Stepping on the demon door, the witch becomes the strongest

Chapter 834 We'll Fight Our Way Out
The moment Yan Yu heard about the Emei Sword Sect, he immediately realized the true nature of this secret realm:
It really was a dream!

It was merely a dream memory of the slumbering Sun True Sword.

"I see." Mei Yingxue also understood and transmitted her voice to Yan Yu, "Back then, the Emei Sword Sect was not called the Emei Sword Sect, but the Shushan Shangqing Sect. The sect once possessed two human divine swords."

"Later, the reason why the Taiyin Suming Sword was lost is unknown. The whereabouts of the Taiyang Zhenmei Sword can now be confirmed. It is because the Shangqing Sect's strength has declined and its influence is limited to Mount Emei. In addition, it is besieged by powerful enemies. The last sect leader, Chen Yanwei, believed that the sect was about to be destroyed. In order to prevent the divine sword from falling into the hands of the enemy, he chose to secretly take the sword away."

"In fact, his taking away the Sun True Sword did lead to the destruction of the Shu Mountain Shangqing Sect. Subsequently, the Emei Sword Sect went through several ups and downs, rising and falling, but never regained the glory of the Shu Mountain Shangqing Sect. The Sun True Sword must have felt guilty for this, and this dream was born from his regret."

“I have a question,” Yan Yu said thoughtfully. “Since the Sun True Sword is a divine sword of the human race, why is it that Chen Yanwei, as the master of the Sun Sword, is still unable to defeat the powerful enemies around Mount Shu? Is it because he is too weak?”

“It must be because he’s too weak.” Mei Yingxue gave a definite guess. “If you think of the Sun True Essence Sword as a power amplifier with a huge multiplier, if the sword master’s basic strength is too weak, then even if it is amplified, he won’t be much stronger.”

"you sure?"

"I'm not sure, but it's the only reasonable explanation I can think of."

"Alright." Yan Yu decided to accept this explanation for the time being, after all, the person in the Zhenmei Sword Sect's secret realm did not seem very powerful.

From this perspective, the Sun True Sword is rather pitiful. Despite being a divine sword of the human race, its wielder's strength was too weak, making it unable to deal with the powerful enemies surrounding the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu. It could only watch as the sect that had worshipped it for hundreds and thousands of years eventually disappeared into the long river of history in the cultivation world.

However, from a rational perspective, the reason why the Sun True Sword chose Chen Yanwei as its master must be because there was no stronger sword immortal in the sect at that time.

In other words, if the Shangqing School of Shushan was all at that level, wasn't its demise inevitable?
Yan Yu's mind raced with a thousand thoughts, and before he knew it, he followed Mei Yingxue and that "junior brother" on their swords to the Ancestral Hall.

In the cultivation world, the most important thing for a sect is to "respect teachers and value the Dao".

Master refers to one's ancestral master; Dao refers to the lineage of cultivation. Simply put, a cultivator must know who their ancestral master is and what their cultivation lineage is.

The Ancestral Hall was created for this reason, and it houses the memorial tablets of the past sect leaders. In the Emei Sword Sect or the Shu Mountain Shangqing Sect, it is called the "Ancestral Hall." Other sects may use different names, but in any case, there will definitely be a similar place of worship.

Besides holding ancestral worship ceremonies, the ancestral hall also has a more routine function: holding meetings.

When Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue arrived, they saw several elders arguing heatedly. Disciples and followers surrounded them anxiously, as if they had lost their parents and the sky had fallen.

"Things have come to this point, we have no choice but to ask East Kunlun for help," Elder Jia, with his white beard, insisted.

“Eastern Kunlun?” Yan Yu turned his gaze to Mei Yingxue.

“In my time, there were two sects in the Kunlun Mountains,” Mei Yingxue explained. “East Kunlun inherited the lineage of the ancient Kunlun Taiqing Sect, while West Kunlun was composed of a group of demonic monks and Taoists.”

"Eastern Kunlun is struggling to survive itself, how can it possibly have the time to support us?" Elder Yi with the red face retorted. "Why don't we concentrate our forces and fight our way out! I'll risk my life to protect the sect's future leaders!"

This person is clearly a martial arts enthusiast who believes that other sects are untrustworthy and that the only option is to fight to the death.

Judging from the disapproving expressions of the other elders, it was clear that the strength of the Emei Sword Sect compared to its external enemies was such that even if they went all in, there was no chance of turning the tide.

“If we charge out, we’ll all die,” Elder Bing said, his face pale. “If you ask me, it would be better to change the identities of the inner disciples, break them up into smaller groups, and send them to various mountain villages in Shu Mountain to live in anonymity for several decades. After the storm has passed, we can revive the Emei lineage.”

“That is indeed the case in history,” Mei Yingxue transmitted her voice. “Although the Shangqing Sect was destroyed, not all sword immortals died on the spot. The later Emei Sword Sect was established by the survivors of the Shangqing Sect.”

