130: Reinforcements have arrived!

Su Ling couldn't help but sigh inwardly; even the mindless Wandering Souls knew fear, showing just how massive the scale of this battle was.

He tried to expand his Divine Sense horizontally, only to find the underground resistance far exceeded his imagination.

On the surface, his Divine Sense could easily cover over a hundred miles.

But underground, after struggling to expand to a range of thirty miles, his Divine Sense could hardly advance an inch further.

Even so, the number of Wandering Souls within these thirty miles was already in the tens of thousands, densely packed into the crevices of the rock layers like fireflies in the dark.

"If I can collect all these Wandering Souls, the ten thousand souls banner would probably upgrade on the spot!"

Su Ling's heart burned with excitement, and he had already made up his mind.

Once this battle was over, he would definitely take on missions related to the Shadow Soul Crystal Mine and stay here for a while longer to let the ten thousand souls banner have a proper 'feast.'

At this moment, the Sancai Killing Formation had completely trapped that Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator. Three thunder shadow swords pierced out simultaneously, their lightning arcs penetrating the opponent's defensive Magic Treasure and Qi shield, leaving three bloody holes in his chest.

The Cultivator let out a muffled groan and his body slumped to the ground.

The moment the Divine Soul left the body, it was snatched by Su Ling's lightning-flickering right hand.

Under the cover of the lightning, a miniature black banner quietly emerged from his sleeve and pulled the soul inside.

Although it was only a remnant soul, it still added a faint glimmer of black light to the banner's surface.

Just as Su Ling was about to withdraw his underground Divine Sense to focus on the approaching Qingming Faction Cultivators, an incredibly massive and cold aura suddenly crashed into his Divine Sense.

That aura was a hundred times colder than an ordinary Wandering Soul, carrying a bone-chilling malice like ten-thousand-year-old ice as it surged up along his Divine Sense.

It caused an immediate sting in his Sea of Consciousness, and even the lightning arcs of the thunder shadow swords dimmed slightly.

Su Ling's expression changed slightly as he instinctively tensed his body, his eyes warily scanning the surrounding bone forest.

He could feel that cold aura rapidly approaching from deep underground.

Wherever it passed, even the rock layers seemed to be covered in a thin layer of ice.

Its sheer volume far exceeded the Wandering Souls he had just detected.

Furthermore, as he withdrew his Divine Sense, the Soul Power of the Wandering Souls beneath the battlefield actually seemed to become faintly abundant.

"So this is... a Soul Tide..."

Su Ling speculated inwardly.

Could someone be taking this opportunity to secretly mine?

With extreme caution, the thunder-rushing cloud-treading boots on Su Ling's feet suddenly exploded with a burst of azure lightning, and he shot into the air like a bolt of electricity.

A Peak Core Formation Stage Cultivator from the Qingming Faction was passing by there, driving a shuttle Magic Treasure and preparing to ambush the Bitao Sect Cultivators below.

The battlefield was no longer confined to its initial small area; as the Cultivators from both sides continued to slaughter each other, the flames of war had spread over a hundred miles.

The black armor mothership hovered above the Shadow Soul Crystal Mine's Formation, its golden runes glinting coldly, but because it had lost Yan Wushuang's control, it could not actively pursue enemy Cultivators.

Although such a Sharp Weapon of war had incredible defense, without a Nascent Soul Cultivator to control it, it could only serve as a fixed 'mobile fortress,' covering a range of over ten miles with its firepower.

The Cultivators on the mothership had already landed to join the fray, and even the Bitao Cultivators who were initially guarding the defensive Formation couldn't resist rushing out to fight the Qingming Cultivators at the edge of the mothership's fire.

Every moment, Cultivators were falling, their blood staining the pale ground of the bone forest, and the spiritual light of shattered Magic Treasures exploded in mid-air like fireworks.

But no one noticed that wherever Su Ling passed, the remnant souls of those defeated Qingming Cultivators were being drawn into the ten thousand souls banner in his sleeve by invisible wisps of suction.

