Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

"A prince of the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc royal family has agreed to take action." A strange light flashed in the fox demon's eyes. "Although the prince's cultivation is only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, his innate supernatural abilities are comparable to those at the late-Foundation Establishment stage... As long as he descends, the human race will surely collapse."

Hope rekindled in the monster's eyes.

The Golden-Winged Thunder Roc is one of the royal families deep within the Cloud and Mist Mountains. Its clan has several third-tier demon kings, making its status comparable to the three major human sects.

With such strong reinforcements, perhaps we can really turn the tide!

After the beasts dispersed, the Illusionary Moon Fox lay alone deep in the cave, its eyes dimming.

It did manage to contact that prince, and he agreed to come.

But now, more than half of his demon beasts have been lost, and most of his territory has been lost, greatly reducing its value.

That prince... was willing to face Lin Zhaoyao, who could summon a thunder dragon and whose strength was comparable to the late Foundation Establishment stage, for it?

It was really unsure of itself.

-----

The next day, the general offensive began.

Nearly ten thousand cultivators advanced in three routes, with the Li Huo Grand Array clearing the way, like a giant crimson net slowly enveloping Luo Xia Peak.

The mountain formation is activated.

A pale blue light shield spread out from the summit, enveloping the entire mountain.

The human cultivators' attacks landed on the light barrier, only causing ripples.

On the contrary, the demonic beasts relied on the formation to fight back, causing considerable casualties among the cultivators.

The battle was at a stalemate for a time.

At that moment, Lin Zhao made a move.

He arrived a hundred feet directly above the mountain peak and began to form hand seals.

At the same time, he summoned the dark red Eight Desolations Ancient Seal into the air, where it hovered above his head.

As the hand seals were gradually formed, Lin Zhao's aura rose steadily. Centered on him, the spiritual energy within a five-mile radius began to stir and surge, as if encountering a king, uncontrollably converging towards the Eight Desolate Ancient Seal!

It wasn't just the spiritual energy in the air—the array's protective barrier on Sunset Peak below was also beginning to flicker! The connection between the array and the spiritual veins was being forcibly disrupted and plundered by an incomparably domineering force!

"town!"

Lin Zhao shouted in a low voice and pointed at something!

The Eight Desolations Ancient Seal shone brightly! Its size instantly expanded to tens of feet, transforming into a crimson phantom the size of a small mountain. The runes on its surface moved like living things, radiating a terrifying pressure that suppressed the eight desolations!

The ancient seal phantom pressed down fiercely towards the array light barrier below!

"BOOM—!!!"

An indescribable roar.

The array's protective barrier shattered like glass, piece by piece! The broken spiritual light surged back towards the mountain peak, causing rocks to crumble, ancient trees to break, and countless demonic beasts to be swept up and torn apart by the violent torrent of spiritual energy! A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the sky!

Smoke and dust billowed into the sky, shrouding half of the mountain peak.

Lin Zhao groaned, his face turning pale instantly.

A faint "crack" sound came from the Eight Desolations Ancient Seal in his hand, and several cracks appeared inside the seal—the forceful shaking of the spiritual veins had once again damaged this second-grade high-quality magic weapon.

But as he scanned the depths of the mountain with his divine sense, he felt somewhat at ease.

The once vibrant spiritual vein, which was climbing towards the upper tier of the second level, now had its radiance dimmed by three-tenths.

Although the spiritual veins were not fundamentally damaged, the path to advancement was delayed by at least a hundred years.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the human cultivators erupted in thunderous cheers and surged toward the mountain peak, which was now free of any barriers!

The monsters' resistance was more ferocious than expected.

The shattering of the formation did not cause them to collapse; instead, it stirred up their inherent ferocity.

Nearly 100,000 demonic beasts relied on the mountain's terrain to launch a series of attacks, and their corpses piled up all over Luoxia Peak.

The Foundation Establishment level monsters launched a desperate counterattack.

After half an hour of fighting, the monsters were already showing signs of weakness.

Three of the Foundation Establishment level demonic beasts were killed, and the remaining seven were also badly wounded.

More than half of the first-tier demonic beasts were killed or wounded, and the defensive line continued to shrink.

