Chapter 1061: Battle Resumes
The Fire Golden Crow meat and the dishes in the two large iron pots were all thoroughly cooked, emitting an even richer aroma.
All the cultivators pounced on them. After a fierce struggle, with everyone grabbing and snatching, all the dishes were quickly devoured.
The dishes indeed contained powerful vital energy. Everyone felt a surge of heat within their bodies, experiencing a blissful, ethereal comfort.
"Crackle!"
A peak Seventh-Step Half-Saint from the Murong Family directly broke through, reaching the initial stage of Eighth-Step Half-Saint.
Of course, his cultivation was already quite profound, only a step away from Eighth-Step Half-Saint. The energy contained in the food merely served as a catalyst and impetus.
Murong Yue, who had just broken through to Third-Step Half-Saint, ate the dishes made by Qing Mo and achieved another breakthrough, surging to the late stage of Third-Step Half-Saint.
The cultivations of other cultivators also saw significant improvements.
Sun Dadi's face was flushed red, exceptionally excited. He looked up at Qing Mo in an almost worshipful posture and said, "Eating the dishes made by Miss Qing Mo is comparable to taking half a Sacred Pill. I feel another breakthrough in my cultivation. Within a few days, I should attract the Forty-Nine Tribulation."
Everyone present was stirred, regarding Qing Mo as a goddess.
Only Zhang Ruochen remained very serious. Standing alone at the edge of the concealment formation, he clasped his hands behind his back and gazed toward the direction of the earth fissure.
Behind him, light footsteps approached.
Accompanying them was a faint, refreshing fragrance.
Huang Yanchen held an exquisite jade bowl, offering a bowl of steaming hot meat soup. She handed it to him, saying, "Qing Mo's culinary skills are quite good. Want to try it? This is the last bowl."
Zhang Ruochen took the jade bowl, held it in his hands, felt the warmth emanating from it, and then drank it all in one go.
"Not angry anymore?"
Huang Yanchen, seeing Zhang Ruochen drink the soup, finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Do you really think I'm a petty man? I was just thinking about how to take the Saint Source Spirit Spring as quickly as possible."
Then, using voice transmission, Zhang Ruochen summoned Zhao Shiqi and Xiao Hei.
"Zhao Shiqi, how many savage beasts have you tamed in total?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Five Upper Sixth-Rank savage beasts, six Middle Sixth-Rank savage beasts, and nine Lower Sixth-Rank savage beasts, twenty in total," Zhao Shiqi said.
"That many?"
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised, but soon a smile appeared on his face. He thought to himself, "I must make good use of this batch of savage beasts and maximize their value."
The combat power of a Sixth-Rank savage beast was comparable to a Half-Saint among human cultivators.
Twenty Sixth-Rank savage beasts were equivalent to twenty Half-Saint-level combatants.
"Hand over all the savage beasts to Xiao Hei for control," Zhang Ruochen decided.
Before long, Xiao Hei led the twenty Sixth-Rank savage beasts, swaggering toward the earth fissure, blending into the savage beast horde.
This was a hidden move arranged by Zhang Ruochen, with Xiao Hei and those savage beasts tasked with seizing the Saint Source Spirit Spring. If they succeeded, Zhang Ruochen wouldn't have to share the Saint Source Spirit Spring with Wan Huayu and the human cultivators in Yingsha City.
Who wouldn't want to monopolize it?
By seizing all the Saint Source Spirit Spring, the Ming Sect could later cultivate a large number of Half-Saint-level experts.
Of course, that was only Zhang Ruochen's first plan. If Xiao Hei failed in the seizure, he would have to resort to the second plan and cooperate with other human cultivators.
Half a day later, the earth within tens of thousands of miles shook violently again, emitting a rumbling sound.
The continental plates began to shift once more.
The fissure dozens of miles away stretched east and west, growing wider and wider.
"The Saint Source Spirit Spring is about to emerge."
Zhang Ruochen immediately put away the Cosmic Divine Wood Map and then assigned tasks to everyone: "Grand Minister of Works, Second Minister of Works, Sun Dadi, come with me to seize the Saint Source Spirit Spring. The rest of you, leave this place immediately and rendezvous with us at the Mud and Sand River three thousand miles away."
Huang Yanchen's lips moved as if to speak, but she ultimately refrained from objecting. She led the other cultivators out of the concealment formation and headed toward the Mud and Sand River.
Soon after, Wan Huayu, Feng Wanli, Fire Yuan Old Ancestor, and Jingyi Half-Saint arrived one after another, entering the concealment formation and gathering with Zhang Ruochen and the others.
Fire Yuan Old Ancestor's aged eyes scanned the surroundings, and he smiled. "The Divine Son's courage impresses this old man. To dare to camp so close to the savage beasts, aren't you afraid of being detected by a beast-king-level being?"
Zhang Ruochen appeared full of confidence. "I dare to camp here because I'm certain no savage beast can discover my location."
"I suppose the Divine Son has also collected quite a bit of Saint Source Spirit Liquid?" Feng Wanli said.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at him without a friendly expression. "How much Saint Source Spirit Liquid I've collected has nothing to do with Senior Feng, does it?"
