The slaughter came suddenly, but it was within many people's expectations. Everyone knew the Star-Sea Academy had cleared all obstacles at the top, and unification was unstoppable. The remaining families had no choice but to join.
In fact, many smart families had already chosen to drop their pride, purge themselves, and join the Nine Domains with a clean record. These sensible families were worthy of being called "Heritage Families." They quickly drafted development plans based on the current situation of the Nine Domains, even actively abandoning their stubborn traditionalists and most of their profits. They saw better opportunities for development in the Nine Domains! They possessed higher talent, mutual support, and perfected knowledge; in terms of overall quality and vision, they far surpassed ordinary rogues. Many of the rising geniuses in the Nine Domains came from these factions. Qi Ping did not target them; as long as they maintained stability and stimulated the Nine Domains' potential, he would not stop them. Both rogues and noble houses were forces he could rely on.
But compared to these smart ones, more families were in a much more rotted state. Once the tide of the old Star-Sea Continent receded, these families—lacking the ability and courage to innovate—found themselves in a dilemma. They had no ability to adapt to the new era; they were even worse at it than the rogue cultivators. It was now clear who had been swimming naked.
Many were still trying to negotiate terms with the academy, hoping to retain their special privileges after joining. Qi Ping naturally refused without hesitation; he would not break the fairness mechanism he had worked so hard to build for these people. These families simply had no awareness of the reality; they were too used to being superior. They wanted privileges? They were dreaming!
But while that was Qi Ping's thought, many rogue cultivators and small families thought differently. They had lived under the shadow of the noble houses for so long that they felt it was normal for them to have privileges. This slaughter finally made them realize what kind of character their leader had.
"Dead! All dead!"
"The Murong, Shangguan, Huangfu, the Chen Family of Hidden Mountain, the Lin Family of Mirror Lake... all dead! The entire families were wiped out by the Qing-God Army, not even a chicken or dog left!"
"The slaughter isn't over. I heard that for those families with heavy crimes, not one will escape!"
As this news spread through the Nine Domains, everyone was shocked. The fact that the high-and-mighty families were being massacred in their entirety was hard to believe. If it were one or two, it would be understandable, but this involved hundreds, even thousands of families!
Nearly half of the continent's Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators had died—perhaps even more! These two stages were the core backbone of the continent. Foundation Establishment cultivators were also part of it, but since the Nine Domains' establishment, their numbers had surged far beyond the past. Although many died in the purge, the total was still higher than before the conflict.
However, losing so many Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators all at once would normally cause a world to be severely damaged and decline. When living beings die in large numbers, the spirituality they generated dissipates rapidly, leading to the withering of the world and its spirit veins. The Star-Sea Continent was no exception. The blood mist in the sky and the falling blood rain were the eerie manifestations of this mass death. If not handled well, it could lead to unpredictable disasters.
Faced with this, Qi Ping's brow furrowed. Although he had expected it, feeling the pain and mourning of the world still made him uncomfortable. Fortunately, he had a plan. His main body immediately stopped cultivating and began to "pray" to heaven and earth in a special "language."
This "Prayer Language" was handed down from ancient times, said to come from a special race that could obtain blessings and various supernatural powers by praying to the world. When Qi Ping first saw this power, he felt it was somewhat similar to Druidic power, so he had researched how cultivators utilized it. Its usage was extremely demanding; very few could obtain power through it. There were no practitioners of this power left in the Star-Sea, but when Qi Ping tried it, he found his status as an Earth Immortal Druid was exceptionally compatible with the "Prayers." Thus, he learned the language.
Due to missing heritages, Qi Ping did not know many prayer words. But for now, they were enough. As he spoke the Prayer Language, his consciousness began to intersect with a mysterious power. It wasn't a solid consciousness, but it could definitely be communicated with; it was a form of the world's manifestation seen through prayer.
Once the link was established, Qi Ping began to express thoughts of rebirth, blessing, and growth. He prayed for the Nine Domains and the breakthroughs of those within, asking for "Its" blessing. This series of actions actually worked; the blood mist and rain in the sky began to slowly dissipate.
'It worked, just as I estimated! Such prayers are effective!'
'It's a shame so much of the language is missing. Otherwise, this system could easily rival the power of a cultivator!'
Qi Ping rubbed his dizzy head and sighed with relief. Communicating with the world itself to this degree—especially asking it to bless the Nine Domains—was a massive drain on him. Even his consciousness could barely bear it.
'This Prayer Language is truly remarkable. It can manifest incredible wonders by communicating with heaven and earth.'
Most importantly, this communication ignored cultivation realms. Even an ordinary person could manifest supernatural power through prayer if their consciousness and "Heart-Force" were strong enough. This "Heart-Force" was related to one's consciousness and seemed to only be awakened by those with an affinity for nature. It grew through interaction with the world. It was a shame Qi Ping lacked a complete cultivation method; otherwise, it would be another trump card. Right now, he could only use it in special situations.
However, he had high hopes for this power. Since it didn't rely on cultivation levels to manifest immortal-level or Druid-level effects, it could be a source of hope for turning the tables. It even had a sense of "The Word is Law."
Regarding Prayer Language, there was an interesting saying: "As long as Heart-Force does not die, life does not end!" Even if the body and soul were annihilated, if Heart-Force remained, one could be restored and life would not cease.
'But if it's this powerful, how did the heritage vanish? Even the Star-Sea has barely heard of it.'
'Could it be, as I suspected, that every inheritance and path other than the immortal path was wiped out?'
To Qi Ping, in a world with supernatural powers, the existence of only one system was very strange—unless the world actively suppressed everything else. But that wasn't the case; Prayer Language wasn't suppressed, and it fit the world's needs. The emergence of different systems would only make the Great Dao and spirituality of the world stronger; there was no reason for the world to stop it.
'It seems the cultivation systems of the Star-Sea hide even bigger secrets.'
'Longevity is not easy. I must walk step by step and be cautious, or I'll accidentally become a wedding dress for someone else.'
After Qi Ping used the Prayer Language to resolve the blood mist and rain, the oppressive atmosphere finally faded, replaced by an aura of auspicious clouds over the Nine Domains. At the same time, figures began to rush toward Qi Ping through teleportation arrays, delivering storage rings filled with corpses to his hands...