Chapter 54: Dark Thunder

"escape!"

The explosion happened in an instant. Countless outer disciples who had been released from the restrictions rushed out of the spirit ship in a bloody mess in order to survive!

They rushed in all directions in a chaotic frenzy. The disciples on the other spirit ships, still restrained, could only watch in horror as the attacks swept towards them and the blood splattered. The massive onslaught of people, coupled with the immense crowds, meant that many of the spirit ship leaders were cut in half by the crowd before they could even react.

It was naturally difficult for the outer disciples to accomplish this, as Lin Ying and the others who were hiding among them were the ones who deliberately did not point out the way. Instead, they let the escaping crowd flee in all directions, causing even greater chaos. They assassinated the leader who served as a soothing force, and in the deepening chaos, each of them approached the ship.

Such a commotion couldn't help but alarm the deacons and disciples aboard the ship, but they simply watched. They had brought plenty of living sacrifices to the ruins, so the losses from the slaughter wouldn't be great; there was no need to waste their resources on them. Therefore, the ship remained exceptionally calm, observing silently. Even if some coveted the resources, they would simply glance at the deacons standing at the bow and then look away.

Feng Wutong looked down at the line of chaotic waves coming straight towards him and sneered.

"A living sacrifice as a cover? They're a bit too naive."

"There's no way around it. There are always people who think they're going to do something great. It seems like letting them do whatever they want isn't enough. They need to be educated."

Feng Wutong wanted to laugh out loud. How eccentric did these people think they were? Why did even someone like her, who held the position of Head Deacon of Guizang Temple, still adhere to the sect's rules? If they could leave, if they could rebel, these beasts, with no sense of kinship between a ruler and a father, would have devoured anyone long ago!

Lin Ying stared intently at the frivolous woman at the bow, crushed the backs of dozens of people in front of him with one foot, and rushed towards the gorgeous figure with a trail of blood! Countless spears hidden in his chest were only thirsting for blood!

Everyone was looking forward to this fight, but Feng Wutong remained motionless, overlooking everything with a smile, as if nothing happened, and as if he was pitying this tragedy.

Time stood still.

Lin Ying only felt that time was standing still for him, and something was shattered from the root, making a slight sound.

Then, time flows again.

Nothing could be seen, and everyone's eyes only caught one fact - Lin Ying and everything she had, her body disappeared out of thin air in an instant, leaving only the sigh that there was so much blood in the human body, and the blood splashed from the melting human figure in the air.

At the same time, like a series of explosions, all the rebels and the outer disciples they had come into contact with were blown into blood. Thick blood quickly filled the still intact spirit ship, like cups of red fruit wine.

In absolute silence, the chaos was quelled without anyone taking any action.

When everything was settled, Feng Wutong raised his hand as if to sing the opening remarks for this grand banquet. His gesture was sufficient, but what he said was:

"You useless people are collecting souls now, as we will need them later."

Her manner was elegant, but her words were venomous; that was her style. Cai Hu, standing behind Feng Wutong, quietly used the Wind Control Technique to straighten her slightly disheveled cuffs and stood obediently.

At her command, the other captains dared not stand by and watch, but began to collect the undead. The deacons on the other ships, seeing that there was nothing else to see, returned to their cabins.

There was no suspense, and even the inability to force them to fight was impossible. This was even worse than the entertainment of a beast fight. Thousands of people died like this, which was worse than a life-and-death competition like before.

Luo Xuanyi cast her gaze towards the sea of blood in shock. From what she could see, Feng Wutong had done nothing, yet Lin Ying and the nearly one thousand people below him had instantly transformed from human form into blood, as if their souls were connected by some thread, destroyed for disobeying the sect...

Thinking of this, Luo Xuanyi froze. Someone in the crowd had clearly realized something was amiss, but Luo Xuanyi had no interest in watching. She averted her gaze, lost in deep thought.

Zang Yaozong had clearly tampered with them as a safeguard, but Luo Xuanyi couldn't immediately discern what. A better guess was that they'd been tampered with while in Zang Yaozong—at least there were traces. But what if they'd been altered from the beginning? Would she be controlled by Zang Yaozong no matter where she fled?

Calm down, calm down. Luo Xuanyi carefully recalled her life in the valley and began to compare herself with the differences before. But it was useless. After all, if it were so easily known, the Zang Yao Sect would not have become a thousand-year-old sect. However, Luo Xuanyi thought of a scene.

One autumn, the outer sect leader stationed at the Yanzhen Pavilion in the Third Valley suddenly announced that all animals in the valley were forbidden from grazing or cutting grass. During that period, there was insufficient fodder for the cattle and sheep, and everyone was delighted by the abundance of oil and water on the table. The alert wasn't lifted until two months later. Once lifted, the fathers of each family were immediately summoned to the Yanzhen Pavilion. Unable to resist her curiosity, Luo Xuanyi found an opportunity to slip in and listen in.

She didn't dare get too close, so she could vaguely hear a few complaints.

"It's really troublesome... After all, even if we absorb outsiders... we can't..."

"Stop arguing! These are not important... The important thing is that someone must have provided her with..."

"...Can't we just report it directly to Rin-sama? Wouldn't it be better to just let them waste their cultivation and start over? Even if... they're discovered... there's no need to go through all this trouble to find them..."

"You wish! If you take the message away, we won't survive! Okay, listen carefully..."

Luo Xuanyi didn't understand a thing back then, but now thinking about it, she had many doubts. Putting it all together, it could have been a disciple from outside who had come in to steal intelligence, and after being discovered, he was hunted down by Zang Yaozong disciples. But their tone made it seem as if as long as they "practiced" something, they wouldn't have to worry anymore.

Luo Xuanyi couldn't think of it for a moment, until she remembered Su Yang's words, and suddenly an idea flashed in her mind.

Zang Yaozong's special method of drawing in qi will continuously accelerate the speed of cultivation as long as it is practiced after receiving initiation. This is something that every registered disciple of Zang Yaozong must go through.

If so, then she, who received the material initiation and was directly infused into the material of the false foundation-building period, didn't she just avoid the Qi-inducing method? After all, the Qi-inducing method can only be practiced by disciples who have registered for the initiation without damaging their lifespan.

As Luo Xuanyi went to investigate the group of outer disciples being used for drug testing, the fleet had already taken a fresh count of the survivors. Out of ten thousand, over twenty-five hundred perished simultaneously. Furthermore, there were those caught in the chaos by the slaughter among fellow disciples, totaling three thousand casualties. However, the planned number of sacrifices for the ruins was five thousand. When assigning the mission, Jiao Xing had already accounted for potential losses, such as entertainment, along the way. Adding in the extra personnel brought in by various unexpected events in the secret realm, a maximum of six thousand would be sufficient. Everything was within acceptable limits.

The fleet sailed on as usual, soon arriving at a strange land. The clouds in the sky resembled patches, occasionally moving slowly and then returning to their original positions. The flowers, plants, and trees were all vibrant and lovely. The fleet halted before this incredibly false and dazzling land, and the call to arms echoed in every corner.

Luo Xuanyi had no choice but to pause her search and leave the room. Ren Xiaqi had already been waiting outside the room. As soon as he saw Luo Xuanyi, he followed her obediently, head bowed, fearing he would be caught and taken back to the sacrifice team.

Jingyunpo is right in front of us.