Battles at the Soul Formation Stage and above could reshape the land with a casual gesture. That was why experts of that level usually raised a barrier before fighting.
An ordinary space simply couldn't withstand the chaos. Only a minor world on the level of the real world could hold a clash like that.
If they forced a battle in the main world, the Spiritual Qi across the entire area would spiral into disorder. That disruption could last for hundreds of years, like the aftermath of a nuclear strike.
Demonic Cultivators, of course, wouldn't care what it did to the environment. But Orthodox Dao Cultivators had to. Otherwise, just the shockwaves from their fight would be enough to wipe Tianqiong City off the map.
Even so, while the Orthodox Dao Cultivators were splitting off manpower to set up the barrier, Gui Ying still misjudged things.
"Surrender, Gui Ying."
The man who appeared before him was an early Great Ascension cultivator, and also the sworn enemy who had hunted him for centuries.
Tie Chunsheng, Lord of the Golden Sparrow Tower.
His Cultivation Level was slightly higher than Gui Ying's, but Demonic Cultivators could fight or flee as they pleased, and they could always grab hostages to threaten.
So even after hundreds of years, Tie Chunsheng still hadn't been able to truly take Gui Ying down.
He had chased Gui Ying all the way from the Soul Formation Stage to the Great Ascension Stage. In the entire Righteous Path Alliance, no one understood Gui Ying better than he did.
Now, with Gui Ying finally within reach before he ascended to the Immortal Realm, Tie Chunsheng couldn't help feeling a surge of excitement.
"Tie. Chun. Sheng!"
Gui Ying spat out each word as if grinding it between his teeth. He stared at Tie Chunsheng with a vicious glare, like he wanted to swallow him whole.
The shadows covering Gui Ying had already been blown apart in the earlier fight, revealing his true face.
Not a disguise. His real appearance.
A visage like an evil ghost clawing its way out of hell.
The left half of his face was exposed bone, pale and ghastly, and his left eyeball looked ready to drop out at any moment.
The right side of his face was covered in strange, sinister patterns, the kind you could tell at a glance were nothing upright.
His body was riddled with countless small cuts. Some were new, but most were scars and wounds left behind by brutal battles over the past several centuries.
Like Tie Chunsheng, he had endured for hundreds of years to climb to this point. He had thought he could rise in a single leap, drag the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect off his throne, and take that seat for himself.
Instead, right when he was about to succeed, he realized everything in front of him had been a trap.
The Righteous Path Alliance really had only dispatched five Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators, and their goal really was just to protect that spoiled young master, Huang Ren.
What Gui Ying didn't know was that among those five, two had already passed their Heavenly Tribulation. With only a few years of seclusion, they would become Great Ascension cultivators.
That meant even five Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators were enough to hold back his ten Tribulation Transcendence Stage Demonic Cultivators.
At the later stages of cultivation, unless someone was exceptionally gifted or had something special in their Cultivation Methods, magical treasures, or weapons, a higher realm could easily suppress numbers. One could fight ten.
Gui Ying could hold off one of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators who had passed the Heavenly Tribulation. Their strength wasn't far apart.
But the ten Demonic Cultivators under him couldn't withstand the other one. They were being beaten down hard.
What made it worse was this: fearing those five from the Righteous Path Alliance might escape, Gui Ying's side had laid down an extremely powerful Sealing Formation.
In the end, it was their own escape route that got cut off.
Then the Righteous Path Alliance's reinforcements arrived and caught them right where they stood.
Now, ten Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators of the Heavenly Demon Sect ringed Gui Ying, setting up an evil Formation and piling on multiple berserk buffs that would leave heavy backlash afterward. Only by forcing themselves like that were they barely able to withstand the Righteous Path Alliance's offensive.
And as for the Righteous Path Alliance's lineup—
One standard Great Ascension cultivator.
Two Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators who had just passed their Heavenly Tribulation.
And another seven Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators to round it out, ten in total.
With a lineup that lavish, if they still couldn't capture a careless Gui Ying, that would be the strange part.
"Hand over the Heavenly Demon Sect's roster, and I'll make sure you die with your body intact."
The angrier Gui Ying grew, the more pleased Tie Chunsheng became. He stared Gui Ying straight in the eye.
"Otherwise, don't think the Righteous Path Alliance can't be just as ruthless as your Demonic Sect."
At first, the Righteous Path Alliance had disdained using the Demonic Sect's methods. But after nearly being wiped out more than once, they learned their lesson.
To defeat the enemy, they had to learn from the enemy.
When it came to harsh interrogation, they had become even more cruel and unrestrained than the Demonic Sect.
In a way, it was a kind of zealotry.
Ordinarily, cultivators with kindness in their hearts wouldn't go that far unless they carried a blood feud with the Demonic Sect.
But if a Demonic Cultivator's mouth was too hard, they would make sure he learned what "cruelty" really meant.
"Give up on that. Did you really think I didn't have a backup plan?"
Gui Ying was furious, but he hadn't lost his head. He was stalling for reinforcements, Blood Edge.
At this moment, he was more grateful than ever that he had called Blood Edge over. Otherwise, he might actually die here today, a complete disgraceful upset.
If Blood Edge, a Great Ascension Stage cultivator, joined the fight, the situation would flip instantly.
