Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 171 - 177: The Way Home

Such a cost made the Profound Ice Sect unwilling to save the Great Void Tao.

The Sect Leaderʼs current defense aimed only to hold back the Devil Beasts, hoping that the seeds of Great Void Tao could escape and one day find an opportunity to rebuild the Great Void Tao.

As for the wish to avenge their grievance and retake Great Void Province, which was like a tall tale, the Sect Leader had never entertained such a thought.

With the mana of numerous disciples, and the overdrawn use of the Spirit Veinʼs spiritual energy, the Mountain Protection Array of Great Void Tao became extremely solid. The flickering Spirit Light, which seemed on the verge of shattering, instantly mended and became unblemished.

”Why persist in such a futile resistance? Rather than slowly falling into despair and enduring torture, isnʼt it better to meet a swift death? At least it would be less painful,” a certain fourth-tier Great Devil shook its head and remarked.

It seemed that the Devil Beasts were unable to defeat Great Void Tao for now, but this was temporary. Once the time passed, everything would revert to its original state. By then, not only would these disciples be left with no mana, facing death where they stood, but the Spirit Vein would also be damaged.

As time trickled by, a large number of disciples from Taixu had their mana drained by the formation, collapsing to the ground powerless. The Spirit Vein could no longer provide much spiritual energy either, and the Great Array once again showed ripples of strain.

However, the Sect Leader was very satisfied with this, because up to now, he had already sent away several hundred disciples. With them, the heritage of the Great Void Tao would not die out!

And he had not become the Sect Leader that oversaw its demise.

”Fellow brothers, who would have thought we would meet our end on the same day?” the Sect Leader even managed to joke.

The Golden Core cultivators who remained in the Great Void Tao, apart from those like the Sect Leader who had to stay behind to calm the disciples, consisted only of some aged seniors with little life left.

”Since we are to meet our end, why donʼt we prepare one final gift for these vile beasts?” said a certain Golden Core.

Everyone nodded in agreement—they had chosen to stay, never expecting to leave alive!

The only pity was that those few fourth-tier Devil Beasts were too far away, not within the range of their ʼsurpriseʼ, beyond the reach of their harm.

Having made their decision, no one hesitated. They inverted their mana without a second thought and turned it into a rainbow light, bursting out of the formation and specifically plunging toward where the Devil Beasts were most populous.

Boom!

Several earth-shattering explosions ensued. The self-destruction of Golden Core cultivators was immensely terrifying; everything within several miles was leveled to the ground. The Devil Beasts closest to the blast were now without a trace, completely annihilated into nothingness.

Their actions were swift, and by the time those fourth-tier Devil Beasts reacted, it was too late to stop them. They could only watch helplessly as those Devil Beasts perished.

The few Golden Cores, with their lives, lessened the pressure on the formation, but also completely enraged those fourth-tier Devil Beasts.

Roar!

With a furious roar, the first fourth-tier Devil Beast made its move.

If reaching the Golden Core Realm meant being able to communicate with the spiritual energy between heaven and earth to enhance oneʼs spell power, then the Nascent Soul Realm allowed for manipulating a sliver of the Power of Laws. A casual strike could potentially trigger a minor natural disaster.

A shower of fireballs descended from the sky, falling onto Mount Taixu under his command.

And with just one strike, the formation was rendered dim and close to shattering.

The other fourth-tier Devil Beasts no longer stood idly by. Various terrifying natural disasters struck down, and soon, the formation broke into pieces.

The disciples on the mountain fell into despair. Faced with the assault of one Devil Beast after another, they tried to defend themselves with barely any mana left. But this act only bought them a moment more—death was inevitable.

Cultivators fell one after another, turning into corpses, with their blood flowing into rivers, staining the once scenic Mount Taixu a crimson red, making it resemble a hell on earth.

The rich, pungent scent of blood made these Devil Beasts even more frenzied, seeking greater slaughter without the urgency to consume the flesh and blood.

Hunted by a large number of Devil Beasts, cultivators fell one after another, contributing to the growing mountain of corpses.

Half an hour later, the last Foundation Establishment cultivator died under the siege of several Devil Beasts.

And this signified the official fall of the Great Void Tao!

This vast land had a new master.

As one flower blooms, another may wilt.

However, in a space where he had spent an entire month, Li Zhirui appeared silently on a desolate mountain that very night.

”Itʼs been so long, the great battle between the Devil Race and the Great Void Tao must have ended, right?” Li Zhirui muttered to himself.

But he had no intention of investigating; his only thought was to leave this place as soon as possible.

”Xiaoqing, you can take it easy this time, no need to fly too fast,” Li Zhirui summoned Xiaoqing with a wave of his hand.

After a month of meticulous healing, Xiaoqingʼs injuries had completely healed. He could conceal his presence, hiding Li Zhirui on his broad back.

If the Great Void Province was now the Devil Raceʼs territory, then Xiaoqing could pass as a Devil Beast; if the Great Void Tao was still around, then it would be appropriate for Li Zhirui to reveal himself.

Under the bright light of Taiyin, Xiaoqing spread his wings and set off toward the east.

Despite the late hour, Li Zhirui was still able to gauge the current state of the Great Void Province—with the roars of the beasts and the piteous screams of cultivators echoing everywhere, it was evident that this place had become the Devil Raceʼs domain, a purgatory for the human race.

”It seems that the Profound Ice Sect did not intervene to help the Great Void Province,” Li Zhirui shook his head, pushing the thought out of his mind.

However, this only made him even more cautious, almost completely concealing himself within Xiaoqingʼs feathers.

Fortunately, the Devil Race had only recently conquered Great Void Province and were immersed in their joy or satiated with sufficient food, and it was also night, so they did not encounter any Devil Beasts along the way.

As the sky began to brighten and Xiaoqing was about to leave the Great Void Province, a second-order Spirit Bird suddenly appeared in front of them.

Li Zhirui recognized it at once, its golden, gleaming, metallic feathers unmistakable.

A fourth-grade Devil Beast of the Golden Wing Peng Bird lineage!

And it was from the same clan as the third-order Spirit Bird Li Zhirui had previously encountered in the Secret Realm.

The Golden Wing Peng Bird lineage does not reproduce easily, so they value their offspring highly. Seeing that this bird appeared to have just come of age, it was very likely a young Peng Bird that had sneaked out—a huge problem!

Li Zhirui did not want any trouble and simply sought a safe departure, so he prepared for Xiaoqing to swiftly sidestep the bird. However, to his surprise, the Golden Wing Peng Bird suddenly initiated an attack!

”Get lost!” Li Zhirui bellowed, casually summoning a vine to bind it and throwing it into the distance.

”Move fast!”

Given the Golden Wing Peng Birdsʼ protective nature, it wouldnʼt take long for a third-order Peng Bird to arrive. They should hurry and leave.

Screech!

The Peng Bird hit the ground with a painful cry.

”Who dares to lay a hand on my Golden Wing Peng Bird clan!” A roar like thunder came from afar, obviously the hidden Peng Bird had been discovered, and something was quickly approaching.