Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1517 A Body Passed Through Desolate Ashes

Upon hearing this, Fang Yanxing looked at Chen Chuan in astonishment.

From the time the three of them separated to the time the other two came to their aid, it seemed like a long time, but it was actually only a short moment.

They guessed that Chen Chuan would be able to withstand the demons' attack during this period and hold out until their reinforcements arrived, but they never expected that Chen Chuan had already eliminated all the demons.

A hint of surprise appeared on Liu Changlin's face.

Fang Yanxing hesitated for a moment, then asked very seriously, "Can Consultant Chen confirm this?"

According to Chen Chuan's words, Shang Lingjun was completely killed. However, Shang Lingjun was half-god and half-human, and could be regarded as a Xuanji martial artist at the Dongxuan Temple level. Even if there were some remnants and mutated organizations outside, they could be restored.

However, since this person can control the Xuan Kong Fire, while others may not be able to do it, he may not be unable to, but he still needs to confirm it again.

Chen Chuan reached out and took the arrow token from the field, tossed it to the two of them, and said, "This person has already perished, but he left behind this thing."

Upon seeing this object, Liu Changlin's gaze immediately fell upon it. He picked it up, examined it closely, and said with absolute certainty:
"This must have been modified according to the doctrines of the Xuanjiao sect..."

He reached out and stroked the surface of the plaque, feeling the remaining textures. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Judging from its shape, it seems to be something from the Jinli Sect."

Why the Jinli Sect?

Fang Yanxing looked at the arrow shield. Its surface was iron-black, and its design was rather archaic, but there were no noteworthy or obvious features on it.

At this moment, Liu Changlin picked up the arrow-shaped plaque, shook it slightly, muttered something, and then lightly tapped a spot on the plaque with his finger. Immediately, the three of them heard a clear and melodious sound.

A faint golden flame suddenly appeared on the card, enveloping the entire card. However, the flame quickly turned from gold to black and gradually faded away.

He said, "That's right, it's the Xuanling of the Jinli Sect."

He paused for a moment, then explained.

"In the past, the Xuanjiao conferred titles upon many ancient gods and demons. Even some of its branch sects could be controlled by the Xuanjiao at critical moments because there was an oath made after receiving the title, and they were bound by the Xuanjiao.

However, if the Xuan Sect cannot preserve its heritage and is no longer recognized by other sects, then this Xuan Order will be useless.

These mysterious tokens are limited in number because the materials that can support them are extremely rare; small sects might only have one or two at most.

It was modified by demons using some means, and its original function is no longer present. It only utilizes the characteristic of the Xuanling being able to bear the power of the upper level.

If my deduction is correct, this thing should be able to suppress our power when used, which is its simplest application.

As he spoke, he glanced at Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan nodded: "That's right." Shang Lingjun had used this thing to suppress his techniques twice.

Liu Changlin tried to channel the power within, but he was very careful because he was unsure if it would attract the attention of the higher-ups. Even with just this small amount of communication, both he and Fang Yanxing's expressions changed slightly.

They could clearly feel that this power almost brought their spiritual energy to a standstill, and their agile spirits became stiff in an instant. If they were to use any secret techniques, the effectiveness would probably be reduced to less than one-tenth.

It's easy to imagine how powerful this thing would be when it fell into Shang Lingjun's hands.

The two fell silent for a moment. Chen Chuan had actually managed to kill Shang Lingjun despite such pressure. Without a doubt, his strength was far greater than they had imagined.

After a while, Fang Yanxing came to his senses and said, "Since Shang Lingjun has been killed by Advisor Chen, our group's mission is complete. I think we can go back now."

Chen Chuanzi had no objection.

Liu Changlin glanced around and, after confirming that nothing suspicious had been left behind, nodded in agreement.

So the three of them left from there, and this time they did not travel along the lineage, but instead used the power of the Chaotic Realm to go back.

On their way back, Liu and Fang discovered that even though this place was far beyond their usual patrol area, they hadn't encountered a single high-level demon along the way.

This is likely because Shang Lingjun summoned all the demons in the surrounding area and then eliminated them, thus creating a blank area.

At this moment, Liu Changlin used telepathy to ask Chen Chuan, "Advisor Chen, have you noticed what methods Shang Lingjun used to summon those demons?"

Chen Chuan said, "From what I've observed, it looks like a small seal."

He recounted the situation he had just encountered, then mentally visualized the small seal, and finally said:

"Because this thing contained the remnants of Shang Lingjun's spirit, I destroyed it by severing the small seal. The thing then turned to ashes and vanished without a trace."

