200: Chapter 200 True Man Xuanyue

That night, the Li Family camp was brightly lit, and the hundred people were each busy until late into the night before resting one after another.

Li Changqing sat alone at the entrance of his tent, leaning his back against a wooden pillar as he gazed at the reddish, hazy night sky above Hongshan Prefecture.

The starlight was dim and the moonlight gloomy, the entire firmament looking as though it were veiled in a light red gauze — whether it was the halo reflected from the mountains or the residual light overflowing when a certain Restriction operated, he could not tell.

He closed his eyes to regulate his breath for a moment, then took the latest combat data out of his Storage Pouch, smoothed it flat upon his knees, and silently read it from beginning to end, polishing the rules and clauses until they gleamed brightly, just like wiping a Spiritual Artifact before going on an expedition.

Twenty-five years of steadfast defense relied not on brute force to carry it through, but on a sense of propriety and endurance.

When to defend, when to retreat, when to call for reinforcements, and when to fight to the death — the propriety of these choices decided life and death far more than any Divine Ability or Magic Treasure.

The night was thick and the mountain wind wailed. He raised his head to look at the outline of the red mountain range to the north, his gaze calm, as if looking at an old acquaintance who was about to arrive.

He turned and walked back into the tent, lying down fully clothed and closing his eyes to enter meditation.

The next day at the Mao hour, before the sky had brightened, the Li Family camp was already fully prepared.

A hundred clansmen stood in Formation, and though they wore only casual clothes and light armor, their ranks were without the slightest disorder.

Clan Leader Li Huaming stood at the head of the Formation to take a headcount, while Li Xuanji checked the defense zone maps and material inventory organized the previous night one by one.

Li Changqing stood with his hands behind his back at the camp gate, his gaze sweeping across these familiar faces — these people had entrusted their lives to him, and he would try his best to bring them back alive.

"Set off."

Without any lengthy lecture, Li Changqing said only these two words.

The team passed through the temporary camp where the morning mist had not yet dispersed, and rendezvoused with the Yuan Family at the agreed location.

Yuan Xiuyuan led a team of eighty people. Compared side by side, the Yuan Family's Formation appeared slightly loose, but everyone wore Magical Artifacts of decent quality — the Yuan Family's foundation in Artifact Refining was clearly profound.

"Fellow Daoist Li." Yuan Xiuyuan cupped his fists in a salute, his gaze sweeping over the Li Family clansmen as he nodded slightly, "The Li Family clansmen possess an extraordinary Aura."

"Fellow Daoist Yuan is too polite." Li Changqing returned the salute, "Your esteemed Family's Magical Artifacts are refined; on this trip to Hongshi County, our two families will still need to look out for each other."

The two did not exchange too many pleasantries. After taking out their defense zone deployment orders and verifying them without error, they merged their forces into one and advanced toward Hongshi County along the route designated by the Tianxuan Sect.

Hongshi County was about three thousand six hundred miles away from here. Flying at a constant speed on a Medium Grade spirit boat, they could arrive in half a day.

Along the way, nothing more was said.

At noon, the flying boat crossed the final mountain ridge, and Hongshi County appeared in everyone's field of view.

It was a stone city built against the mountain. The city walls were constructed from local ocher-red rock, gleaming with a rust-like dark red under the sunlight. Banners fluttered heavily on the city walls, and the figures of patrolling Cultivators could be faintly seen.

The flying boat descended, and the moment the cabin door opened, a dry, scorching wind rushed straight at them.

Li Changqing walked down the gangway first, the soles of his boots stepping onto the drill ground paved with ocher-red stone bricks as his gaze swiftly swept across the surroundings.

Hongshi County was even more rugged and heavy than imagined. The city walls were entirely built from local red rock, their surfaces carved with reinforcement Restrictions that grew increasingly solemn and heavy after being honed by wind and sand.

Most of the buildings inside the city were low, save for a five-story stone building towering loftily in the center of the city. Hanging from the top of the building was a large black-backed banner with golden characters inscribed with the two words "Tianxuan", spiritual light faintly flowing across them, making it clear that the Cultivators dispatched by the Tianxuan Sect had already arrived at their garrison.

Several teams of people were already waiting on the drill ground. Li Changqing's gaze swept past them as he quickly counted in his mind based on the materials he had reviewed.

The team on the far left was dressed in reddish-brown martial attire with flame emblems embroidered on their chests, numbering over five hundred people in total. They should be the local force of Hongshi County, the Xiao Family.

