The mountain wind howled biting cold, and the distant battle cries still faintly reached their ears.
Lightning flashed and thunder crashed, blasting down from time to time.
Seven powerful Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered above the quicksand camp, swords drawn and tension taut!
After Han Zheng asked that question, Luo Chen met him only with silence.
In that stifling silence, Han Zheng's face grew dark enough to drip water.
Behind him, his four martial brothers braced themselves to strike without warning.
Yet to everyone's surprise...
Han Zheng suddenly smiled.
"Fine!"
"You've got guts. I'll remember you!"
To the astonishment of his four senior martial brothers, he waved a hand.
"We're leaving!"
"Junior Brother..."
"Go!"
Han Zheng barked in a low voice and turned, departing first.
Left with no choice, the four glared venomously at Luo Chen and Chu Kui before leaving alongside Han Zheng.
Once they were gone, Chu Kui visibly exhaled a long breath.
His heavy, ragged breathing proved just how violently his heart had been pounding.
He had likely braced himself to stand with Luo Chen and fight all five true disciples of the Luoyun Sect.
Panting, he stared in disbelief at Luo Chen, who remained calm and unruffled.
"Where did that silver-tongued eloquence of yours go? You didn't say a single word just now! And most importantly, they actually backed off?"
Luo Chen glanced at him impassively.
Spiritual power surged in his hand, and the Mystic Fire Sword flew back, carrying the corpse of the sword cultivator surnamed Lan from the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
As he searched the corpse, he replied, "Say what? An apology? Beg for mercy? Or hand over the merit points on a silver platter?"
Chu Kui was struck dumb.
A chest full of words got stuck in his throat, and not a single one came out.
Indeed, none of those words suited Luo Chen's temperament.
He could not even imagine a scene where Luo Chen would say such things.
And yet...
"Still, they're true disciples of the Luoyun Sect!"
*Chhh...*
Sword light flashed, and a headless corpse plummeted toward the ground.
Luo Chen held a severed head in one hand, while the other clutched a token and a jade pendant.
Opening his mouth, he spat out a fireball that instantly incinerated the headless body to ash.
Looting the corpse, gathering the spoils, destroying the evidence.
All in one seamless motion!
The sheer familiarity of the scene made Chu Kui's eyelids twitch.
Luo Chen was the head of an association, after all, yet his methods were shockingly adept.
Luo Chen did not examine the extra spoils in detail, shoving everything into his storage bag.
Dusting off his hands, he said leisurely, "It's precisely because they are disciples of the Luoyun Sect that I could remain so unperturbed."
"Uh..."
Luo Chen chuckled softly. "Though my Luotian Association was conscripted into the war, in name we are still part of the Four-Sect Alliance. We are allies, not enemies. With the overall situation still undecided and our actions being the slaying of our shared enemies, we did nothing wrong. Under these circumstances, Han Zheng had no justifiable cause to strike against me."
Those words struck like an epiphany.
Chu Kui understood in an instant.
Logically speaking, that was indeed the truth.
However!
Even as he realized it, Chu Kui smiled wryly. "Outside the four sects, I doubt anyone else would have the courage to snatch food from a tiger's jaws like that. Anyone else—even me—would find it hard to walk away unscathed without leaving something behind."
Luo Chen twitched the corner of his lips and said nothing more.
Exploiting Han Zheng's status as a Luoyun Sect disciple could be called taking advantage of a gentleman's moral bounds.
Yet he also had his own backing and confidence!
Be it his fame as Danchenzi or his status as a guest elder of the Ice Fort, neither fell short of any great sect's true disciple.
Besides, even if they had really attacked, so what?
If he and Chu Kui couldn't win, couldn't they run?
Once word got out that Luoyun disciples attacked their own allies, the Luoyun Sect's reputation would be ruined. The allied sects might overlook it, but the rogue cultivators would certainly think twice about risking their lives for the Luoyun Sect.
It was precisely this web of considerations that gave Luo Chen the confidence to meet Han Zheng with silence!
Han Zheng was indeed a clever man as well, choosing to raise his hand high only to let it drop gently.
Of course, that only worked because it was Luo Chen.
Under that kind of pressure, anyone else—even a late Foundation Establishment grand cultivator like Chu Kui—would have known when to yield and conceded gracefully.
"It was a bit unscrupulous of us, though," Chu Kui chuckled, hefting seven or eight storage bags, weighed down with spoils. "They battered those people into heavy injuries, only for us to reap the reward."
"He isn't my friend. Why should I be scrupulous with him?"
Luo Chen snorted softly, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings.
"Let's move!"
"We shouldn't linger here. Let's find another spot and see if we can pull off another hit before dawn."
With that, he picked a secluded direction and departed directly.
Chu Kui voiced no objection, following close behind him.
...
Under cover of night.
Two figures moved like ghosts along the fringes of the battlefield.
Whenever they encountered a lone enemy, they struck ruthlessly.
When faced with small bands of routed troops, the two would weigh the situation, then unleash powerful techniques to heavily batter the enemy's main strength. Afterward, they would cover their faces and pursue the remnants, letting the swiftest flee without overcommitting, focusing purely on securing all the merit points they could grab.
