The current situation was clear for all to see. These individuals were undoubtedly masters, yet every single one of them bore injuries. The present deadlock was exactly the same as the confrontation these people just had with the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells!

Therefore, the tactics effective against the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells would be equally effective against them!

Attrition!

In one-on-one combat, there were almost no opponents left for them in the Forest of Heavenly Punishment. But this was the Forest of Heavenly Punishment, the very stronghold of the Xuan Beasts! As long as they truly fought relentlessly without regard for sacrifice, piling them on with a sheer mass of beasts—human power, even for a Saint-level expert, is finite. Sooner or later, they could be ground down!

At the very least, they could hold them off for over a year!

But the price for achieving ultimate victory through this method would be the lives of hundreds of thousands, perhaps even a million, Xuan Beasts! Or, many of these Beast Kings would have to be dragged down into the abyss with them!

The Heavenly Punishment could not afford such a loss;

And naturally, the Phantom Mansion and the Holy Lands could not afford it either.

That was why, as soon as Jun Mo Xie snapped back to his senses, he immediately grasped the gravity of the situation, feeling a sharp pang of heartache, which caused him to shout a halt!

In his heart now, these Xuan Beasts were almost like his own kin; how could he stand by and watch them pay such a monumental sacrifice? Besides, the people from the Phantom Mansion and the Holy Lands were being handled by him, by Mei Xueyan, and by the other masters. Moreover, they even had the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Hells—the enemy of their enemy—on their side...

If too many Xuan Beasts were lost right now, it simply wouldn't be worth it!

Not to mention, deep in his heart, he harbored a faint conviction: his blood debt must be repaid, inch by painstaking inch, by his own hands!

Yet, just as he sent the message to the Deer Saint Sovereign to clear a path, the battle situation had already devolved into utter chaos! A group of flying eagles swooping toward them, under the ruthless command of the Eagle King, had fully adopted a gruesome strategy of self-mutilation to wound the enemy first...

Thousands of flying eagles shrieked as they charged. Upon making initial contact with the twenty experts, they simultaneously detonated in unison!

The self-destruction of several thousand Seventh-Rank Xuan Eagles unleashed a power beyond measure, possessing truly heaven-shattering might! It carved out a massive swath of open ground right in the center of the Forest of Heavenly Punishment! Even those twenty experts from the Four Territories Coalition, despite their profound cultivation and formidable defenses, were blasted skyward by the aftershock of the colossal explosions!

In the sky above, the Eagle King circled rapidly, shouting harsh commands, continuously urging wave after wave of Xuan Eagles to launch their next suicidal attack!

It had to be said, the Eagle King was an extremely ruthless character. As soon as the battle began, he recognized that with their current strength, unless a drastic, decisive killing strategy was employed, the casualties would exceed expectations!

So, he decisively ordered his clan’s Xuan Eagles to commence their self-detonation offensive! While this approach appeared tragic, it was, in fact, the correct method for conserving combat strength! Furthermore, it could inflict maximum damage upon the enemy with the strongest possible force!

A purely frenzied offensive by the Xuan Beasts would have been meaningless—just sending themselves to die. Even if the beasts were numerous and unafraid of death, rushing forward ceaselessly in combat would ultimately serve little purpose. It was better to employ the most resolute means: since death was inevitable one way or another, resorting to the extreme measure of crippling the enemy through self-destruction yielded superior results!

Seeing the strategy laid out by the Eagle King, He Chongxiao’s eyes lit up. He let out a sharp cry, and instantly, countless high-grade Xuan Cranes imitated the tactic, diving rapidly toward the center, concentrating their forces, and continuously initiating their own self-detonation!

They paid the price of their lives to engage in a fierce battle against the pinnacle of humanity—the experts of the Four Territories!

The sound of booming and crashing was incessant, shaking the mountains and splitting the earth. The depths of the Forest of Heavenly Punishment were instantly transformed into an ocean of blood and fire!

Those twenty experts from the Four Territories, who had minutes before appeared calm and collected, now looked utterly disheveled and overwhelmed. In truth, every single one of these experts had inevitably sustained injuries of varying degrees from the constant stream of Xuan Beast self-destructs!

With their level of cultivation, the explosion of just one or two Xuan Beasts would ordinarily be beneath their notice, causing no harm whatsoever! But facing thousands of Xuan Beasts detonating simultaneously...

Even a Saint Sovereign could not sustain such an onslaught for long...

Just then, a brilliant flash of light suddenly appeared in the distance, and several voices roared out, "Stop! We are allies, why such violence? Let's talk this out!" Dozens more figures rushed in from all directions. These were the pre-arranged ambush troops of the Four Great Powers!

"Who is your ally, you beasts worse than beasts? Talk your head off!" He Chongxiao’s two eyes had already turned into twin balls of crimson light. He was about to order the immediate interception and slaughter of whoever they were; suddenly, a figure flashed before him. The Deer Saint Sovereign appeared, roaring loudly, "Clear a path and let them go!"

His command earlier had been drowned out in the noise, and He Chongxiao had pretended not to hear it. Now, standing right before him, the Third Master He dared not feign ignorance any longer, but he still puffed out his eyes: "Why? They killed brother-in-law! We must avenge brother-in-law!"

