Chapter 1769: Counterattack on the Heavenly Realm

Jiang Fan looked around at everyone and announced loudly, "With all the experts from the Nine Provinces gathered here, I have a plan that I need to discuss with all the provinces."

The experts from Taicang Province became serious.

They already knew about the plan to counterattack the Heavenly Realm and strongly agreed with it.

However, Taicang Province alone couldn't achieve it; it required the combined strength of the entire Middle-earth.

Ancient Zen Buddha Lord said calmly, "Please speak, Benefactor Jiang."

Jiang Fan took a deep breath and declared, "I propose that we attack the Heavenly Realm!"

Ancient Zen Buddha Lord's eyes trembled violently, and his long eyebrows shot up.

Several Sages also felt their bodies shake violently.

The experts from various provinces were all aghast.

Attacking the Heavenly Realm... how unfamiliar those words sounded.

For ten thousand years, Middle-earth had only cautiously defended itself against the Heavenly Realm, resisting their incursions time and again.

The phrase "attacking the Heavenly Realm"—when had they ever even considered it?

As a result, when this proposal was made, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

There were no objections, nor any approvals.

Everyone was in a state of bewilderment.

Their reaction was expected.

Because even Jiang Fan had only truly committed to this idea after Great Venerable Xingyuan brought down Hunyuan Province and took away almost all the main forces of the Ancient Giants.

Before this, he could only imagine it as a distant future.

His expression was solemn as he said, "Great Venerable Xingyuan has taken all the Giant Kings of the Heavenly Realm, along with tens of thousands of Ancient Giants."

"This is the weakest the Heavenly Realm has been in ten thousand years—without exception!"

"We have been oppressed by the Heavenly Realm for ten thousand years. They have caused untold suffering and devastation to the living beings of Middle-earth time and again. This is a blood feud—if we don't avenge it now, when will we?"

His deafening voice shook everyone's hearts.

The experts who had endured the ravages of the great war came back to their senses; the suppressed battle intent in their eyes was reignited, and their hearts swelled with passion.

"This generation, not only resisted the Ancient Giants, but also had to counterattack the Heavenly Realm!"

"What a magnificent feat! What unparalleled glory!"

The Soul Transformation realm cultivators were moved, and the Sages were also stirred by the sudden plan.

Their ancestors poured their hearts and souls into their efforts but only dared to envision annihilating invading enemies within Middle-earth.

But their generation would directly strike at the Heavenly Realm!

The mere thought of it made their blood boil.

However, there were also dissenting voices.

Ancient Zen Buddha Lord put his palms together and said, "Amitābha Buddha. Middle-earth is in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt. This is precisely the time it needs to recuperate and recover."

"Rashly attacking the Heavenly Realm, if we are not careful, Middle-earth will fall into an abyss of eternal damnation."

The boiling hearts of the crowd also cooled down.

Indeed, the Heavenly Realm was weak, but Middle-earth had also suffered severe damage.

Almost all forces had suffered losses of nearly half, leaving Middle-earth with only slightly more than half its original strength.

"If we attack the Heavenly Realm again, and all our strength is used up there, will Middle-earth still have a future?"

Jiang Fan took out the Peace Monument and said with profound eyes, "This Peace Monument can only exempt our descendants a thousand years from now from one major war."

"What about those two thousand years from now? Three thousand years from now? And those in every subsequent millennium?"

"If we, this generation, do not completely eliminate the Heavenly Realm while it is at its weakest, what we leave for future generations will be endless disaster."

"Will our descendants then resent us for missing this opportune moment? Will they blame us for being Middle-earth's sinners?"

Hearing this, Ancient Zen Buddha Lord twirled his prayer beads and was left speechless.

Meanwhile, Sage Leimie, Sage Wuchen, Sage Lengyue, and Sage Tiangong, the four old Sages who had experienced the prosperous era a thousand years ago, felt a deep resonance in their hearts.

Their generation over-leveraged Middle-earth's resources, creating a period of great prosperity, but ultimately failed and consequently burdened the contemporary Middle-earth with extreme weakness and poverty.

Had it not been for the continuous emergence of heroic individuals, shining like stars, who turned the tide, Middle-earth would have already perished.

Sage Lengyue closed her eyes in shame. When she opened them again, her eyes were filled with determination, and she said with powerful resolve:

"Let's not leave endless troubles for future generations again!"

