Chapter 291: Chapter 289: Crisis Upon Crisis
"This matter relates to an old affair. You don’t need to worry about it for now. Just listen to this man’s introduction of the Qingfeng Sect... Over the past few hundred years, their Huang Family has established a firm foothold. They’re considered to have done quite well among the Cultivation Families in the Black Mountain Range."
Yanx Rulong remained noncommittal. The matter of the Secret Realm left by an Ancient Great Power in the Black Mountain Range directly affected whether the Celestial Principle Sect could fight its way back to the Central Domain.
Normally, with Le Zheng’s status and position, he was already qualified to know about this.
However, his disciple was not yet mature enough. Yanx Rulong had no intention of telling him about it in the short term, lest it lead to unexpected complications.
"The founding Ancestor of the Qingfeng Sect has a mysterious origin. It’s said he came from across the sea over a thousand years ago and became the most powerful among the Core Formation True Men in Liang Country. He chose to establish his Sect in the Black Mountain Range, which was nothing but a barren wasteland teeming with Demon Beasts at the time..."
"The Qingfeng Sect and the Ghost Spirit Sect are mortal enemies. Both sides have had Core Formation Ancestors die in their Sect wars..."
"The Sect currently has four Core Formation True Men. Besides Master Ge Cang, the other three all successfully reached Core Formation within the last fifty years..."
Le Zheng’s face showed disdain. ’They haven’t even been at Core Formation for a full 60-year cycle. How much strength could they possibly have?’
’It’s just a small Sect from Liang Country. I could probably beat them all by myself.’
"Among them, Master Wei and Master Zhou have no notable combat records. Only that Master Bai is called the number one Sword Cultivator of Liang Country... It is said that a master from the Tianhe Sword Sect, far away in Beiyuan, praised his Sword Dao aptitude as the greatest in the world since the Near Ancient times."
Huang Liuhong’s heart pounded with fear. With this gamble, he was betting the entire fate of the Qingxi Huang Family.
The Clan had always kept inherited scrolls. Every generation’s Clan Leader knew that their ancestor came from a distant Nascent Soul Major Sect. He was an Inner Sect Disciple of the Celestial Principle Sect who came here shouldering a special mission.
However, he failed to complete his mission and was severely injured, so he simply stayed in the Black Mountain Range, putting down roots and establishing a Clan.
Hundreds of years had passed. It would be pure fantasy to say that the descendants of the Huang Family still held any illusions about or loyalty to the Celestial Principle Sect.
They just knew that the Celestial Principle Sect was a Nascent Soul Major Sect whose power was on par with, if not greater than, the Holy Lotus Sect. The Qingfeng Sect would be no match for them if they decided to take over Black Mountain.
Furthermore, in recent years, the emergence of Master Bai from the Ink Bamboo Bai Family had allowed them to firmly secure the position of the number one Cultivation Family in Black Mountain, snatching away many of the Huang Family’s interests.
After weighing all these factors, they had made the decision to side with the Celestial Principle Sect.
"The greatest in the world since the Near Ancient times? What arrogance!"
Le Zheng sneered. He possessed the Vast Holy Body, and cultivating any Confucian Skill or Divine Technique felt as if he had divine assistance.
His body contained thirty-six wisps of Innate Vast Energy, and each wisp he refined brought significant progress to his current main cultivation path.
He had only used nine wisps of Innate Vast Energy to reach Early-Stage Core Formation.
That was why the True Monarch and Sect Leader of the Celestial Principle Sect had determined that Le Zheng would have no trouble reaching the Nascent Soul realm.
If his development went smoothly, he had even more room to grow and a chance to bring great prosperity to the Celestial Principle Sect.
In the Central Domain, there were several Super Major Sects famous for their Flying Swords, such as the Life-Killing Sword Sect, the Five Phoenix Sword Sect, the Cyan Lotus Sword Sect, and so on.
The newly-ascended Sword Monarch from the Five Phoenix Sword Sect was the one who had forced the Celestial Principle Sect into a corner, making them abandon their ancestral lands of tens of thousands of years. He had reached Core Formation at sixty, Nascent Soul at two hundred, and his Sword Dao Realm was catching up to his senior martial brothers.
Not even ten years after achieving the Nascent Soul Realm, he could already fight the Sect Leader of the Celestial Principle Sect to a draw.
Even such a Heaven-Defying character only earned the elegant title of "Sword Immortal." No one dared to boast that his talent was unmatched in ten thousand years. There were simply too many Sword Dao geniuses in the Central Domain.
