One of the three was an extraordinary Sword Cultivator, bearing a blood-stained wooden sword and having comprehended Sword Intent.
Another was a Demoness, smiling charmingly but enveloped in Devilish Qi.
The third was a stern, burly man whose Physical Body exuded a terrifying aura.
These three hailed from the Seven Stars Sword Sect, Demon Cloud Sect, and Heavenly Fire Pavilion, respectively.
These three Sects were all major powers on par with the Qingyuan Sect, and these three individuals were highly renowned Genius Disciples within their respective Sects, possessing combat prowess that dwarfed other Cultivators of the same stage in Qi Refining.
The primary objective of this gathering of three Geniuses was to eliminate Meng Yan! This was to clear out all of the Qingyuan Sect's footholds in Qing Shi County and seize control of the county.
Although they didn't know why they were doing this or what was special about Qing Shi County, they only knew it was an order from the Sect's high-ranking officials, demanding that they secure control of Qing Shi County! They were also to eliminate any Qingyuan Sect Disciples with control capabilities and any other threatening individuals within Qing Shi County!
Facing this command, all three could guess that the Sect's high-ranking officials must have discovered something in Qing Shi County, but these secrets were not for Disciples at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages to know.
In any case, they had no choice but to follow orders.
As for enemies above Foundation Establishment, they weren't too concerned.
This was because, prior to this, the high-ranking officials of the various Sects had already made the most stringent Heavenly Dao vows; regardless of how they violated the established combat agreement, all high-ranking officials, including the entire Sect, would face terrifying Heavenly Dao punishment.
Moreover, the high-ranking officials involved in the battle seemed to hold trump cards, confident that their side would emerge as the final victor, so after a simple discussion, the combat agreement was finalized.
Now, the high-ranking officials of each Sect sat calmly on high platforms, manipulating their Disciples to execute their battle plans.
They remained incredibly composed when their Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Disciples died.
The only sacrifices were the Disciples of each Sect; after such a long struggle, countless young Disciples who yearned for the Immortal Dao had become mere bones, pawns and sacrifices in a mysterious war.
For those old individuals with thousands of years of lifespan, the life and death of a batch of Disciples were completely insignificant; young Geniuses were merely something that appeared every year.
As long as the Human Race's numbers and Foundation remained, there would be no shortage of this! After a few decades, countless more would emerge!
Unless it was a super Genius appearing once in a millennium, all others had to obey the Sect's strategy!
This was the inherent cruelty.
During periods of stable development, with the Sect and its territories flourishing, the highest echelons of the Sect would naturally formulate policies beneficial to the prosperity of their territories to maximize profits.
However, if something far exceeded these profits, prosperity became less important, and everything had to yield to that something!
The current chaos in the Qingtian Domain was precisely this.
Economic prosperity could be sacrificed. In any case, it could be redeveloped through various policy measures in a few decades or a century at most; how many years of memory do low-level Cultivators have? As long as it wasn't overly excessive, shifting the blame would solve it.
The lives of Loose Cultivators and Family Cultivators could be sacrificed. Anyway, if these were gone, new Families and Loose Cultivators would emerge; it's like wheat, as long as the environment is suitable, throwing some seeds will make them grow again, no matter how harshly they were harvested before.
Even the lives of their own Sect's Disciples could be sacrificed, because they too were something that could grow at any time; ultimately, they were just slightly better wheat.
Only by becoming a Golden Core Stage or Nascent Soul Stage powerhouse did one earn the right to sit at the table.
Below that, they were merely pawns!
A significant reason why large-scale massacres are prohibited in the Cultivation World is that the soil for growing wheat in the Cultivation World must not be destroyed; this is a pact jointly established by countless top-tier mighty figures…
…
About an hour after the Sword Cultivator, Body Cultivator, and Demonic Cultivator discovered Meng Yan's whereabouts, Qi Ping, who was in a state of Cultivation, suddenly opened his eyes.
Just now, his Bee Swarm, which was dispersed outside, suddenly transmitted a faint fluctuation.
This was because the Bee Swarm was too far away to transmit specific information, only causing a slight fluctuation.
However, given Qi Ping's familiarity with the Bee Swarm, this faint fluctuation was enough.
After waiting for the enemies to get much closer, Qi Ping alerted Meng Yan.
"Brother Meng, the enemies might be here…"
"The enemies are here? Where?"
