Chapter 494 463: Reorganize the Ten Thousand Gods Sect?
ROAR—
Countless ghostly figures scrambled to escape.
Without Pei Chu's control, innumerable Yin Souls shrieked across the sky. But the Evil Cultivators on the field fell into a brief silence...
"Alas—"
Seeing Pei Chu fall, Gongyang Shuo knew the battle was lost. Within the Ten Thousand Gods Sect, Pei Chu had possessed the highest prestige and the greatest strength, allowing him to keep the other Vice Alliance Leaders in line.
And just as he expected, the already demoralized Evil Cultivators felt a chill in their hearts. One Golden Core cultivator, seeing the situation, lost all will to fight. Like a startled bird, he wrapped himself in his robes and transformed into a black streak of Escape Light, shooting away from the mountain.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Chen Che's eyes narrowed as he waved his hand.
All around the mountain, countless sword lights erupted as if tearing themselves from the earth, instantly blocking Song Yuanxing's path. A few Foundation Establishment Cultivators who were also fleeing in a panic crashed headfirst into this wall of light and were instantly shredded by the Sword Qi.
"This is..."
Lei Boyong and his sister stared, dumbfounded.
With a single wave of his hand, Chen Che had sealed off the entire mountain peak. What terrifying power was this?
"A Sword Pill?"
Song Yuanxing's pupils contracted. "It's useless. Unless we kill Chen Che, no one is getting out of here..."
Hearing this, a sliver of desperate courage rose in Gongyang Shuo's heart. He brandished his Soul-Calling Banner, which swelled in the wind to a hundred zhang in size. With a WHOOSH, the Ghost Gods that had run rampant after Pei Chu's death all roared in unison, transforming into black smoke and sweeping downward.
Deep within the pupils of every onlooker, its form began to shift:
The front of the black smoke gradually split apart, evolving into a swarm of several thousand dragons formed from Yin Souls. As they streaked through the air, their whistling cries sounded like rolling thunder.
Their long whiskers were pulled taut, and their black scales seemed to devour the light. With every undulation of their bodies, their powerful, angular muscles trembled violently, as if they had become solid matter.
"Your opponent is me!"
Xiao Chan shouted coldly. This man had used his name to carry out massacres in the territories of the Primordial Sect, and he had long wanted to put an end to him. "A Soul-Calling Banner's strength isn't about the number of souls! For me, devour—"
The black banner unfurled, and the Divine Souls within it twisted and roared.
The Golden Core Yin Souls, including Ye Yuanji and the others, showed reluctance in their eyes, but they could not control their bodies and had no choice but to merge into a mass of black smoke. Then, under Gongyang Shuo's incredulous gaze, they transformed into a gigantic, lion-shaped Demon Beast.
Before this lion-shaped Demon Beast, the entire mountain seemed tiny. As it materialized, it opened its mouth and, in one great gulp, swallowed the countless ghost dragons whole.
"BLARGH—"
Gongyang Shuo's body trembled, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He had annihilated several mortal kingdoms recently, so his Soul-Calling Banner contained far more than a hundred million souls. However, the difference in quality between their souls was simply too great.
Although he had secretly hunted many Golden Core cultivators over the past century, he was far outmatched in both quality and quantity. Now, with this one forceful swallow, hundreds of years of accumulation had been wiped out in an instant.
However, Gongyang Shuo had no time to mourn the loss of the Divine Souls he had accumulated over so many years. The next moment, within a radius of several li around him, countless intersecting wisps of black fog materialized from thin air. Accompanied by a shriek, they surged toward him.
"No! I'm an Elder of the Star-Picking Sect! How dare you kill me—"
Gongyang Shuo desperately waved his Soul-Calling Banner, roaring as he tried to escape.
But how could he stop himself from being submerged by hundreds of millions of Divine Souls? In an instant, the Yin Souls erupted with ultimate power, transforming into something like thick, viscous ink that devoured Gongyang Shuo completely, leaving only a white Soul-Calling Banner standing in his place.
All of this took some time to describe, but it happened in the span of just three breaths.
And during those three breaths, the Little Chick had already taken flight. Its body swelled to several dozen zhang in size, and its massive claws crushed a Golden Core cultivator to a pulp. At the same time, Chen Xi unleashed three puppets and her Black Jade Divine Statue, which suppressed and killed another Golden Core cultivator.
Both of them were Early-stage Golden Core cultivators, brought in by Pei Chu to bolster the Ten Thousand Gods Sect's prestige. But in the end, they died without so much as a ripple, their bodies and souls extinguished.
Of the Ten Thousand Gods Sect's five Golden Core cultivators, four were dead in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea. Not even one in ten of the remaining Foundation Establishment Cultivators survived. The entire 'Ten Thousand Gods Mountain' had become a Purgatory Asura Land.
The only one left was the Vice Alliance Leader, Song Yuanxing. He was just preparing to risk his life to blast a path out, but when he looked up, he saw Chen Che leisurely putting away the Thunder Jade Gourd. Chen Che stood with his hands behind his back, a faint smile on his face as he watched.
Nearby, Xiao Chan also watched with a sinister gaze as he furled his Great Banner, absorbing all the Yin Souls on the mountain. Among the souls swept into the banner, one could still see the faces of countless Evil Cultivators who had just recently raised the banner of the Ten Thousand Gods Sect together.
There was even the struggling, unwilling face of Gongyang Shuo among them.
Chen Xi had also recalled her puppets, leaving only the Black Jade Divine Statue behind her. The statue's thousand hands fanned out, and the blood on the ground flowed up to be swallowed by its mouth. Its thousand open eyes stared intently at him. In that moment, she looked more like a Demon Cultivator than he did.
