Many people below could guess the origin of these people ten thousand zhang up in the sky, but who were these Spirit Transformation cultivators? Ninety percent of the cultivators did not know.
Whether Spirit Transformation cultivators existed in the Mortal Realm, in the minds of seventy percent of the cultivators, the answer was either uncertain or that they did not exist. Thirty percent believed they did, but it was mostly speculation.
Let alone Spirit Transformation cultivators, before this great war, including those Golden Core cultivators, how many of them had ever seen a Nascent Soul stage cultivator?
Spirit Transformation was already a legendary, immortal-like existence, something that should not belong to the Mortal Realm.
"Isn't it said that once a cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul stage, their cultivation can no longer break through due to the restrictions of the laws of heaven and earth?
"That's why they have to ascend to a higher plane. How can there really be Spirit Transformation cultivators in the Mortal Realm?"
This thought immediately arose in the minds of the vast majority of cultivators, but they did not dare to ask casually.
Only some core disciples from families or sects with a long history knew a little about the situation of Spirit Transformation cultivators, but today, after personally confirming the existence of Spirit Transformation cultivators, they were all extremely shocked.
Even after the start of this war between the two races, the top combat power they knew of was the Nascent Soul stage cultivators. In their minds, the ones who would decide the final victory or defeat should be the Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivators from both sides.
"The sudden attack just now must have been from a Spirit Transformation cultivator, right? Otherwise, how could the Windy Cool Mountain grand formation be turned to dust in a single blow?"
Many cultivators thought of the unannounced attack just now, which had killed several hundred cultivators in an instant, including many Golden Core cultivators.
Although they had long known that a Nascent Soul cultivator could kill mid and low-level cultivators as easily as reaping grass, this place was protected by a magic formation set up by a Nascent Soul cultivator.
As the Nascent Soul cultivators from both sides stopped fighting, streaks of light flew from all directions towards the back of the Nascent Soul cultivators. Li Yan and the others saw at a glance that both sides were gathering their cultivators.
Thus, after exchanging glances, they also flew towards the Nascent Soul cultivators hovering in the air. Li Yan and the others carefully chose a relatively northern route.
Comparatively speaking, this route was much less likely to be suddenly attacked by the Demon Clan and foreign cultivators from the distant south.
But this did not happen. Li Yan and the others soon flew behind the Nascent Soul cultivators. At the same time, other cultivators were flying here rapidly from all directions.
Below, a middle-aged scholar Nascent Soul cultivator released his Divine Sense. With an expressionless face, he waved his large sleeves a few times, sweeping the surviving, heavily injured cultivators of Windy Cool Mountain into his Spirit-Storing Pouch.
Then he gave the opposite side a cold look before turning and flying back into the air.
The Demon Clan side, less than five hundred li away, stood in the air, their faces filled with mockery and cold smiles. They did not step forward to stop him, allowing this Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator to rescue his people.
Li Yan saw his master, Wei Zhongran, here. Wei Zhongran also saw Li Yan in the crowd. Seeing that he was unharmed, he nodded at him. With battles breaking out so frequently, there was no need to repeatedly admonish Li Yan.
Li Yan then looked towards other areas. Among the mid and low-level cultivators in the rear, he also saw Bai Rou, Gong Yuantai, Wuye, and others.
Almost all of them were in a sorry state, more or less injured. Even Bu Luo, who was known for having many magical treasures, had his hair disheveled and a patch of blood on his shoulder. It was clear that he had also fought for his life to escape just now.
Only Bai Rou's appearance was somewhat surprising to Li Yan. Bai Rou was spotless, and her aura was extremely stable.
But immediately, Li Yan thought of the reason. When he left Bai Rou, she was still with Shuang Qingqing. With that terrifyingly strong woman by her side, it would be strange if anything happened to Bai Rou, unless she encountered a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
But Li Yan did not see Elder Chigong or the other previously injured Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators. He didn't know how they were now.
When Bai Rou saw Li Yan in the crowd, she just nodded slightly and did not use voice transmission.
