104: Chapter 104 The Wind Rises in the Northern Region, Blackstone City in Peril

The figure of Taixuan Holy Land gradually faded away in the sky, and Bai Yunzhou led fifty elite Disciples, transforming into a streak of light as they galloped toward the central Northern Region.

The Power of Chaos lingered around his body, elevating his speed to the limit. The zhuiyun boots beneath his feet flashed with a faint cyan light, parting the clouds along the way, while the Disciples behind him formed an airborne Formation, following closely with condensed and orderly auras.

Zhou Zhiting and Ling Shuang flanked him on either side, one with a faint battle blood halo lingering around her body and the other with her Ice Soul Sword Intent restrained. Their gazes scanned their surroundings vigilantly to prevent any sneak attacks by demonic Sect remnants.

The sky of the Northern Region was even gloomier than the Holy Land, and the air still retained faint traces of Devilish Qi and a bloody stench. Among the mountain forests along the way, destroyed villages could be seen everywhere, and the fallen trees were still stained with un-dried blood.

Bai Yunzhou's brows furrowed tighter and tighter, the Chaos Eye quietly opening to pierce through layers of mist. He could clearly see wisps of faint vengeful spirit auras wandering across the land below, all of which were the ghosts of commoners who had died at the hands of demonic Cultivators.

"These demonic Sect remnants truly deserve a thousand deaths."

Zhou Zhiting clenched her jade fists tightly, a trace of anger flashing in her eyes. The aura of her Battle Blood Sacred Body fluctuated slightly, itching to immediately rush down and wipe out the remnants.

Ling Shuang also nodded slightly, the hanshuang sword emitting a soft chime as an ice-blue sword light flashed and vanished. "The central Northern Region is the convergence point of various cities and the area where demonic Sect remnants roam most frequently. We must be exceptionally careful."

Bai Yunzhou raised his hand to signal the two of them to stay calm, saying in a deep voice, "We will head to Black Stone City first. True Monarch Tianxing's message stated that Black Stone City is an important strategic town in the central Northern Region, and it is currently being besieged by demonic Sect remnants. It is also the rendezvous point for the Disciples of the Qingyun Sect and the Danxia Sect."

As his words fell, his speed increased once more, his green robes fluttering loudly, and the Disciples behind him also circulated their Spiritual Qi to keep up with the pace of advance.

Half a day later, a massive black stone city appeared in everyone's field of vision. The city was built from pitch-black giant stones and stood several zhang tall. Complex defensive runes were carved upon the city walls, but at this moment they had already dimmed completely, with massive cracks appearing in many places.

Beneath the city walls, countless demonic Cultivators dressed in black robes were attacking frantically, waving all sorts of demonic artifacts in their hands and emitting strange, grating chuckles from their mouths. Streaks of blood-red spell techniques blasted toward the city walls, sending debris flying and battle cries shaking the heavens.

On the city walls, the garrison of Black Stone City and a small number of Qingyun Sect Disciples were desperately resisting. Arrows and spell techniques wove into a net, yet they still struggled to withstand the frantic offensive of the demonic Cultivators. Many Cultivators and soldiers fell one after another, and the top of the city wall had already become a river of blood.

"It's the remnants of the Blood God Cult and Youquan Valley!"

Ling Shuang's gaze narrowed as she recognized the insignia on the demonic Cultivators. "There are also quite a few Loose Cultivators who have been demonized. Although their strength is not considered strong, they win in sheer numbers."

Bai Yunzhou looked closely and saw that among the demonic Cultivators, there were three Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators holding down the fort: one was Elder Xuesha of the Blood God Cult, one was Elder Shihun of Youquan Valley, and the other was a demonized Loose Cultivator Nascent Soul. The three of them joined forces to continuously bombard the city gate, and the runes on the city gate were already on the verge of shattering.

"The city gate won't hold much longer. Strike immediately!"

With an order from Bai Yunzhou, his Chaos Domain instantly expanded, and the light-gray light barrier enshrouded downward. The Law suppression trait was fully activated, and the auras of the demonic Cultivators below instantly plummeted by thirty percent.

The frantically attacking demonic Cultivators only felt their entire bodies grow heavy, their Spiritual Qi circulation becoming sluggish. Their offensive instantly slowed down, and their eyes were filled with panic and incomprehension.

"Who is it?!"

