As the two cultivators at the eighth level of Tribulation Realm unrestrictedly amplified their auras to their peak, Li Qi naturally felt the terrifying pressure. However, his expression remained largely unchanged. Li Qi's gaze shifted slightly from the space distortion, focusing on the two cultivators at the eighth level of Tribulation Realm who were closest to it.
They were no longer still as they had been before. Their terrifying auras had seemingly solidified into tangible barriers. Even though there were only two of them, the clashing of their fearsome energies seemed to bring the actions of the other eager cultivators to a halt. Their eyes all revealed apprehension. Despite their numbers, they remained stationary, unwilling to cross the threshold of the two eighth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators to seize the fragments of the fallen stars first. This situation seemed to have occurred several times before Li Qi arrived. The two eighth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators merely glanced back briefly before disregarding it.
The hands of the two eighth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators extended almost in unison. In an instant, the dense meteor clusters that had erupted from the distorted space and begun to drift aimlessly were as if pulled by some unseen force. More than half of them were drawn towards the two eighth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators, halting before them. Divine senses erupted from within the two cultivators, probing the meteor clusters before them. Occasionally, a meteor in the cluster would suddenly explode, releasing several, or even over a dozen, fragments of the fallen stars, which were then gently grasped by the two eighth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators and collected.
At this moment, as the two eighth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators began to seize the fragments, the remaining half of the meteor clusters, not having been pulled away by them, continued to be expelled irregularly in all directions.
"Snatch!"
Someone, a cultivator at the Tribulation Realm, bellowed. The terrifying aura of his body surged forth. With a flash, this Tribulation Realm cultivator appeared before a meteor cluster at least as tall as a building. Facing this enormous meteor, disproportionate to his own size, the Tribulation Realm cultivator raised his palm and threw a punch.
"Boom!"
The colossal meteor instantly turned to dust. From within the dust, four or five small, intact stones scattered in all directions. But before these small stones could fly far, the cultivator who had just shattered the meteor grabbed them with his palm, directly collecting the fragments of the fallen stars.
"My lord, don't just stand there, quickly look for fragments of the fallen stars." Yin Chuan urged anxiously from the side. Faced with this vast meteor cluster, Yin Chuan also extended his hand. A fist-sized fragment of a meteor, which had just passed by a few hundred meters away, was directly pulled towards Yin Chuan. With a gentle grasp, the meteor fragment exploded, and a fist-sized fragment of the fallen star embedded within was seized by Yin Chuan.
At this point, Li Qi also reacted. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked in a particular direction. That was where the remaining half of the meteor clusters, after a portion had been taken by the two eighth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators, were drifting. Compared to true cultivators at the first or second level of Tribulation Realm like Yin Chuan, who could only search for fragments among scattered meteors, the remaining half of the meteor clusters were the battlefield for cultivators at the fifth and sixth levels of Tribulation Realm.
Three cultivators at the fifth level of Tribulation Realm and one at the sixth level of Tribulation Realm, a total of five individuals, their surging auras almost completely enveloped the remaining half of the meteor clusters. Among them, a cultivator clad in black robes, wielding an ancient staff radiating a brilliant spiritual light, exuded the aura of the sixth level of Tribulation Realm.
"Get lost. I want one-third of this portion." With those words, the ancient staff in his hand swung out. At this moment, it seemed as if space itself collapsed. A terrifying oppressive force suddenly permeated the area, and the spiritual energy contained within brought with it a destructive power. The three cultivators before him, whose cultivation was only at the fifth level of Tribulation Realm, all saw their complexions change slightly. Although the fifth and sixth levels of Tribulation Realm differed by only a minor realm, at such profound stages as the Tribulation Realm, even a hair's breadth difference resulted in a gap as wide as heaven and earth.
While this strike might not directly claim their lives, facing it head-on would surely not be pleasant. Furthermore, if they were foolish enough to withstand this attack and get injured, they would likely suffer greatly in the subsequent struggle against the other two fifth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators. Under such circumstances, with their expressions changing dramatically, the three fifth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators all flashed outwards, evading the terrifying staff strike from the black-robed sixth-level Tribulation Realm cultivator. In that fleeting moment of evasion, these three fifth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators lost their initiative.
The primary objective of the black-robed staff-wielding cultivator was not to truly fight them. He instantly retracted his attack, raised his hand, and a terrifying suction force swept out. From the meteor clusters, which had already had a large portion taken by the two eighth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators, another third was gathered before the black-robed sixth-level Tribulation Realm cultivator.
Taking this third of the meteor fragments with him, the black-robed staff-wielding cultivator did not immediately search for fragments in that spot. Instead, he retreated rapidly to the periphery, establishing a considerable distance from the three fifth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators. At this point, the three fifth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators could only react with silent resentment, but they no longer intended to contend with the black-robed sixth-level Tribulation Realm cultivator. After all, their strength was already inferior to his. If they foolishly went to fight for that third of the meteor clusters, regardless of how much they could snatch, as long as they followed the black-robed staff-wielding cultivator to the edge to compete, then in the vacuum created by this distance, the remaining two-thirds of the meteor clusters would truly be divided by the other two, and their opponent would be reduced by one.