Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

Chapter 189: Hell on Earth

Even during the chaotic flurry of the skirmish, Wang Ba’s mind had remained analytical. He had noticed something distinctly wrong about the ambusher’s fighting style.

The man hadn’t deployed the ‘Yin Ghosts’ that were the signature weapons of the Incense Burner Path’s Yin Spirit lineage, nor had he utilized any soul-targeting techniques. Instead, he had relied entirely on conventional Magical Artifacts and raw, brute-force physical strikes.

At the time, driven by the sheer adrenaline of his lack of combat experience and the paralyzing fear of his position being compromised, Wang Ba hadn’t bothered to hold back. The moment he registered the mid Foundation Establishment threat, he had emptied his entire spell arsenal in a frantic, overwhelming deluge. In his panic, he hadn’t even remembered to summon his spirit beasts. His only absolute priority was ensuring the ambusher didn’t escape alive.

Now, reviewing the encounter in the quiet aftermath, Wang Ba realized just how insane the ambusher’s physical durability had been. The man had literally tanked the first three offensive spells with his bare flesh, suffering zero structural damage.

It was likely that terrifying physical resilience that had doomed him. Seduced by a false sense of invulnerability, the mysterious cultivator hadn’t felt the urgency to immediately counterattack or evade, intending instead to brace himself and strike back on his own terms.

That microsecond of arrogant hesitation had given Wang Ba the window he needed to unleash the apocalypse.

Under the suffocating, overlapping kinetic force of over a dozen stacked second-grade spells, even that monstrous physique had buckled, his flesh and muscle violently tearing apart. By the time the heavy-hitting Jade Dew and the concealed Iris Formless Needles delivered the final, fatal blows, the ambusher’s body had been reduced to a pulverized ruin. He had died suffocating on his own arrogance, never even launching a single strike.

Wang Ba admitted there was a degree of luck involved. Had the man not relied so heavily on his physical armor, Wang Ba would have been forced to summon the Earth Ape King and the rest of his menagerie just to survive the encounter.

To ensure the threat was truly neutralized, Wang Ba unsealed one of his advanced Mountain Moving Apes, Earth One.

Bound by the terrifying suppression of the spirit beast contract, the massive ape reluctantly scrambled forward on all fours. It loomed over the mangled corpse, casually flipping it over with a massive, leathery hand. Finding nothing immediately threatening, it curiously picked up a loose bone fragment and experimentally chewed on it.

“Hurry up!” Wang Ba barked.

Grumbling, Earth One hoisted the corpse by the collar with one hand and bounded back, dropping the bloody mess at Wang Ba’s feet.

Wang Ba crouched down. The man was dead beyond dead. The saturation bombardment had been so absolute that his soul had been obliterated before it could even attempt to flee the physical vessel. His robes were shredded into charred, bloody ribbons, the fabric scorched black and crusted with dried gore, erasing any identifying sect emblems.

Sensing the dissipating echoes of mid Foundation Establishment Spiritual Energy radiating from the meat, Wang Ba felt a chilling numbness.

Extending his Divine Sense, he plucked an intact Storage Ring from one of the corpse’s severed fingers. Despite the apocalyptic damage to the body, the ring had survived unscathed. Etched into the band was the faint, stylized emblem of a towering mountain.

Recognition hit Wang Ba like a physical blow.

The Mountain Sea Sect?

Of the five major sects governing the State of Chen, the Mountain Sea Sect was uniquely obsessed with the path of body cultivation. The sect was bifurcated into two lineages: the ‘Mountain’ lineage, which pursued absolute physical supremacy, and the ‘Sea’ lineage, which practiced orthodox Qi Refining.

The emblem on the ring was undeniable. Factoring in the man’s monstrous physical durability, his identity was solved.

But the revelation only birthed a terrifying question: Why is an elite disciple of the Mountain Sea Sect operating deep within territory actively controlled by the Incense Burner Path?

A horrifying theory crystallized in Wang Ba’s mind.

Are the five major sects of the State of Chen secretly backing the Incense Burner Path to weaken the Heavenly Gate Sect?

If that were true, the political landscape was far more treacherous than he had imagined. If the five sects were deliberately nurturing the Incense Burner Path, they were playing with apocalyptic fire. History was littered with the corpses of arrogant empires who thought they could leash a rabid dog. If the Incense Burner Path gained enough momentum, they wouldn’t just devour the Heavenly Gate Sect—they would inevitably turn around and slaughter the five sects as well.

This entire warzone is a geopolitical death trap, Wang Ba realized grimly. He had to secure a third-grade vessel for his second Dantian and vanish before the entire continent went up in flames.

Body cultivators possessed terrifying physical strength, but their souls were notoriously brittle compared to orthodox Qi Refining cultivators. Despite the man being a mid Foundation Establishment expert, Wang Ba’s Divine Sense effortlessly shattered the residual soul lock on the Storage Ring.

Scanning the interior, Wang Ba was pleasantly surprised to find a massive cache of rare, second-grade spirit materials, piles of Spirit Stones, medicinal Pills, and several golden-paper spell manuals.

Notably absent were any Magical Artifacts or Talismans.

