The war council continued on, discussing strategies and back up plans should the need arise for it.

Li Yu found himself feeling a strange jealousy. He looked at Theron, at Caelia, at Korgath, even at Rylan and Zaltar. They were all leaders from vastly different backgrounds allied, neutral and demon. Yet, when faced with an extinction-level threat they had managed to forge a pragmatic continent-spanning alliance in a matter of hours.

They had made the brutal and necessary calculation to sacrifice land for collective survival. To promise their enemies a home in exchange for their strength. They were broad-minded, their perspectives forced by necessity to encompass the survival of their entire world.

He thought of his home continent. He imagined the petty squabbling sect masters trying to navigate this crisis. They would still most likely be arguing over things, keeping to their old ways and old alliances. To be unable to see the tidal wave until it was already drowning them. The leadership here wasn't perfect but they were functional. This was a burden of the strong he hadn't considered—the burden of pragmatic, large-scale vision.

"Thirty minutes to prepare!" Rylan's voice cut through the tent. "Strike groups, gather your forces. Move out!"

The meeting dissolved. Li Yu, Jian Xuan, Zaltar, and Grand Elder Corvus met outside. Grand Elder Corvus, his aura that of a 4th-Level Soul Formation expert, looked like a man who had drawn the shortest straw.

Despite this he immediately began issuing orders, assembling his contingent of elite Skyfire Academy disciples and other allied human cultivators. They had not forgotten the fall of one of their most prized disciples recently, they too were looking to get some vengeance. However, their vengeance was greatly cooled by the scale of the dangers they are out against. It all seemed like a lost cause to head out but they resolved themselves, preparing to die this day.

Zaltar did the same as Grand Elder Corvus and he was waiting as Gor'ath, Malix and other powerful demons from his refugee force gathered. Their expressions were grim at fighting such a massive war but resolute. They too had similar thoughts to everyone else. The scale of the danger was great but if the choice were to go out and fight till their deaths or stay behind and wait for it, it was an easy choice for them to make.

The demons recognized Li Yu and Jian Xuan immediately. Gor'ath, the four-armed brute Li Yu had personally knocked unconscious a few times, gave a respectful nod. "Commander Little Crab. Commander Jian Xuan. It is good to fight with you, rather than against you this time."

Malix, the slender shadow demon simply inclined her head. "Your strength and skill will be... useful." Their time sparring in the containment zone had already established a clear hierarchy of power. The demons respected strength above all and these two humans had proven theirs in spades.

The two of them were also extremely easy to get along with, especially Jian Xuan who proved he was more demon-like than they were at times. Li Yu was still more reserved but treated them as equals and without the prejudices of them being demons. It was easy for Li Yu to do so because he didn’t grow up fighting against the demons as the others on this continent did. From what Li Yu had seen, they were not really much different than fellow humans..

"Indeed!" Jian Xuan shouted, back in his element. "The Crab God has decreed this a most glorious crusade! We shall purge this unholy tide together! And bring about vengeance for all those who have fallen unfairly this day." While resuming his normal personality, the weight of all those that have died today did not leave his thoughts.

"Let's... just... go," Corvus muttered, clearly in a world of his own. He had also personally guided Jarek and while he was concerned with what the future brought, he too wanted to rip these monsters apart. He pulled out a sleek black disc-shaped artifact.

"This is the 'Nightwing,' a high-grade war vessel. It's fast but its defenses and propulsion are powered by those within it. We will need to take shifts but it will get us to the monastery's perimeter quickly and conserve our strength. We must be at full power to take the stronghold and just as important but surely harder, hold it."

The vessel expanded, shimmering into a hundred-foot-long ship. The hundred or so cultivators—fifty human elites and fifty demon warriors—boarded and with Corvus at the helm, the Nightwing shot eastward. It was a black streak flying low and fast over the now devastated lands.

As they traveled, Jian Xuan and Li Yu stood near the front observing outward. They had of course already briefed Theron, Rylan and the other leaders on Li Yu's ability—or rather, Jian Xuan's perfect cover story for it.

They'd explained that the Crab God had bestowed upon Li Yu a unique, innate domain ability that specifically weakened Xylarri in his presence. The leadership, pragmatic to the core, didn't care about the divine source. A super-weapon was a super-weapon. They couldn't test it at headquarters, so they accepted the reports from the evacuation battles and gave Li Yu carte blanche to use it. It was the perfect excuse.