Tie Chunsheng had only just stepped into the Great Ascension Stage. Blood Edge, on the other hand, had been in that realm for years. The gap between them spoke for itself.
As long as the Righteous Path Alliance didn't send even more reinforcements, the one laughing at the end would still be him.
So he had to buy time. Only—
Why the hell wasn't Blood Edge here yet?
Was it really that hard to deal with a Foundation Establishment cultivator?
And there hadn't been any spatial fluctuations outside either. He shouldn't have been tied down by anyone.
Gui Ying ran through possibilities in his mind, unaware that Blood Edge had already slipped away long before the battle even started.
"But I am curious."
While thinking, Gui Ying looked at Tie Chunsheng and asked, "How did you find me?"
Normally, Tie Chunsheng wouldn't bother answering. But first, the situation was already under control. All he had to do was wait for the evil arts on Gui Ying's side to run their course, and then it would be easy to clean up Gui Ying and the rest of those Demonic Cultivators.
Second, he had waited fifty years for this chance. He had finally found the opening today and set this trap.
If he said nothing at all now, it would feel like swallowing a mouthful of frustration. So he answered.
"You should thank yourself for suddenly coming here."
To be honest, he didn't even know why Gui Ying had shown up here, but it didn't matter. As long as Gui Ying died, the reason was irrelevant.
And the place where Gui Ying appeared was, frankly, perfect.
Huang Ren, that spoiled young master of the Righteous Path Alliance, had chased a woman all the way here.
And then, by pure coincidence, a Demonic Cultivator attack happened in the area. Huang Ren's grandfather would naturally send people to protect him.
That gave Tie Chunsheng the opportunity he needed. The moment he got the news, he immediately brought in two close friends, both of whom had secretly passed their Heavenly Tribulation not long ago, and had them join the mission.
After that, things developed almost exactly as he'd expected. The instant Gui Ying realized there were five Tribulation Transcendence Stage targets, he changed his plan, greedy enough to want to swallow all five in one bite.
As for the result?
It was Gui Ying's current predicament: being surrounded and annihilated.
"Despicable! You actually planted a mole inside my Holy Sect!"
Gui Ying was so furious he spat blood. Tie Chunsheng had kept quiet for fifty years. Gui Ying had honestly thought he'd given up on killing him and was simply preparing to ascend to the Immortal Realm in peace.
He never expected Tie Chunsheng to be waiting for him here.
"Despicable?"
Tie Chunsheng actually laughed in anger. His face hardened as he pointed at Gui Ying.
"When you used Cheyue Kingdom to force me, you didn't call that despicable."
"When you threatened me with the lives of the Righteous Path Alliance's 308th Army cultivators, you didn't call that despicable."
"When your hands were stained with the blood of countless people, you didn't call that despicable."
"And now you have the nerve to call me despicable?"
Tie Chunsheng formed seals rapidly with both hands. Countless golden sparrows formed from his True Essence, gathering into a golden sparrow army that surged toward Gui Ying's evil formation.
Golden Sparrow · Ten Thousand Sparrows Return to Nest!
A Dao Resonance spread from Tie Chunsheng. It was the Dao he walked.
Each golden sparrow was erased the instant it slammed into the demonic formation, but every single one carried the power of a peak Soul Formation Stage strike.
Just look at the Demonic Cultivators inside the Formation, their faces drained white. It was obvious how terrifying it was.
"Hold it!"
Gui Ying roared. He knew that simply enduring it was no longer an option. He had to counterattack.
He began chanting. A string of sinister incantations spilled from his mouth, taking form as an indescribable mass that collided head-on with the countless golden sparrows.
"BOOM—!!!"
A massive explosion tore through space itself. But almost immediately, under the full effort of the Formation Masters, the damaged space was forced back into place.
When the dust cleared, Tie Chunsheng had only shifted half a step backward in midair, completely unharmed.
But his furious blow had shattered the Demonic Cultivators' Evil Formation. The ten Demonic Cultivators could only huddle in front of Gui Ying, trembling.
As for Gui Ying himself, his face was deathly pale. If the Evil Formation hadn't absorbed most of the blast, he would have died on the spot or been crippled.
He was already at the end of his rope, and he truly couldn't beat Tie Chunsheng. Over all these years, if the Demonic Cultivators hadn't constantly held the initiative, with endless hostages to threaten Tie Chunsheng, Gui Ying would have been beaten to death long ago.
This time… he might really be finished.
Blood Edge, I'll kill you!
It's just a Foundation Establishment cultivator. How long are you going to drag this out?
It's been half an hour. You still haven't wrapped it up. Are you doing this on purpose, trying to get me killed?
Wait…
Did he really stop caring about the Holy Sect's strength, just because he didn't want me threatening his position?
It was possible. That bastard would ascend in at most a hundred years…
Damn it!
Once I fight my way out, Blood Edge, you'll pay for this!
Gui Ying couldn't understand it. He was the one who had planned to scheme against Blood Edge, yet somehow he was the one getting stabbed in the back.
If that was how it was going to be, then he only had one option left.
His final trump card.
Sorry, brothers.
Ten shadow-black tentacles surged out of Gui Ying's body and speared through the ribs of the Demonic Cultivators standing in front of him.