This was the third encounter between the nomadic hunting civilization and the allied forces of the immortal path, the esoteric sect, and the Newborn path. It was also the ultimate bloodbath, drawing the final curtain over their fated war.
In a clash of such vast scale, casualties were inevitable.
Needless to mention the low- and middle-tier cultivators; even several grandmasters had fallen in battle.
Seven sixth-realm ancestral masters were severely wounded. When the two sides first collided, the carnage had been exceptionally brutal.
Only later, as the bloody fight wore on and the overall outcome was decided, did the battle gradually tilt into a one-sided rout.
"What? An ancestral master died?"
A commotion swept through the crowd across the desert.
Even while holding an overwhelming advantage, an eminent figure had actually perished.
Someone spoke up, "An ancestral master of the esoteric sect passed away, but not from combat."
"Ah? What on earth happened?" Many could not remain calm; this was no trivial matter.
"He was far too old, with little lifespan left to begin with. He came here specifically to see this fated battle to its end," an elderly man sighed, as if reminded of his own advancing years.
That old ancestral master of the esoteric sect could be considered to have died of old age. Only when he saw the last sixth-realm master of the nomadic hunting civilization perish did he finally close his eyes.
"Four hundred and fifty years ago, the venerated elder was already an ancestral master. He pursued the nomadic hunting civilization all the way to the Endless Permafrost of the north, yet could not achieve complete victory—a source of immense regret."
Moreover, without pause, that group of old ancestral masters had then rushed to the Plain of Divine Demise to wage a bloody war against the demon civilization. Consecutive campaigns had nearly wiped out an entire generation.
This surviving esoteric ancestral master had carried that knot in his heart. Had they not endured two brutal wars back-to-back, his old brothers would not all have fallen.
He had desperately wanted to see one of their old nemeses utterly wiped out, which was why he had followed them here.
"The old ancestral master went peacefully. Before passing into meditation, he even got to indulge himself one last time—someone handed over a dying nomad chieftain for him to deliver the finishing blow."
The somewhat somber atmosphere instantly softened and eased.
Yet this so-called relief was only relative. After all, blood stained the ground and corpses lay everywhere.
Before long, sobs broke out. Some had lost fathers and brothers; some had lost sect elders; others had lost their Dao companions.
Even a resounding victory came at such a price. One could well imagine how harrowing and tragic the grand wars had been during those arduous eras of the past.
Afterward, many across the desert bustled into action. What needed burning was burned, what needed burying was buried, and the corpses of many powerful nomad hunters were delivered before the thirty-six divine stakes.
People were horrified. Was this matter not over yet? Were they going to perform a blood sacrifice on that supreme lethal weapon as well?
"Since the occupant of the tomb has been disturbed, we must speak with that Earth Immortal no matter what," a higher-up spoke.
This truly was an immortal cemetery, but sealed within the main tomb was a living person—an Earth Immortal!
Furthermore, corpse-liberated immortals indeed lay within the auxiliary tombs.
An ancestral master stated, "The visions you witnessed earlier were not entirely false. According to our deductions, if we were to force open the grand tomb, some of those horrors might genuinely come to pass."
Immediately, everyone felt a violent shudder in their hearts.
Another ancestral master soothed their emotions, saying, "It wouldn't be quite so catastrophic. We wouldn't be wiped out completely, but we would certainly suffer grievously."
Looking at the great mounds venting white mist, chills ran down everyone's spines. To think a mere burial ground could heavily wound the ancestral masters of multiple paths!
"Tally the decapitations and award merits accordingly!" a grandmaster finally announced.
As for the ancestral masters, they would not concern themselves with such specific and tedious chores.
At once, the stifling gloom broke apart. Many youths grew excited, eager to cash in their battle merits to further elevate their strength.
In this era of the Great Reclamation, nothing was more reliable than power gathered in one's own body.
The area grew lively.
Wu Yaozu said, "Brother Ming, are you all right? That final moment was way too perilous. A pack of old bastards lunged right at you! Good thing your Thunder King Bird flew fast enough. Yeah, and I saw Senior Brother Jin Xiang and Fairy Li both charging over to back you up."
Qin Ming's broken ribs had already been set. Massaging his head, he replied, "A couple of days of rest and recuperation should sort me out."