As for slightly larger units, they did not hesitate to steer well clear.
And so it went.
When the long night finally ended, the two of them, weary to the bone, hid in an underground cave and tallied their earned merit.
"Two grand cultivators slain: one thousand merit."
"Six mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators: one thousand two hundred merit."
"Twelve early Foundation Establishment cultivators: one thousand two hundred merit."
"A total of three thousand four hundred merit points!"
Having calculated the exact figure, Chu Kui could hardly conceal the excitement on his weary face.
If they factored in the late Qi Refinement cultivators they had slaughtered in passing, that tally could easily reach around thirty-five hundred!
They were only sixty-five hundred short of the requirement to exchange for a high-grade Core Formation Secret Technique.
Everything felt well within reach!
"Luo Chen, the war outside isn't over yet. Should we keep going?"
Faced with his eagerness, Luo Chen doused him with a splash of cold water.
"If you don't want to die on the battlefield, I advise you to sit down and rest properly."
Chu Kui froze.
Looking at the slightly disheveled Luo Chen, and then down at himself, covered in wounds of varying sizes, he gave a violent shudder.
He had gotten ahead of himself!
Or rather, under the intoxicating lure and the endless bloodshed, he had begun to lose his mind.
That was not like him at all.
Seeing that Chu Kui had calmed down considerably, Luo Chen let out a breath of relief.
He lifted his head, his spiritual eyes seemingly piercing through the churning quicksand outside, which was steeped in blood and fire.
"Rest assured," he said. "This war is still far from over."
Chu Kui was surprised. "But the Seventh Peak is about to fall to us! This morning, Core Formation cultivators on both sides even made their moves, whipping up yellow sand across a hundred li in an earth-shattering clash."
The intervention of Core Formation cultivators meant the war was approaching its climax.
Once the climax concluded, the conflict would inevitably pause for a time.
Luo Chen snorted. "You only see that the Seventh Peak is about to be taken, but you haven't noticed that the number of cultivators on the Four-Sect Alliance's side is only increasing. Think about what that means, and you'll understand."
When two sides clash, the number of cultivators should only dwindle as the fighting drags on.
It made no sense for their numbers to grow.
Unless... the Four-Sect Alliance was continuously deploying reinforcements!
Luo Chen cast his mind back over what he had witnessed on the battlefield today; several groups were clearly newcomers freshly thrown into the Seventh Peak theater.
Were they redeployed from the Fifth and Sixth Peaks?
Or were they cultivators who had been stationed at the Golden Sand Floating Island?
Chu Kui shuddered in shock!
He blurted out, "Could it be that the Four-Sect Alliance wants to take back the Eighth Peak as well?"
Luo Chen gave a firm nod. "It must be so! Otherwise, Core Formation masters presiding over entire sectors like Master Yinyue and Master Linghu wouldn't have appeared on the battlefield together."
The emergence of so many Core Formation masters meant this was no small skirmish aimed merely at retaking a single peak.
This war would rage on!
Chu Kui's eyes gleamed, but soon his brows knitted again. "With more and more cultivators on our side, won't there be too many monks and too little porridge? I'm afraid merit points won't be so easy to reap from here on!"
To this, Luo Chen held a different view.
"Most of those who died early on were cannon fodder. Even the two grand cultivators we slaughtered—one was dragged down by his sect, and the other had already been heavily wounded before we caught him."
"The true elites are yet to come!"
"Stop worrying about that. Recover your spiritual power as much as you can and keep yourself in fighting shape. Don't slip up and drag me down when the time comes."
As Luo Chen spoke, he closed his eyes.
Pill after pill was roughly absorbed and refined as he regulated his breathing.
Chu Kui chuckled. "Don't worry, how could I ever hold you back?"
...
When night fell once more.
Around Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks, the slaughter continued unabated!
Its brutality was even fiercer than before.
The scope of combat was no longer confined to the Seventh and Eighth Peaks, the two lightning peaks.
Across tens of thousands of li of yellow sand wastelands, countless light streaks of cultivators zipped through the sky.
Most were cultivators who had been pushed to true fury and blinded by bloodlust, drifting out from the core battlefield without even realizing it.
Amid this carnage, two figures surfaced from the quicksand.
"How is your recovery?"
"Around eighty percent. If we run into danger, I have a secret technique that can burst with power beyond my peak."
"Good. Our next target is ten li to the southeast. Three true disciples of the Yan Alliance are pursuing cultivators from Azure Pill Valley. Their cultivation isn't high; only one is at mid-Foundation Establishment."
"Works for me. Let's devour them!"
After this brief exchange, the two figures hesitated no further, each piloting their light streak through the air.
Before long.
A sudden battle broke out without warning.
An earth-shattering staff shadow slammed down, exploding into a mist of blood.
Simple and swift!
After gathering the spoils, Luo Chen did not spare a glance at the surviving Azure Pill Valley disciples who had escaped with their lives.
Recalling his flying sword, he and Chu Kui streaked away into the distance.
On the ground, several surviving Azure Pill Valley disciples stared in stunned bewilderment at their receding backs.
