Chapter 506 - 475: Arrived

Chapter 506: Chapter 475: Arrived

Within the seventeen-li-long, narrow mountain path of Ghost Mother Peak, a total of thirty-four Golden Core cultivators, over two thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and countless Qi Refining Cultivators from both sides had been crammed into the battlefield since the fighting began.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a full sixty percent of them were already dead.

Four nearby mountain ridges had completely collapsed, razed to the ground.

The mountain path, once so narrow that only two people could pass, had virtually become a grand thoroughfare.

Within this thoroughfare, one could see nothing but shredded flesh, internal organs, spilled intestines, and severed limbs. There were even hundreds of Celestial Ghost Bats, killed after being swept into the chaos while defending their nests. Amidst the churning bubbles and boiling gore, the scene resembled a gruesome hot pot, with cultivators as the ingredients.

Generally speaking, a slaughter this brutal is rare.

Not because it’s impossible.

It’s because cultivators are human, too. They feel joy and sorrow, fear and terror; it is in their nature to seek gain and avoid loss. For the forces of the Star-Picking Sect, once they entered the mountain path, the only way out was forward.

But they were blocked at the pass by Meng Qianxun, Chen Xi, and the others.

If these attackers had been unified, they might have broken through in a single, concerted charge. But these cultivators hailed from all corners, united only by their desire for plunder. They flung out their Magic, Talismans, and Magical Artifacts indiscriminately.

It was clear they thought the more chaos, the better; reaping friend and foe alike was the only way to maximize their own gains.

Those caught in the middle had no path of retreat and could only charge forward with all their might.

Did Meng Qianxun and his allies have a path of retreat?

Yes!

But while the dozen or so Golden Core cultivators like them held the front, the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining Cultivators behind them were their own juniors and brethren. There were even many instances of fathers and sons fighting side-by-side, like Meng Qianxun and Meng Changtu.

They didn’t care if the Primordial Sect could be defended. What they cared about was that if they retreated, their families and loved ones would be crushed by the oncoming tide.

They could not retreat.

That was why so many had died in such a short time. And with so many dead so quickly, even True Master Xuehai was beside himself with a strange sort of joy—he had so much to gain, he worried his Cultivation Realm wasn’t high enough to absorb it all fast enough.

But for the cultivators from Celestial Ghost City’s side, their nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Their True Essence was depleted, their Qi and Blood were failing. The time it had taken to drink two cups of tea felt as long as a millennium!

Zhao Yunchen, who had the highest Realm at the Golden Core Seventh Layer, was down to one arm and had lost an eye.

Aside from his Divine Statue, all of Chen Xi’s other Puppets had been destroyed.

Even one of Meng Changtu’s Mudskipper Shrimp had been obliterated by the focused fire of several Golden Core cultivators. The other had its Claw Clamp broken and its shell covered in cracks; it had fled the battle in fear, retreating into his Beast Taming Bracelet.

Xiao Chan’s chest had been pierced through, yet he had secretly used the Souls within his Soul-Calling Banner to protect the others several times. If not for him, Lu Yuntian, who had only recently achieved Core Formation, would have died seven or eight times over by now.

Yu Qian had been stabbed three times by a Golden Core cultivator. Though he was fortunate to have avoided fatal wounds, he had been forced to reveal his clan’s unique techniques. Now, just like Xiao Chan, he was being specially marked by True Master Xuehai.

You have to understand, these few individuals either had high Cultivation Realms or possessed Fierce Beast Pills, and they were all helping one another. For them to be this grievously injured showed just how dire the situation was.

The rest of their Golden Core cultivators had been completely wiped out. The assisting Foundation Establishment cultivators had been replaced wave after wave, their average cultivation level dropping from Foundation Establishment Great Perfection all the way down to the Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer. They were about to run out of reinforcements entirely!

And still, they couldn’t hold them back!

True Master Xuehai had only made a few moves, his strength largely preserved. The enemy, who had started with a numerical advantage in Golden Core cultivators, still had nine of them left—and possibly more!

Meng Qianxun, at least, had spotted two of them hiding amongst the Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"Reinforcements! Where are the reinforcements? Why aren’t they here yet!"

"Where are the people from Celestial Ghost City?"

"Where is Valley Master Chen? Where is City Lord Zuo? Why hasn’t a single person from Celestial Ghost City shown up yet...?"

The battle was so brutal that even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn’t bear it, and they began to roar in hysteria.

But losing focus in the middle of a life-or-death battle is a grave mistake.

PFFFT—

In that instant, a flash of light from a saber erupted from the crowd, cleaving down on the one who had just shouted!

SPLAT!

The shattered corpse and fresh blood splattered onto the ground. The man’s eyes were wide in death, as if filled with unwillingness.

That strike shocked everyone out of their grief-stricken rage, reminding them the war was not over.

’It’s about time...’

True Master Xuehai hovered in the air, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield. ’Their Golden Core cultivators can’t hold on much longer. They’re nearly spent. Still, I can’t let too many of our own die, or it will jeopardize the next phase of the plan.’