Fang Yanxing asked, "What exactly is this? Does Consultant Liu know?" Liu Changlin glanced at the small seal, pondered for a moment, and finally said, "It's hard to say at the moment."

Fang Yanxing said, "It would be a good thing if we destroyed it directly, but I'm afraid there's more than one of these things, then we might run into big trouble later."

Chen Chuan understood this concern. There were countless demons in this world, and if they could all be controlled using similar methods, it would be a huge problem.

However, he felt that this was essentially due to the intervention of higher-level forces, and since they were able to bypass the protection of their own higher-level forces and bring them over, it should not have exceeded the limits of what they could handle.

With no obstacles, the three quickly returned to the forward airspace, only to find that the support team waiting there had disappeared.

After inquiring, they learned that two other teams had encountered similar situations, with one team in dire straits, which is why the support team had just gone to their aid.

Chen Chuan glanced into the depths of the void. If this were the case, disregarding the power above, judging solely from the number of demons appearing below, its scale might be no less than that of the one in the fifty-second year of Jianzhi.

However, more than forty years have passed, and their strength is now vastly different from what it was forty years ago. They can mobilize far more people than they did forty years ago, and even their upper echelons are not comparable to what they used to be.

Fang Yanxing went up to ask about the current situation and whether they were still needed to provide support. He was told that they had not received any requests for assistance at the moment.

Upon hearing this, Fang Yanxing's expression remained solemn, and he did not relax.

Liu Changlin also suggested that they wait here a little longer, and could go to provide assistance at any time if there was any situation.

Chen Chuan agreed; all they could do now was wait.

In this world, using mental communication is quite dangerous, because the more one's mental energy spreads outward, the easier it is for higher-level forces to detect it. Therefore, it is usually best to limit it to a certain range.

Even if it's a power clone, its movements aren't as readily known as they are in this world. Once it's released, you don't know what will happen; at most, you can only confirm its existence.

Therefore, if a squad or its members separate and possess each other's divine energy or mutated organization, they can notify other team members or the squad by eliminating this organization in case of danger.

For example, Liu Changlin carries the air of a certain member of the support team, but even so, the team needs to know where they are in advance. If they are not in the original location and the original plan is not followed, then it is of no use.

The three waited for a while before the three teams, including the rescue team, finally returned.

One of the teams consisted of Gao Geliang and Tie Yinyang from the Pure Faction and an advisor from the Implantation Faction.

The other team consisted of Hong Jinkang, who came from the military, and an advisor who was a syncretic and a naturalist.

The rescue team consisted of two elite advisors and one advisor from Wuyi Academy.

Once everyone had gathered, they communicated with each other using the boundary tokens. Seeing that no one had been lost this time, everyone relaxed.

Fang Yanxing inquired about the general situation and learned that Hong Jinkang's team had encountered two very powerful demons that they had never seen before.

But that alone isn't enough. They've made some preparations this time, and with their superior strength, they still have a chance to annihilate the enemy.

However, the opponent was also carrying a lot of lost items, so several attempts to use their killing moves failed to kill them. As a result, the demons around them gathered and their numbers increased.

Unaware of the situation in the other groups, and considering that they were also facing similar troubles, they decided to hold off the demons if they retreated now and the demons turned to attack the other groups.

However, as more and more demons gathered around them, their situation became increasingly critical. In the end, they had no choice but to call for reinforcements to come and join them.

After receiving reinforcements, they fought fiercely and finally killed two demons, and wiped out all the enemies they encountered.

On the other hand, the two members of the Pure Faction only encountered a leading demon. With their cooperation, they killed it almost immediately and also took the opportunity to eliminate a group of demons without a leader, thus successfully completing their objective.

The other three teams learned through the boundary token that Liu Changlin's group had also completed the mission, so they weren't too surprised, assuming that their situation was roughly the same as that of the Pure Faction's two-person group.

Hong Jinkang shook his head. It seemed that their group was just unlucky and had run into the enemy's main force.

However, without their restraint, the other two groups did not complete their raid missions as smoothly.

After a brief exchange of intelligence, each group withdrew from their respective forward airspace and returned to the Danxin Hall, where they held a meeting and each gave a detailed account of their mission.

Liu Changlin gave the last report. Everyone thought the situation was similar to that of Gao and Tie. However, when they heard that the three of them sensed a threat and were forced to separate, and that Chen Chuan was surrounded by enemies, and that when Liu and Fang came to find him, they discovered that he was the one who was suppressing and beating many demons, everyone couldn't help but take notice.

……

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(End of this chapter)