Chapter 188: Teleportation Array, Nowhere To Escape
Thousands of people were beheaded.
That scene was deeply etched in everyone’s mind and they couldn’t forget it at all.
The cultivators were clenching their fists even more tightly. Some were glaring at the Fiendcelestial Cult disciples furiously while some dared not.
Finally, someone couldn’t help but speak up and lament in melancholy.
“Why? Why is this happening? Why did the capital of Wei Nation fall all of a sudden? Aren’t there experts from the Ten Nations? Aren’t there any truly competent elites in the Wei Nation?”
“Yes, even if the Fiendcelestial Cult has launched a sudden attack, why would this happen? Where are the array formations? Where are the powerhouses of the Ten Nations?”
“We’re not still in the illusory array, are we? Why does it seem so unreal?”
At this point, there were still cultivators who wondered if they had been trapped in an illusory array.
After all, many of the things were too unreal and flawed.
“Right, where are the powerhouses of the Ten Nations?”
“Aren’t there any powerhouses in Wei Nation?”
“How could a Nascent Soul realm powerhouse not have detected the sudden attack by the Fiendcelestial Cult? That doesn’t make any sense!”
Among the crowd, some people spoke up. In such an oppressive situation, there would definitely be a group of people who liked complaining and making comments.
The voices caused some of the cultivators to frown, but most of them were full of curiosity as they felt that it made sense.
However, at this moment, a figure appeared in the array formation.
It was a middle-aged man who looked very ordinary but had a terrifying aura.
When he appeared, he gave off an indescribable aura that made all the cultivators in the array formation fall silent.
Even the ordinary people knew that he was extremely extraordinary.
He was a genuine Nascent Soul realm powerhouse but he was not from the Wei Nation but the Ten Nations Academy.
He stayed silent and went to the first cultivator who complained.
The first cultivator to complain was a young man who was rather infuriated previously but he still felt that there was something fishy about the matter. Hence, he made that comment.
However, as the powerhouse of the Ten Nations Academy walked over, the latter was a bit alarmed and even lowered his head, not daring to look directly at the powerhouse.
“What did you just say?”
The middle-aged man appeared in front of him and asked calmly without rebuking.
However, a Nascent Soul realm powerhouse would make one feel an indescribable sense of oppression even if they didn’t use any spiritual energy. The sense of oppression would even make one’s soul tremble.
He did not dare to speak and was shuddering uncontrollably while hanging his head low, not daring to even look directly at the Nascent Soul realm powerhouse.
“What did you just say?”
The Nascent Soul realm powerhouse spoke again with a calm gaze but his voice was still terrifying.
“I! I! I…”
This cultivator stammered a little. He was suddenly at a loss for words.
However, the cultivator standing beside him could not help but speak.
“Elder, are there no powerhouses in the capital of Wei Nation?”
The cultivators voiced the doubts in his mind.
“Including those in the Ten Nations Academy, there are 65 Nascent Soul realm cultivators and one in the Essence Soul realm.”
The elder answered, giving specific figures.
After he said that, the others couldn’t help but speak up.
“Since there are 65 Nascent Soul realm powerhouses and one Essence Soul realm powerhouse, how did they end up in this situation?”
“This shouldn’t be the case.’
The cultivator took a deep breath before saying that. Staring at the Nascent Soul realm cultivator, he felt that there shouldn’t be such a situation since there were so many powerhouses.
He wasn’t the only one. Many cultivators, too, couldn’t help but look at the elder with their eyes full of curiosity.
‘Yeah, with so many powerhouses around, how could such a thing have happened? No matter how powerful the disciples of the Fiendcelestial Cult may be, this shouldn’t be the case, right?’
However, that Nascent Soul realm cultivator humphed coldly and gazed at the crowd, causing them to fall silent immediately.
They dared to speak up only because they were a little furious, but after hearing the Nascent Soul elder’s humph, they immediately lost their confidence and gusto. It was because they understood that powerhouses of the Wei Nation and the Ten Nations couldn’t possibly leave them alone.
If they could strike, they definitely would.
However, they just couldn’t understand.
“Do you guys think that it’s impossible for us to be raided by the Fiendcelestial Cult with so many powerhouses around? Do you also think that even if the Fiendcelestial Cult has raided us, the Wei Nation shouldn’t have collapsed so easily, right?”
He stared at many of the cultivators with an extremely cold gaze, and in that instant, all of the cultivators fell silent. They hung their heads low but that was indeed what they meant.
However, in the next moment, this Nascent Soul realm powerhouse continued to speak.
