The fierce battle, which had been raging, took a dramatic turn after Zhu Yu slew a Nascent Soul Demon, marking the beginning of a shift in fortunes.
Having successfully eliminated one opponent, Zhu Yu did not rest. Without dwelling on the matter with Huang Feifei, he unleashed his flying sword once more, targeting the Bone Spike Demon.
Already at a disadvantage under the combined assault of Xiao Fei and Huang Feifei, the Bone Spike Demon lost all courage to continue fighting when faced with an even more formidable adversary.
Thus, as a Nascent Soul expert, he once again fled before Xiao Fei, this time without even uttering a parting threat.
With two Nascent Soul experts from the demon race dead or fled, the remaining demon army was left bewildered. What were they to do?
Soon, the majority of the demons made the sensible choice – to retreat.
The human cultivators pursued, slaying countless more demons.
After the battle, the land for dozens of miles around the battlefield was littered with demon corpses, their blood staining the earth in a riot of colors.
The demon race was a diverse species, with varied appearances and forms, and their blood flowed in different hues.
There was red, black, green, blue, and even some without blood or physical bodies.
Most cultivators were content with collecting the treasures and materials like demon crystals carried by the demons.
The remaining corpses were initially of little use, but ever since the war with the demons began, the Goddess of Meteor Island had been acquiring demon corpses, thereby giving them some value.
After today's battle, Huang Feifei arranged for several people to conduct acquisitions on the spot.
The corpses were graded and priced per unit, with payment made in elixirs.
Meteor Island's actions provided additional income for the human cultivators, earning widespread approval from the human race.
Zhu Yu picked up the corpse of the Nascent Soul demon he had slain and stored it in his storage bag, not immediately selling it to Huang Feifei.
However, Huang Feifei had already come to him personally.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother Zhu Yu, on your significant cultivation advancement!"
"You've also reached the Nascent Soul stage, so congratulations to you too!"
Zhu Yu returned the greeting with a cupped fist. He was surprised that after decades apart, Huang Feifei had also broken through to the Nascent Soul realm.
"It's all due to years of diligent cultivation, plus a bit of fortuitous coincidence."
Xiao Fei had instructed Huang Feifei not to reveal the matter of the Nascent Soul Elixir, so she could only attribute everything to diligent practice.
"Yes! Yes, indeed! It's all because of diligent practice. I cultivated diligently every day during my fifty years of seclusion, which led to this achievement."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu felt embarrassed to admit his breakthrough was due to sheer luck and could only attribute it to hard work.
"The path of cultivation is exceedingly arduous. We cultivators must only rely on diligent practice and courageous progress to have a chance of reaching the highest peak."
The two surprisingly found common ground, both agreeing that diligent practice was the righteous path of cultivation.
At that moment, Ji Wudi, with his bulging muscles, walked past them carrying a demon corpse.
Hearing their conversation, he couldn't help but spit disdainfully.
Hypocrites!
In his early years, he had strayed, naively believing that diligent practice was the sole truth of cultivation.
He attributed his lack of strength to insufficient effort, and thus he toiled relentlessly, nearly driving himself mad, yet he could never catch up to Xiao Fei and the others.
It wasn't until he made a deal with Xiao Fei that he truly understood that no amount of effort could match the speed of someone popping an elixir.
From then on, it was as if a door to a new world had opened for him.
He finally understood why Huang Feifei always frequented Xiao Fei's room.
Inspired by this revelation, he had also tried diligently, hoping Xiao Fei would accept him as he had accepted Huang Feifei, but alas, he lacked that fate.
However, from then on, in addition to his strenuous cultivation, he had discovered another shortcut.
Now, hearing Zhu Yu and Huang Feifei talk about reaching the Nascent Soul realm through diligent practice, he wouldn't believe a single word.
The two continued their discussion on diligent practice, paying no mind to Ji Wudi, who had just walked past them.
"Senior Brother Zhu, would you be willing to sell me the demon corpse you just slew?"
Huang Feifei finally got to the point. Xiao Fei needed to collect demon corpses, and she would do her utmost to gather all of them for him.
"Selling it is no problem, of course, but what price can Junior Sister offer? I have a Nascent Soul corpse here."
"I can authorize it. I'll exchange it for one of these elixirs. One elixir can be equivalent to a hundred years of cultivation for a Golden Core cultivator."
As Huang Feifei spoke, she produced a jade box and opened it, revealing an elixir the size of a chicken egg.
In the current cultivation world, only Xiao Fei could produce elixirs of this caliber.
"While this elixir is precious, it is still far from matching the demon corpse I possess. I require at least ten of them."
From the inheritance of the Thousand Saints Sect, Zhu Yu learned that in ancient times, humans were powerful, and the demon race served as their vassals.
Ancient humans frequently invaded the demon realm, using demon corpses for sacrifices to the upper realms, thereby obtaining many rare treasures.
It was a pity that his inherited knowledge lacked the method for constructing such sacrificial formations.
However, he had long known of Xiao Fei's peculiar habit of collecting alien corpses, and he suspected Xiao Fei possessed such sacrificial formations.
He absolutely would not let Xiao Fei benefit for free and intended to extort more benefits from him.
"Senior Brother Zhu, I can at most exchange this elixir for a mid-grade elixir. If you are still unwilling, then Senior Brother should keep it yourself."
"Deal!"
Zhu Yu, seeing that it was good to stop, immediately handed over the corpse of a Nascent Soul demon and a pile of miscellaneous corpses to Huang Feifei.
As they were all cultivators, the process of collecting the corpses was swift. Gathering all the corpses from the battlefield and selling them to Huang Feifei took only about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
An hour later, the battlefield was completely cleaned, with no spoils left behind.
The bustling crowd of human cultivators dispersed, leaving not a single soul.
Just then, several powerful auras approached from afar. They revealed their forms only upon reaching the airspace above the battlefield, and they turned out to be all Nascent Soul experts of the demon race.
These demon powerhouses were usually stationed in various parts of the Eastern Continent. For them to receive the news and rush over would take a considerable amount of time.
By the time they arrived, it was too late.
After searching the vicinity and finding no trace of humans, they could only retreat in frustration.
In this great battle, a total of three Nascent Soul demon experts were slain, along with countless Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators.
It was the greatest victory for the human race since the war with the demons began, a feat worthy of being recorded in human history.
In this battle, two Nascent Soul experts emerged from the human ranks, becoming the subject of widespread admiration.
The male was handsome and elegant, possessing the aura of an immortal, captivating countless young maidens.
The female had skin like jade and bones of ice, flawless and perfect, as if transcended from the mortal world.
Most importantly, the appearance of these two Nascent Soul cultivators reversed the human race's long-standing predicament of being on the defensive.
This battle would be remembered as a pivotal moment that turned the tide for humanity.