Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

"The wills of these people are still commendable,"

Jiang Ding observed them, nodding slightly, without paying much attention.

To the collateral lineages of the Hei Clan, such sacrifices and devotion filled them with pride and confidence, with an invincibility that at least at that moment seemed to even surpass the Great Sun Sect and the Great Sun Sword Sect. Only two hundred years before had such a phenomenon been common.

After the internal split, when the Immortals of Nascent Soul divided the spoils among themselves, such incidents became quite rare.

It was something that only occurred during the rising period of an organization.

However, for the Xianmen Sect, these things were everyday and taken for granted.

Wasn't it normal to shield and block for one's comrades?

Comrades did the same for them.

"... Nevertheless."

After pondering, Jiang Ding made another judgment.

He noticed that those who fought valiantly were only from the Hei Clan's collateral lineage; meanwhile, the Loose Cultivator Golden Pills and vassal Golden Pills were extremely cautious, conserving more than half of their strength and always ready to retreat.

"Unable to absorb fresh blood, being limited only to the Hei Clan's collateral lineage, this group has made some progress, but that's about all."

"Moreover, even if they succeed, they are likely to quickly develop divisions similar to collateral and direct lineages to ensure the interests of themselves and their descendants. This spirit of selfless sacrifice will be lost soon."

After his assessment, Jiang Ding turned and left.

After traveling more than a thousand kilometers, a towering octagonal high tower piercing the sky came into view.

The Luoxu Clan, Book Pavilion.

Such a place was naturally highly contested.

In fact, the prime target for the Blood Cloud Eighteen Knights had originally been here. They came from a background of Loose Cultivators and craved legacy more than anyone else. The Book Pavilion of the Luoxu Clan was an irresistible temptation to them, worth sacrificing their lives for.

Now, that temptation was curbed.

Because it was near Dizifeng Peak, a place once visited by Li Tu, the Blood Hand Demon.

Blood Cloud and his staff officers pondered in silence for a long time before completely erasing this predefined target and choosing another direction.

Even though the Blood Cloud Eighteen Knights did not come, the place remained bustling.

Jiang Ding glanced at the crowd wandering aimlessly in front of his personal library.

The fray never ceased, roughly divided into three forces.

The first force was led by Hei Tianlan, a Golden Pill Peak Cultivator from the Hei Clan's direct lineage, who commanded more than forty Golden Pill Cultivators to form the Hei Clan's military formation, bursting with murderous aura.

The second force was the Hei Clan's collateral lineage, led by one of the strongest among them in intel, Golden Pill Peak Cultivator Hei Louxi, commanding over sixty people.

The last force consisted of Loose Cultivators, the most numerous group with over a hundred individuals—more than any other faction—but unorganized and without any military formation, their power was scattered, making them the weakest in actual strength.

Yet they refused to give up, prowling around like hyenas, eyeing the Hei Clan's collateral and direct lineage forces menacingly.

Whenever someone drove them away, they did not dare to resist and immediately fled, only to sneak back into hiding after a while.

Logically, in the face of a common enemy, the two factions should have united to clear out the neutral force first, and then fight to the death.

But the contradictions between the Hei Clan's collateral and direct lineage had reached a breaking point, lacking even this basic understanding as they engaged in combat upon meeting.

Military Arrays darkened the sky with evil aura spreading in all directions, array patterns diffusing, and Spiritual Light colliding and shattering.

Dozens of Golden Pill Cultivators, unified in a military formation, were not to be underestimated—their combined force had reached the standard of the Nascent Soul Stage.

Apart from slow mobility, there were hardly any weaknesses.

"Kill!"

Hei Louxi commanded a pitch-black sword Treasure, leading the charge; crow feathers began to sprout on her cheeks, spreading to her neck, chest, and body. Each crow feather shone with a metallic luster, producing a clinking sound upon collision.

