Chapter 194: Chapter 192: Bitter Sacrifice Strengthens Bold Resolve
Two years ago, when the situation was at its most dire, the Mountain Gate was besieged and encircled by demonic forces.
The Ghost Spirit Sect Cultivators surrounded the Mountain Gate and laid down an Evil Array. They connected it to the Earth Fire and summoned countless Evil Ghosts, transforming a blessed Immortal Land into a vicious Ghostly Realm.
Clearly, the Ghost Spirit Sect was preparing for a war of attrition.
The two Sects had been rivals for hundreds of years, so they were naturally well aware of the details of the Qingfeng Sect’s Mountain Protection Array.
A Tier Three Top-Grade Grand Array, the Duality Illusion Moon Array.
As long as a Core Formation True Man presided over it, or it was fueled by enough Top-Grade Spirit Stones, it was simply impossible to breach unless an overwhelming force appeared.
Thus, the Ghost Spirit Sect’s strategy was a long-term siege: plunder resources and destroy the Spirit Vein.
As time dragged on, being trapped within the Mountain Gate became tantamount to imprisonment. Cultivation Resources dwindled, and cultivation progress slowed to a crawl.
When people’s hearts begin to change, what use is even the strongest of arrays?
That is, until the day Ancestor Yangg strode out from the array. With solemn dignity, he began to lay out another array, single-handedly battling three Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators of the same realm.
Just as he appeared to be faltering and on the verge of defeat, the array suddenly transformed, trapping the three of them. Space itself was sealed, cutting off any chance of using escape or teleportation techniques.
Ancestor Yangg gave a wry smile and self-detonated his Golden Core, giving his last ounce of strength for the Sect that had birthed and raised him.
He abandoned the legendary, ethereal hope that a cultivator at or above the Core Formation realm could, after passing, reincarnate with a sliver of their Divine Soul to cultivate once more.
As the one at the very epicenter of the Golden Core’s self-detonation, his Divine Soul and physical body were instantly obliterated, leaving not a single trace of his existence in the world.
There were no grand pronouncements, no stirring send-off. As if it were the most ordinary of duels, Ancestor Yangg committed this final, resolute act.
The Corpse Stiff Elder was closest and was instantly blown to bits. His Divine Soul was torn apart in the storm, suffering complete Divine Soul Annihilation.
Granny Ghost and Daoist Hex fared slightly better, but they each lost a Magical Treasure and sustained serious injuries.
However, Granny Ghost’s power was already the weakest among the Core Formation True Men. Hit by the blast from a peer’s suicidal detonation, her refined Yin Body trembled and started to crack.
She retreated directly to the Ghost Spirit Sect’s Mountain Gate to recuperate, needing to use the Sect’s Yin Wells—which plunged straight to the earth’s core—to heal her injuries.
Ancestor Yangg’s heroic gamble had bought the Qingfeng Sect both space and time.
With one dead and one grievously wounded, of the three Core Formation True Men now left at Black Mountain, Daoist Hex was also injured and could only exert half of his power.
Only White Bone True Man and Fairy Taohua, who had only recently achieved Core Formation, retained their full combat strength.
Several months later, reinforcements from the Five Elements Sect arrived, forcing White Bone True Man to take a portion of his disciples to intercept them.
This left only Fairy Taohua, whose strength was naturally insufficient to maintain the encirclement of the Qingfeng Sect’s Mountain Gate.
She simply retreated hundreds of miles, blockading the paths in and out of Black Mountain while indiscriminately plundering resources from the surrounding area.
"We just have to hold on for a few more years until Ancestor Ge Cang returns... When that time comes, it’ll be our turn to counter-attack!"
Far from being demoralized by the years of war, Huo Feiyan had been tempered by the conflict, becoming even more exceptional. She was one of the most outstanding disciples to have emerged during the war.
Even though her time for Cultivation had been severely impacted, she had already reached the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.
In peaceful times, she would have already been a candidate to compete for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
But with the outbreak of the Sect war, all minor competitions and True Inheritance Trials were suspended. Now, all benefits and rewards were determined by battle merits.
As long as one fought bravely, killed enemies, and accumulated enough battle merits, the Sect would not be stingy with its rewards, up to and including Foundation Establishment Pills.
And in order to stabilize morale, Ancestor Ge Cang’s whereabouts had also been announced to all the disciples.
Seven years ago, Ancestor Ge Cang had traveled to Qii Mountain to enter the Lotus Secret Realm.
This famous Secret Realm, hailed as the greatest in all of Liang Country, typically remained open for about ten years.
Thus, inspired by Ancestor Yangg, the morale of the Qingfeng Sect disciples was not too low. Everyone knew that as long as they held out until Ancestor Ge Cang returned, the tables would turn.
