Linghou Mountain, spanning 300 li.
The entire Linghou Mountain was now covered in various demonic beasts, so densely packed that sunlight could not penetrate.
Furthermore, an area exceeding 600 li around Linghou Mountain was also occupied by a dense mass of demonic beasts, though not as concentrated as on the mountain itself.
Large numbers of cultivators began to gather within a 700-li radius outside Linghou Mountain.
"Look, the senior brothers from the Qianyuan Sword Sect are here! They are the strongest sect in terms of offense among the Ten Great Immortal Sects."
"Heh, while Qianyuan Sword Sect is indeed number one in single-target attacks, for group attacks, one must look to the senior brothers of the Blazing Flame Sect."
"Hmph ~ Does the Blazing Flame Sect dare to claim first place?
Have they asked the Five Elements Sect?"
"The Luoli Sect also expresses dissatisfaction..."
Eight male sword cultivators from the Qianyuan Sword Sect, riding their flying swords, tore through the sky and in an instant arrived above a group of cultivators.
However, they did not descend. They merely activated a sword light in the air. Seeing no response from below, they immediately flew away on their swords.
This was why the assembled cultivators below could chat so joyfully.
It was just that many cultivators from smaller sects, while discussing, did not notice a group of extraordinarily low-key cultivators in their midst listening with faces like they had eaten feces.
These were the Foundation Establishment disciples of the Ten Great Immortal Sects.
The Ten Great Immortal Sects had initially held exclusive access to this Hongtong Secret Realm, and they were far more aware of its dangers.
Therefore, upon discovering the beast tide, their first thought was self-preservation, not to venture out and reap benefits.
At this moment, besides the disciples of the Qianyuan Sword Sect still searching for their junior sister, all nine other Great Immortal Sects had gathered here.
And they had not revealed their identities.
"Senior Brother Ding Qixing, your Heavenly Machine Sect had foreseen a great change in the Hongtong Secret Realm. Did you foresee anything specific? Could you share it with your junior brother?"
Zhuang Jun, a disciple of the Jadeite Sect, the strongest among the Ten Great Immortal Sects, quietly asked Ding Qixing beside him.
"Senior Brother Zhuang jokes. I am merely an outer disciple, how could I know sect secrets?"
Ding Qixing first shook his head and chuckled, then his tone shifted.
"However, our Martial Uncle had instructed us before departing that upon entering the Hongtong Secret Realm, we should observe more, do less, and not be overly curious.
Otherwise, we will die very quickly."
"Hmm? Die very quickly?
An interesting phrase. I think I understand."
"Heh heh ~ Senior Brother Zhuang is indeed exceptionally intelligent. This junior brother still hasn't fully grasped it, and Senior Brother already understands."
Ding Qixing smiled noncommittally and flattered him.
Indeed, he still didn't fully understand the words of the Nascent Soul Martial Uncles, and the Golden Core Martial Uncles had also warned him before leaving not to be curious.
Even now, he himself was still confused.
"The riddle-speaking skills of you two senior brothers are improving."
Yang Jianhong of the Luoli Sect, standing beside them, rolled his eyes, interrupted their nonsense, and got straight to the point.
"Two senior brothers, what do we do next?"
"Watch the show~"
"Watch the show~"
"Hahaha~"
Ding Qixing and Zhuang Jun, in unison, uttered "watch the show," and then looked at each other and burst into laughter.
They had made up their minds not to get involved in the mess at Linghou Mountain.
Seeing that the two most decisive and far-sighted individuals were not planning to make a move, disciples from other Immortal Sects also tacitly chose to watch.
Time quickly passed into the third month. On the fifth day of July, the rogue cultivators and the smaller sects reached an agreement.
The rogue cultivators would attack from the west, while the sects of various sizes would cover the other three directions.
Everyone would prepare for one day, and on the morning of the sixth of July, as the sun rose, the battle would commence.
Under the tangerine sunlight, colorful magical light beams shot from four directions towards the beast horde.
"Boom~~~~"
Like an ignited powder keg, countless demonic beasts, their eyes red, turned their direction and pounced towards the human cultivators.
"Not good~"
"Run!"
Ding Qixing and Zhuang Jun, once again in unison, spoke words that were largely similar.
The 100 Foundation Establishment disciples of the Ten Great Immortal Sects, who had already gathered, had not participated in the attack on the beasts and had stayed far away from the main force.
