The great victory at Lizhi Sea, the annihilation of the Sea Clan, news of this spread faster than the return journey of the cultivators, sweeping across the continent like the wind, known to all before the army even returned.

This was also the first region to see a clear outcome and decide the victor in this continent's beast tide.

The news reached different factions and each had varying reactions.

The Northwest was the happiest upon hearing this news because they knew that when the Southwest was free, it would be their springtime. With the Sword Sect's way of handling things, they'd never stand by idly, so spirits were high, firmly holding onto their last line of defense.

The Qin Sect, as allies of the Sword Sect, could not turn a blind eye to the fact that the Northwest protective forest was the Sword Sect's masterpiece.

The Northern Territory was envious, but they were unsure if the Southwest would support them or if they would be the first to support them; their situation wasn't as bad as the Northwest's, and their relationship wasn't as close to the Sword Sect, so their eager anticipation was mixed with anxiety. Many factions regretted not forming an alliance with the Sword Sect during the Dushan ceremony,

It now seemed that in terms of foundation, the Sword Sect was not as deep as the Daoist Sect, but if comparing agility, the tables were turned. The Southeast Daoist Sect was incredibly powerful, yet they were still playing hide and seek with the Sea Clan at the Ocean's End, which was rather disdainful.

The Northeast Buddhist Sect remained indifferent, as they had their system in place. Focusing on the Mountain Demons in the Yaoguang Mountain Range, their actions were commendable. Now advancing slowly, they halted the beast tide's advance, pushing the battle line towards the Yaoguang Mountain Range; however, for them, the problem was how to completely resolve the Mountain Demon issue in the Yaoguang Mountain Range.

Just like the Sea Clan retreating to the sea in a panic, if the Mountain Demons felt things were not right, they would burrow into the mountains. For these Mountain Demons, who spent their lives within the vast mountains, eradicating them was immensely challenging.

In the Southeast, a strong sense of sourness lingered. The Southeast Daoist Sect initially aimed to save the entire continent, to be the ultimate savior, but changes at Lizhi Sea completely disrupted their plans.

Time suddenly became tense. If they didn't seize the moment, the biggest spotlight would be stolen by the Southwest Cultivation World. The Loser Alliance, led by the Dushan Sword Lineage of the Southwest, was destined to become the third major force on the continent, aside from the Daoist and Buddhist Sects, a situation no one wished to see.

Indeed, the older generation of Masters from the Daoist Sect responded conservatively to this beast tide. Possessing great power but hesitant and cautious, this led to the current embarrassment, while the Southwest's rise against all odds was majorly due to their leader, the Sword Sect Hierarch, being a young person.

Just one person managed to transform the centuries-old weakness of the Southwest Cultivation World, turning it from a small circle dependent on others into the current hope for revival across the continent, a point worth contemplating.

Furthermore, over the past decade, the Upper Realm emissaries' diligent efforts influenced the Southeast Daoist Sect, sparking a loud call for reform, involving nearly half of the Golden Core cultivators and all of the Foundation Establishment ones. No faction dared to ignore such power, as the Daoist Sect's foundation no longer trusted these older Nascent Soul patriarchs clinging to outdated thinking, and predictably, this call for change would grow stronger with time and the advent of Heaven Creation.

Given this situation, the Masters of the Southeast Daoist Sect finally became open-minded for once, deciding to assign the task of eradicating the Demon Beasts to the young people, allowing them to prove themselves; of course, they had no choice but to follow the trend. If the young succeeded, it really would be time for the older generation to bow out of the historical stage.

The so-called young people were the emissaries from the Upper Realm. Just like Hong Xiu's spectacular performance at Lizhi Sea, the springtime for these upper realm disciples finally arrived.

However, the emissaries from the Daoist Sect's Upper Realm still felt a bit uneasy, as they didn't want to ride on the Southwest peers' coattails.

...On a sea island along the Southeast coast, the same group of young emissaries from the Upper Realm gathered again. Representatives like Zhi Xuan from the Qi Sect, Jue Mingzi from the Wu Sect, Ning Beihui from the Guo Sect, Ye Bai from the Chu Sect, and Rong Guang from the Zhou Sect, among nearly twenty others, represented the main force of the Southeast Daoist Sect.

This time, everyone's interest wasn't very high since the spotlight that was supposed to be theirs had been snatched away.

"We still don't know if it's true or false, the battle at Lihai was too strange, too unbelievable. How could the Sea Clan in such a vast sea area be nearly wiped out?" Daoist Hui Yuan was still somewhat incredulous.

Daoist Zhi Xuan immediately interrupted him, "These are reports from several channels we placed in the Southwest; the news is confirmed and reliable, no doubt about it. Brother Hui Yuan, we can afford to lose, but we must not pretend to be unaware. This is not the attitude of a cultivator. If we continue like this, we will continue to lose!"

Unusually, Jue Mingzi agreed, "Stop arguing. From what I see, the Southwest Cultivation World succeeded because of one simple reason: one person made the decisions. All plans were under Hou Niao's strict control despite countless doubts during the process. What was the outcome?"

No one spoke. The situation in the Southwest Cultivation World was unique, with the Sword Sect overwhelmingly dominant and little competition; Hong Xiu Fairy was far overseas, and as for Daoist Tianfeng, word is his wife and children were given by that Hou dog?

Wu Shang Rong Guang unusually showed some camaraderie, possibly because everything that happened at Lihai stimulated him. Originally supposed to collaborate with the Sword Sect, but damn regional divisions prevented the Zhou Sect from joining the Southwest circle,

"Zhi Xuan, feel free to share your thoughts. I will be the first to support you. It's bad enough to lose the first round, but losing the second would make others mock us as useless bags of wine and food, which would be genuinely disgraceful."

Ye Bai, Ning Beihui, Gu Bai, and many others voiced their agreement. Now was not the time for mixed opinions.

Daoist Zhi Xuan did not hesitate, "In that case, I'll share my thoughts; with the Southwest's achievements as a reference, we realistically can't match their level. Even if by luck we wipe out the Sea Clan of the Ocean's End, it might not be thorough, and we'd be late compared to the Southwest in timing. A slow step leads to slow progress across the board, and foolishly lagging behind means we can only eat dust!"

No one refuted because it was a fact. The Southwest Cultivation World had refined monster extinction to an extreme; what more could be done?

"So why not just skip the Sea Demons of the Ocean's End and focus our main efforts on other regions?"

His words were unexpected yet reasonable.

Capturing the main force of the Sea Clan at sea was theoretically an impossible task. The success of the Southwest army might be attributed more to luck than meticulous planning.

But the Ocean's End had neither a place like Blue Mountain Island nor could it rely on the Five Elements Treasure Beads' assistance, so considering that, might as well ignore it.

After all, no matter how hard we try, we can't surpass the Southwest, so it's better not to try at all.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.