However, Nie Rong's objective was ultimately unmet, and he was eventually surrounded and killed by the ceaseless tide of ghostly soldiers.
Meanwhile, at the Li family's estate!
Li Minglin was currently leading his family's most esteemed Crystal Legion in their assault on the True Dragon clan residing in "Endless Lake," the foremost large lake in Purple Prefecture.
The Li family's Crystal Legion consisted of puppet soldiers whose bodies were forged from a mineral called Divine Crystal, augmented by secret arts passed down within the Li family.
Divine Crystal was an exceptionally hard mineral, almost impervious to destruction. Combined with the Li family's unique "Reversal of Heaven Mending Technique," the resultant Crystal Legion was terrifyingly formidable.
At Li Minglin's command, the crystal soldiers of the Legion drew their crystal spears.
These spears, also crafted from Divine Crystal, were incredibly sturdy and possessed unparalleled offensive power. Coupled with their own impenetrable bodies, they formed an unrivaled, powerful army.
As crystal puppet legionnaires, these soldiers lacked sentience; their sole purpose was obedience and the instinct to kill.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The Crystal Puppet Legion, standing firm on the ground, advanced like an invincible force, launching their assault on the True Dragons within Endless Lake.
"Roar!"
A golden True Dragon emerged from the clouds, intending to stir up trouble and have some fun.
However, as the dragon poked its head out, a crystal spear pierced its skull!
A pained dragon's roar echoed as its entire head was blown open.
Lifeless, the dragon plummeted from the sky into the lake.
The dragon's continuously flowing blood nourished the waters of Endless Lake.
"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The rich scent of dragon blood attracted countless True Dragons from within Endless Lake.
Enraged, myriad True Dragons erupted from the lake, unleashing their innate divine abilities of wind, cloud, lightning, water, and electricity, summoning storms and transforming the surroundings of Endless Lake into a watery expanse!
A water kingdom descended, obscuring the sky. Beneath the torrent of rain, these True Dragons seemed to transform into divine beings, their power escalating dramatically.
Facing the roaring True Dragons in the sky, ordinary human cultivators would have long since scattered in fear.
But these crystal puppet soldiers were different. Unflinching, they maintained their composure amidst the tempest, fearlessly engaging in intense combat with the dragons above.
Even as many crystal puppet soldiers were destroyed by the True Dragons, a continuous stream of them continued to slaughter the dragons.
The enraged True Dragons conjured wind, rain, lightning, and thunder, as if intent on destroying the world.
The forces of wind, rain, lightning, and thunder, the very elements of the four cardinal directions, unleashed terrifying power under the dragons' control!
Heavy rain poured, winds raged, lightning shrieked—the True Dragons' power grew ever stronger!
A single breath from a powerful True Dragon transformed into clouds in the sky; a mere flick of its claws conjured lightning and thunder; a casual sweep of its tail whipped up fierce gales.
Countless True Dragons roamed freely across the sky and ground, their fearsome might causing even Li Minglin and the other Li family members directing the battle from the rear to take several steps back.
Yet, the loyal and fearless crystal puppet soldiers remained impassive, their hands swinging their spears with cold precision!
Divine Crystal was the hardest of all crystals. Beings forged from it were exceedingly difficult to destroy.
A clash between cold determination and fierce aggression—who would prevail…
A multitude of crystal puppet soldiers, weapons in hand, charged into the dragon hordes, devoid of emotion, fearless of death, hacking and slashing at the True Dragons with maximum efficiency!
The once majestic True Dragons were cut down one by one like mere mudfish by the crystal puppet soldiers.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Piercing dragon cries echoed in succession as countless True Dragons fell in pools of blood, their forms becoming lifeless husks.
Though it was a Pyrrhic victory, with substantial losses among the crystal puppet soldiers due to the enraged True Dragons' fury.
However, no matter how costly the crystal puppet soldiers were, they were ultimately inanimate objects, and inanimate objects could be recycled.
In essence, no matter how one calculated it, the True Dragon clan was at a disadvantage.
...
While the Qin and Li families were engaged in their brutal battles, the Wang family was not idle either.
The Wang family's most elite Luo Ming Bird Beast Legion traversed the void, pursuing the first-tier family, the Yan.
The Luo Ming Bird Beasts possessed an innate ability to traverse space and the void. A mere flick of their wings could cause the void to tremble.
The seventy thousand strong Luo Ming Bird Beast Legion, cultivated with the majority of the Wang family's resources, might have surpassed any single legion of the Liu Imperial Clan's five great legions in terms of combat power.
