Chapter 107: Seventeen Years
The years have passed, a mere seventeen years with a flick of a finger.
Two thousand miles east of Fenghua Immortal City, there is a place called "Cyan Elm Market".
Though not as prosperous as the Market within the Immortal City, this place is nonetheless a crucial spot for cultivators in the vicinity to exchange resources and restock supplies.
Foundation Establishment Cultivators guard it, aided by a Tier Two Array, making it quite stable.
This afternoon, the light cyan protective array above the market suddenly experienced an ominous fluctuation.
In the desolate forest outside the array, three black-robed figures lay silently in ambush, the blood-red skull patterns embroidered on the hem of their robes faintly visible in the shadows of the forest—these were three Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators.
The leader of the demon cultivators was the most robust, with only a pair of eerie green eyes showing beneath his face-covering cloth. In his coarse palm, he clutched a talisman the size of a palm.
The talisman emitted a blinding golden light all around, with the runes twisting as if alive—it was a Tier Two Middle Grade "Forbidden-Breaking Talisman."
Behind him, dozens of Qi Cultivation Realm demon cultivators all had fierce looks in their eyes, some with a string of skulls hanging from their waists, others playing with blood-stained bone blades...
They had long heard of the wealth of Cyan Elm Market, and were just waiting for the array to be broken to commence a massacre and plunder.
"Take action!"
The leader of the demon cultivators gave a low shout, infusing mana into the Forbidden-Breaking Talisman with his fingertips. The talisman suddenly burst into a dazzling golden light, like a golden bolt of lightning, crashing hard against the market's protective array.
"Boom——"
With just one dull explosion, the cyan light membrane of the protective array was instantly torn open, with cracks spreading like a spider web.
Following closely was a "crack" sound as a two-zhang wide passage appeared, with remnants of dispersing spiritual power still hissing at the edges.
"Charge! Kill all cultivators, seize all resources!"
The leader of the demon cultivators laughed wildly, raising his right hand, and a pale flying sword abruptly emerged from its sheath.
The flying sword was completely refined from the spine bones of a cultivator, engraved with black demon patterns, and emitted a mournful ghostly wail as it flew.
The other two Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators were not to be outdone; one summoned a pitch-black banner, coiled with hundreds of blue-black ghostly shadows—the "Thousand Soul Banner."
The other one flung out a bone whip filled with barbs, still bearing fresh flesh and blood, apparently having just slaughtered living beings.
Dozens of Qi Cultivating Demon Cultivators followed the three Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators, charging into the market like ravenous wolves.
But once they stepped into the passage, their expressions abruptly changed—where were the mountains of Spirit Stones and Elixir Pills they had imagined?
Instead, they were met with a dense, red glow swirling with spirit light, an intense aura emanating from it, even hampering their breathing.
It was another grand array!
"An array within an array?" The leader of the demon cultivators' pupils contracted, as he abruptly turned his head, only to find the passage behind them had long vanished without a trace, leaving only the void shrouded in red glow.
He gritted his teeth and spat:
"A teleportation passage?"
"It's just a market, how could it have a Tier Three Array? It must be an illusion! Break it for me!"
Before the words were finished, he shook the Thousand Soul Banner in his hand violently.
The ghostly shadows on the banner suddenly expanded, transforming into hundreds of half-zhang tall vengeful spirits, each with a ferocious face and bloody claws, rushing fiercely towards the red glow.
"Rip——".
The red glow was torn apart like fabric, its fragments turning into a blood mist that dispersed, revealing the true scene of the market.
On three bustling streets, the cultivators were already in chaos.
Some were attempting to activate their magical artifacts to resist, some were trying to flee deeper into the market, while others had collapsed on the ground in fright, like lambs awaiting slaughter.
In mid-air, a pale blue bead was swaying, the spiritual light on its surface flickering.
At the center of the market, a beautiful Foundation Establishment Female Cultivator, dressed in a white skirt, now had a pale face. She formed spells with her jade fingers, struggling to summon the bead back to her palm.
That was the "Mirage Illusion Bead," and the red light illusion earlier was set up by her activating this bead. Yet, with her average cultivation, the illusion she crafted could not stop three demon cultivators of the same realm.
"Hahaha! It's indeed an illusion!"
The leader of the demon cultivators laughed even more arrogantly:
"Did you think such feeble means could scare us away? Teleporting the array hub, pretending to be a Tier Three Grand Array, how ignorant!"
"You marketplace cultivators have never even seen a Tier Three Grand Array! Kill them for me! Any who resist, extract their spiritual sense, and refine their bones!"
As soon as the order was given, the Qi Cultivating Demon Cultivators rushed into the crowd like mad dogs.
Compared to the demon cultivators who grew up in harsh environments, the cultivators in the market, who honestly ran their businesses, were like lambs awaiting slaughter.
Scenes of being killed across realms even appeared!
Only to see a Qi Cultivation Perfection Cultivator in a cyan robe hurriedly summon a Cyan Steel Sword, trying to protect his child beside him. But as soon as he swung his sword, he was surrounded by three Mid-stage Qi Cultivating Demon Cultivators.
The demon cultivator on the left summoned a Soul Devouring Nail, which pierced through his dantian with a "whoosh," and the demon cultivator on the right seized his wrist with bone claws, preventing him from channeling mana.
The last demon cultivator drew a Ghost Head Saber from his waist, and with a "crack," the cyan-robed cultivator's head fell to the ground, blood splattering three feet high.
The demon cultivator picked up the head, licked the blood on his face with his tongue, eyes full of satisfaction:
"What a fine head, just right to refine into my White Bone Flying Skull; finally, I have the main material!"
Having said that, he took out a large white bone skull from his bosom, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed the cultivator's head with a crunch!
The other demon cultivators were not to be outdone either, some pulling bones from the cultivators' bodies, some extracting spiritual senses, others skinning the cultivators, taking their flesh and blood to refine into Evil Artifacts.
In their eyes, these cultivators who honestly ran their businesses were full of "treasures".
On the other hand, the mortals, who had not cultivated spiritual sense yet, were nothing but useless ants and attracted no second glance from the demon cultivators after they were slaughtered.
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