Annihilation

"Foundation Establishment sword cultivators from the Nine Cauldrons Sect!" "How can this be?!" Looking at the boundless, sky-blotting sharpness surging from the edge of the horizon, the remaining sixty-plus spell cultivators and Origin Spirit realm cultivators of the Xuanming Sect were plunged into uncontrollable despair. At this moment... Whether Origin Spirit cultivators or Foundation Establishment spell cultivators, they all arrived at the same realization in unison. Elder Song did not exist! Everything just now had been nothing more than tactical deception! The more than one hundred and sixty people on Fangyuan Island had been played like marionettes by the enemy's Heavenly Palace cultivator! Splitting the sword cultivators from the Origin Spirit cultivators, luring the sword cultivators away, ordering the spell and Origin Spirit cultivators—who were ill-suited for close-quarters combat—to face the enemy sword cultivators head-on... A string of disastrous orders had thoroughly driven their forces into the most precarious situation imaginable. Such absolute suppression from a spirit cultivator... "No! That's not right! A Heavenly Palace cultivator could never possess this kind of power! This is far beyond the might of a Heavenly Palace cultivator!" The lead Origin Spirit cultivator looked up in sheer horror. Feeling the overwhelming power of the divine mind bearing down on them, his eyes widened in utter disbelief. "A Dharma Idol!" A Dharma Idol cultivator! This was unmistakably the power of the Dharma Idol tier! The reason fifteen or twenty Origin Spirit cultivators of the Xuanming Sect were powerless to fight back—unable to even catch sight of their opponent—was entirely because of... A Dharma Idol! A Dharma Idol! Having realized what they had truly succumbed to, the Origin Spirit cultivator felt not the slightest joy at uncovering the truth; instead, he sank into deeper despair. The suffocating pressure of that divine mind, coupled with the vast sword light sweeping toward them like a torrential tempest, completely shattered his mind. Weeping and laughing at once, he let out a howl that sent shivers through the souls of everyone present. "The Nine Cauldrons Sect... has a Dharma Idol!" *Boom! Boom! Boom!* In an instant, the sword formation forged from one hundred and eight flying swords of the Nine Cauldrons Sect tore into the flying boats carrying the dozens of Foundation Establishment spell cultivators and Origin Spirit cultivators. The spiritual radiance of protective dharma treasures and futile counter-spells filled the expanse of empty sky. "No! No! No!" "I don't want to die! I can't die here... My family is still waiting for me to come back..." "Nine Cauldrons Sect! The rest of the Xuanming Sect will never let you get away with this!" A mist of blood filled the air! Piercing shrieks, desperate wails, and indignant roars poured continuously from the mouths, divine minds, and divine senses of these cultivators. That intensely overwhelming venting of emotion seemed like a desperate attempt to leave behind a final trace of their existence in this world. Yet... Whether shrieks or wails, they lasted for only a few breaths. Under the thunderous onslaught of the one hundred and eight elite Great Sword Cultivators, the Foundation Establishment spell cultivators, the Origin Spirit cultivators, the spirit artifacts and Treasure Weapons they carried, and even the flying boats they rode... Nothing was spared. Everything was utterly destroyed. Even the blood mist that had just billowed into the air was thoroughly dispersed by the eruption of sword qi imbued in the flying swords. Across the azure sky, only the pulverized clouds tearing apart over the area bore witness that a fierce battle had just taken place. *** Elsewhere, Lü Ming remained completely oblivious to the total annihilation of his spell cultivators and Origin Spirit cultivators. At this moment, he was flying his sword at full throttle, taking a detour in an attempt to reach the strategic position as swiftly as possible so he could execute a pincer attack against this Nine Cauldrons Sect detachment alongside Grand Elder Song Xuan. Afterward, armed with the achievement of wiping out over a hundred Great Cultivators of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, his name would resound throughout Cangwu. Every faction in the Cangwu Great World would be forced to recognize the Xuanming Sect's prowess and deterrence, allowing them to secure a firm foothold in the East Sea Archipelago. He was even already contemplating the prospect of claiming the entire East Sea territory... Or rather, one-third of the East Sea territory. The territories occupied by the Great Sun Sword Sect and other sects would be difficult to seize; what they currently held was an expanse spanning one hundred thousand li across. Yet, even an increase of merely these one hundred thousand li of maritime territory, combined with the Xuanming Sect's mainland realm of one hundred and sixty thousand li, would be sufficient to furnish them with the foundation to charge into the ranks of major sects. Once they developed for a few more generations... The Xuanming Sect would truly possess the strength to contend with the likes of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, the Great Sun Sword Sect, and the Shouyang Sect. In the future, they might even take the entire East Sea, using it as a springboard to dominate the entire Tianxing Continent and become its overlords. At the thought, Lü Ming's heart burned with fervor. Right then, a sword cultivator beside him could not help leaning in and saying, "Hall Master, the more I ponder this, the more I feel something isn't right." He then added, "Even though this was an order issued by the Sect Master and the Grand Elder, setting everything else aside, the deployment of our forces is blatantly unreasonable. It's one thing for us sword cultivators to rush out on a raid without Origin Spirit cultivators, but the Foundation Establishment spell cultivators and Origin Spirit cultivators have no sword cultivators escorting them at all... What if the Nine Cauldrons Sect's sword cultivators make a desperate breakout and use their superior speed to ambush our defenseless spell and Origin Spirit cultivators?" These words made Lü Ming frown. Such a possibility indeed existed... However... "Since Elder Song issued this order, he must be confident in pinning down the Nine Cauldrons Sect," Lü Ming said. "Setting aside whether the combat strength of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's cultivators... might be a cut above ours, even if our side truly holds the upper hand and suppresses them, how could we possibly contain and encircle all of their sword cultivators? All it would take is ten of their sword cultivators breaking out, and they could inflict catastrophic casualties on our spell and Origin Spirit cultivators..." Taking a deep breath, the sword cultivator continued, "Besides... we shouldn't underestimate an opponent like the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Since they mobilized a force capable of breaching Fangyuan Island, theoretically, that force must be greater than what Grand Elder Song Xuan brought with him. The one truly being suppressed should be Elder Song Xuan." Lü Ming's expression shifted. He had to admit that this sword cultivator made sense. *A Heavenly Palace cultivator?!