207: Chapter 207 Corpse Puppet Sect

That night, Li Changqing held a meeting and decided that Li Xuanji would lead a team and select fifty clan members.

Ten Qi Refining Cultivators, all exclusively at the Qi Refining 7th Layer or above, and forty Late Stage Innate and Peak Innate Martial Artists.

When the fifty people received the order, not a single one showed any trace of fear.

The clan rules of the Li Family were strict, and before stepping into Hongshan Prefecture, the clan members had been repeatedly instilled with a concept — — fighting for the honor of the Family and the interests of the Family. Now, how could there be any reason to back down?

At the Mao hour the next day, as the sky was faintly bright and Li Xuanji led the fifty people onto the spirit boat, Li Changqing led the remaining clan members to line up and see them off.

There were no impassioned farewells, only a silent gaze.

The moment the spirit boat ascended into the air, Li Xuanji looked back at that ocher-red county town — — the restrictive spiritual light on the city walls flickered with a faint red glow in the morning light, a thin layer of mist floated on the surface of Falling Star River, and the entire city was as quiet as a faded scroll.

He withdrew his gaze and turned to look toward the horizon.

There, dark clouds pressed down upon the crown.

After the spirit boat flew for the time it took to burn an incense stick, the terrain ahead suddenly became treacherous.

The ocher-red ridges were as steep as if carved by knives and axes, and the density of the Restriction runes on the mountain surface grew increasingly high; some were still glowing faintly, while others had been battered into utter ruin.

The air was permeated with a faint burnt stench, and the closer they got to Chimang Ridge, the stronger the smell became.

The flying boat landed on a flattened mountaintop on the western section of Chimang Ridge.

The defense line on the western section of Chimang Ridge consisted of three Peaks, distributed in a pin-like Formation with the main Peak in the center, and a narrow ridge extending from each of the Peaks on both sides.

When Li Xuanji led his team to arrive, Yuan Xiuyuan had not closed his eyes for three days.

"Fellow Daoist Li has come at just the right time."

Yuan Xiuyuan walked up to greet him and led Li Xuanji to a temporary stone chamber for discussion hastily opened up on the main Peak.

The furnishings inside were extremely crude, consisting only of a stone table and a few stone stools, and the edges of the defense zone map hanging on the wall were already frayed.

Yuan Xiuyuan pointed at the three red circles marked on the map: "Originally, these three Peaks were defended respectively by me, my clan younger brother Yuan Xiuwen, and Fellow Daoist Zhao of the Tianxuan Sect."

"Five days ago, my clan younger brother was heavily injured and retreated. The western Peak he guarded could only be concurrently taken care of by Fellow Daoist Zhao, but Fellow Daoist Zhao was already guarding a Peak himself and simply could not manage both."

The gaze of Li Xuanji fell on the map, his emaciated fingers slowly tracing along the ridge line: "What is the current situation of the western Peak?"

"There are a few Qi Refining Cultivators from the Yuan Family maintaining the operation of the Formation, but there is no Foundation Establishment Cultivator presiding over it." The voice of Yuan Xiuyuan was hoarse: "Every two or three days, the Corpse Puppet Sect sends small squads of corpse puppets for tentative attacks. Although they have not attacked with full force, seven places in the Restrictions of the western Peak have already been damaged, and the consumption of Spirit Stones is thirty percent faster than under normal circumstances."

Li Xuanji pondered for a moment and raised his head: "Fellow Daoist Yuan, withdraw your clan members. Leave the garrison of this Peak to my Li Family."

A trace of gratitude flashed in the eyes of Yuan Xiuyuan as he cupped his hands and said: "Then many thanks, Fellow Daoist Li."

Li Xuanji waved his hand: "No need for courtesy. You and I, both clans, are defending Hongshi County together. When the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold; we should help each other."

That afternoon, Li Xuanji led people to ascend the western Peak.

This mountain was named Eagle Beak Mountain. Its terrain was as steep as an inverted eagle beak, and the flat area at the summit was no more than a hundred zhang in circumference, with sheer cliffs on three sides and only a ridge less than ten zhang wide connecting it to the neighboring main mountain.

Li Xuanji immediately assigned personnel: the ten Qi Refining Cultivators were divided into two groups, with a group of six guarding the Formation nodes at the summit, responsible for activating the trapping-killing Formation and defense Restrictions at any time.