’That suspected Evil Cultivator, Xiao Chan, and that one from the Yu Family... I need to leave them half-dead. They’ll be handed over to the Great Protector later!’

As for the situation over at Celestial Ghost City, although the sounds of battle had ceased, he wasn’t the least bit worried.

Two Golden Core Eighth Layer experts were more than enough to suppress everything.

Thinking this, True Master Xuehai flicked his sleeve.

"Kill!"

WHOOSH—

Amidst his roar, he was enveloped in a turbulent, bloody light. The churning sea of gore on the path below surged in response, rising high into the air. Before the horrified eyes of the crowd, it coalesced into a gigantic face with a wide-open maw, preparing to devour everything.

At the same time, when the attackers’ Golden Core cultivators, who had been stalled by Meng Qianxun’s group, saw that True Master Xuehai was finally making his move after observing for so long, their exhaustion vanished, replaced by a sudden burst of ferocious courage.

Even the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators surged forward, hoping to overwhelm their opponents in one fell swoop. But for Meng Qianxun and the defenders, this scene was the very picture of despair.

They were already spent, their lamps burning on empty fumes, and now they had to face this.

’I can’t hide it any longer...’

Xiao Chan clenched his teeth and gripped the Soul-Calling Banner on his back. ’Who has time to think about what comes after? I have to survive this first!’

It wasn’t just him; the others also wore expressions of utter despair.

"So be it! Let this be the last battle of my life!" Meng Qianxun laughed bitterly, already preparing to detonate his Golden Core. "Changtu, run! Flee to Celestial Ghost City and take Che’er with you!"

For a True Master at the Golden Core Seventh Layer, the short distance was nothing. In less than the blink of an eye, the attack was upon them.

This sea of gore, fed by the blood of more than ten Golden Core and a thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators, had formed a thousand-zhang-tall face that now seemed ready to swallow them whole. Everyone could even see the corners of its lips curling into a smirk.

SWOOSH—

A piercing whistle cut through the air, and in the next instant, a deafening explosion ripped through Ghost Mother Peak.

BOOM—

A streak of black light tore through the sky. Its power was so immense the Golden Core cultivators present could scarcely fathom it. The beam of light was ramrod straight, and the friction of its passage created a massive, fiery arc around its tip.

When it struck the thousand-zhang-tall face, it punched a hole straight through it before shredding it to pieces.

Its momentum undiminished, the black light shot toward True Master Xuehai.

A chill ran down True Master Xuehai’s spine. He instantly halted his attack and shot backward, retreating even faster than he had advanced. With a wave of his hands, he grabbed the other Golden Core cultivators, who were still stunned, and shoved them forward to serve as a human shield.

PFFT—

Amidst the wet, tearing sound, the black light, now wreathed in a blood-red mist, instantly impaled the Golden Core cultivators True Master Xuehai had used as shields. It punched through them all, whether they were wearing Armor or not.

SHINK!

A cold glint flashed as the black light streaked past.

True Master Xuehai twisted his body, and the black light grazed his cheek. The disciples behind him who failed to get out of the way were instantly atomized into a rain of blood and flesh.

BANG!

A loud crash echoed as rubble flew and waves of blood fell from the sky.

SPLASH!

In that moment, Ghost Mother Peak fell completely silent. All eyes followed the trajectory of the black light to where it had landed. It was an eight-foot-long black spear, its shaft intricately carved with a coiling dragon and its tip shaped like a dragon’s open mouth.

"The Black Dragon Spear?"

True Master Xuehai immediately recognized the Weapon.

"The Black Dragon Spear?"

"That’s City Lord Zuo’s Weapon!"

"Celestial Ghost City’s reinforcements are here..."

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

But when they looked back, they didn’t see Zuo Qinlong.

Instead, they saw only a young man with disheveled hair, bare-chested and covered in wounds, standing atop a giant roc. A bloody hole in his chest was shockingly conspicuous, yet his aura churned with the power of an Overturning River and Sea.

"I’m late!"

"But thankfully, not too late."

Chen Che’s gaze swept the area. He didn’t need to ask; one look at the sea of blood below was enough to tell him how brutal the fighting had been. Luckily, most of the people from Jinyun Valley were still alive.

"Valley Master Chen!"

"Huh? It’s Valley Master Chen..."

Some were delighted, others were baffled.

Why was the Black Dragon Spear here, but not its master, Zuo Qinlong?

It wasn’t just the people from the Primordial Sect who were wondering about this; those on the Star-Picking Sect’s side who knew the inside story were also staring in bewilderment.

A sense of foreboding washed over True Master Xuehai. He took a step forward and shouted:

"Chen Che, where is Zuo Qinlong?"

However, he didn’t need to wait for Chen Che’s answer.

Because Zhao Shifeng, who had just arrived as reinforcement, heard the question and roared with all his might, "Zuo Qinlong colluded with the Great Protector of the Star-Picking Sect! He has now been slain by Valley Master Chen within Celestial Ghost City, his soul annihilated, never to be reborn!"