Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 268 - 178: Negotiations Collapse, Guild War

Chapter 268: Chapter 178: Negotiations Collapse, Guild War

Su Yu directly marked one of the Celestial One Profound Ice Arrays and transmitted to Qingchan:

"Number One!"

After saying this, he raised his hand and launched another Primordial Qi of Ten Thousand Transformations Divine Thunder, causing the All Heaven Fiery Array to shake violently. Amidst the vast sea of lightning, four streaks of Sword Qi surged in for a wild and chaotic assault, making the array on the verge of collapse.

"Not good, the array is about to break."

"Quick, inject mana."

Two top-tier Sword Cultivators joined forces to sweep back and forth, cutting the array until it only had the power to defend, with no ability to counterattack.

It was only because the array’s defense was high enough, and inside there were hundreds of people who could inject mana to sustain it, that they barely managed to hold on.

But being passively beaten definitely won’t last long; it won’t take much before it breaks.

However, that’s under normal circumstances—the problem is they have reinforcements.

Seeing his subordinates quickly driven to grouping for defense, the vice president of the Golden Centipede Gang, Yu Chengnan, immediately ordered another thousand people to come forward.

Seeing this, Su Yu transmitted to Qingchan:

"You hold them off for a bit, I’m going to instantly deal with their commander."

"Okay."

Su Yu immediately soared into the air, extending his finger towards Yu Chengnan five kilometers away.

Yu Chengnan, who was deploying troops, suddenly had a spine-chilling feeling. Instinctively, he looked up and saw a figure several kilometers away, with a massive phantom of a Hundred-eyed Demon Spider floating above its head. The countless eyes opened and looked towards him, instantly bringing an indescribable terror upon him.

He only had time to summon his Tier Seven Treasure for protection before a hundred divine lights blasted over.

Most of the divine lights were blocked by the treasure, but several beams ignored the defense of the Treasure Light and penetrated his body.

He tilted back and lost consciousness.

The next second, two Sword Qi streaked through the crowd, twisting around him from left and right, shattering the Treasure Light with a response.

The Sword Qi circled back and twisted again, triggering several layers of Defense Treasure Light on his body, which were sequentially pulverized.

Around him, the top fighters of the Golden Centipede Gang were shocked and came to help. One of them conjured a veil, sending it over to protect Yu Chengnan in a clear light.

Just as the clear light descended, the double swords swayed, splitting into dozens of Sword Qi, slashing down indiscriminately, slicing Yu Chengnan into pieces.

With Yu Chengnan’s death, the team became somewhat chaotic, and the highest-ranking remaining immediately ordered a retreat.

As a few All Heaven Fiery Arrays retreated, the formation began to waver. Qingchan decisively seized the opportunity to unleash her power, casting a divine thunder that caused the array to shake, then combining the double swords into a hundred-meter sword mountain, crashing down and tearing apart the All Heaven Fiery Array.

Immediately, the swords swayed, splitting into over two hundred Sword Qi like rain, while two nine-tier Immortal Swords wielded sword rainbows spanning two to three hundred meters, sweeping across the crowd with a clattering sound. It was unknown how many people and treasures were sliced into halves.

On the other side, seeing the opportunity, Zhang He immediately abandoned his original opponent, coming over to intercept the remaining Golden Centipede Gang members.

Without the protection of the array, ordinary guild members were no match for them.

Su Yu and Qingchan moved as if there were no one around, easily eliminating one opponent with each sword.

After dealing with the players in this array, Su Yu ordered them to stand by and did not continue the pursuit.

They were too few in number; Su Yu and Qingchan would be fine, but Zhang He and others wouldn’t cope.

The Golden Centipede Gang on the other side was also unlikely to make a move; their vice president leading the attack had died, and the highest-ranking remaining was a squad leader without authority to issue combat orders, only able to hold their ground, urging craftsmen to build their base quickly.

After ten minutes, the main force of the Thousand Star Hall arrived, numbering over four thousand, with more than a thousand remaining at headquarters.

Then, the Golden Centipede Gang also sent a batch of people, totaling five to six thousand, outnumbering them by about a thousand.

