Longevity: My Talents Are a Bit Abundant

Shen Xuan received it, and his Divine Sense sank into it.

A moment later, his brows knit slightly.

On the front lines, the Demon Race had launched another large-scale offensive, their assault ferocious.

Several small and mid-sized Sect mountain gates had already been shattered, their lineages cut off.

Several border Immortal Cities had suffered massacres, living beings plunged into utter misery.

In previous years, the Spirit Control Sect had manufactured a large number of new-type Tier Two Puppets, once stabilizing the battlefront.

But these Puppet Armies needed to be assembled in formation before they could exert their true power.

The Qin Country’s territory was vast, the front lines long; many small and mid-sized Sects and Immortal Cities possessed limited strength and were powerless to resist the concentrated impact of the Demon Race’s armies.

The fighting was intense; even Nascent Soul True Monarchs were being frequently wounded.

Several of those Nascent Soul True Monarchs had their Flesh Bodies destroyed, leaving only their Nascent Soul Spirit Bodies to flee from the battlefield.

The flight speed of a Nascent Soul Spirit Body was extremely fast; for cultivators of the same realm, to completely annihilate one was as hard as ascending to the heavens.

Even if the Flesh Body was lost, as long as a suitable vessel could be found, they could swiftly recover.

This was the Cultivation Realm’s cruel "Body Seizure."

The situation at the front was far from optimistic.

On the Bright Flame Sect’s side, their strength was robust, with three Nascent Soul True Monarchs sitting in town.

Having been managed for many years, the core region was, for the time being, still relatively stable.

It was heard that the former Sect Leader, True Master Shou Yang, was currently in seclusion, attempting Nascent Soul Formation.

Shen Xuan had met True Master Shou Yang many times.

As a Nascent Soul Seed being specially cultivated by True Monarch Red Lotus, his foundation, Heart Nature, and resource support were all top-tier.

With True Monarch Red Lotus devoting his full protection, this person’s success rate in condensing a Nascent Soul ought to lie between sixty and seventy percent.

"In this light, with the Bright Flame Sect relying on its grand Array and geographical advantage, holding out for several decades shouldn’t be a problem."

Shen Xuan weighed silently in his heart.

The defending side occupied the convenience of Spirit Veins and Arrays.

At present, the Bright Flame Sect had ten thousand new-type Tier Two Puppets stored within.

Once the city was defended, these Puppets would be densely arrayed, and the overlapping firepower net woven by the Spiritual Energy Cannons would be nothing short of terrifying.

Unless the Demon Race possessed overwhelming strength or some special Array Breaking method, attempting a frontal assault would be as hard as ascending to the heavens.

Only if a Transformed Great Demon personally took the field, breaking skill with sheer force.

Such a possibility was infinitesimal.

To slaughter wantonly great numbers of Low Tier living beings, whether Human or demon, would accumulate boundless Karma.

This sort of Karma lay dormant in ordinary times, but when it came time to undergo tribulation, it would transform into a multiplied might of Celestial Punishment.

With the slightest misstep, it meant body perishing and Dao vanishing, eternal doom.

This was the iron law of the Heavenly Dao, treating Nascent Souls of the Human Race and Great Demons of the Demon Race alike without distinction.

Moreover, if the slaughter were too excessive, countless resentments would cling to one, Heart Demons would arise accordingly, and the path ahead would be severed.

What sort of status did a Transformed Great Demon possess!

If it personally entered the fray to butcher Qi Cultivation Disciples who controlled Puppets, it would be no different from debasing its own rank, inviting mockery for nothing.

And Nascent Souls of the Human Race could similarly emulate this, charging straight into the Demon Race’s Low Tier ranks.

With such mutual killing, the war would only slide into an even more horrific abyss.

Once they reached this level, every move they made weighed not momentary exhilaration, but profit and karmic consequence.

It was not that they could not, but that it was not worth it, and they were unwilling.

...

The front lines, Purple Flame Immortal City.

The city walls were mottled, the smoke of gunpowder yet to disperse.

The Golden Core cultivator in charge of patrol, Gu Song True Master, was presently focusing his attention, inspecting the repair progress of the various Arrays.

Previously, relying on the grand Array and the dense firepower of the new-type Puppet Army formations, Purple Flame Immortal City had repelled several fierce assaults by the Demon Race.

Within the city, ruins left by the ravages of war could be seen everywhere.

The surviving Loose Cultivators had been organized into squads and were busy transporting materials, repairing fortifications.

Everything appeared orderly.

Suddenly, a Loose Cultivator who was carrying rubble stiffened, coming to a halt.

He shivered, and instinctively raised a hand to touch the back of his neck, as though something had just bitten him there.

The next moment, the blood in his face visibly drained, his skin rapidly shriveling and losing its luster; his whole person collapsed limply, as if all moisture had been sucked from him.

"Old Li! What’s wrong with you?"

The companion beside him cried out in alarm and hurried forward to support him.

However, just as his hand touched the other man, his own body trembled all over, and his face was instantly covered with an ashen-grey pallor.

The same desiccation spread across his body at a horrifying speed.

It was like a plague spreading, like an invisible god of death sweeping past.

Patch after patch of Loose Cultivators, and even fully armored city-defending cultivators in battle gear, began to topple one after another without warning.

They did not even manage to let out a scream before the essence of their blood and flesh was completely lost, turning into one dried corpse after another.

"What’s going on?"

Gu Song True Master’s expression changed abruptly; his Protective Spirit Light flared forth in an instant, forming a solid azure shield around him.

His Divine Sense spread out suddenly like a net, catching a faint fluctuation in the air.

In a split second, he pinched his fingers together like lightning, clamping down at empty space!

A barely perceptible resistance came from between his fingertips.

Focusing his gaze, he saw a rice-grain-sized flying mosquito, its colors gaudily variegated, struggling frenziedly between his fingers.

Its mouthparts were as fine and long as needles, glinting with a chill that made the heart quiver.

"Bloodthirsty Poison Mosquito!"

Gu Song True Master sucked in a breath of cold air, a wave of chill surging up.