The battle raged from dusk until dawn the next day.
In an ordinary rout, the Black Heaven Cult's followers would have scattered soon after losing their leaders. It never should have taken this long. After all, only a thousand or so people were fighting, even if each was unusually strong.
But three elders of the Supreme Clarity Sect had laid formations around the edge of the sect's outer grounds, blocking the cultists' retreat.
With nowhere to run, the Black Heaven Cult's followers fought all the harder, inflicting casualties on both the Supreme Clarity Sect and the martial artists.
It showed why ancient Chinese siege tactics called for surrounding three sides and leaving one open.
But every situation was different. The decision to turn this battle into a war of annihilation had been made for strategic reasons.
These cultists were no good—just look at the peripheral martial artists who had slaughtered villages and abducted children. Even if they escaped this disaster, they would never mend their ways. Most likely, they would gather again and bring the Black Heaven Cult back to life.
And the Black Heaven Cult's leader was still alive! He had taken a group of experts to launch a surprise attack on Penglai Pavilion.
Bai Xiaowen directed the martial artists while Chen Rong commanded the Supreme Clarity Sect's disciples. It took them most of the night to break the cultists' resistance. They spent the rest of it searching the mountain for fugitives.
By morning, all eight Black Heaven Cult camps had been destroyed. More than half of its thousand-plus followers were dead, and over three hundred had been captured alive.
Another two hundred or so had fled in scattered groups. Cowards with no stomach for a fight, they had slipped away as soon as things turned bad, escaping the