"So this is the power of an Overlord Sect?" murmured a Spiritual Foundation Realm rogue cultivator as he watched the display with awe.
After all, even though these Inner Disciples were seemingly 'bullying' the demonic beasts with their superior cultivation, the force behind each of those fire-infused moves was undeniable!
The rogue cultivator knew that even if his cultivation base was similar to that of these Inner Disciples, he would never be able to unleash such a display.
Overwhelming these demonic beasts with his cultivation?
Obviously he could! But in all the other points he knew in his heart that he simply could not compare!
Whether it be the Cultivation Methods, the Cultivation Techniques, his Foundation, or even his Cultivation Environments, everything about him was inferior compared to these disciples of the Flame Sovereign Sect.
And this showed perfectly the cruel reality of the Cultivation World, where those that successfully joined a Sect continued forward on the cultivation road, while those that failed would inevitably fall behind.
A Sect, especially a powerful one, offered better prospects in every aspect, to the point that even with a similar talent, if one compared a rogue cultivator and a cultivator from a powerful Sect, the difference between both would be so large that it would be despairing!
And that wasn't even taking into account that these rogue cultivators were, for the overwhelming majority of the time, far inferior in talent…
"Too powerful," murmured another rogue cultivator, as even from tens of meters away he was able to feel the heat of an Inner Disciple's Fire-Qi lick against his skin in a painful way.
The other rogue cultivators were much the same, watching the surrounding disciples and elders of the Flame Sovereign Sect with a mix of awe and envy.
"Hmph! Ignorant rogue cultivators!" disdainfully murmured an Inner Disciple as he looked at the awed onlookers with a mix of scorn and pride, all the while continuing to cut down the Body Forging Realm demonic beasts with ease, basking in the admiration of the crowd.
Of course, what he did not know—or else he would have felt far less proud and 'impressive'—was that some, like a certain handsome cultivator from a certain Earth, would not only fail to find it 'awe-inspiring' but would actually—
Cringe and look the other way!
Seeing how all these cultivators couldn't help but scream the names of their Cultivation Techniques just before attacking, consequently wasting time and loudly announcing their intentions, he would definitively question their sanity…
Fortunately nothing like that would happen, since he wasn't there… right?
"Scorching Fang Slash!"
Cultivation Techniques continued to erupt one after another as the proud Inner Disciples guarding the edge of the expedition basked in the crowd's awe while slaughtering the lone demonic beasts that wandered too close.
Boom! Crack, BOOM!
Loud fracas resounded at the edge of the Mountain Range as it was devastated under the violent clash between the group of powerful humans and the demonic beasts.
Still, even though there was violent opposition from the 'locals', the massive group of cultivators continued to press deeper and deeper into the Mountain Range.
In this way time quickly passed, and after a couple of hours of extremely slow travel speed, slow because they needed to accommodate the weaker cultivators, the group finally stepped into the inner layer of the Mountain Range.
At this depth, Early Stage Spiritual Foundation Realm demonic beasts were beginning to become the majority, and because of that… the expedition began to suffer casualties!
Squelch.
"Argh filthy beast, Burning Palm Strike!" screamed an Inner Disciple as a deep gash appeared on his shoulder while he counterattacked with a fire infused palm strike that sent the '1st layer' Spiritual Foundation Realm demonic beast flying.
Of course…not everyone was as strong nor as lucky as this Inner Disciple.
Another Inner Disciple was caught between the dual assault of two Spiritual Foundation Realm demonic beasts which send him flying.
Cough.
He coughed blood but unfortunately for him it wasn't the end of his misfortune, it was actually only the beginning as the next moment a third demonic beast entered the fight and soon enough under this triple assault he was quickly torn in shred!
"I won't die for these fuckers!" screamed another Inner Disciple as he darted aside from a charging beast, allowing it to crash straight into the expedition group where it began to massacre it way through the rogue cultivators.
"Argh!"
"NOO!"
"Help me!"
Cries of pain and desperation resounded through the formation as rogue cultivators, Inner Disciples, and even Outer Elders began to fall beneath the demonic beasts' fangs and claws.
All of it unfolded beneath the indifferent gazes of the stronger cultivators of the Flame Sovereign Sect, until at last one of the Core Elders, seeing that the casualties were piling higher with every passing breath, asked in a low but firm tone, "Sect Master, should we do something?"
Sect Master Qin kept silent for a moment before giving a small affirmative nod, "Order the Inner Elders to help the defense and—"
He then turned his head toward another old man at the 6th layer of the Core Formation Realm, "Elder Wei, when the Inner Elders begin to have difficulty you will be responsible for the defense, follow the plan!"
"Understood!"
On that note the previously idle Inner Elders began to move, and with their superior strength and cultivation compared to the disciples, the Spiritual Foundation Realm demonic beasts who were primarily at the Early Stage started to be cut down relatively easily…
Normally the Inner Disciples, with cultivations between the 1st and the 6th layer of the Spiritual Foundation Realm, should have been able to handle these demonic beasts, but weirdly enough—
The majority of these Inner Disciples were on the lower end strength-wise of the usual Inner Disciples, with the strongest being around the 3rd layer, and their potential wasn't different, also being relatively weaker…
And this wasn't an 'isolated case,' as the same scenario repeated itself with the Outer Elders, who were all also relatively weak, at least in comparison to how strong an Outer Elder could be!
