Outside the Hundred Poisons Cave, the ground was littered with corpses.
Once, a vast army of over ten thousand ethnic cultivators marched here, but now, only less than a thousand remained, backed up against a steep cliff, forming their final defensive circle.
They were all covered in blood, with scars and injuries. Some had lost limbs, others had severed meridians, yet they still gripped their broken weapons tightly, unwilling to fall.
In truth, there were more deserters than those who died in battle. Those who had fled early managed to survive, while those who chose to stay and fight here were doomed to die without a chance.
"If we had known... we should've run away too!" one cultivator coughed up blood, his voice hoarse.
"Yeah! Those who stayed are fools!" another one smiled bitterly, his eyes full of despair.
Regret, fear, and unwillingness, all these emotions spread in the hearts of the remaining cultivators!
"Stop talking nonsense and form the formation!"
A sharp voice rang out, coming from Lin Qingyu, the young cultivator who had stayed due to a moment of impulsive passion.
At this moment, he was also blood-soaked, his battle robe torn. He too regretted his decision, but there was no time for words now!
Upon hearing Lin Qingyu's command, the remaining cultivators steadied themselves, moving quickly to take their designated positions, linking their spiritual power together to form a faint green defensive barrier.
This was their last hope, their final defense.
At the same time, the ground began to tremble, and a vast cloud of dust rose in the distance. Lin Qingyu squinted his eyes and saw a dark line appearing on the horizon—
It was the approaching army of demons, thousands strong, filled with strange and monstrous high-tier demons whose oppressive aura made the air feel thick.
"Oh my god..." a young female cultivator trembled, her sword shaking in her hand, its tip slowly resting against her throat.
The formation they had formed was no match for the demon army. Instead of being devoured alive by the demons, it seemed more merciful to end their own lives.
The remaining cultivators, including Lin Qingyu, shuddered, their hearts unstable, and even the defensive formation began to falter.
But at that moment!
The sky brightened!
Boom—!
Two towering divine figures descended from the heavens!
One day, one month!
The glorious sun and the radiant moon shone together, lighting up the mountains and rivers!
"What... what is that?!" A demon general in the army screamed in terror.
But it was too late. The light of the sun and moon descended, and wherever it shone—
The demons disintegrated like snow under the blazing sun, vanishing in an instant!
"No—!!" A hundred-foot serpent demon wriggled wildly, but in the light, it shattered into ash!
"Run! Quick, run!!" A bird demon tried to fly, but its wings burned to nothing as soon as they touched the light!
Heaven's punishment had arrived, and all things fell silent!
In the blink of an eye, the once dark sky full of demons turned to ash!
"Whoo—"
Fang Yuan exhaled lightly, and the stormy skies calmed.
He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze indifferent, as the two divine figures behind him slowly retracted, eventually returning to his body.
Outside the Hundred Poisons Cave, all was still.
There were no demons, no cries, and even the demonic energy had disappeared!
All that remained were the ruins, the surviving cultivators, and... that god-like figure in the distance!
...
Although the demon army sounded terrifying, they were utterly powerless before Fang Yuan.
Had the five demon lords still been around, they might have posed a threat with their assistance, but as the main force, they were not even worthy of making him take them seriously.
[Demon army defeated, good deed points +800,000]
"Over ten thousand demons, and yet it's only worth one demon lord... Seems like it's more cost-effective to kill the higher-ups," Fang Yuan thought, his chest slightly heaving. He had to admit that slaughtering the demon army had consumed even more energy than slaying five demon lords.
It couldn't be helped; there were just so many of them, and he had to use large-scale attacks.
"..."
Lin Qingyu's breath almost stopped. The scene before his eyes left his mind blank. Although he had known that this senior was extraordinary, the difference between imagination and reality was as wide as the gap between fireflies and the moon!
"Goodness..."
The surviving cultivators behind him were even more pale, their legs weak. Some of them clutched their thighs tightly, afraid this was just a hallucination before death.
They had never imagined that, at this life-or-death moment, they would be saved by such an unknown powerful figure—one so ridiculously strong!
Fang Yuan stood in midair, his black robe fluttering in the fierce wind. He glanced down at the remaining cultivators, who were scarred yet still standing tall, and a glimmer of appreciation flashed in his eyes.
"To fight to the death in the face of the demon army, not bad."
His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached every ear, "I am the ancestor of the Sun and Moon Sect. Based on your courage, you can join my sect as inner disciples."
The ancestor of the Sun and Moon Sect?
Lin Qingyu was stunned. How did this senior suddenly become the ancestor of the Sun and Moon Sect?!
Was this even reasonable?
But that glorious sun and moon figure just now was clearly a symbol of the highest inheritance of the Sun and Moon Sect, and it couldn't have been fake!
Well... it made sense!
Forget it, such a powerful figure, how could he be lying to them?
Inner disciples of the Sun and Moon Sect! That was the identity all cultivators in the northern regions dreamed of!
"Greetings, Ancestor!"
Lin Qingyu was the first to kneel, his forehead pressed firmly to the cold ground. The remaining cultivators, as if waking from a dream, all followed suit, prostrating themselves and shouting in unison:
"Thank you, Ancestor, for your grace!"
Fang Yuan nodded slightly. His figure turned into a streak of light and sped toward the Hundred Poisons Cave.
As he crossed the Mo Lan River, the scene before him suddenly opened up.
Clouds of mist billowed, towering peaks rose, and spiritual springs and waterfalls dotted the land, with auspicious clouds swirling above.
This wasn't a demon lair at all; it was clearly a paradise!
"Quite the nice place..." Fang Yuan felt the dense spiritual energy in the air, which was no less than that of the Sun and Moon Sect, and he was somewhat surprised.
At this moment, inside the Hundred Poisons Cave, only the elderly, the weak, and women and children remained. The young demon warriors had long since rushed to the front lines. When they saw a human cultivator in midair, they turned pale with fear, trembling uncontrollably.
"Human... human cultivators?!"
"Could it be... the front line has fallen?"
"This... how is that possible...?"
Their whispers carried a sense of despair. The arrival of a human cultivator in the Hundred Poisons Cave could only mean that their counterattack plan had failed... Next, they would face an unprecedented purge.