Stepping on the demon door, the witch becomes the strongest

Chapter 840 The Divine Sword Must Not Be Lost
Mei Yingxue, who was meditating and adjusting her breathing, suddenly opened her eyes and found that she had somehow been reloaded back to Mount San'e.

Yan Yu stood beside her, a wistful expression on his face that said, "I'm still a cut above the rest."

Although he had fought desperately to shatter the giant bronze bell, the Taoist priest clearly blamed him for "ruining my important plans," to the point that he no longer cared about continuing his fierce battle with Elder Tian Yue, and turned around to let him taste the power of being devoured by ten thousand insects.

Fortunately, Yan Yu acted decisively, saying "I will kill myself," successfully thwarting the other party's despicable intentions.

After hearing Yan Yu's explanation, Mei Yingxue also felt quite troubled and said:
"If we want to take the path of guarding the mountain, we must maximize the effect of the sect's protective formation. If the opponent has a magic weapon that can counter such a formation, then the feasibility of the path of guarding the mountain will be very questionable."

“No.” Yan Yu refuted her conclusion. “This experience proves that the path of guarding the mountain is entirely feasible. Don’t forget, in the judgment of the Sun True Sword, I finally broke that giant bronze bell.”

He wasn't sure if this giant golden-bronze bell truly existed in the cultivation world's timeline.

However, considering that the Shushan Shangqing Sect ultimately adopted the method of breaking up the whole into parts and hiding in ambush, it means that even if the giant bronze bell used by the Demonic Sect to suppress the Ten Thousand Swords Formation exists, no one knows the specific hardness of its magic weapon or whether it can be broken by a full-force attack from a Golden Core Sword Immortal.

Yan Yu breaking the giant golden bell in the dream signifies that the subconscious mind of the Sun True Sword believes that the bell is not indestructible.

“According to your description,” Mei Yingxue sighed, “even if you can break through the Golden Bell, there is absolutely no way you can return to Emei alive. This strategy will still not be able to proceed.”

“If you’re really confident, let’s make a bet,” Yan Yu said with a smile. “We’ll still choose to guard the mountain, and this time the giant bronze bell won’t be a problem for us.”

Given Teacher Mei's personality, she doesn't actually like making bets, but recently she has been struggling with something: after Yan Yu successfully obtains the divine sword, how can he serve by the sword's side and listen to its valuable guidance at all times?

The divine sword belongs to its master, and frequently seeking its guidance is tantamount to constantly bothering the master. Mei Yingxue felt embarrassed to cause trouble, but since a bet had become a pretext, she immediately blurted out:

"If I win, how about I stay at your house permanently?"

Yan Yu: ?
"No," he explained with a smile, "It's not that I don't welcome you, Ms. Mei. You know my family's situation; there are no rooms available."

“I can sleep on the sofa,” Mei Yingxue insisted.

Quack! As long as I can serve the Sun True Sword, I'd be happy to sleep on the floor, let alone the sofa!

"Uh, okay." Yan Yu thought to himself, "Since you can't win anyway, what if I do win..."

He pondered for a while, then smiled and said:
"After I obtain the Sun True Sword, you should ask him for advice on swordsmanship as much as possible, and then write down your insights and experiences into a sword control technique textbook, which you can then distribute to officially trained sword immortals across the country for free. How about that?"

Mei Yingxue was stunned for a long time, and then her gaze towards Yan Yu suddenly softened.

The usually clueless and straightforward woman suddenly revealed such tender and affectionate eyes, which made Yan Yu feel a little awkward. He quickly explained:
"Actually, I just couldn't think of any other conditions, so I decided to go with the flow and do some good deeds."

“I know,” Mei Yingxue said gratefully. “That’s what I admire about you.”

"Don't be like this, Teacher Mei, it's not that serious." Yan Yu quickly advised her to calm down, as her behavior was truly frightening. "We are all doing this for the country and the people, for the country and the people."

It took quite a bit of effort to persuade Teacher Mei to accept his good intentions, and the two of them took off on their swords again, entering the storyline.

This time, the principle of guarding the mountain was still upheld, and the sect leader and elders agreed without saying anything.

The Great Formation of Ten Thousand Swords, activated!
The patrol of the heavens and the guarding of the mountains begins!
In no time, the demonic sect disciples who had entered the formation were locked in a fierce battle with the defending Shu Mountain sword immortals.

The Thousand Swords Formation was extremely powerful; any demonic cultivator lacking in combat ability would be killed by the sword energy in a single exchange. Soon, the opposing side also brought out their golden bell artifact, striking it to unleash tangible sound waves to counter the sword energy.

After defeating her opponent, Mei Yingxue looked towards the direction of the giant bronze bell, then turned to look at Yan Yu.

Before Yan Yu could speak, Elder Tian Yue called out:
"That golden bell is quite troublesome. Is there anyone willing to accompany me to destroy it?"

"I am willing to fight alongside the elders!" a Golden Core cultivator immediately stepped forward and shouted.

"Alright!" Tian Yue immediately swept his sword light around, enveloping the Golden Core cultivator's sword light within it, and flew towards the distant Golden Bell.

