Chapter 290: Chapter 288: Spirit Treasure Level Hundred Ghosts Banner
’Brother Ge has gone to the core region of Black Mountain to investigate the Cyan Simurgh’s location using the coordinates I gave him. Even in the best-case scenario, it will take at least a day for him to return with any news. As for Feiyue Lake, even if there are Core Formation Demon People mixed in with the Silver Armored Corpses, we can easily defend it with the Grand Array. It just means the Sect Disciples won’t be able to go out for a while.’
Bai Zichen weighed the two situations and quickly determined his priority.
Feiyue Lake was guarded by Zhou Suqing and the Dragon Turtle. Even if some Demon Path Sect wanted to fish in troubled waters, not even several Core Formation True Men could break through the Three Thousand Six hundred Rings Water Smoke Array.
On the other hand, if the Ghost Spirit Sect had truly lost their minds and launched a major invasion into Black Mountain, none of the scattered outposts would be able to resist.
Losing assets and resources was a small matter, but at least several hundred disciples would be slaughtered.
’Junior Brother Bai, latest intel. White Bone True Man is leading a team to attack personally. It seems he’s brought reinforcements... Brother Ge has yet to reply. I’ve already ordered the disciples at all outposts to hide nearby to avoid heavy casualties.’
’I will go intercept White Bone True Man and buy time for the Sect Disciples to retreat.’
On the special token belonging to the Core Formation Ancestors, Bai Zichen and Wei Dao had a brief exchange as the words slowly materialized.
Beyond a thousand li, the Sect Token could not transmit text in real-time, and a certain delay would occur.
Celestial Thunder Cliff was not far from the Mountain Gate, so the message delay was acceptable.
Master Ge Cang was currently deep within Black Mountain, so it would likely take a day or two for him to receive any messages. At present, Bai Zichen was the only one in the Qingfeng Sect who could face White Bone True Man.
’The Ghost Spirit Sect only has two Core Formation True Men left, White Bone True Man and Fairy Taohua. Even if they brought reinforcements, I’ve never heard of anyone in the Demon Path Five Sects having a cultivation at or above the Late-Stage Core Formation...’
A Spirit Ship flew out from Celestial Thunder Cliff, transforming into a streak of white light that cut through the clouds.
Of course, Bai Zichen wouldn’t plunge himself into a dangerous situation out of a momentary fit of anger. He had already analyzed the strength his opponent could mobilize.
Even if the Ghost Spirit Sect mobilized all their forces, they still only had two Core Formation True Men.
Their ally, the Joyful Union Sect, had only one Core Formation True Man. However, their current Saintess had become the Dao Companion of a Core Formation Loose Cultivator.
That person held the status of an Honored Guest Elder and enjoyed the offerings of the Joyful Union Sect.
But in a conflict on the scale of a sect war, Bai Zichen didn’t believe that man would join in for some petty benefits.
He was merely a Loose Cultivator who, attracted by her beauty and lacking a fixed residence or background, had hit it off with the Joyful Union Sect.
To think he would join a sect war where a single misstep could lead to complete annihilation, all for his Dao Companion?
Never mind whether the Core Formation Guest Elder would agree; the Joyful Union Sect’s Saintess herself would likely not only refrain from instigating her Dao Companion but would even actively dissuade him.
’White Bone True Man couldn’t possibly know that Brother Ge happens to be away from the sect. And someone must have faithfully reported the scene of me slaying Granny Ghost before the Ghost Spirit Sect’s formation... What gave him the confidence to think he stands a fighting chance against the two of us?’
The Seeking Truth Ship crossed over mountains and rivers, then came to a sudden halt the moment it flew out of the Black Mountain Range.
White Bone True Man couldn’t possibly be coming just to die. He had previously thought the Ghost Spirit Sect must have either roped in a few Core Formation True Men or brought out a tremendously powerful Secret Treasure left behind by their Sect.
At most, it would be a combination of both, perhaps with the aid of an Array.
Even with such a lineup and even if they had Tier Four methods, they still couldn’t do anything to Bai Zichen.
As long as his Moon Xuan Sword unleashed its full power, he could, at worst, still fight his way out.
’Below the Nascent Soul realm, there shouldn’t be any Core Formation Cultivator who can kill me in a one-on-one fight. At least, there are no such monstrous geniuses in the Northern Domain... Even if they have a Secret Treasure that counters and disables my Flying Sword techniques, what gives them the confidence to deal with Brother Ge?’