"I really hope a couple of Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect show up so we can get some practice in..."
The white-robed cultivator lacked focus, his eyes darting all around. Half of his attention was on the junior sister he fancied.
If he hadn’t been a disciple from the direct lineage of the Qingxi Huang Family, with no shortage of Spirit Pills, he certainly never would have reached his current Realm.
"If we really did run into them, I’d advise you to turn and run, Senior Brother Huang, rather than throw your life away... Ever since we started relentlessly hunting their Qi Refining Disciples, their patrols and scouting parties have been led by Foundation Establishment Cultivators, who might be hiding in the shadows."
Huo Feiyan couldn’t resist chastising him via Sound Transmission, afraid her partner would compromise their duties as hidden sentries.
"The Ghost Spirit Sect has far more Foundation Establishment Cultivators than our Sect has Elders. And that’s even counting the many Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators and Clan Cultivators, like the elders from your Huang Family, who have gathered here."
"I heard Elder Bai slew another Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Ghost Spirit Sect a few days ago?"
Senior Brother Huang had only invited a snub, but thankfully, he was an optimist. After a moment, he started chattering via Sound Transmission again.
"That’s right. Since the war started, Junior Martial Uncle Bai has killed a total of six Foundation Establishment Cultivators, two of whom were at the Mid-Stage... The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators have nearly all retreated from the vicinity of Feiyue Lake. Even their Foundation Establishment Cultivators have to form groups of three or four before they dare to undertake a mission."
Huo Feiyan’s bright eyes scanned their surroundings. While keeping a vigilant watch on the Snow Peak below, she reported Junior Martial Uncle Bai’s battle record with a sense of shared glory.
"Last year, Junior Martial Uncle Bai went alone with his sword and charged into a team overseen by a Foundation Establishment Perfection Demon Cultivator. He killed two traitors to the Sect and then left coolly."
In Huo Feiyan’s memory, this Junior Martial Uncle Bai—hailed as Black Mountain’s First Sword Cultivator, a title that was already starting to evolve into Mizhou’s First Sword Cultivator—was still that same handsome and serene youth, brimming with confidence at every moment.
He had presided over the Spirit-Guiding Ceremony that had tested her Spiritual Root aptitude and had then arranged for her to be sent to the Qingfeng Sect. It was a grace she could never forget, for he had set her on the path of cultivation.
In such a short time, he had already become one of the few Elders the Sect could rely on most.
"Hush! Someone’s coming!"
Seeing that Senior Brother Huang was about to continue their Sound Transmission, Huo Feiyan snapped. Indeed, there were several dark figures moving at the foot of the mountain.
...
「White Jade Tower.」
Bai Zichen finished circulating his energy and exhaled a stream of black qi. The Willow Leaf Sword resting on his lap leaped, and in a flash of Sword Light, it annihilated the black qi.
’A mere Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, yet he possessed such a strange Talisman Treasure... I almost fell for it. I really can’t afford to be careless.’
A few days ago, he had laid an ambush on the main path between Feiyue Lake and Monkey Mountain.
With his aura concealed, he waited for seven days before he finally spotted a group of Ghost Spirit Sect Cultivators returning, laden with spoils.
There was only one Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator, and the rest were merely Qi Refining Cultivators. Naturally, he charged out with his sword without a second thought.
Who would have thought that at the final moment, this Demon Cultivator would burn his Essence Blood to activate a Talisman Treasure, which transformed into a gray Bone Nail.
Bai Zichen’s figure blurred as he dodged the attack on his vitals, but the gray Bone Nail seemed to teleport across the distance of a thousand feet, piercing straight into his shoulder.
He immediately beheaded the Demon Cultivator with a single sword strike, but a bloody hole that would not stop bleeding had been left in his shoulder.
After returning, he had to use all of his Magical Power to flush the wound for several Circulations before finally forcing out a trace of Evil Qi lurking deep inside.
’I’ll have to be more careful from now on. If I were one of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s leaders, I’d definitely set a trap to lure me in... They’d lay down an inescapable killing array, have several Foundation Establishment Perfection Cultivators ready with powerful Talisman Treasures, or even have Fairy Taohua herself make a move to kill me.’
’Fortunately, I only go out to exchange for an exit token for these special times when I’ve been cultivating for a while and want to relax. My schedule for leaving is so erratic that even I can’t predict it. If the Ghost Spirit Sect wants to ambush me based on a pattern, they’ll have to rely on blind luck.’
It wasn’t that the Ghost Spirit Sect hadn’t tried to target him; they simply couldn’t decipher any pattern to Bai Zichen’s comings and goings, making it impossible to lay an ambush.