"If that's the case, then why hesitate?" Yan Yu asked. "Isn't it better to send them all away to live in anonymity and wait for a comeback?"

"The lineage," Mei Yingxue replied, "If a sect is disbanded and then re-established a hundred years later, is it still the same sect?"

"Then why isn't it...?" Yan Yu was about to retort, but quickly realized what he meant.

Mei Yingxue came from the Emei Sword Sect. How could she not know how much of the Daoist tradition the Emei Sword Sect inherited from the Shushan Shangqing Sect?
Since she said that, there must be a big hidden danger in this method.

"Break it down into smaller parts? How do you mean by breaking it down into smaller parts?" Just as Yan Yu was pondering this, Elder Ding on the field also spoke up, "Let me ask you, who will take away and preserve the sect's sword techniques and secret arts?"

Yan Yu suddenly realized. If they chose an elite disciple to preserve, the risk would be too great. If that disciple died or betrayed them, the lineage of the Shangqing Sect would be completely severed.

What if all the secret techniques were copied and distributed to all the disciples? The risk would be smaller, but the chance of leaks would be greater. If any disciple were killed or defected to the enemy, these techniques would fall into enemy hands, and all the accumulated resources of the Shangqing Sect over the years would be given to other sects.

Therefore, the Shangqing School only had one option: to split up the lineage, with each person taking a little and the other a little, spreading the eggs across multiple baskets, even if it meant losing some.

According to Mei Yingxue's explanation, most of the inner disciples probably died in the end, so the Emei Sword Sect that was later established only had a small portion of the Shangqing Sect's lineage... In that case, this method is indeed not feasible.

The elders present could obviously guess what Yan Yu could think of, so they all shook their heads and remained silent.

Sect Leader Chen Yanwei's brow twitched, for he had an idea:
Entrusting the lineage to a disciple is too risky; what if the disciple perishes? But if I take the lineage with me, the risk is relatively acceptable. I am the current master of the Sun Sword, protected by a divine sword; who can kill me?
But this idea couldn't be shared with everyone. If everyone present knew that the entire Shangqing Sect's accumulated resources were in my possession, and someone later betrayed me and exposed me, wouldn't I be besieged by those demonic sects and evil cultivators?

Chen Yanwei was in a dilemma. On the one hand, he blindly believed that the Sun Sword Master was invincible and that it was the best choice for him to safeguard the sect's heritage; on the other hand, he worried that if they were really besieged by demonic thieves, and if he was not strong enough, it would be one thing if he died, but it would be a heinous crime if the sect's heritage and the Sun God Sword were lost!
Or should he not fight these demonic thieves and instead find a place to live in seclusion, prioritizing his own safety? Various thoughts sprouted in his mind like vines, leaving Chen Yanwei undecided. Seeing that the elders were all looking at him, asking him, the sect leader, to make the decision, he hesitated for a moment.

Suddenly, he saw Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue.

"What do you think we should do in the current situation?" Chen Yanwei asked.

This is a bit illogical. Everyone here is either the sect leader or an elder; how could we two disciples have the right to speak?
But seeing that the elders were also staring over, their expressions showing no doubt or confusion, Yan Yu knew that the Sun True Essence Sword had given him the choice:

Come on, tell me quickly, was there really a way to turn things around back then!

“The regret of the Sun True Sword back then should have stemmed from not protecting the Shu Mountain Shangqing Sect,” Mei Yingxue analyzed. “After all, the Sun Sword Master retired safely, and the other disciples were not familiar with the divine sword, nor did he care about the sect’s secret techniques, so the only thing left was the name of the Shu Mountain Shangqing Sect—after all, they had served him for so many years.”

"Shenjian's personality is principled, but he values ​​emotions even more. He came to Zhenmei Sword Sect with Chen Yanwei and was sealed underground for a long time, unable to fulfill his mission of protecting the human race and slaying demons. In the end, he decided to leave the Sword Master, but he also left behind a sword intent clone to serve the Sword Master, which shows that he is actually a person who cherishes old feelings."

“So he wants to preserve the Shangqing Temple sect on Mount Shu,” Yan Yu said thoughtfully. “From this perspective, the plan to send people away and break them up into smaller groups can be ruled out first.”

"So, should we call for help, or fight our way out?" Mei Yingxue asked.

“Let’s try to break out first,” Yan Yu said. “Since it’s the dream of the Sun True Sword, then failing and starting over is just a matter of a thought for him.”

“Master,” he turned to Chen Yanwei and said, “We sword immortals can avoid battle, but we cannot be afraid of it. My senior sister and I are willing to charge out and fight to preserve the sect’s strength and fight for survival.”

The four elders looked at each other, then Chen Yanwei sighed and said:

"In that case, let's fight."

Elder Yi, who had been a staunch advocate of war, was overjoyed and instructed Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue:
"When we go into battle later, you two stay close to me."

"Thank you for your trouble, Elder," Yan Yu said quickly.