"When that Master Bai was still a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, a Tier Four Flying Sword from the Tianhe Sword Sect acknowledged him as its master. That’s how this rumor started... As for whether it’s true or just an exaggeration by the Qingfeng Sect, it’s not for a humble person like me to guess."
Huang Liuhong paused. Seeing that the two Core Formation True Men were lost in thought and silent, he continued.
"After reaching Core Formation, he performed the great feat of slaying Daoist Hex, a Core Formation True Man from the Ghost Spirit Sect, with his sword, and then killed Granny Ghost in front of her Sect Grand Array. The earlier praise from Beiyuan was brought up again, and the rumors spread even more intensely."
"There is always a heaven beyond heaven, and a person beyond a person. A True Dragon can emerge even from shallow waters... A character like this, if placed in the Five Phoenix Sword Sect, would be a guaranteed Core Disciple, and might even be chosen as the Saint Heir."
Yanx Rulong coughed lightly. Seeing the look of disbelief on Le Zheng’s face, he thought it would be good for his disciple to suffer a little setback.
"With such an outstanding junior in the Qingfeng Sect, it’s no wonder True Monarch Jiulian is losing sleep and wants to use us to weaken or even eliminate them."
’If we weren’t here, the Holy Lotus Sect would have surely had to act on their own, before True Monarch Jiulian decided to step in himself...’
Thinking this, Yanx Rulong sneered, "Continue. Tell me everything you know."
"Besides those three Core Formation True Men, the strongest pillar of the Qingfeng Sect is Master Ge Cang... He has a Celestial Spiritual Root, is famous for his Divine Thunder Techniques and Body Refining Skills, and once defeated five Core Formation True Men from the Ghost Spirit Sect by himself while only at Mid-Stage Core Formation. He also has a record of defeating a Perfect Core Formation True Man from Beiyuan in Burial Immortal Valley."
The more Huang Liuhong spoke, the more his heart grew cold. The Qingfeng Sect had, after all, ruled Black Mountain for a thousand years, and their momentum had only grown in recent years, suppressing the Ghost Spirit Sect.
If the Celestial Principle Sect fought a couple of battles with the Qingfeng Sect, decided they were too tough a nut to crack, and just turned tail and ran, one could imagine the fate of traitors like the Qingxi Huang Family.
"Everyone in the world says Master Ge Cang will surely be the next Nascent Soul True Monarch of Liang Country. His cultivation should currently be at Late-Stage Core Formation, and he is around two hundred and sixty years old."
Huang Liuhong learned about the Cultivation Realms of the Core Formation Ancestors from the Elders of the Qingfeng Sect; he himself had no ability to deduce such things.
"How could a tiny little Qingfeng Sect produce two such figures one after another!"
Upon hearing this, Le Zheng exclaimed involuntarily.
"It’s the favor of fortune. Just like the Five Phoenix Sword Sect back then, which produced three Nascent Soul True Monarchs within a century and soared to prominence in an instant... If this Master Ge Cang were born in the Central Domain, there would indeed be an extremely high probability of him becoming a Nascent Soul True Monarch."
Seeing that Huang Liuhong had no more intelligence to share, Yanx Rulong flicked a finger, sending a stream of milky-white True Essence to knock him unconscious.
"Le’er, do you now understand why I chose to cooperate with the Ghost Spirit Sect? ...With just the few of us, we might not truly be able to subdue the Qingfeng Sect. The manpower we have now is the absolute limit we could muster. The Sect’s accumulated resources over tens of thousands of years and the withdrawal from various branch courts and Cave Mansions all require Core Formation True Men to oversee them."
"If we pulled any more people, we wouldn’t even have enough to maintain the mobile array during the Sect’s migration."
Hearing Huang Liuhong’s report, Yanx Rulong’s heart grew much heavier.
He had three months to take the Black Mountain Range and complete the preliminary work.
This was the deadline he had agreed upon with the Sect Leader of the Celestial Principle Sect before setting out.
In a month at most, the Five Phoenix Sword Sect would issue an ultimatum, demanding the Celestial Principle Sect move out of its Tier Four Spirit Vein.
If Black Mountain was not under their control in three months, the tens of thousands of Cultivators from the Celestial Principle Sect would arrive to find themselves homeless. The progress of rebuilding and stabilizing the Sect would be delayed.
...
"Fairy Lianyu has no shortage of admirers. Why not summon one or two of them this time?"
