The Qi Condensation cultivators often had no time to launch a second attack before being slain by the silver greatswords and sucked dry. As a result, the Snow Mosquito clan ended the battle with extreme speed.
"Even if you are prolific, if this battle were to drag on for ten days or half a month, at least seventy or eighty percent of your clansmen would die, perhaps even more, right?"
Li Yan glanced at the Snow Mosquito King, whose smile had frozen. It was merely one of the stronger mosquitoes he had subdued back then, not truly a king. In all its killing, it still acted mostly on its own whims.
After a moment of thought, the Snow Mosquito King's head drooped. Including the battle against the five Foundation Establishment cultivators, these two fights had already cost it about four thousand of its kin.
And this was under the circumstances of a surprise attack, with the two strongest Foundation Establishment cultivators being killed by it and Li Yan. Otherwise, the number of casualties would have doubled.
Although its swarm now exceeded one hundred thousand, it couldn't withstand this kind of attrition. If this great war lasted for ten days or half a month, it would have to personally lead its consorts into battle.
...
At this moment, Zhu Luomu could no longer afford to worry about the massive consumption of his Spirit Power. He wrapped the remaining six Falling Star Valley disciples in his magic power and flew frantically, skimming close to the ground.
Among the six he took with him was Feng Qiyuan, the one who had first received Li Yan and the others into the sect. Right now, his face was also deathly pale, and he kept looking back, sweat beading on his forehead.
His expression was almost identical to that of the other five Qi Condensation disciples beside him—a mixture of nervousness and a hint of despair.
Zhu Luomu had no time to observe the expressions of Feng Qiyuan and the others. He was looking to his side with a face full of hesitation and despair.
There was his brawny junior brother, equally battered and soaked in blood, and on his back, the already unconscious Junior Sister Shen, who was also Feng Qiyuan's master.
Zhu Luomu clutched a Jade Slip, constantly calculating the distance to the teleportation passage. It was clear how tense he was.
Given his time in Falling Star Valley, he was extremely familiar with every blade of grass and every tree. If he were to go to any location, he could normally calculate the distance in an instant.
But at this moment, every inch they crossed felt incredibly far. What worried Zhu Luomu even more was that the enemy had the ability to follow them in an instant and use the opportunity to enter the inner valley.
'If only Master were still here!'
As despair rose in Zhu Luomu's heart, he couldn't help but think of his master, Xing Ming. He had been missing for a very, very long time, and rumors had long circulated that he had perished outside.
'If Master were here, he would definitely be watching over us. In a situation like this, he would intervene no matter what. He would never let our lineage be cut off. Now, the plan executed by the Grand Elder and the Sect Master has gone wrong. They actually left a Golden Core cultivator behind. This is an absolute nightmare for all disciples of Falling Star Valley...'
The three of them—he and his martial siblings—had previously led thirty disciples to ambush the invading cultivators.
At first, it was indeed as Sect Master Lin Xinghe had said; the enemies they encountered were all small squads led by Foundation Establishment cultivators.
In their first two ambushes, although they also suffered considerable casualties, the fact that the three of them were true martial siblings meant they were incredibly familiar with each other's cultivation methods, tempers, and movements.
Although their coordination couldn't be described as perfect telepathy, a single glance or gesture was often enough for them to know what the other would do next.
In two major battles, they managed to kill four of the enemy's Foundation Establishment cultivators, with only three escaping.
Their side had lost more than twenty people, but surprisingly, among the three of them, only the brawny man had a large hole in his thigh; he and their junior sister were completely unscathed.
Although Falling Star Valley lacked high-grade and supreme-grade medicinal pills, they had an abundance of pills for treating external injuries. After applying the medicine, the brawny man was quickly able to fight in the next battle.
These two victories were already a remarkable and proud achievement. Just as Zhu Luomu and his siblings were about to press on, a scene of absolute terror appeared before them.
They saw a group of forty to fifty Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation disciples from Falling Star Valley fleeing in panic like stray dogs, rushing frantically towards them.
And behind them, a dark mass of about a hundred foreign cultivators appeared. At the very front of these foreign cultivators was a female cultivator who rode far ahead of the rest.
She left the other foreign cultivators far behind, constantly leaping into the air and pouncing down. Her undulating jumps brought with them a boundless bloody carnage, killing the fleeing Falling Star Valley disciples one by one.
To be able to constantly fly up despite the No-fly Restriction and swiftly kill the cultivators ahead—one didn't need to think to know how formidable this person's strength was.
This was something that cultivators of Zhu Luomu's level definitely could not sustain.
Zhu Luomu estimated that he could, at most, perform four to five such aerial leaps and pounces before he would collapse from exhaustion, and his speed certainly couldn't compare to this female cultivator's.
Listening to the continuous, miserable screams and cries for help from the Falling Star Valley disciples ahead, the faces of Zhu Luomu and his siblings turned exceptionally ugly. They were powerless to save them.
The female cultivator's face was ferocious, and the two long, sticky whiskers at the corners of her mouth seemed to be emitting a boundless mockery. Her attacks were incredibly ruthless.
Almost every strike would turn a Falling Star Valley disciple into a pile of mangled flesh, or she would directly throw a long hammer the size of a melon, viciously piercing through the back of a cultivator's heart in an instant.
And after those cultivators died, their souls had no time to escape their bodies before being completely obliterated by this person's powerful Divine Sense.
She gave them no chance to enter the path of reincarnation. Even in death, she wanted them to be thoroughly erased from the world, not even allowing them to be reborn.