They had been flying for less than an hour when the first swarm appeared.

"Xylarri! Dead ahead!" a lookout shouted. "A large swarm, at least a thousand crossing the plain!"

Corvus tensed, his hands moving to the vessel's controls. "All hands, prepare to channel energy to the forward arrays! I'll try to punch through—"

"Save your strength, Grand Elder," Li Yu shouted out. "The cultivators and demons on board will need their full power to take and hold the monastery. Let me clear the path. We'll conserve the main force's strength."

Corvus looked skeptical. "Commander, that is a thousand drones with elites mixed in."

Zaltar's deep voice rumbled from behind him. "Let him, Elder. I have seen this young one fight and let us see what this Crab God blessing is like."

Li Yu didn't wait for them to talk. He took off as soon as he was done talking.

"Behold!" Jian Xuan's voice boomed, rolling over the ship and the battlefield below. "The Crab God's chosen champion goes forth! Witness the power of Commander Little Crab! In his presence, the unholy shall wither! Praise the Crab God! His mighty claw!"

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As Jian Xuan provided the hype, Li Yu was already well ahead and almost within distance. The moment he was within range, he activated his Koi Martial Spirit's devouring ability to its absolute maximum. The invisible siphoning vortex erupted from him, a hurricane of hunger latching onto every Xylarri in the immediate vicinity.

Simultaneously, his black Abyssal Sentry orb materialized, hovering over his shoulder. It began its autonomous assault, a fusion of the techniques he had conceptualized. Silent black Abyssal Javelins shot out, piercing the tough hides of elite drones. But it also unleashed blasts of freezing mist and sharp ice blades, executing the water and ice arts. It was slowing and disrupting the swarm's movements.

The sentry itself still consumed a vast quantity of his energy but he had an endless supply in this sea of nightmares.

Li Yu himself was a whirlwind of death and soon became the nightmare of the Xylarri if they had such a thing. His staff infused with his monstrous strength and qi was a blur, crushing limbs and shattering carapaces. But he wasn't just striking. He slammed his free hand towards the ground and a wave of binding ice surged forward, freezing the legs of an entire cluster of drones. He used high-pressure water currents to blast another group, disrupting their charge and funneling them into a kill zone where his Sentry orb could pick them off.

The Xylarri swarmed him but the drain was already in full effect and Li Yu was now an experienced fighter in large battles. Most of his fighting experience came from large scale fights rather than one on one combat. The Xylarri started to feel it—the sudden, inexplicable leeching of their power. Their movements, which were already sluggish compared to Li Yu's due to his water and ice arts, became even more so.

The cultivators and demons watching from the Nightwing's deck were surprised by what they were seeing. They saw the Xylarri, creatures that had overwhelmed defenses through sheer numbers and resilience suddenly seem... drunk and lethargic. Their lunges were slower, their swarming attacks broke down and their forms trembled as their energy was siphoned away.

Li Yu, in contrast, was an engine of perpetual motion. His energy wasn't just not depleting; it was actively increasing. Every Xylarri he killed, every drone he drained, his Koi martial spirit filtered the chaotic energy. It was turning it into potent Koi Qi and feeding his 9th-Stage Core foundations. He was a self-fueling whirlwind of destruction.

Some of the Xylarri, particularly the stronger Core Formation elites, sensed the terrifying invisible drain. A primitive panic set in. They screeched, turned and tried to flee, only for some to be picked off by a precisely aimed Abyssal Javelin from the Sentry orb.

After just a few minutes, the battle was over. The swarm of over a thousand Xylarri was gone. A vast field of grey dust was all that remained of those that couldn’t escape which was soon scattered by the wind. It was an almost beautiful scene to those watching above. Not because Li Yu’s fighting style was beautiful, it was actually quite the opposite, but his victory and how he achieved it was what made it such a beautiful sight to those with low morale and hope.

Li Yu, his white robes still pristine and his aura surging, landed back on the deck of the war vessel. He looked more energized than when he had left. Some even had the feeling that he was stronger than when he left.