Besides, a large number of freelance players gathered outside the canyon, watching the spectacle, pointing at the secret realm’s light pillar, occasionally seeing someone quickly leave.

Su Yu glanced at the regional channel, where many people were discussing the secret realm, calling friends to watch the two guilds clash.

No need to ask; it was clear that soon, the entire Ten Thousand Poison Island would know there was a secret realm emerging here, and then...

"Soldiers are blocked by generals, water is flooded by earth."

On the Spiritual Wing Flying Ship, Chu Xinyue and Su Yu convened the guild higher-ups for a meeting to discuss tactics.

In a low voice, Su Yu asked Chu Xinyue:

"President, where are Xiao and your two Loose Immortal friends now?"

She replied:

"Qingli returned to the sect, Yu Zheng and Dan Yan have gone back to seclude themselves and won’t emerge for a year. For the time being, we can only rely on ourselves."

"Hmm, I understand."

After some discussion among the guild higher-ups, Chu Xinyue said in a solemn voice:

"If possible, let’s avoid a full-scale war and first negotiate with the Golden Centipede Gang. Each side can send experts to determine the outcome through a spell duel to decide the ownership of the secret realm."

She paused and then continued:

"If they agree, that’s great. If not, then full-scale war it is—this secret realm must be ours."

Su Yu was the first to agree:

"Agreed, let’s resort to diplomacy before force."

Chu Xinyue nodded and asked:

"The spell duel can be three-three, five-five, seven-seven, ninety-nine; which do you think is best?"

The guild’s First Brigade Captain Hu Qingfeng chuckled and said:

"The Golden Centipede Gang only has one Loose Immortal expert, while our president is a Loose Immortal, and Vice President Su Yu and Vice Captain Qingchan are top-tier experts. For us, any of them are the same."

"Indeed."

The flying ship was filled with cheerful laughter, and everyone appeared relaxed.

After further discussion, they finalized a few details, and Chu Xinyue said to Su Yu: 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"I want to negotiate with the Golden Centipede Gang’s leader—Su Yu, come with me."

"Okay."

Two minutes later, a group of seven arrived at the center of the canyon, and Su Yu called out loudly:

"President Chu of the Thousand Star Hall has come here to invite Mr. Lin Xuan, the leader of the Golden Centipede Gang, for an important discussion."

There was a commotion on the opposite side, and soon several people flew over. In the center was a rather handsome middle-aged man, dressed in a brocade robe, with an aura like an abyss, unmistakably a master Loose Immortal.

His gaze first fell on Chu Xinyue, surrounded by the others, a flash of admiration in his eyes, his expression visibly softened. He cupped his hands and said:

"What does President Chu want to discuss?"

Chu Xinyue returned the gesture and said crisply:

"This secret realm has only one master, between the two of our factions. If it escalates to an all-out war, there will inevitably be heavy casualties. I do not wish for the war to expand, so I propose determining the ownership of the secret realm through a duel of magic. What do you think, Mr. Lin?"

Lin Xuan pondered for a moment and asked:

"How do you propose to duel?"

"Each side sends out five people, best of five matches, the winner gets the ownership of the secret realm."

Lin Xuan shook his head directly:

"Not appropriate."

Chu Xinyue asked:

"How would you suggest the duel be conducted?"

"Each side sends nine people, best of nine matches, and you can invite friends to assist. The winner gets the ownership of the secret realm."

"And, the duel is set for noon tomorrow."

Su Yu and Chu Xinyue both frowned simultaneously. Upon hearing the proposal, he understood Lin Xuan’s intention.

The plan was to bully them because they were new and didn’t know many experts in the area.

The Golden Centipede Gang had been established here for decades. Even with average development, they surely knew many experts and could easily gather a lot of them.

"What do you think?"

Chu Xinyue’s voice echoed in Su Yu’s ears.

He thought for a moment and said:

"I can’t be sure what level the experts the Golden Centipede Gang can invite are, but if they’re strong among Loose Immortals, we’ll have a hard time fighting."

"Right, President, can you invite some Loose Immortal experts over in a day?"

Chu Xinyue shook her head and said:

"Qingli definitely can’t come, Yu Zheng and Dan Yan also can’t make it, and as for other friends, it’s hard to say. The time is too tight, at most I can invite one or two over."

