Chapter 114: "Damn It!"

Chapter 114: "Damn It!"

In the midst of the chaotic battlefield, this scene went almost unnoticed, as it was extremely inconspicuous.

However, Chen Qiu happened to witness this very moment.

Although the Golden Core cultivators were unable to take action, and these evil tribes combined couldn't defeat him, he preferred to make a decision in his mind before acting. So, instead of immediately joining the battle, he observed, and this observation allowed him to witness this scene.

Those dozen or so evil tribesmen, their faces filled with excitement, were rushing towards the Malevolent Wood.

They fought each other along the way.

Finally, a severely wounded evil tribesman obtained the Malevolent Wood and immediately placed it into his storage ring. He roared, no longer continuing the slaughter, but instead turned and fled towards the depths of the Endless Ice Plain.

It seemed like he was about to desert.

The other evil tribesmen around him, who had just brushed past, paid him no heed. They all raised their butcher knives, snarling and roaring as they continued their charge towards the Fat Province cultivators!

"Hold on! Hold your ground!"

At the edge of the Endless Ice Plain, the Grand Elder of the Celestial Wolf Sect was unable to take action due to the celestial law rules. Standing in his original spot, unable to move, he could only turn and shout at his disciples fighting in the distance, his neck veins bulging as he roared, "Kill these damned things!"

"Follow me."

Chen Qiu's eyes fixed on the evil tribesman who had picked up the Malevolent Wood and was now heading towards the depths of the ice plain. He patted the scholarly cultivator on the shoulder, signaling him to follow.

A flash of light shot out.

They flew over the battlefield, their speed so fast that the chaotic battlefield below had no time to react. In an instant, they had soared over the battlefield, hovering high above, looking down at the excited evil tribesman running against the crowd below.

The evil tribesman ran upstream, ignoring his fellow tribesmen charging forward.

After running for about three incense sticks of time, they were only half an incense stick's distance away from the secret realm of the inheritance.

Chen Qiu's pupils constricted. He had initially thought that the evil tribesmen were limited to the ones he had seen earlier, but in the depths of the Endless Ice Plain, a huge circle with a diameter of one hundred zhang was spreading out on the ground.

At that moment, a constant stream of evil tribesmen was emerging from within the circle.

Each evil tribesman, their faces filled with anticipation and ferocity, held a butcher knife as they emerged from the circle and rushed forward, gathering together.

And that circle...

It was formed by 1024 meteorites.

Most of the meteorites that fell from the sky landed nearby, but these 1024 meteorites formed a giant, perfectly circular array, like some kind of formation, and fell neatly into the ground.

The meteorites emitted strange lights, and a white light connected them all, eventually forming a huge white circle resembling a teleportation array.

As for the evil tribesman...

Holding the Malevolent Wood, his face flushed with excitement, he ran towards the circle. Without hesitation, he flew into the air, heading straight towards the center of the hundred-zhang circle.

But just as he was about to enter the circle...

"Boom!"

Dozens of lightning dragons appeared without warning above the evil tribesman, instantly blasting his body into pieces. Chunks of flesh fell into the circle, and with a faint white flash, they vanished from their original spot.

He fell on the spot.

The storage ring containing the Malevolent Wood also fell into the circle and disappeared along with the flesh.

The commotion attracted the attention of many evil tribesmen below.

"Roar!"

In an instant, countless evil tribesmen roared and flew into the sky, preparing to surround and kill Chen Qiu. But Chen Qiu, observing this scene, didn't immediately take action. He frowned slightly, thinking of the storage ring containing the Malevolent Wood that Zhao, the Sect Master, had given him.

He threw it into the air, scattering thousands of Malevolent Wood.

In the instant the thousands of Malevolent Wood appeared, Chen Qiu could even sense the breath of the evil tribesmen below freezing for a moment. Then, an incredibly terrifying, unified roar of excitement erupted from them. Almost instantly, they abandoned Chen Qiu as their target and flew towards the thousands of Malevolent Wood in the air!

Like rats seeing cheese, they lost their minds.

