Lin Feng
Third major realm cultivators might be fast but even at their top speed, there is no way they can evade a missile going at a speed that is at least a few times faster than them. The outcome is immediate and obvious. The two missiles instantly obliterated the third major realm cultivator at proficient stage. The demise of a third major realm cultivator would have normally collapsed the morale of the remaining Savage Corpse Cult disciples, leading them to flee in panic. However, such a situation didn't come to past. The six infantry fighting vehicles were equally effective at eliminating enemies. The autocannon on top of the six infantry fighting vehicles have quickly slain every single enemy within sight before they could even register the idea to flee.
The result is a one-sided massacre. As someone born in a peaceful a civilized era, Lin Feng is glad the mission didn't call for the elimination of every single soul present in the spirit mine. They just need to eliminate every single soul that has bear witness to what have happened. The spirit stones are mined using slaves and the Savage Corpse Cult inhumane treatment has ended up saving their life. Those slaves are all kept underground in the mining tunnels and never allowed to come above ground. The few supervisors who heard the loud noise and came above ground to investigate has also been quickly eliminated by the four accompanying third major realm cultivators.
The soldiers that exited the six infantry fighting vehicles move with purpose and quickly emptied out all the spirit stones in the warehouse and looted whatever valuables they can get their hand on. The mission main objective is to weaken the Savage Corpse Cult by killing one of their six third major realm cultivators. The plunder of the spirit stones is only meant to conceal this objective. Leaving everyone underground alive also serves the purpose of misleading Savage Corpse Cult investigation further down that road. The military fleet was in and out of the spirit mine in twenty-five minutes.
Without any surviving witness, the clues the Savage Corpse Cult can piece together will be imperfect. The enemy quick and efficient elimination of their entire defending force should indicate the work of a fourth major realm cultivator. Emptying all the spirit stones also points to the opportunistic act of a powerful enemy of their sect or a rogue cultivator. With limited information, it will be difficult for Savage Corpse Cult to ever consider the possibility that it was in fact the work of one their vassal sects.
As the military fleet began its retreat, Lin Feng and his team quickly pack up all the equipment that creates the isolation barrier before disappearing into the wilderness as well. He is glad that he wouldn't have to witness such a bloody massacre (even if they are all vicious deviant cultivators) anytime soon with the conclusion of this operation. His superior has given him advance notice that he will be receiving a new assignment after this operation. Hopefully, it will be on a more civilized world since he will be leaving Norozza.
To further confused the Savage Corpse Cult, the strategic planner has intentionally spread the entire team participating in this operation into six different withdrawal routes. It would seem unwise to spread out their force as they retreat but the multiple paths should add to the mystery of this attack. The incomplete clue points to the act of a single powerful cultivator but the multiple retreat paths shown there is more than a single enemy. In any case, the chance of a pursuit is low when there is a high possibility their enemy is most likely in the fourth major realm.
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Acting Sect Leader Maximus Radcliffe
The cultivation world is at the precipice of a new era and Earth is the catalyst of that change. The philosophy, doctrine and school of thoughts behind Earth way of doing things are so radical but productive that Maximus knew that the change will not stop within the Immortal Ascension Pavillion. What Earth cultivators have set in motion will also redefine the social status of cultivators in their civilization as a whole. With time, cultivators will no longer be the high and mighty beings that can look down upon mortals with impunity. The claim might be a bit farfetched when it comes to the stronger cultivators in the immortal realm but at least in the lower realm, cultivators are no longer beings to be feared.
The weapons invented by Earth cultivators made sure of that. It is not like weapons that can threaten mighty cultivators or punch above their weight have never existed prior to this but it is Earth's approach that makes all the difference. In the past, all such weapons are hand-made and there is a limit to a cultivator's productivity. The production limitation ensures such weapons especially those at the higher level in severe shortage. On top of that, all hand crafted disposable weapons come with a hefty price tag for a one time use and even those weapons that can be used for the long-term are fueled by spirit stones. Fueling weapons with spirit stones are no different than burning up a cultivator's wealth. As a result, all cultivators that managed to get their hands on such weapons will always horde it as trump cards. Unless absolutely necessary or forced into a corner, cultivators will never squander their stash of trump cards.
Earth cultivators behave in a very different way and Maximus can attest to their rampant usage ever since he let them loose on campaigns across the lower realm. The secret behind Earth cultivators rampant use of their weapons is attributed to their mass production doctrine. Second realm cultivators have been killed in great numbers by earth weapons and in the most recent development, even third realm cultivators have begun getting killed by their invention. It will just be a matter of time before Earth Cultivators can mass produce weapons that can kill cultivators in the fourth major realm as well.
However, there is a fair chance that Earth's mass produced weapons will most likely stop there. The fifth major realm is another clear divider line. It is a major stumbling block for most cultivators since a breakthrough will need them to take their first step tapping into the power of immortal laws. As such, weapons that can kill a fifth major realm cultivator need materials that are imbued by immortal law as well and such materials are very rare. Even if Earth cultivators managed to come up with a method to mass produce weapons that can kill fifth major realm cultivator, such weapons will still be in short supply so long as they fail to address the issue of materials scarcity.
Solving the material scarcity problem might be a tall order even for Earth cultivators but Maximus wouldn't hold his breath thinking that's impossible. Earthlings seem to have a knack for coming up with unorthodox solutions to the problem they have encountered so far. The issue of materials scarcity is not a unique problem isolated to weapons crafting. Earth cultivators might have solved the issue to mass produce alchemy pills but they soon realize that the supply of herbs is starting to fall behind. As the level of the pill gets higher, the herbs needed to produce those alchemy pills need to reach a certain age. It is quite a norm that level three and four alchemy pills need herbs that are centuries old and herbs required for alchemy pills of higher level are even more demanding. Only millennial old herbs will work. One can imagine the difficulty of such herbs surviving in large number in the wild for hundreds or even thousands of years without being harvested by cultivators or eaten by spirit beasts.
The powerful organizations in the cultivation world solve this problem with limited success by creating minor worlds with accelerated time progression. Such worlds are one of the most valuable assets any powerful organizations could possess. Not only does the creation of such a world took a lot of very rare and valuable materials, it also needs the collaboration of a few emperor realm cultivators to pull it off. No number of king realm cultivators joining force has any chance of creating such a world successfully.
To emphasize the rarity of such minor worlds, even Immortal Ascension Pavillion with its rich heritage and wealth only has in its possession three such minor worlds. Two of these minor worlds have a time acceleration factor of ten-fold and the sect's crown jewel have a fifty-fold time acceleration. The sect's crown jewel minor world is almost unique in the cultivation world. It was created when the sect is at the peak of its power. It took all four of the sect's emperor realm cultivators and cashing in on the major favor of another ten emperor realm cultivators to barely pull it off. There is no way the sect will be able replicate such a stun again anytime soon.
Earth cultivators' solution for century old herbs is equally unconventional.