When Zhu Xuelian returned from the mountain summit, several hours had passed, and she was headed for the Formation Hall when she came upon a peculiar scene.
All the cultivators she came with were sprawled out in front of the Formation Hall. The mood was gloomy. Xiang Liling was crying; Ren Jinhai was on high alert, and hyperventilating. The others didn’t fare much better.
“Why are you all out here?” Zhu Xuelian asked. "Did something happen?"
Wu Yulan smiled, with a hint of amusement and mischievousness in her eyes. “They just finished their first session in the Killing Field Formation.”
That explained it.
Beyond the era of wars, cultivators had little to no actual combat experience. Unlike Wu Yulan, Zhu Xuelian truly did not have many talents except for what someone could describe as a very high aptitude for battle and an indomitable spirit.
Her combat experience, and constant refinement of her sword energy, killing intent, and attack power, are what made her appear to others as though she was truly outstanding in her generation. With a deeper understanding of the Sword Dao and the comprehension of Sword Law, she could even advance further in related internal arts, giving her additional might over other cultivators of her generation.
The way this was achieved, for Wu Yulan as well, was through the Killing Field Formation and the price of its magnificent lessons was death. Dozens, and hundreds, and thousands of deaths.
“Maybe trying so soon after what happened was not a good idea…” Zhu Xuelian said, trying her best to conceal the pity in her tone. She remembered well her first death, and Wu Yulan's, and even these two sword fanatics were in no better shape than these disciples.
“I even made it very easy,” Wu Yulan said glancing to Zhu Xuelian. “But these guys… they really are something else.”
“How are fifty demonic beasts easy?!” Tian Li protested. “Only a madman would fight that many.”
Zhu Xuelian blinked. “You only fought fifty?”
The word only made their ears burn, but they were less inclined to protest this time. After all, Zhu Xuelian, at times, did appear downright insane to them, and she was strong, so she could probably do it.
“I suppose Core Formation beasts can give you trouble. Next time, you should probably try against Foundation beasts first,” Zhu Xuelian said.
Wu Yulan giggled at her words, while the other cultivators all stared at the ground, deeply ashamed.
“Don’t tell me…” Zhu Xuelian whispered, shocked at first but then heating up with anger. “The lot of you… geniuses… all got killed by fifty Foundation beasts…?”
Wu Yulan burst into laughter.
“We… we weren’t ready for it…” Ren Jinhai said, deeply ashamed.
“You are all practically two realms ahead of them in cultivation,” Zhu Xuelian whispered. “And only fifty!”
Now angry, Ren Jinhai lifted his gaze to Zhu Xuelian. “You make it sound so easy! How many can you kill?!”
Wu Yulan smiled. “Zhu Xuelian and I killed a thousand Core Formation beasts every day when we were in the Core Formation. Sometimes Nascent Soul beasts too.”
“Every… day…?”
“A thousand… each?”
“Nascent Soul…?”
The words thundered in their heads. The number was unthinkable. No wonder they were so strong. For the first time, a number was put to the difference in their strength, and this chilled them to the core. The difference was staggering.
How can humans even kill that many demonic beasts? How do they not get surrounded and killed instantly, like the eight of them just did?
But when they thought about who these two people were, surrounded sounded like the perfect scenario for them. It would take less effort to kill them all if they were all bunched up together.
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Zhu Xuelian smiled. “Right now, I doubt I could kill even three Foundation Beasts.”
Somehow, the words soothed them. Zhu Xuelian was a Qi Condensation cultivator. Other than her strength due to her Physique, she couldn’t use martial arts or qi. She could likely overpower a couple of beasts, and kill them, but then the others would overpower her and kill her.
It was strange. One versus one, she could probably resist and overpower a Nascent Soul beast, but two Foundation beasts would prove to be a struggle. Just what kind of Physique did she have? To begin with, why did she even practice body cultivation in the first place? No sane cultivator would attempt it.
But that was the crucial piece of information — not the body cultivation. Right then, she could only fight three, but by the time she entered Core Formation, she could kill a thousand again.
If she could do it, then what reason was there that they couldn’t?
“It just takes practice,” Zhu Xuelian said. “Demonic beasts lack intelligence, and they don’t have martial arts. Their bodies are powerful, but once you get used to their attacks, and you can kill them faster than they can overwhelm you, then, within the same realm, you can kill as many of them as your stamina allows.”
