Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Boom!

The delayed massive sound of tearing through the air finally arrived.

The imposing body of Gold Pagoda King fell to the ground, turning into ash and stirring up a cloud of dust.

”Gold Pagoda King...”

The hearts of the many Golden Pill Cultivators trembled with fear, their bodies feeling as cold as ice.

Under the wide-eyed stares of the onlookers, the well-known Peach Blossom Gentleman crumbled into a cloud of Spiritual Light.

A young man with an ordinary face emerged behind the Gold Pagoda King, his Azure Flying Sword returning with Divine Soul and Golden Pill in tow, which he then stored inside a Jade Box.

”Quite lively around here, isn’t it?”

”Is this Cultivator Shang Chengye?”

Jiang Ding smiled, looking at the chubby old man holding a stone tablet stamped with a cloud symbol, ”You came to hold an auction in Tushan Immortal City, yet you didn’t invite the host. This doesn’t seem like the proper etiquette for the Shang Clan, who strives to build their business on commerce in the Northern Plains, does it?”

”This...”

”Please, do not blame me.”

The chubby old man swallowed hard, ”Our Lingbao Commerce Association has always only accepted clients’ goods without asking their origin. This matter is unrelated to me, the commerce association is absolutely neutral, not favoring anyone.”

”Is that so?”

Jiang Ding neither affirmed nor denied, pondering for a moment.

The hearts of the many Golden Pill Cultivators grew cold, shields and treasures were raised, their faces filled with regret.

With so many trade fairs, why on earth did they come to this miserable place for business, only to be cornered by the owner who wanted to auction heads?

”You may leave.”

Jiang Ding pointed to the burly man wearing a pitch-black mask.

Zhou Sanyan, this person had given a prior warning, and that favor should be acknowledged; there would be rewards in the future.

”Thank you, Cultivator!”

Zhou Sanyan heaved a sigh of relief, bowed his hands in thanks, and took his leave.

This Sword Cultivator from the Northern Plains had not been seen for a mere decade yet his cultivation base had progressed to such an extent; thankfully, there was no conflict during the siege on Immortal Tiankuang and some goodwill was established.

Ms. Thousand Snakes felt a surge of panic, about to employ some technique, when the following words made her stop mid-action.

”Ms. Thousand Snakes, must die.”

”Lingbao Commerce Association’s Shang Chengye, must die.”

Jiang Ding spoke indifferently, delivering the judgment one by one, and then to the remaining eleven Golden Pill Cultivators, ”You each must pay a penalty of five million Low-grade Spirit Stones. After that, let’s consider this matter settled. The charges are involvement in human trafficking, indirect participation in massacres, tax evasion, and avoidance.”

As for the remaining fifty to sixty Foundation Establishment Cultivators, he waved his hand casually, and they were enveloped in a teleportation glow. Outside, the Enforcement Officers and maids of Tushan Immortal City would deal with them.

”Do you accept this?”

Jiang Ding’s body was enveloped in the Sword Intent of Destruction, exerting tremendous pressure on the many early-to-mid stage Golden Pill Cultivators, causing cold sweat to bead on their foreheads.

”Lord City Lord!”

”You have slain the Gold Pagoda King with a single sword stroke, I naturally concede.”

An early-stage Golden Pill Cultivator in a blue robe spoke up bravely, ”But five million Low-grade Spirit Stones is too much, I don’t have enough Spirit Stones on me, could you reduce it a bit? After all, we only attended an underground auction; this isn’t considered a major crime in any Immortal City.”

”Too much?”

Jiang Ding smiled faintly.

”Then die.”

Swoosh!

An Azure Flying Sword shot out at a speed invisible even to Golden Pill Divine Sense, its Sword-light appearing instantaneously and filling the sky.

”Not good!”

The scalp of the blue-robed Golden Pill Cultivator exploded in alarm as a Vajra Bowl Magic Weapon spun out, expanding to the size of a house, and positioned itself in front of him.

This was his Life Treasure, nurtured for hundreds of years, containing a stream of Yin and Yang energy. An ordinary cultivator would turn into a puddle of mangled flesh and blood in less than a few moments after being engulfed by the bowl.

