Chongming Xianzong

Chapter 568 Mo Yunze

— Huozhou, Moyunze
Master Huang Mijia reacted much faster than Grand Master Kang had previously anticipated. The news of the Fourth Palace Master Yu Nian'en's death reached his ears immediately, and he quickly responded.

Xia Ming, the second master of the Yunze Witch Lord Hall, soon returned alone from Sizhou with two bronze corpses. His disciples were also on their way back. Moreover, the progress of the Chongming Alliance army in Moyunze was far less smooth than Kang Dabao had previously predicted.

Objectively speaking, it was only at this point that Headmaster Kang finally understood why the Yunze Witch Lord Palace was able to become the ruler of the northern border of Huangpi Road.

The natural barriers of Moyunze were enough to deter any intruder.

This swampy wetland, spanning hundreds of miles, is shrouded in a miasma year-round. After being managed by generations of Golden Core cultivators from the Yunze Witch Lord Palace, it has long been integrated with the mountain-protecting array, making its power extraordinary.

Let alone sending soldiers to escape, even an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, if trapped alone, would likely find it difficult to maintain a clear mind, and would soon lose sight and all six senses.

Based on the words of the local cultivators who were questioned and the Yunze Witch Lord Palace disciples who were captured by the Chongming Alliance, and combined with the fragmentary information that Sect Leader Kang had obtained from the Fearless Tower, they were able to roughly figure out the inside story of Mo Yunze.

The bottom of this swamp is covered with a humus layer that is tens of feet thick. When cultivators come into contact with it, their robes will not only be corroded by it and they will need to use their own spiritual power to protect themselves. It will also emit a thick layer of humus.

This putrid aura is extremely vicious. If cultivators do not have methods to ward off the miasma, they may have their spiritual energy corrupted and their cultivation ruined within half an incense stick's time.

The pervasive stench of decay is the result of the fermentation of spiritual plant remains and monster corpses that have accumulated in the depths of the Great Temple Swamp over tens of thousands of years.

The Yunze Witch Lord Temple has been operating here for generations, with each generation having disciples specifically seeking out various toxins to mix into this putrid stench. Over the years, the number of toxins present has grown to a point that even the temple's leaders themselves struggle to articulate clearly.

In fact, even after being tainted by this corrupting energy, the Yunze Witch Lord Palace has very few means to eradicate the paralysis.

Therefore, it is perfectly normal for this sect to lose four or five lazy and foolish disciples every year due to their disrespect for sect rules and their inability to remember formations and directions.

Moreover, the ambitions of the ancestors of Yunze Witch Lord Hall were clearly not limited to this. With their limited resources, they intended to completely transform this natural barrier into an impregnable fortress for their own sect.

Seventy-two underground channels were dug along the natural course of the swamp, which could both guide the flow of miasma to form a barrier and release "spirit miasma" stored in a safe place during wartime.

This poisonous mist, created through a mixture of witchcraft and magic, is even enough to corrupt the natal magic treasures of many cultivators at the Golden Core stage.
The seemingly randomly distributed dead trees on the surface of Mo Yunze are actually the sinister "Corrupted Heart Stakes" created and laid out by disciples of the Yunze Witch Lord Palace.

These dark, buried logs are topped with camouflaged aquatic plants, hollow inside which are filled with venom. They will burst open upon impact. The venom that splashes out can even corrode spiritual-grade defensive artifacts.

Even more terrifying are the "Spirit-Devouring Algae" that are found throughout the entire Moyunze waters. These plants, carefully cultivated by the sorcerers, will recklessly entangle any creature that gets close. Their roots can penetrate the skin to absorb spiritual energy and then feed back into the great formation.

The mountain gate of Yunze Wuzun Temple is hidden at the bottom of the Black Water Pool in the center of the swamp.

The entrance to this mountain gate is equipped with the "Reversed Heaven and Earth Formation". If an outsider's cultivation level is average, even if they manage to pass through the outer poisonous miasma, they will lose their way under the influence of this formation.

To onlookers, it seemed as if they were moving towards the center of the pool, but in reality, they were going around in circles, and eventually, in a state of complete numbness, they were surrounded and bound by the ever-accumulating poisonous miasma.

Afterwards, they will either exhaust their spiritual power and become dried corpses, or they will be devoured by the swarming Cloud Marsh Witch Lord's Palace ants.

However, the "Reversal of Heaven and Earth Formation" that protects the Yunze Witch Lord's Palace at the bottom of the Blackwater Pool has more than just the effect of confusing the enemy.

As the current leader of the Yunze Witchcraft Temple, Master Huang Mijia was not simply a ruler who maintained the status quo. During his more than two hundred years in power, he added three layers of thick armor to this formation.