“You guys have really been living a sheltered life for too long, so much that you’ve underestimated the Fiendcelestial Cult.”
“Do you guys really think that it was an impromptu decision of the Fiendcelestial Cult to attack Wei Nation?”
“They have long colluded with some treacherous ministers of Wei Nation who used an evil object to destroy the array formation of the Wei Nation during the critical moment. The Fiendcelestial Cult has prepared for more than ten years for this attack.”
“The Fiendcelestial Cult has three major immortal artifacts, namely the Ten Thousand Fiend Banner, the G.o.dfiend Diagram, and the Ten Devouring Immortals. They activate the Ten Thousand Devil Banner outside and slaughtered cultivators and the people to acc.u.mulate resentment for the Ten Thousand Devil Banner. They even take their own lives to sacrifice to the Ten Thousand Fiend Banner, thus forming the Ten Thousand Fiend region.”
“If you have the guts, go outside and take a look. The Wei Nation troops are desperately resisting the raid of the Fiendcelestial Cult out there!”
“The Ten Thousand Fiend region is perfectly suppressing our cultivators, and the more frightening thing is that the Fiendcelestial Cult has s.h.i.+elded the entire Wei Nation capital with the Heavenly Fiend Ancient Diagram. What does this mean? It means that we can’t even transmit any information.”
The elder of the Ten Nations Academy cursed angrily.
He was spitting saliva everywhere and was extremely exasperated.
“Are you guys curious as to why sixty-five Nascent Soul realm powerhouses did not protect you?”
“30% of the Nascent Soul realm powerhouses are killing the enemies out there and another 30% are doing their best to flee Wei Nation to deliver a message, in hopes that the Ten Nations Academy would bring some people to give them help.”
“The remaining 40% of Nascent Soul realm powerhouses are in the array formation. Do you know what they’re doing in there? They’re doing their best to construct the array formation, and what are they doing that for? It’s all in order to teleport you away and ensure that you are safe!”
The elder of the Ten Nations began to get louder and louder. Eventually, his voice became deafening.
His eyes were full of anger.
“The vast majority of you are geniuses from all over the world. I originally thought that you, being geniuses, would be more sensible but I didn’t expect you to be so simple-minded.”
“The Fiendcelestial Cult has made preparations for more than ten years before the raid and you really think the Fiendcelestial Cult decided to do this on a whim?”
“They’re well-coordinated and caught all of you off guard. We’re not afraid to fight but why have we decided to be pa.s.sive? It’s all for your sake!”
“We have to protect you, and if we didn’t do this for the sake of preventing extinction, how could they have reached the capital so soon?”
“Among the 72 Earthly Fiends of the Fiendcelestial Cult, there are seven who are Nascent Soul realm powerhouses and the 36 Heavenly Spirits are 36 Nascent Soul realm pract.i.tioners. The Twelve Golden Warriors, Four Kings of h.e.l.l, and the deputy cult master are working together with the rebels of Wei Nation.”
“Besides, there are less than twenty Nascent Soul realm powerhouses to fight with them outside the capital. Those who have it worse are the cultivators who went to deliver the message. They almost lost their lives while doing so, and so far, seven Nascent Soul realm cultivators have fallen.”
“Let me ask you, how should we fight this battle?”
Towards the end, he hollered loudly and questioned the few cultivators who were full of complaints.
At this moment, it was much quieter in the array formation. No one was talking anymore and the people had indeed stopped talking about it.
They were a little too fl.u.s.tered. Besides, most people liked escaping and they often felt that the fault lied with others, and that they would forever be right.
However, after hearing the elder’s words, everyone completely understood.
In the array formation, Ye Ping completely agreed with the elder.
The Fiendcelestial Cult had definitely spent more than just a day or two on planning the raid. In fact, even the ten-odd years that they spent was considered little.
After all, they were in the dark while the Wei Nation was out in the open.
Besides, with the collusion with the ministers of Wei Nation, they could definitely catch them off guard.
Furthermore, the Fiendcelestial Cult had expected that the powerhouses of the Ten Nations and Wei Nation would definitely protect the elites and so they wouldn’t go all out to attack.
In that case, the Wei Nation was bound to suffer a loss.
In fact, Ye Ping could guess that there had been people who proposed that they fight hard against the Fiendcelestial Cult.
However, the biggest problem was that no one would dare to bear the responsibility.
The Fiendcelestial Cult had planned for more than ten years, and even if they sent all their troops, the consequences would be terrible if a Nascent Soul realm cultivator rushed into the city.
