Dijiang immediately felt the circulation of his mana grow a little smoother. He knew it was because they had sheltered these million living beings, making their own providence even more abundant.
Only Dijiang, who constantly monitored himself, noticed it at once. Zhu Jiuyin and the others had not noticed anything for the moment after bringing back these million living beings.
Once the grand formation had been set up, a million living beings might have seemed numerous, but compared to the area covered by the formation, they appeared sparse.
Therefore, they could gather in even more living beings.
And though their first attempt had gone smoothly, it did not mean they could bring every group of gathered beings back to Mount Buzhou without a hitch.
Having tasted the benefits of providence's blessing, Dijiang called on them to split up once more and leave Mount Buzhou after settling the first batch of living beings.
This time, their target was clearer: they specifically sought out larger alliances of Rogue Cultivators or settlements of living beings struggling to survive in the cracks between the three clans.
For the first few thousand years, everything went according to plan.
After all, the Primordial World's attention was fixed on the earth-shaking war between the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, and Qilin Clan. So long as they did not actively touch the three clans' core interests, no one cared that several Mid Zenith Heaven Ancestral Witches with heaven-defying combat power were taking away some lowly ants.
However, if you often walked by the river, how could your shoes remain dry?
At the border between the Primordial World's Eastern Continent and Central Continent stood an immortal mountain named Sunset Glow Mountain.
It had originally gathered tens of millions of Rogue Cultivators, birds, beasts, and other creatures unwilling to be swept into the tribulation. It could be considered a force of no small size.
Yet when Qiang Liang, Xi Zi, and She Bishi arrived at Sunset Glow Mountain, the sight before them made their eyes split with fury.
There was no immortal aura curling through the air, no peace or serenity—only soaring blood-red light and endless wails!
Hundreds of thousands of Dragon Clan troops had surrounded Sunset Glow Mountain so tightly that not even water could seep through, carrying out a one-sided slaughter too horrible to witness.
"Have these loaches gone mad? These Rogue Cultivators never provoked them!"
Qiang Liang's eyes were wide with rage as Purple Firmament Divine Thunder leaped wildly across his body.
At a glance, he could tell that the state of these Dragon Clan troops was terribly wrong.
Their bloodshot eyes gleamed with an eerie blackness. What radiated from them was no longer pure dragon might and the Water Law, but an incomparably cold, violent black qi filled with a desire for destruction!
Leading them was a Late Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal elder of the Dragon Clan. Wielding a blood-dripping halberd, he was madly massacring several Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Rogue Cultivators from Sunset Glow Mountain, every strike accompanied by cruel, manic laughter.
"Their minds have been completely twisted by some kind of power."
Xi Zi closed her eyes and sensed the chaotic aura between heaven and earth, her expression grave. "This black qi is even more evil than the Tribulation Aura of the great tribulation. It is devouring the resentment and souls of the dead!"
"Who cares what it is? Killing people right in front of us grandpas? You're courting death!"
Qiang Liang roared, unable to restrain himself any longer. His entire body transformed into a violet-blue pillar of lightning that pierced heaven and earth, crashing down upon that Late Daluo Dragon Clan elder.
"Boom!"
Lightning exploded. The Dragon Clan elder was blasted several steps back by the sudden attack, the black scales across his body cracking inch by inch. Yet he seemed incapable of feeling pain. Instead, he turned his head and fixed Qiang Liang with those pitch-black, hollow eyes.
"Hehehe... Mid Zenith Heaven blood food is even more delicious!"
The Dragon Clan elder let out a bone-chilling cackle. Rather than retreating, he charged forward, swinging his halberd as he lunged at Qiang Liang.
"Courting death!"
Qiang Liang clenched his fists, and the Thunder Law formed two massive thunder hammers that smashed fiercely into the Dragon Clan elder.
At the same time, Xi Zi and She Bishi moved as well.
Xi Zi transformed into countless nets of lightning, instantly covering tens of thousands of Dragon Clan soldiers who were carrying out the slaughter. Violent electrical power scorched them black.
She Bishi opened his mouth and spewed a skyful of miserable green poison rain. The moment it fell upon the Dragon Clan soldiers, it corroded wounds so deep that bone showed through.
Had they been an ordinary Dragon Clan army, such devastating attacks from three Ancestral Witches would have long since broken them and sent them fleeing in all directions.
But something bizarre happened.
The Dragon Clan soldiers who had been charred or corroded twitched for only a moment after falling to the ground before dense black qi poured from their wounds.
Then, like corpses risen from the dead, they climbed back to their feet. Even with arms and legs missing, even with only their last breath remaining, they still lunged madly at Xi Zi and She Bishi, biting and clawing!
Several Dragon Clan commanders at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal level even chose to self-destruct without hesitation after She Bishi's poison rain drove them into a corner!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Amid violent explosions, terrifying shockwaves from the self-destructions swept in every direction, mixed with that eerie black qi. Not only did they blast the surrounding Rogue Cultivators into blood mist, they also forced She Bishi and Xi Zi back again and again.
"These bastards aren't afraid of death at all! That black qi can pollute the Primordial Spirit!"
She Bishi's expression darkened. He had accidentally been touched by a thread of black qi just now, and his Primordial Spirit had immediately felt a needle-like stabbing pain. Had he not promptly forced it out with the Weather Law, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Qiang Liang, don't get drawn into a prolonged fight! Big Brother said to run the moment we encounter trouble! Take the remaining living beings and withdraw!"
Xi Zi shouted. With a savage tear of both hands toward the sky, she summoned raging lightning from the nine heavens and ten lands, turning it into a sea of thunder and fire that forcibly cut off the frenzied Dragon Clan army.
Though Qiang Liang was fighting in stifled frustration, he knew what mattered most.
With one hammer blow, he knocked back the Late Daluo Dragon Clan elder and cursed, "Consider yourself lucky, you loach!"
Then he turned and swept his sleeve. Violent thunder power formed a vast net that covered heaven and earth, scooping up all the several million surviving living beings of Sunset Glow Mountain.
"Go!"
The three of them did not linger. They transformed into three streams of light, tore through space, and fled madly in the direction of Mount Buzhou.
The Dragon Clan elder tried to give chase, but the sea of thunder and fire Xi Zi had left behind blocked him firmly. He could only let out an unwilling roar before turning to continue slaughtering the living beings who had not been taken away in time.
Because Qiang Liang and the others had intervened, word spread of the strange Dragon Clan, wreathed in black qi, slaughtering living beings.
Within the Spirit-Gathering Formation on Mount Buzhou.
Space rippled violently, and Qiang Liang's group of three tumbled out in a miserable state.
"Cough, cough..."
Qiang Liang coughed heavily twice, a trace of purple blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
A bone-deep wound ran along his right arm. Eerie black qi lingered around its edges, impossible to dispel, constantly eating away at his flesh.
Though Xi Zi and She Bishi bore no external wounds, their faces were also pale, clearly showing that they had expended a great deal.
"What happened?!"
Dijiang, who had already returned, instantly sensed that something was wrong. With a flash, he appeared before the three of them.
Houtu, Xuanming, and the other Ancestral Witches who had remained at Mount Buzhou also rushed over. Seeing Qiang Liang and the others in such a wretched state, all of them were greatly shocked.
"Big Brother, we ran into a hard bone."
Gritting his teeth, Qiang Liang recounted in detail what had happened at Sunset Glow Mountain, as well as the bizarre state of those Dragon Clan troops.
"Fearless of death, self-destruction, black qi that pollutes the Primordial Spirit..."
Before you continue