The formation protecting the entire Taihang Mountains, built upon tens of millions of top-tier runes and nine major array eyes, was the culmination of hundreds of years of research by the entire formation school. Its defensive capabilities were undeniably strong. To use an analogy, in a defensive stance, even over a hundred cultivators at the Core Condensation realm would be unable to break through this formation.
However, such a top-tier formation was only predicated on the premise that it could withstand the combined assault of all cultivators. The power of the northern nobles, on the other hand, had surpassed the collective might of all cultivators, and naturally, this top-tier formation could not resist it.
Thus, the top-tier formation of Taihang Mountains was also broken.
Innumerable cultivators, no matter how exquisite their innate abilities, how fine their magical artifacts, or how numerous their fiendish qi and atmospheric qi techniques, were no match for the nobles' powerful bloodline abilities, which suppressed all methods with sheer force. On Taihang Mountains, rivers of blood flowed.
Quan's relatives and friends, it could be said, all died at the hands of the northern nobles.
This left him, who had fortunately survived, with hatred towards the entire noble class, and even towards the Human King.
Quan did not know whether the high-ranking members of the cultivator groups in the past, those at the Core Condensation realm, had considered their stance towards the northern nobles—whether it was peaceful coexistence or preparation for war.
These things were now unknown.
Perhaps due to the disparity in power, even with their best efforts in developing the immortal path, they could only gamble on luck. If luck turned against them, and they were discovered by the northern nobles before their wings were fully formed and then eradicated, there would be nothing they could do.
Quan only knew that since he had been fortunate enough to survive, he had to bear the mantle of the cultivator tradition and inherit the hatred of the cultivators.
Currently, seeking revenge against the entire noble class, against the northern nobles, and even against the Human King, was an impossible feat. Quan had cultivated for twenty years and was now only at the Yang Gang realm, still a long distance from the Core Condensation realm.
Even cultivators at the fifth turn of the Core Formation realm or those who had achieved the Great Perfection of the Yin Shen realm were still almost defenseless against the northern nobles, let alone Quan, who was only at the Yang Gang realm.
However, Quan also knew his advantage: the immortal inheritances of Taihang Mountains were all public, available for anyone willing to learn.
Precisely because the vast majority of cultivators helped each other and did not hide their learned knowledge, Quan, despite being an ordinary cultivator at the Yang Gang realm with no high status, had mastered a complete system of cultivation, from mortal to Core Condensation, to achieving Yin Shen and Core Formation.
Cultivators were not bloodline humans.
When a bloodline human died, it meant they could no longer sire offspring, meaning they could not produce new combat power.
When a cultivator died, although the person was gone, their experiences in cultivation, their opened cultivation systems, and their vast knowledge would be passed down and inherited by all future cultivators.
Bloodline humans died and left nothing behind.
But when cultivators died, their vast immortal knowledge and inheritances remained, able to be passed on to others.
In Taihang Mountains, Quan had personally witnessed dozens of cultivators at the Core Condensation realm being targeted by the northern nobles and killed. Perhaps there were still cultivators at the Core Condensation realm outside Taihang Mountains.
But the Core Condensation realm cultivators who remained in Taihang Mountains had all undoubtedly perished.
Yet, although the Core Condensation realm cultivators had all perished, the knowledge they created remained.
Remembered by Quan.
This was Quan's advantage.
When one cultivator fell, thousands upon thousands of cultivators rose.
People were naturally important; dozens of Core Condensation realm cultivators were naturally important.
But what was most important was not the dozens of Core Condensation realm cultivators, but the inheritance, the knowledge, the tradition.
As long as the tradition and knowledge did not perish, and the numerous immortal cultivation scriptures remained, cultivators would exist in another form, not be extinguished.
A single spark could start a prairie fire.
At this moment, Quan understood what he had to do.
The nobles might have relentlessly hunted cultivators, but there were bound to be survivors. Was he not an example?
Even within Taihang Mountains, there was a survivor like him. If the northern nobles had purged all the cultivators in the Southern Wilderness, there would inevitably be even more survivors.
These survivors and himself were the embers of the cultivators.
Quan thought to himself.
In the world, time was changing, moving forward regardless of individual will.
Since the Human King had ordered the extermination of cultivators, many cultivators in the Southern Wilderness had been wiped out.
The Taihang Mountain cultivator group, once immensely powerful and feared by the many tribes of the south, had been annihilated.
The nobles achieved great victory, completely purging ninety-nine percent, at least millions of cultivators, whether they were at the Yin Sha, Yang Gang, or Core Condensation realms, were all slaughtered by the nobles.
Even if some cultivators begged for mercy and surrendered, they were not accepted by the northern nobles—for the Human King's order was to exterminate all cultivators, and thus, they could not disobey the Human King's command and accept surrenders.
All cultivators who attempted to surrender were killed one by one, and those who resisted had already been wiped out. For a time, slaughter was everywhere.
However, the nobles' purge, in addition to killing cultivators, also rapidly pushed all remaining cultivators to their opposition.
Any cultivator who survived this experience of purging the Southern Wilderness, instinctively and reasonably, developed endless hatred towards the northern nobles and all bloodline humans.
They could distinguish between friend and foe, firmly believing that the northern nobles and all bloodline humans were their enemies.
Originally, most cultivators obtained their cultivation resources, as well as fiendish qi and atmospheric qi, mostly from exotic beasts, myriad races, not from humans.
But after this purge, in the eyes of the remaining cultivators, even fellow humans, those high-ranking bloodline humans were no different from other races.
They were also cultivation resources.
Bloodline abilities and bloodline power could be absorbed by cultivation techniques, and could play a great role in alchemy, artifact refining, runes, and formations.
The human body is a great medicine, obtaining it leads to immortality.
Using the human body as great medicine, and consuming numerous human bodies, one could achieve the immortal path.
Previously, they were concerned about moral implications. Even though they knew that the nobles' bloodline power could indeed be transformed into resources for cultivators, as long as there were exotic beasts, fierce beasts, and demonic beasts, cultivators' minds were not focused on bloodline humans.
But now, things were vastly different.
The northern nobles, though extremely strong, were strong as a collective. This did not mean that every noble from the north was stronger than every cultivator.
Under these circumstances, some northern nobles fell into cultivators' traps, were ambushed, and then their entire bloodline power and life were transformed into elixirs, artifact refining materials, formation materials, and rune ink.