"Hmph, even resorting to the Soul Burning Blood Technique, I arrived just a step too late; these three Core Formation Cultivators of Dawn would have perished here," everyone was filled with shock and fear, but only Xi Ying's lips slightly curled up, revealing a faint smile, as she transmitted her voice to Yuan Ming.
At this moment, the Great Elder Chen Cangqiong also noticed the anomaly and turned his head to see the black little kettle suspended in mid-air, his expression changing dramatically.
With a loud shout, he was actually ready to abandon the hunchbacked elder to snatch the black kettle.
Seeing this, Xi Ying raised her hand and a black light soared into the sky.
Yuan Ming's gaze sharpened as he finally saw clearly that within the black light was a round kettle lid, thoroughly black and exquisitely fashioned.
As the kettle lid flew out, the Soul Suppressing Kettle seemed to respond, moving to meet the lid.
The two joined together, once again becoming whole.
"How is this possible? Who is it, who has come?" Chen Cangqiong, seeing this, had his eyes wide with terror, more shocked than if he had seen a ghost.
However, Xi Ying had no intention of responding.
"Retrieve." She had already formed the spell, and uttered a low command.
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As her words fell, the handle of the kettle lid embellished with a small beast resembling a lion suddenly shone from its eyes, as if coming to life, opening its mouth.
A black radiance sprung from its mouth, and a black vortex akin to a starry nebula emerged, emitting a powerful suction force.
"Stop! Don't, don't…" Seeing this, Chen Cangqiong panicked completely.
He hurriedly tried to recall the two blood bats that were perched on the forehead of the woman in green and the red-robed man, which were his Divine Soul creatures, just like Yuan Ming's soul crows, but in reality even more vital to him than Yuan Ming's soul crows.
All the Divine Skills of a Soul Cultivator are tied to the Divine Soul; the deeper the cultivation, the truer this is.
The Soul Suppressing Kettle was precisely summoned to counter Chen Cangqiong's Divine Soul creatures, and the two blood bats had no power to resist and were directly sucked into it.
Chen Cangqiong tried to prevent it but was also affected by the Soul Suppressing Kettle, his own Divine Soul showing signs of being dragged out as well.
Xi Ying did not delay for a second, immediately raising her hand and beckoning, and the Soul Suppressing Kettle turned into a beam of light flying back to her.
By then, Chen Cangqiong had finally traced the path of the light to the "Female Array Master" Xi Ying, who was surrounded by a crowd of people, disbelief filling his eyes.
He tried to swoop down, but the hunchbacked elder took the opportunity to break the Blood-colored Banner, rescuing the conscious woman in green and the red-robed man. The three Core Formation Cultivators joined forces once more and surrounded Chen Cangqiong from all sides.
Xi Ying had already averted her gaze, silently chanting an obscure and complex incantation, pouring mana into the Soul Suppressing Kettle to drive its refining ability.
The landscape and flora and fauna illustrated on the Soul Suppressing Kettle lit up, coming to life as if infused with a soul, while Chen Cangqiong in the high sky held his head with both hands, falling into immense pain.
The red-robed man summoned a small red hammer, and with a slight tremor, countless hammer shadows emerged, striking Chen Cangqiong together with the Flying Swords unleashed by the woman in green, hitting the Protective Blood Mist around him.
Bursts of blood light exploded on the Blood Mist, and the pitter-patter of rain hitting banana leaves suddenly sounded. The Blood Mist first rippled and then turned into violent boiling. Unable to be supported by Chen Cangqiong, it finally collapsed.
Seeing this, the hunchbacked elder pressed on, a silver glow surfacing in the palm of his hand, slapping it onto the Great Elder's head.
Chen Cangqiong's head burst like an overripe watermelon.
His body floated down, and Ou Ji leapt forward, grabbing the corpse in his hands.
With Chen Cangqiong's death, across the front mountain, those controlled by the Blood Bats also returned to normal.
"Chen Cangqiong has been executed; Biluo Cave disciples surrender immediately, Dawn Alliance will not hold past actions against you!" With the Great Elder's corpse in hand, Ou Ji flew up into the air, his voice echoing loudly.
The remaining resisting Biluo Cave Disciples saw the Great Elder's dead body and lost the will to fight, dropping their Magic Artifacts. The Dawn Alliance quickly took control of the situation.
Hundreds of miles away from the Biluo Cave, atop a range of mountains, stood a figure, a Black Robed Elder with his hair tied into a small triangular braid, while on another peak a hundred zhang to the side, a tall woman adorned with a colorful phoenix crown and heavily made-up sat with closed eyes, meditating.
"It seems to be over," the tall woman opened her eyes and said.
"Dawn really took down the Biluo Cave by themselves. Indeed, we made the right choice approaching the Dawn Alliance this time; we didn't have to show ourselves, and even if Chen Cangqiong got away, we wouldn't have taken any risk," the Black Robed Elder spoke with a laugh, yet a hint of wariness flickered in his eyes.
"Chen Cangqiong was indeed formidable; despite Dawn deploying so many experts this battle, they still lost a Core Formation Cultivator," a light chuckle came from another mountain, belonging to a brawny, bald giant man.
"Haha, Brother Man Dong is correct; our collaboration with the Dawn is indeed the least risky strategy. Once Dawn retreats, our four families will divide the territories according to the agreement," not far from the three mountain peaks another huge peak stood where a sumptuously dressed middle-aged man, evidently a person from the Southern Border but clad in Central Plains attire, stood against the wind.
If anyone familiar with the Southern Border and Northern Territory situation were here, they would have been stunned, for these four individuals were significant figures from the Black Fire Sect, Hundred Poison Cave, Beast King Sect, and Green Rock Association.
