Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming-Chapter 472 - 249: The Tragedy of the Bear, The Great Decisive Battle [Subscribe Requested]_2
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Therefore, he never even asked for the youth’s name.
Zhou Chun didn’t take it to heart either, quickly casting aside the trivial matter.
Three days later, Zhou Chun received good news: Elder Zhou Daoquan, missing for many days, had successfully returned to Jiufeng Ridge.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun hastily returned to the family to meet him.
However, when he saw Zhou Daoquan at the sect’s gates, he found that, though there were no visible injuries on the elder’s body, the latter’s mood was extremely somber, his eyes clouded with sorrow.
This weighed heavily on Zhou Chun, who urgently inquired about his experiences over the past few days.
Facing Zhou Chun’s questions, Zhou Daoquan didn’t conceal anything, replying in a low voice, "That day, when the frontline stronghold fell, I was separated from the clan leader and others and had to break out and flee on my own."
"However, during the escape, a third-tier Demon Beast suddenly attacked me, and the Earth Armored Bear sacrificed its life to block that attack for me!"
"Afterward, I was chased by two second-tier top-grade Demon Beasts and had to flee into the Wasteland Territory, hiding from them for several days."
"My return was late because I took a much longer detour and used up all the Rejuvenation Pills I had; afterwards, I could only wait slowly for the injured Vermilion Flame Crane to recover!"
In just a few sentences, Zhou Daoquan had explained the reason for his despondency.
Because his Spirit Pet had died!
While not all, most Zhou Family Cultivators had deep affection for their Spirit Pets, which they had raised from youth, often treating them like family members.
Zhou Daoquan’s Earth Armored Bear had been with him for over a hundred years, his first Spirit Pet, and their relationship could be described as close as brothers.
To make matters more poignant, the Earth Armored Bear had died saving him.
This kind of loss of a companion would leave anyone in mourning.
Zhou Chun, who also had Spirit Pets, truly understood Zhou Daoquan’s feelings at this time.
He, too, felt deep sorrow and regret for the death of the Earth Armored Bear.
The bear had once loyally protected him, fighting side by side with him in numerous battles during the southern campaign.
Unexpectedly, after the battle at Golden Chicken Mountain, it turned out to be their final fight together.
At that moment, all Zhou Chun could offer was his solemn consolation, "Xiong Shan was indeed a loyal guardian. Its death is the family’s greatest loss in this war, Elder, please accept my condolences."
"Xiong Shan" was the name Zhou Daoquan had given to the Earth Armored Bear; basically, every Zhou Family Cultivator would name their own Spirit Pets.
"Alas! I’m truly in low spirits right now and fear I won’t be able to do much for the family in the short term; Zhengchun, could you please speak to the Supreme Elder on my behalf?"
Zhou Daoquan sighed, his demeanor radiating a sense of disillusionment.
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Then, he returned to his Flying Rock Peak and shut himself away to heal his injuries.
The pain of this loss was something he would have to overcome on his own; there was little that others could do to help.
Moreover, Zhou Chun did not have much time to comfort him, for he needed to continue traveling far and wide to eliminate the calamitous Demon Beasts.
Two days passed and, given that most Demon Beasts in Lanzhou had been cleared, Green Lotus Temple issued a new order. Zhou Mingde and other Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators were summoned to the front lines in Yunzhou, seemingly preparing to engage in a major battle against the main force of the Beast Tide.
In fact, looking back at past invasions of Beast Tides, the wars never lasted very long.
For the Beast Tide, the daily food supply for so many Demon Beasts was a significant issue.
Often, the only solution to the food problem was to have the living Demon Beasts consume the corpses of the dead ones, for which they would continuously attack the Human Clan Cultivator strongholds.
Then it would come to devouring mortals and the livestock reared by mortals.
However, as long as they hadn’t penetrated deeply into Jingguo Country’s heartland, the number of mortals the Beast Tide could consume nearby was limited, and it wasn’t worthwhile to detour far just to eat a few mortals.
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Therefore, the high-level Demon Beasts initiating the Beast Tide would inevitably keep assaulting, either breaking through the defenses of the Human Clan Allied Forces and rampaging into the human hinterlands to savor the flesh and blood of ordinary humans,
or they would have to rely on the offensive to wear down the weaker cannon fodder, allowing the remaining Demon Beasts to feed on the corpses of their dead to regain strength.
