Chapter 177 - Throwing Stones (1/2)

Jiang Li did not let his clone kill them directly.

If 46 outer sect disciples suddenly died, it would definitely attract the sect’s attention.

The sect naturally did not care if a disciple died in the mission.

However, deliberately harming fellow disciples was too detrimental. Even sect elders had to be secretive when doing something like this. If he directly killed so many, wouldn’t he be looking for trouble for no reason?

Moreover, the fruit had not matured yet. Even if he took away the spiritual root seed, the final solution was to throw it into other creatures’ bodies to wait for it to grow. Wasn’t it the same as now?

There were still more than two thousand hosts in the sect waiting for him. If he killed this batch, would anyone dare to come in the next batch? Having a steady stream of seeds was the best option.

As usual, he threw the newly formed Nine Nether Earth Fruits back into their mouths.

The 46 shriveled and immature Nine Nether Earth Fruits looked pitiful.

However, although these fruits were all underdeveloped, consuming them could still increase one’s lifespan by decades.

The life and spiritual qi absorbed by the spiritual root seed was quickly replenished by the Nine Nether Earth Fruit. The dying outer sect disciples gradually woke up.

The 46 people got up from the ground without knowing why. They scratched their heads and seemed to be unaware of what had just happened.

When the spiritual root seed parasitized, it could secrete a special substance that could erase the host’s recent memories.

This was the ability evolved from the spiritual root seed to better protect itself without being discovered by others.

Not only the brain, but even the memories in the soul could be erased.

Therefore, ever since these 2,000 hosts were brought back to the Scripture Storage Valley, the sect had not discovered the problem.

They themselves could not remember what they had eaten before they fainted. This was also the reason why Jiang Li had let his spiritual root clone act so casually just now.

The clone transformed into a tree root again and left the ground.

Due to the fact that there was a powerful energy barrier between the inner and outer city, it was impossible to escape through the ground.

Therefore, Green Mountain Ascetic, who only had an outer shell left, did not directly enter the city. Instead, he strolled aimlessly in the outer city.

It was not until his main body rushed back from the ground and drilled back into his body that he finally turned around and entered the inner city.

It was only a wall away, but the environment and style of the inner and outer cities were worlds apart.

Although the outer city was also very bustling, in terms of the layout of the buildings, it was crowded and messy. As long as there was some space, it would be filled to the brim.

It could be seen that the people living there were still fussing over the minor details of life.

As for the inner city, just looking at it made people feel comfortable.

The houses here were at least double courtyards. The greenery and design were quite good.

The flowers, birds, fish, insects, and pavilions were all painstakingly designed and built by those mortal masters in the outer city.

There were no houses that were close to each other.

There was a huge gap between the wall and the wall. This method of maintaining a certain distance was very effective in solving the neighbors relationship between high-level cultivators.

Jiang Li glanced at his residence permit. His address was “Divine Wood Area No.13”.

Originally, that female cultivator attendant was very happy to come over and help Jiang Li lead the way while serving his needs.

Unfortunately, the Nine Nether clone that was covered in wood utterly did not have that ability, so Jiang Li still decisively rejected the other party.

The Divine Wood Area was probably ranked second in this residential area.

Only the sect masters of the various sects and some Nascent Soul cultivators could enjoy this.

However, there were very few cultivators of that level and they were busy every day. It was very difficult for such a cultivation city to provide them with considerable help. Therefore, basically no Nascent Soul cultivator would stay permanently in this Nightless City.

The Nine Nether clone quickly found the place. The golden token in his hand emitted a spiritual light and the door of the courtyard immediately opened.

This courtyard was surrounded by a defensive array formation. The internal facilities were all complete.

If not for the fact that there were no spirit stones buried underground, it would practically be better than Jiang Li’s residence in the Scripture Storage Valley.

Of course, such a courtyard was obviously not something that a Golden Core cultivator could enjoy for free unless he directly joined the city lord’s mansion.

According to tradition, Jiang Li carefully checked the structure of the array formation and did not find any problems.

However, this was natural, because although the current Nine Nether clone could be equivalent to a Golden Core cultivator,

However, his experience and array formation standards completely came from Jiang Li’s main body.

He had only been cultivating for a few months. If there was an obvious flaw that even he could see, the other party was not a fool. Why would he use such a low-level method on a Golden Core cultivator?

Logically speaking, Golden Core cultivators were already absolute higher-ups in the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region. The Nightless City should not easily reveal any malice towards them.

However, one had to be wary of others.

The Nine Nether clone gently stepped on the ground. Tiny spider web-like roots immediately spread from his feet and quickly spread throughout the entire courtyard.

Then, the tiny roots sank into the soil and disappeared.

A moment later, Jiang Li pointed to the left, and then a miraculous scene occurred.

All the plants on the ground seemed to have instantly come to life, and they uniformly pointed their leaves towards the left along with Jiang Li’s finger movement.

Jiang Li pointed to the right again. These plants seemed to have become spirits as they pointed to the right again.

Nine Nether Realm Technique!

This was a Dao Technique that came with the Nine Nether Dao Scripture. Jiang Li’s cultivation was still shallow and far from being able to compare to it, but his clone was the Nine Nether Wood itself. This kind of action was basically instinctive to him.

The Nine Nether Wood was one of the Spiritual Roots of Heaven and Earth. It had a strong restraining effect and control over all lower-level plants.

With just the simplest spreading of the root structure, he forcefully captured and assimilated all the plants in the courtyard.

Even all the wooden materials used to build the entire courtyard were controlled by his roots.

With the obstruction of this Nine Nether Realm Technique, even if the outer array formation was tampered with, it was absolutely unable to spy on the situation inside.

Thus, the Nine Nether clone temporarily stayed in Nightless City.

…

On the Misty Mountain Range’s side, the competition had also reached the end.

There were a total of 320 cultivators in the two arenas. They competed together for a total of 150 positions on the Black and White Rankings.

Due to the fact that the last battle of the Hundred Battles Steps was under the unrestricted format, it gave the participating cultivators more room to maneuver.

Some cultivators were more impulsive and confident. At the beginning, they brazenly challenged and fought, choosing to reveal their strength to intimidate others and make others fear them.

Others did not dare to challenge them.

Some cultivators were cautious and steady, carefully observing and analyzing the situation of the entire arena. They calmly judged the situation and their own strength, challenging the most suitable opponent at the most appropriate time in order to preserve their strength and stand at the end.

There were also cultivators who chose to join forces. Every time they challenged, they would not use their full strength and use many people to cooperate with them in a tag-team battle. They would continuously challenge a powerful opponent and win with lightning speed when the target’s spiritual qi was exhausted.

Other than that, there were many other methods that could affect the outcome other than strength.

Of course, these methods that required the cooperation of many people were undoubtedly more beneficial to sect disciples.

The fellow disciples who interacted with each other day and night were definitely more reliable than the temporary team formed by the rogue cultivators.

In fact, the rogue cultivators were already squeezed until they were defeated, and only a few were left.

On the battlefield, schemes were schemes, and tactics were tactics. But in the end, they still had to fight.