Forced to Obey

The slaughter below was brutal in the extreme, but it ended in a very short time.

After all, Spirit Awakening Realm cultivators were simply too weak; a casual strike from a Qi Condensation cultivator could cut them down. It was only the sheer number of rogue cultivators that forced these Qi Condensation cultivators to expend any effort at all.

Naturally, a few rogue cultivators managed to escape by sheer luck. Though they could never outrun a Qi Condensation cultivator, outrunning the other rogue cultivators was enough.

Following today's battle, perhaps less than one in ten rogue cultivators from the six southern counties would survive. Meanwhile, the various immortal clans would use these seized resources to bolster their own strength.

The Qi Condensation cultivators continuously swept the battlefield, pocketing all the Spirit Stones they could find. As for the spiritual plants and herbs, lacking Storage Bags, they forced the surviving mortals to carry the goods and departed well-satisfied.

However, four Qi Condensation cultivators remained behind, keeping a close eye on the battle raging above.

If the Huang Clan met with misfortune and fell, they were fully prepared to thoroughly strip Pingyun Mountain and Pingyun Market bare.

Among them, one man was frantically using a magical treasure to devour the surrounding blood energy.

He was a blood-path cultivator. Usually, beneath the watchful eye of the Immortals' Directorate, he dared not massacre mortals so openly. Now that such a rare opportunity had presented itself, he naturally refused to let it slip away.

Because Spirit Awakening Realm cultivators were nourished by Spiritual Qi, their blood energy was incredibly rich; a single one was worth more than a dozen mortals. Slaughtering a hundred Spirit Awakening Realm rogue cultivators here was no less a harvest than massacring thousands of mortals. The energy was purer, too, minimizing the backlash on his own cultivation.

Most importantly, today's affair was a joint undertaking by numerous immortal clans. Even if he harvested blood energy, the Immortals' Directorate would not punish him.

When the other three glanced back, the blood-path cultivator tossed a few Spirit Stones to each of them. The three then returned their attention to the midair battle, turning a blind eye to his grisly harvest.

Though the world was divided into righteous and demonic paths, the line was never absolute. In the face of profit, righteousness could act as evil, and evil could disguise itself as righteous.

Midair

Huang Bailin summoned a flying shuttle, surrounding himself in a hazy, three-chi radius of emerald light.

Li Changsheng, on the other hand, had tempered his physique. As a rare body-refining cultivator, his flesh was comparable to an ordinary magical treasure, his fists and kicks carrying tyrannical power.

Huang Bailin was battered into a bloody mess, but beneath the glow of the emerald light, his wounds knitted back together at a terrifying pace.

His cultivation method belonged to the wood path. Though lacking in offensive might, its healing capabilities far exceeded others of the same realm. Bolstered by the flying shuttle, it rendered him practically unkillable.

The flying shuttle spun with the ferocity of a blade, slamming into Li Changsheng's body to the ringing of clashing metal and stone, sending bright sparks flying in all directions.

On the other side, the Li Clan Elder fought alone against four opponents, his fire-controlling arts pushed to their absolute peak.

Old Man Black Crow swept his sleeve, releasing countless yin crows that blotted out the sky, only for them to be incinerated entirely by the endless flames.

Huang Zhengming and Fang Yunhai, despite their killing intent, were continuously forced back by the raging inferno.

Madam Qingyue, appearing as a beautifully alluring woman, spun a light sword in her hand like a crescent moon. It looked ethereal and enchanting, but hid a deadly, murderous edge.

Suddenly, the Li Clan Elder's aura surged wildly. The firelight in his palm expanded in an instant, and a massive pillar of flame swallowed Madam Qingyue whole.

When the flames receded, even though Madam Qingyue had protected her vital points, her beauty was completely ruined, her robes scorched into tatters. She glared at Huang Bailin and shrieked, "After today, you and I are finished!"

Hearing her words, Huang Bailin's focus wavered for a split second. Li Changsheng seized the opening, his fist smashing a gruesome, bloody hole straight through Huang Bailin's abdomen.

"You dare lose focus while fighting me? Old Ghost Huang, you look down on me too much!"

Furious, Huang Bailin sent his flying shuttle surging upward as his horrific wound instantly sealed itself shut.

"Thousand Wood Cross Flow!"

He unleashed his killing move. The flying shuttle abruptly fractured into countless streaks of light, raining destruction down upon Li Changsheng.

Li Changsheng hastily triggered his own defensive techniques, only to realize these streaks of light were incorporeal. They could not be blocked, phasing right through his flesh like a torrential downpour.

In the next breath, countless tiny bloody holes burst open across his body, his aura bleeding out like a rushing tide.

