Outside the Cloud Jie Inquiry Tower.
Cultivators lay scattered in disarray, their expressions listless and their vital energies nearly depleted. Their cultivation levels varied, and occasionally, streaks of light flashed through the sky, followed by even more cultivators appearing and dropping to the ground like dumplings.
They were all those who couldn’t withstand the brutal bloodshed inside, torn apart by the savage descendants of the Magic Clan, and then ejected by the spirit of the Cloud Jie Inquiry Tower.
Due to the randomness of the teleportation, some who bore grudges against each other on normal days ended up together. But now, drained of strength, they were unable to act, and thus couldn’t settle any scores.
“What a disgrace, a total embarrassment!”
Kou Yun of the Azure Fall Divine Sect touched his chest, muttering in annoyance. As a top talent within his sect, his status was naturally high. He had entered the tower with hundreds of his sect mates, confident of gaining some fortune, only to suffer a complete defeat.
Being teleported out meant failing the test, and whatever treasures were inside had nothing to do with them anymore.
“Senior Brother Kou, what do we do now?”
A fellow disciple nearby asked softly.
Kou Yun was silent for a few moments before he sighed in frustration, “What else can we do? Hurry up and recuperate, then leave this place together. Otherwise, if we attract the attention of those with ill intentions, we’ll be in trouble.”
Having exhausted nearly all their medicinal resources inside, they could only rely on their own abilities to heal, which was naturally slower. But there was no helping it.
Except for the highest-ranking brothers and sisters in their sect, none of them carried life-saving jade talismans. If they died in this secret realm, they were truly dead, with no chance of starting over.
Just then, a shuttle-shaped starship turned into a streak of light, speeding towards the tower from the edge of the sky, arriving within a few miles in the blink of an eye.
“…We’ve arrived. According to the sensation of the Lingji Dao Rhyme, Junior Brother and the others should be in this area… Huh? Why are there so many injured cultivators here? What happened?”
Luo Wanqing’s voice of surprise came from the starship’s deck.
Xuebing Xuan retracted the starship, her dark beautiful eyes looking thoughtfully at the white tower about a hundred zhang tall, “Sister and the others should be inside. As for these fellows, most likely they couldn’t pass the tower’s trials and were kicked out?”
The eldest sister, who had traveled the Great Void for years, seeking mysteries and exploring ancient ruins, had a wealth of experience and could easily infer the cause and effect.
“That makes things easier! Let’s deal with these pests first, then go in and find Junior Brother.”
Qi Yalan’s expression was icy as she drew her flying sword. She had already spotted many disciples from the Shadow Kill Hall among those collapsed on the ground, as well as some from the Azure Fall Divine Sect and the armillary sphere Star Palace. Considering their current weakened state, what was there to hesitate about?
“Alright, let’s take care of business first!”
The four women exchanged smiles and transformed into streaks of light, swooping down.
With tens of thousands of cultivators present, even just dealing with those from hostile forces would take some time.
The many cultivators on the ground also saw the four women’s actions and immediately started to make noise, but due to their lack of mana and depleted spirits, they were unable to mount any sort of defense.
“…What are you doing? What do you want?”
“How dare you few wretches kill disciples of the Azure Fall Divine Sect? Aren’t you afraid of sparking a full-scale war between our sects? Our ancestor will never let you off!”
“Sister Xue, our Qing Xuan Sect has no feuds with your Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, is there really a need to go this far?”
“Sister Luo, save me! Our Nanji Immortal Dynasty and your Ancient Witch Nation are allied by marriage for generations, you can’t treat us like this…”
“Fairy Qi, I have a treasure map from the ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Monarch’s cave. If you agree to spare me, I am willing to offer this opportunity with both hands…”
To save their lives, the cultivators resorted to begging, threatening, warning, and cursing—a cacophony of chaos.
Unfortunately, Xuebing Xuan and the others turned a deaf ear. Thousands of sword lights crisscrossed back and forth, mercilessly striking at those from hostile forces. In an instant, heads rolled and blood flowed like rivers!
Cultivators have strong minds and are not easily swayed by external factors. In other words, they have hearts of stone. Did they really think a few soft words of pleading or sweet-sounding promises would change the women’s minds? Not even in their dreams.
“Delay could lead to trouble, let’s hurry!”
Xuebing Xuan communicated with the others through divine thoughts, her sword light sweeping across a hundred zhang, shattering the bodies of hundreds of Shadow Kill Hall disciples, their heads falling to the ground, and even their divine souls unable to escape, annihilated by the terrifying sword energy.
Since they were already sworn enemies, why not take this rare opportunity to weaken the other side as much as possible? Killing one more was one less enemy to worry about.
As for sparking a war between sects? That was a problem for later. Would their relationship improve if they didn’t act now?
Thus, Xuebing Xuan and the others showed no mercy, killing swiftly and decisively, not even taking the time to loot the corpses.
“Forget it, a bunch of wretches who deserve to be cut a thousand times! We’ll see after we get out!”
Some cultivators couldn’t hold back any longer. They bit the bullet and self-detonated an arm or legs, using that as a price to cast a blood escape spell, fleeing with their battered bodies and souls.
Although this method could save their lives, the severe loss of vitality was inevitable. It would take hundreds to thousands of years of hard cultivation to recover.
However, considering the rapid advancement of Xuebing Xuan and the other women’s cultivation, whether these cultivators would still have the ability to seek revenge in hundreds of years was no longer a question.
Before long, only about a third of the tens of thousands of cultivators remained on the field. These were either aligned with the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace or neutral powers with no conflicts of interest.
“That’s enough. As long as you keep to yourselves, you can leave safely after you’ve recovered!”
Xuebing Xuan said, and the terrified cultivators breathed a sigh of relief, swearing oaths that they would not interfere with their affairs.
Qi Yalan and the other women began to clean up the battlefield, collecting the robes, weapons, and storage bracelets from the corpses. They didn’t have time to count them carefully and hastily stuffed everything into several large animal skin bags.
Only Qing Muling had the spatial capacity within his body to hold a large number of spatial artifacts, so these items would have to be entrusted to him later.
While they were busy, the Cloud Jie Inquiry Tower didn’t idle, continuously teleporting out exhausted cultivators, scattering them randomly in the surrounding area.
There was nothing to say about this; Qi Yalan and Luo Huan patrolled back and forth, killing anyone from hostile forces on sight and temporarily sparing those from friendly or neutral powers.
“What do we do now? Just wait outside and not go in?” Luo Wanqing asked.
“Yeah, let’s wait!”
Xuebing Xuan said, “I believe that with Junior Brother’s luck, he will surely be able to hold out until the end. Whatever fortune is inside, him getting it is no different from us getting it, so there’s no need to do anything extra.”
Another consideration was that if Qing Muling and the others failed and were teleported out, it would be problematic if no one was there to meet them. Otherwise, if other hostile forces came from elsewhere and followed their earlier example, the consequences would be troublesome.