"What does it matter if we've ascended?"
The remaining five Slaughtering Heavens clan kings did not charge forward like Sasato. Instead, they huddled together, ensuring no one would be left alone.
It was evident they were extremely cautious of this group.
After ascending, their combat power was vastly different from before. Based on the Ice Sword Mercenary Group's past achievements, these six individuals could collectively overpower a ninth-realm expert.
However, when the five of them banded together, they were absolutely invincible.
After Sasato's death, the barrier they had condensed to prevent their return to Blue Star had significantly weakened. This formation was condensed using their life force.
They had thought it was foolproof, but who knew Sasato would be so easily ambushed by their lightning tribulation.
Wang Teng's eyes blazed with fury. As he was about to charge at them in response to their taunts, he was stopped by Li Qingyun.
"Calm down. Don't forget our objective is to rescue people, and the initial plan has already been accomplished!"
Their original plan was to use the lightning tribulation to kill a ninth-realm Slaughtering Heavens clan expert, which they had achieved. Therefore, they needed to shift their focus to the rescue.
Just then, more cracks appeared in the void, and five more ninth-realm Slaughtering Heavens clan members emerged.
"Sasato is dead?"
"Damn it, are you all useless? How could you let them ascend!"
"Hurry up and kill them!"
"..."
These five were the ninth-realm experts who had originally been fighting here. Their appearance here was naturally because the Immortal Kings of this world had already been defeated.
Seeing them appear, Cang Yuan's face turned even paler.
He kept muttering, "No chance... there's no chance at all..."
There were originally eight, and now only five remained. The remaining three must have been exchanged for by the Immortal Kings.
It would be difficult if they huddled together!
Then, Wang Teng expanded the barrier of the [Pillar of Heaven], covering an area the size of a town and encompassing most of the human race within it.
Wang Teng looked at Cang Yuan, who wore a look of despair, and cursed, "What are you crying for! Get in here quickly!"
Cang Yuan finally entered the barrier condensed by the [Pillar of Heaven].
After ascending, Wang Teng could unleash more of the [Pillar of Heaven]'s power, but it was still no match for the attacks of so many ninth-realm experts.
With ten Slaughtering Heavens clan kings, this could at most hold for about a minute.
Li Qingyun also unhesitatingly approached Cang Yuan, saying with a cold expression, "Are you the leader of the human race in this world?"
"I suppose I am..."
"It's fine as long as you have influence. This barrier can only last for about a minute. To put it briefly, I contain a small world within me that can accommodate a certain number of people. I can take them away from this world."
Cang Yuan was stunned for a moment, his expression immediately becoming excited, "A small world? How many can it hold? We don't have many people left, can you take them all? There are only about four hundred million left in total..."
Li Qingyun shook his head and said sternly, "My world's rules have not evolved enough, so it cannot carry too many powerful individuals. Currently, it can accommodate ten thousand Nascent Soul realm cultivators, but if you are included, our capacity will be halved. In general, the lower the cultivation, the more can be brought, and the higher the cultivation, the fewer!"
Cang Yuan took a deep breath. Although he was still despairing, a happy expression appeared on his face, "That's enough! Haha! That's enough! Follow me!"
Cang Yuan led Li Qingyun to the small world of the "Seed Plan."
There, he had meticulously selected cultivators who could be called geniuses over the years.
"Time is running out, young man. These people are all prepared by me; they are the treasures of our world. If things reach the most critical moment, I will use myself as the key to open the planar barrier and send them to other planes..."
Li Qingyun looked around at these people and found that many of them had very high aptitudes. In Blue Star terms, they were at least upper-tier talents.
This was truly a batch of ultimate talents!
"Even with you, we can still fit about three thousand more. Those below the Nascent Soul realm. Time is urgent, hurry!"
Cang Yuan shook his head, wiped the tears from his eyes, and said, "We have another group of people, they are over here..."
Under Li Qingyun's puzzled gaze, Cang Yuan led him to another gathering place similar to a city within this small world.
"There are over thirty thousand people here. Their cultivation is generally not high, and they should fit in perfectly..."
"Wait a moment, aren't you going with the three thousand people from earlier?"
Cang Yuan sighed and said, "I'm not leaving. I will live and die with this world."
Li Qingyun frowned and said, "Your survival is of great help to them. It's possible that not even one Immortal King will emerge from those three thousand people. You are more important than many others..."
"Young man, it's not calculated that way. At this point, it's not that the higher the cultivation, the more valuable the life. You can only take away a very, very small portion of people, but many will still die here. I don't want them to feel too desperate when I accompany them as they fight to the end."
Li Qingyun's breath hitched. When he had said outside that he could take people away, Cang Yuan had shown a happy expression, and Li Qingyun had thought Cang Yuan was quite selfish. But now, it seemed he was wrong.
However, he no longer had time to dwell on right or wrong because time was running out.
"Are you sure you want to send all these people away?"
"I am very sure. I'm counting on you. I hope your world is a very safe world!"
Li Qingyun was silent for a moment and said, "It is a world that, while having someone to back it up, is by no means peaceful."
"I believe you!"
After speaking, Cang Yuan left, as the barrier had already shattered.
Li Qingyun looked at the people before him and said nothing more.
He raised his hand, and world power spread from his hand, enveloping everyone in this small world.
The three thousand people in the Seed Plan were unhappy. They realized they might lose their homeland forever.
"No! I don't want to go! I want to fight with them!"
"Stop it! Let me go back!"
"Lord Cang Yuan! I don't want to be a deserter..."
But it was useless, because Li Qingyun's strength completely overwhelmed them. He was already an immortal.
Li Qingyun's voice echoed in their ears, "It's not being a deserter; one day, we will fight our way back..."