Forty millenniums of cul.., p.933
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 933
"Qi Zhongdao, Dan Fengzi, and the b*stards from the Gold Armor Clan, Thunderstorm Valley, and Flying Spirit Island, don't assume that we do not know of the filthy sects that the central plateaus' sects are up to exactly!
"You are here for disaster relief under the excuse of resisting the natural disaster, but in fact, you're worried that the southeastern sects are growing stronger and will threaten the main sects in the central plateaus. You are intentionally reducing our power with the natural disasters!
"You are demanding that we offer food. If you foresaw that there would be a shortage of food after the natural disaster, why wasn't your flying boat loaded with food when you arrived? Why are there only magical equipment and crystals inside your Cosmos Rings? Do the Cosmos Rings of the Cultivators from so many sects have enough capacity for weapons but not any space for a single grain of rice?
"Haha. Hahahaha. You did not intend to offer food at all. You did not plan to offer a single grain of rice. You are here specifically to annihilate us and confiscate our property!"
Duan Tiande, the leader of Roaring Tiger Hall, and Duan Xingyi, the leader of the Black Devil Cult, echoed each other. Their curses flowed out continuously like the unstoppable flood on the Sorcerers' River.
Qi Zhongdao's face was gloomy. The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators from the main sects all burst into fury. Many of the experts had already launched their magical equipment. The ripples of spiritual energy congregated into shocking tides that covered the temple like dark clouds!
Bu Tiantong, the secondary leader of the Gold Armor Clan, shrieked, "What a monster! He is vilifying others and instigating trouble even before his death. How insane and incorrigible!
"Let's not talk about rules and mercy with such evil beings. Fellow Cultivators, defend justice with your thunderous methods!"
After saying that, instead of waiting for Qi Zhongdao to stop him, he launched the Gold Crow Devil Sweeping Sword that Li Yao had repaired for him, which released auras that were dozens of meters of long and slashed toward the temple brutally!
Bu Tiantong's attack seemed to have opened an invisible gate. The high-level Cultivators from the Grand Mystery Sect, the Purple Pole Sword Sect, the Gold Armor Clan, Thunderstorm Valley, and all the other main sects launched their most powerful magical equipment and smashed down without any expression!
There was a hint of hesitation on Qi Zhongdao's dark face, but with dozens of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators attacking together, how could he stop them even though he was at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage?
The auras from the swords and sabers weaved into an impenetrable web and covered the temple without leaving the tiniest gap!
The two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators inside the temple were still shouting and cursing, but their profanity was soon eclipsed by the rumbling magical equipment outside.
Their spiritual shields were crushed by the collective bombardment of the dozens of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators.
The main center of Roaring Tiger Hall seemed to have been hit by a meteor shower. Savaged by the blast, it was reduced to rubble. Even the earth had collapsed into a burning pit.
Li Yao had been observing coldly behind the crowd. With so many Cultivators attacking at the same time, whether he attacked or not would not make a shred of difference.
He was not interested in the secret treasuries of the Black Devil Cult, and he did not want to get involved in the internal conflicts of the corrupt Cultivators.
He was just an observer, and the most important mission for him was to keep his head clear.
After he pondered for a moment, he immediately sensed the anomaly of the two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of the Duan family.
Raising his eyebrows, Li Yao suddenly realized where the problem was. His telepathic thoughts spread out like threads. Then, his spiritual energy blew out into two green wings behind him, and he rushed toward the southwest!
The Cultivators nearby were all astonished, wondering what he was doing.
When they were still confused, Li Yao flapped the wings of spiritual energy without saying anything. Almost a hundred needles that were attached to the molecular mica threads were shot out toward the seemingly normal empty ground!
The spiritual energy on every needle was helical, and the needles revolved fast like tiny drills. They pierced deep into the ground without any trouble!
Judging from the hollow sound in the underground, it was actually empty below the ground!
The hundred molecular mica threads instantly tightened, reflecting greenish, eccentric colors from a subtle angle.