Besides, the ministers of Wei Nation had already defected, so the Fiendcelestial Cult would definitely enter the capital.
Hence, the powerhouses of the Wei Nation and the Ten Nations only had two options.
The first option was to go toe-to-toe against the Fiendcelestial Cult and attack them with all their might.
The other option was to stall for time! They could try to stall for time as much as they could and escort the geniuses away while telling everyone to spread the news and wait for reinforcements.
Those were the only options. After all, no one would expect the Fiendcelestial Cult to launch a surprise attack. The higher the realm of cultivators, the more important things they would have to do.
Hence, it was impossible to send a Tribulation Transcendence powerhouse to guard them for the sake of a Ten Nations Grand Tournament.
At the end of the day, the crux was the sudden attack!
It was somewhat similar to a flash battle. As long as the Fiendcelestial Cult was fast enough to attack and take down the Yan Nation, they could get the bargaining chip to negotiate with the Great Xia Dynasty.
At this juncture, they lacked a courageous powerhouse.
However, if it were himself, Ye Ping would not be able to make the most accurate response at the fastest speed.
It was a choice between a bloodbath and saving lives.
In the case of a bloodbath, a large number of geniuses must be sacrificed.
No one can afford to bear this responsibility because if all the geniuses of the Ten Nations died, it would be the greatest shame of the Great Xia Dynasty. The Fiendcelestial Cult would even act more brazenly.
Besides, the cultivator who gave this order would also have to be labeled as a huge sinner.
Hence, it was the root cause of the standstill.
At this moment, no one was speaking.
Everyone was silent, and all the cultivators, who had complained before, began to behave themselves at this point.
“What else do you guys have to say at this point?”
A Nascent Soul realm powerhouse continued to ask.
However, no one was speaking in the array formation.
At this moment, a figure rushed over eagerly.
“Lord, the Teleportation Array has been set up and we can start teleporting whenever you’re ready.”
The person who came said and looked respectfully at this Nascent Soul realm powerhouse.
The latter asked slowly,
“How many have been arranged? How many people can be teleported away at a time?”
He asked calmly.
“Lord, we have arranged a total of ten array formations and each one is guarded by two Nascent Soul realm lords. Each array formation can transmit 10,000 people at a time, with a fifteen-minute interval between each teleportation.”
He answered.
In fact, those words were said to the disciples inside the array formation.
“Okay, start making arrangements to teleport all the disciples within the array formation, as much as possible.”
The Nascent Soul realm powerhouse nodded and then looked at the crowd again.
“The Teleportation Arrays have been set up but only 100,000 people can be escorted away at a time. 800,000 people can be sent away within two hours.”
“According to the current situation, we can at most hold on for about four hours. In other words, 1.6 million powerhouses can be sent away at once.”
“The students of all national academies enjoy priority! Those who are less than twenty years old and have reached the Foundation Establishment realm have priority! Those who are less than 100 years old and have reached the Golden Core realm also enjoy priority! The rest of you wait quietly!”
However, his words made the expressions of many cultivators change.
‘Only 1.6 million cultivators can be teleported?’
In the Wei Nation, there were about 70 to 80 million cultivators and there were only less than 5,000 students of the Ten Nations Academy. Including the geniuses from other nations, there were not many who met the priority conditions.
There were probably less than 100,000 of them but what would happen to the rest?
What did it mean to wait quietly?
Waiting quietly for their deaths?
“Senior, 1.6 million people are just like a drop in the bucket, we… Wouldn’t all of us die here then?”
“Yeah, Senior, how can an array formation set up by a Nascent Soul realm powerhouse be so slow and inefficient?”
Faced with the fear of death, the people started speaking up. No one could stay calm, especially the ordinary people.
“Silence!”
The voices were extremely cluttered, and this Nascent Soul realm powerhouse interjected loudly, instantly suppressing all the noise.
“I’ve already made it clear. The Fiendcelestial Cult’s sudden attack has ruined the array formation of the city, and later on, they even used the ancient diagram to affect this area. There’s no way to activate the array formation at all.”
“A 15-minute teleportation of 10,000 people is already considered the limit. No matter what, there are bound to be casualties this time.”
“We’ll first let the students of the various academies leave, followed by the geniuses of each area. The remaining ones will draw lots to determine if they survive or not.”
“One more thing! The Wei Nation troops are fighting hard outside and all powerhouses are resisting the disciples of the Fiendcelestial Cult with their physical bodies. Most of you are disciples of famous sects.”
