Chapter 739: Ambush

"Ah!"

"Not good!"

"It's an ambush, the Purple Firmament Sect was prepared long ago!"

Multicolored spiritual light suddenly bombarded from not far away. Immediately, over a hundred Chen State cultivators were caught in it; in an instant, over a dozen peak Foundation Establishment cultivators died in battle, and several low-grade Purple Mansion cultivators were severely injured.

Among the several Golden Core cultivators, some also had their artifacts damaged because they were bearing the brunt of the strongest attacks.

"Damn it!"

"There's a traitor among us!"

The four leading Golden Core cultivators had gloomy expressions. This route and this timing were chosen by them; besides these people, no one else knew.

Yet they fell into an ambush, so it went without saying that there must be a traitor among them.

This was not the only route to the Purple Firmament Sect.

The four scanned the hundred or so people behind them, as if wanting to see through them all.

"Haha! Just by relying on you petty thieves, you dare to offend my Purple Firmament Sect!"

At this moment, Lu Qingshan of the Purple Firmament Sect took the lead, bringing the disciples of the Purple Firmament Sect out as well, with thousands of troops behind him.

Previously, they had used a formation to hide their figures, but now that they had struck, they no longer needed the hidden formation.

Among the thousands of troops, more than half were disciples of the Purple Firmament Sect, and the other half were loose cultivators or disciples from small families of Zheng State who had come voluntarily.

Of course, some smart people knew that by fighting alongside the Purple Firmament Sect, as long as they were victorious, they would naturally receive rewards from the Purple Firmament Sect.

The Purple Firmament Sect had quite a few good things.

The most popular among the masses was still the Foundation Establishment Pill, because the Purple Firmament Sect had opened several herb gardens, and now there was no shortage of materials for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

Moreover, opening the passage to Dongying City in the State of Wu allowed them to purchase inner cores of third-grade demon beasts from there, combined with the alchemists within the sect.

It could be said that the Purple Firmament Sect could open a furnace to refine Foundation Establishment Pills every five years, and sometimes even refine several furnaces at once.

Because of Su Fan's influence, a portion of the disciples in the sect did not like to rely on Foundation Establishment Pills to establish their foundation, especially the disciples with dual spirit roots. Because of the abundance of resources, they almost reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining perfection before the age of twenty or thirty.

With Vein-Protecting Pills, they all used them to establish their foundation; even if they failed, at most they would recuperate for a few years and still have several chances to attempt it.

As long as they were under sixty, they could keep trying.

This also resulted in the Zixiao Sect now being able to save many Foundation Establishment Pills, and thus the Zixiao Sect also took a portion of the Foundation Establishment Pills to sell outside.

This gave loose cultivators a chance and also allowed them to collect more spirit stones.

This could both win over hearts and increase the income of the Zixiao Sect; sometimes, loose cultivators even had many good things on them.

For example, years ago, a loose cultivator took a second-tier spirit peach tree to the Su family to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Now that second-tier spirit peach tree had been promoted to a third-tier high-grade spirit peach tree. A third-tier high-grade spirit peach not only contained powerful vitality but could also extend life; consuming one third-tier spirit peach could extend life by at least twenty years.

If refined into a life-extension pill, one third-tier high-grade life-extension pill could extend life by at least thirty years.

Although loose cultivators are poor, because many loose cultivators like to forage in the wilderness, sometimes they can often collect many good things.

Some cultivators even specialize in "archaeology," excavating the caves of predecessors, and can find many things.

Zheng Guo does not look large, but its actual area is more than ten times larger than the Huaxia of Su Fan's previous life; the scope of human activity is really too small.

The other Southern Huang Ye continents are the same; compared to the places where humans live, the wilderness is larger, and some wilderness areas look like they have no spiritual energy.

In reality, they might be superior spirit veins, but the spiritual energy is locked by natural heaven and earth arrays, and outsiders cannot detect it.

This situation is a very common thing in the cultivation world.

Some loose cultivators have found spirit herbs over a thousand years old of the third or fourth tier in barren lands, or fragments of high-tier artifacts.

So although loose cultivators are very poor, some lucky loose cultivators can also get many good things.

The Zixiao Sect taking out Foundation Establishment Pills is not only to exchange for spirit stones but also to obtain such things from these loose cultivators.

Even all kinds of cultivation secret techniques and knowledge.

Before the Zixiao Sect was established, there was a loose cultivator who took out a spirit wine manual to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill and many spirit stones.

That spirit wine brewing manual recorded the brewing process of six types of spirit wine, three of which reached the third-tier high-grade level.

Spirit wine also contains spiritual energy and can also improve magic power and cultivation.

So over these years, the Zixiao Sect has also increased its collection from loose cultivators, obtaining many pill formulas, spirit planters, and even knowledge on raising spirit beasts.

This has greatly strengthened the foundation of the Zixiao Sect.

And the Zixiao Sect's generosity and fairness have also made the Zixiao Sect quite well-regarded among the loose cultivators in Zheng Guo and even several surrounding countries.

Some loose cultivators from other countries also come to Zheng Guo in groups to make a living.

Some loose cultivator families have even arrived.

Zheng Guo is not short of spirit veins now; on the contrary, it is relatively short of cultivators.

After annexing the Yu State, plus the Zixiao Sect constantly encroaching on the demon race's sphere of influence, there are more and more spirit veins, but there are less than four hundred thousand cultivators.

This number is much less relative to the vast territory.

Attracting outside cultivators to come is also something the Zixiao Sect has been doing over these years.

And now it seems that relying on its reputation is not bad.

This time, the two major forces of the Chen State invaded, and the Zixiao Sect did not even issue a conscription order, yet more than a thousand loose cultivators and some cultivation families sent people to come and follow the Zixiao Sect's army.

Now the Zixiao Sect's popularity in Zheng Guo is too high; unless it is the kind of foreign invasion that the Zixiao Sect cannot resist.

Otherwise, any force attacking the Zixiao Sect will face resistance like a vast ocean.

After all, those loose cultivators are not fools; they can distinguish reality. The Zixiao Sect sitting in Zheng Guo is beneficial to them, while other forces are different.

So this time, when the Chen State cultivators invaded, the Zixiao Sect was not worried. Before this, the high-level officials had already simulated it once.

In terms of timing, location, and human harmony, the Zixiao Sect occupied two, while the Chen State cultivators occupied none; how could they win?

Relying on their strength, they are also not more powerful than the Zixiao Sect.

Perhaps in terms of the number of Golden Cores, the two families combined are two or three more than the Zixiao Sect, but they cannot all be dispatched; they still have to guard against the remnants of the Shangling Sect.

Dispatching four is already the maximum strength.

Added to the dozens of Purple Mansion cultivators, they are already powerful enough, but unfortunately, they underestimated the foundation of the Zixiao Sect.

The number of Golden Core cultivators in the Zixiao Sect has not increased, but in these decades, the number of Purple Mansion cultivators has increased quite a bit.