The Star-Sea Continent's Number One Body Cultivator, Gu Shen, was dead, but his death had forged an even more powerful Demon Blade, Bai Liyun.
Qi Ping looked at Bai Liyun, whose aura was still gradually transforming, and felt very satisfied. To have such a breakthrough before the arrival of the great enemy was a massive help for the upcoming battle.
Based on the current situation, Bai Liyun had a full chance of becoming a cultivator comparable to Meng Tianqi, who had comprehended the Laws of Life and Death. He might even surpass him, though there was currently still a gap.
Regarding the essence of Gu Shen's Daoist Rhythm, Qi Ping was quite pleased. Taking advantage of the fact that the essence had not yet dissipated in the air, Qi Ping directly intercepted whatever he could salvage. Then, he swiftly collected Gu Shen's corpse and sealed everything with spiritual techniques.
These were all good things that could be integrated into the Qingtian Domain.
What Qi Ping regretted most was that the breakthroughs of Bai Liyun and Gu Shen had not happened within the Qingtian Domain. Otherwise, the spirituality and vitality born from such breakthroughs that transcended limits would have allowed the Qingtian Domain to absorb many good things.
Even for Qi Ping, watching the battle between these two who had pushed their limits provided many insights. That will and Immortal Path Daoist Rhythm were truly astounding.
Compared to Gu Shen, Huang Daoxing—even as a Void Refinement cultivator—had an impressive performance, but it was still far inferior to Gu Shen's. Under the joint attack of Qi Ping and Meng Tianqi, he was quickly slain, and Qi Ping hadn't even been forced to use his trump cards.
After killing these two, Qi Ping and Meng Tianqi's group of eighteen immediately joined forces to slaughter Huang Daoxing's entire sect with large-scale area-of-effect techniques.
Under the combined efforts of so many top experts, the entire sect was wiped of all life in a very short time.
After swiftly taking the core items from the treasury and the library, Qi Ping and the others arrived at the spatial teleportation formation and rushed to their next destination.
Now that the war had begun, they had to race against time to slay the core Void Refinement cultivators. This way, even if the news leaked and the traitors gathered together, they wouldn't be able to form a force capable of rivaling them.
It was only after Qi Ping and the others had completely departed that people began to trickle into the outskirts of the Daoist Star Sect to observe.
This battle had occurred too quickly and too suddenly. In just a short while, a world-shaking battle had erupted, and that heaven-covering, colossal Demon Saber had become a shocking image that countless cultivators would never forget for the rest of their lives.
But the battle had also ended with incredible speed. Two Void Refinement cultivators were dead! The Daoist Star Sect was destroyed!
Furthermore, those two dead Void Refinement cultivators were the famous Number One Body Cultivator, Gu Shen, and the Supreme Elder of the Daoist Star Sect! The destroyed sect was also one of the top ten sects of the entire Star-Sea Continent!
Yet such a terrifying sect and such powerful cultivators had been wiped out in an instant!
"Heavens, the Daoist Star Sect was destroyed just like that? Gu Shen and Huang Daoxing, two top Void Refinement cultivators, actually died in battle?"
"Did anyone see clearly who did it?"
"Is this the power of top-tier cultivators? It's too terrifying!"
Countless cultivators looked at the deathly silent grounds of the Daoist Star Sect and couldn't help but swallow hard. The original Daoist Star Sect had been a premier sect of the continent! But now, it had been wiped out in a single moment!
All life within the sect had vanished. Even most of the corpses were gone, leaving only a ground of half-dried blood and a desolate base with collapsed buildings and broken formations...
Who wouldn't be terrified seeing such a macabre scene? It surpassed everyone's understanding.
What made them even more terrified was that at the center of the Daoist Star Sect's grounds, several top-tier Soul Transformation spirit bees with different auras stood tall, causing everyone who saw them to feel a chill in their hearts. Each of them could clearly feel that if those bees attacked, they would be dead meat!
"It's the Bee Daoist! Only Senior Bee can cultivate spirit bees of this level!"
"And Bai Liyun! That world-covering Demon Saber—there is no second person on the Star-Sea Continent who can use it!"
"I just saw a glimpse of Senior Meng Tianqi!"
"It's not just them, there was also Lin Yueqing of the Boundless Sect..."