Mei Yingxue: ………………

She looked surprised and thoughtful, and after a long while, she slowly asked:
"why?"

“Because the Sun True Sword doesn’t need us to save the Shu Mountain Shangqing Sect,” Yan Yu explained. “What he really wants is to find out whether it was even possible for Shu Mountain to be saved back then.”

Mei Yingxue remained silent for a long time before finally understanding the connection, and couldn't help but sigh:

"I admit defeat. This swordsman's personality is really twisted."

“Who can argue with that?” Yan Yu looked into the distance again. “I have already provided the answer to solving the problem of the giant bronze bell, without using the Two Elements Micro Dust Sword at all. So if it were the Shu Mountain Sword Immortal at that time, he would also have had a chance to solve it.”

“In the plot of this dream, it can definitely be broken,” Mei Yingxue said confidently. “Because at that time, the risk of annihilation faced by the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu was not only the restriction of the great formation, but the divine sword would definitely require us to solve other problems.”

“That’s right,” Yan Yu said seriously, “the real difficulties are yet to come.”

--------

In the afternoon, news indeed came from the front lines.

The giant bronze bell was successfully destroyed, and the Thousand Swords Formation once again displayed its divine power.

Unfortunately, the Golden Core cultivator who accompanied Elder Tian Yue on his expedition was killed by demonic cult members who were lying in ambush near the giant bell.

To avoid affecting morale, Shushan did not hold a grand memorial ceremony for this brave and fearless sword immortal. They simply invited his memorial tablet into the Ancestral Hall to commemorate his achievements.

But the less positive publicity there was, the more precious his sacrifice seemed, and the news spread among the sword immortals.

To ensure their comrades' sacrifices were not in vain, everyone fought with even greater ferocity, resulting in a significant increase in both the number of enemies killed and the number of casualties. This prompted the sect leader and elders to take action, quickly relaying a message to the sword immortals: "Our focus now is not on killing enemies, but on defending and delaying as much as possible! We must hold out until our allies send reinforcements!"
Whether or not friendly forces will come to our aid is another matter, but the answer is yes.

Without the suppression of the giant bronze bell, the opposing side clearly had no better way to deal with the Thousand Swords Formation and could only organize more people to charge in.

The sword immortal fought bravely, using the power of the Ten Thousand Swords Formation to rout the enemy and achieve a successful victory on the first day.

The number of attackers doubled on the second day.

On the third day, double it again.

On the fourth day, the number doubled again... Yan Yu and Mei Yingxue were now certain that the opposing side definitely had an "Iron-Blooded Commander" who could forcefully compel his men to the battlefield. Otherwise, given the impulsive nature of these rogue cultivators, they would have been watching frantically from the sidelines, inciting others to die in their place. However, this would quickly escalate the defensive pressure on Mount Shu to an unmanageable level.

On the tenth day, the Emei defense line was finally breached by a tidal wave of enemies.

Chen Yanwei chose to abandon the sect and flee, slashing through the demonic sect elders who came to intercept him with a single sword strike, before turning into a streak of light and disappearing into the horizon.

The remaining elders, masters, and disciples of Mount Shu also scattered and fled, and whoever intercepted and pursued them depended entirely on luck.

Yan Yu was unlucky; he was struck by a passing Nascent Soul demonic cultivator. Mei Yingxue instinctively rushed to his aid, taking the blow, but was herself annihilated.

Load the file.

Upon returning to the mountaintop for the fifth time, both of them looked somewhat dazed.

This time, they made no tactical mistakes and did not encounter any urgent problems. They were simply overwhelmed by the opponent's unreasonable human wave tactics. The overall strength gap between the two sides was too large, so this result was to be expected.

However, this makes it seem like an impossible task to protect the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu.

“Something must have gone wrong,” Mei Yingxue said, frowning. “Human wave tactics are unsolvable. Our strategy should be to prevent the enemy from using human wave tactics, that is, to give the enemy the illusion that we can take it down quickly… Shouldn’t we break the giant bronze bell?”

Without breaking the giant bronze bell, the Thousand Swords Formation cannot exert its full power, the enemy's offensive will not be thwarted, and naturally they will not forcefully send people to charge into the formation.

"Your line of thinking is definitely flawed," Yan Yu disagreed. "The premise of feigning weakness is to attack where the enemy must defend. Simply harming yourself to feign weakness is meaningless. The Myriad Swords Formation is the key core for defending the sect. Disabling the formation is tantamount to cutting off your own arm, and then hoping that the enemy will underestimate you because of it... What if they don't underestimate you?"

"As it turns out, the time we failed to break the golden bronze bell, we held out for significantly longer," Mei Yingxue argued. "The enemy wasn't united to begin with. The more demonic cultivators the Myriad Swords Formation killed, the more they realized how impenetrable the Shu Mountain defenses were, and thus chose to unite—doesn't that just make our defense more difficult?"

"If that's the case, perhaps we can advise the sect leader," Yan Yu said thoughtfully. "Try not to kill the enemy, but only to wound them, and pretend that the Shu Mountain's defenses are weak, in order to buy some time?"

The two made up their minds to push the plot back to the Ancestral Hall gathering and shared their plan with the sect leader and elders.