"You jest, True Man. These people might help with small matters, but if it comes to fighting the Qingfeng Sect and facing Ge Cang, they’ll run faster than anyone."
Fairy Lianyu was dressed in white gauze, without a single piece of jewelry on her body. The noble air on her face further accentuated her sacred purity.
She leaned back slightly, revealing her trembling figure, while her expression was pitiful and delicate, designed to evoke a maximal desire to protect her.
Unfortunately, the one before her was a skeleton, completely impervious to her charms.
’This damned killjoy of a skeleton. He used to at least look partially human, but now he’s become a literal rack of bones...’
Fairy Lianyu cursed inwardly but didn’t dare let it show.
When White Bone True Man had come to her, asking her to join him in advancing on Black Mountain, she had refused without a second thought.
But soon after, she noticed that the fluctuation of White Bone True Man’s True Essence was off. He was actually at the Perfect Core Formation Realm.
As fellow Demon Path Cultivators, their cultivations had been similar before, and they had dealt with each other many times.
She knew very well that White Bone True Man had been stuck at Mid-Stage Core Formation for a long time. A breakthrough to Late-Stage Core Formation would have been acceptable, but to become a Perfect Core Formation True Man in such a short time, he must have used some unknown Secret Technique.
But his Realm was undeniable, and the dangerous aura faintly emanating from the skeleton left her with no courage to refuse.
After they rendezvoused, she was even more shocked to find eight unfamiliar Core Formation True Men in the Ghost Spirit Sect’s contingent.
’With a lineup like this, even if Master Ge Cang and that newly-risen Youngster Bai are formidable, we should be able to gain the upper hand.’
’Perhaps there’s a real chance of wiping out the Qingfeng Sect in one fell swoop.’
Unfortunately, despite her repeated, indirect probing, she couldn’t get any information from White Bone True Man about the origins of the eight unfamiliar Core Formation True Men.
"I wonder, does the True Man have a way to deal with that Ge Cang...? Otherwise, with how powerful his Divine Thunder is, this humble servant wouldn’t dare get too close."
Fairy Lianyu’s silver-bell-like voice was melodious and charming, scratching at the depths of one’s heart. Any Cultivator with normal emotions and desires would be affected by her Charming Skill, their blood boiling.
This Charming Skill worked on both men and women; there was no shortage of Female Cultivator guests in her bedchamber.
"Rest assured, I’ve prepared a big surprise for Ge Cang..."
White Bone True Man had no reaction to Fairy Lianyu’s Charming Skill. Aside from the two points of ghastly fire flickering in his eye sockets, there was nothing to prove he was still a living person.
...
The Ghost Spirit Sect surrounded Xiaoluo Mountain so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass, turning it into a Ghostly Realm on earth.
Two Late-Stage Qi Refining disciples, carrying a Magical Artifact-level Hundred Ghosts Banner, walked out of Xiaoluo Mountain together.
"He wants to eat Blood Food at a time like this? Where are the two of us supposed to find it for him?"
"Yeah, all the living people nearby have been killed... How about we go a little farther and find a couple of strong beasts, then bring back their flesh and blood?"
"That’s not a good idea. Junior Martial Uncle Anx is the pickiest. If he finds out..."
The two Ghost Spirit Sect disciples were talking as they walked when suddenly, two fingers tapped the backs of their necks.
With a light touch, they passed out without even a grunt.
A faint shadow flickered in the air, and the two figures vanished in broad daylight.
’It’s a pity they’re just Qi Refining Disciples. Their level is too low, so the information they have is limited... But if a Foundation Establishment Cultivator had gone missing, the Ghost Spirit Sect would have likely noticed very quickly.’
After using the Exotic Treasure, the Mystical Immortal Gauze, as cover to get close to Xiaoluo Mountain, Bai Zichen waited for and then abducted two Ghost Spirit Sect disciples, taking them to a cave a hundred li away.
Looking at the two unconscious Ghost Spirit Sect disciples, he had no patience for interrogation and directly used the Taiwu Soul Searching and Soul Cutting Technique.
With such a huge disparity in both Cultivation and Divine Sense, there was no resisting the Soul Searching Technique. The life stories of the two disciples flashed through his mind as if fast-forwarded ten million times.
PHEW!
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Bai Zichen released his hands. Using the Soul Searching Technique on two people simultaneously had been somewhat difficult.
Even with the strength of his Divine Sense, it took him a while to adapt after receiving so much complex information in such a short time.