Silence. The allied cultivators and demons on the deck stared, their expressions a mix of disbelief, awe and relief. Grand Elder Corvus's jaw was a bit slack. Zaltar's four arms were crossed but his burning eyes had a hint of respect. This was not a sparring match. This was a massacre. This was the "divine domain" Jian Xuan had spoken of. It was actually real.

Jian Xuan, of course, broke the silence by landing beside Li Yu. "Ahahaha! Glorious! Did you see? What did I tell you! Purged by his holy aura! A fitting sacrifice! Praise the Crab God for this gift in our darkest hour!"

The demons on the ship who had fought Li Yu before nodded, their expressions a mixture of hope and thought. Gor'ath rumbled, "That... is the strength we need at a time like this. He... he is a weapon. A Xylarri-killer." The demons' respect for Li Yu and by extension the entire strike group rose. The mysteries of this crab god grew even more with rumours already starting to form people’s heads.

The human cultivators who had been nervous about their "mad cultist" allies and their demon contingent, now looked at Li Yu with open gratitude. The fear of the Xylarri that had gripped them was lessened ever so slightly, replaced by a surge of morale and a grim confidence.

Their situation was still desperate, they were still on edge but with a weapon like this on their side, it no longer felt completely hopeless. Torin's cries about the Crab God suddenly seemed a little less insane. Their belief or at least their willingness to believe, had slightly increased.

The journey continued and the pattern repeated.

The Nightwing flew east. A swarm was detected. Jian Xuan would provide the booming announcement for who knows who to hear while he was praising Little Crab. Li Yu would rocket out. His devouring field would activate, weakening the swarm. His Sentry orb (firing javelins, ice, and water arts) and his own personal water arts would provide crowd control, funneling the enemy. His staff would reap a harvest. His energy, fueled by the slaughter, remained at its peak. The swarm would be annihilated. He would return to the ship.

Again… and again… and again. That just shows what they were up against, a massive force that seemed endless. Even with Li Yu as the vanguard, the more fighting that occurred the lower their morale became. It was endless. What about the other groups that didn’t have their own Li Yu to help? Many started to wonder if they had a chance to win.

They passed into the truly desolate eastern territories. The swarms grew even larger and more frequent. Li Yu met them all.

The cultivators and demons on the ship were a mixture of anxiety and confidence. They simply conserved their strength, maintaining the Nightwing's energy and watched their white-robed champion clear swarm after swarm, his legend growing slightly with every battle.

The demons in particular began to look at him not just with respect but with a kind of reverence reserved for apex predators. In their brutal, strength-based culture, Li Yu was proving himself a king. One that fought the battles instead of ordering others to do so.

"He... he doesn't even look tired," Corvus whispered to Zaltar, his voice strained with disbelief after Li Yu annihilated their fifth major swarm.

"He seems even stronger," Zaltar rumbled, his eyes fixed on Li Yu's returning form. "They make him stronger. What a terrifying... and useful... human."

Li Yu, for his part, was focused. His cultivation base was being compressed, refined, polished by the unending torrent of filtered Qi. He was pushing the absolute limits of the Core Formation realm but he felt there was still more to go. There seemed to be something syphoning off his Qi, he could vaguely feel it in his ocean of Qi. Something was being created there, drawing in this power.

It was something that very vaguely felt after he broke through to 9th stage Core Formation but didn’t think anything of it. However, with the syphoning of his Qi going there, something was definitely there.

He couldn’t sense or see what it actually was but he didn’t feel like it was harmful. It was actually syphoning off a large portion of the destructive purple qi that was floating in his ocean of qi, unmixed with the rest.

Finally, after a long day of travel and slaughter, Corvus pointed ahead. "There. That is our target."

Through the blighted landscape, a single massive peak pierced the purple-tinged sky. Atop it sat the dark, ancient and imposing silhouette of the Sorrow's Peak Monastery. It was as Theron had said, a perfect natural fortress. They had to abandon it earlier because they were exactly the massive Xylarri wave to all advance westward and this place would have soon been isolated.

Looking ahead at it they saw the ground was crawling, no, it wasn’t the ground.

A massive Xylarri army, numbering in the tens of thousands, was surrounding the monastery. This included figures that radiated power far beyond any they had yet encountered. The real test was about to begin.