Chapter 440: Tragic!

　　Inside the shield, the Crow Gloom Priest’s face went pale and he began to murmur. “Exotic Heartdevil Flower!!

　　“The Five Poisons Tribe wants to exterminate the five Crow Divinity Tribes so bad they’re using the Exotic Heartdevil Flower! It must not be looked at! Looking at it causes a Heartdevil to rise up, which then transforms into a devilish will that burns you away….”

　　How could he not understand that he had been defeated from the very beginning…! Played and defeated. He had known something was off, but hadn’t been able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

　　Exotic Heartdevil Flowers were rare. During Spirit Severing, if a Cultivator had such a flower, the chances of success were greatly increased, which made it an extremely precious treasure.

　　Furthermore, the flower itself was extremely brutal. Anyone under the Spirit Severing stage who looked at it would lose virtually all life force and then be burned alive by a devilish will. The end result was always death.

　　In some ways, though, the flower was weak. Although it was difficult for a person to defend against it, the Tribe’s protective shield was enough to keep its power on the outside. None of the Tribe members inside would be affected.

　　However, as soon as the Exotic Heartdevil Flower appeared outside, everyone on the battlefield suddenly stopped moving, with the exception of the totemic Sacred Ancients and the Sacred Spider.

　　After consuming the special medicinal pill, the Spider Branch Cultivators were temporarily safe from the effects of the flower. However, they were forced to first sit cross-legged in meditation. The members of the Five Tribes, on the other hand, began to scream in pain.

　　Almost immediately, more than three hundred members of the Five Tribes began to tremble. Blood oozed from their eyes, nose, and mouth as something like an invisible fire raged in their bodies, withering them up. It took only a moment for their life force to be extinguished, and their bodies transformed into desiccated corpses. In the last moment before death, they let out tragic, blood-curdling shrieks.

　　After that, more and more of the Tribe members began to scream and die. It was a massacre. No enemy made a single attack, and yet the ruthlessness of scene exceeded the previous fighting by a hundredfold.

　　The members of the Five Tribes within the shield looked out at their fellow Tribesmen dying, and could only tremble. Their eyes turned bloodshot, and they howled in anguish. Unfortunately… they could not charge out to provide aid.

　　As soon as they left the shield, they too would die. Not only would they be incapable of helping their fellow Tribe members, but they would be charging to their death!

　　The Grand Elder of the Crow Scout Tribe was shaking, and he coughed up blood as his body withered up. Even Nascent Soul Cultivators were incapable of evading. In front of him, he saw a shapeless form, laughing ruthlessly as it sucked away his life force and consumed it.

　　As the members of the Five Tribes died, the black light emanating out from Zhao Youlan’s wooden box grew even more intense. It seemed that after consuming enough blood, it was turning violet.

　　Everything was going according to Zhao Youlan’s plan. The slaughtering, the attack on the shield, all of it had been a ruse to draw out the powerful experts. Once they were out of the shield… she would exterminate them with the Exotic Heartdevil Flower.

　　At the moment, Zhao Youlan’s face was pale as she held aloft the Exotic Heartdevil Flower. A strange look appeared on her face as she spit out a mouthful of blood. As the blood flew out, it transformed into strands of Blood Qi, which spread out toward all of the Spider Branch Cultivators who sat cross-legged meditating on the battlefield.

　　“Nascent Soul seniors,” said Zhao Youlan softly, “I cannot exempt you from the effects of the Exotic Heartdevil Flower. However, all other ordinary Cultivators, my mouthful of Heartdevil Blood can temporarily allow you to move about freely.”

　　With the exception of the Nascent Soul Cultivators, all of the other Tribe members whom the Blood Qi entered suddenly shook. They opened their eyes, and the lucidity therein instantly transformed into savagery. They leaped up roaring, and began to slaughter the surrounding Five Tribes members, who were now powerless to fight back.

　　Now the true massacre had begun.

　　Mournful cries instantly could be heard from within the shield.

　　“NOOO!!”

　　“Five Poisons Tribe, you are now the arch nemesis of the Crow Divinity Tribe! We two cannot exist under the same sky!!”

　　The surviving Five Tribes members within the shield were trembling, and their eyes were bloodshot as they felt their hearts tearing apart. They could do nothing but watch on helplessly as the Tribe members outside the shield were being slaughtered. The tearing pain within them caused their voices to be filled with indescribable grief.

　　In the blink of an eye, hundreds of Five Tribes Cultivators were viciously cut down by the Spider Branch. As for Meng Hao, he immediately attracted the attention of the Spider Branch Cultivators. However, the vast quantity of neo-demons surrounding him caused them to hesitate.

　　It was at this moment that the three Dragoneers opened their eyes from meditation. When they saw Meng Hao’s current position, they went wild with joy and immediately sent forth all of their neo-demon hordes to slaughter his.

　　It was in this fashion that the cruel Spider Branch Cultivators descended upon Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao was sitting there meditating, his eyes closed tightly and his body trembling.

　　His thirty thousand neo-demons were situated around him on the battlefield. All of them began to roar. The Exotic Heartdevil Flower had little effect on them. Therefore, they immediately began to fight back against the enemy Cultivators and neo-demons.

