Chapter 157 : The City's Last Stand

"No, the spiritual energy [the vital energy that flows through all living things] from the Second Rank Low Grade Spirit Vein is insufficient. It won't hold."

Third Elder's expression shifted abruptly. Without hesitation, he retrieved three thousand Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy] from his Storage Bag [a spatial artifact for storing items].

Before the Beast Tide Calamity [a periodic invasion of demonic beasts], anticipating that Pingyang City's spiritual energy might be too weak to unleash the formation's full power, the clan had specifically allocated a large sum of Spirit Stone to Third Elder for this purpose.

Now, that preparation proved its worth. The thousands of Spirit Stone instantly turned to dust, causing the spiritual energy within Pingyang City to surge dramatically. The formation's power reached its zenith, finally managing to block the assault of the Blood-Transmuting Demon Blade.

Seeing that breaching the formation would not be quick, Hong Morgrim spoke with a dark expression, "We cannot afford to linger here. If you have any hidden means, unleash them now."

Lin Mordred's face tightened slightly, yet he was prepared. He raised his hand and produced three crimson-white treasure talismans.

These talismans were Third Rank High Grade Metallic Essence Divine Thunder Talisman [a powerful talisman that summons divine thunder of the Metal element]. Lin Mordred had specifically purchased them from the Green Sun Sect at a staggering cost of over ten thousand Spirit Stone, a price that had strained the Lin Clan's resources to their limit.

As he activated the three talismans, they transformed into three bolts of divine thunder that soared into the sky before crashing down upon Pingyang City with devastating force.

Witnessing the three thunderbolts descend, Lior Chen's expression shifted. He immediately channeled his power into the Yang Fire Divine Thunder Net.

After being refined into a formation tool, this Yang Fire Divine Thunder Net [a net-shaped treasure that unleashes divine thunder of Yang Fire] could unleash up to nine bolts of divine thunder consecutively. However, with his cultivation at the Foundation Establishment, Mid Stage [the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment realm], Lior Chen could only manage to simultaneously command three bolts at most. Continue reading this story at @udio-novel.com.

He channeled three bolts of Yang Fire Divine Thunder [a divine thunder technique harnessing the power of Yang Fire] to intercept three bolts of Metallic Essence Divine Thunder [a divine thunder technique forged from the essence of metal]. The six thunderbolts collided with a deafening roar, unleashing a tremendous shockwave before dissipating into nothingness.

"How can there be a Yang Fire Divine Thunder Net [a net-shaped magical treasure that unleashes a web of Yang Fire Divine Thunder]?"

Lin Mordred was greatly taken aback. He then noticed Lior Chen once again summoning Yang Fire Divine Thunder to strike.

This time, Lior Chen unleashed a relentless barrage of six consecutive divine thunderbolts, aiming them directly at the Blood-Transmuting Demon Blade [a demonic blade that feeds on and transmutes blood].

The Pure Yang Divine Thunder [a divine thunder of pure Yang energy, the bane of demonic forces] was inherently the nemesis of Demonic Cultivator [practitioners who cultivate using demonic, often malevolent, energies]. The onslaught of six bolts in succession proved difficult for the two to withstand. The demonic blade was struck until its radiance dimmed, suffering significant damage, and both cultivators sustained serious injuries.

However, as their cultivation bases exceeded the Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer [the ninth and penultimate layer of the Foundation Establishment realm], they managed to avoid fatal casualties. Remarkably, they still retained enough strength to continue their assault on the formation.

Fortunately, after being assailed by the Yang Fire Divine Thunder, their magical treasures and divine abilities were considerably impaired, and their combat efficacy plummeted. They finally found it difficult to breach the formation in a short time.

"Nine consecutive divine thunderbolts have been unleashed. This formation has exhausted its offensive capabilities."

"Moreover, its spiritual energy reserves are severely depleted. If we persist for the better part of a day, we will surely break through."

After weathering the nine thunderbolts, fearing that Hong Morgrim might retreat, Lin Mordred raised his voice and declared.

Unable to breach the grand formation by force, the two could only continuously deplete its power, and thus half a day passed in the blink of an eye.

As dusk approached and the formation's potency was visibly diminished by more than half, a streak of light flew in from the distance.

"Audacious fiends, how dare you!"

The newcomer was none other than Meng Aethelstan. While still far off, he raised his hand and summoned his Lifebound Magical Treasure, then immediately unleashed a Second Rank High Grade Treasure Talisman towards them.

"How did he arrive so swiftly?"

Lin Mordred's heart sank. Both of them were heavily wounded, and their prolonged assault on the formation had consumed the greater part of their True Essence [the refined spiritual energy cultivated within a practitioner's body].

Now, with the formation still unbroken and Meng Aethelstan, a Foundation Establishment, Late Stage cultivator, arriving on the scene, they stood little chance of victory against the combined might of Meng Aethelstan and Lior Chen.

Meanwhile, Hong Morgrim on the other side sensed the dire turn of events even more acutely. His Life-Bound Magical Treasure, the Blood-Transmuting Demon Blade, was damaged. Knowing that prolonging the fight would bring no advantage, he callously abandoned Lin Mordred and fled without a second thought.

It was clear that Hong Morgrim had been prepared to flee from the very beginning, lacking the resolute fighting spirit of Lin Mordred.

