It seemed as if the trio and their men had evaporated into thin air. This would make sense if this place was a forbidden zone or they were mere mortals.

In this case, the group consisted of powerful cultivators while the barren plain had no danger to speak of. Now, the latter appeared to be an ominous ground.

“There’s something bizarre going on.” An ancestor got chills and decided to move back.

The crowd didn’t need this reminder and felt the same way. In their eyes, the place seemed to be cursed now.

Spectators exchanged glances and kept on thinking about this issue. If the group had died, then there should at least be some traces such as blood or ashes. Alas, not a single strand of hair could be spotted.

Their rumination was suddenly interrupted by boiling noises in the plain. The ground itself seemed to be turning into water.

However, the fog returned and stopped them from seeing what’s happening next. It sounded like something was climbing out of a marsh along with some strange roars.

All in all, they thought that things were being spat out. It’s just that no vision technique could get through the fog.

“Do not get close to the fog.” A high elder warned those standing outside.

This was unnecessary because people exercised caution and didn’t want to be touched by this fog. Fortunately, it never expanded beyond the border of the Tang’s plain.

This didn’t last long just like before. It eventually dispersed fully and no one saw a monster or anything either.

“Look! Over there!” Someone shouted and astonishment struck the crowd again.

They saw the three geniuses and the members of the armies laying chaotically on the ground. The weirdest thing was that they have been stripped completely naked.

They were far from being helpless and should have been able to resist. Alas, they looked to be fish on the chopping board for whoever or whatever did this.

Even the experienced big shots have never seen anything like this before. They scratched their head but couldn’t come up with an explanation.

“Are, are they still alive?” Someone asked.

An ancestor used his heavenly gaze and nodded: “Yes, all of them are alive, they’re just sleeping.”

“So what caused this? An extremely powerful hypnotic drug?” An expert asked.

“No, such a drug would need to be at the immortal level or something to work on those cultivators.” A national teacher disagreed.

Poisons popular in the mortal world no longer worked on cultivators. They were impervious and could even rebuild destroyed body parts. For a poison to actually inflict damage, it would need to reach their true fate.

“The fog being a hypnotic drug doesn’t explain their disappearance earlier.” Someone else brought this up.

The crowd had no response since they did see an empty plain earlier. Why did the disappeared victims come back?

“Tie all of them up.” Li Qiye ordered Dong Ling.

The latter calmed down and put on a bright smile: “I got this, Young Noble.” He then entered the plain while no one else dared to do so without Li Qiye’s permission.

He took out a rope of seemingly infinite length. It moved with incredible speed and coiled around the three geniuses first then gradually across the entire field. He then tied them around the towers nearby, still maintaining impressive agility.

The victims looked like countless meat skewers swaying to the winds. Remember, they were all naked as well.

This prompted some spectators to giggle despite the seriousness of the event.

“Isn’t this too much?” Someone asked because honor was more important than life to some.

Even if they were to survive this, they would no longer have the face to see anyone.

“That’s how the world is, Li Qiye’s fate might have been worse if he had been captured by them.” A last-gen cultivator said.

This was indeed the case. Li Qiye’s wealth was coveted and his previous transgressions have not been forgiven.

The other party would have done anything necessary in order to force Li Qiye to hand over his wealth.