Li Yan immediately flew towards the area where Gong Yuantai and the others were. The members of the Green Sixteen Squad were beginning to gather there.
Li Yan could not recognize all the cultivators newly conscripted to the Green Sixteen Squad, but it seemed only about seventy percent of the old members he knew were present. He didn't know if the rest had perished or were on their way here.
At this moment, Li Yan had long since thrown the matter of returning to the sect to the back of his mind.
After Li Yan arrived, he exchanged a few words with Gong Yuantai and the others via voice transmission. No one knew what had happened. The entire Windy Cool Mountain had collapsed in an instant, and no one had received any news.
And the Nascent Soul cultivators in the air in front did not speak a word. The Demon Clan side hundreds of li away was filled with killing intent, ready to strike, appearing somewhat inscrutable.
For a time, both sides seemed to fall into a boundless, dead silence. The entire world was so oppressive it was suffocating. The wind was filling the tower before the mountain rain came.
Even the low whispers of people like Li Yan, who had initially been quietly asking those around him via voice transmission, only lasted for a dozen or so breaths before falling silent.
Only the few streaks of light that occasionally flew in from the distance brought a trace of life to this world, before flashing and disappearing into the ranks of the cultivators.
Li Yan and the others watched as the middle-aged scholar Nascent Soul cultivator collected the injured cultivators, making no effort to hide the killing intent that was gradually rising from his body. They then looked at the spirited mid and low-level cultivators on the opposite side.
They guessed that after the world-ending, destructive blow just now, the enemy had probably only dispatched their Nascent Soul stage cultivators, so their mid and low-level cultivators were unharmed.
In contrast, the cultivators of Windy Cool Mountain were caught completely unprepared, and hundreds of them were killed in the blast.
And at this moment, Li Yan suddenly felt that something was not right. Of course, there were many cultivators as perceptive as Li Yan, especially those Golden Core cultivators from Windy Cool Mountain.
They suddenly turned their heads to look back. The moment Li Yan felt the abnormality, he also immediately turned his head. But this turn made his scalp tingle, as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning.
Because fifty li behind them, in what used to be the back mountain of Windy Cool Mountain, several thousand cultivators had suddenly and densely emerged from underground. The aura of the twelve people in the lead shot up into the sky without any concealment. A heaven-and-earth-covering killing intent rolled out, and in an instant, an iron-blooded atmosphere filled the hearts and minds of Li Yan and the others.
Those were twelve Nascent Soul cultivators. Among them was an old man with white hair and beard and a burly man with a bare torso. The aura from these two was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea, surging powerfully.
The aura from these two was comparable to Liaoyuan, Zhu Luan, and Mo Gu in front. They were also two Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivators. It was just that the bare-chested burly man was radiating a sky-high demonic aura.
All the Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivators of the Mortal Realm had descended upon the world...
...
Ten thousand zhang up in the sky, a burly man in armor, his body as majestic as a mountain, Tu Tai, looked at the three cultivators opposite him with a mocking expression.
"I wonder who it is that really won't be leaving today? Soon we will completely settle all our old grievances. To think that the famous 'Devil's Cliff Crevice' of the Desolate Moon Continent is hidden within Windy Cool Mountain.
"Truly a grand undertaking. If I'm not mistaken, which one of you secretly shifted the heavens and earth of the three places, Windy Cool Mountain, Demon-Swallowing Ridge, and Sword-Subduing Abyss, so that outsiders didn't notice any change?
"Using the translocation of these three places to cover up the previously revealed location of the Devil's Cliff Crevice... such a method of transforming the world, apart from you few Spirit Transformation cultivators, no one else in this world could do it."
Tu Tai's entire body was clad in armor as black as ink, covering his burly body. Only the helmet revealed his dark, iron-like skin. A pair of round eyes were like two giant lanterns in the night, captivating the soul.
His majestic body seemed to block out half the sky, bringing an unparalleled sense of oppression. At this moment, he also gave a sigh of relief in his heart.
