Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

The wind howled fiercely as it escaped through the cracks in space.

"Are you alright?"

Jiang Ding summoned the Taiqing Flying Sword into his hand and examined it carefully with Divine Sense Scanning.

After such a brutal acceleration, even a Nascent Treasure might have snapped.

Yet, there was no damage on the inside or outside of the Taiqing Flying Sword.

It only appeared a bit listless as though it had consumed a massive amount of its spirituality, showing signs of drowsiness, its sensitivity to the surrounding environment somewhat diminished.

"Rest for a while."

He casually tucked the Taiqing Flying Sword into the space between his eyebrows.

It appeared in the unknown space within his forehead, quietly suspended, the space around it undergoing some change, channeling an unknown force that nourished the sword and healed its damaged spirituality.

As he hurried on his way, Jiang Ding silently reminisced about the Causal Skill left behind by Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch, when suddenly many inspirations exploded in his heart.

In the end, a vague cylindrical object took shape, possibly linked to a True Immortal's Destroying Golden Sword that might exist tens or hundreds of thousands of years in the future.

…

Beast Spirit Immortal City, the high halls of the clan's ancestral shrine.

Endless chill, cold and sudden, descended upon more than a dozen members of the Hei Clan's direct lineage of Golden Pill Monks.

Silence lingered for a long time.

As if swept by a frigid wind from the far north, the defensive shields and mana of the Golden Pill Monks were utterly useless; every one of them felt a deep chill in their hearts.

Fear, panic, disbelief.

And much more besides.

In front of them, thick incense smoke twined, never dissipating for ten thousand years. No matter what difficulties they faced in the past, no one ever doubted whether these offerings of incense would continue. It was like the rising sun and the waxing moon—immutable, no matter what happened.

Five thousand years ago, their clan had fallen from its zenith and was subsequently defeated by forces such as the Mu Family of the Ice Snow Palace and the Liu Family of the Joyous Union Sect, their influence reduced to this remote land.

Two hundred years ago, the Great Sun Sect began to emerge in the Northern Plains, devouring an ancient clan that had lasted for tens of thousands of years, shocking the entire world.

All such events, they had weathered, one by one. The ancestors' incense fire, the glory of the Hei Clan had never once fallen.

But now,

It seemed all was approaching its end.

In front of the many ancestral spirit plaques, a dark jade soul plaque developed slight cracks.

On the verge of shattering, yet not shattered.

"Ancestor, Ancestor..."

The young Golden Pill member of the direct lineage, Hei Chengxiu, trembled, his teeth chattering, his centuries of experience unable to calm even a fraction of his nervousness in this moment.

"This can't be real,"

"This can't possibly be real!"

"This soul plaque was left by the ancestor in his youth; it has withstood a millennium, and naturally, issues have arisen—it's self-damaged, something that happens every so many years."

"Nothing surprising, nothing surprising."

"Yes, I've done research on soul plaques myself; this is merely second-tier black jade, not some divine material."

"Exactly, exactly..."

Surrounding him, a circle of direct lineage Golden Pill Cultivators—some in their prime, some with the youthful face but hoary hair, some with twin buns pointing to the sky looking like children, ranging from a hundred to over five hundred years old.

But all were the same, bodies trembling, faces pale, all manner of plausible reasons tumbling from their lips.

Each spoke with absolute certainty, citing various precedents, histories of other clans' similar experiences at their fingertips, displaying a thorough knowledge of texts, the scholarly maturity of seasoned scholars.

You say one thing, I say another.

A multitude of evidences layered together, pointing toward a clear fact.

It was an issue with the material of the soul plaque itself.

"That's exactly it."

The Golden Pill Cultivators let out a sigh of relief, their faces lighting up with joy, finally at ease, laughing and chattering away.

"The Ancestor will surely have good fortune by fate, safe and sound."

No one knew who said these words.

The surrounding laughter faltered.

An eerie silence like the stillness of death.

As if an icy hand had crept up, soundlessly spreading out and stifling the throats of every Golden Pill Cultivator, abruptly freezing them in the midst of their merriment.

Say nothing, do nothing.

He stood there without any change in expression.

For a long time.

For a very long time.

A cold breeze from nowhere blew towards them, bringing with it a trace of fresh, flowing air.

"…The clan leader, Hei Chengwu, is dead. He died in front of the family's secret vault, still clutching the secret command given by our ancestor."

