Li Yao could not help but interject. "I am a barbarian, and I do not understand what you are saying. However, it is rather odd that you are all so gloomy and frustrated. Your Cultivation is almost at the peak of the Yuanying Stage. Few of you can find a match for you in the entire world. If this world is truly an impenetrable, filthy vat of wine that does not suit you, why don't you just stab it into pieces and smash it into smithereens?"
"Stab it into pieces?"
Qi Zhongdao smiled bitterly. Looking at the darkness of the night that was so intense that it could not be dispersed, he mumbled, "Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, you don't understand. The wine tank is made of iron and flawless. It is also filled with the intoxicating liquor that can soften one's bones. Soaking in it, there is not the slightest brightness. How can it be broken?"
"I know that you have come to the central plateaus from the Southland of Sorcerers because you want to make a name for yourself and pursue the invincible level and position in the world. However, hehe. Even if you are truly invincible, so what? You can only show off in the dark vat of wine. It will be barely possible for you to step out of the vat."
"Leaving the Four Rapscallions and the emperor aside," Li Yao said solemnly, "when the five of us gather together, we are almost the five strongest Cultivators in the world. Can't we do whatever we want and do whatever we want?"
Qi Zhongdao waved his hand and curled his index finger. Pointing at Roaring Tiger City, which was bustling with noise and excitement, he said, "If you want glory and wealth, or if you want to climb to the supreme Divinity Transformation Stage in seclusion, you will naturally get what you want. Everybody will respect you, flatter you, and serve you. You will get everything you want."
"However, if you want to change the world and reorganize the universe, what does a peak Nascent Soul Stage cultivator count for? She is nothing more than a worm struggling on the verge of death in a vat of wine."
"Yes. The five of us have all reached the peak of Cultivation. Regular Yuanying Stage Cultivators are nothing in our eyes. So what? Right now, there are dozens of Yuanying Stage Cultivators and hundreds of Core Formation Stage Cultivators in Roaring Tiger City. Even if the five of us join our hands, can we compete with them and make them give us their food and resources obediently?
"Even if the five of us are ten times stronger and can suppress all of them and blow them to smithereens, what's the point? The specific tasks have to be done by specific people, which will give them a chance to attack us. The new people will only be able to collect the bones for three days at best. Then, they will be back to their old ways.
"Besides, who can possibly butcher dozens of Yuanying Stage Cultivators and hundreds of Core Formation Stage Cultivators in a row? If they do, won't they become the enemy of all the Cultivators? By then, the world of Cultivators will be in turmoil, and the world will be in constant strife. Is it really a good thing?"
Qi Zhongdao's sigh cast the few unparalleled experts into silence.
Master Bitter Cicada chanted and said, "I didn't know that you could see it so clearly, Fellow Cultivator Qi."
"I've always seen it clearly."
Qi Zhongdao pointed at the front drunkenly. "It's just that I never wanted to see it so clearly in the past. It is not until today that I have to admit that there is truly no road ahead."
The few Cultivators at the peak of the Yuanying Stage looked at where he was pointing at.
They saw nothing but mud that had been washed out by the flood in the middle of the chaotic world. It was like a boundless swamp. There was indeed no road in sight.
Li Yao, Qi Zhongdao, Yan Liren, Master Bitter Cicada, and Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar were all staring at the giant swamp in a daze.
BOOM! CRACK!
Another dull thunder echoed in the sky. Dozens of bolts of lightning dashed down, and a wild wind was rising. It was the prelude of another storm.
"Look!"
Under the illumination of the lightning, the five of them had sharp eyes and saw that in the depths of the swamp, on the horizon far away, there were several small black dots wriggling where the bubbles were connected to each other.
Master Bitter Cicada shook his prayer beads and threw them at the wriggling black spots. The prayer beads emitted gentle brilliance in midair, both like a lighthouse and a torch, illuminating everything down below clearly.
They turned out to be three disaster victims.
Everybody observed carefully, only to discover that the three disaster victims had placed a door plank on the swamp to increase the buoyancy of the swamp.
A white-haired old woman and a pregnant middle-aged woman were sitting on the door. The old woman was as thin as a match and was dying, while the middle-aged woman was so thin that it was shocking. It was as if all the flesh and blood on her body had been sucked in by her round belly.
Even so, the two of them were still holding two bamboo poles in their hands and poking the swamp crazily in order to maintain their balance and control the direction.
Behind the door plank, in the mud that was as deep as his chest, there was also a tall, ugly man who gritted his teeth and pushed the door plank with all his strength, wobbling toward Roaring Tiger City.
They must've seen the brightness of Roaring Tiger City and realized that there was hope for survival here. Therefore, they risked crossing the swamp that even the Cultivators felt that there was no way out for them.
Hearing the thunder and seeing the lightning, the three disaster victims knew that a storm was coming. Their faces were all pale.