Master Ge Cang’s Qiantian Primordial Yang Divine Thunder Net and Five Crystal Glaze Body had long been revealed to the world; everyone knew his combat power was peerless.
The battle at Burial Immortal Valley further proved that he was one of the very top experts in all of Liang Country.
Even if he hadn’t improved in the past few decades, dealing with Master Ge Cang would require a lineup of at least two True Men at the Perfect Core Formation Realm.
Adding in the suddenly risen Master Bai, whose sword skills already shook the world, they would need four or five Perfect Core Formation True Men to even see a chance of victory.
’The entire Liang Country might not even have five Perfect Core Formation Cultivators in total. Surely True Monarch Jiulian isn’t getting involved personally...’
Bai Zichen’s expression was grave. After putting away the Seeking Truth Ship, he stood in mid-air, his face a mask of uncertainty.
A Sword Cultivator must forge ahead and never yield, but that didn’t mean charging headfirst into a situation that clearly felt wrong.
To always maintain a heart that treaded as if on thin ice was a lesson he had always kept in mind and never dared to forget.
This had not changed, from when he was a greenhorn Qi Refining boy to the revered Core Formation True Man and Sect Ancestor he was today.
He identified his direction, lowered his altitude, and draped the Mystical Immortal Gauze over himself.
His figure flickered and vanished on the spot, undetectable by both the naked eye and Divine Sense.
With a Divine Sense even stronger than that of a Perfect Core Formation Cultivator, and under the cover of the Mystical Immortal Gauze, it was almost impossible for him to be discovered unless he walked right up to a Nascent Soul True Monarch.
...
「Xiaoluo Mountain.」
Several years ago, a miniature Spirit Stone Ore Vein with a reserve of about one million Spirit Stones was discovered here, leading to its prosperous development.
The Qingfeng Sect built a mine here, managed by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, along with more than ten disciples and several hundred mortal miners.
At this moment, Xiaoluo Mountain was shrouded in demonic clouds, and Evil Qi surged to the heavens.
Over a thousand Ghost Spirit Sect Cultivators had gathered here, transforming it into a temporary base.
They had hollowed out the mountain, poured in Evil Qi, and then rounded up and slaughtered all of the more than ten thousand residents from a nearby town.
The bodies and blood of ten thousand people were piled together, drawn by a newly arranged Array toward various nodes.
At the same time, these ten thousand fresh souls were absorbed by the Hundred Ghosts Banner erected on the mountaintop. This awakened the millions of Vengeful Spirits already on the banner’s surface, which let out wails and curses filled with incomparable malice.
The overwhelming resentment pulsed, coalescing on the banner’s surface into a ferocious Ghost King with three heads, six arms, and a single horn on its head.
The Ghost King’s body was covered in swirling, curved indigo patterns. Staring at it for more than a breath would make one feel as if their very soul was being snatched away, compelling them to unconsciously draw closer and touch it.
The Indigo Ghost King bared its fangs, so lifelike it seemed about to leap off the Hundred Ghosts Banner as a physical entity.
This Hundred Ghosts Banner did not belong to any single Core Formation True Man of the Ghost Spirit Sect; rather, it had been passed down for generations and had a history of several thousand years.
From its creation to the present day, the number of Cultivators and Mortals who had died to this banner was likely in the tens of millions.
Although Mortal souls would be assimilated and dissipate quickly, over thousands of years, there had been no small number of individuals born with naturally strong souls.
Combined with the Divine Souls of countless Cultivators and hundreds of blood sacrifices, this Hundred Ghosts Banner had been pushed to the Low-Grade Spiritual Treasure Tier.
However, this Hundred Ghosts Banner could only be used once. After condensing the Indigo Ghost King from the Vengeful Spirits accumulated over millennia, the Vengeful Spirits on the banner’s surface would be completely wiped out.
It would drop directly from a Low-Grade Spiritual Treasure to a Top-Grade Magical Treasure.
In a sense, it was similar to a single-use Secret Treasure and was considered one of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s greatest trump cards.
In a courtyard on Xiaoluo Mountain, a magnificent and righteous white light held the Demonic Qi at bay, creating a scene completely at odds with its surroundings.