Now, when they ran, they were remarkably swift.
However, the other cultivators who had attacked the beasts were not so fortunate.
"Quick ~ Defend!"
"No, I want to go home!"
"Mom~ So many beasts!"
"Help ~ Save me!"
A tragic slaughter officially began.
The cultivators gathered outside Linghou Mountain numbered over 60,000, with more than 20,000 Foundation Establishment cultivators alone. This was a force capable of annihilating any sect below the fourth rank.
But the unleashed demonic beasts numbered over 2 million!
The demonic beasts, which could already fight humans one-on-one, were now at a disadvantage of 33-to-1.
If a human cultivator could escape with their life, it would be considered a feat.
The disciples of the Ten Great Immortal Sects, filled with lingering fear, fled back to [Arid Wasteland City] and dispersed themselves at the four city gates to count their numbers.
After three days and three nights of counting, only 1,677 cultivators had survived and returned.
Less than 2,000, less than a tenth of the original number.
The Qi Refining realm cultivators who had gone along were completely wiped out!
At this point, the human cultivators had learned their lesson.
...
Yang Hong could not see or sense the great battle raging in the outside world.
This was because he was completely surrounded by demonic beasts, from the sky to the ground, in every sense of the word.
However, he was not in a hurry, as his plan was about to succeed.
The mutated Spirit Awakening Fruit had bloomed again.
What Yang Hong didn't know was that the mutated Spirit Awakening Fruit had bloomed because the battle on July 6th had resulted in the deaths of over 50,000 cultivators.
And the corpses of these cultivators had been buried at the foot of Linghou Mountain.
It was the blood of both cultivators and demonic beasts that had nourished the mutated Spirit Awakening Fruit, causing it to bloom.
Yang Hong, naturally, could not know these secrets.
However, the attacks from the demonic beasts around him had slightly eased.
On the other hand, Yang Hong's "cultivation" over the past few days had finally yielded results.
"Ding ~ You infused the mutated Spirit Awakening Fruit tree with 720 days of True Qi, receiving a ten-thousandfold cultivation return, returning 7.2 million days of True Qi cultivation."
"Ding ~ Your cultivation has reached 10 million years in the Fusion Realm, reaching a cultivation bottleneck. Please break through the advanced Body Forging technique as soon as possible to advance your cultivation."
"Ding ~ You have cultivated the third-tier secret technique "Great Sun Salvation Scripture" for 7.2 million days. The Great Sun Salvation Scripture has advanced to the Proficient realm."
"Ding ~ You have 120 third-tier secret techniques that have reached the Proficient realm and can undergo spell synthesis evolution. Do you wish to synthesize?"
"Synthesize!"
Upon hearing this prompt, Yang Hong's spirits lifted. He had spent over a month designing and researching, and now he would see the results of the synthesized secret technique.
"Ding ~ Synthesizing and evolving 120 third-tier secret techniques... .oΓg
Evolution successful. Synthesized secret technique: "Salvation Demonic Sound." Please check, host."
As the prompt ended, spell information flowed into Yang Hong's mind.
"Nice! Such good luck. Although it's not the one I desired most, it can still unleash immense power."
"Salvation Demonic Sound" is a sound-wave-based mental attack secret technique that can cause the recipient to fall into a daze.
Continuous output can "convert" enemies.
The secret technique level is still third-tier, consuming ten True Qi per breath during casting.
This is considered a secret technique with relatively low consumption.
Of course, this low consumption is only for cultivators in the third-tier Fusion Realm. For a cultivator at the first level of Foundation Establishment, they could only sustain it for ten breaths at most.
For Yang Hong, it was a minor issue. His current True Qi, coupled with True Qi recovery, would allow him to cast it continuously for six hours without problems.
It's just that the "conversion" mentioned in this secret technique is a bit of a letdown.
This "conversion" doesn't directly turn enemies into allies, but merely extinguishes their will to fight.
It is somewhat different from Yang Hong's initial expectations.
Before "cultivating" the secret technique, he had first studied 20 Buddhist cultivation methods.
His original goal was to directly incite enemies to switch sides.
Although there was some regret, time was of the essence.
He couldn't be too picky.
Calming his mind, Yang Hong immediately began to cast Salvation Demonic Sound.