The main camp of the Sacred Dragon Divine Dynasty was adorned with banners that blotted out the sun, and its murderous aura soared to the heavens.
Organized armies surged in from all directions like swarms of ants.
Behind them were the surrounding people who were being chained together, whipped, and driven away by soldiers.
The people included men, women, and children, all of them emaciated and with despair in their eyes.
Under the soldiers' shouts and whippings, they were pushed in batches into a huge pit that was thousands of feet in diameter and bottomless.
"Please... spare my child..."
"Mother! Mother! I don't want to die!"
"You damned Holy Dragon Dogs! You will all die a horrible death!"
The people wept and wailed, kneeling and begging for mercy, only to be met with the soldiers' merciless blades and sinister smiles.
Blood stained the earth red.
The bones were piled up like mountains.
Meanwhile, Rogue Cultivator would come one after another, carrying bloody heads of members of the Li Family to claim their rewards.
These people boasted to each other about today's "harvest," as if they were reaping livestock, not human lives.
"I had some good luck today. I killed three Li Family brats and got an Earth Tier Cultivation Method in return!"
"Hey, I killed five and got an Upper-Grade Spiritual Artifact in return!"
"Once I've gathered enough heads, I'm going to go to the Sacred Dragon Divine Dynasty and become an official!"
The Commander’s Tent.
King Zhou Xuan, dressed in black armor, sat in the main seat with a gloomy expression.
He had just received news that Zhou Lie, Mid Heavenly Immortal, had been beheaded amidst a vast army.
"Waste!"
Zhou Xuan shattered the table in front of him with a single palm strike, his eyes radiating a palpable Killing Intent.
"That good-for-nothing Zhou Lie, even with the cover of the Military Formation, was still easily killed."
"Your Prince, please calm your anger!"
Below, the generals were silent, but their eyes were filled with anger.
"Your Prince, the Li Family is courting death."
"Please Prince the order, Your Highness. This humble general is willing to lead troops to raze the Li Family to the ground and avenge General Zhou."
"The general is also willing to go!"
"Raze the Li Family to the ground! Slaughter those bastards!"
Zhou Xuan raised his hand, silencing the clamor of the crowd, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes:
"The Li Family Sword Formation is extremely powerful."
Even I, when I forced my way in, almost fell into a trap. One must not force one's way in.
One of the Deputy General, Wang Xuan, couldn't help but say:
"Your Prince, are we just going to let this go?"
"Never mind?"
Zhou Xuan sneered:
How is that possible?
"The Li Family Sword Formation is powerful, but it also consumes a great deal of energy."
It's not something a few Heavenly Immortal beings could control together; it only barely operates thanks to the combined efforts of hundreds of thousands of members of the Li Family.
"The reason why the Li Family is in a hurry to gather the descendants of various branches is not because they want to use them to deal with my Sacred Dragon Divine Dynasty."
After all, these branches Cultivation; coming here would be useless.
"What they want is to maintain control of the Sword Formation with a massive number of people."
He paused, a cunning glint in his eyes:
"This is why I issued the Bounty Order, ordering Rogue Cultivator to intercept and kill the Li Family's reinforcements."
"The purpose is to reduce their numbers, and at the same time—reduce the power of the Sword Formation."
Wang Xuan frowned:
"Even though we tried our best to intercept them, a large number of Li Family Disciples still entered Li Family territory."
The number of people in the Li Family who can control Sword Formation is still increasing.
"Wouldn't that make it even more impossible to break through the Sword Formation?"
The other generals, upon hearing this, also silently worried.
Some even said:
"Your Prince, why don't we ask His Your Majesty for help?"
"Your Majesty's personal presence is assured; we can surely break through the enemy's defenses in one fell swoop!"
"Shut up!"
Zhou Xuan sternly rebuked:
"His Your Majesty is currently focusing all his efforts on breaking through to the Half-step Supreme; he must not be disturbed!"
As Xu Xinwu said, Zhou Xuanqing was the weakest among the Three Divine Dynasties.
Although his own strength was at the Peak Heavenly Immortal, he still had not broken through to the Half-step Supreme.
Only when fighting on the homeland of the Sacred Dragon Divine Dynasty, with the help of the nation's Fortune and the power of all its people, can it unleash its Half-step Supreme Combat Power.
This is also why he dared not go to the Soul Refining Sect alone.
Because once he leaves the territory of the Sacred Dragon Divine Dynasty, he will be unable to rely on the National Destiny and the power of the people, and his strength will be greatly reduced.