One is the tens of thousands of "blood-eating gu". Outsiders are unaware of their origins and often discover them only when they can see these tiny creatures, as thick as hair, gushing out of the cracks in the rock wall and burrowing into the cultivator's body through the pores to gnaw on their internal organs and flesh.
The second is "Bone-Corroding Mist," which is made by refining iron and copper corpses in a blood-transforming pool for a hundred years. If an ordinary person is attacked by this mist, their bones will turn into paste within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and they will become a cripple.
Thirdly, there is the Witch Ancestor Banner hanging high outside the formation. According to Master Huang Mijia, the remnant spirit of the Witch Ancestor summoned by this banner is enough to qualify as a Golden Core cultivator.

Those who can become the founders of a dynasty are often not concerned with trivial matters. In fact, Huang Mijia was even more pragmatic and down-to-earth than Master Kang.

This ancestral banner was mostly made by Huang Mijia, who invited a skilled craftsman to create it using the remains of the ancestors of the Yunze Witch Lord Temple as materials, along with many fragmented spirits he carefully collected.

If it weren't for the fact that the land veins of Moyunze have now been merged with those of the Moyunze, even if the Fourth Palace Master Yu Nian'en had died after the previous conflict between the two families, the elite disciples of the Yunze Witch Lord Palace would not have ended up in such a state of disintegration.

However, even though Master Huang Mi had managed the base so diligently, he could only delay the army's attack and could not withstand the personal visit of someone like Master Kang.

After all, the latter's pupil technique was astonishing, and he was not easily swayed by temptation. His Taoist skills were also quite remarkable, and ordinary methods could hardly stop him.

After Kang Dabao had traversed the thick, putrid miasma, leaped into the tranquil black pool, and dodged numerous ferocious second-tier water beasts, he finally saw the dark banner hanging high outside the gate of the Yunze Witch Lord's Palace.
However, at this moment, the Grand Master Kang also ran into the Second Hall Master Xia Ming, who was leading a group of disciples to stand ready for battle.

Kang Dabao was unaware that another high-level cultivator had arrived at the Yunze Witch Lord's Palace, and the latter was equally surprised that Headmaster Kang possessed such abilities, enabling him to travel alone to such a crucial location.

However, Xia Ming's reaction was not slow either. At that time, even before the invincible golden light of the Great Master Kang was emitted, he was shocked by the sudden Buddhist chants and incantations, which made his face solemn.

There wasn't much to say afterward. Xia Ming, the Second Palace Master, was no match for Yu Nian'en, who had just been captured alive by Kang Dabao.

Even if the disciples formed a formation to help, if Master Kang was determined to leave, and the Ancestral Witch Banner in front of the formation was difficult to activate for a while, then relying solely on Xia Ming's abilities, it would be difficult to keep Kang Dabao. At most, he could throw some Blood-Eating Gu over to chase after him for a while and save face a little.

The fleeing Sect Leader Kang was actually quite frightened, because he had been a bit too arrogant. After all, if it had been Huang Mi who had laid the ambush, Kang Dabao would have suffered a great loss.

On the way back, Kang Dabao did not stop what he was doing. He used his powerful and unparalleled divine sense to thoroughly scan the battlefield until he had a general idea of ​​what was going on before returning to the camp.

The head of the Kangda Sect has always been benevolent, and at this time, the newly recruited batch of soldiers came in handy.

These flesh-and-blood puppets, devoid of the six senses and fearless of death, are not strong in combat, but they are the best materials to be used for extermination in this place and the treacherous swamp.

However, since this team had been forged at great expense, it couldn't just be thrown into this filthy water and allowed to rot. After Yu Nian'en's death, the Chongming Alliance's situation in Huozhou, where it had no support, changed drastically. While the Yunze Witch Lord's Palace held absolute power in Huozhou, there were still a few families with respectable surnames.

Most of these sects have a good relationship with the Yunze Witch Lord Palace. If the Yunze Witch Lord Palace were not currently engaged in a two-front war with an uncertain situation, the Chongming Alliance led by Master Kang might have already encountered them on the battlefield.

Even so, these families of good surnames provided a great deal of supplies and men for the Yunze Witch God Temple's expedition to recapture Sizhou.

The reason why Yu Nian'en did not retreat to the Moyunze Mountain Gate with his disciples and wait for Huang Mijia to return to help was that he thought that with the help of three third-grade mid-level puppets, he could easily subdue the Great Master Kang.

Secondly, it is necessary to revitalize the prestige of Yunze Witchcraft Temple in the surrounding area and win over the hearts and minds of the people within its jurisdiction.

After all, his family had been governing the people with the principles of "tyranny and cruelty" for the past two or three hundred years, so he knew how quickly the "backlash" would come if he showed any signs of decline.

Yu Nian'en never expected that the Yunze Witch Lord Palace would end up like this after the battle he waged.

What the Yunze Witch Lord Hall elder, who had been captured alive by Master Kang, was thinking was no longer important. This development was exactly what he wanted. The principle of "eating one cup of enemy food is equivalent to eating twenty cups of my own" was simple, yet it was a tactic that Kang Dabao often used.

Soon, all the forces in Huozhou felt that compared to the Yunze Witch Lord Palace, the Chongming Alliance, an outsider who should have been rejected by the local cultivators, seemed to be too lenient.

