Annihilation
With a sharp flash of sword light, Jia Wenze's vision blurred, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, staining his blue robe black and red. The charred body of the chief Grass Witch Cult crashed onto the grass, headless.
Kang Dabao, somewhat alarmed, sighed. This Grass Witch Cult's magic was probably not as simple as he had initially imagined. Could it be that his family had truly inherited a barbarian shamanic tradition?
First, Chen Ye was cut into Foundation Establishment, and just now Jia Wenze was almost cut in two by the mouthparts of the chief priest's poisonous insect that was about to reach the Second Tier!
As for why he said "almost," Sect Leader Kang Da glanced at the burly swordsman who only had half a body left and sighed, "No wonder cultivators always try their best to cultivate their bloodline descendants; they are truly loyal."
Kang Dabao suddenly felt a pang of fear. He thought of the Shi Household. Shi Li was also such a Qi Refinement. Fortunately, the Shi Household was wiped out by that old bastard Huo Bing!
Otherwise, Laozi's Chongming Sect might have been wiped out by the Shi Household!
With morale low, the Grass Witch Cult's grand formation did not last long before it was breached by the combined attack of disciples from various factions, led by the burly swordsman.
The people in the formation immediately scattered, with only the chief priest of the Grass Witch Cult leading thirty or forty disciples with a little fighting spirit in a desperate struggle, almost allowing him to turn the tide!
Ma De, a seasoned Qi Refinement barely a hundred years old, faced a group of attackers and managed to cut the burly swordsman in two, dismember the beautiful woman in palace attire into a human pig, and terrify the two members of the Shen Household, causing them to flee from the formation.
Ugh, those two scoundrels are disgusting; they're running off with their own family affairs so quickly.
Leaving aside those two unappetizing members of the Shen Household.
To save Jia Wenze's life, the loyalty of that rough swordsman alone was not enough. Fortunately, Heng Yiban, who came to help, had a Second-Tier Lower-Grade Fire Dragon talisman. Otherwise, it would be hard to say whether Jia Wenze's flying sword could even be launched.
This shows that not just anyone who wields a flying sword can be called a sword cultivator.
Although the chief priest of the Grass Witch Cult was powerful, he certainly couldn't be more extraordinary than Chen Ye. Yet, he still almost killed Jia Wenze, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, when surrounded and attacked by a group of Late Qi Refinement cultivators.
It is clear that Jia Wenze is probably at the bottom even among those at the same level of Green Leaf Foundation Establishment, no wonder his sect leader sent him to do these odd jobs.
Unfortunately, he couldn't even handle this small task well. After returning, he'll likely be even less influential among the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Book and Sword Gate Foundation Establishment.
"Luckily, I didn't have time to go up! I shouldn't have been so eager to stand out; I knew when to back down!"
Kang Dabao winked at his fellow disciples, and together with the Han-surname disciple from Hemu Dao, they ganged up on the lone Grass Witch Cult cultivator.
The job was both easy and safe, and the people carried more and more Storage Bag, proving very effective.
Chongming Sect and his entourage made a fortune, while Heng Yiban, watched with burning envy.
But he was helpless. Kang Dabao must have made a great contribution in this battle. Without his idea of surrounding the enemy from three sides and leaving one side intact, the Grass Witch Cult's great formation would not have been able to be broken.
The death of the chief priestess had a tremendous impact on the remaining disciples of the Grass Witch Cult. This old cultivator was a highly respected figure within the cult, and even the sect leader, Chen Ye, treated him with great deference.
With his death, the Grass Witch Cult has truly lost its pillar of strength!
"The High Priest Elder is dead too!" A young monk from the Grass Witch Cult wiped away tears with his sleeve.
"I've surrendered! I can't win anymore, so what's the point of fighting? I'll become a mine slave! I'll become a furnace cauldron! I'll accept it all!" A fat, big-eared cultivator threw down his Swordsmanship, and collapsed to the ground with a sob in his voice.
"Kill!" The cultivator, blinded by rage, had no other thoughts but to cut down his opponent.