"Alas, if I cannot protect the younger generation, how dare I claim to have done a good job?" Elder B shook his head, turned around and left to prepare for battle.

----------

“I don’t know much about the destruction of the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu,” Mei Yingxue said to Yan Yu via telepathy. “I only know that at the time, it was said that 100,000 gods and demons besieged Mount Shu. Although 100,000 is a figure of speech, it still reflects the large number of enemies.”

"Throughout history, there have been countless instances of demons and evil spirits besieging Mount Shu, mainly because Mount Shu is located in a dangerous geographical position, surrounded by enemies on all sides. To the south are the Ten Thousand Mountains, to the northwest are the Iron City Mountains, and to the northeast are the Northern Mang Mountains, all of which are the strongholds of demons and evil spirits. Unlike Kunlun, which is located alone in the northwest, and Penglai, which is isolated overseas, it only needs to deal with enemies from one or two directions."

“But I’ve heard that orthodox sects are usually strong in all aspects, while demonic sects tend to take unorthodox approaches,” Yan Yu asked. “Unless they encounter a counter-relationship, demonic cultivators are often no match for orthodox cultivators, just like when you killed Yuan Zhen and left him nowhere to escape.”

“You only know one side of the story,” Mei Yingxue sighed. “Why are righteous cultivators able to lead in strength? Because sects strictly control aptitude when accepting disciples, selecting the best of the best. But in this era of declining spiritual energy, the concentration of spiritual energy in the world has dropped drastically. No matter how outstanding your aptitude is, how outstanding can it really be?”

"Life is like sailing a boat. The key is not just personal effort, but also the changes in the environment. For example, the spiritual energy here on Earth is recovering, and the upper limit of its concentration is increasing step by step. The environment itself has a ceiling, so even someone as gifted as Xie Ruoxi can't create a gap between you and her in terms of cultivation level, right?"

Yan Yu was speechless for a long time before finally saying:
"Can we stop using my qualifications as an example? According to your analogy, if I were in the cultivation world, the orthodox sects would definitely not accept me as a disciple. In that case, I would have no choice but to join the demonic sects and oppose you. No wonder your orthodox sects can't survive."

Mei Yingxue thought to herself, "With your talent, the Demonic Sect probably wouldn't accept you..." but smiled and said:
"I apologize, I misspoke. As you said, the orthodox sect places too much emphasis on hard qualifications when accepting disciples, while paying little attention to soft criteria such as judgment, tactical skills, and strategic vision. As a result, it is inevitable that it will decline and fall into ruin."

Her frank admission of her flaws prevented Yan Yu from making a fuss about it, so he steered the conversation back to the main topic:
"Let's spar with those evil cultists outside first and see how tough they are before we make a decision."

The two followed Elder B to the outer perimeter of Mount Emei, where they saw that the other elders and outer disciples were already there, ready to break out at any time. As for the personal disciples of the elders, they would naturally wait until the breakout had attracted the attention of the enemy's main force before taking the opportunity to carry the sect's heritage and escape from other directions.

Unexpectedly, Sect Leader Chen Yanwei was also present. Seeing that Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue hadn't run away, he stroked his beard with satisfaction and said approvingly:

“Very good. I have arranged for someone to hide your spirit tablets. When the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu is rebuilt in the future, someone will find our reincarnations, awaken our past wisdom, and allow us to embark on the path of cultivation again!”

"I've only ever heard of bosses delaying payment to migrant workers, promising to pay them back next month," Yan Yu complained to Mei Yingxue. "I've never heard of paying them back in this lifetime."

Mei Yingxue smiled without saying a word.

Since the goal was to attract the enemy's attention, the group stopped concealing their movements and flew directly into the sky on their swords, transforming into thousands of sword lights that rushed forward.

In the distance, enemy ranks were visible, with a massive number of demonic cultivators and monsters gathered on various mountain peaks. Taoists, monks, madmen, beggars... all dressed in bizarre and eccentric ways, their faces revealing cruelty and greed, as they scanned the area with their divine senses from afar.

For no apparent reason, Yan Yu was reminded of the unruly cultivators in his previous life, whom he could kill until he was exhausted but still couldn't kill them all.

Suddenly, a monk appeared from the crowd, dressed entirely as a Tibetan monk, making a gesture of holding a flower in his hand, and said with a smile:
"Fellow Daoists of Shu Mountain, your warm welcome is truly overwhelming. This humble monk has prepared a small gift for you, called the 'Red Lotus Karmic Fire Demon Prison Formation.' Please enter the formation."

Having said that, he snapped the prayer beads in his hand and scattered them into the air. Immediately, a large number of karmic fire red lotuses appeared, along with the Buddha's light shining everywhere and the chanting of Buddhist hymns. The confetti spread far and wide, covering an area of ​​thousands of miles. In terms of both momentum and power, it was many times better than the demoness's red lotus alms bowl!
(End of this chapter)