Hundreds of evil tribesmen even started fighting among themselves, mercilessly smashing their butcher knives into their fellow tribesmen's heads. Chunks of brain matter mixed with blood splattered in the air.

All the evil tribesmen were now red-eyed, completely losing their sanity, their eyes fixed only on the Malevolent Wood floating in the air.

". . ."

Chen Qiu furrowed his brows, observing the scene below, and confirmed his thoughts. He waved his right hand again, and thousands of strands of spiritual energy transformed into threads, gathering the Malevolent Wood floating in the air back into his Little World.

Then, instead of taking action, he and the scholarly cultivator transformed into a flash of light and disappeared from the spot.

The evil tribesmen below, seeing the suddenly vanished Malevolent Wood, glared at the direction where the scholarly cultivator had left, their faces twisted with anger and fury. But with their speed, it was impossible for them to catch up.

However, as if they had confirmed something, the evil tribesmen became even more agitated. They raised their butcher knives, their faces filled with anticipation and excitement, and charged towards Fat Province!

Returning to the edge of the Endless Ice Plain, Chen Qiu carefully observed the battlefield again. The war had been going on for some time, but not many Fat Province cultivators had fallen. It wasn't that they were exceptionally strong, but rather that the evil tribesmen had no intention of fighting.

These evil tribesmen seemed to have only one goal: to bypass the tough Fat Province cultivators and infiltrate Fat Province to seize a large number of Malevolent Wood.

Yes, the Malevolent Wood.

Based on various signs, it was almost certain that the Malevolent Wood, which was not rare but also not particularly valuable in Fat Province, was seen as an extremely rare heavenly treasure by these evil tribesmen.

"Brother Chen," Fat Dragon, standing nearby, hesitated, his expression complex. "Did you notice that hundred-zhang circle earlier?"

"Mhm."

Chen Qiu nodded slightly, indicating that he understood Fat Dragon's meaning. It seemed like these evil tribesmen had come specifically for the Malevolent Wood, and the white circle was a long-distance teleportation array they had set up.

The first Evil Tribe to seize the Malevolent Wood immediately rushed towards the light circle, seemingly preparing to return home, much like a mouse stealing a peach, scurrying back to its nest.

Of course, it didn't succeed in returning home either. In its final moments, it witnessed dozens of Lightning Dragons.

This gave him a particular feeling, as if the Great Xia, imprisoned by the four forbidden lands at the center, was like a treasure trove protected by formations, and these Evil Tribes were intruders looting the treasures.

He scanned the Malevolent Wood piled up like a mountain in the Little World with his Divine Sense and was astonished. He never imagined that this seemingly insignificant object in Fat Province could be a Supreme Treasure?

Perhaps they didn't know how to utilize it and only burned it for warmth. If this object was indeed a Supreme Treasure, who would these previously burned Malevolent Woods seek justice from? Wouldn't that be a waste of heaven's gifts?

He knew that the other conditions and thresholds for the Tenth Rank Golden Core were extremely rare. How could the last two required Heavenly Materials be ordinary? Even the Malevolent Wood wasn't ordinary, so the even rarer "Eight Directions Fruit," known as the "Useless Fruit," must be a significant Heavenly Material.

They just didn't recognize its value.

Unfortunately, the Eight Directions Fruit that Fat Dragon commissioned "Heavenly Pavilion" to purchase hadn't arrived yet. Otherwise, he could have taken it out now to test the Evil Tribes' reactions.

Chen Qiu then looked towards the distant Endless Ice Plain, where nine Evil Tribe members stood in mid-air, exuding a dense aura of Core Formation Peak Perfection. This invasion involved only the Endless Ice Plain, and there were already nine Core Formation Peak Evil Tribes leading the charge.

If the other three locations—the Endless Desert, the Endless Sea, and the Endless Snow Mountain—also had nine Core Formation Peak leaders, that would make thirty-six Core Formation Peak Evil Tribes in total.

