Qinghe Palace is one of the six major powers entering the Jialin Immortal Land. The sect originated thirteen thousand years ago, and among an ancient force like Lingxiao Academy, it is merely a rising star.
However, Qinghe Palace has developed extremely rapidly, especially in the past two thousand years. It has reached an unprecedented peak period, with disciples no fewer than those of Lingxiao Academy, and its strength is formidable, reaching the peak of its power.
Among the six major powers, its strength is second only to Jinzhong Sect, making it the two strongest among them, while Lingxiao Academy ranks last.
Hence the saying 'Golden Bell Tiger, Qinghe Wolf,' and 'Lingxiao' are all 'little sheep,' because although Lingxiao Academy has a long history, its system is decayed, talent is lost, and disciples are declining generation by generation, leading to decline.
Moreover, Lingxiao Academy does not restrict disciples' freedom; they are just an academy that charges tuition to train disciples. Disciples can stay or leave if they wish.
Other sects basically have lifelong tenures. Once you join, you must be loyal to the sect for life; if you leave, it's considered a comeback and you'll be hunted down by the sect.
At Lingxiao Academy, many disciples who come to cultivate eventually return to serve their own families, while some geniuses have been poached by other sects.
So this rotten system, combined with the indifference of the higher-ups, has led to Lingxiao Academy's strength declining day by day.
But no matter how decayed, the foundation of Lingxiao Academy is undeniable—it remains the strongest academy in Tianwu Prefecture.
In the past, when academy disciples entered Jialin Immortal Land, it was inevitable not to bully them, but the other five major powers didn't dare go too far. As long as they handed over their treasures, they could only humiliate them a little, but wouldn't make things difficult further.
But this time was different. Long Chen had rescued so many academy disciples and discovered that these five major forces actually wanted to wipe out all the disciples of Lingxiao Academy. This made Long Chen furious.
Although Long Chen didn't feel much sense of belonging to Lingxiao Academy, these five great powers were just too much—not only did they want to seize treasure, they wanted to kill people too. Besides, Long Chen felt things weren't that simple.
Because before Long Chen left, Master Yunyang had told him how to use the Lingxiao Sacred Talisman, and had also reminded him that Jialin Immortal Land was not an academy, so he should go ahead and get to work.
Originally, Long Chen thought Master Yunyang's words were aimed at Chu Yang and Chu Huairen, but now that he thought about it, there seemed to be another meaning. Now, Long Chen seemed to understand what Master Yunyang meant by 'go all out.'
Long Chen arrived at Luo Bing's location and heard that he had encountered a powerful figure from Qinghe Palace, who was sneaking around for something, so he quickly notified Long Chen to come.
"Third Brother, about seven hundred li ahead, there's a valley where mist swirls, making it hard to see what is inside.
When we found this place, the people from Qinghe Valley were already there. That group of strong warriors lingered for a while, then two more groups arrived. One of them was shrouded in mist, as if he could merge into heaven and earth—truly terrifying.
Obviously, they came after receiving the message. I felt there must be something extraordinary here. Mu Qingyun said in a low voice.
Mu Qingyun was a sword cultivator with a keen sense of a person's strength. It was precisely because she sensed that person's terror that she dared not act rashly.
"This is a good thing. Let's go take a look." Long Chen wasn't interested in treasure hunting because he couldn't find it at all, but he was very skilled at treasure hunting.
Long Chen led everyone toward the deep valley. As they approached, he waved his hand slightly, signaling everyone to stop and not move.
Long Chen called the archers over, pointed to the dozen or so people patrolling the outer edge of the mist to invite the Valley disciples, tapped his brow, and at the same time traced an arc in the air with his hand.
The archers immediately understood, drew their longbows, and aimed their arrows at the disciples of Qinghe Palace. Long Chen waved his hand.
"Puff puff puff..."
A dozen clear sounds struck the foreheads of more than a dozen disciples simultaneously, not even a sound in their brows, just collapsed limply to the ground.
"Not bad, the arc arrow has started to smell a bit." Long Chen nodded, a smile appearing on his face, and gave a thumbs-up to the archers.
These people advanced rapidly, and the arc-shaped arrow had already mastered the basics. Such arrows could kill without a trace, because they weren't aimed or shot, making it hard to sense anything. By the time they reacted, they had already been killed.
Receiving Long Chen's praise, these archers were thrilled. Originally, they were not valued and even looked down upon, seen as cowards who dared not engage in real combat.
But Long Chen highly valued them and taught them powerful archery techniques, allowing them to make astonishing progress in such a short time. Even they themselves could hardly believe it, as if they were in a dream.
After killing more than a dozen sentries, everyone quietly slipped into the fog. Long Chen's senses were sharp, and he encountered a wave of open and two groups of covert sentries. He didn't act himself, letting the archers handle them all.
This time, the archers demonstrated extraordinary skill, silently attacking and capturing souls, killing in the mist. Those disciples of Qinghe Palace didn't even know where the enemy was, even in death.
Long Chen once said that archers and medical experts are vital members of the team. Even now, many still refuse to accept it, but now, they finally understand how terrifying archers can be, and no longer dare to look down on archers.
After traveling dozens of miles through the mist, the mist ahead gradually faded, and suddenly the ground trembled violently.
"They're underground." Long Chen looked toward Xizhou but found no cave entrance.
Just as Luo Bing was about to send people to inspect the area, Long Chen gestured silently and pointed to a moss-covered rock in the distance.
Luo Bing suddenly understood. The rock was covered in moss, leaning against the mountain. The color of the moss was vastly different from the mountain's, clearly moving it by human effort.
"Whew."
Li Cai pushed aside the boulder, revealing an opening.
"Puff puff puff... A
dozen Qinghe Palace experts inside the cave entrance were shocked. They clearly hadn't expected anyone to reach this spot. Just as they were about to shout, a volley of arrows flew by, killing all dozen people.
It was a cave entrance several zhang in diameter, deeper and deeper. Upon entering, rumbling sounds came from inside, as if someone was fighting.
"We need to hurry, or the treasure might be stolen." Luo Ning said nervously, yet excitedly. Killing and seizing treasure was the first time in her life.
"No need. If they get the treasure, we'll just snatch it back. Our goal isn't just to steal the treasure—we want to kill people." Long Chen smiled sinister and led everyone downward.
Along the way, they didn't encounter any more sentries. After a bend, a huge space appeared ahead, followed by a terrifying roar that shook everyone's ears in the air.