Ye Qin, Zhou Yi, and the other Golden Core cultivators, after inquiring about the location of the Heavenly Dao Alliance branch in Xiaguang City, proceeded together to report their merits.

The compilation and standardization of the Monster Slaying Rankings are overseen by the Elder Councils of the two Great Immortal Alliances to ensure fairness. However, the membership of the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Alliance Elder Councils is not extensive, making it impossible for them to handle every detail; many specific tasks are delegated to the deacons subordinate to the Elder Councils.

Verifying merits for the Monster Slaying Rankings follows the same procedure.

At the branches of the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Alliance in the major Immortal Cities, there are dedicated deacons responsible for tallying merits, rewards, and processing submissions. Xiaguang City is no exception.

It was already the end of the month, and a large number of Golden Core cultivators were garrisoned within Xiaguang City. When Ye Qin and his group arrived at the stone hall of the Heavenly Dao Alliance branch, numerous Golden Core cultivators were already at the deacon's office inside, submitting demon cores and Liuying Jians (Flowing Shadow Tokens) to receive rewards and register their merits.

"The number of Golden Core cultivators in this city is astonishing; the Western Sect branch of the Heavenly Dao Alliance is truly powerful!"

Zhou Yi murmured in awe upon entering the crowded main hall.

"Palace Mistress Baoxia must have conscripted nearly all the late-stage Golden Core cultivators from the Heavenly Dao Alliance's Western Sect to defend this city, accounting for this turnout. However, our entire contingent from the Northern Sect, combined, is by no means inferior to them," Jin Zhongshan chuckled.

"It's a pity the strength of the Northern Sect couldn't be concentrated; otherwise, we wouldn't have suffered such a heavy defeat," Zhou Yi sighed, shaking his head, then turned to Ye Qin and the others. "Brother Ye, everyone, let's report our merits separately. Afterwards, we'll find a place to stay temporarily within the city and then discuss our future actions."

"Agreed!"

The cultivators nodded in unison.

Ye Qin nodded slightly and queued up in a line with fewer people.

There were many Golden Core cultivators in the city, and the Heavenly Dao Alliance also had a considerable number of deacons within the hall, with specialized cultivators handling the verification, registration of merits, and distribution of rewards.

Before long, it was Ye Qin's turn.

Ye Qin approached the counter of a middle-aged deacon and placed a Liuying Jian and a storage pouch filled with demon cores on the counter.

"How many demonic beasts did you slay?"

The middle-aged deacon glanced casually—barely sparing Ye Qin a proper look—and asked languidly. He recognized almost all the famous Golden Core cultivators ranked highly within the city, but this young cultivator in blue robes meant absolutely nothing to him. In his estimation, Ye Qin was likely some unknown nobody. Ye Qin nodded and poured out the dozen-plus demon cores from the storage pouch.

"So many!"

The middle-aged deacon started, finally raising his head to give Ye Qin a surprised glance. Immediately, he adopted a serious demeanor and began meticulously examining the demon cores.

If they were low-grade demon cores, a dozen or so wouldn't be much.

What truly shocked him was that more than half of these dozen-plus demon cores were Grade Nine or Grade Eight cores. To kill so many late-stage Golden Core demonic beasts in just one month was not something an ordinary Golden Core cultivator could achieve.

Only cultivators ranked within the top hundred would possess such strength.

After assessing the demon cores, the middle-aged deacon picked up the Liuying Jian and probed it carefully with his divine sense, cross-referencing the data.

The deacon dared not be negligent. Positions ranked within the top thousand of the Golden Core Monster Slaying List had to be officially recorded, with auditing by the Immortal Alliance's high command being extremely stringent.

The types and grades of these demon cores had to match precisely with the demonic beast species and grades recorded within the Liuying Jian to confirm they were indeed killed by the cultivator in blue robes before him. Otherwise, these cores might have been purchased from other cultivators.

This batch of Liuying Jians had unique markings, specially manufactured by the two Great Immortal Alliances for the Immortal-Demon War, making counterfeiting impossible.

The middle-aged deacon scanned the Liuying Jian rapidly with his divine sense, growing more shocked the deeper he looked. After a short while, upon seeing a small warship mentioned in the later records, the deacon's eyes glazed over slightly, and he looked toward Ye Qin in utter disbelief.

"Your esteemed name?"

"Ye Qin. Elder of the Purple Sword Palace."

"Ah! It is Elder Ye of the Purple Sword Palace!"

The middle-aged deacon finally recalled something—a cultivator whose ascent on the Golden Core Monster Slaying Rank had been incredibly swift recently. Whether from surprise or excitement, he sounded genuinely stirred. "This month, you killed twenty-seven Grade Nine demonic beasts, twenty-seven Grade Eight demonic beasts, and fifty-one Grade Seven demonic beasts. For the majority of the subsequent kills, the beast bodies and demon cores were annihilated due to bombardment by spirit cannons. However, these slain beasts still count toward merits, although without the cores, they cannot be exchanged for reward materials like spirit elixirs or spirit stones."

"Help me exchange these ten demon cores for high-grade spirit stones first," Ye Qin replied calmly, indicating understanding.

Subsequently, Ye Qin accepted the storage pouch filled with a large amount of spirit stones handed to him by another deacon and walked toward the gathering point.

The deacons near the counter quickly tallied the merits and exchanged glances. If their estimation was correct, Elder Ye of the Purple Sword Palace would easily secure a spot within the top hundred of the Golden Core Monster Slaying Rank; the only question was the exact placement.

Ye Qin, however, showed no excitement. Holding the storage pouch heavy with high-grade spirit stones, he felt a measure of frustration instead.

