly draw severe criticism from the higher-ups.

“Old Shi, and you, a few others, follow me! Let's go kill that old fellow!”

Yan Hao spurred his artifact forward and shouted toward Shi Hanyang, Ye Qin, and the few other Golden Core cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Alliance and the Heavenly Dao Alliance.

Yan Hao had originally intended to defeat the Earth Tribe strongmen in the stone city through brute force to display his might.

But now he understood that this possibility was slim. The blue-robed shaman amidst the Earth Tribe strongmen was the commander of all the Earth Tribe forces; it was this Earth Tribe shaman who controlled the situation, leading the strongmen to overwhelm the cultivators, with the forces of the four major clans suppressing the cultivators. To disrupt the Earth Tribe formation, they had to kill that shaman first.

Ye Qin was slightly taken aback, immediately understanding that Yan Hao was summoning him and Shi Hanyang to follow and kill the blue-robed shaman hidden deep within the throng of strongmen. (To be continued)