Li Changsheng's expression drastically warped as he frantically circulated his Spiritual Qi to lock down his vital essence.

"What a vicious technique!"

Naturally, Huang Bailin fared little better. This killing move was the culmination of over ten years of studying the wood path. Executing it drained a terrifying amount of Spiritual Qi; even he could not unleash it a second time anytime soon.

For a moment, the two were locked in a grinding stalemate, leaving the final victory to be decided by the others.

The Song Clan Elder wielded a terrifying blade. Streams of sword qi slashed out in all directions, as if he walked through an empty field.

Zhao Wuji and the others were sliced until they were drenched in blood. Fortunately, their potent Qi Condensation Spiritual Qi constantly shielded their vitals. Thus, while they appeared to be in brutal condition, they had suffered no fatal harm.

Old Ghost Black Wind exuded waves of dark energy, completely shrouded in a dense black gale. No matter how the Song Clan Elder hacked and slashed, he could not injure him in the slightest.

Occasionally, spectral gales and phantoms lunged from the black wind, leaving countless gashes across the Song Clan Elder's body. These wounds rapidly blackened and purpled, sapping his aura with every passing breath.

Even though Li Changsheng and his two peers possessed immense strength, Huang Bailin and his allies coordinated flawlessly, denying them any fatal openings.

The battle escalated into absolute savagery. Tyrannical magical treasures tore through the air. Demonic glimmers, spiritual forces, yin winds, foul qi, sword edges, and fire clouds painted half the sky, erupting in blinding, terrifying radiance.

Scattered embers rained down, igniting the earth below as roaring fires spread in all directions.

Ultimately, Li Changsheng violently erupted, forcing Huang Bailin back. Using his own tempered body, he absorbed the brunt of their combined assault to drag the two War Hall Elders out of the fray, bringing the slaughter to an abrupt, grinding halt.

Huang Bailin knew that a protracted battle would lead them nowhere. With four scavengers glaring covetously from below, a mutually destructive clash would only serve to fatten others. He followed the flow of the battle and ceased his pursuit.

Though battered and bloody, Li Changsheng roared at Huang Bailin, "Old Ghost Huang, your clan deliberately slashed the price of the Green Jade Pill and shattered the peace of Zhaoping Commandery. Do you confess your crime?"

Huang Bailin sneered. It was the Li and Song clans who had driven up prices to butcher the immortal clans like fat sheep, yet here they stood, twisting black into white.

Hearing this, Huang Zhengming and the rest were consumed by fury, stepping forward to resume the bloodbath.

But Li Changsheng's cold shout echoed out, "Do you wish for your clans to be exterminated?"

The threat froze them in their tracks. They glanced hesitantly toward Huang Bailin. After all, the Li and Song clans wielded towering might. If they dispatched just a few more experts, their foundations would be reduced to ash in an instant.

Li Changsheng swept his gaze over the area. He had tested the Huang Clan's mettle firsthand and knew their strength could not be underestimated. If the slaughter continued, even if his side emerged victorious, the casualties would be immense.

Since the Huang Clan had proven they had teeth, it was naturally time to shift tactics.

Soon after, he forged an agreement with Huang Bailin.

From this day forth, the Li and Song clans would surrender the market of the four southern counties to the Huang Clan. However, the Huang Clan was forbidden from extending their business into other counties. Any surplus Green Jade Pills could only be sold to the two dominant clans at a fixed rate of eighty-five Spirit Stones per pill.

Furthermore, they could not stop the two clans from purchasing medicinal herbs within the market. In exchange, the two clans would cease artificially inflating herb prices.

This was a naked, unashamed scheme by the Li and Song clans. The Huang Clan had already promised the local clans of the four counties a price of eighty Spirit Stones per pill. By confining their business solely to these four counties, the two dominant clans ensured the Huang Clan's profits were kept meager.

If they wished to sell to the outside world, they had to sell to the Li and Song clans. This indirectly turned the Huang Clan into their personal pill-refining slaves. Earning a massive cut without lifting a finger to refine the pills-what a joyous arrangement.

Demanding the right to continue purchasing herbs in the market was a way to control the Huang Clan from the source, an attempt to dry up their pill cauldrons.

Yet the Huang Clan simply could not refuse. Inferior in strength, they had no choice but to bow their heads.

In truth, had the Huang Clan not bared their fangs, and had the Li and Song clans not feared excessive losses, the Huang clan grounds would have already been utterly annihilated.

Below, the four scavengers saw the two sides reach a truce. Realizing there would be no spoils to plunder, they each executed their own movement techniques and scattered into the wind.

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