The words still shocked them, even though they were prepared to hear an outrageous reasoning. However, the more they thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded.
“The best thing for you to do is to sharpen your minds, but also to fortify your hearts,” Zhu Xuelian said. “The Killing Field Formation is truly wondrous. Its greatest benefit is that it helps you overcome fear. I have probably met my end in this formation over a thousand times, and I never let myself die twice in the same way. Now? I have experience, and I am not so afraid of demonic beasts anymore.”
Not just demonic beasts; Zhu Xuelian never seemed afraid of anything.
It all made sense to them suddenly. Zhu Xuelian’s strength, her bravery — like when she launched herself at the Sovereign and grappled with it — all the little details that made her appear different from them, it all made sense to them now.
She wasn’t different. Her training methods were. They were extreme, and they turned her into an extreme person. The killing intent they felt that day at the Conference, that peerless, sharp sword that descended on the arena, these extreme things were all born from this formation called the Killing Field.
They weren't even certain if it was called the Killing Field because it was a place for killing and death, but because one was meant to snuff out the heart that still knew fear.
Tian Li suddenly jumped to his feet. “I am going again. Anyone else want to come?”
Several disciples nodded and also climbed to their feet.
“Wait,” Zhu Xuelian said. “You likely earned some contributions. How about you first visit the Martial Hall?”
“Contributions?” Ren Jinhai asked.
“Mm,” Zhu Xuelian hummed and nodded. “Every beast you slay grants you some contributions which you can exchange in the Martial Hall.”
They seemed skeptical. Earning contributions in a sect they didn’t belong to seemed just as outrageous as killing a thousand demonic beasts. Furthermore, they each possessed the pinnacle martial arts and manuals of their sects, therefore, whatever they found in the Martial Hall that they, outsiders, could obtain was unlikely to be comparable.
But Zhu Xuelian smiled mysteriously and knowingly and then gestured to the Martial Hall. “Come, see for yourselves.”
To begin with, this place wasn’t a sect, and they weren’t outsiders. Every building, every formation, every stone, was built to create weapons of mass destruction. They didn’t earn contributions — Zhu Xuelian used that word because it was the most similar thing. They earned comprehension and progression tokens. It wasn’t even related to how many demonic beasts they killed. Every time they used their martial arts, the formation studied the principles of it and created theoretical models to further Yaoyue's understanding of the Dao. It thus created situations and events to further explore possibilities of the infinite Dao, and in turn, generated more efficient and precise martial arts.
It was a symbiotic system that simultaneously exploited its workforce but also upgraded it tremendously.
Hopefully, if they became interested in this type of thing, the energy they generated might help Yaoyue recover and that was not something she could overlook even though she genuinely just wanted to travel the world with them as an equal.
In the Martial Hall, in the section titled Comprehension, Tian Li pulled out a jade slip, and his eyes went wide. He immediately sat down, cross-legged, and began to circulate his internal art.
Likewise, the others obtained similar enlightenment from the various sections.
In the Techniques section, Mu Jingyu’s face went completely pale, and Xiang Liling had to catch her as all the strength left Mu Jingyu’s limbs.
In the Cultivation section, Ren Jinhai nearly went mad with joy. “Essence Destruction Breathing!? Is this really possible?”
Yuan Qiuyue stared at the various offerings in the Manuals section, dumb-founded. There were several ice-related manuals available, covering internal arts, body cultivation articles, refinement, and alchemy manuals. All up to the Supreme grade.
Their martial arts, at best, were of the Heaven grade.
Mortal, Earth, Sky, Heaven, Supreme…
The reason they were so confident in the quality of their martial arts was because the gap between Heaven and Supreme was like the gap between Mortal and Heaven. They were worlds apart. In the mortal world, Heaven was considered to be the pinnacle of achievement. If a Supreme grade martial art appeared, it would dominate the world.
Here, Yuan Qiuyue could obtain a Supreme art just like that. Of course, it would cost her thousands of "contributions" and she only had a few right now.
“Z-Zhu Xuelian…” Yuan Qiuyue murmured. “Just who is your master…?”
Everyone looked at her, thinking the same thing.
Zhu Xuelian smiled. “My master is Yaoyue. You will meet soon.”
With those words, Zhu Xuelian smiled again and left the Martial Hall.
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