Chapter 1540 - The Black Crow Clan's Invasion

Liu Wuxie planned to leave the Sky City and return to the Spirit Martial Astral Domain to deal with the Soul Pills situation. He didn't feel any urgency, but the Spirit Clan's territory still made his skin crawl with discomfort.

The Soul Pills matter was still in the early stages of fermentation, and Zhen Yiming had taken on the investigation. Yet, he had found no clues so far, even with Zhen Yiming and the Skyward Gate both chasing the source of the counterfeit pills.

A massive flock of the Black Crow Clan arrived in swarms, blotting out the sky as they launched their invasion. Yet the restriction above the Sky City held them back, preventing them from breaking in right away.

"Damn it! The Black Crow Clan has already attacked us three times this month!" Ariel kept the Earth-Binding Chains and sprinted out of the main hall, beating Liu Wuxie to the exit. She took command of the Spirit Clan the moment she hit the open air, leading them straight into the sky.

If the Black Crow Clan kept pressing, the restriction above the Sky City would only hold for so long before it cracked. Once it broke, the Spirit Clan would step into a never-ending nightmare.

The Sky City served as the Spirit Clan's last line of defense. If they lost it, the Black Crow Clan would enslave the entire Spirit Clan in short order.

Spirit Clan cultivators poured out in waves, men and women mixing as they formed ranks and prepared to fight under Ariel's command. As for the elderly woman, she remained seated in the main hall and didn't intervene.

She stood at the Quasi-Immortal Realm, and if she acted, the Black Crow Clan's Quasi-Immortal Realm experts would respond in kind. The two clans had formed an unspoken agreement around that reality.

Liu Wuxie stopped at the exit of the main hall, caught in an awkward position.

"Feathered Emperor, I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay for the time being. I'll personally host a banquet to welcome you properly once we drive the Black Crow Clan away," Achiel said. He clearly didn't want Liu Wuxie to leave so soon and hoped to offer proper hospitality.

"Achiel, why isn't your chieftain taking action?" Liu Wuxie asked, genuinely puzzled. His Ghost Pupil had already pierced the sky, and he had seen the Black Crow Clan's army numbering over three thousand. Their overall combat strength even exceeded the Spirit Clan's.

If the chieftain attacked, her Quasi-Immortal Realm cultivation could wipe the Black Crow Clan out with ease.

"It's a long story," Achiel said, and he still didn't hurry to join the battle.

"Is there something holding her back?" Liu Wuxie asked.

With the restriction sealed, stepping out now would put him directly in the invasion's path. He didn't fear the Black Crow Clan, but he saw no reason to involve himself when he had only met the Spirit Clan by chance and owed them nothing beyond the return of the Earth-Binding Chains.

"In our Spirit Clan, only our chieftain has reached the Quasi-Immortal Realm, while the Black Crow Clan has two. As long as our chieftain doesn't act, the Black Crow Clan's Quasi Immortal Realm experts won't attack either," Achiel explained.

Liu Wuxie nodded, finally understanding the chieftain's dilemma. If she acted, the Spirit Clan would collapse even faster. So long as she stayed still and let the Spirit Clan fend off the Black Crow Clan on their own, they could still cling to hope, and they could keep holding as long as the Sky City endured.

As long as she didn't act, the Black Crow Clan's Quasi-Immortals wouldn't move either. That left the conflict as a grinding contest between the two clans.

However, over the years, the Black Crow Clan had suppressed the Spirit Clan without pause. Even if the Spirit Clan held the Sky City, they would eventually bleed their elites dry, because every clash carved out immense losses for them.

"Feathered Emperor, you stay here while I go help out," Achiel said. He treated this as the Spirit Clan's fight and didn't want to drag Liu Wuxie into it. With a sway, he shot into the sky and slammed into the Black Crow Clan's front line.

Liu Wuxie lifted his head and watched the two clans collide in the air. The Spirit Clan wielded long pikes, while the Black Crow Clan carried long spears. Despite their similarities, spears and lances differed.

