Chapter 43: The Massacre at the Fifteen Peaks

On Yangyun Peak, Qu Yi gathered the eleven palace masters of Ziyang Palace, with the southern envoys listening nearby.
“Palace masters of Ziyang Palace, I have a task for you now. In this campaign against the demon cultivators, the four thousand cultivators from the Southern Demon Continent must launch a fierce attack on Ziyang Palace. So, once you return, organize the disciples in your palaces—decide which ones need to be kept and which can be discarded. Hide those who should be kept secretly, while leaving the others on your peaks for us cultivators to slaughter,” Qu Yi said calmly.
To avoid revealing the secret that the southern and northern envoys had already defected to him, he still had to carry out this task. Otherwise, no one would believe that the four thousand cultivators could destroy Ziyang Palace without shedding a single drop of blood, let alone the leaders of the demon cultivators.
The eleven palace masters, including Beitian Tianren, immediately bowed their heads in thought, already forming plans in their minds.
Seeing their expressions relax, Qu Yi smiled and said, “After Ziyang Palace is taken, it will still be under your control. As for the upcoming battle against the Jiuhan Sect, if there are any talented disciples there, you may take them.”
Upon hearing this, the eleven palace masters grew delighted. They had thought earlier that the disciples to be discarded were those with very low cultivation potential, so capturing some with higher potential during the attack on Jiuhan Sect would actually be a gain for them.
Qu Yi then gave them further instructions before sending them back to Ziyang Palace.
After the eleven palace masters left, Qu Yi turned to Wei Yan, Xiong Guan, Lang Qiang, and Long Zhan and said, “Take your respective teams and follow me. Head straight to Ziyang Palace and start destroying each of its cultivation peaks from the southern end of the Ziyang Mountain Range.”
“Yes, master!” the four replied promptly.
……
Zhongyang Peak was the cultivation peak of Zhongyang Hall in Ziyang Palace, located farthest to the south among the fifteen peaks.
At that moment, Qu Yi was mixed among the four thousand cultivators, while Wei Yan, Xiong Guan, Lang Qiang, and Long Zhan led the way at the forefront, charging toward Zhongyang Peak with fierce momentum.
Boom! Boom!
The bells on Zhongyang Peak rang, signaling an enemy attack!
But it was already too late. The four thousand cultivators teleported there instantly and surrounded the entire peak.

The master of the Zhongyang Hall, Master Zhongyang, had already teleported away, leaving only a few solitary disciples to defend the mountain peak.
“Kill them all! Leave none!” Wei Yan shouted fiercely, his menace evident.
Kill!
Four thousand demon cultivators, like hungry wolves spotting lambs, eyed greedily the disciples on Zhongyang Peak. In an instant, they rushed up the mountain and began a brutal massacre. With mere swipes, blood sprayed everywhere, and ruins littered the peak.
Master Zhongyang selected over a thousand disciples—those without great cultivation potential—and left them on Zhongyang Peak. Before long, these disciples were completely wiped out.
Of course, Master Zhongyang also kept a hundred elite disciples hidden in a secret chamber within Zhongyang Peak.
Seeing that the demon cultivators had killed all the disciples on Zhongyang Peak, Qu Yi immediately ordered Wei Yan and the other three, along with the four thousand demon cultivators, to fly northward to massacre the disciples on the next cultivation peak. Of course, Qu Yi certainly wouldn’t kill those hidden disciples of the Zhongyang Hall—they were now his own forces.
…
The next cultivation peak was Xuantai Peak.
Led by Wei Yan, Xiong Guan, Lang Qiang, and Long Zhan, the four thousand demon cultivators descended like vengeful dragons, their overt hostility instantly enveloping the entire Xuantai Peak.
“Enemy attack!”
On Xuantai Peak, over a thousand disciples screamed in terror.
But Master Xuantai, their leader, was nowhere to be seen—as if he had vanished without a trace.
Unsurprisingly, amid the disciples’ cries of despair, the four thousand demon cultivators easily slaughtered them all.
Of course, Master Xuantai also kept a hundred elite disciples hidden in a secret chamber. Qu Yi naturally knew not to let the demon cultivators search there and ordered them to continue flying north.
As expected, thanks to the secret plans of each hall’s master, Qu Yi, with his four thousand demon cultivators, effortlessly conquered eight cultivation peaks in a row.
These eight peaks were Zhongyang Peak, Xuantai Peak, Beitian Peak, Qiaoming Peak, Yueyang Peak, Huolan Peak, Yuefa Peak, and Jinghou Peak.
However, when the four thousand demon cultivators attacked the ninth peak, they finally encountered strong resistance.
The ninth peak was Yuming Peak, the cultivation site of Master Yuming, who had just reached the later stage of the Outward Emergence realm.
When the four thousand demon cultivators arrived at Yuming Peak and were about to kill all the disciples there, Master Yuming finally emerged from seclusion!