Elder Xuesha roared angrily, looking up at the sky. Seeing the figures of Bai Yunzhou and the others, a trace of malice flashed in his eyes. "People from Taixuan Holy Land! How dare you ruin this seat's good deed!"

Bai Yunzhou had no redundant nonsense to spare. His figure flickered, transforming into a cyan-gray streak of light as he swooped down. The liefeng sword was unsheathed, weaving the Power of Chaos and the four-element Laws together to condense a five-colored sword qi that thrust straight at Elder Xuesha.

"Seeking death!"

Elder Xuesha snorted coldly, a blood-red saber appearing in his hand. The blade was wreathed in dense blood-fiend power, hacking toward the five-colored sword qi.

Boom! The sword qi collided with the saber, scattering blood-red light in all directions. Elder Xuesha was shaken back repeatedly, the web between his thumb and index finger splitting open, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Who are you? To actually possess such strength!"

"Taixuan Holy Land, Bai Yunzhou."

Bai Yunzhou's voice was icy cold. With a flash of his figure, he instantly appeared before Elder Xuesha, slashing the liefeng sword continuously as streams of Chaos sword qi enshrouded Elder Xuesha.

Elder Xuesha's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly circulated his blood-fiend power to condense a blood-red shield before him, only for it to be easily pierced by the Chaos sword qi, which drove straight toward the center of his brows.

At this very moment, Elder Shihun and the demonized Loose Cultivator struck simultaneously. A strand of black ghost qi and a strand of purple demonic flames assaulted Bai Yunzhou, attempting to rescue him.

"Behave with insolence!"

Zhou Zhiting and Ling Shuang swooped down simultaneously. The leihuang gauntlets on Zhou Zhiting's hands surged with lightning light, and with a single punch, countless bolts of lightning poured down, shattering the purple demonic flames. Ling Shuang waved the hanshuang sword, condensing her Ice Soul Sword Intent into a massive ice blade that sliced through the black ghost qi.

"Mere women, yet you dare block this seat's path!"

Elder Shihun let out a sinister chuckle, the ghost qi around his body surging wildly to transform into countless ghost claws that snatched toward Ling Shuang.

Ling Shuang's eyes were ice-cold as the hanshuang sword danced out an ice-blue sword blossom. The Ice Soul Sword Array instantly deployed, weaving thirty-six ice-blue sword lights into a net that shattered all the ghost claws, while the sword light thrust straight at Elder Shihun.

As for Zhou Zhiting, she engaged in battle with the demonized Loose Cultivator. Her Battle Blood Sacred Body erupted at full force, intertwining a blood-red halo with lightning light. Every punch carried earth-shattering might. Although the demonized Loose Cultivator was in the Nascent Soul Stage, he was simply no match for Zhou Zhiting, being beaten back repeatedly with his body covered in scorch marks from the lightning.

"Fellow Disciples, follow me and kill!"

Song Xinghe led fifty Taixuan elite Disciples to swoop down, their weapons unsheathed as they charged to slaughter the demonic Cultivators below.

These Disciples were all battle-hardened veterans, and with the blessing of Bai Yunzhou's Chaos Domain, their combat power skyrocketed. Charging into the midst of the demonic Cultivators like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, every single strike of theirs could slaughter a demonic Cultivator, with screams rising one after another.

Seeing reinforcements arrive, the garrison of Black Stone City and the Qingyun Sect Disciples on the city walls instantly experienced a massive boost in morale. They shouted as they rushed down the city walls, fighting side-by-side with the Taixuan Disciples to encircle and annihilate the demonic Sect remnants.

Bai Yunzhou's battle with Elder Xuesha had already entered a white-hot stage. Elder Xuesha exhausted all his strength, executing a secret technique of the Blood God Cult. The blood-fiend power around his body surged wildly, transforming into a massive Blood God phantom that lunged toward Bai Yunzhou.

"Mere minor tricks."

Bai Yunzhou snorted coldly, running his Chaos Green Lotus Body at full power. The chaos green lotus mark between his brows lit up, and the cyan-gray Power of Chaos condensed into a massive qinglian sword. "Chaos Swordsmanship: Qinglian Suppresses Demons!"

The qinglian sword slowly descended, carrying the might to suppress all evil spirits. The Blood God phantom let out a miserable, shrill scream, gradually dissipating under the suppression of the qinglian sword. Elder Xuesha's natal essence blood was also shaken apart, and he vomited a mouthful of blood as his aura withered to the extreme.