Black Fire Sect Venerable Hei Yan, Hundred Poison Cave's Poison Queen Miao Xi, Beast King Sect elder Man Dong, and Vice President Sai Han of the Green Rock Association.
"Very well, it's a pity all of Biluo Cave's years of accumulation have gone to Dawn. We have also paid a great price," Hei Yan nodded slowly.
"The situation in the Northern Territory has been perilous in recent years. It's daring of Biluo Cave to make moves against Da Jin Caravan and the border people. If Chang Chun Temple were to use these incidents as an excuse to meddle in Southern Border affairs, we would be forced to get involved in the struggle between the great sects of the Southern Border Southern Domain and the Da Jin sects. By that time, we would have no control over our fate, and if things go badly, all four of our families could be destroyed. This sacrifice is worth it," Miao Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Indeed, fortunately, we joined forces at the first opportunity, won over Li Zhui, and learned of the weaknesses in Biluo Cave's Great Array. Only then was Dawn able to immediately arrange for someone to infiltrate and destroy it. He just had to pretend to fish every day. Even Ling Songhua didn't have to take action. This time, we've benefited entirely from Fisherman Li Zhui's gains," said Sai Han.
Everyone echoed in agreement.
"The last time Da Jin came to negotiate about the missing border people, it was unexpected that even their chief envoy disappeared. Emperor Jin was furious, and given Chang Chun Temple's domineering way, they would certainly not let this go. They could have intervened in Southern Border affairs immediately three years ago, but they didn't. Instead, Da Jin's vice-envoy gave us three years to deal with Biluo Cave through Dawn. This is somewhat strange," Miao Xi said.
"Indeed strange. Initially, the Da Jin Mission kept the matter confidential and did not hold us accountable. I believe this matter will probably not implicate us," stated Hei Yan.
"That's good, then. We might as well pretend to be ignorant, just afraid that Chang Chun Temple will bring up the old issues in the future. The missing person is the favored aide of General Yuan, Emperor Jin's childhood study companion," said Sai Han.
Just then, a tunneling light shot forth from the direction of Biluo Cave and stopped midair among the four, revealing the figure of Captain Ou Ji.
"Chen Cangqiong has been executed. The task is complete."
"Captain Ou Ji has worked hard. Dawn is powerful. Here is the rest of the agreed-upon reward." Hei Yan chuckled and handed over a storage bracelet.
Ou Ji activated his divine sense to investigate and found no issues. He turned around, intending to depart.
"Wait a moment, Captain Ou Ji. What do you plan to do with those Biluo Cave Disciples?" Sai Han suddenly asked.
The other three also looked over, their gazes sharp.
"Why does Fellow Daoist Sai Han ask such a question? Our agreement was that as long as Chen Cangqiong was eliminated, everything in Biluo Cave except the Fire Refining Hall Disciples belongs to us," replied Ou Ji expressionlessly.
"People are scarce in the Southern Border, and those with spirit roots are even rarer. In fact, the disciples of Biluo Cave, especially the Inner Sect Disciples, each one has a decent spirit root. If Captain Ou Ji is willing to part with them, we can offer an additional reward," Hei Yan produced another storage bracelet.
"The elders of the Sects are indeed wealthy and generous, but, unfortunately, this matter is not up for discussion," Ou Ji said, his gaze sweeping over the four as he shook his head.
Upon hearing this, the four showed expressions of disappointment.
"I won't make concessions regarding the Biluo Cave Disciples, but there are a significant number of Fur Beast Slaves within Biluo Cave in the Ten Thousand Mountains. If you wish to take them, you may do so, provided you pay the reward," Ou Ji spoke again.
Hei Yan and the others' faces brightened at this news.
It's a pity for Biluo Cave's large batch of Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators, who have gone through life-and-death battles only to be inherited by someone else, making the Dawn power stronger by a measure.
On another side of Biluo Cave, in a secluded hollow of a mountain, stood a group of people, led by none other than Fisherman Li Zhui and Three Cave Master Ling Songhua.
Behind the two stood sparsely a dozen Fire Refining Hall Disciples, Fang Ge, Chen Wan, Mu He, and others were all present.
Above their heads floated a transparent round orb, emitting an invisible fluctuation that enveloped everyone in a transparent protective shield.
The birds and ants nearby moved naturally, as if the group didn't exist.
The people all looked toward Biluo Cave with complicated expressions.
"Chen Cangqiong led Biluo Cave into a golden age, but alas, he was too eager for quick success. I always knew he would come to no good end and eventually meet this fate," the Fisherman lamented.
"The sun rises and sets, and the moon waxes and wanes. Even heaven and earth are thus; the rise and fall of a Sect is only natural. We are now freed and have become individuals of free will," the Three Cave Master said calmly, seeming unruffled by the downfall of Biluo Cave.
Fisherman Li Zhui took a deep breath, his expression complicated—a mix of annoyance, resentment, and a slight sense of relief.
"Three Cave Master, will the people from Dawn Alliance kill our Sect's disciples? Should we save some more people?" Fang Ge glanced at the orb above them and asked.
They were all saved by the Three Cave Master utilizing the magic treasure shaped as an orb with an invisibility effect, impervious to divine sense exploration.
"Words from Dawn Alliance can be trusted, and today's attack on Biluo Cave was aimed at the Great Elder. The ordinary disciples are not in danger and are most likely to be recruited into the Dawn Alliance," Three Cave Master remarked.
Hearing this, Fang Ge and the others fell silent.
"Let's go," said the Fisherman.
The group departed from the place and soon vanished into the distance.