In the sky, a floating, fiery island stretching for a hundred li flew at immense speed towards the distance.
Crimson flames shot into the heavens, painting the sky red.
A figure clad in fiery red stood tall atop the island, gazing in the opposite direction. He was Yan Qilian, the contemporary patriarch of the Yan family.
At this moment, his expression was grim, as if everyone owed him a fortune in spirit stones, his demeanor akin to one who had lost his parents.
Indeed, anyone would be unhappy facing such circumstances.
No matter how good one's temper or how broad one's heart, being forced to lead one's entire clan away from their ancestral lands would undoubtedly lead to profound distress.
As the inheritor of the Yan family, even if he loathed bearing the stigma of a fugitive, he had no choice but to endure.
"The Liu Imperial Clan and the four great families hold immense power. For our Yan family to avoid their might, we have no choice but to flee our ancestral lands. How tragic! I am truly unfilial!"
Noble families were different from rogue cultivators and sects. Rogue cultivators and sects could flee when facing powerful enemies to preserve themselves.
Such an escape was even given a dignified name: strategic retreat.
However, traditional noble families rarely fled.
Despite their various flaws, noble families placed an unparalleled importance on their ancestors.
For them, dying on their ancestral land, their souls scattered in the place that nurtured them, was more important than anything.
It was precisely for this reason that many noble families refused to abandon their ancestral lands during the massive purge orchestrated by the united Liu Imperial Clan and the four great families.
Families like the Yan, who chose to retreat, were ultimately few.
Of course, even for fleeing families like this, the Liu Imperial Clan and the four great families harbored no intention of letting them escape.
The seventy thousand strong Luo Ming Bird Beast Legion, led by Wang Yuan, arrived after the Yan family's flight path, intercepting them.
The Luo Ming Bird Beast Legion manipulated the power of the void, conjuring a world-like illusion, akin to a cage, trapping the fiery island carrying the entire Yan family within.
Upon seeing the seventy thousand Luo Ming Bird Beast Legion blocking their path, Yan Qilian's eyes blazed with fury.
This was too much, utterly too much!
If we can't defeat you, can't we at least run? You won't even let us run, must you hunt us to extinction?
Knowing that pleas would be futile, Yan Qilian abandoned any thought of negotiation with the Wang family and directly issued a command to his clansmen to attack.
Instantly, flames erupted from the entire fiery island, incinerating everything around it.
The intensely hot flames blazed, and countless fiery projectiles launched from the island towards the seventy thousand Luo Ming Bird Beast Legion ahead.
However, the Luo Ming Bird Beast Legion, capable of manipulating the forces of void and space, faced the relentless flames. With a gentle spread of their wings, they transformed into a massive black hole, swallowing all the flames.
Seeing this, Yan Qilian did not hesitate and pushed the fiery island's power to its absolute limit!
Fire-attribute spiritual energy surged towards the heavens, myriad halos enveloped the fiery island, and towering pillars of fire inspired awe!
Alas, facing the seventy thousand Luo Ming Bird Beast Legion and the constantly escalating spatial power of the void, the Yan family's desperate efforts were ultimately in vain, and they were eventually annihilated by the Wang family.
An endless slaughter engulfed the entire Purple Prefecture mainland!
The purges by the Liu Imperial Clan and the four great families were not as simple as imagined. They surrounded all the exits of Purple Prefecture, making it difficult for any major power to escape.
On a narrow, winding path, a group of ordinary mortals was making their way.
They resembled a merchant caravan, with young and old, men and women. They occasionally glanced around, appearing quite normal.
"Grandfather, can we escape this time?"
A child of thirteen or fourteen, supporting a pale and weak old man, asked with an anxious face.
Although dressed in the simplest hemp clothing, his extraordinary demeanor revealed his identity; he was definitely not an ordinary mortal.
The old man he supported, though appearing no different from any ordinary elder, even in poorer health, had a glint in his eyes that indicated he was far from ordinary.
Not long after they departed, a dozen cultivators dressed in scholarly robes, holding bamboo slips, appeared in the sky.
"Teacher, why are you expending such great effort and dispatching so many people to pursue True Master Bao Sheng?"
One of them, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator dressed as a scholar, inquired.
After all, despite True Master Bao Sheng's considerable fame, he was merely an ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivator, not worth the personal pursuit of his teacher, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Heh heh, you don't understand. True Master Bao Sheng's unique secret art, the Heavenly Treasure Sage Art, is wondrous and profound."
"I am not pursuing him for myself, but for the sake of the entire Kong family, which is why I am hunting him."
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