The sky was covered with dark clouds as sand flew in the desert air.
The smoke of the beacon fire formed a long red snake that stretched hundreds of miles on the horizon as if dividing heaven and earth.
The movement of the sun and moon could not be seen, so there was no way of knowing how much time had passed.
However, just like wood in a bonfire, it would eventually burn out.
*Whoosh---*Under a gust of cold wind, the dragon flag symbolizing the *Justice Division* erected on the tower of the Eastern Great Wall fell off from the flagpole into a pool of blood and was stained red.
Zhou Muhe, who was wearing a golden robe, stood in front of the city gate holding a sword full of cracks, surrounded by the broken limbs and bodies of his subordinates.
His eyes were as firm as they had been a few days ago; however, his hand holding the sword was slightly shaking.
In order to buy time for the remnants of the *Justice Division* and the scattered cultivators in **Brilliance City** to escape, Zhou Muhe took the lead of his one hundred and twenty-six subordinates, relying on the protection formations and countless magic weapons to defend the Great Wall.
He alone had killed nearly three hundred demonic cultivators.
The cracks on his sword blade made of meteorite iron were proof of this.
And now...Zhou Muhe looked around and saw that there was no living thing on the dilapidated street. He smelled the rust-like scent of blood and dust in the air and realized that he was the only one left.
*Boom--!!*
The ten-thousand-pound iron gate under the tower suddenly trembled, and cracks appeared on the three crossbars used to block the door.
*Boom--!!*
The ground shook, and the bricks and tiles on the Great Wall flew off in all directions, stirring up hundreds of feet of dust when they hit the ground.
*Boom--!!*
After the third bang, Zhou Muhe held his breath and clenched the sword in his hand tightly. At the same time, the two iron doors that weighed ten thousand pounds collapsed, and countless ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect cultivators wearing iron ghostly masks poured in.
Zhou Muhe's eyes focused. He immediately dodged and dashed forward, swinging his sword.
For those scumbags who were only at the *Foundation Building* stage, the spirit sword of a *Nascent Soul* sword cultivator like him was nothing but a meat grinder.
Every time he swung his sword, several ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect disciples would be turned into pieces of flesh, flying and scattering over the heads of their fellow disciples.
But when he swung the sword for the third time...
*Crack---*
The sword made of meteorite iron instantly broke into pieces and disintegrated.
Zhou Muhe raised his head and saw a middle-aged man in black robes standing in front of him.
The moment he saw his face, he felt a twinge of pain in his abdomen. He could not help but kneel and slump to the ground.
"Humph, a mid-stage *Nascent Soul* Sword cultivator with just over a hundred men, guarded the wall for four days. Do you want me to praise you?"
Zhou Muhe held his bleeding abdomen and gritted his teeth as he raised his head. Seeing that the person in front of him was also a mid-stage *Nascent Soul* cultivator, he smiled. "Heh, thank you for telling me. Because of the dark clouds covering the sun and moon, I didn't know that four days had passed."
"Thank me?"
*Clang---*
The remaining sword hilt in Zhou Muhe's right hand fell to the ground. He looked relieved and answered with a smile, "This old man completed the order of the *Justice Division* Commander and delayed you, evil demons, for more than three days. The *Justice Division* disciples left, and all the other cultivators in the city also fled. This **Brilliance City** is my gift to you... Don't worry, I didn't leave anything behind. All there's left for you is a barren city and the ruins on the ground..."
Gritting his teeth, the middle-aged man glared and raised his hand.
In an instant, a purple spiritual energy enveloped Zhou Muhe, and his skin rotted at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing his white bones. However, Zhou Muhe still wore a smile until his *Nascent Soul* shattered and he fell to the ground and died.
"Hah!"
With a sneer, the middle-aged demonic cultivator kicked Zhou Muhe's bones to pieces.
At this time, there was a sudden sound of drums behind him.
A luxurious sedan chair, carried by dozens of skeletons in black brocade, passed through the city gate. Seven Ghost Tomb, wearing a ghost mask, leaned on the armrest, supporting his face, as his body swayed up and down with the movements of the sedan chair.
Seeing him, the middle-aged demonic cultivator immediately knelt down.
"Father..."
Seeing his son in front of him, Seven Ghost Tomb turned his eyes and looked at him with a small hint of disappointment in his eyes.
This middle-aged demonic cultivator, Gui Qinghe, known as "Blue Water Ghost", was the biological son of Seven Ghost Tomb. Before the attack on the city, Seven Ghost Tomb asked him to break through the Eastern Great Wall within three days. But unexpectedly, Zhou Muhe fought back stubbornly with only a hundred people or so, relying on formations and magic weapons, and repelled his three waves of attack.
In the end, it was Seven Ghost Tomb who personally stepped in and broke through the Great Wall's protection array. Only then was he able to open the city gate and let the ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect disciples enter the city.
Now facing his father's expression, Gui Qinghe trembled.
However, the ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect's Great Elder hurried forward, cupped his hands, and spoke up for him.
"Patriarch, Young Master Gui only had a few *Nascent Soul* cultivators and more than a thousand disciples in the *Foundation Building* and *Core Formation* stages. We can't blame him for not being able to take the city in three days."
Seven Ghost Tomb did not speak but turned his gaze to the Great Elder.
"..."
The ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect's Great Elder nodded and added, "According to the scouts sent to the **Central Region**, the *Justice Division* split into four groups and headed in four different directions, as we've heard before. Their intention is probably to escape one group at a time. Why don't we send Young Master Gui with some people to chase after the group heading to the *Seven Dragon Valley*?"
Seven Ghost Tomb pondered for a while before nodding in approval. He then raised his finger to signal the ghost soldiers to move forward.
Seeing that his father didn't say anything, Gui Qinghe let out a faint sigh of relief and cupped his hands toward the Great Elder.
"Thank you, Great Elder."
The Great Elder stroked his long beard and patted him on the shoulder, smiling. "Young Master, don't be so polite. You are not to blame for this. The Patriarch probably didn't expect you to conquer the city within three days, hehe..."
"Well, can you tell me, who are the *Justice Division* members heading to the *Seven Dragon Valley*..."
"According to reports from our inside men, the team heading to *Seven Dragon Valley* is entirely composed of *Foundation Building* cultivators, about three thousand people. The leader seems to be a young man in the early stage of *Core Formation*, accompanied by the Young Miss of the ***Black Star*** Sect and the Eldest Lady of ***Moon Shadow Sword*** Sect. The Young Miss of the ***Black Star*** Sect is in the early stage of *Core Formation*, and that Eldest Lady Yun is only in the late stage of *Foundation Building*."
"In this case... I can take with me fifty *Core Formation* stage disciples."
In his experience, one *Core Formation* stage demonic cultivator was equivalent to ten ordinary *Foundation Building* immortal cultivators.
However, if fifty *Core Formation* demonic cultivators were to arrange a formation under someone's leadership, it would be impossible for tens of thousands of *Foundation Building* immortal cultivators to defeat them.
Not to mention, Gui Qinghe was still a mid-stage *Nascent Soul* cultivator.
The Great Elder felt that it was somewhat like killing a chicken with a bull's knife. However, the ***Ghost Spirit*** Sect had sufficient combat strength, so he did not say anything. He nodded and replied, "Well, go ahead..."
Gui Qinghe cupped his hands in response. "I accept the order!"
However, at this moment, a female voice interrupted them.
"Great Elder Kong... can I go with Young Master Gui?"
After the voice spoke, the Great Elder and Gui Qinghe looked in the direction of the sound in surprise. When they saw that it was Gu Mingxin, they both frowned.
Great Elder Kong Xiangmo narrowed his eyes as he asked, "Miss Gu, you should have already received the order to go with Elder Fu after the *Core Formation* disciples of the *Justice Division*..."
Gu Mingxin had just passed by and heard Kong Xiangmo say that the leader was an early-stage *Core Formation* youth. She immediately thought of Ye Anping, so she mustered up the courage to make the proposal.
After a moment of silence, she hurriedly said, "Elder..."
However, Kong Xiangmo interrupted her again and directly rejected her. "No!"
The spiritual energy of a *Deification* stage cultivator leaked out from him and as Gu Mingxin was hit by it, she felt that her whole body couldn't move, and her hands clenched with a crackle.
At this time, Fu Yuanhua hurried forward and interrupted, "Miss Gu, don't be rude."
Seeing that Fu Yuanhua had arrived, Kong Xiangmo withdrew his spiritual energy and cupped his hands. "Elder Fu, please take care of your people."
"Will do."
Fu Yuanhua glared fiercely at Gu Mingxin and grabbed her shoulder ready to leave, but Gu Mingxin swallowed, cupped her hands, and shouted,
"Then, Young Master Gui, please bring at least one more *Deification* stage cultivator or a few *Nascent Soul* Elders with you!"
At this, Gui Qinghe, who had been silent all this while, showed an uncontrollable anger on his face. He asked, "Young Miss Gu, are you looking down on me?"
Gu Mingxin raised her head slightly and looked directly into his eyes. "Young Master Gui spent three days attacking the Great Wall guarded by a hundred people. If I were to lead the men, this Great Wall could have been broken within a day. If you only take fifty *Core Formation* disciples, you will only..."
Kong Xiangmo, standing nearby, glared angrily and interrupted again, "How dare you!!"
Gu Mingxin did not lower her head this time. Instead, she gritted her teeth and met his gaze. She used her spiritual energy to block Kong Xiangmo's spiritual might forcefully and only took a step back, then stood still.
Fu Yuanhua felt that something was wrong, and she quickly stepped forward to block the two of them. She cupped her hands and tried to apologize for Gu Mingxin to Kong Xiangmo. "Great Elder Kong, I will discipline her later..."
"..."
As she spoke, Fu Yuanhua glared at Gu Mingxin and forcibly pulled her shoulder before turning into a stream of light and flying toward the city.
After seeing the two people leave, Kong Xiangmo narrowed his eyes slightly, then took a deep breath to calm down and looked at Gui Qinghe who was frowning beside him. "Young Master Gui, don't worry about what that girl said just now. Fifty *Core Formation* cultivators are enough. If you bring some Elders with you and return with success, the Patriarch will not think that you have accomplished anything. Got it? Fifty *Core Formation* cultivators are enough."
"..."
"As for the group of nearly twenty thousand people from the *Justice Division*, they are mostly *Qi Refining* stage cultivators and rogue cultivators. After you eliminate those immortal cultivators at the *Foundation Building* stage, you can detour to that side to deal with them. The Patriarch wants no immortal cultivator to leave the **Central Region**..."
"I understand." Gui Qinghe nodded.