The leading six individuals had steady bearings and did not conceal their Foundation Establishment cultivation at all, which should be the gathering of the six Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Xiao Family.

To the right of the Xiao Family were two teams with different styles of attire, both numbering around a hundred people — one team had green mountain patterns embroidered on their cuffs, while the other wore jade plaques hanging from their waists. Judging by their clothing identifiers, they should be the two Foundation Establishment forces from Qingyang Prefecture.

Further to the right was a team of over eighty people, each carrying a long sword on their back and wearing a jade crown to bind their hair. They were precisely the Sword Cultivator Family from Yushan Prefecture.

Li Changqing made a rough calculation: two families from Qingyang Prefecture and one from Yushan Prefecture, the three families totaling ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators, which matched the intelligence.

Adding the six Foundation Establishment members of the Xiao Family, along with the five Foundation Establishment members from his own Family and the Yuan Family, excluding the Tianxuan Sect Cultivators, there were already twenty-one Foundation Establishment Cultivators here.

On the north side of the drill ground, ten Foundation Establishment Disciples dressed in the green robes of the Tianxuan Sect stood in two rows, expressionless with concentrated Auras, their Formation as neat as if carved by a knife and chopped by an axe.

In front of them, a middle-aged Cultivator stood with his hands behind his back, dressed in a dark cyan Daoist robe with his sleeves unmoving. The Aura emanating from his entire body made Li Changqing's heart slightly chill — Middle Stage Golden Core.

"The Li and Yuan families of Huangfeng Prefecture have arrived—" As the reporting voice rose, everyone's gazes cast over in unison.

Li Changqing's expression was calm as he led his clansmen into the designated area of the drill ground, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Yuan Family's team.

Yuan Xiuyuan introduced in a low voice to him: "According to the data, that person is the Golden Core Immortal Master dispatched by the Tianxuan Sect to garrison Hongshi County. His Daoist name is Master Xuanyue, and he is a Third-Order Medium Grade Formation Master."

Before his voice had faded, Master Xuanyue slowly turned around.

His face was thin and gaunt, his beard and hair pitch-black, and his eyes were as deep as a cold pool. The gaze with which he swept across the crowd carried no emotional fluctuation at all, as though he were looking at a row of utensils waiting for inspection.

Wherever his gaze passed, the whispered murmurs on the drill ground abruptly ceased, and even the sound of the wind seemed to stagnate for an instant.

"All the reinforcement forces for Hongshi County have arrived."

Master Xuanyue spoke, his voice not high, yet every word was clearly delivered into everyone's ears: "This seat is Xuanyue, ordered by the Peak Master of the Tianxuan Sect's Formation Peak to garrison Hongshi County. Starting from today, all defense deployments and dispatches here shall be under this seat's command."

He paused, his gaze turning to the location where the Xiao Family Cultivators were ahead: "Where is Xiao Yuanzheng?"

A middle-aged man stepped forward and bowed in salute: "Xiao Family Clan Chief Xiao Yuanzheng, awaiting the Immortal Master's dispatch."

Master Xuanyue nodded slightly, then asked: "Has the latest defense map of Hongshi County been prepared?"

"It was prepared three days ago, along with the terrain of the surrounding three hundred miles, the distribution of Spiritual Veins, and the population of villages and towns, all clearly marked." Xiao Yuanzheng took out a Jade Slip from his Storage Pouch and presented it with both hands.

Master Xuanyue took the Jade Slip, and his Divine Sense probed inside, withdrawing a moment later without showing joy or anger on his face: "Not bad. The Xiao Family has guarded this place for generations and is well-acquainted with the terrain; this is an advantage."

He stowed the Jade Slip into his sleeve and swept his gaze across the entire venue once more. "However, since this seat has already arrived here, the defenses need to be redeployed."

As soon as these words were spoken, Xiao Yuanzheng's expression remained unchanged, but the eyes of the few Xiao Family Foundation Establishment Cultivators behind him flickered slightly, appearing somewhat resentful, yet no one dared to make a sound.

Li Changqing took this in, and understood clearly in his heart — the Xiao Family was originally the only Foundation Establishment force in Hongshi County, with six Foundation Establishment Cultivators guarding one side and their word being law.

Now, not only had a Golden Core Immortal Master come to garrison the area, but five forces from other prefectures had also moved in, so the Xiao Family's right to speak was naturally diluted to nothingness. Yet the situation forced one to bow, and furthermore, the Corpse Refining Sect's massive army was about to press upon their borders, leaving the Xiao Family with no right to choose.