A grunt as soft as a mosquito echoed from underground.
But it could not have been clearer for the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators!
"Somebody is down there!"
It was not until this moment that 'Master Spiritual Vulture', who had not joined the attack the whole time, displayed such keen senses, discovering a secret tunnel buried deep below the ground!
"Get out, now!" Li Yao bellowed and pulled up. The ground exploded like a volcano erupting. Tremendous broken stones and bricks were spurting out. In the middle of the dust, a somewhat devastated shadow, whose joints had been locked by the needles and the molecular mica threads, jumped high into the sky!
It was Duan Yuanwu, the young leader of Roaring Tiger Hall who had shown off in front of Qi Zhongdao moments earlier!
Unlike before, Duan Yuanwu was covered in dust. His golden hair and beard had been dyed white by the smoke. The magnificence of the young leader was entirely gone. He looked like a stray dog whose legs had been broken. Desperate, furious, frightened, and vicious, he was trembling hard but unable to speak!
"Ah Wu!"
Two miserable screams echoed from the debris of the temple.
Duan Tiande and Duan Xingyi had intentionally stayed in the main center of Roaring Tiger Hall and cursed the Cultivators in the sky, raising their fury for the purpose of attracting them to attack thunderously so that Duan Yuanwu, the youngest Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator of the Duan family, would have a chance to escape through the underground tunnel.
However, their attempt proved to be in vain. The only hope of the Duan family had been discovered in the end!
"Ahhh!" Duan Yuanwu's entire body had been restrained by Li Yao. He was cramping hard because of the excruciating pain!
He was a tough, brutal man. Knowing that he would not survive even if he surrendered with the blood on his hands and that he would only endure even more sufferings, he simply aimed at a rock that had been blown into the sky and stomped on it, rushing toward Li Yao like a cannonball!
Simultaneously, his stomach rumbled, and his skin turned dangerously translucent. Flames of spiritual energy spurted out of his skin and gradually condensed into the image of a raging tiger around himself!
He was about to detonate his Nascent Soul and die together with Li Yao!
Li Yao slightly frowned. He minced the molecular mica threads hard, cutting more veins and nerves inside Duan Yuanwu's body than anybody could count. Then he dashed hundreds of meters away.
Hiu! Hiu! Hiu! Hiu!
Behind Li Yao, dozens of auras rushed close and hit Duan Yuanwu like a storm. They were the casual attacks of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the Core Formation Stage Cultivators.
Duan Yuanwu's veins, nerves, and muscles had been severed by Li Yao in the first place, and his reaction was a bit slow. Also, many of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators who launched the attacks had a higher Cultivation than him, too. How could he evade the attacks?
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The dozens of auras exploded at the same time. Like a hideous monster, they swallowed Duan Yuanwu after only one bite before they turned into brilliant fireworks that expanded in the sky, then gradually vaporized into nothingness!
"Ah Wu!"
"Ah Wu!"
The two voices inside the debris of the temple looked fifty years older than the instant before. They seemed to be echoing from the gate of the deepest level of hell. The two of them sounded as if they had lost their sanity. "Haha. Hahahaha. You can kill Ah Wu and us. You can destroy Roaring Tiger Hall and the Black Devil Cult. But so what? The Great Qian Dynasty, this world, and all Cultivators will not last for long!
"Tomorrow, your headquarters will be destroyed by Ghost Qin, the White Lotus Cult, and the Heaven Battering Army just like you will destroy Roaring Tiger City today! We will be waiting for you in hell. Each and every one of you from all the sects!"
After they said that, two clusters of immense, brutal auras soared into the sky like cannonballs, only to be pressed back to the ground by the brute force of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the sky collectively.
After another two ear-splitting explosions, the range of the pit was further expanded by dozens of square meters. Then, everything was peaceful again.
The three unpardonable Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of Roaring Tiger Hall had been executed.
