Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1710 - 901: Sect Annihilation (Part 2)

This location isn't outside the great formation—it's the Sun Concealing Sect’s mountain gate. Recklessly unleashing large-scale spells here would demolish countless sect structures and slaughter numerous cultivators.

Right as that Great Cultivator bellowed 'surrender,' a Late-stage Golden Corpse materialized at his side and claimed his life.

Master Ba Run's hair stood on end. Rather than striking out, a life-saving talisman materialized in his grasp.

His form then morphed into an escape light, hurtling toward the mountain gate's outer edge.

The instant this escape light streaked away, the Late-stage Golden Corpse—deprived of its mark—shifted into a shadow and gave chase.

An unthinkable event unfolded: the escape technique, renowned as the quickest motion skill in the Cultivation World, was getting outpaced by a Late-stage Golden Corpse leveraging its velocity.

Though Master Ba Run lacked a Great Ability Life-saving Jade Talisman, the life-saving talisman he clutched was a Sun Concealing Sect heirloom, forged by a Peak Great Cultivator from an earlier generation.

In typical scenarios, a life-saving talisman of this quality would assuredly protect one's life throughout the Dongqi Continent.

Yet confronting a Late-stage Golden Corpse wielding the 'Speed Rule Imprint,' the escape technique from this talisman offered no superiority.

Master Ba Run perceived a pace vastly exceeding his escape art's potential. Escaping the sect tormented him deeply, yet unlike his butchered Great Cultivator peers, he shouldered a divine duty, already plotting to resurrect the Sun Concealing Sect post-escape.

In the blistering rush of the escape technique, amid that never-before-felt velocity, a sudden hunch prompted him to glance sideways.

He beheld an astonishing view: the armored Late-stage Golden Corpse was virtually matching his speed.

The Late-stage Golden Corpse hefted an oversized heavy hammer. Master Ba Run yearned to swerve, but sadly, this escape technique—powered not by his own might—traveled solely in a straight path, forbidding abrupt maneuvers.

A deafening 'boom' rang out, and Master Ba Run plunged into unconsciousness.

"All cultivators stand still where you are; violators will die!" Another Late-stage Golden Corpse prowled to and fro across the Sun Concealing Sect’s mountain gate, growling in a rasping tone.

The horrifying aura from the Late-stage Golden Corpse knocked out every cultivator beneath Nascent Soul Stage.

Merely Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivators withstood it. Two Nascent Soul Middle Stage Practitioners, refusing to witness their sect's ruin, ascended into the sky. Before any move, the Late-stage Golden Corpse's silhouette flickered by.

The heavy hammer crushed the bodies of those two Nascent Soul Middle Stage Practitioners, bursting them into a bloody mist that poured down.

From then on, no cultivators risked stirring, all complying by remaining in place.

Now, the Late-stage Golden Corpse that hunted Master Ba Run returned, soaring to a structure and smashing through its protections to plunge within.

A subdued glow lit the building's interior. Floor-center held a miniature of the full Sun Concealing Sect, various markers pulsing steadily.

This marked the nucleus of the Sun Concealing Sect’s great formation; the Late-stage Golden Corpse acted with remarkable care.

A single finger extended for a soft touch, injecting a spell into the Sun Concealing Sect’s great formation core. Successive defenses crumbled without effort, granting seizure of the core's command.

Sun Concealing Sect Nascent Soul Cultivators grounded there sensed the great formation quake fiercely, their Identity Jade Discs then stripped of privileges by the formation's force.

Repulsion surged from the Sun Concealing Sect’s great formation against those Nascent Soul Cultivators, alerting them the formation had enemy control, stripping the sect of all safeguards.

Commanding the Sun Concealing Sect’s great formation now, the Late-stage Golden Corpse scanned its intel to identify a key site.

The Late-stage Golden Corpse's form erupted from the building, bound for a valley.

That valley, nestled in the Sun Concealing Sect’s mountain gate, seemed plain and forgettable, though shielded by the formation's strictest wards.

The valley formation divided on command, unveiling a pathway inward.

