Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 1700: Chapter 896: Extermination (Part 2)

The Xingyi Sword pierced into the Thunder Cultivator almost effortlessly, annihilating his physical body and Nascent Soul.

Another Thunder Cultivator was crushed by a heavy hammer from the Late-stage Golden Corpse, his end more miserable than the former. This hammer was crafted from a Fourth Grade Late Stage Mountain Treasure of the White Emperor Sect, combined with the immense strength of the Late-stage Golden Corpse and the Yin Cold Energy within, this blow left nothing of him but a scream before he was utterly obliterated.

"Flee separately!" The strongest Thunder Cultivator realized their opponent’s strength and issued a warning.

He transformed into Thunder Escape himself and was about to flee into the distance.

But as he barely traveled a few dozen meters using Thunder Escape, he found himself blocked by formations of energy, unable to easily penetrate the multiple layers of energy, even if he could force his way through one.

The most critical point was that passing through the formation energy severely slowed his speed.

"What’s happening, has the authority of the formation been seized?" His mind was in a haze; he couldn’t comprehend the situation.

In the Cultivation World, every cultivator put enormous trust into formations.

Formations protect cultivators, allowing them to cultivate peacefully within, safeguard their treasures, and hide their secrets.

Especially great formations, proven through countless years to be reliable.

Though Yuqing Sect lacked the protection of a Grotto Heaven barrier, theoretically, with a great formation in place, no unprepared ambush should occur inside the formation.

As countless terrifying Sword Intents swept through his thoughts, he sensed danger.

His eyes and Divine Sense both detected numerous flying swords emerging, each at Fourth Grade quality, harboring a Sword Intent that made him instinctively fear.

He was confident that the power contained in any of those flying swords could surpass the full force of an ordinary Sword Cultivator’s strike.

In his perception, over two thousand flying swords surrounded him and three surviving Thunder Cultivators.

"The enemy intends to spare none of us!" This realization hit him as he clung to his last hope, retrieving a life-saving Jade Talisman.

This life-saving Jade Talisman, crafted by a Peak Great Cultivator, could enable him to activate Thunder Escape at the Peak Great Cultivator level.

Using this Jade Talisman, he could temporarily possess the lightning escape abilities of a peak Thunder Cultivator.

The reason he didn’t use a better Jade Talisman was simply because he didn’t have one.

Pathetically, although his strength ranked highly among the Great Cultivators in the Yuqing Sect, he couldn’t obtain a life-saving talisman from Great Power Luo Yuan, as he hadn’t reached the Peak Great Cultivator Realm.

As soon as the life-saving Jade Talisman was activated, a strong lightning rule aura enhanced his thunder escape state, significantly boosting both speed and penetration capability.

His form darted through multiple layers of formation energy walls, at his current speed, it was entirely possible to find a sliver of life within the blockade laid by more than two thousand energy-converted flying swords.

But just as he was about to pierce through the blockade of energy-converted flying swords, Li Yuanba’s figure appeared before him.

Li Yuanba swept out a Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation in his hand, utilizing the close-combat Sword Cultivator Secret Technique from the ’Unnamed Sword Manual’. In close proximity with a Thunder Cultivator lacking melee experience, life and death were decided in an instant.

The other three Thunder Cultivators were cut down by the flying swords, none escaping successfully.

The battle here had long been noticed by other cultivators, but the battlefield of the Great Cultivators was not a place for Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivators to join.

Due to the battle’s quick commencement and conclusion, by the time Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivators realized something was wrong, the Late-stage Golden Corpse was already massacring them.

The formation turned into a beast cage, leaving the Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivators with no escape route.

They screamed in despair, some brave souls launched counterattacks at the Late-stage Golden Corpse.

However, their courage quickly dissipated as their attacks proved ineffective.

The well-equipped Late-stage Golden Corpse, invulnerable even to full-power attacks from a Peak Great Cultivator, was a threat way beyond their capabilities.

The Late-stage Golden Corpse moved at incredible speeds, mastering the ’Speed Rule Imprint’, its movement among the Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivators felt like space movement, even though it was not.

Li Yuanba didn’t mind the slaughter conducted by the Late-stage Golden Corpse; no life could evade the Late-stage Golden Corpse’s detection due to its sensitivity towards life.

He began clearing the battlefield, collecting the spoils from six Thunder Cultivators. After searching around the mountain where the Thunder Cultivators resided, he also found a small treasury, emptying it during the Late-stage Golden Corpse’s battle.

While tidying the battlefield, he contacted IBMz15, erasing all traces of Sword Cultivator evidence.

He didn’t wish to be exposed prematurely, avoiding alerting Yuqing Sect that he was the one who exterminated their sect cultivators.

Concealing his identity would allow him to deal with more Yuqing Sect cultivators, maximizing their losses.

After thoroughly cleaning the marks of the Sword Cultivators, he retracted the Late-stage Golden Corpse, disappearing from within the Yuqing Sect. Using ’Instant Leap’, he returned to Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion in a short time.

Li Yuanba deliberately made an appearance at Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion. With no one knowing he mastered ’Instant Leap’, even if questioned, it wouldn’t be possible to correlate the timing.

In fact, the downfall of Yuqing Sect’s branch exceeded Li Yuanba’s estimations.

The bleak situation of the Yuqing Sect branch was discovered by a returning Thunder Cultivator from Yuqing Sect.

This Thunder Cultivator was lucky that he happened to be out for business and didn’t stay within the branch that day.

Upon returning, he saw the dead bodies everywhere upon entering the formation; all his familiar brothers were turned into corpses.

Although he saw no Thunder Cultivator’s corpse, the deathly silence throughout the branch and absence of any life force spoke volumes.

Luckily, the Communication Array was still functional, allowing him to report back to Yuqing Sect.

The incident at the Yuqing Sect branch couldn’t stay concealed for long before being known to all the superpowers.

All superpowers, including Yuqing Sect, suspected Li Shiming.

Yuqing Sect’s Great Power Luo Yuan wasn’t in seclusion; he was continuously monitoring Yuqing Sect’s circumstances. The intelligence department of Yuqing Sect nearly exhausted its energies investigating Li Shiming.

To his embarrassment, his failure in dealing with a single Great Cultivator became a joke among the great powers, having been contacted directly by several others to confirm the facts.

Determined to capture Li Shiming, even at the expense of years of Grotto Heaven accumulation, he was resolute.

Early one morning, he received the latest intelligence, even provided by Yuqing Sect’s own department.

"Immediately recall all Nascent Soul Middle Stage Peak cultivators, increase resource allocations to this group!" Upon seeing the intel, he sternly issued the order.

Amusingly enough, the number of Thunder Cultivators in Yuqing Sect fell to five.

Two among them were about to exhaust their Life Span, essentially waiting for death in the sect.

Effectively, the superpower Yuqing Sect was left with only three Thunder Cultivators. The cultivation of Thunder Cultivators by Yuqing Sect, after losing six in this downfall, caused an unprecedented weakness in their ranks.

The six Thunder Cultivators stationed on the Central State Continent were not only there for exchanges with superpowers but also planned to lure out Li Shiming’s phantom clone.

However, before the plan could be executed, all six Thunder Cultivators fell.

Left with no choice, Great Power Luo Yuan had to forcibly elevate a group from Nascent Soul Middle Stage Peak to fill the roles of Great Cultivators urgently.

Such measures aren’t beneficial; the Nascent Soul Middle Stage should be a time for consolidating foundations, only those who can naturally advance should do so. Those unable to, lack the talent, rendering forcefully advanced Great Cultivators largely without potential, likely stagnating at the Early Stage of Great Cultivator Realm.