If a storm did come, their tiny door plank would certainly be hopeless in the storm.
It was unknown what the pregnant woman said to the burly man, but the burly man growled. His hair stood on end, and the speed at which he pushed the door suddenly increased. He wanted to push the door to a safe place before the storm arrived.
The old woman and the middle-aged woman waved the bamboo poles much faster, too, until the poles were broken in the swamp after a crack.
It was an impossible mission.
However, the three of them did not seem to be aware of that. They pushed, dug, and stroked with all their might, as if they had turned into three numb machines. Even the beads that were shining brightly in midair did not trigger any reaction from them.
The scene made the five Cultivators at the peak of the Yuanying Stage seem to have turned into five statues.
Qi Zhongdao, on the other hand, was tongue-tied. His face was flushed, and he couldn't have felt more ashamed.
"Save them."
Master Bitter Cicada rose up abruptly as if he had just woken up from a dream and dashed toward the three disaster victims.
But he was still one step too slow. Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar was faster than him and dashed to the end of the horizon in only two steps.
"Fellow Cultivator Qi, look."
Seeing that both Ba Xiaoyu and Master Bitter Cicada were on the move, Li Yao took a long breath in relief. He could not help but smile at Qi Zhongdao. "If there is no road, we can fly there. We are Cultivators after all."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
After a few thunderous explosions, clusters of pale smoke blossomed below East Peace County like white lotuses.
When the white lotuses gradually dispersed into the sky and turned into ancient trees with enormous crowns, thousands of translucent human figures appeared below the 'crowns' without a sound.
They were all soldiers of ghouls.
The soldiers of ghouls were different from the wandering ghosts that Li Yao and his companions had encountered on their way to East Peace County. Although they were aggressive, they did not appear to be raging or shrieking at all. Instead, they were gloomy, lifeless, and cold as they stared at the top of the city wall. One would feel that their hair was about to explode, and their spine would be numb for a long time if they looked at them.
If one had to compare them, it was like the difference between an untrained mob and an elite troop that had survived hundreds of battles.
This was not an ordinary wandering ghost.
They were the White Lotus ghouls that 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu, the mother of all ghosts in the world, had created and trained in person.
"The White Lotus ghouls are going to fight a life-and-death battle."
Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar spat on the flying boat.
At this moment, it had been half a month since Roaring Tiger City was taken.
Li Yao, Qi Zhongdao, Yan Liren, Master Bitter Cicada, and Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar, the five super experts, had finally arrived at East Peace County, one of the top three prosperous cities of the Great Qian Dynasty, together with the main troop.
It was also the most important part of Li Yao's observation report.
Judging from the situation so far, the White Lotus ghouls were a very suitable partner. Li Yao was hoping to find an opportunity to communicate with Mother White Lotus. At the very least, he could make some friends with her.
But the journey to East Peace County did not go well.
The reinforcements of the major sects from the Central Plains stayed in Roaring Tiger City for five days. They recruited tremendous newcomers, or cannon fodder, and divided the resources left by Roaring Tiger City and the Black Devil Cult before they finally marched toward East Peace County unhurriedly.
On their way, when they encountered the disaster victims or the sects that suffered heavy losses in the natural disasters, they would stop and 'lend a hand' patiently. As for what exactly they were up to in secret, Li Yao was not interested at all.
Just like that, they walked and stopped until three days ago, when the bad news that nobody wanted to hear finally came from East Peace County. A large batch of ghouls had already released the ghostly mist in broad daylight, blocking the sunlight. More and more of them were gathering outside of the city of East Peace County. There was no sign that they were dispersing at all. Instead, like a well-trained and obedient army, they lined up, manipulated the zombies, and dug underground caves as tents. They were even carrying hundreds of rotten coffins out of nowhere. There was no telling what was inside the coffins.
It suggested that 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu had gathered enough ghouls to attack East Peace County.
It was not until this moment that the reinforcements from the Central Plains finally marched toward East Peace County at full speed.
However, 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu was obviously not an easy target to deal with since she had been savaging the southeast for decades. They had made such a huge fuss in Roaring Tiger City that they had long been locked onto by the enemy. Yet, they had arranged for two ghouls to block them on their way.
Although the army of ghouls had been crushed, the lingering ghosts were still able to slightly slow down everyone's progress.
By the time they reached East Peace County, the White Lotus ghouls had launched two waves of attacks.
Below Eastcalm Prefecture City, broken, rotting corpses were everywhere.
The screams and the stink of burning before the ghosts perished were echoing in the air, too.
Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, brothers and sisters.
It's been a long time since I last asked for subscriptions and tickets. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I need to spend some time with my family at night. So, I might as well send out all the updates during the day and ask for some tickets shamelessly.
The way out of the Ancient Sages Sector is about to be revealed. Don't be hasty, everybody. I've made up my mind.
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