"If we can bring eternal peace to Middle-earth, what does it matter if our generation perishes in the effort?"

Sage Wuchen's eyes also blazed with fire, and he said, "The war that should have ended a thousand years ago—how many tragedies has its continuation into this generation caused?"

"If we don't annihilate the Heavenly Realm now, must we wait for the Ancient Giants to recover their strength and continue to harm our descendants?"

Sage Leimie sighed, looking up at the sky, and said, "The sinners of an era—can we bear that title again?"

The three Sages' resounding questions echoed across the sky, causing everyone to clench their fists in awe.

However, no one dared to speak first.

This expedition could very likely mean the sacrifice of Middle-earth's current generation of experts; those who supported it first might become historical sinners.

The entire hall fell silent.

The Sages looked at each other; surprisingly, none of them took the lead.

At this moment.

Someone spoke up.

But it wasn't from Taicang Province.

"Young Emperor Mountain seconds the motion."

Jiang Fan looked on in astonishment. He never expected that the first force in Middle-earth to second his motion would actually be the Young Emperor, with whom he had a feud!

With the Young Emperor taking the lead, the other forces quickly followed suit.

"Medicine God Hall agrees!"

"Moon Palace also agrees!"

"Divine Weapon Province agrees!"

"Myriad Demon Province agrees!"

"Taicang Province unconditionally agrees!"

All the forces present had agreed to the challenge, leaving only the strongest, Ancient Zen Buddha Lord, who was at the Two Calamity Realm.

"Amitābha Buddha." Ancient Zen Buddha Lord put his palms together, and after a long hesitation, said:

"The Buddha said, 'If I do not go to hell, who will?'"

"Buddha Kingdom is willing to fight once more for all living beings."

At this point, all the Sages of Middle-earth had agreed.

Counting Jiangshan Yipin Tower Master and Samsara Mountain Master, who had recently become Sages, along with the nine Great Wine Sacrificers, Middle-earth had a total of seventeen Sages. The Ancient Giants had seven Giant Emperors, and Middle-earth also had ten 'lesser sages', making the total number of combatants in this classification also seventeen.

The only variable was how many Asura Emperors the Dark Asura clan had.

A rumbling sound—

Suddenly, from the auspicious cloud that had not yet dispersed, nine divine steles resonated.

The auspicious cloud condensed into a line of inspiring words:

"Attacking the Heavenly Realm shall be considered equivalent to resisting the Ancient Giants."

This meant that after they achieved merit in the Heavenly Realm, the Merit Stele would bestow merit once again!

This made many Great Venerables who had not yet managed to become Sages overjoyed.

Great Venerable Silver Moon exclaimed excitedly, "Palace Master, I still have hope!"

"If the merit this time isn't enough, with another bestowal of merit, there will be great hope!"

The Sages were also overjoyed; they never expected that Jiang Fan's proposed expedition to the Heavenly Realm would also be rewarded with merit!

Ancient Zen Buddha Lord, who had just been a bit hesitant, revealed a relieved smile.

The Nascent Soul realm cultivators and the Soul Transformation realm cultivators who were not Great Venerables, having tasted the sweetness of merit, were also overjoyed.

This second chance to gain merit completely ignited their enthusiasm for the expedition to the Heavenly Realm!

Jiang Fan was also beaming with joy. Although he didn't need merit right now, the more the merrier.

If he accumulated enough, he wouldn't fear the troubles related to merit when he reached the Five Declines of Heaven and Man.

He announced loudly, "Furthermore, please rest assured, before the expedition, I will do everything in my power to secure Sage-realm reinforcements for Middle-earth."

"To ensure we destroy the Heavenly Realm in one decisive battle and completely eliminate the Ancient Giants!"

Hearing that there would be Sage-realm reinforcements, everyone became even more excited.

They felt as if they could already see themselves trampling through the Heavenly Realm.

Whoosh—

Beside Sage Lengyue, a figure suddenly teleported into existence.

Her immortal robes billowed; she stood on a patch of bright moonlight and held a small white rabbit in her arms.

Her appearance was incredibly beautiful, her temperament unique, possessing an indescribable classical charm, as if Chang'e from the moon had stepped out of a mythical storybook.

And she was no one else.

It was Chen Siling!

Or rather, she should now be called Moon Venerable!