"Who were they? Why did they save us?"
The question came from an early Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Bestowing kindness without seeking reward was rare, especially given that they were inner disciples of a great sect; anyone saving them should have at least left a name to secure Azure Pill Valley's goodwill.
Yet those two came and went in a flash, without offering a single word of conversation.
Suddenly, one of them blurted out, "Wasn't that Danchenzi?"
"Huh?"
Facing the others' confusion, the cultivator said excitedly, "I couldn't be mistaken! He is Danchenzi, and he's also an enshrined elder of our Tao clan!"
At those words, everyone's expressions turned quite colorful.
Luo Chen's rise to fame in the Jade Cauldron Domain had begun at Azure Pill Valley.
Though years had passed and that Dao Seed contest remained deeply memorable, Luo Chen was an outsider after all.
Moreover, since he had soundly defeated the Seven Sons of Azure Pill, many were reluctant to dwell on his name.
At first glance, they had failed to recognize him.
The Tao clan cultivator was different, however; Luo Chen still held the title of enshrined elder of the Tao clan.
He naturally remembered him more clearly than anyone.
The other Azure Pill Valley disciples exchanged glances, none of them imagining that Luo Chen had been the one to rescue them.
Amid his excitement, memories continued to surface in the Tao clan cultivator's mind.
"I remember the other one too! He's Chu Kui, the famous Tianlan rogue cultivator recruited by the He clan back then!"
"To think they've joined forces..."
Seeing that he looked ready to go on, a nearby cultivator could bear it no longer. "This place is dangerous. Let's return to the encampment first!"
"All right!"
As for how the people left behind judged them, Luo Chen and Chu Kui naturally did not care.
Nor did they intend to conceal their identities.
Claiming merit points required specific criteria.
The battlefield was complex, and it was impossible to retrieve every scrap of spoils as proof of merit each time. Thus, showing their true faces was for the best, as witnesses could verify their battle achievements.
For them, today's hunting was considerably easier.
Because the scope of the battlefield had expanded.
With Chu Kui assisting Luo Chen's casting of the Water Mirror Art, combined with Luo Chen's spiritual eyes, spotting prey was effortless.
Maneuvering swiftly across the terrain, they continuously located targets and executed thunderous strikes.
Without them even noticing, more and more Foundation Establishment cultivators fell by their hands!
As the sky gradually brightened, two figures quietly returned to the Luotian Association's encampment at the Sixth Peak.
"President!"
"Fellow Daoist Chu, you..."
Luo Chen waved a hand. "Say no more. Maintain a tight watch. We need to regulate our breathing and rest."
Duan Feng nodded.
Yet looking at the two men, drenched in a thick stench of blood, he could not suppress the worry in his eyes.
The madness bottled beneath their calm demeanors was something only those close to them could faintly perceive.
"How is the president?" Xu Huanzhen asked in a whisper.
Duan Feng shook his head, saying in hushed dread, "It's like... they've been blinded by bloodlust."
Blinded by bloodlust?
Xu Huanzhen was somewhat stunned by that answer.
Just how many people had they killed to make the ordinarily fearless Duan Feng look so frightened?
Inside the room!
Luo Chen swallowed two Soaring Dragon Pills in one breath and sat cross-legged.
Not only that, but in each of his hands he clutched a mid-grade spirit stone!
This was a technique Chu Kui had personally taught him just yesterday.
Obtained from the He clan of Azure Pill Valley, it allowed a cultivator to directly absorb spiritual energy from spirit stones, though it was strictly limited to mid-grade spirit stones and above.
He had to restore his condition rapidly!
He had engaged in so much slaughter; while he had never faced mortal danger, the drain on his spiritual power was very real.
Even with a pool of spiritual power far exceeding his peers, only about sixty percent remained.
Chu Kui was in an even worse state!
Chu Kui had refined that Qitian Staff magic treasure to around seventy percent, wielding it with extreme familiarity.
Consequently, during combat, he relied heavily on that treasure.
"The battlefield environment of Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks is too harsh, the spiritual energy violent and chaotic. Even though my cultivation technique has an automatic recovery function, consumption still vastly outpaces replenishment."
"Fortunately, I have medicinal pills and spirit stones to supplement me."
"Disciples of the six sects presumably possess similar means."
"The only ones lacking such resources are the various vassals and the rogue cultivators."
Luo Chen felt no pity for those rogue cultivators.
Since they chose to take part in this war, they should have prepared themselves for the consequences.
His only regret was that if the fighting continued like this, the rogue cultivator forces of the Jade Cauldron Domain would likely lose seventy to eighty percent of their numbers.
When that time came, the Jade Cauldron Domain would truly become a world where the sects reigned supreme.
Though, that was largely the case already.
Suddenly!
As Luo Chen was swapping out mid-grade spirit stones, his expression froze slightly.
"Sects reigning supreme?"
A chilling conjecture rose in his mind, sending shivers down his spine.
As he connected everything that had transpired over the past twenty years, Luo Chen muttered:
"What a ruthless scheme... what a venomous stratagem!"
Chapter 386