The Late-stage Golden Corpse discovered a formation-guarded spatial gate; it served as the Grotto Heaven's portal, the Sun Concealing Sect's supreme treasure.

Without a second's pause, the Late-stage Golden Corpse stepped through the spatial gate.

As it entered the Grotto Heaven, the Late-stage Golden Corpse stared at the vista ahead and couldn't help feeling stunned; this was utterly unlike the Devil Cultivator Grotto Heaven it had envisioned.

The area looked just like a Spirit Plant cultivation field, free from the eerie aura typical of Devil Cultivators and unmarred by any demonic energy corruption.

On second thought, it all added up. If the Grotto Heaven were truly altered into a negative-energy hellhole favored by Devil Cultivators, it might boost their cultivation somewhat, yet most Spirit Plants simply couldn't survive there.

Devil Cultivators remain cultivators at heart, demanding huge quantities of resources. A sect's Grotto Heaven stands as its chief producer of resources, especially the top-tier ones, with the bulk originating from within.

All Great Cultivators had evacuated the Grotto Heaven, leaving not a single cultivator behind.

The Late-stage Golden Corpse scanned briefly before darting off in a certain direction.

Li Shiming possessed profound knowledge of the Grotto Heaven, and with its scarcity of concealment methods, he could precisely track the Spiritual Energy streams.

By following the subtle currents of Spiritual Energy flow, IBMz15 pinpointed the Grotto Heaven's central Spiritual Energy hub.

The Late-stage Golden Corpse landed in front of a modest thatched hut—the very nucleus of the entire Grotto Heaven.

Under Li Shiming's command, the Late-stage Golden Corpse extended a hand to push open the hut's wooden door.

The second the wooden door creaked open, countless shrill spiritual howls erupted from inside, as over a hundred Fourth Grade Ghost Souls surged forth, lunging to bite at the Late-stage Golden Corpse.

"So this is the Sun Concealing Sect’s final measure—truly ruthless!" Li Shiming couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

The Sun Concealing Sect might lack the power to command over a hundred Fourth Grade Ghost Souls, yet with ample time, the Demon Sect could certainly gather them all in one location.

An ordinary Great Cultivator caught off guard by an assault from over a hundred Fourth Grade Ghost Souls faced grave peril of demise.

Fourth Grade Ghost Souls form a uniquely resilient existence, shrugging off nearly all attacks except direct soul strikes or rare soul-affecting techniques; subduing them demands real effort.

That said, Fourth Grade Ghost Souls aren't invincible by any means; a prepared cultivator has numerous ways to counter them effectively.

Yet upon stepping into the Grotto Heaven, the everyday sight of a Spirit Plant resource farm would cause invaders to slacken their defenses entirely.

The humble thatched hut only deepened that false security; right as the wooden door parted, over a hundred Fourth Grade Ghost Souls ambushed. Even with countermeasures ready, contending against such numbers proved daunting.

The Fourth Grade Ghost Souls hurled themselves at the Late-stage Golden Corpse, only to be blocked cold by its armor upon contact.

Next, a glow rippled across the armor's surface, elevating it from standard Fourth Grade Top Quality straight to Spiritual Treasure rank.

Yin Cold Energy from deep within the Late-stage Golden Corpse gushed forth via the Spirit Treasure Armor, saturating the vicinity and ensnaring every Fourth Grade Ghost Soul.

The Late-stage Golden Corpse bared its maw, pulling all the Fourth Grade Ghost Souls into itself.

This wasn't true consumption but rather employing its body as a vessel to seal them away for the moment.

Stepping inside the hut revealed no additional traps; tucked in one corner grew a faintly luminous small black grass.

"The Wood Element Heavenly Treasure corrupted by evil energy to this degree—quite extraordinary!" Li Shiming, viewing through the Late-stage Golden Corpse, murmured in faint astonishment at the small black grass.

Whether this Wood Element Heavenly Treasure came naturally in this form or had been tampered with by Devil Cultivators afterward remained unknown to him, but regardless, it marked his first sighting of such a specimen.

Directing the Late-stage Golden Corpse, he channeled a spell into the small black grass, instantly feeling it assume mastery over the Grotto Heaven.