The other group of four led forty Innate Martial Artists to set up guard posts along the three sheer cliffs of Eagle Beak Mountain, establishing a lookout post every ten zhang, with each post equipped with communication Talismans and warning fireworks.

"Remember." Li Xuanji gathered all the clan members to the summit, the night wind blowing his voice intermittently: "We are not here to play heroes. Defending this Peak and preventing the Corpse Puppet Sect from executing a flanking maneuver from the west is the greatest merit. No one is allowed to pursue without authorization or venture deep into enemy territory alone — — this is an order, and also a clan rule."

"Understood!" The fifty people answered in unison, their voices shaking the valley.

The following days were calmer than expected. Beneath the western cliffs of Eagle Beak Mountain, black fog churned restlessly, and occasionally the figures of corpse puppets could be seen looming faintly in the fog, but they never launched a decent attack.

Yet Li Xuanji did not dare to relax in the slightest, personally inspecting the defense line five times every day and recording the operational status of every single Restriction node.

...

This peace did not last long.

On the northern foothills of Chimang Ridge, at the deepest part of the black fog.

Atop a ritual altar temporarily constructed from black bone stones, Yantu, the vanguard commander of the Corpse Puppet Sect, sat cross-legged.

He wore a dark red robe, the hem of which was embroidered with three ferocious skulls — — that was the insignia of an inner sect deacon of the Corpse Puppet Sect.

The cultivation fluctuations of the Foundation Establishment Peak were released without any concealment, and the black Qi lingering around his body was so dense it was nearly substantive.

Yantu was ninety-seven years old this year. In the Immortal Realm, reaching the Foundation Establishment Peak at this age could already be considered quite extraordinary in talent.

However, only he knew what kind of price this cultivation was exchanged for — — thirty-two infusions of corpse poison, seven near-death Breakthroughs, and a body riddled with holes eroded by corpse Qi, one that would find it extremely difficult to live past one hundred and fifty years old unless he broke through to the Golden Core or took longevity Spirit Medicine.

He held a Jade Slip between two withered, stick-like fingers, his Divine Sense probing into it as he read the battle report of Chimang Ridge word by word.

The battle report transformed into specific numbers and images in his mind: within four months, they had lost over twenty-three thousand iron-armored corpse puppets, over one thousand six hundred copper-armored corpse puppets, seven Silver-Armored Corpse Puppets, and four Foundation Establishment demonic Cultivators had died in battle.

Yet the battle result was merely breaking through the first defense line of Chimang Ridge, and they had yet to capture the main position of the mountain pass.

Yantu casually tossed the Jade Slip onto the ritual altar, and the collision between the Jade Slip and the black bone produced a crisp sound.

The six Late Stage Foundation Establishment demonic Cultivators standing in attendance on both sides of the ritual altar lowered their heads simultaneously, not daring to meet his gaze — — the strength of Yantu could rank in the top three among the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Corpse Puppet Sect, and his temperament was irritable and his methods cruel, which was a well-known fact.

"The Sect Leader sent a message three days ago, asking why Hongshi County has not yet been broken through." Yantu spoke, his voice as hoarse as two pieces of sandstone rubbing against each other, "This seat actually does not know how to answer."

The heads of the six Foundation Establishment demonic Cultivators were buried even lower.

Yantu slowly stood up, walked with his hands behind his back to the edge of the ritual altar, black fog churning beneath his feet. Through the gaps in the fog, the several pin-like Peaks arranged at the mountain pass of Chimang Ridge could be seen in the distance.

It was currently late at night, and the restrictive spiritual light on the opposite side flickered faintly among the mountain rocks, like fireflies unwilling to be extinguished in the dark night.

"Do you know," he spoke slowly, carrying a strange calmness in his tone, "what Hongshi County counts for in the entire Hongshan Prefecture battlefield?"

The six demonic Cultivators looked at each other, and no one answered.

"Hongshi County is one of the eighteen small mountain passes in Hongshan Prefecture, but its geographical location is special — — bordering Chimang Ridge to the north and facing Falling Star River to the south."

"Once Hongshi County is taken, our army can erect a demonic bridge on Falling Star River, pierce directly into the hinterland of Hongshan Prefecture from the waterways, and cut off the supply line between Hongshan Prefecture and the Tianxuan Sect."