The sounds of battle didn't cease until evening. Corpses littered the ground. Kang Dabao, panting heavily, used a bone club he'd pulled from some Grass Witch Cult disciple's Storage Bag to prop himself up. His fellow disciples were also exhausted.
Another unexpected turn of events occurred during the recent massacre of the Grass Witch Cult.
Jia Wenze, the only Foundation Establishment True Cultivator on the New Cloud Alliance's side, suffered a severe relapse of his injuries. Unable to suppress them, he Swift Movement returned to the Book and Sword Gate to seek help for recuperation.
Heng Yiban to a critical mission, and with the remaining members of the New Cloud Alliance, he wiped out most of the remaining enemies of the Grass Witch Cult.
Unexpectedly, while they were besieging the Treasure Pavilion and the Library, the Rogue Cultivator who had been brought in to fill the trenches also turned against them. A few hundred people were led by several assassins to gather and make a fuss. Heng Yiban was caught off guard and the New Cloud Alliance disciples he was leading were almost pushed back into the fray.
In the chaos, even Zi Maple Valley Shen Jin was stung on the neck by a venomous scorpion that appeared out of nowhere. After Shen Tu to treat him, the venom entered his brain and he died from festering sores all over his body.
Fortunately, Chongming Sect and the others advanced and retreated together, and not only did they not suffer any losses, but Jiang Qing also used his flying sword to take away many relatively valuable Storage Bag.
After a brief stalemate, the two sides turned around and an even more brutal battle began.
With their superior numbers and the help of disciples from the Grass Witch Cult, the hundreds of Rogue Cultivator fought fiercely against the remaining twenty or thirty cultivators of the New Cloud Alliance.
However, as time went by, the Rogue Cultivator, who had gradually gained the upper hand, had new ideas. Some fled, while others turned back to plunder the Grass Witch Cult. Even most of the Grass Witch Cult disciples abandoned their desire for revenge and fled.
In the end, the New Cloud Alliance gained a significant advantage and seized the opportunity to completely defeat the Rogue Cultivator.
This caused great distress to the leading Rogue Cultivator; being caught in the crossfire is not always a good thing.
These outstanding figures among the Rogue Cultivator took the lead and became targets of attention, yet they didn't reap as much benefit as those who followed behind and reaped the rewards.
After quelling the unrest among the Rogue Cultivator, the cultivators of the New Cloud Alliance showed no sign of joy.
With such heavy casualties, the Grass Witch Cult's treasury must have been significantly depleted due to the looting by the fleeing Rogue Cultivator.
Heng Yiban, who was appointed to the post in a time of crisis, was furious. After the battle, he captured all the surrendered rogue Rogue Cultivator and prepared to take them back for punishment. It was obvious that they would not have a good end; they would either be used as fertilizer in the spirit fields or become mining slaves.
High-grade spirit ore can't be obtained by just employing worthless martial artists; Qi Refinement stage mining slaves have always been a scarce commodity.
Sect Leader Kang Da stood aside, watching coldly, and sighed, "Why are Rogue Cultivator called Rogue Cultivator? It's because they have no organization. Without organization, they're just a pile of loose sand!"
Kang Dabao remembered this lesson, and only felt a little better after taking a big gulp of the spirit wine he had somehow found in some dead man's Storage Bag.
Looking down at the corpses scattered everywhere, he felt a sense of unease. After this incident, the reputation of the New Cloud Alliance among the Rogue Cultivator of Cloud Horn Prefecture was likely to be ruined. However, most of the criticism would likely be directed at the Book and Sword Gate, since they were the leaders.
They deserved it; if Heng Yiban hadn't pressured the Rogue Cultivator too much during the siege of the Treasure Pavilion, these people might not have dared to rebel.
Heng Yiban looked very unpleasant at this moment, but he still managed to act with propriety.
The few Rogue Cultivator who hadn't yet had a chance to turn against him were severely punished, regardless of whether they had tried their best in the previous battle. They were used as examples, which should slightly improve the reputation of the Book and Sword Gate Sect among Rogue Cultivator.
The remaining task should logically be to search for the remaining enemies, but the New Cloud Alliance cultivators who remained here had no interest in that; they were all eyeing the Grass Witch Cult's treasure pavilion with envy.
