Though the battles on the Eastern and Western fronts were not shattered at the first touch, they did not develop into a prolonged stalemate lasting most of the day either. Both fronts only experienced a short stalemate, and then the collapse suddenly began.

The Eastern front was smaller and collapsed much earlier. Huangfu Qing abandoned the chase of Bo'e and came to assist Zhao Changhe and others, who could barely hold against the Longevity Heavenly God.

The reason the Longevity Heavenly God was utterly unable to tend to the increasingly dire Western main battlefield was that the pressure exerted by the reinforcement Huangfu Qing could not be underestimated.

It's not purely that her cultivation is slightly stronger than Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling's; the key point is that these three can form an array—the array previously used to kill the Tao Venerable—in which the sun, moon, star, heaven, earth, and man unite as one, powerfully complementing each other, and even boosting Zhao Yue's and the other two's combat power.

Huangfu Qing's movements were meticulously planned, absolutely not for kicking the dead turtle out of the game, well.

Interestingly, even the assisting line-up was the same—one Li Shentong, one Tai Chi Diagram from Yuxu.

Actually, it was stronger than the original line-up because all of Yuxu's abilities were restrained by the Tao Venerable at the time, making him a total burden aside from bleeding to let the Tao Venerable gather form. He couldn't exert combat power and made Li Shentong expend much effort to protect him. However, this Tai Chi Diagram is an ancient treasure where the Tao Venerable once resided, blending heaven and earth's Yin and Yang within, with endless wonders, proving far more useful in this battle than Yuxu was...

The Tao Venerable couldn't counter this line-up, and at this moment, neither could the Longevity Heavenly God fare much better. He indeed gathered Qi Veins and Power of Faith stronger on his own territory, but the injuries Xia Longyuan inflicted on him never healed, offsetting each other, reducing him to just a slightly stronger Tao Venerable.

The most frustrating thing was that others had Divine Artifacts to assist, while he had none—in fact, not only did he lack one, but his ultimate skill was absorbed and restrained by his own Divine Axe, unable to unleash its expected Thunder might.

The battle situation grew increasingly unfavorable, and he even started noticing his own weakness.

With defeat, Qi Veins trembled; with his "lack of care," faith among the grassland people began to collapse...his so-called "home court advantage" was already diminishing. If the Western front collapsed and Huangfu Yongxian struck directly at the royal court, the Northern Desert would be full of rampant Han troops maneuvering, each tribe plotting for themselves—is this still his Longevity Heaven's "home court"?

No longer...

Back then, the words he predicted about Xia Longyuan seemed to have the tables turned, applying to himself today.

When this protection of Qi Veins was exhausted, he was merely an injured person with unrecovered injuries—perhaps not even as good as the Tao Venerable...

One advantage over the Tao Venerable is he wasn't constrained by the blind man's space, able to leave whenever he wanted.

Within his Divine Hall was where he was strongest, with Qi Veins Power accumulated over the entire epoch supporting him, along with a defense system crafted by himself...as long as he hid within the Secret Realm of the Divine Hall, not even Xia Longyuan at his peak would dare to break in, and these folks didn't even have a breakthrough to the Imperial Realm Second Layer; they wouldn't be able to breach the Secret Realm's door.

Of course, he previously didn't want to cower in the Divine Hall but instead wished to annihilate the enemy army in the wilderness. Now, seeing the battle reach such a dismal state, what dignity was there left to uphold?

"Boom!" He swung the War Axe ferociously, violently dispelling Li Shentong, and the Longevity Heavenly God pounded the Tai Chi Illusion away with a powerful kick, escaping the exceedingly uncomfortable Yin Yang Grinder, and then transformed into a streak of light, disappearing in an instant.

Within the void, he left a bitter curse: "Zhao Changhe, if you have the guts come to the Divine Hall...otherwise, the day I recover will be the day the Central Plains are obliterated!"

Will Zhao Changhe dare to attack the Divine Hall!

The Longevity Heavenly God was almost certain Zhao Changhe would not force his way in.

He could recover, Zhao Changhe could also improve; at this moment, Zhao Changhe's Northern Expedition results were already basically achieved, why risk clashing further? It would be more prudential to wait a year or half to bet his cultivation would outrun his recovery rate—Zhao Changhe, someone who routinely ascends rapidly, would take this option first.

The Longevity Heavenly God vanished in a flash, Zhao Changhe did not pursue, but suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yue Hongling swiftly supported him, urgently asking: "How are you?"

Zhao Changhe stuffed a pill into his mouth, adjusted his breathing for a moment, and softly said: "It's alright, won't die."

The Divine Axe ultimately didn't recognize its master, only relying on a bit of lightning affinity to use the Divine Axe to block the Imperial Realm Second Layer's ultimate move; the backlash was imaginable, Zhao Changhe's injuries were far more severe than they appeared from the outside. Actually, if the Longevity Heavenly God hadn't left and continued clashing fiercely, perhaps Zhao Changhe wouldn't have been able to hide his injuries and would have crumbled first.

The weakest link in the entire battle was really within this skirmish—if they couldn't hold off the Longevity Heavenly God, everything else was moot.

Thankfully...they caught a temporary breath.

Huangfu Qing asked: "What's the plan now?"

"Directly enter the Divine Hall, break through it, and accomplish it all in one action; what else is there to plan?" Zhao Changhe laboriously stood straight, his voice was light yet firm: "We cannot gamble our cultivation outruns his recovery speed...because now he's already like the barefoot, capable of wreaking havoc at any moment, we cannot guard against him continuously. Moreover, as long as he remains, this vast grassland might rally a new Khanate at any time, dragging us into another century-long tug-of-war. We cannot leave this vast, grievous threat to those who come after; we've fought to this stage, no matter what, we cannot abandon halfway."

He paused, then turned to Li Shentong: "Sect Master Li, how are your injuries?"

Li Shentong evidently also carried injuries, at this moment he was also recuperating with medicine for a moment, shaking his head: "No major issue...it's you who wielded the axe to bear his heavenly Divine Thunder, not me."

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