The Feng Family's camp was far away, where the drifting Saint Source Spirit Qi was very thin, making it impossible to collect any liquid.
Naturally, Feng Wanli felt quite envious.
Feng Wanli looked at Sun Dadi, Grand Minister of Works, and Second Minister of Works. Sensing the unfriendly gazes from the three experts, he immediately shut his mouth and stopped challenging Zhang Ruochen.
"Boom."
The sound of hooves rose, kicking up a large cloud of yellow sand.
The savage beasts, clearly aware that the Saint Source Spirit Spring was about to emerge, charged over in groups, gathering at the edge of the earth fissure.
In the sky, dense flocks of savage birds—Fire Golden Crows, Snow Mountain Blue Eagles, and Corpse Ancestor Birds—flew about. Each was powerful, emitting astonishing energy fluctuations.
They patrolled the high sky, ready to kill any human cultivator who appeared.
"Roar!"
The massive body of the Golden Armored Scorpion King crawled out from the desert, causing the entire world to tremble violently. Its roar was like a show of force, intimidating the restless human cultivators.
The people in the concealment formation, standing a hundred miles away, could feel their internal organs trembling violently, imagining how terrifying the power emitted by the Golden Armored Scorpion King must be.
"The Golden Armored Scorpion King ranks fifty-sixth on the list; it's a truly terrifying creature," Wan Huayu said.
Feng Wanli, Jingyi Half-Saint, and Fire Yuan Old Ancestor all turned pale.
With their cultivation levels, if they fought the Golden Armored Scorpion King, they would most likely die.
"It seems only the two eminent monks, Grand Minister of Works and Second Minister of Works, can block the Golden Armored Scorpion King," Jingyi Half-Saint said.
Soon after, from the direction of the earth fissure, more deafening beast-king roars echoed.
Dense masses of savage beasts spread across the area ahead, vast and imposing, delivering a tremendous shock.
Facing such a massive horde of savage beasts, even a Saint-realm giant would have to flee immediately, not daring to clash head-on.
Originally, everyone had held a glimmer of hope for seizing the Saint Source Spirit Spring. Seeing the scene before them, even with their cultivation levels, they felt a sense of powerlessness.
But now, the arrow had been shot from the bow, and they had no choice but to press forward. Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, they had to fight for it.
"Whoosh!"
From below the fissure, a massive amount of seven-colored Saint Source Spirit Qi surged out.
The ground and sky were completely connected by a waterfall of seven-colored light, forming an incredibly mystical and wondrous scene, as if the world had split in two.
Human cultivators from Yingsha City rushed out of the city gates from four directions. Some headed toward the earth fissure to compete for the Saint Source Spirit Spring.
Others charged deep into the desert, hoping to take this opportunity to escape the siege of the savage beast horde.
"Do you really think you can seize the Saint Source Spirit Spring?"
The Devouring Demon Dragon charged out, spewing a mouthful of black demonic miasma. Immediately, screams erupted from the human cultivator camp.
Hundreds of human experts fell to the ground, their bodies hissing as they turned into pools of black, putrid blood.
"Devouring Demon Dragon, this king will fight you!"
A golden light shuttle flew out from the crowd, materializing into Chi Wansui's figure, charging into the sky to attack the Devouring Demon Dragon.
"A mere defeated opponent dares to challenge my authority? Are you here to die?" the Devouring Demon Dragon said in a deep voice.
"Adding me should be enough, right?"
Beigong Lan pointed her finger, and the azure sacred sword left its sheath, carrying thousands of sword qi, striking at the Devouring Demon Dragon's head.
The two Realm Sons acted together, finally managing to hold back the Devouring Demon Dragon.
However, the battle on the ground remained extremely brutal. The savage beast horde had an overwhelming numerical advantage, and no human cultivator could get close to the earth fissure.
More than half of the savage beasts near the fissure charged toward Yingsha City, intending to take this opportunity to wipe out all the human cultivators.
"Now it's our turn to act."
A joyful expression appeared on Wan Huayu's face.
Feng Wanli was the first to send a signal, transmitting a message to the Feng Family cultivators.
Soon after, a patch of black yin clouds drifted over, completely covering the sky above the earth fissure, plunging the land into darkness.
A chilling wind swept through the air, accompanied by the wailing of ghosts.
Clusters of green ghost fire fell from the clouds, dropping into the savage beast horde.
"Sizzle."
A Fourth-Rank savage beast, barely touched by the ghost fire, had its body ignite, quickly burning into a pile of bone ash.
Some savage beasts were attacked by vengeful ghostly spirits, their bodies convulsing violently before crashing to the ground with a thud, losing all signs of life.
"The Feng Family is also skilled in the secret art of raising ghosts. Could they be a branch of the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan's royal family?" Zhang Ruochen glanced at Feng Wanli, a puzzled expression on his face.
The royal family of the Ghost-Raising Ancient Clan also bore the surname Feng.
"Woo woo."
At that moment, over a hundred thousand vengeful ghostly spirits flew above the savage beast horde, unleashing various attacks.
Although their attack power could only kill Fourth-Rank savage beasts, unable to harm higher-ranked ones, the vengeful spirits created panic, causing many savage beasts to become agitated, and some even fled into the distance.