Within the central minor world of Chân Long, over a hundred thousand powerhouses had gathered in Chân Long Divine City.
Previously, they were patriarchs of their respective domains, looking down upon all living beings from their lofty heights. They considered themselves gods, and no one dared to disobey them.
But today, these figures, once so majestic and awe-inspiring, trembled under the setting sun, unable to even hold their weapons steady.
The entire Chân Long Divine City spanned about a hundred li. Legend had it that, in the past, a True Dragon, for reasons unknown, truly perished here. Afterward, its heart transformed into a habitable land. Today, people called this place the Sacred Land. The Sacred Land was the most important place in the entire Chân Long minor world, protected by the Chân Long's power, making it the safest location.
Today, the hundred thousand powerhouses gathered here represented every single powerhouse this world could muster.
These were powerhouses who could effortlessly shift rivers and fill oceans, cause mountains to crumble and the earth to quake with a mere flick of their hand. What then could make them so agitated and nervous?
Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump-thump-thump….
From afar, the sounds of war drums echoed, growing ever more rapid and urgent. The drumbeats, like thunder, pounded against the chests of every powerhouse present.
“Kill, kill, kill…”
Earth-shattering shouts simultaneously rang out, shattering even the dark clouds in the sky.
In the blink of an eye afterward, countless golden lights shot up into the sky. The sky above Chân Long Divine City was now covered by countless golden rays of light, as over eight thousand golden-armored warriors appeared from every direction.
They wore golden armor and carried golden long spears, arranged in neat formations. The battle banners in front of their ranks seemed to breathe with them, powerfully fluttering in the wind.
“HEAA…” Thousands of them simultaneously raised their long spears.
Battle intent erupted, and pressure like a storm surged forth. The air here suddenly became heavy and suffocating. Eight thousand long spears thrust upwards.
Thunk, thunk, thunk…
Arcane power raged, golden light streaked wildly through the air, and shouts mingled with the gruesome sounds of sharp blades tearing into flesh. After just one wave of attack from the golden-armored warriors, over ten thousand powerhouses here fell, never to rise again.
These powerhouses, who normally could dominate this world with few inhibitions, now fell like weak blades of dry grass, unable to withstand a single blow.
“Kill! Open a path to survival for our race!”
“Advance! For peace, kill them all…”
“Everyone charge together! I don’t believe they can destroy an entire world; the Chân Long will protect us…”
Myriad figures shot up into the sky, raising their hands to attack the golden-armored army, but all were like moths flying into a flame, going in and never returning.
The golden-armored army remained impassive, standing coldly. With a casual flick of their hand, they could claim the life of a powerhouse. In their eyes, all the people here were mere ants and insects.
These were hands that sowed slaughter; the concept of human life held no meaning for them.
Only less than twenty people remained.
All of them were covered in wounds, their bodies on the verge of collapse. Seeing severed limbs scattered everywhere, their hearts shattered. This was no longer the world they once knew, but rather the legendary Hell.
"These lowly ants have decent resolve! Surrender to me and you shall live." A figure in golden armor spoke.
"Bullshit! This old man would rather die in battle than surrender to you beasts! Kill them all—" Twenty attacks were launched simultaneously.
They bravely charged forward, pouring out their last reserves of courage and strength, but perished the very moment their attacks were unleashed.
This was a slaughter. The outcome of the battle was predetermined, unchangeable.
The Golden Armored Army, whose origins were unknown, had easily swept across the entire True Dragon Minor World in just one short month. Countless powerful experts had perished; the remaining few gathered here today, risking their lives for one last gamble, yet they couldn't even withstand a single blow.
As the light of the Sun vanished from the horizon, the massacre also drew to a close.
The twilight glow was blood-red, dyeing even Mount Heaven!
Inside True Dragon Divine City, corpses now lay strewn everywhere, blood flowed like rivers, and countless incomplete bodies and severed limbs were scattered in all directions. It was impossible to tell who was who; the scene was truly tragic.
"Why suffer so needlessly?" A sigh echoed from the void.
"Junior martial brother, don't concern yourself. These are just lowly ants, not worth our attention. I merely wonder why a noble existence like the True Dragon would perish here?" Another voice rang out.
The Golden Armored Army thoroughly searched the entire divine city, and only after finding no one who had slipped through their net did they retreat from the blood-soaked divine city.
But they didn't realize that a figure, hidden within the city walls, had witnessed all their atrocities without missing a single detail.