Zhou Xuan took a deep breath, suppressing his agitation, and slowly said:
He glanced at his somewhat bewildered subordinates and slowly spoke:
"Don't worry, I already have a way to break the formation."
Wang Xuan asked anxiously:
What method is it?
Zhou Xuan remained silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the wailing crowd outside the tent, his voice low and deep:
"Do you think I hunted down Li Family Members simply to reduce the number of people in the Li Family who could operate the Sword Formation?"
"Furthermore, did I order the army to drive all the surrounding civilians here just to slaughter these defenseless ants?"
He asked a series of questions, and Wang Xuan and the others looked puzzled.
Suddenly, Wang Xuan seemed to realize something, and his pupils contracted sharply:
"General, are you not about to use... Bloodline Curse?"
"Exactly."
Zhou Xuan nodded, a cruel glint flashing in his eyes:
"I ordered the hunting down of a large number of Li Family Members Li Family in order to obtain their Essence Blood, Soul Flame, and to use the power of their bloodline to curse and kill Li Family!"
A silence fell over the tent.
Someone said in a trembling voice:
"General, is this matter... contrary to the principles of Heaven and Earth?"
This method requires the sacrifice of a million souls; what about the people outside the gate...?
Before he could finish speaking, Wang Xuan interrupted him sharply:
"Womanly compassion!"
"What's wrong with killing a few civilians for the sake of the greater cause?"
"Anyway, they weren't subjects of my Sacred Dragon Divine Dynasty, so their deaths are no big deal!"
This statement was echoed by most people.
"General Wang is right. Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles!"
"It is an honor for mere ants to offer themselves as sacrifices for my holy dragon's great cause!"
The soft-hearted person turned pale, and faced with the inevitable trend, ultimately dared not speak again.
Wang Xuan asked again, puzzled:
"General, although the Bloodline Curse is incredibly powerful, it is only effective against cultivators below the True Immortal."
As for those True Immortal and Heavenly Immortal, their immense power is enough to suppress the Curse's force.
That's enough.
Zhou Xuan said calmly:
"How many True Immortal and Heavenly Immortal does the Li Family have?"
"This Curse, if it hunts down all those below the True Immortal, even if it doesn't kill them, will render them incapable of Combat Power for a short period."
"At that time, with hundreds of thousands of the Li Family's lower-level cultivators rendered Combat Power, the Sword Formation's effectiveness will be greatly reduced, or even rendered inoperable, by just a few Heavenly Immortal and True Immortal."
Wang Xuan's eyes lit up:
"The commander is brilliant!"
"At that time, the Li Family Sword Formation will collapse without a fight, and our army can advance unimpeded and raze the Li Family Ancestral Land to the ground!"
The generals in the tent all praised him, their eyes filled with fervor.
"The General's strategy is brilliant!"
"Crush the Li Family and seize their treasure!"
Inside the tent, a chorus of praise and cheers erupted.
Outside the tent, the people wailed, pleaded, and cursed as living people were pushed into the Mass Grave.
Blood stained the earth red.
The bones were piled up like mountains.
Zhou Xuan slowly got up, walked to the tent entrance, and looked at the Li Family Ancestral Land shrouded in the Sword Formation in the distance, his eyes flashing with cold light.
He turned his head and asked a Black-Robed Cultivator beside him, whose face was sinister and whose aura was eerie:
"Bloodline Curse, how are the preparations going?"
The Black-Robed Cultivator bowed, his voice hoarse like a viper's forked tongue:
"Reporting to the Commander, the heads, Essence Blood, and Soul Flame of the Li Family members have been collected almost completely."
Two hundred thousand more living souls are needed; they should be gathered before midnight tomorrow.
Zhou Xuan nodded slowly, a cruel smile curving his lips:
"Good."
Tomorrow will be the day the Li Family is destroyed.
A glint of fanaticism flashed in the Black-Robed Cultivator's eyes as he lowered his voice:
"General, this Bloodline Curse, sacrificed with the lives of a million, will be more powerful than ever before."
"Anyone below the level of True Immortal will be either dead or crippled."
Even True Immortal would suffer a significant loss of Combat Power and damage to their Divine Soul.
"At that time, the Li Family Sword Formation will collapse without a fight, and our army can advance unimpeded, raze their Ancestral Land to the ground, and seize their treasures!"
The cold light in Zhou Xuan's eyes intensified:
"Well done."
"After this is accomplished, I will reward you handsomely."
"Thank you, Commander!"