#6663 - Long battle
Ye Liuyun led the Death Legion in pursuit for a day, only managing to kill half of the fleeing sea beasts.
They were simply too exhausted to kill any more, so he ordered a return to the city.
Throughout the journey, he remained vigilant with his divine sense, wary of sneak attacks from sea beast experts.
However, nothing unexpected occurred, suggesting that the sea beasts had genuinely abandoned their assault on the three cities.
Now, he needed to consider how to deal with the sea beasts in the future.
A day later, he received a message from the Magic Vine.
"The sea beasts haven't retreated; instead, they're creating waves along the coast, expanding the ocean's area to encroach upon the land!"
The Magic Vine was initially left by Ye Liuyun to monitor the sea beasts by the coast. Unexpectedly, the sea beasts had changed their strategy.
Unable to directly conquer the land, they aimed to erode it gradually through flooding.
"Moreover, the retreated sea beasts are all stationed by the sea and haven't returned to the ocean!"
Ye Liuyun frowned upon hearing this.
He preferred a swift resolution but didn't want a prolonged stalemate with the sea beasts.
Yet, judging by the sea beasts' current stance, they intended a long-term invasion of the land!
"Let the martial cultivators investigate the situation first! We'll wait for the subsequent army to arrive."
Ye Liuyun instructed Ye Tiandao to arrange for the soldiers to rest, as they wouldn't be needed in the upcoming battles against the sea beasts.
That task would be entrusted to the Eastern Wilderness Army, formed by the martial cultivators of the Eastern Wilderness.
They were originally from the Eastern Wilderness, so it was natural for them to defend their own land.
The Death Legion had guarded these three cities for many days and deserved a break.
After returning to the city following their day-long pursuit, the martial cultivators hadn't returned at all.
They had set up temporary camps and saw no need to return.
They camped in place to rest and continued hunting sea beasts.
However, when they approached the city nearest to the sea, they noticed something amiss.
The sea beasts hadn't fully retreated into the sea but had occupied the beaches and coastal cities.
This differed from their initial expectations.
They had hoped to return early and reclaim their homes, but the sea beasts hadn't fully withdrawn.
This sudden situation left Hai Zhenghong somewhat bewildered.
He didn't order the martial cultivators to immediately storm the city but instructed them to halt, camp outside the city, and monitor the sea beast movements.
He also sent someone to notify Ye Liuyun.
Upon receiving the message, Ye Liuyun didn't even send a reply.
He had no intention of commanding the Eastern Wilderness martial cultivators. They were free to do as they pleased.
If they truly wanted him to command them, they could join the army.
Otherwise, they could wait until the army arrived before being assigned tasks; he didn't need to worry about them.
Whether they chose to kill sea beasts or not was their own decision.
They could kill if they had the ability or wait if they didn't. But he wouldn't bother stopping those who insisted on throwing their lives away despite their lack of ability.
Therefore, he had nothing to say to Hai Zhenghong, allowing them to do as they wished.
Ye Liuyun only notified the Magic Vine, allowing it to help if it wanted, as long as it ensured its safety.
The Magic Vine was highly sensitive to energy, allowing it to quickly retreat deep underground if any experts approached.
Sea beasts generally lacked the ability to burrow. At most, they could burrow into the sand but had little ability to break through rock.
Moreover, the Magic Vine would hide its main body very deep in uncertain environments, ensuring complete safety.
He didn't worry about anything else, focusing on resting and improving the strength of the Death Legion.
Hai Zhenghong waited several days without receiving any reply.
He assumed that Ye Liuyun hadn't received the message and personally went to Jinghai City.
However, he was received by a martial cultivator under Ye Liuyun, who dismissed him with a few words.
"The subsequent army will arrive in half a month. Decide for yourselves what you want to do!"
After hearing this, Hai Zhenghong completely understood that Ye Liuyun was too lazy to care about them.
Initially, his first reaction was that Ye Liuyun didn't care about them at all and didn't want to bother with their lives.
But after further thought, he realized that if he couldn't even make such decisions, he wouldn't be worthy of leading the martial cultivators.
Ye Liuyun had already helped them repel the sea beasts' large-scale offensive, and they should decide the remaining matters themselves.
Hai Zhenghong sighed deeply, feeling that he wasn't truly leadership material.
Previously, he couldn't manage the martial cultivators himself and had to ask Ye Liuyun for ideas.
Now, he was still troubling Ye Liuyun when faced with problems, which would only make Ye Liuyun think they were incompetent and look down on them even more.
He suddenly realized that Ye Liuyun might already have his own plans.
And whatever they, martial cultivators of mediocre strength, did probably wouldn't affect Ye Liuyun's plans.
Thinking of this, he felt relieved and less pressured.
After returning to the camp, he arranged for the martial cultivators to build a base and set up defensive formations.
Martial cultivators who wanted to go out and kill sea beasts formed hunting teams to do so.
Those who wanted to stay couldn't be idle either and had to be responsible for defending and guarding the base.
The rules within the base remained unchanged and were firmly controlled by Hai Zhenghong, and everyone followed them diligently.
Ye Liuyun also remained inactive, cultivating within the city.
Half a month later, the 300,000-strong army from the Eastern Wilderness border finally arrived outside Jinghai City.
By the time they arrived, Ye Liuyun had already vacated the three cities, and all the formations had been repaired.
The Death Legion had returned to the cave world to cultivate, leaving the three cities to the 300,000-strong army.
Each city was garrisoned by 100,000 soldiers, which would be their main base from now on.
Then, Dong Pangzi, as the commander of the 300,000-strong army, assigned them tasks.
The first goal of this Eastern Wilderness Army was to take down the coastal cities, then rely on those cities for defense and gradually advance.
After the various commanders of the Eastern Wilderness Army received their orders, they rested briefly before arranging for the army to depart.
These three cities were their logistics center, and the coastal cities were the battlefield.
The subsequent battles would be mainly fought by the martial cultivators of their Eastern Wilderness.
However, the martial arts experts that Ye Liuyun had subdued were all assigned to this army, and he kept none for himself.
Otherwise, the soldiers' cultivation levels would be too low, and they wouldn't be able to handle even a small sea beast king.
Ye Liuyun also had the Central Region Alliance issue an announcement that martial cultivators who wanted to hunt sea beasts for money could go to the Eastern Wilderness on their own.
This was not a mandatory order and was entirely voluntary for the martial cultivators.
After the internal conflicts in the Central Region, many martial cultivators lacked cultivation resources.
Hunting sea beasts for money was a way to obtain resources.
Especially many rogue cultivators, who could earn money and improve their combat experience, which was exactly what they needed.
They weren't afraid of fighting or dying, but they were afraid of not having resources.
Ye Liuyun didn't force those martial cultivators to join the local martial cultivator teams or act on their own.
Some rogue cultivators didn't like following anyone's orders and preferred freedom.
As long as they could hunt sea beasts, they would be contributing to the Eastern Wilderness.
The Eastern Wilderness Army also advanced into the three coastal cities, advancing a section each day and clearing the sea beasts in the cities.
Hai Zhenghong led the martial cultivators in assisting the army in killing sea beasts inside and outside the coastal cities.