But what was the reason behind this collective weakness? That was still to be seen…
Following these events time continued to quickly pass, and as the expedition pressed deeper into the Mountain Range the strength of the demonic beasts continuously increased,
To the point that even the Inner Elders, who shared the same 'collective weakness' as the Inner Disciples and Outer Elders, began to be slowly but surely overwhelmed.
"Sigh, seems that it's my turn to make a move," sighed Elder Wei before, the next moment, his aura at the 6th layer of the Core Formation Realm burst outward in full force.
Boom! Crack! Tremble!
The ground began to shake and tremble as though an earthquake had erupted, small crevasses splitting open while the air itself seemed to grow heavy with weight.
Thud.
At the same moment an invisible force blanketed the entire region, tens of thousands of cultivators buckling beneath it, the weaker ones instantly brought down to their knees as if forced to pay homage to an emperor none of them could see!
And even then it wasn't the end!
Nature itself wasn't spared either, with the larger rocks being 'fortunate' enough to only fracture and split apart, while the smaller ones were simply reduced to dust.
Kraaaaack–Craaack!
Meanwhile sharp cracks tore through the air as the roots of the centurial trees, their trunks so massive that several grown men would be needed to encircle them, began to give way, the colossal giants groaning as they were slowly uprooted.
All the surroundings, whether it's be living or not, across multiple kilometers were brought to their knees—this was what it meant to be a Core Formation cultivator, this was power!
This was the power of a living calamity, the kind of strength that by itself was enough to bring down a modern world to its knees through its mere presence!
And yet even this awe-inspiring, seemingly world-ending display was nothing more than the aftereffects of Elder Wei's cultivation leaking into reality, and that was when it wasn't even his target!
The true target of his aura was, and always had been, the nearby demonic beasts, who under this overwhelming pressure momentarily froze.
Their instincts instantly flared and went awry as they sensed that a true apex predator was present and had fixed its gaze upon them, instinctively trembling in fear before those same instincts took over and drove them to immediately bolt away, terrified of provoking this predator.
Rumble, Crack.
The earth shook further while trees were uprooted and shattered as the demonic beasts, uncaring for anything in their path, simply powered through every obstacle, wrecking the environment like a 'man-made' natural disaster.
"..."
For a moment a strange silence blanketed the battleground as the cultivators went still, unable to believe the display of power they had just witnessed and more than that, felt, but then—
"We won!"
"We are saved!"
"Long live Lord Core Elder!"
Joyful cries resounded from the crowd, especially from those who had been in immediate danger or were already wounded, as the latter knew their time was counted…
All of these cultivators let out the joy in their hearts, ecstatic to have survived these powerful demonic beasts, not even taking a moment to think about how the casualties and injuries could have been easily avoided if this Core Elder had acted from the very start.
STEP, STEP.
Thunderous footsteps echoed as, after a brief moment of joy, the expedition pressed deeper into the Mountain Range, but fortunately, under the 6th layer Core Formation aura that Elder Wei continuously released, they were protected and no further attacks came.
After all while demonic beasts were inherently aggressive and hostile toward life they weren't suicidal, and faced with such an aura they didn't dare to defy this apex predator!
After some more hours of travel through the wilderness the expedition finally neared their target, and after pushing through a dense span of forest and reaching the foot of an immense and towering mountain peak they finally saw it—
Ancient Ruins!
These words resounded in every cultivator's mind as they took in the sight before them.
Built directly into the mountain itself in a way that made it nearly impossible to know where the Ancient Ruins ended and the peak began, there stood strange yellow-colored structures.
These yellow structures were covered in beautiful and elegant runes forming strange patterns, entirely covering their surfaces, the runes glowing with a faint golden hue even as moss and vines clung to the ancient stone.
But even with these clear signs of decline, nobody who laid eyes on these yellow structures would dare take them lightly, because even after countless years the aura of dreadful power and ancientness emanating from this Ancient Ruin was unmistakable!
The tens of thousands strong expedition group fell silent as they took in the sight.
After all, what loomed before them wasn't merely 'powerful buildings,' but the remnant of an Ancient Civilization, whether it had been weak or strong, foe or friend, one thing was undeniable—
It was the remnant of a fallen civilization, one whose height was unknown but was definitively far more powerful than the overwhelming majority of cultivators could ever hope to be!
And these cultivators, at a profound level beyond their fragile egos, understood this truth and consequently kept a quiet respect.
Author Note:
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———
Little clues here and there were dropped in this chapter…
At the same time we saw a 6th layer Core Formation Realm cultivator display of power and it's really not joking, it isn't like in a more 'normal cultivation novel' a Core Formation Realm cultivator isn't just 'strong'.
No! They are at the level of being like natural disaster as it could be seen with Elder Wei aura by itself affecting the surroundings kilometers.
They also reached the Ancient Ruins, I wonder what they will find and how it will link with the Thunder Vein Dew and Mikael?
———
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— End of Chapter —