198: Chapter 198 Hongshan County

Li Xuance's gaze slowly swept across the clan's younger generation, finally fixing on Li Changqing, Clan Leader Li Huaming, and Li Xuanji. His eyes were filled with solemnity and expectation as he earnestly said:

"Changqing, Huaming, Xuanji, the frontline battles are perilous, and variables abound."

"When you are fighting bloody battles outside, you must put preserving yourselves above all else; killing the enemy is secondary."

"I will hold down the fort in the Family's rear. You can just campaign with peace of mind and have no worries."

Li Changqing bowed and saluted with a solemn expression, "Second Grandfather, rest assured, Changqing will definitely remember this."

Beside them, Clan Leader Li Huaming and Li Xuance also nodded solemnly with firm gazes.

Li Xuance looked at the three pillars of the clan before him, and then at the hundred neatly arrayed clan members, suppressing the attachment and worry deep in his heart.

The road ahead was long, intertwined with blood and fire. All he could do was guard the Family's rear and quietly await the clan members' triumphant return.

Li Changqing turned around, casting his gaze toward the distant open space. Two standard medium spirit boats were quietly suspended, their spiritual light flowing, their structures stable, and they had long been fully prepared for departure.

His pupils narrowed as he gave a deep command:

"The time has come. All personnel board the spirit boats, set out!"

At the order, the hundred clan members boarded the spirit boats in an orderly manner one by one.

The spiritual light of the spirit boats gradually grew brighter, and a buzzing sound rose, dispelling the heavy and stagnant aura around them.

Carrying the blood and hope of the Li Family, the two spirit boats slowly rose into the air, breaking through the clouds and speeding toward the gathering place in the northern border of Huangfeng Prefecture.

Amidst fifty years of troubled times and beacon smoke, Li Changqing led the Li Family members onto the path of defending the passes through bloody battles.

The spirit boats broke through the dusk clouds and passed through the final cloud barrier, instantly opening up the view before them.

The earth spread out in their field of vision, no longer rolling and verdant like the Qingfeng Mountain Range, but gradually becoming flat and open, with interlocking fields, crisscrossing rivers and canals, and houses scattered across the plains like chess pieces.

Cooking smoke and evening mist blended into a hazy grayish-purple, shrouding this fertile land about to be soaked by the flames of war.

After the spirit boats traveled for about six hours, dusk completely settled, the vault of heaven changed into a dark blue night sky, and the stars lit up one by one.

...

Outside the city gate of the Huangfeng Prefecture market, a giant gathering ground covering several miles was already overcrowded.

Flags of various colors fluttered in the morning wind. The clan emblems, Sect emblems, School emblems, and Loose Cultivator Alliance emblems on the flags were densely packed, numbering no less than a hundred upon a rough count.

The Cultivators in the field were either sitting or standing; some were closing their eyes to adjust their breathing, some were whispering, and some were counting their luggage. The noisy sounds, mixed with the clanging of weapons and the rustling of armor leaves, merged into a low, restless wave.

When the hundred members of the Li Family arrived, it was already the morning of the fifth day. The spirit boats landed in the reserved space on the east side of the gathering ground, and Li Changqing stepped out of the cabin first, his gaze quickly sweeping across the entire field.

He quietly spread out his Divine Sense. The perception of an Early Stage Golden Core spread like a spider web, taking in the true strengths and weaknesses of the various forces in the field.

There were at least two hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators, thousands of Qi Refining Cultivators, and countless Innate Martial Artists.

The most eye-catching were the three large flying boats parked in the center of the field—each exceeding a hundred zhang in length, with the longest one reaching a full one hundred and fifty zhang.

The hull was covered with heavy black iron decks, and the array patterns on the surface were stacked like dragon scales, with Spiritual Qi fluctuations as vast as a tide.

The three flying boats were painted in cyan-green, golden brilliance, and dark black, respectively. At the bow of each boat hung a huge token, cast with totems of a green lotus, a golden eagle, and a dark tortoise.

Although these three flying boats were only of a weaker grade among large flying boats and far inferior to the cloud ferry Li Changqing had once ridden, they were still priceless.

Among the local forces of Huangfeng Prefecture, only these three Golden Core Sects possessed large flying boats.

Li Changqing's gaze lingered on the three giant boats for a moment before shifting away.