Ji Changkong – a cultivator from the younger generation of the True Dragon Minor World. By the time he was nearly sixteen, he had cultivated his body to the realm of a powerful expert. Everyone believed his future was limitless.
When the calamity struck, he and his younger sister, Ji Xueyue, immediately hid within the city walls.
Legend had it that the city walls of True Dragon Divine City were actually the scales of a True Dragon, containing supreme power. It was thanks to this that he and his sister were fortunate enough to escape this calamity, and had yet to be discovered.
"Let's get to it! I hope this time we'll have a good harvest, enough to satisfy those above. Otherwise…" The voice from earlier rang out again, tinged with both joy and fear.
*Oooom!*
The moment he finished speaking, countless corpses, both incomplete and intact, flew into the air. A large amount of fresh blood within them seemed to be guided by an unseen force and began to converge.
All hundred thousand drops of fresh blood were almost enough to form a small stream.
Guided by some force, they finally gathered in one place, almost forming a pool of fresh blood – a truly horrifying sight.
Whoosh! The powerful expert opened his mouth and spewed forth a stream of yellow flames about ten zhang long, using it to refine the mass of blood.
The mass of blood quickly evaporated, leaving behind only a yellow substance.
Ultimately, the vast amount of fresh blood yielded only nine drops, radiating a yellow light. These drops were collected by the expert, while the withered corpses fell back to the ground, unnoticed.
“The harvest isn't bad. Time to proceed with the next matter,” the person said with satisfaction.
“Since that's the case, this old man will have to start first,” another voice chimed in.
“Indeed! Such a physique, this youth must belong to us…”
A comatose figure was brought out by someone and then immediately vanished from the spot. This was one of the geniuses of the True Dragon Minor World, a person Ji Changkong also knew.
“Ah, what a fine body! Absolutely perfect to be an ultimate cauldron for this old woman…”
“Not bad, not bad. Such a physique is truly worth cultivating. To think that a place like this could still have such a beautiful jade…”
Ji Xueyue, leaning against Ji Changkong's chest, trembled incessantly, her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at everything unfolding before them. She was, after all, only a ten-year-old girl, forced to witness this spectacle.
Suppressing the rage in his heart, Ji Changkong covered his sister's eyes with his hand, but his own fury had reached its peak, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
No one knew where these powerful experts came from, but they seemed to be engaged in a hunt, turning the young geniuses of the True Dragon World into prey, freely selecting or exchanging them among themselves. It was as if this was a common market for monstrous merchants and cunning customers.
Finally, this looting spree came to an end. All young cultivators with talent had been chosen, while the less gifted were discarded. Witnessing this scene, Ji Changkong, who had been breathing lightly, suddenly found it hard to breathe, as if a heavy weight was suspended in his chest.
“Oh, I didn't expect there to be two little rascals hiding here.”
Just as Ji Changkong thought he had narrowly avoided disaster, he suddenly felt a massive force seal his body and lift him into the air, rendering him utterly unable to struggle.
“This little girl is acceptable, but this boy is still a bit lacking,” a voice rang out. Ji Xueyue immediately vanished, while Ji Changkong's body, as if losing its wings, plummeted dozens of meters from the air with a crash.
Boom! Even his robust body couldn't withstand landing in a pile of rubble, and he completely lost consciousness.
The one who had struck assumed he was dead, so they merely gave a cursory glance and paid him no further attention. In their eyes, Ji Changkong was less than a common ant; crushing him was thousands of times easier than crushing an ant.
But they did not notice that Ji Changkong's flowing blood was merging into the city wall, and instantly, the city wall flashed with a faint radiance before burrowing into his body.
Time passed, and everyone disappeared. The sky was full of bright stars. A piece of cloth, about the size of a palm, appeared on Co Truong Khong's body, frantically absorbing the essence of stars from all directions, domineeringly plundering all the power of the stars and moonlight.
Like converging radiance, it transformed into a stream of water merging into the cloth. The starlight within a radius of over ten miles was all drawn in and converged into this cloth. It was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much was poured in, it would never be full.
This palm-sized cloth seemed to contain the entire starry sky, incredibly mystical. Although it was a bit tattered, it contained an aura akin to immortality.
As it neared midnight, when the moonlight finally slowly dissipated, the cloth stopped and once again burrowed into Co Truong Khong's left hand. Then, in an instant, Co Truong Khong's body rapidly recovered: broken bones were regenerated, flesh and blood grew back, and countless foul-smelling black impurities were expelled from his body by the starlight within, slowly congealing into a layer of filthy residue.