After combining every piece of information, the people present realized with a start that the destruction of the Daoist Star Sect had been caused by the Bee Daoist joined with a group of the continent's most elite sects!
"Why did they join forces to kill the Daoist Star Sect? What on earth has happened to the Star-Sea Continent?"
"Exactly! What could have happened to make so many titans unite?"
"The key point is, haven't you noticed? Senior Bee actually took the initiative. In the past, except for those who provoked the Qingtian Domain, he never started wars!"
"Even Senior Meng Tianqi joined in. He almost never gets involved in any wars. If even he has come out, what is going on?"
"And several other seniors are here as well. Could it be that a continent-level war is about to break out?"
Once this speculation arose, the entire world seemed to fall silent.
A continent-level war! What a foreign term, yet besides that, there seemed to be no other reason that could explain what had just happened.
Especially since several of those who loved peace most had taken the initiative to start a war. This proved that there must be something threatening these individuals; otherwise, why would these titans unite?
Only something that involved the safety of the entire continent could do that!
Those who thought of this immediately felt a surge of unease. They knew all too well what a super-scale war meant.
If in times of peace they were cattle and horses to be exploited, then in times of war, they wouldn't even have the chance to be cattle and horses.
During a war, the loss of rules and the protection of the strong meant that those blood cultivators, demonic cultivators, and marauders who usually hid would all come out. They would rob, kill, and refine every cultivator they saw without restraint!
Being targeted by such people, losing your wealth was the lightest outcome. If it was slightly more serious, you wouldn't even keep your life. You might even be humiliated, skinned alive, and devoured after being tortured to provoke the most extreme negative emotions.
Such things were common in region-level wars. Every time a regional war occurred, those who died most were never the cultivators of the two warring sides.
This was because sects and cultivators who could be considered "respectable" generally wouldn't choose that blood-stained path as long as there were relatively stable ways to get resources. The side effects were simply too great.
On the contrary, it was those ordinary cultivators hiding in the shadows who, when their paths were blocked, would become exceptionally crazed.
Normally, with upper-level sects suppressing them, they would restrain themselves. But during a regional war, when the upper-level sects were busy saving themselves, countless demons and ghosts would become incredibly insane. The cruelty they usually suppressed would be released madly in that moment!
And the number of cultivators who died from this madness during every regional war would far exceed the casualties of the war itself!
This was the bloody lesson from every regional war that had ever occurred on the Star-Sea Continent.
This was the horror of a cultivation world that had lost its order! It could truly be described as a purgatory on earth.
It was similar to mortal dynasties—prosperity means the people suffer; ruin means the people suffer. But at least they had a relative chance to survive, and cannibalism only happened in some of the most tragic wars.
But in the cultivation world, "eating people" happened in every war. From the top to the bottom, every stratum would give birth to the most terrifying cannibals... the higher the cultivation and talent, the more they looked the part.
And that was just a regional war!
If a continent-level war occurred and the entire Star-Sea Continent fell into chaos, losing the oversight of the Star-Sea Alliance, the level of disorder would be beyond anyone's imagination. Perhaps if that day truly came, the Star-Sea Continent would instantly turn into the most terrifying purgatory. At that moment, anyone could become an enemy, and no place would be safe!
Thinking of this possibility, many cultivators with experience and foresight couldn't stop their bodies from trembling.
Panic spread rapidly like a plague, engulfing everyone in an instant!
In this moment, besides a few who didn't know the heights of heaven and the depths of the earth, many experienced cultivators began to flee the area, preparing their plans for survival!
If they didn't prepare, the only result awaiting them when such a war broke out would be death.
In this instant, whether the Daoist Star Sect was destroyed or not was no longer important. All they could do was prepare while searching for the next piece of news!
Because after the Bee Daoist, Meng Tianqi, Bai Liyun, and the others destroyed the Daoist Star Sect, they hadn't even taken the time to properly clean up the spoils before leaving at such terrifying speeds. They were clearly racing against time to kill others!
If even a lineup like this had to act this way, how terrifying was their enemy? Could it be every other expert on the Star-Sea Continent besides them? Or was it the strongest group among them? Whatever the outcome, the collapse of order was one hundred percent certain!
"What to do? What to do?" This phrase echoed in countless people's hearts.
"Wait, Senior Bee's Qingtian Domain! It's said that even Soul Transformation cultivators have to behave there!"
"Right! That's the place!"
