The two Foundation Building cultivators leading the team from Green Bamboo Mountain happened to be Elder Bamboo Stick and Elder Bamboo Spear.
Originally, such an important matter should have been led by the top expert of Green Bamboo Mountain, Elder Bamboo Sword. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Elder Bamboo Sword couldn't make it.
After all the Refining Qi disciples entered the palace complex, Elder Bamboo Stick and Elder Bamboo Spear casually found a spot on top of a sand dune and sat down, closing their eyes to rest, quietly waiting for a month to pass.
Within the Mirage Secret Realm, during that month, countless bloody battles and cruel stories unfolded, but no one knew exactly how many.
As the sun rose and set, and the moon went through its phases, the month quickly passed.
One by one, the surviving Refining Qi cultivators rushed out of the palace complex. Those belonging to sects or clans quickly gathered with their own people, while the loose cultivators hurriedly left the area.
Despite their swift actions and reactions, they were not fast enough. Just as they emerged from the palace complex, numerous cultivators who had been lying in ambush around the area appeared from all directions, surrounding them.
Every time the Mirage Secret Realm opened, it became a feast for desperate individuals. Those with enough courage and confidence in their abilities would venture into the Mirage Secret Realm.
For those lacking courage, they would instead lay in ambush outside, specifically targeting the cultivators coming out of the secret realm, planning to rob them. After all, once the Mirage Secret Realm closed, the palace complex would disappear along with it. Those who came out of the secret realm had to leave before the palace complex vanished, or they would disappear with it.
The Mirage Desert was too vast, and even the Flying Swan Sect couldn't completely seal it off, preventing all cultivators from entering or leaving. Those cultivators who stealthily entered the Mirage Desert from various directions had long ago laid ambushes near the palace complex.
The Flying Swan Sect couldn't fully control the Mirage Secret Realm, let alone the situation around the palace complex. Especially with the Foundation Building cultivators unable to get too close, chaos continued, and they lacked the power to stop it.
Many of the cultivators who had just experienced life-and-death struggles within the Mirage Secret Realm were now entangled in bloody battles again. Among these cultivators, many returned with significant gains, with some even carrying materials for refining Foundation Building Pills.
In the eyes of the cultivators outside, these people were like moving treasure troves. Especially for many Refining Qi cultivators who had completed their cultivation, this place represented their only hope of obtaining Foundation Building Pills.
The bloody battles and chaotic fights raged on around them. Those from the same faction could organize and fight together, supporting each other. However, the lone cultivators became targets for countless hunters.
The Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators who entered the Mirage Secret Realm had planned to gather inside the palace complex and then rush out together to meet the elder reinforcements. Thanks to the experience imparted by the senior cultivators in their sect, they could handle themselves well inside the secret realm and were prepared for the situation outside.
Over twenty Refining Qi cultivators from Green Bamboo Mountain formed a simple formation, cooperating and covering each other as they rushed outward.
With such a large force, they were a difficult bone to gnaw on. The ambushers outside prioritized targeting lone cultivators or smaller groups.
Fortunately, the Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators were lucky, encountering no overly strong resistance and suffering minimal casualties. They only expended some pills and talismans to successfully break out of the encirclement and get closer to the two Foundation Building elders from Green Bamboo Mountain.
Elder Bamboo Stick and Elder Bamboo Spear had long spotted their disciples and stood up from the ground, observing their movements.
"Our luck is not bad this time; less than half of them suffered casualties, and so many disciples made it out alive. I wonder what gains they made," Elder Bamboo Stick said casually.
Looking at the unfortunate factions with too many casualties, resulting in a lack of deterrence from the remaining few disciples, they fell into the encirclement of desperate individuals, and a malicious smile appeared on Elder Bamboo Stick's face.
However, the sudden change that followed froze the smile on Elder Bamboo Stick's face.
The group of Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators, about to meet with the elder reinforcements, had relaxed their guard.
Two cultivators who had been sneakily following behind them suddenly had to stop their tracks as they saw the disciples were about to meet with the reinforcements.
Elder Bamboo Stick, standing on the sand dune, cast a fierce glance at the two cultivators. If it were elsewhere, he would have slapped these audacious thieves to death long ago.
Perhaps intimidated by Elder Bamboo Stick, the two cultivators, who had intended to leave, suddenly stood still. And then, they took out a talisman and activated it together.
The two cultivators were none other than Meng Zhang and Jue Ying, who had disguised themselves and had been lurking nearby for over a month, waiting quietly for the Mirage Secret Realm to close and the cultivators to come out.
Their long-awaited opportunity had finally arrived.
The talisman they activated was a Second Rank talisman named Ghostfire Yin Wind Talisman.
A series of Yin Winds swept toward the group of Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators, and green flames appeared in the air, mixed with the Yin Winds.
After experiencing life-and-death battles for a month and multiple exhausting fights, the Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators were physically and mentally fatigued. They were about to meet with their Foundation Building elders, finally letting their guard down completely and losing their last bit of vigilance.
The Second Rank Ghostfire Yin Wind Talisman caught the unprepared Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators off guard, throwing them into chaos and claiming the lives of many cultivators.
Meng Zhang and Jue Ying each consumed a few drops of Stone Stalactite to quickly replenish their spent mana.
Almost simultaneously, the ground shook violently, and ten huge sandworms suddenly emerged from the ground, rushing toward the panicked Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators.
As Hu Jing's proficiency in the Beast Taming Art improved, Meng Zhang had long entrusted her with the unique magic tool, the Beast Control Jar. She controlled the sandworms inside.
These sandworms, strengthened by the Beast Control Jar, not only could be used for mining and fighting enemies but were also powerful weapons.
Hu Jing, who had been disguised and hidden on the side, controlled the sandworms and charged into the group of Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators, completely disrupting their formation.
[Read at /maxnkoga , without ads and support the work.]