Among these cultivators were no affiliated cultivators of Falling Star Valley; all were true disciples. Among them were several Foundation Establishment cultivators with whom Zhu Luomu and his siblings were on good terms.
"It's a Golden Core from the Cangyu Sect! We have to go! We can't stay here! Quick!"
Zhu Luomu saw the fire burning in his brawny junior brother's eyes and immediately gave the order. The enemy was approaching too quickly; they were already within the attack range of a Golden Core cultivator.
But fortunately, there were still those Falling Star Valley cultivators ahead to attract attention and serve as a rear guard. The Golden Core female cultivator from the Cangyu Sect probably wouldn't bypass her own comrades to block them, at least not before killing those few dozen people.
"Senior Brother..."
The brawny man usually focused his mind on artifact refining, and his disposition still retained a great deal of simplicity. Seeing the cultivators from his own side fall one after another amidst wails of agony, he couldn't bear it.
"Second Junior Brother, are you trying to get everyone killed? Let's go!"
Zhu Luomu's eyes were icy. His junior brother had cultivated to the Foundation Establishment realm, yet he was still so naive. If they stayed, they would only die along with these disciples, achieving absolutely nothing.
"Senior Brother Zhang, you must listen to Eldest Senior Brother! Can you deal with a Golden Core cultivator?" their junior sister, Feng Qiyuan's master, also shouted sharply. As they spoke, they had already used their magic power to sweep up a few disciples and bolt backward.
In the distance, Yu Rong suddenly raised her head.
"More ants hiding their heads and tails. That old fool Tianxingzi is truly at the end of his rope. I will slaughter all of you disciples and grandchildren and sever the future of your Falling Star Valley."
Twenty breaths later, Yu Rong, reeking of thick blood, had already caught up to Zhu Luomu and the others.
She had not, as Zhu Luomu predicted, killed all the pursuing Falling Star Valley disciples. This was not because Yu Rong had shown mercy.
Rather, she couldn't be bothered with the Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation disciples she had casually injured.
There were still over a hundred people following closely behind her. These Falling Star Valley disciples, who had lost all ability to resist, whether male or female, had no hope of survival.
The fate of the female disciples of Falling Star Valley was even more tragic, but this served to vent the vicious anger in her heart.
As she was about to catch up to Zhu Luomu and the others, Yu Rong struck from a distance, and the female Foundation Establishment cultivator, Shen, who was at the rear, was grievously wounded. Her breath became faint in an instant, and she collapsed to the ground.
The aftershock of this blow spread out, causing the bodies of four Qi Condensation disciples who were being carried along to explode into a shower of blood in an instant.
The fate of Junior Sister Shen immediately ignited the ferocious spirit of the brawny male cultivator. He had already been suppressing a bellyful of anger from having to flee earlier.
Now, seeing his junior sister struck down in an instant, her life uncertain, he completely exploded.
He was a very strong artifact refiner, with a thirty percent chance of successfully refining a Magical Treasure-level item, which was extremely rare for his cultivation level.
Just as Zhu Luomu reached for the storage pouch at his waist, the brawny man had already flicked his large hand, and four objects shot towards Yu Rong.
At the same time, he roared fiercely.
"For me, detonate!"
Yu Rong was just about to throw her long-hammer Magical Treasure to finish off the fallen female cultivator when her pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinholes.
A feeling that made even her hair stand on end washed over her entire body. In her panic, she hastily and rapidly retreated.
Only then did she see clearly what the other party had thrown: three Magical Treasures and one high-grade Magical Artifact. This cultivator's decisiveness and ferocity had caught her completely off guard. He had, without any hesitation, detonated a handful of treasures at the first encounter.
If she were caught in the blast, let alone so many treasures self-destructing at once, the explosion of just one Magical Treasure would be enough to severely injure her.
In her haste, she instantly and unreservedly unleashed all the Spirit Power in her body, shooting backward at a speed several times faster than her earlier pounce.
In that instant, the spiritual light around Yu Rong became a blinding white glow, making it impossible to look at directly. In the face of life and death, she had unleashed her full strength.
Although most Foundation Establishment cultivators had Magical Treasures and would self-destruct their bodies and treasures before death, Yu Rong had never dreamed that a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator would throw out three Magical Treasures and one Magical Artifact that was close to the level of a Magical Treasure to self-destruct all at once.
Normally, it was already good for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to possess one Magical Treasure. Only those with exceptional opportunities might have multiple Magical Treasures; the chances of that were like finding a needle in a haystack.
Yu Rong hadn't thought she would encounter such a person. She certainly knew what Falling Star Valley cultivators practiced, but she had always believed that refining Magical Treasures was something that could only be done by Tianxingzi and Lin Xinghe themselves.
After all, although Foundation Establishment-level artifact refiners could forge Magical Treasures, the success rate was too low. No one would be willing to give such incredibly precious refining materials to an artifact refiner of that level.
Gathering the materials to refine a single low-grade Magical Treasure often took a Foundation Establishment cultivator's entire life savings. Who would be willing to take such a risk?
But the identity of this brawny man surnamed Zhang was somewhat special. The three of them were direct disciples of the former Sect Master, Xing Ming. The alchemy and artifact refining arts they cultivated were the strongest in Falling Star Valley.
The man surnamed Zhang, in particular, had never concerned himself with worldly affairs, focusing his entire being on the path of artifact refining. This had caused his cultivation to stagnate for many years, but his artifact refining skills were at the absolute peak for his level.
However, because of this personality and his dislike for dueling, his reputation in the sect was not prominent. Only a very small number of people from his generation knew how formidable his artifact refining skills were.