138: Chapter 137 The Great Battle Begins

When Yun Ming returned from the main peak, it was already dark.

He first went to sit with Qin Wan for a while. He did not mention the matter of the devilish cultivators, simply keeping her company, talking, and having a meal.

Qin Wan looked to be in high spirits; the effects of the beauty preserving pill were already apparent. The wrinkles on her face had faded significantly, and her hair had turned darker. She looked several years younger overall.

She busied herself picking food for Yun Ming, chattering on about trivial household matters, while Yun Ming listened, occasionally responding with a word or two.

After eating, he returned to his Immortal Cave and sat cross-legged in the Quiet Room.

He circulated his Dao scripture, and his five Golden Cores slowly rotated, absorbing the Spiritual Qi from between heaven and earth.

He needed to recover to his peak state as quickly as possible. In the coming days, every ounce of strength could determine life or death.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, the atmosphere in the Qingxuan Sect was noticeably tense.

The bell rang out from the main peak; it was the signal to summon all Golden Core True Persons.

Yun Ming rose, left his room, and flew toward the main hall of the main peak.

By the time he arrived, quite a few people were already standing inside the hall.

Fu Qingyun's left arm was still in a sling, but his complexion was much better. Zhou Yuan and Han Song stood to one side with grave expressions, while Liu Ruyan supported Fu Qingyun, her brows tightly knitted.

There were several other Golden Core True Persons present; some he recognized, while others were merely familiar faces.

The Old Ancestor sat at the head of the hall, his expression calm as his gaze swept over everyone.

"The army of the Heavenly Demon Hall will arrive in three days."

The hall fell into a deathly silence.

The Old Ancestor continued, "Two Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivators are leading the troops, along with a number of Golden Core cultivators and countless Foundation Establishment cultivators. Our reinforcements will not arrive for at least ten days. We must hold out on our own for these ten days."

No one spoke.

A Golden Core Elder asked, "Old Ancestor, can you... hold off two Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivators by yourself?"

The Old Ancestor glanced at him and said indifferently, "I cannot hold them off. However, I can stall them for some time. The rest is up to you."

Everyone remained silent.

The Old Ancestor spoke again, "I have already sent someone to the Danding Sect to deliver a message; they will face this with us. The Middle Stage Nascent Soul cultivator from the Danding Sect will stall the other Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. As for the rest of the devilish cultivators..."

He paused, his gaze landing on the group, "You will need to fight them yourselves."

Fu Qingyun stepped forward, "Rest assured, Old Ancestor, we Disciples will fight to the death!"

The others also expressed their determination.

The Old Ancestor nodded, said nothing more, and began assigning tasks. Who was responsible for defending which direction, who would receive the wounded, who would maintain the Mountain Guardian Array, and who would provide support at critical moments—every detail was laid out clearly.

Yun Ming's assigned task was to stay in the rear and provide support at any time. Simply put, he was the fire brigade; he would go wherever the defense was failing.

He had no objections.

After the meeting ended, Yun Ming walked out of the hall and ran into Jiang Yueling.

She had changed into new clothes, and the bruise from the punch on her face had almost faded, her complexion having recovered significantly. However, her eyes were much deeper than before; the arrogance was gone, replaced by something indescribable.

"Are you staying too?" Yun Ming asked.

Jiang Yueling nodded, "I have already sent the message back. I have done what I needed to do. Now, I will stay here and wait for my Master."

"What if you take a detour and return to the Shenduan Sect?"

Jiang Yueling glared at him, thinking to herself how this person could be so tactless.

Yun Ming glanced at her and said nothing more.

The two stood side by side for a while, gazing at the gray horizon in the distance. The light of the Mountain Guardian Array flickered in the morning glow, like a thin shell protecting the small Sect within.

"You know," Jiang Yueling suddenly spoke, "I used to think that a place like the Ximing Continent was poor and dilapidated, and the people had no prospects. I wanted to finish the fight early and go back, never wanting to return in this lifetime."

Yun Ming still did not speak.

She continued, "Thinking about it now, I was too self-righteous."

Yun Ming only turned his head to look at her.

Jiang Yueling did not explain, simply looking into the distance, silent for a long time.

