The words had barely left his mouth when his face froze, for the speed of the attacking beams far exceeded his expectations. The red light was upon them in an instant.
"Not good!" soone finally reacted, hurriedly drawing their magical artifacts to counter.
The others were not to be outdone, each employing their own thods—shields, talismans, defensive spells—to deal with the incoming barrage.
Rumble—
Rumble—
Red light rained down, emitting deafening explosions that shook the mountaintop. The trapped cultivators scread as their defenses shattered one by one.
Standing to the side, Peng Yang's eyes were filled with schadenfreude. He had experienced this exact scene before, and now watching others experience it brought him a strange sense of satisfaction. How does it feel? he thought.
At this mont, Qian Yang returned dejectedly from his failed escape attempt. His eyes were filled with fear as he looked at Xu Ning, terrified that the Holy Son would strike him for his disobedience.
However, surprisingly, Xu Ning didn't even glance at him. This relief was palpable on his face.
After a long while, the explosions finally ended, and the smoke and dust dissipated. All the cultivators from the Sect Managent Office were now severely injured, lying sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain.
Looking at them, Xu Ning asked again, his voice cold, "Now, do you still think you're qualified to make demands?"
The leading cultivator looked up, his face pale with pain and shock. "What grade is this formation?"
He had seen many mid-grade spirit-level formations in his ti, but their power wasn't great. This couldn't be a mid-grade spirit-level formation. It had to be at least top-grade, otherwise it wouldn't have such devastating power!
Xu Ning answered matter-of-factly, "Top-grade spirit-level."
He wasn't about to reveal their legendary spirit-level formations yet. These people were from various sects; the ti for showing all their cards hadn't co.
The leading cultivator's eyes widened upon hearing this. "Truly top-grade spirit-level? How is that possible? Who are you people?"
Xu Ning ignored the question. "Stop talking nonsense. Contact your sect and bring spirit stones to ransom your people."
The leading cultivator was still unconvinced, clinging to his pride. "Why should we? This is kidnapping! This is extortion!"
Xu Ning's tone remained calm, almost bored. "You caused losses to our sect by your illegal harassnt and intrusion. That's compensation. Simple as that."
The leading cultivator was even more indignant. "You're talking nonsense! We didn't damage anything!"
Xu Ning didn't speak further. He suddenly raised his hand.
Instantly, a beam of red light shot down from the sky, striking one of the newly built wooden houses directly.
Boom—
The wooden house exploded instantly into splinters, scattering across the mountaintop.
This scene stunned not only the cultivators in the Managent Office but also Qi Ruifeng and Qian Yang. Qi Ruifeng's jaw dropped.
"Brother, that's what we just painstakingly built! You destroyed it without a word! Did you even ask how we felt about all that work?!" Qi Ruifeng wailed, but he was also grinning inwardly at the show of power.
Before they could protest further, Xu Ning looked at the cultivators in the Managent Office and said, "You see? You destroyed it. Pay compensation."
The leading cultivator was even more indignant, sputtering. "You clearly destroyed it yourself! We didn't touch it! We watched you do it!"
Xu Ning shrugged, his expression unchanging. "Since you've damaged my sect's buildings and won't compensate, then die."
With that, Xu Ning raised his hand again. Light began to gather in the sky, preparing another strike.
This book was originally published on . Check it out there for the real experience.
The cultivators in the Managent Office panicked. They shouted desperately, "We accept it! We accept it!"
"We'll contact them imdiately! Please, stop!"
Although they were all Foundation Establishnt cultivators, they couldn't imdiately co up with three thousand spirit stones each on the spot.
It wasn't that they didn't have the wealth, but rather that they had exchanged most of their spirit stones for resources to improve their strength. Liquid spirit stones were scarce. They would have to have the sect send the paynt.
Xu Ning waved his hand, and the light gathering in the sky dissipated. Then he said, "Alright, make contact. If the sect doesn't co through, then you'll stay in my sect as nial laborers. For a very long ti."
The leading cultivator imdiately objected, his pride stung. "nial laborers? You want us, dignified Foundation Establishnt cultivators, to be nial laborers? That's an insult!"
Before Xu Ning could speak, Peng Yang spoke up from the side, his tone dry. "What? You don't want to? Then die. It's simple."
He gestured around. "Look at . I'm speechless. It's like everyone's a Foundation Establishnt cultivator here. We're just obediently working as nial laborers. What's so special about you?"
The leading cultivator was startled upon hearing this. He squinted and then recognized Peng Yang. He exclaid in surprise, "Peng Yang? Qian Yang? You're here too? You're actually here, in this place?"