This aligned perfectly with the dogma of body cultivators. They viewed external tools as crutches, fervently preaching that ‘absolute strength shatters ten thousand techniques.’ It was a romantic philosophy, but in Wang Ba’s cynical worldview, it was absolute garbage. Outside of bullying weaker opponents, how many cultivators could actually punch through a high-tier spell matrix with their bare hands? Zhao Feng was the only man Wang Ba had ever met who could arguably pull it off.

Still, incorporating body cultivation to reinforce my own frail shell isn’t a terrible idea, Wang Ba mused, staring at the manuals. For a man chronically starved of security, the idea of possessing a bulletproof physical body was incredibly tempting.

But with his escape plan hinging entirely on establishing his second Dantian, he simply didn’t have the time to commit to a grueling physical regimen. He tossed the ring into his own Storage Bag.

Igniting a burst of second-grade Wood Within Fire, Wang Ba incinerated the corpse to ash, erasing all evidence of the kill.

When he finally turned back to his squad, the atmosphere had undergone a violent paradigm shift.

Minutes ago, these twenty Qi Refining veterans had been openly mocking him, sneering at his perceived weakness, and treating his commands as optional suggestions.

Now? The silence was deafening. Every single cultivator was staring rigidly at the dirt, their shoulders hitched in terror, absolutely refusing to make eye contact. The elderly cultivator who had tried to incite a mutiny earlier was literally trembling.

Wang Ba blinked, surprised, before a wave of profound, cynical amusement washed over him.

So that’s how it works. You just have to brutalize someone stronger than them to establish dominance.

He had severely overcomplicated the psychology of leadership. He should have just vaporized a boulder the second he took command. The cultivation world was brutally, refreshingly simple: power was the only language anyone spoke fluently.

Meng stepped out of the terrified formation. His face was pale, reflecting a chaotic mix of awe, shock, and utter reverence. He bowed so deeply his back was nearly parallel to the ground, presenting the dark golden blade dropped by the Mountain Sea Sect cultivator with both hands.

“Senior,” Meng said, his voice trembling with newfound respect. “What are your orders?”

“You coordinate the deployment. Move fast, but keep it quiet,” Wang Ba said coolly, not bothering to inflate his ego. He didn’t need to bark threats anymore; the pulverized crater behind him did all the talking.

“Yes, Senior!” Meng saluted crisply, spinning around to aggressively organize the squad.

This time, there was zero hesitation, zero whispered complaints. The squad moved like a well-oiled machine. They quickly cremated You Wanli’s headless corpse and resumed their march.

Bizarrely, the rest of the infiltration went off without a hitch. They didn’t encounter a single Incense Burner Path patrol. The silence was so absolute it made Wang Ba deeply paranoid.

Eventually, the massive silhouette of Luolan Mountain loomed before them.

The mountain was a massive, exposed geological formation rich in rare ores. Stripped of vegetation, the jagged rock face refracted the sunlight into a blinding, mesmerizing azure hue. The Luo River violently carved its way past the base, giving the mountain its name.

To avoid skyline detection, the squad hugged the dirt, flying barely inches above the riverbed until they reached the foothills.

Under Meng’s precise coordination, eighteen Qi Refining cultivators grabbed their designated Formation nodes and silently scattered across the mountainside to execute their tasks. Naturally, no one dared to ask Wang Ba to carry anything.

Meng, acting as his lieutenant, stayed by his side.

“Senior, per the Profound Mystery Path’s mandate, once the nodes are placed, we need to survey the grid from the summit to ensure the geometric alignment is flawless,” Meng advised respectfully.

“Then we wait at the summit,” Wang Ba agreed.

The two bounded up the treacherous incline, quickly reaching the peak.

The view from Luolan Mountain was breathtaking. The Luo River acted as a massive, liquid blade, slicing the continent perfectly in half. To the west, a sprawling, fertile plain stretched into the horizon. To the east, an endless ocean of jagged, rolling hills dominated the landscape.

Wang Ba’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the eastern hills.

Deep within the southeast valleys, nestled among the peaks, he spotted the faint outlines of massive pavilions, soaring pagodas, and grand, palatial mountain gates.

“What is that compound?” Wang Ba asked.

Meng squinted, tracing the geography. “Given the coordinates… that should be the headquarters of the Mountain Sea Sect.”

“The Mountain Sea Sect?” Wang Ba froze.

The realization hit him like a physical blow. He hadn’t just killed a Mountain Sea Sect disciple in neutral territory; he had executed an elite Foundation Establishment expert virtually on their front lawn. It was only a matter of time before their soul-slips shattered and the sect sent out a kill team to investigate.

A cold sweat broke out over Wang Ba’s spine.

“Tell the men to double their pace. Now,” Wang Ba ordered, his voice tight.

Meng didn’t ask questions. He immediately pulled out a specialized communication artifact, firing off encrypted pulses to the squad below. Using standard Talismans this close to an enemy stronghold was suicide.

The wait was agonizing. Wang Ba’s paranoia spiked with every passing second.