After another round of discussion, the various parties selected a few unlucky individuals to search for the remaining enemy forces and agreed on quotas for each party.
The Book and Sword Gate produced one Foundation Establishment this time, accounting for 50% of the Heng Yiban's expression did not improve. With Jia Wenze seriously injured this time, the Book and Sword Gate will definitely suffer a loss.
If anything else goes wrong, we'll suffer a huge loss. Even if Jia Wenze is a beginner Foundation Establishment, he's still a genuine Foundation Establishment, capable of holding his own in any small force.
If they were to perish here, it would be a tremendous loss for the Book and Sword Gate, a long-established Foundation Establishment sect.
Secondly, Zi Maple Valley should have sent the most people, but the team leader, who was in charge of Shen Tu, was quite magnanimous. He stated that everyone was there to help Zi Maple Valley and voluntarily withdrew from the distribution of spoils, which won him some goodwill from those present.
Kang Dabao glanced at the man again. Compared to when he saw him mingling with Lady Chong at the market last time, this man seemed much more mature.
Then, Chongming Sect will get 20%, Jade Moon Shan Household and Hemu Dao will each get 15%.
The fact that Chongming Sect, who contributed the fewest people and suffered almost no injuries, received 20% of the spoils displeased the Jade Moon Shan Household, but they dared not express it loudly.
Jiang Qing's flying sword was very conspicuous on the battlefield, and Yuan Jin's Tiger Sha Staff was equally fierce, killing a lone late-stage cultivator of the Grass Witch Cult.
The Shan Household was unlucky in this battle. The beautiful woman in palace attire leading the team was mutilated and several Late Qi Refinement cultivators were also killed. They felt that they had no one to fight against Jiang Qing at the moment and were not qualified to say anything tough.
Hemu Dao naturally had no complaints; his family was already receiving the same share as Foundation Establishment sects, which was more than enough.
For nearly two hundred years after the chaos of war, the Grass Witch Cult enjoyed immense prestige in Pingrong County. Although none of them had ever produced Foundation Establishment True Cultivator during their heyday, they could still be described as having a well-established lineage. Their treasury was far superior to that of the few small bandit sects that Kang Dabao had wiped out.
They found over 11,000 Spirit Stone, including more than a dozen rare mid-grade Spirit Stone.
Inside the Scripture Pavilion, there is a Vast-Tier Lower-Grade Cultivation Method, more than thirty Desolate Tier, as well as hundreds of books on alchemy, artifact crafting, talismans, array formations, and various cultivation arts, and a dozen miscellaneous books.
Aside from the various spirit rice and vegetables in the storeroom, the treasure pavilion contains nearly a hundred unused magical Law Artifact and puppets of all ranks.
Kang Dabao didn't get the Spirit Artifact he was hoping for, not even a single Pseudo Spirit Artifact. However, he did have several eye-catching Second Tier materials that could be considered precious.
Of course, the impoverished Sect Leader Kang Da was extremely envious, while the disciples from the other Foundation Establishment sects did not show much joy.
Firstly, their Grass Witch Cult is much broader. What is precious to Kang Dabao is nothing special to them.
Secondly, even if the bulk of the spoils from this battle were to be returned to the sect, they wouldn't get much of it, and it wouldn't even be enough to offset the grief of losing their fellow disciples.
It took another two days to check these materials. The Shan Household had a son-in-law with a thin beard who was proficient in mathematics. He quickly calculated the approximate value by clicking away on the abacus.
These powerful clans find it much easier to recruit talent than the Sect Leader Kang Da, as long as they are willing to marry off their daughters, they can easily recruit any kind of talent.
Kang Dabao, along with a Han surnamed cultivator from Hemu Dao, shamelessly divided up all the First Tier books in the Scripture Pavilion.
He then led his three junior brothers to dismantle the Black Water Poison Wood Formation, which was already mostly damaged. After begging and pleading for a thousand Spirit Stone, he hurriedly led his junior brothers back to the Chongming Sect, fearing that they would be dragged into any more grudges and feuds.
--
A gentle night breeze blew, Cold Moon hung high in the sky.
This mountain valley is very secluded, with only the occasional echo of mountain birds' calls.