All three forces had Late Stage Golden Core Cultivators overseeing them; the Li Family's current foundation was still somewhat lacking after all.

"Changqing."

Clan Leader Li Huaming walked closer and lowered his voice, "I just went to ask around; the gathering will still need to wait three days. Three days later, we will head directly to the border of Tianxuan Prefecture."

Li Changqing nodded slightly and was just about to speak when he suddenly felt a gaze land on him.

He turned his head nonchalantly and saw that thirty zhang away, beside a medium spirit boat, several Cultivators were standing. The leader was dressed in a crimson brocade robe, with a fire-patterned longsword of extraordinary quality hanging at his waist, and was sizing him up without any concealment.

That person was in his early forties, with a stern expression, a rugged and deep aura, and was impressively at the Peak Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Their eyes met, and the red-robed Cultivator grinned with a hint of scrutiny and playfulness, though without much malice. He cupped his fists from afar, then turned and left, looking no more.

Li Changqing's expression remained normal, only keeping that person's face in mind.

"That is a person from the Zhou Family of Chiyan County."

Li Xuanji didn't know when he had walked to his side, his aged voice lowered to an extreme, "Zhou Family head Zhou Pojun, Peak Foundation Establishment, his Fierce Fire Sword Technique is quite famous among the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of Huangfeng Prefecture."

Li Changqing's gaze slightly condensed. He had some understanding of the Zhou Family of Chiyan County; there were seven Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the clan.

Huangfeng Prefecture had jurisdiction over seventy-two counties. Although Chiyan County was not the strongest, it could still rank in the top ten among the Foundation Establishment forces within the prefecture.

...

Three days passed in a flash. At dawn on the fourth day, the light of day pierced through the clouds and spilled over the gathering ground spanning several miles.

The huge garrison, which had been silent for a night, was suddenly awakened by three bell tolls that resounded across all four directions.

Dong—Dong—Dong—!

The bell tolls were heavy and distant, carrying the unique Dao resonance tremors of the three major Sects, suppressing all the noise in the field.

This was the order agreed upon by the three Sects for the reorganization of the entire army and immediate departure.

In an instant, the more than a hundred forces that were originally loose and scattered all moved.

Spiritual light soared into the sky, armor plates clanked, battle flags fluttered, and countless Cultivators stepped into the air, falling into formation according to the regulations passed down in advance.

The chaotic crowd of people quickly transformed into an orderly military formation, and thousands of spiritual power streamers crisscrossed, paving a boundless torrent of Cultivators.

A stern and blood-iron military aura soared into the sky, pressing the surrounding floating clouds into stagnation and silencing the wind.

High above in the sky, three massive spiritual light sea of clouds suddenly spread out.

The three-color Dao lights of cyan-green, golden brilliance, and dark black illuminated the sky. The giant flying boats of the three Sects, Xuanyuan Valley, Spirit Beast Sect, and Spirit Medicine Sect, floated in the air to suppress the Peak, towering like mountains and suppressing all directions.

Before the bow of the boats, six Golden Core figures stood side by side in mid-air.

Immortal Master Xuanjie wore a cyan-patterned Daoist robe, his Peak Golden Core aura as vast as the sea, standing in the center.

He looked down at the thousands of participating Cultivators below, his voice shaking a hundred miles, every word majestic and unquestionable:

"All participating Cultivators and Martial Artists of Huangfeng Prefecture, listen to the order!"

"The anti-demon conscription order of Tianxuan Prefecture has been issued, the 60-year cycle demon calamity is approaching, and the Jiuyou Corpse Refining Sect is causing chaos at the border of Tianxuan Prefecture!"

"Today, the coalition army of Huangfeng Prefecture has completed its reorganization and will immediately head north to Hongshan Prefecture to assist Hongshan Prefecture in guarding the border and resisting the Corpse Refining Sect!"

"From this order onward, all participating Cultivators shall be incorporated into the formations of the three Sects!"

As the words fell, the whole audience held their breath, and no one dared to make the slightest unusual movement.

Immediately after, Master Xuyun on the side slowly stepped out.

His plain white Daoist robe fluttered gently in the wind, seemingly ordinary, but the pseudo-Nascent Soul foundation hidden deep within the Golden Core made all the Cultivators within several miles around secretly shudder.