I long to return home!

In a short time, as the steppe empire responded to the war, the spies hidden in the shadows began to emerge. They were cultivators from both countries, some honorary elders of their respective sects, others core disciples...

At the same time, these people's spiritual seas, like a cicada emerging from its cocoon, saw their long-sealed memories flood into their minds, awakening their identities and missions.

Countless sects defected, and the bodies of cultivators from both countries were possessed by a peculiar purple Gu worm, causing chaos within both nations.

Upon seeing the urgent military report delivered from afar, Xue Wu was in a state of panic. His sleeves were stained with blood. In the magnificent hall lay the body of a minister, cut in two. A decaying purple Gu worm on the forehead of the corpse turned to ashes shortly afterward.

Xue Wu took a deep breath on the dragon throne, relaxed, and then opened his eyes. He stepped down with heavy, angry steps. "What a brilliant plan!"

"One hundred thousand allied cultivators disappeared a month ago. At that time, more than ten thousand hidden grassland cultivators will appear in the two countries. Since he is determined to fight, then he should be prepared to pay the price of a million corpses!"

Meanwhile, at the Thunder General's Mansion of the Wuji Empire.

The mansion was bustling with noise. Lei Mengying sat cross-legged in front of the glass mirror, her expression solemn. After Tantai Heiyu helped her adjust her armor, she took the battle robe and put it on. After stretching out her wrist guards, she stepped outside and looked around. There were nearly ten thousand fully equipped cultivators in the general's mansion. With a command from her, she took up her spear and transformed into streaks of light that shot straight into the sky.

This battle is destined to be an extremely brutal and grand one. The combined forces of all cultivators from Yin Yue Wu Ji and other countries will launch a campaign against the grasslands. Regardless of the outcome, this battle will be a significant chapter in history and will inevitably change the landscape of the world.

"The two countries join forces to attack me, hahaha..." Batel laughed loudly in front of everyone without any regard for his image, as if he had heard something ridiculous, and showed no concern whatsoever.

Suddenly, Batel's expression changed, turning cold. He looked at the panicked ministers in the royal court and clapped his hands lightly, "Now that the empire is in imminent danger, I ask you all to do your part for me."

As the words fell, a cloud of black mist rose up, instantly engulfing the entire royal court. Before anyone could react or even struggle, they were swallowed up by the black mist. When it dissipated, all that remained in the royal court were scattered robes.

Batel's face didn't change much, as if he had known this would happen. The entire royal court was empty, with only him sitting high on his throne. He parted his lips slightly, as if speaking to the black mist that had not yet completely dissipated: "May I ask how the Ancestor's plan is going? I have declared war on the two countries in accordance with the Ancestor's laws. I ask the Ancestor to tell me if the Ancestor can really create such a terrifying existence?"

The royal court was silent. The pervasive black mist transformed into wisps of black energy, which condensed into a phantom figure after a moment. From within it came an aged voice: "Do what you must do. The Ancestor is at a critical juncture in his tempering. What you must do is provide the Ancestor with a continuous source of life."

Upon hearing this, Batel frowned and quickly stood up to ask, "May I ask, Ancestor, I have now provided three Nascent Soul cultivators, dozens of Core Formation cultivators, and thousands of Golden Core cultivators, not to mention countless cultivators below them. Adding the cultivators from the Wuji Yinyue Kingdom, if things continue like this, I'm afraid we will be unable to resist the invasion of the two kingdoms."

As soon as he finished speaking, Batel's eyes widened in shock. His left arm fell to the ground after a wisp of black smoke swept by, and blood flowed freely.

"Do what you're supposed to do. If you weren't still somewhat useful, I wouldn't recommend changing this position to someone else."

Batel's eyes were bloodshot. Despite the pain in his left arm that was making him faint, he ignored all cries and bit his bleeding lips tightly until the black energy completely dissipated. Only then did he stagger back to retrieve his severed arm, take out the Gu worm that could reattach it, and reattach his left arm.

...

On the border of the grassland empire, Xue Wu and Gu Changgeng, following the last battle report, tore through the void and arrived. Before them lay a scene of incredibly fierce battle seemingly taking place amidst tall, green grass. Blood flowed everywhere, polluting the clear river water; shattered magical artifacts were scattered all around, and moss covered the wreckage of damaged warships.

Strangely, looking around this desolate place, there were no corpses to be seen, only robes stained with blood.

"Can we find them?" Xue Wu turned to look at Gu Changgeng beside him, whose expression was solemn. Gu Changgeng fidgeted with his fingers a few times, his expression becoming increasingly grave and grim. "Your Majesty, once we entered the grasslands, the Heavenly Evolution Technique seemed to be interfered with by a barrier that could obscure the Heavenly Dao, making it impossible to find the location of the allied forces."

Upon hearing this, Xue Wu took out the sacred artifact, the Star-Monitoring Ruler. The stars flowing across the sword were soon affected by something, obscuring everything.

"Hmm, even I can't deduce anything from that. Let's go back first. The cultivators from both countries will arrive in less than five days, and by then this place will be barren." Xue Wu flicked his sleeves, put away the Star Monitoring Ruler, and was about to tear open the void to leave with Gu Changgeng.

As soon as the void rift tore open, a chilling killing intent swept in, and a giant hand made of grass and wood rose from the ground, like a giant beast about to swallow the two of them whole.

"Good timing!" In an instant, Xue Wu flicked his sleeve, and the resulting gale transformed into countless wind blades, slicing the giant hand that was enveloping him to pieces.

"Since you've shown yourself, then come out!" With that, Xue Wu reached out again, and a dark purple dragon claw, even larger than a giant hand, tore through the void and grabbed the wrist of the giant hand of grass and wood. But the moment it was pulled up, a sound was heard, and the arm snapped off.

Xue Wu's gaze sharpened as he extended his divine sense. "It tucked its tail between its legs and ran away." He looked at the severed arm in his hand. There was no blood on it, and the wound from the tear was dark red. It was hardly the arm of a living person.

"Hahaha, the King of Yinyue is truly interesting. Consider this arm my greeting gift. We'll meet again someday!"

The old man's voice seemed to be right in front of him, yet also seemed to be thousands of miles away. Xue Wu didn't care, his expression didn't change much, and he casually sent the old man's severed arm to the soul banner to be absorbed.

"Do you know who this person is?" Xue Wu asked.

Gu Changgeng looked at the remaining power of the grass and trees on the ground, pondered for a moment, and replied calmly: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, there are five great protectors in Wuji, and there are also ten shamans or ten ancestors in the grasslands. The ten shamans are the core of the grassland empire and are the inheritors of witchcraft."

"The seven witches after the three witches among the ten witches are all successors, but the ten witches have never interfered in the affairs of the world. Even though the bloodline of the grassland royal family is exhausted, in my opinion, the one who comes next is very likely to be one of the ten witches."

"You mean the changes in the grassland empire are most likely due to these ten witches?" Xue Wu pondered inwardly, and after a moment, several thoughts suddenly came to mind: "If they weren't running out of lifespan and wanted to continue the grassland's path before they died, then they were just bored and had nothing better to do than live too long."