Just when the human cultivators thought victory was assured—

"cracking--!!!"

A long, resounding cry that pierced through metal and split rocks came from the highest point!

Everyone looked up.

A golden streak of light tore through the clouds and plummeted down! As the streak of light drew closer, it revealed an incomparably magnificent golden roc!

With a wingspan exceeding twenty zhang, each feather was as if forged from pure gold, with fine purple lightning flowing along its edges.

The roc's eyes were as sharp as knives, and the gale it generated as it swooped down flattened a whole bunch of trees below!

Golden-Winged Thunder Roc!

It hovered a hundred feet above the battlefield, its wings flapping lightly, and golden lightning crackling all around it.

The pressure from the mid-Foundation Establishment stage was released without reservation, causing all living beings below—whether human or demon—to suffocate.

The human Foundation Establishment cultivators subconsciously gathered together, their expressions solemn.

The aura of this golden roc is comparable to that of the late Foundation Establishment stage!

Lin Zhao ascended into the sky, facing Jin Peng from afar.

The moment their eyes met, it was as if invisible lightning exploded in the air.

A hint of surprise flashed in Jinpeng's eyes—this human's aura was clearly only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, yet it instinctively felt threatened.

Lin Zhao was also sizing up the other person.

The Golden Roc has a pure bloodline and its innate lightning magic is almost supernatural. What's more troublesome is a feather on its neck that faintly exudes the aura of a third-tier demon king—that's the method of a Core Formation Demon King.

Even if he fights desperately, he might not be able to keep the other person.

Just like his senior brother Wu Mingxuan back then, he was able to suppress the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc, which was comparable to the peak of Foundation Establishment, with his mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, but he couldn't kill it.

The silent standoff lasted for ten breaths.

Suddenly, the Golden Roc moved—it flapped its wings and transformed into golden lightning, swooping down onto the battlefield below! Its target, however, was not the human cultivators, but… the Illusionary Moon Demon Fox!

Caught off guard, the fox demon was caught off guard when the golden roc grabbed the back of its neck with a claw! The sharp claw pierced through its fur, and the fox demon screamed in agony, but could not move.

"This beast is of some use to me," the Golden Roc said in human language, his voice like the clang of metal. "I will take it with me today."

Before the words were even finished, it had already grabbed the demon fox and soared into the sky! Its speed was so fast that none of the Foundation Establishment cultivators present could stop it!

As it soared high into the sky, the golden roc suddenly turned around, its eyes locking onto Lin Zhao:

"Human, you are quite strong. I'll give you face today and I won't interfere in the battlefield." It paused, its tone carrying a condescending arrogance, "If you are not satisfied, you can come find me at Thundercloud Cliff."

After saying that, it flapped its wings and transformed into golden specks of light, disappearing into the sky.

They came abruptly and left just as abruptly.

Lin Zhao did not stop him, and he completely ignored Jin Peng's provocation.

Lin Zhao joined the sect at the age of twenty-three and left the sect at the age of thirty-three to come to Tianyun Market.

Now it has been four years since he took up his post, and he is thirty-seven years old, long past the stage of youthful impetuosity.

No matter what Jin Peng said, it was Jin Peng who slunk away; Lin Zhao was the ultimate victor.

The remaining monsters completely collapsed.

The last six Foundation Establishment demon beasts tried to escape, but were surrounded by human Foundation Establishment members and all were killed.

The remaining first-tier demonic beasts scattered and fled, no longer showing any fighting spirit.

As the sun set, the Lin family's flag was planted atop Luoxia Peak.

The war of reclamation has now come to a complete end.

Post-battle inventory: Over 12,000 human cultivators participated in the battle, with over 1,700 killed, over 1,500 seriously wounded, and the number of those with minor injuries not counted.

The casualty rate was about 30%—a low figure for a large-scale land reclamation project that lasted nearly a year and covered thousands of miles.

No Foundation Establishment cultivators perished, but seven were injured, three of whom will need to retreat into seclusion for several years to recuperate.

On the demon beast side, a total of twenty Foundation Establishment demon beasts and nearly 300,000 first-tier demon beasts were killed.

Although there are still more than 100,000 scattered monsters, they are no longer a threat.