Under the Celestial Law Rules, these nine Core Formation Peak Evil Tribes couldn't even move, let alone attack. They could only stand in mid-air, silently watching the battle.

"Damn it!"

Chen Qiu felt like he had vaguely seen through the restrictions of Great Xia. These Core Formation Peak Evil Tribes were different from those in Great Xia. The Core Formation Peak cultivators in Great Xia were nearing the end of their lifespan, old and frail, and they rarely dared to consume Life Energy, as each move they made would cost them years of their life.

However, these Evil Tribe Core Formation Peak members showed no signs of aging, indicating they still had a long lifespan ahead of them.

Their combat strength far surpassed that of Great Xia's Core Formation Peak cultivators.

Since this Evil Tribe had thirty-six members at their prime in the Core Formation Peak, they must have Nascent Soul cultivators within their tribe. However, they didn't send Nascent Soul cultivators to lead the invasion, probably because they knew that Nascent Soul cultivators were not allowed in Great Xia.

So, they sent these thirty-six Core Formation Peak members, who were the absolute powerhouses within Great Xia.

But who would have thought...

Before they could even start fighting, the Celestial Mandate Scroll directly patched the issue, forbidding cultivators above the Core Formation Stage from taking action. This left the thirty-six Core Formation Peak Evil Tribes stunned, standing there in mid-air, unable to move.

It is said that the Celestial Law Rules have no self-awareness.

But...

The patch was so timely that it didn't seem like an unconscious action.

Or perhaps this was a hidden rule?

Chen Qiu shook his head and didn't speak. He took a step forward, preparing to make his move.

The situation was now clear, and there was no need for further observation. The current task was to annihilate these Evil Tribes and then, after the invasion, to acquire Malevolent Wood and Eight Directions Fruit in Fat Province.

If the Great Xia prison was broken in the future, these two Heavenly Materials would become his greatest wealth. Whether the Great Xia prison could be broken was not up to him, and he suddenly felt a bit of understanding towards the Grand Xia's Grand Master. No one wanted to stay in a prison forever.

However, he also felt that this prison seemed more like a protective barrier for them. Without it, a single Nascent Soul cultivator could easily destroy Great Xia.

Chen Qiu took a deep breath and then flew into the air with his sword. As he did so, countless Evil Tribes below him attacked him simultaneously.

This was why everyone fought on land; it wasn't that they couldn't fly, but flying in the air made them an easy target for concentrated attacks.

Chen Qiu glanced at the overwhelming attacks and immediately retreated into the Little World. After three breaths, he reappeared in the distance, and it was now his turn to strike. As the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment rapidly spun above his Dantian, his abundant Life Energy surged within him.

The next moment—

Thousands of Lightning Dragons appeared out of thin air and struck towards the center of the Evil Tribe cultivators below! At the same time, nearly ten thousand green Demon Fires, like countless falling stars, descended and enveloped the Evil Tribe cultivators. He had sent all the Malevolent Spirits he had collected during this time into the Demon Fires, except for the two Golden Core Malevolent Spirits from Ning Taiping and his Guardian.

Fueled by the Malevolent Spirits, the green Demon Fires burned even more fiercely, emitting a chilling aura. Once they landed on a body, they couldn't be extinguished, and the Demon Fire would start spreading and burning.

He unleashed his full power.

In just an instant, his Life Energy was depleted.

No matter how abundant his Life Energy was, it couldn't withstand such consumption.

The Evil Tribe cultivators below also suffered heavy casualties from this attack.

Although his Life Energy was exhausted, Chen Qiu didn't plan to retreat into the Little World to recover. There were no Golden Core cultivators here, or at least none that could take action, so he could freely teleport in the air without worry.

He didn't have to fear teleporting into an attack he couldn't withstand.

"Fat Province cultivators, all of you, fall back!"

Chen Qiu, suspended in mid-air and with his Life Energy depleted, glanced at the Fat Province cultivators fighting the Evil Tribes nearby. After channeling Life Energy into his throat and shouting, he directed the Life Energy into his arm armor, and hundreds of needle-like spikes shot out, piercing his body.