　　Instantly, booming sounds filled the air, although Meng Hao was incapable of paying any attention to it. At the moment, his body was shaking as the Resurrection Lily unleashed all of its power against him in its attempt to take over his body. In return, Meng Hao was using all the strength he could muster to suppress it.

　　The inward struggle raged on. By this point, eighty to ninety percent of the Five Tribes Cultivators had been massacred. Blood soaked the ground, which was littered with corpses. The reek of blood rose up into the sky. The Five Tribes within the shield felt their hatred for the Five Poisons Tribe growing to an indescribable level.

　　It was at this point that the Crow Scout Tribe Greatfather coughed up a mouthful of blood. He laughed bitterly as his body withered up. Facing up against an Exotic Heartdevil Flower without making advanced preparations, even Nascent Soul Cultivators would find it difficult to resist it. They wouldn’t even be able to self-detonate. They could only stand there and be consumed by the flower.

　　In the moment before he died, the Crow Scout Tribe Greatfather bit the tip of his tongue. A green light began to shine out from all of the totems on his body. Fatally damaging his own body and spirit, he sent some of his life force shooting back toward the Crow Scout Tribe Priest.

　　“We can’t… all perish here!” cried the Greatfather. He continued to laugh bitterly as his body withered up completely. He was unable to extricate himself, but what he was able to do was impart some of his boundless life force to his fellow Tribe member. The stream of life force entered the person behind him. Unfortunately, he was not able to extricate himself from the power of the Exotic Heartdevil Flower either. Merging his own life force with that of the Crow Scout Tribe Greatfather, he sent it out to the next person. And so it went on….

　　The Crow Flame Greatfather, Priest and Grand Elder and other Nascent Soul Cultivators outside of the shield all perished, more than ten in total.

　　They died laughing bitterly, and hearts filled with rancor. Before withering away in death, the last person in line took all of the combined life force and passed it on to the most powerful expert of the Five Tribes, the Crow Soldier Tribe Greatfather.

　　The life force fused into the body of the gray-haired Crow Soldier Tribe Greatfather, who was currently fighting back against the Exotic Heartdevil Flower. It was a final gift from his fellow Tribesmen upon their death. Within the life force was also their combined hatred of the Five Poisons Tribe. It combined together to form one word.

　　“REVENGE!!”

　　The Crow Soldier Tribe Greatfather lifted his head to the sky and roared. His eyes were completely bloodshot, but at this moment, the power of restoration flowed through him. He shook off the glow of the Exotic Heartdevil Flower. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, he unhesitatingly fell back at top speed. Even as the power of the flower once again attempted to envelop him, he shot back through the shield, and then immediately sat down cross-legged to heal himself. His expression was one of extreme malevolence, but in fact, his heart felt as if it were breaking.

　　Beneath the dim light cast out by the Exotic Heartdevil Flower, all of the Five Tribes members had perished except for Meng Hao. The tragic turn of events caused the hearts of the Tribe members inside the shield to fill with thoughts of despair. The shadow of genocide loomed over them, and they began to weep.

　　As of now, the Five Tribes only had seven Nascent Soul Cultivators left inside the shield. They immediately went to stand guard around the Crow Soldier Tribe Greatfather. They said nothing, but within their bitterness, hatred boiled up into the sky. The Crow Gloom Tribe Priest laughed woefully and then muttered to himself, “Defeated… thoroughly defeated….”

　　Back outside the shield, Zhao Youlan opened her eyes and looked out at the blood-soaked, corpse-filled battlefield. When she saw that the Crow Soldier Greatfather had escaped with his life, she let out a soft sigh. A sliver of pity appeared in her eyes, but she quickly shook her head and it disappeared. Then her phoenix-like eyes fell upon Meng Hao, who was still sitting cross-legged in meditation.

　　“Spider Branch Cultivators, hold nothing back! Cooperate with our three esteemed Dragoneers to slaughter the Five Tribes’ Dragoneer!”

　　In response to her words, the more than three thousand Spider Branch Cultivators shot toward Meng Hao. As for the Grand Elders and High Priest, they simply sat there with legs crossed. Considering their status, they completely ignored Meng Hao, and instead looked with glittering eyes at the Five Tribes’ protective shield.

　　“Seniors,” said Zhao Youlan in her soft voice, “please exert full power to destroy the shield. We will allow the glow of the Exotic Heartdevil Flower to shine inside, whereupon today’s battle shall be concluded. The Spider Branch has suffered few losses, and secured victory. My trial by fire is over, and the Tribe can be notified.”

　　Booms filled the air as the powerful experts of the Spider Branch, including the High Priest, levelled attacks against the shield. Meng Hao’s neo-demons fought fiercely against the three Dragoneers and the rest of the three thousand Cultivators who surrounded them.

　　The injuries they were sustaining grew more severe, and the tide was turning against them. Without Meng Hao and his Demonic Qi, their battle prowess was significantly lessened.

　　The Five Tribes’ shield was rumbling and showing signs of breaking. At this point, Big Hairy let out a sad howl and coughed up some blood.

　　Just when it seemed everything was going to go wrong, Meng Hao’s eyes suddenly opened. They were completely bloodshot and radiated intense killing intent. Despite the Resurrection Lily’s fierce struggles, Meng Hao had once again managed to suppress it.