Chapter 22: Three-Pronged Attack
As the stronghold of the Xiao family, the Destruction Mountains naturally had patrol teams in every area, allowing them to detect the presence of outsiders sooner or later.
Every time the Xiao family’s patrol teams appeared and gave a verbal warning, outsiders would, fearing the Xiao family’s power, leave on their own.
But this time, Qu Yi came specifically to destroy the Xiao family. For this patrol member to dare to speak arrogantly in the face of so many people at the Golden Core stage or above was truly seeking death.
When Zhao Shiyi, the leader of the Celestial Divination Sect, stepped in, he chopped this Xiao family patrol member to pieces, relieving much of the pent-up anger he had felt.
Qu Yi looked at Zhao Shiyi and smiled, saying, “Zhao Shiyi, Zhao Yun, divide the disciples of the Celestial Divination Sect into two groups and eliminate all of the Xiao family’s secret bases within a hundred thousand miles.”
The spiritual perception of the Artifact God had already reached the Great Vehicle stage, and it had scanned everything in the Destruction Mountains, discovering hundreds of Xiao family secret bases. The Artifact God reported all this to Qu Yi. Shocked, Qu Yi became even more determined to exterminate the Xiao family. Having existed for hundreds of thousands of years, they must possess precious treasures, all of which needed to be obtained.
Immediately afterward, Qu Yi used soul communication to share with Zhao Shiyi and Zhao Yun the locations of the Xiao family secret bases discovered by the Artifact God.
Zhao Shiyi and Zhao Yun stared at Qu Yi strangely. Could it be that he had already investigated the Xiao family’s secret bases in advance and deliberately came to subdue the Celestial Divination Sect with the aim of destroying their foundation? They couldn’t believe that Qu Yi, at the early stage of the Combined Body stage, could have discovered all of the Xiao family’s bases in the Destruction Mountains in such detail—knowing exactly which bases had arrays, how many people were there, and what cultivation levels their inhabitants had.
Qu Yi smiled faintly. He wouldn’t reveal that it was the Artifact God’scredit; it was better to maintain some mystery.
“Yes, Fellow Li Mu, we will definitely complete the task,” Zhao Shiyi and Zhao Yun replied immediately.
Then, Zhao Shiyi and Zhao Yun divided the thousand disciples of the Celestial Divination Sect into two groups, each leading a team to fly in two different directions to destroy all of the Xiao family’s bases in the Destruction Mountains.
After watching them fly away, Qu Yi turned to Qing Wu Gui and said, “Qing Wu, while these people from the Celestial Divination Sect destroy the Xiao family’s bases, we’ll sneak into their headquarters.”
Qing Wu Gui’s eyes lit up, and he nodded immediately.
Qu Yi originally intended to have the Qintian Sect launch a full-scale attack on the Xiao family, while he would secretly infiltrate the Xiao family and kill all their elders one by one. Soon, Qu Yi boarded his Flowing Gold Boat and flew toward the western part of the Destruction Mountains.
……
On a mountain peak hundreds of miles away, Shan Meng, a powerful early-stage Tribulation-crosser sent by the Taiyuan Sect to monitor Qu Yi, was whispering to himself. “This Li Mu has a truly mysterious background. When did he meet such a demon cultivator? This demon cultivator practices the Asura Path, exuding a fierce killing aura—similar to that of the most powerful demon cultivator in the cultivation world before, Du Gu Fu.”
“This Li Mu really loves killing. Rumor has it he wiped out all the enforcement members of the Jin Yang Sect and led the Taiyuan Sect’s enforcement team to destroy those at Bai Shou Peak, Xian Yue Cliff, and Jiu Gong Island. Now he wants to annihilate entire sects at will, and now he aims to destroy the entire Xiao family. Truly a man with a distinct personality.”
“The Xiao family isn’t something that can be easily destroyed. It has stood in the cultivation world for hundreds of thousands of years, with a rich heritage. They have over a dozen core members at the Convergence Stage, and their top figures are Tribulation-crossers. Has this Li Mu gone mad and decided to challenge the Xiao family?”
“What if a Tribulation-crosser from the Xiao family appears? Should I reveal myself? This Li Mu is really giving me a headache…”
Shan Meng kept thinking as he quickly followed behind Qu Yi. Most cultivation families only have one Convergence-stage powerhouse, but there are still some ancient great families in the cultivation world that possess cultivation techniques that allow their members to reach the Tribulation Stage, with some even being extremely ancient. What troubled Shan Meng the most were those Tribulation-crossers from the Xiao family. If Qu Yi were discovered, no matter how he tried to challenge them beyond his rank, he would never be able to win against them. In that case, Shan Meng would have to step in to protect Qu Yi’s life.
Qu Yi was connected to the Six Harmonies Blade and the Eight Directions Sword lost by the Taiyuan Sect. Under no circumstances could this “bait” of Qu Yi die, unless the three fugitives from the Jin Yang Sect—Shuo Shang, Shuo Rui, and Shuo Xu—appeared. Only then would Shan Meng stop caring about Qu Yi’s life. For now, Shan Meng had to protect Qu Yi.
