Annihilation

"Grand Elder?!" Hearing their elder issue such a command, many sword cultivators were bewildered. The enemy was already upon them; rather than ordering them to resist, the Grand Elder actually wanted them to retreat without a fight? "Grand Elder, we are about to fight to the death, yet you want to retreat first?!" a Great Cultivator apparently responsible for discipline questioned via divine sense. "It wasn't me! I didn't! Stop talking nonsense!" Song Xuan waved his hands frantically. Because his gestures and vocal distress were so vivid this time, his meaning came across clearly even though his divine sense still failed to transmit, making the discipline Great Cultivator realize that the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Heavenly Palace cultivators were playing tricks. However, the Nine Cauldrons Sect gave them no time to exchange words. The second wave of attacks followed closely behind. The sword cultivators in this wave were masters of slaughter. The sword formation they formed created a terrifying pressure, like dark clouds rolling in with unbelievable speed from the edge of the sky, bringing with them a torrential downpour capable of tearing everything apart, blanketing all the Xuanming Sect cultivators in an instant. Yet... The Xuanming Sect cultivators were still fighting for themselves. Forget forming a sword formation—they didn't even have any decent coordination. The tempest of sword qi swept through the hundred-odd Great Cultivators of the Xuanming Sect like a comb. Even if a Great Cultivator exerted all his might to unleash brilliant sword light and shatter the rain of swords filling the sky, he still needed to catch his breath after such an outburst. The subsequent rain of swords swept over him at the critical juncture when his old strength was exhausted and new strength had yet to rise, blasting him into a mist of blood on the spot, leaving virtually not a single intact piece behind. The sword rain created by the sword formation unified dozens of sword cultivators' power into a single whole. Never mind that the quality of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's sword cultivators was already slightly superior to the Xuanming Sect's; even if they were equal in quality, when dozens ganged up on one, what could you possibly use to block it? Unless there was a Golden Core seed who had built an Immortal Foundation—who might rely on an exceptionally profound foundation and invariably the most advanced flying sword to contend against a sword formation of dozens—at the same level, wherever this storm of sword rain swept, the Xuanming Sect's Great Cultivators dropped dead! In just the first offensive, the Xuanming Sect had suffered an excruciatingly heavy loss of nearly thirty percent of their forces! While being ambushed and caught unprepared was certainly a factor, the primary cause was that their information transmission and divine sense communication were completely suppressed. What was worse... Just as the first attack passed, the second wave followed immediately. Seeing his ranks thinned by so many people all at once, the anger and indignation in Grand Elder Song Xuan's heart surged to the limit. Great Cultivators! All of them were Great Cultivators who had achieved success in Foundation Establishment! Every single one was extraordinarily precious. Their numbers represented the depth of a sect's heritage and the measure of its overall strength. Even though the Xuanming Sect ruled over billions of people and saw endless streams of geniuses, over the course of a year, they might not even produce eight or ten Great Cultivators. Under these circumstances, with more than forty killed in an instant, how could he not feel heartbroken and consumed with fury? "Counterattack! Counterattack! Don't panic! The more chaotic we are, the faster we die! Form battle formations according to past drills—defend and counterattack! Once our sword formation is established, there is no way they can crush us so easily! Once Fangyuan Island responds, we might even have a chance to turn the tables..." The Grand Elder roared harshly. By vibrating his true essence, he broadcast his voice across a radius of over a hundred li. Though his voice traveled far, on the battlefield, the shrill shrieks of flying swords piercing the air, the booms of true essence colliding with true essence, and the terrifying shockwaves blasted outward as flying swords pierced defensive dharma treasures suppressed something as low-grade as "sound" to the absolute minimum. More importantly... Even as he vibrated his true essence and roared, even more powerful divine mind and divine sense were crammed continuously into the minds of the Xuanming Sect Great Cultivators. "Flee! Run!" "Kill! Kill! Even if I die here today, I'll take one down with me... Urgh..." "We can't block it! We can't hold them at all! Run! Save yourselves, every man for himself!" "Hahaha! The Xuanming Sect birthed and raised me. Today is the day I pledge my loyalty to the sect with my life!" "Don't throw your lives away on a battlefield doomed to defeat! Preserve your lives and flee back to the sect! Your survival is more important than anything else!" Chaos! Without organization, dispatch, or coordination, total chaos engulfed the scene. All manner of divine senses, divine minds, enraged shouts, and bellowing—real and fake, truth and deceit—mingled together, making it impossible to discern what was genuine. These chaotic voices flooded people's minds, irritating them to the point where they wished they could block them out entirely. Consequently, even though there was a window of nearly a breath before the Nine Cauldrons Sect's second wave struck again, the Xuanming Sect cultivators remained in a tumultuous uproar, utterly unable to adapt to a battle where "communications" were completely suppressed. The Xuanming Sect's Origin Spirit cultivators did everything in their power, employing various means to break through the blockade imposed by the divine mind. Yet... The harder they pushed, the more despair they felt. "Impossible! This is impossible! Unless the Nine Cauldrons Sect concentrated every single one of their Heavenly Palace cultivators on this battlefield, there is no way they could suppress us to such a degree! Not a single strand of divine mind can break out! Heavenly Palace cultivators hang high in the nine heavens; what they monitor is the entire world. How could their control over a localized battlefield compare to that of Origin