17: With Nascent Soul cultivators arriving in droves, is the sect in grave danger of destruction?

"Slash."

Lu Yuan softly uttered a single word.

He casually swung his blade down.

There was no earth-shattering blade aura, nor was there power capable of tearing the Void Realm.

Only a pitch-black blade light, flashing and gone in an instant.

Fast.

Extremely fast.

The Azure Flood Dragon King didn't even have time to react.

Rip.

Its proud azure scales, capable of withstanding a full-force blow from a Low Grade Spirit Treasure, were as fragile as paper before that pitch-black blade light.

A massive, bone-deep wound stretched from its neck all the way to its tail.

Blood gushed out like a waterfall, staining the pond water below red.

"Roar..."

The intense pain made the Azure Flood Dragon King let out a mournful wail.

Its massive body crashed back into the cold pond, stirring up colossal waves.

The arrogance in its eyes when it looked at Lu Yuan had vanished, replaced only by endless fear and terror.

One strike.

Just one strike had severely wounded it to this extent.

Who exactly was this human before it?

It had no doubt that if the opponent struck again, its life would surely end here today.

Lu Yuan didn't give it much time to think.

He once again raised the Taiyin Exterminating Evil Blade in his hand.

On the blade, the Nirvana True Fire burned even more fiercely.

The second strike was about to fall.

"Senior, spare me! Senior, please spare me!"

Just then, the Azure Flood Dragon King's terrified plea for mercy rang out.

"This humble demon was blind and offended Senior. This humble demon is willing to submit, willing to serve Senior, only asking Senior to spare this humble demon's life!"

The reversal in attitude happened in an instant.

A cold sneer appeared at the corner of Lu Yuan's mouth.

The blade in his hand did not lower.

"Release your Divine Soul," he said indifferently.

The Azure Flood Dragon King stiffened upon hearing this.

It naturally understood what releasing its Divine Soul meant.

It meant that its life and death would be completely controlled by the other party.

But looking at the long blade in Lu Yuan's hand, emanating an aura of death, it ultimately chose to submit.

It slowly released its Divine Soul defense.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan directly imprinted a Divine Sense mark into the core of the Azure Flood Dragon King's Divine Soul.

With his Divine Sense strength at Nascent Soul Stage Great Perfection, the Restriction he placed was impossible to break unless a Soul Transformation Stage mighty figure personally intervened.

This could be considered an unexpected bonus.

Subduing this Azure Flood Dragon King meant that the Sect would have an additional Nascent Soul Stage combatant in the future.

"Greetings, Master."

Feeling the irresistible mark deep within its Divine Soul, the Azure Flood Dragon King completely lowered its proud head.

"Mm." Lu Yuan nodded. "Where is the Taiyin True Water in this pond?"

"Master, please wait."

The Azure Flood Dragon King dared not delay and immediately dove into the Immortal Cave at the bottom of the pond. A moment later, it surfaced, using its demonic power to lift a fist-sized mass of deep blue liquid, emanating an extremely Yin and cold aura.

It was indeed Taiyin True Water.

Lu Yuan placed it into a jade bottle, then took out a Spirit Beast Pouch and looked at the Azure Flood Dragon King.

"Go in."

Riding a Dragon was too conspicuous.

Moreover, the Azure Flood Dragon King's speed was, in his opinion, a bit too slow.

The Azure Flood Dragon King obediently transformed into a streak of azure light and entered the Spirit Beast Pouch.

After returning to the Sect.

Lu Yuan had the Azure Flood Dragon King lie dormant in the back mountains of Longevity Peak, instructing it not to let any outsiders discover it.

Fortunately, this Azure Flood Dragon King was also skilled in transformation techniques and could shrink its hundred-zhang body into an arm-length azure snake, perfectly concealing its aura.

Meanwhile, the Disciple sent by Gu Qingxue had successfully purchased the special Profound Iron Ore from the Four Seas Merchant Guild.

Lu Yuan immediately decided to switch Cultivation Technique. Based on his understanding of the Great Five Elements Chaos Art and with the assistance of three Five Elements Rare Treasures, it wouldn't take much time.

He was confident that by utilizing these three Heavenly Treasures he had acquired, along with his Pure Yang Dao Body and Yimu Spirit Body, he could break through the Bottleneck in one go and step into the legendary Soul Transformation Realm after successfully switching to the Great Five Elements Chaos Art.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on the Enlightenment Meditation Cushion, surrounded by five different attribute glows.

The fiery red flames of the Pure Yang Dao Body, the vibrant green vitality of the Yimu Spirit Body, the profound yellow weight of the Five-Colored Soil, the ultimate Yin deep blue of the Taiyin True Water, and the sharp golden edge of the starfall meteor iron.

The Five Elements Origin were now complete.

He was attempting to initially fuse these five purest Origin powers using the methods of the Great Five Elements Chaos Art.

This process was extremely dangerous; a slight mistake could lead to severe injuries, or even the collapse of his Dao foundation.

But Lu Yuan remained calm, his expression unperturbed like an ancient well.

Although he had begun to switch Cultivation Technique, he still maintained a wisp of his mind, closely monitoring the daily intelligence refresh.

The 11 PM - 1 AM hour arrived again.

[Ding, daily intelligence has been refreshed.]

This time, all the intelligence was white-grade.

[White Intelligence: The True Monarch Wan Shou, Sect Master of Wan Shou Valley, will lead the Chilian Zhenjun, Vice Sect Master, and all Golden Core Elders from the Valley to besiege the Azure Cloud Sect mountain gate at noon today.]

[White Intelligence: The True Monarch Tian Jian, Sect Master of Heavenly Sword Mountain, will lead the Taixu Zhenjun, Vice Sect Master, and all Sword Cultivator Elders from the mountain to Azure Cloud Sect at wei shi (1 PM - 3 PM) today.]

[White Intelligence: True Monarch Tian Huo, Sect Master of Fenyan Valley, will also arrive alone at the outskirts of Azure Cloud Sect at wei shi (1 PM - 3 PM) today to observe the battle. His stance is neutral.]

Lu Yuan looked at these three pieces of intelligence, and a cold smirk appeared on his lips.

Neutral.

He naturally understood what this so-called neutrality meant.

Fenyan Valley and Azure Cloud Sect were once the most stable allies in the Zhao State.

Azure Cloud Sect provided high-grade Spirit Medicine as one of the sources for Fenyan Valley to refine certain Medicinal Pills.

Now, True Monarch Tian Huo's posture of watching from the sidelines was obvious.

If Azure Cloud Sect could withstand the pressure, he would merely be a passing spectator.

But once Azure Cloud Sect showed even a hint of decline, this former ally would undoubtedly pounce without hesitation to tear off the fattest piece of flesh.

Kicking someone when they're down and profiting from their misfortune.

This was the cruel reality of the cultivation world.

"How interesting," Lu Yuan murmured.

The three white-grade intelligence reports, though low in Rank, when linked together, foreshadowed an unprecedented major crisis.

Three out of the four Nascent Soul Sects in the Zhao State were simultaneously targeting Azure Cloud Sect.

This was almost a Sect-destroying crisis.

Any other Sect facing such a situation would probably already be in a state of panic, preparing for a full-scale evacuation.

But Lu Yuan didn't care at all.

In fact, he even felt a hint of anticipation.

It was a good opportunity to settle accounts with all these demons and monsters.

He secretly transmitted a message with his Divine Thought to Gu Qingxue, who was handling Sect affairs on Azure Cloud Peak.

"Qingxue, prepare to face the enemy."

Gu Qingxue, who was reviewing Jade Slips, trembled upon hearing this.