After all, the number of people the Ghost Spirit Sect had assembled just to deal with him was by no means small.
But with no results for a long period, the ambush teams naturally disbanded.
The Ghost Spirit Sect had several times the number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators as the Qingfeng Sect, but Demon Path Techniques inherently came with immense hidden dangers.
Furthermore, many of them had been rapidly promoted using Heavenly Demon Blood Slaughter Pills, thereby losing all possibility of further advancement.
As a result, the entire Ghost Spirit Sect only had four cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Perfection level, all of whom were powerful and high-ranking figures in the Sect.
Over the years, Bai Zichen had witnessed countless instances of battlefield Combat. He had even witnessed the shocking moment of Ancestor Yangg’s Golden Core self-detonation from hundreds of miles away.
He himself had participated in more than a dozen life-or-death battles, usually finding himself in one-versus-many situations.
This caused Bai Zichen’s Sword Path to grow increasingly simple and efficient, shedding the superfluous to grasp the fundamental. His insight into the True Enlightenment Sword Technique now far surpassed that of the previous ten years combined.
Killing numerous Ghost Spirit Sect Cultivators had left him with a huge pile of Demon Path Spiritual Artifacts and materials as spoils of war.
A quick calculation put their value at over one hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
However, he currently lacked any avenue to sell them, so he could only hold onto them for the time being.
’My wisest decision was buying twenty years’ worth of Elixirs and two pieces of Thousand-Year-Old Ice Jade from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion before I went into seclusion... Otherwise, in the current situation, Elixirs for advancing one’s Cultivation would be incredibly hard to get. The Sect is harvesting fewer and fewer Spirit Medicines, and our current Alchemy efforts are just depleting existing stockpiles.’
Despite the Ghost Spirit Sect’s blockade, Bai Zichen was able to continue his Cultivation without pause, relying on the vast supply of Elixirs in his storage pouch.
"Junior Martial Uncle Bai, Elder Zhou sent someone with a message. She asks that you go see her for a meeting now that you’ve come out of seclusion."
When Lu Songx saw Bai Zichen emerge from the Quiet Chamber, he quickly stepped forward to report.
Bai Zichen nodded. Before leaving, he said, "Neither arrogant nor impatient. You’ve done well... In any case, your vitality won’t decline with age. When the war is over, I’ll transfer my battle merits directly to you. It will be enough to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill, and then you can attempt Foundation Establishment."
Lu Songx had reached Qi Refining Great Perfection several years ago. Unfortunately, just as he was still planning how to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, the Ghost Spirit Sect’s army invaded.
The connection between Feiyue Lake and the Sect’s Main Mountain was severed. Even if Bai Zichen were willing to transfer his battle merits to Lu Songx, there was no way for Lu Songx to exchange them for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
This was because such top-tier Elixirs were all stored on the main mountain; Feiyue Lake didn’t have a single one in its inventory.
"I am grateful for your concern over this humble matter of mine, Junior Martial Uncle Bai."
Lu Songx bowed deeply, a flicker of emotion finally appearing on his stoic, middle-aged face.
This concerned his entire future on the path of cultivation. Even though his Seven Luminaries Spiritual Body meant his age limit for attempting Foundation Establishment was much higher than others’—his chances of success at eighty were the same as at forty—no one would refuse the chance to achieve Foundation Establishment sooner rather than later.
The Lake Heart Island where Ancestor Yangg had once lived was bequeathed to Zhou Suqing according to his will. It seemed her talent in Arrays had led Ancestor Yangg to view her as the heir to his legacy.
And the fact that Feiyue Lake had remained as impenetrable as a fortress, despite having no Core Formation True Man overseeing it, was a testament to Zhou Suqing. Aside from the fact that the Ghost Spirit Sect had not made it their main direction of attack, her contributions had been even greater than Bai Zichen’s.
If Bai Zichen was the sharp sword that severed the tentacles the Ghost Spirit Sect extended toward Feiyue Lake...
...then Zhou Suqing was the great parasol that held up the very sky over it.
With her Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation and her skill as a Tier Two Peak Array Master, she commanded the Three Thousand Six Hundred Rings Water Smoke Array.
She single-handedly resisted Fairy Taohua for several days without revealing a single opening, letting the Ghost Spirit Sect know that Feiyue Lake would be just as difficult to breach. This forced them to abandon the idea of bypassing the Mountain Gate to attack Feiyue Lake first.
After all, Feiyue Lake was thousands of miles from the Mountain Gate. If they dispatched too few people, they wouldn’t be able to conquer it quickly.
But if they sent too many, the cultivators from the Qingfeng Sect’s main mountain might find an opportunity to attack them from the rear. Being attacked from both front and back would be an even more difficult situation to handle.