“Demonic cultivators! How dare you come to our North Immortal Continent to kill? I will punish you today!” Yu Ming’s eyes burned with fury, and even his white hair fluttered from the intensity of his anger.
“Gather!” Wei Yan called out quickly.
Four thousand demonic cultivators immediately gathered together, presenting a formidable force that stared fearlessly at Yu Ming.
Looking at the four thousand cultivators on the peak, Yu Ming knew that despite his strength, dealing with them all at once—each at the late Yuan Ying stage—was an extremely difficult task. Yet, he was confident he could kill them all one by one.
“Hmph! You demonic cultivators think that by gathering together, you can confront me? You have no idea the terror of being in the late Outward Departure stage. I’ll see if you can stay together. As long as you scatter, I’ll attack at any moment and kill you all,” Yu Ming roared.
Qu Yi stood among the demonic cultivators. Hearing Yu Ming’s words, he sneered and immediately shouted, “Yu Ming, you’re just someone who has just reached the late Outward Departure stage, yet you’re so arrogant. Well, I’ll end you now.”
With that, Qu Yi suddenly flew into the air and appeared in front of Yu Ming.
Yu Ming was momentarily stunned. He sensed that Qu Yi was only at the mid-Yuan Ying stage. How dare he speak to him like this? His face twisted with anger.
“I said it—once you’re separated, I’ll kill you. Since you’re coming to seek death, I’ll fulfill your wish,” Yu Ming roared, drawing his sword and swinging it lightly.
A ten-meter-wide stone blade shot through the air and rushed toward Qu Yi. Just before it hit his forehead, everyone thought Qu Yi would be split in two—but suddenly, he disappeared.
Vanished into thin air!
“How is that possible?” Yu Ming was astonished, staring blankly at where Qu Yi had been.
During this brief moment of distraction, several figures suddenly appeared in the air: the Southern Envoy, the Northern Envoy, Bai Yan, Hai Gui Xin, Master Xuan Gu, and the fourteen palace masters of the Zi Yang Palace.
That’s right! Qu Yi had quickly brought all his mid-Outward Departure stage experts into the Dimensional Sphere, including Hai Gui Xin and the three palace masters he controlled. All for this moment!
The nineteen powerful warriors in the mid-Outward Departure stage appeared instantly and attacked simultaneously, unleashing their most powerful spells. Wind blades flew, flames erupted, and meteorites plummeted, turning the entire sky into a chaos of energy, with space cracks beginning to appear.

Generally speaking, a strong practitioner in the later stage of the Outward Departure realm can handle five strong practitioners in the middle stage of the same realm simultaneously. At this moment, Master Yu Ming was merely a practitioner who had just reached the later stage of Outward Departure, and he had also been stunned by Qu Yi’s sudden disappearance. Facing nineteen spells at once, he immediately felt despair. Master Yu Ming regretted it, but it was already too late. He channeled all his vital energy to form a yellow crystal armor around himself, yet it still couldn’t withstand the attacks of those nineteen spells. The once arrogant Master Yu Ming perished in an instant, not even leaving a soul behind. Qu Yi also immediately emerged from the Dimensional Sphere, smiling as he watched the lingering traces of the colorful spells in the air, his eyes shining with intensity. At this moment, Qu Yi felt a peculiar sensation—as if he had grown fond of this atmosphere of killing. Anyone who dared to stand in his way would die. Under normal circumstances, if Qu Yi had such thoughts, he would likely shake his head and deny them, but after killing Master Yu Ming, his resolve was firm: on the path of cultivation, those who get in the way die! “Wei Yan, order the slaughter of everyone on Yu Ming Peak,” Qu Yi said calmly, looking at Wei Yan. Seeing Qu Yi’s unusual expression, Wei Yan hesitated not for a moment and immediately shouted, “Brothers of the Three Tripod Sect, kill them all!” “Yes, Sect Master!” the cultivators replied in unison. The dozens of remaining disciples of the Yu Ming Palace were all killed with a single attack. Qu Yi indifferently watched the carnage on the peak. Once the cultivators finished, he immediately ordered, “All cultivators, proceed immediately to the next peak and eradicate the Zi Yang Palace.” “Yes, Sect Master!” The four thousand cultivators replied in unison. These cultivators had already slaughtered the disciples of nine peaks and were fully immersed in the thrill of killing. Even without Qu Yi’s orders, they would have flown to the next peak to kill on their own. With intense murderous intent and the fierce killing aura generated by the four thousand cultivators, wherever they went, the monsters fled in terror, and the lower-ranked disciples were utterly terrified. No one in the entire Zi Yang Palace could withstand a single strike. The subsequent peaks—Zhen Xing Peak, Qi Ming Peak, Yu Chen Peak, Yao Yu Peak, Qiao Yan Peak, and Fu Zhu—offered no resistance at all, and all the disciples left on those peaks were killed. In this round of slaughter, ten of the four thousand cultivators even reached the early stage of Outward Departure, which pleased Qu Yi for a while.

After clearing out the fifteen halls of Ziyang Palace, only the last foundation of the palace remained—the Ziyang Peak. At that moment, Qu Yi led the demon cultivators to encircle Ziyang Peak.