The young cultivator watched as the wails of countless Vengeful Spirits on the Hundred Ghosts Banner became nourishment for the Indigo Ghost King, and he returned to the courtyard, his face livid.
"Master, why must we cooperate with such evil heretics? Didn’t True Monarch Jiulian agree to let us take Black Mountain, and even had someone give us the information on that Qingfeng Sect?"
Le Zheng barged directly into the room, speaking without any restraint.
"That Qingfeng Sect is just a minor sect in the borderlands. So what if it produced a Celestial Spiritual Root Cultivator? If my Celestial Principle Sect shows up at their door and orders them to move out and hand over their Spirit Vein, would they dare to refuse?"
The Central Domain was rich in resources, and the number of Blessed Lands there far surpassed the total of the other Four Domains combined.
But sects were densely packed, and the total number of Cultivators was also several times greater.
The competition for Cultivation Resources was just as fierce, if not more so, and it was often even more blatant.
In places like the Northern Domain, they could still pioneer new territories and claim external Spirit Veins to alleviate the conflict of the Cultivator population growing faster than the number of Spirit Lands.
The Central Domain, however, was already fully developed. Even established Demon Beasts were rare, leaving no new territories to pioneer.
If one wanted more Cultivation Resources, the only way was to seize them from other factions.
The Celestial Principle Sect was not as strong as the Five Phoenix Sword Sect, so they had no choice but to relocate to the distant Northern Domain, abandoning their Tier Four Spirit Vein in Great Li.
Similarly, since the Qingfeng Sect was weak, it had to cede Black Mountain to the Celestial Principle Sect.
Such actions seemed perfectly normal to Le Zheng, but as a Confucian Sect, the Celestial Principle Sect, while not overtly hostile toward evil heretics, rarely had any dealings with them.
"Zheng’er, our sect follows the Xiangxin Lineage, not the Xianggu Lineage. We don’t have so many dogmatic rules. For the sake of our Daoist lineage and tradition, there is nothing wrong with feigning civility with the Demon Path."
Yan Rulong sighed. His disciple’s cultivation journey had been too smooth, and he had developed an arrogant habit of looking down on others.
He knew very well that Le Zheng’s ideology didn’t lean toward the Xianggu Lineage; he simply looked down on the Ghost Spirit Sect.
"True Monarch Jiulian said our Sect could take the Black Mountain Range as we pleased and that he wouldn’t send anyone to interfere. Yet, he was unwilling to invite the Qingfeng Sect’s Core Formation True Men for a peaceful negotiation. Instead, he introduced us to the Ghost Spirit Sect, which has a deep-seated hatred for the Qingfeng Sect. The meaning behind this is already very obvious."
"And what does that mean? Didn’t True Monarch Jiulian say that once the Sect Leader arrives, we will sign an alliance pact and guard Liang Country against the Valley of Ten Thousand Poisons together?"
Le Zheng’s face was full of confusion, unable to understand the connection between what his master was saying and his own question.
"It means that the Qingfeng Sect is not simple. It’s a sect that True Monarch Jiulian wants to weaken using our hands and the hands of the Ghost Spirit Sect..."
Yan Rulong explained patiently. In the future, once they were established in Black Mountain, Le Zheng would have to be the one to represent the Celestial Principle Sect and deal with other sects.
"Several hundred years ago, due to a certain matter, the Sect planted a secret agent in Black Mountain. I have already successfully made contact."
Yan Rulong gave a gentle push, and a screen in the room slid aside, revealing another old man in the same room.
"I am Huang Liuhong, the current Patriarch of the Qingxi Huang Family. My ancestor was Huang Sanshan, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Celestial Principle Sect... Greetings, Master Le."
Huang Liuhong prostrated himself on the ground in a grand gesture of respect.
Le Zheng was startled, but then he recalled a certain Divine Technique in the Sect that could help one conceal their breath and hide their tracks, and he calmed down.
"The Qingxi Huang Family, an Inner Sect Disciple... Master, is this the Sect’s secret agent you mentioned?"
Huang Liuhong only had a Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation. Le Zheng gave him a cursory glance and paid him no further attention.
He found it strange that the Sect would plant a secret agent in Black Mountain several hundred years ago. They couldn’t possibly have predicted today’s predicament back then.
If Black Mountain held some Supreme Treasure worthy of the Celestial Principle Sect coveting it from a million li away, then sending a mere Inner Sect Disciple back then would have been far too pathetic.
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