Chapter 519: The Decided Change
Chapter 519: The Decided Change
After the lower-level cultivators of several forces returned to rest, they started fighting again. Everyone was tired and went back to rest, and after resting, they continued to fight. Although there were many casualties, it was still difficult to determine the outcome. After several repetitions, everyone knew that unless the Gold Core Daoist Masters could quickly determine the winner between them, this would be a long-lasting battle.
The seven Gold Core Daoist Masters fought in the sky for more than ten days, but it ended in a draw. In the end, the three Gold Core Daoist Masters from the Fire Cloud Sect couldn't bear it anymore. After forcing their opponents to retreat, they voluntarily flew back to their own team of cultivators and commanded them to slowly withdraw.
Meng Zhang and Qi Nanfei had no intention of pursuing, and Fei ShiDaoist Master and Wu Mingwei didn't have the courage to venture alone. Helplessly, they exchanged glances and joined the disciples of the Flying Swan Sect, slowly leaving the battlefield.
Next, the Fire Cloud Sect, Flying Swan Sect, and Taiyi Sect set up temporary camps in the wilderness and deployed temporary defensive formations. The war entered a stalemate phase.
Every once in a while, the seven Gold Core Daoist Masters would come out to fight, but it always ended in a draw. When they got tired or bored, both sides would tacitly end the battle and return to their respective positions. The armies of both sides would occasionally form battle formations and engage in large-scale battles. However, apart from leaving behind a pile of corpses and shedding blood in vain, they couldn't determine the outcome or the direction of the war.
The Fire Cloud Sect and the Flying Swan Sect were naturally dissatisfied with this situation but couldn't find a way to break the deadlock for the time being. Meng Zhang and Qi Nanfei Daoist Master, on the other hand, were pleased with the current situation.
The casualties of the Taiyi Sect cultivators made Sect Master Meng Zhang feel a bit distressed. He could only see it as a way to train his disciples.
The cultivators of the three sects were all stationed in the wilderness without any spirit veins to utilize. From the Gold Core Daoist Masters in the sect to the Qi Refining disciples, they all needed a continuous supply of spiritual stones to meet their daily needs and ensure they could meditate and rest.
Especially for the Gold Core Daoist Masters, if they wanted to maintain their cultivation base and prevent it from declining, they needed to spend high-grade spiritual stones to set up gathering formations. If they wanted to continue their daily cultivation and further improve their cultivation base, they would need to consume spiritual marrow.
In particular, during continuous warfare, the consumption of true qi by all cultivators was severe, resulting in an even greater demand for spiritual stones.After the war had been going on for some time, the Fire Cloud Sect, with its abundant resources, had no problems. However, the Taiyi Sect was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.
The Flying Swan Sect had ruled the Endless Sea of Sand for many years and had a decent foundation. But after years of continuous consumption, especially after the major defeat last time where they even lost their mountain gate, their losses were extremely heavy.
Losing almost all their territories and control over the Endless Sea of Sand, the Flying Swan Sect had almost lost all their sources of income. Now, they were relying solely on their limited reserves to sustain themselves.
If the war dragged on, the Flying Swan Sect's reserves would be quickly depleted. The Taiyi Sect, after years of preparation and active preparations for war, should have been well-prepared.But after the war started, Meng Zhang realized that he had underestimated the consumption of resources between the Gold Core sects. The supplies accumulated by the Taiyi Sect before the war were rapidly depleting and difficult to replenish. Despite the vast and prosperous territory currently occupied by the Taiyi Sect, they had never had enough time for development. Most of the Taiyi Sect and Hanhai Alliance cultivators were tied up on the battlefield, and there simply weren't enough manpower available for the development work in the Demon Wind Gobi. The resources obtained barely met the needs of the Demon Wind Gobi.
On the other hand, the territory of the Taiyi Sect in the Endless Sea of Sand, although a bit barren, had been fully developed over the years and was running smoothly. Even if most of the cultivators were drawn away, it could still provide a continuous supply of various resources to replenish the Taiyi Sect's army of cultivators. However, this replenishment was insignificant compared to the daily consumption of the large army.
Although the supplies accumulated by the Taiyi Sect before the war were far from being exhausted and could continue to support them for a long time, Meng Zhang felt a sense of pain, considering this consumption to be meaningless.
At this time, Meng Zhang began to doubt the decision he had made before. He had originally hoped that the Flying Swan Sect and the Fire Cloud Sect would be trapped in a protracted war, constantly consuming each other. Unexpectedly, the Taiyi Sect's army would also be dragged into this and suffer the same consumption.
During the lulls in the war, the elders of the sect, Wen Qiansun, Hu Jing, and Yang Xueyi, all approached Meng Zhang expressing their dissatisfaction with the current situation and presenting similar opinions. Instead of letting the Taiyi Sect suffer losses here, they suggested fully assisting the Flying Swan Sect in driving out the Fire Cloud Sect and ending this greatly consuming war.
After the Fire Cloud Sect was expelled, even if the Flying Swan Sect regained its position as the ruler of the Endless Sea of Sand, everything would never return to how it was before. Just cleaning up the mess left by the Fire Cloud Sect would require a lot of time and effort. As long as the Taiyi Sect and the Northern Desert Qi Family cooperated, they wouldn't fear that the severely weakened Flying Swan Sect could threaten them.
Meng Zhang, limited by his own intelligence and experience, often couldn't make the best choices and frequently made mistakes in his decisions. However, he had one advantage - he was not stubborn. He rarely thought he was always right and was willing to listen to others' opinions. Meng Zhang felt that the elders' arguments made sense, so after discussing with them, he changed his original decision and decided to help the Flying Swan Sect defeat the Fire Cloud Sect first.
Of course, Meng Zhang only dared to say that they could defeat the Fire Cloud Sect and drive them out of the Endless Sea of Sand. He never dared to hope that they could kill the opponent's Gold Core Daoist Masters or severely damage their army of cultivators. Neither Meng Zhang personally nor the entire Taiyi Sect wanted to pay too high a price in this war.
In fact, it would be best if the Fire Cloud Sect could preserve some strength after their defeat and continue to pose a threat to the Flying Swan Sect. Only with the pressure of an external enemy could the attention of the Flying Swan Sect be diverted, preventing them from plotting against the Taiyi Sect and the Northern Desert Qi Family.
Meng Zhang had made his decision and needed to inform Qi Nanfei Daoist Master. After all, they would need their help in the upcoming major battle. Unfortunately, Meng Zhang's proposal did not receive Qi Nanfei Daoist Master's approval. He felt that the current situation was fine, and he had no intention of changing it. After all, the Northern Desert Qi Family had not sent a large army of cultivators to fight; only a few cultivators were making a show on the battlefield, so there wouldn't be much consumption. Qi Nanfei himself might consume a lot of high-grade spiritual stones, but with the hundreds of years of foundation of the Northern Desert Qi Family, they could still sustain it.
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