Chen Yanwei immediately made the decision: That's how it's done! Everyone, put on a show. If you can fight to a hundred rounds, you absolutely cannot kill the opponent in fifty!

The sword immortals of Mount Shu received their orders and departed.

Several days later, complaints were widespread.

The reason is simple: sword immortals are used to straightforward attacks; when they go into battle, they go all out, aiming to kill their opponent outright. You're talking about creating a tense, evenly matched fight? Who understands that?!

They fought back and forth, but their movements became increasingly restricted. In particular, some of the less skilled actors, when facing weaker opponents, held back excessively and ended up getting injured themselves. Upon returning, they protested to the sect leader, saying they would rather die on the battlefield than fight with their hands tied like this.

As a result, the tactic proposed by Yan Yu quickly became unworkable.

The two looked at each other, at a loss for what to do. In the end, they decided to follow Mei Yingxue's suggestion: persuade Elder Tian Yue to deliberately not break the golden bronze bell and disable the Ten Thousand Swords Formation, so as to prevent the other side from using a human wave tactic to push forward.

This time it did last longer than the previous times, because the opposing Demonic Cult alliance kept sending out small forces to slowly exchange blows with the Shu Mountain Sword Immortals.

Shushan was captured after eighteen days, and it was a complete fall with two-thirds of its people dead. Throughout the entire process, there was almost no possibility of turning the tide.

After their sixth reload and rebirth, the two lost all interest in discussing anything and simply sat on the ground in a daze.

Five consecutive defeats could have various reasons, but ultimately it all comes down to the disparity in strength between the two sides.

An eagle pounces on a rabbit, and the rabbit catches it in a flash. The rabbit, however, must use every trick in the book to catch the eagle, and even then, survival is not guaranteed. Sometimes, turning the tide is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—beyond human capabilities.

"...If," Mei Yingxue finally spoke, "if the Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu is destined to perish, what should we do?"

Upon hearing these words, the heavens and earth seemed to change color. The sky, which had been clear and the sun shining brightly, suddenly became cloud-shrouded and windy, and the light of the sky gradually dimmed, as if a god had become angry.

Sun True Sword's confidence began to waver!

“It’s impossible that we can’t save it.” Yan Yu immediately and unequivocally denied this claim. “If we really can’t find any other solution, we actually have a backup plan.”

"What tactics?" Mei Yingxue asked curiously.

The slight chilly breeze that had swept across the mountaintop suddenly stopped. All was silent, without a single sound.

"Borrow the sword," Yan Yu said, emphasizing each word. "The True Sun Sword is the key to reversing the vast difference in strength."

“But you’ve already borrowed it,” Mei Yingxue reminded him. “Chen Yanwei is the master of the Sun Sword. If he doesn’t agree, the Sun True Sword won’t serve you.”

“Then persuade him to lend it to us,” Yan Yu said decisively. “It must have been because my tone was too arrogant and disrespectful last time. This task is entrusted to you; you go and explain the situation to him.”

"Me?" Mei Yingxue asked in surprise. She wasn't good at persuading people with words.

“Yes,” Yan Yu said. “You should reason with him and appeal to his emotions.”

"I'll give it a try," Mei Yingxue nodded with a troubled expression.

The two arrived at the Ancestral Hall along the original route, and Mei Yingxue directly asked Chen Yanwei to lend her a sword.

"Absurd!" Chen Yanwei indeed flicked his sleeves and angrily rebuked, "A divine sword chooses its master; how can it be lent out so easily?"

"I really can't think of any other way," Mei Yingxue said, bowing her head. "The overall strength gap between the two sides is too great. If we take the initiative to fight, we will inevitably be surrounded and annihilated; if we ask for help from the outside world, it will be difficult to break through successfully; the safest option is probably to defend the sect to the death, but if the enemy fails to take it down after a long siege, they will definitely use a human wave tactic. At that time, even with the sect's protective formation, it will be extremely difficult to hold it."

She spoke with heartfelt sincerity, and the arguments she presented were very detailed—all of which were verified by people who had personally died.

Chen Yanwei didn't respond, but simply shook his head:

"Even so, the divine sword cannot be lent to you. Otherwise, if the battle is lost, you will not be able to bear the blame."

“Then please let the sect leader personally lead the battle.” Yan Yu added, “You are the Sun Sword Master. With the power of your divine sword, it should be easy for you to lead us through the Demonic Sect’s blockade. Wherever you go, we will go. As long as we are in the sect, we will be there. It’s not too late to reclaim Mount Shu in the future after we have accumulated our strength.”

Chen Yanwei hesitated. He was indeed the Sun Sword Master, but his strength was only at the Golden Core level. If he were trapped by multiple Nascent Soul cultivators who didn't fight him head-on but instead focused on depleting the divine sword's essence... he wasn't confident that he could escape successfully by using the Sun True Essence to see the sword.

The divine sword must never be lost, so he abhors any form of risk and prioritizes stability above all else. To put it extremely, even if the entire Shangqing Sect of Mount Shu were wiped out, he would not allow the Sun True Sword to fall into the hands of the enemy in the slightest.

(End of this chapter)