Chapter 449 - 404: Before the Great War, Zuo Xuan Leaves the Ship, Jiang Qiu Arrives

In half a month, the Thunder Clan had expended a massive amount of resources and used various methods to gather all the renowned experts from across the Thunder Great Realm. Even some experts from other worlds had heard the news and rushed back. The only exceptions were those who were simply too far away; for instance, someone in the Yin Yang Realm would find it impossible to return in such a short time.

Under these circumstances, the Thunder Clan had united nearly every prominent faction in the Thunder Great Realm. It had reached a point where, under the Thunder Clan’s control, the entire Great Realm was divided into two camps, with no room for neutrality.

One could either support the Thunder Clan and dispatch their faction’s experts as reinforcements, or flee to the Thunder Restricted Area to seek refuge with the Bloodthirsty White Tiger. However, the Bloodthirsty White Tiger wouldn’t accept just any riffraff. To ensure loyalty, even those who wished to join would have to forfeit their freedom, for instance, by signing some contract or submitting to other special measures.

But should any faction choose to join neither side, the Thunder Clan wouldn’t hesitate to casually wipe them out. For a clan that dominated an entire Great Realm, its ranks overflowing with countless experts, annihilating other factions was a simple matter. They typically refrained only because there was no need. Now, however, if anyone dared to defy them—or simply failed to support them—they would quickly feel the true meaning of the Thunder Clan’s thunderous wrath.

The Thunder Clan’s formidable and renowned prestige quickly united most of the factions in the Thunder Great Realm. Moreover, Zuo Xuan had completed his preparations and was ready to deal a fatal blow to the Thunder Restricted Area, initiating the final, decisive battle.

Such was the nature of a battle between the powerful. Besides, the Law within the Thunder Restricted Area was too destructive to life force for an ordinary person to endure a protracted war. The best strategy was to gather strength for a single, decisive strike to overwhelm the enemy completely.

Of course, victory seemed assured. After all, at least ninety percent of the factions in the Thunder Great Realm supported the Thunder Clan. This time, the clan had also deployed all its top experts—a dozen or so Harmonization Realm masters emerging at once—all for the sole purpose of annihilating the Bloodthirsty White Tiger.

As for the Bloodthirsty White Tiger, though its fame had recently skyrocketed to an all-time high, it actually had few supporters. Its personal foundation was simply too weak. No one would have come to the Restricted Area to save their own skin unless they were utterly desperate and had no other choice.

Of course, a good number of people had also joined to resist the Thunder Clan’s tyranny. Others had come because someone they were close to had been betrayed and killed, or even casually murdered, by a member of the Thunder Clan, and they now sought to join the Bloodthirsty White Tiger in rebellion.

This group of followers was a motley crew of wildly varying quality; the lower bar was ridiculously low. In the past, people who weren’t even Cultivators had run to the Thunder Restricted Area, begging to join the Bloodthirsty White Tiger. Back then, the Bloodthirsty White Tiger’s foundation was weak and it had few followers, so it had casually allowed them to join.

In truth, the Bloodthirsty White Tiger didn’t care much about a person’s origins. As long as someone wasn’t completely incapable of Cultivation, it would accept them. This was because when Emperor Chen had first granted it sapience, it had been nothing more than a wild tiger in the woods.

Moreover, the Restricted Area concealed secrets for tempering the body. As long as one wasn’t a complete waste, they could undergo a transformation. They might not become peerless prodigies, but they could at least become geniuses with the potential to reach the Peeping Dao Realm.

Yes, a Peeping Dao Realm expert could still be considered a genius. Not every clan could produce one. In this world, the weak were the overwhelming majority. A single Peeping Dao Realm expert might be the greatest asset a small clan possessed. The Bloodthirsty White Tiger offered just such an opportunity, which was why for the past few years, disciples from many smaller clans had flocked to its side, as if they had seen a chance for their own people to rise.

Given this, the Thunder Clan believed that the vast majority of the Bloodthirsty White Tiger’s army was trash and nothing to worry about. Even if there were a few decent experts in the Dao Entry and Fusion Realms, their numbers were negligible. The Thunder Clan’s own grand army was ten, even a hundred, times larger.

’An army of several million, every single one the elite of the elite! The weakest among them are at the Dharma Realm. Compared to the Bloodthirsty White Tiger’s pile of trash, our momentum is overwhelming. With a dozen or so Harmonization Realm masters to suppress them, and Venerable Zuo Xuan himself taking action, how can they possibly resist?’

’Even relying on the unique Law of the Thunder Restricted Area won’t be enough to pose a threat. Venerable Zuo Xuan will neutralize it, allowing our army to sweep the field in short order.’

Logically speaking, to deal with a Demon Race army like the Bloodthirsty White Tiger’s—one that lacked even a single Harmonization Realm expert—the Thunder Clan didn’t need to make such a grand display. A single Harmonization Realm master could have annihilated most of them. After all, below the Harmonization Realm, all are but ants. If a Harmonization Realm expert willed someone of a lower Realm to die, that person would die, almost without exception, unless they happened to possess a perfect counter.

But what the Thunder Clan truly wanted was to sweep through the entire Thunder Restricted Area and, in the process, hunt down and exterminate the Bloodthirsty White Tiger completely!

’The Thunder Restricted Area is a treasure trove! It’s a Restricted Area left over from the last epoch, filled with undiscovered treasures. Although that parasite, the Bloodthirsty White Tiger, has siphoned off some resources, it’s just a drop in the bucket. If we, the Thunder Clan, could develop it ourselves, we would become incredibly wealthy in no time. Harmonization Realm experts might begin to emerge one after another, and then we could try to become a great clan on par with the Emperor Blue Lizard Clan, one of the top-tier Great Realms!’