BOOOOOOOM!
Violent explosions of destruction swept through the entire battlefield, and thousands of beasts died.
However, the battlefield was massive, and taking care of every beast would take a while.
How did the beasts react to these violent explosions?
They continued attacking!
The mission of these beasts was to damage humanity as much as possible, and they had long come to terms that they would not return alive.
They were beasts in the Immortal King Realm, but they also had the weakest Battle-Strength. Their Realm was powerful enough to severely drain the fortifications, but they wouldn't have a future in this world.
These beasts were willing to sacrifice their life to create a brighter future for their side.
Beasts didn't have any feelings of familial love, but they had fierce loyalty towards their tribe and organization.
The Ancestor needed nearly a full minute to clear the battlefield, but in the end, nearly a million beasts had died.
However, this was not a victory in the Ancestor's mind.
He had noticed that the Battle-Strength of these beasts was horrible.
But he still killed so many beasts! That would at least count for something, right?
Sadly, no.
In fact, it was even worse than nothing.
There were always weaker members amongst humans and beasts, and what was the destiny of these weaker members?
To serve as tempering for their enemy.
By killing so many untalented beasts, the Ancestor had consumed a gigantic source of tempering for the humans. The average Battle-Strength of the beasts had increased, which meant that it would be difficult for weaker Cultivators to temper themselves. This meant that the death ratio of humanity would rise since the average enemy was now more powerful than before.
Beasts and humans with weaker Battle-Strength were a liability. They only served to make the opponent stronger.
However, one couldn't just kill the weak members of their tribe. If they did, their unity would be broken.
It was imperative to give everyone a chance to become more powerful.
Today, the beasts had won.
They had consumed a ton of resources from the human side, but that wasn't their biggest victory.
Their biggest victory was the fact that the beasts had eradicated two entire battlefields of talented youngsters. Among these talented youngsters, there had at least been 20 future Immortal Emperors.
Sadly, these geniuses would now never have the chance to grow.
All of these youngsters had been from the Nine Elements Sect, which meant that the future power of the Nine Elements Sect would now be compromised.
In the next 300,000 years, the number of Immortal Emperors in the Nine Elements Sect would reduce by quite a bit.
The Ancestor sighed as he realized all of this.
'The agent of the beasts has accomplished his mission.'
The Ancestor met up with the three people from Underworld, who had also cleared the battlefield.
They had also realized the problem.
After that, everyone returned to their previous spot, where Herius and the two Ascenders were still waiting.
The Ancestor reported everything to Herius, and Herius grimaced.
This wasn't good!
They now had to find a way to pull in even more talented, unaffiliated Cultivators to supplement their ranks.
Yet, that would cost resources, and it was also the Nine Elements Sect's duty to refill the used up resources of their two battlefields on the frontlines.
They simply didn't have the resources!
The Sect Master's decisions had crippled the Nine Elements Sect.
They had lost over ten Early Major Circulation Immortal Emperors.
They had lost an Ascender.
They had lost over 20% of their talented youngsters.
They had lost an insane amount of resources.
All of these things were the result of the Sect Master's decisions.
Everyone was silent.
"We will encourage more of our agents to help in the frontlines," the bartender suddenly said.
The Ancestor and Herius looked with surprise at him.
"We are all humans," the bartender said, "and even if we often don't see eye to eye, humanity must be secure. If humanity doesn't exist, Underworld doesn't exist. Therefore, we will extend a helping hand."
The Ancestor bowed politely. "I thank you deeply. Right now, the Nine Elements Sect is not in the position to decline such an offer."
The bartender nodded.
At the side, Herius' eyes shone with awe as he looked at the Ancestor.
The Ancestor had arrived when Underworld and the Nine Elements Sect were in an all-out war.
Yet, in just some mere minutes, the Ancestor not only managed to stop the war without any bad feelings, but he had also secured the help of Underworld.
That was an insane turnaround!
"Herius, please continue the story," the Ancestor said.
"Yes, Ancestor," Herius said with deep respect.
Herius continued with his tale.
When Herius arrived at the time when the Holy Son Candidate of the All-Matter Sect had been killed, everyone was already beyond shocked.