……
Zhao Shi led five hundred disciples from the Qintian Sect to the eastern part of the Destruction Mountains. Thanks to the information Qu Yi had provided about the Xiao family’s secret bases, Zhao Shi could assign his men efficiently, splitting the team into dozens of groups to head to each base. Each of the Xiao family’s bases was manned only by those at the Yuan Ying Stage or below, with around a hundred people per base.
This time, the Qintian Sect sent all its disciples at the Golden Core stage and above; there were also two hundred at the Yuan Ying stage, along with a dozen or so at the Split Soul stage. Thus, each team only needed one Split Soul stage disciple to lead them, making it easy to eliminate the Xiao family’s bases.
“Who are you people, daring to invade our Destruction Mountains uninvited?”
In the sky, a Xiao family patrol member spotted the forces of the Qintian Sect and shouted angrily.
As soon as he spoke, the Split Soul stage leader of the Qintian Sect’s force immediately struck with a sword, killing the patrol member, then continued flying toward the Xiao family’s secret base.
“Enemy attack!”
At one of the Xiao family’s secret bases, the leader at the late Yuan Ying stage suddenly cried out.
In an instant, hundreds of well-trained Xiao family assassins flew into the sky and saw over fifty Qintian Sect disciples approaching rapidly.
Yet, these assassins, who usually killed without hesitation, immediately fled without thinking. They sensed that among the Qintian Sect’s forces was someone at the Split Soul stage, meaning there was no chance of a direct confrontation. With just one such expert, all one hundred assassins would be killed.
So, without any hesitation, they chose to flee.
The Split Soul stage expert leading the Qintian Sect forces sneered and teleported right in front of the assassins, blocking their escape route.
Undoubtedly, as soon as this expert appeared, he cast spells that enveloped all the assassins.
“Invisible Killing Art!”
“Slaying Decree!”
“Destroy Heaven and Earth!”……
With no way to escape, the assassins had no choice but to fight back. Each shouted their own ultimate technique, using their own vital energy to cast spells to counter the attacks from this Split Soul stage expert.
Clearly, these Yuan Ying stage assassins lacked the strength to resist such spells alone and could only combine the power of all one hundred to withstand the attack.
Throughout the realm, various energies surged and exploded, with waves of colored energy beams shooting toward everything in sight. Violent winds even dug massive craters in the land several miles underground.
Yet, even as these one hundred assassins combined their forces to resist the Split Soul stage spells, they were still affected by the energy waves and suffered injuries.
At that moment, the Qintian Sect disciples waiting behind also charged forward. Before the Xiao family’s one hundred assassins could recover, waves of spells rained down like a storm, enveloping them once again.
“Ah! It hurts!”
“I’ll kill you all, you sneak attackers!”
“If you’ve got the guts, fight openly—don’t oppress the weak with force.”
……
These assassins cursed angrily, but each one was killed by the disciples of the Celestial Divination Sect. At this moment, the disciples of the Celestial Divination Sect were acting as assassins, while these assassins from the Xiao family were doomed to be slaughtered.
This team from the Celestial Divination Sect wiped out Xiao family’s secret base, then immediately entered it and plundered all the pills, spirit stones, magical artifacts, and other valuables.
After that, the team continued along the route given by Zhao Shi and headed to another secret base of the Xiao family.
One by one, Xiao family’s secret bases were destroyed.
……
Zhao Shi and Zhao Yun did not engage directly in clearing these secret bases; their role was to guard against the powerful cultivators of the Xiao family, as some of their elders might still come to the Destruction Mountains.
If they encountered an elder at the fusion stage of the Xiao family, Zhao Shi and Zhao Yun were confident they could kill them or hold them off long enough for the disciples of the Celestial Divination Sect at the distraction stage to arrive and drain their vital energy, ultimately killing those powerful cultivators.
Qu Yi also considered this aspect, so he was confident in letting Zhao Shi and Zhao Yun lead the team to eliminate all of Xiao family’s bases in the Destruction Mountains.
Now, Qu Yi, Qing Wugui, and Mu Han had arrived in the eastern part of the Destruction Mountains and flew in front of a towering mountain that reached into the clouds.
This mountain had actually been altered by the Xiao family—like in the process of crafting weapons, the entire mountain was shaped into a statue of a figure, standing ten thousand meters tall, exuding an aura of dominion over the world.
Mount Xiaozu was the headquarters of the Xiao family, and this mountain statue represented the founding ancestor of the Xiao family—the first clan leader, Xiao Zu.
On their way here, Qu Yi and his companions had already killed three disciples of the Xiao family. Now, they changed their appearances to match those three people’s looks and altered their vital energy auras.
It was mainly because the vital energies of Qu Yi and his companions were quite unique—Qu Yi possessed five types of vital energy that he could change at will. Qing Wugui’s vital energy was also a mixture of energies that he could alter as needed. As for Mu Han, due to the mind-control techniques she practiced, she could mimic any energy pattern after just seeing it once, making it easy for her to change her own aura.
Now, the three of them were disguised, trying to infiltrate Xiao family’s headquarters.