"Idiot! Your brother-in-law isn't dead!" The Deer Saint Sovereign smacked him on the head. "You dare! You don't even listen to my command anymore!"

He Chongxiao instantly felt a wave of relief wash over him. He rubbed his head and asked, "Really? What about that girl Qianxun?"

The Deer Saint Sovereign's face darkened. In his view, Jun Mo Xie surviving was already a miracle; as for the Serpent King Qianxun... it was likely beyond hope...

He Chongxiao's gaze dimmed. Two massive tears slowly rolled down from his great eyes as he whispered mournfully, "Of our generation of Beast Kings... she is the only sister we have. We only have this one sister, and now she is gone, and we..."

By this time, the forces of the Four Great Powers had gathered. The previous twenty individuals were all wretched in appearance, their robes tattered, covered in blood, faces pale. Two of them were missing an arm, and their bodies were riddled with wounds, many showing the ghastly white of exposed bone...

The Xuan Beasts of the Heavenly Punishment had gathered in numbers reaching into the millions in this short span of time!

The sky was a boundless, oppressive black mass of flying Xuan Beasts. Their bloodthirsty and savage gazes locked onto the group, causing an inexplicable chill to rise involuntarily in the men's hearts!

The ground below had become a veritable sea of Xuan Beasts, packed so densely that their numbers were incalculable! The most frenzied were the Snake Clan; some enormous venomous snakes had actually climbed to the tops of the tallest trees, rearing up their bodies in a show of dominance!

Seeing such a vast number of Xuan Beasts, even though everyone from the Four Territories was a peak expert of their time, every one of them drew a sharp breath! For the first time, they felt a surge of self-doubt about whether they could leave the Forest of Heavenly Punishment alive!

But just then, several sharp whistles abruptly rang out, and the dense mass of Xuan Beasts parted, creating a clear passage!

A towering figure stood atop a large white crane, slowly rising. It was the Deer Saint Sovereign. He stared coldly at these people and stated plainly, "You may leave! From this day forward, the Heavenly Punishment severs ties with the main body of the Xuan Xuan World and stands alone! Should we meet again, we will be enemies, not friends! I hope none of you will come here again to invite trouble!"

Cao Guofeng and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief. They quickly clasped their fists, uttered a few perfunctory pleasantries, and then hurried away...

Watching these people depart, every Xuan Beast’s eyes burned with rage! They even harbored dissatisfaction toward this leader whom they had not seen for centuries.

"They killed brother-in-law and the Serpent King, why let them go? We could definitely wipe out those sons of bitches, why let them walk free!" Xiong Kaishan stumbled out directly, his eyes red. He reverted to his original form, his massive body standing upright, his coarse bear fur bristling like a porcupine's quills. His thick fingers actually pointed directly at the Deer Saint Sovereign's nose as he roared in anger, "Since when has our Heavenly Punishment been so weak? Why? Why!?"

Faced with the genuine dissatisfaction in the eyes of all the Beast Kings, the Deer Saint Sovereign offered a wry smile and was forced to explain, "Setting aside the sacrifice required to kill those bastards, our Heavenly Punishment would lose too many lives. More importantly, your brother-in-law isn't dead at all, and letting them go was his intention as well..."

"Brother-in-law isn't dead? Really?" Xiong Kaishan and the others immediately shouted in delight and rushed over in a frenzy.

The Deer Saint Sovereign smiled bitterly. It seemed this young human had excellent rapport; even this bear was so devoted to him... Wait a minute... Hmm? Didn't this bear just question me a moment ago... and even force me to explain... The Deer Saint Sovereign finally remembered and intended to settle the score later, but Xiong Kaishan had already vanished without a trace...

Old Bear was wiping cold sweat from his brow: That was the true, supreme ruler of the Heavenly Punishment! A Saint Sovereign! Gods above, what possessed me just now? How did I dare to question him right to his face... Oh my heavens. I finally managed to find a wife; I absolutely must not let my wife become a widow because of this...

The cluster of Beast Kings gathered around, only to see Jun Mo Xie still lying on the ground holding Qianxun. His posture hadn't changed at all. His hand remained pressed against Qianxun's back, never having moved. As the Beast Kings surrounded him, he opened his eyes and signaled that he was unharmed.

"Little fellow, how are you now? Are your injuries severe?" Seeing that he made no move to rise, the Deer Saint Sovereign approached cautiously and asked with tension.

Jun Mo Xie let out a light, ragged breath, feeling a searing pain where his ribs were broken. He gave a wry smile, "I'm fine, just a few broken ribs. I'll be alright after a few days of recuperation... But the Serpent King, she... is in critical condition..."

"What? That little Serpent King girl... she didn't die either?" Now, the Deer Saint Sovereign and the others were truly astonished.

That was a full-force attack from a Saint Sovereign! Although Zhan Mubai hadn't used his full strength while injured, it was still at least half of his usual power! Meanwhile, the Serpent King, at best, had only reached the peak of the Supreme Above realm, not even reaching the Venerable Tier!

The gap between them was as vast as the difference between heaven and earth! That single palm strike should have turned the Serpent King into a pile of pulverized flesh on the spot; it would have been a mercy if it hadn't. To hear from Jun Mo Xie now... that girl Qianxun wasn't dead yet! This truly baffled the nine senior Saint Kings until their heads spun...

Could it be that that fellow actually held back his killing blow?