What kind of insane Battle-Strength was this?
He had killed a Holy-Son Candidate in a single strike while being at a two-level disadvantage!?
Was something like that even in the realm of possible!?
When the three people from Underworld heard about how Gravis escaped, they finally understood why the Nine Elements Sect had thought that he came from Underworld.
Yet, the Nine Elements Sect's actions had still been too drastic. They should have negotiated with Underworld, not directly declare war on them.
That was on the Sect Master.
The fact that the other Vice-Sect Master had been a spy from Underworld was overlooked.
Most humans would act like this was an affront to them while conveniently forgetting that they also had spies in someone else's territory.
However, to the gathered people, the existence of a spy was not of relevance right now.
"And that's when I contacted Niran," Herius said, looking at one of the Ascenders, "and he told me that he would contact you, Ancestor."
The Ancestor nodded. "This time, luck has blessed us," he said. "Niran had, perchance, arrived to learn a Law that I was currently comprehending. That was about 350 years ago. If Niran hadn't been in the same Law Comprehension Area as me, he couldn't have reached me."
350 years ago?
If Gravis were here, he would notice that this was around the time when he had decided to take part in the tournament.
What a convenient coincidence, right?
Herius finished his tale, and everyone had to release a collective sigh.
The misunderstanding this time had been severe and had run deep.
The Nine Elements Sect had been weakened severely.
Humanity became weaker.
"Does anyone know the name of this beast?" the Ancestor asked.
Silence.
"No one knows his name?" the Ancestor asked with surprise.
They had all interacted with Gravis so much, but no one knew his name?
That was quite surprising!
The Ancestor sighed again.
"I must speak with the Highest Commander," the Ancestor said.
The others thought that this was only natural.
This was not a simple situation.
Who was the Highest Commander?
The Highest Commander was the Cultivator that had been appointed by the Human Alliance as the commander over the entire human frontline.
One could call him the leader of humanity, but that was not entirely correct. He had full control over the frontlines, and with it, control over the most powerful force of humanity, but he wasn't allowed to involve himself in Sect politics as long as he didn't have the agreement of the Sects.
"Please wait here," the Ancestor said. "I will return shortly."
After that, the Ancestor left with the suppressed Sect Master in tow.
She had never gotten the chance to utter even a single word.
An hour passed.
Then, the Ancestor returned.
Alone.
Herius, the two Ascenders, and the three people of Underworld looked at the Ancestor.
They wanted to know the result of the conversation with the Highest Commander.
"I have three pieces of news," the Ancestor said.
"First of all, Underworld's help in the frontlines is accepted and appreciated. The members of Underworld will not be prosecuted for the next 300,000 years at the frontlines."
The bartender's eyes shone.
Underworld was seen as a half-enemy to humanity, which meant that every member of Underworld would be killed on the frontlines.
When the bartender offered to help with the frontlines, he didn't mean that they would openly send a force.
No, he meant that they would increase the rewards for missions on the frontlines so that more unaffiliated Cultivators would join.
However, that was no longer a problem.
For the next 300,000 years, Underworld could openly support the frontlines.
That was great news for Underworld!
Everyone wanted to temper themselves on the frontlines since it was by far the best place for tempering.
An insane number of members from Underworld would flock to this opportunity to temper themselves in the frontlines!
"Second, the previous Sect Master of the Nine Elements Sect has been enslaved by a Slave Ring," the Ancestor said with a heavy sigh. Even if his niece had fucked up big time, she was still his niece.
"She will serve the rest of her natural life on the frontlines of humanity."
"It was either that or death."
Everyone present nodded.
That was a fair punishment.
"Third, by contacting the Life Sect, we have finally found out the details of this beast that started all of this," the Ancestor said.
"He is a previous Ascender called Gravis, and he has appeared in a small territory to the north. The Life Sect had believed him to think of himself as a human, but they had been mistaken."
"This beast called Gravis is now marked as a threatening enemy of humanity."
"The frontlines and all the Peak Sects must use their full power to destroy him as soon as he appears anywhere in the world."
"It is the duty of every human in this world to kill Gravis."
"Gravis must die!"