Chapter 871: Uneasy!
Because Patriarch Starry River hadn’t been killed, the cultivators from his court had it a bit better off. However, a single statement from Bai Xiaochun had sent their patriarch fleeing with no concern for anyone else. The sight of him holding nothing back to escape within three breaths of time filled the disciples from his sect with utter hopelessness.
Worst off... were the cultivators from the Polarity River Court. Their patriarch was dead, which meant that the Polarity River Court was destined to fall. In fact, they would likely not even qualify to remain in the Middle Reaches cultivation world.
Those disciples were in complete despair, their eyes bloodshot, and yet strangely, they didn’t hate the River-Defying Sect.
After all, they were the invaders, and although they were shocked and even terrified by Bai Xiaochun’s level of strength, they couldn’t possibly dare to hate him. They hated... the Starry River Court!
Patriarch Polarity River’s dying breath had been a curse upon Patriarch Starry River, and that was what kindled the hatred in the hearts of the cultivators from the Polarity River Court.
However, now was not the time to try to wipe out the Starry River Court. The Polarity River Court had no heart to continue fighting, and instead, began to flee. The Starry River Court and Dao River Court cultivators were also sapped of their will to fight, and their hearts were seized with alarm and terror.
The patriarchs of all the sects had been routed, and the sects themselves were in imminent danger of collapse. Therefore, they could only think of one thing to do....
Flee!!
The three sects were like mountains collapsing into rubble. None of them dared to unleash a single attack as they went. They just ran.
Song Junwan looked over at Bai Xiaochun in his radiance. The sight of him cutting down devas with impunity, and dominating all creation, left her feeling more than a bit dazed. He seemed to be growing powerful so quickly that he would soon leave her far behind.
Master Limitless had similarly mixed emotions in his eyes as he recalled past scenes from the Blood Stream Sect. Next to him, the weak and injured Xuemei reacted in the same way. In recent years, she had often thought back to the misunderstandings of past years, and sighed emotionally.
The Blood Stream Division was completely shaken, and yet, even more shaken was the Spirit Stream Division. Many elders and disciples were familiar with Bai Xiaochun, and yet, he had grown to a level that filled their hearts with astonishment.
That was especially true of the disciples who were followers of Li Qinghou.
Shangguan Tianyou bowed his head, bitterness gnawing at his heart. Beihan Lie stood there silently, filled with complicated emotions. In the sect headquarters, the rabbit, the monkey, and the other powerful experts all reacted with zeal and excitement.
That was especially true of Sect Leader Zheng Yuandong, who was so excited he could hardly control himself.
Cheering soon broke out. And then, the cultivators looked around at the fleeing enemies from the other three sects. At this point, the sect elders began to shout loudly.
“Kill them!”
“Kill them all!!!”
The River-Defying Sect disciples zealously shouted battlecries as they poured out of their headquarters in pursuit!
The Spirit Stream Division’s spell formation giants formed up again, hundreds of them, lunging forward with greatswords in hand, unleashing magical items to strike at the Starry River Court!
The injured Heavenhorn ink dragon roared and began to thrash into the enemy with deadly force.
The Blood Stream Division reacted similarly. Patriarch Blood Stream took the lead, followed by Song Junwan with her blood sword, as well as Master Limitless and the other leaders. They held nothing back to attack the Dao River Court!
Bruiser let out a howl, galvanizing the spirit beasts, animated corpses and gargoyles. Along with the Profound and Pill Stream Divisions, they attacked the army from the Polarity River Court.
The River-Defying Sect had quashed their despair, and were unleashing their might onto the enemy!
Bai Xiaochun breathed a sigh of relief. The burden he had shouldered in this battle had been beyond heavy. The slightest mistake, the tiniest slipup... could have led to the gravest of situations!
After all, the three sects’ forces still numbered roughly 100,000, whereas the River-Defying Sect had been cut down to only about 20,000. The slightest misstep could have led to the River-Defying Sect truly being wiped out.
It didn’t matter how amazing Bai Xiaochun’s battle prowess was, he couldn’t single-handedly fight an army of 100,000!
That was why he had taken such a big risk to deal with all three devas at the same time, and was also the reason why he was currently so exhausted.
Another reason why he had been able to eke out a victory was that the three deva patriarchs all came from different sects, and had fundamental differences and disagreements. Any one of them could turn on any of the others at any time.
With a relationship like that, it was easy to cooperate when the going was good. But when adversity struck... they could easily split apart!
Had the three of them cooperated fully, without any hesitation, then although they might not have been able to kill Bai Xiaochun, they would definitely have been able to grievously wound him, and most likely destroy the River-Defying Sect in the end!
If the Wildlands’ four heavenly kings and Grand Heavenmaster had been reduced to the early Mortal-Dao Deva Realm, and then fought Bai Xiaochun, things would have been very different. Considering how well they cooperated and strategized, even if Bai Xiaochun had fought to the death with every trick in his book, they still would have come out alive.
It would have been nothing like what had happened here, with one deva being killed and two injured, and their fighting forces left completely demoralized.... When Bai Xiaochun considered all of these things, he suddenly realized he had come out quite lucky. Eyes flashing, he strode toward the fighting.
Him joining the fight demoralized the three great sects even more. They had been trying to fight back earlier, but now, they simply dropped their weapons and fled with all the power they could muster.
The entire battlefield was a scene of chaos. The cultivators of the three sects had few routes of escape, and the River-Defying Sect cultivators were cooperating well under the leadership of their elders, and were striking with deadly force!
Bai Xiaochun focused on the three sects’ Nascent Soul cultivators. He shook the battlefield wherever he went, saving everyone he could, but specifically looking for... Li Qinghou and Hou Xiaomei.
However, the field of battle was large, and in complete disorder. The fact that he couldn’t find them caused unease to rise up in his heart, but around then, Bruiser came bounding over. He had shrunk down to normal size, and excitedly thumped his head into Bai Xiaochun’s leg.
Bai Xiaochun smiled as he rubbed Bruiser’s head. He had missed him terribly, and when he saw the scars and wounds criss-crossing him, anger began to burn in his eyes.
“Who dared to injure my Bruiser!?” he said through gritted teeth. “This... will not go unanswered!” With that, he reached out to touch the particularly eye-catching scar on Bruiser’s neck.
“Over the next few days, Bruiser, we’ll go find all the people who gave you these scars, and they’ll have to answer to me!” Bruiser let out a long howl in response. However, the fact that Bai Xiaochun had touched the scar on his neck reminded him of something, and suddenly his eyes flickered darkly with grief.
Bai Xiaochun noticed the change in his expression, and his eyes widened. He knew Bruiser well, and was aware of the speed he was capable of. Even the devas of the three great sects should not have been able to wound him unless there was some sort of ambush involved.
Therefore, the only other explanation for how he could have been wounded in such a way was if he was in the middle of saving someone. Based on the state of the scar, it must have happened months ago.
Under what circumstances could Bruiser have been so anxious that he failed to defend himself...?
In what situation would he have chosen not to flee to safety, and ended up surrounded...?
With such thoughts on his mind, Bai Xiaochun began to pant. Eyes widening, his uneasy feeling from before suddenly grew more intense!
“Bruiser, where is Uncle Li? And Hou Xiaomei? Where are they?!?!”