"Hong Morgrim!"

Witnessing Hong Morgrim abandon him to flee for his life, Lin Mordred could not suppress a roar of fury, then prepared to extricate himself and escape as well.

Yet before he could react, Lior Chen had already surged forth to attack. With the Defensive Treasure Seal hovering above his head, Third Elder unleashed his Lifebound Immortal Sword in a sweeping slash towards Lin Mordred, forcing him back into the fray.

That moment's delay spelled the difference between life and death. With his mana [the spiritual energy used to power spells and techniques] depleted by seventy or eighty percent and grievously wounded, Lin Mordred found himself besieged by the two cultivators. He held out for a mere quarter of an hour before his strength was utterly spent, like a lamp whose oil has run dry.

In the end, his mana exhausted, he was slain by Meng Aethelstan on the banks of Pingyang City.

Meanwhile, upon receiving the news, Eldrin Chen immediately returned to Pingyang City with Old Patriarch.

Yet during those same three days, another event shook Yu County to its core. The Lin Immortal Clan, having conspired with a tiger, ultimately reaped the bitter fruit of their folly.

After his escape, Hong Morgrim went directly to the Lin Immortal Clan's Lin City. There, he performed a horrific blood sacrifice, consuming the lives of the city's hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.

It turned out Hong Morgrim had long harbored treacherous designs against the Lin Clan. He had secretly dispatched disciples to infiltrate Lin City, planning to attack the city from within and without in concert with his own forces.

Lin Morwen, who was guarding Lin City, found himself caught in a pincer attack. It was then he discovered the Clan Patriarch's soul lamp [a magical lamp whose flame is linked to a person's life force; its extinguishment signifies death] had been extinguished. In a panic, he abandoned Lin City and fled for his life alone.

The final Foundation Establishment, Early Stage cultivator of the Lin Immortal Clan desperately rushed to reinforce Lin City, only to find upon arrival that the city had already fallen. Hundreds of thousands of mortals had been slaughtered by Hong Morgrim [a powerful demonic cultivator].

Enraged, he fought Hong Morgrim to the death, only to be slain in turn by the Blood-Transmuting Demon Blade [a cursed blade that feeds on the blood and essence of its victims].

From that point on, the Lin Clan was virtually annihilated, with only Lin Morwen managing to escape Lin City.

Fearing retribution from their great enemy, the Chen Immortal Clan, this individual returned to Verdant Ink Mountain, gathered all the clan's remaining wealth, and then fled alone, abandoning his family. His destination was unknown, clearly intending to live as a Rogue Cultivator [an unaffiliated cultivator without clan or sect backing] from then on.

With their enemy's clan utterly destroyed and Hong Morgrim nowhere to be found, Eldrin Chen could only let the matter rest.

After some discussion, the two decided that the Old Patriarch would continue to hold Pingyang City, while Eldrin Chen would return to Celestial Ruins Mountain.

Now that the Beast Tide Calamity [a periodic invasion by hordes of demonic beasts] at Celestial Ruins Mountain had concluded, Lyra Jiang was in the process of refining Foundation Establishment Pill [a precious elixir that aids cultivators in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm]. She still required the assistance of Eldrin Chen and other Alchemist [masters of the art of pill refinement] to help prepare materials, thereby saving her time when she finally lit the furnace.

Upon returning to Celestial Ruins Mountain, Eldrin Chen went straight to the Alchemy Chamber and began assisting Lyra Jiang in refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Their harvest from this campaign could truly be called a resounding victory. In the battle for Yu County, they had slain three Demonic Tribe [tribes of sentient demonic beings] members at the Purple Mansion [a high cultivation realm] realm. The battle in Feng County claimed another five Purple Mansion demons. Then, after marching on Celestial Ruins Mountain, they slew three more Purple Mansion from the Golden-Horned Savage Ox tribe in a single engagement.

Add to that the two slain during the raid on Scorched Sun Mountain, and the tally came to thirteen Demonic Tribe Purple Mansion slain by the group. Combined with the seven Purple Mansion demons Lyra Jiang had slain before and after, this campaign had astonishingly claimed a total of twenty Demonic Tribe experts at the Purple Mansion realm.

A full twenty Purple Mansion Demonic Core [the condensed energy core of a powerful demonic beast at the Purple Mansion Realm] were obtained. Including the Demonic Core [the energy core of a demonic beast] from the Purple-Spotted Wolf King [a powerful wolf demon king with distinctive purple markings], which could be divided to fuel two separate alchemical batches, this meant the Celestial Ruins Mountain [a major cultivation site and stronghold] was able to initiate a total of twenty-one separate alchemical refinements in one go.

To refine these twenty-one batches of Foundation Establishment Pill [a precious pill that aids cultivators in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm], not only did Lyra Jiang personally oversee the process, but she was also assisted by six or seven Second Rank High Grade Alchemist [master alchemists of the highest skill level within the Second Rank], including Eldrin Chen, Su Mingwei, and Marcus Mu.

Working together, the group was capable of completing one batch in a mere five days. Yet, even with such combined prowess, the refinement of all twenty-one batches of Foundation Establishment Pill ultimately consumed a span of three and a half months. Join our community of readers at audi novel.com.