The reek of blood filled the air, and the ground was littered with corpses. Searching through the corpses for bags of holding were a few dozen Cultivators who wore black robes and white masks. Occasionally they would encounter someone gasping their last breaths, and would immediately run them through with a sword.
Beyond the black-robed Cultivators was a black, iron cage, several meters tall. Considering the cage floated in the air and emanated a mysterious glow, it was obviously a magical item. Inside the cage were two Cultivators.
Their faces were pale, and they were both unconscious. They were splattered with blood, and were clearly seriously injured, but not dead. A faint aroma of medicinal pills emanated off of them; they were obviously alchemists. One of them wore a long green robe, which was embroidered with a pill furnace, marking him as an alchemist of the World Pill Division.
Not too far away, three Cultivators were locked in magical combat in mid-air. Ripples spread out through the air. This was not the magic of the Nascent Soul stage; however, the level of power made it obvious that they were not Foundation Establishment Cultivators, but rather Core Formation.
Of the three Core Formation Cultivators, two wore black clothes and azure masks. Their attacks were vicious; they were only of the early Core Formation stage, but were clearly beyond normal.
As they attacked, booms filled the valley.
“Who are you?!” roared the besieged Core Formation Cultivator. “I’m from the Golden Frost Sect….” Blood sprayed from his mouth as he shot backward.
There was no response to his question. Of the two azure-masked Cultivators, one was pudgy, the other skinny. They advanced forward, their attacks growing even more vicious.
It was at this exact moment that suddenly, one of the three teleportation portals in the valley began to glow. As soon as the glow rose up, the group several dozen Cultivators with black robes and white masks began to close in on the portal.
The glow of teleportation lasted for the space of a few breaths, and then slowly began to disappear. Two figures appeared: Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun.
Zhou Dekun was laughing and saying something to Meng Hao.
“I have a good relationship with several of the Cultivator Clans in the Barren Mountains. Next, I’m going to take you to….”
Meng Hao was smiling, but in an instant, his expression immediately changed. Even as the teleportation was completing, before he and Zhou Dekun could see anything on the outside, a sense of danger rose up within him.
Before he could speak, the sense of danger rose to the heavens. Meng Hao’s face changed. He flicked his left sleeve, and a wild wind sprang up, rippling toward Zhou Dekun and knocking him to the side. Borrowing some of the momentum, Meng Hao’s body snapped like a willow branch off at another angle.
Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun flew off into opposite directions. Almost in the same instant that they left the teleportation portal, a boom filled the air as the combined magical might of the dozens of Cultivators slammed down onto it.
As the boom echoed out, Meng Hao shot backward nine meters, both hands flashing incantation gestures and then waving out in front of him. Popping sounds rang out as the incoming power of the dozens of Cultivators dissipated.
Zhou Dekun’s face flickered. After being pushed off of the teleportation portal by Meng Hao, his right hand flickered in an incantation sign and then slammed into the ground. A great beam of light shot out from his body, blocking the power of the magical attack. Despite being of the late Foundation Establishment stage, blood sprayed from his mouth. His eyes filled with astonishment and fury as he looked at his attackers.