225: War

As Qin Tianfeng continued toward the border, he encountered significant resistance, for he was shocked to discover a group of Cultivators blocking his path.

From the Daoist Robes worn by this group of Cultivators, it was evident that they were Powerhouses from another faction; if nothing else, this was likely one of the other top-hundred forces.

"The Heavenly Profound Sect is purging its ranks. Anyone who defies us shall be executed!"

Qin Tianfeng's icy words were like a chunk of ten-thousand-year-old ice, sending a chill through everyone present that shot straight to their scalps.

As Qin Tianfeng took a step forward, the phantom of a golden tiger suddenly appeared behind him.

At the same time, the Disciples beside him did the same, and an extremely terrifying aura emanated from each of them.

The group of Cultivators responsible for blocking the road couldn't help but swallow hard when they saw this scene. They were from the Lotus Sect, and when the Heavenly Profound Sect had declined, they had accepted the allegiance of some of the latter's factions—about ten or so.

These factions had sent distress letters to their Sect, so they immediately dispatched a group of Elders and Disciples to intercept the Heavenly Profound Sect's Powerhouses here.

"This area ahead is the territory of the Lotus Sect. If you insist on forcing your way through, you are deliberately looking for trouble with us."

An Elder spoke indifferently, his eyes sweeping over the Heavenly Profound Sect group before him with a look of contempt, clearly aware that these people were nothing more than a band of defeated remnants.

He had personally witnessed a large number of evil Cultivators destroy the Heavenly Profound Sect, shattering even their mountain peaks.

Now that this group heard their interests were damaged, they had immediately jumped out to try and recoup their losses, but they no longer possessed such formidable strength.

"Bullshit! The several Families here have always been loyal to our Heavenly Profound Sect. Since they are no longer continuing their allegiance, we naturally have to purge our ranks."

Qin Tianfeng's gaze was extremely cold. He was still trying to reason with them as much as possible, hoping to get the other side to voluntarily give up these interests, but clearly, he had overthought things.

The other side had come here specifically to protect these Families and block their advance, so naturally, it was impossible to reason with them.

Qin Tianfeng's expression gradually darkened, as the other side had no intention of yielding the path.

"The several Families below now belong to my Lotus Sect, so naturally, this is our territory. Does the Heavenly Profound Sect intend to go to war with my Lotus Sect with such actions?"

The Lotus Sect Elder spoke arrogantly, looking extremely insolent. Qin Tianfeng stood frozen in place, quietly sending a message back to the Sect.

Because he did not know whether or not to force his way through, in this situation, it was better to consult the Sect Master. The Lotus Sect was, after all, one of the top-hundred forces. Going to war with just this Sect would be nothing, but if the surrounding border areas were all in the same situation as this, they would have to reconsider.

Li Haotian looked at the dense messages before him, a calm smile appearing on his face, and then gave a unified order.

"Anyone who blocks us from purging our ranks shall be engaged in war!"

At the same time, Li Haotian sent messages to the two major Sects with whom he had good relations. The Snow Domain Gate and the Chiyuan Sect immediately announced to the world that they were willing to form an alliance with the Heavenly Profound Sect, and if any crisis occurred, they would face it together.

At this moment, several major Sects were in a standoff with the Heavenly Profound Sect's Powerhouses, and both sides were waiting for a reply.

Soon, Li Haotian's order reached everyone's ears, and the expressions of the Elders present gradually became firm.

Intense fighting began. The Heavenly Profound Sect Disciples far surpassed the other Sects in both Cultivation Techniques and Realm. After all, they were one of the top ten Sects in the world. If it were other Sects within the top 20, they might struggle to deal with them, but for those ranked after 20, it was almost a dimensional strike.

With ease, everyone crushed the Cultivators who had come to hinder them from completing the Sect Master's orders. They also understood the principle of leaving a way out for others to facilitate future encounters, so they were not too aggressive, merely repelling them.

Killing them would naturally have been easy, but if lives were truly lost, there would be no room for maneuver regarding the war.

Soon, one border faction after another either knelt down to serve as slaves, completely submitting, willing to be branded as slaves and swearing to the Heavenly Dao to be slaves for all eternity.

Or they resisted to the death and were slapped to death by the various Powerhouses.

These small factions were almost all ranked after five thousand or ten thousand; their own combat strength was very poor, and any Saint-level Powerhouse could easily handle them.

As the recovery of the factions proceeded smoothly, the major Sects also gave their responses. They stated that since these factions had chosen to rely on them, they naturally could not ignore them in the face of a crisis. If the Heavenly Profound Sect insisted on taking action, then they would have no choice but to go to war.

Subsequently, the major factions dispatched even stronger Powerhouses to resist the Heavenly Profound Sect's Powerhouses.

A total of seven surrounding factions suddenly united, their attitudes becoming very tough, determined to get a handle on the Heavenly Profound Sect.

"Hmph, as long as they can hold back the Heavenly Profound Sect's advance, we can gradually improve our strength. Now that they want to recover these factions, it must be because the Sect's resources are too scarce, so they want to recover more factions to make them continue paying taxes."

"As long as we can stop them, not only can we let the people of the world see how weak the Heavenly Profound Sect is now, but we can also suppress them, making it so they can never lift their heads again for the rest of their lives."

The Sect Master of the Lüluo Sect laughed loudly. It was under his secret instigation that these seven factions had united to confront the Heavenly Profound Sect together.

He naturally hoped that the current Heavenly Profound Sect would be angry enough to fight with these factions, at which point he could further weaken their strength.

The more Disciples that died, the worse their ranking would be in the next Grand Competition for faction rankings.

Soon, intense conflicts broke out, and the Heavenly Profound Sect directly declared war on these Seven Great Forces.

Among the Seven Great Forces, each had Great Emperors guarding them; together, they could almost scrape together ten Great Emperors.

At this moment, these ten Great Emperor Powerhouses were drinking tea at the border of the Heavenly Profound Sect, with contemptuous smiles on their faces.

"The Heavenly Profound Sect actually dares to take the initiative to declare war on us; it is simply reckless. This time, we will let them see what an up-and-coming force is really like."

"A Sect that was destroyed dares to be so arrogant; isn't this just seeking death?"

The several Great Emperor Powerhouses chatted and laughed loudly.

In the sky, a figure wearing a light cyan Daoist Robe appeared, then slowly descended to the ground.

This person's eyes held an indifference toward life, his right hand holding a Long Sword, walking forward step by step.

Nestled in the mountains was a small pavilion, where ten Great Emperor Powerhouses sat drinking; it seemed this was his destination.

Lin Tianxuan gently waved the Long Sword in his hand, a look of helplessness appearing on his face. Truth be told, he did not want to kill the other party; after all, they were Great Emperor Powerhouses, but he could not disobey the master's orders.