The body of the bowl was made of Vajra copper, exceptionally durable.

He was confident that it could withstand a strike from a Post-golden Alchemist without sustaining damage in a few moves.

Clang!

The sound of metal shattering and exploding, a fist-sized hole appeared in the Vajra Bowl Magic Weapon as large as a house, shining through from front to back.

The fracture turned to powder, and silk-like cracks of blue spread in all directions, eroding and destroying the Array Patterns around it, a hundred times more terrifying than any venomous spiders and poisons.

In the blink of an eye, the Sword-light continuously pierced through two layers of the Golden Bowl, and a stream of Yin and Yang energy, like a meandering snake, coiled up towards him, instantly dissipating under the Sword-light, piercing through the brow of the Robed Golden Pill cultivator.

”Hua Xue, Escape!”

With his Life Treasure destroyed, the Cultivator in Blue Robes felt his eyes nearly bursting with fury, instantly burning Essence Blood to transform into a streak of blood light to dodge the Sword’s edge and flee outward.

Jiang Ding didn’t even spare it a glance.

The blood light flew several hundred meters, the body staggered, then plummeted from the sky, a large hole in its forehead.

”Another sword...”

The many Golden Pill monks trembled uncontrollably.

Boom!

In the void, countless fierce and sharp Array Patterns spread out as a giant sword wreathed in flames descended from the sky and struck amidst the air.

In the moment the Spiritual Light shattered, two black and white pythons were struck dizzy, purple-black venom scattering onto the ground, forming deep pits in an instant.

”Had defenses...”

Ms. Thousand Snakes’s exquisite face turned cold.

It was her who had taken advantage of a critical moment to launch a sneak attack, thwarted by the booming operation of the third-rank premium Sky Sword Meteor Stream Formation.

”Lord Tushan, I am willing to pay the fine.”

”Not enough, it will be supplemented with third-rank Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.”

A Golden Pill early-stage Cultivator shivered, threw out a storage bag, and fled without looking back.

Jiang Ding’s Divine Sense swept over it, the contents roughly between five to six million Spirit Stones, leaving enough margin to avoid misjudgment due to price differences across Cultivation realms.

Without any concern, he let it escape.

He was a reasonable and merciful man.

Without definitive hostile actions, he rarely escalated killings among other Cultivators, striving not to stand in opposition to the majority of Cultivators.

”Lord Tushan, this is five million Low-grade Spirit Stones.”

”Lord Tushan...”

A group of early and mid-stage Golden Pill monks, as if pardoned, hurled out storage bags one after another, piling up on the ground like a Little Mountain and frantically escaping in all directions, unwilling to be involved in this battlefield of late-stage Golden Pill combat.

Shang Chengye from the Lingbao Commerce Association mingled in the crowd, trying to slip away in the chaos, but a sudden clear feeling of being targeted by the Sword Intent of Destruction made him halt in his tracks.

”City Lord Tushan, this matter has nothing to do with me.”

Shang Chengye’s face turned ugly, ”I am a member of the Shang Clan from the Northern Plains, within our clan sits a Patriarch Nascent Soul. Do you truly intend to kill a Shang Clan Golden Pill over some unfounded allegations and thereby make an enemy of the Northern Plains Shang Clan?”

”This is not about me being an enemy to you, but rather a hidden Golden Pill late-stage Cultivator of the Shang Clan.”

Jiang Ding shook his head with a slight smile.

”As far as I know, the Shang Clan of the Northern Plains established their business by commerce, with shops spread across the Northern Plains, making many compromises to avoid enemies everywhere and the need for constant suppression; even countless Golden Pills wouldn’t suffice.”

”Among these important compromises, one is that the Lingbao Commerce Association’s leaders and members in a certain area are not allowed to participate in conspiracies and subversion against the local ruling powers, maintaining absolute neutrality.”

”Once violated, it is considered an automatic renouncement of membership from the Shang Clan of the Northern Plains. Killing them won’t provoke any retaliation from the Clan. Blood relatives are another matter, but even they will not intervene openly.”

”Tell me, am I remembering this incorrectly?”

The words floated gently, entering the ears and causing Shang Chengye’s heart to sink completely.