At this moment, the charm of the Qingtian Domain was displayed once again!
In the years since the Bee Daoist and the Qingtian Domain became famous, they had already absorbed an unknown number of cultivators from the Star-Sea Continent, catching everyone from geniuses down to low-level cultivators in their net!
The most critical factor behind the Qingtian Domain's charm was not the low-level cultivation methods provided for free, but its stable and fair environment!
Over all these years, the number of illegal killings that had occurred in the Qingtian Domain could be counted on one's fingers. Any factor that threatened fairness and stability would be eliminated the moment it appeared, even if it involved the ruling Qingyuan Academy.
Such a place naturally attracted every cultivator who felt uneasy! It could be said that the more chaotic it was, the higher the attraction of such a place!
In a very short time, broad-minded cultivators began to sell off their properties at low prices and rush toward the Qingtian Domain with their resources!
This was like a flood that had begun to surge!
Qi Ping hadn't even expected that without any mobilization, some forward-thinking cultivators had already begun their journey to the Qingtian Domain. And for Qi Ping and the Qingtian Domain, these cultivators bringing massive wealth were the best assets!
Meanwhile, after swiftly wiping out the Daoist Star Sect, Qi Ping led his group non-stop toward the next location.
Their second target was the Radiant Immortal Path, which also possessed a Void Refinement cultivator.
The Supreme Ancestor of the Radiant Immortal Path, Bai Yuan, was like Gu Shen in that he was a body cultivator. However, unlike Gu Shen, Bai Yuan practiced a rare method of dual cultivation of the body and qi. He was also a cultivator with five spiritual roots and practiced the Five Elements technique, which provided the strongest foundation.
Although his combat power in terms of the body was slightly inferior to Gu Shen's, his comprehensive power and fame could faintly suppress Gu Shen. To some extent, this man was a Void Refinement cultivator of the same fame as Meng Tianqi!
Aside from the universally recognized number one, Ji Qingyue, this man was the strongest contender for the title of top cultivator.
Originally, Qi Ping, Meng Tianqi, and the others had listed this man as the second target after Ji Qingyue because his strength was too great; he had to be slain before the others could gather.
However, after Little Immortal Tiger's calculations, they decided to place him in this current order. Fortunately, they moved quickly and managed to block Bai Yuan at his sect gates.
Judging by his hurried appearance, he had likely been preparing to flee.
"What is the meaning of this?"
The burly Bai Yuan, clad in white battle armor, stared at Qi Ping and the others with an unfriendly expression.
He had realized something was wrong immediately after receiving news of the Daoist Star Sect's destruction. He felt he might become a primary target for an attack, so he prepared to immediately hide his tracks and find a chance to regroup at the Star-Sea Alliance headquarters.
But he hadn't expected this group to arrive so quickly!
At this moment, he looked at the aura-shifting Qi Ping, as well as Meng Tianqi and Bai Liyun, whose momentum had clearly risen a grade. Seeing that the formation was already faintly linked together, a powerful wave of unease rose in his heart.
Meng Tianqi glanced at Qi Ping. Seeing that he had no intention of speaking, Meng Tianqi spoke instead:
"What is the meaning? Since we are all old friends, we won't hide anything. Fellow Daoists Gu Shen and Huang Daoxing have already gone ahead. Now, we are here to see you off!"
As he spoke, the array led by him and Bai Liyun swiftly took shape.
"We are all old friends. Why must it come to this!" Bai Yuan said through gritted teeth.
"Fellow Daoist Bai, we both know the truth. There's no need to hide anymore, is there? I told you long ago that you have too many schemes—you shouldn't want everything..."
"Just as the paths of body and qi cultivation are destined to be unable to run parallel, choosing a path means you must bear the corresponding price. Every choice takes a core position. Since you chose betrayal, we cannot tolerate you anymore."
Meng Tianqi spoke with a hint of helplessness.
Simultaneously, Meng Tianqi's palm gathered the Laws of Life and Death. An immense power slammed into the Radiant Immortal Path's formation. A terrifying shockwave exploded. Bai Yuan, who was inside the formation supporting it, actually let out a muffled groan and spat out a mouthful of golden blood!
The ordinary disciples fared even worse; many of them had their bodies explode directly!
"How is this possible?" Bai Yuan stared at Meng Tianqi with horror. "How can he be this strong?"