Tonight was the longest night in the history of Great River Market.
Several thousand independent cultivators, whether willingly or unwillingly, had all been swept into a chaotic melee.
No one knew how many had seen decades of bitter cultivation reduced to nothing overnight.
Nor did anyone know how many lucky souls would receive a grand cultivation windfall, taking a solid step forward on their long road of cultivation.
Luo Chen only knew that when the smoke cleared and the sky turned pale with dawn,
dense piles of corpses lay at his feet.
Some of the bodies remained intact, their faces still faintly recognizable.
Others had been mangled beyond recognition. If not for the Mountain Shattering Gang iron plaques they wore, no one could have identified them.
And that was already considered fortunate.
The most miserable among them could not even have their remains pieced together. Under the bombardment of spells and Magic Tools, their corpses had vanished without a trace.
Gu Cai Yi's face was pale, Granny Yuan kept coughing, Murong Qinglian was held in Qin Liangchen's arms as one of his sleeves hung empty, and more than twenty Qi Refinement Cultivators—all of them had their eyes fixed on Luo Chen.
They watched as he crouched down and lifted the white cloth.
One familiar face after another came into view.
The first one lying there was so familiar that his voice seemed to still echo in Luo Chen's ears.
Yet the terror and unwillingness on that face remained heartbreaking even after an entire night had passed.
"Elder Si Kong, may you have a safe journey."
Luo Chen reached out and closed those eyes that had refused to shut in death.
He rose to his feet, and Zhou Yuanli immediately stepped forward to report the situation.
"In last night's battle, the