Peng Yang nodded, a bitter smile on his face. "Yes. We are now the glorious nial laborers of the Tiancheng Sect. And you know what? It's not so bad. Better than the alternative."
The leading cultivator's resistance crumbled completely. He had long heard of Qian Yang and Peng Yang's fearso reputation as the most notorious rogue cultivators in the region. If they were obedient, what was there for him to be unwilling about?
Imdiately, they didn't hesitate any longer. They took out communication talismans and began contacting their respective sects, requesting the ransom paynt.
At this mont, Xu Ning turned to look at Qian Yang and the others, his focus lingering on Qian Yang. He spoke calmly,
"I know so people don't want to stay in the Tiancheng Sect. That's their choice. Peng Yang, why didn't you run away just now? You had the chance."
Qian Yang lowered his head guiltily, shuffling his feet. Peng Yang, however, spoke directly, his voice steady. "Holy Son, I've noticed these past few days that the spiritual energy in our sect is becoming increasingly dense. It's almost twice as dense as outside now."
Xu Ning nodded, a hint of approval in his eyes. "Your feeling is correct. The sect has a spirit-gathering array active. It will only get stronger."
Peng Yang continued, "After discovering this, I decided to stay. I feel the sect's future is definitely limitless. I've been running for decades. I'm tired."
Life outside, robbing and looting, was not easy. Not only was he constantly on edge, always looking over his shoulder, but he often didn't get enough resources. Most of his ti was spent simply absorbing the thin spiritual energy of heaven and earth just to maintain his cultivation.
However, these past few days, Peng Yang had suddenly discovered that the spiritual energy inside the Tiancheng Sect was becoming increasingly dense. It was now twice as dense as outside.
In other words, as long as he stayed, his cultivation speed by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth could increase by two tis. That was almost the sa as the average gains from robbing and looting outside, without any of the risk.
Therefore, rather than living in constant fear outside, always one step away from death, it was better to stay here and cultivate in peace. It was a rational choice.
Xu Ning nodded, understanding. "That's indeed true. And the spiritual energy of the sect will beco increasingly abundant in the future as I improve the formations."
He looked at the group, his gaze sweeping over them all. "Alright, I won't make things difficult for you. If you decide to leave, I'll let you go. If you decide to stay, then we'll all work together to build the sect. Once the sect prospers, you'll be its founding elders. A place of honor."
Xu Ning certainly wouldn't let anyone leave. Not really. If anyone wanted to leave now, Xu Ning would directly control the attack formation and blast them to death. He would make an example of them, showing the others what happened to traitors. But he didn't need to say that.
However, to Xu Ning's genuine surprise, Qian Yang and his entire group all said they wanted to stay. They spoke of not wanting to live that life of constant fear outside, of wanting a stable place to cultivate.
Xu Ning was speechless internally. What kind of miserable life did these people endure outside! Just a spirit-gathering formation was enough to keep them here willingly!
"Alright, since everyone has decided to stay, then let's work hard and build our sect's power together," Xu Ning encouraged them at the end, a genuine smile on his face. "We have a bright future ahead."
"We are willing to follow the Holy Son to create the future!" the group quickly said in unison, bowing.
During the waiting period for the ransoms, Xu Ning summoned the captured cultivators from the Managent Office and had them participate in the sect's construction. As long as their sects didn't co to redeem them, they would have to serve like beasts of burden, building and hauling.
With tasks assigned to the growing workforce, Qi Ruifeng took charge of commanding the construction, happy to have sothing to do. Xu Ning returned to his hut to continue studying the cultivation techniques and incantations from the inheritance.
It had to be said, the cultivation techniques and incantations left behind by the Tiancheng Sect were truly remarkable. They were all of legendary quality.
They ranged from the Spirit level all the way up to the Innate and even Nascent Soul levels.
Xu Ning didn't look at the Spirit level and above for now. Instead, he made careful copies of all of them and stored the originals away for safekeeping.
He read through all the Spirit-level techniques thoroughly, but ultimately failed to elevate his own cultivation thod to the Spirit-level Divine grade.
Upgrading to Divine grade was extrely difficult. When Xu Ning had upgraded his techniques to Mortal-level Divine grade, he had spent a trendous amount of ti and energy, reading countless books and techniques over many years.
Therefore, failing to advance this ti was actually within Xu Ning's expectations. He wasn't too disappointed. This was a marathon, not a sprint.
Three days later, the first sect representative finally arrived.
Reviews
All reviews (0)