He knew that every single shot fired by the Great Wing Warship consumed ten thousand high-grade spirit stones' worth of spiritual energy. A full volley, with all ten spirit cannons firing, cost one hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones.

During the beast tide that erupted half a month ago, he was forced to deploy the Great Wing Warship, unleashing no fewer than five full volleys against the tide to escape in time.

Indeed, he had slain numerous demonic beasts, significantly boosting his war merits. But the spirit cannons had destroyed both the demon cores and the bodies, netting him no cores or materials, while consuming an excessive amount of spirit stones—he hadn't even broken even. These ten-plus demon cores were all obtained from beasts he had slain with his flying sword previously.

If his life hadn't been on the line, he would never have used the warship to bombard hordes of demonic beasts, engaging in such a losing transaction.

In reality, under normal circumstances, no Immortal Palace or cultivator would ever use a warship to bombard demonic beasts for merits; it was far too costly and unprofitable. Killing beasts using artifacts like flying swords or talismans incurred the lowest cost, offering a genuine profit margin. Only in exceptional circumstances, at moments of life or death, when material cost was irrelevant, did the warship become necessary.

After the cultivators from the Purple Sword Palace and allied palaces completed reporting their merits and collecting rewards, they left the Heavenly Dao Alliance main hall and secured over a dozen pavilions in the city as temporary residences. Some cultivators went out to continue searching for comrades scattered and defeated on the battlefield.

Several days later, Palace Master Zhou and the other Nascent Soul cultivators finally arrived at Xiaguang City, bringing with them a large contingent of Golden Core cultivators who had retreated from the battlefield's defeat. Coupled with those Ye Qin, Zhou Yi, and others had sent out searching, quite a few Golden Core cultivators were found and brought back.

The Palace Masters and Elders of the Immortal Palaces convened their respective Golden Core disciples to handle post-battle affairs. Unrelatedly for now.

Palace Master Zhou, after briefing the disciples of the Purple Sword Palace on various matters, met with Ye Qin privately.

"Palace Master!"

Ye Qin entered a private chamber on the top floor of the Purple Sword Palace pavilion and met Zhou Yu, the Palace Master of the Purple Sword Palace.

Palace Master Zhou stood frowning by the window lattice, his face etched with hardship, and his temples seemingly bearing more streaks of grizzled gray hair. Clearly, the preceding defeat had dealt him a massive blow.

During his days in Xiaguang City, Ye Qin had heard scattered reports about the recent large-scale eruption of the Blood Sea beast tide, though the veracity was low. The only person who could likely resolve his doubts was Palace Master Zhou.

"Elder Ye, please sit," Palace Master Zhou said wearily, waving a hand when he saw Ye Qin arrive.

After Ye Qin sat down, Palace Master Zhou slowly continued, "This sudden, large-scale outbreak of the demon cultivators' coordinated beast tide was entirely unanticipated, leading to catastrophic losses. The stone city constructed by my Purple Sword Palace and allied Immortal Palaces has been destroyed, and furthermore, we lost six Nascent Soul cultivators—the toll is devastating. The only consolation this Palace finds is that the loss among Golden Core cultivators was approximately one-tenth, which managed to preserve the main fighting force of the Immortal Palaces."

Ye Qin listened in silence.

Four to five hundred Golden Core cultivators, and one-tenth would be forty or fifty individuals. In such a massive beast tide, under such dire and chaotic circumstances, losing only about ten percent of the Golden Core cultivators was indeed fortunate. If the Nascent Soul cultivators hadn't charged forward to contain the strongest faction of demon cultivators, allowing the Golden Core cultivators to break through the siege of the beast tide in time, the outcome would have been unimaginable. The worst possibility—total annihilation—was not out of the question.

"Given the current situation, what are the Palace Master's plans?"

"Even before the war, the Supreme Elder and I estimated the possibility of such a setback. The Immortal-Demon War is inherently difficult; a minor defeat is a normal occurrence. We have even experienced a complete rout in the East Sea Cultivation World before."

Seeing Ye Qin's silence, Palace Master Zhou sighed and continued, "Although we have suffered a defeat, we cannot concede lightly before the Northern Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance is chosen. This Palace has decided to continue fighting."

"What is the next step?"

Ye Qin was not surprised by this declaration. He had speculated earlier that given Palace Master Zhou's character, he would not easily lose all confidence over a single battle.

Palace Master Zhou pondered for a while. "We only have one year left; building another stone city now is meaningless. This Palace has an old acquaintance in Palace Master Jiang of Baoxia Palace. For now, we plan to rely on Xiaguang City, lead the Nascent Soul cultivators to continue hunting demon cultivators, earn merits, and strive for the last sliver of opportunity to claim the position of Northern Sect Master. During the remaining time, Elder Ye, you will continue to lead the Golden Core disciples of the Purple Sword Palace alongside Brother Yi to hunt demonic beasts and secure as many merits as possible. The situation is arduous now; we must exert our utmost effort."

"Understood!"

Ye Qin agreed immediately without hesitation. His covenant with Palace Master Zhou was not yet fulfilled, so he certainly could not withdraw. With only this final year remaining, he had to complete the task of slaying demonic beasts, no matter what.

Palace Master Zhou then inquired about some of the circumstances during Ye Qin's breakout before leaving the pavilion to go elsewhere in the city.

As for Ye Qin possessing a Great Wing Warship, Palace Master Zhou expressed mild surprise but did not dwell on it. Years ago, when Ye Qin clashed with Wang Shiwei, the former Young Palace Master of Wanluo Palace, he had vaguely known Ye Qin possessed a small warship. Given Ye Qin's status as an Alchemy Grandmaster and his financial resources, building a low-tier, minor divine ability warship was certainly achievable.