The young direct lineage Golden Pill Cultivator, Hei Chengxiu, said in a hoarse voice, "We've all tried, but our auras don't match. The secret command won't open the vault; only the living Hei Chengwu could've done it."

"Many opportunities for Infant Formation can't be retrieved."

He didn't know whether to feel relieved or something else.

If it weren't for someone loudly proclaiming this news, right now in front of the vault there would've already been rivers of blood, with only one or two direct lineage Golden Pill Cultivators possibly surviving.

"What should we do?"

"Flee or what?"

Hei Chengxiu asked while incessantly pondering in his heart, indecisive and hesitant.

Safe?

Where would be safe?

Here in the clan's Immortal City, at least there were grand formations left by the ancestors. What about outside the city?

Not to mention the unknown fearsome enemy, even the many Loose Cultivators and the Golden Pills of the collateral family branches would love to skin them alive; if discovered, a lone Golden Pill would simply be an easy prey.

The arrogance of the past had become the path to certain death now.

"We should leave."

A Golden Pill Monk with a youthful face and crane-like hair in the late stages considered for a moment and without persuading anyone, turned and left, concealing his form as he flew away from the city.

Many hesitated, but in the end, two followed suit, dispersing in different directions.

"We should stay!"

The remaining people, including Hei Chengxiu, made up their minds.

"The ancestor is only gravely injured, not dead. We should persist and stay in the Immortal City. We need to rely on the city's grand formations to defend ourselves and send urgent pleas for assistance to the major families, especially the Iron Family.

When mentioning the urgent situation that it's uncertain whether the ancestors' incense fire can be sustained, we must beg them to make a move; as long as the ancestors' incense fire can continue, we are willing to agree to any conditions."

"Golden Pill vassals, Foundation-building juniors, and even Qi Practitioner juniors must be gathered. Don't hide anything, tell everyone that this is the moment of our life and death."

Having truly made up his mind, he felt less fear in his heart and spoke swiftly.

"We don't have control over the Immortal City's grand formations."

Another elderly Cultivator spoke out, not to criticize or nitpick under the guise of righteousness as in the past, but followed up with, "If the family's ancestor has perished, the control over the formations shifts to the strongest direct lineage Golden Pill. I just need to shatter the ancestor's soul tablet."

Without inciting anyone to bear the blame, or to share any part of it, he alone stepped forward and smashed the soul tablet of Divine Crow Immortal into pieces.

Boom!

Thump, thump thump, thump thump thump...

The Hei Clan's family formation buzzed into action, the muffled tolling of a death knell echoed in all directions, informing the many Hei family members within the city of the ancestor's death. The catastrophe of annihilation was imminent, calling all able-bodied family members to gather at the ancestral hall.

"The Golden Pills from the vassal families may harbor dissenting thoughts."

Another Golden Pill spoke, all of them being old cultivators who had been cultivating for hundreds of years, looking out for one another's deficiencies.

"It doesn't matter. After taking over the Immortal City's formations, I control their life and death prohibitions. There may be some back and forth in the future, but there's no need to worry for the time being."

Hei Chengxiu only felt the authority of the Immortal City's grand formation surging towards him, his Divine Soul suddenly in agony, swelling and on the verge of bursting, barely managing to speak.

The Golden Pill Cultivators around him harbored no intentions of foul play or envy. Their Divine Sense worked rapidly, commanding the city's Foundation-building and Qi Practitioners to gather at each formation node following Army Formation tactics.

"We could ask the Shang Clan for help."

A Golden Pill Monk with the appearance of a child spoke solemnly, "Given the current situation, the Righteous and Demonic Alliance is struggling to move a step; internal conflicts have drastically reduced. It's unlikely to be other clans' ancestors' doing in secret, so it must be an outsider. It could be an Immortal from the Great Sun Sect. We can seek help from the Lingbao Commerce Association where many Golden Pill and Foundation-building Cultivators can lend a hand."

"That's feasible..."

The numerous Golden Pills exchanged ideas, each putting forth their thoughts without a hint of selfishness.

Seeing this, Hei Chengxiu's eyes welled up for some reason.

If only it could have always been this way in the past, would this day have never come?

"My uncles,"

Just as he was about to say something, Hei Chengxiu felt a chill in his heart and shuddered; looking through the grand formation of the Beast Spirit Immortal City, he gazed far into the distance.

"He's here, an Immortal of Nascent Soul is coming!"

"It's not a Cultivator from the Great Sun Sect; it's Immortal Tushan, the one who had a grudge with the ancestor!"