In the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, the green canopy was dense, and the mountains stretched layer upon layer. Even a cultivator within it would feel as if they could never reach the edge, an endless green filling their vision.
At this moment, in a dense forest, large swaths of trees lay fallen on the ground. Gong Chenying's halberd, like a meteor streaking through space, finally pierced through the enemy's chest. The blade of Qingxue emerged from its back, dripping with bright red blood beads, before the blade became as smooth as a mirror once more.
The next moment, large amounts of black smoke billowed out from the wound that ran through the enemy's chest and back. Gong Chenying's brow furrowed, and the long halberd in her hand suddenly trembled.
The green light of the long halberd flared. The enemy's body, which had been as solid as a rock, instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist with a "bang." The black mist that had just dispersed was also burned away by the green light from the halberd.
"Sixth Senior Sister, these demons are getting harder and harder to deal with. I can't believe so many of them were hidden here in our Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. If we didn't have a clue, it would have been really hard to find their lair."
Lin Daqiao walked up, sweat on his forehead. His face no longer held its initial innocence, replaced by a grim, murderous expression. The battle he had just fought was also dangerous; there was a deep gash on his left arm that exposed the bone.
Gong Chenying glanced at Lin Daqiao's arm, then looked around at the other eight Foundation Establishment disciples from other peaks. Now, only five remained. They all had injuries of varying degrees. Not even one was left heavily injured, which showed the intensity of the battle.
"Tend to your wounds. We'll return to the sect to report."
After Gong Chenying spoke, she walked slowly across the field, collecting the bodies of the three dead junior disciples into her storage pouch one by one.
Hearing Gong Chenying's words, the remaining six, including Lin Daqiao, couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. However, the eyes of a few were filled with deep sorrow; the three who had died were their close friends.
Although they had been very careful on this mission, they still fell into the enemy's ambush. The demons' familiarity with the environment here far surpassed that of the Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators.
If not for Senior Sister Gong from Little Bamboo Peak and her profound magical power, single-handedly fighting three demons, their casualties might have been even more severe, and they might have all perished here.
Not long after, Gong Chenying's group rose into the air with a whistle. After another glance at the bloody battlefield below, Gong Chenying turned her beautiful, nation-toppling face. Her short hair flew in the wind, and her clear eyes looked past the layers of mountains, towards the north.
'Are you... still well!'
In a certain sect, wolf smoke rose everywhere, and fierce flames shot into the sky. On the grand plaza of a great hall, Li Changting held a whistle-like object with two fingers as white as snow, placing it to her rosy lips and producing a series of strange sounds.
In front of her, massive black monsters were wandering aimlessly, letting out mournful shrieks.
Looking closely, the bodies of those moving monsters were covered in dense swarms of small black insects, which were frantically tearing off pieces of flesh and blood.
Beside Li Changting stood Zhao Min, dressed in flowing white robes, looking heroic and handsome. Her black hair was casually tied back with a blue cord.
One of her jade hands was behind her back, while the other was constantly grabbing or pointing in front of her chest. With her movements, two Demonic Soldiers in front of her were being forced back by two golden Gu-insects the size of human heads.
In the distance, many other disciples from Never-Parting Peak and Spirit Insect Peak were in the heat of battle, commanding large swarms of Gu-insects and Spirit Beasts.
Half an hour later, Li Changting looked at the mangled corpses on the ground and sighed inwardly. In recent months, the Malevolent Spirit Sect had dispatched troops in all directions. Although they had achieved great results, their own casualties were also significant.
Especially among the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators. Even she, who had just recently formed her core, was not given much time to stabilize her realm before being ordered to lead a team.
"Junior Sister Min, after I go back this time, I might have to go to the Devil's Cliff Crevice as well. Wang Tian and Baili Yuan should also be going together. In the future, you'll have to be more careful yourself. It's best if you find Senior Sister Gong and her team."
Li Changting withdrew her beautiful eyes and looked at the cold and serene Zhao Min beside her, a rare seriousness flashing in her eyes. The sect was now sending out even newly-formed Golden Core cultivators like them so quickly. Had the battle at the Devil's Cliff Crevice become so intense?
"Mmm, when you get there, help me take care of Senior Brother Wuyi. When he fights, he disregards his own life."
Zhao Min nodded, her voice as cool as ever, drifting lightly across the devastated battlefield. Li Wuyi had been transferred to the Devil's Cliff Crevice a year ago.
"I know that, of course. That's my Wuyi. Miao Wangqing was too slow in the end. Without forming a core, she's temporarily not qualified to go there, hehe!!"
Li Changting, who had just been showing a serious expression, immediately beamed with a smile at the mention of Li Wuyi.
With that smile, her entire body trembled, and the waves on her chest rose and fell. The large area of exposed skin shimmered with a white halo.
Seeing that Li Changting, who had already formed her core, still had no semblance of an elder and continued to act as she pleased in front of all these juniors, Zhao Min could only turn her jade-like face to the side, her beautiful, thick eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Listening to Li Changting's words, she seemed to think of something. A trace of worry flashed across her dark, beautiful eyes. Her gaze passed through the fiercely burning great hall, towards the horizon, as if seeing a plain face in the flames. But Zhao Min's expression remained as calm as ever...
This was a broken cliff overflowing with demonic qi. At this moment, below the cliff, several figures were weaving and speeding about, with explosive sounds "booming" from time to time. As spiritual power surged, lights of various colors were dazzling.