Finally, crow feathers emerged behind her, forming a pair of splendid black wings that spanned several zhang long, trailing behind her. Rolling black flames arose from within the wings, and a terrifying aura spread outwards.

With the power of the Divine Raven Military Array upon her, wherever her pitch-black sword and black wings reached, array patterns shattered, Golden Pill Cultivators were sliced in half at the waist, mid-grade Treasures, and top-grade Treasures touched by the black flames saw their Spiritual Light dimming and extinguishing.

Unstoppable!

Despite the direct lineage Golden Pill Cultivators of the Hei Clan being stronger, with as many as ten at the Golden Pill Peak, compared to just two from the collateral lineage.

This was why they had willingly stepped into the Luoxu Clan, seeking a permanent solution.

In the world of cultivation, numbers are illusory; only cultivators with the highest cultivation base are the true fighting force.

"You low-born scum, die!"

Hei Tianlan, a Golden Pill Peak Cultivator with a fierce expression, charged forward, augmented by the power of the army formation. He wielded a pitch-black treasure ax, which had been refined to the seventy-two layers of Earth Evil Prohibition, and cleaved down with the force of a mountain, at Earth Evil Perfection.

Around him, eight other Golden Pill direct lineage Peak Cultivators sensed the danger and combined their efforts, each unleashing their own techniques in coordination with the power of the army formation to encircle and attack.

Under such military formation power, even a cultivator nearly at the Nascent Soul stage would have to retreat!

"You... are too weak."

Hei Louxi's expression remained calm.

Facing the siege of eight Golden Pill Cultivators, she didn't dodge or evade, commanding a massive pitch-black sword to slash horizontally. Her black wings, spanning several tens of meters, crisscrossed as they cut through the air, with rolling black flames sweeping upwards.

Boom!

A loud explosion was heard, and dust billowed in all directions. The ground around them was blown into a large pit, and eight figures were sent flying, spewing blood, no match for her at all.

The lengthy black wings flickered again.

Two Golden Pill Peak Cultivators were slashed at the waist, with black flames spreading and turning their four halves into ashes.

"Impossible!"

"Did you hide your strength before?!"

As the dust settled, Hei Tianlan spat out a mouthful of blood, his face pale, he said in disbelief.

She was merely a person of lowly blood from a collateral lineage, and the power she had previously shown was already strong enough.

Why keep so much strength hidden?

The power she had revealed before wasn't even a tenth of this!

This was beyond his imagination.

Hei Louxi didn't respond to his words but walked slowly forward.

Her whole body was covered in an exquisitely beautiful set of feathered armor. Her eyes were cold, and the raven feather armor clung tightly to her enchanting body curves while her hips swayed from side to side.

A pair of black wings, several tens of meters long, unfolded slowly behind her, the black flames burning.

"Since ancient times in the Northern Plains' collateral lineage,"

"How many geniuses who could have achieved Nascent Soul have been buried."

Hei Louxi controlled the power of the military formation, applying it to her wings. With a flash of black light, two more Golden Pill direct lineage cultivators of the Hei Clan were sliced in half and burned to ashes.

Then, she sighed softly, her voice spreading in all directions.

The surrounding collateral lineage Golden Pills had red-rimmed eyes, full of empathy.

As adults, they had constantly had to produce children for the direct lineage and then sacrifice them to the direct lineage cultivators to enhance their Spiritual Roots. They had to work tirelessly, providing for them.

Moreover, as soon as someone from the collateral lineage exhibited exceptional talent, they would be immediately and severely suppressed; often, they would disappear without a trace on a mere pretext.

Guarding against insiders more than outsiders.

"She's so beautiful!"

Jiang Ding, who had been watching from the side, had his eyes shining.

Looking at the figure on the field, clad in feather armor, with enchanting curves and pitch-black wings slowly unfolding behind her like a goddess of death, he felt his heart beating uncontrollably.

"This person is very suitable to become my Chief Maiden."