Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1460: 776: Rout (Part 2)
Previously on Cultivation is just so scientific!...
The primary cultivators had been tagged by the Great Cultivators, with this tag serving as a spiritual power signal from the Great Cultivator that Li Yuanba could detect without issue.
In case these cultivators suffered real injuries, Li Yuanba would have to deliver urgent treatment right away, which is precisely why he stayed out of the fight itself.
The clash kicked off the instant the surviving White Emperor Sect cultivators dashed into the base; a barrage of spells engulfed the Hell Creatures, paying extra focus to those two Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Bull Head Spirits.
Regarding the Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Creatures trailing behind, the gap and barriers made it impossible to hit them precisely.
As the onslaught of spells descended upon the Hell Creatures, a dark barrier sprang up around their formation, astonishingly holding off this initial volley for a short while.
Even though the dark barrier trembled unstably, the Hell Creatures Formation's full rush forward meant the cultivators' assault wrapped up after just that single salvo.
Earlier on, the White Emperor Sect had been chased too fiercely by the Hell Creatures Formation, so launching strikes might have accidentally struck their allies, hence the delay until the White Emperor Sect group reached safety.
According to the initial strategy, more than a thousand cultivators—packed with numerous Great Cultivators—ought to have shattered this Hell Creatures Formation in one devastating spell wave.
It was evident they had lowballed the Hell Creatures' might, or more accurately, the boost from those five Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Creatures in the formation had wildly surpassed what they anticipated.
Those two Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Bull Head Spirits smashed into the base's formation, carrying the full force of the charging Hell Creatures, their paired horns carrying a strange ability to pierce through armor.
Li Yuanba observed as the base formation's seven layers got torn apart; luckily, since various superpowers had built the base formation together, it featured ten defensive layers and thus survived the blow without total collapse.
Right then, the Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Sheep Head Beings in the Hell Creatures Formation unleashed a sinister energy orb; this dark orb struck the base formation just a beat after the two Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Bull Head Spirits.
A sharp “crack” echoed as the formation finally gave way and broke into pieces entirely.
“Disperse and fight on your own!” came the order from a Great Cultivator.
This had been arranged in advance; with the base fallen, every superpower's group would switch to guerrilla-style combat.
Cultivators' defenses paled against those of the Hell Creatures, and since the majority fought from afar, without the base, they could only pull back farther from the Hell Creatures.
Li Yuanba shook his head, clearly seeing the error in judgment by the Great Cultivator directing this fight.
They had badly miscalculated the Hell Creatures' power, letting them smash through the base's barriers.
Truth be told, if they had fired off the spells sooner—even if it nicked a few White Emperor Sect cultivators—the outcome would beat the mess they faced now.
He had just spotted that one more round of coordinated spell fire could crack the Hell Creatures Formation's shield, maybe even inflicting heavy harm on the Hell Creatures themselves.
Dwelling on that was pointless at this stage; with any luck, the Great Cultivators wouldn't repeat the blunder after this disaster.
He soared back to the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion team, his role in healing wrapping up without ever starting.
Great Cultivator Lou and Grandmaster Wu activated Sword Escape together, while all the Nascent Soul Middle Stage Sword Cultivators trailed them using Sword Escape, drawing on the duo's speed to move.
This let the Nascent Soul Middle Stage Sword Cultivators briefly tap into the enhanced pace of Sword Escape from the two leading Sword Cultivators.
Li Yuanba fired up his own Sword Escape too, but his velocity matched or beat the pair without any boost needed to stay with them.
Every superpower unleashed their special techniques, each with distinct ways to accelerate, swiftly widening the gap from the Hell Creatures Formation as two Great Cultivators guided the way.
Still, some didn't make it cleanly; two White Emperor Sect Great Cultivators bore grievous wounds, barely hauling their team to the base only for it to crumble before they could recover.
Lacking Li Yuanba's healing touch, they scraped together whatever power they had left to fall back as far as possible.
By now, they couldn't spare attention for their own people anymore, each escorting just two vital cultivators in a desperate final push.
The Hell Creatures Formation barreled into the base, catching the leftover White Emperor Sect cultivators off guard before they could flee, swallowing them whole amid the two thousand-strong horde.
These Nascent Soul Middle Stage powerhouses, famed for their dominance across the Cultivation World, vanished without a trace, unable to dent the two thousand Hell Creatures in the slightest.
The Hell Creatures Formation turned its gaze to yet another group, one lagging noticeably behind.
That group belonged to the Yuqing Sect, where Thunder Cultivators usually boasted top speeds, but this round, they lugged along a wounded Great Cultivator plus a handful of hurt cultivators.
This dragged them to near the bottom in the retreat among all the superpowers.
The Thunder Cultivators shielding the injured Great Cultivator abruptly sensed a bone-chilling dread.
This signaled deadly peril ahead; they yearned to accelerate, but the foe closing in moved far too fast.
The Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Horse Head Spirit, hovering near the Hell Creatures Formation, had bided its time for exactly this moment.
It struck at the Great Cultivators above all, knowing that dropping the mightiest foes would neutralize the danger.
This revealed a major evolution in how these Hell Creatures waged war.
Li Yuanba pondered whether the unusual surge of Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Creatures over recent days was intentional, assembling this formation specifically to thwart the cultivators.
Should that hold true, the Artifact Spirit overseeing the Hell Creatures must possess remarkably sharp intellect.
Such thoughts led him to shoot a look at the tower, figuring it tied back to the Artifact Spirit somehow.
Regrettably, destroying the tower proved impossible, or else the Artifact Spirit might lose its grip on commanding these Hell Creatures.
Over on the Yuqing Sect front, the abrupt assault from the Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Horse Head Spirit caught the two Thunder Cultivators flat-footed, soon piercing the guard around the wounded Thunder Cultivator Great Master.
A flash of dark light marked the mission's very first Great Cultivator casualty.
Thanks to Li Yuanba's upgraded ‘Innate Wood’ divine ability, he excelled at mending Great Cultivators, and even with heavy tolls on Nascent Soul Middle Stage experts, no Great Cultivator had dropped in this grand operation until this point.
The Yuqing Sect's Thunder Cultivator Great Master became the pioneer in that grim tally, filling every onlooker with a heavy sense of doom.
“No!” wailed the other Thunder Cultivator Great Master from Yuqing Sect, his voice raw with agony.
After centuries of partnership, forged in battles for survival, their bond ran deeper than words.
Li Yuanba caught this Thunder Cultivator Great Master, in his rage, casting a quick glance his direction, and from it, Li Yuanba read a seething, unshakeable grudge.
This pinned the fallen Thunder Cultivator Great Master's death squarely on him.
The Hell Creatures Formation bore down on the Yuqing Sect team, shrugging off their lightning barrages while Hell Sheep Head Beings fired back a salvo of dark energy orbs, then two Fourth Grade Late Stage Hell Bull Spirits spearheaded a rush straight into the Yuqing Sect ranks.
“Leave the wounded behind, break formation and run!” the Thunder Cultivator Great Master barked his last, bitter order.
He cursed his choice to haul the injured along, which slowed their getaway and trapped them in this nightmare.
Breaking apart wasn't perfect, but it stood as their sole shot at survival.
The Thunder Cultivators scattered in all directions, a few invoking Thunder Escape to break free, dodging the Hell Creatures Formation's engulfing tide.
The Thunder Cultivator Great Master unleashed one parting lightning strike before shifting into a bolt of electric light, speeding away in a flash, steering clear of other superpower groups and aiming straight for the entrance.