"What about on your end?"

"Qingchan and I both have the battle power of ordinary newly-promoted Loose Immortals. My brother should be able to invite a few, but I can’t be sure of the number."

Besides, it’s through the connections of my second brother and sister-in-law, finding people unrelated to the Canglan Association. We can’t directly draw experts from the Canglan Association.

The main reason is that the Canglan Association is the top guild on Jinjiao Island and the surrounding seas. If they send experts here, it would provoke the three major guilds on Ten Thousand Poison Island.

The Canglan Association can have a foothold on Ten Thousand Poison Island, using its poisonous creatures and Gu worms, but if they send Loose Immortal experts to participate in territorial disputes, it would be crossing the line, making them think the Canglan Association has intentions on Ten Thousand Poison Island, prompting the three major guilds to unite against them.

The Thousand Stars Association hasn’t developed yet and certainly cannot be a match against the three major guilds now.

"This isn’t stable."

Chu Xinyue said solemnly:

"We cannot face the opponent’s strengths with our weaknesses. If that’s the case, there’s no need for a duel of magic. Let’s set up an array and fight them head-on, driving the Golden Centipede Gang out."

Su Yu clenched his fist and said:

"Exactly, I just fought with them and felt their guild members are average. Even if we have fewer numbers, we can still win."

Chu Xinyue nodded and said:

"Then let’s declare full-scale war!"

Having made the decision, Chu Xinyue’s expression became serious and she said to Lin Xuan solemnly:

"Since we cannot reach an agreement, let’s settle this with our skills. I hereby declare, in the name of the President of the Thousand Star Hall, that we formally declare war on the Golden Centipede Gang!"

Lin Xuan seemed to have expected this and sneered:

"President Chu has courage. So be it, let’s prove ourselves through our actions."

With that, he waved his sleeve and turned to leave.

Su Yu and Chu Xinyue also immediately returned, where their teams had already started preparing.

Su Yu didn’t need to do much, he just had to give a command, and the rest would be handled by the team officials.

All teams grouped by platoons. Several larger platoons began setting up array flags and forming arrays.

In the otherworld, common guild arrays generally included the 108 All Heaven Fiery Array, occasionally the Ten Thousand Miles Yellow Sand Array, Celestial One Profound Ice Array, and Green Water Cold Tide Array of the Five Elements Array.

If from unconventional or Demon Dao factions, common arrays included the Netherworld Blood Sea Array, Profound Nether Yin Water Array, Thirty-Three Gates Blood River Array, and Asura Blood Transformation Array.

The Thousand Star Hall commonly used the All Heaven Fiery Array and Green Water Cold Tide Array, where the fire array focused on attack and the water array on defense.

In a short while, they set up three All Heaven Fiery Arrays and three Green Water Cold Tide Arrays, with many guild members retreating into the arrays for defense.

The Golden Centipede Gang also did the same. With more numbers, they set up two All Heaven Fiery Arrays, two Green Water Cold Tide Arrays, three Ten Thousand Miles Yellow Sand Arrays, and two Profound Nether Yin Water Arrays, totaling nine arrays.

Su Yu paced back and forth, not too concerned even though the opposite had more arrays.

Although the Thousand Star Hall is a newly established guild, its members are not new. They are the seasoned guild members from the former Thousand Feather Association.

Moreover, after the guild was established, to rally people, whether it was the first or second group, they occasionally held large guild leveling-up activities. Especially when Su Yu specifically had Ao Run drive a BOSS from the sea for Tao cultivation, a benefit other guilds found difficult to match, greatly enhancing their strength.

In terms of average guild member strength, the Thousand Star Hall is definitely one notch stronger than a small guild like the Golden Centipede Gang.

No more words were needed. Once preparations were almost complete, Su Yu infused mana into his voice, shaking the heavens and the earth:

"Thousand Star Hall, attack!"

Six large arrays, with four at the front and two at the back, slowly advanced toward the opposite side of the canyon.

The Golden Centipede Gang, unafraid, with nine large arrays, six in the front and three in the back, advanced toward the center of the canyon.