If he hadn't left a backup plan when he crossed the boundary back then, having made an agreement with his clan, it would have been truly difficult to find the location of the Devil's Cliff Crevice now.
The location of the Devil's Cliff Crevice that Venerable Wan had provided no longer existed. This had made Tu Tai search painstakingly for months, until today, the appointed date with the Demon Realm, when he used his supreme divine ability and finally sensed a trace of demonic Qi seeping out from across the boundary. After a full-power strike, there was indeed a breakthrough.
After such a long stalemate with the cultivators of the Desolate Moon Continent, their forces were already exhausted. Now, they could finally launch the final, fatal blow.
And at this moment, around Tu Tai, three other people stood suspended in the air. The three of them stood in the south, north, and east positions, half-encircling Tu Tai in the middle.
One monk and two laymen. The monk looked to be only in his early twenties, dressed in a simple, coarse gray monastic robe. His features had an indescribable elegance. A single glance at him would make a warm sun rise in one's heart.
To the young monk's left was an old man in brocade robes. The old man's black hair had a dark sheen, and his skin was the color of gold. A pair of gray eyebrows were like falcons soaring to the sky, shooting straight to his temples. His aged face carried a boundless pride, and he was staring sullenly behind Tu Tai.
To the monk's right was a middle-aged scholar in a long green robe. The middle-aged scholar was currently squinting his eyes, sizing up the other party. Deep within his eyes, it seemed ten thousand swords were hidden. As his gaze shifted, there was a faint sound of swords whistling, and his green robe swayed slightly with it.
The young monk just smiled faintly at the words.
"For several months, I have heard of the great name of Demon General Tu Tai. Seeing you today, you are nothing more than this. I guess that if you did not have some kind of agreement with the Demon Realm, causing an abnormality to suddenly appear under the Devil's Cliff Crevice today, you would have had no way of sensing its location.
"This includes the 'First Sir' behind you, who is a Late-stage Spirit Transformation. Am I right, old monk?"
As he spoke, the young monk smiled and, raising a single palm, performed a Buddhist salute to the figure behind Tu Tai.
A thousand zhang behind Tu Tai, three black-robed figures with long hair trailing to the ground had been standing quietly suspended in the air. Their long hair fell down, covering their entire faces, making it impossible to see their appearance.
From beginning to end, the three black-robed figures had only looked coldly at the three people around them and had not spoken, not even when the young monk directly questioned them. The three of them remained as cold as ice, not saying a word, like three zombies.
"Daling, why bother with these useless words? The Devil's Cliff Crevice has already been revealed. If you are sensible, then lead the entire Desolate Moon Continent's cultivators to surrender.
"We will leave you a place to live in peace in the Land of the Northern Abyss, to avoid the calamity of the entire race being wiped out.
"Otherwise, hehehe..."
Tu Tai let out a series of laughs.
The young monk was none other than the Spirit Transformation stage cultivator from the Jingtu Sect, the divine monk Daling. The two by his side were the other two Spirit Transformation cultivators of the Desolate Moon Continent, Su Changyang of the Malevolent Spirit Sect and Zhantian of the Ten-Pace Courtyard.
The divine monk Daling did not answer Tu Tai's words, but instead looked seriously at one of the three black-robed figures.
"Amitabha. First Sir, observing the aura of the immortal art you just used, if this old monk is not mistaken, it is the Ancient Immortal Art of the Desolate Moon Continent, the 'Dao Transformation Art of Helplessness.'
"First Sir destroyed the Windy Cool Mountain grand formation and the illusion formation at the back mountain with a single casual strike. The power of the Ancient Immortal Art is truly incredible. We are impressed."
The three black-robed figures, who had not spoken all this time, after hearing the divine monk Daling's words, the one in the middle slowly raised his head.
As his long hair slid down his face, a thin and aged face was revealed. His gaze carried not a trace of emotion—cold, ruthless, and indifferent. An aged voice finally sounded.
"Junior, although your knowledge is extraordinary, you cannot change any outcome. Are you... begging?"