The very next moment, Chen Qiu's entire body began to teleport erratically and frequently in the air. His spiritual energy within him almost recovered to thirty percent within a single breath.

Chen Qiu didn't wait for his spiritual energy to fully recover before taking action again. Instead, he directly unleashed nearly a thousand lightning dragons and over a thousand green demonic fires. With each bit of spiritual energy restored, he utilized it immediately.

The evil tribesman who died at his hands transformed into a vengeful spirit and appeared behind him, only to be thrown into the demonic fire by Chen Qiu, causing it to burn even more fiercely and intensely.

Thus, a scene unfolded in the sky above the battlefield.

Chen Qiu's body, shimmering with flowing light, continuously teleported in the air, making it impossible for the naked eye to capture his movements. Meanwhile, the countless lightning dragons and green demonic fires, like falling stars, blanketed the battlefield below.

In an instant, numerous evil tribesmen were killed and injured. Many of them, with gritted teeth, flew into the air to intercept Chen Qiu, but they couldn't locate his position. Amidst the incomprehensible roars of the human cultivators, the evil tribesmen finally reacted and launched indiscriminate attacks towards the sky without aiming.

However, by this time, the surviving evil cultivators were already a very small minority.

The indiscriminate attacks of the evil cultivators posed no significant threat to Chen Qiu. Occasionally, a few spells hit Chen Qiu, but they couldn't even break through his protective spiritual energy.

After all, Chen Qiu was a cultivator at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.

Even without relying on the entry scrolls, his cultivation alone was enough to suppress most of the people below.

"It's like mowing the grass," Fat Dragon, who had already stood far away, exclaimed in awe as he gazed at the spectacle in the distance. This was the first time he witnessed Chen Qiu's full power, and the endless lightning dragons and green demonic fires seemed limitless.

The previous wave of lightning dragons hadn't even landed yet, and a new wave was already in position.

As far as the eye could see, countless lightning dragons, intertwined with purple-blue lightning arcs, filled the entire sky, creating an overwhelming might that far surpassed the initial stage of the Golden Core.

The small number of remaining evil tribesmen on the ground had started to flee in all directions. It wasn't that no one wanted to escape by flying, but those who tried to escape in the air died even faster. No matter how they tried to escape, they couldn't get out of Chen Qiu's attack range.

It was clear that Chen Qiu didn't need to use his spirit sense to lock onto his targets. He would just glance at the general area where evil tribesmen were, and then thousands of lightning dragons would strike without the need for precise aiming. There was no way any evil tribesman could survive in the areas bombarded by the lightning dragons.

Chen Qiu, a cultivator at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, unleashed the Lightning Summoning Art with his full strength, enhanced by the power of the entry scrolls like "Spiritual Energy Pressure" and "Focus Power." Additionally, he had learned spirit control techniques from the legacy of an Alchemy Cultivator.

Without exaggeration, the power of this Lightning Summoning Art, when unleashed by a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, had reached its limit!

Just one strike of the Lightning Summoning Art was enough to make a cultivator of the same level retreat in fear.

With thousands of strikes, mixed with reality and illusion, no one could withstand it.

The evil tribesmen could only look up in despair at the overwhelming lightning dragons raining down upon them.

"It's a bit too exaggerated," the scholarly man standing next to Fat Dragon said, his lips twitching. This was more than just a bit exaggerated. When he was at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, he had the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, a pink entry scroll, and exceptional talent in the Sword Dao.

At that time, he was absolutely invincible among his peers.

No one at the same cultivation level could defeat him. He even managed to assassinate a rival who had just broken through to the Golden Core stage.

That was a cross-boundary battle, crossing a major cultivation realm. Even a newly advanced Golden Core cultivator was still a Golden Core, and he, a cultivator at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, could assassinate a Golden Core cultivator. This was something he could boast about for a long time. It was with the help of that Golden Core that he successfully entered the Core Formation Stage with a Second Rank Golden Core.