A large, fat owl perched on a treetop, its big amber eyes glaring at a huge tiger carcass on the ground. Then it tilted its head and looked curiously at a man on the ground whose body was tightly bound by silk-like magical Law Artifact.
It looks somewhat silly and cute, not at all like a bird of prey capable of tearing tigers and leopards apart.
The man, tightly bound by the silken Law Artifact, was filled with terror. He stammered and begged Chen Ye for mercy, "Sect Leader Chen! Sect Leader Chen, please remember our brotherly bond, remember the Shi Household, remember me!"
The old man with a full head of white hair opposite the man did not answer. At this moment, the mountain valley was frighteningly dark. There was no campfire or lamp. The old man's eyes were like two green oil lamps.
He stared intently at the Jade Slip in his hand, gently chewing over each word before swallowing it into his mind.
He murmured softly, word by word, over and over again, and slowly closed his eyes.
An image of a withered old man appeared in his mind, stirring a large, steaming cauldron with a girl's leg bone, grinning wildly at him. "Haha. Junior brother, junior brother, even I can't do it, how can you, this mule, possibly succeed? You mule!"
Chen Ye suddenly opened his eyes, the illusion in his mind shattering. He stood in the mountain hollow and roared, "I can do it! I can do it! I will Foundation Establishment! I will Foundation Establishment! Not to mention Foundation Establishment! Golden Core, Nascent Soul! I can do it too!"
He stood up shakily, resolutely reached out, and reached for the body of the man in front of him. No matter how the latter struggled, he could only watch helplessly as ten withered and shriveled fingers easily pierced his chest.
The man on the ground watched helplessly as bright red blood flowed from his fingernails, while the old man uttered obscure and incomprehensible incantations.
"I, Shi Xiao, am going to die! The Shi Household of Shen County is finished!" Tears streamed down the man's face, and he cried out loudly like a child.
The heart-wrenching wails did not stir any emotion in Chen Ye. The flowing blood, seeping through the black light on his fingernails, continuously entered Chen Ye's body.
An indescribable pain appeared on the old man's resolute face, but the incantation he was chanting remained unaffected, and his tone and rhythm did not change at all.
Until the mysterious light on the fingernails turned from black to red, it was seen that it swiftly made small cuts on the inner court, Dadu, Taibai, Gongsun, Shenmai, and Yongquan acupoints of both feet, and scalding blood gushed out with white steam, scalding and killing a large area of surrounding vegetation.
"The final step!" Chen Ye's eyes widened suddenly. He pulled out a sharp ox-splitting knife and grabbed Shi Xiao. He first opened the latter's nasal root, then dislocated his jaw, pulled out his tongue, and with a slash of the knife, two spots of blood flowed out. Chen Ye gently touched the Essence Blood with his finger and used his spiritual power to envelop it. With a twist of the knife, he pierced Shi Xiao's chest and heart.
A quarter of an hour later, Chen Ye had completely extracted the Essence Blood from the three places. Shi Xiao died here with his eyes open. With the destruction of the Grass Witch Cult, the Pingrong Shi Household, who had been affiliated with the Grass Witch Cult for nearly a hundred years, was also wiped out.
At this moment, the blood-changing technique "Change Yin" was not yet complete, and Chen Ye's chanting rhythm began to slow down.
But he still dared not stop. He took out another large cauldron, inside which was a dark-colored pill the size of a finger joint, visibly radiating resentment. At this moment, Chen Ye ignited a spiritual fire in his hand, and the cauldron emitted heat. Three streams of Essence Blood enveloped the pill and slowly seeped into it, suppressing most of the resentment.
As the steam in the cauldron increased and the pill turned from black to red, Chen Ye didn't hesitate. He opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing the scalding hot pill.
The blood-changing technique was suddenly interrupted. Chen Ye's expression changed drastically. He endured the excruciating pain, which felt like swallowing raw gold juice, closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and barely breathed.
After a while, the owl flapped its wings and leaped down from the treetop. It hopped back and forth between Chen Ye and Shi Xiao for quite some time before tilting its head, turning around, and pouncing on the tiger corpse to feast on it.
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