Dressed in a green scholar's robe, Li Wuyi held a book slip. With a crisp "rustle," ancient, crimson seal characters floated out from it. These seal characters formed a tornado, instantly enveloping a black shadow that shot out from the bottom of the cliff. A large amount of black smoke immediately rose from the black shadow's body, and in an instant, the demonic qi soared to the heavens. It was actually a Demon Lord, with only a pair of shorts made from some unknown Demonic Beast hide wrapped around its waist.
His face still held the excitement of having just broken through the seal, which in the next moment turned into a ferocious expression. With a "hehehe" strange laugh, black smoke rolled off his body, like a demon god descending upon the world. With a massive, crystalline leg bone in his hand, he directly struck the tornado of crimson seal characters that enveloped him...
An incense stick's time later, Li Wuyi and five other Golden Core cultivators flew up from the bottom of the cliff, dragging their exhausted bodies. Each of them was injured.
As they flew up, several other Golden Core cultivators had already rushed down from the top of the cliff, passing by Li Wuyi's group without a second glance.
An sharp, iron-blooded intent emanated from each of them as they charged straight for the bottom of the cliff.
Li Wuyi sat in a simple cave. He first swallowed a pill and spent several hours meditating to recover and heal his injuries before slowly opening his eyes.
"The seal at the bottom layer is getting looser and looser, and the crack has also grown much larger. Before, it was mostly Demonic Soldiers charging out, but now the number of Demon Lords has clearly increased several times."
"Although Spirit Transformation Ancestors have come to reseal it, it's obvious that over these tens of thousands of years, the other side has studied this sealing formation more and more thoroughly. The effect of the supplementary seals is minimal."
Li Wuyi narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. After a good half an hour, he finally brought his thoughts back.
"I wonder how the sect is doing recently. How is the cultivation progress of my junior brothers and sisters? Hmm, Little Junior Brother should have returned to the sect by now. The news coming from the outside world is that it's getting more and more turbulent..."
What Li Wuyi didn't know was that whether it was Wei Chituo, Yun Chunqu, Miao Wangqing, Wen Xinliang, or the Foundation Establishment cultivators from other peaks, they had all been ordered out of their secluded cultivation.
Cultivators Li Yan was familiar with, such as Mei Bucai, Ding Yiwei, Cheng Jingnian, Wu Shixi, and others, were also constantly being sent out on various missions. Only Li Yan's whereabouts remained unknown. Fortunately, the Soul Lamp he left in the sect remained unextinguished, which set Wei Zhongran's mind at ease.
But who could know that even if Li Yan had perished, that Soul Lamp would continue to burn brightly.
In a very remote part of the Desolate Moon Continent, there was a very small sect called the "Wood Flow Sect."
This sect was at the bottom of the ranks among all the cultivation sects in the vicinity, always struggling to survive. Even when disputes arose, they often only dared to offer up Spirit Stones to settle matters peacefully.
But since half a year ago, it was said that a senior from the sect had returned. In a single night, he had driven away all the sects within a radius of several thousand li. His strength was so formidable that even the combined forces of the several Golden Core cultivators from those sects were no match for him in a single encounter.
No one knew the cultivation level or appearance of this senior from the Wood Flow Sect. Only afterwards did rumors occasionally surface that this person transformed into an ancient ape, his magical power unbelievably strong. Some even suspected that this person might be a legendary Nascent Soul senior.
Under the jurisdiction of the Four Great Sects, as long as one did not annihilate another's sect, things like seizing territory, dividing areas, and killing people were very common in the cultivation world. The Four Great Sects wouldn't bother to intervene even if they knew.
So, after this matter caused a storm within a radius of several thousand li, the sects that were driven away came back several times with reinforcements. After a few more people were killed, no one dared to provoke the Wood Flow Sect anymore.
In a cave in the back mountains of the Wood Flow Sect.
This place had been sealed off as a forbidden area by the sect half a year ago. Without a summons from the Great Elder in the cave, no one dared to come here.
Bai Rou sat in the cave. Before her stood a puppet of an ancient ape, as tall as she was, completely motionless. Bai Rou, however, was cupping her chin, seemingly lost in thought.
She had received a letter from the Wood Flow Sect three months ago, saying that her master felt his time was near and asked if she could return for a matter of great importance.
Upon receiving this news, Bai Rou was thrown into disarray. The Sect Master of the Wood Flow Sect was the one who had led her onto the path of immortality and was the dearest person to her in her heart. However, at that time, she was under orders to constantly go out on missions.
Tears streamed down her face. In the end, she had no choice but to seek help from her current master, the Golden Core Elder Chigong of Four Symbols Peak, asking if she could return to the Wood Flow Sect.
Golden Core Elder Chigong of Four Symbols Peak had always thought highly of this disciple, Bai Rou. Not only was Bai Rou well-behaved, but she was also exceptionally intelligent, with a great talent for artifact refining.
After some thought, Elder Chigong personally went to Yan Longzi to explain the situation. In the end, Bai Rou was allowed to go back.
But when Bai Rou returned to the Wood Flow Sect with a sorrowful face, she saw her master sitting in the main hall, full of vigor, not only without the slightest discomfort but with a face full of joy.
This left Bai Rou lost in a fog. In the subsequent inquiries, her master refused to answer, instead excitedly pulling her towards the back mountains.