It was precisely because of this intractable flaw that past Human Clan forces always staunchly defended their strongholds, utilizing Formations to continuously deplete the living forces of the Beast Tide, blunting its sharp edge.
However, this time was different from the past.
This time the Beast Tide did not receive the full support of the entire Dragon Abyss Marsh Demon Race, and its scale was far less than previous Beast Tides.
This Beast Tide also had the shadow of the Dragon Transformation Sect looming behind it, and it had already taught a harsh lesson to the three major sects of Jingguo Country in Lanzhou.
In light of this, the three major sects of Jingguo Country did not want to drag out the conflict any longer, fearing that if they did, the Dragon Transformation Sect would concoct some conspiracy or scheme, making the situation even more uncontrollable.
Meanwhile, Zhou Mingde, following orders, swiftly joined the Cultivators rushing from all around to the besieged Fulong Stronghold.
Fulong Stronghold was a fortress painstakingly constructed over more than a decade, led by the Green Lotus Temple among the three major sects of Jingguo Country.
In this Beast Tide assault, it stood firm like a boulder at the forefront of the defense line.
Unless it was breached, the high-level Demon Beasts behind the Beast Tide did not dare let it penetrate deeply into Yunzhou and wreak havoc.
Because they knew all too well, once the Beast Tide began to spread and pillage, gathering those scattered Demon Beasts back together would become difficult.
Then, should the Cultivators of Fulong Stronghold strike from behind, a pinch attack would ensure the undoubted defeat of the Demon Beast side.
Thus, before breaking Fulong Stronghold, the Beast Tide at most could send small contingents to disrupt Yunzhou’s core areas, forcing the Jingguo Country Allied Forces to commit more personnel to deal with these smaller contingents, thereby weakening the defense of Fulong Stronghold.
At this moment, the number of Demon Beasts surrounding Fulong Stronghold amounted to over a hundred thousand!
When Zhou Mingde and the reinforcements reached the periphery of Fulong Stronghold, he looked up and saw countless Demon Beasts, some standing, some lying, across the hills and fields, many with visible wounds.
Closer to Fulong Stronghold, various spells and spiritual lights flashed incessantly.
From the start of the siege on Fulong Stronghold, the Beast Tide Army never ceased its attacks, launching relentless assaults day and night without pause.
Yet the stronghold stood unyielding, never breached by a single Demon Beast.
It seemed that the arrival of the reinforcements had been detected; bursts of spells exploded from inside the stronghold, instantly blasting a large number of the approaching Demon Beasts.
Suddenly, dozens of figures flew out from the stronghold and hurried towards the reinforcement troops.
Seeing this, the high-level Demon Beasts and the Dragon Transformation Sect Cultivators amidst the Beast Tide naturally refused to let them easily escort the reinforcements into the stronghold and quickly rushed out to intercept.
After a fierce battle outside, Zhou Mingde and his group of reinforcements managed to enter Fulong Stronghold at the cost of several lives.
Within Fulong Stronghold, Zhou Mingde quickly met with Zhou Daoyi, who was already there, as well as the Zhou Family Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators who had retreated here before the arrival of the Beast Tide.
Now in Lanzhou, over twenty Zhou Family Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators had fallen in battle.
Therefore, these Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators in Yunzhou must not suffer any mishaps, lest the Zhou Family face a shortage of capable members for the next twenty or thirty years, greatly hindering the family’s future development.
After meeting and reassuring those Zhou Family Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators, Zhou Mingde turned to Zhou Daoyi with a somber expression and said, "Everything back at the family is now back to normal, Daoquan has also returned to the family, it all depends on our efforts here now. As long as we claim victory here, the family will have weathered its most difficult time!"
Hearing that Zhou Daoquan had returned safely, Zhou Daoyi also breathed a sigh of relief, then with an equally grave expression, he said, "The decisive battle here should be starting soon, I met with Senior Li a few days ago, and he hinted there might be a major operation happening here soon!"
"Then we must be extra cautious, and we cannot afford another mishap at this time!"
Zhou Mingde nodded slightly, and then he focused on preparing for battle.
Indeed, two days after Zhou Mingde’s group of reinforcements entered Fulong Stronghold, Liu Yiping, who had been commanding the defense, issued a counterattack order.
That day, over thirty Golden Core Stage Cultivators and nearly two hundred Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators burst out from Fulong Stronghold and engaged in a pinching move with the Fengguo reinforcements that had come to support, launching a decisive battle against the high-level Demon Beasts within the Beast Tide.
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