Cai Shiwei was dead.
He died swiftly and cleanly not even a complete corpse remained, just a puddle of dissolving blood and flesh still melting away.
Li Ye even felt it might have been too easy. After all, this was the man who once backstabbed a Golden Core cultivator. And now? Gone, just like that?
To be fair, he hadn't even used his Wood God True Flame, and his newly advanced tier-two peak-level life-bound puppet was still on standby, waiting for the finishing blow. He had only tested the Qingfeng Sword and the Verdant Spirit Light so many tricks were left unused. It felt like all his meticulous preparation had been wasted.
Then again, it made sense. The methods Cai Shiwei used to ambush the Purple Profound Sect Master back then were all provided by Feiyu Daoist. His only real contribution had been serving as a mole, waiting for the right moment…
That was a contest between Golden Core cultivators not a true reflection of Cai Shiwei's strength.
Especially now, in such a terrible state, with his blood-path demonic arts completely suppressed by both the dissolving blood poison and fire poison, he had lost most of his combat power.
If he had still managed to put up a fight under those conditions, even Li Ye would have had to acknowledge him as a true prodigy.
Li Ye stared silently at the mess for a moment, then casually waved a hand, collecting what was left of Cai Shiwei's belongings.
A massive tree shifted nearby, rolling up the blood and flesh with its branches and leaves. The formation transformed, igniting a roaring fire that burned everything to ash.
And just like that… not even a scrap of him remained.
"Sigh… such a waste. If I could avoid using the dissolving blood poison during outside missions, I really should. These poison pills refined with spiritual essence are truly powerful. Even a refined Foundation Establishment body melts like that. It's a shame I couldn't even bring him back as fertilizer."
Shaking his head in slight regret, Li Ye reflected on the decision.
With enough 'fertilizer,' the number of feedbacks from the Voidwood Tree within a year could increase significantly. Considering Cai Shiwei's cultivation, the effects would've been even greater. Burning it all did feel like a waste.
Still, at least there was one more body he could take back…
Li Ye turned and walked forward, and as the formation shifted, the towering trees parted to reveal the demonic cultivator who had been fleeing from Cai Shiwei earlier.
The man was now completely trapped within a prison of trees and vines. He held a pitch-black soul banner emitting chilling yin energy, unleashing swarms of vengeful spirits in a desperate attempt to break free. But he was clearly on the losing end, unable to make any real headway.
Instead, the formation grew tighter around him, pushing him toward despair.
Although Li Ye had focused mostly on Cai Shiwei earlier, with his current tier-three array mastery, the temporary formation laid using branches from the Voidwood Tree had power rivaling peak-tier-two formations.
This demonic cultivator was only at early Foundation Establishment, and his soul banner relying purely on quantity barely qualified as a low-grade spiritual item. With such weak techniques, there was no escape. Once his spirit stones ran out, he would be completely powerless.
Eyes bloodshot, the man shouted,
"I had nothing to do with Cai Shiwei! You wanted to kill him, fine! But I don't know anything! Fellow Daoist, please spare my life!"
In truth, he already had a good guess.
If this formation had been set up by someone merely mimicking a diagram, there was no way it would have such power.
In these Chidi Mountains, who else but the three sects' formation masters or perhaps that one from Pingyang Mountain could deploy something like this?
He couldn't afford to offend either party!
He shouted, and when the formation stirred, his face lit up with hope.
But instead of letting him go, the formation surged violently, doubling its power. Trees and vines lashed out, sweeping away all his resistance and fully enclosing him in an unbreakable cocoon.
"Master Li! Alliance Leader Li! We have no enmity I beg you, don't kill me! I'll swear an oath I'll never breathe a word of this day!"
No longer pretending, he screamed desperately.
But the formation only tightened, crushing him completely.
Li Ye stepped out silently, casually retrieving the man's corpse and whatever items were left behind. At the same time, the formation scattered, its flags turning back into streaks of light that flew into his hand.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, a cultivator's divine sense allowed them to break oaths at a steep cost. Leaving such a witness behind after assassinating a Golden Core disciple like Cai Shiwei? Not a risk he was willing to take.
If it were an ordinary cultivator, perhaps he'd have thought twice. But a demonic cultivator wielding a soul banner like that? No need for hesitation.
As the flags returned, the remnants of the scene energy fluctuations and spiritual traces were completely smoothed out by the final surge of the array.
Everything was calm again. The grass and trees stood as if undisturbed like no battle had ever occurred.
Li Ye unfurled the mechanical wings on his back. With a light flap, he soared into the sky and vanished.
.......
In the face of sensational news like the emergence of multiple Golden Core-level fire beasts from the Lava Palace, the death of Cai Shiwei barely caused a ripple.
After all, most of the disciples from the three major sects had died at the hands of those fire beasts. In contrast, only a rare few like Fan Yuanzhou had managed to escape with their lives.
Cai Shiwei was just one among many, utterly unremarkable in the chaos.
Ironically, it was the small sect of Foundation Establishment cultivators and lone rogue cultivators who had been trailing behind the main expedition hoping to pick up some scraps who mostly managed to survive.
But after such a devastating incident, the world finally realized just how dangerous this place truly was.
For all the cultivators who had personally experienced the overwhelming pressure when the ten-headed fire beast burst out of the subterranean lava passage, the greedy flames in their hearts, once ignited by dreams of ancient treasures, were mostly extinguished in an instant.
Forget venturing underground again most didn't even dare approach Tengyun Market anymore.
Unlike the earlier threats from formations and restrictions, the appearance of the fire beasts left no room for tricks or shortcuts. Coming into contact meant certain death simple as that.
Even if treasure lay just ahead, what good was it if you died trying to take it?
Tengyun Market, once booming due to its proximity to the Lava Palace and well on its way to becoming an expedition hub, was now utterly deserted a ghost town.
Even the Foundation Establishment cultivators had fled. What courage could Qi Refining cultivators possibly muster to stay behind?
They all ran for their lives, unwilling to risk staying even a day longer fearing that the ten-headed fire beast might one day rise again to slaughter everything on the surface.
As a result, with cultivators migrating en masse, Sanhui Market was suddenly thrust into unprecedented prosperity.
Meanwhile, Pingyang Mountain remained completely silent. Li Ye showed no intention of making any public appearance. He merely dispatched a few stewards from the mountain, armed with formation diagrams, to reseal the broken tunnels with defensive arrays.
These were to prevent another large-scale outbreak of fire beasts from the underground, avoiding a second wave of destruction.
Other than that, only the mountain's protective grand array grew ever more stable. Let the winds and waves rage outside it remained immovable, like a mountain standing tall.
What slightly surprised Li Ye, however, was that despite the turmoil here shaking all four nations, none of the four Golden Core sects made any statement.
Purple Profound Sect was understandable they had never even sent anyone to join the fray, likely preoccupied with other matters.
But the other three sects, after suffering such heavy casualties among their disciples… still did not react.
So calm, so unshaken could it be that even their Golden Core ancestors were frightened into silence by what had occurred here?
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