"You... you actually managed to break my Blood God secret technique!"

Elder Xuesha's eyes were filled with despair as he turned around and attempted to flee.

"Since you've come, don't even think about leaving."

Bai Yunzhou's figure flickered, instantly appearing behind Elder Xuesha. The liefeng sword pierced through his back, and the Power of Chaos surged in, completely shredding his Nascent Soul.

Having resolved Elder Xuesha, Bai Yunzhou turned to look at the battlefield of Ling Shuang and Zhou Zhiting. He saw that Ling Shuang had already trapped Elder Shihun within the Ice Soul Sword Array. Elder Shihun's ghost qi was continuously purified by the Ice Soul Sword Intent, rendering him at the end of his tether. Meanwhile, Zhou Zhiting had punched apart the Nascent Soul of the demonized Loose Cultivator with a single blow, concluding the battle.

Seeing that all three Nascent Soul Stage leaders had been executed, the demonic Cultivators below instantly fell into complete disarray, turning around in an attempt to flee. However, they were surrounded tightly by the Taixuan Disciples and the Black Stone City garrison, leaving them with no way out at all. They could only resist desperately, but it was merely like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Half an hour later, the demonic Cultivators beneath the city were completely wiped out, corpses littering the fields. A thick bloody stench and Devilish Qi permeated the air, and beneath the city walls of Black Stone City, traces of battle were everywhere.

Bai Yunzhou slowly withdrew his sword, and the Chaos Domain quietly retracted. The cyan-gray halo around his body faded into his body. He looked down at the corpses at his feet without a trace of ripples in his eyes; these demonic Cultivators had their hands stained with blood and deserved to die.

"Guardian Bai!"

A hearty voice rang out as a middle-aged Cultivator dressed in Qingyun Sect attire strode over, bowing deeply to Bai Yunzhou. "I am Feng Qingyang of the Qingyun Sect. Thank you, Fellow Daoist of Taixuan Holy Land, for your timely assistance, otherwise Black Stone City would surely have fallen today!"

Closely following behind, a female Cultivator dressed in a red dress of the Danxia Sect also stepped forward and bowed in salute: "Su Wanqing of the Danxia Sect greets Guardian Bai. Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for relieving the siege."

Both of them were at the Late Stage of the Nascent Soul Stage, and they were the leading Elders dispatched by the Qingyun Sect and the Danxia Sect to Black Stone City.

Bai Yunzhou nodded slightly, cupping his hands in return. "Elder Feng, Elder Su, no need for courtesy. Eradicating the demonic Sect remnants is the shared responsibility of all major Sects in the Northern Region. How could we stand by and do nothing?"

Feng Qingyang sighed, looking at the scarred and devastated Black Stone City. "This time, the demonic Sect remnants came fiercely. Black Stone City's defensive Formation was already damaged due to the previous battle, and the garrison suffered heavy losses as well. If you hadn't arrived in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Su Wanqing also wore a worried expression. "Not just Black Stone City, other cities in the central Northern Region, such as Qingfeng City and Luoxia City, have also been besieged by demonic Sect remnants. It's just that our manpower is limited, and we simply cannot be in two places at once."

Bai Yunzhou's brows furrowed once more, and he said in a deep voice, "Why did the demonic Sect remnants suddenly assemble and simultaneously besiege the various cities in the central Northern Region? There must be something fishy behind this."

His Chaos Eye quietly opened, scanning the surrounding corpses. On Elder Xuesha's corpse, he detected a faint trace of the Reincarnation power, which was extremely similar to the aura on Venerable Wangsheng previously.

"It's people from the Reincarnation Hall!"

A cold glint flashed in Bai Yunzhou's eyes. "The actions of these demonic Sect remnants are being secretly manipulated by the Reincarnation Hall behind the scenes."

Feng Qingyang and Su Wanqing's expressions changed drastically, their eyes filled with disbelief. "Reincarnation Hall? Didn't they join forces with the demon god? Now that the demon god has been sealed, why are they still secretly manipulating the demonic Sect remnants?"

"The purpose of the Reincarnation Hall has never been simple."