But after witnessing the scene before him, he realized that there was no such thing as absolute invincibility; it was just that he hadn't met a truly invincible opponent of the same level.

Chen Qiu was also at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, but if he had met Chen Qiu at that time, Chen Qiu could have easily defeated him hundreds of times over.

"..."

The scholarly man stood silently, his expression complicated. He felt a bit overwhelmed by the blow. He was also an invincible existence among his peers, yet he had been so thoroughly crushed by Chen Qiu at the same cultivation level. This was hard for him to accept.

Being crushed was normal.

But was it too much? He had thought of himself as a peerless genius, and others had called him that too, but after witnessing this scene, he felt that there should be another level above the peerless genius—the world-devastating genius.

It was too outrageous.

"But this is good," the scholarly man suddenly smiled with a mix of emotions. He and Chen Qiu weren't on opposing sides, and although he felt a bit overwhelmed, the stronger Chen Qiu became, the more his strength and status would rise as well.

He wouldn't even need to make any demands.

Once Chen Qiu achieved Nascent Soul, even the smallest things that slipped through his fingers would be things he had never dreamed of possessing. For example, this Sword Bone, which allowed him to stand like a normal person again.

Fat Dragon glanced at the scholarly man and instantly understood why he was smiling. He couldn't help but laugh as well. Who would have thought that the best decision he had made in his life was saying those four words in Windward City.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait."

Tsk, what was he thinking at that time? How did he manage to find such a thick and sturdy leg to stand on in the crowd?

"?"

The Fat City Lord, who was standing in place, unable to move, and had just survived a disaster, was now looking at Chen Qiu in the distance, who seemed like a god or demon slaughtering the world, and the sky full of lightning dragons, with a look of awe.

"Who is invading whom?"

This didn't look like an invasion by the evil tribes at all; it seemed like Chen Qiu was the one invading.

If an outsider came and saw this, they would surely think that the evil tribes were the victims, and Chen Qiu was a demonic, world-devastating devil. How could a cultivator at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment possess such exaggerated abilities?

Each lightning dragon's might far exceeded the power that a 9th-layer Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator could unleash using the Lightning Summoning Art.

And it wasn't just one dragon.

With a casual wave, thousands of them appeared, and the spiritual energy within his body seemed endless, as the sky full of lightning dragons relentlessly smashed down from above.

"Lightning Summoning Art!"

It was just an extremely ordinary spell, but in Chen Qiu's hands, it directly transformed into world-devastating lightning dragons.

"Could the Grand Master have foreseen even this?"

The Fat City Lord gazed at Chen Qiu, who was surrounded by tens of thousands of lightning dragons not far away, and spoke thoughtfully.

Thirty years ago.

The Grand Master had prophesied that the Endless Ice Plain would face a catastrophe and specifically ordered him to guard Fat City. With his 7th-layer Golden Core cultivation, he was considered one of the top combat powers in Great Xia. After the Evil Tribe's invasion, he eagerly rushed to the Endless Ice Plain, only to find himself dumbfounded upon discovering that the enemies were nine Evil Tribe members at the peak of the Golden Core stage.

Before he could even open his mouth, he was slapped into the ground.

At that moment, he wondered if the Grand Master had foreseen this, but soon the Celestial Mandate Scroll sounded, prohibiting Golden Core cultivators from taking action. Then, Chen Qiu stepped in and began the slaughter.

He had initially thought that the Grand Master had sent him because of his cultivation, but it turned out to be his character that was valued.

If a narrow-minded city lord had been assigned to guard the city, he might have gone to kill Chen Qiu, leading to no one being able to confront the Evil Tribe during their invasion, resulting in the devastation of Fat Province.

Had the Grand Master already calculated this? So many layers?

Indeed, he was the Grand Master! The Endless Desert, Endless Snow Mountain, and Endless Sea were also facing Evil Tribe invasions.

But for some unknown reason.

Perhaps they had received some news, as the Evil Tribes in these three places disappeared without a trace in just half an hour. The Foundation Establishment cultivators sent to investigate only found scattered meteorite fragments and no trace of the Evil Tribes.