Fractured bones were nothing. In the final moments, the explosion of that runic bell had delivered a severe shock; against anyone else, their mental field might well have collapsed.
His consciousness was fused with his heavenly light. Though the blast waves of the runic bell had hurled him through the air and dealt him heavy injuries, a few days of quiet recovery would see him fine.
Compared to him, the Thunder King Bird was hurt far worse.
Qin Ming retrieved the golden two-headed wolf and the fire lizard and gave them to the bird as bloody feed. Even with the essences of wondrous blood harvested, the remaining flesh and blood were still immensely nourishing.
"I was nearly punched to pieces by an old monkey," Xiang Yiwu muttered with lingering dread. In their dying counterattack, those nomad hunters had gone completely berserk.
"Qin Ming: one hundred and fifty-eight enemies slain, among them ninety-three second-realm nomad hunters, and early third-realm nomad hunters..."
When the battle merits were tallied, onlookers all widened their eyes in shock. This youth had claimed so many decapitations on his own?
Crucially, while still in the second realm, he had slain so many third-realm nomad hunters!
"With every strike, he severed both rider and mount," someone added.
That made the weight of his battle merits all the more sterling.
"He killed several seeds!"
Without question, slaying seed-level figures added brilliant halos to his tally, representing a dazzling and glorious record.
It caused an outright sensation!
A high body count alone was not enough to convince the younger generation, but slaying nomad hunters who were the equivalents of "immortal seeds" among their peers was truly a stellar feat.
Other young disciples had also killed seeds of the nomadic hunting civilization, but none had brought down as many as Qin Ming.
In an instant, whether it was Jiang Ran and Pei Shuyan of the immortal path, Zhao Qingcheng and Cheng Sheng of the esoteric sect, or the young nobles of the Three Great Dynasties, all eyes turned toward him.
Many felt this fellow was downright ferocious and beastly. Two of the seeds he killed were actually in the early third realm—a terrifying thought upon closer reflection.
Li Qingyue stood together with Jiang Ran and Zhao Qingcheng, a faint smile on her lips. She alone knew that Qin Ming had not even been forced to display his full strength in this battle.
Even so, many agreed that centuries later, if Qin Ming became an ancestral master of the Newborn path, he would undeniably be the kind of figure who could shake deities single-handedly.
"In the future, he might well look down upon the ancestral masters and slay a seventh-realm immortal all by himself!" This was naturally an exceptionally high assessment.
Such a stellar record naturally drew many peculiar glances.
Helian Zhaoyu felt a tightness in his chest upon seeing this. He had nearly been rammed to death by a maddened old rhinoceros, which had drastically diminished his own performance.
In the distance, Wei Cheng looked grim; his decapitation count was not even a third of Qin Ming's.
"This record of his is absurd. It can undoubtedly rank at the very forefront among his generation!" Cui Changqing, an elder powerhouse of the Cui clan, spoke with a solemn expression.
Many already knew that Qin Ming was an "outcast" of the Cui clan. The more he defied expectations now, the more uncomfortable they felt.
"It is a pity there were few seeds among the nomad hunters at my realm," Cui Chonghe responded calmly. "Otherwise, my gains would have far exceeded what they are now."
Cui Changqing asked, "Have you considered that he has only just obtained two of the legendary sacred baleful energies? If he assembles the Four Symbols Sacred Baleful Energies in full, his combat power will leap yet another notch."
Cui Chonghe’s expression remained indifferent. "When I spoke of fighting him on the same level, I naturally took all of that into account. Even if he is given time to catch up, even if he gathers all the sacred baleful energies with utmost efficiency—or adds even more—I still have nothing to fear. In fact, by the time I stand high above the clouds looking down upon the splendid mountains and rivers, he might still be lingering in the fourth realm."
Farther off, others were also discussing whether Qin Ming could truly gather the legendary Four Sacred Baleful Energies, as well as other rare otherworldly heterogeneous substances, to elevate himself.
Many had heard the rumors: if any supreme drudge of antiquity could refine four kinds of sacred baleful energies into themselves, even the masters of immortal sanctuaries would treat them with courtesy.
When redeeming what he needed with his battle merits, Qin Ming naturally asked right away if there were any Vajra fruits available.