Bai Yunzhou said slowly, "Assisting the demon god was merely to seize the demon god origin. Now that the demon god origin has been taken away by Yue Li, they are naturally unwilling to let it go and want to use the hands of the demonic Sect remnants to throw the Northern Region into Chaos, reaping the fisherman's profits."

Ling Shuang stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "The influence of the Reincarnation Hall is spread across the entire Northern Region. If they are truly manipulating things from the shadows, the situation in the central Northern Region will likely become even more perilous."

Zhou Zhiting also nodded and said, "Moreover, among these demonic Sect remnants, quite a few are demonized Loose Cultivators. The Reincarnation Hall must have used some kind of method to control these Loose Cultivators, which is why they have become so fanatical."

Bai Yunzhou remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Elder Feng, Elder Su, what is the current situation of Black Stone City? How many garrison troops remain? Can the defensive Formation be repaired?"

Feng Qingyang replied, "There are less than a thousand garrison troops left in Black Stone City, most of them injured. The Disciples of the Qingyun Sect and the Danxia Sect combined only number a little over two hundred. The foundation of the defensive Formation is severely damaged, and although Senior Sister Deng has already sent people over to repair it, it will take at least three days to restore the major part of it."

Su Wanqing added, "Moreover, the commoners in the city have also suffered heavy casualties and injuries. Food and Medicinal Pills for healing are extremely scarce, so the situation is not optimistic."

Bai Yunzhou nodded and said in a deep voice, "In that case, I will leave behind twenty Taixuan Disciples to assist you in garrisoning Black Stone City, repairing the defensive Formation, comforting the commoners, and treating the wounded."

He turned his gaze to Song Xinghe: "Senior Brother Song, you will lead twenty Disciples to stay behind, and you must assist Elder Feng and Elder Su in defending Black Stone City. There must not be the slightest mistake."

"This Disciple obeys!"

Song Xinghe bowed in salute, his eyes filled with determination.

Bai Yunzhou looked again at Ling Shuang and Zhou Zhiting: "Lady Ling Shuang, Zhiting, the two of you will accompany me and lead the remaining thirty Disciples to head to Qingfeng City and Luoxia City for reinforcement. Let's lift the siege on both cities first, then discuss our next steps."

"Alright!"

Ling Shuang and Zhou Zhiting nodded simultaneously, their eyes filled with Battle Intent.

Feng Qingyang hurriedly said, "Guardian Bai, the demonic Sect remnants in Qingfeng City and Luoxia City are even greater in number, and there are Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators holding down the fort. With you only bringing thirty Disciples, wouldn't it be far too perilous?"

Su Wanqing also chimed in, "Why don't we go together? Pooling the strength of our three parties will surely lift the siege on both cities."

Bai Yunzhou shook his head, "Black Stone City has just undergone a major battle and its defenses are hollowed out. We must leave behind enough manpower to garrison it; otherwise, the people of the Reincarnation Hall are very likely to make a comeback. The two of you will stay behind and guard Black Stone City together with Senior Brother Song. On my side, having Lady Ling Shuang and Zhiting to assist me is more than enough."

His Chaos Green Lotus Body had already achieved Major Achievement; even facing several Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, he would have the power to fight them. Moreover, he had two major boosts in Ling Shuang and Zhou Zhiting, and the thirty Taixuan elite Disciples were all individuals capable of taking on ten each, which was sufficient to handle the crises of Qingfeng City and Luoxia City.

Seeing that Bai Yunzhou's mind was made up, Feng Qingyang and Su Wanqing no longer tried to persuade him otherwise, only bowing as they said, "Guardian Bai, take care along the way. If there is any need, you can transmit messages at any time, and we will immediately dispatch Disciples to reinforce you."

Bai Yunzhou nodded slightly and waved his hand, "Fellow Disciples, follow me to Qingfeng City!"

As his words fell, he leaped into the air, transforming into a cyan streak of light as he flew toward the direction of Qingfeng City. Ling Shuang and Zhou Zhiting led thirty elite Taixuan Disciples closely behind, their figures cutting through the gloomy sky and vanishing into the distance.

Feng Qingyang and Su Wanqing watched the direction where everyone departed, their eyes filled with anticipation. Song Xinghe turned around and began arranging personnel to clear the battlefield, repair the defensive Formation, and comfort the commoners in the city. Everything in Black Stone City gradually stepped onto the right track.

And Bai Yunzhou's party had at this moment already embarked on the journey toward Qingfeng City.