At this moment, in an underground cavern.

A Nascent Soul with a terrifying cultivation aura was gazing excitedly at a bloodstained Malevolent Wood in his hand. His emotions were so intense that the spiritual energy around him began to surge uncontrollably.

The cavern was a reddish-brown color and appeared vast at a glance.

In the center of the cavern, four enormous light circles slowly rotated, with three of them gradually shrinking.

Only one circle continued to spin, and beside it stood numerous Evil Tribe members, throwing in a large number of spirit stones as if they were free, maintaining the normal operation of this circle.

"Roar!!!"

At this moment—

This Nascent Soul turned his head to look at an Evil Tribe warrior who had just emerged from the other three circles, his expression excited as he pointed at the still-rotating circle below and raised the Malevolent Wood in his hand, roaring.

"Roar, roar, roar!!!"

Upon hearing this, the Evil Tribe warriors who had just withdrawn from the other three circles also tensed up, their eyes widening, and the veins on their necks and chests bulging. The eight pairs of eyes on their chests blinked continuously, and then they all charged towards the remaining circle.

Tens of thousands of Evil Tribe warriors, one after another, leaped into the circle and disappeared into the cavern.

At this moment, on the Endless Ice Plain.

Chen Qiu had already slaughtered all the Evil Tribe warriors at the forefront and was now blocking the hundred-zhang light circle in the deeper part of the Endless Ice Plain. He stood in the air above the circle, unleashing spell bombardments towards the area below. Although the sky full of lightning dragons and countless green demon fires couldn't penetrate the white light circle, the Evil Tribe members who had just emerged from the white light circle hadn't even had time to understand their surroundings before they were turned into minced meat and disappeared back into the circle.

Not even their corpses remained.

"Good."

Fat Dragon, hovering in the air and looking down at the white light circle, sighed, "Brother Qiu is directly blocking the spawn point and killing them. I wonder how the battles in the other three places are going."

A large number of Evil Tribe members continuously emerged from the white light circle, but as soon as they appeared, they were greeted by the sky full of lightning dragons.

The hundred-zhang light circle was both large and not so large.

But it was just within the range of Chen Qiu's attacks.

"They might have already retreated."

Scholarly Flying looked at the "Heavenly Dao Evil Slayer Rankings" and frowned, "Many people on the rankings haven't had their kill counts updated for a long time. There are only two possible reasons for this."

"One is that the person is dead, and naturally, the kill count won't change if the person is dead."

"But it's impossible for so many people to have died, and even if they did, there would definitely be new people to take their place. Moreover, according to the past rules of the Heavenly Dao Rankings, dead people are automatically removed from the rankings."

"So, the only other possibility is that the invading Evil Tribes in the other three places have all retreated, and unless something unexpected happens, they've all come to the southern Endless Ice Plain. Didn't you see that there are a large number of Evil Tribes emerging from the light circle every moment, and the number is obviously much higher than before?"

"This Evil Tribe invasion"

"Most likely, they came solely for the Malevolent Wood."

"After discovering the Malevolent Wood in the Endless Ice Plain, they retreated from the other three places, concentrating all their forces here to plunder more Malevolent Wood."

"Unfortunately for them..."

Scholarly Flying looked up at Chen Qiu, who was surrounded by tens of thousands of lightning dragons in the air above the hundred-zhang light circle, and muttered, "Brother Qiu just happens to be in the Endless Ice Plain."

Indeed, the hundred-zhang light circle had Evil Tribe members emerging from it constantly.

However, not a single one could step out of the circle.

As soon as they appeared, they were turned into minced meat and disappeared back into the circle.

It can now be confirmed that—

This hundred-zhang light circle is a large-scale teleportation formation, linking the Endless Ice Plain with another unknown location. They had tried throwing stones and other objects into it, but they couldn't pass through.

After conducting multiple experiments.

Vengeful spirits couldn't enter.

Humans, beasts, and even demons couldn't pass through, only the Evil Tribes and the weapons and storage rings they carried.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end