Chapter 269: Chapter 267: Attack (Part 1) Seeing this person, Lou Yi’s scalp tingled, and a constant stream of fear-induced cries echoed in his mind like an eagle. This was the strongest person he had ever encountered so far! The female Daoist who once nearly pushed him to the brink of despair was nothing compared to this person. As he was now, he was definitely not their match. In a real fight, even escaping would be a luxury. A Corpse-Driving Sect elder, a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator! From the information he had gathered, Foundation Establishment cultivators in the entire Cultivation Realm were considered very prestigious. The most apparent difference from Qi Refining cultivators was that they could fly with a magical artifact. Elder Peng descended slowly, stepping on a piece of broken cloth, his emotionless eyes swept across the crowd coldly and said, "All newly recruited disciples, come up." ’This broken cloth could only be three or four squares, how can it hold so many people?’ Someone couldn’t help but doubt. But as more people stepped onto the cloth, its size increased, eventually reaching more than ten times its original size. "Ju Bo, You Qingyi, Zhang Cenli, you three come stand by me." Elder Peng began to call names. Ju Bo is Prince Qiu, and You Qingyi is the daughter of General You. The third person, called Zhang Cenli, was a shabby-looking young man in plain clothing, a bit shy, not daring to raise his head. "Who is this, able to stand alongside Prince Qiu and You Qingyi, receiving the elder’s attention?" Everyone couldn’t help but wonder. But as the cloth gradually rose, the scenery below got smaller and smaller, and most people’s legs went weak, having no thoughts to ponder further, only a few managed to keep their eyes open. The temperature around dropped rapidly, the blowing wind made it hard for one to open their eyes, whistling past their ears, making their skin sting. Just as many were about to reach their limit, the edge of the cloth raised a semi-transparent white barrier, blocking the turbulent outside world. ’Cultivators, truly possess divine skills.’ Lou Yi thought inwardly. Just this act of flying while carrying people on a magical artifact was a realm that a martial artist could never reach. Even the lightweight skill of a Martial Artist could only hover briefly in the air, far from comparable. Not to mention isolating the outside world with techniques, making the ride experience akin to a modern airplane. ’One day, I too will achieve this.’ Lou Yi thought to himself. The broken cloth seemed to be a magical artifact, hundreds of zhang off the ground, with a very fast flying speed. The people could see the scenery below and the white clouds above rapidly moving backward. After a while, most people shook off their fear and felt more curious and entertained. The journey was rather dull, and the elder responsible for transport sat in the center of the cloth with eyes closed, seemingly asleep. This encouraged the others, who started chatting. "I wonder when I can own such a flying treasure?" someone longed. "When you break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, common Qi Refining cultivators find it hard to sustain the large consumption of a flying magical artifact," someone knowledgeable pointed out. "I’ve heard that out of ten Qi Refining disciples, not even one might step into the Foundation Establishment stage." "What ten, it’s a hundred! Late-stage Qi Refining can become a True Disciple of the Corpse-Driving Sect. Most people can’t even pass this threshold!" On the cloth were many noble princes and princesses, sharing the insider information they had. Through this, Lou Yi learned about the division among disciples of the Corpse-Driving Sect. Early Stage of Qi Cultivation is for Outer Disciples, Middle Stage for Inner Sect Disciples, and Late-stage for True Disciples. Each breakthrough allows one’s status to leap, somewhat like in the old Extreme Fist Sect. The noble kids repeatedly mentioned a term ’task’. After becoming an Inner Sect Disciple, one qualifies to take on sect tasks and earn contributions. With contributions, one can buy more cultivation techniques, elixirs, and talismans. Lou Yi felt something off as he listened. This sect wasn’t like the ones in the novels he had read before, where disciples only needed to cultivate, compete in martial arts, and explore secret realms, and the sect provided ample cultivation resources. In the Corpse-Driving Sect, resources must be fought for by oneself, disciples must work for the sect. ’Why does it seem like everywhere you can’t escape the fate of being a beast of burden?’ Lou Yi pondered with furrowed brows. On the broken cloth magical artifact, the many newcomer disciples were chatting leisurely. Suddenly, a gust of howling wind blew from ahead. It slowed the flying speed of the magical artifact abruptly, the transparent barrier at the edges rippled, appearing somewhat unstable. A few standing disciples, under the massive inertia, were swept off and flew forward. If it weren’t for the barrier, they might have been thrown off the broken cloth magical artifact, falling through the clouds. Simultaneously, a cloud silently emerged from the void ahead. It was as large as a house, entirely fiery red, as if fiercely burning. The cloud approached them seemingly slowly but actually rapidly, morphing into a hideous giant beast head. It opened its mouth wide, ready to swallow everyone on the broken cloth magical artifact. "How dare you!" Corpse-Driving Sect’s Elder Peng shouted loudly. With a wave of his hand, a mysterious person wrapped in black cloth appeared in front of him. The mysterious person floated as if weightless in the void, only their hands and feet were exposed in a bronze-red and silver mixture color. Their eyes were cold and emotionless, the whites occupying most of their eyes, looking quite terrifying. He suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a massive lump of ink-black smoke. The smoke endlessly expanded, seemingly without an end, quickly colliding with the beast head cloud. ’Boom!’ The two opposing monumental energies collided, the entire sky in front of everyone shattered, and countless visible shockwaves spread out in all directions. The broken cloth magical artifact, carrying the many newcomer disciples, was like a small boat sailing in a stormy sea. It shook violently in the aftermath of energy, rolling up and down, left and right. "Ah!" "Help us!" "Ahhhh!!" All the young boys and girls on the magical artifact had never encountered such a shocking turn of events in their lives. One by one, their bodies were flung back and forth in the air, letting out terrified screams. Luckily the surrounding barrier shielded them, preventing a tragedy. But at one moment, the semi-transparent barrier around the broken cloth magical artifact could no longer hold, developing cracks that expanded into several gaps as large as small doors. "Ah!!!" A few unlucky ones happened to crash into the gaps, falling from hundreds of zhang high! Among the crowd, besides Elder Peng who struggled to control the broken cloth magical artifact, only Lou Yi could barely stabilize his form. As a martial arts expert, his fine control and balance of physical strength reached an unparalleled peak. ’Snap!’ Seeing a green figure swiftly swipe past from the side, about to rush to the gap in the barrier. Lou Yi struck decisively, accurately grabbing that person’s arm, saving her life. ...