Meng Yan, hearing this, was startled; he hadn't detected anything, and the warning Formation he had set up hadn't been triggered at all.
This was the most terrifying part!
"They're still a bit far from here, but they're almost here. Brother Meng, stay alert. I'll hide first…"
"Alright! Thank you, Brother Qi, for the warning!"
Meng Yan breathed a sigh of relief. If he hadn't detected the enemies when they were close, that would have been truly frightening.
If they were still far away, it was still acceptable.
But he was also secretly surprised; at such a distance, Qi Ping could still accurately detect the enemies, indicating his detection ability was far superior to his own.
Before long, the warning Formation Meng Yan had set up was triggered, and then three figures quickly appeared.
"It's you all?"
The moment he saw these three figures, Meng Yan's eyes narrowed, and his expression became incredibly serious.
Meng Yan knew the information about these three; they were all Geniuses from various Sects whose fame was no less than his own.
"Oh? You don't seem surprised by our arrival? It seems you deliberately leaked this information…" The woman from the Demon Cloud Sect, enveloped in Devilish Qi, said with a half-smile, immediately noticing the abnormality.
"But where is your courage? Your confidence can't just be these Formations around you. Do you think you're a bit too naive to try and deal with the three of us with such meager means? The rumors say you're so powerful; you must be more than this, right?" The Heavenly Fire Pavilion Disciple, whose Physical Body exuded terrifying pressure, said arrogantly.
As a Body Cultivator with a fire-attribute battle body, his Cultivation style was precisely this: arrogance, and suppressing everything with his Physical Body!
"What nonsense! Kill!"
Before the Seven Stars Sword Sect Disciple, who carried the wooden sword, finished speaking, he directly attacked.
The wooden sword, stained red with blood on his back, instantly transformed into a stream of light, carrying terrifying Sword Intent and striking towards Meng Yan.
This sword strike was aimed directly at Meng Yan's head!
The Sword Intent, radiating terrifying Killing Intent, if it struck directly, even Meng Yan's Physical Body would be decapitated by a single sword.
It was Killing Intent, renowned for its destructive power!
However, facing this Sword Cultivator's attack, Meng Yan showed no panic. A first-grade Perfection interference Formation instantly covered the entire area!
Within this Formation, unless one had refined a special token, they would be fully interfered with by the Formation. The fewer enemies, the stronger the interference!
As the Formation activated, Meng Yan's Essence of Fire surged, and a Flame Burst Net, also at the Perfection level, appeared before Meng Yan.
Then, a shocking explosion rang out!
To Qi Ping's surprise, under the terrifying explosive force of the Flame Burst Net, the wooden sword's attack was directly interrupted, and the Spiritual Qi and Sword Intent on the sword body were more than half depleted, forcing the Seven Stars Sword Sect Disciple to recall the blood-stained wooden sword.
"Good heavens, Dao Heart Realm? Earth Core Flame?" Qi Ping was somewhat shocked.
It seemed Meng Yan's improvement during this period was also extremely terrifying; not only had he completely comprehended the first stage of Dao Heart, but he had also refined the Earth Core Flame!
The moment the Killing Intent emerged, Qi Ping had been worried for Meng Yan, but he unexpectedly blocked it effortlessly, which truly astonished Qi Ping.
"I didn't expect your strength to be more terrifying than the intelligence suggested, but if I drink your blood, I imagine my life sword will become even stronger…"
The Seven Stars Sword Sect Disciple, seeing his attack blocked, was not overly surprised. Instead, a wicked smile curled at the corner of his mouth, and terrifying Killing Intent erupted in his eyes!
At the same time, the Disciples from the Demon Cloud Sect and Heavenly Fire Pavilion also wanted to act immediately, but at this moment, one person and one Crow blocked their path.
Qi Ping stood before the Heavenly Fire Pavilion Body Cultivator, while Crow faced the Demoness from the Demon Cloud Sect.
This was Crow's own request; it said that with its current strength, they could trust it.
Qi Ping agreed to this; he also wanted to see who was stronger, Crow, after its Awakening as a Yang Fire Crow and so much diligent Cultivation, constantly refining fire-attribute spiritual honey, refining and comprehending Great Sun Power, comprehending Essence of Fire, and refining Beast King Flame with so many resources accumulated, or the Genius Demoness of the Demon Cloud Sect!
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