NOVPUB
Chapter 723: Chapter 729: Explosion
𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
Fortunately, Li Zhirui was always cautious. He had left early and, upon seeing that group of Demon Cultivators, he had managed to buy himself more time.
"Ancestor..."
"Don’t talk! Just follow me!" Li Zhirui commanded sternly with a cold expression.
The four individuals with lower cultivation levels had no idea what was happening and felt his anger was oddly intense, but they dared not speak again, bowing their heads and closely following behind him, though dissatisfaction grew in their hearts.
It wasn’t until the warning bells of Xuanfa State resounded in all directions, with the approaching dark clouds that had no visible end, that the overpowering sensation of suffocation hit them.
The members of the Li family, initially indifferent and even somewhat resentful, trembled uncontrollably at the sight and were at a loss for words.
They dared not imagine what their fate would have been had they stayed at the auction house!
After all, Xuanfa State was not very large, and the auction house was only a few hundred miles from the border.
Such a short distance meant the Demon Cultivators would need only moments to arrive.
With such an overwhelming number of Demon Cultivators encircling them, perhaps Li Zhirui might have had a slim chance of survival, but they would surely have perished!
"Xiaoqing, hurry! Take us away from the east side!" Li Zhirui could no longer care about anything else but to escape the encirclement of the Demon Cultivators.
Xiaoqing sensed the urgency and panic in his voice, and without the slightest hesitation, she flapped her wings, speeding off into the distance while continuously channeling mana to control the surrounding winds and accelerate her speed.
"Someone’s escaping! A Nascent Soul and a fifth-order Spirit Beast." As for the remaining four Golden Cores, they weren’t even taken into consideration.
The Demon Cultivators noticed the escaping party of Li Zhirui almost immediately, but nobody pursued them, for there were far more Nascent Soul cultivators in Xuanfa State.
Another reason was that Xiaoqing’s speed was too fast; very few among them could catch up.
After escaping for a few hundred miles and seeing no Demon Cultivators in pursuit, Li Zhirui finally told Xiaoqing to stop, saying, "Xiaoqing, you take them back to Wanxian Island and inform Fengwu of what happened in Xuanfa State so she and the family can prepare."
He was worried that the great war might affect Wanxian Province and that to avoid the death of his clansmen, preventative measures needed to be taken in advance.
"Jiu, do you plan to stay in Xuanfa State? It’s too dangerous!" Xiaoqing, usually brave, disagreed this time.
At the onset of their escape, he had seen the sky-reaching Demonic Qi and the endless dark clouds; he couldn’t fathom how many Demon Cultivators there were.
It didn’t matter whether they were Demon Cultivators or from Xuanfa Pavilion; neither was something the Li family and Li Zhirui could afford to provoke. If anything unexpected happened, the consequences would be dire!
"Don’t worry, I’ll be extra careful," Li Zhirui, uncharacteristically determined, reassured.
This was a decision he made on the fly while escaping. He wanted to catch some fish from the muddied waters of Xuanfa State, which might include Spiritual Objects or Methods that could help with his Divine Transformation breakthrough.
"Then I’ll stay with you."
Li Zhirui gave him a glare and retorted, "What about them? How will they get back?"
"Alright, hurry up and go. Don’t worry about me."
With that, he turned around and flew alone back toward Xuanfa State.
"Ancestor Qingpeng, why don’t you stay to help Elder Zhirui? We’ll be careful on the road, and nothing should happen," one of the family members whispered.
To put it bluntly, their four lives here, even if it were forty or several hundred, were not as important as Li Zhirui’s alone.
"Enough, I’ll escort you back first, then I’ll rush to Xuanfa State as fast as possible," Xiaoqing wavered slightly, but remembering Li Zhirui’s instructions, he did not disobey.
——
Meanwhile, within Xuanfa State.
"Damn! How did the Loose Cultivators ally with the Demon Cultivators?"
But now was not the time to dwell on this matter, as several Elders who usually presided over the commerce affairs sprang into action.
Some went to inform the Divine Transformation Ancestors; some organized hands to begin a counterattack; some contacted the various Cultivators remaining in Xuanfa State, seeking their assistance...
In less than half an incense stick’s time, a large army of Cultivators had been assembled.
But by then, the site of Xuanfa Pavilion’s grand auction, which should have been crowded with Cultivators, had turned into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!
Countless Cultivators and Demon Cultivators had died there.
But this was actually only a part, for compared to the dead Cultivators, the living held more "nutrition."
It has to be said that Song Yalong had chosen an excellent moment; had it not been for the auction, there would never have been so many Cultivators in Xuanfa State.
It was only within the resplendent auction venue that a large number of Cultivators still gathered!
If Xuanfa Pavilion had not set up a Fifth-order Formation in the auction venue to prevent Cultivators from robbing or using Secret Techniques to steal Spiritual Objects, those Cultivators could’ve only rushed out with their lives, let alone hide under the Formation to preserve their lives.
So it was not that various forces wanted to help Xuanfa Pavilion but that they had to!
Otherwise, those corpses strewn on the ground would be their fate.
"Those bold Demon Cultivators really have the guts! They dare attack Xuanfa Pavilion with merely Nascent Soul bodies! Once we get through this ordeal, I will report to the Sect and cleanse the surrounding Demon Cultivators!" a certain Nascent Soul Cultivator said vehemently.
Some pessimistic Cultivators bitterly said, "Whether we can survive is another matter."
"Let’s hold on a little longer, Xuanfa Pavilion will definitely send reinforcements!"
Otherwise, Xuanfa Pavilion would truly be nailed to the pillar of shame!
A formidable Divine Transformation power, actually being bullied by a group of Nascent Soul Cultivators, wantonly capturing and killing the Cultivators attending the auction.
Boom!
Just as everyone was looking forward to reinforcements from Xuanfa Pavilion, a massive explosion suddenly occurred within their ranks.
Making use of his status as Xuanfa Pavilion’s loyal ’dog’ over the years, Song Yalong, with two Nascent Soul puppets, had entered Xuanfa State’s interior.
Of course, it wasn’t a core area, but for an outsider, it was already quite remarkable.
So Song Yalong did not press his luck any further. When the appointed time came, he activated the Secret Technique, controlling the low-level puppets to strike at Xuanfa State, drawing Xuanfa Pavilion’s attention.
Then, using the puppets’ mouths, he informed the Demon Cultivators that had already gone undercover to initiate a real attack.
And when Xuanfa Pavilion gathered forces in preparation for a counterattack, Song Yalong also actively responded to the call. And that’s when the puppets he had brought in came into play!
He directly controlled the two puppets to self-detonate amidst the crowd!
The self-explosion of a Nascent Soul Cultivator possessed power no less than that of a Divine Transformation Ancestor’s attack, and since they were standing near a crowd of Cultivators, the terrifying energy impact, like an overwhelming tidal wave, swallowed the surrounding Cultivators.
A few Cultivators with exceptionally quick reactions might have preserved their lives, but most of the Cultivators were either dead or injured — and seriously at that!
