"Lin!"
Sweat dripped from Li Xuan's pale face. The previous use of the Stacked Sword Technique had already exhausted more than half of his strength, and using it again now made him feel a profound weakness emanating from the depths of his soul.
*Yin!*
The next moment, the Master Sword shot out once more.
Zhu Letian's pupils constricted violently. He exclaimed in disbelief, "How is this possible? You... you can still do it!"
As the sword domain appeared, the red light within nine zhang of Li Xuan was instantly repelled. At this moment, the Master Sword was only a zhang away from Zhu Letian.
A shadow flickered in Zhu Letian's eyes. Gritting his teeth, he fled into the void without looking back, disappearing into the distance.
"You think you can escape now? It's too late." Although Li Xuan was so weak he could barely stand, his gaze was exceptionally cold.
The next moment, the Master Sword vanished into thin air and struck Zhu Letian's back.
"Ah!"
With a pained cry, Zhu Letian's figure was completely engulfed by the sword light.
"Junior Brother Li Xuan wins!"
"Senior Brother Li Xuan has won!"
"We've won!"
"..."
Watching Zhu Letian being struck down by Li Xuan's sword, Zhu Juncai and the others could no longer sense any trace of Zhu Letian's presence. All the disciples of Xuan Sect erupted in cheers.
With a raise of Zhu Juncai's hand, the crowd quieted down. Their gazes slowly locked onto the disciples of Sheng Sect.
Zhu Juncai's expression turned cold. He then waved his hand, "Kill!"
"Kill!"
As Zhu Juncai's voice fell, the more than a thousand people of Xuan Sect surged towards the disciples of Sheng Sect. Sounds of slaughter erupted, and chaos ensued once more.
However, perhaps due to Zhu Letian's demise at Li Xuan's hands, the disciples of Sheng Sect had lost the will to fight. Most of them were focused on breaking through and saving their lives.
Yet, under the obstruction of Zhu Juncai, Shi Hongyi, and others, the number of Sheng Sect disciples dwindled. In just half an hour, not a single one of the twelve hundred-odd Sheng Sect disciples survived.
"The path of cultivation is the survival of the fittest, where the strong are respected. I never imagined it would be this terrifying," Li Xuan walked up to Xi Chuyun, looking at the corpses scattered around, and sighed helplessly.
Xi Chuyun shook his head, "If Zhu Letian had defeated you today, we would likely be the ones lying here. The path of the strong is inherently one of stepping on others' bones to reach the peak. Therefore, you need not blame yourself. Different factions have different stances."
"Senior Brother Li Xuan, please don't take it to heart. The affairs of this world are fraught with human malice. If we had lost today, our fate would not have been any better. Furthermore, Xuan Sect is currently keeping Sheng Sect in check. If Sheng Sect were to gain dominance over the Sheng Yuan Continent, the resulting turmoil would lead to the deaths of many more innocent beings."
Shi Hongyi paused, then continued, "I still remember the more than a hundred thousand disciples of Xuan Sect who died or were injured back then. Who knows their blood feud?"
Li Xuan let out a wry smile and then said, "Allow me to recuperate for a while. I'll leave the cleanup of the battlefield to all of you."
"Senior Brother Li Xuan is too kind." Shi Hongyi and the others nodded in agreement.
A quarter of an hour later, Li Xuan slowly opened his eyes. Standing before him were Zhu Juncai, Shi Hongyi, and others, waiting. As Li Xuan opened his eyes, they all looked at him with questioning gazes.
"The battle with Zhu Letian earlier consumed a lot of my stamina. After recuperating, I've recovered about seventy to eighty percent. I wonder, Senior Brother Zhu and fellow disciples, how has the battlefield cleanup progressed?" Li Xuan, understanding the meaning behind their gazes, stood up and asked.
"Everything has been cleared. We collected a total of seventeen thousand five hundred and twenty-eight spirit core origin crystals from the Sheng Sect disciples. All the spirit core origin crystals are in this spatial ring." Zhu Juncai stepped forward and presented the spatial ring to Li Xuan.
Li Xuan was slightly taken aback, clearly surprised that the Sheng Sect disciples had collected so many spirit core origin crystals.
However, when he saw the spatial ring Zhu Juncai was offering, he waved it away. "Since it was obtained through everyone's desperate struggle, it should be divided equally. I'll have to trouble Senior Brother Zhu with the distribution of these spirit core origin crystals. How are our Xuan Sect disciples' casualties?"
"It's nothing. If Senior Brother Li Xuan hadn't defeated Zhu Letian, we wouldn't have obtained these spirit core origin crystals. As for our casualties, besides the one hundred and seventy-nine who perished, there are over two hundred with serious injuries. The remaining disciples are fine after recuperation and healing."
Zhu Juncai took back the spatial ring and said with a heavy heart. Perhaps conquered by Li Xuan's strength, even his form of address had changed.
At least Zhu Juncai was certain that he himself was absolutely incapable of defeating that Zhu Letian.
"One hundred and seventy-nine people... Very well, let's bring back their remains and give them a proper burial back at the sect," Li Xuan said with a slight sigh.
Although this number was less than a tenth of Sheng Sect's over twelve hundred people, they were still living beings. Once they perished, no amount of glory would matter.
"Senior Brother Li Xuan need not worry. While clearing the battlefield, we have already collected the remains of our fallen Xuan Sect brothers and sisters," Shi Hongyi said, cupping his fists.
"That is good. Now that the Sheng Sect's contingent here has been annihilated, it's time to uncover their secrets here. Senior Brother Zhu and fellow disciples, did you discover anything while clearing the battlefield?" Li Xuan nodded and then asked Zhu Juncai and the others.
"We did make a discovery. We were waiting for Senior Brother Li Xuan to recover before investigating together." Zhu Juncai nodded in agreement after Li Xuan spoke.
"What is it?" Li Xuan asked curiously.
For the Sheng Sect to deploy such a large secret team naturally piqued Li Xuan's interest.
Zhu Juncai and Shi Hongyi exchanged a glance, then said in a deep voice, "A formation barrier."
"A formation barrier?" Li Xuan sounded surprised.
Zhu Juncai nodded slightly, his breathing visibly deepening. "The Sheng Sect people had already deciphered nearly seventy percent of the formation. While Senior Brother Li Xuan was recuperating, we have completely broken through it. Within the formation barrier, there is actually a Level Six relic!"
"A Level Six relic!" Li Xuan's expression turned solemn. It was no wonder the Sheng Sect team had been so cautious. But they had been the mantis, and Li Xuan, the oriole. He never expected to be the one who benefited in the end.
"Were there any harvests?" Li Xuan swallowed and asked.
Zhu Juncai and Shi Hongyi exchanged a wry smile. "If not for Senior Brother Li Xuan, how would we have seen all this? So, after deciphering the formation, we waited for Senior Brother Li Xuan to wake up and give instructions."
Li Xuan smiled helplessly and nodded. "Very well, to avoid any further complications, let's all go and harvest!"
"Yes!" The crowd, excited, moved instantly, shooting into the valley and disappearing.
Watching everyone's unwavering faith in Li Xuan, Xi Chuyun nodded slightly from the side.
"Father, no wonder you wanted me to follow Brother Li. I've truly learned a lot from Brother Li," Xi Chuyun murmured to himself, then also moved and joined the group.