The only one not paying him any mind was the Little Chick.
It was currently folding its wings, looking like a Fierce Beast as it devoured the remaining Evil Cultivators one by one, as if they were insects. With every bite, the KRUNCH KRUNCH of it chewing made his scalp tingle in horror.
"Valley Master Chen, spare me!"
Despair washed over Song Yuanxing's face. Without a second thought, he dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.
Not all Evil Cultivators were fearless in the face of death.
Then again, even the most ferocious Evil Cultivator would fall into utter despair upon witnessing such a scene.
"He's neither the Alliance Leader nor a high-ranking member of the Star-Picking Sect. There's no use in keeping him alive."
Xiao Chan said immediately upon seeing this.
Chen Che nodded. Hearing those words, he was about to smash the man to death with his gourd on the spot.
But Song Yuanxing grew frantic and hurriedly shouted:
"I know things! I know everything! Pei Chu never kept secrets from me. I know all of his affairs—I was the one who relayed many of his orders! I know what the Alliance Leader knew, and I know things he didn't!"
Hearing this, Chen Che looked down at him and said:
"Speak."
Song Yuanxing prostrated himself fully, his head pressed to the ground in utter submission. "The establishment of the Ten Thousand Gods Sect this time was orchestrated by the Star-Picking Sect. Their intention was to plant a nail deep in the Primordial Sect's heartland, making it difficult for them to defend on all fronts."
"Besides our Ten Thousand Gods Alliance, there are quite a few other Evil Cultivator Alliances, but none are as powerful as we are."
Xiao Chan nodded and said:
"That's right. The Ten Thousand Gods Alliance is indeed the largest Evil Cultivator Alliance under the Primordial Sect's jurisdiction. The rest are just small fry, not worth mentioning. No wonder the Star-Picking Sect stopped their assault last time. So this was their plan."
After all, as long as the Primordial Ancestor remained in seclusion, no one knew if he had broken through or not.
Rashly attacking the Primordial Sect would be far too dangerous. It was better to gradually chip away at its subordinate forces, sow discord among them, and completely isolate the Primordial Sect. That way, even if war broke out later, they would have the upper hand.
Chen Che rubbed his chin. "Did the Star-Picking Sect's Ancestor succeed in his breakthrough?"
"I'm not sure, but Gongyang Shuo said it was a near certainty. He's over two hundred years younger than the Primordial Ancestor, so his chances of success are naturally higher."
As soon as he said this, everyone's expression turned grim.
Regardless of whether it was true, the fact remained that there had been no news from the Primordial Sect. Huang Shiwo was still running all over the place, hunting for Fierce Beasts to gather ingredients for the Primordial Ancestor's pills. Comparing the two sides, the Primordial Sect was clearly at a disadvantage.
Song Yuanxing looked at Chen Che and said through gritted teeth:
"Valley Master Chen, if you let me live, it will bring a hundred benefits and no harm to Jinyun Valley."
"Explain."
"With Pei Chu dead, I am now the Vice Alliance Leader of the Ten Thousand Gods Alliance. I can rebuild the Ten Thousand Gods Sect, and I can even absorb the Evil Cultivators under the Star-Picking Sect's banner. As long as you are willing, you will be the true master of the Ten Thousand Gods Sect!"
?
Everyone was stunned by his words.
Seeing their reaction, Song Yuanxing continued:
"You understand better than I do how powerful a sect can be. In the future, whether you're fighting the Star-Picking Sect or opposing the Primordial Sect, you will have a solid foundation... It wouldn't even be a problem to become another Primordial Sect or Star-Picking Sect..."
This idea had occurred to Song Yuanxing the moment he saw Xiao Chan. It was why he hadn't fought to the death. Even under Pei Chu, he was just a Vice Sect Leader. Why not follow the far more powerful Chen Che?
A whole sect, handed to him on a silver platter—who could refuse such an offer? He was confident that Chen Che would agree.
But...
Just as he was thinking this, he saw Chen Che look down at him.
"But almost everyone is dead. How are you going to rebuild the Ten Thousand Gods Sect? Is it just going to be us few, a bunch of generals with no army?"
"That's no problem. We just need to hold another Banquet of the Gods!"
Song Yuanxing gave him a smile that said, 'You're not an Evil Cultivator, so you wouldn't understand'.
"This event will attract numerous Evil Cultivators, and we could even draw in some well-known major ones."
"One of the Golden Core cultivators in our alliance was drawn here by the last one. As long as we put the word out and hold another large-scale Banquet of the Gods—and let it run a little longer—even more Evil Cultivators will catch wind of it and come rushing over."
"Evil Cultivators have rapid Cultivation speeds. The 'Banquet of the Gods' uses mortals as a blood sacrifice, a temptation most Evil Cultivators can't resist. If we were to use a cultivator family as the blood sacrifice, we might even be able to produce one or two Golden Core cultivators from among a few hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators..."
THUD—
The gourd smashed down.
Before Song Yuanxing could finish his confident speech, his head and body were smashed to bits, spattering red and white matter all over the ground like an overturned dye shop.
Chen Xi saw this but wasn't surprised in the least.
After all, they themselves had originally been drawn here by a Banquet of the Gods. For this man to dare suggest they hold another one—what was that, if not courting death?
Xiao Chan, for his part, swept his Soul-Calling Banner, adding another Golden Core Divine Soul to its collection. Seeing that Chen Che had no intention of leaving, he slowly turned his head to look at Lei Boyong and his sister, who had been hiding behind the three of them all this time.
"What should we do with these two?"