* The thought flashed across his mind. "They want to besiege a point to strike our reinforcements!" the sword cultivator guessed at just the right moment. "Detach twenty sword cultivators skilled in sword flight and follow me back at full speed! The rest continue according to the original plan!" Lü Ming declared decisively. Matters having come to this, they naturally had to find a way to remedy the situation. Every single Origin Spirit cultivator was a precious treasure. Very quickly, twenty sword cultivators skilled in sword flight stepped forward from the ranks and followed Lü Ming, speeding straight toward the rendezvous point where the spell and Origin Spirit cultivators were headed. Yet they had not flown for long when what greeted them was one hundred and eight life-bound flying swords assembled into a sword formation. Carrying the momentum of the sword formation, these life-bound flying swords swept toward them like a tsunami. That boundless, staggering grandeur made Lü Ming and the others pale instantly. Above all... The direction from which the sword formation struck was precisely where the Xuanming Sect's spell cultivators and Origin Spirit cultivators had been located. The Nine Cauldrons Sect's sword formation had actually come from the direction of their own spell and Origin Spirit cultivators. Then the fate of those spell and Origin Spirit cultivators... One did not even need to guess the outcome. "How is this possible... How could this happen?!" Lü Ming's eyes filled with shock, rage, and terror. He could not fathom how the situation could have deteriorated to such an extreme. "Hall Master, the sword formation!" the warning shouts of the sword cultivators beside him jolted Lü Ming awake. Sensing the vast, razor-sharp aura of the enemy sword formation, the Xuanming Sect War Hall Master barked without hesitation, "Retreat!" The next instant, he flew his sword at top speed, bolting back in the direction they had come from, seemingly hoping to regroup with the rest of the sect's sword cultivators. At this moment, only a single thought occupied his mind. It was a trap! They had all walked right into a trap! Whether the Sect Master's order or the Grand Elder's transmission, they were all snares laid by the Nine Cauldrons Sect through their Heavenly Palace cultivator. The objective... Was to wipe out this batch of the sect's strongest combatants in one fell swoop. No! Not just them! If things went wrong, the Xuanming Sect would be forced to completely pull out of the East Sea, and all of their Great Cultivators in the East Sea would be uprooted by the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Lü Ming retreated quickly, but the Nine Cauldrons Sect sword cultivators led by Shen Qinglian and the others pursued even faster. In the blink of an eye, the sky-spanning sword light was already upon them. With nowhere left to run, Lü Ming could only bellow, "Break through at full speed!" Melding man and sword into one, he unleashed a burst of sword light and charged forward in an instant. However, figures of his stature—a War Hall Master—had long been marked by Yaoguang as priority targets for elimination. Besieged simultaneously by Shen Qinglian, a fourth-tier Great Sword Cultivator, and several third-tier sword cultivators, Lü Ming's sword light clashed with theirs for only a moment before being decisively shattered head-on. "Third-generation flying swords?!" Lü Ming cried out in shock and fury. As a top sword cultivator, he recognized immediately just how advanced the flying swords used by Shen Qinglian and the others were! The instant the two sides engaged, the erupting sword light shredded the clouds across the firmament and cleaved open the ocean below. Sword qi swept across the sea, churning up waves hundreds and thousands of meters high, occasionally carving chasms dozens or even a hundred li long across the water's surface. The shockwaves rippled outward without pause, eventually forming terrifying tidal waves that surged in every direction. At their farthest, these waves would travel over a thousand li; any islands caught in their path would be mercilessly submerged. Though these were merely the aftershocks of a battle between top sword cultivators, they could still churn the ocean like a natural catastrophe. If this had taken place on a planet with a diameter of twenty to thirty thousand li like the Yaoguang Realm, such tsunamis would be enough to erase island nations from the map entirely. Amid the violent clash of blades, Lü Ming, struggling desperately to hold his ground, let out an indignant roar. "No!" Accompanied by a burst of sparks, the sword cultivator's life-bound flying sword was cleanly severed by Shen Qinglian. The moment his life-bound flying sword snapped, the precisely coordinated strikes of two other sword cultivators landed immediately, striking his body with brutal force. Sword qi erupted! One of the flying swords shattered Lü Ming's protective dharma treasure with thunderous momentum, grinding it to dust, while the other instantly impaled his body. *Bang!* A mist of blood exploded outwards. Before it could even drift apart, it was vaporized into nothingness by the raging energy imbued within the blade. As the two flying swords streaked off into the distance to strike new targets under the guidance of Yaoguang's divine mind, this prominent figure, who ranked among the top ten in the Xuanming Sect, fell right here over the vast ocean. Having slain Lü Ming, the Xuanming Sect's War Hall Master, Shen Qinglian let out a long whistle. "Those who trespass upon our East Sea shall be shown no mercy!" Her cold, piercing sword light did not hesitate for a second amidst the whistle, striking toward the next target. "Leave none alive!"