Over the next two days, the entire Qingxuan Sect was nervously preparing for battle.

The Disciples reinforced the Mountain Guardian Array with another layer, traced the array patterns again, and replaced the Spirit Stones with new ones.

The Alchemy Hall worked day and night, refining pills for healing, recovering Spiritual Qi, and detoxifying. Batch after batch, Sikong Gu's Pill Furnace was nearly exploding.

The Artifact Hall was also rushing to manufacture Magical Artifacts. Although their grade was not high, every extra piece mattered.

Yun Ming did not go to help. He locked himself in his Immortal Cave and inventoried the items in his map of mountains and rivers once more.

The golden crow feather was still there, the array-breaking sword was still there, the xuanming heaven-covering umbrella was still there, there were thirty-five blood-transforming eerie glow needles left, the zhoutian yuan-magnetic realm-suppressing tower was intact, the jiuyou soul-capturing banner had not been used, the zixiao void-breaking thunder bead had already been used, along with that Tier 4 spirit talisman and those various odds and ends.

He looked again at the equipment on Qin Wan. A Tier 5 jade bracelet, a Tier 4 pendant, a Tier 4 jade pendant, a Tier 4 magical robe—these items should be able to save her life.

Yun Xi was out training and could not return for the time being. That was for the best; at least she was not in this vortex.

He prepared everything that needed to be prepared, settled everything that needed to be settled, then sat cross-legged in the Quiet Room, closed his eyes, and regulated his breath.

The third day.

Early in the morning, a black line appeared on the horizon.

That black line was very thin at first, as if someone had drawn a line across the sky with an ink brush. But it kept thickening and spreading, covering half the sky in the blink of an eye.

That was not dark clouds.

That was people.

Dense swarms of devilish cultivators, riding black clouds, stepping on blood mist, and mounted on bone beasts, blotted out the sun and sky like a plague of locusts. Their auras gathered together, forming a suffocating pressure that caused the Qingxuan Sect's Mountain Guardian Array to begin to tremble slightly.

Yun Ming stood on the peak of the main peak, gazing at that dark sea of people, his heart becoming calm instead.

The Old Ancestor stood beside him with his hands behind his back, his expression as usual.

"Are you afraid?" the Old Ancestor asked.

Yun Ming thought for a moment and said, "I am still scared to death."

The Old Ancestor laughed, a light laugh that was blown away by the wind.

"I have lived for eight hundred years; today might be my last."

Yun Ming did not speak.

The Old Ancestor did not speak again either. He simply raised his hand and gently pressed it onto the core eye of the Mountain Guardian Array. Spiritual power surged in, and the light of the array suddenly exploded, shrouding the entire Qingxuan Sect within it.

Outside the mountain gate, the sky-covering devilish cultivators had already stopped.

Leading them were two figures. One was a withered old woman, leaning on a bone staff, her back hunched, her murky old eyes half-open and half-closed. The other was a burly man, bald, with a face full of flesh, his bare upper body covered in black devilish patterns, his arms crossed over his chest, a disdainful smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.

Two Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

The old woman squinted her eyes, looked at the Qingxuan Sect's Mountain Guardian Array, and let out a hoarse, strange laugh, "Is this it?"

The burly man grinned, cracked his knuckles, and said, "Let me go first."

He raised his fist and punched out!

The black Devilish Qi transformed into a ferocious tiger, roaring as it crashed toward the Mountain Guardian Array!

Boom—!

The entire array shook violently, and fine cracks appeared on the light barrier.

The old woman also raised her bone staff and tapped it gently. Countless bone spikes emerged from the ground, dense and numerous like a forest, stabbing at the array from all directions!

The cracks grew more numerous and larger.

The Old Ancestor stood on the peak of the main peak, his expression calm, as he continuously injected spiritual power into the array eye. Fine beads of sweat had already seeped out on his forehead, but his gaze remained steady, without a trace of panic.

Yun Ming stood behind him, looking at the light barrier that was about to shatter, and suddenly remembered the moment many years ago when he turned into fly ash in the ruins of Daqian.

That time, he couldn't protect anything.

This time, he would at least—

Boom—!

The Mountain Guardian Array shattered.