Spirit cultivators like us who are physically present?" "No! That's not right! Putting aside that if the Nine Cauldrons Sect had assembled all their Heavenly Palaces, factions like the Wuji Astral Palace, the Myriad Beasts Sect, and the Immortal Alliance would have reported and warned about it in the Virtual Spirit Realm long ago, even if they had truly concentrated all their Heavenly Palace cultivators, their control of the battlefield couldn't possibly reach this level! This is definitely not a power that Origin Spirit cultivators—including Heavenly Palace cultivators—can possess!" Several Origin Spirit cultivators from the Xuanming Sect continuously speculated and deduced. Gradually, they arrived at a deduction that was hard for them to believe, yet was close to the truth. "An information black zone! This is an information black zone forged by a Dharma Idol cultivator! They are using an information black zone to completely suppress us, giving us no chance to resist!" "That makes no sense! How could it be an information black zone?! How could the Nine Cauldrons Sect have a Dharma Idol cultivator?! How could they possess a Dharma Idol cultivator that even the Taiyin Sect, the Fatian Pavilion, and the Golden Divine Temple lack?!" The unbelievable truth clashed violently with the reality they were unwilling to accept, throwing the minds of the Xuanming Sect's Origin Spirit realm cultivators into wild turmoil. Compounded by their currently suppressed environment and the deaths of their fellow sect members falling one after another around them, finally... Terror, despair, and overwhelming pressure caused some Origin Spirit realm cultivators to break down. "This can't be real... This isn't real..." *Bang! Bang! Bang!* Mists of blood exploded. Flying swords breached the defenses of the sword cultivators on the perimeter... Or rather, as a large number of sword cultivators either died or fled, the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Foundation Establishment sword cultivators tore into the ranks of the spell cultivators and Origin Spirit realm cultivators. Immediately... It turned into a one-sided slaughter. The spell cultivators fared slightly better. Those who had practiced defensive spells could still struggle a bit and put up a token resistance. The Origin Spirit realm cultivators, however... Not a single one could withstand even a single life-bound flying sword from any sword cultivator. These life-bound flying swords incorporated all the divine abilities and cultivation of a Foundation Establishment sword cultivator. Wherever their sword light was directed, even a tier-six defensive formation could be forcibly drilled through—it was merely a matter of time. Faced with such fierce sword light, how could Origin Spirit realm cultivators, who were inherently not adept at life-and-death combat, possibly defend themselves? The flying swords plunging into the crowd of Xuanming Sect spell cultivators and Origin Spirit cultivators whipped up a storm of blood and gore. ... Compared to the wails of despair and rivers of blood on the Xuanming Sect's side, the Nine Cauldrons Sect was immersed in utter jubilation. "Too easy! This kind of battle is just too easy!" "Powerful Foundation Establishment realm cultivators acting like a flock of dumb geese, doing nothing but squawking in chaos! They don't know how to form sword formations, nor do they know how to coordinate a counterattack. In all my life, I've never fought such an exhilarating battle!" "Hahaha! It feels like dreaming back a hundred years! A hundred years ago, all cultivators fought like this—every man for himself, without the slightest cooperation. Right now, it's as if we're using tactics a century ahead of our time against enemies from a hundred years ago!" One Foundation Establishment sword cultivator after another laughed aloud, venting the pleasant surprise in their hearts. Everyone sighed with heartfelt emotion; they had truly never fought such an easy battle. The Xuanming Sect, which previously possessed the strength to contend with them, had been beaten so thoroughly they had no power to retaliate. Compared to the other Foundation Establishment cultivators who were still revelling in joy, the leaders, including Shen Qinglian, were thinking much deeper, and an inexplicable heaviness weighed on their minds. "The Xuanming Sect isn't weak. Back when Great Sword Cultivators clashed in small teams across the East Sea Archipelago, we held an advantage, but it wasn't pronounced. Yet now... nearly a hundred Xuanming Sect sword cultivators couldn't mount a single effective counterattack... Is this the power of a Dharma Idol cultivator? No! This isn't even the full power of a Dharma Idol, yet it can already reach such heights?" "It's simply unimaginable. A battle of equal numbers... No, our side's Great Cultivators are actually fewer than the Xuanming Sect's, yet we haven't suffered a single casualty so far. At this rate, we might achieve a record of 146 to 0?!" "I finally understand why seventeen years ago the Wuji Astral Palace could sweep away the Liusha Sect, which was not the least bit weaker than us back then, like crushing dry weeds... All communication completely suppressed, unable to issue even basic effective orders, everyone forced to fight individually or in tiny groups... How could anyone fight like this?!" The battle seventeen years ago had made them realize the gap between them, which was why the Nine Cauldrons Sect had poured all its efforts into developing Heavenly Palace cultivators during this period. The number of Heavenly Palaces had risen directly from three seventeen years ago to fourteen... Yet today's battle, a display of localized Dharma Idol power, still made them realize just how immense the difference was between having a Dharma Idol and lacking one on the battlefield. The Liusha Sect... Their destruction had indeed not been unjust. *Buzz! Buzz!* At that moment, an information transmission reached Shen Qinglian's mind. "The main force of the Xuanming Sect has been eliminated. Hall Master Shen Qinglian, please pursue the targets..." Sixteen red dots were marked directly upon it, accompanied by detailed optimal pursuit routes. These sixteen red dots... They were precisely the Xuanming Sect sword cultivators fleeing in all directions. Among them, the target assigned to Shen Qinglian and two other sword cultivators was none other than the Xuanming Sect's Grand Elder, Song Xuan. The number two figure of the entire Xuanming Sect.