Finally, he pulled a perfectly flat, transparent stone lens from the Heavenly Gate Sect’s supply bag. Holding it up to his eye, he scanned the base of the mountain.

Invisible to the naked eye, a sprawling, intricate geometric web of luminescent energy pulsed silently beneath the earth, the nodes perfectly aligned.

“The grid is active!” Meng cheered softly.

Wang Ba didn’t hesitate for a microsecond. “We leave. Now.”

Without another word, Wang Ba threw himself off the summit, plummeting into the thick cloud cover blanketing the mountainside. Meng, a survivor at his core, instantly grasped the urgency. He fired off a final, frantic retreat signal to the squad and threw himself off the cliff after his commander.

The veteran Qi Refining grunts didn’t need to be told twice. The moment the signal hit, they abandoned their positions and scattered into the winds.

Less than ten minutes later.

BOOM!

The summit of Luolan Mountain violently cracked as five streaks of terrifying light slammed into the rock, blasting a massive crater into the peak and sending a shockwave of pulverized stone into the air.

As the dust settled, five Foundation Establishment cultivators wearing the heavy, armored robes of the Mountain Sea Sect strode out of the crater.

The man leading them radiated the suffocating, heavy pressure of a late Foundation Establishment expert. His face was twisted into a mask of pure, homicidal fury.

“Junior Brother Xiong’s life-slip shattered, and his aura vanished precisely in this sector. He is dead.”

“Damn it!” one of the cultivators roared, his fists clenched. “It has to be those Incense Burner Path animals! I don’t understand why the Sect Leader forbids us from marching on them! If the five sects united, we could butcher those zealots in a week!”

“Silence!” the lead cultivator snapped. “The Sect Leader’s grand strategy is not for us to question. We fan out and search for Junior Brother Xiong’s remains.”

He paused, his eyes sweeping the desolate landscape. “However… the tactical situation is highly irregular. Usually, the moment we step foot in this sector, the Incense Burner Path swarms us. Yet, there isn’t a single patrol in sight.”

“They’re probably licking their wounds,” another cultivator sneered. “Junior Brother Xiong likely slaughtered half a battalion before he fell, and the survivors are hiding.”

The lead cultivator frowned, finding the logic flawed, but lacking a better explanation, he waved his hand. The five men plunged off the mountain to scour the earth for their dead.

Four hundred miles northwest of Luolan Mountain.

Standing on the crest of a barren hill, Wang Ba surveyed his squad. The twenty Qi Refining cultivators were completely exhausted, their robes drenched in sweat and their breathing ragged from the relentless, forced march. But looking at their intact numbers, Wang Ba allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief.

To prevent anyone from being picked off by straggling patrols and compromising their route, he had forced the squad to stick together for the exfiltration.

Miraculously, their luck had held. Aside from the initial skirmish and the Mountain Sea Sect body cultivator, they hadn’t encountered a single hostile entity.

“If we push another twelve hundred miles northwest, we cross back into our fortified zones,” Meng reported, tracing a finger over a worn map. “I highly recommend this specific valley route. The Incense Burner Path’s presence here is historically thin; it’s a known smuggler’s trail.”

Wang Ba nodded. “We halt for the time of an incense stick. Let the men cycle their Qi and recover. Then we move as one.”

Pushing an exhausted squad through a warzone was a recipe for a massacre. If they were ambushed while their Spiritual Energy reserves were drained, the panic would shatter their formation instantly. He needed them combat-ready.

The eerie, total absence of enemy patrols continued to gnaw at Wang Ba’s nerves, but he used the brief respite to meditate and stabilize his own core.

Exactly one incense stick later, Wang Ba opened his eyes and gave the order to march. No one argued. They were all desperate to reach the safety of the Eastern Sage garrison.

The squad took to the air, flying low and fast through the valley.

But as they bypassed several abandoned mortal towns, Wang Ba’s unease violently spiked into full-blown dread. He could sense the lingering, ambient aura of thousands of mortal zealots who worshipped the Incense Burner Path, yet there wasn’t a single actual cultivator among them. The entire sector had been mysteriously abandoned.

Suddenly, his Divine Sense snagged on a horrific, localized distortion in the ambient Qi ahead.

“Halt!” Wang Ba roared, throwing his hand up.

The squad slammed on the brakes, hovering nervously. Meng flew up to Wang Ba’s side. “Senior?”

Wang Ba didn’t answer. His face was a mask of cold dread as he drifted forward, clearing the treeline.

Meng followed, peering over the canopy. The moment his eyes registered the scene below, a violent, sickening lurch ripped through his stomach, and he nearly vomited.

The valley floor was a slaughterhouse.

It was a literal hell on earth. The earth was painted in thick, congealing swathes of crimson. The landscape was littered with a horrifying carpet of butchered meat—severed limbs, crushed skulls, spilled intestines, and violently torn flesh.

There were corpses of Incense Burner Path zealots, yes.

But the vast, overwhelming majority of the dead wore the crimson and black robes of the Heavenly Gate Sect.

As Meng’s horrified gaze swept over the carnage, it locked onto a heavily mutilated torso pinned to a shattered boulder.

Meng’s blood ran cold.

“Zhu Ziji?!”