The spearhead's blade was short, built for stabbing and lethal by nature, while the pike weighed more, stretched longer than the spear, and carried a head slightly longer than the shaft. It resembled a dagger or sword, capable of both stabbing and slashing.

The pike's shaft came from hardwood or refined steel and offered no elasticity, while the spear's shaft usually came from flexible white-wax wood, which made it more lethal. Yet, in terms of versatility, the pike could strike from tricky angles and unpredictable paths. Neither clearly outclassed the other, and each weapon carried its own strengths.

Gradually, the Spirit Clan fell at a disadvantage as the Black Crow Clan revealed they had come prepared, their entire focus fixed on Ariel.

"Capture the Spirit Clan's saintress and force them to surrender!" yelled the Black Crow Clan's leader. Black Crow Clan elites immediately flocked toward Ariel, each one carrying high cultivation.

Ariel's cultivation surpassed most of them, but sheer numbers strangled her space. Before long, she fell into a passive position under the Black Crow Clan's pressure.

"Protect the saintess!" Spirit Clan fighters rushed in, shielding Ariel.

Achiel surged through the melee, unleashing powerful mythical arts that blasted several Black Crow Clan members away. In barely a minute, casualties were already mounting for both sides.

Battles at this scale erupted ten to twenty times each year, with the Black Crow Clan invading the Spirit Clan every month without fail.

Unlike the Spirit Clan, the Black Crow Clan practiced a male supremacy society where a man could take many wives, and their reproductive capacity was strong. In the Spirit Clan, men held a lower status, which suppressed reproduction, and their birth rate declined year after year. At this pace, the Spirit Clan would eventually collapse on its own, even without the Black Crow Clan's invasion.

Three Black Crow Clan members soon boxed Achiel in, forcing him into a defensive position. Ariel fared no better, with three Heaven Gaze Realm experts from the Black Crow Clan locking onto her as well.

At some point, the Spirit Clan's chieftain stepped outside the main hall, brows knotted as she stared into the sky. Anyone could imagine the pain of watching her people die right in front of her eyes.

Ariel had only just obtained the Earth-Binding Chains, and she hadn't refined them fully yet. That meant she couldn't wield their full power, and without full control, she couldn't reverse the disadvantage choking her.

A spear stabbed into Achiel and punched a bloody hole through his left chest. They had already clashed in soul energy several times, and both sides had practically drained their reserves, leaving them to fight with mythical arts instead.

The Spirit Clan and the Black Crow Clan practiced ordinary mythical arts, and their lethality couldn't compare to that of the human race.

After all, Achiel had only reached the Heaven Gaze Realm within the past month, so he couldn't compare to veteran Heaven Gaze Realm cultivators. He lacked the time to build a deep accumulation.

Another spear thrust toward Achiel's back, and if it landed, it would cripple him and end his fight on the spot.

Just as the spear neared Achiel, Liu Wuxie's gaze turned cold. Achiel had treated him with respect the entire way, addressing him as Feathered Emperor, and their bond had grown into something closer to brotherhood. Liu Wuxie couldn't simply watch while Black Crow Clan killed Achiel.

A Soul Spear manifested and shot outward, piercing through the Sky City's restrictions. The instant the Soul Spear flew, the Spirit Clan's chieftain narrowed her eyes.

Achiel had only told them that Liu Wuxie had come to deliver the Earth-Binding Chains, but he hadn't mentioned that he practiced the long-lost Soul Forge Art.

The Soul Spear streaked like a comet across the sky and burrowed into the Black Crow Clan member behind Achiel. Even with first-level Heaven Gaze Realm cultivation, he couldn't resist the Soul Spear at all.

The Black Crow Clan had exhausted most of their soul energy in the fight, with little left for defense, and the Spirit Clan had drained themselves just as severely.

