In addition to strengthening Yang Xueyi and the An Family siblings, Meng Zhang had other preparations as well. Sitting alone in a quiet room, Meng Zhang took out the only Fourth Rank flying sword, the Thousand Troops Sword.

This captured flying sword had only been used once during the battle against True Monarch Grey Mountain. However, due to the tool spirit of the flying sword being attached to its original owner, Meng Zhang found it difficult to wield and couldn't fully unleash its power.

With the impending major battle, Meng Zhang didn't have time to tame the tool spirit slowly. Feeling regretful, he could only treat it as a disposable magic tool. When Meng Zhang was still a Refining Qi stage cultivator, he learned a secret art called the Blood Refining Martyr Art from the Taiyi Sect's Trial Ground. This art allowed him to blood-refine magic tools and then detonate them to harm the enemy.

This secret art could fully unleash the explosive power of the magic tool, even damaged magic tools could be used. However, the art was initially incomplete and only useful for low-level magic tools. Later, when Meng Zhang obtained various heritage documents from the Void Cauldron, the complete transmission of the secret art was made available, enabling him to blood-refine high-level magic tools. However, it required a higher degree of integrity for the magic tool; it had to be mostly intact to be blood-refined.

Even in the Taiyi Sect, Fourth Rank magic tools were scarce, and Fourth Rank magic tools usable by Primordial Spirit True Monarchs were even rarer. In battles at the Primordial Spirit level, it was necessary to detonate Fourth Rank magic tools to pose a threat to the enemy.

Meng Zhang had never been to the prosperous Middle-Earth Continent, so he didn't know what the Cultivation World was like over there. In the surrounding area of the Jiuqu League, Fourth Rank magic tools were too precious, and even many Primordial Spirit True Monarchs couldn't guarantee owning one.

Meng Zhang had finally obtained a Fourth Rank flying sword, and now he had to consume it, which naturally pained him.

The enemy was too strong, and if he wanted to win, he had to pay the price. Consuming external resources was always more cost-effective than sacrificing lives. Determined, Meng Zhang no longer hesitated.

A hint of bloodlight flickered at the tip of his right index finger, and then he extended it to apply mysterious runes on the body of the Fourth Rank flying sword, the Thousand Troops Sword.

The sword spirit of the Thousand Troops Sword had a vague sense of impending disaster, as if a great calamity was about to befall it. It struggled to resist, but Meng Zhang had long ago sealed it with a spell, rendering it powerless.

Meng Zhang spent some time thoroughly blood-refining the flying sword. With all these preparations completed, he finally had the confidence to face the enemy in the upcoming battle.

Meanwhile, at the Hundred Grass Slope, the main mountain gate of the Taiyi Sect, Niu Dawei, the Sect Master's eldest disciple, personally selected a group of capable elite disciples from among those guarding the mountain gate. He was preparing to lead them to reinforce the frontlines.

Originally, Niu Dawei was supposed to guard the mountain gate, but facing such formidable enemies like the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan, Taiyi Sect needed to concentrate all available forces. He could no longer sit idly by.

Thanks to the Third Rank mountain protection great formation at the Hundred Grass Slope, even if there were only Foundation Building stage cultivators guarding the mountain, Gold Core level enemies wouldn't be able to break through in a short time. However, if Primordial Spirit level enemies arrived, it wouldn't make a difference whether Niu Dawei was on the mountain or not—Taiyi Sect wouldn't be able to resist them either way.When the Taiyi Sect retreated to the Endless Sea of Sand, they withdrew all their flying boats, and the Jade Sword Sect had no objections. In addition, the Taiyi Sect's Divine Workshop was currently working hard to craft various Mechanical Creations. Although they could only produce small-scale flying boats for the time being, it was still a beneficial supplement. The Divine Workshop was understaffed due to the large number of disciples being called away, and their speed in crafting Mechanical Creations was greatly affected, making it barely better than nothing.

With a considerable fleet of flying boats and various flying mounts that the Taiyi Sect had carefully cultivated over the years, Taiyi Sect cultivators had no issues in terms of mobility. Originally, Taiyi Sect arranged for the Extreme Sword Spirit General and the Shocking Thunder Spirit General to monitor the movements of the Barbarian Clan's army. However, they discovered that the Barbarian Clan's army had hidden assassin-type Barbarian Kings who excelled in assassination techniques. In response, Book Mountain True Monarch volunteered to personally go ahead and investigate the situation to avoid putting the two Guardian Spirit Generals in danger. Shali Eagle was very ambitious and had always targeted the Primordial Spirit True Monarchs of the Human Clan for assassination, so he wouldn't waste time on mere Gold Core cultivators. Nevertheless, Book Mountain True Monarch's actions were not in vain. With him personally conducting reconnaissance, Taiyi Sect could at least have a more accurate grasp of the movements of the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan's army and avoid being deceived.

The extraterritorial Barbarian Clan's army had chosen an almost straight path heading north. They cleared all the strongholds and oases along their route, evacuating all personnel. So far, there had been no casualties among their forces, with only some losses in terms of supplies. For the Barbarian Clan's army, no matter how much territory they occupied or how many strongholds they swept through, as long as they didn't eliminate the main force of the Taiyi Sect, they would always have potential threats and couldn't fully focus on advancing.

The extraterritorial Barbarian Clan, though barbaric and crude, was not stupid and understood strategic tactics. Their best method to leverage their advantage was to lure the enemy into a battlefield in the wilderness. With Taiyi Sect's strength, if they didn't want to be picked off one by one by the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan, they could only defend a single location. However, the Taiyi Sect's territory was vast, and there were numerous important strongholds and oases with a significant population, not to mention the presence of several Third Rank spirit veins. If they chose to defend just one place, it would mean abandoning the vast majority of their territory, allowing the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan to rampage unchecked. Even if they managed to hold their ground, it wouldn't be very meaningful.

The movements of the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan's army had been under the surveillance of Book Mountain True Monarch all along. Their marching route was not complicated, deliberately slowed down. It was not difficult to estimate the key points that this army would pass through. After discussing with the elders of the sect, Meng Zhang, as the Taiyi Sect's Sect Master, had to take the initiative to confront the Barbarian Clan's army in a wilderness battlefield.

Of course, there were several potential battlefields to choose from in the wilderness. The timing of the battle was also in the hands of Taiyi Sect. When the Taiyi Sect's cultivator army would move out, it was entirely up to Meng Zhang to decide. With ample time for preparation, after everything was ready, he decided not to delay any further and chose to engage the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan in battle.

The movements of the extraterritorial Barbarian Clan's army were constantly monitored by Book Mountain True Monarch. Their marching route was not complicated, and their speed deliberately slowed down. It was not difficult to predict the key areas that this army would pass through. After discussing with the sect's elders, Meng Zhang selected a predetermined battlefield. It was a vast, uninhabited desert located ahead of the Barbarian Clan's army's route in the Endless Sea of Sand. In the Endless Sea of Sand, most of the terrain was like this—endless stretches of yellow sand with little else to be found. With the battlefield chosen, Meng Zhang gave the order, and the Taiyi Sect's fleet of flying boats immediately set out, carrying a well-prepared army of cultivators, rushing towards the battlefield.