Even for sects deeply bound to the Yunze Witch Lord Palace, Sect Leader Kang would usually only invite their leaders to the camp for tea. As long as they showed even a little respect, their lives would be safe, and it could be considered that past grievances were forgiven.

As for the rumors of local cultivators being worried about the Chongming Sect's reputation and the possibility of their families being raided and their families wiped out, nothing has been done yet; these are merely fabrications by those with ulterior motives.

If your family is willing to contribute some supplies and volunteers to the Chongming Alliance's attack on Moyunze, then Master Kang's attitude will be even more amiable, and most of the anxiety in your heart will disappear.

Most practitioners cultivate for the sake of longevity, and even those who practice evil or banditry rarely have a natural inclination to live in a turbulent place.

Because of Kang Dabao's actions, a considerable number of the Huozhou border states, which were originally on the opposite side of the David Dynasty, have joined the Chongming Alliance.

Kang Dabao was initially hesitant about whether to have the disciples of Chongming Sect lead the way and follow behind the conscription formation as an example, but the various families of Huozhou thought this was the time for them to set an example and were unwilling to give way, which relieved Kang Dabao's hesitation.

They are willing to fight, but they are also capable of fighting.

Even though the Chongming Alliance cultivators had mobilized all their Wind Talismans to try and slightly disperse the miasma, it was all ineffective. After all, the soldiers had neither mind nor spirit, and were therefore immune to the miasma.

The above is true, but it is also true that most of the recruits are not very intelligent.

The Huo Zhou Yi guerrillas who were paired with him had just entered this miasma when they lost all communication they had received earlier. They were repeatedly tormented by the miasma, the spirit-devouring algae, and the heart-corroding stakes, leaving them in a state of near ecstasy.

The Huozhou Yi Cong, which had cleared the way for the main army in the first few days, only managed to travel ten miles before retreating due to heavy casualties.

Along the way, besides the Huozhou Yicong risking their lives, the group of farmers led by Kang Rongquan also had no time to rest.

Wherever this elder of the Chongming Sect's Spirit Plant Hall went, he would lead a group of farmers to plant many spiritual plants, which would barely purify the swamp full of putrid odors and clear a path that was relatively safe and free of miasma.

The reason why Master Kang ordered Kang Rongquan to do this was because of his cautious nature, which was to consider defeat before victory.

He, the Great Sect Leader Kang, still vividly remembered how the disciples of the Yunze Witch Lord Palace, who were still capable of fighting just moments before, behaved in their panicked and desperate situation.

Even without the interference of terrain, it was still like this. Sect Leader Kang dared not imagine what would happen to his Chongming Alliance cultivators if they suffered a defeat and fled in panic in such a place.

However, since Mo Yunze has been under the control of the Yunze Witch Lord Palace for so long, it is difficult for Kang Rongquan, a second-level cultivator, to maintain this for long. It is only a convenient method. It is likely that it will be eroded back to its original state in just a few months.

Therefore, if Master Kang wants this path to last, he will need Kang Rongquan to continue leading people and providing more support.

Having regained their leader, the disciples of the Yunze Witch Lord Hall clearly did not sit idly by. Under the command of the Second Hall Master Xia Ming, there were always brave individuals who stepped forward.

Unlike the sorcerers and warrior monks who were captured by the Chongming Alliance and had their talismanic seals removed by the Yunze Sorcerer Temple, the disciples sent out by Xia Ming were very familiar with the terrain of Moyunze and were truly at home.

These slippery loaches either lured a horde of water beasts from the marshland to harass the disciples with their sorcerer flutes, or led the pursuing disciples to dangerous places, causing great casualties, which greatly angered the eight righteous families who took over the Huozhou Righteous Army to fight.

One of the fake alchemists, unable to bear the harassment any longer, disregarded his status and personally chased after a Foundation Establishment cultivator. However, as soon as he disappeared into the miasma, the life-bound jade tablet left on his clansman shattered into dust.

The sound of grief from within their own ranks had barely begun when Master Kang's eyes lit up, and he gave chase.

For Master Kang, removing the fake pill's head is indeed a simple matter.

While gaining more people is certainly a good thing, the constant attacks from the Yunze Witch Lord Palace are making it difficult to eliminate the resentment among the Chongming Alliance members who have been constantly immersed in this stinking water, the grief of seeing their comrades fall beside them, and the fear of losing their way due to the slow progress.

Master Kang was aware of this, and although he was anxious, he did not act rashly. At the same time, he kept a close eye on news from Sizhou to avoid being attacked from both sides.

But what you fear most is what comes to pass. After only managing to push through half of the area in the marshland, Kang Rongquan was about to run out of spiritual plant seeds when he also received news that the Yunze Witch Lord Palace army was returning from Sizhou.

The letter from Wuweilou reads: "The Nascent Soul cultivators behind Hongfen Temple and Qianfo Forest were intimidated by Bai Canhong and temporarily halted their offensive to observe the situation."

(End of this chapter)