"Yes, one has been prepared for you." A senior luminary produced a fruit glowing with golden light. It was the size of a fist, sweet, richly fragrant, and thoroughly enticing.
Yet Qin Ming paused, surprised, because half of it was pale gold while the other half still retained a greenish tint—it was not fully ripe.
The elder explained, "This is the only Vajra fruit available for redemption, and it is more than enough for you. The others must be reserved to brew medicine for high-tier cultivators."
Yu Gensheng appeared and nodded to Qin Ming. The fully ripened fruits were shared among the three paths; the Vajra great medicine refined from them could be used even by fourth-realm masters.
"Trading for just a Vajra fruit certainly won't exhaust your battle merits. Do you need any other treasures or scriptures?"
Qin Ming asked, "Is the *Immortal-Combating Classic* available? If not, the *Golden Crow Illuminates the Night Classic* or the *Waxing and Waning Scripture*—any of those would do. I'd like to exchange for a secret scripture."
Many were struck speechless. He truly dared to ask for the moon!
The immortal path luminary said blankly, "If that is what you want, your merits are insufficient. You still need to accumulate more. Moreover, certain secret scriptures cannot be redeemed."
Qin Ming asked, "Then please tell me, if one has enough battle merits, which secret scriptures can be awarded?"
The elder informed him, "The remnant volume of the *Golden Crow Illuminates the Night Classic*—it was incomplete when unearthed—and the first volume of the *Waxing and Waning Scripture* are eligible for redemption."
"May I view the original text?" Qin Ming asked.
"That would require coordination," the elder replied.
Qin Ming felt that if he could inspect the original, nothing else would be an issue.
He did not spend any more of his merits, setting his sights on the *Golden Crow Illuminates the Night Classic* to redeem in the future. Even the ancestral halls of various Newborn path sects possessed only a few copied remnant pages of that text, whereas he needed to resonate with the original scripture.
That evening, in the former domain of the sun elven race, the mountain city was gone, fire springs flowed through the forest, and the night was dim.
Qin Ming, Wu Yaozu, Xiang Yiwu, and Li Qingyue were eating flood dragon meat hot pot, feeling warm currents coursing through their entire bodies—it was truly a grand tonic.
Before long, Yu Gensheng arrived as well. Making himself right at home, he scooped several large chunks of flood dragon meat directly into his bowl, repeatedly praising the delicious flavor and saying it brought a touch of vitality back to his aged frame.
In the distance, colossal warships rose into the air.
"The grand battle is not yet over!" Yu Gensheng said.
Multiple ancestral masters were traveling west to join the sun elven race, who had set out ahead of time, to eradicate the nomad hunters' old lair. Having lost all its elites, that stronghold was now vulnerable and defenseless.
"Raze their courtyard and sweep out their den, eliminating the peril once and for all!"
By now, everyone knew that the sun elven race had forsaken darkness for light.
It was mainly because the ancestral masters of each path had sensed something amiss beforehand and put pressure on the clan. Ultimately, they turned coat, coordinating with the immortal path, esoteric sect, and Newborn path.
The lower ranks of the sun elves had known nothing of the grudges and entanglements between their sixth-realm powerhouses, the nomad hunters, the immortal path, and the esoteric sect; they had been kept in the dark the whole time.
In truth, the ancestral master-level figures of the sun elven race had never truly wished to align with the nomad hunters either, for that bunch was far too savage and dangerous.
Yu Gensheng added, "Those uninjured in the battle, after redeeming their rewards with their battle merits and taking a brief rest, will set out tonight on the return journey to the Plain of Divine Demise."
Immediately, the group around the flood dragon hot pot turned solemn.
The ancestral masters worried that while the nomadic hunting civilization made its move, the demon civilization of old might also seize the chance to invade—a scenario that was well within the realm of possibility.
As for this immortal cemetery, the ancestral masters planned to attempt communication with that Earth Immortal. Most likely nothing would come of it, and everything would have to be left for the future.
Yu Gensheng said, "This place hardly counts as a true bloodbath, because the nomadic hunting civilization walked right into the trap we prepared in advance. But at the Plain of Divine Demise, the source is extraordinarily mysterious and perilous. If a conflict breaks out there, nothing can be predicted. Still, looking on the bright side, perhaps someone will become a god or an immortal because of it—no, make that step into the seventh realm!"
Chapter 314