An almost volcanic-like explosion of dust was created the moment the Ba She's head made contact with the ground, which served as evidence of how massive the beast was.
At the ground, blood continuously leaked from its dismembered head, and the rest of its body, forming a blood river that drenched the ground below it, releasing miasma.
The level of miasma was low in comparison to the amount it released when it was fighting for dear life, trying to escape the clutches of the turtle dragon.
Meanwhile, the combined attack of the three judges i.e. Mo Liwei, Zhang Qingge, and Dai Chen, had yet to fully subside.
Its remnants still sent shockwaves throughout the land and the skies, showing the calamity had yet to end.
Earlier and even as the fight went on, there were still some bystanders, though shaken, still had their nerves on them to continue spectating, and even entertain thoughts of fishing in troubled waters.
The world was a large place and it was filled with all sorts of characters, and among them, there was no shortage of those who would seek to capitalize on the moment, no matter the risk, but the moment the combined attack of the three judges dropped, any notion of interference, capitalization was immediately erased.
That attack, even though they were not there, gave them an intimate knowledge of what it felt like to be embraced by death. Just the air it released, spoke of unimaginable destruction, and when it fell even though they were miles away, they had fears they would get swallowed up in it.
This sentiment wasn't only shared by the onlookers, but also by the organizations that bordered the territory of the Ice Emerald Sect.
Those in charge of those regions had quickly deployed the protective arrays in preparations for the aftermath of the attack in case it was powerful enough to even affect them.
Luckily for them, only faint tremors managed to reach that far, however, what they didn't know was, had the ascendant-grade treasure above the Ice Emerald Sect not been there, then the shockwaves of the attack, would have been more than just tremors, and their protection arrays would have been put to the test on their abilities.
As the dust cleared, a haggard team of five could be seen whizzing and gasping for breathe.
Their faces had dried blood stains, their bodies had mild tremors that even translated to the weapons they held, while the turtle dragon that had been the deciding factor in all this, was already fading away into mots of green light, and what was left behind was a log that had numerous runes and glyphs inscribed on it, along with the symbol of a turtle dragon at the center.
"That sure was one tough snake.." Wei Ying said in between gasping for breath.
Of the five, she was the one who had expended the most, especially towards the end when she took primary in both offense and defense, creating an opportunity to fell the Ba She once and for all, and the result of it was her bleeding from all orifices of her body, her body looked emaciated and starved of everything.
She looked more corpse than a human, and the cheeky beauty from before couldn't be seen. However, the rest of the judges didn't look good either.
Mo Liwei was hunched over with veins all over his face, with a pained look on him as he looked that he was just about seconds away from passing out. He seemed like he had managed to keep himself afloat thanks to the shoulder support Dai Chen was giving him, who was another mangled mess himself. The flesh in his arms had been split in dozens of lacerations that revealed bone, and the lacerations extended to his torso. None of his upper body was left unbloodied, as for Zhang Qingge, her right arm was bent awkwardly with spasms all over her body.
The only person who looked okay was Yang Qing, but he was as pale as snow from all the spiritual qi he had expended.
"The abilities she had, didn't seem that of a sixth-stage palace realm cultivator, and how did she turn into a Ba She?" Mo Liwei weakly said as he put away his spear.
"Especially that red thorn.." interjected Wei Ying, who still struggled to come to terms that her binding array had been broken through despite being powered by material from a late-stage spirit beast.
"It's a pity, I would have loved to analyze that red thorn to better improve the vortex vine seal array.." she added as she eyed the corpse of the Ba She.
The red thorn from earlier had already disappeared, and its color had changed. It was dull grey and looked like a desiccating corpse. It had lost that dangerous alluring red gleam look from its red scales.
The only intimidating thing it had left was its monstrous size, that was half of what it was, with the other half already disappeared the moment the turtle dragon turned into mots of light.
"This fight has made me realize how scary the instructors are, and here I thought I'd get my revenge on them.." Yang Qing depressingly said as a bitter chuckle escaped his lips.
"That's what I was thinking too.. as powerful as she was, the founder was still lacking by no small margin in comparison to them, even to the junior instructors who were at the fourth stage of the palace realm and had much more presence in comparison.
They are monsters.." Zhang Qingge said as she shivered from something she remembered.
"That they are.." the four said with shivers of their own before they all laughed.
Though in that laugh one could detect a heaviness within it, especially when it came to Yang Qing, who despite laughing, his eyes flashed with sorrow and guilt as his hands shook, and it wasn't due to overdrawing himself or fatigue.
His eyes flicked with a multitude of emotions as it stared at the desolate ground below him, that was now bereft of life.
As he looked at the wasteland, all he could see were the faces and the lives that had been there earlier. A few hours ago, this place was filled with life, with cultivators laughing, fighting, studying, relaxing, and talking, all with something to look forward to, unaware that hours later they would all be gone.
When the time was up and Yang Qing attacked, he not only executed the guilty but the innocent who decided to stay, suffered the same fate.
With things settled, amidst their laughter, he could hear their sounds, and with the massively acute memory of cultivators, he could remember every single detail about them without even trying and meaning to.
He had never felt nauseous his whole life despite the dubious things he and Feng Xin had eaten over the years, but for the first time here and now, he felt his stomach churn and an acidic taste in his mouth.
"How will Ma Yuan handle it.." he wondered as he briefly looked at his hands with a complicated look.
The other judges had the same somberness too. Despite not being the ones to have done the deed, they voted on it, and the heaviness weighed on them too.
Dai Chen and Zhang Qingge who were still laughing cast side glances toward Yang Qing who had a laugh on his face that expertly hid the sorrow and the guilt within.
They both sighed deep within their hearts.
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