*Pfft!*

The thunder shadow sword, with a sharp whistle that tore through the air, blasted away the opponent's shuttle and pierced straight toward the Peak Core Formation Stage Cultivator's throat.

The opponent's face turned pale instantly as he hurriedly summoned a water-attribute defensive shield. The faint blue spiritual light had just lit up when it was cracked by the Azure Sky Thunder Finger shot from Su Ling's fingertips.

Water-attribute Cultivation Techniques were naturally countered by the lightning element, and on top of that, Su Ling's Qi purity far exceeded those of the same stage.

Even if this person risked exhausting his essence blood to activate a secret technique, he could only barely defend himself and found no opportunity to counterattack.

Within moments, a wisp of eerie light condensed on Su Ling's fingertip, and he quietly struck with a subtle Soul Capturing Art. The Cultivator's eyes instantly became vacant, his Divine Soul trembling.

In that moment of distraction, the thunder shadow sword took the opportunity to sweep across his neck.

The moment his head rolled off, a remnant soul had already fled into the ten thousand souls banner to join his Fellow Daoists.

Just as Su Ling was about to look for his next target, a frantic roar suddenly echoed through the sky, making his eardrums buzz:

"Qingming reinforcements have arrived! All Bitao members, retreat immediately into the Formation range for defense!"

"Reinforcements?"

Su Ling was startled, and his Divine Sense instantly expanded to its limit.

In the sky over a hundred miles away, a long, narrow sword-shaped Flying Boat was breaking through the clouds, its hull glowing with a sky-blue spiritual light, moving at an incredible speed!

It was the Qingfeng mothership, a Sharp Weapon of the battlefield unique to the Qingming Sword Sect and of the same class as the black armor mothership!

He realized instantly that the Nascent Soul Cultivators of the Qingming Faction must have arrived.

Without further hesitation, Su Ling casually tossed out dozens of thunder pearls.

The azure thunder pearls exploded in the air, forming a lightning net that temporarily blocked several Qingming Cultivators behind him who were trying to launch a joint attack.

Then, the lightning beneath his feet surged, and the 'Thunder Flash' Spell attached to the thunder-rushing cloud-treading boots activated, instantly moving him a hundred yards away.

He continued to speed toward the defensive grand Formation in the rear like a bolt of lightning.

Along the way, he also instantly killed two Core Formation Mid-stage Cultivators who tried to block him, their remnant souls still quietly taken by the ten thousand souls banner.

Just then, a violent fluctuation of Qi suddenly came from the sky, and a figure fell like a broken kite, crashing straight into the center of the defensive Formation.

It was Bai Yifan!

A bloody hole had been torn into the shoulder of this direct descendant Nascent Soul of the Bitao Sect; he had clearly been injured in the previous slaughter.

He actually abandoned his entangled opponent and was the first to retreat.

On the other side, Yan Wushuang's face was dark as he unblinkingly exchanged a punch with the persistently clinging Black Rock.

The moment the golden spiritual energy collided with the earthy yellow spiritual light, he used the momentum to turn into a golden light and retreat into the Formation.

The black armor mothership hovering in the air then quickly shrank until it was only palm-sized and was stored into his Storage Ring.

However, most Cultivators of the Bitao Faction had not yet realized the terror of the reinforcements, and their retreat was a step too slow.

When the Qingming Sword Sect's Qingfeng Flying Boat arrived at the battlefield, the hull suddenly shot out countless sky-blue sword glows, falling like a torrential rain.

The Bitao Cultivators still fighting at the edge of the battlefield were caught off guard; in an instant, over two hundred people were pierced by the sword glows, their Divine Souls having no time to escape before being completely annihilated.

Ultimately, under the cover of the two Nascent Soul Cultivators, Yan Wushuang and Bai Yifan, as well as the defensive Formation, only about 1,300 Bitao Cultivators managed to escape into the resource point's grand Formation.

In less than an hour of fighting, nearly six hundred people had actually been lost.