"These foreign tribe Gu Immortals may possess Eighth Transformation cultivation, but their combat strength is not all that impressive. Only Ice Crystal Immortal King is somewhat passable."
"As for the Xia family of the Eastern Sea — they lack an Eighth Transformation cultivator, but relying on their Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu House, they can still put up a decent fight."
Wu Shuai stood at the entrance of the Dragon Palace, gazing down at the battlefield. He observed the battle in silence, making no move to intervene.
When they had attacked the three major resource points earlier, the outcome had been decided by sheer cultivation suppression, so he hadn't been able to discern much. But now, in this stalemate, the underlying details became immediately apparent.
Wu Shuai analyzed the situation in his mind and soon arrived at the answer.
The foreign tribes had survived to the present day and even prospered because Heavenly Will had been tilting the scales in their favor.
Heavenly Will had been interfered with by Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's will, preventing it from generating the destiny that foreign tribes should prosper through Fate Gu. However, Heavenly Will could still influence tribulations.
Tribulation was the single greatest obstacle to a Gu Immortal's cultivation advancement.
The more flourishing humanity became, the more Heavenly Will would favor the foreign tribe grotto-heavens.
The difficulty of tribulations for these foreign tribes was unknown how many times easier than for ordinary human Gu Immortals! Even the human Gu Immortals within the Black and White Heavens, because of their grudges and rifts with the orthodox human forces of the Five Regions, had also received a measure of favor. This was likely a scheme of division by Heavenly Will.
There were clear records of this in history.
In ancient times, the foreign tribes had been prosperous and dominated heaven and earth. Heavenly Will had manipulated Fate Gu to produce the prophecy that humanity should prosper. On one hand, the Heavenly Dao had bestowed its favor upon Primordial, aiding him in becoming a Venerable and caring for humanity in every respect, helping them grow and flourish. On the other hand, Heavenly Will had also influenced the other foreign tribes, dividing them, plunging them into fierce internal strife, and causing severe self-destruction.
"Furthermore, the Black and White Heavens are vast. Each covers the entirety of the Five Regions, which is why there are so many Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals within them. Besides those by my side, a small number remain in the Black and White Heavens."
Having reached this conclusion, Wu Shuai set out.
The Dragon Palace began to move forward at a leisurely pace.
Inside the Golden Star Tower, Xia Ying's heart leapt into her throat. She was already struggling to hold off these Eighth Transformation cultivators. Though she appeared to have the upper hand, she could not maintain it for long. It would be no surprise if the entire battle flipped on its head in the very next breath.
"Good, Lord Wu Shuai is about to make his move!"
"Truly exciting."
"It's a pity none of our grotto-heavens possess Immortal Gu Houses. Only by crossing blows with one do you truly understand that such artifacts are the mark of a superpower's foundation."
The Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals lit up with joy, their anticipation palpable.
But before the eyes of the crowd, the Dragon Palace drifted leisurely away from the battlefield.
The Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals were dumbfounded.
What was going on?
The next moment, Wu Shuai's icy voice rang out: "You, more than a dozen Eighth Transformation cultivators — if you can't even join forces to overcome a single Seventh Transformation female immortal and a single Seventh Transformation Immortal Gu House, what face do you have to go on living?"
The Eighth Transformation Gu Immortals were struck speechless, their jaws hanging open with nothing to say in response.
In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the Dragon Palace flew away.
"No — the direction he's heading is — the Sea of People!" Xia Ying saw this and her heart lurched violently.
Doubt and alarm churned through her mind: "How could Wu Shuai know that the Sea of People is hidden within the Xia family's headquarters? No — the Sea of People is concealed extremely deep. Perhaps he simply intends to plunder materials."
Wu Shuai flew away from the battlefield and arrived above a certain lake, bringing the Dragon Palace to a slow hover.
"The Sea of People is right here." Wu Shuai's eyes blazed with sharp light as he immediately activated his methods.
A beam of strange light burst forth explosively from his palm, piercing through dozens of meters of lake water and striking directly at the bottom.
The light then expanded, spreading across the entire surface of the lake.
The lake water evaporated rapidly, mist billowing outward. From within that vast white fog, countless human voices emerged.