The Black Crow Clan member struck by the Soul Spear crashed into the restriction. In the next instant, a Spirit Clan warrior closed in and delivered the killing blow.

In past battles, Heaven Gaze Realm experts had rarely died, and most casualties came from ordinary warriors. The Black Crow Clan had only sent ten Heaven Gaze Realm powerhouses, and it had been a long time since one of them had fallen.

The battlefield froze as every Black Crow Clan member turned to look at Liu Wuxie. Even through the restrictions, they could see his face clearly.

The Spirit Clan froze as well. They clearly hadn't expected the long-lost Soul Spear to reappear in the world.

"That's the Soul Spear! Brat, who the hell are you?!" the Black Crow Clan's leader demanded. He recognized at a glance that Liu Wuxie was human.

Liu Wuxie hadn't expected that saving Achiel with the Soul Spear would trigger such a massive commotion. He had assumed everyone in the Spirit Clan practiced the Soul Forge Art, and Achiel had never told him the Spirit Clan had lost it.

Ariel turned to look at Liu Wuxie, her face filled with shock. If the Earth-Binding Chains served as the Spirit Clan's sacred relic, then anyone who grasped them became a god in their eyes, but the Soul Forge Art was the Spirit Clan's soul.

Without the Soul Forge Art, the Spirit Clan became nothing more than a shell with no spirit. Losing the sacred relic wouldn't cripple their development, but losing their soul would turn them into walking corpses.

"Retreat!" The Soul Spear's appearance forced the Black Crow Clan to reassess the fight. Their forces pulled back in waves as calm returned to the Sky City, and they left as quickly as they had arrived.

Spirit Clan cultivators also returned to the Sky City. They began cleaning the battlefield and treating the wounded. Through this clash, the Spirit Clan had lost three warriors, and the Black Crow Clan had suffered losses as well.

When Ariel returned to the ground, she stood outside the main hall. Achiel's injuries weren't severe, and medicine would heal his injuries quickly.

"I'll be taking my leave now," Liu Wuxie said, cupping his fists toward the chieftain.

Before he could move, the chieftain vanished and reappeared in front of him, blocking his way.

"Chieftain, what is the meaning of this? I delivered the Earth-Binding Chains back to the Spirit Clan, and you repay my kindness with this?" Liu Wuxie asked, displeasure sharpening his tone.

"You can't leave now," the chieftain said, and her expression made it clear she didn't know how to explain it.

"Reason?" Liu Wuxie asked.

"That's because you're the Spirit Clan's new Feathered Emperor," the chieftain said in a solemn tone.

Liu Wuxie hadn't just grasped the Earth-Binding Chains; he had also cultivated the Soul Forge Art and inherited the Feathered Emperor's mantle by their standards, which made him the new Feathered Emperor.

"I'm not interested. I have other matters to deal with. Please step aside," Liu Wuxie said. He had no intention of becoming the Spirit Clan's Feathered Emperor. Managing a group of women felt far more troublesome than managing men, and he wanted none of that burden.

"I already told you that you can't leave," the chieftain said, and her tone turned heavier. She released Quasi-Immortal Realm pressure that came crashing down on Liu Wuxie like an avalanche.

"Is that how the Spirit Clan treats their guests and repays kindness with malice?" Liu Wuxie questioned. Fury finally surged in his chest, and he released his aura to clash with hers head-on, but the collision produced a shockwave that rippled outward and sent his power scattering.

Facing a Quasi-Immortal Realm powerhouse, he had no odds of winning even if he summoned the Heavenly Deity Monument. Even if the Heavenly Deity Monument suppressed the Spirit Clan’s chieftain, experts would still surround him, and the moment he used the monument, he would be exhausted. At that point, even a cultivator at the Void Realm could take his life with ease.

"Feathered Emperor, you're misunderstanding. The chieftain isn't trying to make things difficult for you," Achiel said as he scrambled to his feet, trying to keep the situation from spiraling out of control.