The massive ballistae brought from Great Yi were immediately mounted atop the city walls, while all manner of war supplies were continuously placed in the most accessible and strategic locations. These ballistae had all been reforged using Yin-Yang Steel, making them several times more powerful than before. In fact, their destructive power surpassed even that of the God-Slaying Crossbows, and they could easily be regarded as an enlarged version of them.
Each ballista was already loaded with a massive bolt, glinting with a cold, lethal light—each one seemingly brimming with the breath of death, as if ready to deliver fatal news at any moment.
The vast army that had accompanied the city settled in quickly, turning the entirety of White Crow City into a massive military fortress.
The city soared through the sky, slowly but steadily. Beneath it, enormous Skeletal Nethercrows carried the ancient city on their backs, naturally propelling it forward. Though their speed wasn't extraordinary, it wasn't sluggish either. Standing on the city walls, one could take in the shifting scenery below, even glimpsing one battle city after another dotting the land like titanic war machines.
"All major factions have begun to garrison the battle cities. The number of races entering the battlefield this time is far greater than during the first campaign," said Zhuge Liang, standing beside Yi Tianxing, gently fanning himself with a feather fan.
White Crow City hovered in midair, shrouded in a layer of dark clouds. From below, only a dense mass of clouds was visible, effectively concealing the city unless one had special abilities. But from above, the battlefield below could be seen with absolute clarity.
Many battle cities had already been occupied by various races. Rather than fighting over them, most races chose to settle in peacefully. Even when multiple races entered a city together, they would immediately begin negotiating how to co-defend it against the demonic forces.
This time, no one wanted internal strife. All understood that their greatest enemy was the Eternal Night.
Facing an external invader, prior grudges had to be set aside. Enemies of old might now become vital allies in this new war. Every race exercised tremendous restraint. Cooperation, even among the unlikeliest of partners, was now commonplace—kobolds with goblins, vampires with angels, and countless lone cultivators without affiliations had joined the battlefield to fight.
This was the shared conviction of the Eternal World: not a single strong soul would retreat in the face of foreign aggression.
In matters of grave importance, none would become a burden.
To die on the battlefield was not shameful—it was glorious. It was the pinnacle of a warrior's honor.
"This proves that our Eternal World is growing stronger by the day," Yi Tianxing nodded. "Give it hundreds, even thousands of years, and we'll be dozens, even hundreds of times stronger than we are now."
Zhuge Liang's expression grew serious. "That's exactly why this war on the Divine-Demon Battlefield will be unimaginably brutal. Eternal Night knows just as well as we do that, given enough time, Eternal will give rise to an endless tide of powerhouses. If our world stabilizes, they will find it increasingly difficult to invade us."
"Thus, this is their chance to crush us before we mature. If Eternal loses this battle, Eternal Night will seize the battlefield entirely—securing the bridgehead between realms and using it as a launch point to invade our world in full force."
This battlefield was akin to a frontline military base. If Eternal Night captured it, they could begin mass incursions. This wasn't just war—it was a matter of survival.
Through countless past epochs, the Eternal World had resisted Eternal Night's invasions. Never once had they been fully conquered.
And that only made Eternal Night more eager, more desperate. They had to destroy Eternal before it could rise again.
This was why the coming war would be devastating beyond comprehension.
"The battlefield is too quiet. This feels like the calm before the storm," Yi Tianxing murmured. "And I doubt this peace will last much longer."
Though the land below was littered with bones, the sense of desolation was deceptive. Every warrior and race hoped that this eerie tranquility would linger just a bit longer.
Among the various battle cities, many human forces could be seen. Sect disciples moved in clusters, not as numerous as armies, but each possessed strong cultivation. The disparity in strength between sect disciples and most mundane cultivators was obvious.
Over the years, human factions across the Eternal World had come to realize that strength wasn't built solely through isolation. Many had opened up their cultivation methods to their militaries, though they still restricted access to the common folk—more out of practical limitations than stinginess. Resources were scarce, and maintaining a powerful army was already stretching capabilities thin.
Only those with true talent and means could acquire cultivation methods outside the military.
The armies brought to the battlefield naturally all possessed cultivation. To come here without it was suicide.
Only rare factions like Great Yi could field millions of elite soldiers—more than ten million Ninth-Rank Heaven Soldiers, each having reached the Fate Map Realm. Most other forces couldn't even dream of such a feat.
As for the battlefield's full size? No one knew.
How many battle cities existed? Impossible to count.
And the number of warriors? Incalculable.
They were everywhere—an unending sea of strength, too vast to grasp.
As time flowed, day turned to night. But the eerie stillness didn't make the soldiers complacent—on the contrary, it only heightened their vigilance. No one knew when Eternal Night's demonic legions would descend.
"This night sky feels rather cold," Yi Tianxing muttered, sharing fruits with Yao Yue and the others in the rear garden of White Crow City.
The sky above was bathed in icy moonlight—no stars, no clouds. Just an unsettling void.
"If you do see stars in the Divine-Demon Battlefield," Yi Tianxing added with a faint smile, "it's usually a bad sign."
"Look, husband—a meteor shower!" exclaimed Ao Qing, pointing to the sky.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, the sky twisted.
A hidden spatial tunnel opened silently, and out of it emerged countless streaks of light—meteors bursting forth like a torrential storm.
The night sky, once cold and empty, now blazed with dazzling brilliance.
Yet these meteors didn't fall—they spun erratically in the air, painting a mesmerizing, chaotic tableau.
"Meteor rain… the Eternal Night army is finally coming," Yi Tianxing said grimly.
He had seen this before: meteors falling like rain, heralding the arrival of a tide of Eternal Night troops, each meteor transforming into an interdimensional star gate, opening a path between realms.
This meteor shower was not a celestial gift—it was an omen of invasion.
"Yao Yue, stay here and rest. I'll go check the walls. A battle could break out at any moment."
"We're coming with you," said Gongsun Da Niang firmly. "We didn't come to the battlefield to sit idle. If war comes, we'll fight too. Don't forget—we are no weak women."
"Indeed, we've all stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm now. We are not weaklings," said Snake Queen, nodding.
"Yes! We can help you on the battlefield," Nie Xiaoqian chimed in.
They had come here to fight, not to be sheltered.