“If immortal cultivators only care about survival when watching this group of evil cultivators kill their Fellow Daoists and insulting the human race, I’m afraid there’s nothing great.”
At this point, he clenched his fists.
In fact, he was infuriated too. There were tens of millions of cultivators in the Wei Nation, but they were all being chased by the million Fiendcelestial Cult disciples.
Be it the geniuses or ordinary cultivators, they all became fl.u.s.tered when they saw the Fiendcelestial Cult disciples. They clearly could have defeated them but they chickened out because of their cowardice.
They were just too spoiled and pampered.
Having stayed in a peaceful world for a long time without experiencing any trials and tribulations, they usually liked challenging others to fights, but when trouble really struck, they got scared out of their wits. It was truly disappointing.
All the cultivators were quiet again.
No one dared to say anything anymore.
Silence filled the air.
It was oppressive.
Despair.
All kinds of emotions filled them.
At this moment, Huangfu Tianlong wanted to take a step forward, but he was pulled back by Ye Ping.
Ye Ping gently shook his head, he knew what Huangfu Tianlong wanted to do.
Huangfu Tianlong wanted to go out and fight with all his might.
Being the best elite of Nan Nation, he was full of pride and vigor.
However, the reason why Ye Ping stopped him was also very simple.
They had already come to a decision.
Since the Fiendcelestial Cult launched a surprise attack on them, the powerhouses of the Wei Nation and Ten Nations Academy had already gradually entered their trap.
If the powerhouses of the Wei Nation and Ten Nations Academy fought against the Fiendcelestial Cult fearlessly, there would be a chance for survival.
However, at the end of the day, no one dared to bear that responsibility. They had all fallen into a pa.s.sive state for the sake of teleporting the geniuses of all nations away.
Besides, they were extremely pa.s.sive.
They could go out and fight.
However, there were powerhouses waiting for everyone in the dark so it was not the time to be reckless now.
The best solution was to survive, remember this scene, and take revenge for everyone in the future.
“n.o.bles of all nations, hurry and come here!”
At this moment, a voice spread within the array formation of the South City Gate and all the powerful and n.o.ble cultivators of all nations were asked to gather quickly, so that they could leave first.
That was rather odd as they all wondered why the powerful and n.o.ble people of all nations were allowed to leave first.
Theoretically, shouldn’t the geniuses be allowed to leave first?
However, soon, the crowd almost understood that the n.o.bles were all authoritative figures of the Ten Nations, and hence, their lives were indeed more important.
At this moment, many people walked towards the interior of the South City Gate.
Besides, Ye Ping couldn’t help but speak when he saw that Li Yu was not moving.
“Why are you still here?”
Ye Ping asked.
“Master, I’ll leave with you.”
Li Yu said, not intending to leave first.
“If you can, just leave first. Remember to immediately contact my eldest Senior Brother once you leave. If he can come, he will be able to calm the chaos.”
Ye Ping told Li Yu to leave.
As long as Li Yu left and informed Su Changyu, everything would be fine in his opinion.
After all, he thought that when his eldest Senior Brother, Su Changyu, came, he would definitely be able to defeat the Fiendcelestial Cult.
That was Ye Ping’s confidence.
It was an inexplicable confidence.
“Alright.”
Li Yu was not pretentious or stubborn either. He understood Ye Ping’s intentions and thus nodded and then turned around to leave.
Soon after Li Yu left, there was news.
Half of the first batch of people to leave using the Teleportation Array consisted of the n.o.bles of the Ten Nations while the other half were ordinary cultivators. After all, if only the geniuses were teleported away, it would cause public outrage.
Sometimes, the human heart is just so amusing and infuriating.
At this moment, Ye Ping could not help but sigh.
The sudden attack had indeed made many worried.
Huangfu Tianlong, who was at the side, also fell silent.
Who would have thought that the Ten Nations Grand Tournament would suddenly turn out to be like this?
About eighteen minutes pa.s.sed.
The dense spiritual energy suddenly filled the air, and in the next moment, ten rays of light radiated and disappeared in the sky dome. That was the process of teleportation.
Within the array formation of the South City Gate, countless pairs of eyes were filled with envy and jealousy.
Ye Ping raised his head and looked at the sky, seemingly pondering about something.
However, all of a sudden,
Ye Ping froze and exclaimed, “Bad news!”
He seemed to have thought about something as his expression turned extremely ghastly.
Indeed…
At this moment…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A terrifying sound of explosions filled the air, as if a meteorite had landed on the ground. Ten colored mushroom-shaped clouds appeared in the sky.
At this moment, everyone was quiet.
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