Roaring Tiger City had gradually regained some peace under the suppression of so many high-level Cultivators, too.
The Cultivators that belonged to Roaring Tiger Hall were either suppressed on the spot or surrendered in advance. Their veins and nerves were sealed by barriers, and they were bound to each other with shackles while they squatted on the street of Roaring Tiger City.
The Cultivators from the main sects had secured the full victory of the battle!
The ten or so warehouses of Roaring Tiger Hall were all excavated under the guidance of Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar.
Huala!
The heaps of Jade Crystal Pellets, dry meat, and raw crystals inside the warehouses almost dazzled all the Cultivators.
In quite a few secret barns below the ground, which boasted a fine ventilation and drainage system, more food that anybody could measure was stored with rune arrays. They were essentially white and golden oceans full of the fragrance of food. Even the barns of the court could not have had more storage!
Looking at the loads of food here, Qi Zhongdao sneered. "The barns caught fire, and everything was burnt up, huh?"
After all the warehouses were opened, there were indeed Jade Crystal Pellets, raw crystals, and the dry meat of animals. The seals and unique magical equipment that belonged to the sects that were thought to have been annihilated by the White Lotus Sect had been found, too.
However, they seemed far away from Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar's claim that 'there are quite a few treasuries that are fully loaded with secret treasures'!
Chapter 1434: Slay the Evils When There Are Evils and When There Aren't! |
"Fellow Cultivator Ba?"
Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar, in his ragged, stinky clothes, was surrounded by a bunch of elegant-looking leaders and elders, as if he were the moon around a bunch of stars or an emperor who was served by the eunuchs.
As the secret treasuries were opened one another, the Cultivators' expectations were raised time and time again, only to be shattered without exception. The more impatient ones of them could not help but ask, "Where are the secret treasures where the Black Devil Cult has accumulated its loot for decades?"
"Well. Here, and here. Aren't they all secret treasures?"
There was no telling where Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar found a black tobacco pipe. He puffed on it comfortably and pointed with the pipe. "The seals of the leaders of quite a few sects are in this place. They are enough evidence that Roaring Tiger Hall has been conspiring with the Black Devil Cult to lay waste to so many sects, aren't they?"
"Of course, but…"
The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators all grew anxious. "The seals of the leaders are certainly very important evidence, but didn't you mention that the secret treasures that the Black Devil Cult had accumulated for more than thirty years were hidden beneath Roaring Tiger City, Fellow Cultivator Ba? Where are those secret treasures exactly?"
"Oh. Those secret treasures…" Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar turned around the tobacco pipe and used it as a back scratcher when he extended it into a hole on his collar and scratched his back. He said with a smile, "I only overheard the Duans talking about that earlier. There might be, but I didn't hear quite clearly. It is also possible that they changed the secret treasures into different appearances and traded them for resources to build this city. Haha. I was merely listening as a thief, and I couldn't catch everything they said. Why don't you go to the Duans and interrogate them? You'll certainly find satisfactory answers!"
Duan Tiande, Duan Xingyi, and Duan Yuanwu had just been obliterated, without the slightest shred of a soul remaining. How could they be interrogated?
Many high-level Cultivators' faces were almost deformed in fury. It was not until then that they realized that they had fallen victim to Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar's prank.
Unsatisfied, somebody demanded him, "Fellow Cultivator Ba, didn't you claim that you saw it with your own eyes?"
"Why, indeed I did!" Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar nodded solemnly. "I saw these warehouses and seals with my eyes personally. Did I lie to you? As for the information about the secret treasures, I heard it loud and clear. The Duans could testify for me. That was exactly what I told you just now. Then, you began 'slaying the evil and serving justice' impatiently. What, was it not what this beggar said just now?"
"Well…" The elders and leaders of more than ten sects, who were all big shots in the world of Cultivators, blushed and look at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what they should say.
"Fellow Cultivators!" Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar chuckled, "The way I see it, let's leave the secret treasures aside for a moment. So many disaster victims outside of the city are waiting to be fed. A lot of them are dying in the cold from hunger every minute. Spectacular as crystals, magical equipment, and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures may be, can they be taken as food or worn as clothes?
"Right now, is there anything more qualified as a secret treasure than the delicious meat and rice? After all, such 'secret treasures' can save people's lives! Everybody here was shouting about serving justice just now. Has it never occurred to you that life is the highest justice?
"You are jumping up and down angrily, but you won't get anything valuable from this beggar even if you capture me and search my belongings. Why don't we hurry to open the barn and provide food for the disaster victims so that the situation here can be stabilized! Do you really want to attract Mother White Lotus' ghoul army to this place before you stop the fuss?"
All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were lost for words. They coughed in embarrassment at the same time.
Qi Zhongdao stepped forward and glanced around coldly before he announced, "Open the barn and distribute the food!"
…
Hundreds of boiling pots were set up below Roaring Tiger City. The smoke billowed up and turned into hundreds of white pillars that pierced into the sky and dispersed into puffy clouds.
Many disaster victims had been too starved to feed on fish or meat right away. Even the porridge that they consumed needed to be dissolved to the point that it was as thin as water for their recovery.
Although the porridge was thin, the meat powder of animals had been added to it, and a lot of herbs were used to neutralize the meat. The golden, fragrant porridge was the most delicious food that most of the folks had ever eaten.
The main sects set up their banners and divided the zones.
The larger sects such as the Grand Mystery Sect and the Purple Pole Sword Sect had more pots under their control, while the smaller sects managed fewer pots. They gathered the disaster victims below the banners of their sects!
The story that the disaster victims heard was that Roaring Tiger Hall were evil, lawless bandits who had committed too many crimes. Today, they finally had their karma. The other sects had come to annihilate the sect together.
Justice had been served!
Seeing that the folks had been exploited by Roaring Tiger Hall to such a miserable extent, the main sects found it insufferable and provided food so that everybody would survive those troubled times!
For a moment, all the disaster victims were kneeling in gratitude and kowtowing like wheat in the wind.
When Li Yao passed by the dozens of boiling big pots, it was exactly the disaster victims who kneeled before him gratefully that he saw.
Li Yao felt that he had become one of the statues with a gold surface in the temples.
He did not like the feeling and felt very uncomfortable.
Dan Fengzi appeared out of nowhere and asked warmly, "Elder Spiritual Vulture, is there something bothering you?"
On this trip to the southeast, the leader of the Purple Pole Sword Sect had been particularly friendly to Li Yao. Naturally, he had his reasons.
After pondering for a moment, Li Yao said straightforwardly, "I've been reflecting on the last words of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of the Duan family. It is already appalling enough that Roaring Tiger Hall has been conspiring with the Black Devil Cult, but did the famous 'six major sects' such as the Grand Mystery Sect and the Purple Pole Sword Sect also have a disreputable past when they rose up?"
Dan Fengzi laughed. "Elder Spiritual Vulture, do you believe the crazy talk of those few fiends of the Duan family before their death? There was nothing clandestine about the Purple Pole Sword Sect's rise. However, some of the information is indeed confidential. If you are willing to remove the 'visiting' from your title and join the Purple Pole Sword Sect as a formal elder of our sect, Elder Spiritual Vulture, you will certainly learn everything that you want to know!"
Li Yao's eyes shined coldly as he sniffed. "I thought that I made my position clear last time, leader. During my fifty years of seclusion, I thoroughly studied the legacy of Yan Zhu, the sword forger from Great Zhou. I have only left my mountain to gain reputation, establish my own sect, and spread the knowledge of Great Zhou. Right now, certain juniors in the world of Cultivators have given me the nickname 'Grandmaster of Great Zhou', which does not sound bad.
"How can a 'Grandmaster of Great Zhou' be under somebody else all the time? It is already my limit to work as a visiting elder. There's no way that I will join the Purple Pole Sword Sect completely!"
